Heritage Auctions Europe
Auction 1001 22 Apr 2022
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Nicholas II. Far East Expedition 1905.
Dark bronze award medal. Unsigned. Integral loop. 28 mm. 12,9 gr. R1. XF. Barac 628; Diakov 1415.1; Werlich 124.
Obverse with a relief map of the Eastern Hemisphere with the main points of the route taken by the Naval squadron.
Reverse with a vertical anchor between the dates 1904 and 1905.
This medal was instituted on 19 February 1907 and awarded to the officers and sailors of the 2nd Pacific Naval squadron, the former Baltic fleet, under command of Admiral Zinovy Petrovich Rozhestvensky (1848-1909), who participated in the disastrous expedition of 1904-1905. After the earlier annihilation of the Russian Far East Naval squadron by the Japanese Navy, a new Russian fleet was organized in the Baltic Sea. This fleet had to sail the long route of 29.000 km around Africa to the theatre of war in the Far East. Once arrived, the Russian fleet met the same fate as its predecessor during the naval battle of Tsushima, 27-28 May 1905, in the Tsushima Strait between South Korea and Southern Japan. Of the eight battleships, twelve cruisers, nine destroyers, and several smaller ships, the Japanese Navy destroyed four battleships, seven cruisers, and five destroyers. Apart from one cruiser and two destroyers that reached Vladivostok, the remaining ships were captured. Admiral Rozhdestvensky was wounded and taken prisoner. Due to this failed expedition, Russia was forced to join the Peace Conference in 1905. Some 5500 dark bronze medals were struck in St. Petersburg in 1907. It is a very unusual medal as very few medals were issued for a defeat.
Lit: Barac4, 1494; Diakov7, 268; Werlich, 60; Westwood, 137-151; Woodward, 146-155.
Dark bronze award medal. Unsigned. Integral loop. 28 mm. 12,9 gr. R1. XF. Barac 628; Diakov 1415.1; Werlich 124.
Obverse with a relief map of the Eastern Hemisphere with the main points of the route taken by the Naval squadron.
Reverse with a vertical anchor between the dates 1904 and 1905.
This medal was instituted on 19 February 1907 and awarded to the officers and sailors of the 2nd Pacific Naval squadron, the former Baltic fleet, under command of Admiral Zinovy Petrovich Rozhestvensky (1848-1909), who participated in the disastrous expedition of 1904-1905. After the earlier annihilation of the Russian Far East Naval squadron by the Japanese Navy, a new Russian fleet was organized in the Baltic Sea. This fleet had to sail the long route of 29.000 km around Africa to the theatre of war in the Far East. Once arrived, the Russian fleet met the same fate as its predecessor during the naval battle of Tsushima, 27-28 May 1905, in the Tsushima Strait between South Korea and Southern Japan. Of the eight battleships, twelve cruisers, nine destroyers, and several smaller ships, the Japanese Navy destroyed four battleships, seven cruisers, and five destroyers. Apart from one cruiser and two destroyers that reached Vladivostok, the remaining ships were captured. Admiral Rozhdestvensky was wounded and taken prisoner. Due to this failed expedition, Russia was forced to join the Peace Conference in 1905. Some 5500 dark bronze medals were struck in St. Petersburg in 1907. It is a very unusual medal as very few medals were issued for a defeat.
Lit: Barac4, 1494; Diakov7, 268; Werlich, 60; Westwood, 137-151; Woodward, 146-155.