Alexey Greig
Encyclopedia
Imperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...
. He was the son of Admiral Samuel Greig
Samuel Greig
Samuel Greig, or Samuil Karlovich Greig , as he was known in Russia - Scottish-born Russian admiral who distinguished himself in the Battle of Chesma and the Battle of Hogland...
, brother-in-law of Mary Somerville
Mary Somerville
Mary Fairfax Somerville was a Scottish science writer and polymath, at a time when women's participation in science was discouraged...
, and father of Samuil Greig, Russian Minister of Finance.
He studied at the High School of Edinburgh under the Rector Adam from 1783 to 1785, and then served as a volunteer on board H.M.S. Culloden, under Admiral Trowbridge.
Greig started his career in the British Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, serving in East India
East India
East India is a region of India consisting of the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Orissa. The states of Orissa and West Bengal share some cultural and linguistic characteristics with Bangladesh and with the state of Assam. Together with Bangladesh, West Bengal formed the...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
from 1785 to 1796. He returned to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
to take part in the Mediterranean expeditions against Revolutionary France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1798-1800. Under command of Dmitry Senyavin
Dmitry Senyavin
Dmitry Nikolayevich Senyavin or Seniavin was a Russian admiral who ranks among the greatest seamen of the Napoleonic Wars.- Service under Ushakov :...
, he distinguished himself in 1807 in the Battle of Athos
Battle of Athos
The naval Battle of Mount Athos took place from 19–22 June 1807 and was a key naval battle of the Russo-Turkish War...
and Battle of the Dardanelles
Battle of the Dardanelles (1807)
The naval Battle of the Dardanelles took place on 10–11 May 1807 during the Russo-Turkish War . It was fought between the Russian and Ottoman navies near the Dardanelles Strait....
, which resulted in the Russian occupation of Lemnos
Lemnos
Lemnos is an island of Greece in the northern part of the Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos peripheral unit, which is part of the North Aegean Periphery. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Myrina...
and Tenedos
Tenedos
Tenedos or Bozcaada or Bozdja-Ada is a small island in the Aegean Sea, part of the Bozcaada district of Çanakkale province in Turkey. , Tenedos has a population of about 2,354. The main industries are tourism, wine production and fishing...
. At the close of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, he was placed in command of the sea blockade of Danzig. When he was a Captain, he and another Scotsman Captain Brown, were involved in some trouble by the wreck of the Imperial frigate Archangel in 1797. In the following year, in the squadron off the Texel, he commanded the Ratisvan, 64 guns; and Captain Robert Crown, said to be a Scot, had the Utislaw, 74. (Edinburgh Herald)
In 1801 he was banished to Siberia for a time, in consequence of boldly remonstrating with the Emperor Paul for his severity to some British naval prisoners.
In 1816, Greig was appointed Commander of the Black Sea Fleet
Black Sea Fleet
The Black Sea Fleet is a large operational-strategic sub-unit of the Russian Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the late 18th century. It is based in various harbors of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov....
, a post which he kept for 17 years. At the same time, he served as Military Governor of Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
and Nikolayev, introducing so many reforms and improvements that the grateful citizens of Nikolayev erected a statue to his memory in 1873. During the Russo-Turkish War
Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829
The Russo–Turkish War of 1828–1829 was sparked by the Greek War of Independence. The war broke out after the Sultan, incensed by the Russian participation in the Battle of Navarino, closed the Dardanelles for Russian ships and revoked the Akkerman Convention....
of 1828/29 his bold leadership made itself felt at Varna
Siege of Varna
Siege of Varna was a war episode during the Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829.Varna was held by the Ottoman army...
and Anapa
Anapa
Anapa is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the northern coast of the Black Sea near the Sea of Azov. It was originally a seaport for the Natkhuay tribe of the Adyghe people. Population: The town boasts a number of sanatoria and hotels...
.
In 1828 he was in full command of the Russian fleet at the sieges of Varna and Anapa, whither he had sailed from Sebastopol with forty vessels eight being of the line acting in conjunction with the troops under Prince Menshikov
Alexander Sergeyevich Menshikov
Prince Aleksandr Sergeyevich Menschikov was a Finnish-Russian nobleman, military commander and statesman. He was made adjutant general in 1817 and admiral in 1833....
for three months by sea and land. During these operations the Emperor was his guest on board the Ville de Paris, which had the Diplomatic Chancery and 1,300 persons under her flag (Slade's Travels).
In 1833 he was recalled to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, where the Tsar
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
appointed him a member of the State Council of Imperial Russia
State Council of Imperial Russia
The State Council was the supreme state advisory body to the Tsar in Imperial Russia.-18th century:Early Tsars' Councils were small and dealt primarily with the external politics....
and asked him to superintend the construction of the Pulkovo Observatory
Pulkovo Observatory
The Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory астрономи́ческая обсервато́рия Росси́йской акаде́мии нау́к), the principal astronomical observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences, located 19 km south of Saint Petersburg on Pulkovo Heights...
.