The battle of Athos became one of the most important in the Russian-Turkish war of 1806-1812. Unfortunately, today few people remember him or even just heard of him - our history knows too many such feats. But it will be very useful to tell about this event in order to broaden the horizons of readers.
When the battle happened
The Battle of Athos took place on June 19, 1807. At this time, the Russian Empire once again waged a fierce struggle with the Ottoman Empire - there were 4 such conflicts in the 19th century alone. At the same time, the far-sighted ruler Alexander the First seriously feared the rapidly growing power of France and had already joined the anti-French coalition.
But first it was necessary to solve the problem with the Turks in the Mediterranean. By the way, the Ottoman Empire declared war on us at the suggestion of the French diplomat General Sebastiani, who wanted Russia to fight on two fronts and not be able to throw all its forces into the struggle that flared up in Europe.
Who took part in it
In fact, the battle of Athos in 1807 is only a small but very memorable episode of the Russian-Turkish war1806-1812. In general, a large number of countries fought in this war. On the side of Russia were the Megrelian, Gurilian and Abkhazian principalities (the latter in 1808 went over to the side of the enemy, but in 1810 again became a vassal of Russia), the Republic of Seven Islands, Moldova, Wallachia, Montenegro and Serbia. The Turks were supported by the Dubrovnik Republic, the Budzhak Horde, the Imereti Kingdom and Persia.
But still, the battle of Athos was the moment when only two fleets came together - Russian and Turkish, no allies, vassals and helpers. Powerful powers that had huge influence in their regions had to fight in a fair duel. Therefore, if we talk about the Athos naval battle, the participants here were strictly defined.
Reasons for fighting
As mentioned above, the situation in Europe by 1807 was extremely tense. Having received a certain strategic advantage, France could well capture not only the Ionian Islands, but also the Balkans. Well, an alliance with the Ottoman Empire could deliver serious problems to all of Europe, and especially Russia, which waged war with the Turks.
That is why Alexander the First sent a squadron under the command of Vice Admiral D. N. Senyavin, consisting of ten battleships, to the Adriatic Sea. Arriving at the place and weighing all the pros and cons, the admiral realized that it would not be possible to break through the Dardanelles. Too large forces of the Turks have accumulated here. Therefore, a different decision was made - to block the strait from its side, not allowing Constantinople to receive food through sea routes. This iswas to force the rulers of the Ottoman Empire to withdraw their fleet to fight the Russian squadron. And so it happened later.
Therefore, we can say that the Dardanelles and Athos battles are closely related.
Who commanded the battle
From each side of the conflict, two admirals participated: Dmitry Nikolaevich Senyavin and Alexei Samuilovich Greig - from ours, Seyid Ali Pasha and Bekir Bey led the Turkish squadron into battle.
Perhaps the most interesting figure here is Senyavin. A student and associate of Admiral Ushakov himself, he adopted the best from his mentor. Senyavin was accustomed to using non-standard tactics, skillfully planning his actions, which brought the Russian fleet another victory. Moreover, in a completely unequal battle - the Ottoman Empire had a larger and more powerful squadron.
Side Forces
The Russian squadron consisted of ten battleships armed with 64 to 84 guns. The total number of guns was 754.
The Ottoman naval forces were significantly superior to ours - only the flagship battleship "Majesty Sultan" was armed with 120 guns. It was supported by nine more battleships equipped with 74–84 guns. The squadron also included five frigates carrying from 44 to 50 guns, two sloops - 28 and 32 guns and two small brigs - 18 guns each. The total number of guns was 1196.
As you can see, the advantage in firepower and the number of ships was on the side of the Turks. The only thing that the Russian sailors could rely on was courage, excellent training, the ability to act in a coordinated manner and, of course, the tactical genius of Dmitry Senyavin. All these advantages made it possible to inflict a devastating defeat on the superior forces of the enemy.
Tactical novelties
By the time the Battle of Athos took place in 1807, the base of tactics for European sailors and admirals (of which, of course, the Russians also belonged) was simply huge. Each maritime power paid great attention to the training and education of officers and ordinary sailors. But even against the background of other experienced admirals, Senyavin stood out favorably.
An experienced officer, who got into the Naval Cadet Corps at the age of 10, went through all the steps, from an ordinary midshipman to a vice admiral by 1807.
Knowing perfectly well that it would be impossible to defeat the Turks in an ordinary naval battle, he carefully calculated all their possible actions, correctly thought out the psychological features and, taking into account the data obtained, began to plan the Athos naval battle. On paper, it was won long before the first real cannon fire was fired.
