Commander Islands - History

History

The Commander Islands received their name after Commander Vitus Bering, who died there in 1741 after his ship St. Peter wrecked on the otherwise uninhabited Bering Island on his return voyage from Alaska. Bering died on the island along with much of the crew. His grave is marked in Bering island by a modest monument. About half of the crew did manage to survive the winter, thanks in part to the abundance of wildlife, notably the newly discovered Steller's sea cow and the efforts of naturalist and physician Georg Wilhelm Steller, who cured many of the men of scurvy by compelling them to eat seaweed. Eventually, a smaller boat was rebuilt from the remains of the St. Peter and the survivors found their way back to Kamchatka, heavily laden with valuable sea otter pelts. The discovery of the sea otters sparked the great rush of fur-seeking "Promyshlenniky" which drove the Russian expansion into Alaska. Steller's sea cow, whose habitat was apparently restricted to the kelp-beds around Bering Island, was exterminated by 1768.

Aleut (Unangan) people were transferred to the Commander Islands early in 1825 by the Russian-American Company from the Aleutians for the seal trade. Most of the Aleuts inhabiting Bering Island came from Atka Island and those who lived on Medny Island came from Attu Island, now both American possessions. A mixed language called Mednyj Aleut, with Aleut roots but Russian verb inflection, developed among the inhabitants. Today the population of the islands is about 2/3 Russian and 1/3 Aleut.

The 1943 Battle of the Komandorski Islands took place in the open sea about 160 kilometers (99 mi) south of the islands.