New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-11-07
vet the, had to defend not only plain r,mpsrts but


ir.ignifcAn. indeed or else very weakly defended :;
and in either case the success OF the allied fleets
before Kinburn does not in an! way affect the gen.
orally adopted opinion that one gun ashore, well
sheltered behind earth rsmParts, is worth more
than SIX on board ship coming to attack il.
Tie entrance to the Liman Of the Dnieper once
having been forced by the Allies, aud the pretended
existence of bar Of great shallowness st that
point having been proved to be mere Russian
stratsgem, the whole Liman is opened to the action
of the French and English fleets. The interior o.
tie Linan is known 70 have a great depth OF wa'
ter st least in the central channel though nearer
70 the shores il abOunds in sand banks, none oil
which, however, are formidable to gunboats and
other light vessels. Thus Ot,hakof, Glubakoye and
otter points on the shores Of the estuary are e1'
posed to the attacks of the Allies and very likely
will have TO suffer from them.
That the entrance TO the Limsn is not the shall
low channel indicated on tie charts, the allied ad
nirsls might have inferred from the history of the
campaign of 17e5. And here we may be allowed
to refer again to that campaign, not only because it
pi7es us clear insight into what the nature OF
this estuary is with reference to naval warfare
but also because il was then the scene of some Of
tie exploits Of our Revolutionary hero, Paul Jones.
At that time, Kinburn and the south shore we're
held by the Russians, and OtshskOf and the north
shore, BY the Turks. The Russians had fleet at
Clubskoye, between the mouths of the DniePer
and Of the Bug its sailing vessels OF deep draueht
were commanded By RearAdmiral Paul Jones,
aid consisted of FIVE ships of the Line OF eighty
CONS. ana 7 -. iiisates, wois the rowing hota
of sixty-iye light vessels was under the orders Of
the Prince of NassauSegen. The Turks had
about Otsbakoff, under Hassan Pasha, ten ships OF
the line, six frgaes and fythree vessels of light
draueht second Turkish fleet Of eight sail OF
the line, eight frigates, and twenty.fOur smaller
sail wac cruising in the citing. After few
preliminary engagements, HasIan.Pasha, on the
9th of June, entered the Liman with the whole
of his first feet sailed up as far as GlubskOye,
thus proving that ships of the line, with their full
armament on beard, could come up so far,) and
formed in order of battle the large vessels in the
first line The Russians, on the contrary, covered
their liners and frigates by the row. boats On the
morning of the 2Sth the battle began. The Turk.
ish lire advanced, and soon came up within range
of the Russian liners. Within an hour Turkish
ship of seventy guns was aground; the admiraPs
flag ship, carrying eighty guns, was ashore few
moments after. Two frigates of forty guns went
to succOr them, but one of them struck on shoal
almost Immediately; while Paul Jones's large yes
sells kept tie remainder of the Turkish vessels en-
gagged, the row-boats closed up with the stranded
Ill 20
der Of the Turkish feet soon retired in no enviable
state but still their large ships made such bold
front that their retreat was pretty unmolested
by the Russian gun.boats and galeys.
But the measure Of their disaster Was not yet
filed Hasa a-Pashs, having collected the remains
of bis feet at Otshakof resolved to join the feet
cruising in the Black sea, and to effect this he had
to pass round the point of the Kinburn spit Here
suyoroff, who commanded in the peninsula, had
constructed masked battery of twenty four guns
and when the Turks, in the night of the 30th of
June, 17oS, attempted to double that cape, the
battery opened upon them with great effect. Be-
fore daybreak the fire of the Russians, favored by
bright moonlight had brought into great distress
the Turkish feet, whose ships had to pass one
after the other through the narrow channel, and
were all the while within easy range OF the battery
Several vessels got ashore, others showed signals
of distress, some went down or were in flames,
and as day broke the Russian fleet bore down upon
them. Paul Jones very wisely kept his large ships
back, as there was no room for them to maueuver
and indeed the liner Vladimir, venturng too much
forward, was lost Oh shoal. But the rowing flo
tilla cloted with the Turks, and destroyed a great
many of their ships, so that before noon the whole
frigates, and seventeen smaller sail were destroyed
and one liner and two frigates were taken by the
Russians OF the two sail of the line which were
saved by the Turks, one went down before it could
reach Constantinople, and frgate sank as soon as
she had reached the island Of Peresan. A portion
of the Turkish feet sought shelter under the guns
of Otshakoff, but even here Prince Nassau-Segen
August.
This campaign shows clearly what sort Of
naval battlefield the Dnieper Liman is. The
smaller sort of ships Of the line or at least the
large fifty and sixty gun frigstes, can enter it,
but whether they will be able to maneuyer in it
with any degree of safety, though they be pro-
PEELED BY steam, remains doubtful But that
corvettes, sloops and vessels Of lighter draught
especially steamers, can easily maneuver in these
waters, while the larger vessels may serve, when
once moorsd as stationary batteries, there is not
the slightest doubt whatever. And with the
means of naval warfare now in the possession of
the Allies, with due activity they should be able
IN scour the imam from Otschskof 70 the month