no cannonballs and bullets flying around him, as if there were not any possibility for him to be killed any minute". In August 1855, Admiral Novonilsky ordered 15 Russian ships to be scuttled, and their cannons be used to help defend the port. Butakov's flagship Vladimir was one of the 15 ships, Butakov and her crew were secreted back to Russia, and would be transferred to the Baltic Fleet. The scuttled ships were: Grand Duke Constantine, City of Paris (both with 120 guns), Brave, Empress Maria, Chesme, Yagondeid (84 guns), Kavarna (60 guns), Konlephy (54 guns), steam frigate Vladimir, steamboats Thunderer, Bessarabia, Danube, Odessa, Elbrose and Krein. The guns and several crew members from the ships were used to defend Sevastopol. On 9 September the port fell to allied forces, marking the beginning of the eventual defeat of Russia in the Crimean War. The siege of Sevastopol claimed many lives on both sides; the Russians lost 102,000 killed and wounded, while the number of British, French and Ottoman casualties numbered 128,387 deaths. Soon after the Siege, the Crimean War was over, ending in Russia's defeat. Naval science When the Crimean War ended in February 1856, Grigory Butakov was promoted to Rear Admiral. By this time he was 36 years old, and had spent 25 of those years in the Imperial Russian Navy. Butakov was also appointed High Chief of the naval unit in Nikolayev and also the Naval Governor of Nikolayev and Sevastopol. Throughout his time serving in these positions, Butakov kept studying the field of Naval Science. In early 1854, Butakov compiled descriptions of "evolutions" in steam warship design, such advantageous turns and maneuvering of the ships in line that would be necessary for taking up the most advantageous position during battle. Butakov wrote of his improvements: "I happened to develop a rather simple yet ingenious idea, namely, two simple geometric lines – a circle and a tangent to it – should be considered the basis for steamship evolutions". Butakov also found solutions to some tactical problems, drew up illustrative tables of courses and movements of ships in the fleet, and outlined three basic detachment formations. Butakov would compile his ideas in his book; New Principles of Steamboat Tactics. According to Butakov, he managed to solve the very essence of the problem of developing the steam-powered tactics in a more radical, fundamental way, not just superficially. Grigory Butakov was