Russian ship Azov (1826)
Encyclopedia
Azov was a 74-gun
ship of the line
of the Imperial Russian Navy
. Azov was built in 1826 to compensate the losses of the disastrous 1824 Saint Petersburg flood
. In the same year Azov, commanded by Mikhail Lazarev
, became the flagship
of Admiral Login Geiden
's First Mediterranean Squadron and sailed to the Aegean
on a joint English-French-Russian peacekeeping mission. On October 20, 1827 Azov spearheaded the Russian squadron into in the Battle of Navarino
. She engaged numerous enemy ships and sustained heavy damage.
After refit at Malta
Azov continued her service as Geiden's flagship and enforced naval blockade
of Greece
and the Dardanelles
. In the beginning of 1830 Azov returned to Kronstadt
. By this time the ship was literally rotten owing to poor workmanship and combat damage. She was retired in the same year and broken up in 1831 after only four years in service.
Five officers of Azov who fought at Navarino became admirals in the Russian Navy: captain Mikhail Lazarev, Vladimir Istomin
, Vladimir Kornilov, Pavel Nakhimov
and Yevfimy Putyatin
.
, the main base of the Russian Baltic Fleet
was swept by the disastrous flood of 1824. Of 28 capital ships moored in the inner harbours of Kotlin Island
, only five were spared by the flood, and only three of them were deemed safe for the open seas. Twenty-two capital ship
s were written off and broken up. Most of them remained afloat when the flood recessed, but were too rotten to be worth salvaging. Alexander I
saw no need to resurrect the fleet to its past strength, and in 1825 the shipyards of Arkhangelsk
laid down only two new ships: Azov and Ezekiel.
Azov was laid down in November by master shipwright Andrey Kurochkin (1770–1842). By 1825 Kurochkin has practically retired from active work, and construction was managed by his associate Vasily Yershov (1781–1860). Mikhail Lazarev, the captain of Azov, supervised construction on site since February 1826. Lazarev brought forward numerous amendments to the original design; 22 of them materialized in Azov. Azov was launched in June 1826 and in the autumn sailed to its base in Kronstadt
. The ship was hailed as the best in Russian Navy and served as a class
model for eleven ships built in 1826–1826. Its inner plan was improved compared to previous ships, and its exterior was fitted out to a flagship standard. Azovs brief career proved that all these improvements could not compensate for the lack of quality timber and poor workmanship: the former flagship completely rotted in four years of active service.
In the spring of 1827 Nicholas
authorized a brief full-scale exercise of the Baltic Fleet, a last-minute review of available forces before committing them to his Greek project. The fleet consisted of nine ships of the line, eight frigates and four lesser ships. Admiral Dmitry Senyavin
raised his flag on the Azov and sailed out to the Baltic on 1827. Five days later the fleet returned to Kronstadt. 1827 Senyavin received a top secret order: he had to lead the whole fleet to Portsmouth
, England
. Upon receiving further heads-up from the Russian ambassador in London
Senyavin had to split his fleet in two squadrons. Four ships of the line, four frigates and two brigs of Senyavin's choice would form the new First Mediterranean Squadron, with Login Geiden
in command, and proceed to the Mediterranean immediately.
In the evening of , when the fleet was still in Kronstadt, Nicholas personally visited Azov and literally pushed the fleet into the sea. Azov left Kronstadt with the tsar on board at around 5 a.m. in the morning; in the afternoon he boarded his yacht and returned to Saint Petersburg. The fleet sailed forward, reaching Reval
on , Bornholm
on , Copenhagen
on . Azov and older Gangut proved themselves good seagoers as opposed to heavy and slow Alexander Nevsky and Emmanuel. Winds in the Danish straits
delayed the voyage, and the fleet arrived in Portsmouth only on . As soon as his ships lined up in the Solent
, Senyavin received the news that England, France and Russia have just signed the Treaty of London. On Senyavin boarded Tsar Constantine and Geiden raised his flag on Azov. The First Mediterranean Squadron, led by Azov, became operational.
Sailing south-west to Cape St. Vincent
was quick, but then the squadron ran into strong headwinds. It reached Sicily
on . On the same day Azov suffered its first two casualties: a sailor fell overboard, midshipman Domashnenko jumped down to rescue him, both drowned. Geiden lost two more weeks in sailing to Messina to meet with Russian diplomats.
