Imperial Russian Navy
On the 20th of October 1696, the Boyar Duma passed a decree to commence construction of a navy. This date marks the official founding of the Imperial Russian Navy under Peter the Great. During the Second Azov campaign against Turkey that same year, Russians used 2 warships, 4 fireships, 23 galleys and 130 strugs built on the Voronezh River for the first time. Before this moment, independent Russian merchants and Cossacks had sailed across the White Sea using koch boats since the mid-17th century. Semyon Dezhnev explored the northern expanse of present-day Russia in 1648 by way of the Arctic Ocean. He rounded the Chukotsk Peninsula and passed through the Bering Sea into the Pacific Ocean.
During the Great Northern War from 1700 to 1721, the Russians built the Baltic Fleet at several shipyards along rivers Syas, Luga and Olonka. From 1703 to 1723, Saint Petersburg served as the main naval base before Kronstadt took over. The Naval Cadet Corps opened in Moscow's Sukharev Tower in 1701 to educate children of noblemen for naval service. Students often traveled abroad for training in foreign fleets. By 1721, the navy employed 7,215 native-born sailors instead of relying mostly on foreigners like Norwegian-Dutch Cornelius Cruys or Scotsman Thomas Gordon.
Between 1688 and 1725, some 1,260 seagoing vessels were built in Russian shipyards. Fleets launched successively on the White Sea, the Sea of Azov, the Baltic Sea, and the Caspian Sea. In 1745, the Russian Navy possessed 130 sailing vessels including 36 ships of the line and 9 frigates. The oared fleet consisted of 396 vessels with 253 galleys and semi-galleys plus 143 brigantines. Ships were constructed at 24 shipyards including Voronezh, Kazan, Pereyaslavl, Arkhangelsk, Olonets, Petersburg and Astrakhan.
Russia's slow technical and economic development caused it to fall behind other European countries in steamboat construction by the mid-19th century. At the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1853, Russia had 40 battleships, 15 frigates, 24 corvettes and brigs, and 16 steam frigates among its fleets. Despite having a combined staff of 91,000 people across all fleets, the reactionary serfdom system severely hampered naval development. The Baltic Fleet was known for harsh military drill that reflected these systemic problems.
In 1826, Russians built their first armed steamboat Izhora equipped with eight cannons. By 1836, they constructed the paddle steam frigate Bogatyr with displacement of 750 tons, power of 150 horsepower, and armament of 28 cannons. Between 1803 and 1855, ships undertook more than 40 circumnavigations supporting North American colonies in Russian America and Fort Ross in northern California. These voyages produced important scientific research materials from Pacific, Antarctic and Arctic theatres.
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. In the 1860s, the sailing fleet gradually disappeared as steam technology replaced it. Russia commenced construction of steam-powered ironclads, monitors, and floating batteries starting in 1861. They built the steel-armored gunboat Opyt in 1861 and began constructing one of the first seafaring ironclads, Pyotr Velikiy, in 1869. These vessels had strong artillery and thick armor but lacked seaworthiness, speed and long-distance abilities.
On the night of the 8th of February 1904, Admiral Heihachiro Togo opened war with a surprise attack by torpedo boat destroyers on Russian ships at Port Arthur. Two Russian battleships suffered bad damage during this initial strike. The attacks developed into the Battle of Port Arthur the next morning where Japanese forces could not successfully attack the Russian fleet under shore batteries. After Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov died on the 13th of April 1904, Russians declined to leave the harbor for open seas.
Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov took command of the First Russian Pacific Squadron in March 1904 with plans to break out from the Port Arthur blockade. Both sides adopted offensive mine-laying policies that marked the first time mines were used offensively rather than purely defensively. On the 12th of April 1904, two Russian battleships struck Japanese mines off Port Arthur. Petropavlovsk sank within an hour while Pobeda required extensive repairs. Makarov died aboard Petropavlovsk when it exploded.
By the 15th of May 1904, two Japanese battleships Hatsuse and Yashima both struck Russian mines laid near Port Arthur. Hatsuse sank within minutes taking 450 sailors with her while Yashima sank under tow hours later. The Russian fleet attempted to break out from Port Arthur but was intercepted and dispersed at the Battle of the Yellow Sea. Remnants remained trapped until Port Arthur fell on the 2nd of January 1905 after brutal assaults.
