The Dutch ambassador at Constantinople gave in his letters the Counsellor (Raadspensionaris) Fagel, the highest official in the Dutch Republic, some information about the Turkish navy in the Russian-Turkish war. The ambassador didn’t trust blindly all the news he got.
Letter dated 21 February 1789
Since some months are here some British frigates lying in the harbour. Although the owners are asking ridiculous prices, the Ottoman government bought one 36-40 guns frigate for 101.000 piasters. The owners are hoping to sell also the other two ships, although the largest seems to be rotten. 1
Letter dated 1 March 1789
The admiral or Captan Pasha, suffering from reprisals due hasn’t been able in avoiding the capture of the city and fortress of Ocakow by the Russians, is trying to rebuild a large navy. And so he bought the two British frigates I mentioned in my earlier letter. One for 70.000, the other for 50.000 Carolus guilders. In contrary to the army the navy didn’t succeed in finding men.
Letter dated 22 March 1789
The ships which were part of the first division of the fleet departed 19th March. The 10 or 12 frigates sailed through the Channel towards the Black Sea and are expected to enter the sea within short time. The division is not commanded by the brother of the vizier as was assumed, but by one Halil Kapudan, born in Gallipolo. He became capudana and was called Bach Bock, one rank lower than Seraskier. 13th March are 440 new found guns, mainly destined for the navy, are all tested with a quite satisfying results. There are a quite a lot of rumours that the Russians captured by storm the fortress of Bender. The Turkish government denied that. But the ambassador had seriously doubts about these Turkish denials. The experience with Ocakow learned that the official Turkish news wasn’t somehow unreliable. The same Turkish government hired some French ships to transport grain to Sougiac on the isle Taman. The French flag was an assurance for the cargo.
Letter dated 22 May 1789
10th May departed the new Captan pacha with the usual ceremonies with the fleet this harbour. He is waiting for a more favourable wind to sail for the Black Sea. The former captan pacha is ordered to command a corps of several thousand soldiers and ready to march within some days. The sultan in the meantime is inspecting the official administrations in Constantinople and surroundings and the way they are dealing with his orders. He is doing that incognito, dressed in common clothes. He used to be an opponent of the death penalty, but that changed. In the meantime there are already some officials executed. That included Tersana Emioni, the chief of the arsenal and in absence of the Captan pacha ad interim Captan pacha. He didn’t do his work correct. In presence of the sultan he was beheaded and his body was three days shown to the public. He was accused of slowing down the improvement of the navy, neglecting the orders of the sultans and not paying the salary of the labourers in the arsenal. In a period of 15 years he and his family scrape together a fortune of 6 million piasters stolen from the country. Another accusation was that he tried the former sultan, of which he was a favourite, to convince the present sultan to kill using poison.
Letter dated 22 June 1789
The Turkish squadron that departed with a favourable wind for the Black Sea arrived without problems of the Crimean. Merchant ships returning from the Black Sea reported that they didn’t meet a singular hostile ship. So you might expect that the enemy as soon as the wind turned to the South, they fled for a secure harbour. 15th June departed the squadron, 2 ships-of-the line and 14 other vessels, for the Archipelago. Since some time the shipping was molested by some privateers under Russian and Imperial colours. The Greek patriarch banned by his own nation after complaints, to the island Monte Santo was taken prisoner by the privateers and had to pay a ransom of 35.000 piasters.
Letter dated 8 July 1789
The Porte informed all departments what the commander of the Turkish squadron in the Archipelago wrote. The many ships and other small vessels flying the Russian colours immediately changed their colours when they meet a Turkish men of war. The colour, for which they changed their own, was that of friendly nations of the Turkish Empire. The Turkish commander was so forced to inspect the passports and instructions of all ships very secure to prevent any abuse. The Dutch ambassador wrote to the captains of all ships flying Dutch colours to prevent any hostile action from the Turkish, to show their papers immediately when asked for.
Letter dated 8 August 1789
Quite a lot of privateers flying the Russian colours molested more and more the shipping in the Archipelago and the people living on the isles their feared their presence and were forced to pay contributions. Nothing is heard about the actions of the Turkish navy, which seems to be doing hardly anything. Strangely enough the Russian fleet seems to have disappeared completely. All store ships, which daily arrived here, all stated to haven’t seen one singular hostile ship.
Letter dated 22 August 1789
The problems with the privateers flying the Russian colours in the Archipelago are increasing. They captured the isle Zea and using it as a rendezvous and arsenal for provisions. They placed guns and a guard of 300 Albanians. The Turkish didn’t succeed in recapturing Ocakow and their warships had to retreat due to heavy fire of the fortress and the Russian fleet, which arrived. The ambassador wasn’t well informed, as he wrote, due the fact that the news wasn’t reliable.
What the ambassador didn’t understand, was what happened in the Archipelago. In his opinion the Turkish naval force was strong enough to engage the privateers. It seems however that they didn’t do anything. The commanding officer even avoided any action. He wrote to his department that the so-called hostile fleet had some frigates among their ranks and so he asked for more strength. The Porte was forced to collect more ships and men and this enforcement was ready to sail for the Archipelago.
In the meantime, French, Ragusan and Venetian ships are hired to transport grain destined for the capital city.
Just for sending his letter to the Netherlands the ambassador got some news. An advice yacht returned from the Black Sea with messages that a Turkish squadron sailed on the Liman and fired at the isle Beresijn. They fought with a Russian squadron and destroyed 3 Russian ships and damaging others, claiming a great victory.
Letter dated 8 September 1789
The ambassador got a letter from Smyrna informing him that in the Archipelago 5 Algerian chebecqs fought heavily with the Russian privateers. The latter fled when the Turkish fleet arrived and the Turkish recaptured the Isle Zea.
Letter dated 22 September 1789
A French ship however brought the news that the Russian privateers however fought again with the Algerian and succeeded in again capturing Zea. Four Russian ships, lying at Livorno, were ready to depart as soon as possible and join the Russian fleet.
Letter dated 8 October 1789
The Turkish fleet was lying off Paros and the Algerians at Scio.
Letter dated 22 October 1789
In the Black Sea the Turkish fleet apparently was doing nothing. The Russians however captured the harbour of Kogia Beij and by which the Turkish naval force lying there suffered heavily.
Letter dated 8 November 1789
The Turkish fleet, commanded by the Captan pacha, returned nearly complete at Bujukdeze, coming from the Black Sea. Strangely enough the ambassador couldn’t discover from the appearance if the ships had suffered from war or losses.
Letter dated 22 December 1789
The 16th returned the Turkish fleet out of the Archipelago in good condition in these harbours. A new squadron is prepared and destined for the Archipelago and to stay there during the winter.
Source
Archive Legatie Turkije no. 806 (National Archive at The Hague).
Note
1. See also Tuncay Zorlu. Innovation and Empire in Turkey. Sultan Selim III and the Modernisation of the Ottoman Empire, 2008, p 154 about the buying by the Porte of 3 armed ships from British merchants, including 2 former French frigates and the former British navy sloop Camilla.
