directions, but no settlements were discovered. Aftermath No one survived the winter; the two ships with the bodies of the crews, including Willoughby and his journal, were found by Russian fishermen the following spring. For many years it was assumed that they died from some combination of starvation and bitter cold. More recently it has been suggested that the crew may have been killed by carbon monoxide poisoning, resulting from a decision to insulate their ship and block their stove chimney to fight the Arctic cold. The discovery was quickly reported back to the tsar in Moscow who ordered the ships secured and transferred to the White Sea to await recovery by the English. It was not until 1556 that crews were sent to Russia to sail the ships back to London. It was claimed that Willoughby's body was put on board for transport home. After leaving St. Nicholas on 20 July 1556, the two ships made it as far as the west coast of Norway when they encountered a storm that sank them both. Willoughby's journal did make it back to England safely on another ship. During the voyage, Willoughby thought he saw islands to the north. Based on his description, these were subsequently depicted on maps as Willoughby's Land and Macsinof or Matsyn Island. In the 1590s, William Barents tried the same Northeast Passage, also became icebound near Novaya Zemlya, also died, but some of his crew returned home and Barents Sea was named for him. See also List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea Nesbit Willoughby Risley Hall Notes References External links The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques,and Discoveries of The English Nation, v3: North-Eastern Europe and Adjacent Countries: Part II. The Muscovy Company and the North-Eastern Passage by Hakluyt Voyages of Sir Hugh Willoughby, Richard Chancelor, and others, to the Northern Parts of Russia and Siberia. (From Haklutts Collection, Vol. 1 p. 226). 'Venice: 4 November 1555', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 6, 1555–1558, ed. Rawdon Brown (London, 1877), pp. 237–250. British History Online Pigot's Commercial Directory of Derbyshire, 1828–1829 1550s missing person cases 1554 deaths 16th-century English people 16th-century explorers Date of death unknown English explorers English knights English polar explorers Explorers of the Arctic Formerly missing people Missing person cases in Norway People from Risley, Derbyshire People of the Muscovy Company People lost at