Admiral Wrangel biography. Wrangel Ferdinand: biography, photo, what did he discover? Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel - quotes

The Russian history of discoveries is replete with names. A huge number of researchers were from the territory of the Russian Empire, and therefore they carried out their campaigns on its territory. One of these discoverers was the polar explorer Wrangel Ferdinand Petrovich. A short biography of what he discovered and other interesting information will be presented to your attention in the article.

Childhood

Baron Ferdinand, according to the notes of his cousin, found in 1884, was born on December twenty-ninth, 1796 in the city of Pskov. His father was Peter Berendtovich in his Russian name, and in German - Peter Ludwig Wrangel, and his mother was Dorothea-Margarita-Barbara von Freimann. But these are not all the famous names in his pedigree. Since Fedor himself came from a family of Baltic Germans, there must be a logical explanation for this. His grandfather was a chamberlain at the court of Peter III. But as soon as Catherine II ascended the throne, he had to flee.

A very unusual story is connected with the birth of Fyodor Petrovich, which is still not very easy to believe. On the night of December twenty-ninth, 1796, he himself was born. But instead of allowing him to continue his life in his own cradle, he is placed in the one that was intended for a completely different child of Baron Vasily.

On January 6, 1797, this most long-awaited member of the family is born, and, instead of transferring Fyodor to another cradle, Vasily is placed with him. Thus, these two boys live together almost from their very first breath.

Several years pass, and Ferdinand's parents die. The exact cause of their death is unknown, but many attribute it to accidents rather than old age or illness. Since then, young Fyodor has been living on his uncle’s estate, again with Vasily.

Studies

As Ferdinand Wrangel’s brief biography testifies, in 1807 he was assigned to the Naval Cadet Corps. This is one of the oldest (despite a break in activity in 1917) military educational institutions. As a rule, students in junior classes were called cadets, and senior students were called midshipmen. True, this title still had to be earned, since the demands placed on students were serious.

A little time passes, Fedor tries his best, and on June 8, 1812, just in the year of the Patriotic War, he is awarded the title of midshipman. Why was it so valuable? This is a non-commissioned officer rank in the Russian Navy that existed from 1716 to 1917. As a rule, it was worn by particularly distinguished students of academies, or in the periods from 1716 to 1752 and from 1860 to 1882 it was of a combat character.

Almost two years later, on April 6, 1814, Fedor received the long-awaited rank of non-commissioned officer. This is not the highest rank that can be obtained while serving in the navy, but it was sufficient to be included in the junior command of the Armed Forces.

In 1816-1817, Wrangel sailed in the Gulf of Finland on board the frigate Avtroil as part of the 19th naval crew. More precisely, he served in the city of Revel, currently called Tallinn.

First expeditions

The years 1817-1819 remained in Fedor’s memory as the time spent traveling around the world on the sloop “Kamchatka” with Vasily Golovnin. In addition to Ferdinand, geographers such as Fyodor Litke and Fyodor Matyushkin also received good practice. And to confirm that the sailors really set off on a voyage around the world, 43 drawings made by artist Mikhail Tikhanov are most often provided.

Thanks to this expedition, Ferdinand was able to receive the Order of Anna, 4th degree. Fedor was now able to wear a special cross on the hilt of his bladed weapon and a lanyard from the Order Ribbon (popularly nicknamed “Cranberry”), and also received up to 50 rubles in pensions annually.

In the winter of 1819-1820, Fedor studied astronomical, physical and mineralogical sciences in the city of Dorpat. One of the most densely populated at the moment (after Tallinn), it is now called Tartu. The researcher also listened to lectures by teachers V. Ya. Struve (one of the founders of astronomy) and Moritz von Engelhardt. All this knowledge ended up being useful to him in the future.

First own expedition

It's time to talk about what Ferdinand Wrangel discovered. In 1820, Fedor was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, which gave him permission to personally lead a small fleet. Ferdinand did not miss this opportunity, so from 1820 to 1824 he explored the northeastern coast of Siberia.

In addition to Ferdinand himself, there were midshipman Matyushkin, navigator Kozmin, doctor Cyber, mechanic Ivannikov and sailor Nekhoroshkov on the ship. Despite the fact that the composition of the expedition was not too large in comparison with the same one organized by Golovnin, many discoveries were made that were important for the Russian geographical society.

During this expedition, records were made about the coast of Siberia from the Indigirka River to Kolyuchinskaya Bay. This later helped many researchers working on land rather than from the sea. The Bear Islands were also mapped.

As soon as Fedor returned to St. Petersburg, he was awarded a lifelong lieutenant's pension for his discovery. He was awarded four years of service, the Order of St. George and the following rank.

"Meek" conquers the world

On December 12, 1824, Ferdinand Wrangel was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander thanks to discoveries made during his first expedition. Then Fyodor Petrovich decided on a second, but already round-the-world trip, which he had done the very first time.

In 1825-1827, the crew of the ship “Meek”, led by Fyodor Petrovich Wrangel, made its journey around the world. As soon as the captain returned from it, he received the Order of St. Anne of the second degree, as well as a captain-lieutenant salary.

But the researcher’s rewards did not end there. On October 13, 1827, he became a captain of the second rank, and on December 29 of the same year, luck smiled at him and he was elected a corresponding member of the IAN.

Russian America

As the biography testifies, Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel in 1828-1829 captained the ship "Elizaveta", which later became part of the Baltic Fleet. It belonged to the rank of 44-guns, despite the fact that 63 guns were noticed upon re-calculation. On the same ship, on the twelfth of March, Ferdinand received the rank

Until 1835, Fyodor Petrovich was the chief manager of Russian America (Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and the like), having arrived there in 1830. During his stay in Alaska, he explored the entire western North American coast, from the Bering Strait to California. Also, under his leadership, an observatory was created, now called “Sitka”.

Third trip around the world

Ferdinand's third trip around the world happened, oddly enough, through Mexico in 1836, when he was carrying out an assignment for the Russian-American Company. In the same year, on June 8th, he was awarded the rank of rear admiral. This rank is the first in the navies of many countries around the world.

In addition to the new title, Fyodor Petrovich was appointed manager of the ship scaffolding department on August 5th. A year later, on November twenty-ninth, he received the Order of St. George of the fourth degree, and a year later his chest began to be decorated with the second degree.

Since 1837, Wrangel Ferdinand Petrovich was a full member of the Royal Geographical Society of London, founded in 1830 to support geographical science under the patronage of William IV.

Russian activities

Since 1840, Fyodor Petrovich Wrangel was the director of the RAK, localized in St. Petersburg. This is a semi-state colonial trading company that was founded by Grigory Shelikhov and Nikolai Rezanov in July 1799.

True, he did not stay in this post for too long. Seven years later, in 1847, Ferdinand was replaced by Vladimir Gavrilovich Politkovsky. But in 1845 the baron himself became a full member of the Russian Geographical Community.

Ferdinand did not have to sit idle for long, and during 1847-1849 he was director of the Department of Ship Scaffolding of the Ministry of the Navy. He was also elected Chairman of the General Geography Department.

End of career

In 1849, Fyodor Petrovich resigned from his posts as vice admiral. This rank is the third most senior in the entire naval rank system, second only to the admiral himself and the admiral of the fleet. At the moment it is comparable to a lieutenant general in the ground forces.

True, even in retirement, Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel worked quite closely with the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, and in 1855 he became its member with special honors. In general, the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences is a generalized name for a higher scientific institution, adopted in the literature for the Russian Empire of 1724-1917.

In the same year, he became the founder of the Russian Geographical Society, one of the oldest in the world, second only to the Parisian Society, founded in 1821.

Crimean War

With the onset of the Crimean War, Ferdinand had to return from a well-deserved rest, and on September 8, 1854, he was appointed director of the Hydrographic Directorate, which has existed since the reign of Peter I to the present day. Then Baron Wrangel is replaced by Mikhail Frantsevich Reinecke, who, in turn, leaves this post only in 1859.

On February 23, 1855, he was appointed chairman of the Naval Scientific Committee, and some time later, on April 13, he was appointed inspector of the navigator corps.

In 1855-1857, Baron Frangel Ferdinand was Minister of the Navy and served as manager in the ministry. At the moment it is called the Ministry of Maritime Affairs. In the same year he received the Order of St. Vladimir, second degree.

Admiral

On April 15, 1856, for his services at the front, Baron Wrangel received the rank of admiral-adjutant. This rank is very honorable in a number of countries, if only because it is, in fact, the second in seniority. Previously, he was a military man, but from the 18th - early 20th centuries he was a member of the retinue. That is, all the people who had it were in the personal retinue of the emperor (empress).

On August twenty-sixth of the same year, he became an admiral, thereby gaining a foothold at the very top of the navy. True, he did not have to command for long. On August 8, 1857, due to heart problems, he was dismissed from the post of Minister of Navy and left his post in the ministry.

Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel, whose biography is full of interesting facts and events, did not grieve especially, because he still remained a member of the State Council - the highest legislative body of the Russian Empire in 1810-1906, as well as the upper house of the Parliament of the Russian Empire in 1906-1917. On September 8, 1859, Ferdinand was awarded the Order of the White Eagle.

Second attempt to resign

The year 1864 was remembered by Fyodor Petrovich because then he resigned again. True, now no wars were expected on the horizon. He moved permanently to Estland, to the Roel estate. It was a one-story house built in the 1st half of the 18th century. At the end of the century, the building was completed, which is why the right wing became two-story. The entire building was built in a characteristic Baroque style.

