Children's naval encyclopedia Cossack seagull longboat. Cossack seagull
The ship I want to tell you about - HMS Victory, 1765, is the oldest operational ship in the world and is also the flagship of the Second Lord of the Admiralty/Commander-in-Chief of the Nation's Navy. She was designed by Thomas Slade, entered into the Navy as a combat unit in 1778 and remained in active service. military service before 1812
So, as Wikipedia says, - HMS Victory- 104-gun battleship First rank of the Royal Navy of Great Britain. Laid down on July 23, 1759, launched on May 7, 1765. He took part in many naval battles, including the Battle of Trafalgar, during which Admiral Nelson was mortally wounded on board. After 1812, she did not take part in hostilities, and since January 12, 1922, she has been permanently moored in the oldest naval dock in Portsmouth. Currently, the ship has been restored to the condition in which it was during the Battle of Trafalgar and turned into a museum, which is one of the main attractions of Portsmouth.
The ship is really beautiful! Especially outside! But because heavy rain and it was not possible to photograph the wind in all its glory. In addition, the ship is currently undergoing restoration - three masts, a bowsprit and rigging have been removed. As stated on the ship's official website, this unique opportunity see how this legendary sailing ship 18th century was built and brought into combat readiness. Last time the ship was in this form in 1944, so this is truly a unique opportunity (once in a lifetime, as they say on the website) to see the "Victory" in such extreme conditions service.
Once upon a time, in early XIX century, the ship was decommissioned from the active fleet, stripped of its masts and turned into a floating warehouse; however, at the beginning of our century, the ship was restored to its original form and is still in service to this day with a commander and crew, consisting, however, not of sailors and gunners, but of guides. On the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson's cry will rise from its mast: "England expects every man to do his duty."
Please note - on both sides of the upper deck there is an anti-fragmentation net, where the sailors' hammocks were stored; in battle, it served to protect against cannonballs and fragments. If a sailor fell overboard, a hammock was thrown to him so that he could stay afloat. The ship is equipped with four masts: a bowsprit, a foremast, a mainmast and a mizzen mast. The ship could raise 37 sails, which allowed it to reach speeds of up to 11 knots (20 km/h).
There were 102 guns of 32, 24 and 12 pounds caliber placed on three decks.
The best types of wood were used in the construction of the building. The frames were made of English oak. The builders provided two hull skins: external and internal. The outer skin was made of Baltic oak, specially brought to England from Poland and East Prussia. Subsequently, in 1780, the underwater part of the hull was covered with copper sheets (3923 sheets in total), which were attached to the wooden lining with iron nails.
Main cabin.
The admiral lived in this room. It is divided into two compartments - the dining room and the captain's salon.
In the dining room he relaxed with his officers and held meetings;
the captain's salon served as his office; an original round table Nelson.
During hostilities, this entire area of the ship became part of the upper cannon deck. The guns were placed in gun loopholes along the sides and, if necessary, at the stern.
The uniform is a replica of the uniform Nelson wore during the Battle of Trafalgar; the admiral's height was about 168 cm (according to other sources - 165, but his wax figure looks very small). The second uniform is the ceremonial one. Next you could go through the bedroom, where there is a copy of Nelson's bunk. Most senior officers had similar draped bunks. If an officer died at sea, the bunk became his coffin. The ship itself was very dark and cramped, with low ceilings and narrow passages. So, not everything we wanted was captured.
Lower cannon deck.
The original oak deck flooring has been preserved from the time the ship was built. This deck served as the main living quarters for sailors. At night, 480 people slept in hammocks suspended from beams. The next morning, the hammocks were rolled up, lifted to the upper deck and placed in a fragmentation net.
