How, by whom and when was the Russian Navy created. History of the Russian Navy

Fleet during the reign of Alexander I: Second Archipelago Expedition, Russo-Swedish War; fleet during the beginning of the reign of Nicholas I; Crimean War; Russian Navy after the Crimean War

THE FLEET DURING THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I: THE SECOND ARCHIPELAGOAN EXPEDITION, THE RUSSIAN-SWEDEN WAR

Alexander I

Having ascended the throne in 1801, Emperor Alexander I carried out a number of transformations in the system of state administration, creating ministries instead of collegiums. So in 1802 the Ministry of Naval Forces was established. The Board of the Admiralty remained in its former form, but was already subordinate to the minister. They became the educated and capable Admiral N. S. Mordvinov, who proved himself in the war with Turkey.

However, three months later, Mordvinov was replaced by Rear Admiral P.V. Chichagov. “The trouble is, if the shoemaker starts the pies, and the pieman makes the boots” - these are the words from the famous fable of I.A. Krylov were addressed specifically to Chichagov.

This is how another contemporary, the famous navigator and Admiral Golovnin, spoke about Chichagov:
“Blindly imitating the British and introducing ridiculous novelties, he dreamed that he was laying the foundation stone for the greatness of the Russian fleet. Spoiling everything that remained in the fleet, and bored with the supreme power with arrogance and squandering the treasury, he retired, placing contempt for the fleet thereof and a feeling of deep chagrin in the sailors.

Nevertheless, the navy at the beginning of the 19th century continued to be an important instrument of the foreign policy of the Russian Empire and was represented by the Black Sea and Baltic fleets, the Caspian, White Sea and Okhotsk flotillas.

During the war with Persia that began in 1804 (the war was won by Russia in 1813), the Caspian flotilla, founded under Peter I, first showed itself by actively helping the Russian ground forces in the fight against the Persians: they brought supplies, reinforcements, food; fettered the actions of the Persian ships; participated in the bombardment of fortresses. Also, the flotilla ships at the beginning of the 19th century transported Russian expeditions to Central Asia, protected trade in the Caspian basin.

In 1805, Russia joined the anti-French coalition and, fearing the union of Turkey with France, as well as the appearance of the French fleet in the Adriatic Sea, decided to send a military squadron to the Ionian Islands. Leaving Kronstadt and arriving in Corfu and uniting with the Russian squadron already there, the combined Russian squadron began to have 10 battleships, 4 frigates, 6 corvettes, 7 brigs, 2 shebeks, schooners and 12 gunboats.

On February 21, 1806, the Russian squadron, with the support of the local population, occupied the area of ​​​​Boca di Cattaro (Kotor Bay) without a fight: the territory that, after the Battle of Austerlitz, passed from Austria to France. This event meant a lot to Napoleon, France lost the most favorable sea route for replenishing food and ammunition.
Also in 1806, the Russian squadron managed to occupy a number of the Dalmatian Islands.

In December 1806, Turkey declared war on Russia. England, acting in this war as an ally of Russia, sent a squadron of its fleet to the Aegean Sea, but refused to act jointly with the Russian fleet.

On March 10, 1807, Senyavin occupied the island of Tenedos, after which victorious battles followed: the Dardanelles and Athos. Having tried to land troops on Tenedos, the Turks were defeated in the battle near the Dardanelles and retreated, losing 3 ships. However, the victory was not final: the Russian fleet continued to blockade the Dardanelles until the battle of Cape Athos, which took place a month later.

As a result of the Battle of Athos, the Ottoman Empire lost a combat-ready fleet for more than a decade and on August 12 agreed to sign a truce.

On June 25, 1807, the Treaty of Tilsit was concluded, according to which Russia undertook to cede the Ionian Islands to France. The Russian squadron was forced to conclude a formal truce with the Turks and leave the Archipelago, leaving the British to continue the war. Leaving Tenedos, the Russians destroyed all the fortifications there. By August 14, the Boca di Cattaro area was abandoned by the Russians. The Russian squadron left the Adriatic Sea region.

In the war between Russia and Sweden that began in 1808, mainly due to the policy of the states - the former allies after the conclusion of the Tilsit Peace, the Baltic Fleet supported the actions of our land army throughout the war (until 1809), carrying out bombardment of Swedish fortifications and landing operations. Russia won the war, and as a result, Finland became part of the Russian Empire with the rights of the Grand Duchy.

However, despite the military, as well as research (maps of the Pacific and Arctic Oceans were full of Russian names and titles) successes of the Russian fleet, its condition continued to deteriorate until the end of the reign of Alexander I. This was due to the indifferent attitude of the emperor to the fate of the fleet. So, under him, the question of transferring the entire Russian fleet to England was seriously discussed. By the end of the reign, the state of the fleet was very deplorable: most of the frigates fit for military operations were sold abroad - in particular, to Spain; most of the officers and teams fell into need (for example, senior officers were sometimes settled ten people in one room).

THE FLEET DURING THE BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I

Nicholas I

During the accession of Nicholas I in 1825, only 5 ships of the line were fit for service in the Baltic Fleet (according to the state, it was supposed to have 27 ships of the line and 26 frigates), and in the Black Sea Fleet - 10 out of 15 ships. The number of personnel of the Baltic and Black Sea Fleets was supposed to reach 90 thousand people, but in reality 20 thousand people were missing from the regular number. The property of the fleet was plundered.

In the ports, trade in all the accessories of the fleet was carried out quite openly. The delivery of stolen goods to shops in large quantities was carried out not only at night, but also during the day. So, for example, the adjutant wing Lazarev, who was already conducting an investigation on this matter already in 1826, found in Kronstadt alone in 32 shops of state things worth 85,875 rubles.

The beginning of the reign of Emperor Nicholas I was marked by the creation in 1826 of a committee for the formation of the fleet. The name perfectly reflected the state of affairs - after all, the fleet, in fact, no longer existed!

Emperor Nicholas I, unlike his predecessor and elder brother, saw in the naval forces a solid stronghold of the state and, in addition, a means to maintain his own, historically established, necessary influence in the Middle East.

Vice-Admiral Melikov, a contemporary of Nicholas I, about the emperor:
“Taking into account that from now on the actions of naval forces will be necessary in any European war, His Imperial Majesty, from the very first days of his reign, deigned to express an indispensable will to bring the fleet into such a position that it would be a real stronghold of the state and could contribute to any enterprises related to the honor and security of the empire. Everything that was necessary was done to implement this idea on the part of the Sovereign Emperor. States were issued for the fleet in sizes corresponding to the greatness of Russia, and all means were taught to the naval authorities to bring our naval forces to the sizes prescribed by the states. The budget of the Naval Ministry was more than doubled; educational institutions have been increased in number and brought to the level of perfection; in order to provide our admiralties forever in timber, it was appointed to transfer to the maritime department all the forests of the empire; finally, all the assumptions of the naval authorities, which could lead to the nearest execution of the will of His Majesty, were always taken into account.

Successes in the work of Nicholas I to revive the greatness of the Russian fleet could be observed already in 1827. The squadron of the Baltic Fleet visited England, where it made an excellent impression. In the same year, part of the squadron entered the Mediterranean Sea and, together with the British and French squadrons, opposed the Turkish fleet. The decisive battle took place on October 20, 1827 in Navarino Bay. The Turkish fleet consisted of 82 ships, while the Allies had only 28. In addition, the Turkish fleet was in a much more advantageous position.

However, the allied squadrons acted in a coordinated and decisive manner, putting out of action one Turkish ship after another with well-aimed fire. The Turkish fleet was almost completely destroyed: out of 82 ships, only 27 survived.

Battle of Navarva

In the Russian-Turkish war that began the following year, the Black Sea Fleet showed itself. He contributed to the advance of troops in the Balkan and Caucasian theaters of military operations. The brig "Mercury" covered itself with unfading glory, having won a battle with two Turkish battleships.

Aivazovsky. Brig "Mercury", attacked by two Turkish ships.

The war ended in September 1829 with a complete Russian victory. Turkey lost the Black Sea coast from the mouth of the Kuban to Cape St. Nicholas. The islands in the Danube Delta went to Russia. She received the right of passage of ships through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. The southern arm of the mouth became the Russian border. Finally, the Peace of Adrianople, concluded on September 14, brought freedom to Greece, which was declared independent (there remained only the obligation of an annual payment to the Sultan in the amount of 1.5 million piastres). The Greeks could now choose a sovereign from any dynasty reigning in Europe, except for the English, French and Russian.

