Siege of Taganrog

Overview

The siege of Taganrog is a name given in some Russian histories to Anglo-French naval operations in the Sea of Azov between June and November 1855 during the Crimean War. British and French forces were implementing a strategy of destroying the supply lines for the main Russian army which ran through the Sea of Azov. Taganrog was one of the major logistical hubs of the Russian army and was attacked and its military depot destroyed on 3 June 1855 as part of a series of attacks on all major Russian supply bases in the area, except Rostov-on-Don, which could not be reached due to the large shoals not admitting any available warship.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Anglo-French naval operations in the Sea of Azov from June to November 1855, sometimes termed the Siege of Taganrog in Russian histories, were part of a deliberate strategy to sever the supply lines sustaining the main Russian army during the Crimean War. Taganrog functioned as a major Russian logistical hub, and the destruction of its military depot in June 1855 was one in a series of coordinated attacks on Russian supply bases throughout the region. By degrading these nodes, British and French forces sought to compound pressure on Russian forces already engaged at Sevastopol and elsewhere. Rostov-on-Don, another significant base, escaped attack only because shoals in the sea prevented available warships from reaching it, illustrating the extent to which geography shaped the operational limits of the campaign. The operations demonstrated how naval power in a secondary theater could be applied systematically against an army's logistical infrastructure rather than its field formations.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (4)