Lunches took place in even more cramped conditions. Approximately 560 crew members, divided into groups of 4-8 people, sat at 90 tables located on the deck. Breakfast consisted of a thick oatmeal“Bergu” and a hot drink made from burnt biscuit crumbs and hot water, known as “Scottish coffee”. For lunch they served stewed corned beef, pork, or, less often, fish with oats or dried peas. Dinner consisted of biscuits with butter or cheese. To maintain strength and fight scurvy, the sailors were given lime juice, and whenever possible, fresh meat and vegetables were added to the diet. However, during long sea voyages, the quality of food deteriorated: biscuits infested with weevils, cheese often became moldy, and butter became rancid over time. Drinking water also spoiled, so the sailors were entitled to 4.5 liters of beer or 1 liter of wine or a quarter liter of rum or brandy per day. Despite the excessive supply of alcohol, drunkenness was considered a serious offense. The sailors were also given 1 kilogram of tobacco per month, which they usually chewed, and the caustic tobacco juice was spat into spittoons.
In the lower tween deck of the ship there were storerooms for provisions and crew chambers where barrels of gunpowder were stored. There was a bomb magazine in the bow of the tween deck. Of course, there were no mechanical means for lifting gunpowder and cannonballs, and during the battle all ammunition was lifted by hand, moving from deck to deck by hand (this was not so difficult on ships of that time, since the distances between decks did not exceed 1.8 m ).
In the bow there is a ship's infirmary, separated from the rest of the deck by a canvas bulkhead on a wooden frame. Before the battle, the bulkhead was easily removed to free up space on the cannon deck, and the infirmary was moved to the lower deck (orlop deck).
Surgical department and surgical instruments….
After Lord Nelson was wounded by gunfire from an enemy ship, he was transferred here, where he was treated by the ship's surgeon, Dr. Beatty. Nelson died from his wounds at approximately 4:30 p.m. Before his death, he wished to be buried in England (usually sailors are buried at sea, and each officer on the ship slept in his own coffin to save space). His clothes were removed, his body was placed in a large water barrel known as a liger, and brandy was poured over it. This unusual operation was carried out in order to preserve Nelson's body until he returned to England, where he was to be buried, in accordance with his last wishes. While the Victory was undergoing repairs in Gibraltar, the brandy was generously diluted with wine spirit to better preserve the body. When the ship finally arrived home in December, Nelson's body was found to be perfectly preserved. On January 9, 1806, Nelson's state funeral took place, after which he rested in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral in London and was the first person not from royal family, awarded such an honor.
...no ship, no matter how large and well armed, is safe if, unfortunately, it encounters “seagulls”...
Emilio Dascoli, “Description of the Black Sea and Tartary”, 1634
The Zaporozhye Cossacks were outstanding warriors: skillful, cunning, patient. And brave - to the point of complete recklessness. This is often talked about, and it cannot be said that it is only out of patriotism. The above assessment is a composite quotation from the records of foreign chroniclers of that time. It’s nice when your skill is recognized by grateful descendants, but it’s a double honor when it’s recognized by the enemy you’re fighting with. The Cossacks received this honor.
To be a good warrior in the case of the Cossacks meant to be a good sailor. On land, Ukrainians fought only with Poles. They had to deal with the Tatars and Turks at sea. And if it was possible to somehow come to an agreement with Poland, then with the Ottoman Empire and the Khanate it was not. These were enemies forever. The Cossacks knew for sure that they sea battle will never end. Well, when it comes to survival, all means are good.
The best strategy in such a war is a preemptive strike. The Cossacks did not hesitate to deliver such blows. “...to this day, up to 30, 40 and 50 boats descend annually into the sea and in battles cause such severe harm that the shores of the Black Sea have become completely uninhabited, with the exception of some places protected by fortresses,” the Dominican abbot could not believe his eyes Emilio Dascoli. “At sea, no ship, no matter how large and well armed, is safe if, unfortunately, it encounters seagulls, especially in calm weather.”
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a Cossack warship was called a seagull. Dascoli was not exaggerating - this word was understood and pronounced equally in all languages spoken on the shores of the Black Sea. When he was shouted out on the deck of a Turkish ship, the crew began to pray to Allah.
The seagulls could not be named the last word shipbuilding. They were made simply, even primitively, which greatly surprised the French engineer Guillaume Beauplan, who left detailed information about seagulls in the “Description of Ukraine” in 1660. This simplicity was the key to speed and maneuverability, which is why Cossack boats were named after birds. Construction began with the keel being hollowed out from a linden, oak or willow trunk - the basis of the future boat. On the sides, a tier of boards was nailed to the keel, the next one was nailed to it, and so on, building up the side of the ship until it reached more than three meters in height. The length of the finished hull could be from 15 to 20 m, the width was 3.5 - 4 m. The tightly knocked together side was carefully oiled.
