History of the Russian fleet. Fleet of Peter the Great

Russia is a continental state, but the length of its borders running along the water surface is 2/3 of their total length. Since ancient times, the Russians could walk on the seas and knew how to fight at sea, but the real fleet traditions of our country number about 300 years.

So far, they are arguing about a specific event or date, from where the history of the Russian fleet originates. One thing is clear - this happened in the era of Peter the Great.

The first experiments

To use waterways to move the armed forces in the country where the rivers were the main routes of communication, the Russians have become very long. Mention of the legendary path "from the Varangians to the Greeks" goes back centuries. About the expedition of Prince Oleg's "lodges" to Constantinople were made bylins.

Alexander Nevsky's wars with the Swedes and the German crusaders had one of the main goals of settling Russian settlements near the mouth of the Neva River in order to be able to freely navigate the Baltic Sea.

In the south, the Zaporozhye and Don Cossacks fought for secession to the Black Sea with Tatars and Turks. Their legendary "seagulls" in 1350 successfully attacked and captured Ochakov.

The first Russian warship "Eagle" was built in 1668 on the Oka River, in the village of Dedinove by the order of the Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. But his real birth is the Russian military fleet due to the dream and the will of his son - Peter the Great.

Home dream

At first the young king just liked sailing on a small boat found in a barn in the village of Izmailovo. This 6-meter boot, donated to his father, is now kept in the Naval Museum of Petersburg.

The future emperor later said that the Russian Imperial Navy originated from him and called him "the grandfather of the Russian fleet." Peter himself restored it, following the instructions of the masters from the German settlement, because there were no shipbuilders in Moscow.

When the future emperor in 17 years became a real ruler, he began to realize truly that Russia can not be developed without economic, scientific and cultural ties with Europe, and the best ways of communication are the sea.

An energetic and curious person, Peter sought to acquire knowledge and skills in various fields. His greatest passion was the theory and practice of shipbuilding, which he learned from Dutch, German and English masters. He took interest in the basics of cartography with interest, learned to use navigation devices.

The first skills he began to invest in the creation of "Funny Flotilla" on Pleshcheyevo Lake in Pereslavl-Zalessky near Yaroslavl. In June 1689, there were assembled at the shipyards the Fortuna boat, 2 small frigates and yachts.

Exit to the ocean

A huge land giant, occupying the sixth part of terrestrial land, Russia of the end of the XVII century less than other countries could claim the title of a naval power. The history of the Russian fleet is also the history of the struggle to enter the world ocean. There were two options for entering the sea: two bottled bottles: through the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea, where strong Sweden ruled, and through the Black Sea, through the narrow strait of the Dardanelles, under the control of the Ottoman Empire.

The first attempt to stop the raids of the Crimean Tatars and Turks on the southern borders and lay the foundation for a future breakthrough to the Black Sea was undertaken by Peter in 1695. The fortress of Azov, located in the mouth of the Don, withstood the assaults of the Russian military expedition, and for systematic siege was not strong enough, there was not enough money to cut the supply to the Turks around the water. Therefore, to prepare for the next campaign, it was decided to build a flotilla.

The Azov fleet

Peter with unprecedented energy took up the construction of ships. More than 25 thousand peasants were driven to work at the shipyards in the Preobrazhensky and on the Voronezh River. According to the model brought from abroad, 23 rowing galleys (katorga), 2 large sailboats (one of which was a 36-gun "Apostle Peter"), more than 1,300 small vessels - barrels, plows, etc., were manufactured under the supervision of foreign masters. E. This was the first attempt to create what is called the "regular Russian imperial fleet." He perfectly fulfilled his tasks of bringing troops to the walls of the fortress and blocking the encircled Azov from the water. After a month and a half siege on July 19, 1696, the garrison of the fortress surrendered.

"It's better for me to fight the sea ..."

This campaign showed the importance of interaction between land and sea forces. It was decisive for the decision of the Boyar Duma on the further construction of ships. "The ships to be!" - the royal decree on the allocation of funds for new ships was approved on October 20, 1696. From this date, the history of the Russian fleet and its timing.

Great embassy

The war for the southern outlet to the ocean by the capture of Azov had just begun, and Peter went to Europe in search of support in the struggle against Turkey and its allies. The king took advantage of his diplomatic tour, lasting a year and a half, to replenish his knowledge in shipbuilding and military affairs.

