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Spying on the Russians: Archibald Douglas and HMS Egeria at Petropavlovsk, 1877–1878

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

Ian R. Stone
Ian R. Stone
Affiliation:
The Registry, University of Kent at Canterbury, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NZ
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Abstract

The period 1877–1878 was one of tension between Britain and Russia caused by the Russo-Turkish War and the consequent threat to the route to India. The Royal Navy was deployed to deter the Russians in seas adjacent to the Balkans, but also undertook intelligence gathering missions further afield. Two of these were to Petropavlovsk in sub-Arctic Kamchatka and were undertaken by Commander A.L. Douglas in HMS Egeria. The British, with their French allies, had sustained a serious defeat there during the Crimean War and wished to ascertain the state of Russian defences should there be fresh hostilities. In the event, Douglas discovered that the Russians had abandoned Petropavlovsk as a fortified post and that there was no garrison. His reports were, therefore, negative, but included interesting information concerning Petropavlovsk in this era.

Type
Articles
Information
Polar Record , Volume 30 , Issue 172 , January 1994 , pp. 39 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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References

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