The stern and bow of the seagull did not differ: “These ships have a rudder both from the bow and from the stern,” Cornelius Cruys, admiral of Peter I, was amazed. This helped instantly, without turning, change course to the opposite one, just by starting to row in reverse side. There was no deck, the Cossacks walked straight along the bottom, and they made benches for the rowers, seating two people per oar. There were from 10 to 15 pairs of oars on the seagull. A nest was made on the ship to install the mast, but they did not install it right away, but carried it with them disassembled. The folding mast became one of those inventions that the Turks cursed so much. Without a mast, the seagull could not be seen from afar - the side rose out of the water by 75 cm, or a little more, and the Cossacks, seeing the enemy, could bend down or lie on the bottom.
But another invention became a real nightmare for the Turks: outside, along the side of the seagull, there was a thick “belt” of bundles of reeds - more than half a meter in diameter. In such quantities, light reeds kept the boat afloat, even if it was filled with water. The Turkish ships could not sink the seagull either from the first cannonball or from the tenth, and they did not have time to release more - the Cossacks were already on board. Point-blank fire from rifles also did not bring success - the bullets got stuck in the reeds behind which the sailors were hiding. Reed " Lifebuoy"made it possible to drown a seagull near the surface in a secluded place, go on a hike, and then come and pull it out of the water a few days later. The Turks, constantly tied to their ships and too visible because of them, only dreamed of such freedom.
Another subject of envy of the Turks was the speed of seagulls. Cossack boats easily reached a speed of eight knots on oars alone. The Cossacks made the journey from the mouth of the Dnieper to the Turkish port of Anatolia - that is, across the entire Black Sea - in 35 - 40 hours. Compared to them, the Turkish galleys looked slow and clumsy. One can understand Dascoli, who wrote: “The Cossacks are so brave that not only with equal forces, but even with twenty “gulls” they are not afraid of the padishah’s thirty galleys, as is seen in practice every year.” The Cossacks, of course, were brave. But that is not why they were not afraid of the galleys.
The Cossacks did not have shipyards in the industrial sense of the word - such as they had in Ottoman Empire. Their absence had to be made up for with engineering ingenuity. 60 craftsmen worked on one seagull, but they completed it in two weeks. The Cossacks could lose their entire fleet and build a new one in a month. They did not have imperial resources at their disposal - the seagull is probably the most economical ship in the history of shipbuilding. In addition to wood, it required two barrels of resin, about 210 kg of iron, a little more than 40 m of rope and 140 m of any cord and rope to tie the reeds to the side. The Turks spent one and a half tons of iron and 1.7 tons of rope on one galley - on gear that still did not save them.
Each Cossack ship was armed with several falconets - 45 mm cannons. But the main thing on the seagull - what made it nimble, dangerous, sudden - were the sailors. Accommodating 50-70 people on one ship, they flew at everything that moved in the Black Sea, and left behind only burning skeletons. The operation of 1652 is rightfully considered an absolute military triumph, when 1000 Cossacks on seagulls attacked Istanbul, destroyed the port, devastated the surrounding area and escaped with 150 prisoners. Ten Turkish warships were launched in pursuit. With a fair wind, the ships - a rare occurrence - overtook a flotilla of seagulls overflowing with prey. But the Cossacks sank most of the ships and dispersed the rest. One Turkish chronicler even wrote that... However, this is another story.
Description of the surrounding area
Unique Cossack seagull.
Ethnographic theater " Zaporozhye Cossacks".
1559- the famous Crimean campaign. A flotilla of 150-200 seagulls and oaks descended from Khortitsa along the Dnieper and captured two Turkish ships and landed troops on the western coast of Crimea near Perekop. After several successful skirmishes with the troops of Davlet I Giray, the Cossacks took Kafa, the main slave market, freed their captive compatriots and successfully returned to Khortitsa. (from Wikipedia)
A unique Cossack seagull, raised from the bottom of the Dnieper, became the main exhibit of the future museum of the history of shipping.
