The schooner Golden Fleece, a sealing vessel under the command of Captain Edward Funcke, was lost in Russian territorial waters under circumstances that gave rise to suspicions of illegal poaching. This incident appears to have triggered a noteworthy, though seemingly undocumented, maritime dispute, involving officials and naval men from US, Russia and Britain. According to one document from the lot, adverse weather conditions were primarily responsible for the vessel's loss, and it was asserted that no hunting had occurred within the prohibited maritime zone. Furthermore, the crew members were described as merely "distressed sailors" who found themselves in a precarious situation. In later years, Captain Funcke  gained recognition as the most distinguished hunting guide in the northeastern region of Baja California.

Documents include:

The protocol, made by a commission of investigation of the incident, in Russian, together with the translation into English and the accompanying letter with the list of sailors on board of the ship. The Russian letter and the protocol bears the signature of Petropavlov’s chief policeman, Petropavlovskiy okruzhnoy nachal’nik Ashurkov. The protocol states that the committee finds the sailors not guilty of poaching, but considers them distressed sailors in need of assistance upon returning home — for that, the commission gives them to English naval boat Daphne in order to be transferred to Japan to the custody of the US council, returning guns and belongings to the sailors. The commission consisted of Ashurkov, his deputy, and Russian captains of schooners Koreets and Yakut, Serebrennikov and Sukhotin, and a lieutenant from Yakut, Tunderman; 10 pages, ca. 35×22 cm (ca. 13¾×8⅝ in) to ca. 22.2×17.7 cm (ca. 8¾×7 in).

The handwritten note in pencil, the explanation of the shipwreck, given on board of HMS Daphne, presumably by a member of Golden Fleece crew. We learn from this letter the events of the shipwreck and the fate of Golden Fleece, which was lost at sea. 2 pages, ca. 16.7×21 cm (ca. 6⅝×8¼ in).

Letter from Koreets crew member Yakovslev in poor English to a member of Golden Fleece crew, telling him that his request for the meeting with the captain cannot be fulfilled. 1 page, ca. 22×17.7 cm (ca. 8⅝×7 in).

Letter from the HMS Daphne captain Arthur Archibald Campbell Galloway (1855–1918) in pencil and signed, stating that there’s no room for distressed sailors on his ship. He states that ‘the whole arrangement is profane and unofficial and merely for the convenience of the parties concerned’. 1 page, ca. 20.5×17.5 cm (ca. 8⅛×6⅞ in).

Letter from unknown American captain, in ink and signed, from Yokohama, telling the Council that Funcke and his nine men were brought by his ship to Yokohama from Petropavlovsk. He also mentions that they were destined to ‘being sent on trial to Vladivostok, as was the intention’ of the authorities in Russia. 1 page, ca. 20.5×12.8 cm (ca. 8⅛×5 in).

Overall, an interesting archive, that shows the Ruso-American-British naval relationships at the time.