Nikolay Vasilyevich Rudanovsky (, 1819 — 1882) was a Russian marine officer and explorer, notable for leading several expeditions in 1853–54 to survey and to map the southern part of

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, p=səxɐˈlʲin) is an island in Northeast Asia. Its north coast lies off the southeastern coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, while its southern tip lies north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. An islan ...

. In particular, he became the first cartographer who surveyed inland areas of the island.

Biography

Rudanovsky was born in 1819 in Vyatka. His father was an officer, a participant of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, who subsequently retired from the Army and started a civil service career. In 1841, Rudanovsky completed naval training in

Kronstadt Kronstadt (, ) is a Russian administrative divisions of Saint Petersburg, port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Saint Petersburg, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg, near the head ...

and served for 10 years in the

Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. Established 18 May 1703, under Tsar Peter the Great as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the Baltic Fleet is the oldest Russian fleet. In 1918, the fleet w ...

before being transferred in 1851 to the Kamchatka Flotilla, based in

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (, ) is a city and the administrative center of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. It is located in the Far East of the country and lies along the coast of Avacha Bay by the Pacific Ocean, nearby Khalaktyrskoye Lake. As of the 202 ...

. In 1853, he was promoted to the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. In 1853, Russian colonization of Sakhalin started, and Rudanovsky volunteered to participate. He formed and trained a detachment of 70 soldiers and was, together with the detachment, transferred to the island. Formally, he was employed by the

Russian-American Company The Russian-American Company Under the High Patronage of His Imperial Majesty was a state-sponsored chartered company formed largely on the basis of the Shelikhov-Golikov Company, United American Company. Emperor Paul I of Russia chartered the c ...

. The commander of the Amur Expedition,

Gennady Nevelskoy Gennady Ivanovich Nevelskoy (; in Drakino, Soligalichsky Uyezd, Kostroma Governorate – in St. Petersburg) was a Russian navigator and naval officer. In 1829 he joined the Naval Cadet Corps and in 1846 was given the rank of ...

, assigned Rudanovsky and his people under the command of Nikolay Busse, who later became the military governor of

Amur Oblast Amur Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located on the banks of the Amur and Zeya rivers in the Russian Far East. The oblast borders Heilongjiang province of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the south. The administrati ...

. The expedition sailed from Petropavlovsk in August 1853, two days after Busse arrived to Petropavlovsk. In September, they arrived to Sakhalin and founded Muravyovsky Post, the first Russian settlement on the island and the predecessor of the town of Korsakov. While Rudanovsky was based in Muravyovsky Post, he was tasked with surveying the island. In particular, in late 1853 and early 1854 he mapped the east coast of

Aniva Bay Aniva Bay (Russian: Залив Анива (''Zaliv Aniva''), Japanese: 亜庭湾, Aniwa Bay, or Aniva Gulf) is located at the southern end of Sakhalin Island, Russia, north of the island of Hokkaidō, Japan. The largest city on the bay is Korsako ...

and crossed the island to the East to the

Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk; Historically also known as , or as ; ) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, Japan's island of Hokkaido on the sou ...

. However, in 1854, the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

started, and the Russian Empire was afraid that Great Britain would attack Russian settlements at the Pacific coast. The Amur Expedition was terminated, and on 30 June 1854 Muravyovsky Post was abandoned. Rudanovsky was transferred to

Nikolayevsk-on-Amur Nikolayevsk-on-Amur () is a town in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia located on the Amur River close to its liman in the Pacific Ocean. Population: 17,815 (2024); History Medieval and early-modern history In the late Middle Ages, the people living al ...

, where he was mainly surveying the shores of the

Amur The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer Manchuria, Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ...

. After the war, in July 1856, the military post in Due was founded, which again became the first Russian settlement on the island. In August 1856, Rudanovsky was appointed the military commander of the post, with about 20 people under his command. In July 1857, he was ordered to found a new settlement, Ilyinsky Post, which was abandoned in the same year but again founded at the same location in 1858. At the time, Sakhalin Island was jointly administered by Russia and Japan, however, the Russian government anticipated that it would be divided between the two, and in July 1858 Rudanovsky was ordered to survey the island and determine the location of prospective border. He has surveyed, and later mapped the western coast of Sakhalin between the 47th and the 50th parallel. In 1858, he was transferred to the

. On 7 November 1881, Rudanovsky was promoted to

counter admiral Counter admiral is a military rank used for high-ranking officers in several navies around the world, though the rank is not used in the English-speaking world, where its equivalent rank is rear admiral. The term derives from the French . Dependi ...

and simultaneously discharged from the military service. He died on 3 January 1882.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudanovsky, Nikolay 1819 births 1882 deaths 19th-century explorers from the Russian Empire Explorers of Asia