Cape Thompson is a headland on the

Chukchi Sea Chukchi Sea ( rus, Чуко́тское мо́ре, r=Chukotskoye more, p=tɕʊˈkotskəjə ˈmorʲɪ), sometimes referred to as the Chuuk Sea, Chukotsk Sea or the Sea of Chukotsk, is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west ...

coast of

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 ...

. It is located 26 miles (42 km) to the southeast of Point Hope, Arctic Slope. It is part of the Chukchi Sea unit of

Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (often shortened to Alaska Maritime or AMNWR) is a United States National Wildlife Refuge comprising 2,400 islands, headlands, rocks, islets, spires and reefs in Alaska, with a total area of , of which ...

. Early

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, ...

names for this cape were "Eebrulikgorruk" and "Uivaq", also spelled "Wevuk" or "Wevok." Cape Thompson was often referred to as "Unvaq Qanitoq," meaning "near cape," as opposed to "Univaq Ungasiktoq" (

Cape Lisburne Cape Lisburne ( Iñupiaq: ''Uivvaq'') is a cape located at the northwest point of the Lisburne Peninsula on the Chukchi Sea coast in Alaska. It is northeast of the village of Point Hope, part of the Arctic Slope. It is a part of the Chukchi Sea ...

) meaning "distant cape." The first recorded Europeans to sight this cape were

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

n explorers Mikhail Vasiliev and

Gleb Shishmaryov Gleb Semyonovich Shishmaryov (russian: Глеб Семёнович Шишмарёв; 1781 - November 3, 1835, Saint Petersburg) was a rear admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy. He is reputed for having surveyed the then little-known coast of Alaska ...

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 ...

on the ships ''Otkrietie'' and ''Blagonamierennie''. Vasiliev and Shishmaryov named this headland Mys Rikord, after admiral Peter Ivanovich Rikord (1776–1855), who was Governor of

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 west ...

between 1817 and 1822. This cape was later renamed by Captain

Frederick William Beechey Frederick William Beechey (17 February 1796 – 29 November 1856) was an English naval officer, artist, explorer, hydrographer and writer. Life and career He was the son of two painters, Sir William Beechey, RA and his second wife, Anne ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

, who wrote on August 2, 1826: ''"We closed with a high cape, which I named after Mr. Deas Thomson, one of the commissioners of the navy."'' In 1958 Cape Thompson was the proposed site for an artificial harbor to be dug using hydrogen bombs via

Project Chariot Project Chariot was a 1958 US Atomic Energy Commission proposal to construct an artificial harbor at Cape Thompson on the North Slope of the U.S. state of Alaska by burying and detonating a string of nuclear devices. History The project ...

References

Thompson Landforms of North Slope Borough, Alaska {{NorthSlopeAK-geo-stub