How Fyodor Ushakov Hasan Pasha defeated at Cape Tendra
This is one of the outstanding victories of the Russian weapons and the Russian army during the war against the Ottoman Empire 1787-1791 years. The battle is known in stories like the battle of Hajibey or the Battle of Cape Tendra.
Squadron Fyodor Ushakov met in battle with the Turkish fleet under the command of Giritli Hassan Pasha, quite substantially inferior to him (the fleet) in combat power. In the certificates of those years, it was noted that the Russian squadron had no more than 850 naval guns at its disposal, while Hassan Pasha (aka Hussein Pasha or Husain Pasha) had about 1350-1400 guns. The superiority also concerned the number of warships. Thus, the Turkish fleet at Cape Tendra had 14 battleships and 8 frigates on the Black Sea, and the Russian Empire squadron before the battle totaled 10 battleships and 6 frigates.
The suddenness factor, which the Russian sailors decided to use, also played a role. The Turks, not expecting to see the advance of the Russian squadron, literally racing on all sails from the south-west coast of Crimea, were practically completely unprepared for battle. Panic fettered the Ottoman ranks, and the squadron, which initially looked more than impressive, began to break away from the anchors and retreat to the mouth of the Danube.
At the same time, the Turks did not have time to “escape” and rebuild. Fearing the defeat of the "lagging" part of the squadron, the Turkish naval commander Hassan Pasha was forced to accept the battle. Moreover, the ships of the squadron of Fyodor Ushakov came so close to the Turkish ships that it was possible to "get" the enemy with firing shots.
Intense gunfire orders of the Turks were crushed. A special role in this was played by the actions of the team of the Russian flagship Christmas of Christ. It took Ushakov less than two hours to defeat the superior enemy forces. At the same time, the Turks, having suffered significant losses, made another attempt to escape to the Danube, but even there the Russian ships continued to pursue them, inflicting new and new damage.
Historians note that only the descending night darkness prevented the entire Ottoman squadron from being sent to the bottom.
But the next morning, the Turkish ships that remained afloat again had to accept the battle. At the same time, what happened to the remains of their squadron, the Turks themselves called "beating" and "loss of honor." Russian kernels shot down the mast from the Ottoman ships. In the end, it all came down to the fact that the Ottomans began to lower the flags on the ships in recognition of the devastating defeat. Trying to go in the direction of Istanbul, the 74-gun Turkish giant Kapudania sank.
In the history of his battles with the enemy, the naval commander Fyodor Ushakov did not suffer a single defeat. In the 2001 year, the Russian Orthodox Church ranked Fyodor Ushakov as a righteous warrior.
- Wikipedia
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