This was a series of mainly small-ship actions which occurred along the coast of what is now Ukraine as Russian and Turkish ships and boats supported their land armies in the struggle for control of Ochakov, a strategic position. The main actions at sea happened on 17, 18, 28 and 29 June and 9 July 1788. On 9 July also, the larger Turkish ships left and on 14 July they fought the Russian Sevastopol' fleet about 100 miles to the south. June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining. ... July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 175 days remaining. ... 1788 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 175 days remaining. ... July 14 is the 195th day (196th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 170 days remaining. ...

The Russians had a small sailing ship fleet, commanded by Alexiano, but finally taken command of by John Paul Jones on 6 June, and a gunboat flotilla (the makeup of which changed over the course of the fighting), commanded by Prince Charles of Nassau-Siegen. Both of these men had been made Russian Rear-Admirals, and were themselves commanded by the ineffectual (?). The Russian land armies were commanded by Suvorov. The Turks had a large mixed fleet, commanded by Kapudan Pasha Hassan el Ghazi, part of which came in close to support the fighting, and part of which stayed out. It is hard to determine the makeup of this force accurately. Most of its ships were probably armed merchantmen, carrying around 40 guns, a few were probably larger. Different accounts give different numbers, but according to an 8 April list from Istanbul, the fleet consisted of 12 battleships, 13 frigates, 2 bombs, 2 galleys, 10 gunboats and 6 fireships. There were some xebecs (oared vessels of 30 or more guns) as well, but perhaps these were counted as frigates. June 6 is the 157th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (158th in leap years), with 208 days remaining. ... April 8 is the 98th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (99th in leap years). ... Shows the Location of the Province İstanbul Istanbul (Turkish: İstanbul; a contraction of Greek εις την πολιν into the city, the former Constantinople, Κωνσταντινούπολις) is the largest city in Turkey, and arguably the most important. ...

On 19 March 1788, the Russian sailing fleet moved from its position near Cherson to Cape Stanislav. March 19 is the 78th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (79th in leap years). ...

On 21 April Nassau-Siegen reached Cherson with his flotilla and on 24 April moved into the Liman. April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... April 24 is the 114th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (115th in leap years). ...

On 27 (?) May the Russian Sevastopol' fleet attempted to leave port but was forced back almost immediately by adverse conditions. If it had sailed, it might have met the Turkish fleet earlier than it did.

On 30 May Jones arrived, but left to confer with Suvorov about the building of a new battery at Kinburn (on the south coast, facing Ochakov) before returning on 6 June. May 30 is the 150th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (151st in leap years). ... June 6 is the 157th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (158th in leap years), with 208 days remaining. ...

Meanwhile, on 31 May the Turkish fleet had arrived. The Russian flotilla waited too long before retreating, and one of its vessels, the double-sloop No. 2, was overtaken by small craft and its commander, Saken, blew himself up. May 31 is the 151st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (152nd in leap years), with 214 days remaining, as the last day of May. ...

After a minor action on 17 June, on 18 June at about 7.30 am 5 Turkish galleys and 36 small craft attacked the inshore end of the Russian line, which was perpendicular to the coast. At first the Russians had only 6 galleys, 4 barges and 4 double-sloops to oppose them. At about 10am el Ghazi arrived with 12 more vessels but Nassau-Siegen and Jones had advanced the offshore ends to bring their whole forces into action and at 10.30 the Turks withdrew with the loss of 2 or 3 vessels burnt and blown up. At about 11am firing stopped and by 12pm the Russian flotilla had rejoined the sailing ships. June 17 is the 168th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (169th in leap years), with 197 days remaining. ... June 18 is the 169th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (170th in leap years), with 196 days remaining. ...

On 27 June at 12pm the Turkish fleet steered for the left (windward) end of the Russian line but at 2pm their flagship ran aground and the other ships anchored in disarray. Adverse winds prevented the Russians from attacking until about 2am on 28 June when it shifted to the NNE, but the Turkish ship had been refloated and the Turks tried to form a line. At about 4am all the Russians advanced and at 5.15am they were in action. The Turkish second flagship ran aground and Nassau-Siegen sent in the left wing of his flotilla to attack her. This left his right wing weak, and Malyi Aleksandr was sunk by Turkish bombs. However, the Turkish battleship was burnt, this fate also falling to her flagship later. At 9.30pm the Turks withdrew under the Ochakov guns. el Ghazi decided to withdraw his sailing ships completely, but the new battery at Kinburn forced him so far to the north that 9 of his ships ran aground, and the next morning the Russian flotilla surrounded these and several small craft and destroyed them all except for one 54-gun battleship, which they refloated. June 27 is the 178th day of the year (179th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 187 days remaining. ... (Some entries on this page have been duplicated on August 1. ...

The Turks had lost 2 battleships and 885 captured on 28 June, and perhaps 8 battleships, 2 frigates, 2 xebecs, 1 bomb, 1 galley and 1 transport and 788 captured on 29 June. Russian casualties were 18 killed and 67 wounded in the flotilla, and probably slight losses in the sailing ships. (Some entries on this page have been duplicated on August 1. ... June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining. ...

The Turkish fleet appeared near Berezan Island, west of Ochakov, on 1 July, to try to rescue the small craft, but decided not to pass the batteries again and on 9 July it put to sea to meet the Russian Sevastopol' fleet, which it fought in the Battle of Ochakov to the south on 14 July. July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 183 days remaining. ... July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 175 days remaining. ... The Battle of Ochakov was a minor naval action on July 14, 1788, won by Russia over Turkey, near Fidonisi. ... July 14 is the 195th day (196th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 170 days remaining. ...

On 9 July also the Russian army began to assault Ochakov and the Russian flotilla attacked the Turkish vessels there. Forces involved in this were as follows: Russian: 7 galleys, 7 double-sloops, 7 floating batteries, 7 "decked boats" and 22 gunboats. Turkish: 2 20-gun xebecs/frigates, 5 galleys, 1 kirlangitch (very similar to a galley), 1 16-gun brigantine, 1 bomb and 2 gunboats. July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 175 days remaining. ...

At 3.15am firing started. The 2 Turkish gunboats and 1 galley were captured by the Russians and the rest were burnt. Firing ceased at 9.30. Russian casualties were 24 killed and 80 wounded.

Ships involved:

Russia

Sailing ship fleet (Jones): (Only the first 3 were built as warships)
Vladimir 48 (reduced from 66 due to shallow water)
Aleksandr Nevskii 40 (reduced from 50 due to shallow water)
Skoryi 40
Cherson 32
Sv. Nikolai 26
Malyi Aleksandr 34 - Sunk 28 June
Boristen 24
Taganrog 34
Ptchela 24
Bogomater Turlenu
Sv. Anna
Grigorii Potemkin
Melent
Bityug (bomb)
Flotilla (Nassau-Siegen):
?
(Some entries on this page have been duplicated on August 1. ...

Turkey (Hassan el Ghazi)

12 battleships, mostly small
13 frigates or xebecs
2 bombs
2 galleys
10 gunboats
6 fireships

References

• Naval wars in the Levant 1559-1853 - R. C. Anderson [ISBN 0878397990]