10 great Russian travelers whose names are immortalized on a geographical map

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Russian navigators, along with European ones, are the most famous pioneers who discovered new continents, sections of mountain ranges and vast water areas. They became the discoverers of significant geographical objects, took the first steps in the development of hard-to-reach territories, and traveled around the world. So who are they - the conquerors of the seas, and what exactly did the world learn about thanks to them?

Afanasy Nikitin - the very first Russian traveler

Afanasy Nikitin is rightfully considered the first Russian traveler who managed to visit India and Persia (1468-1474, according to other sources 1466-1472). On the way back, he visited Somalia, Turkey, Muscat. On the basis of his travels, Afanasy compiled the notes "Voyage across the Three Seas", which became popular and unique historical and literary textbooks. These records became the first book in the history of Russia, made not in the format of a story about a pilgrimage, but describing the political, economic and cultural characteristics of the territories.

He was able to prove that even as a member of a poor peasant family, one can become a famous explorer and traveler. Streets, embankments in several Russian cities, a motor ship, a passenger train and an air port are named after him.

Semyon Dezhnev, who founded the Anadyr prison

Cossack chieftain Semyon Dezhnev was an Arctic navigator who became the discoverer of a number of geographical objects. Wherever Semyon Ivanovich served, everywhere he strove to study new and previously unknown. He was even able to cross the East Siberian Sea on a makeshift koch, going from Indigirka to Alazeya.

In 1643, as part of a detachment of researchers, Semyon Ivanovich discovered Kolyma, where, with his associates, he founded the city of Srednekolymsk. A year later, Semyon Dezhnev continued his expedition, walked along the Bering Strait (which did not yet have this name) and discovered the easternmost point of the continent, later called Cape Dezhnev. Also, an island, a peninsula, a bay, a village are named after him.

In 1648 Dezhnev hit the road again. His ship was wrecked in the waters located in the southern part of the Anadyr River. Having reached on skis, the sailors went up the river and stayed there for the winter. Subsequently, this place appeared on geographical maps and received the name Anadyr prison. As a result of the expedition, the traveler was able to make detailed descriptions and make a map of those places.

Vitus Ionassen Bering, who organized expeditions to Kamchatka

Two Kamchatka expeditions inscribed the names of Vitus Bering and his associate Alexei Chirikov in the history of sea discoveries. During the first voyage, the mariners conducted a study and were able to supplement the geographical atlas with objects located in Northeast Asia and on the Pacific coast of Kamchatka.

The discovery of the Kamchatka and Ozerny peninsulas, the bays of Kamchatsky, Krest, Karaginsky, the Providence Bay, the island of St. Lawrence is also the merit of Bering and Chirikov. At the same time, another strait was found and described, which later became known as the Bering Strait.

The second expedition was undertaken by them with the aim of finding a way to North America and exploring the Pacific Islands. On this journey, Bering and Chirikov founded the Peter and Paul prison. It got its name from the combined names of their ships ("St. Peter" and "St. Paul) and later became the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

On the approach to the shores of America, the ships of like-minded people lost sight of each other, a heavy fog affected. "St. Peter", piloted by Bering, sailed to the west coast of America, but got into a violent storm on the way back - the ship was thrown onto the island. The last minutes of Vitus Bering's life passed on it, and the island subsequently began to bear his name. Chirikov also reached America on his ship, but safely completed his voyage, having discovered several islands of the Aleutian ridge on the way back.

Khariton and Dmitry Laptev and their "named" sea

Cousins Khariton and Dmitry Laptev were Vitus Bering's associates and assistants. It was he who appointed Dmitry the commander of the ship "Irkutsk", and his double-boat "Yakutsk" was led by Khariton. They took part in the Great Northern Expedition, the purpose of which was to study and accurately describe and map the Russian shores of the ocean, from the Yugorsky sphere to Kamchatka.

Each of the brothers made a significant contribution to the development of new territories. Dmitry became the first navigator who made a survey of the shores from the mouth of the Lena to the mouth of the Kolyma. He made detailed maps of these places, based on mathematical calculations and astronomical data.

Khariton Laptev and his associates conducted research on the northernmost part of the Siberian coast. It was he who determined the dimensions and outlines of the huge Taimyr Peninsula - he completed a survey of its eastern coast, was able to identify the exact coordinates of the coastal islands. The expedition took place in difficult conditions - a large amount of ice, snowstorms, scurvy, ice captivity - Khariton Laptev's team had to go through a lot. But they continued their work. On this expedition, Laptev's assistant Chelyuskin discovered the cape, which was later named in his honor.

