Later Potemkin ordered the shipyard to be named `` Nikolaev '' to commemorate the date when Ochakov fell to the Russian troops under his command on 6 December 1788 , the feast day of Saint Nicholas '' ( Nikolai ) '' on the Russian Orthodox Church calendar .
Later Potemkin ordered the shipyard to be named `` Nikolaev '' to commemorate the date of fall of Ochakov to the Russian troops under his command on December 6 , 1788 , close to the day of Saint Nicholas '' ( Nikolay ) '' December 19 , in the Russian Orthodox Church .