The naval Battle of Chesma took place on 5-7 July 1770 near and in Chesma Bay, western Turkey, in the area between mainland Turkey and Chios which was the site of so many naval battles between Turkey and Venice. It was the first of a number of disastrous fleet battles for Turkey against Russia.

The war had started in 1769 and Russia sent several squadrons to the Mediterranean Sea to draw Turkish attention away from their Black Sea fleet, then only 6 battleships strong. On 5 July 1770 the main Russian fleet under Count Orlov, then consisting of Spiridov's squadron (Sv. Evstafii, Evropa, Trech Svyatitelai, Sv. Ianuarii, Rostislav and the frigate Sv. Nikolai), Elphinston's squadron (Ne tron menya, Svyatoslav, Saratov and the frigates Nadezhda and Afrika), as well as Orlov himself in Trech Ierarchov, with the bomb vessel Grom, making a total of 9 battleships, 3 frigates, 1 bomb vessel and several smaller vessels, came across the Turkish fleet, anchored in line just north of Chesma Bay. 10 battleships of 70-100 guns were in their main line with a further 6 or so battleships in the 2nd, arranged so that they could fire through the gaps in the first line. Behind that were frigates, xebecs etc. The fleet was commanded by Kapudan Pasha Hosameddin, in the 4th ship from the front (north end) of the line, with Hassan Pasha in the first ship, Real Mustafa, and Djaffer Bey in the 7th.

After conferring on how to attack, the Russian battle line sailed toward the south end of the Turkish line and then turned north, coming alongside the Turks, with the tail end coming into action last. The Turks opened fire at about 11.45am, followed by the Russians slightly later. 2 of the Russian battleships had trouble staying in position; Evropa turned around and came back behind the next in line, Sv. Evstafii (flag of Spiridov), and Trech Svyatitelai circled the 2nd Turkish vessel before coming back into the Russian line, being attacked in error by Trech Ierarchov as she did so.

Spiridov, in Sv. Evstafii had a close-range battle with Hassan Pasha in Real Mustafa, before the latter was suddenly seen to be on fire. Her mainmast came down and landed on Sv. Evstafiis deck, causing the Russian ship to immediately blow up. Shortly later Real Mustafa blew up as well.

Spiridov and Count Feodor Orlov (brother of the commander), had left Sv. Evstafii before the fighting became close-range, and Spiridov ended up on Trech Svyatitelai. Her captain, Kruse, survived too. At about 2pm the fighting ended, as the Turks cut their cables and moved south into the bay, forming themselves into a defensive line of 8 battleships, a 2nd line, and the rest beyond.

During the 6th the Russians bombarded the Turkish ships and land positions and late on the 6th, or early on the 7th they attacked with part of their fleet. At about 1:30 am or earlier fire from Grom and/or Ne tron menya caused 1 Turkish battleship to blow up after her mainmast caught fire, and the fire quickly spread to other battleships. After this the Russians sent in 3 fireships (the 4th, seeing the danger, stayed out), which contributed in a small way to the burning of almost the entire Turkish fleet. The battleship Rodos 60 survived and was captured along with 5 galleys (or galliots?). Russian casualties on the 5th were 14 killed, plus 636 killed in Sv. Evstafii, and about 30 wounded, and on the 7th 11 killed. Turkish casualties were much higher. Hosameddin, Hassan Pasha and Djaffer Bey survived. This was the only significant naval battle during the Russo-Turkish War.

Ships involved:

Russia (Count Orlov)

On 5 July, the battleships came into action in the order listed
Battleships:
Evropa 66
Sv. Evstafii 68 (Spiridov) - Blew up, 5 July
Tri Svyatitelya 66
Sv. Ianuarii 66
Tri Ierarchov 66 (flag of Count Orlov)
Rostislav 68
Ne tron menya 66
Svyatoslav 84 (Elphinston)
Saratov 66
Frigates:
Afrika 32
Nadezhda 32
Sv. Nikolai 26/38?
Bomb:
Grom 12
Fireships:
? - Sunk by 2 Turkish galleys, 7 July
? - Scuttled, 7 July
? - Scuttled, 7 July, burning 1 ship
?
- about 718 guns

Armed merchant ships possibly involved:
Sv. Pavel 8
Graf Tchernyshev 22
Graf Panin 18
Graf Orlov 18

Turkey (Hosameddin)

(details uncertain)
Real Mustafa 84 (Hassan Pasha) - Blew up, 5 July
Rodos 60 - Captured, 7 July
? 100 (flag of Hosameddin?) - Burnt, 7 July
13 other battleships - Burnt, 7 July
6 frigates - Burnt, 7 July
6 xebecs - Burnt, 7 July
8 galleys - Burnt, 7 July
5 galleys - Captured, 7 July
32 small craft - Burnt, 7 July
- about 1300 guns