Is a navy required to take Istanbul?

I'm working on a project. And in one of my Russo-Turkish Wars (1770s) the Russians severely defeat the Ottoman armies multiple armies and driving all the way to Burgas. But I'm not sure if they should continue and seize Istanbul, or if they should negotiate from a position of strength. The Russians have naval superiority but it isn't enough to establish a blockade around Istanbul.

So basically I want to know do you need a navy to take Constantinople or can an army do it alone?
 
I believe it is. Mainly because the only (as far as I know) two armies to take the city had significant navies. The first was the crusaders of the 4th crusade who had the Venetians, plus they attacked by surprise in a time of disarray for Byzantium. The other was the Ottomans who had a enormous navy plus cannons and a siege on both sides of the the city(Asian&European). So in order to wait out the city you have to have a siege on both sides and a navy down the middle of the strait of Bosporus.

However idk if things would change since the siege who are talking about would be in the 1700s. Idk if the walls could take the damage of cannons from the 1700s. However I do know for the Middle Ages/ Renaissance a navy was absolutely necessary for taking Constantinople/Istanbul.
 

LordKalvert

Banned
Not really. If your strong enough on land you can effectively blockade Istanbul by blocking the straits. This doesn't require much- just heavy artillery really, some naval mines and torpedoes.

The Turks defended Istanbul against many fleets when they didn't have much of a fleet at all. Look at WWI. The Turks really had nothing naval wise- just the Goeben really and they held off the British and the French fleets rather well

So if you can defend the place from Naval assault without a fleet, then you can cut it off and starve it out without one
 
Not really. If your strong enough on land you can effectively blockade Istanbul by blocking the straits. This doesn't require much- just heavy artillery really, some naval mines and torpedoes.

The Turks defended Istanbul against many fleets when they didn't have much of a fleet at all. Look at WWI. The Turks really had nothing naval wise- just the Goeben really and they held off the British and the French fleets rather well

So if you can defend the place from Naval assault without a fleet, then you can cut it off and starve it out without one


I guess that's true. I was mainly speaking on the Middle Ages and Renaisance, in which long range weaponry was not as prevalent and you could not fire on ships from a distance in the same way. Either way Istanbul is a difficult city to capture effectively.
 
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