Rear admiral Konstantin Staritsky was born

Konstantin Staritsky, a scientist, hydrographer, explorer of seas in the Far East, rear admiral, was born on September 14 (26), 1839 in Poltava into the family of a retired lieutenant of naval artillery, who came from a noble family of Poltava Governorate.

In 1857 Konstantin Staritsky graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps. After the internship at the Pulkovo Observatory he served in the Caspian Sea (1860–1864). In 1865 he was sent to the Pacific Fleet and attained the rank of lieutenant. In January 1865 he was charged with conducting hydrographic surveys along the coast of Primorye territory of Eastern Siberia. From 1865 to 1866 aboard the corvette Varyag he sailed from Nagasaki to Vladivostok, Hakodate, Petropavlovsk, Nikolayevsk and back to Nagasaki (the voyage took 87 days).

In 1869 Konstantin Staritsky was sent to explore the coast of the Tatar Strait and the Sea of ​​Japan from Nikolayevsk to Vladivostok on board Gornostay boat. During the research, from 1866 to 1872, aboard different ships in the Sea of ​​Japan, the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, the Bering Sea and near the Kuril Islands, Konstantin Staritsky conducted hydrographic and astronomical research, found 37 astronomical points, established a chronometrical link between the main seaports of Japan and China, carried out a sea survey and measured the depths along the western coast of Sakhalin, made maps of the northern part of the Tatar Strait and the south of Sakhalin Island, conducted a survey of the shores at the mouth of the Amur River, the Amur estuary and the Peter the Great Gulf, was the first who drew attention to great depths eastward of the Kuril Islands, and rode to Nakhodka and Posyet Bays to study the topography and ethnography of the region. Astronomical and hydrographic work carried out by Staritsky was very important. Determination of a large number of astronomical coordinates prompted systematic hydrographic research. The Russian Geographical Society appreciated the value of the results of the research conducted by Staritsky and awarded him the Litke Medal. The research materials were published in his main work Hydrographic Trip to the Eastern (‘Pacific’) Ocean in 1865–1871 (St. Petersburg, 1873), in articles in Morskoy Sbornik (The Maritime Collection), Izvestiya Imperatorskogo Russkogo Geograficheskogo Obshchestva (News of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society) and other periodicals and serial publications. When the final report was finished, Konstantin Staritsky worked for some time in the Hydrographic Department. Later he did scientific research. In 1891 he became a member of the Society for the Study of Amur Territory. He headed the board of the Steam Navigation Company of the Dnieper and its tributaries. In 1892 he retired. He was elected member of the board of the Caucasus and Mercury Company. Until 1907 he was the chairman of the board of the Russian Steam Navigation and Trading Company.

Konstantin Staritsky died in 1909 in St. Petersburg. Several geographical places in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Sea of ​​Japan are named after Staritsky: a cape in the Novik Bay on Russkiy Island, which forms the Nagayev Bay, the highest point of Moneron Island in Sakhalin Region - Staritsky Mountain, a cape in Uglegorsky district of Sakhalin Region and an underwater volcano southeastward of Matua Island.

Lit.: Алексеев А. И. Исследования на новом уровне // Русские географические исследования на Дальнем Востоке и в Северной Америке (XIX — начало ХХ в.). М., 1976. С. 171–173; Шаброва Н. И. К. С. Старицкий (14.09.1839  1909 г.) : штрихи к биографии // Вестн. Сахалин. музея. 2015. № 22. С. 386–398.

Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:

Sakhalin Region: Pages of History: collection.

The materials were provided by the Sakhalin Regional Research Library