All series of books by Andrei Cruz.

A.I. Cruise (1731-1799), the son of a sailor in Peter's fleet and a pupil of the famous flagship D. Kennedy, served at sea from childhood, studied in Russia and abroad, sailed every year, and was wounded during the siege of Kolberg. In the Battle of Chesme, his ship “Saint Eustathius” found himself in the center of events, defeated the Turkish flagship “Real Mustafa”, but burned down along with it. When the ship exploded, the commander survived miraculously and was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree. For the second time, the captain barely escaped death when the captured ship Rhodes, which he was leading to Russia, ran aground and its crew was surrounded by Minot pirates. Over time, from a dashing grunt, the sailor became a prudent flagship. He helped A.V. Suvorov to defend the coast of Crimea from the landings of the Turkish fleet, led squadrons to the North Sea to protect neutral shipping, and trained teams. At the beginning of the Russian-Swedish war of 1788-1790, the vice admiral was entrusted with command of the reserve squadron. When in May 1790 the Swedish naval and rowing fleets threatened Kronstadt, Catherine II entrusted the honored sailor with the defense of the approaches to the capital. On May 7, she signed a decree appointing Cruz commander of the Kronstadt squadron. The vice admiral was instructed to go out to sea with all combat-ready ships, find the enemy, attack him and try to defeat him.

Having sent reconnaissance, on May 12 Cruz left Kronstadt. Headwinds delayed him at Krasnaya Gorka, where the squadron was engaged in artillery and sailing exercises. In his most humble report dated May 17, the vice admiral, reporting on his position and the appearance of 40 Swedish ships near Gogland, including 22 battleships, asked to send at his disposal 8 new rowing frigates stationed at Kronstadt. Within five days the frigates joined the squadron. Meanwhile, the Swedish sailing ships, which were guarding the redeployment of rowing ships near Vyborg, discovered the Russian naval fleet from the direction of Kronstadt on the evening of May 20. The Swedish fleet had to fight the Russians, rescuing army ships, while Cruz had to fight the Swedes to protect the capital of the empire.

By the beginning of the battle, the squadron of A.I. Cruz consisted of 17 battleships, 4 sailing and 8 rowing frigates, 2 boats. Of the 1,760 guns, 1,400 were on battleships. The vanguard was commanded by Vice Admiral Ya.F. Sukhotin, corps de battalion - Cruz himself on the ship "Chesma", rearguard - Rear Admiral I.A. Povalishin. A special detachment consisted of 4 sailing and 5 rowing frigates under the command of F.I. Denison, to whom Cruise gave the right to act independently. In fact, this detachment constituted a mobile reserve to fend off unexpected enemy actions. He should have stayed to windward of the battle line of the battleships in order to have freedom of maneuver. Cruise kept 3 rowing frigates and 2 boats with him for transmitting signals and sending parcels.

The Swedish fleet consisted of 22 battleships, 8 large, 4 small frigates and several auxiliary ships; against 800 large (18-36-pounder) and 600 small guns of Russian battleships, the Swedes had 1200 29-36-pounder guns and 800 smaller ones. Admiral General Karl of Südermanland brought all the battleships and 2 large frigates into the battle line; the remaining 6 formed a separate detachment to support the ships damaged in the battle and the most attacked part of the fleet.

The balance of power gave Cruz no reason to be optimistic. But he pledged to prevent the Swedes from reaching the Russian shores, and Cruz’s squadron successfully fulfilled his promise in a three-time battle at Krasnaya Gorka, or Seskara Island.

During the day of May 22, the fleets approached each other. When the east wind began to blow after midnight, Vice Admiral Cruz took the opportunity to attack. At the end of the 3rd hour there was a signal from the flagship to attack the enemy and fight him at rifle range; At this signal, the vanguard began to descend on the Swedish fleet. The Swedish ships sailed in an almost regular wake; the light squadron stayed to windward abeam the head of the squadron. Before the start of the battle, Duke Charles, who had the king’s instructions to take care of his life, and his headquarters went aboard the small frigate Ulla Fersen to control the battle out of formation; On the flagship Gustav III, flag officer Lieutenant Clint remained to receive and transmit signals. In fact, the corps de battalion was led by the commander of the flagship, Colonel Clint.

