The Romanovs' Forgotten Naval Disaster

The Romanov Dynasty: Rise, Power, and Bloody End — Fexingo History · Oct 22, 2026 · 8m · transcript

While the fall of the Romanovs is well-documented, their maritime ambitions are often overlooked. This episode explores the Second Kamchatka Expedition, known as the Great Northern Expedition, launched under Peter the Great and continued by his successors. We trace the tragic voyage of the ships St. Peter and St. Paul, commanded by Vitus Bering and his second-in-command Alexei Chirikov. Listeners will hear about the harsh realities of 18th-century navigation, the discovery of Alaska, and the devastating scurvy that claimed the lives of dozens of sailors, including Georg Wilhelm Steller. The…