Mercury (brig)
Encyclopedia

Mercury was the Russian
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 navy
Imperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...

 18 gun and two masts warship.

The name is famous for the unequal battle with two Turkish
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 ships took place on May 14, 1829.

The name Pamiyat Mercuriya (literally In Memory of Mercury) was given to a number of ships of the Russian Baltic Fleet
Baltic Fleet
The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...

.

Summary

Pursued by the Turkish Fleet (6 line ships, 2 frigates, 2 corvettes), Russian Brig Mercury engaged into unequal battle with line ships Selimie (110 guns) and Real-bei (74 guns) near the Strait of Bosphorus. After damaging the ships one-by-one, the brig escaped pursuit.

Officers

  • Aleksandr Ivanovich Kazarsky
    Alexander Kazarsky
    Aleksandr Ivanovich Kazarsky was a Russian Navy officer, the hero of the Russo-Turkish War . Kazarsky was the captain of brig Mercury and became famous after the victory in the battle against two Turkish ships of the line.- Career :* Kazarsky joined the fleet in 1811.* In 1814 he became an...

    , Lt. Capt.
  • Fyodor Mikhailovich Novosilsky, Lt.
  • Dmitry Petrovich Pritupov, midshipman
  • Ivan Petrovich Prokofyev, naval pilot Lt.
  • Sergey Iosifovitch Skaryatin, Lt.

Seaman

  • Anisim Arekhov
  • Philip Vasilyev
  • Gridnev, bataler
  • Afanasiy Gusev
  • Seliverst Dmitriev
  • Ippolit Erofeev
  • Ivan Lisenko, canoneer
  • Fyodor Spiridonov, naval pilot mate
  • Artamon Timofeev, canoneer
  • Anton Scherbakov, canoneer

Damage and casualties

As a result of the battle, the brig lost 4 men, 6 more were injured. Damage to the ship included:
  • 22 hull breaches
  • 133 sail plan breaches
  • 16 spar breaches
  • 148 minor rigging damage
  • loss of all row-boats


By the official information, both Turkish ships had no loss to the crew as the brig's main objective was to achieve the spar and rigging damage.

Brig Mercury in Art

Ivan Aivazovsky
Ivan Aivazovsky
Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky July 29, 1817 – May 5, 1900) was a Russian world-renowned painter of Armenian descent living and working in Crimea, most famous for his seascapes, which constitute more than half of his paintings...

 wrote 3 paintings:
  • Brig "Mercury" leading a battle with Two Turkish Ships / Бриг «Меркурий» ведёт бой с двумя турецкими судами
  • Brig "Mercury" meets Russian Fleet after a victory over Two Turkish Ships on 15.05.1829 / Бриг «Меркурий» после победы над двумя турецкими кораблями встречается с русской эскадрой 15.05.1829, Oil-on-canvas, 123 х 190 cm. State Russian Museum, 1848
  • Brig "Mercury" Attacked by Two Turkish Ships / Бриг «Меркурий», атакованный двумя турецкими кораблями, Oil-on-canvas, 212 x 339 cm, Aivazovsky Picture Gallery, Feodosia, 1892


Also it should be noted about the notable paintings of other artists:
  • Barri: Battle of Brig "Mercury" with Two Turkish Ships / Барри: Бой брига «Меркурий» с двумя турецкими кораблями
  • Ivanov: Brig "Mercury" / Иванов: Бриг «Меркурий»
  • A.N. Lubyanov: Brig "Mercury" / А. Н. Лубянов: Бриг «Меркурий»
  • N.P. Krasovskiy: Battle of Brig "Mercury" with Two Turkish Ships / Н. П. Красовский: Бой брига «Меркурий» с двумя турецкими кораблями
  • Mikhail Stepanovitch Tkachenko: Battle of Brig "Mercury" with Turkish Ships on May 14, 1829 / Бой брига "Меркурий" с турецкими кораблями 14 мая 1829 года, Oil-on-canvas, Central Naval Museum
    Central Naval Museum
    Central Naval Museum is one of the oldest Russian museums and one of the world's largest naval museums.The museum's history officially started in 1709 with the foundation of Model-kammer by Peter the Great for the conservation of ship drafts and models....

    , St. Petersburg, 1907

Critics of Aivazovsky painting

The position of the ships taken by Aivazovsky for his work was claimed as historically doubtful because of the brig's position between two significantly larger Turkish ships.

Still, it's possible that Aivazovsky's artistic impression simply heightened the tension in the painting by accentuating the hopelessness of the situation for the brig.

The same-subject painting of other artists (Krasovskiy, Barri, Pechatin), though less known, portrays a more realistic sketch of a battle.

Source

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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