Battle of Kinburn (1787)

The Battle of Kinburn was fought on 1 October 1787 as part of the Russo-Turkish War, 1787-1792.

A weak fortress, Kinburn was located opposite Ochakov on a sand bank forming a part of the Dnieper river delta. It covered approaches to the fleet base at Kherson. The reason for the Ottoman attack on Kinburn was to deprive the enemy of a base for the siege of Ochakov and Kherson fleet base.

Alexander Suvorov, commanding the Russian garrison, had 19 bronze and 300 iron artillery pieces in the fortress, weak in power and range, 1,500 infantry in Kinburne and 2,500 infantry, 28 regimental and 10 field guns, and Cossack cavalry within 30 versts (roughly 50 kilometers) from the fortress.

The Ottomans had three 60 gun ships of the line, four 34 gun frigates, four bomb vessels (floating batteries), and 14 gunboats with 4 guns each. Altogether, about 400 guns. The Ottoman troops were carried by 23 transport vessels.

During September, the Ottoman fleet twice carried out ranging fire of the fleet against the coast, trying to locate position of the Russian gun emplacements. During one bombardment, a Russian galley "Desna" which was part of a force of two frigates and four galleys (themselves a part of Admiral Mordvinov's flotilla), intervened on the initiative of its Maltese captain, and drove off the Ottoman gunboats. On the 29 and 30 September bombardment of Kinburn was conducted from the Ottoman ships again. On 1 October 1787 at 9 in the morning an amphibious landing of 6,000 troops was conducted on two separate sites (5,300 on the bank's 'tongue' itself, and the rest 10-15 versts away at a village of Bienka), with the fleet supporting the landing with fire. The pasha of Ochakov ordered the ships to leave after the landing so that the amphibious landing force would not contemplate withdrawal. The landing force begun to dig a total of 15 trenches, in the attempt to move closer to Kinburn.

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Wikipedia