The Second Pacific Squadron under Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to Asia starting the 21st of October 1904. During this voyage, they nearly provoked war with Britain by firing on British fishing boats during the Dogger Bank incident. On the 27th of May 1905, Admiral Togo intercepted them in the Tsushima Strait between Korea and Japan. By day's end, nearly all of Rozhestvensky's battleships were sunk including his flagship. Admiral Nebogatov surrendered the remainder the following day.
At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the Black Sea Fleet dominated operations against Ottoman forces. Two German ships formed the most advanced part of the Ottoman fleet: battlecruiser Goeben and light cruiser Breslau under Admiral Wilhelm Souchon. Goeben damaged on at least four occasions usually chased back to port by superior Russian Navy vessels. By year-end 1915, the Russian fleet held nearly complete control of the sea.
In August 1915, a Russian submarine and two destroyers attacked a Turkish convoy of four transports escorted by a cruiser and two destroyers. All four transports sank without any Russian losses. During summer 1916, when Ottoman army under Vehip Pasha tried to re-take Trebizond, Russian naval bombardment reduced their advance speed to a crawl while destroying supply columns. Eventually the Ottoman army withdrew from the campaign.
Admiral Kolchak took command in August 1916 and mined the Bosporus exit preventing nearly all Ottoman ships from entering the Black Sea. Naval approaches to Varna were also mined that same year. The greatest loss occurred the 7th of October 1916 when dreadnought Imperatritsa Mariya blew up in port just one year after commissioning. The sinking remained never fully explained as either sabotage or accident.
By March 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk made Germans masters of the Baltic Sea. German fleets transferred troops to support newly independent Finland and occupy much of Russia until defeated in the West. Russians evacuated the Baltic Fleet from Helsinki and Reval to Kronstadt during the Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet in March 1918.
The Bolshevik overthrow of the Provisional Government in October 1917 led to rapid disintegration of naval command and cohesion. Ships and crews divided among Bolshevik, White Russian, and foreign interventionist forces. Of major fleets, only the Baltic Fleet based at Petrograd remained relatively intact though suffering mutinies and direct British intervention during their Baltic campaign.
Foreign interventionists occupied Pacific, Black Sea and Arctic coasts undermining naval force cohesion. Many surviving warships from the Black Sea Fleet whose crews remained loyal to the White Russian movement consolidated under Pyotr Wrangel's command before evacuating from Crimea. These ships eventually interned in Bizerte, Tunisia rather than reintegrated into Soviet service.
Sailors from the Baltic Fleet rebelled against Soviet authorities in the Kronstadt rebellion of 1921 protesting harsh treatment, lack of political representation and deteriorating conditions. Following civil war, surviving ships formed core of Soviet Navy on its official establishment in 1918. Remnants of Wrangel's fleet never returned to Soviet Russia remaining interned abroad indefinitely.
The Imperial Navy faced severe disruption from twin shocks of revolution and ensuing civil war. The navy received much fewer conscripts than army with only 10,000 out of 455,000 annual draftees going to navy in 1911. Naval conscripts traditionally came from peasantry though by late 19th century preferred urban working class for mechanical skills.
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 Black Sea closed by Turkish-controlled Bosphorus straits. In Russian Far East, most coast remained too remote and undeveloped while Vladivostok port froze in winter despite being very close to Japan. Distance between these three theaters required passing long distances through waters controlled by other countries potentially closable off.
Passing through Arctic Ocean impossible without icebreakers forcing separate naval groupings developed in relative isolation across Baltic, Black Sea, Russian Far East and Arctic regions. Saint Petersburg and other Baltic ports could not operate in winter hence push for facilities on Black Sea coast and eventually Murmansk. Even substantial naval forces in Baltic Sea remained confined lacking free Atlantic access via Øresund.
Black Sea Fleet could not always rely on passage through Bosphorus and Dardanelles creating strategic vulnerability. Separate fleets operated independently with Baltic Fleet tasked defending Gulf of Finland and Russian interests abroad while Black Sea Fleet defended southern interests countering Ottoman Navy. Siberian Flotilla and Caspian squadron existed though former devastated during Russo-Japanese War. Society of Volunteer Fleet provided fast steamers crewed by retired officers or reservists.
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Common questions
When was the Imperial Russian Navy officially founded?
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.
What were the main fleets and shipyards of the Imperial Russian Navy between 1745 and 1853?
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.
How did the Crimean War impact the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy?
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.
What happened to the First Russian Pacific Squadron during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904?
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.
Why did the Imperial Russian Navy struggle with strategic access to open oceans?
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.