The naval Battle of Kerch Strait (also known as Battle of Yenikale, by the old Turkish name of the strait near

Kerch Kerch ( uk, Керч; russian: Керчь, ; Old East Slavic: Кърчевъ; Ancient Greek: , ''Pantikápaion''; Medieval Greek: ''Bosporos''; crh, , ; tr, Kerç) is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of t ...

) took place on 19 July 1790 near

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...

, was a victory for

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...

over the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

during the Russo-Turkish War, 1787-1792.

Battle

The Russian fleet, under Ushakov, sailed from

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

on 13 July 1790 for the southern

, after hearing a report that the Ottoman fleet had been sighted there. On 19 July it anchored at the mouth of the Kerch Strait and sent privateers out in search of the Ottomans. At 10 am they reported a sighting and 30 minutes later the Ottoman fleet came into view from the east. With the wind from the ENE, Ushakov formed a line on the port tack (i.e. south-east). The Ottomans turned from their group formation and formed a parallel line to the east of the Russian line. Seeing that the Ottoman battle-line contained just their battleships, Ushakov sent 6 frigates to form a second line to leeward of the main line, and between about 12pm and 3pm, 3 hours of indecisive longish-range fighting followed, but then the wind changed direction to NNE and the Russians luffed, turning toward the Ottoman line. The Ottomans reversed course, 2 of their ships colliding as they did so, because some ships turned left and others turned right. As the Russians steered toward the tail-end of the Ottomans line, and with the wind from the north, the Ottoman admiral steered away, to the SW. At about 7pm firing ceased. The Russians followed all night, but by morning, the faster ships of the Ottomans were out of sight. Russian casualties were 29 killed and 68 wounded, with very little damage to ships. The Russian victory prevented the Ottoman Empire from achieving its goal in landing an army in

Ships involved

Russia

''Rozhdestvo Christovo'' 84 (flag of Vice-Admiral Fyodor Ushakov)
''Maria Magdalina'' 66
''Slava Ekateriny'' 66
''Sv. Pavel'' 66
''Sv. Vladimir'' 66
''Sv. Aleksandr Nevskii'' 50
''Sv. Andrei Pervozvannyi'' 50
''Sv. Georgii Pobyedonosets'' 50
''Ioann Bogoslov'' 46
''Sv. Petr Apostol'' 46
''Fanagoria'' 40
''Kinburn'' 40
''Legkii'' 40
''Perun'' 40
''Stryela'' 40
''Taganrog'' 40
''Sv. Ieronim'' (bomb)
2 fireships
13 privateers
''Polotsk''

Ottoman Empire

''Mukaddeme-i Nusret'' 74 (flag of Kapudane Said Bey)
''Bahr-i Zafer'' 72 (flag of Kapudan Pasha Giritli Hüseyin)
''Melik-i Bahri'' 72 (flag of Patrona Bey)
''Anka-i Bahri'' 72
''Fethü'l Fettah'' 66
''Nüvid-i Fütuh'' 66
''Peleng-i Bahri'' 66
''Tevfikullah'' 66
''Feyz-i Hüda'' 66 (flag of Riyale Bey)
''Mesudiye'' 58
''Inayet-i Hakk'' 58
''Burc-ı Zafer'' 52
''Şehbaz-ı Bahri'' 52
''Ukâb-ı Bahri'' 52
''Polâd-ı Bahri'' 44
''Mazhar-ı Saadet'' 38
''Mebdâ-i Nusret'' 32
''Raad-ı Bahri'' 20 (bomb frigate)
''Berk-i Bahri'' 20 (bomb frigate)
''Berk-i Hafız'' 20 (bomb frigate)
''Şihab-ı Sakıb'' 20 (bomb frigate)
''Cedid Bomba'' 20 (bomb frigate)
23 small craft (kırlangıç, pergende (brigantine) and şehtiye (xebec) type ships)

References

Sources

* {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Kerch Strait 1790 Kerch Strait 1790 Kerch Strait 1790 Kerch Strait 1790 Crimea in the Russian Empire 1790 in Europe Kerch Strait 1790 in the Russian Empire 1790 in the Ottoman Empire 1790s in Ukraine Kerch Strait 1790 Kerch Strait 1790