Battle of Chesma The naval Battle of Chesma took place on 5 – 7 July 1770 near and in Çeşme ( Chesme or Chesma ) Bay , in the area between the western tip of Anatolia and the island of Chios , which was the site of a number of past naval battles between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice . It was a part of the Orlov Revolt of 1769 , a precursor to the later Greek War of Independence ( 1821 – 29 ) , and the first of a number of disastrous fleet battles for the Ottomans against Russia . Prelude . The Russo - Turkish War had begun in 1768 , and Russia sent several squadrons from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea to draw Ottoman attention away from their Black Sea fleet , then only 6 battleships ( ships of the line ) strong . Two Russian squadrons , commanded by Admiral Grigory Spiridov and Rear Admiral John Elphinstone , a British advisor , combined under the overall command of Count Alexei Orlov , Commander - in - Chief of the Russian Fleet and went to look for the Ottoman fleet . On 5 July 1770 they came across it anchored in line just north of Çeşme Bay , western Anatolia . Details of the Ottoman fleet are uncertain but it included 14 – 16 ships of the line including " Real Mustafa " of 84 guns , " Rodos " of 60 guns and a 100 - gun flagship . In addition there were perhaps 6 frigate s , 6 xebec s , 13 galley s and 32 small craft , with about 1 , 300 guns in total . About 10 of the ships of the line , of 70 – 100 guns , were in the Ottoman main line with a further 6 or so ships of the line in the 2nd , arranged so that they could fire through the gaps in the first line . Behind that were the frigates , xebecs etc . The fleet was commanded by Kapudan Pasha Mandalzade Hüsameddin , in the fourth ship from the front ( north end ) of the line , with Hasan Pasha in the first ship , " Real Mustafa " , and Cafer Bey in the seventh . Two further ships of the line , probably small , had left this fleet for Mytilene the previous evening . After organizing a plan of attack , the Russian battle line ( see Table 1 ) sailed towards the south end of the Ottoman line and then turned north , coming alongside the Ottomans , with the tail end coming into action last ( Elphinston had wanted to approach the northern end first , then follow the wind along the Ottoman line , attacking their ships one by one – the method used by Nelson at the Battle of the Nile in 1798 ) . Battle . The Ottomans opened fire at about 11 . 45am , followed by the Russians slightly later . Three of the Russian ships of the line had trouble staying in position ; " Evropa " turned around and came back behind " Rostislav " , " Trech Svyatitelai " circled the 2nd Ottoman vessel before coming back into the Russian line , being attacked in error by " Trech Ierarchov " as she did so , and " Sv . Ianuarii " turned around before coming back into the line . Spiridov , in " Sv . Evstafii " , had a close - range battle with Hasan Pasha in " Real Mustafa " , before the latter was suddenly seen to be on fire . Her mainmast came down and landed on " Sv . Evstafii " s deck , causing the Russian ship to immediately blow up . Shortly later " Real Mustafa " blew up as well . According to Elphinston , who claimed the Russians were almost useless , Spiridov and Count Feodor Orlov ( brother of the commander ) , had left " Sv . Evstafii " before the fighting became close - range . Spiridov ended up on " Tri Svyatitelya " . " Sv . Evstafii " ' s captain , Kruse , survived too . At about 2pm the fighting ended , as the Ottomans cut their cables and moved south into the bay , forming themselves into a defensive line of 8 ships of the line , a 2nd line , and the rest beyond . On 6 July the Russians bombarded the Ottoman ships and land positions , and at about 12 : 30 a . m . on the morning of 7 July Orlov sent Samuel Greig , ( who transferred to " Rostislav " ) to attack with " Evropa " , " Rostislav " and " Ne tron menya " forming a south - north line facing the Ottomans , and with " Saratov " in reserve , " Nadezhda " attacking the batteries at the eastern side of the bay entrance , " Afrika " attacking the batteries on the western side , and " Grom " near " Afrika " . At about 1 : 30 a . m . or earlier ( times were about 90 minutes earlier , according to Elphinston ) , fire from " Grom " and / or " Ne tron menya " caused an Ottoman ship of the line to blow up after her main topsail caught fire , and the fire quickly spread to other ships of the line . By 2 a . m . two Ottoman ships of the line had blown up and more were on fire , and Greig sent in three fireships ( the fourth , seeing the danger , stayed out ) , which contributed in a small way to the burning of almost the entire Ottoman fleet . At about 4 a . m . , boats were sent in to save two ships of the line which were not burning , but one of these caught fire while it was being towed . The other , " Rodos " 60 , survived and was captured along with five galleys . Fighting ended at about 8 a . m . Russian casualties on 5 July were 14 killed , plus 636 killed in " Sv . Evstafii " , and about 30 wounded , and on 7 July 11 killed . Ottoman casualties were much higher . Hüsameddin , Hasan Pasha and Cafer Bey survived . Hüsameddin was removed from his position , which was given to Cafer Bey . This was the only significant fleet battle during the Russo - Turkish War . Significance . The Battle of Chesma was fought on the same day as the land Battle of Larga . It was the greatest naval defeat suffered by Ottomans since the Battle of Lepanto ( 1571 ) . This battle inspired great confidence in the Russian fleet and allowed the Russians to control the Aegean Sea for some time . The defeat of the Ottoman fleet also sped up rebellions by minority groups in the Ottoman Empire , especially the Orthodox Christian nations in the Balkan peninsula , who helped the Russian army in defeating the Ottoman Empire . After this naval victory , the Russian fleet stayed in Aegean for the following five years . It came back to Çeşme twice more to bombard it during this time . Historians still debate the rationale for this Russian military focus on this small fort town while there were many other more strategic targets along the Aegean coast . Catherine the Great commissioned four monuments to commemorate the victory : Chesma Palace and Church of Saint John at Chesme Palace in St Petersburg ( 1774 – 77 ) , Chesma Obelisk in Gatchina ( 1775 ) , and Chesma Column in Tsarskoe Selo ( 1778 ) .