Sultan Makhmud-class ship of the line

The Ottoman Empire had grown increasingly weak by the 1820s, particularly after a combined French, British, and Russian fleet annihilated an Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Navarino in 1827. The power vacuum increased tension with Britain and France over influence in the region, prompting Russian fears of a conflict with the other two Great Powers. At the time, the British and French navies began to move away from the traditional seventy-four as improved building techniques allowed them to design larger two-decked ships of the line armed with 84 guns while retaining the hull strength of the 74-gun ships. And at the same time, the navy of the Eyalet of Egypt also began to build a powerful fleet. To prepare itself for an anticipated future conflict involving the British, French, Egyptians, or Ottomans, Russia began a construction program in the 1830s to strengthen the Black Sea Fleet that included nine 84-gun ships; unlike the shallower Baltic Sea, ships built for the Black Sea could make use of the deeper draft needed for the larger eighty-fours. Following the three Imperatritsa Maria-class ships, the Russian Navy embarked on a larger program, resulting in the eight Sultan Makhmud-class ships.^[1]

The ships of the Sultan Makhmud class varied slightly in dimensions; they were 196 feet (60 m) to 197 ft 4 in (60.15 m) long, with a beam of 52 ft (16 m) to 53 ft 6 in (16.31 m) and a draft of 23 ft 8 in (7.21 m) to 26 ft 7 in (8.10 m). They displaced 3,790 metric tons (3,730 long tons; 4,180 short tons) and measured 2,500 tons burthen. The ships were built with a round stern to increase its strength.^[2]

The ships carried an armament that varied between members of the class and changed over time. Sultan Makhmud was armed with a battery of twenty-eight 36-pounder long guns on the lower gun deck and another thirty-two 36-pound short-barreled guns on the upper gun deck. Most of the other members of the class carried an identical battery in their lower and upper decks, though with just twenty-six guns in their lower deck, with the exception of Sviatoslav, which carried four 68-pound Paixhans guns in addition to twenty-eight of the 36-pounder guns.^[2]

The ships carried a wider range of lighter guns—primarily gunnades and carronades—in their forecastles and quarterdecks. Sultan Makhmud mounted six 18-pound guns and sixteen 36-pound carronades, while Trekh Ierarkhov received four additional 36-pound carronades. Arkhangel Gavriil instead carried six 18-pound guns, fourteen 36-pound carronades, one 24-pound carronade, two 12-pound carronades, and two 8-pound carronades. Selafail and Uriil mounted an almost identical light battery of six 18-pound gunnades, ten 36-pound carronades, two 24-pound carronades, two 12-pound carronades, and two 8-pound carronades, though Uriil received one less 12-pounder. Varna, Iagudiil, and Sviatoslav were also similarly armed, with twenty 24-pound gunnades, two 24-pound carronades, six 18-pound carronades (seven for Iagudiil and eight for Sviatoslav), two 12-pound carronades, and two 8-pound carronades.^[2]