The First Scientific Expeditions to the Bering Strait and to the Russian Colonies in America

the 215th anniversary of the completion of the first Russian round-the-world expedition. This exhibition represented samples of the 1826–1829 round-the-world expedition on the sloops “Moller” and “Senyavin” under the command of lieutenant captains Konstantin Mikhailovich Stanyukovich and Fyodor Petrovich Litke, held on the initiative of I.F. Kruzenshtern. The Ore-Petrographical Museum of the Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry RAS (IGEM RAS) keeps an almost complete collection of rocks and minerals (287 samples), collected by geologist Alexander Philippovich Postels during this trip (another 4 samples of minerals are in the Fersman Mineralogical Museum RAS) (Fig. 1).

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Fig. 1. Exposition of the Ore-Petrographical Museum of the IGEM RAS at the exhibition “Kruzenshtern. Around the World” at the State Historical Museum (a); aragonite, St. Helena Island (b) 1.

Thanks to the first round-the-world expedition of Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern and Yuri Fedorovich Lisyanskiy, which took place in 1803–1806, the era of regular circumnavigation began, aimed at providing Russian settlements in America with material resources, protecting its borders with naval forces and helping the Russian American Company (RAC) to conduct trade activities.

Finding a sea connection with Kamchatka and the hypothetical Strait of Anián

Due to the long distance between the Baltic and Alaska, finding a shorter and safer route was an urgent issue. Kamchatka and Chukotka were visited by overland travellers along river and lake routes until the early 18th century. These were, in essence, military campaigns that took place on the territory of independent and at first militant peoples. By decree of Peter I, in 1713, a party of shipbuilders and sailors was sent to Okhotsk to find a sea connection with Kamchatka. The boat Vostok, built here and commanded by the Yakut Cossack Kozma Sokolov and sailor Nikifor Moiseev Treska, opened the sea route to Kamchatka [1, Alekseev, p. 327].

It was no less important for Peter I to discover the sea route to China and Japan and to find out whether Asia is connected to America or there is a strait between them, as it was reflected on geographical atlases starting from the end of 16th century (a hypothetical strait between Asia and America, called Streto de Anian (Anian) (Fig. 2–3).

Fig. 2. Map of America by Sebastian Münster, 1540 (reprinted in 1572) (from Nordenskiöld. Facsimile Atlas). North America is separated from Asia by an unnamed strait (in the northwest) [2, Berg L.S., p. 379] 2.

Fig. 3. Map of the northern countries by Gerardus Mercator, 1569, from the atlas of R. Mercator, 1595 (from Norden-skiöld. Facsimile Atlas). The map between Asia and America (in the north-northeast) shows the hypothetical Streto de Anian at the site of the Bering Strait, as well as the northwest and northeast passages to the eastern Spice Islands. The American side of the Strait of Anian is called the Kingdom of Anian (Anian regnum) [2, Berg L.S., p. 379] 3.

• ²    Sebastian Munster's 1540 map of America (1572 reprint) (from Nordenskiöld. Facsimile Atlas).  URL:

(accessed 12 February 2022).

• ³    Map of the northern countries by Gerardus Mercator 1569 from R. Mercator's 1595 atlas (from Nordenskiöld. Facsimile Atlas). URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_1569_world_map (accessed 12 February 2022).

The concept of the Strait of Anian first appeared thanks to the Italian cartographer Gastaldi in 1562, and the origin of the name Anian is associated with the name of Marco Polo (second half of the 13th century). In New World cartography, it is depicted as an island, in line with a European fervor to find northwest and northeast passages to the Pacific. With the appearance of the Strait of Ania on maps, there were many people who claimed to have followed this route from the Pacific to the Arctic Sea.

Scientific justification for Russian expeditions to resolve the issue of whether Asia is connected to America

The question whether Asia was joined to America was of interest to the German mathematician, philosopher and historian Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, founder (in 1700) and the first president of the Prussian (Berlin) Academy of Sciences for more than 20 years. In 1697, while travelling in Europe, Peter I met G. Leibniz. Their meetings resulted in the emperor’s approval of the creation of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg (1724) and the beginning of the development of scientific research in Russia according to the Western European model. Gottfried Leibniz received from Peter I the title of Privy Councilor of Justice and a pension of 2000 guilders. Leibniz proposed a project of scientific research in Russia related to its unique geographical location, such as the study of the Earth’s magnetic field, cartographic research, the study of languages and customs of the peoples, and most importantly, the study of the coast of northeast Asia to find out whether Asia was connected to America or if they were separated by a strait [2, Berg L.S., p. 379] ⁴: “No one can solve this doubt better than the king, and this will be more glorious and even more important than anything that the Egyptian kings did in their time to explore the origins of the Nile”; “Only in one place this border has not been explored, and this place is in the possession of the king; a large strip of land stretches far to the north, to the so-called, although still unknown, Arctic cape, and it would be necessary to investigate whether this cape exists and whether that strip of land ends in it. I believe that the natives of the surrounding region could undertake such a journey in the summer months…” (excerpts from letters to the artillery general Yakov Vilimovich Bruce, the closest associate of Peter I, in 1711 and 1712) [3, Leibniz G., p. 372]. In 1716, G. Leibniz met with Peter I on the waters in Pyrmont (Braunschweig). He handed over a note through the diplomat Peter Pavlovich Shafirov, the Vice-Chancellor of Peter the Great, in which he pointed out in detail the ways in which the Tsar could promote civilization and the development of science with great glory [2, Berg L.S., p. 379].

The first Russian scientific expeditions to search for a sea passage from Asia to America

In January 1719, the educatees of the Naval Academy, geodesists Ivan Mikhailovich Evrei-nov and Fedor Fedorovich Luzhin, received his decree “to describe locations near Kamchatka and to resolve the question: is northeast Asia connected with America?”: “... from Tobolsk, taking escorts, go to Kamchatka and further, where indicated, and describe the places there: whether America is connected with Asia, and it must be done very carefully, not only [on] the Zuyd and Nord, but also Ost and West, and put everything on the map properly” 5 (other rulers also got the decree).

In 1720–1721, on the Vostok boat, surveyors described the first six islands of the Kuril ridge, mapped all the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka. The strait between America and Asia was not reached due to insufficient equipment of vessels (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4. “Map of the Kuril Islands with nearby places”, compiled by Gerdhard Friedrich Miller no later than 1755, based on the results of the Second Kamchatka Expedition (1733 – 1743) and previous ones ⁶.

On December 23, 1724, shortly before his death, Peter I signed a decree on equipping the expedition, which later became known as the First Kamchatka Expedition. In the instruction No. 4649 “On the opening of the connection between Asia and America”, approved already during the reign of Catherine I, it was indicated: “1. It is necessary to build one or two boats with decks in Kamchatka, or in another place there. 2. On these boats, near the land that goes to the north, and on expectation (they don’t know the end of it), it seems that the land is part of America. 3. And to look for where it converges with America, and to reach any city of the European possessions; or if will see any European ship, to check up from it as it [coast] named, and to take on the letter, and to be on coast, and to take the true statement, and having put on the map, to come back here” 7.

Ivan Ivanovich (Vitus Ponesen) Bering, the head of the First Kamchatka Expedition, with assistant lieutenants Martyn Petrovich Shpanberg and Alexey Ilyich Chirikov, set off from St. Petersburg at the beginning of 1725 and arrived in Okhotsk in January 1727. The journey was burdensome, since they first had to cross Siberia by land, and then, in Kamchatka, to build and supply their ship “Saint Gabriel”. In July 1728, the team of V.I. Bering went to sea and headed to the mouth of the Anadyr River. While the “Saint Gabriel” went north, records of daily reports by year were kept, indications of latitude and longitude, as well as geographical position. At the beginning of August, the Cross Bay was opened — the northernmost point, which was reached by the “Sen-yavin” sloop under the command of Lieutenant Commander F.P. Litke100 years later; here, miner- alogist and draftsman A.F. Postels selected 36 samples currently stored in the Russian Geological Museum of the IGEM RAS (Fig. 5).

