Vasily Golovnin - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Vasily Mikhailovich Golovnin was born in April 1776, in the village of Gulyniki in Ryazan Oblast, on his father's country estate. Both his father and grandfather had served in the Russian military as officers in the elite Preobrazhensky Lifeguard regiment. Golovnin appeared set to continue the family tradition, but his father died while he was still a child, and at the age of twelve he was enrolled in the Russian Naval College as a cadet. He graduated four years later in 1792.

Golovnin entered active service as a midshipman in May and June 1790, participating in several naval battles against the Swedes. He served in several foreign campaigns between 1793 and 1798. From 1798 to 1800 he served as adjutant and interpreter to Vice Admiral M. K. Makarov, commander of a Russian squadron operating jointly with the British fleet in the North Sea.

On the orders of Tsar Alexander I, Golovnin was sent, along with several other Russian officers, to obtain further training aboard British ships. He served three years (1802–1805) with the British fleet under Admirals Nelson, Collingwood, and Cornwallis. During this period, war was once again declared between the British and French, and Golovnin saw action while serving under Admiral Nelson.

He returned to Russia in 1806, and began compiling a code of naval signals on the English pattern, which remained in use by the Russian fleet for more than twenty years.