In the war with Persia that began in 1826, the Caspian Flotilla again proved itself, providing serious assistance to the ground forces and winning victories at sea. In February 1828, a peace treaty was concluded between Russia and Persia. According to it, Russia retained the rights to the lands up to the Astara River, received the Erivan and Nakhichevan khanates. Persia had to pay 20 million rubles indemnity, and also lost the right to maintain a fleet in the Caspian, which partially repeated the agreement of 1813.

The influence of the Russian Empire on the Ottoman Empire became even stronger after in 1832 the current sultan, having suffered defeat from his vassal Pasha of Egypt, was left without money and an army, and was forced to turn to the Russian Empire for help. A year later, Rear Admiral Lazarev led the Russian squadron to Constantinople. Her arrival and fourteen thousand troops landed on the Bosphorus put an end to the uprising. Russia, on the other hand, according to the Winkar-Iskelessi treaty concluded at that time, received in the person of Turkey an ally in case of hostilities against a third country, both on land and at sea. At the same time, Turkey undertook not to let enemy warships pass through the Dardanelles. The Bosphorus, under all conditions, remained open to the Russian fleet.

The Russian fleet during the reign of Nicholas I was greatly strengthened, the number of ships of the line increased greatly, order and discipline in the fleet were again established.

The first Russian parahodfrigate "Bogatyr". Modern model.

It is also worth noting that, in addition to traditional sailing battleships, military steamships began to be built for the navy: in 1826, the Izhora steamship armed with 8 guns was built, and in 1836, the first steam frigate was launched from the slipway of the St. Petersburg Admiralty "Bogatyr", armed with 28 guns.

As a result, by the beginning of the Crimean War in 1853, the Russian Empire had the Black Sea and Baltic fleets, the Arkhangelsk, Caspian and Siberian flotillas - a total of 40 battleships, 15 frigates, 24 corvettes and brigs, 16 steam frigates and other small vessels. The total number of personnel of the fleet was 91,000 people. Although the Russian fleet by that time was one of the largest in the world, however, in the field of steamship building, Russia lagged far behind the advanced European countries.

CRIMEAN WAR

During the diplomatic conflict with France over the control of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Russia, in order to put pressure on Turkey, occupied Moldavia and Wallachia, which were under the protectorate of Russia under the terms of the Adrianople peace treaty. The refusal of the Russian Emperor Nicholas I to withdraw troops led to the declaration of war on Russia by Turkey on October 4, 1853, then, on March 15, 1854, Great Britain and France joined Turkey. On January 10, 1855, the Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont) also declared war on the Russian Empire.

Russia was not organizationally and technically ready for war. The technical backwardness of the Russian army and navy, associated with a radical technical re-equipment in the middle of the 19th century, acquired threatening proportions. armies of Great Britain and France, which carried out the Industrial Revolution. The Allies had a significant advantage in all types of ships, and there were no steam battleships in the Russian fleet at all. At that time, the English fleet was the first in the world in terms of numbers, the French was in second, and the Russian was in third place.

Sinop battle

However, on November 18, 1853, the Russian sailing squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Pavel Nakhimov defeated the Turkish fleet in the battle of Sinop. The successful battle in this battle of the sailing frigate "Flora" against three Turkish steam frigates indicated that the importance of the sailing fleet was still great. The result of the battle was the main factor in declaring war on Russia by France and England. This battle was also the last major battle of sailing ships.

In August 1854, Russian sailors defended the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka Fortress, repulsing the attack of the Anglo-French squadron.

Defense of the Peter and Paul Fortress

The main base of the Black Sea Fleet - Sevastopol was protected from attack from the sea by strong coastal fortifications. Before the landing of the enemy in the Crimea, there were no fortifications to protect Sevastopol from land.

New tests also fell to the lot of the Baltic sailors: they had to repel the attack of the Anglo-French fleet, which bombarded the fortifications of Gangut, the fortresses of Kronstadt, Sveaborg and Revel, and sought to break through to the capital of the Russian Empire - Petersburg. However, a feature of the naval theater in the Baltic was that due to the shallow waters of the Gulf of Finland, large enemy ships could not approach St. Petersburg directly.

Upon receiving news of the Battle of Sinop, the English and French squadrons entered the Black Sea in December 1853.

On April 10, 1854, the combined Anglo-French squadron fired at the port and city of Odessa in an attempt to force the capitulation. As a result of the shelling, the port and the commercial ships in it were burned, but the return fire of the Russian coastal batteries prevented the landing. After the shelling, the Allied squadron went to sea.

John Wilson Carmichael "The Bombing of Sevastopol"

On September 12, 1854, an Anglo-French army of 62 thousand people with 134 guns landed in the Crimea, near Yevpatoriya - Sak, and took the direction to Sevastopol.

The enemy moved to Sevastopol, went around it from the east and occupied convenient bays (the British - Balaklava, the French - Kamyshovaya). The 60,000-strong Allied army began the siege of the city.
Admirals V.A. Kornilov, P.S. Nakhimov, V.I. Istomin became the organizers of the defense of Sevastopol.

The enemy did not dare to immediately storm the city and proceeded to siege it, during which he subjected the city to multi-day bombardments six times.

Throughout the 349-day siege, a particularly intense struggle went on for the key position of the city's defense - Malakhov Kurgan. The capture of it on August 27 by the French army predetermined the abandonment of the southern side of Sevastopol by Russian troops on August 28, 1855. Having blown up all the fortifications, batteries and powder magazines, they organizedly crossed the Sevastopol Bay to the North side. Sevastopol Bay, the location of the Russian fleet, remained under Russian control.

Although the war was not yet lost, and the Russian troops managed to inflict a number of defeats on the Turkish army and capture Kars. However, the threat of Austria and Prussia joining the war forced Russia to accept the terms of peace imposed by the allies.

On March 18, 1856, the Treaty of Paris was signed, according to which Russia was forbidden to have a navy on the Black Sea, build fortresses and naval bases.
During the war, the members of the anti-Russian coalition failed to achieve all their goals, but managed to prevent the strengthening of Russia in the Balkans and deprive it of the Black Sea Fleet for a long time.

RUSSIAN FLEET AFTER THE CRIMEAN WAR

After the defeat, the Russian fleet, which consisted mainly of sailing ships, began to be massively replenished with first-generation steam warships: battleships, monitors and floating batteries. These ships were equipped with heavy artillery and thick armor, but they were unreliable on the high seas, slow and could not make long sea voyages.

Already in the early 1860s, the first Russian armored floating battery "Pervenets" was ordered in Great Britain, on the basis of which the armored batteries "Don't Touch Me" and "Kremlin" were built in Russia in the mid-1860s.

Battleship "Don't Touch Me"

In 1861, the first warship with steel armor was launched - the gunboat "Experience". In 1869, the first battleship designed for sailing on the high seas, the Peter the Great, was laid down.

The specialists of the Naval Ministry studied the experience of building in the USA the monitors of the system of the Swedish engineer Erickson with a rotating tower. In this regard, in March 1863, the so-called "Monitor Shipbuilding Program" was developed, which provided for the construction of 11 monitors to protect the coast of the Gulf of Finland and operate in skerries.
During the American Civil War, Russia sent two cruiser squadrons to the Atlantic and Pacific ports of the northerners. This expedition became an illustrative example of how relatively small forces can achieve major political successes. The result of the presence of only eleven small warships in areas of busy merchant shipping was that the major European powers (England, France and Austria) abandoned the confrontation with Russia, defeated by them only 7 years ago.

Russia achieved the lifting of the ban on keeping the navy in the Black Sea under the London Convention of 1871.

Thus began the revival of the Black Sea Fleet, which was able to take part in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. (On May 26, 1877, the mine boats of lieutenants Shestakov and Dubasov sank the Turkish monitor Khivzi Rahman on the Danube), and by the beginning of the 20th century it consisted of 7 squadron battleships, 1 cruiser, 3 mine cruisers, 6 gunboats, 22 destroyers, etc. courts.

The construction of warships for the Caspian and Okhotsk flotillas continued.

By the end of the 19th century, the Baltic Fleet had over 250 modern ships of all classes.

The descent of the battleship "Chesma" in Sevastopol

Also in the 1860s-1870s, a reform of the naval forces was carried out, which consisted both in the complete technical re-equipment of the fleet and in changing the conditions of service for officers and lower ranks.

In addition, in Russia at the end of the 19th century, tests of submarines began.

