Grigory Andreyevich Spiridov () (1713,
Vyborg - , Moscow) was a leading Russian naval commander and
admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
(1769).
Grigory Spiridov began his career in the
Russian Navy in 1723. He was promoted to an
officer rank in 1733. Spiridov had been commanding different ships of the
Baltic Fleet
, image = Great emblem of the Baltic fleet.svg
, image_size = 150
, caption = Baltic Fleet Great ensign
, dates = 18 May 1703 – present
, country =
, allegiance = (1703–1721) (1721–1917) (1917–1922) (1922–1991)(1991–present)
...
since 1741. During the
Seven Years' War of 1756–1763, he was in charge of a landing party of two thousand men when
Peter Rumyantsev
Count Pyotr Alexandrovich Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky (russian: Пётр Алекса́ндрович Румя́нцев-Задунайский; – ) was one of the foremost Russian generals of the 18th century. He governed Little Russia in the na ...
was laying
siege to the
fortress
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
of
Kolberg in
Pomerania. In 1762, Spiridov was promoted to the rank of
rear admiral
Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...
and assigned to command a
squadron for securing the contact with the Russian army in
Prussia. In 1764, he was appointed commander of the
port of
Tallinn and then
Kronstadt (1766).
During the
Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774, Spiridov was in charge of a squadron, which would be sent from the
Baltic Sea to the
Mediterranean to assist the Greeks in their struggle against the
Turks in the summer of 1769 (see
Orlov Revolt and
First Archipelago Expedition). In early 1770, he commanded the seizure of
Mistra,
Arcadia
Arcadia may refer to:
Places Australia
* Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
* Arcadia, Queensland
* Arcadia, Victoria
Greece
* Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese
* Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...
, and
Navarino with the help of a landing party.
On , a Russian squadron under the nominal command of
Count Alexey Grigoryevich Orlov with Spidirov in charge of the
avant-garde attacked the Turkish fleet in the
Chios Strait and forced it to hide in the
Chesma Bay. On the night of 26 June (7 July), the Russian squadron under the actual command of Spiridov and
Samuel Greig destroyed the Turkish fleet during the
Battle of Chesma and established supremacy in the
Aegean Sea. In 1771–1773, Spiridov commanded the Russian fleet in this region. When he resigned from the Russian Navy in 1774, many attributed it to his resentment that all the credit for his victories went to Orlov.
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiridov
1713 births
1790 deaths
Military personnel from Vyborg
Imperial Russian Navy admirals
People of the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)