Vasilev-Shishmarev Expedition of 1819-1822
Biography
Vasil’ev, Mikhail Nikolaevich was born in 1770. He was a Russian navigator and vice admiral. In 1831, he became chief supply officer. In 1819-22 he led a round-the-world expedition on the sloops "Otkrytie," which he commanded, and "Blagonamerennyi," commanded by G. S. Shishmarev. The chief task of the expedition was to discover a northern sea route from the Pacific to the Atlantic. The expedition, after reaching Brazil, went to Sydney through the Atlantic and Indian oceans and from there to the Bering Strait. For two years the expedition tried to make its way through the ice from the Bering Strait east and west by the Arctic Ocean. Although the expedition did not discover the Northwest Passage, it carried out valuable work, described part of coastal northeast Asia and some of the shores of Alaska, and discovered several islands. Vasilev died in 1847.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Three Accounts of the Vasilev-Shishmarev Expedition of 1819-1822 collection
Vasilev-Shishmarev Expedition of 1819-1822. Collection consists of a photocopy of a typescript of some chapters for a book Dorothy Jean Ray planned to write about the expedition. The chapters are comprised of translations from the Russian by Rhea Josephson.