At last on the Russian squadron met the British force of Admiral Edward Codrington
south of Zakynthos
. On the same day the combined fleet was joined by the French squadron of Admiral Henri de Rigny
. According to Geiden's reports, the unusually smooth rendezvous was purely accidental. On the next day the French left for refit; the English and Russian ships sailed south to Methoni
and blocked the entrance into the Navarino harbor, the anchorage of the combined Turkish-Egyptian fleet.
Azov and the British flagship HMS Asia
took their stations side-by-side, and the two admirals regularly spoke to each other. De Rigny returned on , which brought the strength of allied fleet to ten ships of the line, nine frigates and four lesser ships. The three admirals decided to enter the harbor in strength and force the Turks and the Egyptians to accept the terms of the Treaty of London. De Rigny and Geiden agreed to obey Codrington, as senior in command, for the whole period of the standoff.
At 3 p.m. Azov reached its destination, folded her sails and dropped her anchors. Lazarev intended to fight next to HMS Albion
, the leftmost ship of the British squadron. To evade heavy smoke that completely blocked the view, Azov dropped anchor to the port of its place in the line. The maneuver created a gap between Azov and Albion, wide enough to fit four Turkish frigates. Eventually they encircled Azov and Albion and both ships suffered abnormally high damage. Geiden noted that for a certain 22-minute interval Azov was engaged by eight enemy ships.
Although Azov was taking hits from different enemy ships, Lazarev concentrated his gunfire on a single target, a 76-gun ship of the line that had earlier engaged Albion. By 3:30 p.m. the enemy ship lost all masts and dropped out of the line. The gap was filled by a two-deck frigate under the flag of Tahir Pasha. At about 4:00 p.m. another frigate, moored next to Tahir's flagship, exploded and disrupted the enemy line of battle. A sudden opportunity allowed Azov to fire both broadside
s at point-blank range, and in a short time she sank two frigates and a corvette. Still, Azov remained in an extremely dangerous position. At 4:30 it was relieved by the arrival of the French Breslau, which filled the gap between Azov and Albion and whose first salvo destroyed an Egyptian frigate that fired at Azov. For the remainder of the battle Azov and Breslau fought together, engaging enemy ships one by one. Tahir's frigate returned fire until at least 5:30 p.m. and managed to knock down Azovs third mast; it lost five out of six hundred men and was abandoned. Shortly before 6 p.m. Azov ceased fire: all enemy ships within its reach were destroyed or forced to beach.
Azovs own losses (24 sailors killed, 6 officers and 61 sailors wounded) were the highest among the Russian ships. Likewise, the English and French flagships suffered the highest casualties of their squadrons.
. Geiden mobilized 176 carpenters from other ships to assist repairs of Azov, which took three days. By the end of it was deemed safe for short sea travel. On the next day the Russian and English ships left the harbor for Malta
. The battered Russian fleet, unable to keep pace with Codrington, proceeded with utmost caution and entered the harbor of Valletta
on .
It turned out that practically all masts on the Russian ships needed replacement. Azov, as a flagship, received the replacement masts right from the Admiralty of Valletta but the other ships had to order masts from England, which took months. Azov was slowly repaired by its own crew in the harbor; on 1828 it was towed into the Admiralty dockyards, had its masts replaced, and returned to harbor on . The Russians were more than satisfied with the workmanship of local repair crews, but the rigging supplied from the Admiralty was too old and dry, prone to unexpected snapping, and had to be replaced at first opportunity.
At about the same time a courier from Saint Petersburg delivered awards for the Battle of Navarino. The captain of Azov, Mikhail Lazarev, was promoted to Rear Admiral; Lazarev and lieutenants Pavel Nakhimov (the future admiral) and Ivan Butenev (who lost his arm in the battle) were awarded the Order of St. George
. In March 1828 the crew of Azov was awarded a special Flag of St. George. Nicholas decreed that after Azovs retirement the Russian Navy must perpetually have a ship named Pamyat Azova (Память Азова, The Memory of Azov), thus the name Azov was effectively retired.
