Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern

A number of brilliant geographical studies are known in the history of the first half of the 19th century. Among them, one of the most prominent places belongs to Russian travel around the world.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Russia occupies a leading position in organizing and conducting round-the-world voyages and ocean research.

The first voyage of Russian ships around the world under the command of captain-lieutenants I.F. Kruzenshtern and Yu.F. Lisyansky lasted three years, like most round-the-world voyages of that time. This journey in 1803 begins a whole era of remarkable Russian round-the-world expeditions.
Yuri Fedorovich Lisyansky

Yu.F. Lisyansky received an order to go to England to buy two ships intended for circumnavigation. These ships, Nadezhda and Neva, Lisyansky bought in London for £ 22,000, which was almost the same amount in gold rubles at the exchange rate of the time. The price for the purchase of "Hope" and "Neva" was actually equal to 17,000 pounds, but for the corrections they still had to pay 5,000 pounds. The ship "Hope" totaled already three years from the day of its launch, and the "Neva" only fifteen months. Neva had a displacement of 350 tons, and Nadezhda had 450 tons.

sloop "Hope"

  The sloop "Neva"

In England, Lisyansky bought a number of sextants, lel compasses, barometers, a hygrometer, several thermometers, one artificial magnet, chronometers by Arnold and Pettivgton, and more. Chronometers were checked by Academician Schubert. All other instruments were the work of Trauton. Astronomical and physical instruments were designed to observe longitudes and latitudes and orient the ship. Lisyansky took care to purchase a whole pharmacy of medicines and anti-scurvy drugs, since in those days scurvy was one of the most dangerous diseases during long voyages. Equipment for the expedition was also purchased in England, including comfortable, durable and clothing suitable for different climates for the team. There was a spare set of linen and dresses. For each of the sailors, mattresses, pillows, sheets and blankets were ordered. Ship provisions were the best. The rusks prepared in St. Petersburg did not deteriorate for two whole years, in the same way as the solonia, the ambassador of which was produced with domestic salt by the merchant Oblomkov. The Nadezhda team consisted of 58 people, and the Neva of 47. They were selected from volunteer sailors, of whom there were so many that everyone who wanted to participate in a round-the-world trip could be enough to complete several expeditions. It should be noted that none of the team members participated in long voyages, since at that time Russian ships did not go south of the northern tropic. The task facing the officers and the expedition team was not easy. They had to cross two oceans, go around the dangerous Cape Horn, famous for its storms, rise to 60 ° C. sh., to visit a number of little-studied shores, where seafarers could expect pitfalls not described on the map and not described by anyone and other dangers. But the command of the expedition was so confident in the strength of its “officer and rank and file” that it rejected the offer to take on board several foreign sailors familiar with the conditions of long voyages. Of the foreigners on the expedition were the naturalists Tilesius von Tilenau, Langsdorf and astronomer Horner. Horner was Swiss by birth. He worked at the then-famous Seeberg Observatory, whose director recommended it to Count Rumyantsev. The expedition was also accompanied by a painter from the Academy of Arts. The artist and scientists were together with the Russian envoy to Japan, N. P. Rezanov, and his retinue on board the large ship - “Hopes”. "Hope" commanded Kruzenshtern. Lisyansky was entrusted with the command of the Neva. Although Kruzenshtern was listed as the commander of the Nadezhda and the head of the expedition to the Ministry of the Sea, the instructions sent by Alexander I to the Russian ambassador in Japan, N. P. Rezanov, called him the chief of the expedition.

N.P. Rezanov

This dual position was the cause of the conflict between Rezanov and Kruzenshtern. Therefore, Kruzenshtern repeatedly sent reports to the Office of the Russian-American company, where he wrote that he was called upon the highest command to command the expedition and that "she was entrusted to Rezanov" without his knowledge, to which he would never have agreed that his position "did not consist just to watch the sails, "etc.

The Great Ancestor Crusius

The Kruzenshtern family has given Russia several generations of travelers and sailors.
Ancestor of the Kruzenshterns, German diplomat Philip Crusius (1597-1676) in 1633-1635. He headed the two embassies of the Schleswig-Holstein Duke Frederick III to Moscow Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich and the Persian Shah Sefi. Travel notes collected by Philip Crusius and embassy secretary Adam Olearius (1599-1671) formed the basis of the most famous encyclopedic essay on Russia of the 17th century. - “Descriptions of the journey to Muscovy and through Muscovy to Persia and vice versa” by Adam Olearia.
   Returning from Muscovy, Philip Crusius joined the service of the Swedish Queen Christina and in 1648 received the name Kruzenshtern and a new coat of arms crowned with a Persian turban in memory of his journey. In 1659, he became governor of all of Estonia (then it belonged to the Swedes). His grandson, the Swedish Lieutenant Colonel Evert Philipp von Kruzenshtern (1676-1748), a participant in the Northern War, was captured near Narva in 1704 and lived in exile in Tobolsk for 20 years, and upon returning he bought the inherited ancestral estates Haggud and Ahagfer. The landowner of the estates Haggud, Wahast and Perisaar was Judge Johann Friedrich von Kruzenshtern (1724-1791), the father of the admiral.