As a result, we can say that during the second half of the XIX century. Russia created a modern for that time armored fleet, which again found itself in 3rd place in the world in terms of military power.

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origin of name

Battleship - short for "battleship". So in Russia in 1907 they named a new type of ships in memory of the old wooden sailing battleships. Initially, it was assumed that the new ships would revive linear tactics, but this was soon abandoned.

The advent of battleships

Mass production of heavy artillery guns was very difficult for a long time, therefore, until the 19th century, the largest of those installed on ships remained 32 ... 42-pounders. But working with them during loading and aiming was very complicated due to the lack of servos, which required a huge calculation for their maintenance: such guns weighed several tons each. Therefore, for centuries, ships tried to arm as many relatively small guns as possible, which were located along the side. At the same time, for reasons of strength, the length of a warship with a wooden hull is limited to about 70-80 meters, which also limited the length of the onboard battery. More than two or three dozen guns could only be placed in a few rows.

This is how warships arose with several gun decks (decks), carrying up to one and a half hundred guns of various calibers. It should be immediately noted what is called a deck and are taken into account when determining the rank of the ship only closed gun decks, above which there is another deck. For example, a two-decker ship (in the Russian fleet - two-way) usually had two closed gun decks and one open (upper) one.

The term "battleship" arose in the days of the sailing fleet, when in battle multi-deck ships began to line up - so that during their volley they were turned to the enemy by the side, because the simultaneous volley of all onboard guns caused the greatest damage to the target. This tactic was called linear. Building in a line during a naval battle was first used by the fleets of England and Spain at the beginning of the 17th century.

The first battleships appeared in the fleets of European countries at the beginning of the 17th century. They were lighter and shorter than the “ship-towers” ​​that existed at that time - galleons, which made it possible to quickly line up sideways to the enemy, and the bow of the next ship looked at the stern of the previous one.

The resulting multi-deck sailing ships of the line were the main means of warfare at sea for more than 250 years and allowed countries such as Holland, Great Britain and Spain to create huge trading empires.

The ship of the line "Saint Pavel" 90 (84?) - the cannon ship of the line "St. Pavel" was laid down at the Nikolaev shipyard on November 20, 1791 and launched on August 9, 1794. This ship went down in the history of naval art, a brilliant operation of Russian sailors and naval commanders to capture a fortress on the island of Corfu in 1799 is associated with its name.

But the real revolution in shipbuilding, which marked a truly new class of ships, was made by the construction of the Dreadnought, completed in 1906.

The authorship of a new leap in the development of large artillery ships is attributed to the English Admiral Fisher. Back in 1899, commanding the Mediterranean squadron, he noted that firing with the main caliber can be carried out at a much greater distance if guided by splashes from falling shells. However, at the same time, it was necessary to unify all artillery in order to avoid confusion in determining the bursts of shells of the main caliber and medium-caliber artillery. Thus was born the concept of all-big-guns (only big guns), which formed the basis of a new type of ship. The effective firing range increased from 10-15 to 90-120 cables.

Other innovations that formed the basis of the new type of ships were centralized fire control from a single general ship post and the spread of electric drives, which accelerated the guidance of heavy guns. The guns themselves have also changed significantly, due to the transition to smokeless powder and new high-strength steels. Now only the lead ship could carry out sighting, and those following it in the wake were guided by bursts of its shells. Thus, building in wake columns again allowed in Russia in 1907 to return the term battleship. In the USA, England and France, the term "battleship" was not revived, and new ships continued to be called "battleship" or "cuirassé". In Russia, the "battleship" remained the official term, but in practice the abbreviation was established battleship.

The Russo-Japanese War finally established superiority in speed and long-range artillery as the main advantages in naval combat. There were talks about a new type of ships in all countries, in Italy Vittorio Cuniberti came up with the idea of ​​a new battleship, and in the USA the construction of ships of the Michigan type was planned, but the British managed to get ahead of everyone due to industrial superiority.

The first such ship was the English Dreadnought, whose name has become a household name for all ships of this class. The ship was built in record time, going on sea trials on September 2, 1906, a year and one day after the laying. A battleship with a displacement of 22,500 tons, thanks to the new type of power plant used for the first time on such a large ship, with a steam turbine, could reach speeds of up to 22 knots. On the Dreadnought, 10 305 mm caliber guns were installed (due to the haste, the two-gun turrets of the completed squadron battleships of 1904 were taken due to the haste), the second caliber was anti-mine - 24 76 mm caliber guns; medium-caliber artillery was absent. The reason for this was that the medium caliber was less long-range than the main one and often did not participate in battle, and guns with a caliber of 70-120 mm could be used against destroyers.

The appearance of the Dreadnought made all other large armored ships obsolete.

For Russia, which lost almost all of its Baltic and Pacific battleships in the Russo-Japanese War, the “dreadnought fever” that had begun turned out to be very useful: to the revival of the fleet could begin without taking into account the outdated armored armadas of potential opponents. And already in 1906, having interviewed the majority of naval officers - participants in the war with Japan, the Main Naval Staff developed a task for designing a new battleship for the Baltic Sea. And at the end of next year, after the approval of the so-called "small shipbuilding program" by Nicholas II, a worldwide competition was announced for the best design of a battleship for the Russian fleet.

The competition was attended by 6 Russian factories and 21 foreign firms, among which were such well-known companies as the English "Armstrong", "John Brown", "Vickers", the German "Volkan", "Schihau", "Blom und Voss", the American "Krump", and others. Individuals also offered their projects - for example, engineers V. Cuniberti and L. Coromaldi. The best, according to the authoritative jury, was the development of the company "Blom und Voss", but for various reasons - primarily political - they decided to refuse the services of a potential adversary. As a result, the project of the Baltic Plant was in the first place, although evil tongues claimed that the presence of a powerful lobby in A.N. Krylov - both the chairman of the jury and the co-author of the winning project.

The main feature of the new battleship is the composition and placement of artillery. Since the 12-inch gun with a barrel length of 40 calibers, which was the main weapon of all Russian battleships, starting with the "Three Saints" and "Sisoy the Great", was already hopelessly outdated, it was decided to urgently develop a new 52-caliber gun. The Obukhov Plant successfully coped with the task, and the Petersburg Metal Plant in parallel designed a three-gun turret installation, which, compared to a two-gun mount, gave a 15 percent savings in weight per barrel.

Thus, Russian dreadnoughts received unusually powerful weapons - 12 305-mm guns in a side salvo, which made it possible to fire up to 24,471-kg shells per minute with an initial speed of 762 m / s. Obukhov guns for their caliber were rightfully considered the best in the world, surpassing in ballistic characteristics both British and Austrian ones, and even the famous Krupp guns, which were considered the pride of the German fleet.

However, excellent armament was, alas, the only advantage of the first Russian dreadnoughts of the "Sevastopol" type. In general, these ships should be recognized, to put it mildly, as unsuccessful. The desire to combine conflicting requirements in one project - powerful weapons, impressive protection, high speed and a solid range ", swimming - turned into an impossible task for the designers. I had to sacrifice something - and primarily armor. By the way, the mentioned survey of naval officers did a poor job here. Of course, those, having been under the destructive fire of the Japanese squadron, would like to go back to battle on fast ships with powerful artillery.As for protection, they paid more attention to the area of ​​​​armor than its thickness, without taking into account the progress in the development of shells and cannons. The experience of the Russo-Japanese War was not seriously weighed, and emotions prevailed over impartial analysis.

As a result, "Sevastopol" turned out to be very close (even outwardly!) to the representatives of the Italian shipbuilding school - fast, heavily armed, but too vulnerable to enemy artillery. "Project scared" - such an epithet was given to the first Baltic dreadnoughts by naval historian M.M. Dementiev.

The weakness of armor protection was, unfortunately, not the only drawback of the Sevastopol-class battleships. In order to ensure the greatest cruising range, the project provided for a combined power plant with steam turbines for full speed and diesel engines for economic power. Alas, the use of diesel engines caused a number of technical problems, and from they were abandoned already at the stage of drawing development, only the original 4-shaft installation with 10 (!) Parsons turbines remained, and the actual cruising range with a normal fuel supply (816 tons of coal and 200 tons of oil) was only 1625 miles with a 13-knot course. one and a half, two, or even three times less than any of the Russian battleships, starting with Peter the Great. The so-called "reinforced" fuel supply (2500 tons of coal and 1100 tons of oil) hardly "reached" the cruising range to acceptable standards, but catastrophically worsened the rest of the parameters of the already overloaded ship. Seaworthiness also turned out to be useless, which was clearly confirmed by the only ocean voyage of a battleship of this type - we are talking about the transition of the "Paris Commune" (formerly "Sevastopol") to the Black Sea in 1929. Well, there is nothing to say about habitability conditions: comfort for the crew was sacrificed in the first place. Perhaps worse than our sailors, only the Japanese, accustomed to the harsh environment, lived on board their battleships. Against the background of the above, the assertion of some domestic sources that battleships of the "Sevastopol" type were almost the best in the world, looks somewhat exaggerated.

