STRUG on History of the Russian Postal Service

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aukepalmhof
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STRUG on History of the Russian Postal Service

Post by aukepalmhof » Wed Jul 27, 2022 9:08 pm

The Soviet Union Post issued a set of five stamps for the “History of the Russian Postal Service, which shows us the means of transport of the mail in Russia. One stamp shows us a packet boat and on the left shows two small boats, which type was known as a “strug” I found two internet sites which give info on the “strug”

A Strug is a type of flat-bottomed boat that was in use primarily in Russia from the 11th - 18th centuries, for the transport of people and cargo as well as military uses. Designs varied somewhat between different regions of Russia, with typical parameters being a length of 20-45 meters, a width of 4-10 meters, and from 6-20 oars. In some cases, both the bow and stern were similarly pointed. Many were equipped with a removable mast and small square sail, which could be used when the wind permitted, and some models also had a small cabin.
History
The first recorded mention of a strug occurs in the early Russian legal code Russkaya Pravda (Русская правда) of 1054. They were used on rivers, lakes and seas, for both civil and military purposes. In the 16th - 17th centuries, they were used to protect river trade routes from robbers, for which task they were equipped with several small cannons. It is documented that in 1240 the army of the great Novgorod prince Alexander Nevsky reached the location of the Swedes on fast vessels of this type.
In preparation for the second Azov campaign of the Russo-Turkish War in the winter of 1696, large-scale construction of ships for a new Russian Navy was begun in Voronezh and Preobrazhensky, including 522 strugas. The ships were delivered to Voronnezh in disassembled form, then assembled and launched. The industrial construction of strugas was implemented under Peter I, by his decree of December 28, 1715. In 1722, he made a round trip from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod and Astrakhan on the MUSCOVETS, a strug equipped with 18 rows of oars.
Sometimes underwater archaeologists find remnants of strugas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strug_(boat)


As the Slavic tribes settled on the East European Plain with its huge network of waterways, there was an increasing need for the development of merchant shipping. This was also facilitated by the trade relations established over time both with the west - through the Baltic Sea system, and with the east - along the Volga, Don and other rivers. The development of trade and then state relations caused a desire to introduce some amenities in passenger traffic, especially for persons of eminent rank - boyars, princes, high clergy and their families. For all these purposes, a new, special type of ships was required, which had a large carrying capacity, amenities for accommodating passengers, and also capable of moving along shallow rivers and overcoming rifts. Such vessels that appeared in Ancient Russia eventually received a single common name "plow".
In the fundamental work “Volga and Volga Shipping”, the well-known Russian researcher I. A. Shubin defines this concept as follows: “Made of smooth planed boards, flat-bottomed and at first small cargo ships, freely sliding along the waves - plows, floating along small rivers - plows and easily passing shoals - sastrugi, of course, with these features attracted the most attention, differed from other ships of their time and were called plows. The history of plows can be traced over many centuries, which gives the right to talk about their high seaworthiness and operational qualities. In 1722, on such a plow, Peter the Great traveled from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod, and from there to Astrakhan.
The sizes of these sailing and rowing, mainly river vessels were different and ranged from 20 to 45 m in length and from 4.5 to 9 m in width. The carrying capacity of some of them reached even a thousand tons.

http://flot7.narod.ru/ussr/strug/strug.htm
Russia 1987 10k sg5788, Scott
Attachments
Strug_(detail of a 1987 Soviet Union postage stamp depicting a strug of the 16th-17th cemturies (2).jpg
Strug_(detail of a 1987 Soviet Union postage stamp depicting a strug of the 16th-17th cemturies (2).jpg (98.07 KiB) Viewed 659 times
strug russisn shipstype (2).jpg
strug russisn shipstype (2).jpg (130.11 KiB) Viewed 659 times
1987 Packetboat-XVIII-c-and-Barge-XVI-XVII-c (2).jpg
1987 Packetboat-XVIII-c-and-Barge-XVI-XVII-c (2).jpg (86.88 KiB) Viewed 659 times

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