Neva or Thames (Full Rigger Sailing Ship) 1802

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Russian Captain Yury Fydorovich Lisyansky, in his three masted sailing ship Neva, set out on a voyage in 1803 to develop Russian interests in the Pacific region. His voyage supposed to have been the first Russian circumnavigation. The ship returned to Russia in 1806. The Ukranian stamp honours Lityansky and his ship Neva.

Neva was the British merchant vessel Thames which the Russians bought in 1802 and renamed Neva. She participated in two trips to the far east, the first of which was the first Russian circumnavigation of the world.

Thames was a 200 foot-long (61 meter), three-masted sailing ship of 370 tons burthen built in Britain in 1801. In 1802 Lieutenant Commander Yuri Feodorovich Lisyansky travelled to Britain where he bought two vessels, Thames and Leander.

Thames and Leander left England for the Baltic in May 1803, docking at Kronstadt on 5 June. At some point Lisyansky renamed Thames to Neva, after the river, and Leander to Nadezhda.

The two vessels sailed in 1803 on a voyage that would become the first Russian circumnavigation of the world. For the voyage Neva carried 14 cannon and a crew of 43 men under Lisyansky's command. The commander of the expedition was Admiral Ivan Fyodorovich Kruzenstern, in Nadezhda.

Neva played a key role in the 1804 battle of Sitka when the Russians recaptured Fort St Archangel Mikhail and the town from the Tlingit, who had captured it in 1802. In 1804, Alexandr Baranov, general manager of the Russian American Company,had failed in his attempt to recapture Fort St Archangel Mikhail with a force of 120 Russians in four small vessels and 800 Aleuts in 300 baidarkas (leather canoes). Baranov returned to Sitka Sound in late September 1804 aboard Neva. Neva was accompanied by the Ermak and two other smaller, armed sailing ships, manned by 150 promyshlenniks (fur traders), along with 400–500 Aleuts in 250 baidarkas. This force succeeded in returning the region to Russian control.

In 1805-6, Neva carried a cargo of 150,000 fur seal pelts to China. There she sold them for tea, chinaware and nankeen, which she carried back to Russia.

In 1806-7, Neva made a second trip to the Pacific Ocean, this time under the command of Lieutenant Leontiy Andrianovich Gagemeister. Gagemeister would later become manager of the Russian American Company. Under his command, in June 1807, Neva became the first Russian ship to visit the newly founded British colony at Sydney Cove.

In 1993 Russia issued three coins to commemorate the first Russian voyage around the world. One was a 150-roubles platinum coin showing both Nadezhda and Neva on the reverse. The other two were both 25-roubles palladium coins, one for Nadezhda and one for Neva.

Yuri Fyodorovich Lisyansky (13 August 1773 – 6 March 1837) was an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy and explorer of Ukrainian origin.

Lisyansky was born in Nizhyn (now Ukraine, then Russian Empire) in the family of the orthodox priest and was a descendant of old Cossack family. In 1786 he graduated from the Navy Cadet Corps and took part in the Russo-Swedish War (1788-1790). During 1790-1793 he served in the Baltic Fleet. During 1793-1799 he sailed British ships all over the globe. Between 1793 and 1795 he served as a volunteer aboard the 36-gun HMS Oiseau, under her captain, Robert Murray. Lisyansky recalled in his memoirs his experiences on the North American Station operating against French convoys and privateers, and how while in the West Indies he was struck by yellow fever, recalling how Murray had helped his recovery, even giving up part of his own accommodation for the sick Lisyansky.

In 1803-1806 Lisyanski as the commanding officer of the sloop-of-war Neva took part in the first Russian circumnavigation of the Earth headed by Krusenstern. They started from Kronstadt, but the ships split after visiting Hawaii and Lisianski headed to Russian America (Alaska). In 1804 the Neva visited Easter Island, and later that year, was essential in defeating the Tlingit in the Battle of Sitka, Alaska. In 1805 he met Krusenstern again in Macau, but they soon separated. Also in 1805, he was the first to describe the Hawaiian monk seal on the island which now bears his name. Eventually, the Neva was the first to return to Kronstadt on 22 July 1806. For this feat Lisyanski was awarded in various ways, including the decoration with the Order of Saint Vladimir of 3rd degree.

Lisyanski was buried at Tikhvin Cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, St. Petersburg.

Ukraine, 1998.

Source: Wikipedia

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Both stamp depicts Adam Johann Kruersten (1770-1846) Russian admiral and hydrographer, the Leader of the first Russian expedition to sail around the globe with his ship Nadezhda and Captain Yury Fydorovich Lisyansky with his ship Neva.

Neva is the small ships on both stamp.

For more info about ship Nadezhda see topic: Nadezhda.

Russia, 1994, S.G.?, Scott; 6236

Estonia, 2003, S.G.?, Scott; 461