All four of the first Russian dreadnoughts were laid down at St. Petersburg factories in 1909, and in the summer and autumn of 1911 they were launched. But the completion of the battleships afloat was delayed - many innovations in the design of ships, for which the domestic industry was not yet ready, had an effect. German contractors, who supplied various mechanisms and were by no means interested in the rapid strengthening of the Baltic Fleet, also contributed to the failure to meet deadlines. In the end, ships of the Sevastopol type entered service only in November-December 1914, when the fire of the world war was already raging with might and main.

Battleship "Sevastopol" (from March 31, 1921 to May 31, 1943 - "Paris Commune") 1909 - 1956

Laid down on June 3, 1909 at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg. On May 16, 1911, he was included in the lists of ships of the Baltic Fleet. Launched June 16, 1911. Entered service November 4, 1914. In August 1915, together with the battleship Gangut, she covered minelaying in the Irben Strait. It underwent a major overhaul in 1922-1923, 1924-1925 and 1928-1929 (modernization). November 22, 1929 left Kronstadt for the Black Sea. On January 18, 1930, he arrived in Sevastopol and became part of the Black Sea Naval Forces. From January 11, 1935, he was part of the Black Sea Fleet.

It underwent a major overhaul and modernization in 1933-1938. In 1941, anti-aircraft weapons were strengthened. Participated in the Great Patriotic War (defense of Sevastopol and the Kerch Peninsula in 1941-1942). On July 8, 1945 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. On July 24, 1954 it was reclassified into a training battleship, and on February 17, 1956 it was excluded from the lists of the Navy ships in connection with the transfer to the stock property department for dismantling and sale, on July 7, 1956 it was disbanded and in 1956 - 1957 it was divided on the basis of "Glavvtorchermet" in Sevastopol for metal

Displacement standard 23288 full 26900 tons

Dimensions 181.2x26.9x8.5 m in 1943 - 25500/30395 tons 184.8x32.5x9.65 m

Armament 12 - 305/52, 16 - 120/50, 2 - 75 mm AA, 1 - 47 mm AA, 4 PTA 457 mm
in 1943 12 - 305/52, 16 - 120/50, 6 - 76/55 76K, 16 - 37 mm 70K, 2x4 12.7 mm Vickers machine guns and 12 - 12.7 mm DShK

Reservations - Krupp armor belt 75 - 225 mm, mine artillery casemates - 127 mm,
towers of the main caliber from 76 to 203 mm, conning tower 254 mm, decks - 12-76 mm, bevels 50 mm
in 1943 - board - upper belt 125 + 37.5 mm, lower belt 225 + 50 mm, decks 37.5-75-25 mm,
traverses 50-125 mm, cabin 250/120 mm floor 70 mm, towers 305/203/152 mm

Gears 4 Parsons turbines up to 52,000 hp (in 1943 - 61,000 hp) 25 Yarrow boilers (in 1943 - 12 systems of the English Admiralty).

4 screws. Speed ​​23 knots Cruising range 1625 miles at 13 knots. Crew 31 officer 28 conductors and 1065 lower ranks. In 1943, speed 21.5 knots Cruising range 2160 miles at 14 knots.

Crew 72 officers 255 foremen and 1219 sailors

Battleship "Gangut" (since June 27, 1925 - "October Revolution") 1909 - 1956

Battleship "Poltava" (since November 7, 1926 - "Frunze") 1909 - 1949

The battleship "Petropavlovsk" (from March 31, 1921 to May 31, 1943 - "Marat")

(from November 28, 1950 - "Volkhov") 1909 - 1953

The information received that Turkey is also going to replenish its fleet with dreadnoughts demanded that Russia take adequate measures in the southern direction as well. In May 1911, the tsar approved a program for the renewal of the Black Sea Fleet, which provided for the construction of three battleships of the Empress Maria type. The Sevastopol was chosen as a prototype, but taking into account the characteristics of the theater of operations, the project was thoroughly revised: the proportions of the hull were made more complete, speed and power mechanisms were reduced, but the armor was significantly strengthened, the weight of which now reaches 7045 tons (31% of the design displacement versus 26% on the "Sevastopol"). Moreover, the size of the armor plates was adjusted to the spacing of the frames - so that they serve as an additional support that prevents the plate from being pressed The normal supply of fuel also increased slightly - 1200 tons of coal and 500 tons of oil, which provided a more or less decent cruising range (about 3000 miles of economic progress). But the Black Sea dreadnoughts suffered more from overload than their Baltic counterparts. The matter was aggravated by the that due to an error in the calculations, "Empress Maria" received a noticeable trim on the bow, which further worsened the already unimportant seaworthiness; In order to somehow rectify the situation, the ammunition of the two main caliber bow turrets had to be reduced to 70 rounds per barrel instead of 100 rounds per state. And on the third battleship "Emperor Alexander III" for the same purpose, two bow 130-mm guns were removed. In fact, ships of the "Empress Maria" type were more balanced battleships than their predecessors, which, having a longer range and better seaworthiness , could be considered more like battlecruisers. However, when designing the third series of dreadnoughts, cruising tendencies again prevailed - apparently, our admirals were haunted by the ease with which the faster Japanese squadron covered the head of the Russian wake column ...

Battleship "Empress Maria" 1911 - 1916

at the Russud plant in Nikolaev, launched on October 19, 1913, entered service on June 23, 1915.
He died on October 7, 1916 in the Northern Bay of Sevastopol from the explosion of cellars of 130-mm shells.
By May 31, 1919, it was raised and put into the Northern Dock of Sevastopol, and in June 1925 it was sold to the Sevmorzavod for dismantling and cutting into metal, and on November 21, 1925 it was excluded from the lists of ships of the RKKF. Dismantled for metal in 1927.

Battleship "Empress Catherine the Great" (until June 14, 1915 - "Catherine II") (after April 16, 1917 - "Free Russia") 1911 - 1918

On October 11, 1911, it was included in the lists of the Black Sea Fleet ships and on October 17, 1911, it was laid down at the Naval plant (ONZiV) in Nikolaev, launched on May 24, 1914, and entered service on October 5, 1915.
On April 30, 1918, he left Sevastopol for Novorossiysk, where on June 18, 1918, by decision of the Soviet government, in order to avoid capture by the German invaders, he was sunk by torpedoes fired from the destroyer Kerch.
In the early 1930s, EPRON carried out work to raise the ship. All artillery of the Main Command and the UK was raised, but then there was an explosion of the main battery ammunition, as a result of which the hull broke under water into several parts.

Battleship "Emperor Alexander III" (since April 29, 1917 - "Will") (after October 1919 - "General Alekseev") 1911 - 1936

October 11, 1911 was included in the lists of ships of the Black Sea Fleet and October 17, 1911 was laid
at the Russud plant in Nikolaev, launched on April 2, 1914, entered service on June 15, 1917.
December 16, 1917 became part of the Red Black Sea Fleet.
On April 30, 1918, he left Sevastopol for Novorossiysk, but on June 19, 1918 he returned to Sevastopol again, where he was captured by German troops and on October 1, 1918 included in their Navy on the Black Sea.
On November 24, 1918, it was captured from the Germans by the Anglo-French invaders and soon taken to the port of Izmir on the Sea of ​​Marmara. From October 1919 he was part of the White Guard naval forces of the South of Russia, on November 14, 1920 he was taken away by the Wrangel troops during the evacuation from Sevastopol to Istanbul and on December 29, 1920 he was interned by the French authorities in Bizerte (Tunisia).
On October 29, 1924, it was recognized by the French government as the property of the USSR, but due to the difficult international situation, it was not returned. In the late 1920s, it was sold by Rudmetalltorg to a French private company for scrapping, and in 1936 it was cut into pieces in Brest (France) for metal.

The next four ships for the Baltic, according to the "Program of Reinforced Shipbuilding" adopted in 1911, were originally created as battlecruisers, the lead of which was named "Izmail".

