De-Kastri
| De-Kastri (in English) Де-Кастри (Russian) |
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| - Rural locality - Settlement |
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.svg) Location of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia |
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 De-Kastri
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| Administrative status | |
| Country | Russia |
| Federal subject | Khabarovsk Krai |
| Administrative district | Ulchsky District |
| Statistics | |
| Population (2010 Census) | 3,238 inhabitants |
| Time zone | VLAT (UTC+10:00) |
| Founded | 1853 |
De-Kastri (Russian: Де-Ка́стри) is a rural locality (a settlement) in Ulchsky District of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. Population: 3,238 (2010 Census);3,724 (2002 Census).
The settlement's name is the Russian phonetic transliteration of the name of the Marquis de Castries, who sponsored the expedition of the French explorer La Pérouse, who was the first European to sight the bay where the settlement is located.
The settlement is located on the Chikhachyova Bay, which was known as Bay of de Castries until 1952.
De-Kastri was named for the former name of the bay on which it stands. The bay was discovered by La Pérouse on July 25, 1787 and named after the sponsor of the expedition—the then Secretary of State of the French Navy, the Marquis de Castries. The bay is a convenient natural refuge for vessels, giving it strategic importance from a military viewpoint.
The settlement was founded in 1853, although the land where it was situated would not officially be Russian territory until the signing of the Treaty of Aigun five years later.
In 1854, the difficult task of defending Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky when it came under siege from the British and French forces during the Crimean War brought to attention the difficulties of supply and defense of the Kamchatka Peninsula, where a large section of the Russian Pacific Fleet was based. It was decided to move the port from Kamchatka without waiting for another attack. In the spring of 1855, the Russian navy's weapons and sailors under the leadership of Rear Admiral Vasily Zavoyko headed toward the mouth of the Amur River; however, the river mouth was still covered with ice. It was decided to wait for the break-up, hiding in the Bay of de Castries from the superior forces of French and English. Russian ships were discovered there, but managed to escape to the Amur River in the Strait of Tartary before the arrival of enemy reinforcements. The British and French did not know that Sakhalin was an island, and spent the later years of the war waiting in vain for the Russian fleet at its southern coast.
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