Baron, navigator, traveler, admiral, corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences (1827), honorary member (1855) of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. One of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society. In 1820-1824. led an expedition that described the coast of Siberia from the Indigirka River to Kolyuchinskaya Bay. Based on survey data, he determined the location of the island, which was later named after him. In 1825-1827 led a round-the-world expedition on the ship "Meek". In 1829-1835 – 6th ruler of Russian settlements in America. In 1855-1857 – Minister of the Navy
F.P. Wrangel was born in the city of Pskov into a noble family. His grandfather was a chamberlain at the royal court, but with the coming to power of Catherine II, he lost not only his huge estates, but also his entire fortune. After the head of the family fled abroad, Wrangel’s father and mother were left without funds. They could not educate their son and gave him to the care of one of their relatives. Soon Ferdinand was left an orphan. One day, Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern was visiting the relatives with whom he lived. The navigator's story about amazing journeys across all the oceans to the shores of Kamchatka and America amazed the boy.
His relatives sent him to the Naval Cadet Corps. Wrangel was recognized as the first of 99 students in terms of success.
On June 21, 1815 he was sent to Revel (Tallinn) to serve in the 19th naval crew. They sailed on the frigate Avtroil in the Gulf of Finland. But Wrangel dreamed of long journeys.
Having learned that the famous navigator Vasily Mikhailovich Golovnin was preparing for a circumnavigation of the world on the sloop "Kamchatka", Wrangel escaped from the ship "Avtroil" an hour before its departure and went on a small Finnish boat to St. Petersburg, found Golovnin and begged him to take him on the ship, even if it was just a simple one. sailor.
A few days later, Wrangel was already on duty on the sloop Kamchatka. This is how his first circumnavigation of the world took place.
The meeting with Golovnin had a decisive influencenot only on the fate of Wrangel, but also on his development as a scientist. After the end of the voyage in September 1819, Golovnin attracted Wrangel to a new project.
On November 10, 1819, Golovnin gave Wrangel the “Project for sending two expeditions from the mouths of the Yana and Kolyma” to read. It was supposed to equip two detachments - Kolyma and Yansky. Golovnin invited Wrangel to lead the Kolyma detachment, which was to search for lands north and east of the Bear Islands.
In May 1820, Wrangel, with the rank of lieutenant, led the expedition and arrived in Irkutsk, where Governor General M.M. Speransky provided the expedition with the most active patronage. The detachment included midshipman Matyushkin, navigator Kozmin, doctor of medicine Cyber, mechanic Ivannikov and sailor Nekhoroshkov. They spent four years in the North(north-eastern coast of Siberia), using spring and summer for trips on the ice and inventory of the shore, and spent the winter in Nizhne-Kolymsk.
On August 15, 1824, Wrangel arrived in St. Petersburg. He described in detail the coast from the mouth of the Indigirka to the Kolyuchinskaya Bay and part of the Bear Islands. He collected valuable information about nature, climate, population and suggested the presence of land opposite Cape Yacana. Almost 50 years later, the American whaler Long discovered the island exactly where Wrangel had expected. He was the first to discover ice islands and give them an accurate description. Established the boundary of the distribution of fast ice in the East Siberian and western parts of the Chukchi seas. An outstanding contribution to the study of the climate of northeast Russia was the organization of systematic meteorological observations in Nizhnekolymsk by Wrangel and Matyushkin. Delivered to science the final proof of the existence of the Northeast Sea Passage.
Returning to St. Petersburg, Ferdinand Wrangel was awarded the Order of Vladimir, 4th degree, and appointed commander of the ship "Meek", on which in 1825-1827. completed an independent circumnavigation of the world. Upon his return, he received the rank of captain 1st rank and appointment to the post of chief ruler of Russian settlements in America.
In Reval (Tallinn), at first sight he fell in love with a girl of amazing beauty, Elizaveta Vasilyevna Rossillon.
The wedding took place inAt the age of 20, Elizaveta Vasilievna arrived with her husband in 1830 in Alaska to Novoarkhangelsk (Sitka - the modern name of the city) - the capital of Russian America.
Here I will make a slight digression, because to say only that Elizabeth Wrangel arrived with her husband in Russian America means to say nothing. Nowadays, we associate any long-distance travel either with a cruise on a luxury sea liner, or with a flight from one continent to another on an airplane. Let's move from our time to the first half of the 19th century...
How did Russian pioneers get to Russian possessions in Alaska at that time? From St. Petersburg to the Urals they traveled in carriages, from the Urals through all of Siberia, mostly off-road, also on horses, but more often on horseback, and sometimes on foot. Pack horses pulled the load. In addition, in order to get to the outskirts of Russia on the Pacific Ocean, it was necessary to overcome dozens of great and small Siberian rivers and lakes, which in itself presented a huge difficulty, since the rivers were also crossed not on motor ships, but on simple plank boats. They had to transport not only themselves and the cargo, but also the horses.
On the way, our travelers were tormented by mosquitoes and midges. In those days, taiga predators also posed a serious problem: bears, lynxes, wolves and tigers. We especially had to take care of food and horses from them. Having endured all the hardships, having reached Okhotsk, we still had to wait for a rare passing ship heading towards Russian possessions in Alaska. This entire journey, at best, took a year, or even more.
Why did I talk about the difficulties of this path, so that you could realize that this path required great courage even from men, not to mention women who decided to share the hardships of fate with their husbands. Did the 20-year-old Baroness von Wrangel have such courage? Most likely no! I think that she was not motivated by courage, but by something completely different. She was a true Orthodox Christian, and the duty of a Christian woman is to be close to her husband where it will be most difficult for him. Elizabeth Wrangel was not stopped even by the fact that she was pregnant and was expecting her first child, whom she gave birth to in the depths of Siberia. The birth was delivered by a midwife.
Arriving with her husband in Alaska, in Novoarkhangelsk, Elizaveta Vasilievna, thanks to her culture, sociability and cheerfulness, did everything to turn the rough and stingy colonial life of Russian bachelor men and family people into a life worthy, interesting and at least similar to that that they had in Russia. Everyone loved her: aristocratic officials, ordinary officers, industrial people, and even the Tlingit Indians, with whom she was always friendly and affectionate. She helped in every way she could. Especially in those conditions, representatives of the highest aristocracy, cut off from the capital's theaters and from the then fashionable salons of interests, where they met with their best friends, were homesick. For them, Elizaveta Vasilievna organized balls, dinner parties, musical evenings and performances. Life in Russian America became most lively under her. The importance of such womenpeople like her were very great in the history of Russian America. At a time when men built ships, went on them to discover new lands, created settlements and forts there, hunted sea animals, transported furs to the Russian shores, conducted trade, their wives created schools, colleges, libraries, taught the children of Russian settlers and aboriginals literacy and specialties, instilled in them a love of knowledge, music, agricultural work, and cared for the sick.
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Elizaveta Vasilievna Wrangel ensured that medical care was at a high level in Russian America.
Where did Russian America get good medical personnel from? It turns out she was preparing them. This is what I found about this in the book of the historian and ethnographer S.G. Fedorova “The Russian population of Alaska and California”: “... since 1816, it was decided to train Creoles at the St. Petersburg Medical-Surgical Academy, due to the acute need of the colonies for medical personnel... Reports of the Russian-American Company show that in Russia Every year there were from 5 to 12 people studying not only marine, commercial, but also medical sciences...” Another interesting fact concerning Elizabeth Wrangel is pointed out by the same historian S.G. Fedorov in the materials of his Institute of General History concerning Russian America: it turns out that through the efforts of Elizabeth Wrangel and her husband in Novoarkhangelsk, the consumption of alcoholic beverages was “... limited, which contributed to the repayment of the debt of the Aleuts and the streamlining of settlements with them.” In the same materials, Fedorov also cites flattering memories of Elizaveta Vasilievna Wrangel, the ruler of the Novo-Arkhangelsk office, K.Kh. Khlebnikov: “...The wild Russian hunters all revered her, the fierce elders of the tribal tribes forgot about enmity with the Russians and praised her virtue... Even in bad weather, the baroness sometimes took walks along the dirty streets..., visiting individual shacks with sick women or children."
I’ll end the story about the first lady of Russian America with words about the enormous respect that even American merchants had for her. This is what the traveler and sailor Vasily Zavoiko wrote about this: “The brig of the American merchant French... carried him away under the name “Lady Wrangel” - in honor of Elizaveta Vasilievna Wrangel.”
Having lived in Alaska for 5 years, she returned in 1835 with her husband to Russia after the end of his term of service.