Ferdinand Wrangel, whose brief biography is presented to your attention in the article, spent the last six years of his life in solitude, engaged in numerous meteorological observations. Most of them are described in his diary, which has survived to this day. This work, if you can call it that, served as a starting point for many researchers in the future.

last years of life

Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel (you already know what he discovered) spoke very negatively about the sale of Alaska to the United States of America, despite the fact that it was equally beneficial to both states. In his opinion, this was an irreparable loss that could not be compensated for by any money offered by the United States.

Fyodor Petrovich Frangel died on the twenty-sixth of May (sixth of June according to the new art.) 1870, when Yuriev was passing through. This is a city located on the Emajõgi River. The exact cause of death is currently known - heart rupture, presumably due to old age. At the time of his death, Ferdinand was seventy-three years old.

The researcher was buried in Estonia, on the Viru-Yagupi family plot. You can also see a photo of Wrangel Ferdinand in the article.

Biography

In fiction

Notes

Baron Ferdinand (Fedor) Petrovich Wrangel(German) Ferdinand Friedrich Georg Ludwig von Wrangell, December 29, 1796 (January 9, 1797), Pskov - May 25 (June 6), 1870, Dorpat) - Russian navigator and polar explorer, admiral (1856).

Origin

He came from an ancient family of Baltic Germans. Son of artillery Major Peter Berendtovich (Peter Ludwig) Wrangel (1760-1807) and his wife Dorothea-Margarita-Barbara von Freimann (1768-1806). His grandfather, a native of Denmark, was a chamberlain at the court of Peter III; under Catherine II, he fell into disgrace and fled abroad. Wrangel's parents, having no funds to raise their son, gave him to the care of one of their relatives.

Biography

Graduate of the Naval Cadet Corps (1815). After graduating from the naval corps (the first to graduate), midshipman Wrangel served for some time in Reval, sailing in the Gulf of Finland on the frigate Avtroil. Served in the Baltic Fleet. In 1817-1819, as a midshipman, he participated in Vasily Golovnin’s round-the-world expedition on the sloop “Kamchatka”. In 1820-1824, with the rank of lieutenant, he led an expedition to explore the northeastern coast of Siberia (a detachment of 7 people). During the expedition, the coast of Siberia was described from the Indigirka River to Kolyuchinskaya Bay, and the Bear Islands were mapped. In 1824-1827, with the rank of captain-lieutenant, he headed the circumnavigation of the world on the military transport "Meek". 1829, with the rank of captain 1st rank, he was appointed chief ruler of Russian America and remained in this post until 1835; in 1830 he arrived in Alaska. During his tenure in this post, he personally examined the entire western North American coast from the Bering Strait to California and created the Sitka magnetic meteorological observatory. In 1836, through Mexico, where he carried out diplomatic assignments for the Russian-American Company, he returned to Russia, completing his third circumnavigation on the way to his homeland. In the same year he was awarded the rank of rear admiral. On November 29, 1837 he was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree (No. 5527 according to the Grigorovich-Stepanov list).

From 1840 to 1847 - director of the Russian-American Company (St. Petersburg), in 1847-1849 he was director of the Department of Ship Scaffolding of the Naval Ministry. In 1849 he retired with the rank of vice admiral. While retired, he actively collaborates with the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, of which he became an honorary member in 1855, and the Russian Geographical Society, being one of its founders.

In connection with the outbreak of the Crimean War, he returned from retirement to serve and in 1854 was appointed director of the Hydrographic Department. In 1855-1857 he was the manager of the Maritime Ministry (that is, the Minister of the Navy). Since 1857, admiral, adjutant general of His Imperial Majesty's retinue, member of the State Council.

In 1864 he retired. In the same year he moved permanently to the Ruil estate in Estland. He spent the last six years of his life in rural seclusion. Day after day he was engaged in meteorological observations, the diaries of which were preserved in his archive.

F. P. Wrangel died on May 25, 1870 from a broken heart, while passing through Yuryev (Dorpt, now Tartu). He was buried in the family plot of the cemetery, located one kilometer from the town of Viru-Yagupi (old name Ruil) in Estonia.

Known as an active opponent of the sale of Alaska to the United States of America.

A number of geographical locations in the Arctic and Pacific Oceans are named after Wrangel.

Family

Wife Elizaveta Vasilievna (Elizaveta Teodora Natalia Caroline) Rosillon (1810-1854). A son and three daughters died in infancy; the only survivors are:

Vasily (Wilhelm Peter Georg Adolf) (1831-1894), leader of the nobility of the Estonian province (1881-1884);
Peter (Peter Georg Ludwig Alexander) (1840-1899);
Elizabeth (Elizabeth Paulina Julia Antonina) (1842-1926), Madras, India;
Ferdinand (1844-1919). Served in the navy. Acting State Councilor. In 1892-1896. director of the Imperial Alexander Lyceum;
Eva (Eva Antonia Carolina Sophia) (1850 - after 1882).

Proceedings

“Day. notes on the voyage of the military transport "Meek" in 1825-27."
“Sketch of the route from Sitka to St. Petersburg” (1836);
"Historical review of travel on the Arctic Ocean." (1836)
“A journey along the northern shores of Siberia and the Arctic Ocean, made in 1802, 21, 22, 23 and 24” (1841)

In German: “Ferdinand von Wrangel und seine Reise langs der Nordkuste von Sibirien und auf dem Eismeere” (von L. v. Engelhardt, Leipzig, 1885). F. F. Wrangel.

Very interesting information about the northwestern coast of America, reported by Wrangel, appeared in a German translation and forms the first volume of “Beitrage zur Kenntniss des Russischen Reiches”, published by Baer and Helmersen. As can be seen from the publishers' preface, Wrangel's notes served as the first reason for the founding of this academic publication.

In fiction

Kudrya, Arkady Ivanovich. Trace on the ground [Text]: source. novel / A. I. Kudrya. - M.: Ast: Astrel, 2004. - 479 p. — (Golden Library of Historical Novel) (Great Travelers. Wrangel).

Notes

Wrangel Ferdinand (Ferdinand-Friedrich-Georg-Ludwig) Petrovich (1796-1870)

, Statesman, Navigator, Explorer, Admiral

Baron Ferdinand (Fedor) Petrovich Wrangel (German: Ferdinand Friedrich Georg Ludwig von Wrangell, December 29, 1796 (January 9, 1797), Pskov - May 25 (June 6), 1870, Dorpat) - Russian military and statesman, navigator and polar explorer, admiral (1856), manager of the Naval Ministry.

Graduate of the Naval Cadet Corps (1815). After graduating from the naval corps (the first to graduate), midshipman Wrangel served for some time in Reval, sailing in the Gulf of Finland on the frigate Avtroil. Served in the Baltic Fleet. In 1817-1819, as a midshipman, he participated in Vasily Golovnin’s round-the-world expedition on the sloop “Kamchatka”. In 1820-1824, with the rank of lieutenant, he led an expedition to explore the northeastern coast of Siberia (a detachment of 7 people). During the expedition, the coast of Siberia was described from the Indigirka River to Kolyuchinskaya Bay, and the Bear Islands were mapped. In 1824-1827, with the rank of captain-lieutenant, he headed the circumnavigation of the world on the military transport "Meek". In 1828-1829 he commanded the frigate "Elizabeth". In 1829, with the rank of captain 1st rank, he was appointed chief ruler of Russian America and remained in this post until 1835; in 1830 he arrived in Alaska. During his tenure in this post, he personally examined the entire western North American coast from the Bering Strait to California and created the Sitka magnetic meteorological observatory. In 1836, through Mexico, where he carried out diplomatic assignments for the Russian-American Company, he returned to Russia, completing his third circumnavigation on the way to his homeland. In the same year he was awarded the rank of rear admiral. On November 29, 1837 he was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree (No. 5527 according to the list of Grigorovich - Stepanov).

Little by little, we achieved such dexterity that we made our observations at 30° below zero and at night, in the dim light of a small hand-held lantern, with sufficient accuracy we counted degrees, minutes and seconds on the sextant arc. The chronometers were also affected by the cold - they stopped by themselves. Fearing this, I carried them with me during the day, and at night I hid them in a box wrapped in several skins, which I put with me under the blanket. Despite all my precautions, probably at night, when the fire went out in our tent, the cold, penetrating through all the wrappers, froze the oil between the wheels and stopped their movement.

Wrangel Ferdinand Petrovich

Known as an active opponent of the sale of Alaska to the United States of America.

Russian Empire:

Order of St. George, 4th class for 25 years of service (1837);

Order of St. Stanislaus, 1st degree (1840);

Ring with diamonds (1841);

Insignia for XXX years of blameless service (1846);

Order of St. Anne, 1st class with Imperial Crown (1846);

Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd degree (1855);

Order of the White Eagle (1859).

Medal "In memory of the war of 1853-1856" (1856).

The vast expanse of the globe, located between the White Sea and the Bering Strait at almost 145° longitude along the dry coast of Northern Europe and Siberia, has been discovered and described by the Russians. All attempts by sailors of other nations to penetrate the Arctic Sea from Europe to China or from the Great Ocean to the Atlantic are limited to the west by the Kara Sea, to the east by the meridian of Cape Northern, insurmountable obstacles that stopped foreigners from further voyages were overcome by our sailors...

Wrangel Ferdinand Petrovich

Wife Elizaveta Vasilievna (Elizaveta Teodora Natalia Caroline) Rosillon (1810-1854). A son and three daughters died in infancy; the only survivors are:

Vasily (Wilhelm Peter Georg Adolf) (1831-1894), leader of the nobility of the Estonian province (1881-1884);

Peter (Peter Georg Ludwig Alexander) (1840-1899);

Elizabeth (Elizabeth Paulina Julia Antonina) (1842-1926), Madras, India;

Ferdinand (1844-1919). Served in the navy. Acting State Councilor. In 1892-1896 - director of the Imperial Alexander Lyceum;

Eva (Eva Antonia Carolina Sophia) (1850 - after 1882).

