After the replica Poltava - the russian plan to build a new replica of the 18-gun brig Mercury (1820)

Uwek

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
Forum Moderator
Joined
Dec 25, 2017
Messages
30,718
Points
1,238

Location
Vienna, Austria
The Poltava is shortly before finishing
and in Russia they plan to build a new replica of the 18-gun brig Mercury (1820)



Mercury (Russian: Меркурий) was a Imperial Russian Navy 18-gun, two-masted warship. It is famous for its lopsided battle with a two Turkish ships, which took place on May 14, 1829.[1]
The name Pamiyat Mercuriya (literally In Memory of Mercury) was given to a number of ships of the Russian Baltic Fleet.

Battle on May 14, 1829
Summary

Pursued by a Turkish fleet (6 ships of the line, 2 frigates, 2 corvettes), the Russian brig Mercury engaged in a lopsided battle with the ships-of-the-line Selimiye (110 guns) and Real-bei (74 guns) near the Strait of Bosphorus. After damaging the ships one by one, the brig escaped pursuit

1280px-Aivasovsky_Ivan_Constantinovich_merkuri_1848_IBI.jpg
Brig "Mercury" after a victory over Two Turkish Ships / Бриг "Меркурий" после победы над двумя турецкими судами, 1848

Damage and casualties
As a result of the battle, the brig took 10 casualties, including 4 killed and 6 wounded. Damage to the ship included:
  • 22 hull breaches
  • 133 sail plan breaches
  • 16 spar breaches
  • 148 minor rigging damage
  • loss of all rowboats
By official information, neither Turkish ships lost crew as the brig's main objective during the battle was to damage their spars and rigging.


Brig "Mercury" Attacked by Two Turkish Ships (Russian: Бриг "Меркурий", атакованный двумя турецкими кораблями) is an 1892 oil on canvas painting by Russian painter Ivan Aivazovsky (1817–1900). Aivazovsky painted over 6,000 works, more than half of which are seascapes.

Aivazovsky,_Brig_Mercury_Attacked_by_Two_Turkish_Ships_1892.jpg

It depicts three ships in close combat on a rough sea; as the name suggests, the battle occurs between two Turkish warships, and another ship referred to in the painting's title as the Russian brig Mercury. While Aivazovsky painted many seascapes, often involving ships and boats of various descriptions, and many showing ships that were damaged or shipwrecked, few of his works featured ships in close naval combat.

Historical background
The battle portrayed was part of the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829, a war sparked by the Greeks' struggle for independence and ensuing events. The Turkish sultan became hostile to the Russians due their participation in the Battle of Navarino and, as a result, proceeded to close the Dardanelles for Russian ships and revoked the 1826 Convention of Akkerman.

Mercury
Mercury was a real ship (a 20-gun brig) that was laid down at Sevastopol on 28 January 1819, and designed as a patrol ship to guard the Northern Caucasus coast. Built of Crimean oak, with a shallow draught and equipped with oars,[a] Mercury was launched on 7 May 1820 and disassembled on 9 November 1857.[3] In this it differs from other brigs of the Imperial Russian Navy at the time; other brigs were not built this way because a shallow draught limited and lowered the maximum speed considerably. Oars were also seen as disadvantageous. This difference resulted from the fact that its original task was considered unique among its designers.

Mercury fought in several significant naval battles during its existence. One of the most notable of these battles involved a battle between Mercury (which was, at the time, commanded by Lieutenant Alexander Kazarsky) and two other brigs against a sizable complement of approximately 14 Turkish ships, who were returning from the shores of Anatolia. Turkish victory was at first foreseeable, but the tides of battle changed, and Mercury was able to escape after a final, powerful assault by the three brigs, ending the conflict.

After the conflict had ended, one of the navigators of the Turkish ships made a comment commending Mercury for her seaworthiness, and the captain for his bravery:

If in the great deeds of ancient or our times there are the feats of bravery, so this act put the others in the shade and the name of a hero should be wrote [sic] by the gold letter in the shrine of glory: the captain was Kazarsky, and the name of this brig was “Mercury”​


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_brig_Mercury
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brig_"Mercury"_Attacked_by_Two_Turkish_Ships
 
Back
Top