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Fig. 5. Cross Bay. A fragment of the Mercator’s map of the Bering Sea with the northeastern coast of Asia, between Capes Olyutorskiy and Chukchi. “Map of Captain Litke, supplemented by an inventory of the Anadyr Bay, made since 1847 on the ships of the Russian-American Company, and engraved in the Hydrographic Department of the Naval Ministry” (fragment), 1849 8 (a); sample of metalabreccia and its label, St. Cross Bay, coast of Anadyr Bay, Bering Sea (b).

The first Kamchatka expedition (1725–1730) did not conclusively solve the question of the strait between Asia and America. Bering’s findings were inconclusive, as ice and bad weather prevented him from confidently proving the presence or absence of land communication between Asia and America. The successors of Peter I insisted that he return for a second journey, which took place more than ten years later, with expanded tasks (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6. Map depicting the route of Captain Bering in 1728 and 1729, composed by Vasiliy Berkh [4, V. Berkh, p. 126].

In August 1732, the sea expedition of Ivan Fedorov and Mikhail Spiridonovich Gvozdev through the Bering Strait approached the “Great Land” (translated from the Aleutian “a-la-as-ka”)

northeast of the cape, which was named after Gvozdev (its modern the name is Cape Prince of

Wales, this is the westernmost continental point of North America, which is located on the Seward

Peninsula (Alaska) at a distance of 86 km from Cape Dezhnev (Chukotskiy Nose) — the eastern- most continental point of Eurasia) (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7. Fragment of the map of new discoveries in the Eastern Ocean (1781). The places visited by the surveyor M.S. Gvozdev in 1732 10.

First attempt to organize round-the-world expeditions for protection of Russian Far Eastern borders, description of American shores, search for new lands and ensuring commercial activity

The first attempt to organize a Russian circumnavigation was made by members of the Admiralty Board Admirals Nikolay Fedorovich Golovin and Thomas Sanders in connection with the organization of the Second Kamchatka Expedition in October 1732. N.F. Golovin made “Representation of Golovin to Empress Anna Ivanovna on the introduction of maritime practice for sailors by equipping sea expeditions to Kamchatka and Siberia” and “Submission of the Inspector General of

• ¹⁰ Library of Congress. URL: https://www.loc.gov/item/2018693880/ (accessed 15 February 2022).

the fleet, Vice Admiral Count N.F. Golovin to Anna Ioannovna on the further development of the Russian fleet and assistance to the expedition of V.Y. Bering” 11, 12.

In the projects of N.F. Golovin, the question of the need to create a Pacific Fleet to protect the Far Eastern borders of Russia was first raised: “ 2. <…> I have to suggest to Your Majesty a good way to set up universal maritime practice for training young officers and sailors in the Russian fleet, so that <...> during war and in case of attack of the enemy on the caravans of Your Majesty of Russia, in order to avoid attacks on the ships of Your Majesty, so that not only will they be able to defend themselves, but also to defend and protect the land, and not to be in the state which I now find them in, much to my sorrow and regret ”.

Further, N.F. Golovin gave the following justification for the need to organize annual round-the-world expeditions to the Far East: “ 3. Your Majesty ordered to send to Kamchatka in Siberia by land, Captain Commander Bering with several naval officers, artisans, sailors and appropriate materials for the construction of several sea vessels to explore new lands there and land them on America and the Japanese islands, also to describe the Siberian coast from the Ob River even to Okhotsk and beyond. <...> But, for the above-mentioned importance, now Mr. Captain Commander Bering must go by land through Siberia to Kamchatka, however <...> there is another way to send from here to Kamchatka next spring, two Russian military frigates with a last ship across the sea, on which to put any provisions in reserve for a year or more, <...> which have to go from here through a large sea of oceans around Cape Horn [Cape Horn at the tip of South America] and into the South Sea [South Pacific Ocean] and between the Japanese islands even to Kamchatka. And these frigates can make this way in the time of eleven months or less, since the Golan ships sail every year to the Japanese islands and return in eighteen or sixteen months, and this way is very well known to any good navigator or naval officer.

• <...> the description of these shores and exploration of new lands and islands is very necessary and very useful for the country of Your Majesty and for the sake of spreading the regions and powers and for the knowledge of the sea route in those places and for other necessary reasons of the state. And besides the thieves' hoods, there is no need to be afraid of anyone on that voyage and on those seas, as frigates of our country should be equipped with at least forty cannons and a double set of chiefs and under-officers, as well as a fair amount of ammunition of every kind. And so those frigates will always be in a good state to defend themselves and give a proper rebuff.

• <...> and other nations, Japanese and Chinese, do not have such ships with cannons. When these frigates come to Kamchatka, they can supply commander Bering and his crew with materials

and sufficient ammunition, <...> and upon their arrival, they will be more able to move everywhere without any fear and look for all sorts of lands and islands.

When those ships return safely, then every year they should be sent from here to Kamchatka, two frigates, and those who arrived should stay here to re-explore lands, islands and passages, sea harbors, bays and other things, and that is more for maritime practice , <...> and from this the following public benefit may come.

• 1.    This way will be a way to teach young officers and sailors, who will know the sea and the state of it, by going there and returning back, as well as the declination and the change of the compass, different sea currents, the change of winds and all the things a good naval officer should know. And so in one such way those officers and sailors can learn more than by the local sea in ten years.

• 2.    In the exploration of America, there may be the following great state benefit for us, because there are mines [ores] rich in both silver and gold, of which <...> as is known <...> the kingdom of Gishpanskoe, Aglinskoe and Portugal profit, and what importance those kingdoms have from this commerce and navigation in those parts to this day. <...> And especially with different peoples, a real cam-mertion can be established, as with the Japanese <...> and some harbours and ports of call could be found near those lands, where a fortress [military fortification] could be founded and a few Russians settled and troops posted, and many other attractions [benefits] <...> can be derived from that sending. <…>

If this suggested way will not be soon put into practice, then we will lose many officers, because of one year delay. Furthermore, it is also possible that henceforth there will be no such prosperous time as there is at present. If war should break out with some other country or some alien powers should try to regulate the fleet of their ships, then that would make it a lot harder to do this useful cause. <…>

Your Majesty's servant GOLOVIN reports on this. Peterborkh. October, the 1st day of the year 1732”.

These proposals of Vice Admiral N.F. Golovin were not supported by the Senate, and the opportunity to organize the first Russian circumnavigation in 1733 was missed.

Discovery of the Strait between Asia and America, geographical and scientific research of its shores

In July 1741, the Second Kamchatka Expedition under the command of CaptainCommander V.I. Bering and Captain A.I. Chirikov discovered and explored a significant part of the northwestern coast of America and many islands of the Aleutian ridge [5, Bolkhovitinov N.N.]. Their packet boats “St. Peter” and “St. Pavel”, and later other ships of the “leading industrialists” made numerous voyages to the shores of America (the industrialists were the miners of the sea otter, which they called the sea beaver; therefore, the Bering Sea was called Beaver Sea on early maps) (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8. Kamchatka or Beaver Sea on the map of new discoveries in the Eastern Ocean (1781) 13

As a result of the Second Kamchatka Expedition, which was part of the Great Northern Expedition (1733–1743), V.I. Bering finally found Mount St. Elias in southern Alaska in July 1741. The expedition demonstrated Russia’s claim to the North American region, starting from Mount St. Elias and far south and east of the Bering Strait. The expedition confirmed that Siberia and Alaska are indeed separated by a strait.

