Adam Johann von Krusenstern Adam Johann Ritter von Krusenstern ( November 19 , 1770 – August 24 , 1846 ; , Ivan Fyodorovich Kruzenshtern ) , was an admiral and explorer , who led the first Russian circumnavigation of the globe . Life . Krusenstern was born in Hagudi , Harrien , Governorate of Estonia , Russian Empire into a Baltic German family descended from the Swedish aristocratic family von Krusenstjerna , which remained in the province after the country was ceded to Russia . In 1787 , he joined the Russian Imperial Navy , and served in the war against Sweden . Subsequently , he served in the Royal Navy in 1793 - 99 , visiting America , India and China . After publishing a paper pointing out the advantages of direct communication between Russia and China by Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope , he was appointed by Tsar Alexander I to make a voyage to the east coast of Asia to endeavour to carry out the project . Under the patronage of Tsar Alexander I , Count Nikolay Petrovich Rumyantsev and the Russian - American Company , Krusenstern led the first Russian circumnavigation of the world . The chief object of this undertaking was the development of the fur trade with Russian America . Other goals of the two - ship expedition were to establish trade with China and Japan , facilitate trade in South America , and examine California for a possible colony . The two ships , " Nadezhda " ( Hope , formerly " HMS Leander " ) under the command of Krusenstern , and " Neva " ( formerly " HMS Thames " ) under the command of Captain - Lieutenant Yuri F . Lisianski , set sail from Kronstadt in August 1803 , rounded Cape Horn , reached the northern Pacific , and returned via the Cape of Good Hope . Krusenstern arrived back at Kronstadt in August 1806 . Both seafarers made maps and detailed recordings of their voyages . Upon his return , Krusenstern wrote a detailed report , " Reise um die Welt in den Jahren 1803 , 1804 , 1805 und 1806 auf Befehl Seiner Kaiserliche Majestät Alexanders des Ersten auf den Schiffen Nadeschda und Newa " ( Journey around the World in the Years 1803 , 1804 , 1805 , and 1806 at the Command of his Imperial Majesty Alexander I in the Ships Nadezhda and Neva ) published in Saint Petersburg in 1810 . It was published in 1811 - 1812 in Berlin ; this was followed by an English translation , published in London in 1813 and subsequently by French , Dutch , Danish , Swedish , and Italian . His scientific work , which includes an atlas of the Pacific , was published in 1827 in Saint Petersburg . The geographical discoveries of Krusenstern made his voyage very important for the progress of geographical science . His work won him an honorary membership in the Russian Academy of Science s . In 1816 , he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences . As director of the Russian naval school Krusenstern did much useful work . He was also a member of the scientific committee of the marine department , and his contrivance for counteracting the influence of the iron in vessels on the compass was adopted in the navy . Krusenstern became an admiral in 1841 and he was awarded the Pour le Mérite ( civil class ) in 1842 . He died in 1846 in Kiltsi manor , an Estonian manor he had purchased in 1816 , and was buried in the Tallinn Cathedral . Legacy . The Russian training tall ship " Kruzenshtern " is named after him . To commemorate the 200th anniversary of Krusenstern ' s circumnavigation , the ship retraced his route around the globe in 2005 - 2006 . Another ship named after him is Russian icebreaker " Ivan Kruzenshtern " . Also , an Aeroflot Airbus 320 VP - BKC is named after him . The crater Krusenstern on the Moon is named after him . There is Krusenstern Island in the Bering Strait , as well as a small group of islands in the Kara Sea , southwest of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago , called Krusenstern Islands . In Russia ( as well as in other Russophone places ) , a fictional steamship " Admiral Ivan Fyodorovich Kruzenshtern " from the popular " Prostokvashino " animated film series is well - known , often as part of a catchphrase " Admiral I . F . Kruzenshtern , a man and a steamship " , " pirated " from the title of a requiem poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky , " To Comrade Nette , a Man and a Steamship " . As a third - level linguistic derivation , there is a Russophone Israel klezmer - rock band , Kruzenshtern & Parohod ( " Krusenstern and Steamship " ) . Another legacy is that the Cook Islands in the South Pacific bear that name thanks to von Krusenstern . Previously known as the Hervey ( or Harvey ) Islands ( or Group ) , he changed their name in 1835 to honour Captain Cook . More accurately , he changed the name of those which comprised the Southern Group and it was subsequently applied to all 15 islands when the New Zealand Parliament passed " The Cook Islands and other Islands Government Act " in 1901 . He recorded the new name in his " Atlas de l ' Ocean Pacifique " published at St . Petersberg between 1824 and 1835 .