Тhe feat of the brig "Mercury"1829

[Anatol]

On May 26, 1829, during the Russo-Turkish War, a legendary naval battle took place near the coast of the Ottoman Empire between the brig Mercury under the command of Captain-Lieutenant Alexander Ivanovich Kazarsky and two enemy battleships.
The commander of the brig Mercury in 1829 was the young, handsome captain-lieutenant Alexander Ivanovich Kazarsky, who had experience of naval service by that time. At the age of 14, Alexander joined the navy as a simple volunteer, and then graduated from the Nikolaev Cadet School. In 1813, Kazarsky was taken as a midshipman to the Black Sea Fleet, and after a year he rose to the rank of midshipman.
In 1819, Kazarsky was awarded the rank of lieutenant. He was assigned to the recently built 44-gun frigate "Evstafiy", commanded by Ivan Skalovsky. Under his command, A.I. Kazarsky went through a good naval school. After "Evstafiy", the young officer received several short-term assignments to various ships.
In early 1829, he was appointed commander of the brig Mercury.
At the end of the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829, three Russian ships: the 44-gun frigate Shtandart, the 20-gun brig Orfey, and the 20-gun brig Mercury (commander Captain-Lieutenant A. I. Kazarsky) were ordered to cruise at the exit from the Bosphorus. Overall command of the detachment was entrusted to Captain-Lieutenant Sakhnovsky. On May 12 (24), 1829, the ships weighed anchor and set course for the Bosphorus.

At dawn on May 14 (26), 13 miles from the strait, the detachment noticed a Turkish squadron of 14 ships sailing from the shores of Anatolia.

A squadron of 14 ships discovered three Russian vessels in the Bosphorus area and set out in pursuit. The fast Shtandart and Orfey escaped pursuit. Two Turkish ships broke ahead and chased the Mercury, which had fallen behind its detachment.

The best Turkish sailors - the 110-gun Selimiye under the flag of the Kapudan Pasha and the 74-gun Real Bey under the flag of the junior flagship - were gradually catching up with the Mercury. The rest of the Turkish squadron lay in a drift, waiting for the admirals to capture or sink the obstinate Russian brig.

The Mercury's chances of survival were negligible (184 guns against 20, not even taking into account the caliber of the guns) and left almost no hope for a successful outcome of the battle, the inevitability of which no one doubted anymore.
Around two o'clock in the afternoon the wind died down and the speed of the pursuing ships slowed down. Taking advantage of this circumstance, Kazarsky, using the oars of the brig, wanted to increase the distance separating him from the enemy, but less than half an hour had passed before the wind freshened again and the Turkish ships began to reduce the distance. At the end of the third hour of the day the Turks opened fire from the chase guns.
Aleksandr Kazarsky called an officers' meeting, at which Lieutenant of the Corps of Navigators Ivan Prokofiev proposed to enter the battle and blow up the ship if they tried to capture it.
A.I. Kazarsky and other officers opened fire on the Turkish ships from portable guns. The Mercury began to maneuver under enemy fire, trying to avoid being hit by broadside fire from enemy ships.
In his report to Admiral A.S. Greig, A.I. Kazarsky wrote:
“…We unanimously decided to fight to the last extreme, and if a rigging is knocked down or the water in the hold rises to the point where it is impossible to pump it out, then, having fallen with any ship, the one of the officers who is still alive must light the powder chamber with a pistol shot.”
The three-deck Turkish ship Selimiye, which had one hundred and ten guns on board, tried to approach from the stern. After the first volleys, the enemy ordered the surrender, but the crew responded with fierce shooting. A battle ensued. A huge thirty-pound cannonball pierced the side of the Mercury and killed two sailors. The commander skillfully maneuvered the Mercury so that most of the enemy shells did not reach their target and only fluttered the sails. The skillful maneuvers were accompanied by volleys from all guns. The gunners aimed at the masts to disable the enemy ships, so the Turks had few human losses. Kazarsky approached the Selimiye almost right next to the ship so the gunners were able to hit their target. The topsail and topgallant sail immediately hung on the Kapudan Pasha's ship of the line. Having received serious damage to the Selime, he was forced to stop the battle and drift.

The second Turkish two-deck ship, the Real Bey, with seventy-four guns on board, attacked the Mercury from the left side. The brig caught fire three times, but the united crew fought to the last. The fire was quickly extinguished, there was extensive damage to the hull, spars, sails and rigging. It was impossible to avoid the shots, all that was left was to attack with return blows, and with well-aimed shots the enemy's fore-topgallant yard, main-topgallant yard and nock-fore-topgallant yard were finally broken. The fallen studdingsails and sails covered the openings for the guns. This damage deprived the Real Bey of the opportunity to continue the pursuit, and at half past five it stopped the battle.

"Mercury" headed towards the main forces of the Black Sea Fleet. In the battle, four of the brig's 115 crew members were killed, six were wounded, and A.I. Kazarsky himself was shell-shocked. The vessel received 22 holes in the hull and about 300 damages to the spars, sails and rigging.
The battleships outnumbered the domestic vessel by nine times in the number of guns. Nevertheless, the brig inflicted significant damage on the enemy ships, temporarily disabled them and escaped pursuit.
The brig's feat was highly praised by the enemy. After the battle, one of the navigators of the Turkish ship Real Bey noted:
" ...we pursued them, but could only catch up with one brig at three o'clock in the afternoon. The captain-pasha's ship and ours then opened heavy fire. An unheard-of and incredible thing. We could not force him to surrender: he fought, retreating and maneuvering with all the skill of an experienced military captain, to the point that it is shameful to say, we stopped the battle, and he continued on his way with glory. This brig must lose, without a doubt, half of its crew, because once it was a pistol shot away from our ship... If in the great deeds of ancient and modern times there are feats of bravery, then this act must overshadow them all, and the name of this hero is worthy of being inscribed in gold letters on the Temple of Glory: he is called Captain-Lieutenant Kazarsky, and the brig is "Mercury"... "

The brig was sent to Sevastopol for repairs after it rejoined the main fleet. Alexander Ivanovich Kazarsky was promoted to captain of the second rank, awarded the Order of St. George, 4th class, and appointed aide-de-camp to Emperor Nicholas I.
Later, A.I. Kazarsky commanded various frigates of the Russian fleet. In 1831, he was promoted to captain of the first rank and included in the imperial retinue. Kazarsky was assigned to conduct research related to the prospects for the development of the fleet. In 1833, he went on an inspection to the Black Sea ports and died suddenly in Nikolaev.
In 1839, a monument to A.I. Kazarsky was unveiled in Sevastopol, which has survived to this day. The monument is made in the form of a truncated stone pyramid with a bronze trireme installed on it. By decree of Nicholas I, the monument was inscribed with the following inscription: "To Kazarsky. As an example to posterity."
Nevis 2019; 4$.
Source: https://weural.ru/materials/26-maya-182 ... -merkuriy/.