Born on December
14 (
25), 1743. In 1759 he entered the
Naval Cadet Corps and in 1760 he was promoted to midshipman, and on May 6, 1762 - to midshipman. During this period he was sailing in the
Baltic Sea and participated in the
Kolberg expedition. Then he was sent to
England to study maritime practice and until 1765 he served as a volunteer on the ships of the
British Royal Navy. Visited
North America and
Spain on British warships. After returning on April 29, 1766, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. In 1770 he participated in the Morea operation, in the
Battle of Chesma and the blockade of the Dardanelles. In 1772, he participated in the landing of Rear Admiral
Samuil Greig under the fortress of Chesma. On April 26, 1776, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander, and on January 7, 1778, to the rank of captain of the 2nd rank and was appointed to command the 66-gun ship
Tvyordy. In 1779 he commanded the 32-gun frigate
Natalia. On January 1, 1781, he was promoted to the rank of captain of the 1st rank. Since 1781, he was a member of the "Neptune to Hope" Masonic lodge in
Kronstadt, led by
Spiridov, Alexei Grigorievich and Greig, Samuil Karlovich. From 1783 to 1785 he was the commander of the
Caspian Flotilla. In 1786-1788 he commanded the 100-gun ship
Saratov. On September 22, 1787, he was promoted to the rank of captain, major general. On April 14, 1789, he was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral. In 1790 he took part in the
Battle of Reval, for which he received the
Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class, and in the
Battle of Vyborg, for which he received the
Order of St. George, 3rd class, and a
golden sword with the inscription "For Bravery." On September 2, 1793, he was promoted to the rank of vice admiral, and on December 5 of the same year he was appointed chief commander of the galley fleet and port. In 1795-1796 he commanded a
squadron (12 battleships and 8 frigates), which participated together with the British fleet in the blockade of the coast of the
Batavian Republic. May 9, 1799 promoted to admiral. In 1801 he was appointed chief commander of the Kronstadt port. He was also the chief director of the Baltic Navigator School. In 1803, he sent a
Russian-American expedition from the port of Kronstadt, consisting of the ships
Nadezhda and
Neva. In 1808 he commanded a squadron against the Anglo-Swedish squadron in the
Gulf of Finland. For actions during this period, he was found guilty of an imprudent oversight, weakness in command, slowness, since he did not prevent the connection of the British ships with the Swedish fleet and retired, "having no reason", to the
Baltic Port, losing the ship
Vsevolod; demoted to privates for a month. The verdict was not confirmed by
Alexander I, who ordered that the trial of Khanykov be forgotten "in respect of his former service". He was dismissed in 1809 for failure to comply with the highest orders. Died December
10 (
22), 1813. He was buried at the
Lazarevskoe Cemetery of the
Alexander Nevsky Lavra (VIII section of the necropolis of the 18th century). == References ==