The Presidential Library to mark the anniversary of the famous naval commander

July 5, 2022 marks the 220th anniversary of the birth of the famous Russian Admiral Pavel Nakhimov.

“In the eyes of sailors of all nations, the name of Nakhimov is covered with unfading glory…”, - said the Russian historian, academician Yevgeny Tarle in the publication Nakhimov (1942). Little-known details of the fate, naval service and military merits of the admiral are available on the Presidential Library’s portal: in the biographical sketch of Vice Admiral, military writer Avramy Aslanbegov Admiral Pavel Stepanovich Nakhimov (1898), the book of the writer Maria Lyalina The Feats of Russian Admirals Pyotr Mikhailov, Spiridov, Ushakova, Senyavin, Heiden, Lazarev, Nakhimov, Kornilov and their associates (1900), in the collection Materials for the History of the Crimean War and the Defence of Sevastopol (1871-1874).

Pavel Nakhimov was born on July 5 (June 23, old style), 1802, in a family of poor Smolensk nobles in the village of Gorodok. The father told about the future admiral that "Pavlusha could become a brave warrior!" As a teenager, he, like his four brothers, was enrolled in the naval cadet corps and, after brilliant studies with the rank of midshipman, went on his first voyage - in the Baltic Sea.

An amazing zeal for the performance of his service in everything related to the sea craft was based on Nakhimov's successful naval career. The people were sure that he serves 24 hours a day. Naval service was for him not just the most important thing in his life, but the only thing - he did not want to admit for himself the possibility of existence not on a warship.

Nakhimov treated sailors and gray-haired admirals in the same way, who were higher than his rank. He didn't have a family. He recognized the sailors as his only big family and had the right to say: “... Sailors love and understand me. I value this affection more than the recall of swaggering noblemen!”

The inhabitants of the sea settlement addressed him with requests, already the admiral and head of the Sevastopol port, and he sent carpenters to repair the hut of an old disabled sailor, borrowed money on account of a salary and distributed it to those in need, sincerely believing that people "need encouragement with sympathy".

Nakhimov considered service in peacetime only preparation for war: once he almost died saving a sailor who fell into the sea, and he always rushed to the most dangerous places, explaining that “such cases are rare, and the commander should use them. It is necessary that the team saw the presence of spirit in their boss. Perhaps I will have to go into battle with it; then it will respond and bring undoubted benefits”.

Pavel Nakhimov began his military career in the Battle of Navarino in 1827, continued in the famous Battle of Sinop of 1853 and ended on the Malakhov Hill during the defence of Sevastopol in 1855, where he was mortally wounded.

In the battle with the Turkish fleet in Navarino Bay, Nakhimov took part on the Azov ship under the command of his teacher, Admiral Mikhail Lazarev. The ship came closest to the enemy and smashed the Turks from a distance not from a cannon, but from a pistol shot, as they later said in the fleet. On that day, there were more dead and wounded on the Azov than on other ships, Nakhimov himself was wounded, but the ship did more harm to the enemy than the rest.

Those who knew Vice Admiral Nakhimov well explained his success in the Battle of Sinop by his personal influence on his team. Tarle cites the words of Lieutenant Commander Afanasyev: “Sinop, who amazed Europe with the perfection of our fleet, ... exposed the brilliant military talents of Admiral Nakhimov, who, understanding the Black Sea people and the strength of his ships, knew how to manage them. Nakhimov was a type of sailor-warrior, a completely ideal personality ... "

The highest diploma of Emperor Nicholas I for "the extermination of the Turkish squadron at Sinop" Pavel Nakhimov was granted "Chevalier of St. George of the second degree of the big cross”.

Appointed in March 1855, during the siege of Sevastopol by the Allies, as port commander and military governor and promoted to full admiral, Nakhimov was, according to his contemporaries, "the true master of Sevastopol". He was constantly on the fortifications, delved into all the details, distinguished by contempt for danger and readiness to do everything to save Sevastopol and the fleet. When he was watching the positions of the enemy on the bastion, a bullet hit nearby. He was begged to come down, but he calmly remained where he was, and a few minutes later another bullet hit him in the head. On July 12, 1855 Admiral Pavel Nakhimov died.

"...We are proud of You and Your glory - as an adornment of our fleet ... History will tell about Your exploits to our children ..." - said the rescript of Grand Prince Konstantin to Vice Admiral Nakhimov.