The beginning of the creation of the Russian fleet in 1692. The regular military fleet of Peter the Great: Introduction

The Russian Navy originates more than three hundred years ago and is inextricably linked with the name of Peter the Great. Even in his youth, having discovered in his barn in 1688 a boat donated to their family, later called the “Grandfather of the Russian Fleet,” the future head of state forever connected his life with ships. In the same year, he founded a shipyard on Lake Pleshcheyevo, where, thanks to the efforts of local craftsmen, the sovereign’s “amusing” fleet was built. By the summer of 1692, the flotilla numbered several dozen ships, of which the beautiful frigate Mars with thirty guns stood out.

To be fair, I note that the first domestic ship was built before the birth of Peter in 1667. Dutch craftsmen, together with local artisans on the Oka River, managed to build a two-deck “Eagle” with three masts and the ability to travel by sea. At the same time, a pair of boats and one yacht were created. These works were supervised by the wise politician Ordin-Nashchokin from the Moscow boyars. The name, as you might guess, was given to the ship in honor of the coat of arms. Peter the Great believed that this event marked the beginning of maritime affairs in Rus' and was “worthy of glorification for centuries.” However, in history, the birthday of our country’s navy is associated with a completely different date...

The year was 1695. The need to create favorable conditions for the emergence of trade relations with other European states led our sovereign to a military conflict with the Ottoman Empire at the mouth of the Don and the lower reaches of the Dnieper. Peter the Great, who saw an irresistible force in his newly formed regiments (Semyonovsky, Prebrazhensky, Butyrsky and Lefortovo) decides to march to Azov. He writes to a close friend in Arkhangelsk: “We joked around Kozhukhov, and now we’ll joke around Azov.” The results of this journey, despite the valor and courage shown in battle by Russian soldiers, turned into terrible losses. It was then that Peter realized that war was not child’s play at all. When preparing the next campaign, he takes into account all his past mistakes and decides to create a completely new military force in the country. Peter was truly a genius; thanks to his will and intelligence, he was able to create an entire fleet in just one winter. And he spared no expense for this. First, he asked for help from his Western allies - the King of Poland and the Emperor of Austria. They sent him knowledgeable engineers, shipwrights and artillerymen. After arriving in Moscow, Peter organized a meeting of his generals to discuss the second campaign to capture Azov. At the meetings, it was decided to build a fleet that could accommodate 23 galleys, 4 fire ships and 2 galleasses. Franz Lefort was appointed admiral of the fleet. Generalissimo Alexey Semenovich Shein became the commander of the entire Azov Army. For the two main directions of the operation - on the Don and on the Dnieper - two armies of Shein and Sheremetev were organized. Fire ships and galleys were hastily built near Moscow; in Voronezh, for the first time in Rus', two huge thirty-six-gun ships were created, which received the names “Apostle Paul” and “Apostle Peter.” In addition, the prudent sovereign ordered the construction of more than a thousand plows, several hundred sea boats and ordinary rafts prepared in support of the land army. Their construction began in Kozlov, Sokolsk, Voronezh. At the beginning of spring, ship parts were brought to Voronezh for assembly, and by the end of April the ships were afloat. On April 26, the first galleas, the Apostle Peter, was launched.

The main task of the fleet was to block the non-surrender fortress from the sea, depriving it of support in manpower and provisions. Sheremetev's army was supposed to head to the Dnieper estuary and conduct diversionary maneuvers. At the beginning of summer, all the ships of the Russian fleet were reunited near Azov, and its siege began. On June 14, a Turkish fleet of 17 galleys and 6 ships arrived, but it remained indecisive until the end of the month. On June 28, the Turks plucked up the courage to bring in troops. The rowing ships headed towards the shore. Then, by order of Peter, our fleet immediately weighed anchor. As soon as they saw this, the Turkish captains turned their ships around and went to sea. Having never received reinforcements, the fortress was forced to announce capitulation on July 18. The first outing of Peter's navy was a complete success. A week later, the flotilla went to sea to inspect the conquered territory. The Emperor and his generals were choosing a place on the coast for the construction of a new naval port. Later, the fortresses of Pavlovskaya and Cherepakhinskaya were founded near the Miussky estuary. The Azov winners also received a gala reception in Moscow.

