Battle of Sinop 1853
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 30 November 1853 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1853 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | Turkey | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Crimean War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Ottoman Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 42.0200, 35.1500 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Sinop, or the Battle of Sinope, was a naval battle that took place on 30 November 1853 between Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire during the opening phase of the Crimean War (1853–1856). It took place at Sinop, a sea port on the southern shore of the Black Sea (the northern shore of Anatolian Turkey). A Russian squadron attacked and decisively defeated an Ottoman squadron anchored in Sinop's harbor. The Russian force consisted of six ships of the line, two frigates and three armed steamers, led by Admiral Pavel Nakhimov; the Ottoman defenders were seven frigates, three corvettes and two armed steamers, commanded by Vice Admiral Osman Pasha.
The Russian navy had recently adopted naval artillery that fired explosive shells, which gave them a decisive advantage in the battle. All the Ottoman frigates and corvettes were either sunk or forced to run aground to avoid destruction; only one steamer escaped. The Russians lost no ships. Nearly 3,000 Turks were killed when Nakhimov's forces fired on the town after the battle. The victory is commemorated in Russia as one of the Days of Military Honour.
The one-sided battle contributed to the decision of France and Britain to enter the war, on the side of the Ottomans.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Sinop (revision 1370274409), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Crimean War
- Battle of Cetate 1853
- Battle of Oltenița 1853
- Battle of Balaclava 1854
- Battle of Bomarsund 1854
- Battle of Inkerman 1854
- Battle of the Alma 1854
- Siege of Petropavlovsk 1854
- Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) 1854
- Siege of Silistria (1854) 1854
- Battle of Eupatoria 1855
All 18 battles of the Crimean War →
Browse more: battles in Turkey · Asia · 19th century battles