Pyotr Kuzmich Krenitsyn (russian: Пётр Кузьмич Креницын) (1728 – July 4, 1770), spelt "Krenitzin" in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, was a Russian explorer and Captain/Lieutenant of the
Imperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from a ...
. Following
Vitus Bering
Vitus Jonassen Bering (baptised 5 August 1681 – 19 December 1741),All dates are here given in the Julian calendar, which was in use throughout Russia at the time. also known as Ivan Ivanovich Bering, was a Danish cartographer and explorer in ...
's 1741 tragic venture he was the first to conduct an expedition to
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
and the
Aleutians
The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large vo ...
. Krenitsyn was sent, together with
Mikhail Levashev
Mikhail Dmitrievich Levashov (russian: Михаи́л Дми́триевич Левашо́в; c. 1738–1774-76) was a Russian explorer and Lieutenant of the Imperial Russian Navy. After Vitus Bering's 1741 tragic venture he was, together with Pe ...
, by Russian Empress
Catherine II
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...
to explore the northern parts of the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
and particularly the area around the
Bering strait in four ships. Krenitsyn was the commander of the ship ''St. Catherine'' and Levashev commanded the ship ''St. Paul''.
[Coxe, William. Account of the Russian Discoveries Between Asia and America.]
Life
Krenitsyn and Levashev surveyed the eastern part of the Aleutian island chain until the cold weather set in. Krenitsyn wintered in the strait between
Unimak and the
Alaska Peninsula
The Alaska Peninsula (also called Aleut Peninsula or Aleutian Peninsula, ale, Alasxix̂; Sugpiaq: ''Aluuwiq'', ''Al'uwiq'') is a peninsula extending about to the southwest from the mainland of Alaska and ending in the Aleutian Islands. The ...
. The following year, after resuming their surveys, both ships wintered in
Kamchatka
The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and wes ...
.
Certain geographic features of the Alaskan coast, like
Avatanak,
Akutan and
Tigalda Island
Tigalda Island ( ale, Qigalĝan) is one of the Krenitzin Islands, a subgroup of the Fox Islands in the eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Tigalda is located about east of Akutan Island, is long and has an area of about . Tigalda is an Aleut n ...
were named by Krenitsyn in the maps that were subsequently published.
On July 4, 1770, Krenitsyn drowned in the
Kamchatka River
The Kamchatka (russian: Камча́тка) is the longest river in Kamchatka peninsula, located in Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East. It flows into the Pacific Ocean at the town Ust-Kamchatsk, on the east coast of Kamchatka. It is long, an ...
and Levashev assumed command of the Russian expeditionary fleet. The
Krenitzin Islands
The Krenitzin Islands (centered at ca. ) are a group of small islands located in the eastern portion of the Fox Islands (Alaska), Fox Islands group of the eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska. The Krenitizins are situated between Unalaska Island to t ...
and the highest volcano on
Onekotan Island were named by IRN Captain
Mikhail Tebenkov
Mikhail Dmitriyevich Tebenkov (russian: Михаил Дмитриевич Тебеньков; also Tebenkof; 1802 – April 3, 1872) was a Russian hydrographer and vice admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy. From 1845 to 1850, he served as directo ...
after this early Russian explorer.
References
External links
The Naming of AlaskaOld map of Alaska showing Krenitzin and Levashev"s routeCartographic Sources For The History Of Russian Geographical Discoveries In The Pacific Ocean
1728 births
1770 deaths
Bering Sea
Russian explorers of North America
Explorers of Alaska
Explorers of Asia
Explorers from the Russian Empire
Imperial Russian Navy personnel
Deaths by drowning
Accidental deaths in Russia
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