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The tragic story behind the phantom Willoughby's Land in the Barents Sea is a remarkable episode in early explorations of the Northeast Passage. After sighting land at 72°N in 1553, did Sir Hugh Willoughby and his crew accidentally poison themselves when forced to overwinter in the Arctic?

Map Myths

@mapmyths.com

The one English ship that did survive the perils of the Arctic managed to reach Moscow and initiate trade agreements with Ivan the Terrible. These negotiations would form the basis for the founding of the influential Muscovy Company that monopolised trade between England and Russia.

23/8/26, 10:57 am0 reposts4 likes

Map Myths

@mapmyths.com

23 Aug

Following the discovery of Svalbard in 1596 by the Dutch, the Muscovy Company claimed that Willoughby’s Land and Svalbard were one and the same. Svalbard was thus English. This cartographic fiction formed the basis for the royal monopoly charter on whaling granted to the company in 1613.

Map Myths

@mapmyths.com

23 Aug

But what land had Willoughby actually sighted? The full story can be read on our blog, linked below.

mapmyths.comThe ship of death and the phantom island it spawnedWhen Russian fishermen came across two large wooden ships at the mouth of the Varzina River, high above the Arctic Circle, the scene they encountered was astoni