While the Russian Pacific Fleet was in San Francisco, a major fire broke out October 23, 1863 in the city's Financial District. City firemen were losing the battle until a boat load of Russian sailors arrived and took the places of the worn out firemen and conquered the fire.
Unfortunately, six of the sailors gave their lives and are believed to have been buried on Mare Island. Three of the sailors are buried in a grave marked "Unknown Russian Sailors. The names of three are known: Artemy Trapeznekov, Yakov Butorin and Karl Koit.
Their graves have long since been damaged and disappeared.
OTHER RUSSIAN VISITS
On September 11, 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian cruiser Lena sailed into San Francisco Bay seeking repairs. It had to leave in 48 hours or remain for the duration of the war due to US neutrality.
The ship's captain claimed the boilers were in bad shape and a US delegation inspected the ship and decided he was correct. The Lena was escorted to Mare Island in Vallejo, California where it remained for the rest of the war.
DEPARTURE OF CURRENT RUSSIAN VISIT
The flotilla of Russian ships, led by the Varyag, departed from San Francisco June 25th.
US-Russian Relations in the Pacific. --Cooter
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