Returning to Russia, Wrangel made his 3rd trip around the world. Along the way, he negotiated with the Mexican government about the acquisition by Russia of a fertile valley adjacent to the Russian Fort Ross. The Mexican Republic agreed to cede the valley in exchange for the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mexico and Russia. Nicholas I Notrecognized Mexico, and the deal did not take place.
In 1836, Wrangel was promoted to rear admiral, and in 1840. appointed director of the Trade AssociationRussian-American Company (created back in 1799 and located in St. Petersburg).
Wrangel was the most ardent opponent of the signing of the agreement on the sale of Alaska.
In 1855-1857 Wrangel Minister of the Navy
In 1864, Wrangel finally left public service and moved permanently to the Ruil estate in Estonia. He spent the last 6 years of his life in rural seclusion. Day after day he was engaged in meteorological observations, the diaries of which were preserved in his archive.
Wrangel died on May 25, 1870 from a broken heart. He was buried in the Ruil estate.
An island in the Arctic Ocean, as well as a mountain and a cape in Alaska, are named after him. During his life, Ferdinand Petrovich wrote many geographical books and ethnographic works dedicated to the peoples of northwestern America.
First the main ruler of Russian settlements in America (1790-1818) was Baranov Alexander Andreevich (1746-1819).
Until 1790 he was engaged in commercial and industrial activities in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Siberia. Thanks to his energy and administrative abilities, trade relations between Russian settlements in the North significantly expanded. America with California, Hawaii and China; new settlements were created, a number of expeditions were equipped to explore areas of the Pacific coast, the beginning of shipbuilding, copper smelting and coal mining was laid in Russian America, a school was organized in Alaska, etc. He participated in the survey and description of the Chugach Bay, adjacent islands and other areas. An island in the Alexander Archipelago (in the Gulf of Alaska) is named after him.
Wrangel Ferdinand Petrovich-, Russian navigator, admiral, honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1855). One of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society. Graduated from the Naval Corps (1815). In 1817‒19 he participated in... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Wrangel, Ferdinand Petrovich- (Dec. 29, 1796 May 25, 1870) Russian. navigator, admiral, member correspondent (since 1827) and honorary member (since 1855) St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences One of the founding members of Rus. geographical about va. In 1815 he graduated from the Naval Corps. In 1817 19 participated in V.M.’s circumnavigation… … Large biographical encyclopedia
WRANGEL Ferdinand Petrovich- (1796/97 1870) baron, Russian navigator, admiral, corresponding member (1827), honorary member (1855) of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. One of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society. In 1820, 24 the leader of an expedition that described the coast of Siberia from the river... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Wrangel Ferdinand Petrovich- (1796/1797 1870), baron, navigator, admiral (1856), corresponding member (1827), honorary member (1855) of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. One of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society. In 1820 1824 he led an expedition that described the coast of Siberia from... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Wrangel Ferdinand Petrovich- Wrangel (baron, Ferdinand Petrovich) admiral, adjutant general, member of the State Council, honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, member of the Paris Academy of Sciences and many other scientific societies. Born in Pskov on December 29, 1796. In 1807... ... Biographical Dictionary
Wrangel Ferdinand Petrovich
Wrangel, Ferdinand Petrovich- (baron) admiral, adjutant general, member of the State Council, honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, member of the Paris Academy of Sciences and many other scientific societies. Genus. in Pskov on December 29, 1796. In 1807, after the death of his parents, V. was ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
Wrangel, Ferdinand Petrovich- VRA/NGEL Ferdinand Petrovich (1797 1870) Russian navigator, Arctic explorer, member of the correspondent. (1827) and honorary member (1855) of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, one of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society (1845), admiral (1856). Graduated from the Marine... ... Marine Biographical Dictionary
Wrangel Ferdinand Petrovich- Ferdinand (Fedor) Petrovich Wrangel Baron, Russian navigator and polar explorer, admiral Date of birth: December 29, 1796 (January 9, 1797) ... Wikipedia
WRANGEL Ferdinand Petrovich- F. P. Wrangel... Collier's Encyclopedia
Books
- Baron Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel (1796-1870), K. N. Schwartz. This book will be produced in accordance with your order using Print-on-Demand technology. Baron Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel (1796-1870). Biographical sketch of Konstantin Nikolaevich Schwartz... Buy for 4500 rubles
- Travel along the northern shores of Siberia and the Arctic Sea, made in 1820, 1821, 1822, 1823 and 1824. Part 1, F P Wrangel. Baron Ferdinand (Fedor) Petrovich Wrangel (German: Ferdinand Friedrich Georg Ludwig von Wrangell, December 29, 1796 (January 9, 1797), Pskov May 25 (June 6), 1870, Dorpat) Russian navigator and…
Wrangel Ferdinand Petrovich - Russian navigator, admiral, member (since 1827) and honorary member (since 1855) of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. One of the founding members of the Russian Geographical Society. In 1815 he graduated from the Naval Corps. In 1817-19 participated in a circumnavigation of the world on the sloop "Kamchatka". In 1820, with the rank of naval lieutenant, he was appointed head of an expedition that was sent to explore the coast of North-Eastern Siberia, to search for inhabited land north of Chukotka and to finally clarify the issue of connecting Asia with America. In exceptionally difficult conditions, the expedition of F. P. Wrangel consisting of seven people (among them was midshipman F. F. Matyushkin) for four years examined and mapped the coast of Siberia from the mouth of Indigirka to Kolyuchinskaya Bay and part of the Bear Islands. With great accuracy for its time, the expedition identified 115 astronomical points. Three times the expedition headed north across the ice in the hope of finding an inhabited land, which the Chukchi reported. However, unfavorable weather prevented us from reaching our goal. Subsequently, in the place indicated by Matyushkin and Wrangel, an island was discovered, named after F.P. Wrangel. The expedition conducted valuable navigational, hydrographic, geomagnetic and climatic research. The data that the polar sea is not covered with solid, strong ice even in severe frosts turned out to be very important. In addition, Wrangel’s expedition collected information about the natural resources and peoples inhabiting the areas visited. In 1824, Wrangel returned to St. Petersburg from Nizhne-Kolymsk.
In 1825-27, commanding the military transport Krotky, he made his second circumnavigation of the world. During this voyage, in addition to observations of currents and water temperature, regular meteorological observations were carried out for the first time.
In 1829-35. Wrangel was the main ruler of the Russian colonies in Alaska. In this post, he energetically fought against the destruction of fur-bearing animals, streamlined the fur trade, and took care of improving the situation of Russian colonists and local residents. Subsequently, when Alaska was sold to the United States in 1867, Wrangel protested against this sale. From 1840 to 1849 he was director of the Russian-American Company, and from 1855 to 1857 he was minister of naval affairs.
Named after Wrangel: Wrangel Island (East Siberian Sea), Wrangel Cape (Aleutian Islands, Attu Island), Wrangel Mountain (Alaska, upper reaches of the Mednaya River), Wrangel Island (Novaya Zemlya).
F. P. Wrangel is an outstanding explorer of the Arctic shores of Siberia and the adjacent seas, a navigator who made two trips around the world, the main ruler and explorer of Russian possessions in America, one of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society, a prominent public and statesman. The main merit of F. P. Wrangel is the clarification of the outlines of the coast of Siberia between the mouth of the Kolyma River and Kolyuchin Island as a result of a large expedition of 1820-1824, carried out by him together with.
Wrangel was born on December 29, 1796 in Pskov. The boy was orphaned early and was raised by distant relatives. In 1807 he was admitted to the Naval Cadet Corps.
In addition to successful studies, Wrangel devoted a lot of time to independent study of geography and maritime affairs, especially interested in sea travel.
In 1815, after graduating from the corps, Wrangel was promoted to midshipman and seconded to Revel [Tallinn].
As in the corps, all his free time from service he was engaged in improving his maritime education and preparing for long-distance expeditions.
In 1816, Wrangel and Anzhu, later also a famous polar traveler, were assigned to the frigate Avtroil, sailing in the Gulf of Finland.
Having learned that the sloop of war "Kamchatka" under the command of the famous ship would soon be leaving Kronstadt for a round-the-world voyage, Wrangel decided to transfer to this ship at any cost.
Having left the ship under the pretext of illness, Wrangel risked personally appearing to Golovnin and asked to take him with him at least as a simple sailor. Apparently, Wrangel made a good impression on Golovnin and was assigned to the Kamchatka as a junior watch officer.
On August 25, 1817, the Kamchatka left Kronstadt and set off on a circumnavigation. On board were F.F. Matyushkin (a lyceum friend of A.S. Pushkin), as well as F.P. Litke.
