Battle of Cape Sinop (Napoleonic Age)

The Battle of Cape Sinop was the first major battle of the Balkan War, and also its first naval battle. Just several weeks after the beginning of the conflict, a portion of the Russian Black Sea Fleet sortied from Sevastopol with the intent of seeking out and destroying the Ottoman fleet. On 19 May, however, Admiral Zavoyko's fleet met an even smaller portion of the Ottoman Navy and was surprisingly dealt a bloody defeat. Though hardly a decisive victory, the battle shook the morale of the Imperial Navy and proved the effectiveness of the military reforms first instituted by Sultan Mahmud II in 1831. The battle was the first major naval victory attributed to the Ottoman Empire in over a lifetime.