Background
Vasily Mikhailovich Golovnin was born on April 8, 1776, in Moscow City, Russian Federation. Both his father and grandfather had served in the Russian military as officers in the elite Preobrazhensky Lifeguard regiment.
1752
the Russian Naval College
Japanese illustration of the sloop Diana
Vasily Golovnin taken prisoner
Golovnin in a Russian postage stamp
navigator memoirist author of travel notes
Vasily Mikhailovich Golovnin was born on April 8, 1776, in Moscow City, Russian Federation. Both his father and grandfather had served in the Russian military as officers in the elite Preobrazhensky Lifeguard regiment.
Vasily Mikhailovich 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.
Vasily Mikhailovich entered active service as a midshipman in May and June 1790, participating in several naval battles against the Swedes. He served in several foreign campaigns between 1793 and 1798. From 1798 to 1800 Vasily Mikhailovich 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.
On the orders of Tsar Alexander I, Vasily Mikhailovich 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. During this period, the war was once again declared between the British and French, and Vasily Mikhailovich 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.
Vasily Mikhailovich 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 Okhotsk. Diana set sail from Kronstadt on 7 July 1807. A severe storm in April 1808 prevented Diana from sailing around Cape Horn, and Vasily Mikhailovich decided to set sail for the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, to restock the ship's supplies. He anchored in the nearby port of Simon's Town on 3 May 1808. He, having been at sea for ten months, was unaware that Russian relations with Britain had deteriorated, and Russia had allied herself with the French. Diana was immediately detained as an enemy vessel by a British naval squadron, pending receipt of appropriate instructions from London. Vasily Mikhailovich and his crew spent more than a year detained aboard Diana at Simon's Town awaiting a decision from British authorities. When it became increasingly clear that a decision might never come, he began to plot their escape. On 28 May 1809, perfect conditions presented themselves - a fair wind and poor visibility. The crew severed the anchor cables and managed successfully to 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 Diana, which sailed safely to Kamchatka in 1810, and news of Diana's "audacious escape" quickly spread throughout the world. Vasily Mikhailovich left Kamchatka in 1810, sailing to Baranof Island, a recently settled outpost of the Russian-American Company.
In 1819, Vasily Mikhailovich published an account of their voyage, detention, and escape, titled Journey of the Russian Emperor’s sloop Diana from Kronstadt to Kamchatka.
In 1811, Vasily Mikhailovich described and mapped the Kuril Islands from the Strait of Hope to the eastern shores of Iturup Island. While exploring Kunashir Island, he was lured ashore, taken prisoner, charged with violating Sakoku (a Japanese policy prohibiting foreigners from entering Japan), and held captive for two years by the Japanese on the island of Hokkaido. After making one failed attempt to escape his captures, Vasily Mikhailovich decided to utilize his time in detainment to master the Japanese language and familiarize himself with Japanese culture and traditions.
Vasily Mikhailovich 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.
On 7 September 1817, Vasily Mikhailovich set out on a second voyage around the world aboard the frigate Kamchatka. Serving under him were three future Russian explorers of prominence - Fyodor Litke, Fyodor Matyushkin, and Ferdinand von Wrangel. After sailing around Cape Horn, the objective was to deliver supplies to Kamchatka and survey previously unexplored islands along what is now the northwestern coast of Alaska. Vasily Mikhailovich was also tasked with compiling a report detailing relations between the Kodiak Islanders and employees of the Russian-American Company.
Vasily Mikhailovich arrived in Kamchatka the following May, then returned to Europe via the Cape of Good Hope, completing his circumnavigation by landing at St Petersburg on 17 September 1819. After the journey, he published Around the World on the Kamchatka, describing his voyage, and his encounters with the native Kodiak and Sandwich Islanders. Though the journey had "achieved little in the way of new discoveries," he returned with "a vast store of scientific and astronomical information" to share with Russian scientists.
In 1821, Vasily Mikhailovich was appointed assistant director of the Russian Naval College, and later, in 1823, General Quartermaster of the Fleet. A talented administrator, he successfully managed the activities of the shipbuilding, commissariat, and artillery departments. Under his supervision, over two hundred ships were built, including the first Russian steamships. Vasily Mikhailovich also served as a mentor to numerous Russian navigators, including the aforementioned Fyodor Litke and Ferdinand von Wrangel.
Vasily Mikhailovich died of cholera during an epidemic that swept through the city of Saint Petersburg in 1831.
(The best monument to the activities of this outstanding R...)
1822In 1811, during the inventory of the South Kuril Islands, he was suspected in espionage and captured by the Japanese; rejected the possibility of liberation by military force. In captivity, where he spent more than two years, helped Japanese translators compile a handbook on Russian grammar.
Vasily Mikhailovich married the daughter of a Tver 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.