190 years ago, during the Russian-Turkish war in the Bosphorus Strait, the famous naval battle took place between the brig Mercury and two battleships of the Ottoman Empire. Battleships outnumbered the domestic ship by nine times the number of guns. Nevertheless, the brig inflicted significant damage on enemy ships, temporarily disabled them and left them from pursuit.
The future commander of the “Mercury”, Alexander Kazarsky, was born on June 16, 1797 in the town of Dubrovno, the Belarusian province in the family of a retired provincial secretary.
Vasily Kazarsky, Alexander's godfather, ensured that the young man was sent to study at the Black Sea Navigation School in Nikolaev. In 1813, the young man became a midshipman, then was promoted to midshipman. For some time he served on cargo ships, after which he moved to the post of commander of a detachment of small rowing ships of the Danube Flotilla.
In 1819, Kazarsky was promoted to lieutenant. He was assigned to the newly built 44-gun frigate "Evstafy", commanded by Ivan Skalovsky. Under his command, Kazarsky went through a good naval school. After “Eustache,” the young officer received several short-term appointments to various ships.
Russian-Turkish war
In 1827, St. Petersburg came out in support of the national liberation struggle of the Greeks against Ottoman rule. In order to prevent the growing influence of Russia in the Balkans, Britain and France urged her to conclude the London Convention, which provided for the granting of full autonomy to Greece under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.
The Turks did not agree with the requirements set forth in the agreement and went into conflict with its participants. In October 1827, the Russian-Anglo-French squadron destroyed a significant part of the Turkish fleet in the Battle of Navarino and allowed Greece to start the process of gaining independence.
- Navarin battle
- © Wikimedia commons
After that, the Ottoman Empire began anti-Russian military preparations on the Danube and closed the Black Sea straits for ships of Russia. In response, on April 26, 1828, St. Petersburg declared war to Turkey, which unfolded in the Balkans and the Caucasus.
In 1828, Kazarsky received under his command the transport vessel "Rival", on which a unicorn was installed - a kind of howitzer. During the assault on Anapa, the Rival, which had a short draft, maneuvered under enemy artillery fire and fired at Turkish fortifications. The ship received eight damage, but did not leave the battlefield. For participation in the capture of Anapa, Kazarsky was promoted to lieutenant commander. For similar actions near Varna, he was awarded a golden saber. At the beginning of 1829 he was appointed commander of the brig "Mercury".
Feat "Mercury"
Konstantin Strelbitsky, chairman of the Moscow Fleet History Club, told RT in an interview that the brig is not even a class of warships.
“This is a small sailing vessel, which was used in the navy to carry out auxiliary tasks: reconnaissance, convoy, patrol service. The brigs were not adapted for conducting the main battle, they were mainly equipped with defensive weapons, ”the expert noted.
Two-mast brig "Mercury" was launched in 1820 in Sevastopol.
"He was armed with eighteen 24-pound caronades, designed exclusively for melee, and two small portable guns," added Strelbitsky.
According to the interlocutor, the “Mercury” was a strong vessel and well kept the wave, but the small depth of the intrum had a negative effect on its driving characteristics.
In 1829, Russian ships regularly patrolled the Bosphorus area, tracking the movement of the Turkish fleet. At the end of May, this mission was entrusted to a detachment of three ships: the frigate "Standart", the brig "Orpheus" and "Mercury".
On May 26, Russian sailors who were 24 km off the coast of Turkey noticed a squadron of 14 ships of the Ottoman Empire. The sailors did not have the task of engaging with the Turks - they had to urgently report the enemy to the command. The senior officer of the detachment, the commander of the Standard, Pavel Sakhnovsky, ordered "to choose for each course what the ship has a preferential course." "Standart" and "Orpheus" headed north-west, and "Mercury" - even west. At the same time, the Turks noticed a low-speed brig and rushed after him in pursuit.
The historian and writer, ex-director of the Sevastopol State Archives, Valery Krestyannikov, told RT that “the Turkish ships at that time were very salable and had quite successful architecture”.
