Nakhimov entered Sinop with service reaching back to the 1810s and combat experience at Navarino and in the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-29. His battlefield leadership worked alongside the administrative skill of his second-in-command, who assembled reinforcements and kept the squadron functioning. Nakhimov could concentrate on using the force because Novosilsky handled much of the organization needed to put it together. Their complementary partnership contrasts with the burden later placed on Rozhestvensky before Tsushima, where other commanders did not rise to the occasion in the same way.
Chapter · 26:46-31:38
Nakhimov’s experienced command team
Pavel Nakhimov’s combat experience was reinforced by a second-in-command who organized and supported the squadron effectively.