Chirikov, Aleksey Ilyich (1703–1748)

Chirikov, Aleksey Ilyich (1703–1748) – a Russian explorer and captain-commodore. During the First and Second Kamchatka Expeditions, together with V. Bering he discovered the northwestern coast of North America and a number of islands of the Aleutian Chain. In 1715, he entered the Naval School, and a year later, he was transferred to the Naval Academy, which he graduated at the top of his class. At the orders of Peter the Great, for his achievement in the sciences, Ch. was promoted to unterlieutenant and appointed to serve on the ship “Peter” of the Baltic Fleet. A year later, at the orders of the Admiralty College, he was assigned to the Naval Academy as a teacher of seamanship and navigation. In 1724, he was appointed second deputy of V. Bering in the First Kamchatka Expedition (1725–1730) and promoted to lieutenant. Since then, his efforts have been devoted to solving the state task of exploring and developing of maritime routes in the Far East.

In 1728, on the boat “Saint Gabriel,”...