His father was a Dane (Danish: Ywan wan Kruse); with the name Ivan Yegorovich von Cruz, he was accepted into the Russian fleet as a non-commissioned lieutenant in 1723, and died with the rank of captain-commander in 1764. The relationship of these Cruises with Admiral Cornelius Ivanovich Cruys, assumed by some scientists, has not been proven. James Kennedy, later a famous admiral, was the successor of Alexander Cruz, he raised him, took him with him on voyages, and then adopted him. In 1747, Alexander von Kruse was examined by the commission, but, due to his poor knowledge of the Russian language, they agreed to accept him into Russian service only as a midshipman. Then Kennedy sent him at his own expense to England, where he sailed a lot and in 1753, according to a new exam, was accepted into the Russian naval service with the rank of non-commissioned lieutenant “under a contract for 2 years.” In 1754-58 he was in the companies across the Baltic and North Seas. In 1758, he was promoted to lieutenant and commanded the court yachts. In 1760-61, he took part in the siege of Kolberg and was wounded. In 1769, he took part in the First Archipelago Expedition, commanding the ship “St. Eustathius Plakida,” joined the squadron of Admiral Spiridov in the Mediterranean Sea, on June 24 (July 5), 1770, he participated in the Battle of Chios and during the hottest battle he boarded the Turkish flagship Real Mustafa, which caught fire from Russian shots. Soon both ships flew into the air and very few of those on both were saved; Admiral Spiridov himself and his staff had previously left the burning ship in a boat, and A. I. Cruz flew into the water with the wreckage of the ship, but was saved by an approaching boat. When, swimming, holding onto a piece of a mast, he found himself near a boat that belonged to his own ship, instead of a helping hand from it, he received a blow to the head with an oar: the sailors, driven to embitterment by the extreme severity and even cruelty of Cruise, did not want to accept him on lifeboat; only one of them stood up for his captain and pulled him out of the water; Cruise promised the sailors not to remember their actions, and indeed, after that he completely changed his treatment of his subordinates and throughout the rest of his life he earned their common love and respect.@@@@ eCosway!!!Build your own Business! Be No. 1! @@@@ After the victory in the Battle of Chesme, Cruz received into his command the battleship Rhodes captured from the Turks. On October 31 (November 11), abeam Cape Matapan, the ship was caught in a strong storm and was forced to land on the shore, where it was attacked by local residents. After this, the ship was burned by the sailors, the entire crew on boats crossed to the island of Tserigo, where they were picked up by the squadron. In 1771 he was awarded the Order of St. George 4th degree In 1773 he was appointed commander of the ship “St. Andrew the First-Called,” and then he was entrusted with a detachment consisting of the frigate “St. Mark", 2 packet boats and 1 galleot - this was the so-called "special commission" sent to the city of Lubeck for the princess of Hesse-Darschmadt, Wilhelmina - the bride, and then the first wife of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich. In 1775, he commanded a detachment of two ships in the Gulf of Finland. In 1776 he was promoted to captain with the rank of brigadier. At this time, 2 divisions were formed, each subdivided into 4 squadrons - but this was only a purely coastal unit, because during the voyage the ships in the squadrons changed quite arbitrarily. Cruz was again appointed commander of the ship “Andrei Pervozvanny” and the 2nd squadron of the first division, which consisted of 4 ships, 1 frigate and 1 packet boat. In 1777, he was appointed assistant to Rear Admiral Fedot Klokachev, who commanded the fleet being established in the Azov and Black Seas. In 1778, while cruising with the Azov flotilla in the Black Sea, Cruz prevented the Turks from landing in Crimea. On January 1 (12), 1779, he was promoted to captain of the rank of major general, on January 14 (25), he was renamed rear admiral, and in February On request he was transferred to St. Petersburg.