Anchorage at Valletta was a boon for career officers, but the conditions for conscripted sailors, locked in the holds or engaged in hard work, were atrocious. The crew of Alexander Nevsky openly revolted and was promptly suppressed by Geiden. He court-martialled sixteen men for hard work in Siberia; in January-March 1828 they were locked on board the Azov and then sent back to Russia. Azovs own records bear only a slight hint of sailors' discontentment.
clearly indicated that the Russian Empire prepared for an open war with Turkey. On 1828 Azov and the rest of the Russian squadron pulled out of Valletta harbor and headed back to Navarino. Geiden left a small force of frigates there and took Azov and Constantine into the Archipelago
(his two other capital ships were damaged in a freak collision and retired to Zakynthos for repairs). On Azov rendezvoused with the French squadron at Milo
; De Rigny politely visited Azov. Four days later Azov rendezvoused with Ioannis Kapodistrias
near Hydra island. In May Geiden moved the fleet to its new base at Poros
. The Turks rushed their diplomats and Orthodox bishops to Azov with assurances of peace and compliance, all in vain: on Geiden received the news that Nicholas I
had declared war with Turkey.
For the next two months Azov engaged mostly in diplomacy, carrying Geiden and the Greek officials to meet with De Rigny at Zakynthos and with the new British commander Sir Pulteney Malcolm
at Sapientza
. In the end of August the allied fleet sailed for a joint blockade of Greece; the English and French blocked Methoni
and Koroni
, the Russians closed the entrance to Navarino harbor. The blockade compelled Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt
to evacuate his troops from Greece. The officers of Azov supervised loading of Egyptian transports and found a large number of Greek women boarding along with their Arab masters; when questioned, the majority of these women indeed preferred to go to Egypt. According to Andrienko, Geiden deliberately stayed aside from any decisive action and left the land phase of the operation to the French. Geiden was obsessed with the upcoming blockade of the Dardanelles
and rushed to Malta as soon as was possible ( 1828) to refit Azov and the rest of his squadron and to rendezvous with the Second Mediterranean Squadron of Admiral Pyotr Rikord. Indeed, Rikord (but not the whole of his squadron) was there, and on the two admirals convened a large War Council on board of Azov. Rikord's force sailed out to the Dardanelles; Azov began the long overdue repairs.
On Azov and Alexandra sailed out into the Aegean and were caught in a disastrous storm that destroyed many ships all over Europe but spared the Russians. Azov anchored at Poros, then hosting a multilateral diplomatic convention, and continued its repairs. She stayed in Poros until April of 1829, when Geiden received intelligence that the Turks planned to break the blockade of the Dardanelles in strength. On 1829 Azov and the rest of Geiden's ships joined Rikord at Tenedos
. The British, French, Dutch and Austrian forces were already there, but the Turks did not show up. In June 1829 another rumor, that of Egyptian forces assembling in Alexandria
, caused another all-out movement of the international fleet, again with no result. In July Azov represented the Russian Empire at the Greek National Assembly
in Nafplion
. In September it again sailed to Tenedos, only to learn that the Russian and Ottoman Empires had signed an armistice.
On 1829 Geiden split his force. Lazarev assumed command over Azov, Ezekiel, Constantine, Alexander Nevsky, four frigates, one corvette and two brigs. One month later the fleet received orders to return to Kronstadt
, leaving a small observation force behind. Lazarev sailed out of Poros to Malta on 1830. The voyage from Malta to Kronstadt took 59 days and could be perfectly uninspiring had it not been for the order to reach Kronstadt on May 1. The urgency forced Lazarev to cross the Baltic when it was still icy, and Azov lost around 200 copper lining sheets in collisions with ice.
Azov reached Kronstadt on 1830. After less than four years at sea she was rotten beyond salvage. Constantine and Vladimir were just as bad. Lazarev complained that "our ships are not worth the paint". Later historians argued that Azov was written off for its combat damage, but Lazarev himself did not mention it at all. Azov was examined in drydock and condemned in the autumn of 1830 and broken up in 1831. Her twin Ezekiel, built in the same year by the same yard, sailed for ten more years. The older Gangut, converted into a steamer, served until 1891; the small 16-gun brig Achilles, built in Sveaborg in 1819, served until the 1960s.
The Imperial Navy had three ships named after Azov - the 86-gun Pamyat Azova (1831, broken up in 1854); the 74-gun Pamyat Azova (1848, broken up in 1863); and the protected cruiser
Pamyat Azova
(1890, sunk in 1919). Modern Russian Navy has a project 775M landing ship
named Azov (built in 1990).
Seventy-four (ship)
The "seventy-four" was a type of two-decked sailing ship of the line nominally carrying 74 guns. Originally developed by the French Navy in the mid-18th century, the design proved to be a good balance between firepower and sailing qualities, and was adopted by the British Royal Navy , as well as...
ship of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
of the Imperial Russian Navy
Imperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...
