Russian brig Mercury

History
Russian Empire
Name: Mercury
Laid down: January 28 (O.S. February 9), 1819
Launched: May 7 (May 19), 1820
Decommissioned: 1857
Fate: dismantled
General characteristics
Class and type: 20-gun brig
Length: 29.46 m (96.7 ft)
Beam: 9.60 m (31.5 ft)
Draught: 456 t
Depth of hold: 4.73 m (15.5 ft)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: 856 sq. m.
Complement: 115
Armament:

20 guns: 18 x 24 pdrs,

2 x 8 pdrs
Monument to Alexander Kazarsky in Sevastopol (A.P.Bryullov, 1839)

Mercury (Russian: Меркурий) was a Russian navy 18 gun and two masts warship. It is famous for its unequal battle with two Turkish ships, which 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.

Battle on May 14, 1829

Summary

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

Crew (As of May 1829)

Officers

Seamen

Damage and casualties

As a result of the battle, the brig lost 4 men and 6 more were injured. Damage to the ship included:

By official information, neither Turkish ships lost crew as the brig's main objective was to achieve spar and rigging damage.

In art

Brig "Mercury" after a victory over Two Turkish Ships / Бриг "Меркурий" после победы над двумя турецкими судами, 1848

Ivan Aivazovsky created 3 paintings:

There were notable paintings by other artists:

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.

Paintings by of other artists (Krasovskiy, Barri, Pechatin) of the same battle, though less known, portray a more realistic sketch of a battle.

Sources

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