Spiridov Grigory Andreevich: brief biography

Sometimes history is unfair to people who have left a significant trace in it, and attributes their merit to others. But time puts a lot into place and allows a new look at the past events. One of such people, whose feat was underestimated by contemporaries, is the hero of the Battle of Chesma - the complete Admiral Grigory A. Spiridov, interesting facts from the life of which are offered to the readers of this article.

Mardemarin Spiridov

The outstanding Russian naval commander Spiridov Grigory Andreevich was born on January 31, 1713 in the family of the commandant of Vyborg, a city conquered by Peter I from the Swedes during the Northern War. Having received his home education, which was the young nobleman, he volunteered for the fleet. Already at the age of fifteen, successfully passing the exams in the navigational sciences, he gets his first title - midshipman.

In that year a group of young sailors was sent from St. Petersburg to the Caspian Sea, among which Spiridov also left for the actual service. Gregory, having been commanded by an experienced naval commander and hydrographer Alexei Nagaev, mastered the wisdom of marine science very successfully. A few years later, he was entrusted with the command of two gabbos - three-masted sailing ships for the transport of goods and troops. In those years, Spiridov's voyage routes ran from Astrakhan to Persia.

Service in the Baltic

In 1732, a young and promising sailor was transferred to Kronstadt, where, having received the rank of midshipman ahead of schedule, he continued to serve on the ships of the Baltic Fleet, and six years later was appointed adjutant of Vice-Admiral Peter Bredale. It was near this outstanding naval commander that the real combat training of the Spirids took place. Grigory Andreevich, whose biography is inextricably linked with the history of the Russian fleet of those years, accompanied the Vice Admiral in the Azov expedition against the Turkish fleet and participated in all battles with the Don Flotilla.

After that, his track record is replenished with three years spent in the North of Russia, in Arkhangelsk, where on a newly built warship Spiridov makes a transition to the berths of Kronstadt, so memorable to him. Here during the next ten years he commands not only linear ships, but also - which is very important for further career - court yachts. This gives him the opportunity to gain fame among the command of the Baltic Fleet, and most importantly - in the circles of the highest nobility.

The result was not slow to affect, and in 1754 his uniform was decorated with shoulder straps of the captain of the third rank. In this rank of Spiridov, Grigory Andreevich became a member of the state commission, which was entrusted with the development of the new Charter of the Navy. At the end of his work, he is appointed head of the Naval Gentry Cadet Corps, where, in the rank of company commander, Spiridov is preparing for Russia her future admirals.

Participation in the Seven Years' War

Years of the Seven Years' War, which, along with many of the leading powers in the world, became Russia, Grigory Andreevich spent the Baltic Fleet, performing combat missions, during which he led operations off the coast of Sweden, Danzig, Copenhagen and Stralsund. When, in 1761, General Pyotr Rumyantsev, besieging the fortress of Kohlberg (the present territory of Poland), needed reinforcements, it was Spiridov on his ships who delivered him two thousand troops.

The young Empress Catherine II, who ascended to the throne in 1762, appreciated the merits of the "honest and brave officer" (as General Rumyantsev called it), and Grigory Andreyevich Spiridov was promoted to the rear admirals with the appointment of his commander in the Revel squadron. It was a very responsible post. The new admiral's duties included ensuring the safety of the Baltic sea lines. At the end of the Seven Years' War, he for some time occupies the post of chief of the Kronstadt and Revel ports, and then becomes commander of the Baltic Fleet, where he once served as midshipman.

In the campaign for glory

But Spiridov showed himself most vividly in the battles of the Russian-Turkish war, which began in 1768 and lasted six years. By this time, he received the title of admiral, the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky and was appointed commander of an expedition of the navy sent to the Greek archipelago. From the Kronstadt quays the squadron departed in July 1769 and six months later reached the Moray peninsula in the southern part of the Balkans, where, in accordance with the campaign plan, it connected with the ships of the second expedition headed by Admiral John Elphinstone.

After a while, Count Alexei Orlov, arrived from Livorno, arrived from Livorno, sent by Empress Catherine II to command all Russian naval forces in the Mediterranean Sea. With his arrival, active military operations began, as a result of which the cities of Arcadia and Mystra were seized, as well as military bases located in Navarino and Itilone. To counter the Russian fleet, the Ottoman Empire was forced to pull considerable forces into the area.

