Description
Crimean war interest, a silver mounted iron chain link inkwell,
later mounted by William Byrne, London 1895,
oval form, with two hinged compartments, one with a silver mounted inkwell, one flush hinged cover inscribed 'LINK OF SLINGS OF THE MAIN OF YARD OF RUSSIAN MAN O' WAR ''TWELVE APOSTLES'' SEVASTOPOL 1855', the other cover with the crest and motto of Keppel, Earls of Albemarle, length 21.5cm.
The imperial man-o'War Dvenadtstat Apostolov (The Twelve Apostles) was one of the last and most powerfully armed sailing three-deckers built for the Russian Navy before the advent of steam. Launched in 1841 and displacing 4,790 tons, she originally mounted 130 guns but this was later reduced to 120 guns in subsequent refits. Despite her massive fire-power, she never saw action in the Crimean War (1854-56) as her guns were off-loaded and employed ashore to defend the port of Sebastopol against repeated allied attacks. In December 1854, she was converted into a temporary hospital ship but only two months later, on 13th February 1855, she was scuttled as a blockship across the entrance to Sebastopol harbour.
Admiral Sir Henry Keppel, GCB, OM (1809-1904), the sixth son of the fourth Earl of Albemarle, joined the Navy in 1822 and enjoyed a long and distinguished career at sea for almost fifty years. Finally 'beached' in 1869, his last appointment was as C. in C., Portsmouth, from 1872 - 75, and he retired in 1877 with the rank of Admiral of the Fleet. During the Crimean War, he initially commanded the brand-new 101-gun screw 1st-rate St. Jean d'Acre, but the following year (1855) transferred into the 92-gun 2nd-rate Rodney in order to take command of the naval brigade assaulting Sebastopol. It was probably during this phase of the War he acquired the 'souvenir' offered in this lot.
We are grateful to Michael Naxton for his assistance with this footnote.