F. P. Wrangel on a Russian postage stamp, 1992

A number of geographical locations in the Arctic and Pacific oceans and Wrangel Island are named after Wrangel.

In 1992, a Russian postage stamp dedicated to Wrangel was issued.

“Day. notes on the voyage of the military transport "Meek" in 1825-27."

“Sketch of the route from Sitka to St. Petersburg” (1836);

"Historical review of travel on the Arctic Ocean." (1836)

“A journey along the northern shores of Siberia and the Arctic Ocean, made in 1820, 21, 22, 23 and 24” (1841)

In German: “Ferdinand von Wrangel und seine Reise langs der Nordkuste von Sibirien und auf dem Eismeere” (von L. v. Engelhardt, Leipzig, 1885). F. F. Wrangel.

Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel - quotes

Congratulating each other on the successful achievement of our goal, we hurried further, hoping to set foot on the desired shore before evening. But our joy was short-lived, and all our wonderful hopes disappeared. By evening, with a change in light, our newly discovered land moved in the direction of the wind by 40°, and after a while it covered the entire horizon, so that we seemed to be in the middle of a huge lake, surrounded by rocks and mountains.

Wrangel Ferdinand Petrovich - Russian navigator, admiral, member (since 1827) and honorary member (since 1855) of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. One of the founding members of the Russian Geographical Society. In 1815 he graduated from the Naval Corps. In 1817-19 participated in a circumnavigation of the world on the sloop "Kamchatka". In 1820, with the rank of naval lieutenant, he was appointed head of an expedition that was sent to explore the coast of North-Eastern Siberia, to search for inhabited land north of Chukotka and to finally clarify the issue of connecting Asia with America. In exceptionally difficult conditions, the expedition of F. P. Wrangel consisting of seven people (among them was midshipman F. F. Matyushkin) for four years examined and mapped the coast of Siberia from the mouth of Indigirka to Kolyuchinskaya Bay and part of the Bear Islands. With great accuracy for its time, the expedition identified 115 astronomical points. Three times the expedition headed north across the ice in the hope of finding an inhabited land, which the Chukchi reported. However, unfavorable weather prevented us from reaching our goal. Subsequently, in the place indicated by Matyushkin and Wrangel, an island was discovered, named after F.P. Wrangel. The expedition conducted valuable navigational, hydrographic, geomagnetic and climatic research. The data that the polar sea is not covered with solid, strong ice even in severe frosts turned out to be very important. In addition, Wrangel’s expedition collected information about the natural resources and peoples inhabiting the areas visited. In 1824, Wrangel returned to St. Petersburg from Nizhne-Kolymsk.

In 1825-27, commanding the military transport Krotky, he made his second circumnavigation of the world. During this voyage, in addition to observations of currents and water temperature, regular meteorological observations were carried out for the first time.

In 1829-35. Wrangel was the main ruler of the Russian colonies in Alaska. In this post, he energetically fought against the destruction of fur-bearing animals, streamlined the fur trade, and took care of improving the situation of Russian colonists and local residents. Subsequently, when Alaska was sold to the United States in 1867, Wrangel protested against this sale. From 1840 to 1849 he was director of the Russian-American Company, and from 1855 to 1857 he was minister of naval affairs.

Named after Wrangel: Wrangel Island (East Siberian Sea), Wrangel Cape (Aleutian Islands, Attu Island), Wrangel Mountain (Alaska, upper reaches of the Mednaya River), Wrangel Island (Novaya Zemlya).

F. P. Wrangel is an outstanding explorer of the Arctic shores of Siberia and the adjacent seas, a navigator who made two trips around the world, the main ruler and explorer of Russian possessions in America, one of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society, a prominent public and statesman. The main merit of F. P. Wrangel is the clarification of the outlines of the coast of Siberia between the mouth of the Kolyma River and Kolyuchin Island as a result of a large expedition of 1820-1824, carried out by him together with.

Wrangel was born on December 29, 1796 in Pskov. The boy was orphaned early and was raised by distant relatives. In 1807 he was admitted to the Naval Cadet Corps.

In addition to successful studies, Wrangel devoted a lot of time to independent study of geography and maritime affairs, especially interested in sea travel.

In 1815, after graduating from the corps, Wrangel was promoted to midshipman and seconded to Revel [Tallinn].

As in the corps, all his free time from service he was engaged in improving his maritime education and preparing for long-distance expeditions.

In 1816, Wrangel and Anzhu, later also a famous polar traveler, were assigned to the frigate Avtroil, sailing in the Gulf of Finland.

Having learned that the sloop of war "Kamchatka" under the command of the famous ship would soon be leaving Kronstadt for a round-the-world voyage, Wrangel decided to transfer to this ship at any cost.

Having left the ship under the pretext of illness, Wrangel risked personally appearing to Golovnin and asked to take him with him at least as a simple sailor. Apparently, Wrangel made a good impression on Golovnin and was assigned to the Kamchatka as a junior watch officer.

On August 25, 1817, the Kamchatka left Kronstadt and set off on a circumnavigation. On board were F.F. Matyushkin (a lyceum friend of A.S. Pushkin), as well as F.P. Litke.

On September 6, 1819, the Kamchatka returned to Kronstadt, having circumnavigated the world and visited the coasts of South America, Kamchatka, Alaska, California, the islands of Oceania, as well as the islands of St. Helena and the Azores.

This voyage was of decisive importance for the rest of Wrangel’s life. When in 1819 it was decided to send an expedition to explore the northern shores of Eastern Siberia, Golovnin boldly recommended the twenty-four-year-old lieutenant as the leader of this expedition.

The need for such an expedition was caused by the fact that maps of the northern shores of Eastern Siberia and some adjacent islands compiled during the Great Northern Expedition were far from accurate. This was explained by the fact that in those distant times, only goniometric instruments were used to determine latitudes, and longitudes were determined by the distances traveled.

It was decided to send two naval officers - Wrangel and Anzhu - to the mouths of the Yana and Kolyma to discover “the supposed lands in the Arctic Sea and the most accurate description of the shores of Siberia between the designated rivers beyond the Shelagsky Cape.” This expedition already had chronometers, sextants and mercury horizons, which made it possible to take photographs with great accuracy.

Wrangel’s Kolyma detachment was appointed “to inventory the shores from the mouth of the Kolyma River east to Cape Shelag and from there to the north, to discover an inhabited land, which, according to the Chukchi legend, is not far away.”

Wrangel began to carefully prepare for the expedition and selected his own companions: midshipman F.F. Matyushkin, navigator P.T. Kozmin, Doctor Kiber, mechanic Ivannikov and sailor Nekhoroshkov.

Due to the fact that attempts by previous expeditions to make an inventory of the shores of the “Icy Sea” from ships remained unsuccessful, it was decided to carry out this inventory “on dry land”: in winter - on dogs, in summer - on horses and boats.

Departing from St. Petersburg on March 23, 1820, the detachment arrived in Nizhne-Kolymsk on November 2. Having completed several routes along the coast and inland, Wrangel and Matyushkin made an inventory of the coast from the Kolyma River to Kolyuchin Island, and corrected the position of the coast and a number of islands on the map.

From questioning local residents, Wrangel established that they knew nothing about Sergeant Andreev’s discovery of some land lying north of Kolyma.

Nevertheless, to find this land in 1821, 1822 and 1823. three trips were made on dogs across the ice to the north - at a distance of almost 250 miles from the coast. But no land was discovered.

In total, four trips were made on the ice. And although these campaigns were not crowned with any geographical discovery, they proved the “absence of islands” on the path traveled by Wrangel. The main significance of these trips was that during them very important observations were made on the state of ice in the spring in the East Siberian and Chukchi seas.

In northern Yakutia, approximately at the so-called Siberian Pole of Cold, Wrangel established a meteorological station.

An important contribution of Wrangel and Matyushkin to geography was also the materials they collected about the peoples of North-Eastern Siberia, which had not previously been described by anyone.

For the geography of the Arctic, the existence of the so-called “Great Siberian Polynya”, proven by Wrangel, was very important for the geography of the Arctic, i.e. large open water spaces that prevented Wrangel and Anjou during their repeated attempts to pass north on the ice on dogs (information about this polynya served, among other things, , Nordenskiöld the basis for his bold journey).

Wrangel dedicated his work “A Journey along the Northern Shores of Siberia and the Arctic Sea...” In this work, Wrangel essentially gave the first scientific description of polar ice.

He attached to his essay a map of the travels of both his own and his companions. On this map, an island was placed at approximately 70°10" N latitude and 177° E longitude with the caption "Mountains visible from Cape Yacana in summer."

It must be emphasized that Wrangel put the island on the map, which was later named after him, only according to the stories of the Chukchi (Matyushkin first heard about this, and then Wrangel himself).

In 1849, from the English ship "Herald" under the command of Captain Kellett, they saw, approximately at the site of the island shown by Wrangel, several islands and one large one. On the same day, an island was spotted and visited, named after the ship Herald Island.

An American whaler really saw and partially examined Wrangel Island in 1867. He wrote: “I named this land after Wrangel because I wanted to pay due tribute to the man who 45 years ago proved that the Polar Sea was open.”