The naturalist Stepan Petrovich Krasheninnikov was a member of the expedition of V.I. Bering and the first explorer of Kamchatka. He studied in detail the local flora and fauna, as well as the culture and languages of the indigenous peoples of the peninsula, Koryaks and Itelmens. S.P. Krasheninnikov received a scholarship from prominent German specialists who also participated in the expedition (Georg Wilhelm Steller, Gerhard Friedrich Müller and Johann Georg Gmelin) to carry out his research. He published a two-volume work containing numerous illustrations: various landscapes, active volcanoes of Kamchatka, ports and fortresses on the coast, customs and activities of indigenous peoples, etc. His work also covered the areas adjacent to Kamchatka (Kuril Islands, western regions of the Aleutian Islands and some areas of North America). The book includes maps of Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands and nearby areas of Eastern Siberia (Fig. 9) and a brief dictionary of basic Russian words in the languages of the peoples of Kamchatka. S.P. Krash-

• ¹³    Library of Congress. URL: https://www.loc.gov/item/2018693880/ (accessed 12 February 2022). Comment by the American developers of the site: the map shows parts of Eastern Siberia and the northwestern part of the North American continent and the places reached by the Russians Mikhail Gvozdev and Ivan Sind, the English explorer Captain James Cook and others. In 1732, an expedition led by Gvozdev and the navigator Ivan Fedorov crossed the Bering Strait between Asia and America, discovered the Diomede Islands and approached Alaska in the area of Cape Prince of Wales. The expedition members landed on the coast of the North American mainland, marked on the map as the "American Nose", and reported that they had discovered not an island, but a much larger territory. South of the Bering Strait, the map shows the islands mapped by Lieutenant Sindh in 1764-1768 and several islands discovered by the British. Northeast of the Bering Strait, in the far north of present-day Alaska, is the point reached by Cook in 1778 on his third voyage to the Pacific in search of the elusive Northwest Passage. It is marked on the map [near the upper frame] with the words: "the glorious Captain Kukk reached this place in 1778." The map also shows areas inhabited by various ethnic groups with which Russian and European researchers established early contacts: Yakuts, Koryaks, Yukaghirs, and others. World Digital Library.

eninnikov returned to St. Petersburg in 1734, where he was appointed professor of botany and was later elected a member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences.

Fig. 9. Map of the Kamchatka Land with nearby places 14.

Secret expeditions to strengthen Russian conquests in the east

In the 18th century, Russian navigators headed to America along the Aleutian Ridge or through the Bering Strait. The Aleutian route was more profitable for industrialists due to the generally benevolent attitude of local residents towards them, while the route through the Bering Strait, in addition to natural dangers, was associated with the problem of “ non-peaceful Chukchi ” [1, Alekseev A.I., p. 327].

Despite numerous geographical discoveries and practical development of the American coast, Russia did not officially declare to the world its right to these lands. Therefore, Russian settlements in Alaska and the board members of the future Russian-American Company (1799) had many problems providing for the population and establishing trade relations with neighbouring

• ¹⁴    Krasheninnikov S.P. Opisanie zemli Kamchatki. Tom 1-2 [Krasheninnikov S.P. Description of the land of Kamchatka. Volume 1-2]. St. Petersburg, Imperial Academy of Sciences Publ., 1755, 319 p.; taken from the site of Library of Congress. URL: https://www.loc.gov/item/2018694160/ (accessed 12 February 2022).

countries [5, Bolokhvitinov N.N.; 6, Grinev A.V.; 7, Esakov V.A. et al.; 8, Zubov N.N.; 9, Okun S.B.; 10, Pasetsky V.M.; 11, Tikhmenev P.A. et al.].

In relation to the territory under the jurisdiction of the Russian-American Company, official documents used the names: “Russian-American villages”, “Russian colonies in America”, “Russian North American colonies” and very rarely “Russian America” [12, Fedorova S.G., p. 276].

After reviewing the results of the voyages of V.I. Bering and A.I. Chirikov, Academician Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov came to the conclusion: “America, lying against Kamchatka, begins with islands, as Beringov and its neighboring ones, and therefore it can be asserted, not without reason, that the places, seen by the aforementioned navigators, are the essence of the island and make up the Archipelago” [13, Lomonosov M.V., p. 150].

In 1763, M.V. Lomonosov addressed the heir to the throne, Pavel, who was considered an admiral general, with a “Letter on the Northern Route to the East Indies by the Siberian Ocean” , in which he proposed to pass the Northern Sea Route in high latitudes (through the polar area) to Kamchatka and reach the Pacific Ocean through the Bering Strait (Fig. 10).

Fig. 10. Drawing for the book by M.V. Lomonosov “A brief description of various travels in the northern seas and an indication of a possible passage by the Siberian Ocean to East India, October 20, 1763”, or “Circumpolar map” (stored in the Russian National Library).

In order to counteract possible foreign encroachments, a “secret expedition” was undertaken under the leadership of Vasiliy Yakovlevich Chichagov, developed by M.V. Lomonosov and proposed by Catherine II, who had just ascended the throne. Having studied the history of polar navigation and summarizing all the available geographical information, M.V. Lomonosov came to the conclusion that in summer the sea between Svalbard and Novaya Zemlya should be free of ice. Therefore, starting sailing from Svalbard and leaving the Polar Basin, following along the North American coast, the Bering Strait can be reached. By special order of Catherine II, the enterprise was declared “ an expedition to resume whale and other animal and fish breeding ”.

On August 3, 1765, the expedition reached 80°26'N and, having encountered impassable ice, was forced to return to Arkhangelsk (August 20). The expedition proved the correctness of M.V. Lomonosov that there is an ocean to the north of Svalbard (Grumant) and confirmed the correctness of his scheme of currents and ice movement.

At the direction of Catherine II, a secret expedition of lieutenant commanders Petr Kuzmich Krenitsyn and Mikhail Dmitrievich Levashov (1764–1769) was sent to the Bering Strait, which marked the beginning of systematic mapping of the Aleutian Islands (to the islands Umnak and Unalaska) and Alaska: “to find out from the inhabitants about the sea to the north, to the noon and west of them, whether there is a Greater land or still unknown islands in the vicinity of Umnak, and whether the inhabitants of Umnak have any acquaintance and communication with the inhabitants of those lands ”([14, Archive, sh. 20] — quoted from [1, Alekseev, p. 327]) (Fig. 11). Since at the same time, a decree on the expedition under the project of M.V. Lomonosov was issued, it was decided to supplement the instructions of P.K. Krenitsyn with points in case of a meeting with the expedition of V.Ya. Chichagov.

Fig. 11. The Beaver Sea (Bering Sea) and the Aleutian Islands. Underlined +5 — Unalashka Island, to the west — Umnak Island, to the east — Unimak Island, Isanak Strait and the Alaska Peninsula. “Map of maritime discoveries made by Russian sailors in the Pacific and Arctic seas in different years. It was composed and engraved according to the latest observations of foreign sailors in 1802” (excerpt) ¹⁵.

These two outstanding expeditions did not meet. Two attempts in 1764 and 1765 resulted in Chichagov failing to pass east of Svalbard, but his expedition returned without loss, spent the winter on Svalbard, collected important scientific information about the currents and drift of ice, measured depths and took soil samples, described the flora and fauna of Svalbard.

In 1769, a secret expedition of M.K. Krenitsyn and M.D. Levashov returned to Kamchatka; it completed the discovery of the giant Aleutian arc and brought extensive information on the geography, history and ethnography of the “hitherto unknown islands” [15, Glushankov I.V., p. 84].

