The Sinop Sea Battle is considered the last major battle in the era of the sailing fleet. It happened in 1853, November 18.
The situation in the Black Sea basin escalated in May. At that time, diplomatic relations between Russia and Turkey were broken. The Russian army entered the territory of the Danube principalities. Along with this, the English and French squadrons arrived at the Dardanelles.
Turkey at the end of September demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops, putting an ultimatum to Russia. However, without waiting for the end of his term, he began military operations.
In October 1853, a detachment of the Danube Flotilla was fired from the Isakcha fortress. On October 16, the Turkish army unexpectedly attacked the post of St. Nicholas, who was located between Batum and Poti on the Black Sea coast. Thus, military operations at sea between Russia and Turkey began at sea.
Under the command of Slade (the English adviser) and Osman Pasha (the Turkish vice admiral), the Turkish squadron traveled to the Poti and Sukhumi (Sukhum-Kale) regions from Istanbul for landing. It consisted of a squadron of two armed steamboats, seven frigates, two brigs, two corvettes, a sloop, and had 500 guns. In the Sinop Bay, the Turks took refuge from the storm under the protection of thirty-eight coastal guns.
On November 8, the Turkish squadron was discovered by the squadron of P. S. Nakhimov (Russian vice admiral) and blocked. The Russians had three battleships, 296 guns (including 76 bombing guns), and a frigate.
On November 16, the squadron of F.M. Novosilsky arrived at Sinop, which consisted of three battleships and a frigate. Nakhimov, who suggested the strengthening of the Turks at sea by the British, decided to attack them in the bay. On November 18, the Sinop battle began.
Nakhimov, knowing the methods of the Turks, anticipating in advance that the enemy fire at the approach would be concentrated not on the decks, but on the masts, decided to anchor without anchoring the sails. All sailors during the shelling remained below. Thanks to this, the lives of many fighters were saved, the combat effectiveness of the Russian squadron in one of the most critical stages of the battle was preserved.
Russian ships broke through a fairly strong defensive fire of coastal batteries and Turkish ships. Entering the bay with two wake columns, they anchored with springs.
The Sinop battle continued with the crushing fire of the Russian squadron with one side from a distance of 300-350 meters with 312 guns. During the battle, which lasted two and a half hours, all coastal batteries and Turkish ships were destroyed. The Sinop battle ended with the capture of Osman Pasha, the commanders of two ships and two hundred more prisoners. Turks killed and wounded lost about four thousand soldiers.
Slade (an English adviser), one of the commanders of the Turkish squadron, fled in disgrace at the height of the battle on the Taif twenty-gun ship. The Russian squadron of Nakhimov did not lose a single ship.
The Battle of Sinop summed up the centuries-old development of sailing ships, in the place of which steamboats began to come. In addition, combat experience in the bay influenced the subsequent formation of fleets in many states.
The Sinop battle, the victory of the Russian squadron in it, was a clear result of the advanced system of education and training of the Black Sea sailors, which was carried out by the best naval commanders of Russia. The high skill shown by the sailors during the battle was achieved by persistent campaigns, studies, and training. Thousands of fighters, possessing all the qualities necessary for the difficult and difficult profession of a sailor, who did not first have sufficient knowledge in naval affairs, gained invaluable experience during the preparation and during the course of military operations, and their morally fighting qualities reached a high level.