The use of reserves and instructions to ship commanders to build a line not according to disposition during the battle in the Battle of Kerch are called Ushakov’s tactics by naval writers. It is less known that two months before the battle of the Kerch Strait, such tactics were used by A.I. Cruz in the Battle of Krasnogorsk.

A.I. Cruz (1731–1799), the son of a sailor in Peter's fleet and a pupil of the famous flagship D. Kennedy, served at sea from childhood, studied in Russia and abroad, sailed annually, and was wounded during the siege of Kolberg. In the Battle of Chesme, his ship “St. Eustathius” was at the center of events, defeated the Turkish flagship “Real Mustafa”, but burned down along with it. When the ship exploded, the commander was saved by a miracle and was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree. For the second time, the captain barely escaped death when the captured ship "Rhodes", which he was leading to Russia, ran aground and its crew was surrounded by pirates? Over time, from a dashing grunt, the sailor became a prudent flagship. He helped A.V. Suvorov to defend the coast of Crimea from the landings of the Turkish fleet, led squadrons to the North Sea to protect neutral shipping, and trained teams. At the beginning of the Russian-Swedish war of 1788–1790, the vice-admiral was entrusted with command of the reserve squadron. When in May 1790 the Swedish naval and rowing fleets threatened Kronstadt, Catherine II entrusted the honored sailor with the defense of the approaches to the capital. On May 7, she signed a decree appointing Cruz commander of the Kronstadt squadron. The Vice Admiral was instructed to go to sea with all combat-ready ships, find the enemy, attack him and try to defeat him.

The Swedish fleet consisted of 22 battleships, 8 large, 4 small frigates and several auxiliary ships; against 800 large (18–36? pound) and 600 small guns of Russian battleships, the Swedes had 1,200 29–36? pound guns and 800 smaller ones. Admiral General Karl of Südermanland brought all the battleships and 2 large frigates into the battle line; the remaining 6 formed a separate detachment to support the ships damaged in the battle and the most attacked part of the fleet.

During the day of May 22, the fleets approached each other. When the east wind blew after midnight, Vice Admiral Cruz took the opportunity to attack. At the end of the 3rd hour there was a signal from the flagship to attack the enemy and fight him at rifle range; At this signal, the vanguard began to descend on the Swedish fleet. The Swedish ships sailed in an almost regular wake; the light squadron stayed to windward abeam the head of the squadron. Before the start of the battle, Duke Charles, who had the king’s instructions to take care of his life, and his headquarters went aboard the small frigate Ulla Fersen to control the battle out of formation; On the flagship Gustav III, flag officer Lieutenant Clint remained to receive and transmit signals. In fact, the corps de battalion was led by the commander of the flagship, Colonel Clint.

The Russian ships were in line with the front, but soon took a course almost parallel to the enemy’s. Cruz sought to bring order to the sprawling line. At the beginning of the 5th hour, the Swedish vanguard was the first to open fire, 10 minutes later the Russian vanguard responded, and 25 minutes later, when the rest of the Swedish ships descended, the firefight became general. The rearguards entered the battle with a delay and exchanged shots at a considerable distance.

The Swedes, finding themselves under the wind, did not seek to attack and limited themselves to defense. Cruz continued to advance. The vanguard was getting closer and closer to the enemy. At 8 o'clock, with the approach of the Russian rearguard, the battle became especially acute. At this time, the commander-in-chief raised a signal for the ships “Saint Nicholas” and “Prince Gustav” to come closer to his flagship, against which 3 Swedish ships, including the general admiral’s, were fighting.

During the battle, 2 Swedish ships and 3 frigates tried to envelop and put two fires on the Russian vanguard; one of the frigates was already turning, but Denison, assessing the situation and having a windward position, led 5 sailing and rowing frigates, which drove off the Swedes. After this, the Swedish fleet withdrew from the battle. Cruz tried to pursue. At the beginning of the 9th hour, he made a signal to build a line not according to establishment (that is, not according to the order indicated before the battle), but according to ability, which reduced the time of rebuilding; but the wind, which died down around 10 o'clock, did not allow the attack to continue.