On August 15, 1824, Wrangel returned to St. Petersburg, and on March 25, 1825, he already set out on a circumnavigation. The specially built military transport “Krotky” was supposed to deliver cargo to Petropavlovsk and Novoarkhangelsk. His former companions, Lieutenant Matyushkin, navigator Kozmin and Doctor Cyber, also went with Wrangel. The voyage lasted two and a half years - until September 14, 1827. The ship visited the coasts of Brazil, Chile, the Marquesas Islands, Kamchatka, and Alaska.

On the "Krotkoy" the sea surface temperature was regularly recorded twice a day, and the temperature was recorded in a log book, which is why these records were preserved completely intact. These were the first systematic hydrometeorological observations not made on a research vessel.

After returning from the voyage, Wrangel commanded the frigate Elizabeth. At the end of 1828, he was appointed chief ruler of the Russian possessions in America and in November 1829 he arrived with his family in Novoarkhangelsk [Sithu]. Here Wrangel managed to improve the exploitation of the fields. He traveled a lot around Russian America, was on Kodiak, in Kenai Bay, on Spruce Island; Along with his administrative activities, he made ethnographic observations, which resulted in his work “Inhabitants of the Northwestern Coast of America.”

Thanks to his authority, Wrangel did a lot to strengthen Russian possessions in America; in particular, he prevented the British attempt in the spring of 1834 to build a settlement on the border with Russian possessions (along the Styazhan River). In 1836, Wrangel convinced Mexico to cede to Russia the fertile plain near Fort Ross in California, but Nicholas I did not accept the offer, since he did not want to deal with the “rebellious” Mexican Republic, and in 1841 he preferred to sell this fort for next to nothing. After a five-year stay in northwestern America, Wrangel returned to St. Petersburg on June 4, 1836.

After a short directorship in the department of ship scaffolding, Wrangel again took up the affairs of Russian America: from 1838, first as the head of the affairs of the Main Board, and from 1840, as the chief director of the Russian-American Company.

In 1845, together with Wrangel, he took an active part in the organization of the Russian Geographical Society. For several years he was chairman of the Society's general geography department. In 1846, he read a report “On the means of reaching the Pole.” The route and advice for organizing intermediate bases outlined by Wrangel in this report were used 50 years later by Robert Peary during his trip to the North Pole.

In 1849, with the rank of vice admiral, Wrangel retired and settled with his family on his Rupil estate in Estonia.

During the Crimean War, Wrangel was remembered again. He took the post of director of the Hydrographic Department. In May 1855, Wrangel was appointed Minister of the Navy and member of the State Council. In 1856 he was promoted to full admiral.

During Wrangel’s tenure as minister, at his proposal, a technical committee was organized, transformed into an admiralty council, naval officers began to be appointed to the positions of port commanders on the Black and Azov Seas, and the question was raised about the need to create a joint-stock company for ship insurance. At Wrangel’s suggestion, the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade was also formed, which organized urgent flights between the Black and Mediterranean seas.

In 1857, Wrangel, due to his health, was forced to leave his ministerial post, and in 1864 he abandoned all official activities and settled on his Rupil estate in Estonia. Here he wrote his memoirs and conducted extensive correspondence. Having begun scientific activity at the age of 19, Wrangel devoted all his strength to it until the end of his days. He was elected an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences, a member of many scientific societies and the Scientific Committee of the Maritime Ministry, and directed the journal "Marine Collection".

The book “Journey along the northern shores of Siberia and the Arctic Sea” was published almost simultaneously in Russian, German, English and French. This book has not lost its significance even today.

The Appendices to the “Travel” and other articles by Wrangel are also of considerable interest.

The following names are named after Wrangel: an island in the Chukchi Sea, a bay on the southeastern coast of Alaska, a mountain in Alaska, an island off the western coast of the northern island of Novaya Zemlya and other geographical points.

Bibliography

Biographical dictionary of figures in natural science and technology. T. 1. – Moscow: State. scientific publishing house "Great Soviet Encyclopedia", 1958. - 548 p.
Zubov N. N. Ferdinand (Fedor) Petrovich Wrangel / N. N. Zubov // Domestic physical geographers and travelers. – Moscow: State educational and pedagogical publishing house of the Ministry of Education of the RSFSR, 1959. – P. 193-203.

From an article by M. B. Chernenko Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel and Fedor Fedorovich Matyushkin

Back in the 18th century. the search began for a vast landmass, which, according to rumors, lay north of the mouth of the Kolyma. In the 60s of the XVIII century. The main Anadyr commander, Colonel Fedor Plenisner, a participant in Bering’s voyages, became interested in this unknown land. On his orders, Sergeant Stepan Andreev and the “Chukchi Cossack” Nikolai Daurkin traveled along the coast and islands for two years, diligently collecting information about this land among the Chukchi.

Andreev visited the Bear Islands (they received the following name: “...there were quite a lot of bear tracks on those islands, and several live bears were seen, and others were killed”). Daurkin visited the Diomede Islands in the Bering Strait. Having returned, Daurkin, from the words of the Chukchi, said that somewhere near Chukotka, in the ice of the polar sea, there really lies “American land with a standing forest” (i.e., land that is connected to America and on which forest grows); The Chukchi called this land “Tikigen”, and the “Khrakhai” people lived on it. Along with many interesting details, there were many fabrications in his message. Thus, Daurkin said that “Tikigen Land” floated a mile out to sea in strong winds, and returned to its old place in calm weather. Without other information, Daurkin’s stories might not have been given much importance. But in 1764, Sergeant Andreev visited the Bear Islands for the second time. Not far from them, he not only “saw in the great distance what he considered to be the greatest island,” but also set out across the ice to it. Andreev did not reach the island, because twenty miles from it he discovered traces of “unknown people” riding on eight sleds with reindeer sleds, and turned back.

The original reports and daily travel journals of Sergeant Andreev were lost in the archives. Some of them were, however, published, but many years later and not in full. At the end of 1951, documents about Andreev’s campaigns in 1763 and 1764 were published. were accidentally found in the Central State Archive of Ancient Acts in the papers of the office of Catherine II. After a careful analysis, Professor N.N. Zubov and the famous Soviet polar explorer, former captain of the icebreaking steamship "G. Sedov" came to the conclusion that Andreev walked on motionless fast ice to the north-west of the Bear Islands and after six

After half a day of travel, I came almost close to a large low-lying island, then unknown and now called New Siberia.

Andreev's contemporaries inaccurately deciphered his notes. They decided that Andreev walked not to the northwest, but to the northeast from the Bear Islands. Accordingly, on maps of the Arctic they began to designate the vast “Andreev Land”, connecting it with the “Tikigen Land”. There is a belief that the American continent extends deep into the Arctic Ocean and somewhere northeast of Kolyma it comes very close to the Siberian coast.

A few years after Andreev’s campaign, in 1769, ensigns Leontyev, Lysov and Pushkarev were sent to search for “Andreev’s Land”, who carefully examined the area of the Bear Islands; during one of the campaigns they walked 170 miles north of these islands, but did not find any signs of land.

Another fifteen years passed. In 1786, by decree of Catherine II, a geographical and astronomical expedition of a captain-lieutenant and a lieutenant arrived in the Kolyma region. Along with other tasks, she was instructed to explore the land seen by Andreev, or “at least to find out about all the circumstances of this land, such as: is it an island or a solid land stretching from America, is it inhabited by inhabitants and how populous are they, and so on.” However, this attempt also did not produce results.

In the spring of 1810, Gedenstrom, an official exiled to Siberia, walked across the ice in search of a mysterious land. The map he compiled shows that his path ended precisely in the middle of the distance from the mainland coast to the winding line with which Gedenstrom, at 73° north latitude, marked the boundaries of the legendary land.

The Russian flag has long flown over Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. Russian villages arose along the entire northwestern coast of America, right up to the then deserted Bay of St. Francis. One after another, Russian ships left on long voyages around the world to the shores of Russian America. Along the way they discovered dozens and hundreds of previously unknown islands. Russian names multiplied on the map of the World Ocean. But the mystery of the land, lost in the harsh silence of the icy sea, somewhere north of the Kolyma coast, still remained unsolved.

Her turn came only in the twenties of the 19th century, when Arctic research resumed with renewed vigor.

Young naval officers, not satisfied with combat service, dreamed of traveling around the world, of polar campaigns, difficult and dangerous, but promising new glorious discoveries. The “first division” went to the southern polar region. She had the honor of discovering the sixth and final continent - Antarctica. The sloops “Otkrytie” and “Blagomarnenny”, captains Vasiliev and Shishmarev, set off into the waters of the Bering Sea in search of a way to the North Pole. Fyodor Litke headed to the shores of Novaya Zemlya.

The Admiralty entrusted twenty-four-year-old lieutenant Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel with an inventory of the shores of northeastern Siberia - from the mouth of Indigirka to Kolyuchin Island - and the search for the mysterious “Andreev Land”. Midshipman Fedor Fedorovich Matyushkin was appointed his assistant. Together with them on the difficult polar journey were navigator Kozmin, doctor of medicine Cyber, knowledgeable in natural sciences, two sailors - Ivaninkov and Nekhoroshkov; the first of them knew how to be a mechanic, and the second was an excellent carpenter.

Wrangel and Matyushkin first met on board the sloop of war "Kamchatka", which sailed in 1817–1819. circumnavigation to the shores of Russian America.

Wrangel was born into an impoverished noble family. His parents died early, and the orphan found shelter with distant relatives. He read a lot and from an early age strove for naval service.

At the age of fourteen, Wrangel became a student of the Naval Cadet Corps. In his studies he showed excellent diligence and good abilities. Wrangel completed the course first out of ninety-nine of his peers.