Under the name of Peter Mikhailov, he worked at the shipyards of Holland. He was gaining experience along with a dozen Russian carpenters. For three months with their participation a frigate "Peter and Paul" was built, which later went to Java under the flag of the East India Company.

In England, the king also works in the shipyards and in the mechanical workshops. The English king specially for Peter arranges naval maneuvers. Seeing the coordinated interactions of 12 huge ships, Peter is delighted and says that he would like to be an English admiral, than a Russian tsar. Since that moment, the dream of having a powerful Russian imperial fleet has become firmly established in it.

Young Russia

Maritime business is developing. In 1700 Peter the Great established a stern flag of the ships of the Russian fleet. It was named after the first Russian order - St. Andrew the First-Called. 300 years of Russian fleet, and almost all this time, the Russian blue-and-white cross of St. Andrew's flag overshadows the Russian naval sailors.

A year later, the first naval educational institution, the School of Mathematical and Navigation Sciences, opens in Moscow. The Naval Order is being established to guide the new industry. The Naval Charter is adopted, naval ranks are introduced.

But most importantly - the Admiralty, in charge of which there are shipyards - new ships are being built there.

Plans for Peter Alekseevich on further seizures of ports on the Black Sea and the establishment of the shipyards prevented a more formidable enemy from the North. Denmark and Sweden started the war because of the disputed islands, and Peter entered it on the Danish side, aiming to break through the "window to Europe" - access to the Baltic Sea.

The Battle of Gangut

Sweden, led by a young and quarrelsome Charles XII was the main military force of that time. An inexperienced Russian Imperial Navy awaited a severe test. In the summer of 1714, a Russian squadron of rowing ships, led by Admiral Fyodor Apraksin, met with powerful Swedish sailboats off Cape Gangut. Surrendering to the enemy in artillery, the admiral did not dare to direct a collision and reported the situation to Peter.

The tsar made a diversionary maneuver: he ordered to arrange a deck for the transfer of ships to dry land and to show his intention to go through the isthmus to the rear of the enemy fleet. To prevent this, the Swedes divided the fleet, sending a detachment of 10 ships around the peninsula to the place of transhipment. At this time, the sea was completely calm, which deprived the Swedes of the possibility of any maneuver. Massive stationary ships lined up in an arc for frontal combat, and Russian fleet ships - fast rowing galleys - broke through along the coast and attacked a group of 10 ships, locking it in a bay. The flagship frigate Elephant was boarded, Peter personally participated in hand-to-hand attack, capturing the sailors with a personal example.

The victory of the Russian fleet was complete. About a dozen ships were seized, more than a thousand Swedes were captured, over 350 were killed. Not losing a single ship, the Russians lost 120 people killed and 350 wounded.

The first victories on the sea - at Gangut and, later, at Grengam, as well as land Poltava victory - all this became a pledge of the Swedes signing the Nystad peace (1721), according to which Russia began to prevail in the Baltic. The goal - access to Western European ports - was achieved.

Inheritance of Peter the Great

The foundation for the creation of the Baltic Fleet was laid by Peter ten years before the Gangut battle, when St. Petersburg, the new capital of the Russian Empire, was founded in the estuary of the Neva reclaimed from the Swedes. Together with the military base, located nearby - Kronstadt, - they became a gate, closed to enemies and open for trade.

For a quarter of a century, Russia has gone the way that the leading sea powers have taken several centuries - the way from small ships for coastal navigation to huge ships capable of overcoming the vastness of the world. The flag of the Russian fleet was known and respected on all oceans of the earth.

History of victories and defeats

Peter's reforms and his favorite child - the first Russian fleet - were waiting for a difficult fate. Not all the subsequent rulers of the country shared the ideas of Peter the Great or possessed his strength of character.

Over the next 300 years, the Russian fleet managed to win the great victories of the times of Ushakov and Nakhimov and suffer severe defeats from Sevastopol and Tsushima. After the most difficult rout, Russia was deprived of the status of a naval power. The history of the Russian fleet and past centuries, and modern times, knows the periods of rebirth after a complete decline .

Today the fleet is gaining strength after another destructive timelessness, and it is important to remember that everything started with the energy and will of Peter I, who believed in the maritime greatness of his country.