To resolve issues related to the defense of the occupied territories, Peter the Great decides to convene the Boyar Duma in the village of Preobrazhenskoye. There he asks to build a “sea caravan or fleet.” On October 20, at the next meeting, the Duma decides: “There will be sea vessels!” In response to the ensuing question: “How many?”, it was decided to “inquire at peasant households, for spiritual and various ranks of people, to impose courts on households, to write out merchant people from customs books.” This is how the Russian Imperial Navy began its existence. It was immediately decided to start building 52 ships and launch them in Voronezh before the beginning of April 1698. Moreover, the decision to build ships was made as follows: the clergy provided one ship from every eight thousand households, the nobility - from every ten thousand. The merchants, townspeople and foreign merchants pledged to launch 12 ships. The state built the rest of the ships using taxes from the population. This was a serious matter. They were looking for carpenters all over the country, and soldiers were assigned to help them. More than fifty foreign specialists worked at the shipyards, and a hundred talented young people went abroad to learn the basics of shipbuilding. Among them, in the position of an ordinary police officer, was Peter. In addition to Voronezh, shipyards were built in Stupino, Tavrov, Chizhovka, Bryansk and Pavlovsk. Those interested took accelerated training courses to become shipwrights and assistant workers. The Admiralty was created in Voronezh in 1697. The first naval document in the history of the Russian state was the “Charter on Galleys”, written by Peter I during the second Azov campaign on the command galley “Principium”.

On April 27, 1700, the Goto Predestination, the first battleship of Russia, was completed at the Voronezh shipyard. According to the European classification of ships of the early 17th century, it earned rank IV. Russia could rightfully be proud of its brainchild, since construction took place without the participation of specialists from abroad. By 1700, the Azov fleet already consisted of more than forty sailing ships, and by 1711 - about 215 (including rowing ships), of which forty-four ships were armed with 58 guns. Thanks to this formidable argument, it was possible to sign a peace treaty with Turkey and start a war with the Swedes. The invaluable experience gained during the construction of new ships made it possible to later achieve success in the Baltic Sea and played an important (if not decisive) role in the great Northern War. The Baltic Fleet was built at the shipyards of St. Petersburg, Arkhangelsk, Novgorod, Uglich and Tver. In 1712, the St. Andrew's flag was established - a white cloth with a blue cross diagonally. Many generations of sailors of the Russian Navy fought, won and died under it, glorifying our Motherland with their exploits.

In just thirty years (from 1696 to 1725), a regular Azov, Baltic and Caspian fleet appeared in Russia. During this time, 111 battleships and 38 frigates, six dozen brigantines and even more large galleys, scamps and bombardment ships, shmucks and fireships, more than three hundred transport ships and a huge number of small boats were built. And, what is especially remarkable, in terms of their military and seaworthiness, Russian ships were not at all inferior to the ships of great maritime powers, such as France or England. However, since there was an urgent need to defend the conquered coastal territories and at the same time conduct military operations, and the country did not have time to build and repair ships, they were often bought abroad.

Of course, all the main orders and decrees came from Peter I, but in shipbuilding matters he was helped by such prominent historical figures as F.A. Golovin, K.I. Kruys, F.M. Apraksin, Franz Timmerman and S.I. Yazykov. The shipwrights Richard Kozents and Sklyaev, Saltykov and Vasily Shipilov have glorified their names throughout the centuries. By 1725, naval officers and shipbuilders were being trained in special schools and maritime academies. By this time, the center for shipbuilding and training specialists for the domestic fleet moved from Voronezh to St. Petersburg. Our sailors won brilliant and convincing first victories in the battles of Kotlin Island, the Gangut Peninsula, the islands of Ezel and Grengam, and took primacy in the Baltic and Caspian Seas. Also, Russian navigators made many significant geographical discoveries. Chirikov and Bering founded Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in 1740. A year later, a new strait was discovered, which made it possible to reach the western coast of North America. Sea travels were carried out by V.M. Golovnin, F.F. Bellingshausen, E.V. Putyatin, M.P. Lazarev.

By 1745, the bulk of naval officers came from noble families, and sailors were recruits from the common people. Their service life was lifelong. Foreign citizens were often hired to perform naval service. An example was the commander of the Kronstadt port, Thomas Gordon.

