Vasily Golovnin
Encyclopedia
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
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Ryazan Oblast
Ryazan Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Ryazan, which is the oblast's largest city. Population: -Geography:...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
' onMouseout='HidePop("3347")' href="/topics/Saint_Petersburg">Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia), was a Russian navigator
Navigator
A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation. The navigator's primary responsibility is to be aware of ship or aircraft position at all times. Responsibilities include planning the journey, advising the Captain or aircraft Commander of estimated timing 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...
, and Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....
(1818).
Early life and career
Vasily Mikhailovich Golovnin was born in April 1776, in the village of Gulyniki in Ryazan Oblast, on his father's country estate. Both his father and grandfather had served in the Russian military as officers in the elite Preobrazhensky Lifeguard regiment. Golovnin appeared set to continue the family tradition, but his father died while he was still a child, and at the age of twelve he was enrolled in the Russian Naval College as a cadet. He graduated four years later in 1792.Golovnin entered active service as a midshipman in May and June of 1790, participating in several naval battles against the Swedes
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. He served in several foreign campaigns between 1793 and 1798. From 1798 to 1800 he served as adjutant and interpreter to Vice Admiral M. K. Makarov, commander of a Russian squadron operating jointly with the British fleet in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
.
On the orders of Tsar Alexander I
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
, Golovnin was sent, along with several other Russian officers, to obtain further training aboard British ships. He served three years (1802–1805) with the British fleet under Admirals Nelson, Collingwood, and Cornwallis
William Cornwallis
Admiral the Honourable Sir William Cornwallis GCB was a Royal Navy officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. He was the brother of Charles Cornwallis, the 1st Marquess Cornwallis, governor-general of India...
. During this period, war was once again declared between the British and French, and Golovnin saw action while serving under Admiral Nelson.
He returned to Russia in 1806, and began compiling a code of naval signals on the English pattern, which remained in use by the Russian fleet for more than twenty years.
Diana's voyage
Golovnin was given command of the sloop Diana in 1806, and made his first voyage around the world (1807—1809), with the object of conducting a survey of the northern Pacific, and transporting supplies to OkhotskOkhotsk
Okhotsk is an urban locality and a seaport at the mouth of the Okhota River on the Sea of Okhotsk, in Okhotsky District, Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. Population: 4,470 ;...
.
The Diana set sail from Kronstadt
Kronstadt
Kronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt |crown]]" and Stadt for "city"); is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland. Population: It is also...
on July 7, 1807. A severe storm in April 1808 prevented the Diana from sailing around Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
, and Golovnin decided to set sail for the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, to restock the ship's supplies. He anchored in the nearby port of Simon's Town
Simon's Town
Simon's Town , sometimes spelled Simonstown; is a town in South Africa, near Cape Town which is home to the South African Navy. It is located on the shores of False Bay, on the eastern side of the Cape Peninsula. For more than two centuries it has been an important naval base and harbour...
on May 3, 1808. Golovnin, having been at sea for ten months, was unaware that Russian relations with Britain had deteriorated, and Russia had allied herself with the French. The Diana was immediately detained as an enemy vessel by a British naval squadron, pending receipt of appropriate instructions from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Golovnin and his crew spent more than a year detained aboard the Diana at Simon's Town awaiting a decision from British authorities. When it became increasingly clear that a decision might never come, Golovnin began to plot their escape. On May 28, 1809, perfect conditions presented themselves - a fair wind and poor visibility. The crew severed the anchor cables, and managed to successfully sail out of the bay, passing directly in front of several British warships. Once the British discovered that they had escaped, they set off in pursuit, but failed to overtake the Diana, which sailed safely to Kamchatka. News of the Dianas "audacious escape" quickly spread throughout the world.
In 1819, Golovnin published an account of their voyage, detention and escape, titled Journey of the Russian Emperor’s sloop Diana from Kronstadt to Kamchatka.
Golovnin left Kamchatka in 1810, sailing to Baranof Island
Baranof Island
Baranof Island, also sometimes called Baranov Island, Shee or Sitka Island, is an island in the northern Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle, in Alaska. The name Baranof was given in 1805 by Imperial Russian Navy captain U. F. Lisianski to honor Alexander Andreyevich Baranov...
, a recently settled outpost of the Russian-American Company
Russian-American Company
The Russian-American Company was a state-sponsored chartered company formed largely on the basis of the so-called Shelekhov-Golikov Company of Grigory Shelekhov and Ivan Larionovich Golikov The Russian-American Company (officially: Under His Imperial Majesty's Highest Protection (patronage)...
