A Yankee Doodle in Crimea

To Russia with Love

Recent events in Crimea prompted me to blog about that land's connection to the Yankee Doodle Spies. That connection involves John Paul Jones, the renowned naval hero who arguably played a key role in helping Imperial Russia pursue its ambitions against the Turkish rulers of Crimea. Jones was born in Scotland as John Paul. He went to sea at an early age and eventually became a ship's master. However, his fierce temper led to criminal charges, and he eventually adopted the name Jones by adding it to his birth name. The controversial merchant mariner linked to America through his brother, who settled in Fredericksburg, Virginia. When the war with Britain broke out, he joined the new American navy and became one of its most celebrated heroes.

America's Fighting Sailor

Jones was a unique character—ruthless and fearless, willing to take on any challenge. He was known for many successful one-on-one ship fights, notably his epic battle with the Serapis, and daring raids on England, Scotland, and Ireland. He attempted to destroy a fleet of merchant vessels at Whitehaven by fire, but the plan was not carried out, and only one ship was burned. Still, his exploits sent a message heard around the world: the US Navy could and would fight anyone, anywhere! Jones was friends with Benjamin Franklin and became a rock star in some circles. However, he also made many enemies due to his temper. In the summer of 1782, he was considered for command of a first-rate named America, but Congress later gave the ship to France. Instead, he was assigned duties in Europe aimed at obtaining prize money. When that assignment ended, he was stuck in Paris without a portfolio.

Whitehaven Raid

The Czarina's Rebel

Catherine the Great

In 1787, a foreign sovereign summoned the renowned sailor who had fought against his former king. Imperial Russia was engaged in another campaign to gain access to the sea, fighting the Ottoman Empire. Jones was recommended to Czarina Catherine the Great through a series of friends. When his name was considered for a naval command, she remarked that he would "get to Constantinople." In the 18th century, it was common for officers to accept foreign commissions when pensioned or retired from their native forces. The Royal Navy had downsized after the Treaty of Paris, and many of its officers joined the service of the Czarina. Many British officers were upset when it became known that Jones would serve in the Russian Navy as Kontraadmiral (Rear Admiral) Pavel Ivanovich Jones. Nonetheless, he was sent to the Black Sea, where Catherine's Prime Minister (and lover), Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potëmkin, commanded the armies and navies in the lower Ukraine and Crimea. Jones's record in the campaign was mixed, and he clashed with peers and superiors.

Siege of Ochakov

Jones was given command of a small flotilla with a first-rate ship as his flagship, the 24-gun vessel Vladimir. He participated in the naval campaign at Liman, an arm of the Black Sea where the Southern Bug and Dnieper rivers flow, against the Turks. Jones pushed Ottoman forces out of the area in the first naval battle of Liman. 

A second battle quickly ensued when the Turkish navy returned from the Black Sea, aiming to break through to Ochakov, a key fortress on the Dnieper that was besieged by Russian naval and land forces, the latter led by the renowned General Suvarov. Jones went on a night reconnaissance, rowed by a strong-built Cossack sailor named Ivak. To Ivak's surprise, Jones infiltrated the Turkish fleet. In what must have been a tense experience, they made their way past floating pickets and several anchored ships. Using some Turkish Cossacks, they learned the enemy passwords and went further into the fleet. Eventually, they targeted a large vessel in the middle of the fleet, the Pasha's flagship, and marked it with chalk, saying, "To Be Burned, Paul Jones." 

The following day's battle had mixed outcomes. Tensions between Jones and the German adventurer commanding the galleys, Prince de Nassau-Siegen, began from the start. Nassau-Siegen despised Jones and did everything possible to hinder him. Despite the discord and disorder in the command structure, the Russians achieved an impressive victory; however, if Jones had more freedom, it could have been even greater.

From Russia Without Love

Potemkin's enmity brought an ignominious end
to John Paul Jones'  controversial Russian
adventure

Not long afterward, the jealous schemes of Potëmkin and his ally, Prince Charles of Nassau-Siegen, led to Jones being recalled to St. Petersburg under the false pretense of being assigned to a command in the North Sea. There, he was forced to remain idle as rival officers conspired against him and even maliciously attacked his personal reputation with accusations of sexual misconduct. 

In April 1789, Jones was arrested and accused of raping a 12-year-old girl named Katerina Goltzwart. But the Count de Segur, the French representative at the Russian court (and also Jones's last friend in the capital), conducted his own personal investigation into the matter and was able to convince Potëmkin that the girl had not been raped and that Jones had been accused by Prince de Nassau-Siegen for his own purposes. 

However, Jones did not emerge unscathed in reputation. He had admitted to prosecutors that he had "often frolicked" with the girl "for a small cash payment," only denying that he knew her age and emphatically stating he had not deprived her of her virginity. Still, most in Petersburg dropped him like a hot potato. 

The Czarina (herself as dissolute as they come) was outraged by the affair. On June 8, 1789, Jones was awarded the Order of St. Anne. This was a significantly lower honor than those given to Nassau-Siegen and other senior officers who participated in the Liman campaign. Jones left Russia shortly after, feeling embittered. 

And what about the Crimea? After a long winter siege, Ochakov fell to Potemkin's forces, ending the Turkish hold on the peninsula. The Treaty of Jassy in 1792 officially recognized Russia's seizure of the Crimean Khanate, with the Sultan formally ceding Odessa and Ochakov as well.