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| Date from | Date to | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9.7.1774 | Commanded the Russian Squadron at the Action of 1774-07-09 | ||
| 22.5.1807 | 23.5.1807 | Commanded the Russian Fleet at the Battle of the Dardanelles | |
| 30.6.1807 | Commanded the Russian Fleet at the Battle of Lemnos |
The second cousin of A. N. Seniavin, D. N. Seniavin graduated from the Naval Cadet School in 1780 and entered service in the Black Sea Fleet in 1783. He fought in the battle of Cape Kaliakra in the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-91 and commanded the battleship St. Peter in Ushakov’s Mediterranean campaign of 1798-1800. In November 1798, while commanding a detachment of ships, D. N. Seniavin took the French fortress on Santa Maura Island and took part in the assault on Corfu. In 1806, while in command of a Russian fleet in the Adriatic, he prevented the French seizure of the Ionian Islands and captured several important fortresses, including Cattaro. In 1807, during the Second Archipelago Expedition, a Russian Aegean fleet under Seniavin’s command blockaded the Dardanelles and defeated the Ottoman fleet in battles in the Dardanelles and near Athos, which ensured the supremacy of the Russian fleet in the Greek archipelago.
D. N. Seniavin carried the naval tactics developed by F. F. Ushakov a step farther, maneuvering and concentrating forces to strike at the enemy’s flagships and coordinating the movements of tactical groups of ships along main and auxiliary axes. He showed great solicitude for the well-being of his crews, treating the seamen humanely and in return enjoying great popularity among them. He also displayed outstanding diplomatic abilities, especially during the Anglo-Russian War of 1807-12, when a Russian squadron found itself in difficulties in Lisbon. However, Alexander I was adamant in his dissatisfaction with Seniavin, both for the latter’s independent actions in the Mediterranean and for his negotiations with the British, as a result of which the Russian squadron was interned. Upon his return to St. Petersburg, Seniavin was appointed in 1811 to the minor post of commander of the port of Revel; in 1813 he was retired.
D. N. Seniavin’s democratic views attracted the attention of the Decembrists, who planned to give him a post in a provisional government they hoped to establish. In 1825, as Russo-Turkish relations deteriorated, Seniavin was recalled to service and appointed commander of the Baltic Fleet.
Various natural and man-made features are named after D. N. Seniavin an island group in the Caroline Islands, capes on Bristol Bay of the Bering Sea and on southeastern Sakhalin Island, and several warships of the Russian and Soviet navies.