Admiral Spiridov in 1770, during the Battle of Chesme, defeated the Turkish fleet and established Russian dominance in the Aegean Sea. Also, the Russian Empire won the war with the Turks in 1768-1774. In 1778, the port of Kherson was founded, and in 1783, the first ship of the Black Sea Fleet was launched. At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, our country took third place in the world after France and Great Britain in terms of the quantity and quality of ships.

In 1802, the Ministry of Naval Forces began to exist. For the first time in 1826, a military steamship equipped with eight cannons was built, which was named Izhora. And 10 years later they built a steam frigate, nicknamed “Bogatyr”. This vessel had a steam engine and paddle wheels for movement. From 1805 to 1855, Russian sailors explored the Far East. Over these years, brave sailors completed forty round-the-world and long-distance voyages.

In 1856, Russia was forced to sign the Treaty of Paris and eventually lost its Black Sea fleet. In 1860, the steam fleet finally took the place of the outdated sailing fleet, which had lost its former importance. After the Crimean War, Russia actively built steam warships. These were slow-moving ships on which it was impossible to carry out long-distance military campaigns. In 1861, the first gunboat called “Experience” was launched. The warship was equipped with armor protection and served until 1922, having been a testing ground for the first experiments of A.S. Popov via radio communication on the water.

The end of the 19th century was marked by the expansion of the fleet. At that time, Tsar Nicholas II was in power. Industry developed at a rapid pace, but even it could not keep up with the ever-increasing needs of the fleet. Therefore, there was a tendency to order ships from Germany, the USA, France and Denmark. The Russo-Japanese War was characterized by the humiliating defeat of the Russian navy. Almost all the warships were sunk, some surrendered, and only a few managed to escape. After failure in the war in the east, the Russian Imperial Navy lost its third place among the countries with the largest flotillas in the world, immediately finding itself in sixth.

The year 1906 is characterized by the revival of the naval forces. A decision is made to have submarines in service. On March 19, by decree of Emperor Nicholas II, 10 submarines were put into operation. Therefore, this day is a holiday in the country, Submariner's Day. From 1906 to 1913, the Russian Empire spent $519 million on naval needs. But this was clearly not enough, since the navies of other leading powers were rapidly developing.

During the First World War, the German fleet was significantly ahead of the Russian fleet in all respects. In 1918, the entire Baltic Sea was under absolute German control. The German fleet transported troops to support independent Finland. Their troops controlled occupied Ukraine, Poland and western Russia.

The main enemy of the Russians on the Black Sea has long been the Ottoman Empire. The main base of the Black Sea Fleet was in Sevastopol. The commander of all naval forces in this region was Andrei Avgustovich Eberhard. But in 1916, the Tsar removed him from his post and replaced him with Admiral Kolchak. Despite the successful military operations of the Black Sea sailors, in October 1916 the battleship Empress Maria exploded in the parking lot. This was the largest loss of the Black Sea Fleet. He only served for a year. To this day, the cause of the explosion is unknown. But there is an opinion that this is the result of successful sabotage.

The revolution and civil war became a complete collapse and disaster for the entire Russian fleet. In 1918, the ships of the Black Sea Fleet were partially captured by the Germans, partially withdrawn and scuttled in Novorossiysk. The Germans later transferred some of the ships to Ukraine. In December, the Entente captured ships in Sevastopol, which were given to the Armed Forces of Southern Russia (the group of white troops of General Denikin). They took part in the war against the Bolsheviks. After the destruction of the white armies, the remainder of the fleet was seen in Tunisia. Sailors of the Baltic Fleet rebelled against the Soviet government in 1921. At the end of all the above events, the Soviet government had very few ships left. These ships formed the USSR Navy.

During the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet fleet underwent a severe test, protecting the flanks of the fronts. The flotilla helped other branches of the army defeat the Nazis. Russian sailors showed unprecedented heroism, despite the significant numerical and technical superiority of Germany. During these years, the fleet was skillfully commanded by admirals A.G. Golovko, I.S. Isakov, V.F. Tributs, L.A. Vladimirsky.

