The Naval Campaigns of the Zaporozhian Cossacks: From Sahaidachny to the Twilight of an Era

The naval campaigns of the Zaporozhian Cossacks in the 16th and 17th centuries became one of the most striking phenomena in the history of the struggle against Ottoman expansion in Europe. Starting from the late 16th century, Cossack chaikas carried out daring annual raids against the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire, striking severe blows to both the economy and the prestige of these states. Over the course of a fierce confrontation, the Zaporozhians managed to control the basins of the Dnieper and Buh rivers, as well as the coasts of the Black and Azov Seas. From the beginning of the 17th century until the 1630s, the Turks and Tatars were effectively forced into a defensive posture.

Causes of the Zaporozhian Cossacks’ Naval Campaigns

[Map of Cossack naval campaigns]

The naval campaigns of the Zaporozhian Cossacks took place for a variety of reasons. The primary catalyst was the intensifying Tatar raids on the southern borders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, formed under the Union of Lublin. These attacks reached their peak in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. To defend against them, the central authorities created a territorial defense program. However, poor funding from the state shifted the burden onto local magnates, voivodes, and the Ukrainian population.

Furthermore, a defensive strategy proved highly ineffective against the mobile Tatar cavalry units, which ravaged everything in their path. A more advantageous tactic was to launch preemptive strikes against both the Tatars and their suzerain, the Ottoman Empire. It was no secret that the Turks derived considerable income from the slave trade, and they constantly incited the Tatars to carry out new raids.

The second reason was the awareness of the immense wealth held in Crimean and Turkish cities along the Black and Azov Sea coasts, which promised lucrative spoils. Another crucial factor was that Tatar raids resulted in a large number of people being taken into captivity, with some captives even becoming so-called “Slavic Mamluks.” Driven by the desire to free their compatriots and the opportunity to enrich themselves, the Cossacks approached these naval expeditions with great enthusiasm.

The First Naval Campaigns of the Zaporozhian Cossacks

The prologue to these campaigns can be traced back to the late 15th century, with the first Cossack expeditions against the Tatars. The central figure in these early raids was the Voivode of Cherkasy, Bohdan Hlinsky. Under his leadership, two campaigns were undertaken: one to Tighina, where a Tatar ship was captured, and another to Ochakiv. In Ochakiv, they seized a treasury worth 30,000 altyns, liberated captive residents, and took local Tatars as prisoners.

Rivers served as the primary navigation routes in these expeditions, guiding the Cossacks’ movements.

[Ostap Dashkevych]

Following Hlinsky, the organization of Cossack naval campaigns was taken up by the founding fathers of the Cossack movement—Ostap Dashkevych and Przecław Lanckoroński. Dashkevych succeeded Hlinsky as the Starosta (elder) of Cherkasy. Under his direction in the early 16th century, a system of fortifications was established on the Dnieper—the Sichs. At these newly built fortresses, they began constructing chaikas—deckless boat-ships specifically designed for navigating the Dnieper.

The cornerstone of the Zaporozhian Cossacks’ naval success was the legendary chaika—a unique flat-bottomed vessel specially adapted for maritime expeditions. The French engineer and cartographer Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan detailed their construction in his Description of Ukraine (1650):

“They build vessels 60 feet [approx. 18 meters] long, 10 to 12 feet [3–3.6 meters] wide, and 12 feet deep. The vessels have no keel: the bottom is hollowed out of a willow or linden trunk… The Cossack vessels have 10 to 15 oars on each side and sail faster than Turkish galleys.”

Przecław Lanckoroński, the Starosta of Khmilnyk, was the son-in-law of Prince Kostiantyn Ostrozky and a remarkably popular figure. In his youth, he had traveled to almost every European country, as well as Jerusalem, studying the military arts of European and Eastern commanders. In 1506, he was elected the first Hetman. Together with Dashkevych, he organized Cossack naval campaigns against the Tatars and Turks.

Surviving historical sources describe their activities only sparsely. However, Lanckoroński’s campaigns against the Turks are well-documented, particularly his 1516 expedition to Akkerman, where the Cossacks routed Tatar detachments and the Turkish garrison, securing rich spoils. During this campaign, Ochakiv was also captured and plundered. Dashkevych participated in this raid as well. In 1528, Cherkasy and Kaniv Cossacks, led by Dashkevych and Lanckoroński, took Ochakiv once again. There were also smaller-scale naval expeditions. Both leaders remained active throughout the 1510s–1530s.

