. The 10 k. stamp of 1965 shows the two ships Vostok and Mirnyi (or Mimi), two sloops of war which visited the Antarctic in 1819, the first Russian ships to do so. The Vostok was under the command of Capt. Fabian von Bellingshausen, leader of the expedition, and the Mimnyi was commanded by Lieut. M. P. Lazarev.
The two sloops reached latitude 70 deg. S., penetrating into unexplored regions. For some strange reason, the Mirnyi was renamed on the voyage, becoming the Ladoga; slower than the Vostok, she displaced 230 tons, her length being 120 ft., breadth 30 ft. and depth 15 ft. Originally built by Olodkin as a transport, her timbers were pine, reinforced with iron stanchions as ice protection. This made her eminently suitable for an exploration vessel, particularly after her masts were reduced and her sails and rigging suitably altered. She carried 14 3-pounders and six carronades, and her crew numbered 130 men.
The Vostok was built at (Okhta Dockyard, St. Petersburg, in 1818 and was 129 ft. 10 ins, in length, with a beam of 32 ft. 8 ins, and draft of 9 ft. 7 ins. She was constructed of unseasoned pine wood and had only the usual strengthening; the underwater part had been reinforced and protected by copper sheathing. Both ships have previously appeared on Russian stamps issued in 1950 in commemoration of the 130th anniversary of their Antarctic anniversary. SG3202 Sea Breezes 6/66