Latest / The Romanov Dynasty: Rise, Power, and Bloody End — Fexingo History / Catherine the Great and Potemkin's Grandiose Black Sea Navy
Transcript
- Lucas: So, we've talked a lot about Catherine the Great's land grabs and her Greek Project, but I want to zero in on something that often gets overlooked: her creation of a brand-new navy on the Black Sea. It's a story of sheer ambition, a lot of graft, and some genuine naval heroism. Luna: I thought Russia already had a navy. Peter the Great built the Baltic Fleet, right? Lucas: Exactly right. But the Black Sea was a whole different ballgame. The Ottoman Empire controlled it, and Russia had no warm-water ports there. Catherine and her favorite, Grigory Potemkin, decided to change that. Potemkin essentially became the viceroy of what they called Novorossiya — New Russia — and he set out to build cities, forts, and a fleet from scratch. Lucas: The key city was Kherson, founded in 1778 at the mouth of the Dnieper River. That's where the first shipyards were. But the real prize was Sevastopol, which became the main naval base after Russia annexed Crimea in 1783. Potemkin poured resources into these places — shipbuilders, sailors, cannons — all dragged across the steppes. Luna: Wait, they built an entire navy from nothing in the middle of nowhere? Lucas: Pretty much. And it worked. By 1787, when Catherine made her famous journey to the south — the one that spawned the 'Potemkin villages' myth — she was able to review a Black Sea Fleet of over a dozen ships of the line. Potemkin had staged a mock naval battle for her entertainment, complete with fireworks. It was a spectacle, but the ships were real. Lucas: Now, the 'Potemkin villages' idea — that he built fake settlements to impress her — is largely exaggerated. He did have a habit of dressing things up, but the infrastructure was genuine. The problem was that everything was built too fast, with shoddy materials and corruption. So when war with the Ottomans broke out again in 1787, the fleet had to prove itself. Luna: And did it? Lucas: It did, thanks largely to a brilliant admiral named Fyodor Ushakov. He's often called the Russian Nelson, though he's not as well-known in the West. Ushakov developed aggressive tactics — closing quickly with the enemy and focusing fire on their flagships. In 1788, at the Battle of Fidonisi, his squadron defeated a larger Ottoman fleet. That was the first major victory for the Black Sea Fleet. Lucas: Ushakov went on to win more battles — Tendra, Kaliakra — and by 1791, the Ottomans were ready to negotiate. The Treaty of Jassy in 1792 confirmed Russian control of Crimea and the entire northern Black Sea coast. Catherine finally had her warm-water ports, and the Black Sea Fleet was a permanent fixture. Luna: So the Greek Project — the idea of liberating Constantinople — did that ever go anywhere? Lucas: Not directly. Catherine did name her grandson Constantine, and Potemkin had grand plans, but the fleet was never strong enough to challenge the Ottomans in the Bosporus. Still, the Black Sea Fleet remained a key instrument of Russian power for centuries. And it all started with Potemkin's frantic shipbuilding in the 1780s. Lucas: It's a classic Romanov story: immense ambition, a larger-than-life figure, and a lot of compromise between dream and reality. Potemkin died in 1791, just as the treaty was signed. Catherine outlived him by five years, but the fleet he built outlasted them both. Luna: It's amazing how much of Russian history hinges on these personal relationships — Catherine and Potemkin, and the navy that came out of it. Lucas: Exactly. And it's a reminder that empires are built not just by armies, but by shipwrights, sailors, and the sheer force of one man's will. Potemkin wasn't just a lover or a politician; he was a builder. And the Black Sea Fleet is his monument.