Sea battle at Cape Kaliakra

Depiction of the battle after A. N. Depaldo (1876–1939)

date	July 31, Jul ^./ August 11, 1791 ^greg.
place	off Cape Kaliakra , Black Sea
output	Russian victory, elimination of the Ottoman fleet
consequences	Armistice and preliminary peace of Galatz
Peace treaty	Peace of Iassy

Parties to the conflict
Russian Empire	Ottoman Empire , including reign of Algiers, reign of Tunis, Reg. Tripoli
Commander
Fyodor Ushakov	Giritli Hussein Pascha, Said Ali
Troop strength
16 ships of the line, 2 frigates, 19 smaller ships	18 ships of the line, 43 smaller ships (of which 17 larger and smaller frigates)
losses
1 frigate damaged, 17 dead, 27 and 28 wounded respectively	2 ships of the line, 5 smaller warships and some transport ships burned, damaged or captured; Hundreds of dead, injured and prisoners

In the sea battle at Cape Kaliakra on July 31, 1791, the Imperial Russian Black Sea Fleet defeated an Ottoman fleet anchored off the coast at Kaliakra (more rarely Kaliakria ) . It was the last battle of the Russo-Austrian Turkish War (1787–1792) .

prehistory

In the war against the Russian Empire and the Habsburg Empire , the Ottoman Empire had already suffered several defeats, both on land and at sea. Ottoman counterattacks on the Crimea had been repulsed by the Russian fleet in 1790 in the sea battles near Kerch and Tendra . After the Ottomans and Austrians had concluded the peace of Sistowa in 1791 , an Ottoman fleet was supposed to strengthen the troops fighting the Russians even after the defeat of Măcin in the Dobruja . For this purpose, all still available Ottoman ships of the line in the Black Sea were pulled together. The total of 60 or 61 ships in the fleet included Turkish, Algerian, Tunisian and Tripolitan frigates , corvettes and smaller war and transport ships. Its commander, the Ottoman Vice Admiral Said Ali Pasha, was an Algerian himself and had already fought at Kerch and Tendra against the Russian Black Sea Fleet commanded by Rear Admiral Fyodor Ushakov .

Starting position

Ushakov's usual tactic was to concentrate a superior force against a part of the enemy fleet, to fire effective fire there and then to switch to boarding. However, overall the Ottomans had more cannons than the Russians, and most Ottoman cannons were as good as the Russians or other major European powers by the late 18th century. Most of the Ottoman warships were more manned than the Russian ones in view of the anticipated boarding battles, which also led to more casualties on board in the event of massive fire. In addition to the Ottoman soldiers who were to be brought with the fleet from Istanbul to the north coast of the Black Sea, there were 20,000 men on the ships. However, a large part of the Ottoman soldiers and crews of some ships anchored closer to the shore of the fleet waiting in front of Cape Kaliakra had gone ashore to celebrate the Islamic Festival of Sacrifice or Bayram Festival (Kurban Bayramı). A small artillery battery set up on land was supposed to protect the fleet.

course

On 11th Dhū l-Hiddscha of the Islamic year 1250 (July 31, 1791 according to the Russian- Julian calendar of that time or August 11, 1791 according to today's Western European- Gregorian calendar ) Ushakov discovered and surprised the Ottoman fleet, which was not secured by patrol ships. He steered his ships between the shore and the Ottoman ships anchored in front of the cape and immediately opened fire from his flagship Рождество Христово ("Birth of Christ") without waiting long for the Russian ships to follow. As a result, he pushed the ships anchored closer to the shore further away from the land and deprived the Ottoman crews on land the opportunity to return to their ships. In addition, the cannons of most Ottoman ships were pointed towards the sea, not towards the land, because the Ottomans expected an attack from the open sea - if at all. Nonetheless, Ali Said reacted immediately, had his flagship return fire immediately, sent the faster Algerian frigates to Ushakov and even tried to board Ushakov's ship. The Ottomans hurriedly cut the anchor ropes of the other ships commanded by Admiral ( Kapudan Pascha ) Giritli Hussein and hoisted the sails so that they could quickly turn them and bring them into order. In the resulting mess, two Ottoman ships of the line are said to have damaged each other through collisions and some ships even fired at each other. After a three-hour firefight with up to 450 dead and injured on the Ottoman side, in which the Russian frigate Александр Невский (Alexander Nevsky) was severely damaged, the falling night and more favorable winds made it possible for most of the Ottoman ships to escape. The next morning, however, Ushakov's fleet destroyed five smaller Ottoman warships and several transport ships.

consequences

The Ottoman fleet had again been beaten, driven out, driven back and dispersed, but was not destroyed at Cape Kaliakra , as it was and is occasionally portrayed. On the other hand, only withdrawal had saved them from annihilation. Her remains gathered in Varna , where Ushakov was preparing to pursue. In view of the realization that without a powerful Ottoman fleet counterattacks and landings on the north coast of the Black Sea would no longer be possible, the Ottomans gave up and signed an armistice and a preliminary peace on the same day in Galatz - according to other sources, rumors of an imminent attack were supposed to be Ushakovs on Istanbul were responsible for the panicked return of the Ottomans.

In 2006, a Ushakov memorial was erected at Cape Kaliakra to commemorate the battle .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Eduard Sozaev, John Tredrea: Russian Warships in the Age of Sail 1696-1860 - Design, Construction, Careers and Fates , page 95. Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley 2010
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p David Blackmore: Warfare on the Mediterranean in the Age of Sail - A History, 1571-1866 , pp. 147f. McFarland, Jefferson 2014
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Tatiana Golodetskaya: Naval Battle of Cape Kaliakra
^ ^A ^b ^c Tony Jaques: Dictionary of Battles and Sieges , Part 1 (A – E), p. 197. Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport 2007
^ ^A ^b ^c Heinz Neukirchen : Sea power in the mirror of history , page 244. Gondrom-Verlag, Berlin 1988
^ David Nicolle : The Ottomans - 600 Years of Islamic World Empire , page 142. Tosa, Vienna 2008, ISBN 3-85003-219-1
↑ ^a ^b ^c Sputnik International of May 13, 2017: 234 Years of Naval Glory, and Counting - Russian Black Sea Fleet Marks Birthday

[sail-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Eduard Sozaev, John Tredrea: Russian Warships in the Age of Sail 1696-1860 - Design, Construction, Careers and Fates , page 95. Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley 2010

[black-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p David Blackmore: Warfare on the Mediterranean in the Age of Sail - A History, 1571-1866 , pp. 147f. McFarland, Jefferson 2014

[next-3] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Tatiana Golodetskaya: Naval Battle of Cape Kaliakra

[Tony-4] A ^b ^c Tony Jaques: Dictionary of Battles and Sieges , Part 1 (A – E), p. 197. Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport 2007

[Neukirchen-5] A ^b ^c Heinz Neukirchen : Sea power in the mirror of history , page 244. Gondrom-Verlag, Berlin 1988

[6] David Nicolle : The Ottomans - 600 Years of Islamic World Empire , page 142. Tosa, Vienna 2008, ISBN 3-85003-219-1

[sputnik-7] Sputnik International of May 13, 2017: 234 Years of Naval Glory, and Counting - Russian Black Sea Fleet Marks Birthday