In July 1815, a nineteen-year-old graduate of the Naval Corps, midshipman Ferdinand Wrangel, was promoted to midshipman and appointed junior watch officer in the 19th naval crew, then stationed in Reval (now Tallinn). A year later he was transferred to the frigate Avtroil, sailing in the Gulf of Finland. It would seem that a dream has come true. But young Wrangel did not dream of such monotonous service as a combat naval officer. He felt empowered to do more. He dreamed of distant and dangerous campaigns. After standing watch, Wrangel sat down with books, studied mathematics, astronomy, languages, and learned to draw.

When rumors spread that the famous Golovnin was setting off on a new voyage around the world, Wrangel decided to become part of the Kamchatka crew at all costs. But the chief commander of the Revel port interceded in vain for him. The name of midshipman Wrangel meant nothing to Golovnin, and on a long and responsible voyage he took only officers who were personally known to him. Then Wrangel decided on a daring act: he filed a report of illness to his superiors, and he himself went to St. Petersburg. The young man found Golovnin and asked to take him on a voyage, even as a simple sailor. It remains unknown what Golovnin asked Wrangel about, what questions he asked him about nautical sciences, in any case, he was satisfied with the exam. Wrangel was assigned to the Kamchatka as a junior watch officer.

The crossing of the Atlantic took seventy-one days. "Kamchatka" was on a road well-trodden by many sailors. At the appointed time the bells were struck and the watches changed. In the evenings, the officers whiled away the time in the wardroom. The sailors, gathered on the forecastle, sang songs. During a short stay in Rio de Janeiro, sailors indignantly observed the public trade in “ebony,” as black slaves were called here. We celebrated the New Year at Cape Horn, the extreme tip of the South American continent. A fierce storm marked its entry into the Pacific Ocean. And again the long days of swimming in the ocean dragged on. Only on May 2, 1818, the sloop reached Kamchatka. A channel had to be cut in the ice of the Peter and Paul Harbor so that the ship could approach the shore.

While supplies and equipment delivered from Kronstadt were unloaded, the officers examined the city and became acquainted with the inhabitants of the distant outskirts. In July, the sloop headed for the shores of Russian America.

Novo-Arkhangelsk, the main city of Russian America, and the parish of “Kamchatka” greeted Novo-Arkhangelsk, the main city of Russian America, with a thunderous salute from the palisade of the fortress and the companion ships. Just two decades earlier, the tireless one founded a city on the island of Sitka. Now ships were being built at the edge of the dense Alaskan forest. Children of Aleuts and Indians studied in schools. The leaders of warlike Indian tribes easily visited Russian settlers.

After a short stay, the sloop set off on its further journey. The sailors visited Fort Ross, a Russian settlement near the borders of California, and visited the Hawaiian and Mariana Islands, and the Philippines. And now the Pacific Ocean was left behind, then the Indian. On March 20, 1819, we passed the island of St. Helena, where the British were guarding the unlucky “conqueror of the universe” - Napoleon. And again seventy-four days on the open ocean. Short stop in the Azores. Then - Europe. Baltika. Kronstadt.

The officers and sailors of the sloop learned well Golovnin’s motto: “Duty, honor, justice.” In his eyes everyone was equal. In every sailor, be it an officer or an ordinary sailor, he first of all valued and respected the person. Punching, beatings, vile corporal punishment, so common in the navy of that time, were prohibited on the ship. Love for the homeland, loyalty to military duty, a sense of camaraderie, mutual assistance - these were the qualities Golovnin cultivated in his officers and sailors.

Over the long months of sailing, Golovnin developed simple, cordial relationships with Wrangel, Litke, Matyushkin and other young officers. In the evenings, Golovnin talked with them for a long time, and the young officers who served under his command not only acquired extensive maritime knowledge, but also learned to look at the world around them with new eyes, grew and were enriched spiritually.

On September 5, 1819, the trip around the world, which lasted two years and ten days, was completed. Wrangel and Matyushkin returned from a long voyage as seasoned, experienced sailors.

The instructions of the State Admiralty Department ordered Wrangel’s expedition to “go for an inventory of the shores from the Kolyma River east to Cape Shelag and from there to the north, to the discovery of an inhabited land, which, according to the Chukchi legend, is not far away.”

At the beginning of the winter of 1820/21, after an almost eight-month journey through Siberia, members of the expedition to inventory the shores of the Arctic Ocean reached Nizhne-Kolymsk.

In mid-February 1821, trips along the coast and sea ice began.

First, for reconnaissance, Wrangel and Matyushkin walked along the coast on sea ice from the mouth of the Kolyma to Cape Shelagsky. Because of the cold - all days there were severe frosts of thirty degrees - when working with the sextant, the skin of the fingers froze to the instrument and non-healing wounds appeared on the hands.

By the end of the fifteenth day, the travelers reached their goal - they approached Cape Shelag. “The path around it,” Wrangel wrote in his diary, “surpassed in difficulty and danger everything we had previously experienced.” We had to walk, either falling into loose alluvial snow or climbing steep ninety-foot-high ice hummocks. Heaps of hummocks obscured the cape. And when the travelers approached the shore, they saw black, dense and shiny rock unknown to them. “The gloomy, black cliffs, piled up for centuries, never melting ice mountains, the vast, eternal ice-bound sea, all illuminated by the weak sliding rays of the polar sun barely rising above the horizon, the complete absence of all living things and the uninterrupted grave silence presented to us,” wrote Wrangel , – a picture of seemingly dead nature, which is impossible to describe.”

Ten days after returning to Nizhne-Kolymsk, Wrangel and Matyushkin set out on a new campaign, this time to the north, in search of the “Andreev Land” - the “Unknown Land”.

On March 26, twenty-two loaded sledges left the base on Sukharny, a tiny island in the eastern branch of the Kolyma delta, and set off on a long, difficult journey.

Behind the coastal hummocks a smooth ice plain opened up. The hope for a quick and non-stop journey made me forget about the difficulties I had endured. “Soon, however,” Wrangel wrote, “we became convinced of the infinite difference between the lively, continuously moving ocean and the deadly monotony of the icy desert that surrounded us, the sight of which tired the eye and brought involuntary despondency to a person.”

The monotony of the surrounding ice did not last long, however. The smooth plain was replaced by tangles of hummocks, blocking the path. The deep crevices between them were filled with loose snow. Parallel ridges of hummocks, from a distance resembling frozen ocean waves, sometimes stretched straight to the north, sometimes from west to east. Crossing these ridges, the sleigh slid down, carrying people along with it. Pulling out the sleds took a lot of work.

On top of that, the bright rays of the sun reflected by the surface of the ice blinded people - glasses and black crepe on the eyes did not help.

To escape the blinding sunlight, travelers moved at night. Along the way, they built intermediate food bases: they cut deep holes in the ice and left food and dog food in them for the return trip. The pits were filled with crushed ice, the cracks were filled with snow and filled with water. Frost quickly froze this simple building material, and the ice armor reliably protected the warehouses from animals.

Wrangel immediately sent the freed sledges back to Nizhne-Kolymsk. Finally, only six sledges remained with a two-week supply of food. And the road got worse.

Wrangel went ahead to reconnoiter the way. He drove through a continuous brine of sea water. “Countless cracks in the ice running in all directions, muddy water emerging from them, wet snow mixed with earth and sand particles... everything likened the destroyed surface of the sea to a vast swamp,” he wrote. We climbed over the cracks on boards. But the cracks grew wider. The very first strong squall could completely crush and disperse the ice fields along which the travelers were moving. There was no other, better road.

215 versts from the coast the detachment turned back. To inventory the Bear Islands, the detachment split: one group was headed by Matyushkin, the other by Wrangel. We had to hurry, as spring was coming and the ice movements intensified. On April 25, travelers reached the mainland shore. During the spring thaw, survey work was stopped.

In the summer, the expedition examined and mapped the “Kolyma land”. To do this, the detachment was again divided into three groups: Wrangel worked at the mouth of the Kolyma, Kozmin photographed the coast from the mouth of the Malaya Chukochya River to Indigirka, and Matyushkin went “to the countries lying northeast of the Kolyma.” He climbed char cliffs, swam across fast rivers on horseback, explored the unexplored expanses of the tundra in snow and rain, without fire and without shelter. More than once he had to get wet to the skin, go hungry, and look death in the eye. “Our food itself,” he wrote in one of his letters, “depended on chance; a killed goose, swan, deer, caught fish made us rejoice, forget the past, and the day of fishing was a day of celebration for us.”

Two years have already passed since the expedition left St. Petersburg, and its main goal remained as distant as at the beginning of the journey. The mysterious land, lying somewhere in the north, among the ice, could not be found.

The third expedition on the ice was undertaken in the spring of 1822 from Cape Bolshoi Baranov Kamen. Difficulties began from the first day of the journey, as soon as the travelers broke away from the mainland. Ridges of hummocks alternated with icy plains, on which fresh wind-blown snow lay in high waves. It’s hard to say what made the hike more difficult: the hummocks or this muddy snow plain. The sleigh was buried in the snow, and the dogs were exhausted. People stepped in to help them. The path through the hummocks had to be made with picks. Sometimes the ice contained streaks of bluish silt and coarse sand. People were perplexed: “Where did this silt come from among the endless hummocks?”

The travelers were haunted by mirages. Thick clouds suddenly appeared above the horizon. From a distance they seemed like a long-awaited land. With a simple eye one could see dark blue hills, clear silhouettes of mountains, valleys and even individual cliffs. Congratulating each other, the travelers rushed forward. And after a few hours, the mountains rose high into the clouds or disappeared, only to reappear a day or two later in another part of the horizon. People have learned not to believe polar ghosts. They walked forward along a pre-planned course.

