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The Bombardment of Odessa was an action during the Crimean War in which a joint Anglo-French squadron of warships attacked the Russian port of Odessa. ==Background and formation== On 6 April 1854, soon after the declaration of war by Britain and France on Russia, the British steam frigate , under the command of Captain William Loring, sailed to Odessa and sent a boat into the port under a flag of truce to collect the British Consul there. When leaving the port the boat was fired upon by the Russians. The British naval commander Vice-Admiral James Dundas demanded an explanation from Lieutenant-General Dmitri Osten-Sacken, the military governor of Odessa, for this breach of the laws of war. His reply was considered unacceptable, so a squadron was quickly selected to mount a punitive expedition. An article by Karl Marx, printed in the ''New York Daily Tribune'' of 16 May 1854, reported that the Russians had claimed that the ''Furious'' was actually carrying out a covert reconnaissance of the port, as the ''Retribution'' had done some time earlier, entering the port of Sevastopol under the pretext of delivering dispatches, but also making a survey of the defences, as had been admitted by the British press. Marx also pointed out the "ridiculousness" of the Allies requiring such justifications for launching an attack an enemy naval base in a time of war. The squadron consisted of eight steam paddle-wheel frigates; the French ''Descartes'', ''Mogador'' and ''Vauban'', and the British , , , and , supported by the British screw frigate , fourth-rate sailing frigate , and steam ship , and the French screw corvette ''Caton''. There were also six ship's boats armed with 24-pounder rockets; two from , and one each from , , ''Sans Pareil'' and ''Highflyer''.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bombardment of Odessa」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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