Chesma was an 84-gun ship of the line built for the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy in the 1840s.

The ship saw combat during the Crimean War at the Battle of Sinop against an Ottoman squadron in 1853, where the Russian shell guns proved to be decisive.

Chesma helped to defend Sevastopol, supporting Russian ground forces during a battle in February 1855 before being disarmed to strengthen the city's defenses and then scuttled to block the harbor entrance to the Anglo-French fleet in August.

The power vacuum created increased the risk of future conflicts with Britain and France, so the Russian government ordered a series of 84-gun ships of the line to prepare the fleet.

[2] Chesma then re-joined a squadron commanded by Vice Admiral Pavel Nakhimov to take part in the Battle of Sinop on 30 November (N.S.

France and Britain issued an ultimatum to Russia to withdraw its forces from Rumelia, the Ottoman territories in the Balkans, which the Russians initially ignored, prompting Anglo-French declarations of war in March 1854.

On 12 February 1855, she bombarded Anglo-French forces that attempted to storm the fortress protecting the city, helping to break up the attack.