• ¹⁵    Library of Congress. URL: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g9235.mf000027/?r=0.093,0.146,0.192,0.091,0 (accessed

  12 February 2022).

Thanks to this expedition, the Russian government demonstrated its determination to consolidate the conquests of Russian sailors in the east (Fig. 12).

Fig. 12. Photocopy of the original Mercator’s map of M.K. Krenitsyn - M.D. Levashov 16.

On the final survey map, M.K. Krenitsyn and M.D. Levashov showed the island “Alyaksa” (Fig. 12, the inscription near the right frame), and as a peninsula with the name Alaska, this geographical object appeared on the map according to the results of the third round-the-world expedition of the English captain James Cook (1778–1779) (Fig. 11), but without the Shelikhov Strait, which separates the Aleutian Islands (Kodiak, Shuyak, and Marmot) from the mainland. At the end of the 18th century, in Russian documents, Alaska began to be called the entire northwestern continental ledge of North America [12, Fedorova S.G., p. 276].

The situation on the eastern frontiers worsened in 1780, when British ships under the command of Captain Charles Clerc (a member of the third round-the-world expedition of John Cook, who led it after his death) visited the shores of the Russian colonies in America and Kamchatka. This expedition reached the Chukchi Sea, but due to the state of the ice was forced to return. The subsequent trading activity of the British in the Russian “possessions” and their rivalry with Russian industrialists pushed Catherine II to act more decisively.

In the 18th century, international relations were governed by the “right of first discovery”, which required a country to formally declare the discovery. The results of the expeditions of V.Y. Chichagov (1765-1766) and M.K. Krenitsyn - M.D. Levashov (1764-1769) did not satisfy Catherine II. In 1785-1796, an expedition of Joseph Billings and Gavriil Andreevich Sarychev took place. In order to resolve the contradictions with the British about the “rediscovery” of the already known Russian islands and separate sections of the coast, Joseph Billings, a member of the third expedition of J. Cook, was accepted into the Russian service. Lieutenant Roman Romanovich Gall, an Englishman on Russian service, and Lieutenant Gavriil Andreevich Sarychev were assigned as Billings’ assistants. This event, like all the northern and north-eastern expeditions of the time, was declared top secret. A strict order was established for the storage of materials and their delivery to

• ¹⁶    A photocopy of the original Mercator sailing chart of M.K. Krenitsyn. http://www.polarpost.ru/Karta-merkatorskaia.jpg (accessed 12 February 2022).

  M.D. Levashova. URL:

  
  

the Admiralty. According to the instructions, the purpose of the expedition was to describe the Chukchi coast from Kolyma to the Bering Strait, which was not carried out by the Great Northern (Second Kamchatka) Expedition, as well as to study the seas between the lands of Irkutsk Province and the opposite shores of America [8, Zubov N.N., p. 485].

The maps by G.A. Sarychev, placed later in the “Atlas of the Northern Part of the Eastern Ocean...” (1826), were for a long time the only ones for this part of the Pacific Ocean (Fig. 13).

Fig. 13. “Mercator map representing the Arctic Sea, the Bering Strait and part of the Eastern Ocean; with the shores of the Chukchi land and North America”, compiled by G.A. Sarychev 17.

• ¹⁷    Sarychev G.A. Puteshestvie kapitana Billingsa Chrez" Chukotskuyu zemlyu ot" Beringova proliva do Nizhneko-lymskago ostroga, i plavanie Kapitana Galla Na sudnѣ Chernom" Orlѣ po Sѣverovostochnomu Okeanu v 1791 godu; S" prilozheniem" Slovarya dvenadtsati narѣchiy dikikh" narodov", nablyudeniya nad" stuzheyu v" Verkhnekolymskom" ostrogѣ, i nastavleniya dannago Kapitanu Billingsu iz" Gosudarstvennoy Admiralteystv"-Kollegii [Journey of Captain Billings Through the Chukotka Land from the Bering Strait to the Nizhnekolymsky Ostrog, and the voyage of Captain Gall On the Black Eagle ship along the North-Eastern Ocean in 1791; With the appendix of the Dictionary of the twelve dialects of wild peoples, observations of the cold in the Verkhnekolymsky prison, and instructions given to Captain Billings from the State Admiralty College]. St. Petersburg, Marine Printing House, 1811. 202 p. Taken from the Library of Congress website. URL: https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:gdc:gdclccn:20:18:69:41:65:2018694165:2000000/full/pct:100/0/default.jpg (accessed 12 February 2022). Comment by the American developers of the site: At the end of her reign (in 1785), Empress Catherine the Great commissioned a Russian naval reconnaissance under the command of Captain Joseph Billings, which became known as the Northeast Geographic and Astronomical Expedition. Billings, an Englishman in the Russian civil service, went with two assistants, Gavriil Sarychev and Robert Hall (Roman Gall in Russian usage). The book by G.A. Sarychev, published in 1811, tells about the research of Billings and Sarychev in 1791, carried out on the ship "Glory of Russia" along the Chukotka Peninsula, from the Bering Strait to the west to the Lower Redoubt of the Kolyma River in the Northeast Passage over Siberia. It also describes Captain Hall's travels in the North Pacific Ocean on the Black Eagle ship along Kamchatka, the Kuril Islands, the Bering Sea and the Aleutian Islands. In addition to text based on relevant ship's logs, the book contains detailed engravings of the surveyed regions shown on the accompanying series of maps. The Billings Expedition produced some of the earliest and most detailed Russian cartographic material on both sides of the Bering Strait and nearby coastlines along the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea. The crews of the ships made extensive zoological, botanical and ethnographic observations, and the Russian Admiralty instructed how to name these previously unnamed lands and islands. Catherine the Great charged Billings with investigating [merchant] Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov's fur trade operations on Kodiak Island and elsewhere in Alaska. Shelikhov has long been a controversial figure. Even in the capital of the Russian empire, St. Petersburg, there were rumors about his mistreatment of

  I.F. Kruzenshtern assessed the results of the expedition of I. Billings - G.A. Sarychev: “ This voyage, completed in 1796, has recently been published by two descriptions, of which the first in English is by the secretary of Captain Billings Sauer, and the second one is by the current Vice Admiral Sarychev. The latter contains the main goal of this expedition, many curious descriptions and details, very important and useful for navigation. <...> This expedition did not meet expectations, judging by the efforts and costs used for it by the government for ten years. Among the officers of the Russian fleet there were then many who, being in command, could have made this expedition with greater success and honor than was done by this Englishman. Everything useful that has been done belongs to Mr. Sarychev, who is as skilled as an industrious navigator. Without his tireless work in astronomical determination of places, removal and description of islands, coasts, ports, etc.; perhaps, Russia would not have acquired a single map from the head of this expedition” [16, Kruzenshtern I.F., p. 388]. In this regard, I.F. Kruzenshtern came to the conclusion that the crew of a round-the-world expedition should be Russian: “I was advised to accept several foreign sailors, but I, knowing the predominant properties of Russian ones, whom I even prefer to English, did not agree to follow this advice. On both ships, except Mr. Horner, Tilesius, Langsdorff and Laband, there was not a single foreigner ” [16, Kruzenshtern I.F., p. 388].