Noting the great contribution of the Laptevs to the development of new territories, members of the Russian Geographical Society decided to name one of the largest seas in the Arctic after them. The strait between the mainland and the island of Bolshoi Lyakhovsky is also named in honor of Dmitry, and the western coast of Taimyr Island bears the name of Khariton.

Kruzenshtern and Lisyansky - organizers of the first Russian circumnavigation

Ivan Kruzenshtern and Yuri Lisyansky are the first Russian navigators to circumnavigate the world. Their expedition lasted three years (started in 1803 and ended in 1806). They set off with their crews on two ships, which bore the names "Nadezhda" and "Neva". The travelers passed through the Atlantic Ocean, entered the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The sailors sailed along them to the Kuril Islands, Kamchatka and Sakhalin.

This journey allowed us to gather important information. Based on the data obtained by the navigators, a detailed map of the Pacific Ocean was compiled. Another important result of the first Russian round-the-world expedition was the data obtained on the flora and fauna of the Kuriles and Kamchatka, local residents, their customs and cultural traditions.

During their voyage, the sailors crossed the equator and, according to maritime traditions, could not leave this event without a well-known ritual - a sailor disguised as Neptune greeted Kruzenshtern and asked why his ship had arrived where the Russian flag had never been. To which he received the answer that they were here exclusively for the glory and development of national science.

Vasily Golovnin - the first navigator who was rescued from Japanese captivity

Russian navigator Vasily Golovnin led two expeditions around the world. In 1806, while in the rank of lieutenant, he received a new appointment and became the commander of the sloop "Diana". Interestingly, this is the only case in the history of the Russian fleet when a lieutenant was entrusted with the control of the ship.

The leadership set the goal of a round-the-world expedition to study the North Pacific Ocean, with special attention to that part of it, which is located within the borders of the native country. Diana's path was not easy. The sloop passed the island of Tristan da Cunha, passed the Cape of Hope and entered a port belonging to the British. Here the ship was detained by the authorities. The British informed Golovnin about the beginning of the war between the two countries. The Russian ship was not declared captured, but the team was not allowed to leave the bay either. After spending more than a year in this position, in mid-May 1809 "Diana", led by Golovnin, tried to escape, which the sailors successfully succeeded in - the ship arrived in Kamchatka.

The next important task Golovnin received in 1811 - he was supposed to compose descriptions of the Shantar and Kuril Islands, the shores of the Tatar Strait. During his travels, he was accused of violating sakoku principles and captured by the Japanese for more than 2 years. The team was rescued from captivity only thanks to the good relations between one of the Russian naval officers and an influential Japanese merchant, who was able to convince his government of the harmless intentions of the Russians. It is worth noting that before that, no one in history had returned from Japanese captivity.

In 1817-1819 Vasily Mikhailovich made another round-the-world voyage on the ship "Kamchatka" specially built for this.

Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev - discoverers of Antarctica

Captain Second Rank Thaddeus Bellingshausen was determined to find the truth in the question of the existence of the sixth continent. In 1819 he went out to sea, carefully preparing two sloops - "Mirny" and "Vostok". The latter was commanded by his associate Mikhail Lazarev. The first Antarctic round-the-world expedition set itself other tasks. In addition to finding irrefutable facts confirming or refuting the existence of Antarctica, the travelers were going to explore the waters of three oceans - the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian.

The results of this expedition exceeded all expectations. For 751 days, which it lasted, Bellingshausen and Lazarev were able to make several significant geographical discoveries. Of course, the most important of them is the existence of Antarctica, this historical event took place on January 28, 1820. Also, during the trip, about two dozen islands were found and mapped, sketches with views of Antarctica, images of representatives of the Antarctic fauna were created.

It is interesting that attempts to discover Antarctica were made more than once, but none of them was crowned with success. European seafarers believed that either it does not exist, or it is located in places that simply cannot be reached by sea. But Russian travelers had enough perseverance and determination, so the names of Bellingshausen and Lazarev are included in the lists of the greatest navigators in the world.

There are also modern travelers. One of them Fedor Konyukhov - the man who conquered seven peaks and five poles.