Battlecruiser "Izmail" on the slipway of the Baltic Shipyard a week before launch, 1915

The new ships were the largest ever built in Russia. According to the original project, their displacement was to be 32.5 thousand tons, but during construction it increased even more. Huge speed was achieved by increasing the power of steam turbines to 66 thousand hp. (and when boosted - up to 70 thousand hp). Booking was significantly increased, and in terms of the power of weapons, Izmail surpassed all foreign counterparts: new 356-mm guns were supposed to have a barrel length of 52 calibers, while abroad this figure did not exceed 48 calibers. The weight of the projectile of new guns was 748 kg , initial speed - 855 m / s Later, when, due to the protracted construction, it was necessary to further increase the firepower of the dreadnoughts, a project was developed to re-equip Izmail with 8 and even 10 406-mm guns,

In December 1912, all 4 Izmails were officially laid down on stocks that were freed up after the launch of the Sevastopol-class battleships. The construction was already in full swing when the results of full-scale tests on the execution of the former Chesma were received, and these results plunged the shipbuilders into a state of shock. cable, and at long firing distances it deforms the shirt located behind the armor, violating the tightness of the hull. Both armored decks turned out to be too thin - the shells not only pierced them, but also crushed them into small fragments, causing even greater destruction ... It became obvious that the meeting of the "Sevastopol" at sea with any of the German dreadnoughts does not bode well for our sailors: one an accidental hit in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe ammunition cellars will inevitably lead to disaster. The Russian command realized this back in 1913, and that is why it did not release the Baltic dreadnoughts into the sea, preferring to keep them in Helsingfors as a reserve behind the mine-artillery position that blocked the Gulf of Finland ...

The worst thing about this situation was that nothing could be fixed. There was nothing to think about making any fundamental changes to the 4 Baltic and 3 Black Sea battleships under construction. On the Izmails, they limited themselves to improving the systems for attaching armor plates, strengthening the set behind the armor, introducing a 3-inch wooden lining under the belt and changing the weight of horizontal armor on the upper and middle decks. The only ship on which the experience of shooting the Chesma was taken into account in full , became "Emperor Nicholas I" - the fourth battleship for the Black Sea.

The decision to build this ship came just before the start of the war. It is curious that it was officially laid down twice: first in June 1914, and then in April of the next, in the presence of the tsar. The new battleship was an improved version of the "Empress Maria", but with identical armament, it had large dimensions and significantly enhanced armor protection. The weight of the armor, even without taking into account the towers, now reached 9417 tons, that is, 34.5% of the design displacement. But it was not only quantity, but also in quality: in addition to strengthening the support jacket, all armor plates were connected by vertical dowels of the "double dovetail" type, which turned the main belt into a monolithic 262nd

Battleship "Emperor Nicholas I" (since April 16, 1917 - "Democracy")

1914 - 1927

It was laid down on June 9, 1914 (officially on April 15, 1915) at the Naval plant in Nikolaev and on July 2, 1915 was added to the lists of ships of the Black Sea Fleet, launched on October 5, 1916, but on October 11, 1917 due to a low degree of readiness weapons, mechanisms and equipment removed from construction and laid up. In June 1918, it was captured by German troops and October 1, 1918 included in their fleet on the Black Sea. The Germans planned to use the ship as a base for seaplanes, but due to a lack of personnel, these plans were abandoned.
After the liberation of Nikolaev by parts of the Red Army, the battleship was laid up. On April 11, 1927, it was sold to Sevmorzavod for scrapping and on June 28, 1927, it was sent in tow from Nikolaev to Sevastopol for cutting into metal.

Battle cruiser "Borodino" 1912 - 1923

Laid down on December 6, 1912 at the New Admiralty in St. Petersburg. Launched on July 19, 1915.

Battle cruiser "Navarin" 1912 - 1923

Laid down on December 6, 1912 at the New Admiralty in St. Petersburg.
Launched November 9, 1916
On August 21, 1923, it was sold to a German shipbreaking company and on October 16 it was prepared for towing to Hamburg, where the ship was soon cut into metal.

Battlecruiser "Kinburn" 1912 - 1923

Laid down on December 6, 1912 at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg.
Launched October 30, 1915
On August 21, 1923, she was sold to a German shipbreaking company and on October 16 she was prepared for towing to Kiel, where the ship was soon cut into metal.

The fate of most Russian dreadnoughts turned out to be rather sad. Battleships of the "Sevastopol" type stood on raids throughout the First World War, which did not at all contribute to raising the morale of the crews. On the contrary, it was the battleships that became the center of revolutionary ferment in the fleet - anarchists and socialist-revolutionaries enjoyed the greatest authority here. During the civil war, battleships were twice in battle : in June 1919, "Petropavlovsk" shelled the rebellious fort "Krasnaya Gorka" for several days in a row, having used up 568 shells of the main caliber, and in March 1921, "Petropavlovsk" and "Sevastopol" found themselves in the center of the anti-Bolshevik Kronstadt revolt, fought a duel with coastal batteries, having received with a number of hits.Nevertheless, they were restored and, together with the Gangut, served in the Red Fleet for a long time. But the fourth ship - "Poltava" - was not lucky. Two fires - the first in 1919, and the second in 1923 - made the battleship completely incapacitated, although the burned-out hull stood at the Naval training ground for another two decades, exciting Soviet designers to all kinds of semi-fantastic projects its restoration - up to turning into an aircraft carrier.

The Black Sea dreadnoughts, unlike the Baltic ones, were used much more actively, although only one of them, Empress Catherine the Great, met the German-Turkish Goeben in December 1915 in a real battle. The latter, however, used his advantage in speed and went to the Bosphorus, although he was already covered by volleys of the Russian battleship.

The most famous and at the same time mysterious tragedy occurred on the morning of October 7, 1916 on the inner roadstead of Sevastopol, a fire in the forward ammunition cellar, and then a series of powerful explosions turned the Empress Maria into a pile of twisted iron. The victims of the disaster were 228 crew members.

“Ekaterina” outlived her sister by less than two years. Renamed “Free Russia”, she eventually ended up in Novorossiysk, where, in accordance with Lenin’s order, she was sunk on June 18, 1918 by four torpedoes from the destroyer “Kerch” .. .

Emperor Alexander III” entered service in the summer of 1917 already under the name “Will” and soon “went from hand to hand”: the Andreevsky flag on the hafel of his mast was replaced by Ukrainian, then German, English and again Andreevsky, when Sevastopol was again in the hands of the Volunteer Army . Renamed again - this time to "General Alekseev", - the battleship remained the flagship of the White Fleet on the Black Sea until the end of 1920, and then went into exile to Bizerte, where in the mid-30s it was dismantled for metal. It is curious that the beautiful The French retained the 12-inch cannons of the Russian dreadnought, and presented them to Finland, which fought against the USSR, in 1939. The first 8 guns reached their destination, but the last 4, which were on board the Nina steamer, arrived in Bergen almost simultaneously with the start of the Nazi invasion to Norway. So the guns from the former Volya ended up in the hands of the Germans, and they used them to create their Atlantic Wall, equipping the Mirus battery on the island of Guernsey with them. In the summer of 1944, the guns first opened fire on the Allied ships, and in September they even achieved a direct hit on an American cruiser. And the remaining 8 guns of "General Alekseev" fell into the hands of the Red Army in 1944 and were "repatriated" after a long journey around Europe. One of these guns was preserved as a museum exhibit of Krasnaya Gorka.

But our most advanced battleships - "Izmail" and "Nicholas I" - never had a chance to enter service. The revolution, civil war and subsequent devastation made the completion of ships unrealistic. In 1923, the Borodino, Kinburn and Navarin hulls were sold for scrapping to Germany, where they were taken in tow. Nicholas I, renamed Democracy, was dismantled for metal in Sevastopol in 1927-1928. The Izmail corps lived the longest, which again they wanted to turn into an aircraft carrier, but in the early 30s it shared the fate of its brothers. But the guns of the battleships (including 6 "Izmail" 14-inch guns) served for a long time on railway and stationary installations of Soviet coastal batteries.

In the first half of the XIX century. The basis of progress in science, technology, and economics was the use of a new type of energy - steam energy. The further development of the fleet was due to achievements in the field of metallurgy and rolled metal. Especially - the invention of armor plates for use in iron shipbuilding

At the beginning of the XIX century. in Russia began the construction of steam ships. The first such vessel in Russia, the Elizaveta, was designed and built in 1815 by Karl Byrd, the owner of an iron and copper foundry in St. Petersburg. With only 4 liters. With. power, the machine gave the steamboat (as the steamboat used to be called) a speed of about 9 miles per hour.