Both fleets found themselves almost motionless near the island of Biorke. Gustav III took advantage of this convenient moment and sent a detachment of rowing ships to support his becalmed fleet, which approached the battlefield at about 11 o'clock. They tried to attack, but were repulsed by Denison's frigates. The gradually increasing southwest wind played its role, making it difficult for the rowing vessels to operate. However, the same wind revived the sailing ships and allowed the battle to continue in the afternoon.

The opponents were closing in on the rearguards in front. At the beginning of 14 o'clock the second stage of the battle began. Cruz repeatedly raised signals, ordering the formation. He demanded that the captains take their places, add more sail, and close the line. But the Swedes soon avoided the battle. By 15 o'clock the distance had increased so much that the cannonballs were ineffective, and the commander-in-chief ordered a ceasefire; at 15:30 he raised the signal to add sail and close the line. The Vice Admiral seemed to be trying to draw the Swedes into the depths of the bay, which was replete with shoals. The Swedish squadron did not dare to do this; the vanguard anchored, and the corps de battalion, turning to port tack, moved away downwind. But the exchange of fire between the Russian vanguard and the nearest Swedish ships, which found themselves on the leeward side of their fleet, continued. The Russian squadron, moving on a counter course, fought until the Swedish fleet passed by and the fire stopped, and at 20 o'clock, at a signal from Cruise, it began to drift.

Flagship of A.I. Cruz was in the thick of the battle. The Vice Admiral, wearing only a doublet with an order ribbon, continuously smoked a pipe; the blood of the sailor killed on the quarterdeck remained on his shoulder. When it became known that Sukhotin was seriously wounded, Cruise went on a boat under gunfire to say goodbye to him, and then walked around the ships of his fleet in full view of the enemy. He initially intended to attack on May 24th. However, information about serious damage forced us to abandon this idea. In a report to the empress sent on May 24, the vice admiral promised to stay in sight of the enemy fleet until Chichagov's squadron approached.

At midnight a calm wind set in. But Cruz, due to damage to the ships, could not take advantage of the windward position and attack the enemy. Also, the Swedes could not attack the Russian fleet, which was 4-6 miles away; both fleets maneuvered a lot in narrow fairways.

At about 2 o'clock the Swedish ships set all sails and began to move away, which the vice admiral attributed to the appearance of Chichagov. At 3 o'clock the enemy fleet was visible in the distance, and the commander-in-chief gave the signal to form a battle line according to his ability. At the same time, renovations continued. By 8 o'clock on the ship "Chesma" the cruise and topmast were replaced; The damaged ship "John the Theologian" and the boat "Gagara" went to Kronstadt. The battle line was reduced to 16 ships against 22 enemy ships. However, Cruz was preparing for battle, because with the appearance of Chichagov, the plan of joint actions of the two admirals came into effect. At the vice-admiral's signal, by 10 o'clock the squadron was building a battle line. At 11 o'clock the commander-in-chief called all the captains. The Russian battle line was formed by noon, heading south. The wind became favorable for the Swedes, and from 13 to 15 hours they slowly descended onto the Russian line and maneuvered. After the wind changed to the southwestern vanguard and the light squadron of the Swedes, they found themselves under the wind, and it took time to restore the line.

Cruz at the beginning of the 15th hour made the signal “Prepare for battle”, at the 16th hour - “Reduce sails for the forward ships and increase sails for the rear ones.” He tried to close the column. At the beginning of the 17th hour, the Swedish fleet descended onto the Russian line, and Cruz gave the order to begin the battle. Until 18 o'clock the fire spread along the entire line, and the 3 leading ships of the Swedes were ordered to go around and put two fires on the Russian ships standing on the edges, but they went down into the wind and turned, threatening to cut off the Swedish vanguard. The opponents fought until the evening, until the Swedes became aware of the approach of Chichagov’s Revel squadron. Finding himself between two fires, Duke Charles approached Vyborg Bay on May 25 and, by order of the king, entered it to cover the skerry fleet. The united Russian squadrons blocked the enemy and defeated them in the Battle of Vyborg a month later.