Ivan Fedorovich, the first "Russian" Kruzenshtern

In Haggud on November 8, 1770, the most prominent representative of the Kruzenshtern family, Ivan Fedorovich, was born. Biographers usually write that a marine career for Ivan Fedorovich was chosen by chance and that before him there were no sailors in the family. However, the father of Ivan Fedorovich could not know about his own cousin Moritz-Adolf (1707-1794), an outstanding admiral of the Swedish fleet.
   Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern (1770-1846), having finished the Naval Cadet Corps ahead of schedule due to the outbreak of the Russian-Swedish war (1788-1790), successfully fought with the Swedes on the ship Mstislav. In 1793 he was together with Yu.F. Lisyansky and other young officers were sent "for an internship" to England, where he served on the ships of the English fleet off the coast of North and Central America, sailed to Africa and India. In Philadelphia, both Kruzenshtern and Lisyansky met with US President George Washington. Returning to his homeland, Kruzenshtern in 1800 submitted a project of circumnavigation of the globe with commercial and scientific purposes. The project was initially rejected - an unknown author had no patronage, Russia, which was constantly at war then with France, did not have enough funds, and the ministers believed that the country was strong with a land army and it was not suitable for it to compete with the British at sea.
However, in July 1802, Emperor Alexander I approved the project, leaving Kruzenshtern himself and implementing it. The purchase of the Nadezhda and Neva ships, provisions and all necessary goods was undertaken by a Russian-American company created to develop Russian possessions in North America - in Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, Kodiak, Sith and Unalashka. Industrialists of the company hunted sea otters, fur seals, arctic foxes, foxes, bears and procured valuable fur, walrus fangs.

Japanese question

In 1802, the emperor and the Minister of Commerce had the idea to send an embassy to Japan on Nadezhda. In Japan, lying close to Kamchatka and Russian America, it was supposed to buy rice for Russian settlements in the North. The Japanese embassy was offered to lead chamberlain Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov, one of the organizers and shareholders of the Russian-American company, its “authorized correspondent”, chief prosecutor of the 1st Department of the Senate, commander of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Emperor Alexander clearly did not attach much importance to the diplomatic mission of Rezanov. The ambassador, who himself was not a diplomat, received a completely unrepresentative retinue. When sailing from St. Petersburg, the ambassador was not given soldiers - an honor guard. Later he managed to rent from the Governor-General of Kamchatka P.I. Kosheleva two non-commissioned officers, a drummer and five soldiers.

Ambassadorial gifts could hardly interest the Japanese. It was unreasonable to bring porcelain dishes and fabrics to Japan, recall the graceful Japanese, Chinese and Korean porcelain and magnificent silk kimonos. Among the gifts intended for the emperor of Japan were beautiful fox foxes - in Japan, the fox was considered an unclean animal.
   Rezanov was stationed on the main ship Nadezhda (under the command of Kruzenshtern); Yu.F. Lisyansky led the Neva into the voyage. A whole "scientific faculty" sailed to the "Hope": Swiss astronomer I.-K. Horner, Germans - doctor, botanist, zoologist and artist V.T. Tilesius; traveler, ethnographer, doctor and naturalist G.G. von Langsdorf, MD K.F. Espenberg. The ship also included talented youth - the 16-year-old cadet Otto Kotzebue, in the future the head of two circumnavigations of the world - at the Rurik and at the Enterprise - and midshipman Thaddeus Bellingshausen, the future discoverer of Antarctica.

The burdens of swimming

The length of the Nadezhda was 117 feet (35 m), the width of 28 feet and 4 inches (8.5 m), the Neva was even smaller. On board the Nadezhda there were constantly 84 officers, crew, and passengers (scientists and retinue of NP Rezanov). The ship was also overloaded with goods that were brought to Okhotsk, provisions for two years; some gifts for the Japanese occupied 50 boxes and bales. Due to crowding and crowding, the two highest ranks of the expedition - Kruzenshtern and Rezanov - did not have separate cabins and huddled in one captain's cabin, not exceeding 6 m2 with a minimum ceiling height.

On a ship, on dark tropical nights, they worked by candlelight, from the cold in high latitudes they were saved only with an extra sweatshirt, for 84 people there were only 3 latrine; it was impossible to wash properly because of the constant lack of fresh water. And all this is either in the cold, then in the heat, or in the storm ("Hope" suffered nine severe storms when the ship nearly died), then in the dead calm of the tropics. Exhausting pitching and swell incessantly caused seasickness. The Nadezhda contained animals for replenishment of the diet: pigs, or a pair of bulls, or a cow with a calf, goat, hens, ducks, geese. All of them were mumbling, mumbling and grunting in the cages on the deck, they had to be constantly cleaned after them, and pigs were even washed once, throwing them overboard and rinsing thoroughly in the Atlantic Ocean.
   In October 1803, the expedition entered Tenerife (Canary Islands), on November 14 (26), Russian ships crossed the equator for the first time and celebrated Christmas on the island of Santa Catarina off the coast of Brazil, which struck sailors with a rich fauna and flora. In Brazil, the Russians spent a whole month while on the Neva they changed a damaged mast.

I.F. Kruzenshtern and Yu.F. Lisyansky

Having crossed Cape Horn, the ships parted during a storm - Lisyansky explored Easter Island, and Kruzenshtern went straight to Nuku Khiva (Marquesas Islands), where they met in early May 1804. During the transition from Brazil to the Marquesasis, drinking water was strictly normalized. Everyone received a mug of water a day for drinking. Fresh food was not enough, sailors and officers ate corned beef, food was too monotonous.
In the harsh conditions of swimming, it was necessary not only to survive, but also to work. The officers were supposed to stand watch in any weather, do trigonometric surveys and sometimes perform what they themselves did not want or did not want to do. On their shoulders lay the leadership of loading and unloading, repair of sails and rigging, krangovanie and search for leaks. They kept travel magazines, studied on their own and trained young people. Naturalists continuously made stuffed fish, birds, alcoholized and dried marine animals, made herbariums, drew and also kept diaries and described scientific observations.
   The lieutenants stood on 3 shifts: during the day, twice for 3 hours and once at night for 4 hours. The sailors had 3 shifts for 4 hours and one for 2 hours - from 12 noon to 16.00. Three hours a day was spent on astronomical calculations, an hour on writing a journal.
   On Nuku Khiva, the Russians, to their surprise, met two Europeans - the Englishman E. Robarts and the Frenchman J. Cabri (who had been living there for 5 years and married local women), who helped load ships with firewood, fresh water, food and served as translators for communication with local residents. And perhaps their most exotic impressions were from acquaintance with Oceania - the Marquesas, Easter and Hawaiian islands.

