Saint Nicholas (frigate, 1790)

Sailing frigate of one of the most numerous subclasses of frigates in the Russian fleet, built from the last quarter of the XVIII century to the middle of the XIX century. Since 1789, the rank of 44-cannon frigates was introduced in the Russian Navy, and from that time on, all frigates with 40 to 46, and then more guns, were considered 44-cannon. Named in honor of the capture on December 6, 1788 by Russian troops of the Turkish fortress Ochakov on St. Nicholas Day.

The displacement of the vessel was 1840 tons, length - 45.7 meters, width - 13 meters, and draft according to various sources from 4.6 to 6 meters. The crew of the frigate consisted of 437 people. The armament as of 1790 consisted of twenty-two 24-pound copper cannons and four 1-pound copper “ unicorns ” on the deck, twenty 18-pound copper cannons and four 7-pound copper cannons on the trench and tank. At the same time, 24- and 18-pound copper guns were taken from siege artillery, and 7-pound - from captured Turkish. By 1798, 7-pound guns were removed from the frigate ^{[1] [2] [3]} .

The frigate was laid on the slipways in Nikolaev on January 5 (according to other sources, January 6), 1790, and after launching on August 25 of that year it became part of the Black Sea Fleet as a ship. The construction was carried out by ship masters A.P. Sokolov and I.V. Dolzhnikov ^{[1] [3]} .

November 29, 1790 moved from Nikolaev to Sevastopol . He took part in the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791 . July 10, 1791 went in search of the enemy fleet in the squadron of Rear Admiral F.F. Ushakov . On July 11, Russian ships discovered the enemy near Balaklava and until July 15, the frigate in the squadron took part in the pursuit of Turkish ships, trying to force them to battle, but the enemy managed to evade the battle, and on the night of July 16, to escape from the pursuit. On July 19, he returned to Sevastopol with the squadron, and on July 29 he left with her in the direction of the Rumeian coast. On August 31, 1791, he participated in the battle of Kaliakria under the command of the captain of the second rank of Lvov as part of the same squadron. For the courage shown in this battle, the commander of the frigate "Saint Nicholas" was awarded a golden sword. After the battle, he cruised at Varna, and on August 20 he returned to Sevastopol with the squadron ^{[1] [2] [3]} .

In 1792 and 1793 he was in Sevastopol and in 1793 was retrained as a frigate. From 1794 to 1797 and in May 1798 he went on practical voyages to the Black Sea as part of squadrons ^{[1] [3]} .

He took part in the war with France of 1798-1800. On August 13, 1798, he left Sevastopol for the Mediterranean Sea as part of the squadron of Vice Admiral F.F. Ushakov for joint operations with the Turkish fleet against France, and on August 24 the squadron arrived in Buyuk-dere. September 20, the Russian-Turkish squadron left the Dardanelles Strait in the Archipelago. On September 30, the squadron ships approached the island of Tserigo and began the bombing of the Kapsala fortress, on October 1, the fortress surrendered. October 13, the squadron arrived at the island of Zante, and the next day the island's fortress surrendered. On the frigate from the island of Zante in Constantinople , the captured French were delivered. On October 31, the squadron approached the island of St. Mavra bombarded the fortress and landed troops, and on November 2, the fortress surrendered. On November 9, the squadron approached Corfu and established a blockade of the fortress from the sea. February 18, 1799, the frigate took part in the assault on Corfu, conducted a bombardment of battery number 2 on the island of Vido and landed an assault. On April 15, in the detachment of the captain of the 2nd rank A.A. Sorokin, he left Corfu to the southern coast of Italy . On April 23, the detachment approached Brindisi , where a landing force was seized from the ships, which captured the city citadel. On May 1, the ships of the detachment approached the city of Mola, and after shelling the coastal fortifications, the city surrendered. On May 2, troops from the detachment landed at Bari , and on May 9 in Manfredonia . On June 23, the frigate, along with the detachment, returned to Corfu. On July 24, the frigate left Corfu for joint operations with the British fleet as part of the squadron of F.F. Ushakov and on August 3 arrived in Messina . On August 19, as part of detachment A. A. Sorokin, detached from the squadron, he went in the direction of Naples to support the operations of the landing detachment of Captain 2nd Rank G. G. Belli , where he arrived on August 25 ^{[1] [3]} .

On October 14, the frigate was introduced into Naples harbor and put to keeling . In January 1800, an order was received by F. F. Ushakov to return the detachment to Corfu, but at the request of the Neapolitan government and with the High Command, the frigate remained in Naples. After the return of the Russian squadron to Russia , "St. Nicholas" remained in Italy as part of a detachment of ships under the command of the captain of the second rank Sorokin .

The frigate’s corps rotted and on April 12, 1801 it was withdrawn from the fleet. On July 26, 1802, it was sold in Naples for 11,460 ducats ^[2] , and the cannons from the frigate were loaded aboard the frigate " Michael ", who delivered them to Corfu ^[4] .

At different times, the commanders of the vessel were:

• M. L. Lvov (1790-1791 years).
• K.A. Akhmatov (1792-1793).
• P.A. Danilov (1794-1797).
• P.P. Marin (1798-1802).

• Veselago F.F. List of Russian warships from 1668 to 1860. - SPb. : Printing Ministry of the Ministry of the Sea, 1872. - 798 p.
• Chernyshev A. A. Russian sailing fleet. Directory. - M .: Military Publishing House, 1997 .-- T. 1. - 312 p. - (Ships and ships of the Russian fleet). - 10,000 copies. - ISBN 5-203-01788-3 .
• Shirokorad A. B. 200 years of the sailing fleet of Russia / Ed. A. B. Vasiliev. - 2nd ed. - M .: Veche, 2007. - 448 p. - ISBN 978-5-9533-1517-3 .