Governing Senate
At the start of the Russo-Turkish war in 1735, the Dnieper Army of Field Marshal B. K. Minich requested naval assistance in capturing the Turkish fortress of Ochakiv on the Black Sea. At the instigation of Vice-Chancellor Count Osterman, the Governing Senate issued a decree on January 4, 1737 for the building at Bryansk of a flotilla for operations on the Dnieper River. At least ten British officers served with the flotilla