Conflict on the Marquesas Islands

Swimming was complicated by the fact that Rezanov, as the head of the embassy, \u200b\u200breceived, along with Kruzenshtern, the authority of the expedition leader, but announced this only when the ships approached Brazil, although he did not show any instructions. The officers simply did not believe him, the appointment of a land person as a commander of a circumnavigation was so absurd. In the maritime charter, to this day there is a rule that the captain of the ship in all cases and always is the captain of the ship, at least at the crossing by sea.
   On the Marquesas Islands, 9 months after sailing from Kronstadt, the confrontation between officers and Rezanov resulted in a quarrel. Kruzenshtern, seeing that pigs can only be exchanged for marquesses with iron axes, forbade them to be exchanged for native jewelry and clubs until the ship is stocked with fresh meat: after a difficult transition from Brazil, the crew members already started scurvy. Rezanov, on the other hand, sent his clerk, Shemelin, to trade Marquisian "rarities" on axes. Ultimately, the price of axes fell and the Russians managed to buy just a few pigs.
In addition, Nuku-Khiva at the beginning of the XIX century. was not a tourist paradise, but an island inhabited by cannibals. The prudent Kruzenshtern did not let his team members ashore alone, but only an organized team led by officers. In such circumstances, it was necessary to observe the most severe military discipline, possible only with one-man management.
   Mutual displeasure resulted in a quarrel, and the officers of both ships demanded that Rezanov explain and publicly announce his instructions. Rezanov read the imperial rescript he had and his instructions. The officers decided that Rezanov compiled them himself, and the emperor approved them without looking in advance. Rezanov claimed that even before leaving Kronstadt, Kruzenshtern had seen his instructions and knew for sure that it was Rezanov who was the chief commander of the expedition. However, if Kruzenshtern was not firmly convinced that it was he who led the expedition, the project of which he himself proposed, he simply would not have set sail on such conditions.
   Fleet historian N.L. Klado put forward the version that Rezanov presented to Kruzenshtern in Kronstadt not instructions, but only the highest rescript, in which nothing was said about the order of submission. Obviously, Captain Lieutenant Kruzenshtern, the youngest in rank and age, could not require the chamberlain to provide instructions regarding his Japanese mission.
   After the conflict in the Marquesas Islands, Rezanov locked himself in his half of the cabin and did not go on deck, which eliminated the need for explanation.
   From the Marquesas Islands, both ships reached Hawaii, from where Lisyansky went to Russian America, where he helped the chief ruler of the Russian colonies in America A.A. Baranova to recapture the Sith fortress captured by the Indians

"Neva" off the coast of Alaska

  Landing from the Neva (battle with the Indians)

“Hope” arrived in Kamchatka (July 3/15, 1804) and N.P. Rezanov immediately wrote to the Governor-General of Kamchatka P.I. Koshelev, who was then in Nizhne-Kamchatsk. The charges brought by Rezanov were so heavy that the governor general began an investigation. Understanding the situation that is insulting to itself. I.F. Kruzenshtern with the decisiveness of a man who is confident in his innocence, aggravates the situation to the limit, putting Rezanov in front of the need to publicly declare his position, and, therefore, bear responsibility for it.

Koshelev’s sustained position contributed to the conclusion of formal reconciliation, which took place on August 8, 1804.
Further sailing to Japan was already calm, discussions about the authorities did not arise. The emperor made no progress, agreeing that reconciliation in Kamchatka ended the conflict, and in July 1805, after the ship returned from Japan, the Order of St. Anna of the II degree, and Rezanov, a snuff box showered with diamonds, were delivered from it to Kruzenshtern in Kamchatka, and a gracious rescript of April 28, 1805 as evidence of his good disposition to both. Upon returning to St. Petersburg, Kruzenshtern received the Order of St. Vladimir with a rescript, putting everything in its place: “To our fleet, captain-lieutenant Kruzenshtern. Having accomplished the trip around the world with the longed-for success, you justified the fair opinion about you in which, with the will of OUR, the main leadership of this expedition was entrusted to you. ”

Japan, America, the legend of "last love"
Kruzenshtern, unloading company goods in Kamchatka in the summer of 1804, went to Japan, which was then closed from the whole world, where the Nadezhda, while negotiating with Japanese officials, was anchored near Nagasaki for more than six months (from September 1804 to April 1805.

  “Hope” off the coast of Japan

The Japanese were quite friendly towards the seafarers: the ambassador and his retinue were provided with a house and a gift warehouse on the shore for the Japanese emperor, the embassy and the crew of the ship daily delivered fresh food. However, the Japanese government, forcing Rezanov to wait 6 months for an answer, ultimately refused to accept the embassy and trade with Russia. The reason for the refusal is still not entirely clear: either the orientation of the shogun and his associates towards an isolationist policy played a role, or the unprofessional diplomat Rezanov frightened the Japanese with statements about how large and powerful Russia is (especially compared to small Japan).
   In the summer of 1805, Nadezhda returned to Petropavlovsk, and then went to the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk to explore Sakhalin. From Kamchatka, chamberlain Rezanov and naturalist Langsdorf traveled to Russia in the Maria halio, and then to California to Juno and Avos, where the chamberlain met his last love - Conchita (Arguello Concepcion). This story, for centuries surrounded Rezanov’s name with a romantic halo, inspiring many writers. Returning to St. Petersburg through Siberia, Rezanov caught a cold and died in Krasnoyarsk in 1807.

Home...

