Dutch naval officer on Greek postage stamp

It is not very common for persons of Dutch nationality to be depicted on foreign stamps. In 1927, the first two stamps of a series of five dedicated to the Battle of Navarino were issued, 100 years earlier. A blue-green 1.50 drachma stamp featuring a view of Navarino and a 4 drachma stamp depicting a moment from the naval battle. The naval battle took place on October 20, 1827, and was one of the last naval battles still fought with wooden ships. The battle was of great importance to the Greek struggle for independence against Turkish domination. France, Great Britain, and Russia had in fact already recognized Greece's independence, and it was decided to assemble an allied fleet. The fleet was under the command of three admirals: Henry de Rigny for the French ships, Sir Edward Codrington for the British ships, and Van der Heyden for the... Russian ships. The Turkish war fleet was defeated in the Bay of Navarino. But who was this Van der Heyden? First, it must be noted that the name is incorrectly included on the stamp. The correct name was Louis Gustav, Count of Heiden. Van Heiden descended from an old Drenthe family. He began his career as a 10-year-old squire in 1782 in the Dutch navy and served as a midshipman, later as a naval lieutenant on 'De Zephir', and subsequently on the 'Havick'. In 1795, he escorted William V to England. However, upon his return to Dutch soil, he was taken prisoner. He was only released after two months through the mediation of General Pichegru. Van Heiden no longer wished to serve on Dutch ships and he left for Russia. There he entered the service of the Russian navy and received the rank of captain-lieutenant. In 1805 he was promoted to rear admiral, and in 1827 to vice admiral. He was also appointed commander-in-chief of the naval forces in Finland. Van Heiden was given command of the Russian fleet deployed against Turkish authority during the Greek uprising. The combined Egyptian-Turkish fleet was defeated in three hours. Van Heiden died on October 17, 1850, and was buried in the Cathedral of Reval. The British were apparently 'not amused' upon seeing the spelling of their admiral. They had always been accustomed to stating the full first name as well. So it was decided to reprint the stamp, but now with the full name: Sir Edward Codrington. However, Van der Heyden's name was not changed! Even though it was incorrect as well. Because quite a few stamps from the naval battle series remained unsold in 1932 and the Greek postal service wanted to clear them out, they were overprinted. The stamps featuring images by Van der Heyden and De Rigny were given a value of 1.50 drachmas, and both (!) stamps by Sir Edward Codrington a value of 2 drachmas. Also a nice theme: collecting stamps with errors on them!