Struggle of the great maritime powers for control over the Bering Strait and territories in the northwest of America

The activity of Russian sailors and industrialists in the development of open lands on the shores of the Beaver (Bering) Sea forced England, France and Spain to take retaliatory actions. Beginning in 1775, the Spanish sent five expeditions (three of them by sea) to prevent the Russians from entering California. After the first unsuccessful attempt to reach Alaska, made in 1774 by Juan José Perez Hernandez, the expedition of Eseta and Bodega y Cuadra visited Monterey Bay in Upper California in 1775, discovered the mouth of the Columbia River, reached the 58th parallel (entered the Sitka Strait) and visited the Alexander Archipelago, located in the southeast of Alaska. The third Spanish expedition of Arteaga and Bodega y Cuadra (1779) entered Prince Wilhelm Bay (Russian name - Chugatskiy Bay, area of the Kenai Peninsula) and reached the 61st parallel — the northernmost point of Spanish exploration in Alaska. On the Kenai Peninsula, the Spaniards held a ceremony declaring the territory the property of Spain and returned to California without meeting the Russians. Arteaga and Bodega y Cuadra knew that in 1778, J. Cook sailed off the northwestern coast of North America and had the task of capturing it “in Spanish waters”, but the meeting with the British did not take place. In March 1788, an expedition of Esteban José Martinez-Fernandez y Martinez de la Sierra and Gonzalo López de Haro set off from San Blas (Mexico) to study Russian activity in the northwest of America. The Spaniards visited Russian possessions in the Aleutian Is- local workers and violation of Russian laws in Alaska. The book provides an overview of local working conditions for natives and compliance with Russian laws in Alaska. Although Shelikhov's company persevered and eventually prospered as a Russian-American company, the Russian government pressed for change in regards to the Alaskan natives, and by 1794, sent a group of Russian Orthodox missionaries to Kodiak in an attempt to improve the situation.

REVIEWS AND REPORTS

Aleksandr Ya. Dokuchaev, Yuliya A. Vaks, Konstantin V. Lobanov, Filipp V. Kulakov … lands (Unalaska and Kodiak). The Spaniards received three maps of the Aleutian Islands from the managers of the settlements and learned that Russian sloops were trading along the coast as far south as Nutka Bay and that large Russian ships (expeditions of I. Billings - G.A. Sarychev) were due to arrive soon. Unalaska became the extreme western point of the Spanish expeditions in this region. In August, the Spaniards left Unalaska and went back to California. Immediately upon their return, Martínez Fernández and Aro were ordered to take possession of Nutka Bay before the Russians or the British did. The struggle for Nootka Bay and the right to trade furs here, partly provoked by Russian industrialists, almost led to war between Great Britain and Spain in 1790.

In 1498, Sebastian Cabot, an Italian navigator in English service, made the first attempt to sail the Northwest Passage from east to west. With four ships and a crew of 300 men, he rounded the island of Newfoundland, but was able to reach only 58° N, having encountered solid pack ice in the north. In the following years, numerous British expeditions, funded by various companies and the British Crown, were undertaken. The search for a Northwest Passage was officially approved as one of the main aims of the Hudson Bay Company (HBC), which had been founded by the British crown in 1670 (its possessions bordered the territory controlled by the Russian-American Company).

The discovery of the Northwest Sea Route was officially the main goal of the third round-the-world voyage of the British navigator James Cook on the ships “Resolution” and “Discovery” in 1776-1779, namely, to find a way from the Pacific to the Atlantic, bypassing North America from west to east. J. Cook described the coast of North America from California to the Bering Strait. On the island of Unalashka (Aleutian Islands), the head of the fur artel, Gerasim Grigorievich Izmailov, pointed out to J. Cook the errors on his maps, telling him about the discoveries of Russian travelers in these places. J. Cook noted in his diary: “ I made sure that he knows the geography of these places very well and that he knows all the discoveries made by the Russians, and he immediately pointed out errors on new maps ... ” [17, Bolkhovitinov N.N., p. 303]. J. Cook received reliable data on the location of a number of the Aleutian Islands, as well as information about sailings to the Alaska Peninsula, to Chukotka, Kodiak Island, etc.: “ We learned the name Kodiak from Izmailov, and it refers to the largest of the Shumaginskiy Islands. <...> The names of other islands are taken from the map (Izmailov) and written down as he pronounced them. He said that all these names are Indian ... I have already noted that here both the Indians and the Russians call the American mainland Alaska <...> and they are well aware that this is the Great Land ”(thus, thanks to J. Cook, the Russian toponym “Alyaksa” became “Alaska” [12, Fedorova S.G., p. 276]).

During the expedition of J. Cook, there was a Russian settlement on Unalashka Island (1770s): the Russians had “ small trading posts on all the main islands of the Anadyr Sea and in many places along the American coast ”, about 500 people including Kamchadals [17, Bolkhovitinov N.N., p. 303; 12, Fedorova S.G., p. 276].

In 1775–1778 French navigator Jean-Francois de La Perouse visited the Sakhalin region, mistaking it for a peninsula.

After visiting Unalaska, J. Cook’s expedition went to the Hawaiian Islands, where the British stocked up on food and spent the winter. After the death of J. Cook in an absurd clash with the Hawaiians in the village of Kaavaloa on February 14, 1779, an expedition under the command of Captain Charles Clerk (Clark) visited Petropavlovsk in April 1779 and was cordially received by the head of Kamchatka, Prime Major Magnus Karl von Behm. As a token of gratitude, the British presented Boehm with a map of the expedition’s discoveries and “some natural rarities for Her Majesty the Empress” — the so-called “Cook’s” collection, collected by the crews of the “Resolution” and “Discovery” on the Pacific Islands, now stored in the Museum of anthropology and ethnography (Kunstkamera) named after Peter the Great.

The expedition sailed north again in search of a route around the America. But the ships were almost covered with ice in the Chukchi Sea. On the way back, C. Clerk died and was buried in Petropavlovsk. The ships of the expedition, following the route around Asia and Africa, returned to England in October 1780.

Along with administrative measures to strengthen Russian influence on the newly discovered lands, the government encouraged the navigation of industrialists in every possible way. It was the company of I.L. Golikov and G.I. Shelikhov that turned out to be the strongest of the numerous fishing companies. After the death of G.I. Shelikhov, his son-in-law N.P. Rezanov started the Russian-American Company (it was approved by the order of Emperor Paul I in July 1799).

To protect the coast, Catherine II instructed the Admiralty to equip a “scientific” expedition to Northeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean in August 1785.

In the Note of Counts A.R. Vorontsov and A.A. Bezborodko to Catherine II “On the rights of Russia to the islands and lands discovered by Russian sailors in the Pacific Ocean” (1786), the need for the presence of a military force there was especially noted ¹⁸: “The northwestern coast of America with the islands located near Onago and other ridges, stretching from this peninsula to Kamchatka and extending from this peninsula to Japan, was discovered from ancient times by some Russian navigators <…>. But as according to the generally accepted rule, those peoples who made the first discovery of them, have the right to unknown lands, as in former times and on the search for America, it was usually done that some European people, having found an unknown land, put their mark on it, <...> then, as a result of this, they must undeniably belong to Russia:

1st. The American coast, extending from 55°21' latitude to the north, bypassed by captains Bering, Chirikov and other Russian sailors.

2nd. All the islands near this mainland and the peninsula of Alaska, such as: the Montague, found by Bering and Cook, St. Stephen, St. Dalmatian, the Eudocian, the Shumagins, and other islands lying between the coasts of these navigators and the mainland.

3rd. All the islands, from there to the west, lying in a ridge called Fox and Aleutian, and others, stretching to the north, are annually visited by Russian industrialists.

4th. The ridge of the Kuril Islands, touching Japan, discovered by Captain Spanberg and Walton. <...>

But as such a declaration without significant reinforcement will hardly be sufficient, <…> then <…> would it not be pleasing to the highest command:

1st. That in the neighborhood of this part, which belongs to your Power, there should be a number of military naval vessels built, with adequate naval officers and in proportion to them junior naval officers, so as to be able <...> to obey the prohibition laid down here, to send there any European vessels for the taking of possession of or trading with the inhabitants there. <...> Though we also have merchant ships on our side, it is doubtful whether they can <...> forbid such private foreign enterprises. <...>

Further, <...> the following recommendations are made: <…> to send from the Baltic Sea two armed small vessels, similar to those used by Captain Cook, and two armed sea boats or other vessels, <…> which should be assigned to go around the Cape of Good Hope, and then, <…> leave Japan on the left side, go to Kamchatka. Thus, <...> it is possible to have a flotilla in those seas that is quite sufficient to keep if not military forces, at least private industrialists of maritime powers, from an attempt on animal hunting, which belongs to all the rights of Russia. And at the same time <...> such an enterprise will also force the Chinese <...> to have more respect <...> for any proposal to restore the interrupted bargaining with them, which <...> is very necessary especially for the Siberian region.