“Hope” and “Neva” met at the end of 1805 in Macau (southern China), where, selling a load of furs, they bought tea, fabrics and other Chinese goods. "Hope", having entered St. Helena, in Helsingor and Copenhagen, returned to Kronstadt on August 7 (19), 1806. Neva without returning to St. Helena returned two weeks earlier.
   Most of the way Kruzenshtern and Lisyansky walked away from the routes already explored and everywhere sought not only to determine the exact position of the ship in the most accurate way, but also to correct the maps they had. Kruzenshtern was the first to compile detailed maps of Sakhalin, Japan, the southern coast of Nuku Khiva (Marquesas Islands), discovered several straits between the Kuril Islands, and the Kamennye Trap Islands.
   The merits of Kruzenshtern were highly appreciated by the world scientific community. Only one fact: in 1820, that is, during the life of Kruzenshtern, a book was published in London containing an overview of the main circumnavigations of all times and peoples, entitled “From Magellan to Kruzenshtern.”
   The first Russian round-the-world expedition strengthened Russia's position in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean and attracted attention not only to Kamchatka and Sakhalin, but also to the polar regions lying north of the Bering Strait.

Legacy of the first circumnavigation

Although the participants of the first Russian circumnavigation in the first quarter of the XIX century. published a number of works and descriptions of their journey, many of them have long become a bibliographic rarity, and some have not yet been published and are stored in archives. The most famous work of Kruzenshtern published - "Traveling around the world."
   But in no edition of the XIX century. there are no such picturesque details of circumnavigation as in the diaries of lieutenants of “Hope” E.E. Levenstern and M.I. Ratmanova, In 2003, a translation of the Levenstern diary was finally published. Ermolay Ermolaevich Levenshtern daily recorded all the funny, funny and even indecent incidents on board the Nadezhda, all the impressions of the landing, especially in exotic countries - in Brazil, Polynesia, Japan, China. The diary of Makar Ivanovich Ratmanov, senior lieutenant of Hope, has not yet been published.
The situation is even worse with illustrations. Along with the atlases that have come out of print, there is a whole collection of drawings, sketches, never published and few seen. This gap was partially filled by the album Around the World with Kruzenshtern, dedicated to the historical and ethnographic heritage of participants around the world. A comparison of the same objects, places in the drawings of different authors helped to identify geographical objects that are not named in the Kruzenshtern atlas.
   The swimming of Kruzenshtern introduced the mysterious Japan not only to Russia, but also to world science. Travelers carried out mapping of the Japanese coast, collected ethnographic materials and drawings. The Russians, while parking in Nagasaki, painted a huge amount of Japanese utensils, boats, flags and emblems (Japanese heraldry is still almost unknown in our country).
   The sailors first introduced scientists to two ancient "exotic" peoples - the Ainu (Hokkaido and Sakhalin) and the Nivkhs (Sakhalin). The Russians called the Ainu also “shaggy” smokers: unlike the Japanese, the Ainu had lush hairs on their heads and “shaggy” beards sticking out in different directions. And perhaps the main historical and ethnographic significance of the first Russian circumnavigation is that it captured (in reports and drawings) the lives of the Ainu, Nivkhs, Hawaiians, Marquesas before the radical changes that were soon brought about by contacts with Europeans. Engravings of the Kruzenshtern sailing participants are a real treasure for scientists and artists involved in Polynesia, especially the Marquesas Islands.
   Already since the 1830s. Russian engravings began to be replicated, they illustrated books on the islands of Polynesia, art, and most importantly, the tattoo of the natives. It is interesting that the Marquesses use these engravings now: they draw them on tapas (materials from the bark) and sell them to tourists. Especially popular with Marquise artists are the engravings of Langsdorff's “Warrior” and “Young Warrior”, though much coarser compared to the originals. The "Young Warrior", a symbol of the Marquisian past, is very popular with both locals and tourists. It even became the emblem of the Keikahanui Hotel on Nuku Khiva, one of the scattering of luxury hotels in French Polynesia.
From the expedition of I.F. Kruzenshtern and Yu.F. Lisyansky began the era of Russian ocean voyages. Following Kruzenshtern and Lisyansky, V.M. rushed into the ocean Golovnin, O.E. Kotzebue. L.A. Hagemeister, M.N. Vasiliev, G.S. Shishmarev, F.P. Litke, F.P. Wrangel and many others. And only 12 years after the return of Kruzenshtern, Russian sailors F.F. Bellingshausen and M.P. Lazarev led their ships to the South Pole. So Russia completed the era of the Great geographical discoveries.

I.F. Kruzenshtern was the director of the Naval Cadet Corps, created the Higher Officer Classes, subsequently transformed into the Naval Academy. He abolished corporal punishment in the corps, introduced new disciplines, founded the corps museum with ship models and an observatory. In memory of Kruzenshtern’s activities, his cabinet has been preserved in the Naval Cadet Corps, and graduates, maintaining the tradition, put on a bronze admiral on the night before graduation.

monument I.F. Kruzenshtern in Leningrad

grave I.F. Kruzenshtern

The modern barque Kruzenshtern (training ship for cadets)

On August 7, 1803, two sloops left the port in Kronstadt. The names “Hope” and “Neva” flaunted on their sides, although until recently they bore other names - “Leander” and “Thames”. It was under the new names that these ships, bought by Emperor Alexander I in England, were to go down in history as the first Russian ships that circled the globe. The idea of \u200b\u200ba world-wide expedition belonged to Alexander I and Minister of Foreign Affairs Count Nikolai Rumyantsev. It was assumed that its participants will collect as much information as possible about the countries that will be on their way - about their nature and the lives of their peoples. And besides, it was planned to establish diplomatic relations with Japan, through which the route of travelers also passed.
  Yuri Lisyansky, captain of the sloop "Neva"

Conflicts on board

Colonial reinforcements

Triumphant return

“Russian seafarers never went so far ... They were from the sixtieth degree north to go to the same degree south latitude, bypass the Cap Horn breathing in the storms, endure the scorching heat of the equinox line ... However ... their curiosity and desire to see distant lands was so great that if I were to accept all the hunters who came to me with requests for their appointment on this journey, then I could equip many and large ships with selected sailors of the Russian fleet ”(I.F. Kruzenshtern. Sailing around the world).