They were succeeded by Dmytro Vyshnevetsky, famously nicknamed “Baida.” In 1558, alongside Matvei Rzhevsky, he undertook his first campaign against the Turks. By the following year, leading 8,000 Cossacks, he attacked the Turkish fortress of Azov, ravaged the lower reaches of the Don, and fought near Kerch. Up until his capture and execution in 1563, he orchestrated successful Cossack naval campaigns across the northern Black Sea region.

[Dmytro “Baida” Vyshnevetsky]

Following the loss of a charismatic leader like Vyshnevetsky, Cossack activity declined somewhat. However, in 1568, reports emerged of the “lower” (nyzovi) Cossacks—the Zaporozhians. They elected Samiylo Kishka as their Hetman. Kishka hailed from the nobility (szlachta) and was highly educated. He had joined Baida’s campaigns starting in the 1550s. Before being elected Hetman, he had earned immense authority among the Cossacks.

He first led Cossack naval campaigns in 1567, and over the course of two years, he captured Izmail, Akkerman, Kiliya, and Ochakiv, inflicting colossal damage on the Turkish fleet. An alarmed Ottoman Sultan Selim II deployed a fleet to Ochakiv. However, this did not stop the Cossacks, and the attacks on the Turks continued. In 1573, during yet another campaign, Kishka ran into a Turkish squadron. The Turks won the battle, and the Hetman himself was taken prisoner for a grueling 26 years.

In 1575, under the command of Prince Bohdan Ruzhynsky, better known as Hetman Bohdanko, the Zaporozhians attacked Crimea via Perekop. After devastating the Tatar lands, the Cossacks launched a naval expedition from Crimea to the shores of Asia Minor. There they captured Sinope, Trebizond, and ravaged the outskirts of Constantinople. The plunder was enormous. This campaign sent shockwaves through the Ottoman Empire; previously, it was believed that the coast of Asia Minor was completely secure and that the Black Sea was entirely under Turkish control.

Upon returning from the campaign, the Zaporozhians, led by Bohdanko, attacked Aslam-Kermen, a fortress at the mouth of the Dnieper. After a brief siege, the fortress was captured and destroyed. All these actions caused great alarm among the Turks, who dispatched envoys to Warsaw demanding that the Cossacks be reined in. The Cossacks, however, ignored all warnings.

It is important to understand the geopolitical context of these events. This was a time of aggressive Ottoman expansion into Europe. Naturally, the rulers of European countries, including the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, made every effort to contain it. The Cossacks were a crucial factor in holding the Turks back. To counter the Cossack raids, the Ottomans had to divert part of their fleet and reinforce the garrisons of cities and fortresses, which required significant resources. Therefore, despite official statements from the Commonwealth’s leadership condemning the Zaporozhians’ actions, they were unofficially supported. In addition, a faction of Zaporozhians entered the service of the Polish Crown as Registered Cossacks to participate in the Livonian War.

The “Golden Age” of Cossack Naval Campaigns

[Drawing of a chaika’s construction, compiled by Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan, 1660.]

In 1588, emerging from the Dnieper Estuary into the Black Sea, the Cossacks attacked 17 Tatar settlements, with 1,500 men participating in the operation. The following year, led by Otaman Kulaha, they captured a Turkish ship near Yevpatoria and executed a night raid on the city. Simultaneously, two Cossack detachments on chaikas attacked Azov and Akkerman. In 1590, the Zaporozhians seized Turkish merchant ships and sacked Trebizond and Sinope.

By the end of the 16th century, Cossack operations had reached a massive scale. According to rough estimates, their numbers exceeded 40,000 men. Evolving from a tactic of preemptive strikes, the Cossacks’ struggle against the Turks and Tatars took on a decidedly offensive character. The Zaporozhians launched campaigns against Crimea and the Black Sea coast on hundreds of chaikas. But the primary target of these naval expeditions became the coastline of Turkey itself.

The “Golden Age” for Cossack naval campaigns arrived at the beginning of the 17th century, heralded by Kishka’s return from Turkish captivity and the rise of Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny. In 1599, Kishka organized a mutiny on a Turkish galley. Seizing the ship, he returned to the Sich. There, he was re-elected Hetman and planned to organize a major campaign against Constantinople and several Turkish cities in Asia Minor. However, this grand plan was never realized. After a joint campaign with the Poles against Crimea in 1600, he died in 1603.

