The Russian flotilla waited too long before
retreating, and one of its vessels, the double-sloop No. 2, was overtaken by
small craft and its commander, Saken, blew himself up.
This was a series of mainly small-ship
actions which occurred along the coast of what is now Ukraine during the
Russo-Turkish War (1787-92) as Russian and Turkish ships and boats supported
their land armies in the struggle for control of Ochakov, a strategic position.
The main actions at sea happened on 17, 18, 28 and 29 June and 9 July 1788. On
9 July also, the larger Turkish ships left and on 14 July they fought the
Russian Sevastopol fleet about 100 miles to the south.
The Russians had a small sailing ship
fleet, commanded by Alexiano, but finally taken command of by John Paul Jones
on 6 June, and a gunboat flotilla (the makeup of which changed over the course
of the fighting), commanded by Prince Charles of Nassau-Siegen. Both of these
men had been made Russian Rear-Admirals, and were themselves commanded by the
ineffectual Prince Potemkin. The Russian land armies were commanded by Suvorov.
The Turks had a large mixed fleet,
commanded by Kapudan Pasha (admiral in chief) Hassan el Ghazi, part of which
came in close to support the fighting, and part of which stayed out. It is hard
to determine the makeup of this force accurately. Most of its ships were
probably armed merchantmen, carrying around 40 guns, a few were probably
larger. Different accounts give different numbers, but according to an 8 April
list from Istanbul, the fleet consisted of 12 battleships, 13 frigates, 2
bombs, 2 galleys, 10 gunboats and 6 fireships. There were some xebecs (oared
vessels of 30 or more guns) as well, but perhaps these were counted as frigates
Chronology
On 19 March 1788, the Russian sailing fleet
moved from its position near Cherson to Cape Stanislav.
On 21 April, Nassau-Siegen reached Cherson
with his flotilla and on 24 April moved into the Liman.
On 27 May, the Russian Sevastopol' fleet
under Count Voinovitch attempted to leave port but was forced back almost
immediately by adverse conditions. If it had sailed, it might have met the
Turkish fleet earlier than it did.
On 30 May Jones arrived, but left to confer
with Suvorov about the building of a new battery at Kinburn (on the south
coast, facing Ochakov) before returning on 6 June.
Meanwhile, on 31 May the Turkish fleet had
arrived. The Russian flotilla waited too long before retreating, and one of its
vessels, the double-sloop No. 2, was overtaken by small craft and its
commander, Saken, blew himself up.
After a minor action on 17 June, on 18 June
at about 7.30 am 5 Turkish galleys and 36 small craft attacked the inshore end
of the Russian line, which was perpendicular to the coast. At first the
Russians had only 6 galleys, 4 barges and 4 double-sloops to oppose them. At
about 10 a.m. el Ghazi arrived with 12 more vessels, but Nassau-Siegen and
Jones had advanced the offshore ends to bring their whole forces into action
and at 10.30 the Turks withdrew with the loss of 2 or 3 vessels burnt and blown
up. At about 11 a.m. firing stopped and by 12 p.m. the Russian flotilla had
rejoined the sailing ships.
On 27 June at 12 p.m., the Turkish fleet
steered for the left (windward) end of the Russian line but at 2 p.m. their
flagship ran aground and the other ships anchored in disarray. Adverse winds
prevented the Russians from attacking until about 2 a.m. on 28 June when it
shifted to the NNE, but the Turkish ship had been refloated and the Turks tried
to form a line. At about 4 a.m. all the Russians advanced and at 5.15 a.m. they
were in action. The Turkish second flagship ran aground and Nassau-Siegen sent
in the left wing of his flotilla to attack her. This left his right wing weak,
and Malyi Aleksandr was sunk by Turkish bombs. However, the Turkish battleship
was burnt, this fate also falling to her flagship later. At 9.30 p.m., the
Turks withdrew under the Ochakov guns; el Ghazi decided to withdraw his sailing
ships completely, but the new battery at Kinburn forced him so far to the north
that 9 of his ships ran aground, and the next morning the Russian flotilla
surrounded these and several small craft and destroyed them all except for one
54-gun battleship, which they refloated.
The Turks had lost 2 battleships and 885
captured on 28 June, and perhaps 8 battleships, 2 frigates, 2 xebecs, 1 bomb, 1
galley and 1 transport and 788 captured on 29 June. Russian casualties were 18
killed and 67 wounded in the flotilla, and probably slight losses in the
sailing ships.
The Turkish fleet appeared near Pirezin
Adası, west of Ochakov, on 1 July, to try to rescue the small craft, but
decided not to pass the batteries again and on 9 July it put to sea to meet the
Russian Sevastopol' fleet, which it fought in the Battle of Fidonisi to the
south on 14 July.
On 9 July also the Russian army began to
assault Ochakov and the Russian flotilla attacked the Turkish vessels there.
Forces involved in this were as follows: Russian: 7 galleys, 7 double-sloops, 7
floating batteries, 7 "decked boats" and 22 gunboats. Turkish: 2
20-gun xebecs/frigates, 5 galleys, 1 kirlangitch (very similar to a galley), 1
16-gun brigantine, 1 bomb and 2 gunboats.
At 3.15 a.m. firing started. The 2 Turkish
gunboats and 1 galley were captured by the Russians and the rest were burnt.
Firing ceased at 9.30. Russian casualties were 24 killed and 80 wounded.
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