Round-the-world swimming in Russia was thought back in the middle of the 18th century. (the first was proposed by Admiral N. F. Golovin), but it was prepared only in 1787. The captain-brigadier G. I. Mulovsky was appointed the head of the detachment of four ships. But because of the war with Sweden, the campaign was canceled, and in 1789 Mulovsky died in a naval battle near the island of Öland. In that fateful battle, he commanded the battleship Mstislav, the midshipman of which was 17-year-old Ivan Kruzenshtern. It was he who became the most ardent supporter of the idea of \u200b\u200bthe Russian circumnavigation.

At the frigate "Podrazislav", which also took part in the battle with the Swedes, the midshipman was even younger Yuri Lisyansky. In the 1790s Kruzenshtern and Lisyansky managed to sail on English ships in the Atlantic, in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and fight against the French. Upon returning to Russia, both were promoted to lieutenant commander. In 1799, Kruzenshtern presented to Emperor Paul I his project of circumnavigation. The main goal of the project was to organize the fur trade between Russia and China by sea. Apparently, Paul was skeptical of this idea. And in 1801, the emperor was killed by the conspirators. It is believed that the British played an important role in organizing a conspiracy against Paul, a supporter of rapprochement with France.

The idea of \u200b\u200ba world tour was supported by the Russian-American company, founded in 1799 with the goal of developing the territories of Russian America and the Kuril Islands. As Russian colonists mastered the northwestern coast of America and the adjacent islands, the need for regular communication between Russia and its possessions on the American continent became more acute. This need was dictated by several circumstances, primarily the problem of supplying the colonists with provisions and frequent attacks by the Indians. And, of course, the threat to Russian possessions emanating from other colonial powers: England, France, the “newborns” of the United States of America and, to a lesser extent, Spain.

At the beginning of the XIX century. communication with the American colonies was poorly established. Goods, weapons, tools and a significant part of food from the European part of the country were transported through the Urals and Western Siberia (and this is only a quarter of the way!), And then almost complete desertedness and absolute impassability of Siberia in Middle and Eastern began. Then there remained "mere trifles" - from Okhotsk by sea to Alaska. Hopes for the development of the sea route along the northern coast of Russia remained hopes, and therefore there was only one option - sailing through the southern seas either to the west, around Cape Horn, or in the opposite direction, bypassing Cape of Good Hope.

Starting from the first years of the reign of Alexander I, who came to power after the murder of his father, the Russian-American company acted under the auspices of the royal family. She was granted monopolistic use of all trades in Alaska and adjacent islands, as well as in the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin, the right to trade with other countries, organize expeditions and occupy open lands. One of its directors was the chamberlain of the imperial court N.P. Rezanov.

The highest permission to conduct the first Russian round-the-world expedition was received in 1802. The emperor appointed Kruzenshtern as its head. The main objective of the expedition was to explore the possibilities of transport links between European Russia and Russian America. The ships were to deliver goods to the Russian-American company to Alaska, and then the company's fur to China for sale.

The company incurred half of all expenses for the expedition. In England, two ships were bought, not the newest, but reliable. One of them was called “Hope”, the other received the name “Neva”. The first commanded by Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern, the second - Yuri Fedorovich Lisyansky.

The expedition was prepared carefully. A lot of drugs were purchased, mainly anti-zingotic drugs. Two captains approached the manning of their teams very responsibly, preferring compatriots, primarily military sailors, to foreigners. This is understandable: the ships went on a campaign under the Andreevsky flag - the main naval banner of the Russian Navy. Along the way, an expedition equipped with the most modern instruments was to conduct scientific research. The naturalist and ethnographer G. I. Langsdorf, the natural scientist and artist V. G. Tilesius, the astronomer I. K. Horner and other scientists set sail.

A few days before departure, the expedition plan changed: Kruzenshtern was instructed to deliver an embassy to Japan, headed by N.P. Rezanov, to establish trade relations with this country. Rezanov with his retinue and gifts for the Japanese was placed on the "Hope". As it turned out later, the emperor endowed the envoy with the authority of the head of the expedition. However, neither Kruzenshtern and Lisyansky nor the rest of the expedition were notified of this.

At the end of July 1803, "Nadezhda" and "Neva" left Kronstadt. Having made a stop in Copenhagen, the ships proceeded to England, then south, to the Canary Islands, where they arrived in October, and on November 14, for the first time in the history of the Russian fleet, they crossed the equator. But it only looks smooth on paper, but in reality it was not easy. And the reason is not in storms or diseases, but in the conflict between Rezanov and Kruzenshtern. As soon as the ships left Europe, the chamberlain expressed unambiguous claims for general leadership, with which the commander of the "Hope", of course, could not agree. The imperial rescript Rezanov for the time being did not show.

In December, ships approached the coast of Brazil. After they safely circled Cape Horn, a storm suddenly appeared in the Pacific Ocean, and the “Hope” and the “Neva” were separated. In this case, the instruction provided for several meeting points along the route. In the Pacific Ocean, Easter Island was the first such place, followed by Nuku Hiva (one of the Marquesas Islands). The winds carried the Hope far west of the first point, and Kruzenshtern decided to go straight to the Marquises. Lisyansky moved to Easter Island, spent several days here, and then proceeded to Nuku-Khiva, where the ships met. Meanwhile, the conflict between the commander and the chamberlain was gaining strength. Rezanov tried to intervene in the control of ships, several times demanded to change the route. In the end, this led to an open clash, during which all officers, except one, declared their disobedience to Rezanov, and the latter was finally forced to present a rescript of the emperor. But even that didn’t help - the officers still refused to obey the chamberlain.

