Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Imperial Russian Navy was officially founded on the 20th of October 1696 when the Boyar Duma passed a decree to commence construction. This date marks the establishment under Peter the Great during the Second Azov campaign against Turkey.
Between 1745 and 1853, the navy operated fleets on the White Sea, the Sea of Azov, the Baltic Sea, and the Caspian Sea from 24 shipyards including Voronezh, Kazan, and Arkhangelsk. By 1853, Russia possessed 40 battleships, 15 frigates, 24 corvettes and brigs, and 16 steam frigates across these fleets.
After the Crimean War ended in 1856, Russia lost the right to maintain a military fleet in the Black Sea under the Treaty of Paris. The sailing fleet gradually disappeared as steam technology replaced it starting in the 1860s with the construction of ironclads like Pyotr Velikiy.
Admiral Stepan Makarov took command of the First Russian Pacific Squadron in March 1904 but died aboard Petropavlovsk when it exploded on the 12th of April 1904 after striking Japanese mines. The squadron was eventually intercepted and dispersed at the Battle of the Yellow Sea before remnants were trapped until Port Arthur fell on the 2nd of January 1905.
Russia's access to ports that did not freeze over in winter limited operations to southern Baltic ports far from Saint Petersburg and those on the Black Sea closed by Turkish-controlled Bosphorus straits. Distance between theaters required passing long distances through waters controlled by other countries potentially closable off.