Barentsz's 1596 Arctic Expedition

Timeline

1. c. 1596Amsterdam · NetherlandsWith support from Dutch merchants and the city government, Barentsz set out from Amsterdam with two ships, aiming once again to find a Northeast Passage to China via the Arctic Ocean and to chart unknown Arctic waters.
2. c. 1596Spitsbergen · SvalbardSailing north, the fleet discovered Bear Island, then reached Spitsbergen and charted its west coast in detail. Though dense fog and pack ice prevented further eastward progress, they made the first systematic record of the archipelago's geography, providing a basis for later Dutch whaling stations.
3. c. 1596–1597Northeast coast of Novaya Zemlya · RussiaWhen the expedition tried to push east, it was surrounded by pack ice and neither ship could break free. Sixteen crew built the 'Barentsz House' from driftwood, surviving the polar night by hunting and reserves, and recording temperature and aurora observations, becoming valuable early data for polar survival studies.
4. c. 1597Barents Sea · Arctic OceanIn early summer 1597 the crew abandoned the ships, rowing two small boats south along Novaya Zemlya's south coast, reaching a Russian port via the Kola Peninsula. Barentsz died of illness on the return voyage in July, and the remaining survivors returned to Amsterdam that November, bringing back charts and overwintering records.