Russia's first steam ship "Elizaveta"

In 1823, about a dozen steamships were built on the Volga, including those with two machines with a total capacity of up to 40 hp. With. And in 1843, in St. Petersburg, a steamship company "Along the Volga" was formed, which had several steamships with machines of 250-400 hp. With. capacity ("Volga", "Hercules", "Samson", "Kama", "Oka", etc.), dozens of heavy barges. This society lasted until 1918.

Diesel ships

In 1903, the Sormovsky plant in Nizhny Novgorod built the first diesel motor ship for the Volga Shipping Company - a self-propelled tanker barge "Vandal" with a displacement of 1150 tons, with three diesel engines of 120 liters each. with., and diesel-electric transmission to the propellers. "Vandal" became the world's first diesel ship and diesel-electric ship at the same time.

The first motor ship in the world is the Vandal oil barge.

By 1913, there were more than 80 diesel motor ships in different countries of the world, 70 of them were in Russia. As for steamships, by 1913, through the efforts of all six shipping companies of the country and the government, their number was increased to 1016 (with a total displacement of 487 thousand tons), and sailboats became 2577 (257 thousand brt). The Russian fleet ranked 8th in the world after the fleets of England, Germany, the USA, Norway, France, Japan, and Italy. At the same time, own steamships, accounting for 65% of the commercial fleet of Russia, could provide only 8% of sea freight.

Creation of the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade (ROPiT)

In January 1856, the adjutant wing N.A. Arkas and well-known entrepreneur-shipowner N.A. Novoselsky. They proposed the creation of a commercial shipping joint-stock company on the Black Sea with a large number of modern steamships for cargo and passenger transportation, while specifying that in the event of war these steamships could be used for the country's military transport needs.

On August 3, 1856, Emperor Alexander II approved the Charter of the ROPiT (Russian Society of Shipping and Trade). Thus was born what later became the largest Russian shipping company.

By 1860, the Society had more than 40 steamships, and 30 of them had great prospects: all of them were in operation for no more than 3 years.

Steamer ROPiT "Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna" stands at the pier in Saratov.
Approximately 1910 (Photo from the archive of Alexei Platonov)

Since 1863, the Society, replenishing the composition of the fleet, began to build new screw post-passenger steamers and wheeled cargo-passenger ships of mixed navigation. In addition to Lazarev, Kornilov, Nakhimov, Chikhachev, Grand Duke Mikhail, Grand Duchess Olga and General Kotzebue, by 1870 another 11 steam schooners for cargo transportation across the Sea of ​​Azov were put into operation.

With the construction of the Suez Canal (1869), new prospects opened up, and ROPiT ships began to sail to India, China, and the Far East (Vladivostok).

Creation of the "Volunteer Fleet"

In the period 1873–1883. sharply increased public attention to the needs of the fleet. In this regard, a Society was founded in Moscow to promote Russian commercial shipbuilding (for patriotic donations). The idea of ​​creating the "Voluntary Fleet" society appeared, caused by the results of the Russian-Turkish war of 1878.

All over the country, fundraising was held for an organization that would have fast and capacious ships, allowing them to be quickly converted and armed, making them auxiliary cruisers in case of war. About 4 million rubles were collected, and in 1878 the society was created.

First, Dobroflot purchased from the Germans cargo-passenger steamships, which immediately became registered in the navy as auxiliary cruisers: Moskva, Petersburg, Rossiya. Henceforth, a tradition was established: to call all new ships by the name of the centers of the provinces - "Nizhny Novgorod", "Ryazan", etc.

Since 1879, the charter of the Volunteer Fleet society provided for the possibility of using its ships for military purposes in case of war.

The work of Dobroflot began with the transportation of Russian troops from Varna and Burgas, which participated in the Russian-Turkish war of 1878. Then regular flights to the Far East began. Soon, the management came to the conclusion that it was necessary not to buy, but only to build ships for society - this is more profitable. True, to build not only at their own factories, but also abroad. The first steamship - "Yaroslavl" according to the drawings of the English cruiser "Iris" was ordered in 1880 in France.

Until 1896, a series of 6 ships of 4500-5600 tons with a displacement came from England to Russia. As a result, before the Russo-Japanese war, Dobroflot moved into second place after ROPiT. Its cargo turnover reached 196,000 tons per year.

Postcards from the early 1910s dedicated to passenger and freight
steamships "Dobroflot": "Simbirsk" and "Ryazan".

The Russian admirals missed the only opportunity to win the decisive battle of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, failing to take advantage of the fact that our minelayer "Amur" destroyed two enemy battleships. What would happen if the fleet was commanded not by the failed preacher Wilhelm Witgeft, but by the energetic and determined Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov, who died at the beginning of the war?

The first three months of the Russo-Japanese War became an endless series of disasters for the 1st Pacific squadron, stationed in the Port Arthur fortress captured from China. Of the seven battleships that make up its main force, the Tsesarevich and Retvizan were put out of action by a sudden torpedo attack by enemy destroyers, the Pobeda was patched after a mine blast, and the Sevastopol lost one of the propellers after a collision with Peresvet. The Petropavlovsk, which had blown up on a minefield and went to the bottom, was not subject to repair, as was the cruiser Boyarin, which shared its fate.

The Russian fleet failed to sink a single enemy ship. The report of the commander of the Varyag cruiser that died in the Korean port of Chemulpo (“Takatiho” cruiser sank in the sea. The destroyer sank during the battle) was not confirmed. All the Japanese destroyers participating in the battle successfully served until the end of the war, and the Takatiho died ten years later, on October 17, 1914, during the siege of the German fortress of Qingdao.

A special loss was the death on the Petropavlovsk of the energetic and decisive commander of the squadron, Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov, who took this post shortly after the start of the war. “Wilhelm Karlovich Witgeft was an honest and well-intentioned person, a tireless worker, but, unfortunately, his work was always stupid,” Admiral Essen, who commanded the battleship “Sevastopol” in Port Arthur, described his successor, “and always all his orders led to any kind of misunderstandings and even misfortunes. As a child, as he himself said, his father intended him for missionary work, and, perhaps, he would be more capable of this than of naval service.

Essen is hard to disagree with. The meeting held in Port Arthur on January 26, 1904, devoted to security measures in view of the threat of a Japanese attack, Rear Admiral Witgeft, then head of the headquarters of the commander-in-chief of the fleet, concluded with the words: "Lord, there will be no war." Less than an hour later, a torpedo hit the Retvizan, and two months later, the failed missionary and unfortunate prophet led the 1st Pacific Squadron and began command with a proposal to disarm their own ships, transferring part of the artillery to defend the fortress from land.

Artist E.I. Capital "Vice Admiral S.O. Makarov and battle painter V.V. Vereshchagin in the cabin of the battleship Petropavlovsk in 1904

Image: Central Naval Museum, St. Petersburg

At the same time, Vitgeft categorically refused to attack the Japanese transports landing troops intended for the siege of Port Arthur. This was done because "even with the success of sinking 1-2 cruisers and several transports, we would have lost many destroyers" (A.A. Kilichenkov, "The Admiral Who Killed the Squadron").

It is not surprising that the commander of the Japanese fleet, Admiral Heihachiro Togo, considered that there was no point in keeping all six battleships and eight armored cruisers near Port Arthur - three ships, periodically replacing each other, would be enough. The rest were engaged in combat training, rested and hunted for the armored cruisers Rurik, Rossiya and Gromoboy based in Vladivostok. Unlike the Port Arthur squadron, the Vladivostok detachment pretty much drank samurai blood, sinking 18 Japanese ships and among them the Hitachi-Maru transport with 1095 imperial guards and 18 heavy siege weapons. However, as it turned out, it was too early to relax.

Death from the mist

The commander of the Amur mine layer, Captain II rank Fedor Ivanov, noticed that, maneuvering in front of Port Arthur, the Japanese ships each time pass along the same route 10 miles from the coast, outside the firing range of Russian coastal batteries. After checking his observations again, he suggested that Witgeft put up a barrier there. Command the Makarov fleet, he would not only give the go-ahead, but would immediately prepare all ships capable of fighting to attack the blown up enemy. There were quite enough forces: the battleships "Peresvet" and "Poltava" were fully combat-ready, "Sevastopol" with one screw could only give 10 knots instead of 16, but it had fully operational artillery, and almost two dozen destroyers, covered by six cruisers, had every opportunity to finish off enemy with torpedoes.

