A great victory. Chesma. Day of military glory of Russia. Destruction of the Turkish fleet in the Battle of Chesme

« Many have been brave
Who, without sparing labor and effort,
Stormy roads to glory
Fleet squadrons were withdrawn».

The Battle of Chesme took place in the Aegean Sea off the Anatolian coast of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) during the first Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774. between the ships of the Russian squadrons and the Turkish fleet.

And before that there was a long and difficult transition of Russian ships from Kronstadt around Western Europe through the Baltic and North Seas, the Eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay) into the Mediterranean Sea to the shores of Greece (Morea).

In terms of its results, this battle had no analogues in the history of the world's sailing fleets. 73 Turkish ships - battleships, frigates, shebeks, galleys, galliots - burned down in one night; more than 10 thousand people - two thirds personnel Turkish fleet - died in fire and the abyss of the sea. The Russian combined squadron lost 11 people in that battle: 8 on the 66-gun battleship "Europe" (commander captain 1st rank Klokachev Fedot Alekseevich) and 3 on the battleship "Don't touch me" (commander captain 1st rank Pyotr Beshentsev Fedorovich). The Turkish fleet ceased to exist in the Mediterranean Sea. On this occasion, Admiral Grigory Andreevich Spiridov reported the following to the President of the Admiralty Board: “ Glory to the Lord God and honor to the All-Russian Fleet! From June 25 to 26, the enemy Turkish military fleet was attacked, defeated, broken, burned, sent into the sky, drowned and turned to ashes... and they themselves began to be dominant in the entire Archipelago....

Russia owed this victory, first of all, to the experienced naval commander Admiral G. A. Spiridov.

And the prehistory of this war was as follows.

The strengthening of Russia in the middle of the 15th century, especially after the Seven Years' War, caused strong opposition from a number of Western European states, especially France (which competed with England for dominion over the seas).

Interests economic development Russia in the 15th century urgently demanded access to the Black Sea. The insecurity of the southern borders and frequent raids by both the Turks and Crimean Tatars from what they captured Northern Black Sea region, demanded the immediate return of the lands that had long belonged to the Russians, located north of the Black Sea, and indeed the Black Sea basin itself.

To renew historical ties with the Middle East and Mediterranean states and ensure the security of the southern borders, it was necessary to clear the northern coast of the Black Sea from the Turks.

The reason for the outbreak of war was a minor border incident during the Russian-Polish War, which occurred on the borders of the Turkish Empire. Then the Cossacks mistakenly plundered the Turkish border cities of Balta and Dubossary.

Empress Catherine II

The Turkish government, despite Catherine II’s proposals to resolve the conflict peacefully, did not want to enter into any negotiations. Under the direct influence of the French and Austrian governments, the Turkish Sultan Mustafa ΙΙΙ declared war on Russia on October 25 (14), 1768, arresting the Russian ambassador A. M. Obrezkov and the entire embassy in Constantinople, putting them in the Seven Tower Castle.

This is how the first one began Russian-Turkish war 1768-1774, which, however, was destined to end completely differently than the Ottoman Porte and its patrons had hoped.

It should be noted that in the second half of the 18th century, the Ottoman Empire was one of the most powerful powers. African, Balkan and Black Sea peoples and states were under its yoke. Her army with the terrifying Janissaries (and these were children, oddly enough, of Christians) was considered one of the strongest in the world, and a powerful fleet dominated the Black and Eastern Mediterranean.

Not only Catherine herself, but even states hostile to Russia recognized that, undoubtedly, in 1768 Turkey was not only formally the first to declare war and attack Russia, but in fact in every possible way provoked this war and resolutely sought to open hostilities.

According to the Russian war plan, the main theater of operations was to be southern Ukraine, Moldova and the Balkans. The first and second Russian armies were sent here, somewhat later united under the overall command of the talented commander Field Marshal P. A. Rumyantsev. In addition, a third (reserve) army was created, which was supposed to come to the aid of the first army. In fact, hostilities began in the spring of 1769. The Crimean Khan Kerim Giray, with 60,000 cavalry, invaded Ukraine, which significantly complicated the situation, and the main forces of the Turks under the command of the vizier Khalil Pasha headed towards the Dniester, with the goal of crossing it and moving towards Kyiv and Smolensk . In addition, the Turks intended to land part of their forces on the coast of the Sea of ​​​​Azov and launch an attack on Astrakhan.

But all these plans of the Turks were overturned by the brilliant actions of the Russian troops under the command of Field Marshal Pyotr Rumyantsev. In 1769-1770 in the battle of Ryaba Mogila, Larga and Kagul, the best Turkish troops were completely defeated. The Russians took the fortress of Khotin, Iasi, Bucharest and reached the Danube. For these victories, P. A. Rumyantsev received the name “Transdanubian”.

Orlov brothers (Gregory on the right)

Catherine II, very soon after the outbreak of hostilities, seized on the idea, originally, apparently, submitted by Alexei Orlov and supported by his brother Grigory. This idea was to create new sea and land theaters of military operations in the Turkish possessions in the Mediterranean and thereby draw back part of the enemy forces from the main theater on the Danube, attacking Turkey from the sea and from land in the south of the Ottoman Empire, and thereby create “sabotage”, which would facilitate the operations of P. A. Rumyantsev in the north, i.e. in Moldova and Wallachia (Romania).

To implement this plan and launch military operations against Turkey from the Mediterranean Sea, Catherine decided to send part of the Baltic Fleet in the form of two squadrons to the Archipelago (Mediterranean Sea). The task assigned to the Baltic Fleet was not an easy one. Throughout the history of the Russian fleet, there was nothing like this. The Russian squadrons had to go from Kronstadt around Europe through Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of Biscay to the east of the Mediterranean Sea to the Greek shores and, together with army units, begin fighting on enemy rear communications. Speaking about the task facing the sailors, the commander of the 66-gun battleship “Three Hierarchs,” Captain 1st Rank S. K. Greig very clearly defined it with the words: “... The purpose of the expedition was to carry out sabotage in these places and to harass the Turks in that part of their possessions where they could least fear an attack, due to the difficulties with which the dispatch of an armed force from the extreme limits of the Baltic to seas so distant must be associated. ..." This expedition, called the “Archipelago”, had the goal of blocking the Dardanelles Strait from the Aegean Sea, interrupting Turkish maritime trade, raising mass uprisings among the peoples of the Balkan Peninsula, who suffered under the heavy Turkish yoke, and landing Russian troops in the south of the Balkan Peninsula and the islands Archipelago. For the above purposes, it was decided first of all to send a squadron consisting of 7 battleships:

• "Svyatoslav" (84-gun)
• "Eustathius" (66 guns)
• "Ianuarius" (66 guns)
• "Europe" (66-gun)
• "Three Saints" (66 guns)
• "Northern Eagle";
• frigate "Hope of Prosperity" (36 guns)
• bombardment ship "Grom" (10 guns)
• four kicks (transport)
• two messenger ships (packet boats).

Catherine appointed Vice Admiral Grigory Andreevich Spiridov as commander of the squadron. Grigory Andreevich was in very fragile health; as he grew older, his illnesses became more frequent and worse. And he was already 56 years old. But he still went on a campaign, leaving his place as the Chief Commander of the Kronstadt port. He understood in his heart that Russia needed victory. On June 15 (4), 1769, he was promoted to full admiral. It was, as it were, an advance award given by Catherine.

Preparations for the expedition took a very long time. The squadron had to go to southern waters, where the process of destruction of the ship's hull was much faster than in the northern seas. To protect the underwater part of the ships' hulls from rapid destruction, they were covered with felt and covered with boards on top. To do this, at the dock, huge ships were tilted on board (keeled) with gates, ropes and blocks in order to prepare their underwater parts for long voyages and battles. There were no trifles when getting ready then. The crews tried to make their military uniforms comfortable and fashionable. They shot pistols, blunderbuss and shotguns with their capricious flint locks. And the smoothbore guns barely had time to cool down from training shooting. Finally, by mid-July 1769, the preparation of the squadron was completed.

On July 29 (18), 1769, Catherine ΙΙ visited the “Archipelago” squadron at the Kronstadt roadstead, awarded the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky to G. A. Spiridov, also as an advance, and presented him with the image of St. John the Warrior. She promoted captains Greig and Barge to captain-commander and ordered all crew members to be given a four-month salary.

On July 29 (18), Admiral G. A. Spiridov left with the first squadron from the Kronstadt roadstead and, having received ground forces and artillery at the Krasnogorsk roadstead, on August 6 (July 26) headed for the island of Fore (Gogland), where he was supposed to link up with Revel squadron, which was supposed to accompany him to Copenhagen (Denmark). The ships' personnel numbered 3,011 people; in addition, the ships carried landing troops numbering 2,571 people, received at the Krasnogorsk roadstead.

Great Kronstadt raid

The admiral raised his flag on the 66-gun battleship Eustathius. The Revel squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Anderson (he received this title by the same decree with G. Spiridov) arrived at Fore Island on July 21 (10), but due to a storm it was forced to take refuge in Tagalakht Bay and make the necessary repairs there. The squadron of G. Spiridov arrived at the island of Fore on August 11 (July 31), where on August 23 (12), near the island of Ostergala, it was joined by four more battleships (“Ekaterina”, “Kirman”, “Arkhangelsk” and “Asia”) of the Revel squadron . On September 10 (August 30), the Russian fleet was already in Copenhagen, where it received all kinds of assistance: Denmark at that time was heavily dependent on Catherine ΙΙ, who protected its independence against any attempts by Sweden and Prussia.

In Copenhagen, Admiral G. Spiridov added to his squadron the newly built ship “Rostislav”, which had just arrived from Arkhangelsk (instead of the linear 84-gun ship “Svyatoslav”, which, due to damage received during the transition, could not go further with the squadron and was sent for repairs to Revel), replenished water supplies and received various types of materials from the Revel squadron. On September 19 (8), G. Spiridov’s squadron left Copenhagen and headed for the Kattegat Strait zone. During this transition, one of the transports (pink), the 22-gun Lapominka, ran aground near Cape Skagen and crashed on the reefs. The remaining ships of the squadron arrived at the English port of Gul.

The transition was not easy. Ships suffered serious damage from frequent storms in the North Sea. But the most unpleasant thing began later - the illness of the ship's crew. When approaching England, there were more than 600 sick people on the squadron. Subsequently, there was not a day without deaths.

Due to the fact that some of the ships were in need of repair, Admiral G. Spiridov decided to carry out further movement “according to his ability”; he appointed Port Mahon on the island of Minorca, located in the western part of the Mediterranean Sea and belonging to England, as the assembly point for the ships.

