Vasily Golovnin

Vasily Mikhailovich Golovnin (Василий Михайлович Головнин in Russian) (4.8(19).1776 — 6.29.(7.11).1831), Russian navigator, Vice Admiral, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg (1818).

Golovnin graduated from the Russian Naval College in 1792. In 1801—1805, he served in the British fleet. On his return to Russia, Golovnin compiled a code of naval signals. He made two voyages around the world on sloop "Diana" (1807—1809) and frigate ""Kamchatka"" (1817—1819). In 1811, Golovnin described and mapped the Kuril Islands from the Strait of Hope to the eastern shores of the Iturup Island (Etorofu in Japanese).

While exploring the Kunashir Island (Kunashiri in Japanese), Golovnin was taken prisoner for two years by the Japanese. He described his years in captivity, life in Japan, and his voyages around the world in his books. In 1821, Golovnin was appointed assistant director of the Naval College, and later in 1823 - General Quartermaster of the Fleet.

Being a highly educated person and a talented administrator, Golovnin successfully managed activities of the shipbuilding, clothing, and artillery departments (under Golovnin's supervision, they built over 200 ships, including the first Russian steamships). Golovnin tutored a number of famous navigators like Fyodor Petrovich Litke, Ferdinand Wrangel and others.

Vasily Golovnin died from cholera in 1831. Point Hope in Alaska had been named after Golovnin and the village of Golovin, Alaska, Cape Golovin as well as Golovnin Bay and Golovnin Lagoon are still named after him. A strait between two of the Kuril Islands, Golovnin volcano on Kunashir Island, capes on Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land, are some of the other landmarks bearing his name.

Fiction

* Golovnin makes an appearance in Patrick O'Brian's "The Mauritius Command".

References

* [http://books.google.co.th/books?isbn=0395984157 How Sloop Diana, commanded by Lieutenant Vasilii M. Golovnin, eluded the British fleet at Simon's Bay]
* [http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=108:3:15845223094965297813::NO::P3_FID:1402760 USGS - Alaska]