Ushakov was born in the village of
Burnakovo in the Yaroslavl
province,
Moscow Gubernia, to a modest family of the minor nobility. His father, Fyodor Ignatyevich Ushakov, was a retired sergeant of the
Preobrazhensky Regiment of the Russian Imperial guards. By the time Fyodor Ushakov submitted his statement of background (
skaska) to the
military, his family had not been officially confirmed in the so-called '
dvoryanstvo', yet they surely belonged to serving gentry. In the submission Ushakov stated that he neither had a coat-of-arms, nor a royal patent for a landed estate, and had no way to prove nobility. In 1798, Ushakov, as a
vice-admiral of the
Black Sea Fleet, submitted a request for official nobility and an arms providing a genealogical record. In 1807 his coat-of-arms was added to the General all-Russian book
heraldry. In 1815 Fyodor Ushakov and his family were added to the part 6 (ancient nobility) of the
Yaroslavl genealogical book. On 15 February 1761, he signed up for the
Imperial Russian Navy in
Saint Petersburg. After
training, he served on a
galley in the
Baltic Fleet. In 1768 he was transferred to the
Don Flotilla (
Azov Flotilla) in
Taganrog, and served in the
Russo-Turkish War (1768–74). He commanded
Catherine II's own
yacht, and was active in protecting Russian merchant ships in the
Mediterranean during the
First League of Armed Neutrality. After the Russian Empire conquered the
Crimean Khanate in 1783, Ushakov personally supervised the construction of a naval base in
Sevastopol and the building of docks in
Kherson. During the
Russo-Turkish War (1787–92), he defeated the
Ottomans at
Fidonisi under
Marko Voinovich's leadership (1788), the
Kerch Strait (1790),
Tendra (1790), and
Cape Kaliakra (1791). In these battles, he demonstrated the ingenuity of his innovative doctrines in the art of naval warfare. In 1798 Ushakov was promoted to full
admiral and given command of a
squadron which sailed to the Mediterranean via
Constantinople, where it joined with an Ottoman squadron. The
combined Russian-Ottoman fleet then operated under Ushakov's command in the
War of the Second Coalition against the
French Republic. The expedition started by conquering the
Ionian islands,
acquired by France the year before from the defunct
Republic of Venice in the
Treaty of Campo Formio. This action culminated in the
siege of Corfu, and led to the subsequent creation of the
Septinsular Republic. In establishing this republic, Ushakov proved himself to be a skilful politician and diplomat. Ushakov's squadron then
blockaded French bases in
Italy, notably
Genoa and
Ancona, and successfully assaulted
Naples (
Henry Baillie's landing party of 600 men) and
Rome (the detachments of and Colonel Skipor, 800 men). The Italians greeted the Russians as
liberators: according to Balabin's report, with the words
Vivat Pavlo primo,
vivat moscovito! The seizures of Naples and Rome became possible for Russia because the local French were forced to meet the Coalition
towards Trebbia. Shortly after the capture of Rome, the Russian detachments returned to the squadron.
Ferdinand IV asked Ushakov at the very end of 1799, during the departure of the Russian squadron, to leave Baillie and his party in Naples for some time.
Tsar Paul, in his capacity as the Grand Master of the
Order of St. John, ordered Ushakov to proceed to
Malta, which a
British fleet under
Nelson was
assisting in besieging. However, after rendezvousing with the Coalition forces on Malta, Ushakov was almost immediately recalled back home to Russia in 1800 (along with his fleet), where the new
Emperor,
Alexander I, failed to appreciate his victories. Ushakov resigned command in 1807 and withdrew into the
Sanaksar Monastery in modern-day
Mordovia. He was asked to command the local
militia during the
Patriotic War of 1812. He declined due to ill-health, but donated his savings. In the course of 43 naval battles under his command he did not lose a single ship and never lost a battle. on 8 September 1798''. Painting by
M. M. Ivanov (1799).
Russian Museum == Tactics ==