For example, Senyavin knew that immediately after the loss of the flagships, the Turks lose their motivation to fight, tend to retreat. Therefore, he immediately allocated six battleships out of ten available in order to destroy three powerful Ottoman flagships. These ships were commanded by Senyavin himself. The remaining four went under the command of Admiral Greig and shouldwere to impose a long-range battle on the remaining fleet. Their main task was to delay him, preventing him from coming to the aid of the flagships.
Introduced by Senyavin and a new method of naval combat. Usually, in the presence of a numerical superiority, the enemy ship was taken "in pincers" - ships came to it from two sides in order to fire as tightly as possible. But in this case, the enemy had the opportunity to use guns on both sides of the side. This time, a different decision was made - the ships had to go in pairs, as closely as possible one behind the other, in order to cause the greatest damage to the enemy, without giving him the opportunity to use all the firepower - only one side could shoot.
To deal a crushing blow, the admiral ordered to approach the enemy at a minimum distance that allows shooting buckshot - about 100 meters. And after that, open fire using the core. In addition, for the first salvo, each cannon was loaded with two cores - at a long distance this would not allow firing, and at a short distance it would make huge holes in the enemy’s side.
Finally, ten battleships were divided into five squads, each of which received a specific goal, instead of acting together, as a united front.
Track of battle
The Athos naval battle began in 1807 on June 10 at 5:15. Senyavin defiantly weakened his presence on the island of Tenedos, where the Russian base was located. Taking advantage of this, the Turks immediately sent their ships here and landed troops. Having achieved the desired result, the admiral quickly transferredfleet and cut off the retreat of the Ottoman ships. The decisive battle began only 9 days later - on June 19.
Further, the battle of Athos developed exactly as Senyavin planned.
Battleships, which were supposed to destroy the Turkish flagships, were simply masterful. The tackboards of the ships lay directly on the bowsprits following them. Only one of the battleships, the Raphael, suffered damage to the sails during the approach, due to which it was unable to maneuver for some time and dropped out of the battle.
The firing part of the contact took only 3 hours - a surprisingly short time for naval battles, which sometimes lasted several days. Part of the ships of the Turks was destroyed, they burned a few themselves so as not to leave the enemy, and only a few managed to escape to the Dardanelles. Senyavin did not pursue the departing remnants of the fleet and preferred to return as quickly as possible to the base on the island of Tenedos, where his people bravely fought off the Turkish landing.
Alas, because of the headwind, the Russian squadron was able to arrive at its destination only on June 25th. The Turkish landing, realizing that they could not resist the power of the ships, laid down their arms and surrendered their guns, after which they were taken to the Anatolian coast, which was part of the Ottoman Empire.
Losses on both sides of the conflict
Despite the fact that the Russian fleet entered the Battle of Athos with significantly smaller forces, it came out victorious, having suffered minimal losses. Not only was not destroyed, but not one of the battleships was seriously damaged. 77 sailorskilled and 189 others were injured to varying degrees.
The Turks suffered a crushing blow. About a thousand people died, 774 were captured. But much more serious damage was the loss of part of the ships. The Ottoman Empire was missing two battleships, two frigates, and a sloop. In addition, one of the battleships was captured by Russian troops.
Results of the Battle of Athos
One single sea battle, lasting only three hours, was of great strategic importance. The fleet of the Ottoman Empire was so weakened that it did not pose a threat to its neighbors for a decade. The Dardanelles, through which a huge number of military, passenger and cargo ships passed, was under the control of the Russian Empire. This, combined with the outstanding success of the Russian troops operating on land, led the Turks to sign the Slobodzeya truce in August of that year.
But the prestige of the Russian fleet skyrocketed. European military experts closely followed the incoming reports. Our sailors and officers have again proved that they are among the best specialists in their field. At the same time, the Russian Empire seriously strengthened its position in the Mediterranean, not allowing the French fleet to host here.
More than three thousand sailors received various awards for their courage and excellent training. Among the commanders of the ships, three captains of the first rank were especially singled out - Lukin (who commanded the "Rafail"), Rozhkov ("Selafail") and Mitkov ("Yaroslav").
A footprint in art
Of course, such a significant event could not leave a certain mark on the culture of the Russian people.
Perhaps the most famous work depicting this historical moment is the painting by A. P. Bogolyubov "The Russian Fleet after the Battle of Athos". The picture is really impressive and immerses the viewer in the realities of the 19th century.
This fight is not forgotten to this day. For example, in 2017, an issue of the Russian History magazine was born, which spoke in detail about him. The article "The Battle of Athos in the light of new archival documents" ("Russian History" 2017. No. 6. P. 83–93.) clearly shows that many of our contemporaries are not indifferent to the exploits of their grandfathers.
Conclusion
This is the end of the article. Now you know enough both about the course of the Athos battle and its results, and about the reasons that made it inevitable. Consequently, you will be able to demonstrate outstanding erudition in any company of historians. Well, knowledge of the history of the native state will never be superfluous.