From Nuku-Khiva, “Nadezhda” and “Neva” headed north-north-west and on May 27 reached the Hawaiian Islands. Here the detachment was divided: Lisyansky, in accordance with the original plan, went north to the island of Kodiak, and Kruzenshtern moved to the north-west, to Kamchatka, to then deliver the embassy to Japan. Arriving in Petropavlovsk, Rezanov called the Kamchatka commandant P.I. Koshelev and demanded to convict Kruzenshtern for disobedience. Having examined the circumstances of the case, Major General Koshelev managed to reconcile the conflicting parties.

In late September, Nadezhda had already reached Nagasaki. In those days, Japan was a state closed from the outside world. Only the Dutch managed to establish trade with the Japanese, and then rather symbolic. Not surprisingly, Rezanov’s mission failed. For six months, the embassy lived on a piece of land fenced by a high fence, actually in captivity. Russian sailors were not allowed to go ashore. The Japanese were busy in every possible way, did not accept royal gifts - by the way, rather stupid, but as a result they refused negotiations and handed the diplomat a letter according to which Russian courts were forbidden to approach the coast of Japan.

At the beginning of April 1805, Kruzenshtern, leaving Nagasaki, proceeded along the Korean Strait to the Sea of \u200b\u200bJapan, then through the Laperuz Strait to the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk and on May 23 brought the Nadezhda to Petropavlovsk. Here Rezanov left the ship to go to Russian America, facing new adventures (which formed the basis of the famous play "Juno and Avos"). And on September 23, Nadezhda left Petropavlovsk, headed for the South China Sea, and reached Macau on November 8.

The Neva, having reached Kodiak Island in July 1804, spent more than a year off the coast of North America. The sailors delivered the necessary cargoes to the Russian colonists, helped them fight off the attacks of the Tlingit Indians and built the Novoarkhangelsk fortress, and made scientific observations. Lisyansky explored the Alexander archipelago and discovered several islands, including one large, named after Chichagov. Loaded with furs, the Neva headed for China. In October 1805, passing through the "system" of the Hawaiian Islands, she sat on a reef aground near an unknown island. The ship was removed from the shallows, and the open island received the name of the commander. In mid-November, rounding Formosa from the south, Lisyansky entered the South China Sea and soon arrived in Macau, where Kruzenshtern was waiting for him.

Selling fur, the Russians on January 31, 1806 set off on the return trip. On February 21, ships entered the Indian Ocean through the Sunda Strait. In early April, near the Cape of Good Hope, they lost each other in dense fog. The place of their meeting was to be the island of St. Helena, where Kruzenshtern arrived on April 21. “Neva”, without entering the island, proceeded through the entire Atlantic to Portsmouth, where it ended up on June 16. The non-stop transition from Macau to Portsmouth lasted 142 days. And on July 22, 1806, the Neva came to Kronstadt. The Nadezhda, which had waited several days off St. Helena, returned to Russia two weeks later.

NUMBERS AND FACTS

main characters

Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern, head of the expedition, commander of the “Hope”; Yuri Fedorovich Lisyansky, commander of the Neva

Other characters

Alexander I, Emperor of Russia; Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov, Ambassador Extraordinary to Japan; Pavel Ivanovich Koshelev, commandant of Kamchatka

Time of action

Route

From Kronstadt through the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean to Japan and Russian America, through the Indian and Atlantic Oceans to Kronstadt

215 years ago, the first round-the-world journey began in the history of the Russian fleet. The expedition on the ships "Nadezhda" and "Neva", commanded by Ivan Kruzenshtern and Yuri Lisyansky, lasted three years. Around the world, according to experts, has become a marker of maturity of the Russian fleet and ushered in a new era in its history. The expedition allowed to make a number of geographical discoveries and gave a ticket to life for such people as the discoverer of Antarctica Thaddeus Bellingshausen and the explorer of the Pacific Otto Kotzebue. About the glorious page in the history of the Russian fleet - in the material RT.

Ivan Kruzenshtern and Yuri Lisyansky made friends within the walls of the Naval Cadet Corps, which was at that time in Kronstadt. Ivan was a native of a Russified German noble family, a descendant of the German diplomat Philip Kruzenshtern. He was born in 1770 in the family of a judge, spent his youth in Estonia. Yuri was three years younger than his friend. He came to study in Kronstadt from Little Russia - he was the son of the archpriest of the Church of St. John the Evangelist in the city of Nizhyn. Young people easily found a common language and together dreamed of distant wanderings.

“The first Russian round-the-world expedition led by Grigory Mulovsky was to take place as early as 1788. But its beginning was prevented by the war with Sweden, ”Kirill Nazarenko, professor of St. Petersburg State University, Doctor of Historical Sciences, told RT.

Kruzenshtern and Lisyansky dreamed of participating in the journey under the leadership of Mulovsky, but fate decreed differently. Because of the war, young people were prematurely released from the Marine Corps and sent to the active fleet. 17-year-old midshipman Kruzenshtern nevertheless fell under the command of Mulovsky, but not on an expedition, but on the ship Mstislav, which participated in the war with the Swedes. Ivan distinguished himself in battle and was marked by the commander. However, Mulovsky died in a battle off the island of Eland, and the first round-the-world trip of Russian sailors was postponed indefinitely.

After participating in the battles of 1790, Kruzenshtern was promoted to lieutenant. In 1793, he was sent to study at the Royal Navy of Great Britain. Ivan took part in the hostilities against French ships off the coast of North America, and then through South Africa reached India and China. The British did not want to take foreigners on ships going to Asia, and Kruzenshtern had to go to India on a frigate, barely holding on the water, which the British sailors were afraid to take.

“From the perspective of the 21st century, the geographical mission, of course, is seen as the main one, but in those days it was not so simple. It is impossible to say with certainty that it was more important then - to put Russian names on the map or organize trade in fur skins with China, ”the expert emphasized.

