Capture of Venus by Mercury 1789.

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Anatol
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Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2009 2:13 pm

Capture of Venus by Mercury 1789.

Post by Anatol » Thu Dec 17, 2015 8:36 pm

It was the Great Northern War between Russia and Sweden. On 1789, Swedish_frigate "Venus" was patrolling the waters outside the Norwegian coast,as,since 21 May the lookouts reported a Russian squadron of two ships of the line, two frigates and a cutter. Relying on his ships excellent sailing abilities Commander Hansson expected to be able to stay ahead of the Russian ships until a change in the wind suddenly bereaved him of the possibility to reach open sea. Cornered in by the Russians he escaped into the entrance of the fjord of Christiania (presently Oslo). Then, on 21 May in Christians Fjord, the 22-gun cutter Mercury approached and began firing upon one of the largest of Sweden's frigates, the 40-gun Venus. Taken by surprise and unable to withstand the Mercury's barrage, the captain of the Venus ordered a retreat. However, a sudden calming of the winds and the presence of more Russian ships at the fjord's entrance prevented escape and compelled the Swedes to strike their colours; the Venus and its crew of 302 surrendered to Captain Crown. Having captured enemy vessel Crown was awarded the Order of St. George and given command of the captured Swedish frigate. The Venus became part of the Russian fleet and, in accordance with naval tradition, retained its name. The ship participated in the battle of Reval and in the battle of Vyborg Bay in 1790under command of the British Admiral Roman Crown . Venus visited Holland in 1795 and Great Britain in 1795–1797 and 1799–1800. She served in the Adriatic Sea between 1805 and 1807 and in the Aegean Sea in 1807. She was sold to theKingdom of Naples in Palermo to avoid capture by the British. The design stamp is made after painting of Aleksey Bogolyubov.
Niger 2015;850f;SG?
Source:wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_frigate_Venus_(1783)&prev http://www.neva.ru/EXPO96/book/&prev=search
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