At the same time, Tsarina Catherine the Great, lacking an organised Russian fleet in the Black Sea, drew up plans with Count Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov to detach a large number of ships from the Baltic Fleet and deploy them to the Mediterranean. Russia hoped they would attack the Turkish Straits from the rear, and that its naval presence in the Aegean Sea would provoke a Greek rebellion. This newly formed Mediterranean Fleet, headed by Orlov and commanded by Admiral Grigory Spiridov, sailed from Copenhagen on September23, 1769. By March1, 1770, the first detachment was anchored off the southern Morea, where the Orlov revolt broke out. This was followed by bombardments and troop landings at different locations in the region over the coming months. On July7 a Turkish fleet was crushed at the Battle of Chesma, which crippled the Ottoman Navy and gave the Russians naval command of the Mediterranean for the remainder of the war. Turkish ships that survived retreated to the Dardanelles. Rear-Admiral John Elphinstone proposed a direct assault on Constantinople, but was instead convinced by Orlov to blockade the Straits with his squadron, while the rest of the fleet went on the offensive in the northern Aegean.