. Azov was built in 1826 to compensate the losses of the disastrous 1824 Saint Petersburg flood
Floods in Saint Petersburg
Floods in Saint Petersburg refer to a rise of water on the territory of St. Petersburg, a major city in Russia and its former capital. They are usually caused by the overflow of the delta of Neva River and surging water in the eastern part of Neva Bay but sometimes caused by melting snow...
. In the same year Azov, commanded by Mikhail Lazarev
Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev
Admiral Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev was a Russian fleet commander and explorer who discovered Antarctica.-Education and early career:Lazarev was born in Vladimir, a scion of the old Russian nobility from the Vladimir province. In 1800, he enrolled in Russia's Naval College. Three years later he...
, became the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of Admiral Login Geiden
Login Geiden
Imperial Count Lodewijk Sigismund Vincent Gustaaf van Heiden was a Dutch Admiral who commanded a squadron of the Imperial Russian Navy in the Battle of Navarino .-Personal life:...
's First Mediterranean Squadron and sailed to the Aegean
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
on a joint English-French-Russian peacekeeping mission. On October 20, 1827 Azov spearheaded the Russian squadron into in the Battle of Navarino
Battle of Navarino
The naval Battle of Navarino was fought on 20 October 1827, during the Greek War of Independence in Navarino Bay , on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, in the Ionian Sea. A combined Ottoman and Egyptian armada was destroyed by a combined British, French and Russian naval force...
. She engaged numerous enemy ships and sustained heavy damage.
After refit at Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
Azov continued her service as Geiden's flagship and enforced naval blockade
Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
of Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and the Dardanelles
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
. In the beginning of 1830 Azov returned to Kronstadt
Kronstadt
Kronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt |crown]]" and Stadt for "city"); is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland. Population: It is also...
. By this time the ship was literally rotten owing to poor workmanship and combat damage. She was retired in the same year and broken up in 1831 after only four years in service.
Five officers of Azov who fought at Navarino became admirals in the Russian Navy: captain Mikhail Lazarev, Vladimir Istomin
Vladimir Istomin
Vladimir Ivanovich Istomin was a Russian rear admiral and hero of the Siege of Sevastopol....
, Vladimir Kornilov, Pavel Nakhimov
Pavel Nakhimov
Pavel Stepanovich Nakhimov |Siege of Sevastopol]] during the Crimean War.-Biography:Born in the Gorodok village of Vyazma district of Smolensk region. Nakhimov entered the Naval Academy for the Nobility in Saint Petersburg in 1815. He made his first sea voyage in 1817, aboard the frigate Feniks ,...
and Yevfimy Putyatin
Yevfimy Putyatin
Yevfimy Vasilyevich Putyatin was a Russian admiral noted for his diplomatic missions to Japan and China which resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Shimoda in 1855.-Early life:...
.
Construction
1824 KronstadtKronstadt
Kronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt |crown]]" and Stadt for "city"); is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland. Population: It is also...
, the main base of the Russian Baltic Fleet
Baltic Fleet
The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...
was swept by the disastrous flood of 1824. Of 28 capital ships moored in the inner harbours of Kotlin Island
Kotlin Island
Kotlin is a Russian island, located near the head of the Gulf of Finland, west of Saint Petersburg in the Baltic Sea. Kotlin separates the Neva Bay from the rest of the gulf...
, only five were spared by the flood, and only three of them were deemed safe for the open seas. Twenty-two capital ship
Capital ship
The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they generally possess the heaviest firepower and armor and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels...
s were written off and broken up. Most of them remained afloat when the flood recessed, but were too rotten to be worth salvaging. Alexander I
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
saw no need to resurrect the fleet to its past strength, and in 1825 the shipyards of Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
laid down only two new ships: Azov and Ezekiel.
Azov was laid down in November by master shipwright Andrey Kurochkin (1770–1842). By 1825 Kurochkin has practically retired from active work, and construction was managed by his associate Vasily Yershov (1781–1860). Mikhail Lazarev, the captain of Azov, supervised construction on site since February 1826. Lazarev brought forward numerous amendments to the original design; 22 of them materialized in Azov. Azov was launched in June 1826 and in the autumn sailed to its base in Kronstadt
Kronstadt
Kronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt |crown]]" and Stadt for "city"); is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland. Population: It is also...