Two Ottoman battleships — the 110-gun “Selimiye” under the flag of Kapudan-pasha and the 74-gun “Real-bay” under the flag of the junior flagship — quickly began to overtake the “Mercury”. Kazarsky tried to break away from the pursuers on the oars, but soon the wind increased, and the Ottomans approached the brig at a distance of a cannon shot.
- Alexander Kazarsky
- © Wikimedia commons
"184 guns against 20 - in such cases, the foreign fleets usually lowered the flag, considering the situation hopeless, but Kazarsky was not such a man and his crew was not like that," Strelbitsky said.
Kazarsky convened an officer’s meeting, at which the lieutenant of the body of navigators Ivan Prokofiev suggested engaging in battle and blowing up the ship while attempting to capture it. Kazarsky and other officers opened fire on Turkish ships from portable guns. "Mercury" began to maneuver under the shots of the enemy, trying not to fall under the side salvo of enemy ships.
Peasant men said that in the end "Mercury" was trapped between the Turkish battleships.
“But this was also a definite advantage. Turks could not use their guns in full force because of the dead zone and fear of getting into each other, ”the expert emphasized.
- M. Tkachenko. Battle of the brig "Mercury" with the Turkish ships. 1907
- © Wikimedia commons
Russian sailors responded to appeals for surrender by firing guns and shotguns. Shooting from the "Mercury" was purposefully conducted on the mast and rigging of Turkish ships. Kazarsky managed to immobilize the enemy. Russian gunners with successful shots damaged the water-headquarters and the beyfoot of the mainsail-mars-rey "Selimiye", and also interrupted the for-brah-ray and nok for-mars-rey on the "Real Bee". The Turkish ships could no longer continue the pursuit and fight.
"Mercury" went to the main forces of the Black Sea Fleet. Of the 115 crew members of the brig, four were killed in the battle, six people were injured, and Kazarsky himself was contused. The vessel received 22 holes in the hull and about 300 damage to the spars, sails and rigging. There are no official data on the dead Turkish sailors.
History scores
Konstantin Strelbitsky noted that “the crew of the“ Mercury ”did the impossible, because the brig against two battleships is like a fifth grader against two professional boxers.”
“The ship obviously had to die. Many contemporaries simply refused to believe that the battle really took place. Fortunately, the feedback from participants from the Turkish side, which fully confirmed the reports of Kazarsky, has been preserved, ”the expert explained.
According to the co-chairman of the regional branch of the Russian Historical Society in Sevastopol, candidate of historical sciences Vadim Prokopenkov, competent maneuvering and marine qualities allowed "Mercury" to win in battle with the enemy's ships.
“The Turkish ships could not catch the brig. Turning one or the other overboard, he successfully opposed the enemy. The skill, the courage of the Russian sailors and officers brought to naught almost a tenfold superiority of Turkish ships in the number of guns, ”said the expert.
The brig was sent for repairs to Sevastopol after it reunited with the main forces of the fleet. Kazarsky was promoted to captain of the second rank, was awarded the Order of St. George IV class and appointed aide-de-camp to Emperor Nicholas I.
Later Kazarsky commanded various frigates of the Russian fleet. In 1831 he was promoted to captain of the first rank and included in the imperial retinue. Kazarsky was entrusted with research related to the prospects for the development of the fleet. In 1833 he went with a revision to the Black Sea ports and died suddenly in Nikolaev.
- Monument to Alexander Kazarsky, project of architect Alexander Bryullov, 1839
- © Wikimedia commons
In 1839, a monument to Kazarsky was unveiled in Sevastopol, which has been preserved to this day. The monument is made in the form of a truncated stone pyramid with a bronze trireme installed on it. By decree of Nicholas I, the inscription was inscribed on the monument: “to Kazarsky. Progeny as an example. ”
“The feat of the crew of the brig“ Mercury ”forever glorified the inflexibility of the Russian spirit, showed the world not only excellent naval training and combat tactics, but also determination. In moral terms, this greatly influenced the outcome of the Russian-Turkish war, ”concluded Vadim Prokopenkov.