For the Battle of Krasnogorsk, the Empress awarded A.I. Cruz with the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, for Vyborg - the rank of admiral and the Order of St. George, 2nd degree, and on September 8 - a sword with the inscription “For courage”, decorated with diamonds.

In subsequent years, Cruise prepared and launched the Kronstadt squadron into the sea, and at times served as the chief commander of the Kronstadt port. Having ascended the throne in 1796, Paul I mercifully treated the honored naval commander: he awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, appointed admiral of the red flag (commander of the rearguard of the fleet), and after the voyage of the fleet under the command of Paul I in 1797 - admiral of the white flag (commander of the corps de battalion and, in fact, the entire Baltic Fleet). The Emperor granted the naval commander a snuffbox decorated with diamonds, land holdings (including the village of Kapotnya, villages near Moscow) and a stone house in Kronstadt. In 1798, the admiral cruised with the fleet to prevent foreign warships from entering the Baltic.

On May 5, 1799, Admiral Cruz died surrounded by his family. He was buried at the Lutheran (German) cemetery in Kronstadt; a tombstone in the form of a rostral column symbolized his naval victories. The grave has not survived. A new monument has been erected at the proposed burial site.

“Morally depressed, because the verdict is biased,” said the mother of a student from Stary Oskol, Alexandra Kruse, about her son, who was sentenced to 2.5 years in a penal colony under Article 282 of the Criminal Code (for inciting hatred or enmity). He studied at the Economic and Legal Institute of Voronezh, interestingly, in the direction of “Criminal Law”. As a result, he himself was recognized as a criminal. All because of publications on social networks. I posted several photos on my page. And it all depends on how to evaluate them. Investigators looked into it after someone's complaints. And they came to the conclusion: the images are clearly extremist. The reason is to start a business. Clearly - according to the law, where everything is formulated unambiguously. But Kruse himself claims: he did not promote anything, but just - attention - wrote a diploma. Just about extremism. They say the topic is suitable for long-term research on a future profession. Allegedly, the pictures were needed for scientific work. More precisely, for some kind of open survey. To use the results in the same scientific work. It sounds strange, to put it mildly. But he insists that he is right. I have already filed an appeal. Well, the court managed to reject this appeal. Why?

“Extremism in modern conditions” is the officially approved topic of student Alexander Kruse’s thesis. “I needed a result for my thesis. I didn’t want to conventionally like someone writes their thesis, I took something from Wikipedia, downloaded something somewhere, but to go into creativity,” explains the Voronezhsky student Economic and Legal Institute Alexander Kruse. “I presented myself under several psychotypes, they were completely different, in principle. And specifically, so as not to captivate people with nationalism and so on, I tried to create such a negative image.”

To understand how people become extremists, Kruse developed his own methodology. I searched through social networks for those who publish nationalist information, and then entered into correspondence with them. To do this, he created several pages where he presented himself as a radical. He conducted conversations without mincing words. And so that his interlocutors would mistake him for one of their own, he reposted those same dubious pictures that would soon become the basis for a criminal case.

“In the summer of 2016, on the pages he created on the social network, he posted several images that were accompanied by texts,” states assistant to the chairman of the Belgorod regional court Irina Sazonova. “All images and texts were subjected to psychological and linguistic examination. According to expert opinions, the materials he published contain psychological and linguistic signs of calls for violence against a group of people identified on the basis of nationality - Jews."

Alexander Kruse, of course, objected: the pictures he copied were not recognized as extremist. Are in the public domain. It turns out that everyone who posts them automatically falls under the article?

“These were simply copies, let’s say, reposts,” emphasizes Alexander Kruse’s lawyer Andrei Milevsky. “They were posted without any comments on their pages, without any calls to support what is in these reposts. If he had made at least some comments to him or called for something - this would already be called a repost, then he could be responsible for it, yes. But there was nothing in this regard."

However, both experts and the court usually take into account not only the content of the recording, but also the context in which it was made, and taking into account the fake pages and dubious dialogues, the context took more than two years.

“All messages come down to a discussion of the pictures that he reposted, to his reposts,” says blogger Valery Gikavyi. “But in fact, all this is a visual component, what we see from this situation. And specifically what was in the correspondence - "Neither he talks about this, nor the investigative authorities publish it. But the whole point, I think, is there."