On September 6, 1819, the Kamchatka returned to Kronstadt, having circumnavigated the world and visited the coasts of South America, Kamchatka, Alaska, California, the islands of Oceania, as well as the islands of St. Helena and the Azores.
This voyage was of decisive importance for the rest of Wrangel’s life. When in 1819 it was decided to send an expedition to explore the northern shores of Eastern Siberia, Golovnin boldly recommended the twenty-four-year-old lieutenant as the leader of this expedition.
The need for such an expedition was caused by the fact that maps of the northern shores of Eastern Siberia and some adjacent islands compiled during the Great Northern Expedition were far from accurate. This was explained by the fact that in those distant times, only goniometric instruments were used to determine latitudes, and longitudes were determined by the distances traveled.
It was decided to send two naval officers - Wrangel and Anzhu - to the mouths of the Yana and Kolyma to discover “the supposed lands in the Arctic Sea and the most accurate description of the shores of Siberia between the designated rivers beyond the Shelagsky Cape.” This expedition already had chronometers, sextants and mercury horizons, which made it possible to take photographs with great accuracy.
Wrangel’s Kolyma detachment was appointed “to inventory the shores from the mouth of the Kolyma River east to Cape Shelag and from there to the north, to discover an inhabited land, which, according to the Chukchi legend, is not far away.”
Wrangel began to carefully prepare for the expedition and selected his own companions: midshipman F.F. Matyushkin, navigator P.T. Kozmin, Doctor Kiber, mechanic Ivannikov and sailor Nekhoroshkov.
Due to the fact that attempts by previous expeditions to make an inventory of the shores of the “Icy Sea” from ships remained unsuccessful, it was decided to carry out this inventory “on dry land”: in winter - on dogs, in summer - on horses and boats.
Departing from St. Petersburg on March 23, 1820, the detachment arrived in Nizhne-Kolymsk on November 2. Having completed several routes along the coast and inland, Wrangel and Matyushkin made an inventory of the coast from the Kolyma River to Kolyuchin Island, and corrected the position of the coast and a number of islands on the map.
From questioning local residents, Wrangel established that they knew nothing about Sergeant Andreev’s discovery of some land lying north of Kolyma.
Nevertheless, to find this land in 1821, 1822 and 1823. three trips were made on dogs across the ice to the north - at a distance of almost 250 miles from the coast. But no land was discovered.
In total, four trips were made on the ice. And although these campaigns were not crowned with any geographical discovery, they proved the “absence of islands” on the path traveled by Wrangel. The main significance of these trips was that during them very important observations were made on the state of ice in the spring in the East Siberian and Chukchi seas.
In northern Yakutia, approximately at the so-called Siberian Pole of Cold, Wrangel established a meteorological station.
An important contribution of Wrangel and Matyushkin to geography was also the materials they collected about the peoples of North-Eastern Siberia, which had not previously been described by anyone.
For the geography of the Arctic, the existence of the so-called “Great Siberian Polynya”, proven by Wrangel, was very important for the geography of the Arctic, i.e. large open water spaces that prevented Wrangel and Anjou during their repeated attempts to pass north on the ice on dogs (information about this polynya served, among other things, , Nordenskiöld the basis for his bold journey).
Wrangel dedicated his work “A Journey along the Northern Shores of Siberia and the Arctic Sea...” In this work, Wrangel essentially gave the first scientific description of polar ice.
He attached to his essay a map of the travels of both his own and his companions. On this map, an island was placed at approximately 70°10" N latitude and 177° E longitude with the caption "Mountains visible from Cape Yacana in summer."
It must be emphasized that Wrangel put the island on the map, which was later named after him, only according to the stories of the Chukchi (Matyushkin first heard about this, and then Wrangel himself).
In 1849, from the English ship "Herald" under the command of Captain Kellett, they saw, approximately at the site of the island shown by Wrangel, several islands and one large one. On the same day, an island was sighted and visited, named after the ship Herald Island.
An American whaler really saw and partially examined Wrangel Island in 1867. He wrote: “I named this land after Wrangel because I wanted to pay due tribute to the man who 45 years ago proved that the Polar Sea was open.”
On August 15, 1824, Wrangel returned to St. Petersburg, and on March 25, 1825, he already set out on a circumnavigation. The specially built military transport “Krotky” was supposed to deliver cargo to Petropavlovsk and Novoarkhangelsk. His former companions, Lieutenant Matyushkin, navigator Kozmin and Doctor Cyber, also went with Wrangel. The voyage lasted two and a half years - until September 14, 1827. The ship visited the coasts of Brazil, Chile, the Marquesas Islands, Kamchatka, and Alaska.
On the "Krotkoy" the sea surface temperature was regularly recorded twice a day, and the temperature was recorded in a log book, which is why these records were preserved completely intact. These were the first systematic hydrometeorological observations not made on a research vessel.
After returning from the voyage, Wrangel commanded the frigate Elizabeth. At the end of 1828, he was appointed chief ruler of the Russian possessions in America and in November 1829 he arrived with his family in Novoarkhangelsk [Sithu]. Here Wrangel managed to improve the exploitation of the fields. He traveled a lot around Russian America, was on Kodiak, in Kenai Bay, on Spruce Island; Along with his administrative activities, he made ethnographic observations, which resulted in his work “Inhabitants of the Northwestern Coast of America.”
Thanks to his authority, Wrangel did a lot to strengthen Russian possessions in America; in particular, he prevented the British attempt in the spring of 1834 to build a settlement on the border with Russian possessions (along the Styazhan River). In 1836, Wrangel convinced Mexico to cede to Russia the fertile plain near Fort Ross in California, but Nicholas I did not accept the offer, since he did not want to deal with the “rebellious” Mexican Republic, and in 1841 he preferred to sell this fort for next to nothing. After a five-year stay in northwestern America, Wrangel returned to St. Petersburg on June 4, 1836.
After a short directorship in the department of ship scaffolding, Wrangel again took up the affairs of Russian America: from 1838, first as the head of the affairs of the Main Board, and from 1840, as the chief director of the Russian-American Company.
In 1845, together with Wrangel, he took an active part in the organization of the Russian Geographical Society. For several years he was chairman of the Society's general geography department. In 1846, he read a report “On the means of reaching the Pole.” The route and advice for organizing intermediate bases outlined by Wrangel in this report were used 50 years later by Robert Peary during his trip to the North Pole.
In 1849, with the rank of vice admiral, Wrangel retired and settled with his family on his Rupil estate in Estonia.
During the Crimean War, Wrangel was remembered again. He took the post of director of the Hydrographic Department. In May 1855, Wrangel was appointed Minister of the Navy and member of the State Council. In 1856 he was promoted to full admiral.
During Wrangel’s tenure as minister, at his proposal, a technical committee was organized, transformed into an admiralty council, naval officers began to be appointed to the positions of port commanders on the Black and Azov Seas, and the question was raised about the need to create a joint-stock company for ship insurance. At Wrangel’s suggestion, the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade was also formed, which organized urgent flights between the Black and Mediterranean Seas.
In 1857, Wrangel, due to his health, was forced to leave his ministerial post, and in 1864 he abandoned all official activities and settled on his Rupil estate in Estonia. Here he wrote his memoirs and conducted extensive correspondence. Having begun scientific activity at the age of 19, Wrangel devoted all his strength to it until the end of his days. He was elected an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences, a member of many scientific societies and the Scientific Committee of the Maritime Ministry, and directed the journal "Marine Collection".
The book “Journey along the northern shores of Siberia and the Arctic Sea” was published almost simultaneously in Russian, German, English and French. This book has not lost its significance even today.
The Appendices to the “Travel” and other articles by Wrangel are also of considerable interest.
The following names are named after Wrangel: an island in the Chukchi Sea, a bay on the southeastern coast of Alaska, a mountain in Alaska, an island off the western coast of the northern island of Novaya Zemlya and other geographical points.
Bibliography
- Biographical dictionary of figures in natural science and technology. T. 1. – Moscow: State. scientific publishing house "Great Soviet Encyclopedia", 1958. - 548 p.
- Zubov N. N. Ferdinand (Fedor) Petrovich Wrangel / N. N. Zubov // Domestic physical geographers and travelers. – Moscow: State educational and pedagogical publishing house of the Ministry of Education of the RSFSR, 1959. – P. 193-203.
From an article by M. B. Chernenko Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel and Fedor Fedorovich Matyushkin
Back in the 18th century. the search began for a vast landmass, which, according to rumors, lay north of the mouth of the Kolyma. In the 60s of the XVIII century. The main Anadyr commander, Colonel Fedor Plenisner, a participant in Bering’s voyages, became interested in this unknown land. On his orders, Sergeant Stepan Andreev and the “Chukchi Cossack” Nikolai Daurkin traveled along the coast and islands for two years, diligently collecting information about this land among the Chukchi.