On October 21 (10), 1769, Grigory Andreevich left Gul on the battleship “Eustathius” and headed for Gibraltar through the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of Biscay. On November 23 (12), he arrived in Gibraltar, which belongs to England, where, as he writes, he “had a rendezvous” with Rear Admiral S. K. Greig. But S.K. Greig, who was delayed with part of the squadron's ships in Goole to troubleshoot problems in Gibraltar, had not yet arrived. G. Spiridov did not wait for Greig and left Gibraltar. On November 29 (18), he arrived on the island of Minorca in Port Mahon. From there he notified S. K. Greig through an English merchant ship that he was in Port Mahon. Greig arrived in Gibraltar and, not finding G. Spiridov there, refueled with water and supplies and immediately went to sea to join Admiral G. Spiridov. From December 15 (4) to December 23 (12), Russian ships, lagging behind G. Spiridov, gradually approached Port Mahon. In Port Mahon, by the end of December, only nine ships fit for further voyages had gathered: five battleships (“Eustathius”, “Three Hierarchs”, “Three Hierarchs”, “Saint Januarius”, “Nadezhda Blagopoluchiya”), two sloops and two military transport. The sixth battleship "Europe" ran aground while leaving Portsmouth (England), received a hole and lost its rudder. The seventh ship "Rostislav" approached Minorca in January 1770, but was caught in a storm and, due to damage to the main and mizzen masts, was forced to leave for the island of Sardinia to repair the damage. As of December 25, 1768 (old style), there were 313 sick and 32 dead on the squadron. The appendix to the report of Admiral G. Spiridov dated December 26 (Old Style) from Port Mahon shows the following number of dead and sick on the squadron: 27 people died on the transition from Kronstadt to Copenhagen; on the Copenhagen roadstead, 27 people died, sick from 295 to 320; 47 people died on the crossing from Copenhagen to Hull; during the stay in Hull, 83 people died, 620 to 720 people were sick; on the passage from Hull to Port Mahon and in this port until December 26, 208 people died. In total, 392 people died during the transition from Kronstadt to Port Mahon. Very high mortality rate.

On October 9 (20), 1769, the second Russian squadron under the command of Rear Admiral John Elphinstone, consisting of 4 battleships (“Tver”, “Saratov”, “Don’t touch me”, “Svyatoslav”), 2 frigates (“Nadezhda” and “Africa”) and 2 transports, which approached the shores of the Morea on May 20 (9), 1770. During the transition to the Archipelago, the Chichagov transport crashed in the Porkkala-Udd skerries, and the battleship Tver, having lost its mainmast, returned to Revel. In the English port of Portsmouth, 3 transports were purchased and joined the squadron. The personnel of the second squadron numbered 2,261 people. On this occasion, Catherine wanted to emboss on a commemorative medal: “ We went where no one had gone before “. The search for the Turkish fleet immediately began.

Considering that the combat operations of the squadrons in the Archipelago were planned both at sea and on land, Catherine decided to appoint A.G. Orlov as commander-in-chief of the naval and ground forces in the Mediterranean. Of all the people who helped her in her time to carry out a coup d'etat, A. Orlov not only played the most decisive role, but also showed himself to be a man who stops at absolutely nothing. Neither moral, nor physical, nor political obstacles existed for him, and he could not even understand why they existed for others. He was much smarter, braver, and more gifted than his brother Gregory, whom Catherine loved for several years in a row and whom she was even going to marry. Possessing unnatural physical strength, already in old age, living in retirement in Moscow as a retired nobleman in his magnificent palace, A. Orlov loved to take part in fist fights on occasion and often “seated” young fighters, who were not even fit to be fathers, but to grandfathers. When equipping an expedition from the Baltic to the east of the Mediterranean Sea, Catherine needed the intelligence, cunning, cunning, and ingenuity of Alexei Orlov, combined with the ability to take risks where necessary and be careful where necessary. Alexey Orlov appointed his brother Fyodor Orlov to command the ground landing forces.

On April 10 (21), 1770, Russian sailors occupied the Navarin fortress. Thus, for the first time, the port of Navarino entered the chronicles of Russian naval victories, long before the famous Battle of Navarino in 1827.

The capture of Navarino was a major success. However, the available forces and means for any extensive and prolonged military operations in the south of the Balkan Peninsula, for waging a serious, persistent war against the Turks, were insufficient. Soon news arrived that a united large Turkish fleet was sailing to Navarino Bay in order to block it and close the Russian fleet in it. In such a situation, Navarin threatened to turn into a trap for Russian forces. On the advice of Admiral G. A. Spiridov and S. K. Greig, A. G. Orlov decided to shift the center of gravity of the fight to the sea, destroy the Turkish fleet, and, having gained superiority at sea, resume operations on land.

At the beginning of the second half of May, having blown up and destroyed the Navarino fortress, the Russian squadron went out to the open sea to search for enemy ships. A.G. Orlov wrote to Catherine ΙΙ about this decision: “ ... The best thing that can be done, having strengthened the sea ... is to stop the supply of provisions to Constantinople and make attacks by sea force.”

Battle in the Chios Strait

The intensive search for the Turkish fleet continued. We didn't have to wait long. On June 23 at five o’clock in the evening a signal went up on the Rostislav: “ I see enemy ships" . The Turkish fleet was anchored between the island of Chios and the Anatolian coast of Turkey (Eastern Aegean Sea) and consisted of 73 ships (16 battleships, 6 frigates, 6 xebecs, 13 galleys and 32 galliots). The Turkish fleet was commanded by Jeyzayrmo-Hasan Bey. In his report to Catherine II, A. Orlov wrote: “ Seeing this building, I was horrified and was in the dark about what I should do? But the bravery of the troops...the zeal of everyone...forced me to decide, and despite superior forces, to dare to attack, fall or destroy the enemy" After a council of flagships, at the suggestion of Admiral G. A. Spiridov, he decided to attack the Turkish fleet on the morning of June 24.

The combined squadron of A. Orlov included 9 battleships, 3 frigates, one bombardment ship and several small ships. The ships carried about 6,500 personnel and 608 guns.

For the battle, A. Orlov divided the entire fleet into three parts: avant-garde:

• "Europe" (66 guns, commander 1st rank captain Klokachev Fedot Alekseevich)
• "Eustathius" (66 guns, commander 1st rank captain Cruz Alexander Ivanovich)
• “Three Saints” (66-gun, commander 1st rank captain Khmetevsky Stepan Petrovich)
• frigate "Saint Nicholas" (36 guns, commander Greek Polikutti).

The vanguard was commanded by Admiral G.A. Spiridov. He was with Fyodor Orlov on the Eustathia. Cardebatalia:

• “Ianuarius” (66 guns, commander 1st rank captain Borisov Ivan Antonovich)
• “Three Hierarchs” (66-gun, commander captain of brigadier rank Samuil Karlovich Greig)
• "Rostislav" (66 guns, commander 1st rank captain Lupandin Vasily Fedorovich)
• bombardment ship "Grom" (20 guns, commander Lieutenant Commander Perepechin)
• packet boat "Postman" (16-gun, commander captain-lieutenant Eropkin)
• transport "Orlov".

Rearguard:

Chesme Bay

Prepare for battle

Build a battle line

S. K. Greig

On June 25, the 66-gun ship “Three Hierarchs” under the command of Rear Admiral S. K. Greig and the 20-gun bombardment ship “Grom” bombarded the Turkish fleet, which had taken refuge in Chesme Bay, as well as a coastal battery installed by the Turks on the southern cape Chesme Bay. Admiral G. A. Spiridov said: “ It was easy for me to foresee from my knowledge of maritime art that this would be their refuge and their grave " In the evening, at the council of flagships and captains at A. Orlov, it was decided to destroy the Turkish fleet on the night of June 26 with fire ships and incendiary shells (fire shells). Alekseq Grigorievich decided: “ Our task must be decisive in order to defeat and destroy this fleet without further delay, without which here in the Archipelago we cannot have free hands for distant victories; and in order to general council, it is laid down and determined: to prepare for the coming night…»

To clarify the situation, it should be added that the width of Chesma Bay at the entrance is about 750 meters, and its length does not exceed 800 meters. The Turkish fleet stood crowded in the depths of the bay, and if you remember that the length of the ship was about 54 meters, then you can imagine how tightly packed the Turkish ships were along the width of the bay. The Turkish fleet was an ideal target for attack by fireships, and the decision of the Russian command was fully consistent with both the situation and the task. According to the order, on the night of June 26, a detachment consisting of 4 battleships (“Rostislav”, “Europe”, “Don’t touch me”, “Saratov”), 2 frigates (“Nadezhda Prosperity”, “Africa” "), the bombardment ship "Grom" and 4 fire ships under the command of Rear Admiral S.K. Greig (broad pennant on the battleship "Rostislav"), was supposed to enter Chesme Bay and open artillery fire with fire ships on enemy ships. Under the cover of artillery fire from Russian ships, fire ships were supposed to attack with the aim of setting fire to the Turkish fleet. There were no ready-made fireships in the Russian squadron. Four Greek merchant ships were assigned to the fireships. Naval artillery brigadier I.A. Hannibal was ordered to make 4 fire ships. By the evening of June 25, the fire ships were ready. Back at 17.00 on July 6 (June 25), the bombardment ship "Grom" anchored in front of the entrance to Chesme Bay and began shelling the enemy. The night from July 6 to July 7 (June 25 to June 26) was quiet and moonlit. At 23.30 the ship "Europe" weighed anchor and, according to the order, took a place in close proximity to the Turkish ships. At 0.30 "Europe" started a battle with the entire Turkish fleet, opening fire with cannonballs and cannonballs. By one o'clock in the morning "Rostislav" took the appointed place. Behind him were the manufactured fire ships. Following the “Europe” and “Rostislav”, other ships assigned by disposition came and anchored. A successfully fired incendiary shell from the bombardment ship "Grom" caused a fire on one of the Turkish ships stationed in

Chesme fight

center of the bay, the fire from which spread to the nearest leeward Turkish ships. At the same time, at a signal from Rear Admiral S.K. Greig, 4 fireships were launched into the attack, of which one (Lieutenant-Captain Dugdal) was repulsed by Turkish galleys, the second (Lieutenant-Captain Mekenzie) ran aground, the third (midshipman Gagarin ) fell with an already burning ship, the fourth, under the command of Lieutenant Dmitry Ilyin, grappled with one of the Turkish battleships, set it on fire and created a new fire, which soon spread to several nearby ships. With the end of the attack of the fireships, the Russian ships that supported their attack again opened fire on the enemy. At the end of the second hour, two Turkish battleships took off. At 2.30 am, three more Turkish ships ceased to exist. By this time, over 40 ships were burning in the bay, representing a sea of ​​fire. From 4.00 to 5.30, 6 more battleships exploded. By dawn, almost the entire Turkish fleet became a victim of fire. 15 battleships, 6 frigates and a large number of small ships burned. The battleship Rhodes and 5 galleys were taken out of the fire and captured. The Turks lost over 10,000 sailors and officers. Russian losses on the ships of the detachment of Rear Admiral S.K. Greig - 11 killed. On this occasion, Admiral G. A. Spiridov reported the following to the President of the Admiralty Board: “ Glory to the Lord God and honor to the All-Russian Fleet! From June 25 to 26, the enemy Turkish military fleet was attacked, defeated, broken, burned, sent into the sky, drowned and turned to ashes... and they themselves began to be dominant throughout the Archipelago..." In a letter to Vice-Chancellor Golitsyn A. Orlov wrote: “ His superior forces did not frighten the brave Russians, who all with great joy wanted to attack the enemy; Therefore, after delaying at all, at noon that day they attacked, defeated and drove to the port under the Chesma fortress. Not content with this, on the 25th, at midnight, the enemy was attacked a second time and completely defeated. Of the sixteen enemy battleships, six frigates, many xebecs, brigantines, half-galleys and other small ships, nothing remained but the sad traces of these weapons; all completely sunk, broken and burned».

