Vice Admiral Vladimir Alexeyevich Kornilov (; 13 February 1806 – 17 October 1854) was a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

naval officer who took part in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

and is known for his battle against the Pervaz-ı Bahrî in what is considered the first battle between steam ships.

Biography

Early Life and Career

Kornilov was born on his family estate in

Staritsky District Staritsky District (russian: Ста́рицкий райо́н) is an administrative and municipalLaw #4-ZO district (raion), one of the thirty-six in Tver Oblast, Russia. It is located in the central and southern parts of the oblast and border ...

Tver Governorate Tver Governorate (russian: Тверская губерния, ''Tverskaya guberniya'') was an administrative division (a ''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 ...

in 1806. His father was governor of Irkutsk. Kornilov entered the naval service in 1823, and in 1827 he fought in the

Battle of Navarino The Battle of Navarino was a naval battle fought on 20 October (O. S. 8 October) 1827, during the Greek War of Independence (1821–29), in Navarino Bay (modern Pylos), on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, in the Ionian Sea. Allied fo ...

as a midshipman aboard the fleet's

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

In 1841 he became the first captain of the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

''Twelve Apostles'', he disciplined the crew and participated with it in the Black Sea Fleet Review (held every seven years) before Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich. He sailed to London in 1847 to buy a new steam frigate. In 1849 he became

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

Crimean War

Battle against the ''Pervaz-ı Bahrî''

The Russian Black Fleet was split into two squadrons. One of which went to Kornilov and the other to

Pavel Nakhimov Pavel Stepanovich Nakhimov (russian: Павел Степанович Нахимов, ; – ) was a Russian Admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy known for his victory in the Battle of Sinop and his leadership in the Siege of Sevastopol (18 ...

Alexander Sergeyevich Menshikov Prince Alexander Sergeyevich Menshikov (russian: Князь Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Ме́ншиков; 26 August 17872 May 1869) was a Russian nobleman, military commander and statesman. He was made adjutant general in 1817 and ...

tasked Kornilov to attack any Ottoman ship. He then patrol the Black Sea. After this patrol he sent most of his squadron back on

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

. With himself staying in the ''Vladimir.'' On November 17th 1853, with his flag hoisted aboard the 11-gun

steam frigate Steam frigates (including screw frigates) and the smaller steam corvettes, steam sloops, steam gunboats and steam schooners, were steam-powered warships that were not meant to stand in the line of battle. There were some exceptions like for exam ...

''Vladimir'' (commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Grigory I. Butakov) met a 19-gun Turkish vessel, '' Pervaz-ı Bahrî'', when they were cruising close to Penderakli. Kornilov gave the order of engaging the enemy and ''Vladimir'' joined battle against ''Pervaz-Bahri''. The Ottoman ship had no bow and stern artillery, so every time it employed its side artillery, Butakov manoeuvred to rake its stern. Considering that the battle was taking too long, Kornilov gave the order to speed the sinking of the enemy. Cpt. Butakov ordered to speed up the ship and approaching the enemy to around , fired canister rounds from all his side guns. ''Pervaz-Bahri'' had suffered heavy casualties in the three-hour-long battle and hauled its flag. The ship was transported to

where it was commissioned into the Russian Navy as ''Kornilov''. The battle resulted in 22 dead Ottoman Sailors, including the commander Said Pasha and another 18 wounded. Meanwhile, the Russians had two dead, and two others were injured.

Rest of the War

Sometime after the Battle against the ''Pervaz-Bahri'', Kornilov was sent as reinforcement for Nakhimov's squadron. Kornilov arrived around the end of the

Battle of Sinop The Battle of Sinop, or the Battle of Sinope, was a naval battle that took place on 30 November 1853 between Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire, during the opening phase of the Crimean War (1853–1856). It took place at Sinop, a sea port o ...

, where he chased the

Ottoman frigate Taif ''Taif'' was one of four wooden-hulled paddle frigates built for the Ottoman Navy in the 1840s; they were the first Ottoman-built warships powered by steam. She served with the fleet until 1867, including during the Crimean War, where she saw a ...

after it departed for

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. However, the frigate got away. Vladimir vs Pervaz-i Bahri

During the Crimean War, Kornilov was responsible for the defence of Sevastopol. He was killed early in the

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

and was buried in the Admirals' Burial Vault.''Sevastopol's Wars''
/ref>

Legacy

In the 1890s a statue of Kornilov alongside

was put up in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kornilov, Vladimir Alexeyevich 1806 births 1854 deaths People from Staritsky District People from Tver Governorate Imperial Russian Navy admirals Russian military personnel killed in the Crimean War