Andreev visited the Bear Islands (they received the following name: “...there were quite a lot of bear tracks on those islands, and several live bears were seen, and others were killed”). Daurkin visited the Diomede Islands in the Bering Strait. Having returned, Daurkin, from the words of the Chukchi, said that somewhere near Chukotka, in the ice of the polar sea, there really lies “American land with a standing forest” (i.e., land that is connected to America and on which forest grows); The Chukchi called this land “Tikigen”, and the “Khrakhai” people lived on it. Along with many interesting details, there were many fabrications in his message. Thus, Daurkin said that “Tikigen Land” floated a mile out to sea in strong winds, and returned to its old place in calm weather. Without other information, Daurkin’s stories might not have been given much importance. But in 1764, Sergeant Andreev visited the Bear Islands for the second time. Not far from them, he not only “saw in the great distance what he considered to be the greatest island,” but also set out across the ice to it. Andreev did not reach the island, because twenty miles from it he discovered traces of “unknown people” riding on eight sleds with reindeer sleds, and turned back.
The original reports and daily travel journals of Sergeant Andreev were lost in the archives. Some of them were, however, published, but many years later and not in full. At the end of 1951, documents about Andreev’s campaigns in 1763 and 1764 were published. were accidentally found in the Central State Archive of Ancient Acts in the papers of the office of Catherine II. After a careful analysis, Professor N.N. Zubov and the famous Soviet polar explorer, former captain of the icebreaking steamship "G. Sedov" came to the conclusion that Andreev walked on motionless fast ice to the north-west of the Bear Islands and after six
After half a day of travel, I came almost close to a large low-lying island, then unknown and now called New Siberia.
Andreev's contemporaries inaccurately deciphered his notes. They decided that Andreev walked not to the northwest, but to the northeast from the Bear Islands. Accordingly, on maps of the Arctic they began to designate the vast “Andreev Land”, connecting it with the “Tikigen Land”. There is a belief that the American continent extends deep into the Arctic Ocean and somewhere northeast of Kolyma it comes very close to the Siberian coast.
A few years after Andreev’s campaign, in 1769, ensigns Leontyev, Lysov and Pushkarev were sent to search for “Andreev’s Land”, who carefully examined the area of the Bear Islands; during one of the campaigns they walked 170 miles north of these islands, but did not find any signs of land.
Another fifteen years passed. In 1786, by decree of Catherine II, a geographical and astronomical expedition of a captain-lieutenant and a lieutenant arrived in the Kolyma region. Along with other tasks, she was instructed to explore the land seen by Andreev, or “at least to find out about all the circumstances of this land, such as: is it an island or a solid land stretching from America, is it inhabited by inhabitants and how populous are they, and so on.” However, this attempt also did not produce results.
In the spring of 1810, Gedenstrom, an official exiled to Siberia, walked across the ice in search of a mysterious land. The map he compiled shows that his path ended precisely in the middle of the distance from the mainland coast to the winding line with which Gedenstrom, at 73° north latitude, marked the boundaries of the legendary land.
The Russian flag has long flown over Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. Russian villages arose along the entire northwestern coast of America, right up to the then deserted Bay of St. Francis. One after another, Russian ships left on long voyages around the world to the shores of Russian America. Along the way they discovered dozens and hundreds of previously unknown islands. Russian names multiplied on the map of the World Ocean. But the mystery of the land, lost in the harsh silence of the icy sea, somewhere north of the Kolyma coast, still remained unsolved.
Her turn came only in the twenties of the 19th century, when Arctic research resumed with renewed vigor.
Young naval officers, not satisfied with combat service, dreamed of traveling around the world, of polar campaigns, difficult and dangerous, but promising new glorious discoveries. The “first division” went to the southern polar region. She had the honor of discovering the sixth and final continent - Antarctica. The sloops “Otkrytie” and “Blagomarnenny”, captains Vasiliev and Shishmarev, set off into the waters of the Bering Sea in search of a way to the North Pole. Fyodor Litke headed to the shores of Novaya Zemlya.
The Admiralty entrusted twenty-four-year-old lieutenant Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel with an inventory of the shores of northeastern Siberia - from the mouth of Indigirka to Kolyuchin Island - and the search for the mysterious “Andreev Land”. Midshipman Fedor Fedorovich Matyushkin was appointed his assistant. Together with them on the difficult polar journey were navigator Kozmin, doctor of medicine Cyber, knowledgeable in natural sciences, two sailors - Ivaninkov and Nekhoroshkov; the first of them knew how to be a mechanic, and the second was an excellent carpenter.
Wrangel and Matyushkin first met on board the sloop of war "Kamchatka", which sailed in 1817–1819. circumnavigation to the shores of Russian America.
Wrangel was born into an impoverished noble family. His parents died early, and the orphan found shelter with distant relatives. He read a lot and from an early age strove for naval service.
At the age of fourteen, Wrangel became a student of the Naval Cadet Corps. In his studies he showed excellent diligence and good abilities. Wrangel completed the course first out of ninety-nine of his peers.
In July 1815, a nineteen-year-old graduate of the Naval Corps, midshipman Ferdinand Wrangel, was promoted to midshipman and appointed junior watch officer in the 19th naval crew, then stationed in Reval (now Tallinn). A year later he was transferred to the frigate Avtroil, sailing in the Gulf of Finland. It would seem that a dream has come true. But young Wrangel did not dream of such monotonous service as a combat naval officer. He felt empowered to do more. He dreamed of distant and dangerous campaigns. After standing watch, Wrangel sat down to books, studied mathematics, astronomy, languages, and learned to draw.
When there was a rumor that the famous Golovnin was setting off on a new voyage around the world, Wrangel decided to become part of the Kamchatka crew at all costs. But the chief commander of the Revel port interceded in vain for him. The name of midshipman Wrangel meant nothing to Golovnin, and on a long and responsible voyage he took only officers who were personally known to him. Then Wrangel decided on a daring act: he filed a report of illness to his superiors, and he himself went to St. Petersburg. The young man found Golovnin and asked to take him on a voyage, even as a simple sailor. It remains unknown what Golovnin asked Wrangel about, what questions he asked him about nautical sciences, in any case, he was satisfied with the exam. Wrangel was assigned to the Kamchatka as a junior watch officer.
The crossing of the Atlantic took seventy-one days. "Kamchatka" was on a road well-trodden by many sailors. At the appointed time the bells were struck and the watches changed. In the evenings, the officers whiled away the time in the wardroom. The sailors, gathered on the forecastle, sang songs. During a short stay in Rio de Janeiro, sailors indignantly observed the public trade in “ebony,” as black slaves were called here. We celebrated the New Year at Cape Horn, the extreme tip of the South American continent. A fierce storm marked its entry into the Pacific Ocean. And again the long days of swimming in the ocean dragged on. Only on May 2, 1818, the sloop reached Kamchatka. A channel had to be cut in the ice of the Peter and Paul Harbor so that the ship could approach the shore.
While supplies and equipment delivered from Kronstadt were unloaded, the officers examined the city and became acquainted with the inhabitants of the distant outskirts. In July, the sloop headed for the shores of Russian America.
Novo-Arkhangelsk, the main city of Russian America, and the parish of “Kamchatka” greeted Novo-Arkhangelsk, the main city of Russian America, with a thunderous salute from the palisade of the fortress and the companion ships. Just two decades earlier, the tireless one founded a city on the island of Sitka. Now ships were being built at the edge of the dense Alaskan forest. Children of Aleuts and Indians studied in schools. The leaders of warlike Indian tribes easily visited Russian settlers.
After a short stay, the sloop set off on its further journey. The sailors visited Fort Ross, a Russian settlement near the borders of California, and visited the Hawaiian and Mariana Islands, and the Philippines. And now the Pacific Ocean was left behind, then the Indian. On March 20, 1819, we passed the island of St. Helena, where the British were guarding the unlucky “conqueror of the universe” - Napoleon. And again seventy-four days on the open ocean. Short stop in the Azores. Then - Europe. Baltika. Kronstadt.
The officers and sailors of the sloop learned well Golovnin’s motto: “Duty, honor, justice.” In his eyes everyone was equal. In every sailor, be it an officer or an ordinary sailor, he first of all valued and respected the person. Punching, beatings, vile corporal punishment, so common in the navy of that time, were prohibited on the ship. Love for the homeland, loyalty to military duty, a sense of camaraderie, mutual assistance - these were the qualities Golovnin cultivated in his officers and sailors.
