Reconsidering the Campaign of Dnieper Liman

Abstract

The naval campaign of the Dnieper Liman, fought from the autumn of 1787 to the end of 1788, was one of the most decisive maritime confrontations in the modern history of the Eastern Mediterranean. Fought in conjunction with two major siege operations, the campaign between the naval forces of the Ottoman and Russian empires decided the fate of the key Turkish fortress of Özi (Ochakov), which controlled the mouth of the Dnieper. The campaign was part of the Russian empress Catherine II’s second war with the Ottomans, a confrontation initiated by the Porte in response to Catherine II’s provocative “Greek Project” and fought with the aim of liberating the Crimean Khanate, annexed by Russia through force of arms in 1783. For the Ottoman side, the decisive operation was the storming and reduction of the Russian fortress of Kinburn, which blocked access to the Crimean interior. Since both Russians and Turks were fighting at the furthest point from their supply lines, gaining naval support and superiority was of paramount importance. Conscious of the role of sea power, Ottomans had prepared the greatest armada they ever put to the seas since the Morean Wars of 1684–1718, greatly outnumbering their adversary, the nascent Russian Black Sea Fleet. The protracted campaign of Liman resulted in the most shattering and costly Ottoman naval defeat of the Russo-Turkish Wars. Russia’s much trumpeted but in reality barren victory at Chesma in 1770 pales in comparison regarding the strategic results of the Liman campaign. The incident also serves as a perfect case study to reassess the Age of Sail in the Mediterranean.