[1] Elphinston had arrived at Cape Matapan, southern Greece, on 20 May 1770 from Portsmouth and landed his troops on 22 May at Rupino.

After battling bad weather, he sighted the Ottoman ships on 27 May at the entrance to the gulf and despite the superior numbers of the Ottomans (about 10 battleships and some smaller vessels vs 3 battleships, 2 frigates and 4 armed merchantmen) he sailed up before a light SSE breeze to attack.

Elphinston, in Svyatoslav, had to chase and fire on the armed merchantmen to get them to fight, but when he did attack the Ottoman fleet retreated, using their galleys to tow their battleships north.

On 30 May, the Ottomans began to move, and some Russian captains insisted that they were not bound to attack such a superior fleet.

Elphinston had to give in, and during the evening of 31 May as the Ottomans steadily approached, being towed again by their galleys, the wind rose and the Russians got away with heavy casualties.