Over the long months of sailing, Golovnin developed simple, cordial relationships with Wrangel, Litke, Matyushkin and other young officers. In the evenings, Golovnin talked with them for a long time, and the young officers who served under his command not only acquired extensive maritime knowledge, but also learned to look at the world around them with new eyes, grew and were enriched spiritually.
On September 5, 1819, the trip around the world, which lasted two years and ten days, was completed. Wrangel and Matyushkin returned from a long voyage as seasoned, experienced sailors.
The instructions of the State Admiralty Department ordered Wrangel’s expedition to “go for an inventory of the shores from the Kolyma River east to Cape Shelag and from there to the north, to the discovery of an inhabited land, which, according to the Chukchi legend, is not far away.”
At the beginning of the winter of 1820/21, after an almost eight-month journey through Siberia, members of the expedition to inventory the shores of the Arctic Ocean reached Nizhne-Kolymsk.
In mid-February 1821, trips along the coast and sea ice began.
First, for reconnaissance, Wrangel and Matyushkin walked along the coast on sea ice from the mouth of the Kolyma to Cape Shelagsky. Because of the cold - all days there were severe frosts of thirty degrees - when working with the sextant, the skin of the fingers froze to the instrument and non-healing wounds appeared on the hands.
By the end of the fifteenth day, the travelers reached their goal - they approached Cape Shelag. “The path around it,” Wrangel wrote in his diary, “surpassed in difficulty and danger everything we had previously experienced.” We had to walk, either falling into loose alluvial snow or climbing steep ninety-foot-high ice hummocks. Heaps of hummocks obscured the cape. And when the travelers approached the shore, they saw black, dense and shiny rock unknown to them. “The gloomy, black cliffs, piled up for centuries, never melting ice mountains, the vast, eternal ice-bound sea, all illuminated by the weak sliding rays of the polar sun barely rising above the horizon, the complete absence of all living things and the uninterrupted grave silence presented to us,” wrote Wrangel , – a picture of seemingly dead nature, which is impossible to describe.”
Ten days after returning to Nizhne-Kolymsk, Wrangel and Matyushkin set out on a new campaign, this time to the north, in search of the “Andreev Land” - the “Unknown Land”.
On March 26, twenty-two loaded sledges left the base on Sukharny, a tiny island in the eastern branch of the Kolyma delta, and set off on a long, difficult journey.
Behind the coastal hummocks a smooth ice plain opened up. The hope for a quick and non-stop journey made me forget about the difficulties I had endured. “Soon, however,” Wrangel wrote, “we became convinced of the infinite difference between the lively, continuously moving ocean and the deadly monotony of the icy desert that surrounded us, the sight of which tired the eye and brought involuntary despondency to a person.”
The monotony of the surrounding ice did not last long, however. The smooth plain was replaced by tangles of hummocks, blocking the path. The deep crevices between them were filled with loose snow. Parallel ridges of hummocks, from a distance resembling frozen ocean waves, sometimes stretched straight to the north, sometimes from west to east. Crossing these ridges, the sleigh slid down, carrying people along with it. Pulling out the sleds took a lot of work.
On top of that, the bright rays of the sun reflected by the surface of the ice blinded people - glasses and black crepe on the eyes did not help.
To escape the blinding sunlight, travelers moved at night. Along the way, they built intermediate food bases: they cut deep holes in the ice and left food and dog food in them for the return trip. The pits were filled with crushed ice, the cracks were filled with snow and filled with water. Frost quickly froze this simple building material, and the ice armor reliably protected the warehouses from animals.
Wrangel immediately sent the freed sledges back to Nizhne-Kolymsk. Finally, only six sledges remained with a two-week supply of food. And the road got worse.
Wrangel went ahead to reconnoiter the way. He drove through a continuous brine of sea water. “Countless cracks in the ice running in all directions, muddy water emerging from them, wet snow mixed with earth and sand particles... everything likened the destroyed surface of the sea to a vast swamp,” he wrote. We climbed over the cracks on boards. But the cracks grew wider. The very first strong squall could completely crush and disperse the ice fields along which the travelers were moving. There was no other, better road.
215 versts from the coast the detachment turned back. To inventory the Bear Islands, the detachment split: one group was headed by Matyushkin, the other by Wrangel. We had to hurry, as spring was coming and the ice movements intensified. On April 25, travelers reached the mainland shore. During the spring thaw, survey work was stopped.
In the summer, the expedition examined and mapped the “Kolyma land”. To do this, the detachment was again divided into three groups: Wrangel worked at the mouth of the Kolyma, Kozmin photographed the coast from the mouth of the Malaya Chukochya River to Indigirka, and Matyushkin went “to the countries lying northeast of the Kolyma.” He climbed char cliffs, swam across fast rivers on horseback, explored the unexplored expanses of the tundra in snow and rain, without fire and without shelter. More than once he had to get wet to the skin, go hungry, and look death in the eye. “Our food itself,” he wrote in one of his letters, “depended on chance; a killed goose, swan, deer, caught fish made us rejoice, forget the past, and the day of fishing was a day of celebration for us.”
Two years have already passed since the expedition left St. Petersburg, and its main goal remained as distant as at the beginning of the journey. The mysterious land, lying somewhere in the north, among the ice, could not be found.
The third expedition on the ice was undertaken in the spring of 1822 from Cape Bolshoi Baranov Kamen. Difficulties began from the first day of the journey, as soon as the travelers broke away from the mainland. Ridges of hummocks alternated with icy plains, on which fresh wind-blown snow lay in high waves. It’s hard to say what made the hike more difficult: the hummocks or this muddy snow plain. The sleigh was buried in the snow, and the dogs were exhausted. People stepped in to help them. The path through the hummocks had to be made with picks. Sometimes the ice contained streaks of bluish silt and coarse sand. People were perplexed: “Where did this silt come from among the endless hummocks?”
The travelers were haunted by mirages. Thick clouds suddenly appeared above the horizon. From a distance they seemed like a long-awaited land. With a simple eye one could see dark blue hills, clear silhouettes of mountains, valleys and even individual cliffs. Congratulating each other, the travelers rushed forward. And after a few hours, the mountains rose high into the clouds or disappeared, only to reappear a day or two later in another part of the horizon. People have learned not to believe polar ghosts. They walked forward along a pre-planned course.
Beyond the 71st parallel we came out onto smooth ice, covered with tiny salt crystals that dug into the paws of the dogs. They made only eight to ten miles a day. People walked, helping dogs drag heavy sledges.
On the twenty-fifth day, the path was blocked by a pile of hummocks. For seven hours in a row, people, clearing the road, chiseled the hard ice with picks. Exhausted from fatigue, they unbuttoned their jackets, and then the frost immediately froze the underwear, wet from perspiration; it became hard, scratched and burned the skin.
And from the north came the ominous roar of breaking ice.
In seven hours we covered only three miles. At a halt, Wrangel decided to consult with Matyushkin and Kuzmin. What should I do? Should we go further north? Is it still worth the risk? It was 250 miles of difficult travel to the shore. And the nearest settlement is even further – 390 versts.
The next morning Matyushkin and two guides went on reconnaissance. He returned only six hours later. During this time, he managed to cover only ten miles, and these were the last miles of the journey. Then the sea raged: the ocean was casting off its winter shackles. Huge ice floes rose on the ridges of raging waves, collided with a crash, broke, crumbled, disappeared into the abyss and were thrown up again, covered with silt and sand raised from the seabed.
So, the way to the north was closed. While the ice was still holding, it was necessary to have time to get to the nearest warehouse. But I really didn’t want to leave the ice without snatching the secret of the unknown land from them!
Wrangel decided to travel a little more to the northeast. On the morning of the twenty-seventh day of the journey it began to snow. The teams again entered the hummocks. And from afar the same dull rumbles of thunder could be heard. Thick blue steam rising above the horizon also foreshadowed the rapid movement of ice. It was time to turn south, towards the motherland.
The wood was running out. They were only enough to light a fire once a day and make tea. I ran out of fish oil. They ate dried and frozen fish. They tried to quench their thirst with snow, but it made them even more thirsty. I was overcome by fatigue.
On April 12, 1822, the travelers were at 72°02" northern latitude, 262 versts from the Kolyma coast. From here they turned back.
At the first warehouse, the cellar was filled with water that had penetrated through a small crack in the bottom. Fortunately, the supplies were preserved, although they were wet.
After forty-six days of wandering on the ice of the polar sea, on May 1, 1822, Wrangel’s detachment came ashore.
A year later, Wrangel’s detachment set off on its final, fourth campaign. This time Cape Shelagsky was designated as the starting point. Arriving there, the travelers met the Chukchi, who told them new information about an unknown land lost in the Arctic Sea.
