Monument to famous English navigator unveiled

The unveiling of the reconstructed monument to English navigator Charles Clerke who after the death of James Cook headed the English round-the-world expedition which set out to seek a northwestern passage into the Atlantic took place in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (the administrative center of the Kamchatka Region in the northeast of the Asian part of Russia) on Friday.

The granite monument was installed by representatives of the Admiralty of Great Britain on the grave of Clerke in 1913.

After 90 years the restorers renovated the granite by special compounds and reconstructed the original appearance of the base of the monument.

The author of the project is architect-restorer Yelena Maslova.

After the tragedy on Sandwich Islands where famous seafarer James Cook was killed on February 14, 1779, the Discovery and Resolution ships of his expedition under Charles Clerke's command came up to the Kamchatka coast in April of that same year. The ships, damaged by gales and with worn-out and hungry crews, entered Avacha Bay.

On June 12, 1779 the British ships left the bay and set out to the northeast along the Kamchatka shores. On August 24 the expedition had to return in connection with Charles Clerke's death. In compliance with the navigator's will, the crew buried the captain in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.