Victory in the Chios Battle

The first major battle with the Turkish fleet in this military campaign occurred on June 24, 1770, and was called the Chios battle. In it, Orlov gave full power to Spiridov, whom, despite his personal dislike, was highly valued as an experienced naval commander. According to the testimony of contemporaries, Grigory Ivanovich used in this battle a new tactics for the sea battles for those times , sending the vanguard of his ships at right angles to the chain of enemy ships and starting from a short distance an attack on his center. Such a decision entailed a great responsibility, which Spiridov was not afraid to take upon himself.

Grigory Andreevich was on board the ship "Evstafia" during the battle and was on the verge of death when it exploded during a boarding battle with the Turkish flagship "Real Mustafa". Both ships sank, and only because of a combination of circumstances, the admiral remained alive and safely climbed aboard the frigate "Three Hierarchs." In this battle, the victory was on the side of the Russian fleet, which was almost twice as superior to its enemy.

Admiral's Star Time

However, there was still the main battle, which Spiridov Gregory Andreyevich won. The battle of Chesme, which occurred on the night of June 24 to June 25, 1770, was truly a stellar hour. Commander of the Russian squadron Count Orlov, with all his indisputable merits of a statesman and commander, had no experience in naval battles. And although later it was he who won the glory of the winner in the Chesma battle, the real leadership in him was assigned to Spiridov.

Thanks to the maneuvers he undertook, the Turkish fleet was practically driven into the Chesma Bay and found itself in an extremely disadvantageous position. According to the plan of the admiral, the Turks were simultaneously subjected to artillery fire and were attacked by fire-ships - small ships loaded with explosives and directed towards the enemy, when they collided with them, they exploded. Their team, who had previously moved into the boats, was selected by other vessels.

Such tactics allowed the Russians to set fire to and send to the bottom a large part of the Turkish fleet, after which the Ottoman Empire for a long time lost its sea power. Impressive and the statistics of the ratio of losses suffered in this battle by the warring parties. It is known that among the Russians eleven sailors were killed, while the number of killed and wounded Turks was eleven thousand. Simply put - 1 to 1000.

Stolen glory

This is truly a unique result in the history of not only sea but also land battles. That day, along with the entire Russian squadron, her commander, Admiral Spiridov Grigory Andreevich, triumphed. A picture of Aivazovsky's painting, written in 1848 and depicting the scene of the legendary battle, is presented at the end of this article.

In honor of the glorious victory, or, as they were said at the time, "victories", Catherine II ordered the church to be erected (her photo can also be seen in the article) and a commemorative column. Sam Spiridov Grigory Andreevich, whose merits were undeniable, received only the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. Lion's share of honors and glory went to, as mentioned above, Catherine's favorite - Count Orlov.

Service on the Aegean Sea

The Admiral spent the next three years in the area of the Greek archipelago, creating the base of the Russian fleet on the island of Paros and from there controlling a significant part of communications in the Aegean Sea. They almost completely blocked the supply of weapons and provisions from Greece to Constantinople, and the Dardanelles were also blocked. In 1772, Spiridov, interacting with the land forces, made a series of successful military operations against the coastal Turkish fortresses, reaching in their campaigns Egypt and Syria.

Forgotten Heroes

In 1773, Honored Admiral Grigory Andreevich Spiridov, whose brief biography formed the basis of this article, sent to St. Petersburg a petition for resignation. He was only sixty, but in his report he referred to the deterioration of health. The real cause of the reluctance to continue serving biographers consider the resentment that the victory in the Battle of Chesma was attributed not to him, but to Catherine II's favorite - Count Orlov, who during the battle took only passive participation, but entered the history of Russia as his main hero.

The rest of his life the admiral spent in his ancestral village Highlands of Pereslavl Uyezd, where he died on April 19, 1790. His death remained unnoticed by Russia, which had long since entered into a new reign and was occupied with other problems. The last way of the deserved naval commander was escorted only by yard people and one more person - his friend, the same as he, the forgotten hero of the Chesme battle - Admiral Stepan Petrovich Khmetevsky.