A.G. Orlov

In St. Petersburg, the Chesme victory became known only at the beginning of September 1770. The first message about it came from Malta from the Italian nobleman Marquis Cavalcabo who settled in Russia, who back in 1769 was sent by Catherine II to the Archipelago with the task of finding piers for Russian ships and skilled helmsmen, perfectly familiar with the Italian and Greek coasts and harbors.

A few days later, a report from Count A.G. Orlov about the complete extermination of the Turkish naval force at Chesme, sent on June 28, was delivered by courier from Livorno to the capital. She was brought to Livorno by the Life Guards Major Yuri Dolgorukov.

In a rescript to Count A.G. Orlov, Catherine II wrote: “... To our admiral Spiridov, you have to hand over our most merciful rescript attached to this, in which we showed him our pleasure for his commendable and zealous behavior in this case, and we grant him the cavalry of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. Our Senate, this admiral, will be commanded to give into eternal and hereditary possession the villages appointed by Us...».

« » the empress herself "deigns to be

.

».

Silver medal for Chesma

made for this occasion

»

».

Was " Below is the explanation: “ Chesma 1770 June 24 days ».

There was joy in Russia

.

The day before, the Admiralty Board ordered that on this day, by 8 o'clock in the morning, all its members, flagships, forwarders and advisers in full dress arrived at the Epiphany Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, where « to bring due thanks to the Almighty for the victory won by the fleet and the complete extermination of the entire Turkish fleet in the Levant» the empress herself "deigns to be " After the liturgy, which was served by a member of the Synod, Archbishop of St. Petersburg and Revel, His Eminence Gabriel, a thanksgiving prayer was performed by Archbishop Innocent of Pskov with the rest of the clergy.

On September 15 (4), in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, in the presence of Catherine, a cathedral memorial service for Peter I was held in honor and remembrance of him “as the founder and therefore the first culprit of this great and glorious incident of the Russian naval forces” .

On the same day, the Admiralty Board announced that Catherine II “I most graciously deigned to command” All lower naval and admiralty servants located in the capital will be given a glass of wine and a glass of beer at the expense of the Court Office. After clarifying the number of St. Petersburg teams and submitting a statement to the Commissariat Expedition about how many people were in them, the issuance of an ordinary sea wine portion was carried out immediately. But in exchange for beer, “due to the lack of it,” at the sale price in state drinking houses, money was given to the servants.

After church celebrations on September 14 (3) and 15 (4), on September 18 (7) it was announced that “ as a sign of his most merciful goodwill towards the fleet and the Admiralty"Catherine II September 19 (8) in her presence to the Admiralty Board " deign to honor for the dinner meal».

This day became the apotheosis of the Chesme celebrations in the capital.

Persons of the four first classes were invited to dinner at the Admiralty with Catherine's participation. Persons of the first three classes had to participate in it together with members of their families.

Great Britain, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, the Roman Empire, France, Spain and Holland were represented at the dinner at the Admiralty by ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary, envoys and ministers plenipotentiary of European states at the Imperial Court. Of these, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Great Britain, Lord Carcart, was present with his family, and the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Extraordinary of Denmark, Count Scheel, was present with his wife.

The celebration ceremony was designed and planned down to the smallest detail.

The carriages of the dinner participants were allowed into the Admiralty Fortress through the main gate. Having dropped off the arrivals to the right of the college porch, they drove back through the St. Isaac's Gate. Catherine II was heading to the fortress from the palace. As her carriage approached the 3rd bastion, trumpeters played on the spitz. When she approached the 4th bastion, the trumpeters on the Admiralty Gate began to play. The music paused as the carriage crossed the drawbridge and then continued again.

An ordinary Admiralty flag was lowered under an artillery salute. Instead, as a sign of the highest presence in the fortress, Catherine’s standard was raised above the Admiralty. The Admiralty building, the bastions of the fortress and 4 yachts and 2 frigates lined up opposite the Admiralty on the Neva were illuminated and decorated with flags.

Each moment of celebration was accompanied by a corresponding salute on the 31st, 51st, 101st and 201st gun shots.

To submit to festive tables 100 bottles of champagne and Burgundy and 200 bottles of English beer were prepared.

During dinner, seven toasts were heard, including for the victors in the Mediterranean, for the Russian fleet, which has glorified itself for centuries, and for all loyal Russians. After each toast there was a gun salute.

On September 23 (12), 1770, a decree of Catherine II followed from the Admiralty Board with the order to produce well-deserved awards in the Archipelago for Turkish flags, cannons and captured ships and to award the lower ranks of all naval and land commands participating in the battle silver, “ made for this occasion» award medals to be worn in memory of the battle on a blue ribbon in the buttonhole.

The following year, 1771, by decree of the Holy Synod of May 24 (13), thanksgiving prayers in honor and memory of the victory won in 1770 on the shores of Asia were henceforth to be served in churches annually on June 24 (13). A list of all churches of the Admiralty Department was attached to the synodal decree.

On May 31 (20) of the same year, at the presentation of the Admiralty Board, which petitioned for an order to carry out cannon fire from all Admiralty fortresses on the day of celebration, following the example of how it was legalized by Peter I in honor Battle of Poltava, Catherine II wrote: "On Tuesday the 24th of 31 guns during the war every year."

On June 24 (13), 1771, on the day of the celebration of the first anniversary of the Chesma victory, after a prayer service in the Epiphany Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, following a rocket signal from the cathedral, gun shots were heard from the bastions of the Admiralty Fortress and from Galernaya Harbor.

On the eve of this date, the Admiralty Board ordered the celebration of the anniversary of the Battle of Chesma on June 24 (13), 1771. “ Give dismissal to all Admiralty department teams from work»

Back in November 1770, the first of the heroes of Chesma to become a holder of the Military Order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George, 3rd degree, established a year earlier, was the chief general of the naval artillery, I. A. Hannibal. On September 22, 1771, the 1st degree of this order was awarded to Chief General A.G. Orlov. The Order of the 2nd degree was awarded to Lieutenant General F. G. Orlov and Rear Admiral S. K. Greig.

In 1782, by a manifesto of October 3 (September 22), in addition to the rights granted to the Order, it was allowed to establish a Chapter or Duma of the Order of St. George from among its gentlemen living in the capital, and when consecrated on July 5 (June 24), 1780 on the day On the 10th anniversary of the Chesma victory, the Church of St. John the Baptist, in a village on the Moscow highway called Chesma, has a house, an archive, a seal and a special treasury.

By the highest order announced on April 23 (12) next year, meetings of the Duma of the Order of St. George began to be held in Chesma.

On November 30 (19), during the celebration of the next anniversary of the establishment of the highest military award in Chesma, and on December 7 (November 26) and at the Court of Catherine, all St. George's Knights from St. Petersburg and Kronstadt were invited.

It is symbolic that at the temple built in Chesma near St. Petersburg in honor of the glorious naval victory of the Russian fleet, those “... who not only fulfilled his duties in all respects according to oath, honor and duty, but above all marked himself for benefit and glory Russian weapons special distinction».

As noted above, in honor of this victory, Catherine ΙΙ established a silver medal, which depicted an attack by Russian ships on the Turkish squadron and the burning of Turkish ships. A laconic inscription informed about the fate of the Turkish fleet: “ Was " Below is the explanation: “ Chesma 1770 June 24 days ».

For the first anniversary of the extermination of the Turkish fleet, in memory of this event, 10 gold medals with the image of A.G. Orlov were made and presented to the Admiralty Board on June 30 (19) by its vice-president, Count I. G. Chernyshev.

Two of them were intended to be presented to Catherine II and the heir to the throne, Admiral General Pavel Petrovich, 5 - to the distinguished Counts Orlov brothers, one - to the medal cabinet of the Academy of Sciences, the tenth - “as an eternal memory for the Admiralty Board.” The production of stamps and minting of gold and silver medals cost 3,000 rubles.

On the front side of the medal in the center of the circular inscription “ Count Alexey Grigorievich Orlov - Winner and Destroyer of the Turkish Fleet " his portrait was placed. On the back, under the inscription " There was joy in Russia ", depicts a plan of a historical battle indicating the dates of June 24 and 26, 1770, and below, under the line, was the inscription " In gratitude to the winner from the Admiralty Board " IN silver medals each contained 95 spools of high-grade silver. The cost of one such medal at the price of silver was 14 rubles 48 kopecks.

In the multi-family St. Petersburg list of people who received commemorative silver medals on the anniversary of the battle, the first to appear are the clergy: Archbishops Gabriel and Innocent, member of the Synod Archpriest Andrei and rector of the Epiphany Naval Cathedral Archpriest Vasily. Later they were received by Archbishop Ambrose of Moscow and Kaluga, Archimandrite Bartholomew, Archpriest of the Moscow Assumption Cathedral Alexander Levshinsky and Synod Prosecutor Sergei Ivanovich Rozhnov.

After the destruction of the Turkish fleet at Chesma, the Russian fleet gained strategic dominance in the theater and gained the opportunity to carry out the tasks of blockading the Dardanelles and destroying the enemy’s maritime trade.

On July 9 (June 28), having repaired the damage, Russian ships left Chesme Bay and entered the Aegean Sea.

On July 12 (1), a detachment under the command of Rear Admiral D. Elphinstone, consisting of 3 ships, 2 frigates and several transports, went to the Dardanelles to blockade them. The rest of the fleet headed to the island of Lemnos and blockaded the fortress of Pelari in order to acquire a base for the fleet. After a series of bombings, the Turks began negotiations on the surrender of the fortress.

D. Elphinstone acted indecisively during the blockade of the Dardanelles, and then voluntarily left the detachment blockading the Dardanelles and headed to the island of Lemnos on the ship “Svyatoslav”. On September 16 (5), 1770, when approaching the island “Svyatoslav” at full speed under full sail in fresh weather, I came across a reef off north side Lemnos, and then found himself stranded. D. Elphinstone called the rest of the ships of the blocking detachment for help. The Turks, taking advantage of this, transferred significant reinforcements to the island of Lemnos. Thus, through the fault of D. Elphinstone, the Russian fleet had to lift the siege of the Pelari fortress. The direct culprit of the accident turned out to be an English citizen, pilot Gordon, hired by D. Elphinstone. The sailors warned D. Elphinstone about the pilot's incompetence, but D. Elphinstone did not heed these warnings. D. Elphinstone was removed from command, sent to Russia and then completely dismissed from service.