• <…> These vessels <…> can <…> proceed to the newest discoveries <…>. The first of these flotillas can examine in more detail the islands stretching from Japan to the Kurilskaya Lopatka, which <...> by establishing the most convenient port on the Sea of Okhotsk, may in time be the source of a new branch of trade with Japan <...>. The other part <...> of the ships, having entered Kamchatka and provided themselves with translators, those who know the language of the islanders, and other needs, will visit the not quite described from the Aleutian and Fox Islands and discover the American coast, lying between 60° and 64° latitude, or survey the midday shore [studies the southward coast] of the Alaska peninsula as far as the entrance of Prince Wilhelm, which is still <…> not quite described.

• <...> In addition, the sent ships will have harbors on their way, <...> where they can be supplied with food and other supplies for further travel <...>.

When this expedition is sent, it is necessary to provide it with scientists to make observations related to astronomy and natural history during that journey, both from local colleges and from German or England.

In conclusion, <...> it is very necessary and useful to establish a new port at the mouth of the Uda River [in the Uda Bay of the Sea of Okhotsk] instead of the hitherto existing Okhotsk port, which is recognized as extremely inconvenient for the current intention” [18, Russian expeditions ..., p. 229].

Decree of Catherine the Great on organization of the first naval round-the-world expedition: “to approve and protect trading by sea between Kamchatka and the western American shores”

In December 1786, a decree of Catherine II followed on the organization of a round-the-world expedition in connection with the need to protect “our right on the lands discovered by Russian navigators... on the occasion of attempt on the industrialists and production of trade and animal trades on the ‘eastern sea’” [1, Alekseev A.I., p. 327].

The first Russian round-the-world expedition was planned to be carried out on five armed ships led by Grigoriy Ivanovich Mulovskiy, a well-educated and experienced naval officer. The Admiralty Board in its secret and detailed instruction “ to Mr. Fleet Captain 1st Rank Grigoriy Mulov-skiy, in command of the squadron assigned through the Indian Sea to the Eastern Ocean, to sail between Kamchatka, Japan and the western American shores ”, prescribed grandiose tasks that were not inferior in scale to those set before the Second Kamchatka Expedition ¹⁹: “<...> to confirm and protect the trading on the sea between Kamchatka and the western American coasts, which belong to the Russian state, as its subjects hitherto and <...> have been discovered and produced. The reasons and intentions that prompted to equip and send this squadron, you will see <...> from other applications <...>

• 1.    The squadron <...> will consist of [four] ships <...>, to which a fifth will join, <...> loaded with guns, shells, rigging, canvas, lead for small arms and other things needed for Okhotsk and others local ports. These ships <...> are supplied by people according to your choice and according to their own desire, with the best supply and provisions of any kind. <…>

For the fulfillment of the observations entrusted to you and other scientific notes, you will receive <…> the best astronomical and other instruments and marine clocks, as well as books and maps, concerning <…> ... be equipped for observations <...> by learned people, such as astronomers, historiographers and naturalists, <...> ... you must make your best efforts to preserve their manuscripts and collections under seal in the best condition <...> until you return.

... you will receive from all Russian navigators in those seas, between Kamchatka, Japan and America — copies of all available journals, dating 1724 till 1779, as well as 14 different maps with attached catalogue and of them the general map, composed by the Collegium <... >. <...> so you <...> may find and believe what is true, what is doubtful or false in these, and may draw a correct map after your voyage <...> of the new Russian coast and sea. <...>

For confirmation of Russian right, for all hitherto taken by Russian navigators or by you again take charge of any discoveries, you will be given plenty of cast-iron coats of arms of Russian Empire and created for this expedition <...> medals <...>

... at the end of December or at the beginning of January, when the most capable time for the East Indian ships happens, you have to go from England across the Atlantic Sea to the Cape of Good Hope, and from there <...> along the East Indian Ocean ... <...> From the cape Good Hope <...> the path lies ahead of the Bourbon and French Islands to the Sound Strait, where <...> you can stock up on fresh food supplies. <...> After this <...> enter the China Sea, where you can go to one of the Philippine Islands —Manilia for the same reserves ... <...>

Being in the neighborhood of Japan, do not miss the slightest opportunity to receive the most reliable news about this land, <...> in all cases, treat the Japanese and smokers <...> in a friendly manner and try to start bargaining with them. <…>

• <...> having sent a captain senior to you with two ships to inspect the islands extending to Kamchatskaya Lopatka, to go to Kamchatka with other ships to receive interpreters and other needs. <…>

The captains of the ships remaining on the Kuril Islands received the following instructions:

... the captain in charge will remain at the Kuril Islands to study them, and you yourself with the other ships will go to the American shores. <…>

• 1)    Go around by swimming and describe all the small and large Kuril Islands from Japan to Kamchatskaya Lopatka, most likely put them on the map, and from Matmay to that Lopatka classify everything as the possession of the Russian state, placing or strengthening coats of arms and burying medals in decent places with an inscription in Russian and Latin <…>; inspect the coasts, bays, harbors, describe their condition, location, quality of land, forests ..., [availability] of fresh water <...>. And especially on the island of Urupe, or the eleventh axis of the Kuril Islands, or where it is more capable of opening <...> it should be most noted whether there is a good harbor and a convenient place for laying a fortress and a settlement, for arable farming and cattle breeding, and if there is enough fresh water and forest for building and repairing sea vessels in the future. If such a harbor is opened anywhere on those islands, then <...> describe it in all accuracy <...>. And <...> get, where possible, interpreters and counselors, and in addition, you will provide a dictionary of the Kuril and Japanese languages, of which you are given two copies each. <…>

• 2)    <...> When sailing between the Kuril Islands, be careful because of strong and dangerous currents between the islands, at low tide and high tide, fogs that also often continue in those places. <…>

• 3)    <...> new, not described by any European explorers and possibly noble islands, which shall be described in detail and in Her Majesty’s name, taken possession of according to the above model.

• 4)    Go around the large island of Sagalin Anga-Gata, lying opposite the mouth of the Amur, describe its coasts, bays and harbors, as well as the mouth of the Amur itself, and <...> reaching

the island, visit the state of its population, the quality of land, forests and other products. The same <...> to judge, with the Shantar Islands and <...> for the establishment of a new harbor at the mouth of the Uda River <...>.

• 5)    <…> you will separate from your future scientists and draftsmen for all the observations and collection of rarities necessary for their rank, <…> having the main subject <…> preventing foreigners from collaborating or sharing by Russian subjects in the soft junk of bargaining or barter on islands, shores or lands discovered by Russian navigators and rightfully belonging to Russia ...”

After the direction of the group of ships to the Kuril Islands, “...to guide your journey between 40 and 50 degrees north latitude to the shores of North America. Upon reaching these, survey the so-called St. Georges Sound, or Nootka Harbor, so named by the English captain Cook, where you will see if there is a settlement from the English or any other European power, or at least any preparation for that.

Further, “you can follow along the stretching American coast to the open part by the Russian captains Chirikov and Bering, and take this coast from the harbor of Nutka to the initial point of the discovery of Chirikov into the possession of the Russian state, if it has not previously been occupied by any power. And from there along the entire open part of the coast by the Russian captains described above to Olaska, and from that place, all along the whole open part of the coast, as well as all the islands that can be found there, will be formally seized by Russian navigators. And all the coats of arms and signs of other nations, which Russia has no right to possess in those countries, will be dug down, leveled out, and destroyed.

