Biographical Register: K
KHANYKOV, Petr (or Pyotr) Ivanovich (1743-1813): Admiral Hanekoff
Naval commander. Admiral; the Commander-in-Chief of Kronstadt.
Khanykov was sent to England in 1762 to study naval science. He visited North America and Spain before returning to Russia in 1765. He fought against the Turks at the Battle of Chesma (near the island of Chios) in July 1770 in the first deployment of the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean. Chesma was a stunning victory for the russian Baltic Fleet, signifying the worst defeat for the Ottoman Empire since Lepanto (1571) and temporarily established Russia as a Mediterranean power. The Russian fleet dominated the Aegean for the next four years, however without adequate logistical support for its naval forces soon lost the strategic advantage of the victory. From 1783 Khanykov was commander of the Caspian Military Flotilla. In 1790 he took part in the naval engagements of Revel (in May) and Vyborg (in June) in the Baltic against the Swedish navy (during the Russo-Swedish War of 1788-1790).
Russia joined a European coalition against revolutionary France (1793) and from 1795-1797 Vice-Admiral Khanykov's squadron operated in conjunction with the British Royal Navy in the North Sea. In 1801 he was appointed supreme commander of the port of Kronstadt.
In August 1808, Admiral Khanykov's fleet, sent from Kronstadt, met the Swedish-British fleet of Admiral Cederstrom at the mouth of the Finnish Gulf. Fearing excessive casualties, Khanykov attempted, without success, to avoid engaging the enemy. The 74-gun Vsevolod was run aground and attacked at Little Rogge Island by two 74-gun English warships, the Implacable and the Centaur, both commanded by Rear Admiral Samuel Hood. After losing 62 sailors, the British captured the Vsevolod, looted it and set it afire. For the forfeit of his ship Admiral Khanykov was court-martialed, but demoted to seaman's status for only one month out of respect for his former achievements.
Sources: The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History. (ed.) Joseph L. Wieczynski Academic International Press, 1980 Vol. 16 p.126; personal communication Y. Aksenov [2005].
Also: www.neva.ru/EXPO96/book/chap7-1.html [Accessed 28 August 2006]