Among the Chukchi there was an old man, whom the rest of his fellow tribesmen treated with deep respect. It was Kamakai, the leader of the Chukchi tribe that lived on the coast of the Chaunskaya Bay. Having made sure that the Russians did not harbor any hostile thoughts, he began to willingly answer their questions. Kamakai knew his region well. His information about the nature of the coast and the features of the area was impeccably accurate.
He said that on clear summer days, mountainous land can be seen far out to sea from Cape Yakan. He heard from his father that once a Chukchi elder and his household went there in a large leather canoe and did not return.
This confirmed the story that Matyushkin had heard from the Chukchi two years earlier, while visiting a fair in the village of Ostrovnoye on Anyui, where industrialists from all over the area annually gathered to trade.
Inspired by hope, the travelers left for this trip. The path this time turned out to be very difficult. One night a strong storm broke the ice. People and dogs found themselves on a small ice floe. In the morning, fortunately, the wind consolidated the ice.
At 70°51" north latitude, the path was blocked by a wide polynya, extending to the west and east to the very horizon.
“We climbed,” Wrangel wrote, “on the highest of the surrounding hummocks in the hope of finding a means to penetrate further, but, having reached its top, we saw only the vast open sea. A magnificently terrible and sad sight for us! Huge ice floes rushed on the foaming waves of the sea and, carried by the wind, ran onto the loose ice surface that lay on the other side of the channel... With the sad confirmation of the impossibility of overcoming the obstacles set by nature, the last hope of discovering the land we supposed, in the existence of which we already there was no doubt. We had to abandon the goal that we had been constantly striving to achieve for three years, despising all hardships, difficulties and dangers. We did everything that duty and honor required of us. To fight the force of the elements and the obvious impossibility was reckless and even more useless. I decided to return."
Having reached the shore, the expedition went east with the inventory. From high cliffs jutting out into the sea, Wrangel and Matyushkin peered into the foggy distance. The hope of seeing the desired land never left them. But it was all in vain.
From Cape Yakan Matyushkin once again turned north, across the sea ice. Here, according to the stories of the Chukchi, the unknown land came closest to the shore of the Asian continent. Matyushkin managed to travel only 16 miles: then huge ice holes crossed the road on all sides. At this time, Wrangel continued to inventory the shore. He reached Kolyuchinskaya Bay and only when the dog food ran out did he turn back. Wrangel returned to Nizhne-Kolymsk six days later than Matyushkin.
In Nizhne-Kolymsk, Wrangel was awaiting an order from the Admiralty: to finish the expedition and return to St. Petersburg at the first opportunity. Soon Wrangel and Matyushkin left the gloomy northern shores. They did not find the “Unknown Land,” but they could proudly say that the expedition’s three-year labors were not in vain. Domestic geography received detailed maps of a huge section of the Siberian coast - from Indigirka to Kolyuchinskaya Bay. These maps have long outlived their authors. The coastline was plotted by Wrangel, Matyushkin and Kozmin with great accuracy. The determinations of latitudes made by the Wrangel expedition differ by only a few seconds from modern ones. The high degree of accuracy of these determinations, produced by extremely imperfect instruments, is admirable.
Extensive information was collected about the polar ice, the nature of the Kolyma and Chukotka lands, about the peoples inhabiting the extreme northeast of Russia, their life, morals and customs.
Wrangel’s book “Journey along the northern shores of Siberia and the Arctic Sea,” which in separate chapters included Matyushkin’s reports on travels deep into the Kolyma tundra, published in 1841, served as a guide for polar explorers for a long time.
And finally, as a result of the Wrangel-Matyushkin expedition, the answer to the question about the unknown land was given. Three bold expeditions across the ice and the stories of the Chukchi strengthened Wrangel’s conviction that such a land existed, but it was located much further east than they were looking for, and not as vast as previously thought. This land was indicated on the map compiled by the expedition members, directly north of the small Cape Yakan, protruding on the mainland between Chaunskaya Bay and Cape Ir-Karpiy (now Cape Schmidt). Here, next to the circle denoting the island, it said: “The mountains are visible from Cape Yakan in the summer.”
Forty-four years later, a ship approached this land for the first time. A deserted piece of land was named after Wrangel. With the same right it could be called the island of Fyodor Matyushkin.
The successes of the outstanding polar journey belong equally to both young officers. Matyushkin, more lively and energetic, carried out the most dangerous reconnaissance. He was the first at the fair in Ostrovnoye to receive information from the Chukchi about the land “as seen from Cape Yakan.” His trek across the eastern tundra is one of the most heroic pages of the expedition.
But in those days, the achievements of any campaign, as a rule, were associated exclusively with the name of the commander. Matyushkin’s merits remained in the shadows.
Returning to St. Petersburg, Matyushkin wrote bitterly from Moscow to E. A. Engelhardt:
“Not a word about ranks and awards - what they give will happen - but there is little hope. You know, Yegor Antonovich, how tight it is in our fleet. Will we soon have line production across our fleet? and will I be included in this number of the chosen ones? In two months it will be seven years since I have been in the service, seven years since I left the lyceum - and still in the first rank - still a midshipman...”
The campaign brought great fame to Wrangel. He again rushed to the North, trying at all costs to find inaccessible land. But Naval Minister de Traverse recognized the continuation of the expedition as untimely, and Wrangel had to return to his duties as a combat naval officer.
At this time, preparations for a new round-the-world voyage were being completed - on the military sailing transport "Meek". Golovnin invited Wrangel to lead the expedition.
On August 23, 1825, “Meek” left Kronstadt. Lieutenant Matyushkin and navigator Kozmin went on the voyage together with Wrangel.
The voyage of the “Meek” was the twenty-fifth circumnavigation of Russian sailors to the shores of Russian America. Lazarev, Kotzebue, Gegemeister, Panafidin have already followed the path of Krusenstern, Lisyansky and Golovnin twice; Vasiliev, Shishmarev, Dokhturov walked.
The sloop "Meek" was an ordinary military transport, designed to transport provisions and equipment to distant possessions. Russia. Its crew numbered fifty people, including six officers, a doctor and forty-two sailors.
And now Kronstadt harbor was left behind. Passed Copenhagen, Portsmouth. In forty-six days, the sloop crossed the Atlantic Ocean and arrived at the shores of Brazil.
The Meek left the harbor of Rio de Janeiro on December 14, 1825, the day when the Decembrists spoke on Senate Square in St. Petersburg. Only almost two years later Matyushkin learned about the tragic fate of many of his friends.
The days of sailing passed monotonously. After a short stay in the port of Valparaiso (Chile), the crossing of the Pacific Ocean began. Two months passed quickly, but the goal was still far away. Fresh water and firewood were running out, the ship, pretty battered by storms, needed repairs. The Marquesas Islands lay on the way, and the Meek entered the port of Chichagov on the island of Nuka Hiva.
After a week's stop near Nuka-Khiva, the Meek moved on. As during the entire voyage, the officers measured and recorded air and water temperatures, wind directions, and current speeds four times a day.
Two months later, the “Meek” entered the Peter and Paul Harbor. Having handed over the cargo, the transport hurried to Novo-Arkhangelsk and on September 12, 1826, set off on the return journey. The voyage to Kronstadt took exactly a year. On September 14, 1827, the entrance forts of Kronstadt saluted the brave sailors who returned to their native shores.
Ten years of joint voyages and voyages, first on the Kamchatka, then across the snowy expanses of north-eastern Siberia and, finally, on the Meek, did not bring Wrangel and Matyushkin closer. Almost the same age (Wrangel was only three years older than Matyushkin), they remained different people. The dry and pedantic Wrangel, who devoted himself to the sea and science, shunned everything that could distract him from his official activities. And Matyushkin was close and understandable to the passionate, freedom-loving thoughts that once overwhelmed his comrades at the Moscow university boarding school and lyceum. If he had not happened to leave on the Meek, he would probably have been among his friends on Senate Square on the frosty day of December 14, 1825.
Continuing to serve their native fleet, Wrangel and Matyushkin, after sailing on the Meek, went different ways.
Wrangel stayed in St. Petersburg for a little over a year. His appointment as a member of the Scientific Naval Committee and commander of the combined naval brigade brought him moral satisfaction, but the financial situation of his family (Wrangel had just gotten married) remained difficult. In the winter of 1828, Wrangel submitted a petition for his release from active service for five years and permission to accept the post of chief ruler of the Russian possessions in America offered by the Russian-American Company. Permission was given.
Thus a new page opened in Wrangel’s biography.
For more than five years Wrangel ruled Russian America. He visited many corners of the company's vast holdings - in the Kenai Bay, on Kodiak, on Spruce Island.