Petro Sahaidachny – Hetman of Naval Victories

[Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny]

Kishka’s ideas were brought to life by Sahaidachny. In 1601, due to family troubles, he arrived at the Sich. He took part in the Moldavian and Livonian campaigns. Recognizing his talents, the Cossacks elected him obozny (quartermaster), placing him in charge of all the Sich’s artillery. In 1605, he was elected Hetman and immediately set to work.

As early as 1606, the fortress of Varna, previously considered impregnable, was taken. An infuriated Sultan Ahmed I ordered the passage across the Dnieper near Tavan Island to be blocked with an iron chain. This proved futile. In 1607, Petro Konashevych led a massive campaign that resulted in the capture and burning of Perekop and Ochakiv. In early 1609, Sahaidachny spearheaded an attack on Kiliya and Izmail with a flotilla of 16 chaikas.

Between 1612 and 1614, continuous naval campaigns against the Turkish Black Sea coast were carried out under Konashevych’s command. In these raids, the Cossack fleet exceeded 300 chaikas, carrying up to 20,000 men. A significant portion of Turkey’s Black Sea fleet was decimated in these battles.

Two campaigns took place in 1614. The first, in the spring, failed due to a severe storm that destroyed part of the fleet, while the rest were washed ashore and annihilated by the Turks. The second campaign, conducted in the summer, was triumphantly successful. Two thousand Cossacks took Sinope by storm. After slaughtering the garrison, destroying the arsenal, port, and fleet, liberating many captives, and seizing immense booty, they returned to the Sich. The Turkish fleet sent to intercept them was defeated.

Another major expedition followed a year later. The Zaporozhian fleet, comprising 70 chaikas, attacked the coastline near the Bosphorus and Istanbul. Numerous settlements and harbors were reduced to ashes. The Turkish fleet, pursuing the Cossacks as they retreated to the Danube, suffered a humiliating defeat. The fleet commander, the Kapudan Pasha, was taken prisoner.

The 1616 Campaign on Kaffa — The Pinnacle of Cossack Naval Campaigns

[General view of a Zaporozhian chaika]

In 1616, a monumental campaign commenced under Sahaidachny’s command. Roughly 15,000 Cossacks captured Kaffa, the largest slave market and one of the wealthiest cities in Crimea. On July 22, 1616, Sahaidachny positioned 4,000 Cossacks near the walls of Kaffa. Under the cover of night, the Cossacks landed on the shore and approached the gates. A detachment of Zaporozhians who were fluent in Turkish distracted the guards by posing as an Ottoman military unit en route to the war with Persia. Meanwhile, others threw ladders onto the fortress walls. Scaling the ramparts, the Cossacks eliminated the guards and opened the gates. Through a sudden assault, the Cossacks seized the city’s citadel and set about looting the city and liberating Christian captives.

The Venetian ambassador in Constantinople reported to the Doge:

“The Cossacks freed more than 8,000 Christians from captivity in Kaffa, devastated the entire coastline from Kaffa to Sinope, and captured and burned so many ships that Turkish merchants dare not set out to sea.”

After Kaffa, the Cossacks crossed the Black Sea, captured Sinope and Trebizond, and defeated a punitive fleet sent against them under the command of Admiral Ali Pasha. Upon receiving intelligence that a new fleet lay in wait for them near Ochakiv, they bypassed it by sailing through the Sea of Azov to the Don River. Returning to the Sich over land, they wiped out a Tatar force that, taking advantage of the large Zaporozhian contingent’s absence, had staged a raid into Ukrainian lands.

The 1616 campaign caused tremendous anxiety in Istanbul. A fleet was dispatched with the objective of sailing up the Dnieper to obliterate the Sich. In the ensuing Battle of the Samara River, the Turks suffered a crushing defeat.

From 1617 onward, the Zaporozhians under Sahaidachny’s command exercised virtually complete control over the Black Sea.

The Turks’ patience finally snapped. They issued an ultimatum to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: if the Poles did not rein in the Cossacks, it meant war. The Poles desperately wished to avoid this, given their ongoing and highly unsuccessful conflict with Muscovy. After lengthy negotiations with the Zaporozhians, a compromise was reached. The Cossacks agreed to cease their attacks on the Tatars and Turks and participate in the Polish-Muscovite War in exchange for sweeping concessions from the Commonwealth authorities. Cossack campaigns to the Turkish shores ceased until 1620.

Sahaidachny’s “Heirs”

[Zaporozhians on “chaikas” attack a Turkish galley. Drawing by Opanas Slastion, 1900.]