On the legendary Cossack island Khortytsia was opened in a solemn ceremony Exhibition Pavilion for the preservation and restoration of the Cossack seagull. On the banner in front of the entrance you can read the words of the President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma: “The Zaporozhye seagull is the pride and shrine of Ukraine.” The spacious pavilion will later become the main room the first museum in our country history of navigation on the Dnieper.
After Russian-Turkish war 18th century Dozens of Cossack ships sank to the bottom of the Dnieper.
Information that in the thirties and forties of the 18th century in the Khortytsia area there was a large shipyard, can be found in the works of historians D. Yavornitsky and Ya. Novitsky, dedicated to the Zaporozhye Cossacks. During the Russian-Turkish War of 1735-1739, there were about 400 ships at the shipyard different types- Cossack boats, oaks, galleys, conchebass, dinghies, jets and even large sailing brigantines. The basis of the flotilla was made up of 24-oared Cossack boats, armed with four small cannons (two each at the bow and stern), up to 18 meters long.
The Cossack flotilla performed well during the battles; with its help, for example, in 1737 they captured the Turkish fortress of Ochak. But with the end of the war and the departure of the garrison from Khortitsa, the flotilla was abandoned at the piers. Over time, ice drifts and floods destroyed dozens of ships. Active searches for their remains and traces of the shipyard began only in 1971, when young Zaporozhye historians and scuba divers Georgy Shapovalov and Evgeny Spin created an expedition of underwater archaeological work. Numerous finds recovered by scuba divers from the Dnieper depths now adorn the exhibitions of Zaporozhye museums.
Last spring employees national reserve"Khortitsa" Valery Nefedov and Maxim Ostapenko, who were studying the bed of the old Dnieper, twenty meters from the shore at a ten-meter depth, discovered a well-preserved hull of an ancient vessel, a Cossack boat of the 18th century, covered with sand. There are still no similar finds in Europe.
In the boat and next to it, archaeologists and divers found many unique things from the Cossack era - cannonballs, bullets, pikes, flint pistols with the marks "Kiev 1734", a Tula musket with a bayonet, buttons, buckles, cradles, leather shoes, rigging parts, objects everyday life But how to raise an ancient ship intact from the bottom of the river? similar operations, appropriate techniques and technical means No.
Then the designers and installers of the Zaporozhye aluminum plant (zalk) offered their services to historians. In a short time, they developed and assembled a special slipway with a traverse for lifting and holding the Cossack seagull. To meet the deadline, we worked on several design options at once over the weekend. It was important to calculate everything accurately, so that the ship, which had lain at the bottom for two and a half centuries, being pulled out of the ground, would not crumble like a house of cards. Particular difficulties were found in finding a site for collecting the slipway on the shore and delivering it by boat to the lifting site. IN last days divers and underwater archaeologists sometimes worked for 11 hours, punching several trenches under the hull of the ship lying on the bottom, through which they passed elastic belts...
The ceremonial raising of the seagull took place on October 13, 1999 - on the eve of the city day and the first celebrated day of the Zaporozhye Cossacks. And on November 7, the seagull was pulled to the embankment on a special pontoon, where it was put on public display for several hours.
The seagull was almost destroyed by "collectors".
All regional newspapers wrote about the further fate of the find in those days: the ship was supposed to be treated with a preservative to prevent the destruction of wood in the open air, restored and displayed in a special hangar near the Khortytsia Cossack Museum. But while the seagull was standing on the shore, at the water station of the Dneprospetsstal plant, the ubiquitous barbarians began to pull antique nails out of the boat, offering them for sale in antique shops. Local journalists sounded the alarm. The boat was transported to a guarded territory of the equestrian ethnographic theater "Zaporozhye Cossacks", located on Khortytsia, was covered from the weather with cellophane film. The management of the aluminum plant again came to the rescue, promising to buy and install a prefabricated hangar with an area of one thousand square meters for the Cossack seagull, which has become a kind of symbol for Zaporozhye (there is an idea to place its image on the city’s coat of arms). And last week the hangar, which turned into an exhibition pavilion, was opened.
