Russia in Pacific Waters, 1715-1825: A Survey of the Origins of Russia's Naval Presence in the North and South Pacific

331 Pages·1981·31.871 MB·English

by  Glynn Barratt

RUSSIA IN PACIFIC WATERS
University of British Columbia Press Pacific Maritime Studies
Russia in Pacific Waters is the first in a continuing series dealing with naval his-
tory and related maritime subjects published by the University of British Colum-
bia Press.
This series has been established as a result in part of the success of the following
University of British Columbia Press books:
The Wind Commands: Sailors and Sailing Ships in the Pacific, by Harry
Morton
The Royal Navy and the Northwest Coast of North America, 1810-1914, by
Barry M. Gough
Ocean of Destiny: A Concise History of the North Pacific, 1500-1978, by J.
Arthur Lower
Other volumes in this series are:
2. Distant Dominion: Britain and the Northwest Coast of North America, 1579-
1809, by Barrry M. Gough
RUSSIA IN PACIFIC WATERS,
1715-1825
A Survey of the Origins of Russia's Naval Presence
in the North and South Pacific
Glynn Barratt
UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA PRESS
VANCOUVER AND LONDON
RUSSIA IN PACIFIC WATERS, 1715-1825
A Survey of the Origins of Russia's Naval Presence
in the North and South Pacific
©The University of British Columbia 1981
All rights reserved
This book has been published with the assistance of a grant from the
Social Science Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Barratt, G. R. V., 1944
Russia in Pacific waters, 1715-1825
(Pacific maritime studies; 1)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-7748-0117-4
1. Russians in the North Pacific Ocean. 2. Russia—Exploring expeditions.
3. Northwest coast of North America—Discovery and exploration. 4. Rus-
sia—History. Naval.
I. Title
II. Series.
F851.5.B37 979'.01 C80-091228-4
International Standard Book Number 0-7748-0117-4
Printed in Canada
For Nana B. and K. the W.
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Maps and Illustrations ix
Preface and Acknowledgements xi
Preliminary Notes xiv
1. The Sea-Route to Kamchatka and the Strait of Anian 1
2. The Bering Expeditions 16
3. Furs and Spaniards: Sindt and Krenitsyn 42
4. Cook's Final Voyage and the Billings and Mulovskii Expeditions 74
5. The North Pacific Fur Trade and the Navy: Growing Strains 100
6. The Kruzenshtern-Lisianskii Voyages 113
7. Rezanov and Baranov: Response and Legacy 143
8. V.M. Golovnin and Diana 159
9. The Company under Attack 173
10. Imperial Ambition in Peacetime: Trade, Discovery, Science 190
11. The Aftermath of Victory 207
Conclusion and Reflections 233
Abbreviations 241
Notes 243
Bibliography 269
Index 291
Photographic Credits
Plate 1 was contributed by the Provincial Archives of British Columbia, and
Plates 6, 11, 15, and 22(inset) were provided by the Special Collections Division
of the Library of the University of British Columbia. Plates 16, 17, 18, and 19
appear courtesy of the State Russian Museum, Moscow (R. 29277, R. 29047,
R. 29136, and R. 29137), and Plate 22 appears with the permission of the Scott
Polar Research Institute (P75/15/5). Richard A. Pierce and S. V. Glad kindly
provided Plates 7 and 14. Plate 20 is courtesy of the Auckland Institute and Mu-
seum, and Plate 21 is from the State Archive of Hawaii. The Alaska Journal pro-
vided prints for Plates 8 and 13, and we are indebted to the Alaska Historical So-
ciety for Plates 3 and 4. Plates 12 and 21 (inset) are reproduced from N. N.
Baranskii et al., Otechestvennye fiziko-geografy i puteshestvenniki (Moscow,
1959).
Illustrations
Map xii-xiii
Plates following page 62
Plate 1. Vitus Bering
2. Peter the Great
3. lakutsk in the Seventeenth Century
4. Okhotsk, 1737
5. Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka
6. Miiller's Map of the North Pacific
following page 174
7. Three Saints' Harbour, 1790
8. Sitka in the 1820's
9. A. A. Baranov
10. N. P. Rezanov
11. Iu. F. Lisianskii
12. I. F. Kruzenshtern
13. L. A. Gagemeister
14. V. M. Golovnin
15. M. P. Lazarev
16. Sydney and Port Jackson, 1820
17. "Two Tropical Fish," by P. N. Mikhailov
18. Maori Drawn by Mikhailov
19. Maori Drawn by Mikhailov
20. Maori Dance Performed for Bellingshausen and His Men
21. King Kamehameha I Receiving Otto Von Kotzebue (inset)
22. Vostok and Mirnyi in the Ice (inset: Bellingshausen)
23. Late View of Novo-Arkhangel'sk