Woewodski Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago

Alexander Archipelago

The Alexander Archipelago is a long archipelago, or group of islands, of North America off the southeastern coast of Alaska. It contains about 1,100 islands, which are the tops of the submerged coastal mountains that rise steeply from the Pacific Ocean. Deep channels and fjords separate the...

 of Southeast Alaska

Alaska Panhandle

Southeast Alaska, sometimes referred to as the Alaska Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, which lies west of the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The majority of Southeast Alaska's area is part of the Tongass National Forest, the United...

, U.S.A

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is separated from Kupreanof Island

Kupreanof Island

Kupreanof Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska. The island is long and wide with a total land area is , making it the 13th largest island in the United States and the 170th largest island in the world. The Lindenberg Peninsula, on the southeast side of the...

 to the west by Duncan Canal

Duncan Canal, Alaska

The Duncan Canal is a naturally occurring inland waterway in the Alexander Archipelago in Alaska, USA. It deeply penetrates Kupreanof Island, separating the Lindenberg Peninsula, on the southeast side of the island from the main island. It was first charted in 1793 by James Johnstone, one of...

, and Mitkof Island

Mitkof Island

Mitkof Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in southeast Alaska, at . between Kupreanof Island to the west and the Alaska mainland to the east. It is about wide and long with a land area of , making it the 30th largest island in the United States.The island is relatively flat with...

 to the east by the Wrangell Narrows

Wrangell Narrows

The Wrangell Narrows is a winding, 35-km-long channel between Mitkof Island and Kupreanof Island in the Alexander Archipelago in Southeast Alaska. The Wrangell Narrows is one of the six Listed narrows in Southeast Alaska. There are about 60 lights and buoys to mark it because of its winding nature...

. It is named after Captain Lieutenant Stepan Vasilivich Woewodski

Stepan Vasiliyevich Voyevodsky

For the Russian minister of the Navy, see Stepan Arkadyevich VoyevodskyStepan Vasilievich Voyevodsky was an admiral of Imperial Russian Navy, Governor of Russian America in 1854–1859 and military governor of Astrakhan in 1860s....

, who was chief director of the Russian American colonies

Russian colonization of the Americas

The Russian colonization of the Americas covers the period, from 1732 to 1867, when the Tsarist Imperial Russian Empire laid claim to northern Pacific Coast territories in the Americas...

 from 1854 to 1859. The name first appears on a Russian Hydrographic Department chart of 1848 as "O(strov)va Voyevodskago". Earlier, in 1838, G. Lindenberg called part of the island "Medvezhiy" (English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

: of the bear). The first Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an to sight the island was James Johnstone

James Johnstone (explorer)

James Johnstone was a British naval officer and explorer. He is noted for having served as sailing master of the armed tender HMS Chatham and later acting lieutenant during George Vancouver’s 1791-95 expedition to the Pacific Northwest...

, one of George Vancouver

George Vancouver

Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...

's officers during his 1791-95 expedition

Vancouver Expedition

The Vancouver Expedition was a four-and-a-half-year voyage of exploration and diplomacy, commanded by Captain George Vancouver. The expedition circumnavigated the globe, touched five continents and changed the course of history for the indigenous nations and several European empires and their...

, in 1793. He circumnavigated it, proving its insular nature.