Catherine II (1729-1796), Empress of Russia, known as 'Catherine the Great'
Inspecting the fleet at Kronstadt. 1764
Letter signed ('Yekaterina') with a four-word autograph postscript to Admiral Andrei Ivanovich Polyansky, Saint Petersburg, 11 June 1764.

In Russian. Half page, 225 x 185mm, on a bifolium. Envelope, with seal in red wax.

Inspecting the fleet at Kronstadt. 'Having understood from your report that our fleet upon entering the sea in all readiness, we have decided to be in Kronstadt on Tuesday next week, of which I am now informing you'; the autograph postscript (in Russian, including a grammatical mistake) adds 'if the weather will permit'.

Kronstadt, on the island of Kotlin just west of Saint Petersburg, was the main Russian naval base, and Catherine invested considerably in its development throughout her reign, and as here it was her observation point for naval exercises. Count V.-F. von Solms wrote about this in 1764 (perhaps describing the exercises planned in this letter): 'Since she has a great penchant for the navy and loves to be at sea, the small number of manoeuvres that her fleet could perform in the insignificant area of ​​the Kronstadt roadstead, accompanied by signals and salutes, gave her infinite pleasure'. The career of Andrei Ivanovich Polyansky (1698-1764) was characteristic of the era following Peter the Great's naval reforms, including an early apprenticeship in France. He went on to distinguish himself during the Seven Years War (1756-63), notably in blockading the Prussian ports whilst in command of a Russian-Swedish squadron, and had been appointed admiral and commander of the Baltic Fleet only a month before the present letter, on 4 May; he died however only a few months later, on 17 October 1764.

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