Under Wrangel, in the far north of Alaska, in the depths of Norton Bay, near the mouth of the Yukon, the Mikhailovsky Redoubt, the northernmost Russian settlement in northwestern America, was founded. And at the other end of the Russian possessions, near the borders of sunny California, stood the strong, beautiful buildings of Fort Ross. It was surrounded by fields and abundant orchards. Having heard about the hospitality of the Russians and observing their peaceful activities, Indian hunters came here, wandering in the surrounding dense forests. They brought products made from elk horn, pine nuts and other gifts to the Russians. In remote forest villages, Russian-made iron axes and other household items appeared. Russian settlers brought a new culture to this region.
In those same years, Russians from fortresses on Nushagak and Kuskokuim - northern rivers neighboring the deep Yukon - began to go deep into Alaska, discovering previously unknown beaver lands. Elderly industrialists and their families settled in Kenai Bay. They occupied the lands where the potato itself gave birth to twenty and where there was plenty of fish, game and berries. Preserving the main resources of Alaska from destruction, Wrangel developed the rules and procedures for seal fishing on the Pribilof Islands.
The successes of the Russians caused concern among the American and British colonialists. Taking advantage of the weakness of security, foreign trading agents and ships penetrated Russian possessions. Supplying the Indians with firearms and even cannons, they incited them to fight against the Russians, setting themselves the goal of undermining Russian trade with the local population at all costs. The Americans and the British built their trading posts at the very borders of Russian America.
Wrangel returned to Russia, to St. Petersburg, through Mexico, where he managed to convince the authorities to cede to Russia a fertile, uncultivated plain that lay not far from Fort Ross (near the present city of San Francisco). Here it was possible to create a granary that could supply bread to all of Russian America. One thing was required - for Russia to recognize the Mexican Republic. However, Nicholas I rejected this proposal. He considered the Mexicans who had thrown off Spanish rule to be rebels. And in 1841, Fort Ross was sold for next to nothing by the tsarist government, just as all of Alaska was subsequently sold.
In 1836, shortly after returning to St. Petersburg, Wrangel, promoted to rear admiral, was appointed director of the department of ship scaffolding. But he did not remain in this post for long and soon returned to the affairs of Russian America. In 1838, he took over the management of the affairs of the Main Board of the company, and two years later he was appointed chief director of the Russian-American Company.
The range of his interests expanded. Together with the outstanding Russian navigator F.P. Litke and the famous Russian academician; K. M. Baer Wrangel became a founding member of the Geographical Society, founded in 1845. The General Geography Department elected him as its chairman. At one of the first meetings of the new society, Wrangel made a detailed report “On the means of reaching the Pole.” This report summed up the results of the remarkable campaign of Wrangel and Matyushkin on the ice of the East Siberian Sea.
Subsequently, the well-known Robert Peary took advantage of the thoughts of the Russian traveler. Both the route outlined by Wrangel and his advice on organizing intermediate bases were useful to the enterprising American.
In 1849, due to health reasons, Wrangel retired and settled on his estate in the Estonian province.
In 1854, Wrangel was remembered in St. Petersburg. He was offered the post of director of the Hydrographic Department. After a five-year break, Ferdinand Petrovich returned to work. In mid-1855 he was appointed Minister of the Navy and member of the State Council. At the same time, he was a member of the Siberian Committee and a member of the Committee for the Organization of Defense of the Baltic Sea. The following year, 1856, Wrangel was awarded the rank of full admiral.
In 1857, Wrangel resigned from his ministerial post for health reasons and was treated for a year and a half, after which he returned to service and until 1864 participated in the work of the State Council.
In 1867, exciting news arrived that a ship sailing in the Chukchi Sea had found an island “that can be seen in the summer from Cape Yakan.” It was called Wrangel Island. Wrangel was not in St. Petersburg at that time; he went abroad for treatment. And in the summer of 1870, news of his death came from Dorpat (now Tartu).
Bibliography
- Chernenko M. B. Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel and Fedor Fedorovich Matyushkin / M. B. Chernenko. - Russian sailors. – Moscow: Military Publishing House of the USSR Ministry of Defense, 1953. – P. 210-225.
Date of birth: January 9, 1797
Date of Death: June 6, 1870
Place of birth: Pskov, Russian Empire.
Wrangel Ferdinand Petrovich, polar explorer, Wrangel- military sailor, statesman - Ferdinand Friedrich Georg Ludwig von Wrangell.
Ferdinand was born into a high-born German family. His father, Peter Ludwig, had a military rank, his mother, Dorothea von Freimann, was a housewife. Despite eminent ancestors, the family was in need and was forced to give up their son to be raised by relatives.
This was followed by the Naval Cadet Corps, which the young man graduated with honors.
Adult life began with service on the ship "Avtroil" of the Baltic Fleet. In 1817 he set off on his first trip around the world under the leadership of V. Golovnin. After returning, he intensively studied the exact sciences and attended lectures at the University of Dorpat.
This was followed by the study of a wild and unexplored region - Siberia. Both cartographic and ethnographic surveys were carried out. The government appreciated Vrungel’s contribution to science and awarded him a pension and a state award.
In 1825, the second journey around the Earth began, lasting almost two years. Based on its results, he was also awarded orders and titles.
Three years later, he was appointed to the position of frigate captain. This is followed by the honorary and important title of ruler of Alaska, at that time Russian America.
Wasting no time, Vrungel explored and described the vast coast of northwestern America. He also created a station for observing weather phenomena.
After the end of the mission, in 1736 he made his third trip around the globe through Mexico. Along the way, he carries out a number of diplomatic assignments. The captain's merits are recognized not only by Russia - he receives the rank of rear admiral, but also by Great Britain, where he becomes a corresponding member of the geographical society.
Since 1845, Vrungel has been more engaged in scientific activities and founded the Russian Geographical Society. He also actively interacted with the Academy of Sciences.
After the outbreak of the Crimean War, when experienced sailors were needed, he returned to activities related to the navy.
After his retirement in 1846, he spent time on a remote estate in one of the Baltic countries, where he was engaged in weather observations.
Ferdinand Wrangel died in June 1870 from acute heart failure.
Achievements of Ferdinand Wrangel:
Received seven valuable awards of the Russian Empire.
He was one of the first and successful explorers of Alaska.
Was at the origins of the Russian Geographical Society
One of the first explorers of the Siberian coast. He discovered several islands, which he plotted in detail on maps.
The author of five scientific works, where he described his travels in detail. One of the essays in German.
Dates from the biography of Ferdinand Wrangel:
1807 began training in the naval cadet corps.
In 1814 he received the rank of officer.
1817 went on his first trip around the world
1820 began exploration of the rivers and coast of Siberia.
In 1825 he went on his second voyage around the world, which lasted two years.
1836 received the rank of rear admiral.
1840 becomes director of the Russian-American Company.
In 1846 he finally left military and socio-political activities.
1870, June 6, died of acute heart failure.
The Russian history of discoveries is replete with names. A huge number of researchers were from the territory of the Russian Empire, and therefore they carried out their campaigns on its territory. One of these discoverers was the polar explorer Wrangel Ferdinand Petrovich. A short biography of what he discovered and other interesting information will be presented to your attention in the article.
Childhood
Baron Ferdinand, according to the notes of his cousin, found in 1884, was born on December twenty-ninth, 1796 in the city of Pskov. His father was Peter Berendtovich in his Russian name, and in German - Peter Ludwig Wrangel, and his mother was Dorothea-Margarita-Barbara von Freimann. But these are not all the famous names in his pedigree. Since Fedor himself came from a family of Baltic Germans, there must be a logical explanation for this. His grandfather was a chamberlain at the court of Peter III. But as soon as Catherine II ascended the throne, he had to flee.
A very unusual story is connected with the birth of Fyodor Petrovich, which is still not very easy to believe. On the night of December twenty-ninth, 1796, he himself was born. But instead of allowing him to continue his life in his own cradle, he is placed in the one that was intended for a completely different child of Baron Vasily.
On January 6, 1797, this most long-awaited member of the family is born, and, instead of transferring Fyodor to another cradle, Vasily is placed with him. Thus, these two boys live together almost from their very first breath.
Several years pass, and Ferdinand's parents die. The exact cause of their death is unknown, but many attribute it to accidents rather than old age or illness. Since then, young Fyodor has been living on his uncle’s estate, again with Vasily.
Studies
As Ferdinand Wrangel’s brief biography testifies, in 1807 he was assigned to the Naval Cadet Corps. This is one of the oldest (despite a break in activity in 1917) military educational institutions. As a rule, students in junior classes were called cadets, and senior students were called midshipmen. True, this title still had to be earned, since the demands placed on students were serious.