. The ship was hailed as the best in Russian Navy and served as a class
Ship class
A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship-type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, the is a nuclear aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class....
model for eleven ships built in 1826–1826. Its inner plan was improved compared to previous ships, and its exterior was fitted out to a flagship standard. Azovs brief career proved that all these improvements could not compensate for the lack of quality timber and poor workmanship: the former flagship completely rotted in four years of active service.
Kronstadt to Navarino
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
authorized a brief full-scale exercise of the Baltic Fleet, a last-minute review of available forces before committing them to his Greek project. The fleet consisted of nine ships of the line, eight frigates and four lesser ships. Admiral Dmitry Senyavin
Dmitry Senyavin
Dmitry Nikolayevich Senyavin or Seniavin was a Russian admiral who ranks among the greatest seamen of the Napoleonic Wars.- Service under Ushakov :...
raised his flag on the Azov and sailed out to the Baltic on 1827. Five days later the fleet returned to Kronstadt. 1827 Senyavin received a top secret order: he had to lead the whole fleet to Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Upon receiving further heads-up from the Russian ambassador in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
Senyavin had to split his fleet in two squadrons. Four ships of the line, four frigates and two brigs of Senyavin's choice would form the new First Mediterranean Squadron, with Login Geiden
Login Geiden
Imperial Count Lodewijk Sigismund Vincent Gustaaf van Heiden was a Dutch Admiral who commanded a squadron of the Imperial Russian Navy in the Battle of Navarino .-Personal life:...
in command, and proceed to the Mediterranean immediately.
In the evening of , when the fleet was still in Kronstadt, Nicholas personally visited Azov and literally pushed the fleet into the sea. Azov left Kronstadt with the tsar on board at around 5 a.m. in the morning; in the afternoon he boarded his yacht and returned to Saint Petersburg. The fleet sailed forward, reaching Reval
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
on , Bornholm
Bornholm
Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea located to the east of the rest of Denmark, the south of Sweden, and the north of Poland. The main industries on the island include fishing, arts and crafts like glass making and pottery using locally worked clay, and dairy farming. Tourism is...
on , Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
on . Azov and older Gangut proved themselves good seagoers as opposed to heavy and slow Alexander Nevsky and Emmanuel. Winds in the Danish straits
Danish straits
The Danish straits are the three channels connecting the Baltic Sea to the North Sea through the Kattegat and Skagerrak. They transect Denmark, and are not to be confused with the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland...
delayed the voyage, and the fleet arrived in Portsmouth only on . As soon as his ships lined up in the Solent
Solent
The Solent is a strait separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England.The Solent is a major shipping route for passengers, freight and military vessels. It is an important recreational area for water sports, particularly yachting, hosting the Cowes Week sailing event annually...
, Senyavin received the news that England, France and Russia have just signed the Treaty of London. On Senyavin boarded Tsar Constantine and Geiden raised his flag on Azov. The First Mediterranean Squadron, led by Azov, became operational.
Sailing south-west to Cape St. Vincent
Cape St. Vincent
Cape St. Vincent , next to the Sagres Point, on the so-called Costa Vicentina , is a headland in the municipality of Sagres, in the Algarve, southern Portugal.- Description :This cape is the southwesternmost point in Portugal...
was quick, but then the squadron ran into strong headwinds. It reached Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
on . On the same day Azov suffered its first two casualties: a sailor fell overboard, midshipman Domashnenko jumped down to rescue him, both drowned. Geiden lost two more weeks in sailing to Messina to meet with Russian diplomats.
At last on the Russian squadron met the British force of Admiral Edward Codrington
Edward Codrington
Admiral Sir Edward Codrington GCB RN was a British admiral, hero of the Battle of Trafalgar and the Battle of Navarino.-Early life and career:...
south of Zakynthos
Zakynthos
Zakynthos , also Zante, the other form often used in English and in Italian , is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. It covers an area of ...
. On the same day the combined fleet was joined by the French squadron of Admiral Henri de Rigny
Henri de Rigny
Marie Henri Daniel Gauthier, comte de Rigny was the commander of the French squadron at the Battle of Navarino in the Greek War of Independence.-Biography:...
. According to Geiden's reports, the unusually smooth rendezvous was purely accidental. On the next day the French left for refit; the English and Russian ships sailed south to Methoni
Methoni, Messenia
Methoni is a village and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is a municipal unit. Its name may be derived from Mothona, a mythical rock. It is located 11 km south of Pylos and...
and blocked the entrance into the Navarino harbor, the anchorage of the combined Turkish-Egyptian fleet.