In 1620, a faction of Cossacks led by Hetman Yatsko Borodavka carried out an unauthorized raid on Istanbul and Varna, which provoked the Polish-Ottoman War and culminated in the battles of Cecora and Khotyn. It was during the momentous Battle of Khotyn that Sahaidachny was mortally wounded.

During the Polish-Ottoman War in 1621, prior to the Battle of Khotyn, 10,000 Cossacks under the command of Ivan Sulyma undertook a naval expedition into the Black Sea. Encountering and defeating the Turkish fleet there, the Cossacks chased the surviving enemies to the Bosphorus and, after plundering the coast, safely returned. That same year, another campaign was launched with smaller forces but ended in failure. Part of the Cossack fleet was destroyed by the Turks near Ochakiv, while the rest were overtaken at sea and sunk. Losses amounted to about 30 chaikas.

In July 1622, uniting with the Don Cossacks, the Zaporozhians led by Otaman Shylo raided the Turkish coast; however, on their way back, they were overtaken and defeated by the Turkish fleet. The following year, 1623, in that exact same month, the Zaporozhians attacked Kaffa on a hundred chaikas, crossed the sea, and openly threatened Constantinople. Between July and October of that year, the Cossacks penetrated the Bosphorus three times, ravaged the coastline, and returned. In 1624, another campaign into the Bosphorus area took place. To stop the Cossacks, the Turks stretched a massive chain across the Golden Horn—reviving a defensive tactic used since Byzantine times against the fleets of the Kyivan princes Oleh, Ihor, and Volodymyr the Great.

Starting in the 1620s, the Cossack estate entered a period of intense confrontation with the authorities of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, erupting into a series of uprisings. Under these circumstances, the frequency of Cossack naval campaigns began to decline, as the Cossacks were preoccupied with fighting for their internal rights and liberties. However, the era of these campaigns was far from over.

Teaming up with the Don Cossacks, the Zaporozhians launched a massive attack on Sinope and Trebizond in 1625. This campaign involved 15,000 men on 300 chaikas. An Ottoman fleet dispatched against them under the command of Redshih Pasha finally defeated the Cossacks after a ferocious battle. About 70 chaikas were lost in this engagement.

The campaign of 1629 proved much more successful. The Zaporozhians boldly attacked Istanbul. Concentrating their main forces near the entrance to the Bosphorus, they sent 20 chaikas into the strait as a vanguard. There, heavy winds blew them directly into the path of 14 Turkish galleys. Fighting their way through, the Cossacks broke out to the shore, occupied a local monastery, and put up fierce resistance. Hearing the sounds of battle, the main force on 50 chaikas rushed into the strait, captured two Turkish galleys, and landed on the shore.

Following this audacious raid, Kosh Otaman Ivan Sirko—whom his contemporaries famously called a kharakternyk (a Cossack sorcerer/shaman)—wrote to the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV:

“Our Zaporozhian brothers, waging war on vessels across the Black Sea, courageously touched the very walls of Constantinople, and suffused them with enough gunpowder smoke in the presence of the Sultan himself.”

The 1630 campaign, however, brought no success. Following a raid, the Turkish fleet caught up with the retreating Zaporozhians near Ochakiv and defeated them. Losses amounted to around 55 chaikas.

Ivan Sulyma’s Azov Campaign of 1632

[Ivan Sulyma]

The last major success of this era was linked to the election of Ivan Mykhailovych Sulyma as Hetman. Sulyma had arrived at the Zaporozhian Sich back in the days of Samiylo Kishka and had participated in his campaigns. Over time, he gained tremendous authority among the Zaporozhians, eventually reaching the same level of prominence as Sahaidachny. However, in 1605, during a naval battle with the Turks, a cannonball struck his chaika, and he was taken captive. For 15 agonizing years, he served as a galley slave, but eventually managed to replicate Kishka’s legendary feat. During the Ottoman-Venetian War, Sulyma staged a mutiny on his galley. Seizing the ship, he navigated it to the Papal States, arriving at the port of Rome. This caused a genuine sensation among the local townsfolk, as the Cossacks brought 300 captive Janissaries with them. For his exceptional contribution to the fight against the Turks, Sulyma was awarded a gold medal bearing the portrait of the Pope and was provided with funds to return to his homeland.