In 1896, in parallel with the celebration of the 200th birthday of St. Petersburg, the founding day of the fleet was also celebrated. He turned 200 years old. But the largest celebration took place in 1996, when the 300th anniversary was celebrated. The Navy has been and is a source of pride for many generations. The Russian Navy is the hard work and heroism of Russians for the glory of the country. This is the combat power of Russia, which guarantees the security of the inhabitants of a great country. But first of all, these are unbending people, strong in spirit and body. Russia will always be proud of Ushakov, Nakhimov, Kornilov and many, many other naval commanders who faithfully served their homeland. And, of course, Peter I - a truly great sovereign who managed to create a strong empire with a powerful and invincible fleet.

Beginning of the reign of Peter I; Azov campaigns: “there will be a Russian fleet”; Azov Fleet; Baltic Fleet of Peter I; "south direction"; fleet after the death of Peter the Great

THE BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF PETER I

Peter I

At the end of the 17th century. Russia was still significantly behind Western European countries in economic development. The reason for this was not only the consequences of the Tatar-Mongol invasion, but also the ongoing grueling wars: in the south - with Turkey, in the west - with Poland, in the northwest - with Sweden. The country's only access to the foreign market was the Arkhangelsk port, founded in 1584. Access to the shores of the Black and Baltic seas was a historical necessity for Russia.

Thus, for Peter I, who removed Sophia from the Russian throne in 1682, a goal was predetermined, the achievement of which became the content of his state activities. Most of all, the young king was attracted to maritime affairs.

Contemporaries and descendants were always surprised how Peter, living in Preobrazhenskoye, having never seen not only the sea, but also a large lake, became so addicted to maritime affairs that it overshadowed all other hobbies. There is a version that the origins of this passion for the tsar, who was afraid of water since childhood, are connected with his acquaintance with the astrolabe, as well as with an old boat found by Peter I and Franz Timerman in N.I.’s barn. Romanov in the village of Izmailovskoye. The advantage of the boat, which Peter would later call “the grandfather of the Russian fleet,” was that the sails on it were designed in such a way that they made it possible to sail against the wind.

Peter subsequently wrote about this find: “We happened (in May 1688) to be in Izmailovo, in a linen yard and, walking through the barns, where the remains of things from the house of Nikita Ivanovich Romanov’s grandfather lay, between which I saw a foreign ship, I asked Franz (Timerman) [Dutch teacher Peter] what kind of ship is this? He said that it was an English bot. I asked: where is it used? He said that with ships - for riding and carriage. I asked again: what advantage does it have over our ships (I have seen it in a manner and strength better than ours)? He told me that he sails not only with the wind, but also against the wind; which word brought me into great surprise and supposedly incredible.”

"Grandfather of the Russian Navy"

It is also known that in 1693, with a small retinue, the tsar traveled to Arkhangelsk - at that time the only seaport in Russia. For the first time he sees the sea and real large ships - English, Dutch, German - standing in the roadstead. Peter examines everything with interest, asks about everything, thinks about the establishment of the Russian fleet, the expansion of trade. With the help of Franz Lefort (the first admiral of the Russian fleet, but then still a doorman from his amusing “campaign”), he orders a large ship abroad. The construction of two ships is also starting in Arkhangelsk. For the first time in his life, the Tsar sails on the White, northern, cold sea.

AZOV CAMPAIGNS: “THE RUSSIAN FLEET TO BE”

The awareness of the need to create a regular navy in Russia came to Peter after the defeat of the Russian army near the Turkish fortress of Azov in the first Azov campaign in 1695. Having sent an army of thirty thousand, Peter I suffered a complete defeat. The siege of the fortress only led to major losses. One of the main factors of the defeat was that the Turkish fleet delivered new soldiers, ammunition, and provisions to the besieged fortress. Then Peter realized that Azov could not be taken without support from the sea.

Throughout the winter of 1696, Peter I prepared the Russian army for a new campaign. Returning from Azov, Peter convened a council at which it was decided to build a fleet in Preobrazhenskoye: 22 galleys based on the Dutch model, 4 fire ships, 3 frigates and 2 galleasses and transport them for assembly to Voronezh; at the rafting sites closest to Voronezh - Kozlov, Dobroy, Sokolsk - make 1300 rafting plows for the army, 300 boats and 100 rafts; in Voronezh to establish an Admiralty and a workshop, to lay down 2 ships and to continuously build houses for working people.