But Vitgeft was not Makarov and gave a completely crazy order: in order not to expose the Amur to excessive risk, lay mines 7-8 miles from the coast, where the Japanese battleships obviously would not go. Ivanov listened to the order in a disciplined manner and acted in his own way - on May 1, 1904, at 14:25, taking advantage of the thick fog, the Amur moved to a pre-calculated place, not far from which Japanese cruisers were on duty.

“On the one hand, Amur, laying mines, then a strip of thick fog, and on the other side of it, the entire Japanese squadron,” wrote Vasily Cherkasov, an artillery officer of Peresvet, who observed the installation of the barrier from the shore. - I saw the danger in which the Amur was, but I definitely could not let him know about it. Then, having written a telephone message on a piece of paper about the existing danger, I sent a sailor to the nearest telephone exchange to the lighthouse, so that from the Golden Mountain by wireless telegraph they would inform "Amur" about the danger threatening him, but along the steep rocky path he could not soon reach the telephone, and I could only observe the events. Dissipate the fog, and then not only the value of the expedition will disappear, but the "Amur", with its 12-knot speed and a huge supply of mines, will have a very bad time. "Cupid", however, did not fiddle with mines for long. Probably, the awareness of the danger of the enterprise encouraged the miners, and the expedition managed to enter the harbor before the fog cleared.

Outraged by the violation of his order, Vitgeft, according to the memoirs of the lieutenant of the Novik cruiser Andrey Shter, “calling the guilty commander, told him a lot of trouble, even threatening to be relieved of command,” and most importantly, did not put the ships on alert. And, it seems, the admiral did not bother with maintaining secrecy - since the morning of May 2, thousands of soldiers, sailors, civilian residents of Port Arthur and even foreign military attachés crowded on the shore to see if it would work or not?

It is not known how many of them were Japanese spies disguised as Chinese workers and merchants, but, unlike Cherkasov, they observed the exit of the Amur from the low bank and could not accurately convey the location of the barrier. At 9 hours 55 minutes, the first mine exploded, turning the steering compartment of Japan's head and fastest battleship, the three-pipe Hatsuse, and two minutes later, water poured into the pierced starboard side of the closing Yashima formation. The Japanese tried to tow the blown up battleships with cruisers that came to the rescue, but at 11:33 a third mine exploded. The Hatsuse's stern turret ammunition detonated, the rear tube and mainmast blown off by the explosion flew overboard, and a few minutes later the ship was already under water, taking the lives of 493 sailors.

“People climbed onto the shrouds, onto the masts, trying to climb as high as possible, hoping to see something with their own eyes through the gaps between the Golden, Lighthouse and Tiger Mountains. The senior artilleryman, forgetting rheumatism, fled to Mars, midshipmen were piled up under the very cloths, - wrote the senior officer of the Diana cruiser Vladimir Semenov. - Suddenly, on the Golden Mountain, on the surrounding elevated batteries, a "hooray" flared up with renewed vigor!

Second! Second! .. Drowned! - roared the masts entrenched under the clots.
- Raid! On the raid! Roll out the rest! - shouted and raged around.

As I believed then, so I believe now: they would be rolled out! But how was it to go on a raid without having a pair? Brilliant, the only one in the entire campaign, the moment was missed.

Indeed, the half-flooded Yashima towed at a speed of 4 knots and the battleship Shikishima accompanying it at the same speed had little chance against three Russian battleships, and six Japanese cruisers were not enough to repel an attack by more powerful Russians and two detachments of destroyers.

Image: World History Archive / Global Look

Alas, there was no one to attack. Only at one o'clock in the afternoon, several destroyers and the Novik went to sea, but without the support of the artillery of large ships they achieved nothing. "Yashima", however, this did not help - on the way home, he sank. Two days later, the destroyer Akatsuki died on the mines of the Amur, and later it turned out that the explosion of the destroyer No. 48 on April 30 was also the merit of its crew.

Ivanov and all the officers were presented with orders, and it was supposed to allocate 20 St. George crosses for the sailors. However, the imperial governor of the Far East, Admiral Alekseev, decided that 12 "George" would be enough for the lower ranks, and Vitgeft was declared the main winner, petitioning Nicholas II for his promotion to vice admirals.

There was no nail - the horseshoe was gone

The decisive battle between the 1st Pacific Squadron and the main forces of the Japanese fleet took place on July 28. Six battleships came out to break through from Port Arthur to Vladivostok. The Japanese siege did not threaten this harbor, and in it it was possible to wait for the ships of the Baltic Fleet preparing to leave Kronstadt.

Admiral Togo blocked the squadron's path with eight battleships and armored cruisers. Four more armored cruisers of Vice Admiral Kamimura hunted for the Vladivostok detachment, but if necessary, they could join the main forces.

Image: World History Archive / Global Look

At the sixth hour of the battle (according to some sources, a shot from the Sikishima, which was missed on May 2), Vitgeft was killed, and the squadron, deprived of command, fell apart. The main forces returned to Port Arthur, several ships went to neutral ports and disarmed, and the crew of the heavily damaged Novik cruiser sank their ship off the coast of Sakhalin.

Could the battle have ended differently? After analyzing the documents on the damage to both fleets, the Russian naval historian, captain of the 1st rank Vladimir Gribovsky calculated that 135 shells with a caliber from 152 to 305 millimeters hit the Russian battleships, and in response the Japanese received four times less. The battle lasted longer, the number of hits could turn into quality, as it later happened in the Tsushima battle.

Without the Shikishima, on which a quarter of the most powerful guns of the enemy fleet stood, the picture changed somewhat. Japanese fire was significantly weakened, and Russian guns fired at fewer targets. For the battleship Mikasa, the flagship of Admiral Togo, the battle at the head of a weakened squadron could be the last. Even in reality, out of 32 successful shots from Russian ships, 22 fell on him, both gun turrets of the main caliber were out of order, and an underwater hole gaped in the hull. Over 100 officers and sailors were killed and wounded, while Togo himself survived by a miracle, and any successful hit could leave the Japanese fleet without his leadership. Had this happened, and probably the 1st Pacific squadron would have broken through to Vladivostok.

Of course, she could also lose by drowning the Mikasa. The battered battleships were threatened by a nighttime torpedo attack from 49 enemy destroyers. Faster Japanese ships could catch up with Vitgeft the next day, pulling up Kamimura's detachment to help. Nevertheless, the destruction of the Shikishima gave at least some hope of success. If the ships got to Vladivostok, they could very well help the Baltic squadrons going to the Pacific Ocean next year. The Tsushima battle would have gone on with a completely different balance of power, and the morale of the Japanese would not have been the same. It's no joke: first to lose three of the most powerful ships out of six, and then the fourth, along with the commander in chief!

Russian admirals missed this chance. The battleships and cruisers that returned to Port Arthur were sunk by land fire, and after the surrender of Port Arthur they were raised and served in the Japanese fleet. Only Sevastopol managed to avoid the sad fate. Essen brought it to the White Wolf Bay, inaccessible to siege artillery, until the last days of the defense of the fortress fought off Japanese destroyers and fired at the army besieging the fortress, and then sank the ship at a depth that excluded the lifting of the vessel.

In total, taking into account the defeat at Tsushima, where on May 14-15, 1905, Admiral Togo destroyed the main forces of the Baltic Fleet, 17 battleships, 11 cruisers and 26 destroyers with a displacement of about 300 thousand tons remained on the seabed or went to the Japanese. Having lost more than half of the ships, Russia ceased to be a great maritime power for decades.

Image: World History Archive / Global Look

On land, things were no better. Suffering one defeat after another and demoralized after the defeat near Mukden, the army in March 1905 retreated from this city 200 kilometers to the north, where it stood for the last six months of the war. In vain, Nicholas II, in a letter on August 7, conjured her command "to go on a decisive offensive, without asking for my approval and consent." Almost 800 thousand soldiers did not budge, but the Japanese, having taken all the Russian possessions they liked in China, were able to allocate a whole division to capture Sakhalin.

Reverse proportion of fame

There is a well-known army anecdote: an experienced sergeant asks recruits what their military duty is? Hearing “to give life for the Motherland!”, He replies: “Dumbass! Your military duty is to make the enemy give his life for his homeland!” This also applies to the fleet, and therefore, leaving aside an alternative history, let's compare the achievements of Amur with the results of Russian sailors over the past century and a half, when steam and armored ships replaced sailboats.

