“The struggle for the interests of the Balkan and Danube peoples”: what role did the Chesme battle play in history

On July 5, 1770, the Chesme battle began between the Russian and Turkish squadrons. It lasted three days and brought a major victory to the Russian sailors, which had large-scale political consequences.

The Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774

In the 1760s, relations between Russia and the Ottoman Empire rapidly deteriorated. France and the anti-Russian part of the Polish elite pushed Turkey to war against Russia.

The Ottoman Empire, in turn, planned to support the coming of anti-Russian forces to power in the Commonwealth and to receive in return the lands of modern Western Ukraine.

In 1768, an uprising against the dictatorship of the Poles, known as Koliivschina, began in the territories controlled by Poland on the Right Bank of the Dnieper. Orthodox rebels enjoyed the support of the Dnieper Left Bank, which was part of Russia. In pursuit of the enemy, one of their troops entered Turkish territory in the Northern Black Sea region.

The Ottoman authorities used this border incident as a pretext for a diplomatic conflict that escalated into war. 

The forces of Turkey and its allies were numerous. The war began unsuccessfully for Russia. The units of the Crimean Khan, a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, made a devastating campaign on the territory of modern Ukraine. A turning point in the war was outlined only in 1769-1770. According to historians, competent actions at sea contributed to the success of Russian troops.

Chesme battle

Brothers Grigory and Alexei Orlov, close to Catherine II, convinced the empress to open a front against the Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean. It was about supporting the uprising of the Orthodox peoples in the Balkans and sending Russian squadrons to the Mediterranean Sea. 

In 1769, two naval squadrons under the general command of Count Alexei Orlov left the Baltic Sea in the direction of the Mediterranean possessions of Turkey.

• Alexey G. Orlov-Chesmensky
• RIA News
• © State Historical Museum in Moscow

In the summer of 1770, Russian sailors discovered the Turkish fleet on the roads of Chesmenskaya Bay. It consisted of 16 battleships, six frigates, and about 50 auxiliary vessels with 1,430 guns. The total number of the combined Russian squadron was almost half that: nine battleships, three frigates, one bombardier ship, as well as 17 other ships and transports with about 740 guns in common armament.

The Turkish fleet was built in two arched lines. On the first of them were ten battleships, on the second - six battleships and six frigates. The rest of the vessels stood behind the second line.

The commander of one of the Russian squadrons, Admiral Grigory Spiridov, proposed bringing the Russian ships at right angles to the Turkish and striking at the forefront and the center of the first line of the enemy’s formation. After this was followed by a blow to the second line. Thus, Spiridov’s plan implied the abandonment of the tactics traditional for that time, when ships lined up parallel to the enemy’s forces in order to avoid the risk of falling under longitudinal fire of the Ottoman ships when approaching.

July 5, 1770 in the Strait of Chios began the first stage of the Battle of Chesme. The Russian squadron was built into a wake column. The head ship was Europe, followed by St. Eustathius ”, on which Admiral Spiridov, the vanguard commander, held his flag. Orlov was on the battleship Three Hierarchs. At about 11 o’clock the Russian squadron turned to the left and began to approach the enemy almost at right angles.

• Naval battle in the Strait of Chios on July 5, 1770. Engraving
• RIA News

Russian ships attacked the Turkish flagship Real-Mustafa. During the boarding battle between Eustache and Real Mustafa, the Turkish flagship caught fire. As a result, both ships exploded. Spiridov left the Eustache board on time and continued to fulfill his duties, while the management of the Ottoman fleet after the death of the flagship was disrupted. Under strong Russian fire, the Turks hastily retreated to Chesme Bay. The initiative passed to the Russian sailors.

On July 6, the Russian command held a military council, at which it was decided to burn the Turkish fleet. The Thunder bombardment ship was sent to Chesme Bay. Meanwhile, Russian sailors began to prepare four firewalls - ships filled with combustible materials and explosives to undermine or set fire to enemy ships.

On the night of July 7, 1770, a group of Russian ships entered the Chesme Bay, attacking the Turkish fleet and coastal batteries. After two Turkish ships were destroyed in a shootout, firewalls were brought into the bay. One of them, under the command of Lieutenant Dmitry Ilyin, was able to approach the 84-gun Ottoman ship and set it on fire. The fireman team retreated on the boat, and the Turkish ship exploded. Its burning debris scattered across the bay and caused a fire in the Ottoman fleet.

• Grigory Andreevich Spiridov (1713-1790), admiral. A reproduction of a portrait by an unknown artist. State Historical Museum.
• RIA News

By morning, 15 Turkish battleships, six frigates, and over 40 auxiliary vessels were burnt and sunk. The battleship Rhodes and five galleys were captured. The Russians did not lose a single ship. At this stage of the battle, Turkish casualties amounted to about 10 thousand people. On the Russian squadron, 11 sailors were killed.

Battle results

“All of Europe is amazed at our great feat and is now turning its gaze on you, the performer thereof, with curiosity; impartial everyone rejoices in our successes and wish them spread and strength; on the contrary, the Powers dominate the glory and exaltation of our empire and are angry at us, annoyed by their fierce hatred for an hour or more, despite their cunning and tricks, ”wrote Catherine II to Orlov after the Battle of Chesme.

• Picture of Jacob Philip Hackert "Episode of the sea battle." The picture shows the explosion of a Turkish ship

The Russian sailors who participated in the battle were awarded. Alexey Orlov received an honorary increase "Chesmensky" to the name. He was granted the rank of general-general and the highest degree of the Order of St. George.

“The Chesme battle was one of the main factors that influenced the outcome of the Russo-Turkish war,” said Igor Kurukin, professor of the Russian State Humanitarian University, doctor of historical sciences, in an interview with RT.

The Turkish naval forces suffered losses that could not be quickly replaced, the historian explained. In addition, large forces of the Turks were drawn to suppress the Peloponnesian uprising. True, on the Balkan Peninsula, the Greek rebels, acting with the help of Russian troops, managed to achieve only temporary successes. According to experts, the Greek fighters were good partisans, but were not adequately prepared for a full-scale war. Therefore, the Turks were able to crush the uprising.

Meanwhile, Russian troops inflicted a number of painful defeats on the Turks in the Northern Black Sea region and entered the Crimea. In 1774, Alexander Suvorov won a decisive victory over the Ottomans at the Battle of Kozludzhi.

On July 21, 1774, a peace treaty was signed between Russia and Turkey in a camp near the village of Kuchuk-Kainardzhi (modern Bulgaria). The Ottoman Empire renounced the rights to the Crimea, and also transferred to Russia its fortresses in the Northern Black Sea region, the lands between the Dnieper and the Southern Bug and in the North Caucasus. Moldova and Wallachia came under the Russian protectorate.

• The location of the fleet at the Battle of Chesme on July 7, 1770. Engraving
• RIA News

“There is a legend in the Russian fleet that the three strips on the uniform collar - guise - symbolize his three greatest victories - Gangut, Chesmu and Sinop. This is just a tradition, but it clearly testifies to the historical assessment of the Chesme battle. This was not just a military event, but an important manifestation of Russian concern for other nations. The struggle for the interests of the Balkan and Danube peoples has been waged by Russia for centuries, ”said Konstantin Strelbitsky, chairman of the Moscow Fleet History Club.

According to Igor Kurukin, the Chesme battle became a serious experience for the Russian fleet.

“For the first time, the Russian fleet conducted a large-scale naval operation far from its shores, showing the flag in the Mediterranean. By the way, these events became an occasion for many Greeks to switch to Russian service, ”added Kurukin.