Everything was ready by spring. The second Azov campaign began. In May 1696, on the new 34-oar galley “Principium”, Peter appeared near Azov at the head of an entire flotilla, and the ground forces, replenished and rested, again besieged the fortress from land and built batteries at the mouth of the Don.

Sign in honor of the 300th anniversary of the Russian fleet in Sevastopol

This time the Turks failed to fight back, although they defended desperately. The Russian fleet prevented the supply of ammunition and food to the besieged fortress. The Turks had to surrender. For the first time in the history of Russia, a brilliant victory was achieved with the help of the fleet. This happened on July 18, 1696. Russia received Azov with adjacent lands and the right to free navigation in the Sea of ​​Azov.

The capture of Azov was a major victory for the Russian army and its young navy. It convinced Peter more than once that in the fight for the sea coast, a powerful navy was needed, equipped with ships that were modern for that time and well-trained naval personnel.

On October 20, 1696, the Boyar Duma proclaimed “Sea vessels will be...” Since then, this date has been celebrated as the birthday of the Russian Navy. The fleet built for the second Azov campaign, and the ships built during Russia's possession of Azov, are usually called the Azov Fleet.

AZOV FLEET

To gain a foothold on the Sea of ​​Azov, in 1698 Peter began the construction of Taganrog as a naval base. And the Azov fleet is gradually being replenished with multi-gun ships.

The organization of “campanships” (companies) in the Voronezh region in 1696-1697 and the help of foreign craftsmen turned out to be insufficiently effective measures for the speedy construction of the Azov Fleet, so it was decided to build the fleet using only state funds and only with the help of domestic specialists.

Thus, in a letter dated December 7, 1698, the ambassador of the Holy Roman Empire, Gwarient, reported his observations to Vienna:

“... The heat and delight with which they were preparing for the coming war have almost cooled; The Emperor is exclusively occupied with the remodeling and construction of ships. Expensively built ships are bad and are more suitable for merchant cargo than for military operations.”

By the end of the 17th century, Russia had already trained its own skilled shipbuilders, such as Sklyaev, Vereshchagin, Saltykov, Mikhailov, Popov, Palchikov, Tuchkov, Nemtsov, Borodin, Koznets and others.

In 1697 - 1698, as part of the Great Embassy in Holland, Peter I worked as a carpenter at the shipyards of the East India Company, with the participation of the tsar, the ship “Peter and Paul” was built.

« Goto Predestination»

Such circumstances favored the appearance of a new type of ship in the Russian fleet. So in November 1698, Peter I laid down the 58-gun ship “Goto Predestination” (“God’s Providence”).

From the journal of the office of Peter I, 1698:
“...on the 19th day of November, in memory of the holy martyr Obadiah, a ship called “God's Foresight” was laid down. The keel was laid 130 feet long and 33 feet wide.”

It was built according to an English drawing (proof of this version is the presence of a round spigot, which at that time only English ships had), however, since the ships built according to these drawings were intended to sail in shallow water, Peter I made changes to the drawings. The ship's draft was reduced. The keel of the Goto Predestination had a unique design for that time, which prevented leaks in the ship's hull when it hit the ground.

So on April 27, 1700, the first Russian battleship created in Russia without the participation of foreign specialists - the ship "Goto Predestination" - was launched from the Voronezh shipyard.

Almost simultaneously, two more ships were laid down: the Turtle and the Great Galleas. The construction of the “Turtle” was led by the English master Osip Nye, and the construction of the second ship was led by the Venetian Jacob Moreau. The construction of the Goto Predestination was at first supervised by Peter I. Thus, in the Russian fleet, thanks to the simultaneous construction of three ships, a kind of competition began between Russian, English and Venetian shipwrights.

The creation of the Azov Fleet was an extremely important event for Russia. Firstly, it revealed the role of the navy in the armed struggle for access to the seas. Secondly, much-needed experience was acquired in the mass construction of military ships, which made it possible to quickly create a strong Baltic Fleet. Thirdly, Europe was shown Russia's enormous potential as a powerful maritime power.

After the war with Turkey for the possession of the Sea of ​​Azov, Peter I's aspirations were aimed at the struggle for access to the Baltic Sea, the success of which was predetermined by the presence of military force at sea. Understanding this very well, Peter I began building the Baltic Fleet.