The Russian fleet headed to the island of Paros, where the main base of the Russian fleet in the Archipelago was established in the port of Auza. G. Spiridov's detachment delivered ship timber here, harvested on the island of Thassos. Fortifications, an admiralty, shops and a camp for the Russians were built here. ground forces. On November 23 (12), A. Orlov transferred command of the fleet to Admiral G. A. Spiridov and departed for Livorno, and then to St. Petersburg.

On January 7, 1771 (December 25, 1770) the 3rd Russian squadron came to the Archipelago under the command of Rear Admiral Arfa, consisting of 3 battleships (St. George the Victorious, Vsevolod and Asia), 1 frigate Severny Eagle" and 13 chartered English transports.

Off the island of Mittilena

In 1771, Catherine II set the following tasks for the Russian fleet in the Archipelago:

1. Blockade of the Dardanelles.

2. Keeping the islands of the Archipelago in their hands until peace is concluded, so that when the terms of peace are worked out, one of the islands remains with Russia as a stronghold in the Mediterranean Sea.

The beginning of 1771 was characterized by the inaction of the Turkish fleet. At this time, Russian ships were being repaired, and at the same time, the ships' crews were being re-equipped with sailors who had arrived with the Arfa squadron. On July 9 (June 28) A. Orlov returned from Russia. At the military council in Auza, under the leadership of A. Orlov, it was decided to intensify the actions of the fleet in order to divert part of the Turkish forces from the Danube theater of military operations.

Rear Admiral Arf was soon sent by A. Orlov to St. Petersburg. Reporting on this case, Alexei Orlov asked not to assign foreign officers and sailors to him in the future, “ for one can not only expect from one’s fellow-countrymen with the best hope what the duty of zeal and love for the Fatherland requires from them, but also in the incurrence of labor, anxiety and military difficulties, a great difference has already been seen between Russian people and foreigners...».

In June-July 1771, a squadron under the command of Admiral G. Spiridov established a blockade of the Dardanelles. Separate detachments of the Russian fleet constantly cruised in the Archipelago, suppressing the enemy's maritime trade. At the end of October 1771, a squadron of the Russian fleet under the command of A. Orlov and Admiral G. Spiridov reached the island of Metilena.

On November 11 (October 31), G. Spiridov’s squadron anchored near the Metilene fortress within range of a cannon salvo, and the bombardment ships “Grom” and “Molniya” opened fire.

Under the cover of this fire, on November 13 (2), a landing force was landed on the island. This landing captured the Admiralty and destroyed two completed 74-gun ships and an enemy galley and several smaller ships.

On November 15 (4), the landing party was accepted back onto the ships, and on November 16 (5), the fleet weighed anchor and went to the port of Auza, where it arrived on November 17 (6). During their departure, the frigates Archipelago and Santorini ran aground. The Archipelago was refloated, but the frigate Santorini had to be destroyed.

It should be noted that the blockade of the Dardanelles lasted throughout 1771. Ships of the Russian fleet constantly cruised at the exit from the strait and near the nearby islands. During the campaign of 1771, Russian ships detained and captured about 180 merchant ships at enemy sea communications.

In 1772, the actions of the Russian fleet in the Archipelago were of approximately the same nature.

On May 19 (8), 1772, the 4th squadron consisting of 3 battleships (“Chesma”, “Count Orlov”, “Pobeda”) was sent from Revel to the Archipelago under the command of Rear Admiral V. Ya. Chichagov. This squadron arrived in Port Mahon on July 29 (18) and in Livorno on August 31 (20). Here, on August 25 (September 7), Rear Admiral V. Chichagov handed over command of the squadron to Captain 1st Rank Konyaev, and he himself returned to St. Petersburg.

In June, the Russian fleet fired Turkish fortress Beirut and landed troops. In July, it became known that a truce had been concluded for 4 months, which lasted until October 29 (18).

At the end of October 1772, Russian sailors again won a major victory over the enemy.

The Turks could not forget the terrible defeat at Chesma and were preparing forces to attack the Russian fleet and its base - the port of Auzu. But the enemy’s preparations were promptly discovered by Captain 1st Rank Konyaev. On November 6 (October 26), he discovered Mustafa Pasha's Turkish squadron in the Gulf of Patras, consisting of 9 frigates and 16 shebeks, which were under the cover of coastal batteries.

On November 8 (October 28), a battle broke out between Russian and Turkish ships, during which 8 frigates and 8 enemy shebeks were destroyed. One damaged Turkish frigate sank. The Russian detachment had negligible losses in personnel.

Among other more significant actions during this period, one can note the attack on November 4 (October 24), 1772, on the Chesmu fortress, when a detachment of Russian ships consisting of 4 frigates and a bombardment ship fired at the fortress and landed a landing party of 520 people, who burned military installations and destroyed several small ships. 6 Turkish ships were captured in the Chios Strait.

In 1773 and early 1774, the Russian fleet carried out mainly cruising operations on the enemy’s trade routes, encountering almost no resistance.

On November 2 (October 21), 1773, the 5th squadron consisting of 4 battleships ("Isidor", "Dmitry Donskoy", "St. Alexander Nevsky", "Virgin Myrrh-Bearers"), 2 frigates ("St. Alexander Nevsky", "Virgin Myrrh-Bearers") left Kronstadt for the Archipelago. Natalia", "St. Paul") and 6 chartered English transports under the command of Rear Admiral S.K. Greig, which arrived in Livorno on February 22 (11), 1774. After the end of the war, this squadron left for Auza on August 21 (10).

In June 1773, Admiral G. Spiridov submitted his resignation: “... Your Imperial Majesty's naval fleet, I, the most loyal slave of the Russian nobles, joined the naval fleet in 1723 and was with the fleet at sea for five campaigns for maritime practice, and in those same years I studied navigational sciences on the shore; and having studied, in February 1728 he was commissioned as a midshipman and sent to Astrakhan on the Caspian Sea; and from that time on I continued my service in the Caspian, Baltic, Azov, North, Atlantic and Mediterranean seas; and now I continue in the Archipelago Sea; having previously been under command and himself a commander, and then a flagship, commanding the squadrons and fleet of your Imperial Majesty, in times of peace and war, and repeatedly on the shore and at sea in actual military operations; I also had the good fortune to be present at the Admiralty Board and the necessary commissions; he was also the main commander in the Revel and Kronstadt ports; and now I am 63 years old. From my youth to this day, due to my zealous servitude and jealousy, the many labors I have endured, and in my old age and the local archipelago climate have exhausted my health even to the point that I, wanting to continue my service, caressed myself with the Livorno climate, where, during by the Turks of the truce, from His Grace the highly authorized general and cavalier Count Alexei Grigorievich Orlov was released, that I might not get better there, and it seemed that my health had improved in Livorna, then to the performance of the post at the same time the truce with the Turks returned back to the fleet in The archipelago, where I am still located. But in my old age, the labors incurred in the service and the local archipelago climate have now brought me to such a state that I have become completely decrepit in my health and have begun to have little memory of painful attacks from the head and eyes, and for this reason, I myself foresee, in the performance I am slow and, for all that, I am no longer as capable of fulfilling the position assigned to me as before; Why am I afraid, so that after such a long-term blameless service of mine I would not fall under responsibility for some failure to perform. And so that your imperial majesty’s highest decree commanded me, your servant, due to my decrepitude and illness, to return from here to St. Petersburg, and for my long and blameless service, with your imperial majesty’s merciful highest favor, to retire from military and civil service, to continue in my life lately forever. Most Gracious Empress, I ask your Imperial Majesty to make a decision regarding this petition of mine. June 5th, 1773. This petition was written in the Archipelago on the warship "Europe", anchored between Paros and Nyxia, in a canal, with a fleet. Admiral Grigory Andreev, the son of Spiridov, had a hand in this petition...».

In February 1774, Admiral G. Spiridov was dismissed due to illness. G. Spiridov, who served in the navy for 50 years, played a huge role in its development. Having begun his naval service under Peter I, he showed himself to be a talented naval commander over the course of several decades of service. Being the de facto leader of the Russian fleet in the Archipelago, G. Spiridov demonstrated high examples of naval art in combat operations against the Turks.

After the departure of G. A. Spiridov, Vice Admiral Andrei Vlasievich Elmanov took command of the Russian fleet.

On July 10 (21), 1774, in the village of Kuchuk-Kainardzhi near the city of Silistria, a peace was concluded between Russia and Turkey, according to which Turkey ceded Azov, Kerch, Yenikale and part of the coast between the Dnieper and the Bug with the Kinburn fortress to Russia. Crimea and Kuban were recognized as independent from Turkey. Freedom of merchant navigation was established for Russian ships on the Black Sea.

After the conclusion of peace in 1774, the main forces of the Russian fleet left the Archipelago. In 1775, the remaining ships sailed into the Baltic Sea. Thus, the 1st Archipelago Expedition was completed and the Russian ships returned to their waters with glory. This was the first strategic exit of the Russian fleet from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean. The archipelago expedition was an outstanding event in the history of the Russian fleet. The victories of Russian sailors at Chios and Chesme and the blockade of the Dardanelles contributed to the successful military operations of the main forces of the Russian army under the command of P. A. Rumyantsev.

The heroes of Chesma are not forgotten. A sculptural portrait of Admiral G. A. Spiridov opens a long gallery of famous Russian admirals in the building of the St. Petersburg Admiralty, his bust is installed in the Admiral Corridor of the Naval Academy. And a monument was erected to him at his resting place, in the Yaroslavl village of Nagorye. The Pereslavl-Zalessky Historical and Art Museum also preserves his memory. In honor of the Chesme victory, designed by architect Yu. M. Felten in 1777-1780. The Chesme Palace and the Chesme Church, located on Lensoveta Street, were built. Once upon a time, a memorial plaque was installed on this church: “ This temple was built in the name of St. John the Baptist in memory of the victory over the Turkish fleet won at Chesma in 1770 on his birthday. Laid out in the fifteenth summer (in 1777) during the reign of Catherine II in the presence of King Gustav II of Sweden under the name of Count of Gotland. Consecrated 1780 June 24 days in the presence of HIS MAJESTY the Roman Emperor Joseph ΙΙ under the name of Count Falkenstein».

In the Catherine Park of Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin) in the middle Big Pond The Chesme Column rises. The fust (rod) of the column is decorated with six marble rostras, and the capital is crowned with a bronze eagle. The column was built in honor of the victory at Chesma according to the design of the architect A. Rinaldi; masonry master - Pinketti; the author of the bronze figure of an eagle is the sculptor I. Schwartz. The monument was opened in 1778. The height of the monument is about 25 meters.

In Gatchina Park on the cape of White Lake, by order of Count Grigory Orlov, an obelisk was erected in honor of the victory at Chesma, won under the command of his brother Alexei. The monument was designed by the architect A. Rinaldi and opened around 1775. The height of the obelisk is 15 meters.

A permanent exhibition dedicated to the Archipelago naval expedition of Russian warships of 1768-1774 has been opened at the Admiralty of Pushkin.

