The paper is devoted to the actions of the Don Flotilla built in 1723-1724 and 1733-1735, which played a crucial role during the siege of Azov in 1736. Despite a rather extensive historiography of the Russian-Turkish (Austro-Russian-Turkish) war, this issue has been studied poorly and in isolation from the Russian military-historical context. Based on a large number of Russian and Turkish sources, the author reconstructs and analyzes key stages in the use of the Russian navy against the Turkish garrison and ships, which were sent from Istanbul to help the fortress. Using sources that have not been previously considered in historiography, the author clarifies a number of facts and proposes their new interpretation. A comparative analysis of the actions of the navy during the siege of Azov in 1696 and 1736 is conducted, which allows new trends in the development of Russian military art of naval warfare to be determined.