Before the voyage, Alexander I personally examined the ships and was pleased with them. The content of one of them was undertaken by the imperial treasury, and the other by the Russian-American company. Both sloops officially went under the military flag.

Experts emphasize that the identity of the expedition leader was the result of a balanced decision by the Russian authorities. “Despite the initial initiative of Kruzenshtern, St. Petersburg hypothetically had hundreds of other candidates. The head of the expedition was supposed to be both a good naval officer, and an excellent organizer, and business executive, and diplomat. As a result, they decided that it was Kruzenshtern who nevertheless had the optimal ratio of all these qualities, ”Konstantin Strelbitsky, chairman of the Moscow Fleet History Club, told RT.

Kruzenshtern and Lisyansky selected officers for their teams for themselves. Among them were the future discoverer of Antarctica, Thaddeus Bellingshausen, and Pacific explorer Otto Kotzebue. Sailors were recruited exclusively from among volunteers, offering them a very significant salary at that time - 120 rubles a year. Kruzenshtern was offered to attract British sailors to the team, but he rejected this idea.

The candidatures of some of the expedition members were “lowered from above” - in particular, it refers to the envoy Rezanov with his retinue, several scholars and “well-mannered” young people from among representatives of St. Petersburg secular society. And if Kruzenshtern easily found a common language with scientists, then serious problems arose with the rest.

Firstly, among the representatives of the “secular society” was the adventurer and duelist of the Guard, Lieutenant Count Fedor Tolstoy, who decided to hide from Russia for a while in order to avoid punishment for another misconduct. On the ship, Tolstoy behaved defiantly. Once he showed his tame monkey how to smear ink on paper, and threw it into the cabin to Kruzenshtern, as a result of which part of the records of the expedition commander was completely lost. Another time he watered a ship priest and glued his beard to the deck. In a close team, such behavior was fraught with big problems, therefore, in Kamchatka, Krusenstern put Tolstoy ashore.

Secondly, already during the voyage from secret instructions it became clear that the envoy Rezanov, who had constrained the sailors with his large retinue, was also endowed with extremely broad powers. As a result, Kruzenshtern and Rezanov constantly quarreled and eventually stopped talking, exchanging notes instead.

The team supported its boss. Rezanov was furious with the obstinacy of the military and promised to judge the crew, and Kruzenshtern personally to execute. The head of the expedition reacted calmly and said that he would go on trial right in Kamchatka, even before leaving for Japan, which would automatically disrupt the mission of the envoy. The ruler of the Kamchatka region Pavel Koshelev with great difficulty reconciled them. At the same time, Rezanov wrote in his memoirs that the whole crew apologized to him, but all the other eyewitnesses claimed that Rezanov had to apologize to Kruzenshtern.

Closed japan

The expedition left Kronstadt on August 7, 1803. The ships went to a number of European ports and to the island of Tenerife, and on November 26 crossed the equator. For the first time in history, the Russian flag was raised in the Southern Hemisphere. On December 18, the ships approached the shores of South America and made a stop in Brazil. When they headed south again, Kruzenshtern and Lisyansky agreed that if the weather parted the ships in the area of \u200b\u200bCape Horn, then they would meet either on Easter Island or on Nukagiva Island. And so it happened. Having lost each other in the fog, "Nadezhda" and "Neva" again united in one group only off the coast of Nukagiva, where Russian sailors were welcomed by the Polynesians. After Nukagiva, the expedition reached the Hawaiian Islands and split up: Kruzenshtern moved to Kamchatka, and Lisyansky moved to Alaska.

In Petropavlovsk, the expedition leader, having solved the problem with Tolstoy, having ascertained relations with Rezanov and replenishing food supplies, headed for Japan. There they were not greeted very friendly. The state adhered to a strict isolationist policy and from Europeans - with a number of reservations - maintained trade relations only with the Dutch.

September 26, 1804 "Hope" arrived in Nagasaki. Russian sailors were not allowed to enter the city, providing for recreation only a fenced area on the shore. Rezanov was allocated a comfortable house, but they were not allowed to leave him. After a long wait, an imperial official arrived at the Russian envoy. Rezanov was forced to comply with rather humiliating requirements of Japanese etiquette - he talked with the representative of the emperor while standing and without shoes.

However, all these unpleasant procedures did not lead to any results. The Japanese emperor returned the gifts of the Russian tsar and refused to establish economic relations. Toward the close of negotiations, Rezanov could only take his soul, rude to Japanese officials. And Kruzenshtern was glad that he had the opportunity to explore the western shores of the Japanese islands, to which it was forbidden to approach. He was no longer afraid to spoil nonexistent diplomatic relations.

After a failed mission, Rezanov left for Alaska as an inspector, where he acquired the Juno and Avos vessels and went to California to resolve the supply of Russian America with food. There, the 42-year-old diplomat met the 15-year-old daughter of the local Spanish governor, Concepcion Arguello, and offered her a hand and a heart. The girl agreed, the engagement took place. Rezanov immediately went to Russia to obtain permission from the Pope to marry a Catholic through the emperor, but he caught a cold in Siberia, fell into a state of fever, and broke his head. He died in Krasnoyarsk. Having learned about the fate of the groom, the beautiful Spaniard remained faithful to him and ended her days in the monastery.

While Kruzenshtern visited Kamchatka and Japan, Lisyansky arrived in Alaska. At this time, the war provoked, according to one version, by American merchants between the Russian-American company and its allies on the one hand and the union of the Tlingit Indian tribes on the other. In this situation, the Neva proved to be a very formidable military force and contributed to the victory of the Russians, which led to a truce. Loaded in Alaska with furs, Lisyansky headed for China. There, Kruzenshtern, who had time to visit Hokkaido and Sakhalin, was already waiting for him.

