View source for Russian ship Chesma (1849)

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|Class before={{sclass-|Khrabryi|ship of the line|1}}
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|Ship country=[[Russian Empire]]
|Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Russian Empire|naval}}
|Ship name=''Chesma''
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|Ship builder=I. S. Dimitriev
|Ship original cost=
|Ship laid down=26 July 1842
|Ship launched=23 October 1849
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|Ship fate=Scuttled at the [[Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855)|Siege of Sevastopol]], 28 August 1855
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class=[[Ship of the line]]
|Ship tons burthen=
|Ship length={{cvt|196|ft}}
|Ship beam= {{cvt|57|ft}}
|Ship draft={{cvt|23|ft|8|in}}
|Ship displacement={{convert|4030|t|sp=us}}
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|Ship armament=
*8 × 68-pound shell guns
*28 × 36-pound [[Naval long gun|long gun]]s
*32 × 36-pound short guns
*8 × 18-pound long guns
*10 × 36-pound [[carronade]]s
*2 × 24-pound carronades
*2 × 18-pound carronades
*2 × 8-pound carronades
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'''''Chesma''''' was an 84-gun [[ship of the line]] built for the [[Black Sea Fleet]] of the [[Imperial Russian Navy]] in the 1840s. ''Rostislav'' carried a battery primarily consisting of tradition shot-firing guns, but she also carried four new shell-firing guns. The ship saw combat during the [[Crimean War]] at the [[Battle of Sinop]] in 1853, where the Russian shell guns proved to be decisive. She thereafter returned to defend [[Sevastopol]], supporting Russian ground forces during a battle in February 1855 before being disarmed and then [[scuttling|scuttled]] to block the harbor entrance to an Anglo-French fleet in August.

==Design==
Beginning in the 1820s, the Russian Empire embarked on a naval construction program to strengthen the [[Black Sea Fleet]]; during this period, the [[Ottoman Empire]] was becoming progressively weaker, particularly after a combined Russo-Franco-British fleet annihilated an Ottoman fleet at the [[Battle of Navarino]] in 1827. The power vacuum created increased the risk of future conflicts with Britain and France, so the Russian government ordered a series of 84-gun [[ship of the line|ships of the line]] to prepare the fleet.{{sfn|Sozaev & Tredrea|p=297}}

===Characteristics===
''Chesma'' was {{convert|196|ft}} long, with a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{cvt|57|ft}} and a [[draft (hull)|draft]] of {{cvt|23|ft|8|in}}. The ship was given a broad beam to allow her to carry a heavy battery of 68-pound guns on her lower deck. She [[displacement (ship)|displaced]] {{convert|4030|t|sp=us}}.{{sfn|Sozaev & Tredrea|p=302}}

As originally armed, the ship carried a battery of four 68-pounder shell-firing [[Paixhans gun]]s and twenty-eight 36-pounder [[Naval long gun|long gun]]s on the lower [[gun deck]] and another thirty-two 36-pound short-barreled guns on the upper gun deck. In her [[forecastle]] and [[quarterdeck]], she mounted eight 18-pound guns, ten 36-pound [[carronade]]s, two 24-pound carronades, two 18-pound carronades, and two 8-pound carronads.{{sfn|Sozaev & Tredrea|p=302}}{{sfn|Sondhaus|p=58}}

In 1853, the armament carried in the forecastle and quarterdeck was considerably simplified; she now carried the ten 36-pound carronades and eight 18-pound carronades. The following year, those guns were replaced with twenty 24-pound [[gunnade]]s and six of the 18-pound carronades.{{sfn|Sozaev & Tredrea|p=302}}

==Service history==
[[File:Battle-of-sinope.jpg|thumb|Russian ships at the [[Battle of Sinop]], by [[Ivan Aivazovsky]]]]

''Chesma'' was built by the I. S. Dimitriev shipyard in [[Mykolaiv|Nikolaev]]; she was [[keel laying|laid down]] on 26 July 1842. Work proceeded very slowly, and she was [[ship launching|launched]] on 23 October 1849. The following year, the ship sailed to [[Sevastopol]], and she thereafter operated with the Black Sea Fleet, cruising in the [[Black Sea]] through 1853. Following the outbreak of the [[Crimean War]] with the [[Ottoman Empire]] in October 1853, ''Chesma'' was used as part of an effort to carry soldiers to [[Sukhumi]] to strengthen defenses in the Caucasus; ''Chesma'' carried a contingent of 935 to the port.{{sfn|Sozaev & Tredrea|p=302}}