Beyond the 71st parallel we came out onto smooth ice, covered with tiny salt crystals that dug into the paws of the dogs. They made only eight to ten miles a day. People walked, helping dogs drag heavy sledges.

On the twenty-fifth day, the path was blocked by a pile of hummocks. For seven hours in a row, people, clearing the road, chiseled the hard ice with picks. Exhausted from fatigue, they unbuttoned their jackets, and then the frost immediately froze the underwear, wet from perspiration; it became hard, scratched and burned the skin.

And from the north came the ominous roar of breaking ice.

In seven hours we covered only three miles. At a halt, Wrangel decided to consult with Matyushkin and Kuzmin. What should I do? Should we go further north? Is it still worth the risk? It was 250 miles of difficult travel to the shore. And the nearest settlement is even further – 390 versts.

The next morning Matyushkin and two guides went on reconnaissance. He returned only six hours later. During this time, he managed to cover only ten miles, and these were the last miles of the journey. Then the sea raged: the ocean was casting off its winter shackles. Huge ice floes rose on the ridges of raging waves, collided with a crash, broke, crumbled, disappeared into the abyss and were thrown up again, covered with silt and sand raised from the seabed.

So, the way to the north was closed. While the ice was still holding, it was necessary to have time to get to the nearest warehouse. But I really didn’t want to leave the ice without snatching the secret of the unknown land from them!

Wrangel decided to travel a little more to the northeast. On the morning of the twenty-seventh day of the journey it began to snow. The teams again entered the hummocks. And from afar the same dull rumbles of thunder could be heard. Thick blue steam rising above the horizon also foreshadowed the rapid movement of ice. It was time to turn south, towards the motherland.

The wood was running out. They were only enough to light a fire once a day and make tea. I ran out of fish oil. They ate dried and frozen fish. They tried to quench their thirst with snow, but it made them even more thirsty. I was overcome by fatigue.

On April 12, 1822, the travelers were at 72°02" northern latitude, 262 versts from the Kolyma coast. From here they turned back.

At the first warehouse, the cellar was filled with water that had penetrated through a small crack in the bottom. Fortunately, the supplies were preserved, although they were wet.

After forty-six days of wandering on the ice of the polar sea, on May 1, 1822, Wrangel’s detachment came ashore.

A year later, Wrangel’s detachment set off on its final, fourth campaign. This time Cape Shelagsky was designated as the starting point. Arriving there, the travelers met the Chukchi, who told them new information about an unknown land lost in the Arctic Sea.

Among the Chukchi there was an old man, whom the rest of his fellow tribesmen treated with deep respect. It was Kamakai, the leader of the Chukchi tribe that lived on the coast of the Chaunskaya Bay. Having made sure that the Russians did not harbor any hostile thoughts, he began to willingly answer their questions. Kamakai knew his region well. His information about the nature of the coast and the features of the area was impeccably accurate.

He said that on clear summer days, mountainous land can be seen far out to sea from Cape Yakan. He heard from his father that once a Chukchi elder and his household went there in a large leather canoe and did not return.

This confirmed the story that Matyushkin had heard from the Chukchi two years earlier, while visiting a fair in the village of Ostrovnoye on Anyui, where industrialists from all over the area annually gathered to trade.

Inspired by hope, the travelers left for this trip. The path this time turned out to be very difficult. One night a strong storm broke the ice. People and dogs found themselves on a small ice floe. In the morning, fortunately, the wind consolidated the ice.

At 70°51" north latitude, the path was blocked by a wide polynya, extending to the west and east to the very horizon.

“We climbed,” Wrangel wrote, “on the highest of the surrounding hummocks in the hope of finding a means to penetrate further, but, having reached its top, we saw only the vast open sea. A magnificently terrible and sad sight for us! Huge ice floes rushed on the foaming waves of the sea and, carried by the wind, ran onto the loose ice surface that lay on the other side of the channel... With the sad confirmation of the impossibility of overcoming the obstacles set by nature, the last hope of discovering the land we supposed, in the existence of which we already there was no doubt. We had to abandon the goal that we had been constantly striving to achieve for three years, despising all hardships, difficulties and dangers. We did everything that duty and honor required of us. To fight the force of the elements and the obvious impossibility was reckless and even more useless. I decided to return."

Having reached the shore, the expedition went east with the inventory. From high cliffs jutting out into the sea, Wrangel and Matyushkin peered into the foggy distance. The hope of seeing the desired land never left them. But it was all in vain.

From Cape Yakan Matyushkin once again turned north, across the sea ice. Here, according to the stories of the Chukchi, the unknown land came closest to the shore of the Asian continent. Matyushkin managed to travel only 16 miles: then huge ice holes crossed the road on all sides. At this time, Wrangel continued to inventory the shore. He reached Kolyuchinskaya Bay and only when the dog food ran out did he turn back. Wrangel returned to Nizhne-Kolymsk six days later than Matyushkin.

In Nizhne-Kolymsk, Wrangel was awaiting an order from the Admiralty: to finish the expedition and return to St. Petersburg at the first opportunity. Soon Wrangel and Matyushkin left the gloomy northern shores. They did not find the “Unknown Land,” but they could proudly say that the expedition’s three-year labors were not in vain. Domestic geography received detailed maps of a huge section of the Siberian coast - from Indigirka to Kolyuchinskaya Bay. These maps have long outlived their authors. The coastline was plotted by Wrangel, Matyushkin and Kozmin with great accuracy. The determinations of latitudes made by the Wrangel expedition differ by only a few seconds from modern ones. The high degree of accuracy of these determinations, produced by extremely imperfect instruments, is admirable.

Extensive information was collected about the polar ice, the nature of the Kolyma and Chukotka lands, about the peoples inhabiting the extreme northeast of Russia, their life, morals and customs.

Wrangel’s book “Journey along the northern shores of Siberia and the Arctic Sea,” which in separate chapters included Matyushkin’s reports on travels deep into the Kolyma tundra, published in 1841, served as a guide for polar explorers for a long time.

And finally, as a result of the Wrangel-Matyushkin expedition, the answer to the question about the unknown land was given. Three bold expeditions across the ice and the stories of the Chukchi strengthened Wrangel’s conviction that such a land existed, but it was located much further east than they were looking for, and not as vast as previously thought. This land was indicated on the map compiled by the expedition members, directly north of the small Cape Yakan, protruding on the mainland between Chaunskaya Bay and Cape Ir-Karpiy (now Cape Schmidt). Here, next to the circle denoting the island, it said: “The mountains are visible from Cape Yakan in the summer.”

Forty-four years later, a ship approached this land for the first time. A deserted piece of land was named after Wrangel. With the same right it could be called the island of Fyodor Matyushkin.

The successes of the outstanding polar journey belong equally to both young officers. Matyushkin, more lively and energetic, carried out the most dangerous reconnaissance. He was the first at the fair in Ostrovnoye to receive information from the Chukchi about the land “as seen from Cape Yakan.” His trek across the eastern tundra is one of the most heroic pages of the expedition.

But in those days, the achievements of any campaign, as a rule, were associated exclusively with the name of the commander. Matyushkin’s merits remained in the shadows.

Returning to St. Petersburg, Matyushkin wrote bitterly from Moscow to E. A. Engelhardt:

“Not a word about ranks and awards - what they give will happen - but there is little hope. You know, Yegor Antonovich, how tight it is in our fleet. Will we soon have line production across our fleet? and will I be included in this number of the chosen ones? In two months it will be seven years since I have been in the service, seven years since I left the lyceum - and still in the first rank - still a midshipman...”

The campaign brought great fame to Wrangel. He again rushed to the North, trying at all costs to find inaccessible land. But Naval Minister de Traverse recognized the continuation of the expedition as untimely, and Wrangel had to return to his duties as a combat naval officer.

At this time, preparations for a new round-the-world voyage were being completed - on the military sailing transport "Meek". Golovnin invited Wrangel to lead the expedition.

On August 23, 1825, “Meek” left Kronstadt. Lieutenant Matyushkin and navigator Kozmin went on the voyage together with Wrangel.

The voyage of the “Meek” was the twenty-fifth circumnavigation of Russian sailors to the shores of Russian America. Lazarev, Kotzebue, Gegemeister, Panafidin have already followed the path of Krusenstern, Lisyansky and Golovnin twice; Vasiliev, Shishmarev, Dokhturov walked.

The sloop "Meek" was an ordinary military transport, designed to transport provisions and equipment to distant possessions. Russia. Its crew numbered fifty people, including six officers, a doctor and forty-two sailors.

And now Kronstadt harbor was left behind. Passed Copenhagen, Portsmouth. In forty-six days, the sloop crossed the Atlantic Ocean and arrived at the shores of Brazil.

The Meek left the harbor of Rio de Janeiro on December 14, 1825, the day when the Decembrists spoke on Senate Square in St. Petersburg. Only almost two years later Matyushkin learned about the tragic fate of many of his friends.

The days of sailing passed monotonously. After a short stay in the port of Valparaiso (Chile), the crossing of the Pacific Ocean began. Two months passed quickly, but the goal was still far away. Fresh water and firewood were running out, the ship, pretty battered by storms, needed repairs. The Marquesas Islands lay on the way, and the Meek entered the port of Chichagov on the island of Nuka Hiva.

After a week's stop near Nuka-Khiva, the Meek moved on. As during the entire voyage, the officers measured and recorded air and water temperatures, wind directions, and current speeds four times a day.

