Battle of Sinop
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| Battle of Sinope | |||||||
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| Part of the Crimean War | |||||||
 The Battle of Sinop, by A. Bogolyubov. |
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| Combatants | |||||||
| Russian Empire | Ottoman Empire | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Pavel Nakhimov | Osman Pasha | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 6 battleships 2 frigates 3 steamers |
7 frigates 5 corvettes |
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| Casualties | |||||||
| none | 7 frigates sunk 4 corvettes sunk |
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| Crimean War |
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| Sinop – Petropavlovsk – Alma – Sevastopol – Balaclava – Inkerman – Eupatoria – Taganrog – Chernaya River – Kars – Malakhoff – Kinburn - Kurekdere |
The naval Battle of Sinope (or Sinop) took place on 30 November 1853 at Sinop, a sea port in northern Turkey, when Imperial Russian battleships struck and annihilated a patrol force of Ottoman frigates anchored in the harbor. It is often considered to be the last major skirmish of the age of sail, and the first battle of the Crimean War (1854–1856).
Fighting at sea between Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire had been going on for weeks, and the Ottomans had sent several squadrons into the Black Sea for patrol. One of these, under Osman Pasha, ended up at Sinope, joining the frigate Kaid Zafer which had been part of an earlier patrol, and being joined by a steam frigate (probably Taif) from a smaller squadron. The Ottomans had wanted to send battleships to Sinope, but the British ambassador in Istanbul, Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe, had objected to this plan, and only frigates were sent. It is possible that this was done deliberately, to get Russia to attack a weaker fleet. The British and French supported the Ottoman Empire against Imperial Russia, but did not want a war to start. When it became clear there would be a war, they hoped Russia would provide the casus belli.
The Russians, led by admiral Pavel Nakhimov, sailed into Sinop harbor in two lines of three battleships each and anchored alongside the Ottoman line. The battle itself took about an hour. The Russians used destructive Paixhans shell guns to destroy the small Turkish patrol fleet. Only Taif, pursued by the Russian steamers, managed to escape to Istanbul where she arrived on 2 December.
This attack provided France and the United Kingdom with the justification for declaring war on Russia in early 1854 in support of the Ottoman Empire.
Below is a listing of the fleets that participated in the Battle of Sinop on 30 November 1853:
Contents |
[edit] Order of battle
[edit] Russian Empire
[edit] Battleships
- Veliky Knyaz Konstantin 120 guns
- Tri Sviatitelia 120 guns
- Parizh 120 guns (2nd flag)
- Imperatriitsa Maria 84 guns (flag)
- Chesma 84 guns
- Rostislav 84 guns
[edit] Frigates
- Kulevtcha 54 guns
- Kagul 44 guns
[edit] Steamers
- Odessa 4 guns
- Krym 4 guns
- Khersones 4 guns
[edit] Ottoman Empire
[edit] Sail frigates
- Avni Illah 44 guns
- Fazl Illah 44 guns (formerly Russian Rafail, captured 1829)
- Nizamieh 62 guns
- Nessin Zafer 60 guns
- Navek Bahri 58 guns
- Damiat 56 guns (Egyptian)
- Kaid Zafer 54 guns
[edit] Sail corvettes
- Nejm Fishan 24 guns
- Feyz Mabud 24 guns
- Kel Safid 22 guns
[edit] Steam frigates/corvettes
- Taif 12 guns
- Erkelye 10 guns
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Naval wars in the Levant 1559–1853 (1952) - R. C. Anderson ISBN 1-57898-538-2
