Dmitry Laptev - Definition and Overview

Dmitry Yakovlevich Laptev (Лаптев, Дмитрий Яковлевич in Russian), Russian Arctic explorer, Vice Admiral (1762).

Laptev started his career in the navy as a cadet in 1718. In 1736, he was appointed leader of one of the parties of the Second Kamchatka expedition. As a result of his voyages by land and sea in 1739—1742, Laptev described the sea coastline from the mouth of the Lena river to the Cape Bolshoy Baranov (east of the mouth of the Kolyma river), basin and mouth of the Anadyr river, and land route from the Anadyr fortress to the Penzhinskaya Bay. In 1741—1742, Laptev surveyed the rivers of Bolshoy Anyuy and Anadyr. After the expedition, he continued his military service in the Baltic fleet. Laptev retired in 1762. A cape in the delta of the Lena river and a strait between the Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island and Asian mainland bear his name. The Laptev Sea is also named after Dmitry Laptev (and Khariton Laptev).