During the entire Russo-Japanese War, Admiral Togo lost two battleships, two cruisers and eight destroyers with a total displacement of 40,000 tons. Of these, Amur has two battleships and two destroyers with a displacement of more than 28 thousand tons. This is twice as many as died from the actions of the rest of the Russian fleet and random rams of comrades-in-arms.

The Amur has few competitors in subsequent wars - the second result in the Russian fleet was shown by the special half-battalion of destroyers created and trained by Essen. On November 17, 1914, the 9875-ton German armored cruiser Friedrich Karl blew up and sank at their barrier. As for naval battles, alas, warships larger than the German destroyer T-31 (1754 tons, sunk on June 20, 1944 near Nerva Island by torpedo boats TK-37 and TK-60) were not available to our sailors in the last century.

But here's the paradox: Russia's most effective naval officer of the 20th century is also the most forgotten. After his retirement on January 19, 1915, nothing is known about his fate at all. Did Fyodor Nikolaevich perish in the meat grinder of the Civil War, died of typhus that raged on the ruins of the Russian Empire, or did he emigrate? Where is the grave located? Did he contribute to the development of the mine business, which was developed by the commander of the Baltic Fleet Nikolai Essen and the head of the operational department of his headquarters, also a member of the defense of Port Arthur, Alexander Kolchak?

No one knows about this, and even the past 100th anniversaries of the Russo-Japanese and World War I did not force the naval authorities, historians and filmmakers to show interest in the man who dealt the enemy a severe blow despite the resistance of his own command. The last battles of the Sevastopol in the White Wolf Bay with the sinking of two Japanese destroyers and damage to 13 more (some of which could not be repaired before the end of the war) are also of no interest to anyone. The destruction of vehicles with siege artillery by Vladivostok cruisers, which delayed the fall of Port Arthur, was even more so.

Image: World History Archive / Global Look

The death of "Friedrich Karl" was nevertheless shown in the soap opera "Admiral", but, according to its creators, the cruiser was drowned exclusively with the help of higher powers. On the deck of a Russian destroyer stuck in the middle of its own minefield, a special prayer service was held, the heavens clouded the mind of the commander of the German cruiser: instead of shooting the enemy from afar, he began to chase him through the mines and exploded.

The symbol of the Russo-Japanese War is still the Varyag, which, like many other Russian ships, sank after a heroic battle with superior enemy forces, but, unlike them, never hit the Japanese. It is obvious that the people responsible for our military-patriotic propaganda believe that soldiers must first of all die for their homeland, and the destruction of the enemy is a secondary issue. If so, then the image of a man who, with the help of precise calculation and calculated risk, sank two of the strongest ships of the enemy fleet without suffering a loss, really lacks spirituality. Violation of the order by Ivanov makes him a dangerous troublemaker, capable of inspiring doubtful thoughts in the younger generation even after death.

Russia is a continental state, but the length of its borders, passing through the water surface, is 2/3 of their total length. From ancient times, Russians knew how to navigate the seas and knew how to fight at sea, but the real naval traditions of our country are about 300 years old.

Until now, they are arguing about a specific event or date from which the history of the Russian fleet originates. One thing is clear to everyone - it happened in the era of Peter the Great.

First experiences

The use of waterways to move the armed forces in a country where rivers were the main means of communication, the Russians began a very long time ago. Mentions of the legendary path "from the Varangians to the Greeks" go back centuries. Epics were composed about the campaign of Prince Oleg's "lods" to Constantinople.

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

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

The first Russian warship "Eagle" was built in 1668 in the village of Dedinovo by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. But the Russian navy owes its real birth to the dream and will of his son, Peter the Great.

Home dream

At first, the young tsar simply liked to sail on a small boat found in a barn in the village of Izmailovo. This 6-meter boat, given to his father, is now kept in the Naval Museum of St. Petersburg.

The future emperor later said that the Russian imperial fleet originates 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 became a real ruler at the age of 17, he began to truly realize that Russia cannot develop without economic, scientific and cultural ties with Europe, and the best means of communication are by 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 studied with Dutch, German and English masters. He delved into the basics of cartography with interest, learned to use navigational instruments.

He began to invest his first skills in the creation of a "fun flotilla" on Lake Pleshcheyevo in Pereslavl-Zalessky near Yaroslavl. In June 1689, the boat "Fortune", 2 small frigates and yachts were assembled at the shipyards there.

Access to the ocean

A huge land giant, which occupied a sixth of the earth's land, Russia at the end of the 17th century, less than other countries, could claim the title of maritime power. The history of the Russian fleet is also the history of the struggle for access to the oceans. There were two options for accessing the sea - two "bottlenecks": through the Gulf of Finland and where strong Sweden was in charge, and through the Black Sea, through the narrow one, which was 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 foundations for a future breakthrough to the Black Sea was made by Peter in 1695. located at the mouth of the Don, withstood the attacks of the Russian military expedition, but for a systematic siege there were not enough forces, there were not enough funds to cut off the supply of supplies to the surrounded Turks by water. Therefore, in order to prepare for the next campaign, it was decided to build a flotilla.

Azov fleet

Peter, with unprecedented energy, took up the construction of ships. More than 25,000 peasants were rounded up to work at the shipyards in Preobrazhensky and on the Voronezh River. According to the model brought from abroad, under the supervision of foreign craftsmen, 23 rowing galleys (penal servitude), 2 large sailboats (one of which is the 36-gun Apostle Peter), more than 1300 small ships - baroques, plows, etc. d. This was the first attempt to create what is called a "regular Russian imperial fleet." He perfectly fulfilled his tasks of delivering troops to the walls of the fortress and blocking the surrounded 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 by sea…”

This campaign showed the importance of the interaction of land and sea forces. It was of decisive importance for deciding on the further construction of ships. "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 has been counting down.

Grand 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 fight against Turkey and its allies. The Tsar took advantage of his diplomatic tour, which lasted a year and a half, to supplement his knowledge in shipbuilding and military affairs.

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

In England, the Tsar also works in shipyards and machine shops. The English king arranges naval maneuvers especially for Peter. Seeing the coordinated interactions of 12 huge ships, Peter is delighted and says that he would like to be an English admiral, than from that moment the dream of having a powerful Russian imperial fleet was finally strengthened in him.

Russia is young

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

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

But the most important thing is the admiralties, which are in charge of the shipyards - new ships are being built there.

Pyotr Alekseevich's plans for further seizures of ports on the Black Sea and the establishment of shipyards there were prevented by a more formidable enemy from the North. Denmark and Sweden started a war over the disputed islands, and Peter entered it on the Danish side, with the goal of breaking through a "window to Europe" - access to the Baltic Sea.

Battle of Gangut

Sweden, led by the young and cocky Charles XII, was the main military force of the time. The inexperienced Russian Imperial Navy faced a severe test. In the summer of 1714, a Russian squadron of rowing ships led by Admiral Fedor Apraksin met with powerful Swedish sailboats at Cape Gangut. Yielding to the enemy in artillery, the admiral did not dare to make a direct collision and reported the situation to Peter.

The tsar made a distracting maneuver: he ordered to arrange a platform for crossing ships on land and show the intention to go across the isthmus to the rear of the enemy fleet. To stop this, the Swedes divided the flotilla, sending a detachment of 10 ships around the peninsula to the place of transfer. At this time, a complete calm was established on the sea, which deprived the Swedes of the possibility of any maneuver. Massive motionless ships lined up in an arc for frontal combat, and the ships of the Russian fleet - fast rowing galleys - broke along the coast and attacked a group of 10 ships, locking it in the bay. The flagship frigate "Elephant" was boarded, Peter personally participated in the hand-to-hand attack, capturing the sailors by personal example.

The victory of the Russian fleet was complete. About a dozen ships were captured, more than a thousand Swedes were captured, over 350 were killed. Without losing a single ship, the Russians lost 120 men killed and 350 wounded.

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

Legacy of Peter the Great

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

In a quarter of a century, Russia has traveled a path that took several centuries for the leading maritime powers - the path from small ships for coastal navigation to huge ships capable of overcoming the world's expanses. The flag of the Russian fleet was known and respected on all the oceans of the earth.

History of victories and defeats

Peter's reforms and his favorite offspring - the first Russian fleet - had a difficult fate. Not all 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 had a chance to win great victories of the times of Ushakov and Nakhimov and suffer severe defeats at Sevastopol and Tsushima. After the heaviest defeats, Russia was deprived of the status of a maritime power. Periods of revival after a complete decline are known in the history of the Russian fleet and past centuries, and

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