Everything that was raised from the Dnieper along with the seagull is presented on shelves. The ship itself is treated with a preservative (10 tons of it were purchased in Russia in advance), so there is no need to worry about the future of the ancient miracle - descendants will see it. Over time, the pavilion will house other finds from the bottom of the Dnieper - in fact, it will be the first museum in Ukraine reflecting the history of navigation on great river. It will become part of the Museum of the History of the Zaporozhye Cossacks and the entire Khortytsya National Reserve.
Together with the only equestrian theater in the country, the island can become an ethnographic tourist mecca. Chairman of the State Committee for Youth Policy, Sports and Tourism of Ukraine Ivan Fedorenko spoke about this at the opening of the pavilion: in Ukraine, which is a member of the world tourism organization, on behalf of President Leonid Kuchma, a tourism development program until 2010 is being developed, and the island of Khortitsa will become an obligatory component of it.
It is worth noting that the “Zaporozhye Seagull” project became possible thanks to the support of many sponsors, primarily charitable foundation"dopomoga" (led by people's deputy, chairman of the Zaporizhzhya regional administration Alexey Kucherenko), the cultural center "Khortitsa" (chaired by Valery Kozyrev) and, of course, the Zaporizhzhya aluminum smelter ( CEO Ivan Bastryga). It is difficult to say what the fate of the seagulls would have been if not for their help. “I am grateful to all the employees of the aluminum smelter who supported the initiative of their director to implement this national project,” said the chairman of the cultural center “Khortitsa” Valery Kozyrev, the inspirer and organizer of the ethnographic equestrian theater “Zaporozhye Cossacks” to Fakty. the construction of the pavilion cost them 350 thousand hryvnia. This is not just charity - this is how national culture, self-awareness, national idea. Zaporozhye can claim the right to be the source in the construction of statehood. The point is to revive the seagull not only as a symbol of the Cossacks, but also as a symbol of the statehood of the Ukrainian people. Marx also called the Zaporozhye Sich a prototype of a democratic republic."
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The Cossack gull is unique.
Ethnographic theater "Zaporizk Cossacks".
1559 - the famous Crimean campaign. A flotilla with 150-200 seagulls and oak trees descended from Khortitsa along the Dnieper, buried two Turkish ships and landed troops at the exit to the Crimea, not far from Perekop. After several successful battles from the pens of Davlet I Girey, the Cossacks took Kafa, the main slave market, released the full spivvitch people and successfully turned to Khortytsia. (From Wikipedia)
A unique Cossack seagull, recovered from the bottom of the Dnieper, became the main exhibit of the upcoming Museum of the History of Shipping.
On the legendary Cossack island of Khortytsia, in a natural environment, there will be an open exhibition pavilion for the conservation and restoration of the Cossack gull. On the banner in front of the entrance you can read the words of the President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchmi: “The black seagull is the pride and sanctity of Ukraine.” The spacious pavilion became the main premises of the first museum of the history of shipping on the Dnieper in our region.
After the Russian-Turkish war of the 18th century, dozens of Cossack ships sank to the bottom of the Dnieper.
Information about the fact that in the thirties and forties of the 18th century a great shipyard was founded in the Khortytsia area can be found in the works of historians D. Yavornitsky and I. Novitsky, dedicated to the Zaporizian Cossacks. During the Russian-Turkish War of 1735 - 1739, there were approximately 400 ships of various types at the shipyard - Cossack chawls, oaks, galleries, conchebass, pontoons, Pram and all the great sailing brigantines and. The basis of the flotilla was made up of 24-oar Cossack boats, formed by small boats (two each at the bow and stern), up to 18 meters long.
The Cossack flotilla showed itself well during the hour of battle, with its help, for example, in 1737 the troops buried the Turkish fort of Ochakiv. After the end of the war and the departure of the garrison from Khortitsa, the flotilla was abandoned at the berths. Over time, the ice drift destroyed dozens of ships. Active searches for the remains and traces of the shipyard began in 1971, when young Zaporizian historians and scuba divers Georgiy Shapovalov and Evgeniy Spiniv created an expedition of underwater archaeological expeditions it. Numerous finds, recovered by scuba divers from the Dnieper depths, decorate the exhibitions of Zaporizhzhya museums.
