A photograph of Trotsky, a bear cub, on board the battleship HMS Ajax (1912) at Batum [Batumi], Georgia during the battleship's commission in the Mediterranean where she investigated the Bolshevik advance around Sevastopol and eventually arrived off Batumi in late June 1920 until 9 July to cover the evacuation of 'White' Russian forces. Trotsky is sitting down and wearing a leather collar with a wire leash.

Philip Francis Brooke Blackwell was appointed to HMS Ajax in December 1919 as a midshipman and joined her on 13 January 1920 on the ship's recommissioning at Malta on 14 January 1920. He was discharged from Ajax in December 1920, having been promoted to sub-lieutenant on 15 May 1920.