G. Spiridov had five children: daughter Alexandra, sons: Andrey, Matvey, Alexey and Grigory. During the time of Catherine II, Alexey became a flagship and took part in battles at sea in the Russian-Swedish war of 1788-90. Under Emperor Alexander I, he became a full admiral and was the chief commander of the Revel and then Arkhangelsk ports. Admiral G. A. Spiridov died on April 19 (8) in Moscow. Son Andrei died in Port Mahon in 1770. An atoll (Takapoto) in the group of Russian islands in Pacific Ocean. In 1992, in preparation for the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Russian fleet in the village of Nagorye, a monument to Admiral G. Spiridov was solemnly unveiled. His name was assigned to ships of the Russian fleet.

The Chesma victory and its heroes were glorified by the best Russian poets: G. R. Derzhavin, V. I. Maikov, M. M. Kheraskov; The great French writer Voltaire spoke enthusiastically about Chesme. Theaters staged performances dedicated to the glorious naval victory. The Naval Cadet Corps staged a complex and lush ballet on the theme of the Battle of Chesma. M. M. Kheraskov wrote in the poem “Chesma Battle”: “ I boldly promise you eternal glory, descendants will imagine you in their memory, heroes will imitate you in battle. As long as they feel the direct glory, the peoples will not forget the battle of Chesma“.

S.P.Siry. Chairman of the military-historical section of the House of Scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences, historiographer and chairman of the section of the history of the Russian fleet of St. Petersburg MS, Honored Worker of Russian Higher Education, Professor, Captain 1st Rank, retired

The commander of the battle was A. Orlov, who was on the “Three Hierarchs”. Rearguard:

• “Don’t touch me” (66-gun, commander 1st-rank captain Beshentsev)
• "Svyatoslav" (84 guns, commander 1st Rank Captain Roxburgh)
• "Saratov" (66 guns, commander 2nd rank captain Polivanov Afanasy Timofeevich).

The rearguard was commanded by Rear Admiral D. Elphinston, who was on the Svyatoslav. The battleships: “Eustathius”, “Three Saints”, “Ianuarius”, “Three Hierarchs” and “Svyatoslav”, as well as the frigates “Nadezhda Prosperity” and “St. Nicholas”, the bombardment ship “Grom” were built at the “Admiralty Shipyards” . The remaining ships were built in Arkhangelsk at the Solombala shipyard.

The personnel of the Russian fleet, after a long voyage, had good seamanship and were well trained in the use of weapons, which, combined with the inherent courage of Russian sailors, made them a formidable opponent for any enemy. In addition, the sailors of the Russian fleet already had combat experience in operations against Turkish fortresses.

Under the cover of night, Russian sailors prepared their ships for the upcoming battle. At 4 o’clock in the morning on July 5 (June 24), 1770, A. G. Orlov gave a signal to the squadron: “ Prepare for battle " The ships of G. A. Spiridov and D. Elphinstone repeated this signal.

The Russian fleet entered the Chios Strait in an orderly and menacing manner. By 9.00 am he was 30 cables away from the enemy fleet. The enemy fleet was clearly visible. A new signal followed on the “Three Hierarchs”: “ Build a battle line " Having formed a battle line, the Russian ships moved towards the Turkish squadron, which stood motionless at anchor. A. Orlov’s order required not to open fire before approaching pistol shot range, that is, almost side by side, and the ships’ guns, in accordance with this order, were loaded with a double charge. A. Orlov decided to first attack the Turkish vanguard and part of the center, and after they were defeated, strike the rest of the Turkish ships. At 11.30, the vanguard of the Russian ships approached the enemy line at a distance of 3 cables and was met by a salvo of Turkish ships. But the Russian ships, without responding to fire, continued to approach the distance of a “musket” shot (1 cable), showing restraint and composure. The line of Turkish ships was dense, and the probability of a hit at such a short distance was very high.

At 12.30 the battle was in full swing. By one o'clock in the afternoon the rearguard ships arrived. "Eustathius" began to gradually fall onto the Turkish flagship 90-gun ship "Real Mustafa". Russian sailors were looking forward to fighting the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. At this time, the bowsprit "Eustathia" stuck into the "Real Mustafa" between the main and mizzen masts. The boarding teams rushed to the Turkish ship. A fierce fight ensued. One of the sailors grabbed the Turkish flag, the enemy’s saber cut off the daredevil’s hand, he extended left hand, but she was also wounded. Then he grabbed the end of the flag with his teeth. But he was immediately pierced through. This is how the poet M.M. Kheraskov describes this episode in his poem “Chesma Battle”: “... Then to proclaim victory over the Turks, the Russian wanted to grab their flag from the stern; he did not suddenly take it away, no matter how hard he tried, he remained hanging on it between the waves and between the skies; Having lost his hands, he did not let go, he was deprived of all means, he grabbed the flag with his teeth; The Saracen pierces his belly with a sword, trembles, holds on, does not leave the moon; to the extreme he did not yield to her until he fell on his ship with the flag" Unable to withstand the attack, Turkish admiral Hasan Bey threw himself overboard. The entire Turkish team followed him. In a tense moment, when both ships were already grappling for boarding, a column of flame burst out from under the deck of the Turkish ship, and it all caught fire. Russian sailors rushed to save their ship. Meanwhile, the flames from the burning Real Mustafa spread to Eustathius. Boats rushed to the “Eustathius” to help, but only managed to remove Admiral G. A. Spiridov and F. G. Orlov and a few more people. On one of the boats, the commander of “Eustathia” A. I. Cruz sent the son of G. A. Spiridov Alexey with a report to A. G. Orlov. In his report, he hastened to report the capture of the enemy ship Real Mustafa. When Alexey arrived on the ship to A. Orlov, “Eustathius” was no longer there. The burning mainmast of the Turkish ship fell across the Eustathius, and the fire became general, engulfing both Russian and Turkish ships. A few more minutes passed, and a deafening explosion was heard. The fire hit the Eustathia's cruise chamber and it flew into the air. Since Eustathius was a flagship, it contained the treasury and other important documents, which burned along with the ship. Real Mustafa took off after him. Burning debris covered the Turkish ships. The Turks lost their courage. Their leading ships, unable to withstand the onslaught of the Russians, frightened by two explosions, cut the anchor ropes and randomly ran, pushing and breaking each other, into the Chesme Bay, located nearby. It was 1:30 p.m. The ship “Three Hierarchs”, on which A. Orlov was, raised the signal for a general pursuit, and the Russian ships, pushing back the retreating enemy, pursued him until the very entrance to Chesme Bay. By two o'clock in the afternoon the battle was over. The Russian squadron blocked the entrance to Chesme Bay, where enemy ships were randomly crowded. Thus ended the first phase of the Battle of Chesme, which in naval history is called the Battle of Chios. Both sides lost one battleship. 620 people died on the Eustathia, including 22 officers. Only the commander, captain 1st rank A. I. Cruz, 9 officers and 15 sailors were saved. This is how Count A.G. Orlov reported to Catherine II about this phase of the battle: “ At 10.00 o'clock the signal for the attack was made; at half past twelve the leading ships began the battle; at half past twelve it became general. No matter how excellent the enemy forces were, no matter how bravely they defended themselves, they could not withstand the hot attack of the troops of Your Imperial Majesty; After two hours of fierce cannon and rifle fire, the enemy was finally forced to cut off the anchors and flee in great confusion to the port under the fortress called Chesme. All the ships attacked the enemy with great courage, all performed their duties with great care, but the admiral’s ship “St. Eustathius” surpassed all others. The British, French, Venetians and Maltese, living witnesses to all the actions, admitted that they had never imagined that it was possible to attack the enemy with such patience and fearlessness. The 84-gun enemy ship had already been captured by the admiral's ship, but unfortunately it caught fire and burned the ship and the St. Eustathius." Apart from the admiral, the captain and people of 40 or 50 different ranks, no one was saved from it; both were blown up into the air. No matter how sensitive the loss of the battleship was for us, seeing the enemy’s defeat, their timidity and the disorder in which they were, we were consoled, receiving the hope of completely destroying it.”

During the Russian-Turkish War, the Russian fleet defeated the Turkish fleet in Chesme Bay. The Chesma naval battle took place on June 24–26 (July 5–7), 1770. It went down in history as one of the best naval battles of the 18th century.
How it all began
There was a Russian-Turkish war. 1768 - Russia sent several squadrons from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean to divert the attention of the Turks from the Azov flotilla (which then consisted of only 6 battleships) - the so-called First Archipelago Expedition.
Two Russian squadrons (under the command of Admiral Grigory Spiridov and the English adviser Rear Admiral John Elphinstone, united under the general command of Count Alexei Orlov, discovered the enemy fleet in the roadstead of Chesme Bay (west coast of Turkey).
Strengths of the parties. Arrangement
The Turkish fleet, under the command of Ibrahim Pasha, had a double numerical advantage over the Russian fleet.
Russian fleet: 9 battleships; 3 frigates; 1 bombardment ship; 17-19 auxiliary vessels; 6500 people. The total armament is 740 guns.
Turkish fleet: 16 battleships; 6 frigates; 6 shebek; 13 galleys; 32 small vessels; 15,000 people. The total number of guns is more than 1400.
The Turks lined up their ships in two arched lines. The first line had 10 battleships, the second - 6 battleships and 6 frigates. Small vessels were located behind the second line. The deployment of the fleet was extremely close; only the ships of the first line could fully use their artillery. Although there are different opinions about whether the ships of the second line could fire through the gaps between the ships of the first or not.

Battle plan
Admiral G. Spiridov proposed the following plan of attack. The battleships, lined up in a wake formation, taking advantage of the windward position, were supposed to approach the Turkish ships at right angles and strike at the vanguard and part of the center of the first line. After the destruction of the ships of the first line, the attack was intended to hit the ships of the second line. Thus, the plan proposed by the admiral was based on principles that had nothing to do with the linear tactics of Western European fleets.
Instead of distributing forces evenly along the entire line, Spiridov proposed concentrating all the ships of the Russian squadron against part of the enemy forces. This made it possible for the Russians to equalize their forces with the numerically superior Turkish fleet in the direction of the main attack. At the same time, the implementation of this plan was associated with a certain risk; the whole point is that when approaching the enemy at a right angle, the Russian lead ship, before reaching artillery salvo range, came under longitudinal fire from the entire line of the Turkish fleet. But Spiridov, taking into account the high training of the Russians and the poor training of the Turks, believed that the Turkish fleet would not be able to cause serious harm to the Russian squadron at the time of its approach.

