Defining role of the don military flotilla in the capture of Azove in 1736

The purpose of the study is to show the role of heterogeneous forces of the Don military flotilla, operating in the Don River basin and the Sea of Azov, as the determining factor for victory during a long siege of Azov between March and June of 1736. As the research method the author chose critical analysis of the sources, specifically, the primary texts composed by the first-hand participants of the events, which gave a description of a particular historical issue - the combat activity of the Don military flotilla during the Azov blockade in 1736. This approach allows us to consider the research object not only from the angle of the skillful use of forces and weapons in one of the operational areas, but also to recognize the facts of slow decision-making by the expedition leadership, and sometimes the lack of command organization in the implementation of the plans. Nevertheless, ensuring the combat and daily activities of the Don army, the flotilla fully justified its intended purpose - to disrupt the troop transportation of the enemy, to support and render the land forces assistance with massive artillery shelling of Azov, and to suppress the fire of Turkish batteries. Besides their specific intended use, all types of vessels of the Don military flotilla were used for military transportation when transferring reinforcements, artillery or engineering supplies to the siege parties and, most importantly, providing food supplies to the expedition troops, which predetermined the inevitable fall of the key Turkish outpost of the whole northern Black Sea region.