Alexander Kruse has no previous convictions. However, his name has already appeared in the documents of the Stary Oskol City Court. Two and a half years ago, a banned song with the title “A wonderful skinhead appeared in our house” was found on his page. But since it was not Kruse himself who posted it, but another user, no punishment was provided for the student at that time. A prohibited audio file has been removed. That's all.

“I’m not saying that the pictures that Kruse reposted were beautiful. They were not depicting the sun, mother, peace, friendship, no. But in these pictures, in my opinion, there is no corpus delicti,” says the deputy chairman of the Public Monitoring Commission Moscow Eva Merkacheva: “At least, this can be regarded as a mistake of youth, as a delusion that is characteristic of every young man.”

The complexity of the matter also lies in the fact that Alexander Kruse actually did not agree with anyone on his method of collecting information. He had a supervisor for his diploma. But the part-time student never had time to meet him in person. And the fact that he communicated with radicals solely for the sake of science has not been documented in any way. The defense has already been denied an appeal. Ahead is a cassation appeal, which will be handled by a lawyer. In two and a half weeks, student Alexander Kruse should be sent to a colony.

Cruz, von Kruys Alexander Ivanovich (October 26, 1731, Moscow - May 5, 1790, Kronstadt), military leader, admiral (1790). From the nobles. The son of a Danish sailor, accepted in 1723 as an officer in the Russian fleet. After the death of his father (1764), he was adopted by Vice Admiral of the Russian service James Kennedy, who taught him maritime affairs. From 1747 Cruise served in the English fleet. In 1753, after an examination, he was accepted into the Russian fleet as a non-commissioned lieutenant (under a contract for 2 years), sailed on ships of the Baltic Fleet. In 1759 he commanded the court yachts. During the Seven Years' War in 1760-1761, he took part in the siege of Kolberg, then commanded the frigates "St. Mikhail" and "Nadezhda". In 1769-1770, commanding the battleship St. Eustathius,” committed as part of the squadron of Admiral G.A. Spiridova's trip to the Mediterranean Sea; in the Chios naval battle, his ship was boarded by the Turkish flagship Real Mustafa, both ships exploded due to fire, Cruz was thrown into the water; the sailors, embittered by his overly harsh attitude, did not want to take him into the boat and even hit him on the head with an oar, but one of them pulled Cruz out; later he changed his treatment of the “lower ranks.” After the victory in the Chesme naval battle, Cruz received command of the captured Turkish ship Rhodes, which he led to Russia; On October 31, north of Cape Matapan, the ship was caught in a strong storm and was forced to land on the shore, where it was attacked by local residents, from whom the crew fought off for 16 days; The sailors then burned the ship and took boats to the island of Tserigo, from where they were accepted into the squadron. From 1773 Cruz was the commander of the battleship "Andrei Pervozvanny", from 1775 - the commander of the battleship "Panteleimon". Since 1777, assistant to rear admiral F.A. Klokachev, who commanded the fleet in the Azov and Black Seas. In 1778, cruising with the Azov flotilla in the Black Sea, he prevented the landing of Turkish troops in the Crimea. Since 1779 in the Baltic Fleet. In 1780-1782 he commanded a squadron in the German Sea to ensure armed neutrality, declared by Russia on 28.2.1780; in 1785 he commanded a squadron in the Baltic Sea, in 1788 - a reserve squadron stationed at Kronstadt, in 1789 - a rowing flotilla (until the arrival of its commander, Prince Karl of Nassau-Siegen). During the Russian-Swedish War of 1788-1790, commanding a squadron, he defeated the Swedish squadron in the Krasnogorsk naval battle, then participated in the Vyborg naval battle. After the war he commanded squadrons in the Baltic Sea.

Book materials used: Sukhareva O.V. Who was who in Russia from Peter I to Paul I, Moscow, 2005

Cruz Alexander Ivanovich (1731-1799). The use of reserves and instructions to ship commanders to build a line not according to disposition during the battle in the Battle of Kerch are called Ushakov’s tactics by naval writers. It is less known that two months before the battle of the Kerch Strait, such tactics were used by A.I. Cruz in the Battle of Krasnogorsk.