Upon returning to the Sich, he immediately began organizing and leading new Cossack naval campaigns. In 1628, following the death of Hetman Hryhoriy Chorny, he was elected as his replacement. Sulyma planned and executed one of the most brilliant naval operations in Cossack history. In 1632, under his command, a Cossack fleet set sail from the Sich. The Zaporozhians captured Kiliya and Izmail. They then boldly rounded the Crimean Peninsula and fought their way past Kerch, entering the Sea of Azov. Following a ferocious assault, the mighty fortress of Azov was taken. None of his predecessors had managed to capture it. Since Azov was the primary food supplier for Istanbul, the Sultan’s reaction was swift and furious. A squadron of 20 heavy galleys was dispatched to Ochakiv to intercept the Cossacks. Yet, the Zaporozhians attacked the Turks at night, destroyed 5 galleys, severely damaged the remainder, and sailed safely up the Dnieper with immense spoils. Only three chaikas were lost during this masterful retreat.

Sulyma’s ultimate fate, however, was a tragic one. Upon returning from the campaign, he destroyed the newly built Polish fortress of Kodak. As a result of betrayal, he was captured by the Poles and, under intense diplomatic pressure from Turkey, was executed.

The Italian diplomat Emiddio Dortelli d’Ascoli, Prefect of Kaffa, described the Cossack chaikas in 1634 as follows:

“If the Black Sea was always angry, now it is both blacker and more terrifying due to the numerous chaikas that devastate it and the mainland all summer long. These chaikas are elongated, akin to our frigates, hold 50 men, and move by oars and under sail… At sea, no ship is safe if it has the misfortune of encountering them.”

The Zaporozhians undertook their final campaign in 1638. Uniting with the Don Cossacks, they sailed into the Black Sea on 153 chaikas. There they were met by a massive Turkish fleet under the command of Kapudan Pasha Rajab, who defeated them. Bohdan Khmelnytsky ultimately put the final period on the Zaporozhians’ naval campaigns. Seeking allies in his liberation struggle against the Poles, he forged an alliance with the Tatars and signed a trade agreement with Turkey, which granted the Cossacks free, peaceful entry into all Turkish harbors on the Black and Aegean Seas.

The Historical Significance of the Cossack Naval Campaigns

[Liberation of captives from slavery by the Cossacks. Kaffa 1616.]

The Cossack naval campaigns played a major role in the broader scope of European history. First and foremost, what began as localized preemptive strikes against Tatar raids eventually evolved into a strategic offensive, shifting the theater of war directly to the territory of the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire.

They systematically tied down a significant portion of the Turkish fleet, forced Istanbul to expend vast resources countering constant raids, and struck heavy blows against the Ottoman economy, thereby actively weakening Turkish expansion into Europe. Thanks to these campaigns, the Turkish advance in the Black Sea region was halted, forcing the Ottomans to shift to a defensive stance on this geopolitical front.

Furthermore, these campaigns dramatically popularized the Cossack movement. Following the stunning successes of Vyshnevetsky and his successors, a tidal wave of new recruits began joining the Cossack ranks. On the flip side, their intermittent and unauthorized provocations of the Tatars and Turks frequently led to severe diplomatic crises for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The golden age of naval campaigns under Sahaidachny decisively demonstrated that the organized Zaporozhian Cossacks could successfully stand up to the mighty Ottoman Empire. By controlling entire regions of the Black Sea, liberating thousands of Christian captives, and inflicting staggering damage on the Sultan’s treasury, they cemented their legacy as a formidable maritime power of their time.

Frequently Asked Questions About Cossack Naval Campaigns

• What are Cossack chaikas? Chaikas are specialized flat-bottomed vessels of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, roughly 18-20 meters long, perfectly adapted for maritime campaigns. They accommodated 50-70 men and featured a thick reed belt bound along the gunwales for extra buoyancy and protection against enemy fire.
• Why did the Cossacks conduct naval campaigns? The main reasons were tactical defense against Tatar raids, the liberation of captured compatriots, a strategic desire to weaken the Ottoman Empire, and the acquisition of material wealth to sustain the Zaporozhian Sich.
• Who was the most famous leader of the naval campaigns? Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny — the illustrious Hetman under whose leadership the Cossack naval expeditions reached their absolute peak between 1614 and 1620.
• When did the Cossack naval campaigns end? The last major naval campaign took place in 1638. Bohdan Khmelnytsky officially put an end to this era by forging a strategic alliance with the Tatars and a trade agreement with the Ottoman Empire.
• What was the most successful Cossack naval campaign? Sahaidachny’s legendary campaign on Kaffa in 1616, during which over 8,000 Christian captives were freed and the largest slave market in Crimea was captured and destroyed.