During the period from 1695 to 1710, the Azov fleet was replenished with many battleships and frigates, galleys and bombardment ships, fire ships and small vessels. But it didn't last long. In 1711, after an unsuccessful war with Turkey, according to the Prut Peace Treaty, Russia was forced to give the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov to the Turks, and pledged to destroy the Azov fleet.

Engraving from the “Diary” of I. Korb “Azov Fleet”. End of the 17th century.

BALTIC FLEET OF PETER I

The need for Russia to access the Baltic Sea resulted in the “Northern War” with Sweden in 1700: a country with a strong navy, which served as a strong argument for the creation of a navy in the Baltic Sea.

In the winter of 1702, construction began on a shipyard on the Syas River, which flows into Lake Ladoga. Here the first warships were laid down for the new fleet - six 18-gun sailing frigates and 9 auxiliary ships. In the same 1702, the Olonetsky shipyard was founded in the Olonetsky district on the Svir River.

Peter I's capture of the Swedish ships Gedan and Astrild at the mouth of the Neva

The founding date of the Baltic Fleet is considered to be May 18, 1703. It was on this day, under the command of Peter I, that a flotilla of 30 boats with soldiers from the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments won their first military victory, capturing two Swedish warships at the mouth of the Neva River.

All participants in the battle received special medals with the inscription “The Unprecedented Happens.”

On August 22, 1703, the first battleship, the 28-gun frigate “Standard,” was launched at the Olonets shipyard; 7 frigates, 5 shnavs, 7 galleys, 13 half-galleys, 1 galliot and 13 brigantines were also launched.

In the same year, the base of the Russian fleet in the Baltic was founded - Kronstadt, and the Admiralty School was opened in Voronezh. In 1704, construction began on the Admiralty Shipyard in St. Petersburg, which became the center of shipbuilding in Russia.

A characteristic feature of the naval architecture of that time was the abundance of various external decorations. Carvings generously decorated not only the stern and bow, but also the sides of the ship in the fleet of Peter I. Usually the stern was decorated with the state coat of arms and allegorical figures related to the name of the ship; The nasal figure also corresponded to the name.

In 1704, the Baltic Fleet had 10 frigates armed with 22 to 43 6-pounder cannons, and 19 other warships.

« Battleship of the Baltic Fleet "Poltava"»

In 1706, the Baltic Fleet with small forces participated in the siege of the Swedish fortified city of Vyborg, which was unsuccessful for the Russian side. In 1708, two battleships “Riga” and “Vyborg” were laid down for the Baltic Fleet on the Svir River. And in Arkhangelsk, the construction of seven 52-gun battleships and three frigates began for the Baltic Fleet.
The Swedes suffered a serious defeat on June 27, 1709 in the Battle of Poltava. In honor of this event, in 1709, the first 54-gun battleship Poltava was laid down at the Admiralty Shipyard.

At the stern of this ship, allegorical figures were carved, glorifying the glorious Poltava Victoria.
However, for the final victory over Sweden it was necessary to crush its naval forces and establish itself in the Baltic. This took another 12 years of persistent struggle, primarily at sea.

As a result, during the period 1710-1714, by building ships at domestic shipyards and purchasing them abroad (16 battleships and 6 frigates were purchased for the Baltic Fleet in England and Holland), a fairly strong galley and sailing Baltic Fleet of 27 battleships was created, 9 frigates and about two hundred other smaller ships. The total number of guns on the ships reached 1060.

The high quality of Russian ships was recognized by many foreign shipbuilders and sailors. In 1710, the entire Russian fleet of 250 ships took part in the successful siege of Vyborg for Russia, blocking the fortress from the sea.

The English admiral Porris wrote: “Russian ships are in all respects equal to the best ships of this type that are available in our country, and, moreover, are more well finished.”

The increased power of the Baltic Fleet allowed its forces to win a brilliant victory against the Swedish fleet at Cape Gangut on July 27, 1714.

Scampavea- a small high-speed galley with 18 pairs of oars, one or two cannons and one or two masts with oblique sails

In a naval battle, a detachment of 10 enemy ships was captured along with the rear admiral who commanded them. In the Battle of Gangut, Peter I fully exploited the advantage of the galley and sailing-rowing fleet over the enemy's battle fleet in the skerry area of ​​the sea. The Emperor personally led an advance detachment of 23 scampavei in battle.

