Ivan Unkovsky

Ivan Semyonovich Unkovsky , was an admiral, explorer and surveyor of the Imperial Russian Navy. After his navy years, Unkovsky served as military and civil governor of Yaroslav.

Unkovsky was born in Vorotynsk, Peremyshlsky District, Kaluga Oblast, where his father was an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy. In 1835, on the personal recommendation of Tsar Nicholas I, he entered the Sea Cadet Corps, from which he graduated in 1839. He was assigned to the Baltic Fleet on the brig Kazarsky in 1840. However, in spring 1841, at the request of his father, he transferred to the Black Sea Fleet at Mykolaiv, serving on numerous vessels through 1843, gathering intelligence on the status of foreign navies and political environment in the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean. He was awarded the Order of St Stanislav and the Order of St Anna . From 1846, he commanded the yacht and participated in manly sailing competitions, winning several awards, including the imperial prize in a threemonth long race from the Black Sea to the Baltic, via Gibraltar. In 1849, he was appointed commander of the brig Aeneas, and from 18501851 was assigned to intelligence gathering missions i

Source: Wikipedia