Two months later, the “Meek” entered the Peter and Paul Harbor. Having handed over the cargo, the transport hurried to Novo-Arkhangelsk and on September 12, 1826, set off on the return journey. The voyage to Kronstadt took exactly a year. On September 14, 1827, the entrance forts of Kronstadt saluted the brave sailors who returned to their native shores.

Ten years of joint voyages and voyages, first on the Kamchatka, then across the snowy expanses of north-eastern Siberia and, finally, on the Meek, did not bring Wrangel and Matyushkin closer. Almost the same age (Wrangel was only three years older than Matyushkin), they remained different people. The dry and pedantic Wrangel, who devoted himself to the sea and science, shunned everything that could distract him from his official activities. And Matyushkin was close and understandable to the passionate, freedom-loving thoughts that once overwhelmed his comrades at the Moscow university boarding school and lyceum. If he had not happened to leave on the Meek, he would probably have been among his friends on Senate Square on the frosty day of December 14, 1825.

Continuing to serve their native fleet, Wrangel and Matyushkin, after sailing on the Meek, went different ways.

Wrangel stayed in St. Petersburg for a little over a year. His appointment as a member of the Scientific Naval Committee and commander of the combined naval brigade brought him moral satisfaction, but the financial situation of his family (Wrangel had just gotten married) remained difficult. In the winter of 1828, Wrangel submitted a petition for his release from active service for five years and permission to accept the post of chief ruler of the Russian possessions in America offered by the Russian-American Company. Permission was given.

Thus a new page opened in Wrangel’s biography.

For more than five years Wrangel ruled Russian America. He visited many corners of the company's vast holdings - in the Kenai Bay, on Kodiak, on Spruce Island.

Under Wrangel, in the far north of Alaska, in the depths of Norton Bay, near the mouth of the Yukon, the Mikhailovsky Redoubt, the northernmost Russian settlement in northwestern America, was founded. And at the other end of the Russian possessions, near the borders of sunny California, stood the strong, beautiful buildings of Fort Ross. It was surrounded by fields and abundant orchards. Having heard about the hospitality of the Russians and observing their peaceful activities, Indian hunters came here, wandering in the surrounding dense forests. They brought products made from elk horn, pine nuts and other gifts to the Russians. In remote forest villages, Russian-made iron axes and other household items appeared. Russian settlers brought a new culture to this region.

In those same years, Russians from fortresses on Nushagak and Kuskokuim - northern rivers neighboring the deep Yukon - began to go deep into Alaska, discovering previously unknown beaver lands. Elderly industrialists and their families settled in Kenai Bay. They occupied the lands where the potato itself gave birth to twenty and where there was plenty of fish, game and berries. Preserving the main resources of Alaska from destruction, Wrangel developed the rules and procedures for seal fishing on the Pribilof Islands.

The successes of the Russians caused concern among the American and British colonialists. Taking advantage of the weakness of security, foreign trading agents and ships penetrated Russian possessions. Supplying the Indians with firearms and even cannons, they incited them to fight against the Russians, setting themselves the goal of undermining Russian trade with the local population at all costs. The Americans and the British built their trading posts at the very borders of Russian America.

Wrangel returned to Russia, to St. Petersburg, through Mexico, where he managed to convince the authorities to cede to Russia a fertile, uncultivated plain that lay not far from Fort Ross (near the present city of San Francisco). Here it was possible to create a granary that could supply bread to all of Russian America. One thing was required - for Russia to recognize the Mexican Republic. However, Nicholas I rejected this proposal. He considered the Mexicans who had thrown off Spanish rule to be rebels. And in 1841, Fort Ross was sold for next to nothing by the tsarist government, just as all of Alaska was subsequently sold.

In 1836, shortly after returning to St. Petersburg, Wrangel, promoted to rear admiral, was appointed director of the department of ship scaffolding. But he did not remain in this post for long and soon returned to the affairs of Russian America. In 1838, he took over the management of the affairs of the Main Board of the company, and two years later he was appointed chief director of the Russian-American Company.

The range of his interests expanded. Together with the outstanding Russian navigator F.P. Litke and the famous Russian academician; K. M. Baer Wrangel became a founding member of the Geographical Society, founded in 1845. The General Geography Department elected him as its chairman. At one of the first meetings of the new society, Wrangel made a detailed report “On the means of reaching the Pole.” This report summed up the results of the remarkable campaign of Wrangel and Matyushkin on the ice of the East Siberian Sea.

Subsequently, the well-known Robert Peary took advantage of the thoughts of the Russian traveler. Both the route outlined by Wrangel and his advice on organizing intermediate bases were useful to the enterprising American.

In 1849, due to health reasons, Wrangel retired and settled on his estate in the Estonian province.

In 1854, Wrangel was remembered in St. Petersburg. He was offered the post of director of the Hydrographic Department. After a five-year break, Ferdinand Petrovich returned to work. In mid-1855 he was appointed Minister of the Navy and member of the State Council. At the same time, he was a member of the Siberian Committee and a member of the Committee for the Organization of Defense of the Baltic Sea. The following year, 1856, Wrangel was awarded the rank of full admiral.

In 1857, Wrangel resigned from his ministerial post for health reasons and was treated for a year and a half, after which he returned to service and until 1864 participated in the work of the State Council.

In 1867, exciting news arrived that a ship sailing in the Chukchi Sea had found an island “that can be seen in the summer from Cape Yakan.” It was called Wrangel Island. Wrangel was not in St. Petersburg at that time; he went abroad for treatment. And in the summer of 1870, news of his death came from Dorpat (now Tartu).

Bibliography

Chernenko M. B. Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel and Fedor Fedorovich Matyushkin / M. B. Chernenko. - Russian sailors. – Moscow: Military Publishing House of the USSR Ministry of Defense, 1953. – P. 210-225.

FERDINAND PETROVICH WRANGEL

The outstanding scientist and navigator Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel was born on December 29, 1796 in the city of Pskov into a noble family. The founders of his family arrived from Denmark in the 13th century and settled in the Estonian village of Varanga, where the surname Wrangel came from. Wrangel's grandfather was a chamberlain in the royal palace. When Peter III was overthrown from the throne as a result of a coup, Chamberlain Wrangel refused to swear allegiance to the new empress, for which he was deprived of his entire fortune, and then fled abroad.

Ferdinand's parents were left virtually without a livelihood. Naturally, it was difficult for them to raise their son, and they sent him to be raised by one of their relatives. Soon his parents died, so the boy was left an orphan.

The passion for the sea and travel began when the house where Wrangel lived was visited by the first Russian circumnavigator Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern.

From him the boy heard a fascinating story about a journey to the shores of Kamchatka and America.

Relatives decided to send Ferdinand to the Naval Cadet Corps. Wrangel had conflicting memories of his stay there. The corps was headed by an “old admiral” who practically never appeared there. According to the young man, there were only two or three good mathematics teachers in the building. The rest were not "decent". The most common punishment for pranks was caning (100 or more blows). Future sailors played ball and leapfrog, fought with fists or “wall to wall.” It was very cold in the building, and the cadets did not have normal warm clothing. “In a word, the upbringing is Spartan, the teaching is the worst...”

Ferdinand Wrangel had to engage in both self-education and self-education in the corps. Here his closest friend was the son of a district doctor from the city of Vyshny Volochek, Pyotr Fedorovich Anzhu. They both became the best students of the graduating class, and their friendship lasted more than 60 years.

On June 21, 1815, Wrangel and Anzhu graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps and went to Revel (now Tallinn) to serve in the 19th naval crew. They settled in the same apartment. At first, the officer's salary was so small that it was enough to eat only cabbage soup and porridge. Friends couldn’t even afford tea in everyday life. They only drank it if guests came. Wrangel was a closed and unsociable person. He did not like an idle lifestyle, but alone he did mental work: he read books about travel, studied languages, learned to make maps. His only friend was still Anjou; When friends lived in one of the Estonian villages in neighboring houses, they visited each other even in rain and snow.

While in Reval, Wrangel had the opportunity to visit Krusenstern, who settled for scientific studies in the village of Kiltsi. Ivan Fedorovich promised the young man help and support in preparing for a circumnavigation.

Ferdinand Wrangel really wanted to participate in some kind of naval expedition, and finally Captain Golovnin gave his consent to include him in the campaign.

The sloop "Kamchatka" set off on the voyage, the crew of which included captain Golovnin, lieutenants Matvey Muravyov, Fyodor Kutygin, Nikandr Filatov, midshipmen Fyodor Litke and Ferdinand Wrangel and others - a total of 16 people.

The expedition had three tasks. Firstly, various cargoes that could not be transported by land had to be delivered to Petropavlovsk-on-Kamchatka. Secondly, it was necessary to become familiar with the state of Russian settlements in America; thirdly, to improve the maps of Russian America, Golovnin was instructed to describe the northwestern coast from Bristol Bay to Norton Bay. In addition, it was necessary to explore a deep gulf on the American continent, lying opposite the island of St. Lawrence.

"Kamchatka" set off on a journey on August 26, 1817. On September 5, the expedition arrived on the shores of Denmark. Golovnin sent Wrangel and another crew member Savelyev to hire a pilot in Gelsinger and buy fresh food for the entire crew. To complete the assignment, to Golovnin’s great pleasure, it took only 4 hours. Five days later, the Kamchatka reached Portsmouth, and on September 21 it entered the Atlantic Ocean.

At Kamchatka, Wrangel became friends with Fyodor Litke. Their friendship lasted more than 50 years, despite differences in beliefs. In addition to Litke, Wrangel made other friends. In general, his first voyage was filled with romance. Ferdinand Petrovich strove to see and learn as much as possible, and wrote down his impressions in his diary. Unfortunately, the diaries of the great navigator have not survived to this day: they were lost in a fire.

