Pavel Stepanovich Nakhimov ( Павел Степанович Нахимов, ˈpavjɪl sjtjɪˈpanəvjɪtɕ nɐˈxjiməf; – ) was a Russian Admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy known for his victory in the Battle of Sinop and his leadership in the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) during the Crimean War.
He joined the imperial Russian Navy and moved up the ranks serving in the Greek War of Independence and the Russo-Turkish War (1828–29). At the beginning of the Crimean War, he delivered a significant victory at the Battle of Sinop against the Ottoman Empire. Afterward, he was a leader in the defense of Sevastopol against British, French, and Ottoman forces, during which a sniper wounded him, and he died a few days later.
After his death, he became a hero in Russia, with medals and ships named after him, especially during Soviet times, starting with Stalin. Also, a Soviet Film called Admiral Nakhimov was made in 1947 about his life.
Nakhimov was born in the village of Gorodok in the Vyazma district of the Smolensk Governorate into a noble Russian family. He was the seventh of eleven children of a landlord and second major Stepan Mikhailovich Nakhimov and his wife Feodosia Ivanovna Nakhimova (née Kozlovskaya). Six of his siblings died as infants. He and all four of his brothers would become professional seamen, including vice admiral Sergei Stepanovich Nakhimov (1805—1872).
In 1817, he entered the Naval Academy for the Nobility (Morskoy Dvoryanskiy Korpus) in Saint Petersburg. That year, he made his first sea voyage aboard the frigate Feniks ("Phoenix") to the shores of Sweden and Denmark. He was promoted to a non-commissioned officer soon after. 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 voyages in the Baltic Sea as well as a more extensive trip from the White Sea port of Arkhangelsk to Kronstadt naval base near Saint Petersburg.