The governor of Russian America

Baron Ferdinand Vrangel
Baron Ferdinand Vrangel

Ferdinand Petrovich Vrangel was born the 9th of January, 1797 in Pskov. The parents of the boy died, when he was barely ten years old. Relatives identified him to the Sea Cadet Corps, which was graduated by the future polar explorer in the year of 1815.

A youngster had been dreaming about the distant travels since his early childhood. Having known about the fact that renowned explorer Vasily Golovnin had been preparing for circumnavigation on the «Kamchatka» sloop, recent graduate of the Sea Cadet Corps went to his ship as a sailor.

He had been serving and studying studied theoretical geography, history of polar travel, theoretical and practical astronomy, navigation during his circumnavigation, which lasted little more than two years – from 1817 to 1819.  

puteshestviya_vrangelya.jpg

A travel Map of Vrangel
A travel Map of Vrangel

Soon, after successful completion of the voyage, Golovnin invited him to lead the expedition, which was about to look for land to the north and east of Bear Islands. The expedition of Kolyma detachment (1820-1824) under the leadership of Wrangel described the coast of Siberia from the Indigirka River to the mouth Kolyuchinskaya, established the approximate location of the island, which was later named after him. Besides, explorer collected valuable information about the nature, climate, population of this harsh edges.

Commanding the sloop «Krotkiy» («Meek»), Ferdinand Petrovich made its second circumnavigation in 1825-1827 after finishing which he was elected as a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

F.Vrangel is an author of several geographical works: «Travel along the northern shores of Siberia and the Arctic sea…» (1841), «Daily notes on navigating of military transport «Krotkiy» («Meek») in the years of 1825, 1826 and 1827» (1828), «Historical review of travel in the Arctic Ocean» (1836).

In the year of 1829 an explorer, already known at that time, joined the Russian-American Company, and he was appointed as the governor of Russian settlements in America in 1830. For the five years of his employ Vrangel had thoroughly studied Russian territorial possessions in the north-west coast of the American continent. He was actively fighting the extermination of fur-bearing animals, he cared about improving the living conditions of both Russian colonists and local residents. He headed the General Directorate of the Russian-American Company in the year of 1840 and had been serving there for 8 years. Wherein, when there arose the question on the sale of Alaska to the Americans in 1867, he spoke strongly against that deal. 

The Admiral F.Vrangel is being one of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society.

After coming back to the capital he served as Secretary of the Navy of Russia from the year of 1855 to 1857. He was appointed as an admiral in 1856. He left the service on health grounds.

Ferdinand Petrovich died in 1870 in Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia) aged 84.

The islands in the Chukotskoye Sea and the Barents Sea, the mountain, strait, the harbor and the island in the Alexander Archipelago (the coast of North America), mountains in Alaska, cape, mountains and the bay on Aleutian Islands (the Bering Sea).

The descendants of the outstanding navigator are actively cooperating with the Russian Geographical Society nowadays. Thus, for instance, the great-grandson of the admiral Alexey Vrangel met this summer the participants of the profile change of the Society «The world of discoveries» in the International Children`s Center «Artek».