On November 5, Kamchatka arrived in Rio de Janeiro. The city made a favorable impression on Wrangel, which was spoiled by the fact that he saw slave markets in Brazil.

On November 23, 1817, the Kamchatka left Rio de Janeiro and on December 19 reached Cape Horn, which it circumnavigated in 25 days.

During the voyage, Golovnin gave Wrangel various instructions. He saw in him a person with extraordinary organizational skills, exceptional willpower and great talent...

"Kamchatka" delivered the goods to their destination, and then headed to the Russian settlement of Ross in California, where a meeting took place with the main ruler of Russian America, the famous navigator L.A. Gagemeister. The travelers then visited the Sandwich and Mariana Islands and arrived in Manila on December 13, 1818, where they stayed until January 17, 1819.

On March 20, the sloop reached the island of St. Helena, where Napoleon Bonaparte lived in exile. Only Golovnin was able to talk to the latter, since the British did not allow almost anyone to see the prisoner.

From St. Helena the travelers headed to the Azores, where they stayed for 17 days. Next stop was Portsmouth.

On September 6, 1819, the Kamchatka dropped anchor in the Kronstadt roadstead. Wrangel's first trip around the world was over.

After leaving “Kamchatka”, Ferdinand went to Estonia, where he visited his relatives and met with Krusenstern. The latter said that next year it is planned to send an expedition to the shores of Novaya Zemlya under the leadership of Lieutenant Andrei Petrovich Lazarev. Wrangel decided to return to St. Petersburg and see Lazarev in order to propose his candidacy as a crew member. In the Admiralty Department, Wrangel met Golovnin, who reported that in Russian government circles the issue of sending an expedition consisting of two detachments to search and inventory the lands that were supposed to exist north of the Yana and Kolyma rivers had been resolved. Golovnin invited his former student to become the head of one of the detachments, and Wrangel agreed.

As usual, Ferdinand Petrovich asked Kruzenshtern’s opinion, and he advised him to undertake the exploration of the northern coast of Russia between Kolyma and the Bering Strait. The position of a significant part of it was not reliably known. On Russian maps it was depicted very schematically, based on ancient documents and legends, which gave rise to hypotheses about the existence of an isthmus between Asia and America. Kruzenshtern believed that the solution to this difficult problem, which no one had yet been able to solve, would be an important contribution to the geography of northeast Russia.

Wrangel studied hard and improved his knowledge, but he could not imagine even a tenth of what could await the expedition in the ice of the Arctic Ocean.

The problem of the “Northern Land”, an inventory of the north-eastern coasts of Russia, the final solution to the question of the division of Asia and America and the logically ensuing proof of the Northern Passage to the Pacific Ocean were the most important tasks of Russian geographical research, which for the first time in the history of Russian science acquired a global character.

During preparation for the expedition, a work plan was drawn up, and on November 14, 1819 it was approved by the Admiralty Board. It was planned to first send a small expedition, and then gradually increase its composition. Wrangel was appointed head of the Kolyma detachment, Anzhu was appointed head of the Yansk detachment.

The Yansky detachment was faced with the task of describing the New Siberian Islands and finding out if there were “new lands” nearby. The Kolyma detachment had to search for the land that the Chukchi “told about.”

The inventory of already known lands was of secondary importance. These tasks were to be solved by the assistant navigator, and Wrangel himself had to travel across the ice of the sea north to an unknown land, located only a one-day trip from this place.

Wrangel and Anzhu arrived in Irkutsk, where the famous navigator Godenstrom was waiting for them. The information received from him turned out to be very useful for the detachment leaders. Godenstrom warned the sailors that they would face serious difficulties, such as shortages of food and dog food.

The detachments set off on the journey on June 25. Two days later they arrived in Kachug, where a ship was already waiting for them. On June 28, the expedition set off down the Lena and reached Yakutsk on July 25.

Here Wrangel and Anzhu separated, and at the beginning of August 1820, the Yansk expedition led by Anzhu set off on a further voyage, and Wrangel and his detachment remained in Yakutsk, which he left only on September 12.

The journey was quite difficult, because it was necessary to spend the night at dirty “post stations”; Ferdinand Wrangel most often slept by the fire on a bear skin, covered with a fur blanket. He was so used to the cold that even 20-degree frost seemed to him a “mild temperature.”

On September 17, the ship unexpectedly developed a leak and began to sink. Suddenly Wrangel and his companions noticed a small island and managed to get to it. There the team managed to repair the ship, and they crossed the remaining half of the river quite successfully.

Wrangel's further path lay through forests, swamps and fast-moving rivers.

The most difficult part of the journey was crossing the Verkhoyansk mountain range. According to the stories of old-timers, there were such strong hurricanes that the wind threw both people and horses into the abyss. But the travelers were lucky; They safely crossed the mountains and descended into the valley of the Yana River.

On October 10, Wrangel reached Zashiversk, a small town on the right bank of the Indigirka, where there were only five houses and a church. Further the path lay through meadows and lakes, covered with a light layer of snow. After 15 days, the travelers arrived in Srednekolymsk.

On November 2, 1820, Wrangel reached Nizhnekolymsk, where it was planned to purchase food, purchase food for dogs and, in fact, the dogs themselves.

In order to complete an inventory of the northern shores of Siberia from Kolyma to Cape Shel and to undertake a search for the “mother land” north of it, according to Wrangel’s calculations, about 50 sledges, 600 dogs and 30 thousand fish were required.

Wrangel managed to stock up on almost everything necessary for the expedition. At the beginning of February 1821, he learned that most of the 4 purchased dogs and sleds could only be delivered to Nizhnekolymsk in mid-March. According to the instructions, he was supposed to explore the coast of the Arctic Sea from Kolyma to Cape Shelagsky. Here Wrangel needed to dispatch one of his assistants, Kozmin, to continue the inventory to the east, and he himself needed to go across the ice to the north, in search of the “mother land”, and explore it during the spring, and if necessary, during the summer. But Wrangel did not have the appropriate means to complete this task, and therefore changed the plan of action. Without waiting for the sledge to be delivered from Sredne- and Verkhnekolymsk, he decided to form a small detachment and travel to Cape Shelagsky.

On February 19, 1821, Wrangel left Nizhnekolymsk on three traveling and five “provision” sledges. He planned to inspect the ocean coast from the Bolshoi Baranov Stone to Cape Shelagsky, to the north of which, as the traveler Sarychev claimed, there is an inhabited “hard land” or an isthmus connecting Asia with America.

On the third day, already dark, Wrangel reached the town of Sukharny, which lay at the mouth of the eastern branch of the Kolyma and consisted of two sheds. In one of them, industrialists sent ahead by Wrangel were waiting.

On February 24, the expedition left Bolshoi Baranov Stone behind. Next lay an unknown area that needed to be explored with great care.

Severe frosts greatly annoyed the travelers. The expedition could travel only 20 to 26 versts per day. The materials collected during the journey spoke of the dubiousness of the existence of the “Northern Continent”. However, it took another 100 years to finally prove that such a continent does not exist.

Another important stage in Wrangel’s life is considered to be his stay in Russian America, but this period is one of the virtually unstudied in his biography.

Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel played an outstanding role in the creation of the Russian Geographical Society. The question of its organization began to be discussed in the first half

In 1844, Wrangel and his associates, Litke and Baer, developed a charter and successfully implemented their project.

The first general meeting of members of the Russian Geographical Society, prepared by Wrangel, took place on October 7

In 1845, Ferdinand Petrovich himself was elected chairman of the department of general geography. The society recognized its main task as “cultivating the geography of Russia, taking the name geography in its broadest meaning.”

In the Russian Geographical Society, Wrangel created a special committee that discussed the issue of equipping a scientific expedition to Russian America, and other projects were also discussed.

At this time, Wrangel began to have disagreements with the Chief of the Naval Staff, Prince A.S. Menshikov. In 1849, he resigned and went to the Ruil estate, where he lived for five years. This period of his life was overshadowed by a family tragedy: his two daughters and his wife Elizaveta Vasilievna died.

In September 1854, F.P. Litke invited Wrangel to return to the Naval Department, and Ferdinand Petrovich agreed. Here he first headed the Hydrographic Department, and then managed the entire ministry. Wrangel paid much attention to the recently created magazine “Sea Collection”.

Also, on the initiative of Ferdinand Wrangel, a Technical Committee was created, which was in charge of issues of technical re-equipment of the fleet.

In February 1857, Wrangel became very ill and a few months later left his post as manager of the Naval Ministry. He was appointed a member of the State Council.

Until 1864, Ferdinand Wrangel continued to take part in the activities of the Russian Geographical Society. In 1864, he finally left public service and moved permanently to the Ruil estate.

In 1867, Wrangel received information that the tsarist government had sold Russian America to the United States. He reacted very negatively to this.

Wrangel spent the last six years of his life in rural seclusion. Every day he was engaged in meteorological observations - diaries about this were preserved in his archive. But his health kept deteriorating, and the day came when Ferdinand Petrovich could no longer leave the house in order to take readings from meteorological instruments.

In the spring of 1870, Wrangel decided to visit the places where he spent his childhood. Returning home to Ruil, he felt very bad and stopped in Dorpat, where his brother lived. Here K.M. tried to see him. Baer to ask him to describe his memories of the creation of the Russian Geographical Society. However, Baer was not allowed to see the patient, but his request was conveyed. Wrangel wrote these memoirs a few hours before his death.

Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel died on May 25, 1870 from a broken heart. He was buried in the Ruil estate.

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