.
Captivity in Japan
In 1811, Golovnin described and mapped the Kuril IslandsKuril Islands
The Kuril Islands , in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater...
from the Strait of Hope to the eastern shores of Iturup Island (Etorofu
Etorofu
Etorofu was an escort ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II....
in Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
).
While exploring Kunashir Island
Kunashir Island
Kunashir Island , possibly meaning Black Island or Grass Island in Ainu, is the southernmost island of the Kuril Islands, which are controlled by Russia and claimed by Japan ....
(Kunashiri in Japanese), Golovnin was lured ashore, taken prisoner, charged with violating Sakoku
Sakoku
was the foreign relations policy of Japan under which no foreigner could enter nor could any Japanese leave the country on penalty of death. The policy was enacted by the Tokugawa shogunate under Tokugawa Iemitsu through a number of edicts and policies from 1633–39 and remained in effect until...
(a Japanese policy prohibiting foreigners from entering Japan), and held captive for two years by the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese on the island of Hokkaido
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
. Golovnin was said to possess a "superior education and fascination with foreign cultures." After making one failed attempt to escape his captures, Golovnin decided to utilize his time in detainment to master the Japanese language
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, and familiarize himself with Japanese culture and traditions.
Golovnin was released in 1813, returned to Russia, and published an account of his years in captivity. His book, Captivity in Japan During the Years 1811, 1812, 1813, became an instant classic. It was hailed in Russia as an authoritative volume on Japanese culture, and helped shape an entire generation's view of Japan. Golovnin clearly respected the Japanese, portraying them "as intelligent, as patriotic, and as worthy rivals" of the Russians in the Pacific.
Around the world on the Kamchatka
In 1817, Golovnin set out on a second voyage around the world aboard the frigate Kamchatka. Serving under him were three future Russian explorers of prominence - Fyodor LitkeFyodor Petrovich Litke
Count Fyodor Petrovich Litke , born Friedrich Benjamin Lütke, was a Russian navigator, geographer, and Arctic explorer. He became a count in 1866, and an admiral in 1855. He was a Corresponding Member , Honorable Member , and President of the Russian Academy of Science in St.Petersburg...
, Fyodor Matyushkin
Fyodor Matyushkin
Fyodor Fyodorovich Matyushkin was a Russian navigator, Admiral , and a close friend of Aleksandr Pushkin.Matyushkin graduated from Tsarskoselskiy College in 1817...
, and Ferdinand von Wrangel
Ferdinand von Wrangel
Baron Ferdinand Friedrich Georg Ludwig von Wrangel – May 25 , 1870) was a Russian explorer and seaman, Honorable Member of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences, a founder of the Russian Geographic Society...
.
The objective was to deliver supplies to Kamchatka, and survey previously unexplored islands along what is now the northwestern coast of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. Golovnin was also tasked with compiling a report detailing relations between the Kodiak Island
Kodiak Island
Kodiak Island is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is the second largest island in the United States and the 80th largest island in the world, with an...
ers and employees of the Russian-American Company.
After returning to Russia in September 1819, Golovnin published Around the World on the Kamchatka, describing his voyage, and his encounters with the native Kodiak and Sandwich Islanders
Sandwich Islands
Sandwich Islands was the name given to the Hawaiian Islands by James Cook on one of his voyages in the 1770s. James Cook named the islands after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, a supporter of Cook's voyages...
.
Though the journey had "achieved little in the way of new discoveries," Golovnin returned with "a vast store of scientific and astronomical information" to share with Russian scientists.
Later career and death
In 1821, Golovnin was appointed assistant director of the Russian Naval College, and later, in 1823, General QuartermasterQuartermaster
Quartermaster refers to two different military occupations depending on if the assigned unit is land based or naval.In land armies, especially US units, it is a term referring to either an individual soldier or a unit who specializes in distributing supplies and provisions to troops. The senior...
of the Fleet.
A talented administrator, Golovnin successfully managed the activities of the shipbuilding
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
, commissariat, and artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
departments. Under his supervision, over two hundred ships were built, including the first Russian steamships. Golovnin also served as a mentor to numerous Russian navigators, including the aforementioned Fyodor Litke and Ferdinand von Wrangel.
Golovnin died of cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
during an epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
that swept through the city of Saint Petersburg in 1831.