''Chesma'' then re-joined a squadron commanded by Admiral [[Pavel Nakhimov]] to take part in the [[Battle of Sinop]] on 30 November ([[Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_calendar#Adoption_in_Eastern_Europe|N.S.]]; 18 November O.S.). The Russian squadron, which included five other ships of the line, two [[frigate]]s, and three steam ships, attacked an Ottoman squadron that consisted of seven frigates, three [[corvette]]s, and two transports. Nakhimov initially steamed into the harbor with his ships in two columns to demand the Ottomans surrender, but the Ottomans rejected the ultimatum. The Russians then anchored some {{cvt|900|m}} away and began bombarding the Ottoman ships in the harbor. The Ottomans returned fire, initially inflicting significant damage on the Russian vessels, but the devastating power of the Paixhans guns quickly destroyed the Ottoman fleet. ''Chesma'' was heavily engaged in the action, firing 1,539&nbsp;rounds during the battle and sustaining 20&nbsp;hits. Her crew suffered few casualties in the action, with only four men wounded. The Ottoman fleet was completely destroyed, in large part due to the destructive power of the Russian shell-firing guns; only one Ottoman vessel escaped destruction: the steam frigate {{ship|Ottoman frigate|Taif||2}}, which had fled at high speed early in the action.{{sfn|Sozaev & Tredrea|p=302}}{{sfn|Badem|pp=117, 120–122}}

The Russian attack on Sinop was perceived in Britain and France as an attack on Ottoman territory, and thus provided the pro-war factions of their governments justification to intervene in the Crimean War. France and Britain issued an ultimatum to Russia to withdraw its forces from [[Rumelia]], the Ottoman territories in the [[Balkans]], which the Russians initially ignored, prompting Anglo-French declarations of war in March 1854.{{sfn|Lambert|pp=94, 97}}{{sfn|Bartlett|pp=51–52}} The Russians were surprised by the intervention and withdrew the fleet to Sevastopol, precluding any possibility of action with the British and French fleet that entered the Black Sea. ''Chesma'' was stationed in the Sevastopol [[roadstead]] to guard the harbor and was later trapped there during the [[Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855)|Siege of Sevastopol]] that lasted into early 1855. On 12 February 1855, she bombarded Anglo-French forces that attempted to storm the fortress protecting the city, helping to break up the attack. Later during the siege, ''Chesma'' and the rest of the Russian fleet were disarmed to strengthen the land defenses of the city and then [[scuttling|scuttled]] them to block the harbor from the Anglo-French fleet. ''Chesma'' was sunk in the harbor mouth on 28 August 1855.{{sfn|Sozaev & Tredrea|p=302}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|20em}}

==References==
* {{cite book
  |last=Badem
  |first=Candan
  |title=The Ottoman Crimean War: (1853–1856)
  |year=2010
  |location=Leiden
  |publisher=Brill
  |isbn=9789004182059
  |ref={{sfnRef|Badem}}
  }}
* {{cite book
  |last=Bartlett
  |first=Christopher John
  |title=Defence and Diplomacy: Britain and the Great Powers, 1815–1914
  |year=1993
  |publisher=Manchester UP
  |isbn=9780719035203
  |ref={{sfnRef|Bartlett}}
  }}
* {{cite book
  |last=Lambert
  |first=Andrew
  |title=The Crimean War: British Grand Strategy Against Russia, 1853–56
  |year=2011
  |publisher=Ashgate
  |isbn=9781409410119
  |ref={{sfnRef|Lambert}}
  }}
* {{cite book
  |last=Sondhaus
  |first=Lawrence
  |title=Naval Warfare, 1815–1914
  |location=New York
  |publisher=Routledge
  |year=2001
  |isbn=0-415-21478-5
  |ref={{sfnRef|Sondhaus}}
  }}
* {{cite book
  |last1=Sozaev
  |first1=Eduard 
  |last2=Tredrea
  |first2=John 
  |title=Russian Warships in the Age of Sail 1696-1860: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates
  |year=2010
  |location=Barnsley
  |publisher=Seaforth
  |isbn=9781848320581
  |ref={{sfnRef|Sozaev & Tredrea}}
  }}

{{Chesma class ship of the line}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chesma}}
[[Category:Ships of the line of the Imperial Russian Navy]]
[[Category:1849 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Russia]]
[[Category:Scuttled vessels]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1855]]