Senyavin's later career in the navy coincided with the reign of
Catherine the Great. In 1766, he was called out for service yet again and promoted to the rank of
rear admiral two years later. Due to
Russia's ongoing preparations for the war against the
Turks, the empress entrusted Alexei Senyavin with the construction of different ships at the
dockyards along the
Don River, which would be able to reach the
Sea of Azov and the
Black Sea. Thus, Senyavin was made responsible for re-establishing the
Don Military Flotilla, which was supposed to interoperate with the Russian ground forces along the
Crimean coastline. Senyavin had to come up with a certain type of ships, which could navigate in shallow waters and meet combat requirements, at the same time. Alexei Senyavin managed to build a flotilla by 1771 and then sent it to
Taganrog to assist the Russian troops in occupying the Crimea. In 1773, he was put in charge of this flotilla and succeeded in fighting off the Turks at sea, finally blocking their access to the Sea of Azov by capturing
Yenikale and
Kerch. In 1774, Senyavin rebuffed
the attack of the Turkish fleet in the
Strait of Kerch, making it retire with losses. Owing in large part to the actions of the Don Military Flotilla under Senyavin's command, Russia signed a favourable
Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca with
Turkey, regaining
Azov and Taganrog and gaining Kerch and Yenikale. Thus, Catherine II made
Peter the Great's dream a reality – Russia finally got its first direct access to the Black Sea. ==Honors==