Legacy and honors
The village of Golovin, AlaskaGolovin, Alaska
Golovin is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 144.-Geography:Golovin is located at ....
, Cape Golovnin, as well as Golovnin Bay and Golovnin Lagoon, are all named in honor of Vasily Golovnin. A strait between two of the Kuril Islands
Kuril Islands
The Kuril Islands , in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater...
, Golovnin
Golovnin
Golovnin is a caldera located in the southern part of Kunashir Island, Kuril Islands, Russia. It is the southernmost volcano of the Kuril Islands.It is named after Russian explorer Vasily Golovnin....
volcano on Kunashir Island
Kunashir Island
Kunashir Island , possibly meaning Black Island or Grass Island in Ainu, is the southernmost island of the Kuril Islands, which are controlled by Russia and claimed by Japan ....
, capes on Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya , also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as , is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island...
and Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land, Franz Joseph Land, or Francis Joseph's Land is an archipelago located in the far north of Russia. It is found in the Arctic Ocean north of Novaya Zemlya and east of Svalbard, and is administered by Arkhangelsk Oblast. Franz Josef Land consists of 191 ice-covered islands with a...
, are among other landmarks bearing his name. The cape of Point Hope
Point Hope (cape), Alaska
Point Hope is a landhead in the U.S. state of Alaska, located at the western tip of the Lisburne Peninsula. It lies on the Chukchi Sea coast, 40 miles southwest of Cape Lisburne, Arctic Slope at...
in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
was also originally named in Golovnin's honor.
Golovnin's literary works detailing his adventures at sea and on shore remain notable due to his "respect for historical detail...[his] critical ability, literary skill, and lively curiosity."
He was awarded many honors during his life, including the Order of St. Vladimir
Order of St. Vladimir
The Cross of Saint Vladimir was an Imperial Russian Order established in 1782 by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of the Kievan Rus....
and the Order of Saint George, serving as commander of the latter.
Family
Golovnin married the daughter of a TverTver Oblast
Tver Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Tver. From 1935 to 1990, it was named Kalinin Oblast after Mikhail Kalinin. Population: Tver Oblast is an area of lakes, such as Seliger and Brosno...
landowner and retired army officer, Evdokiya Stepanovna Lutkovskaya (1795–1884). All four of Evdokiya’s brothers served in the Russian Navy; two of them, Peter and Feopemt Lutkovsky, became Admirals, and rose to great prominence.
Admiral Feopemt Lutkovsky (1803–1852) served under Golovnin during his voyage aboard the Kamchatka (1817–1819). Feopemt was described as "free thinking", and according to testimony given by individuals involved in the Decembrist Uprising, he was in close communication with several members of their society. He avoided prosecution for treason due to the intervention of Fyodor Litke. Evdokiya's sister Ekaterina also married a naval officer, Rear Admiral Maksim Maksimovich Genning.
Golovnin's son, Alexander Vasilyevich Golovnin (1821–1886), initially followed in his father's footsteps, serving in the Russian Navy.
A close friend and associate of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich
Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia
Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia was the second son of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.During the reign of his brother Alexander II, Konstantin was an admiral of the Russian fleet and reformed the Russian Navy. He was also an instrumental figure in the emancipation of the serfs...
, Alexander retired from the Navy, and served as Minister of Education (1861–1866) under Tsar Alexander II
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
. In addition to his work as a naval officer and bureaucrat, Alexander served as director of the journal Morskoi Sbornik, and was actively involved in the Zemstvo
Zemstvo
Zemstvo was a form of local government that was instituted during the great liberal reforms performed in Imperial Russia by Alexander II of Russia. The idea of the zemstvo was elaborated by Nikolay Milyutin, and the first zemstvo laws were put into effect in 1864...
. It was Alexander who preserved, collected, and eventually published his father's works under the title Works and Translations (Sochineniia i Perevody).
Fiction
- Vasily Golovnin makes an appearance in Patrick O'Brian'sPatrick O'BrianPatrick O'Brian, CBE , born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centred on the friendship of English Naval Captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish–Catalan physician Stephen...
novel The Mauritius CommandThe Mauritius CommandThe Mauritius Command is a historical naval novel by British author Patrick O'Brian. It is fourth in the Aubrey-Maturin series of stories that follow the partnership of Captain Jack Aubrey and the naval surgeon Stephen Maturin. It retells in fictional form the real campaign carried out by the Royal...
.