Description
This album covers Edward Gennys Fanshawe's Baltic service in command of HMS 'Cossack' during the Crimean War, August 1854 - August 1855, and his brief transfer to the 'Hastings' in the Baltic and latterly at Queenstown (Cobh), Ireland, 1855-56, though on her return to England in late 1855 he was invalided ashore until rejoining the ship at Queenstown in January 1856. It also covers his command of the 'Centurion' in the Mediterranean from May 1856 to June 1858, when he was again invalided home. Also included are holiday drawings made in Scotland in 1843 and 1883, Switzerland in 1877 and 1880, and a single drawing of Moulmein, Burma, made in 1846 during his Eastern posting as Commander in the 'Cruizer', 1844-46.
No. 5 in Fanshawe's Baltic and later album, 1843 - 83. Fold-out panoramic drawing on three joined sheets, the two on the right stuck down to the album page and captioned by the artist below the image, as title. Sweaborg - the usual 19th-century English spelling of the Swedish Sveaborg - is the 18th-century six-island fortress covering the approach to Helsinki (formerly Helsingfors), Finland, which was Russian territory at this time. It was subjected to massively destructive bombardment by the Anglo-French fleet on 8 - 9 August 1855 during the Baltic campaign of the Crimean War, but was not captured and was subsequently rebuilt. In 1918, it was renamed Suomenlinna (Castle of Finland) and is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Since there is no obvious damage shown here, this drawing of it from a safe seaward distance probably predates the bombardment. Fanshawe's 'Cossack' was present at that but, given her small size, was only marginally involved (see Fanshawe [1904] pp. 329-33).
Image Licence
CC BY-NC-ND
Image Credit
© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Location
Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland
Country
Finland
Medium
Watercolour
Tags
Category
Landscapes & Seascapes
