Dmitry Yakovlevich Laptev (1701 - ) was a Russian Arctic

Arctic

The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

 explorer and Vice Admiral

Vice Admiral

Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...

 (1762).

Dmitry Laptev was born in the village of Bolotovo, near Velikie Luki, in 1701. Bolotovo was the estate of his father, Yakov Laptev. Yakov's brother, Prokofiy Laptev, owned a nearby estate called Pokarevo, where in 1700 Dmitry's cousin, Khariton Laptev

Khariton Laptev

Khariton Prokofievich Laptev was a Russian naval officer and Arctic explorer.Khariton Laptev was born in a gentry family in the village of Pokarevo near Velikiye Luki , just a year before his cousin Dmitry Laptev was born in the nearby village of Bolotovo.Khariton Laptev started his career in the...

, was born.

Dmitry Laptev started his career in the navy

Navy

A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...

 as a cadet

Cadet

A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...

 in 1718. In 1736, he was appointed leader of one of the parties of the Second Kamchatka expedition. As a result of his voyages by land and sea in 1739—1742, Laptev described the sea coastline from the mouth of the Lena River

Lena River

The Lena is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean . It is the 11th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest watershed...

 to the Cape Bolshoy Baranov (east of the mouth of the Kolyma River

Kolyma River

The Kolyma River is a river in northeastern Siberia, whose basin covers parts of the Sakha Republic, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and Magadan Oblast of Russia. Itrises in the mountains north of Okhotsk and Magadan, in the area of and...

), basin

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 and mouth of the Anadyr River

Anadyr River

Anadyr is a river in the far northeast Siberia which flows into Anadyr Bay of the Bering Sea and drains much of the interior of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Its basin corresponds to the Anadyrsky District of Chukotka....

, and land route from the Anadyr fortress to the Penzhinskaya Bay

Penzhinskaya Bay

Penzhina Bay , also Penzhin, Penzhinsk or Penzhinskaya Bay, Gulf or Sound, is a long and narrow bay off the northwestern coast of Kamchatka, Russia....

. In 1741—1742, Laptev surveyed the rivers of Bolshoy Anyuy and Anadyr. After the expedition, he continued his military service in the Baltic Fleet

Baltic Fleet

The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...

. Laptev was promoted to Vice Admiral

Vice Admiral

Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...

 rank in 1762, and retired same year.

A cape in the delta

River delta

A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...

 of the Lena River and a strait

Strait

A strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...

 between the Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island and Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

n mainland

Mainland

Mainland is a name given to a large landmass in a region , or to the largest of a group of islands in an archipelago. Sometimes its residents are called "Mainlanders"...

 bear his name. The Laptev Sea

Laptev Sea

The Laptev Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, the Taimyr Peninsula, Severnaya Zemlya and the New Siberian Islands. Its northern boundary passes from the Arctic Cape to a point with co-ordinates of 79°N and 139°E, and ends at the Anisiy...

 is also named after Dmitry Laptev (and Khariton Laptev

Khariton Laptev

Khariton Prokofievich Laptev was a Russian naval officer and Arctic explorer.Khariton Laptev was born in a gentry family in the village of Pokarevo near Velikiye Luki , just a year before his cousin Dmitry Laptev was born in the nearby village of Bolotovo.Khariton Laptev started his career in the...

).