Progress of the battle
Battle of the Chios Strait
June 24, morning - the Russian fleet entered the Chios Strait. The lead ship was the Europe, followed by the Eustathius, on which was the flag of the vanguard commander, Admiral Spiridov. At approximately 11 o'clock, the Russian squadron, in accordance with the previously planned attack plan, approached the southern edge of the Turkish line under full sail, and then, turning around, began to take up positions against the Turkish ships.
To quickly reach artillery salvo range and deploy forces for an attack, the Russian fleet marched in close formation.
Turkish ships opened fire near 11:30 , from a distance of 3 cables (560 m), the Russian fleet did not respond until it approached the Turks for close combat at a distance of 80 fathoms (170 m) at 12:00 and, turning to the left, fired a powerful salvo from all guns at pre-designated targets.
Several Turkish ships were seriously damaged. The Russian ships “Europe”, “St. Eustathius”, “Three Hierarchs”, that is, the ships that were part of the vanguard and the first to start the battle. After the vanguard, the ships of the center also entered the battle. The battle began to become extremely intense. Especially strong blows enemy flagships were exposed. The battle was fought with one of them, the flagship of the Ottoman fleet Burj u Zafer. Eustathius." The Russian ship caused a number of serious damage to the Turkish one, and then went on board.
In hand-to-hand combat on the deck of a Turkish ship, Russian sailors showed courage and heroism. A fierce boarding battle on the deck of the Burj u Zafera ended in Russian victory. Soon after the capture of the Turkish flagship, a fire broke out on it. After the burning mainmast of the Burj u Zafera fell onto the deck of the St. Eustathius,” he exploded. After 10-15 minutes. The Turkish flagship also exploded.
Before the explosion, Admiral Spiridov managed to leave the burning ship and move to another. The death of the flagship Burj u Zafera completely disrupted the control of the Turkish fleet. At 13 o'clock the Turks, unable to withstand the Russian attack and fearing the fire would spread to other ships, hastily began to cut the anchor ropes and retreat to Chesme Bay under the protection of coastal batteries, where they were blocked by the Russian squadron.
As a result of the first stage of the battle, which lasted about 2 hours, one ship was lost on each side; the initiative completely passed to the Russians.

Battle of Chesme Bay
June 25 - at the military council of Count Orlov, Spiridov’s plan was adopted, which consisted in the destruction of enemy ships in own database. Considering the crowding of Turkish ships, which excluded them from the possibility of maneuver, Spiridov proposed destroying the enemy fleet with a combined strike of naval artillery and fire ships, with the main blow to be delivered by artillery.
To attack the enemy on June 25, 4 fire ships were equipped and a special detachment was created under the command of the junior flagship S.K. Greig, consisting of 4 battleships, 2 frigates and the bombardment ship "Thunder". The attack plan developed by Spiridov was as follows: the ships allocated for the attack, taking advantage of the darkness, were to secretly approach the enemy at a distance of 2-3 cabs on the night of June 26. and, having anchored, open sudden fire: battleships and the bombardment ship "Grom" - on the ships, frigates - on the Turkish coastal battery.
Having completed all preparations for the battle, at midnight, at a signal from the flagship, the ships designated for the attack weighed anchor and headed to the places indicated for them. Approaching a distance of two cables, the ships of the Russian squadron took places according to the disposition established for them and opened fire on the Turkish fleet and coastal batteries. "Thunder" and some battleships fired mainly with guns. Four fireships were deployed behind the battleships and frigates in anticipation of an attack.
At the beginning of the second hour, a fire broke out on one of the Turkish ships from a hit firebrand, which quickly engulfed the entire ship and began to spread to neighboring enemy ships. The Turks were confused and weakened their fire. This created favorable conditions for attacking the fireships. At 1:15 a.m., four fireships, under the cover of fire from battleships, began to move toward the enemy. Each of the fireships was assigned a specific ship with which it should engage in battle.
Three fire ships various reasons could not achieve their goal, and only one, under the command of Lieutenant Ilyin, completed the task. Under enemy fire, he approached an 84-gun Turkish ship and set it on fire. The crew of the fireship, together with Lieutenant Ilyin, boarded the boats and left the burning fireship. Soon the Turkish ship exploded. Thousands of burning debris scattered throughout Chesme Bay, spreading the fire to almost all Turkish ships.
At this time, the bay looked like a huge flaming torch. One after another, enemy ships exploded and flew into the air. At four o'clock, the Russian ships ceased fire. By that time, almost the entire enemy fleet was destroyed.

Consequences
After this battle, the Russian fleet was able to seriously disrupt Turkish communications in the Aegean Sea and establish a blockade of the Dardanelles. As a result it played important role during the signing of the Kyuchuk-Kainardzhi peace agreement.
By decree of Catherine 2, to glorify the victory in the Great Peterhof Palace, the memorial Chesme Hall (1774-1777) was created, 2 monuments were erected in honor of this event: the Chesme pilaster in Tsarskoye Selo (1778) and the Chesme monument in Gatchina (1775 g.), and also built the Chesma Palace (1774-1777) and the Chesma Church of St. John the Baptist (1777-1780) in St. Petersburg. The Battle of Chesma in 1770 was immortalized in cast gold and silver medals made at the behest of the Empress. Count Orlov was awarded the Order of St. George, 1st degree, and received the honorary addition of Chesmensky to his surname; Admiral Spiridov received the highest order Russian Empire— St. Andrew the First-Called; Rear Admiral Greig was awarded the Order of St. George, 2nd degree, which gave him the right to hereditary Russian nobility.
The Battle of Chesma is a striking example of the destruction of an enemy fleet at the location of its base. The victory of the Russian fleet over twice the enemy forces was achieved thanks to the right choice moment to deliver a decisive blow, a sudden night attack and the unexpected use of fire ships and incendiary shells by the enemy, well-organized interaction of forces, as well as the high moral and combat qualities of the personnel and the naval art of Admiral Spiridov, who boldly abandoned the formulaic linear tactics that dominated in that era in Western European fleets. On the initiative of Spiridov, such combat techniques were used as concentrating all the forces of the fleet against part of the enemy forces and conducting combat at extremely short distances.

Battle of Chesma 1770

During the Russian-Turkish War, the Russian fleet defeated the Turkish fleet in Chesme Bay. The Chesma naval battle took place on June 24-26 (July 5-7), 1770. It went down in history as one of the best naval battles of the 18th century.

How it all began

There was a Russian-Turkish war. 1768 - Russia sent several squadrons from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean to divert the attention of the Turks from the Azov flotilla (which then consisted of only 6 battleships) - the so-called First Archipelago Expedition.

Two Russian squadrons (under the command of Admiral Grigory Spiridov and the English adviser Rear Admiral John Elphinstone, united under the general command of Count Alexei Orlov, discovered the enemy fleet in the roadstead of Chesme Bay (west coast of Turkey).

Strengths of the parties. Arrangement

The Turkish fleet, under the command of Ibrahim Pasha, had a double numerical advantage over the Russian fleet.

Russian fleet: 9 battleships; 3 frigates; 1 bombardment ship; 17-19 auxiliary vessels; 6500 people. The total armament is 740 guns.

Turkish fleet: 16 battleships; 6 frigates; 6 shebek; 13 galleys; 32 small vessels; 15,000 people. The total number of guns is more than 1400.

The Turks lined up their ships in two arched lines. The first line had 10 battleships, the second - 6 battleships and 6 frigates. Small vessels were located behind the second line. The deployment of the fleet was extremely close; only the ships of the first line could fully use their artillery. Although there are different opinions about whether the ships of the second line could fire through the gaps between the ships of the first or not.

Battle of Chesma. (Jacob Philipp Hackert)

Battle plan

Admiral G. Spiridov proposed the following plan of attack. The battleships, lined up in a wake formation, taking advantage of the windward position, were supposed to approach the Turkish ships at right angles and strike at the vanguard and part of the center of the first line. After the destruction of the ships of the first line, the attack was intended to hit the ships of the second line. Thus, the plan proposed by the admiral was based on principles that had nothing to do with the linear tactics of Western European fleets.

Instead of distributing forces evenly along the entire line, Spiridov proposed concentrating all the ships of the Russian squadron against part of the enemy forces. This made it possible for the Russians to equalize their forces with the numerically superior Turkish fleet in the direction of the main attack. At the same time, the implementation of this plan was associated with a certain risk; the whole point is that when approaching the enemy at a right angle, the Russian lead ship, before reaching artillery salvo range, came under longitudinal fire from the entire line of the Turkish fleet. But Spiridov, taking into account the high training of the Russians and the poor training of the Turks, believed that the Turkish fleet would not be able to cause serious harm to the Russian squadron at the time of its approach.

Progress of the battle

Battle of the Chios Strait

June 24, morning - the Russian fleet entered the Chios Strait. The lead ship was the Europe, followed by the Eustathius, on which was the flag of the vanguard commander, Admiral Spiridov. At approximately 11 o'clock, the Russian squadron, in accordance with the previously planned attack plan, approached the southern edge of the Turkish line under full sail, and then, turning around, began to take up positions against the Turkish ships.
To quickly reach artillery salvo range and deploy forces for an attack, the Russian fleet marched in close formation.

The Turkish ships opened fire at about 11:30, from a distance of 3 cables (560 m), the Russian fleet did not respond until they approached the Turks for close combat at a distance of 80 fathoms (170 m) at 12:00 and, turning to the left, fired a powerful salvo from all guns at predetermined targets.

Several Turkish ships were seriously damaged. The Russian ships “Europe”, “St. Eustathius”, “Three Hierarchs”, that is, the ships that were part of the vanguard and the first to start the battle. After the vanguard, the ships of the center also entered the battle. The battle began to become extremely intense. The enemy's flagships were especially heavily hit. The battle was fought with one of them, the flagship of the Ottoman fleet Burj u Zafer. Eustathius." The Russian ship caused a number of serious damage to the Turkish one, and then went on board.

In hand-to-hand combat on the deck of a Turkish ship, Russian sailors showed courage and heroism. A fierce boarding battle on the deck of the Burj u Zafera ended in Russian victory. Soon after the capture of the Turkish flagship, a fire broke out on it. After the burning mainmast of the Burj u Zafera fell onto the deck of the St. Eustathius,” he exploded. After 10-15 minutes. The Turkish flagship also exploded.

Before the explosion, Admiral Spiridov managed to leave the burning ship and move to another. The death of the flagship Burj u Zafera completely disrupted the control of the Turkish fleet. At 13 o'clock the Turks, unable to withstand the Russian attack and fearing the fire would spread to other ships, hastily began to cut the anchor ropes and retreat to Chesme Bay under the protection of coastal batteries, where they were blocked by the Russian squadron.

As a result of the first stage of the battle, which lasted about 2 hours, one ship was lost on each side; the initiative completely passed to the Russians.

Battle of Chesme Bay

June 25 - at the military council of Count Orlov, Spiridov’s plan was adopted, which consisted in the destruction of enemy ships in his own base. Considering the crowding of Turkish ships, which excluded them from the possibility of maneuver, Spiridov proposed destroying the enemy fleet with a combined strike of naval artillery and fire ships, with the main blow to be delivered by artillery.

To attack the enemy on June 25, 4 fire ships were equipped and a special detachment was created under the command of the junior flagship S.K. Greig, consisting of 4 battleships, 2 frigates and the bombardment ship "Thunder". The attack plan developed by Spiridov was as follows: the ships allocated for the attack, taking advantage of the darkness, were to secretly approach the enemy at a distance of 2-3 cabs on the night of June 26. and, having anchored, open sudden fire: battleships and the bombardment ship "Grom" - on the ships, frigates - on the Turkish coastal battery.

