Mikhail Spiridonovich Gvozdev was a Russian military geodesist and explorer who lived in the 18th century. He is known for taking part in the first Russian voyage to see the coast of Alaska in 1732.
He was born in the early 1700s. He received his maritime training in Moscow and Saint Petersburg; He earned the title of geodesist in 1727. He was then assigned to participate in exploration activities in the east of Siberia.
1732 expedition
In the summer of 1732, he set out with sailors Ivan Fyodorov and K. Moshkov on the small ship Sviatoi Gavriil, left over from the First Kamchatka Expedition. On August 5, the ship left Cape Dezhnev at the eastern tip of Asia and moved east, soon approaching the western tip of the American mainland, today's Prince of Wales Cape.
Thus, the coast of Alaska was seen by Russians for the first time. During the voyage, the Diomede Islands and King Island were also mapped, and a section of the northwestern coast of Alaska was drawn. This expedition is considered the step that completed the exploration of the Bering Strait initiated by Semyon Dezhnyov and continued by Vitus Bering.
Later years
In 1735, he was arrested upon a false tip and sent to Tobolsk. After his release, he worked as a geodesist in Okhotsk. In 1741โ1742, the expedition led by Aleksey Shelting mapped most of the western and southern coasts of the Sea of โโOkhotsk and the eastern coast of Sakhalin. Information about the last period of his life is limited; It is known that he died after 1759.
Cape Gvozdev on Sakhalin is named after him. The Diomede islands in the Bering Strait were also once mentioned with the Gvozdev islands on Russian maps.