Friends managed to sell furs quite profitably and load ship holds with Chinese goods. After that, "Hope" and "Neva" went home. In the Indian Ocean, the ships again lost each other and returned to Kronstadt with a few days difference in August 1806.

Another quality level of the Russian fleet

During the expedition, the coasts of Japan, Sakhalin and Alaska were examined, the island named after Lisyansky in the Hawaiian archipelago was discovered and received the name Kruzenshtern reef south of Midway Atoll. In addition, Russian sailors refuted the myths about the existence of several islands in the northern Pacific Ocean, invented by European sailors. All officers participating in the expedition received regular ranks, orders and large cash prizes. Lower ranks - medals, the right to resign and pension.

Kruzenshtern was engaged in science and served in the Naval Cadet Corps, which he eventually headed in 1827. In addition, he was a member of the governing councils of a number of government bodies and was an honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Lisyansky resigned in 1809 and engaged in literary activities.

According to Konstantin Strelbitsky, the moment for sending the first round-the-world expedition was chosen very well. “Just at that time, the fleet did not take part in active hostilities and was in allied or neutral relations with most of the main fleets in the world. The expedition participants coped with the task of developing new sea lanes. The Russian fleet has moved to the next level of quality. It became clear that Russian sailors are able to withstand many years of sailing and successfully act as part of a group, ”he said.

An important milestone in the history of the Russian fleet, the expedition of Kruzenshtern and Lisyansky, is also considered by Kirill Nazarenko. “Circumnavigation in itself has become an important marker of changes in the quality condition and maturity of the Russian fleet. But it also became the beginning of a new era of Russian discoveries. Prior to that, our research was related to the North, Siberia, Alaska, and in 1803, Russian geographical science entered the oceans, ”the expert emphasized.

According to him, the choice of Kruzenshtern as the leader of the expedition was successful. “His name is on a par with outstanding sailors such as Cook and Laperouz. Moreover, it should be emphasized that Kruzenshtern was much more educated than the same Cook, ”said Nazarenko.

According to Konstantin Strelbitsky, the first round-the-world expedition brought invaluable experience to the Russian fleet, which had to be passed on to new generations of sailors. “Therefore, the name of Kruzenshtern became a real brand for the Marine Corps,” Strelbitsky summed up.

Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern and Yuri Fedorovich Lisyansky were fighting Russian sailors: both in 1788-1790. participated in four battles against the Swedes. The swimming of Kruzenshtern and Lisyansky is the beginning of a new era in the history of Russian navigation

Expedition purpose

Take the first circumnavigation in the history of the Russian fleet. Deliver-pick up goods from Russian America. Establish diplomatic contacts with Japan. Show the profitability of direct sale of furs from Russian America to China. Prove the benefits of the sea route from Russian America to St. Petersburg in comparison with the land. Carry out various geographical observations and scientific research along the expedition route.

Expedition Composition

The expedition started from Kronstadt on July 26 (August 7), 1803. under the leadership of 32 years old. The expedition included:

• Three-mast sloop "Nadezhda", with a displacement of 450 tons, a length of 35 meters. Acquired in England specifically for the expedition. The ship was not new, but endured all the difficulties of circumnavigation. The total number of teams is 65 people. The commander is Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern.
• Three-mast sloop "Neva", displacement of 370 tons. Bought there specifically for the expedition. He endured all the difficulties of circumnavigation, after which he was the first Russian ship to visit Australia in 1807. The total crew of the ship was 54 people. Commander - Lisyansky Yuri Fedorovich.

Emperor Alexander I personally examined both sloops and allowed them to raise the military flags of the Russian Empire. The emperor accepted the maintenance of one of the ships at his own expense, and the expenses were incurred by the Russian-American company and one of the main inspirers of the expedition, Count N.P. Rumyantsev.

The sailors were all Russian to one - that was Kruzenshtern’s condition

Expedition Results

And in July 1806, with a two-week difference, Neva and Nadezhda returned to the Kronstadt raid, having completed the entire trip in 3 years 12 days. Both of these sailboats, as well as their captains, became famous throughout the world. The first Russian round-the-world expedition was of great scientific importance on a global scale.The studies carried out by Kruzenshtern and Lisyansky had no analogues.
  As a result of the expedition, many books were published, about two dozen geographical points were named after the famous captains.

The expedition's description was printed under the heading “Traveling around the world in 1803, 1804, 1805 and 1806 on the ships“ Nadezhda ”and“ Neva, under the command of Captain-Lieutenant Kruzenshtern, ”in 3 volumes, with an atlas of 104 maps and engraved paintings, and has been translated into English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Italian and Danish.

But the further fate of the sailing ships “Nadezhda” and “Neva” was not very successful. The only thing that is known about the Neva is that the ship visited Australia in 1807. "Hope" died in 1808 off the coast of Denmark. In honor of the sloop Nadezhda, the Russian training sailing ship, the frigate Nadezhda, was named. And her name is truly the great captain is the legendary barque Kruzenshtern.

The film is about the first round-the-world trip of Russians

The film "Neva" and "Hope." The first Russian voyage around the world. " Channel "Russia"

Filming took place in places associated with the expedition. These are 16 geographical points - from Alaska to Cape Horn. The viewer will get a visual opportunity to assess the magnitude of the accomplishment of Russian sailors. The shooting took place on the sailing ship Kruzenshtern. Devices, household items, maritime traditions - everyone will be able to imagine himself as a participant in the campaign, feel the hardships that have befallen them.
  For the first time, engravings made by expedition members and animated using computer graphics will be shown. Some scenes were shot in specially constructed pavilions and stylized as a movie of the early twentieth century. For the first time, diaries of sailing participants will also be heard: they are read in the film by peers of heroes - famous actors.
  The narrative of the journey is not limited to the historical film genre. The description of the voyage is interspersed with a story about today the most important points for stopping the expedition.