Mikhail Dmitrievich Levashov (; c. 1738–1774-76) was a Russian explorer and Lieutenant of the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

. After

Vitus Bering Vitus Jonassen Bering ( , , ; baptised 5 August 1681 – 19 December 1741),All dates are here given in the Julian calendar, which was in use throughout Russia at the time. also known as Ivan Ivanovich Bering (), was a Danish-born Russia ...

's 1741 tragic venture he was, together with

Peter Kuzmich Krenitzin Pyotr Kuzmich Krenitsyn () (1728 – July 4, 1770), spelt "Krenitzin" in the United States, was a Russian explorer and Captain/Lieutenant of the Imperial Russian Navy. Following Vitus Bering's 1741 tragic venture he was the first to conduct an exp ...

, among the first to conduct an expedition to

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

and the

Aleutians The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; , "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain of 14 main, larger volcanic island ...

Life

Levashev was sent by Russian Empress

Catherine II Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...

, as main assistant of expedition leader Krenitzin, to explore the northern parts of the Pacific Ocean and particularly the area around the

Bering Strait The Bering Strait ( , ; ) is a strait between the Pacific and Arctic oceans, separating the Chukchi Peninsula of the Russian Far East from the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. The present Russia–United States maritime boundary is at 168° 58' ...

on four ships. Levashev was the commander of ship ''St. Paul'', while Krenitzin was in command of the ''St. Catherine''. Krenitzin and Levashev surveyed the eastern part of the Aleutian island chain. In 1768-69 Levashef wintered in a natural harbor in

Unalaska The City of Unalaska (; ) is the main population center in the Aleutian Islands. The city is in the Aleutians West Census Area, a regional component of the Unorganized Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Unalaska is located on Unalaska Isl ...

. The following year, after resuming their explorations, both ships wintered in

Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (, ) 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 western coastlines, respectively. Immediately offshore along the Pacific ...

. Certain geographic features of the Alaskan coast, like Avatanak and

Akutan Island Akutan Island (; ) is an inhabited island in the Fox Islands (Alaska), Fox Islands group of the eastern Aleutian Islands in the Aleutians East Borough, Alaska, Aleutians East Borough of Alaska. Geography The island is approximately 18 mi ...

were named by Krenitzin and Levashev in the maps that were subsequently published. On 4 July 1770, when Krenitzin drowned, Levashef assumed command of the Russian expedition fleet and returned to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, where he arrived on 22 October 1771. Port Levashef, the harbor in Unalaska where Levashev had wintered his first year in the Northern Pacific was named in honor of this early Russian explorer by Lieutenant

Gavril Sarychev Gavril (also Gavriil) Andreyevich Sarychev () (1763 — 11 August ( O.S. 30 July) 1831), spelt "Sarichef" in the United States, was a Russian navigator, hydrographer, admiral (1829) and Honorable Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1809) ...

.http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=136:3:12952363097937718478::NO::P3_FID:1419073 Port Levashef - USGS

References

External links

The Naming of AlaskaOld map of Alaska showing Krenitzin and Levashev"s route
Bering Sea Imperial Russian Navy personnel 18th-century explorers from the Russian Empire Explorers of Asia Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Russian explorers of North America Explorers of Alaska 1730s births 1770s deaths {{Russia-mil-bio-stub