Lot 20131 – 1906 Red Cross charity card depicting the cruiser

1906 Red Cross charity card depicting the cruiser NOVIK used from Ostrig, Russia to France franked 4k cancelled 12 II 06. The “Novik” had many encounters with the enemy and was the only ship in the Port Arthur squadron to break the Japanese blockade during the Battle of the Yellow Sea. Chased as far north as Korsakovsk, Sakhalin Island, where, after a robust exchange of gunfire at close quarters with Japanese cruisers, she was beached by her crew and finished off by enemy shells (31 August 1904). Her crew took to the boats and reached the mainland. They then walked hundreds of miles through wild country for 45 days to report for duty at Vladivostok. Illustrated “British Journal of Russian Philately” 92/93 (2005), p.69.