Russian warship Neva

Neva was the British merchant vessel Thames which the Russians bought in 1802 and renamed Neva. She participated in two trips to the far east, the first of which was the first Russian circumnavigation of the world.

Thames
Thames was a 200 foot-long (61 meter), three-masted sailing ship of 370 tons burthen built in Britain in 1801. In 1802 Lieutenant Commander Yuri Feodorovich Lisyansky travelled to Britain where he bought two vessels, Thames and Leander.

Russian career
Thames and Leander left England for the Baltic in May 1803, docking at Kronstadt on 5 June. At some point Lisyansky renamed Thames to Neva, after the river, and Leander to RUSSIAN WARSHIP Nadezhda.

The two vessels sailed in 1803 on a voyage that would become the first Russian circumnavigation of the world. For the voyage Neva carried 14 cannon and a crew of 43 men under Lisyansky's command. The commander of the expedition was Admiral Ivan Fyodorovich Kruzenstern, in Nadezhda.

Neva played a key role in the 1804 battle of Sitka when the Russians recaptured Fort St Archangel Mikhail and the town from the Tlingit, who had captured it in 1802. In 1804, Alexandr Baranov, general manager of the Russian American Company, had failed in his attempt to recapture Fort St Archangel Mikhail with a force of 120 Russians in four small vessels and 800 Aleuts in 300 baidarkas (leather canoes). Baranov returned to Sitka Sound in late September 1804 aboard Neva. Neva was accompanied by the Ermak and two other smaller, armed sailing ships, manned by 150 promyshlenniks (fur traders), along with 400–500 Aleuts in 250 baidarkas. This force succeeded in returning the region to Russian control.

In 1805-6, Neva carried a cargo of 150,000 fur seal pelts to China. There she sold them for tea, chinaware and nankeen, which she carried back to Russia.

In 1806-7, Neva made a second trip to the Pacific Ocean, this time under the command of Lieutenant Leontiy Andrianovich Gagemeister. Gagemeister would later become manger of the Russian American Company. Under his command, in June 1807, Neva became the first Russian ship to visit the newly founded British colony at Sydney Cove.

Commemorative coins
In 1993 Russia issued three coins to commemorate the first Russian voyage around the world. One was a 150-roubles platinum coin showing both Nadezhda and Neva on the reverse. The other two were both 25-roubles palladium coins, one for Nadezhda and one for Neva.