Azov and the British flagship HMS Asia
HMS Asia (1824)
HMS Asia was an 84-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 19 January 1824 at Bombay Dockyard.She was Codrington's flagship at the Battle of Navarino....
took their stations side-by-side, and the two admirals regularly spoke to each other. De Rigny returned on , which brought the strength of allied fleet to ten ships of the line, nine frigates and four lesser ships. The three admirals decided to enter the harbor in strength and force the Turks and the Egyptians to accept the terms of the Treaty of London. De Rigny and Geiden agreed to obey Codrington, as senior in command, for the whole period of the standoff.
Battle of Navarino
At about 11 a.m. of a change of wind allowed Codrington to order the move into the harbor. It was agreed that the English and Russian squadrons enter the harbor in parallel lines, followed by the French. At about 1 p.m. Codrington, cautious about the narrow entrance into the harbor, changed the plan and signaled orders to take formation in a single line. The allied fleet took position in an arc side-by-side with the Turkish fleet. Azov headed to its planned position at the very center of the allied arc, with the rest of the Russian fleet to its port, the English and French battleships to its starboard, and the English frigates in the rear. Soon the Turks fired at a British cutter, killing lieutenant Fitzroy and igniting an all-out naval battle. Sources disagree on exact timing of events owing to different timekeeping practices and the confusion of the battle; the first shots were marked at either 2:00, 2:20 or even 2:45 p.m.; ship log of Azov recorded them at 2:30. At this moment Azov was still on the move to its planned station and had just escaped the firing range of Turkish coastal artillery. The smoke of English-Turkish shootout obstructed their view to starboard; Azov fired its first shots to port at 2:45.At 3 p.m. Azov reached its destination, folded her sails and dropped her anchors. Lazarev intended to fight next to HMS Albion
HMS Albion (1802)
HMS Albion was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Perry's Blackwall Yard on the Thames on 17 June 1802...
, the leftmost ship of the British squadron. To evade heavy smoke that completely blocked the view, Azov dropped anchor to the port of its place in the line. The maneuver created a gap between Azov and Albion, wide enough to fit four Turkish frigates. Eventually they encircled Azov and Albion and both ships suffered abnormally high damage. Geiden noted that for a certain 22-minute interval Azov was engaged by eight enemy ships.
Broadside
A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous fire in naval warfare.-Age of Sail:...
s at point-blank range, and in a short time she sank two frigates and a corvette. Still, Azov remained in an extremely dangerous position. At 4:30 it was relieved by the arrival of the French Breslau, which filled the gap between Azov and Albion and whose first salvo destroyed an Egyptian frigate that fired at Azov. For the remainder of the battle Azov and Breslau fought together, engaging enemy ships one by one. Tahir's frigate returned fire until at least 5:30 p.m. and managed to knock down Azovs third mast; it lost five out of six hundred men and was abandoned. Shortly before 6 p.m. Azov ceased fire: all enemy ships within its reach were destroyed or forced to beach.
Azovs own losses (24 sailors killed, 6 officers and 61 sailors wounded) were the highest among the Russian ships. Likewise, the English and French flagships suffered the highest casualties of their squadrons.
Damage and repairs
Physical damage to Azov was also the highest: 153 penetrating cannonball hits, seven of them below the water line, and practically destroyed riggingRigging
Rigging is the apparatus through which the force of the wind is used to propel sailboats and sailing ships forward. This includes masts, yards, sails, and cordage.-Terms and classifications:...
. Geiden mobilized 176 carpenters from other ships to assist repairs of Azov, which took three days. By the end of it was deemed safe for short sea travel. On the next day the Russian and English ships left the harbor for Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. The battered Russian fleet, unable to keep pace with Codrington, proceeded with utmost caution and entered the harbor of Valletta
Valletta
Valletta is the capital of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt in Maltese. It is located in the central-eastern portion of the island of Malta, and the historical city has a population of 6,098. The name "Valletta" is traditionally reserved for the historic walled citadel that serves as Malta's...
on .
It turned out that practically all masts on the Russian ships needed replacement. Azov, as a flagship, received the replacement masts right from the Admiralty of Valletta but the other ships had to order masts from England, which took months. Azov was slowly repaired by its own crew in the harbor; on 1828 it was towed into the Admiralty dockyards, had its masts replaced, and returned to harbor on . The Russians were more than satisfied with the workmanship of local repair crews, but the rigging supplied from the Admiralty was too old and dry, prone to unexpected snapping, and had to be replaced at first opportunity.