Above all things you must enquire into what Captain Cook called Prince William’s Bay and the other, named Cook’s Bay after him, to see if any strange ships sail there, if there is any unloading or if there is no settlement. And in this case, having the main subject of preserving the right to land, open to Russian sailors, and preventing foreigners from cooperating and dividing trade with Russian subjects, those aliens who encroach on such unauthorized appropriation, by the power of the authority given to you to force from these, by right first committed discoveries of places belonging to the Russian state, to leave as soon as possible and henceforth not to think about settlements, or about auctions, or about navigation. And if there is any fortification or settlement, then you have the right to destroy it, and to tear down and destroy signs and emblems. You should do the same with the ships of these aliens, in those waters or harbors and islands you will meet those who are able for similar attempts, forcing them to leave from there. In the event of resistance, or rather strengthening, use the force of arms with such improvement as the duty and honor of the glory of Russian weapons and the very benefit of the expedition entrusted to you require from a skilled officer, since your ships are so well armed.

• < ...> the shores and islands located to the north from Alyaksa, <...> there is no reason for you with your ships to follow such a dangerous journey between the islands, according to the former name Aleutian and Fox, it will be more similar <...> to make your way along the Cape of Alaska and islands lying near it, whose number and condition are still not quite known, and whose inhab-

• itants are also not yet completely brought under citizenship, to the island of Unalakshi, and from there follow the southern side of the Aleutian Islands to Kamchatka to the Peter and Paul Harbor to connect with those sent from you for the inventory of the Kuril Islands by ships. As you pass by these islands, try, as far as possible, through navigation to confirm them by bearings and put them on the map ... <…>

On all the lands and islands that you will discover for the first time, <...> as a sign of the dominion of Russia in all places belonging to it and newly acquired by you, you are given full power, where, depending on the circumstances, you please, by the name of Her Imperial Majesty Catherine II and the Russian state ..., <...> solemnly raise the Russian flag in all order and, moreover, the aforementioned coats of arms, <...> strengthen it on an elevated place near a cross or a pillar placed in the ground with a carved inscription and <...> putting one silver and one copper medal into a tarred stone vessel, also putting an inscription in Russian and Latin into a strong tarred bottle, meaning your journey, bury everything in the ground, or strengthening these coats of arms on large pillars, which are dug into the ground or along cliffs, having hollowed out a nest, insert them with strong grease. At this end, you are given some coats of arms without inscriptions in order to put them in those only places that have already been described by former Russian navigators, <...> others, with a Russian and Latin inscription and a year, put on those lands and islands, which you yourself will discover and add to Russian possession.

• < ...> in suitable cases, wherever you happen to converse with the wild, you may adorn the noblest and the most important of them with a shield and, by means of an interpreter, persuade them to submit to a strong and gentle autocracy and assure them in future for ever to the grace and protection of our most gracious sovereign. <…> You have the prescribed signs of Russian dominion to supply and approve with the consent of the inhabitants <…> and take possession of the places, harbors or freedoms that you consider most useful <…>.

Since, no doubt, none of the Europeans has yet managed to upset and irritate such people, then your first effort should be to sow in them a good idea about the Russians. <...> You are given the power to name the lands and islands you have acquired, as you please, if they still do not have any name ...

During all navigation on all ships, ordinary marine registers <...> must record the state of the barometer and thermometer, air phenomena and other circumstances. For the purpose of calculating your voyage, you will use sea clocks, checking them against the clocks on other ships. In the same way you will always make observations of latitude and longitude and find out the declination of the compass. You should also describe and chart types of the first-visible high places, signs and types of coast, bays, piers and anchorages (roads) with their positions, pointing out whether they are profitable or not, fishery and so on. Mentioning time, strength and elevation of high tide, low tide and currents. Describing and marking the spots of underwater or surface rocks, shoals and other dangerous places <...> as well as the places where the winds are blowing one way, prevailing, temporal, alternating and in one direction, the periods, atmospheric phenomena and above all northern lights, the state of electric current in the air and their effects on the compass, as well as barometric and thermometric notes.

Though the scientists of the expedition have special regulations for making geographical and natural observations, it would not be useless <...> if you yourself, as well as commanders and subordinate officers, <...> keep your own special journals, concerning possessions and works, especially newly discovered and little known islands and lands... <...> Trying as much as possible to reproduce dialects in Latin and Russian letters according to the above-mentioned dictionary; to find and describe also the goods used by those people, arms, clothes and needlework...

• < …> The Board <…> expects <…> that your detailed investigations and descriptions must not detain or hinder you in fulfilling the chief intention of your expedition <...> “so as not to allow foreigners to collaborate or divide with Her Majesty's subjects the so important trade in the soft loot [furs] which the empire requires”.

The outbreak of the war with Turkey and the aggravated relations with Sweden disrupted the departure of the expedition of G.I. Mulovskiy — the squadron was sent to the Mediterranean Sea [1, Alekseev A.I., p. 327]. In 1789, the captain of the brigadier rank G.I. Mulovskiy participated in the battle near the island of Eland, during which he was killed. Naval officers previously assigned to the expedition by G.I. Mulovskiy, participated in numerous battles in the Baltic. Future famous Russian navigators took part in these battles: midshipman Ivan Kruzenshtern on the ship Mstislav by Grigoriy Mulovskiy, midshipman Yuri Lisyanskiy on the Podrazhislav frigate, midshipman Vasiliy Golovnin on the ship Don't Touch Me. Ivan Kruzenshtern participated in the Battle of Eland on July 26, 1789, when commander G.I. Mulovskiy was killed by a cannonball in front of him. Ivan Kruzen-stern and Yuri Lisyanskiy, close friends, were promoted to lieutenants.

Conclusion

• 1.    The possibility of reaching the Atlantic from the Bering Sea region through the Arctic Ocean was still remained open by the beginning of the 19th century (see Fig. 8).

• 2.    In 1793, twelve of the best young officers (including Ivan Kruzenshtern, Yuri Lisyanskiy and Yakov Bering, the grandson of the great navigator) were sent to England to improve in maritime affairs.

• 3.    Sailing ships of Russian circumnavigations left the Baltic Sea and returned back around the world (to the west or east). The ships of the semi-circumnavigation, leaving the Baltic Sea and passing to the Far East, either remained there forever or returned the same way [8, Zubov N.N., p. 485]. From 1803 to 1855, 28 round-the-world voyages were made (12 along the western route and 16 along the eastern route). In general, during round-the-world and semi-circumnavigation, Russian vessels bypassed Cape Horn 40 times and the Cape of Good Hope 35 times [8, Zubov N.N., p. 485].

• 4.    A significant contribution to the study and development of the Northern and Far Eastern territories of Russia was made by immigrants from Western Europe — Swedes, Danes, British, but especially Germans: both Russian (Baltic) and those who arrived from the German states, and later from the German empire (unification around the kingdom of Prussia took place in 1871) [19, Wittram V., p. 414; 20, Grinev A.V., p. 180; 21, Germans in Russia..., p. 605; 22, Reznichenko A.Ya., p. 176; etc.].

By the beginning of the first Russian round-the-world expedition, four European countries had already completed 15 round-the-world voyages, starting with Ferdinand Magellan (1519– 1522) and ending with the third voyage of James Cook (1776–1779). Eight expeditions were on account of British sailors (including three ones under the command of J. Cook). Five expeditions were made by the Dutch, one each by the Spaniards and the French. Russia became the fifth great maritime power, and in terms of the number of round-the-world voyages on sailing ships, it subsequently surpassed all its predecessors combined.