Having completed all preparations for the battle, at midnight, at a signal from the flagship, the ships designated for the attack weighed anchor and headed to the places indicated for them. Approaching a distance of two cables, the ships of the Russian squadron took places according to the disposition established for them and opened fire on the Turkish fleet and coastal batteries. "Thunder" and some battleships fired mainly with guns. Four fireships were deployed behind the battleships and frigates in anticipation of an attack.

At the beginning of the second hour, a fire broke out on one of the Turkish ships from a hit firebrand, which quickly engulfed the entire ship and began to spread to neighboring enemy ships. The Turks were confused and weakened their fire. This created favorable conditions for attacking the fireships. At 1:15 a.m., four fireships, under the cover of fire from battleships, began to move toward the enemy. Each of the fireships was assigned a specific ship with which it should engage in battle.

Three fireships, for various reasons, were unable to achieve their goal, and only one, under the command of Lieutenant Ilyin, completed the task. Under enemy fire, he approached an 84-gun Turkish ship and set it on fire. The crew of the fireship, together with Lieutenant Ilyin, boarded the boats and left the burning fireship. Soon the Turkish ship exploded. Thousands of burning debris scattered throughout Chesme Bay, spreading the fire to almost all Turkish ships.

At this time, the bay looked like a huge flaming torch. One after another, enemy ships exploded and flew into the air. At four o'clock, the Russian ships ceased fire. By that time, almost the entire enemy fleet was destroyed.

Chesme Column

Consequences

After this battle, the Russian fleet was able to seriously disrupt Turkish communications in the Aegean Sea and establish a blockade of the Dardanelles. As a result, this played an important role during the signing of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi peace agreement.

By decree, to glorify the victory, the memorial Chesme Hall (1774-1777) was created in the Great Peterhof Palace, and 2 monuments were erected in honor of this event: the Chesme pilaster in Tsarskoe Selo (1778) and the Chesme monument in Gatchina (1775). ), and also the Chesme Palace (1774-1777) and the Chesme Church of St. John the Baptist (1777-1780) were built in St. Petersburg. The Battle of Chesma in 1770 was immortalized in cast gold and silver medals made at the behest of the Empress. Count Orlov was awarded the Order of St. George, 1st degree, and received the honorary addition of Chesmensky to his surname; Admiral Spiridov received the highest order of the Russian Empire - St. Andrew the First-Called; Rear Admiral Greig was awarded the Order of St. George, 2nd degree, which gave him the right to hereditary Russian nobility.

The Battle of Chesma is a striking example of the destruction of an enemy fleet at the location of its base. The victory of the Russian fleet over twice the enemy's strength was achieved thanks to the correct choice of moment to deliver a decisive blow, a sudden night attack and the unexpected use of fire ships and incendiary shells by the enemy, well-organized interaction of forces, as well as the high morale and combat qualities of the personnel and the naval skill of the admiral Spiridov, who boldly abandoned the formulaic linear tactics that dominated the Western European fleets of that era. On the initiative of Spiridov, such combat techniques were used as concentrating all the forces of the fleet against part of the enemy forces and conducting combat at extremely short distances.

The 18th century was a century of constant clashes between the Russian and Ottoman empires. The interests of St. Petersburg and Istanbul intersected in the Balkans, Transcaucasia, Crimea and even Poland. To support the national liberation movement in Greece and destabilize the situation within the Ottoman Empire, the Morean Expedition was organized, the general leadership of which was carried out by Count Alexei Orlov.

For the first time, the idea to send a squadron from the Baltic to the shores of the Aegean Sea, to raise and support the uprising of the Orthodox peoples living there against the Turks, was expressed by Grigory Orlov in early November 1768, even before the signing of the manifesto declaring war. It is likely that Gregory simply voiced his brother’s ideas and conveyed them to Catherine. Alexey wrote to Gregory about the tasks of such an expedition and the entire war: “If we are going to go, then go to Constantinople and free all the Orthodox and pious from the heavy yoke. And I will say as the sovereign said in the letter: drive their infidel Mohammedans into the sandy steppes to their former homes. And then piety will begin again, and we will say glory to our God and the Almighty.”

MANIFESTO OF CATHERINE II

On January 19, 1769, the “Manifesto to the Slavic peoples of the Balkan Peninsula” was published: “The Ottoman Porta, out of ordinary malice, Orthodox Church ours, seeing the efforts made for our faith and our law, which we tried in Poland to bring into its advantages, approved by ancient treatises, which at times were forcibly stolen from him, breathing vengeance, despising all the rights of the people and the truth itself, for only one thing, due to her characteristic treachery, destroying the eternal peace concluded with our empire, she began the most unjust, for without any legal reason, war against us, and thus convinced us now to use the weapon given to us by God...

We, out of jealousy for our Orthodox Christian law and out of regret for the peoples of the same faith who are suffering in Turkish enslavement, living in the regions mentioned above, exhort all of them in general and each one especially, to take advantage of the circumstances of the present war that are beneficial for them to overthrow the yoke and bring themselves to still in independence, taking up arms wherever and whenever it is convenient, against the enemy common to all Christianity, and trying to cause possible harm to him.”

HARD WAY

On August 6, 1769, Spiridov’s squadron went to sea. And so it began. On August 20, a leak opened on the most powerful ship “Svyatoslav” - it returned to Revel with difficulty. Around the same time, the ship "St. Eustathius Placidas lost the foremast. Upon arrival in Copenhagen on September 10, there were more than 300 people sick on the ships. 54 people died. In return, 800 Danish sailors were hired. There, in Copenhagen, Spiridov own decision attached to the squadron the 66-gun ship "Rostislav", sailing from Arkhangelsk to the Baltic. We stayed in Copenhagen for 10 days. Six days later, while sailing at night in the Kattegat Strait, the pink Lapomnik hit the reef. The other ships of the squadron barely escaped its fate thanks to the cannon signal - however, they could not save the pink by removing it from the reef. On October 6, the squadron arrived at the roadstead of the English port of Gull. Here we had to leave the ship "Three Saints", the pink ship "Venus" and the bombardment ship "Thunder" for repairs. The number of patients then exceeded 700 people. Urged on from St. Petersburg, Spiridov moved on - however, on October 21, he was able to withdraw only two ships from Hull - “Eustathius” and “Northern Eagle” - and on the latter, two weeks later, a strong leak opened, and he returned to Portsmouth. So, on November 17, 1769, only one “Eustathius” approached Gibraltar from the entire Russian squadron.

In total, by Christmas, seven pennants were collected in the port of Magon on the Balearic Islands: four ships, a frigate and two kicks. Another ship, Rostislav, lost two masts during a storm at the end of January and was able to join the squadron in March.

And already on the last day of February 1770, what was left of the Russian squadron arrived on the shores of Greece - where hostilities were supposed to begin. It's funny that the Turkish fleet missed the chance to destroy the Russian ships one by one - it simply did not occur to them that the Russians could appear from this side.

The first operations of the Russian fleet were amphibious, and the bulk of the paratroopers were Greek rebels... Among the Peloponnesian operations was the capture of the strong fortress of Navarino - in the bay of which, 57 years later, in 1827, the united Anglo-French-Russian fleet would once again burn the Turkish-Egyptian fleet. Then, in 1770, under Navarino, grandfather’s brother A.S. distinguished himself. Pushkin - artillery brigadier I. A. Hannibal, the eldest son of “the Blackamoor Peter the Great”.

At the same time, reinforcements arrived at the Orlov-Spiridov squadron: in early May, the so-called. The 2nd Archipelago Squadron, consisting of four ships and two frigates, under the command of the desperate Rear Admiral D. Elphinstone. This reinforcement traveled a path that, in all its specifics, was similar to the path of its predecessors - the ship “Tver”, which left Kronstadt, was lost along the way, as well as the ship “Northern Eagle”, picked up in Portsmouth, which had lagged behind Spiridov’s squadron. There, in England, a locally built frigate was purchased in return and a number of sailors were hired.

STRENGTHS OF THE PARTIES

The Russian squadron included 9 battleships of various armaments, a bombardment ship, 3 frigates and several small ships that played auxiliary roles. The total number of crews was about 6,500 people. Admiral Grigory Spiridov became the de facto leader of the operation.

The Turkish fleet of the Kapudan Pashas Ibrahim Husaeddin, Hasan Pasha and Kafer Bey was much more impressive: 16 battleships, 6 frigates, 19 galleys and shebeks and 32 auxiliary ships with 15,000 people on board. However, Turkish sailors were significantly inferior to Russian sailors in training.

WAS

Initially, the battle began in the Gulf of Chios, but after the first clashes the Turks decided to retreat to Chesme Bay, where coastal artillery could be used against Russian ships.

The Russian naval commanders intended to engage in close combat with possible boarding battles. It was clear that they could not withstand a long cannon duel at long distances - the enemy’s advantage was so great.

The Turks, on the contrary, were disposed to meet the Baltic squadron with regular gunfire and, in case of failure, to retreat to Chesme Bay under the cover of numerous coastal artillery.

The first chords were played in the Chios Strait on July 5, 1770. Russian ships attacked the southern end of the enemy formation. The beginning of the collision was unsuccessful for the Russian sailors due to the fact that the lead ships were unable to synchronously perform an approach maneuver, destroying the battle formation. However, Admiral Spiridov boldly abandoned his flagship “St. Efstafiy" against "Real Mustafa" - the Turkish flagship. While “Efstafiy” was breaking through to “pistol range,” a fire started on it from numerous hits. But it was impossible to stop the ship's movement. The two ships locked sides and the boarding began. The fire spread to the Real Mustafa and after a while both ships exploded. The demoralized Turks retreated to Chesme Bay. A similar tactic was used by Admiral G. Nelson in 1805 during the Battle of Trafalgar, although Admiral Spiridov should be considered its inventor.

On July 5, the Baltic squadron shelled the bay. At the same time, 4 fire ships (special vessels that were used for sabotage) from small vessels were prepared. On the evening of July 6, the bombardment ship Grom stood in the roadstead of the bay and began a firefight with the Turks. He was supported by the battleships "Europe" and "Rostislav". The shooting had to have psychological character and distract the Turks' attention from the fire ships. The first three fire ships were unable to complete the task - one of them ran aground and sank because of this, the crew deserted from the second fire ship, the third fire ship under the command of Prince. Gagarin was set on fire too early and was unable to inflict damage on the Turkish fleet. However, the fireboat under the command of Lieutenant Ilyin successfully reached the location of the Turkish fleet and set fire to the battleship. The explosion of the gunpowder magazine on the ship caused gigantic destruction: burning debris flew into other ships, spreading fire. At the end of the battle, the Russians were forced to stop shooting and rescue the surviving Turks. By 8 a.m. on July 7, it was all over.

The Ottoman Empire immediately lost most of its fleet. 15 battleships were lost, 6 frigates, 1 battleship and 5 galleys were captured. This brilliant victory became a real school of Russian naval combat, the power of which was yet to be discovered. In memory of this battle, a commemorative medal was minted for Russian sailors, which depicted one of the scenes of the death of the Turkish fleet. In addition to the place and date of the battle, there was only one word on the medal - “Byl”, meaning “there was a Turkish fleet, but not now.”

