Russian brig Merkurii

was a 20-gun brig—a two-masted sailing warship of the Imperial Russian Navy. It is famous for its lopsided battle with two Ottoman Navy ships, which took place on during the Russo-Turkish War of .
The name was given to a number of ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

Battle on May 26, 1829

Summary

Pursued by a Turkish fleet, the Russian brig Merkuriy engaged in a lopsided battle with the ships of the line Selimiye and Riyala Bey near the Bosporus Strait. After damaging the ships one by one, the brig escaped pursuit.

Crew (as of May 1829)

Officers:

Aleksandr Ivanovich Kazarsky,
Fyodor Mikhailovich Novosilsky,
Sergey Iosifovich Skariatin,
Dmitry Petrovich Pritupov,
Ivan Petrovich Prokofiev, of the Naval Navigator Corps

One hundred and ten enlisted personnel.

Damage and casualties

As a result of the battle, the brig took 12 casualties, including 4 killed and 8 wounded. Damage to the ship included:

22 hull breaches
133 sail plan breaches
16 spar breaches
148 instances of rigging damage
All ship's boats were lost

By official information, neither Turkish ships lost crew as the brig's main objective during the battle was to damage their spars and rigging.

In art

Ivan Aivazovsky created 3 paintings featuring the ship:Brig "Merkuriy" Leading a Battle with Two Turkish Ships / Бриг «Меркурий» ведёт бой с двумя турецкими судами

/ Бриг «Меркурий» после победы над двумя турецкими кораблями встречается с русской эскадрой 15.05.1829; oil on canvas, 123 × 190 cm, State Russian Museum, 1848Brig "Mercury" Attacked by Two Turkish Ships / Бриг «Меркурий», атакованный двумя турецкими кораблями; oil on canvas, 212 × 339 cm, Aivazovsky Picture Gallery, Feodosia, 1892

Several other artists created notable works featuring Merkuriy:

Barri: Battle of Brig "Merkuriy" with Two Turkish Ships / Барри: Бой брига «Меркурий» с двумя турецкими кораблями
Ivanov: Brig "Merkuriy" / Иванов: Бриг «Меркурий»
A. N. Lubyanov: Brig "Merkuriy" / А. Н. Лубянов: Бриг «Меркурий»
N. P. Krasovskiy: Battle of Brig "Merkuriy" with Two Turkish Ships / Н. П. Красовский: Бой брига «Меркурий» с двумя турецкими кораблями
Mikhail Stepanovitch Tkachenko: / Бой брига "Меркурий" с турецкими кораблями 14 мая 1829 года; oil on canvas, Central Naval Museum, St. Petersburg, 1907

Critics of the Aivazovsky painting

The position of the ships portrayed by Aivazovsky in his work has been criticized as being historically inaccurate because of the brig's position between two significantly larger Turkish ships. Still, it's possible that Aivazovsky's artistic impression simply heightened the tension in the painting by accentuating the hopelessness of the brig's situation.
Paintings by other artists of the same battle, though less known, portray a more realistic depiction of the battle.