Last spring, the divers of the Khortytsia National Nature Reserve, Valery Nefyodov and Maxim Ostapenko, were dredging up the bed of the old Dnieper, twenty meters above the shore at a ten-meter depth, they discovered sand blowing, so that the hull of the ancient vessel was well preserved - Cossack Chovna xviii hundred Europe does not have any similar discoveries before.
In this place, archaeologists and divers found a number of unique items from the Cossack era - cannonballs, cores, pikes, cream pistols with the stamps "Kiev 1734", a Tula musket with a bagnet, guards, buckles, cradles , skins are in flux, rigging details, How to raise an old ship from the bottom of the river? No such operations have ever been carried out on the territory of the SND, there are no similar methods or technical capabilities.
Also, the designers and installers of the Zaporozhye Aluminum Plant (ZALK) acknowledged their services to historians. In a short hour, the stinks were broken up and a special slipway with a traverse was assembled for the rise and morning of the Cossack seagull. To fit into the lines, we worked on several design options. It was important to unpack everything, so that the ship had lain for two and a half centuries, and when it was washed out of the ground, it did not disintegrate like a cardboard bottle. Among the difficulties were the search for maidans for collecting the slipway on the birch and its delivery by boat to the destination. The rest of the day, divers and underwater archaeologists worked for 11 hours an hour, cutting a number of trenches under the hull of a ship lying on the bottom, through which they passed elastic belts...
The seasonal rise of seagulls occurred on the 13th of January 1999 - the first day of the year and the first day of the constipation of the Cossacks. And after the leaves fell on a special pontoon, the seagull was pulled up to the embankment, where it was exposed for a few years to be observed.
The ice gull was not destroyed by the “collectors”.
All regional newspapers wrote about the discovery in those days: the ship was about to be treated with a preservative, which preserves the ruins of the village in the open air, restored and placed in a special hangar in the Khortytsky Cossack Museum twa. As long as the seagull was standing on the birch tree, at the water station of the Dniprospetsstal plant, the ubiquitous barbarians began to steal from ancient flowers, selling them for sale in antique shops. Local journalists went into overdrive. Choven was transported to the territory where the film ethnographic theater “Zaporizian Cossacks”, located in Khortitsa, is buried, and was taken away with cellophane spittle. The aluminum plant once again came to the rescue, having decided to install and assemble for the Cossack seagull, which became its own symbol for Zaporizhzhya (the idea is to place its image on the coat of arms of the place), a collection hangar with an area of one thousand square meters. The 1st axis of last year’s hangar, which turned into an exhibition pavilion, was opened.
Everything you can pick up from the Dnieper at the same time as a seagull is presented on shelves. The vessel itself is coated with a preservative (10 tons of it were added to Russia in the past), so during the life of the old marvel you don’t have to worry about it - you can pump up the decks. This year, the pavilion will house other finds from the bottom of the Dnieper - in fact, it will be the first museum in Ukraine that depicts the history of navigation on the great river. It will become part of the museum of the history of the Zaporizian Cossacks and the entire Khortytsia national reserve.
Together with the united regional theater, the islands can become an ethnographic tourist mecca. Speaking about this at the open pavilion, the head of the State Committee on Youth Policy, Sports and Tourism of Ukraine Ivan Fedorenko: in Ukraine, a member of the Worldwide Tourism Organization, on the instructions of President Leonid Kuchma, he is dissecting According to the program for the development of tourism until 2010, the island of Khortytsia will become a linguistic component.
Varto means that the “Zaporizka Seagull” project has become possible thanks to the support of wealthy sponsors, especially the beneficial “help” fund (including the people’s deputy, the head of the Zaporizka regional administration Oleksia m Kucherenkom), cultural center"Khortytsia" (head Valeriy Kozirev) and, especially, the Zaporizhia aluminum plant (general director Ivan Bastriga). It is important to say how the seagull’s fate would have been if it had not been for her help. “I am grateful to all the workers of the aluminum plant who supported the initiative of their director on this national project,” saying “with facts” the head of the cultural center “Khortytsia” “Valery Kozirov, on artist and organizer of the ethnographic film theater "Zaporizk Cossacks". - The Rise of the Seagull and the Life of the Pavilion cost them 350 thousand hryvnias. This is not just benevolence - this is how national culture, self-knowledge, and the national idea are formed. Zaporizhzhya can claim the right to be a leader in the former power. Sense in order to revive The seagull is not only a symbol of the Cossacks, but also a symbol of the sovereignty of the Ukrainian people. Marx also called the Zaporizian Sich the prototype of a democratic republic."
