A cover addressed to the Russian consul in Hong Kong for transmission to midshipman Vladimir Mikhailovich Rykachev on board the battleship Navarin. Inscribed "please forward in case he has left." Postmarked in St. Petersburg on 24 January 1898, and in Hong Kong 37 days later on 14 March (new style). The Navarin entered service in 1896 with the Baltic Fleet. In early January 1898 she sailed for the Pacific to become the first battleship in Russia's Pacific fleet. She arrived in Hong Kong on 9 March (new style) and stayed until 24 March. She later took part in the suppression of the Boxer rebellion and was sunk by the Japanese at Tsushima in 1905. Rykachev was a grand-nephew of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. On 26 June 1903, Lt. Rykachev was senior officer on the survey ship Opisnoi in the Gulf of Finland near Helsinki when he fell overboard and drowned. His obituary appeared in the Finnish Gazette on 1 July.
Howard
You seem to have an amazing collection. I hope you will find time to write an article for the journal
Thanks, Alan. I've been at it for 52 years!
I plan to submit articles to the journal over the next few weeks.
Dedication or obsession?
Both
Hi Howard
I like your style.
Will be in touch directly.
Chris