The Battle of Cape Kaliakra or Battle off Cape Kaliakra was the last naval battle of the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1792. It took place on 11 August 1791 off the coast of northern Bulgaria in the Black Sea. Neither side lost a ship, but the Ottomans retreated to Istanbul afterwards.
The Russian fleet under Fyodor Ushakov of 15 battleships and 2 frigates (990 guns) and some small craft sailed from Sevastopol on 8 August, and at midday on 11 August encountered the Ottoman-Algerian fleet under Hussein Pasha of 18 battleships and 17 frigates (1,500–1,600 guns) and some smaller craft at anchor just south of Cape Kaliakra. Ushakov sailed, in 3 columns, from the north-east, between the Ottomans and the cape, despite the presence on the cape of several guns. Said Ali, the commander of the Algerian ships, weighed anchor and sailed east, followed by Hussein Pasha with the 18 battleships. The Russians then turned around south to a parallel east-south-east course and formed up mostly into 1 line, with Ushakov in 3rd position and one ship out of line on the off-battle side. Said Ali, leading the line, turned north to try to double the Russian van, but Ushakov sailed out of the line and attacked him, as the rest of the Russian fleet approached. This was at 4.45 p.m.. Gradually the Turks turned to the south and when darkness put an end to fighting at 8.30 p.m. they were in full retreat to Istanbul. Russian casualties were 17 killed and 28 wounded, and Sv. Aleksandr Nevskii was damaged.
Read more about Battle Of Cape Kaliakra: Consequence
Famous quotes containing the words battle and/or cape:
“If you are willing to inconvenience yourself in the name of discipline, the battle is half over. Leave Grandma’s early if the children are acting impossible. Depart the ballpark in the sixth inning if you’ve warned the kids and their behavior is still poor. If we do something like this once, our kids will remember it for a long time.”
—Fred G. Gosman (20th century)
“A great proportion of the inhabitants of the Cape are always thus abroad about their teaming on some ocean highway or other, and the history of one of their ordinary trips would cast the Argonautic expedition into the shade.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)