A.I. Cruz, the son of a sailor in Peter's fleet and a pupil of the famous flagship D. Kennedy, served at sea since childhood, studied in Russia and abroad, sailed every year, and was wounded during the siege of Kolberg. In the Battle of Chesma, his ship “St. Eustathius found himself at the center of events, defeated the Turkish flagship Real Mustafa, but burned down along with it. When the ship exploded, the commander survived miraculously and was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree. For the second time, the captain barely escaped death when the captured ship “Rhodes,” which he was leading to Russia, ran aground and its crew was surrounded by Minot pirates. Over time, from a dashing grunt, the sailor became a prudent flagship. He helped A.V. Suvorov to defend the coast of Crimea from the landings of the Turkish fleet, led squadrons to the North Sea to protect neutral shipping, and trained teams. At the beginning of the Russian-Swedish war of 1788-1790, the vice admiral was entrusted with command of the reserve squadron. When in May 1790 the Swedish naval and rowing fleets threatened Kronstadt, Catherine II entrusted the honored sailor with the defense of the approaches to the capital. On May 7, she signed a decree appointing Cruz commander of the Kronstadt squadron. The vice admiral was instructed to go out to sea with all combat-ready ships, find the enemy, attack him and try to defeat him.

By the beginning of the battle, the squadron of A.I. Cruz consisted of 17 battleships, 4 sailing and 8 rowing frigates, 2 boats. Of the 1,760 guns, 1,400 were on battleships. The vanguard was commanded by Vice Admiral Ya.F. Sukhotin, corps de battalion - Cruz himself on the ship “Chesma”, rear guard - Rear Admiral I.A. Povalishin. A special detachment consisted of 4 sailing and 5 rowing frigates under the command of F.I. Denison, to whom Cruise gave the right to act independently. In fact, this detachment constituted a mobile reserve to fend off unexpected enemy actions. He should have stayed to windward of the battle line of the battleships in order to have freedom of maneuver. Cruise kept 3 rowing frigates and 2 boats with him for transmitting signals and sending parcels.

During the day of May 22, the fleets approached each other. When the east wind began to blow after midnight, Vice Admiral Cruz took the opportunity to attack. At the end of the 3rd hour there was a signal from the flagship to attack the enemy and fight him at rifle range; At this signal, the vanguard began to descend on the Swedish fleet. The Swedish ships sailed in an almost regular wake; the light squadron stayed to windward abeam the head of the squadron. Before the start of the battle, Duke Charles, who had the king’s instructions to take care of his life, moved with his headquarters on board the small frigate “Ulla Fersen” to control the battle out of formation; On the flagship Gustav III, flag officer Lieutenant Clint remained to receive and transmit signals. In fact, the corps de battalion was led by the commander of the flagship, Colonel Clint.

The Russian ships were in line with the front, but soon took a course almost parallel to the enemy’s. Cruz sought to bring order to the sprawling line. At the beginning of the 5th hour, the Swedish vanguard opened fire first, 10 minutes later the Russian vanguard responded, and 25 minutes later, when the rest of the Swedish ships descended, the firefight became general. The rearguards entered the battle with a delay and exchanged shots at a considerable distance.

The Swedes, finding themselves under the wind, did not seek to attack and limited themselves to defense. Cruz continued to advance. The vanguard was getting closer and closer to the enemy. At 8 o'clock, with the approach of the Russian rearguard, the battle became especially acute. At this time, the commander-in-chief raised a signal to the ships “St. Nicholas" and "Prince Gustav" came closer to his flagship, against which 3 Swedish ships, including the Admiral General, fought.