A little time passes, Fedor tries his best, and on June 8, 1812, just in the year of the Patriotic War, he is awarded the title of midshipman. Why was it so valuable? This is a non-commissioned officer rank in the Russian Navy that existed from 1716 to 1917. As a rule, it was worn by particularly distinguished students of academies, or in the periods from 1716 to 1752 and from 1860 to 1882 it was of a combat character.
Almost two years later, on April 6, 1814, Fedor received the long-awaited rank of non-commissioned officer. This is not the highest rank that can be obtained while serving in the navy, but it was sufficient to be included in the junior command of the Armed Forces.
In 1816-1817, Wrangel sailed in the Gulf of Finland on board the frigate Avtroil as part of the 19th naval crew. More precisely, he served in the city of Revel, currently called Tallinn.
First expeditions
The years 1817-1819 remained in Fedor’s memory as the time spent traveling around the world on the sloop “Kamchatka” with Vasily Golovnin. In addition to Ferdinand, geographers such as Fyodor Litke and Fyodor Matyushkin also received good practice. And to confirm that the sailors really set off on a voyage around the world, 43 drawings made by artist Mikhail Tikhanov are most often provided.
Thanks to this expedition, Ferdinand was able to receive the Order of Anna, 4th degree. Fedor was now able to wear a special cross on the hilt of his bladed weapon and a lanyard from the Order Ribbon (popularly nicknamed “Cranberry”), and also received up to 50 rubles in pensions annually.
In the winter of 1819-1820, Fedor studied astronomical, physical and mineralogical sciences in the city of Dorpat. One of the most densely populated at the moment (after Tallinn), it is now called Tartu. The researcher also listened to lectures by teachers V. Ya. Struve (one of the founders of astronomy) and Moritz von Engelhardt. All this knowledge ended up being useful to him in the future.
First own expedition
It's time to talk about what Ferdinand Wrangel discovered. In 1820, Fedor was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, which gave him permission to personally lead a small fleet. Ferdinand did not miss this opportunity, so from 1820 to 1824 he explored the northeastern coast of Siberia.
In addition to Ferdinand himself, there were midshipman Matyushkin, navigator Kozmin, doctor Cyber, mechanic Ivannikov and sailor Nekhoroshkov on the ship. Despite the fact that the composition of the expedition was not too large in comparison with the same one organized by Golovnin, many discoveries were made that were important for the Russian geographical society.
During this expedition, records were made about the coast of Siberia from the Indigirka River to Kolyuchinskaya Bay. This later helped many researchers working on land rather than from the sea. The Bear Islands were also mapped.
As soon as Fedor returned to St. Petersburg, he was awarded a lifelong lieutenant's pension for his discovery. He was awarded four years of service, the Order of St. George and the following rank.
"Meek" conquers the world
On December 12, 1824, Ferdinand Wrangel was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander thanks to discoveries made during his first expedition. Then Fyodor Petrovich decided on a second, but already round-the-world trip, which he had done the very first time.
In 1825-1827, the crew of the ship “Meek”, led by Fyodor Petrovich Wrangel, made its journey around the world. As soon as the captain returned from it, he received the Order of St. Anne of the second degree, as well as a captain-lieutenant salary.
But the researcher’s rewards did not end there. On October 13, 1827, he became a captain of the second rank, and on December 29 of the same year, luck smiled at him and he was elected a corresponding member of the IAN.
Russian America
As the biography testifies, Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel in 1828-1829 captained the ship "Elizaveta", which later became part of the Baltic Fleet. It belonged to the rank of 44-guns, despite the fact that 63 guns were noticed upon re-calculation. On the same ship, on the twelfth of March, Ferdinand received the rank
Until 1835, Fyodor Petrovich was the chief manager of Russian America (Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and the like), having arrived there in 1830. During his stay in Alaska, he explored the entire western North American coast, from the Bering Strait to California. Also, under his leadership, an observatory was created, now called “Sitka”.
Third trip around the world
Ferdinand's third trip around the world happened, oddly enough, through Mexico in 1836, when he was carrying out an assignment for the Russian-American Company. In the same year, on June 8th, he was awarded the rank of rear admiral. This rank is the first in the navies of many countries around the world.
In addition to the new title, Fyodor Petrovich was appointed manager of the ship scaffolding department on August 5th. A year later, on November twenty-ninth, he received the Order of St. George of the fourth degree, and a year later his chest began to be decorated with the second degree.
Since 1837, Wrangel Ferdinand Petrovich was a full member of the Royal Geographical Society of London, founded in 1830 to support geographical science under the patronage of William IV.
Russian activities
Since 1840, Fyodor Petrovich Wrangel was the director of the RAK, localized in St. Petersburg. This is a semi-state colonial trading company that was founded by Grigory Shelikhov and Nikolai Rezanov in July 1799.
True, he did not stay in this post for too long. Seven years later, in 1847, Ferdinand was replaced by Vladimir Gavrilovich Politkovsky. But in 1845, the baron himself became a full member of the Russian Geographical Community.
Ferdinand did not have to sit idle for long, and during 1847-1849 he was director of the Department of Ship Scaffolding of the Ministry of the Navy. He was also elected Chairman of the General Geography Department.
End of career
In 1849, Fyodor Petrovich resigned from his posts as vice admiral. This rank is the third most senior in the entire naval rank system, second only to the admiral himself and the admiral of the fleet. At the moment it is comparable to a lieutenant general in the ground forces.
True, even in retirement, Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel worked quite closely with the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, and in 1855 he became its member with special honors. In general, the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences is a generalized name for a higher scientific institution, adopted in the literature for the Russian Empire of 1724-1917.
In the same year, he became the founder of the Russian Geographical Society, one of the oldest in the world, second only to the Parisian Society, founded in 1821.
Crimean War
With the onset of the Crimean War, Ferdinand had to return from a well-deserved rest, and on September 8, 1854, he was appointed director of the Hydrographic Directorate, which has existed since the reign of Peter I to the present day. Then Baron Wrangel is replaced by Mikhail Frantsevich Reinecke, who, in turn, leaves this post only in 1859.
On February 23, 1855, he was appointed chairman of the Naval Scientific Committee, and some time later, on April 13, he was appointed inspector of the navigator corps.
In 1855-1857, Baron Frangel Ferdinand was Minister of the Navy and served as manager in the ministry. At the moment it is called the Ministry of Maritime Affairs. In the same year he received the Order of St. Vladimir, second degree.
Admiral
On April 15, 1856, for his services at the front, Baron Wrangel received the rank of admiral-adjutant. This rank is very honorable in a number of countries, if only because it is, in fact, the second in seniority. Previously, he was a military man, but from the 18th - early 20th centuries he was a member of the retinue. That is, all the people who had it were in the personal retinue of the emperor (empress).
On August twenty-sixth of the same year, he became an admiral, thereby gaining a foothold at the very top of the navy. True, he did not have to command for long. On August 8, 1857, due to heart problems, he was dismissed from the post of Minister of Navy and left his post in the ministry.
Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel, whose biography is full of interesting facts and events, did not grieve especially, because he still remained a member of the State Council - the highest legislative body of the Russian Empire in 1810-1906, as well as the upper house of the Parliament of the Russian Empire in 1906-1917. On September 8, 1859, Ferdinand was awarded the Order of the White Eagle.
Second attempt to resign
The year 1864 was remembered by Fyodor Petrovich because then he resigned again. True, now no wars were expected on the horizon. He moved permanently to Estland, to the Roel estate. It was a one-story house built in the 1st half of the 18th century. At the end of the century, the building was completed, which is why the right wing became two-story. The entire building was built in a characteristic Baroque style.
Ferdinand Wrangel, whose brief biography is presented to your attention in the article, spent the last six years of his life in solitude, engaged in numerous meteorological observations. Most of them are described in his diary, which has survived to this day. This work, if you can call it that, served as a starting point for many researchers in the future.
last years of life
Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel (you already know what he discovered) spoke very negatively about the sale of Alaska to the United States of America, despite the fact that it was equally beneficial to both states. In his opinion, this was an irreparable loss that could not be compensated for by any money offered by the United States.
Fyodor Petrovich Frangel died on the twenty-sixth of May (sixth of June according to the new art.) 1870, when Yuriev was passing through. This is a city located on the Emajõgi River. The exact cause of death is currently known - heart rupture, presumably due to old age. At the time of his death, Ferdinand was seventy-three years old.
The researcher was buried in Estonia, on the Viru-Yagupi family plot. You can also see a photo of Wrangel Ferdinand in the article.
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