At about the same time a courier from Saint Petersburg delivered awards for the Battle of Navarino. The captain of Azov, Mikhail Lazarev, was promoted to Rear Admiral; Lazarev and lieutenants Pavel Nakhimov (the future admiral) and Ivan Butenev (who lost his arm in the battle) were awarded the Order of St. George
Order of St. George
The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George (also known as Order of St. George the Triumphant, Russian: Военный орден Св...
. In March 1828 the crew of Azov was awarded a special Flag of St. George. Nicholas decreed that after Azovs retirement the Russian Navy must perpetually have a ship named Pamyat Azova (Память Азова, The Memory of Azov), thus the name Azov was effectively retired.
Anchorage at Valletta was a boon for career officers, but the conditions for conscripted sailors, locked in the holds or engaged in hard work, were atrocious. The crew of Alexander Nevsky openly revolted and was promptly suppressed by Geiden. He court-martialled sixteen men for hard work in Siberia; in January-March 1828 they were locked on board the Azov and then sent back to Russia. Azovs own records bear only a slight hint of sailors' discontentment.
Naval blockade
Instructions received by Geiden advised him to continued physical separation of the Turkish-Egyptian ships from Greek mainland. However, the conclusion of the Treaty of TurkmenchayTreaty of Turkmenchay
The Treaty of Turkmenchay was a treaty negotiated in Turkmenchay by which the Qajar Empire recognized Russian suzerainty over the Erivan khanate, the Nakhchivan khanate, and the remainder of the Talysh khanate, establishing the Aras River as the common boundary between the empires, after its...
clearly indicated that the Russian Empire prepared for an open war with Turkey. On 1828 Azov and the rest of the Russian squadron pulled out of Valletta harbor and headed back to Navarino. Geiden left a small force of frigates there and took Azov and Constantine into the Archipelago
Aegean Islands
The Aegean Islands are the group of islands in the Aegean Sea, with mainland Greece to the west and north and Turkey to the east; the island of Crete delimits the sea to the south, those of Rhodes, Karpathos and Kasos to the southeast...
(his two other capital ships were damaged in a freak collision and retired to Zakynthos for repairs). On Azov rendezvoused with the French squadron at Milo
Milo
-Places:Canada* Milo, Alberta, a village in Vulcan CountyEthiopia* Milo, EthiopiaGreece* Milos, an island and municipality in Cyclades Prefecture, South AegeanGuinea* Milo River, a tributary of the Niger RiverIsrael...
; De Rigny politely visited Azov. Four days later Azov rendezvoused with Ioannis Kapodistrias
Ioannis Kapodistrias
Count Ioannis Antonios Kapodistrias |Academy of Athens]] Critical Observations about the 6th-Grade History Textbook"): "3.2.7. Σελ. 40: Δεν αναφέρεται ότι ο Καποδίστριας ήταν Κερκυραίος ευγενής." "...δύο ιστορικούς της Aκαδημίας κ.κ...
near Hydra island. In May Geiden moved the fleet to its new base at Poros
Poros
Poros is a small Greek island-pair in the southern part of the Saronic Gulf, at a distance about 58 km south from Piraeus and separated from the Peloponnese by a 200-metre wide sea channel, with the town of Galatas on the mainland across the strait. Its surface is about and it has 4,117...
. The Turks rushed their diplomats and Orthodox bishops to Azov with assurances of peace and compliance, all in vain: on Geiden received the news that Nicholas I
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
had declared war with Turkey.
For the next two months Azov engaged mostly in diplomacy, carrying Geiden and the Greek officials to meet with De Rigny at Zakynthos and with the new British commander Sir Pulteney Malcolm
Pulteney Malcolm
Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm GCB GCMG was a British naval officer. He was born at Douglan, near Langholm, Scotland, on 20 February 1768, the third son of George Malcolm of Burnfoot, Langholm, in Dumfriesshire, and his wife Margaret, the sister of Admiral Sir Thomas Pasley...
at Sapientza
Sapientza
Sapientza is a Greek island off the southern coast of the Peloponnese. It is administratively part of the municipality of Methóni in the Messinia Prefecture. The 2001 census reported a population of seven inhabitants.-External links:*...
