{{short description|British navy officer (1753–1841)}} {{about||the member of the California State Assembly|Robert W. Crown}} {{Use dmy dates|date= February 2020}} {{Infobox military person | name = Robert (Roman) Crown | birth_date = {{Birth date|1753|12|21|df=yes}} | birth_place = Perth, Scotland | death_date = {{Death date and age|1841|04|21|1753|12|21|df=yes}} | death_place = Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire | image = Портрет к статье «Кроун, Роман Васильевич». Военная энциклопедия Сытина (Санкт-Петербург, 1911-1915).jpg | caption = | allegiance = {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Great Britain}}<br />{{flagcountry|Russian Empire}} | branch = Royal Navy<br />Imperial Russian Navy | service_years = 1788–1831 (Russia) | rank = Lieutenant (Britain)<br />Admiral (Russia) | commands = | battles = {{tree list}} * American Revolutionary War * Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) ** Capture of ''Venus'' * Napoleonic Wars {{tree list/end}} | awards = Order of St. Vladimir (3rd degree)<br />Order of St. George | other_work = }}
'''Roman (Robert) Vasilievich Crown''' ({{langx|ru|Роман Васильевич Кроун}}; {{OldStyleDateNY|21 December 1753|1 January 1754}} – {{OldStyleDateNY|21 April|3 May}} 1841) was a navy officer in British and Russian service. In the latter he eventually became an admiral and served in the Russo-Swedish War and the Napoleonic Wars.
==Life== ===Early naval career in British service=== [[File:Merkuriy vs Venus.jpg|thumb|left|Capture of ''Venus'' in 1788. Painting by Alexey Bogolyubov]]
Robert Crown was born in Perth, Scotland; he came from a family of Scottish tenants said to have been related to the Gregor clan. He began his maritime service with the Merchant Navy, joined the British Royal Navy (as a navigator, on the frigate ''Odeon'', in squadrons under Admiral Edward Vernon in India about 1778) {{sfnp|Povarov|2005|p= cf. Website}} and participated in the American Revolutionary War. In early 1788, he became an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy,{{sfnp|Bruzelius|1996|p=year 1788}} keeping his rank of a lieutenant.
===Career in the Russian{{ndash}}Swedish war=== Already on 10 March 1788 Crown was promoted to captain-lieutenant and appointed commander of the 22-gun cutter ''Merkuriy'', which was part of the Baltic Fleet squadron Copenhagen. On this ship, Captain Crown carried out patrol services during the Russo-Swedish war in the Baltic Sea. His most important success was the capture of the Swedish 44-gun frigate ''Venus'' in the fjord of Christiania on 21 May 1789. Crown was promoted to 2nd rank captain and awarded the Order of St. George, 4th class. He received command over ''Venus'' and led it in the battle of Reval and in the battle of Vyborg Bay in 1790. In the course of the latter he captured the ship of the line ''Rättvisan'' ("Justice", built 1783). In recognition of his merits, he was awarded the Order of Saint Vladimir, 3rd class, and promoted to 1st rank captain (captain-commodore). In 1791, Crown, together with many other naval officers of British origin, was transferred to the Black Sea in expectation of war with England.{{sfnp|Bruzelius|1996|p=year 1791}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Российский Архив: История Отечества в свидетельствах и документах XVIII—XX вв.: Альманах |date=1996 |work= |publisher=Студия ТРИТЭ: Рос. Архив |volume=VII |location=Moscow |pages=436-437}}</ref>
=== Promoted to vice-admiral and later fate=== During the war of the 2nd anti-French coalition, Crown took part in the attempted Anglo-Russian invasion of the Netherlands. He was appointed rear admiral in January 1799, while on the 66-gun ship Izyaslav serving in the Baltic, and vice admiral in February 1804. From 1802 to 1804, he was in the Baltic fleet on the 74-gun ship ''Yaroslav''. After resting ashore in 1805–1807, he went into a transient retirement on account of the state of war between Russia and England from 1808 to 1812.{{sfnp|Bruzelius|1996|p=year 1808}}
In 1812, he led a Russian squadron with six ships from Arkhangelsk to Great Britain and was involved in the blockade of France. In 1814, he was blockading the Dutch coast together with an English squadron, and after the Bourbon Restoration, he transported King Louis XVIII from London to France on board his flagship.
After the Napoleonic Wars, he returned to the Baltic fleet. On 8 February 1824, he was promoted to full admiral. He retired in 1831 and took residence permanently in St. Petersburg, where he died 10 years later.
== Family== Crown was married three times, first in 1775 to Sarah Primrose (1759–1780), second to Martha Knight (1754–1839). He had several children from the second, and one son from the third marriage. Two of his sons with Martha Knight became Russian vice-admirals in the 1870s, i.e. Alexander Egorovich (Malclein Alexander Crown; 1823–1900) and Thomas Yegorovich (Thomas Frederick; 1826–1893).
==Citations== {{reflist|30em}}
==References== *{{cite web |last=Bruzelius |first=Lars |year=1996 |url=http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Biography/Crown,_Roman.html |title=Information on crown on bruzelius.info |access-date=17 February 2020}} * [https://feb-web.ru/feb/rosarc/Ra7-abc/Ra7-4362.htm А. Горшман: ''Кроун, Роман (Роберт) Васильевич, адмирал''. Фундаментальная электронная библиотека] (A. Gorszman: ''Kroun, Roman (Robert) Wasiliewicz, admirał''. Fundamientalnaja eliektronnaja bibliotieka) * М. А. Михайпов, М. А. Баскаков: ''Фрегаты, крейсера, пинейные корабли'' (M. A. Michajłow, M. A. Baskakow: ''Friegaty, kriejsiera, liniejnyje korabli''). Moskwa: 1986. *{{cite web |last=Povarov |first=Vladislav |year=2005 |url=https://www.proza.ru/2005/08/13-237 |trans-title=Первые годы жизни адмирала Романа Васильевича Кроуна |title=Władisław Powarow: ''Pierwyje gody żizni admirała Romana Wasiliewicza Krouna'' |language=ru |access-date=17 February 2020}} * [https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/531998.html Contemporary gouache miniature] with Crown's portrait in the Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved on 18 February 2020
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crown, Robert}} Category:1753 births Category:1841 deaths Category:British emigrants to Russia Category:British military personnel in colonial India Category:Immigrants to the Russian Empire Category:Imperial Russian Navy admirals Category:Military personnel from Perth, Scotland Category:People from the Russian Empire of Scottish descent Category:Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Fourth Degree Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class Category:Royal Navy officers Category:Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Category:Russian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Category:Russian military personnel of the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) Category:Scottish mercenaries