Admiral Kruzenshtern and his exploits — in rare sources of the Presidential Library

November 19, 2017, marks the 247th anniversary of the birth of Ivan Fyodorovich Kruzenshtern (born as Adam Johann Ritter von Krusenstern) (1770-1846), a navigator, the head of the first Russian round-the-world expedition, subsequently the director of the Naval Cadet Corps, and the author of the first scientific works on the maritime case. His unprecedented contribution to the development of the Russian navy is all in the electronic copies of editions available on the Presidential Library website.

One of these books entitled The Russian journeys round the world. From Krusenstern to “Sedov” (2014) is written by the descendant of the famous seafarer Alexey Kruzenshtern, who has argued in favor of a critical need for Russian “circumnavigations” that way: “A phenomenon of great geographical discoveries and round-the-world trips can not be explained without taking into account the specifics of a certain epoch. Europe was going through a turning point, and new times were about to emerge on the historical arena. The era of modernization was maturing in its depths, being marked by dramatic upheavals, the destruction of traditional ideas about the world and the outstanding achievements of the human spirit. <…> Europe began to discover and to conquer the American and the Asian universes.”

More precise information about Ivan Fyodorovich’s life could also be found in the electronic copy of the book. Growing up in the outskirts of the city of Revel (currently Tallinn, Estonia), he came from the Baltic German nobility, who had been in the Russian service for quite a long time. He received his education at home and at the school at the Revel kirchen. At the age of 15 Kruzenshtern was admitted into the Kronstadt naval corps, but due to the war with Sweden he was prematurely released for participation in hostilities.

In 1793, the 22-year-old Lieutenant Ivan Kruzenshtern went “to study seamanship in the real way” to England among the best young officers. Lisyansky, Golovnin, Bellingshausen and others, who later became famous captains and who brought much benefit to their Fatherland were between them. Ivan Fyodorovich has sailed to the shores of North America, the Antilles, to India and even to southern China aboard the English vessels, but more and more often thought about his own expedition. He was very concerned about the fact that “all the countries of the world are trading on the seas around the world, and only Russia is excluded from their amount, and after all, Russia is located so well for oversea trade.” Kruzenshtern submitted his first proposal for round-the-world voyage upon his return to the homeland in 1799. The navigator suggested to send the ships regularly to the northern part of the Pacific Ocean to protect our colonies and to supply them with everything necessary: “Even bread is one of those needs; because there is no any agriculture neither on the Aleutian Islands, nor on the coast of America.” As known, the Russians were the first Europeans to establish settlements on the northwest coast of America, along which the sea beast was fishing, and a trade was developing. The project was submitted to the Admiralty, but was rejected.

An electronic copy of the fundamental Kruzenshtern’s work entitled A journey around the world in 1803, 4, 5 and 1806 on the vessels “Nadezhda” and “Neva” available on the Presidential Library website contains all the details about the famous expedition. Only in 1802, at the beginning of the reign of Emperor Alexander I, the case’s wheels were set in motion. Admiral Nikolai Mordvinov and the head of the Russian-American Company Count Nikolai Rumyantsev have greatly contributed in it. The company was actively developing and needed additional support from the state.

The initiators of the “circumnavigation” have managed to prove to the tsar that the supply of colonies is beneficial only if granted a communication by means of sea. “Before that, all the most necessary provision was delivered through Yakutsk to Okhotsk in overland, to which more than 4,000 horses were used annually, and that is why they raised prices for everything, and in Okhotsk — to the extreme. So, for example, a 35 lb. bag of rye flour costs 8 rubles there, whereas in European Russia it was sold at 40 or 50 kopecks. The transportation of the anchors and ropes seemed absolutely impossible…”

This time the project was approved. Krusenstern was appointed a commander of the expedition, for which two sloops were assigned — “Nadezhda” (lit. a hope) and “Neva.” Yuri Fedoroovich Lisyansky was appointed Kruzenshtern’s assistant and a commander of the second sloop: “I would be very happy to serve together with you…” Detailed recommendations, routes and the expectations of seafarers are described in the handwritten document entitled Instruction of the Main Board of the Russian-American Company to the chief of the first Russian round-the-world expedition Lieutenant-Commander I. F. Krusenstern is available on the Presidential Library website.

Apart the crushing storms, sometimes tearing sails, anything could happen on board of both sailboats during the expedition. “The longer the voyage lasted, — as we can read in the richly illustrated book entitled The Russian journeys round the world. From Krusenstern to “Sedov”, — the meals became more pore. We ate corned beef three times a week. Sometimes, caught tuna or mackerel became a very well addition to the table.”

Yet, even in such harsh conditions, the expedition members also needed, apart from to survive, to do triangulation survey, to make notes in personal diaries of observations, to help taken on board naturalists. Kruzenshtern was in charge of the entire sloop and a crew, supervised navigational and did astronomical observations, and overall conducted an extensive scientific work. All this can be read in an electronic copy of the publication Admiral I. F. Krusenstern. The first Russian navigator around the world.

Three years later Kruzenshtern returned from round-the-world voyage “with a rich catch of scientific information.” The new islands, straits, reefs, bays appeared on the map of the world. Russian navigators managed to study various currents and to discover the between etesian winds countercurrents in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In both Russia and abroad, Kruzenshtern was deservedly considered the best hydrograph of the Pacific Ocean. The report of the leader of the expedition was translated into European languages and, besides the specialists, also became accessible to the wide reading public. As a result, according to the number of exploratory voyages in the first half of the XIX century, neither Britain, nor France, nor Holland could compare with Russia.

The last 16 years of service Kruzenshtern was the director of the Marine Cadet Corps, paving the new ways for this field. With him, new disciplines were introduced, the library was expanded and, with the permission of the emperor, a special officer class was established for the most capable cadets. Having received an opportunity to work in this direction, Kruzenshtern glorified the Russian fleet with a number of “precious works that were recognized by the entire educated world worthy of full attention.” The Russian fleet has now received domestic educational literature, which is in use in the times we live in.

Both contemporaries and the followers of Kruzenshtern valued him for his enormous contribution to world science, but no less — for his outstanding human qualities. Fund raising for the monument, installed opposite the Marine Cadet Corps in commemoration of the centenary from the birth of Kruzenshtern became a real endorsement of this. This is the best ever monument to the naval commander of Russia — according to sailors of different generations. That way Ivan Krusenstern returned to his native Naval Cadet Corps — currently, the Military Institute of the Military Educational and Scientific Center of the Navy “Naval Academy named after Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union N. G. Kuznetsov” — and stands on the embankment of the Neva, as if he is seeing off new and new generations of graduates of Russian seamen.