. In the end of August the allied fleet sailed for a joint blockade of Greece; the English and French blocked Methoni
Methoni, Messenia
Methoni is a village and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is a municipal unit. Its name may be derived from Mothona, a mythical rock. It is located 11 km south of Pylos and...
and Koroni
Koroni
Koroni or Coroni is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is a municipal unit. Known as Corone by the Venetians and Ottomans, the town of Koroni Koroni or Coroni is a...
, the Russians closed the entrance to Navarino harbor. The blockade compelled Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt
Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt
Ibrahim Pasha was the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, the Wāli and unrecognised Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. He served as a general in the Egyptian army that his father established during his reign, taking his first command of Egyptian forces was when he was merely a teenager...
to evacuate his troops from Greece. The officers of Azov supervised loading of Egyptian transports and found a large number of Greek women boarding along with their Arab masters; when questioned, the majority of these women indeed preferred to go to Egypt. According to Andrienko, Geiden deliberately stayed aside from any decisive action and left the land phase of the operation to the French. Geiden was obsessed with the upcoming blockade of the Dardanelles
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
and rushed to Malta as soon as was possible ( 1828) to refit Azov and the rest of his squadron and to rendezvous with the Second Mediterranean Squadron of Admiral Pyotr Rikord. Indeed, Rikord (but not the whole of his squadron) was there, and on the two admirals convened a large War Council on board of Azov. Rikord's force sailed out to the Dardanelles; Azov began the long overdue repairs.
On Azov and Alexandra sailed out into the Aegean and were caught in a disastrous storm that destroyed many ships all over Europe but spared the Russians. Azov anchored at Poros, then hosting a multilateral diplomatic convention, and continued its repairs. She stayed in Poros until April of 1829, when Geiden received intelligence that the Turks planned to break the blockade of the Dardanelles in strength. On 1829 Azov and the rest of Geiden's ships joined Rikord at Tenedos
Tenedos
Tenedos or Bozcaada or Bozdja-Ada is a small island in the Aegean Sea, part of the Bozcaada district of Çanakkale province in Turkey. , Tenedos has a population of about 2,354. The main industries are tourism, wine production and fishing...
. The British, French, Dutch and Austrian forces were already there, but the Turks did not show up. In June 1829 another rumor, that of Egyptian forces assembling in Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, caused another all-out movement of the international fleet, again with no result. In July Azov represented the Russian Empire at the Greek National Assembly
Greek National Assembly
The Greek National Assemblies are representative bodies of the Greek people. During and in the direct aftermath of the Greek War of Independence , the name was used for the insurgents' proto-parliamentary assemblies...
in Nafplion
Nafplion
Nafplio is a seaport town in the Peloponnese in Greece that has expanded up the hillsides near the north end of the Argolic Gulf. The town was the first capital of modern Greece, from the start of the Greek Revolution in 1821 until 1834. Nafplio is now the capital of the peripheral unit of...
. In September it again sailed to Tenedos, only to learn that the Russian and Ottoman Empires had signed an armistice.
Demise
Kronstadt
Kronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt |crown]]" and Stadt for "city"); is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland. Population: It is also...
, leaving a small observation force behind. Lazarev sailed out of Poros to Malta on 1830. The voyage from Malta to Kronstadt took 59 days and could be perfectly uninspiring had it not been for the order to reach Kronstadt on May 1. The urgency forced Lazarev to cross the Baltic when it was still icy, and Azov lost around 200 copper lining sheets in collisions with ice.
Azov reached Kronstadt on 1830. After less than four years at sea she was rotten beyond salvage. Constantine and Vladimir were just as bad. Lazarev complained that "our ships are not worth the paint
The Imperial Navy had three ships named after Azov - the 86-gun Pamyat Azova (1831, broken up in 1854); the 74-gun Pamyat Azova (1848, broken up in 1863); and the protected cruiser
Protected cruiser
The protected cruiser is a type of naval cruiser of the late 19th century, so known because its armoured deck offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused by exploding shells above...
Pamyat Azova
Russian cruiser Pamiat Azova
The Pamiat Azova was a unique armoured cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the late 1880s. She was decommissioned from front line service in 1909, converted into a depot ship and sunk by British torpedo boats during the Baltic Naval War, part of the Russian Civil War.-Name:The name of...
(1890, sunk in 1919). Modern Russian Navy has a project 775M landing ship
Ropucha class landing ship
The Ropucha , or Project 775 class landing ships are classified in the Russian Navy as "large landing craft" . They were built in Poland in the Stocznia Północna shipyards, in Gdansk. They are designed for beach landings and can carry a 450 ton cargo...
named Azov (built in 1990).