Greig Samuel - Naval commander (1735)

[Anatol]

1.Portrait of Admiral Samuil Grei.
2. Chesme battle in the night of June 25-26, 1770, by Ivan Aivazovsky.

Samuel Greig -Vice-Admiral was a Scottish-born Russian admiral who distinguished himself in the Battle of Chesma (1770) and the Battle of Hogland (1788). His son Alexey Greig also made a spectacular career in the Imperial Russian Navy. Samuel Greig was born on 30 November 1735 in the burgh of Inverkeithing in Fife. Initially he was a seaman who worked on his father's ships before entering the Royal Navy before 1758 as a master's mate. He was present at naval engagements at the Capture of Gorée (1758), the Battle of Quiberon Bay (1759) and the Battle of Havana (1762). He was promoted to acting lieutenant in 1761 but the Royal Navy took several years to confirm this rank. The court of Russia requested the government of Great Britain to send out some skilled British naval officers to improve the navy of that country; Lieutenant Greig was selected to be one of them. His superior abilities there soon attracted the notice of the Russian government, and he was speedily promoted to the rank of captain.
The Battle of Chesma
When some time after the war broke out between the Russians and the Turks, Captain Greig was sent in 1770 under the command of Count Alexey Orlov and Admiral Grigory Spiridov, with a fleet to the Mediterranean. The Turkish fleet of around 15 ships of the line plus frigates and galleys which they met near Chesma Bay, western Turkey, was much superior to the Russian force of 9 ships of the line and 3 frigates. After a severe and sanguinary but indecisive battle, the Turkish fleet retired during the night close into Chesma Bay, where they were protected by batteries on land. Notwithstanding the formidable position which the enemy had taken up, the Russian admiral determined to pursue, and if possible destroy these by means of his fire-ships.
At one o’clock in the morning, Captain Greig bore down upon the enemy with his fire ships and succeeded in totally destroying the Turkish fleet. Captain Greig, on this occasion assisted by another British officer, a Lieutenant Drysdale, who acted under him, set the match to the fire ships with his own hands. This perilous duty performed, he and Drysdale leaped overboard and swam to their own boats, under a tremendous fire from the Turks, and at the imminent hazard besides of being destroyed by the explosion of their own fire ships. Following up this success, the Russian fleet now attacked the town and batteries on shore, and by nine o’clock in the morning there was scarcely a vestige remaining of the town, fortifications, or fleet. For this important service, Captain Greig, who had been appointed commodore on his being placed in command of the fire-ships, was immediately promoted by Count Orlov to the rank of admiral, an appointment which was confirmed by an express from the Empress of Russia.
A peace was soon afterward concluded between the two powers, but this circumstance did not lessen the importance of Admiral Greig's services to the government by which he was employed. He continued indefatigable in his exertions in improving the Russian fleet, remodeling its code of discipline, and by his example infusing a spirit into every department of its economy, which finally made it one of the most formidable marines in Europe. These important services were fully appreciated by the empress, who rewarded them by promoting Greig to the high rank of admiral of the Russian Empire, and governor of Kronstadt. In 1782 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
The Battle of Hogland
Admiral Greig was then swept away by the Russo-Swedish War that broke out in the summer of 1788. He fought un inconclusive battle against the Swedish navy during the Battle of Hogland and he then went to the Swedish fortress of Sveaborg, which he put under a blockade. He was however attacked by a violent fever, and having been carried to Reval, died on 26 October 1788, on board of his own ship, Rostislav, after a few days' illness, in the 53rd year of his life. As soon as the empress heard of his illness, she, in the utmost anxiety about a life so valuable to herself and her empire, instantly sent for her first physician, Dr Rogerson, and ordered him to proceed immediately to Revel and to do every thing in his power for the admiral's recovery. Dr Rogerson obeyed, but all his skill was unavailing.
The stamp depicts a portrait of the Vice-Admiral against the background of a painting by the artist Ivan Aivazovsky: “Chesme battle in the night of June 25-26, 1770”.
PMR 2019; [P].
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Greig.