"No ship is safe at sea,
if you meet seagulls"
Emilio Dascoli
The region, as a state, originates in Kievan Rus- a state formed in the second half of the 9th century. Kievan Rus played an outstanding role in the process of historical development of the East Slavic peoples; but fell, torn apart by internal contradictions and blows from the Mongol-Tatar hordes.
As a result of the weakening of Kievan Rus, its lands came under the influence of Lithuania and Poland. The devastating invasions of the Golden Horde, later Sultan Turkey and its vassal - the Crimean Khanate, as well as the dominance of Polish, Lithuanian, Hungarian feudal lords led to the impoverishment of the Ukrainian people and their exodus to uninhabited lands.
From the middle of the 15th century, the lower reaches of the Dnieper River became such a refuge, where the Zaporozhye Sich, a militarized settlement of free settlers, was founded. The settlers received a common name - Cossacks, which means "free people" in Turkic. On the Dnieper islands and in the floodplains, the Cossacks built security fortifications of the abatis, which is where the word “Sich” came from.
Zaporozhye Sich is nothing more than the Zaporozhye fortification. The Sich waged a constant struggle against Turkish-Tatar aggression. The Cossacks made constant raids on the Crimea and reached the borders of Turkey along the Black Sea. The main unit of the Cossack military organization was the regiment led by the Koshevoy. The Cossack regiment included both mounted and foot soldiers. It was equipped small arms and artillery. For the regiment's participation in the campaign, capacious and fast boats - "seagulls" - were built.
Let us turn to the “Description of the Black Sea and Tartary,” which was compiled by the Dominican abbot Emilio Dascoli, prefect of Caffa in 1634.
“On the extreme reaches of Russia there are rocks and forests that form a kind of island on the Dnieper River, where the Russians, otherwise called Cossacks, live. In order to take revenge on the Tatars, who annually raided their lands for the purpose of robbery, for the last thirty years they began to descend on hollowed out canoes into the Black Sea , causing a lot of damage to the coastal areas of Tataria.
At sea, at first they took possession of small ships and, encouraged by success in their enterprises, every year they began to take more and more large ships and more, and, finally, they got to the point that ten years ago three hundred boats went to sea and fought with the entire fleet of the padishah.
According to all eyewitnesses, if the weather had been calm on the day of the battle, not a single Turkish galley would have returned. However, a strong storm arose and scattered the seagulls, and the Turks, sailing under full sail, managed to sink several. However, from then to the present, up to 30, 40 and 50 canoes descend annually into the sea and in battles cause such severe harm that the shores of the Black Sea have become completely uninhabited, with the exception of some places protected by fortresses. At sea, no ship, no matter how large and well armed, is safe if, unfortunately, it encounters “seagulls,” especially in calm weather.
The Cossacks are so brave that not only with equal forces, but even with twenty “gulls” they are not afraid of the padishah’s thirty galleys, as is seen in practice every year. Only three years ago they took two large galleys and pursued the rest. Seagull boats are long, can accommodate up to 50 people and can move both with oars and under sails. So that they can withstand severe storms, they are tied around the sides with reeds, which support them on the water."
Emilio Dascoli compared the Cossack "seagulls" with frigates, but not with three-masted warships that became the basis of the fleets of the maritime powers of the 18th century, but with small, undecked ships steered by a lateen sail and 8 - 10 oars.
“These frigates are fast, agile and quite similar to the Cossacks’ seagulls.” Other contemporaries noted that the “gulls” were vessels of crude river technology that stayed afloat during a storm thanks to sheaves of reeds, and that only desperate people went to sea in such simple boats, and only in the summer months.
