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Inverkeithing

People: Admiral Samuel Greig

Samuil Karlovich Greig, as Russian historians refer to him, another Scots-born Russian admiral, was born at 36-40 High Street, Inverkeithing in 1735 and first served in the Royal Navy aboard the Albemarle.

He joined the Russian navy in 1763 and commanded a detachment of ships in Spiridov's squadron in the Battle of Chesma in 1770 during the Russo-Turkish war of 1768-1774. After Chesma he concentrated on improving the fleet and in 1774 he was appointed Commander-In-Chief at Kronstadt with the rank of Grand Admiral and given an estate in Livonia.

Catherine the Great gave him command of the Baltic fleet during the Russian-Swedish War (1788-1790) during which he won a spectacular victory at the Battle of Hogland (1788) and died in the same year. His magnificent sarcophagus can be seen in the Toomiskirik in Tallinn. His son Alexis also became an Admiral and C-in-C of the Black Sea Fleet.

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