TURKISH HISTORIOGRAPHER

After this, the Ottoman fleet entered the port of Chesme, where enemy ships also arrived and the battle began again. The impact of the cannons set the surface of the sea on fire. The enemy ships, throughout the entire naval battle, were under sail in order to protect themselves from danger and death in port seven. The entry of Captain Pasha into the port of Chesmensky, judging by the obviousness of the matter, was undertaken by the power of fate.

While Captain Pasha made every effort to repel the enemies, the latter sent several fireships filled with oil and other flammable substances against our Fleet. They succeeded in setting fire to some of our ships; and others, hastening to their aid and uniting with them, were also engulfed in flames and burned. This happened on the night of the 14th, the month of Rebi-eli-evvel in the year 1184 from Gejira.

The troops on other ships scattered without battle along the shores of Smyrna and other places. Kapitan Pasha and Jezairlu Hasan Bey were wounded. Ali, the ruler of the ship and other officers, wanting to save themselves by swimming, died in the waves of the sea.

SPIRIDOV'S REPORT

Spiridov reported to the Admiralty Board in St. Petersburg to its President, Count Chernyshov:

“Glory to God and honor to the All-Russian Fleet! From the 25th to the 26th, the enemy fleet was attacked, defeated, broken, burned, sent into the sky, drowned and turned to ashes, and left in that place a terrible disgrace, and they themselves began to dominate the entire Archipelago of our Most Gracious Empress.”

G.A. Spiridov in the project “100 Great Commanders”

ORLOV'S LETTER

Feelings evoked by the Chesme victory, A.G. Orlov vividly expressed it in a letter to his brother:

“Sir, brother, hello! I’ll tell you a little about our voyage: We were forced to leave the Sea, having lit fires everywhere; with the fleet they went after the enemy, reached him, approached him, grabbed him, fought, defeated him, won, broke him, sank him and turned him to ashes.”

A.G. Orlovin the project “100 Great Commanders”

Chesma naval battle (1770)

The Chesma naval battle between the Russian and Turkish fleets went down in history as one of the best naval battles of the 18th century.

The Turkish fleet, consisting of ships with a total armament superior to the strength of the Russian fleet, had a double numerical advantage. The Turkish fleet was commanded by Ibrahim.

The Russian fleet opposed the enemy with arched lines of defense. The first line consisted of built battleships. The second line consisted of 6 frigates and auxiliary vessels.

The following plan of attack was undertaken. Spiridov suggested that the ships of the line change formation and, taking advantage of the windward position, approach the enemy at an angle. Instead of an even distribution of ships, Spiridov proposed an attack plan that had nothing in common with the plans that had been used before.

At the same time, there was a risk that when approaching the enemy at a right angle, the lead ship of the Russian squadron would come under longitudinal fire from the entire line of the enemy fleet before reaching artillery salvo range. However, Admiral Spiridov, taking into account the high training of the Russians and the poor training of the Turks, believed that the enemy fleet would not be able to cause serious harm to the Russian squadron at the time of its approach.

On the morning of June 24, the Russian squadron entered the Chios Strait and, at a signal from Commander-in-Chief Alexei Orlov, who was on the battleship Three Hierarchs, formed a wake column. The lead ship was the Europe, followed by the Eustathius, on which the vanguard commander, Admiral Spirids, held his flag. At about 11 o'clock, the Russian squadron, in accordance with the previously developed plan of attack, turned left and began to descend on the enemy almost at a right angle. To speed up the approach to artillery salvo range and the deployment of forces for attack, Russian ships are in close formation. For the first salvo, the guns were loaded with charges and two cannonballs. The gunners were at their guns, waiting for the signal to “Open fire.”

At about 11 hours 30 minutes, when the lead ship of the Russian squadron approached the enemy at a distance of 3.5 cabs, the Turks opened fire, which, however, did not cause much harm to the Russians. Having made a move towards the enemy, the Russian vanguard at 12:00 approached him to a distance of 0.5 cabs. and, turning to the left, fired a powerful salvo from all guns at pre-distributed targets. Several Turkish ships were seriously damaged. The Russian ships “Europe”, “Eustathius”, “Three Hierarchs”, that is, those that were part of the vanguard and were the first to start the battle, also received damage to the spars and sails. Following the vanguard, the ships of the center also entered the battle. The battle became extremely intense. The enemy's flagships were subjected to especially heavy blows. “Eustathius” fought with one of them, called “Real-Mustafa”. The Russian ship caused a number of serious damage to the Turkish one, and then boarded. In hand-to-hand combat on the deck of an enemy ship, Russian sailors and officers showed courage and heroism. Thus, one of the Russian sailors, whose name is unknown, was wounded in the right hand. Then he grabbed the flag with his left hand. When the Janissary ran up and wounded his left hand with a blow from his saber, the sailor grabbed the flag with his teeth and did not let go until his last breath. A fierce boarding battle on the deck of the Real Mustafa ended in Russian victory.

Describing the actions of the battleship “Eustathius” in the Battle of Chesme, Orlov wrote in a report to Catherine II: “All the ships attacked the enemy with great courage, all performed their duties with great care, but the admiral’s ship “Eustathius” surpassed all the others. The British, French, Venetians and Maltese admired the patience and fearlessness of Russian sailors. Despite the flying shells and various dangers posed by death itself, terrifying mortals, they were not quite strong enough to produce timidity in the hearts of the Russians who fought the enemy, the tested sons of the fatherland ... "

Soon after the capture of the enemy flagship, a fire broke out on it, which then spread to the Eustathius; when the fire reached the cruise chamber, both ships exploded. Before the explosion, Admiral Spiridov managed to leave the burning ship and move to another. The death of the Turkish flagship completely disrupted the control of the enemy fleet. At 13 o'clock the Turks, unable to withstand the Russian attack and fearing the fire would spread to other ships, hastily began to cut the anchor ropes and retreat to Chesme Bay under the protection of coastal batteries, where they were blocked by the Russian squadron.

Thus, as a result of the first stage of the battle, which lasted about two hours, one Ship was lost on each side; the initiative passed entirely to the Russians.

At the military council on June 25, Count Orlov adopted Spiridov’s plan, which consisted of destroying Turkish ships in his own base. Considering the crowding of enemy ships, which excluded them from the possibility of maneuver, Admiral Spiridov proposed destroying the Turkish fleet with a combined strike of naval artillery and fire ships, with the main blow to be delivered by artillery. To attack the enemy on June 25, 4 fire ships were equipped and a special detachment was created under the command of the junior flagship S.K. Greig, consisting of 4 battleships, 2 frigates and the bombardment ship "Grom". The plan of the attack, developed by Spiridov, boiled down to the following. The ships allocated for the attack, taking advantage of the darkness, were supposed to secretly approach the enemy at a distance of 2-3 cabs on the night of June 26. and, having anchored, open sudden fire: battleships and the bombardment ship "Grom" - on the ships, frigates - on the enemy's coastal batteries.

At midnight, when all preparations for the battle were completed, at a signal from the flagship, the ships assigned for the attack weighed anchor and headed to the places indicated for them. Having approached a distance of 2 cables, the Russian ships took places according to the disposition established for them and opened fire on the Turkish ships and coastal batteries. "Thunder" and some battleships fired mainly with guns. Four fireships were deployed behind the battleships and frigates in anticipation of an attack.

At the beginning of the 2nd hour, a fire broke out on one of the Turkish ships from a hit firebrand, which quickly engulfed the entire ship and began to spread to neighboring enemy ships. The Turks were confused and weakened their fire. This created favorable conditions for attacking the fireships. At 1 hour 15 minutes, 4 fire ships, under the cover of fire from battleships, began moving towards the enemy. Each of the fireships was assigned a specific ship with which it had to engage. Three fireships, for various reasons, did not achieve their goal, and only one, under the command of Lieutenant Ilyin, completed the task. Under enemy fire, he approached an 84-gun Turkish ship and set it on fire. The fireship crew, together with Lieutenant Ilyin, boarded the boats and left the burning fireship. Soon there was an explosion on the Turkish ship. Thousands of burning debris scattered throughout Chesme Bay, spreading the fire to almost all the ships of the Turkish fleet. At this time, the bay looked like a huge flaming torch. One after another, the Turkish ships exploded and flew into the air. At 4 o'clock the Russian ships ceased fire. By this time, almost the entire Turkish fleet was destroyed. Of the 15 battleships, 6 frigates, 50 auxiliary ships survived and were captured by the Russians, only one battleship "Rhodes" and 5 galleys survived. The Russian fleet had no losses in ships.

Thus, the Battle of Chesme ended in the complete destruction of the Turkish fleet, on which many hopes were pinned. Assessing this battle, Admiral Spiridov, in a report, the President of the Admiralty Collegiums wrote: “...Honor to the All-Russian Fleet! 25 to 26 the enemy navy... attacked, smashed, broke, burned, sent into the sky, drowned and turned to ashes, and they themselves began to be dominant in the entire archipelago.

The heroes of Chesma were Admiral Spiridov, according to his plans and under whose leadership the Russian fleet won outstanding victory, junior flagship S.K. Greig, promoted after the battle to rear admiral, ship commanders: captains 1st rank Cruz (“Eustathius”), Klokachev (“Europe”), Khmetevsky (“Three Saints”), Lieutenant Ilyin (fireship commander ) and many others who received high awards.

The Battle of Chesma is a striking example of the destruction of an enemy fleet at the location of its base. The victory of the Russian fleet over twice the enemy forces was achieved thanks to the correct choice of moment to deliver the decisive blow, the surprise of the attack at night and the unexpected use of fire ships and incendiary shells by the enemy, well-organized interaction of forces, as well as the high morale and combat qualities of the personnel and naval leadership the art of Admiral Spiridov, who boldly abandoned the formulaic linear tactics that dominated the Western European fleets at that time. On the initiative of the admiral, such combat techniques were used as concentrating all the forces of the fleet against part of the enemy forces and conducting combat at an extremely short distance.

The victory of the Russian fleet in the Battle of Chesma had a great influence on the further course of the war. Thanks to this victory, the Russian fleet seriously disrupted Turkish communications in the Archipelago and established an effective blockade of the Dardanelles.

In memory of the Chesme victory, a medal was struck and awarded to all participants in the battle. Count Orlov was awarded the Order of St. George, 1st degree, and received the honorary addition of Chesmensky to his surname; Admiral Spiridov received the highest order of the Russian Empire - St. Andrew the First-Called; Rear Admiral Greig was awarded the Order of St. George, 2nd degree, which gave him the right to hereditary Russian nobility. In honor of this victory, the Chesme obelisk was erected in Gatchina in 1775, and the Chesme column in 1778 in Tsarskoye Selo. In St. Petersburg, the Chesme Palace was built in 1774–1777, and the Chesme Church in 1777–1778. The name "Chesma" Russian Navy worn by battleship and battleship. A battle cruiser and a destroyer were named in honor of Lieutenant Ilyin.