CESME, BATTLE OF

esme also spelled Cheshme (July 67, 1770), naval clash in which a Russian fleet defeated and destroyed the Ottoman fleet at the harbour of esme on the Aegean Sea. During the Russo-Turkish War of 176874, a Russian fleet under Aleksey Orlov entered the Mediterranean in 1770 to destroy the Ottoman fleet and foment rebellion among the Greeks in the Morea (the Peloponnesus) against the Ottomans. The Russians were unable to coordinate their operations with the rebel Greeks on land, but they won a decisive victory at esme. The Ottoman fleet was burned, but Orlov, lacking landing forces, did not force the Straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus. The Ottomans suffered further setbacks on the Danube, however, and were forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Kk Kaynarca (1774), concluding the war.