The first Russian round-the-world journey through the eyes of its main participants

220 years ago, on August 7, 1803, at 10 am in Kronstadt, sails were hoisted over the sloops Nadezhda and Neva under the command of Captain-Lieutenant Ivan Krusenstern and the first round-the-world expedition in Russia was launched.

The idea of such a campaign arose from Krusenstern long before its implementation. A lot of people did not share his optimism.

Since 1799, Ivan Krusenstern has repeatedly approached the imperial government with the idea of organizing a Russian round-the-world expedition. And only three years later, at the beginning of the reign of Emperor Alexander I, the project (“inscription”, as defined by Krusenstern) was approved. But with one condition, unexpected for Ivan Fedorovich: "The sovereign determined me to be the executor of my destiny".

The sacrifice was not in vain - hundreds of books and scientific papers are devoted to the brilliant results of the first Russian round-the-world expedition. But what did it cost Krusenstern and his team, what difficulties and hardships lay in wait for them in the campaign, which lasted no less than 3 years and 12 days?  

Having obtained permission to sail, Krusenstern insisted that the crew on both ships consist exclusively of domestic sailors, whom he put "not only on an equal footing, but even above the English". Lieutenant Commander Yuri Lisyansky, with whom they studied together at the Naval Cadet Corps, became his assistant.

Detailed requirements, routes and expectations of navigators are available in the handwritten document Instruction of the Main Board of the Russian-American Company to the head of the first Russian round-the-world expedition, Captain-Lieutenant Ivan Krusenstern", available on the Presidential Library’s portal.

When sailing from Kronstadt, there were 84 people on board the Nadezhda, according to the publication Russian Travel Around the World. From Krszenshtern to Sedov (2014), compiled by Aleksey Krusenstern, a representative of the Krusenstern family.

And all of them had to not just get along in the confined space of a small ship: the length of the Hope was 117 feet (35 meters), and the width was 28 feet and 4 inches (8.5 m). but also to cross two oceans, go around Cape Horn, famous for its storms, visit unexplored shores, where pitfalls and other dangers could await them.

In addition, according to the authors of the book Around the World with Krusenstern (2005), the ship was overloaded with company goods that were transported to Okhotsk, gifts for the Japanese emperor (more than 50 boxes and bales), provisions for two years - part of it was taken to "natural" form: the decks were lined with cages with birds and animals. The cabins on the ship were so small that you could only sleep in them, and therefore all scientific studies, writing diaries, drawing up maps were carried out in the wardroom on the dining table. Due to the tightness and crowding on the ship, even the two highest ranks of the expedition - Krusenstern and Rezanov were forced to huddle together in one six-meter cabin.

However, at first nothing frightened travelers. All of them were young (the oldest was a 42-year-old doctor, Rezanov was 39 years old, Krusenstern was 33 years old, the rest were from 14 to 30 years old), full of energy and ready for adventure.

On November 14, ships flying the Russian flag crossed the equator for the first time in history.

Weekdays were bleak. “The longer the voyage lasted”, according to the book Russian Travels Around the World. From Krusenstern to Sedov the food became more and more scarce...”

The weather did not spoil the travelers either: in February 1804, Cape Horn met them with a squall, snow, hail, cold and rain. Even the parrots that travelers bought in Brazil had swollen paws.

Parking in the Marquesas Islands (an archipelago in Polynesia) made it possible to replenish water and food supplies. Especially, as Levenstern noted, pigs were valued, "which had the habit of eating only coconuts". Here, on the island of Nuku Hiva, many people got tattoos with the help of savages. Only the botanist Fyodor Brinkin, who was afraid that the natives would eat him, did not go ashore - he was "tall, strong, fat fellow".

When a year has passed since the beginning of the journey, an entry appears in Levenstern's diary about what this time has taught travelers: “everyone now knows what exactly he should not do. Now we know each other, since each of us survived the baptism of fire...".

Cold storms of the northern seas and the dead calm of the hot tropics, debilitating pitching, hunger, and sometimes thirst - in such conditions, the Krusenstern team had to not only survive, but also work. Krusenstern himself, in addition to being personally responsible for the entire ship and crew, led navigational and astronomical observations and carried out a lot of scientific work. The officers kept watch, did trigonometric surveys, kept travel logs, the team was engaged in loading and unloading, repairing sails and rigging, and other necessary work. Naturalists made stuffed fish and birds, made herbariums, drew, kept diaries.

Ivan Krusenstern returned from a round-the-world voyage "with a rich booty of scientific information." Russian sailors “painted over” many “white spots” on the world map, conducted deep-sea studies of ocean waters, collected data on tides in a number of areas of the World Ocean, found out the cause of the glow of the sea; explored the coast of Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Japan; established a direct route to the Russian possessions in Alaska and Kamchatka and proved that the Russian fleet can not only win battles, but also make great geographical discoveries. The report of the expedition leader Krusenstern was translated into all European languages and became the property of not only specialists, but the entire educated world.

According to the naval officer, the author of the book Believe in Nadezhda (2012) Vladimir Erger, the feat of Ivan Krusenstern "by the audacity of his project to circumnavigate the world and its implementation in the 19th century can be put on the same level with the feat of the world's first cosmonaut Yu. A. Gagarin in the 20th century". And if this comparison seems somewhat exaggerated to someone, he recalls that Krusenstern "was the first to put into practice the great dream of many generations of Russian people who sought to conquer the ocean" and "acted as a brave scout - a pioneer".

Exciting materials on the history of the first Russian circumnavigation of the world are available in a special section of the major collection Russian voyages around the world in the first half of the 19th century on the Presidential Library’s portal.