First Russian circumnavigation
The first Russian circumnavigation of the Earth took place from August 1803 to August 1806 and was carried out on two ships, the Nadezhda and the Neva, under the commands of Adam Johann von Krusenstern and Yuri Lisyansky, respectively. The expedition had complementary economic, diplomatic, and exploratory goals.
The First Russian circumnavigation
Circumnavigational expedition
August 1803 – August 1806
The main aim was to establish diplomatic and economic relations between Russia and Japan and with Chinese ports for trading Russian furs. The Chinese stage of the expedition was tied to the overland embassy headed by Yury Golovkin. To help establish diplomatic and economic relations between Russia and Japan, the party included a large diplomatic delegation headed by the Court Chamberlain and plenipotentiary ambassador Nikolai Rezanov. Rezanov was also the "High Representative" of the Russian-American Company. However, Rezanov frequently conflicted with Krusenstern, who had spent years proposing the round-the-world expedition and had different priorities.[1]
The ships set off from Kronstadt on August 7, stopping at Copenhagen, Falmouth, Tenerife, Brazil, Nuku Hiva, and Hawaii. When the expedition reached the Hawaiian Islands in June 1804 the vessels parted ways – the Nadezhda went to Kamchatka and Japan, while the Neva headed to Kodiak Island, Alaska, where it spent 14 months and participated in the Russian-Tlingit war. The ships were reunited in Guangzhou in December 1805, and after leaving China, they sailed together for a short time, before returning independently to Kronstadt in August 1806.[2][3][4]
From the political perspective, the expedition was unsuccessful since Japanese authorities did not allow the envoy to enter the country and refused to establish diplomatic relations. In 1805, Rezanov and his retinue were landed in Kamchatka and later started to act independently.[3] For instance, they took part in the argument about annexation of Sakhalin and Kuril Island and thus worsened relations between the states.
The expedition made several discoveries in the Pacific, naming and describing islands, archipelagos, capes, reefs, and straits. In addition, botanical, zoological, and ethnographical information was collected.[4][5] Many of the people who took part in the expedition published books recounting their travels in multiple languages,[3] while other diaries were not published until the 21st century.
Results and commemoration[edit]
Geographic discoveries[edit]
Crews on Nadezhda and Neva made several discoveries in the Pacific, closing the last undiscovered areas in its Northern part.[264] Lisyansky, together with the Neva's navigator Dmitry Kalinin described the Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska, and also the part of the Alexander Archipelago. Wherein west of the Sitka island Kalinin discovered the Kruzof Island, that was previously considered as an archipelago. Lisyansky named a large island to the North of Sitka as the Chichagof Island. On the way from Kodiak to Macau, they discovered an inhabitant Lisianski Island and Neva reef, belonging to the Hawaiian islands. To the southwest of them the expedition discovered the Krusenstern reef.[288]
On the way from Japan to Kamchatka, Krusenstern went through the Tsushima Strait to the Sea of Japan, and depicted the Western coast of Hokkaido. They discovered a small Gulf of Patience. Given names are still present even in contemporary maps, for instance, capes of Senyavin and Soymonov.[289] While transitioning through the Greater Kuril Chain, Krusenstern discovered four "Lovushki" islands. Then, while passing the Nadezhda Strait, the Krusenstern's crew reached the Cape Patience where it started shooting the way to Cape Levenstern, overall, 900 kilometres. Then they discovered the Northern Strait, the capes at the entrance and at the exit of which received names "Elizabeth" and "Maria" correspondingly. Near with the Northern access to the Amur Liman, the water depth was not significant, and Krusenstern concluded that Sakhalin was a peninsula. Participants of the first Russian circumnavigation conducted different oceanographic observations. They discovered the Equatorial Counter Current in Atlantic and the Pacific, measured the temperature difference at depths up to 400 m and determined its specific gravity, clarity and colour. They also found the reason behind the Milky seas effect and collected numerous data on atmospheric pressure, and tides in several areas of the oceans.[290]