I.F. Kruzenshtern had his own practical experience and the baggage of knowledge received from his predecessors on the organization of round-the-world and Arctic voyages. To implement his own plan for a round-the-world expedition, he needed not only his own initiative, but also state support. It was represented by Minister of Maritime Affairs Nikolay Semenovich Mordvinov, Minister of Commerce Nikolay Petrovich Rumyantsev and the head of the Russian-American Company Nikolay Petrovich Rezanov. As a result, Emperor Alexander I, who himself was a shareholder of the Russian-American Company, granted N.P. Rezanov about sending goods to the Pacific colonies by sea, which in fact meant permission to equip the first Russian round-the-world expedition, which became known as the expedition of I.F. Kruzenshtern - Yu.F. Lisyanskiy.

Even during the reign of Grand Duke Vasiliy III (1505–1533), merchants, artisans, doctors, pharmacists and other artisans from Protestant North German cities and Scandinavian countries began to arrive in Russia. Tsar Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV, 1541–1584) invited to Russia a large number of “very rich doctors”, “gunners”, “searchers for gold and silver”, “cunning masters”, “izographers, taught in the sciences”, translators , artists and others, who began to be called “Lu-thors” or “Germans”. When the northwestern regions were conquered under Ivan the Terrible, it was announced to the inhabitants of the surrendered Derpt (Tartu, Estonia) (in July 1558): “ Derpt citizens remain with their religion of the Augsburg [Lutheran] confession without any changes and will not compelled to retreat from it; their churches with all their accessories remain as they were, as well as their schools” . In the 16th-17th centuries, Protestants fled en masse to Russia, fleeing religious wars and persecution in Europe. Under the son of Ivan IV, Fyodor Ioannovich (1584-1598), more than five thousand Germans served in the Russian army, including officers who trained the army according to the Western model. Under Tsar Fyodor III Alekseevich (1676– 1682) and the ruler Sofya Alekseevna (in 1682–1689, regent under younger brother Peter, the future Great), 63 infantry and cavalry regiments of the Russian army were commanded exclusively by German commanders. In the reign of Peter I, after the Northern War with Sweden (1700– 1721), Russia returned Ingria, Karelia and access to the Baltic Sea, lost under the terms of the

Stolbovskiy Peace of 1617. Estland (Estonia) with islands, Livonia (Latvia) and a protectorate was established over Courland. Captured “Swedes who can speak Russian are ordered to translate books from the Swedish language. <...> Peter took up geographical maps. The Swedish captives brought him maps of Russia and northern Europe and Asia” [23, Pushkin A.S., p. 336]. After peace, Peter the Great made a special offer to the Livonian and Estonian nobles, inviting them to enter the Russian service. Many impoverished families took well the opportunity that opened up for their younger sons to get a job in the Russian state service, mainly in the army and navy. The Baltic nobility participated in the battles of the Russian army, served at the imperial court, in the diplo- matic field and in academic scientific institutions. The descendants of invited specialists and mer- cenaries became “Russified”, retaining foreign surnames (Fig. 14)).

Fig. 14. Peter I Alekseevich (1672–1725) (A), Catherine II Alekseevna (1729–1796) (Б); Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (1711–1765) (B); Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) (Г), Vitus Jonassen Bering (1681–1741) (Д), James Cook (1728–1779) (Е), Nikolay Fedorovich Golovin (1695–1745) (Ж), Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtérn (1770–1846) (З) 20.

The first attempt to establish scientific contacts with Europe was made back in the time of Boris Godunov (in 1602), when a group of Russian students was sent with Hanseatic merchants to England. The appearance of the new Russian capital served as a powerful impetus to the development of cultural and scientific contacts with foreign countries. The establishment of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences by Peter I on January 28 (February 8), 1724, and the role played by the founder (in 1700) and the first president of the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, served to ensure that the strongest scientific ties formed with Germany. The first head of the Academy was Lavrentiy Alferyevich Blumentrost, who defended his doctoral dis-

• ²⁰ Lithographs taken from: (A, Б, З) - Portrait Gallery of Russian Figures. A.E. Munster. Vol.1., 1864-1865; (В) - Collection of portraits published by Platon Beketov. Moscow, 1802; (Г) - Les Merveilles de la science, 1867-1891, Volume 1; (Д) - Around the world. No. 8, 1992; (Е) - National Portrait Gallery, London; (Ж) - Great Russian Biographical Encyclopedia, 2005.

sertation in 1713 in Leiden. The Russian emperor entrusted him with the preparation of the “Project of the regulations on the establishment of the Academy of Sciences”. In the first composition of the RAS, there were only foreigners. Next after L.A. Blumentrost, the presidents of the Academy were Baron Hermann von Keyserling (1733-1734), Johann von Korfe (1734-1740) and Carl von Breven (1740-1741).

Germans who were members of the Second Kamchatka expedition of V.I. Bering and A.I. Chirikov (1741–1742): Georg-Wilhelm Steller (Steller), midshipman Johann Sindt, corporal Friedrich Plenisner and assistant doctor Andreas Ezelberg (possibly Swedish) were at the origin of the discovery of Alaska and colonization of Russian America. Important role in the colonization of the Aleutian Islands (1743–1783) was played by the Germans, appointed by the Emperor Siberian (Irkutsk) governors-general, who supported the Siberian merchants: Ivan Alferievich (Johann Alfred) Pill, Larion Timofeevich Nagel, Adam Ivanovich Bril, Ivan Varfolomeevich Jacobi, the commander of Kamchatka, Prime Minister Magnus Karlovich von Behm, and others.

Lieutenants Fyodor von Romberg, Ermolai von Levenshtern, warrant officers Fad-dei von Bellingshausen (the future discoverer of Antarctica), Vasiliy Berkh, cadets Otto and Moritz von Kotzebue served on the ships “Nadezhda” and “Neva”, which circumnavigated the earth for the first time under the Russian flag. The expedition was commanded by Lieutenant Commander Ivan Fedorovich von Kruzenshtern.

Among the most prominent Russian navigators, the Germans who had repeatedly visited Russian America, were polar explorers Otto Eustafievich von Kotzebue, Ferdinand Petrovich von Wrangel and Fedor Petrovich Litke (Lyutke). Among the twelve main rulers of the Russian-American Company, in addition to F.P. Wrangel, the Germans were sailors Leontiy Adrianovich von Gagemeister and Nikolay Yakovlevich Rosenberg.

One can draw up a long list of Russian Germans, naval officers who led round-the-world and semi-circumnavigation trips under the flag of the Imperial Navy or the Russian-American Company. So, for example, Captain-Lieutenant Evgeniy Andreevich Berens commanded the military transport “America” during a round-the-world voyage (1834-1836) with a call to the capital of the Russian colonies — Novo-Arkhangelsk on Baranova Island (Sitka). E.A. Behrens made a semicircumnavigation (a commercial flight of 1837–1839) on the three-masted barque Nikolay, owned by the Russian-American Company, in a record time for that time: the passage from Kronstadt to Novo-Arkhangelsk around Cape Horn took 8 months 6 days and back — 7 months 14 days. At the same time, he “exported from the colonies a cargo of furs and other products worth 3 million rubles”. The ship was built at one of the best Russian shipyards in the Finnish city of Abo (Turku), and the crew was recruited from ethnic Swedes. Baron Alfred von Geiking was the supercargo (second assistant captain in charge of the cargo), and Fyodor Fyodorovich Fischer is the expedition doctor and author of the geological collection stored in the IGEM Ore-Petrographic Museum. The official form of F.F. Fisher noted: “ For the disinterested and significant enrichment of the museums of the

Imperial Academy of Sciences, the Minister of Public Education expressed gratitude ” [24, Russian State Archive].