A Brief History
On October 20, 1827, an international coalition of British, French, and Russian ships fought against a fleet of Turkish Ottoman and Egyptian ships in the Battle of Navarino, the last major naval battle fought by wooden sailing ships.
Digging Deeper
Part of the 1821 to 1829 Greek War of Independence, Navarino pitted 1,252 naval guns spread across 10 ships of the line, 10 frigates, two schooners, four sloops, and one cutter on the European side against the Ottoman fleet of 2,158 guns dispersed among three ships of the line, 17 frigates, 30 corvettes, five schooners, 28 brigs, and five or six fireships.
Of the 8,000 Allied crewmen, only 181 were killed and 480 were wounded, while the Ottoman contingent of 20,000 sailors suffered 4,000 killed and wounded and another 4,000 captured. Additionally, the Ottomans lost 55 of their ships.
The great naval victory eventually led to Greece gaining independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1829.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Guillaume, Phillippe Moke. The Battle of Navarino: Or the Renegade. HardPress, 2019.
Woodhouse, C.M. The Battle of Navarino. Hodder & Stoughton, 1965.
The featured image in this article, a painting of The Naval Battle of Navarino by Ambroise Louis Garneray, is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: The author died in 1857, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1928.
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