The opponents were closing in on the rearguards in front. At the beginning of 14 o'clock the second stage of the battle began. Cruz repeatedly raised signals, ordering the formation. He demanded that the captains take their places, add more sail, and close the line. But the Swedes soon avoided the battle. By 15 o'clock the distance had increased so much that the cannonballs were ineffective, and the commander-in-chief ordered a ceasefire; at 15:30 he raised the signal to add sail and close the line. The vice admiral seemed to be trying to draw the Swedes into the depths of the bay, which was replete with shoals. The Swedish squadron did not dare to do this; the vanguard anchored, and the corps de battalion, turning to port tack, moved away downwind. But the exchange of fire between the Russian vanguard and the nearest Swedish ships, which found themselves on the leeward side of their fleet, continued. The Russian squadron, moving on a counter course, fought until the Swedish fleet passed by and the fire stopped, and at 20 o'clock, at a signal from Cruise, it drifted.

Flagship of A.I. Cruz was in the thick of the battle. The vice admiral, wearing only a doublet with an order ribbon, continuously smoked a pipe; the blood of the sailor killed on the quarterdeck remained on his shoulder. When it became known that Sukhotin was seriously wounded, Cruise went on a boat under gunfire to say goodbye to him, and then walked around the ships of his fleet in full view of the enemy. He initially intended to attack on May 24th. However, information about serious damage forced us to abandon this idea. In a report to the empress sent on May 24, the vice admiral promised to stay in sight of the enemy fleet until Chichagov’s squadron approached.

At about 2 o'clock the Swedish ships set all sails and began to move away, which the vice admiral attributed to the appearance of Chichagov. At 3 o'clock the enemy fleet was visible in the distance, and the commander-in-chief gave the signal to form a battle line according to his ability. At the same time, renovations continued. By 8 o'clock on the ship "Chesma" the cruise and topmasts were replaced; The damaged ship “John the Theologian” and the boat “Gagara” went to Kronstadt. The battle line was reduced to 16 ships against 22 enemy ships. However, Cruz was preparing for battle, because with the appearance of Chichagov, the plan of joint actions of the two admirals came into effect. At the vice admiral's signal, by 10 o'clock the squadron was building a battle line. At the 11th hour, the commander-in-chief called all the captains. The Russian battle line was formed by noon, heading south. The wind became favorable for the Swedes, and from 13 to 15 hours they slowly descended onto the Russian line and maneuvered. After the wind changed to the southwestern vanguard and the light squadron of the Swedes, they found themselves under the wind, and it took time to restore the line.

At the beginning of the 15th hour, Cruz made the signal “Prepare for battle,” and at the 16th hour, “Reduce the sails for the forward ships and increase the sails for the rear ones.” He tried to close the column. At the beginning of the 17th hour, the Swedish fleet descended on the Russian line, and Cruz gave the order to begin the battle. Until 18 o'clock the fire spread along the entire line, and the 3 leading ships of the Swedes were ordered to go around and put two fires on the Russian ships standing on the edges, but they went down into the wind and turned, threatening to cut off the Swedish vanguard. The opponents fought until the evening, until the Swedes became aware of the approach of Chichagov’s Revel squadron. Finding himself between two fires, Duke Charles approached Vyborg Bay on May 25 and, by order of the king, entered it to cover the skerry fleet. The united Russian squadrons blocked the enemy and defeated them in the Battle of Vyborg a month later.

In subsequent years, Cruise prepared and launched the Kronstadt squadron into the sea, and at times served as the chief commander of the Kronstadt port. Having ascended the throne in 1796, Paul I mercifully treated the honored naval commander: he awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, appointed admiral of the red flag (commander of the rearguard of the fleet), and after the voyage of the fleet under the command of Paul I in 1797 - admiral of the white flag (commander of the corps de battalion and virtually the entire Baltic Fleet). The emperor granted the naval commander a snuffbox decorated with diamonds, land holdings (including the village of Kopotnya, villages near Moscow) and a stone house in Kronstadt. In 1798, the admiral cruised with the fleet to prevent foreign warships from entering the Baltic.

In May 1799, Admiral Cruz died surrounded by his family. He was buried at the Lutheran (German) cemetery in Kronstadt; a tombstone in the form of a rostral column symbolized his naval victories. The grave has not survived. A new monument has been erected at the proposed burial site.

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