July 5

Pavel Stepanovich Nakhimov was born on July 5 1802. He was one of the most famous admirals in Russian naval history, best remembered as the commander of naval and land forces during the Siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War.

Born in the Gorodok village of Vyazma uyezd (district) of Smolensk Governorate. Nakhimov entered the Naval Academy for the Nobility (Morskoy Dvoryanskiy Korpus) in Saint Petersburg in 1815. He made his first sea voyage in 1817, aboard the frigate Feniks ("Phoenix"), to the shores of Sweden and Denmark. Soon afterwards he was promoted to the rank of non-commissioned officer. In February 1818 he passed examinations to become a midshipman and was immediately assigned to the second Fleet Crew (Flotskiy Ekipazh) of the Russian Imperial Navy's Baltic Fleet.

At the beginning of his naval career, Nakhimov's experience was limited to the voyages in the Baltic Sea and a more extensive trip from the White Sea port ofArkhangelsk to Kronstadt naval base near St. Petersburg. His lucky break came in March 1822, when he was assigned to the frigate Kreiser ("Cruiser"); the vessel took part in a round-the-globe expedition commanded by well-known Russian explorer Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev, who had already undertaken several such voyages.

During the three-year voyage, Nakhimov was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. On conclusion of this adventure, he received his first award, theOrder of Saint Vladimir IV degree.He returned to his native Smolensk and was assigned to the 74-gun warship Azov, which made its maiden voyage from Arkhangelsk to Kronstadt in autumn of 1826.