The Gangut victory provided the Russian fleet with freedom of action in the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia. It, like the Poltava victory, became a turning point in the entire Northern War, allowing Peter I to begin preparations for an invasion directly into Swedish territory. This was the only way to force Sweden to make peace.
The authority of the Russian fleet and Peter I as a naval commander was recognized by the Baltic states. In 1716, when planning the landing in Sconia, a joint Russian-English-Danish-Dutch squadron (20 Russian ships, 19 English, 17 Danish and 25 Dutch) under the command of Peter I was assembled in Copenhagen, which made a trip to Bornholm, as a result of which the planned The large landing did not take place, but they managed to land a small detachment of Cossacks on the southern coast of Sweden for reconnaissance purposes. This event was later commemorated by the issuance of a medal with the inscription "Rules over four, at Bornholm."

On May 24, 1719, the Swedish fleet was defeated in the Battle of Ezel, and in the same year several troops were landed on the Swedish coast near Stockholm. One of the large landing forces approached the Swedish capital at a distance of 15 miles.

Battle of Ezel Island

The victory of a Russian detachment of rowing ships over a detachment of Swedish ships at Grengam (southern group of the Åland Islands) in July 1720 allowed the Russian fleet to gain an even stronger foothold in the Åland archipelago and act more actively against enemy communications. The Battle of Grenham was the last major battle of the Great Northern War.

Battle of Grenham

The dominance of the Russian fleet in the Baltic Sea was determined by the successful actions of the detachment of Lieutenant General Lassi, which included 60 galleys and boats with a landing force of five thousand.

Having landed on the Swedish coast, this detachment destroyed one weapons factory and several metallurgical plants, captured rich military trophies and many prisoners, which especially stunned the population of Sweden, who found themselves defenseless on their territory.

On August 30, 1721, Sweden finally agreed to sign the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Northern War.

Emphasizing the importance of the fleet in the Northern War, Peter I ordered the words to be embossed on the medal approved in honor of the victory over Sweden: “The end of this war with such peace was achieved by nothing other than the fleet, for it was impossible to achieve this by land in any way.” The tsar himself, who had the rank of vice admiral, “as a sign of the labors incurred in this war,” was promoted to admiral.

Flag of the Navy of the Russian Empire

After the victory in the Northern War, Russia became an empire, Peter I became an emperor, and the entire Russian fleet began to be called the “Russian Imperial Navy.”

As a result of the Northern War, Russia regained access to the Baltic Sea; in the battles of the war, the Baltic Fleet was born and strengthened, becoming the core of the Russian Navy. During the Northern War, a network of bases for the fleet was created, the main of which was St. Petersburg. The advanced naval base on which the fleet relied before occupying the entire southern coast of the Gulf of Finland was Revel (Tallinn - the current capital of Estonia). The rowing fleet was based in Vyborg and the ports of Finland - Helsingfors (Helsinki) and Abo. In 1723, the construction of the Kronstadt naval base was completed, which since 1724 has become the main base of the fleet.

During the Northern War, the Russian fleet reached the peak of its combat effectiveness, which resulted in an attempt to introduce a new fleet staff. Thus, in 1723, the first 100-gun battleship in Russia, Peter the Great and the Second, was laid down.

However, the pace of shipbuilding has decreased sharply since 1723. From 1722 to 1725, 9 battleships, 3 frigates, one shnyava, 22 auxiliary ships and one rowing vessel were built. In 1724, the Baltic Fleet included 32 battleships (from 50 to 96 guns each), 16 frigates, 8 ships, 85 galleys and many small sailing and rowing ships. At the same time, since 1722, the pace of shipbuilding has sharply decreased. In the last years of Peter's reign, no more than 1-2 ships were laid down per year.

Comparison of the Russian Baltic Fleet in the 20s of the 18th century with the fleets of European countries (combat-ready battleships):

"SOUTH DIRECTION"

Having achieved the establishment of Russia in the Baltic Sea, Peter I again turned his gaze to the south of the state. As a result of the Persian campaign, Russian troops, with the support of the ships of the flotilla under the general leadership of Peter I, occupied the cities of Derbent and Baku with adjacent lands, which went to Russia under a treaty concluded with the Shah of Iran on September 12, 1723. The Russian regular fleet appeared in the Caspian Sea in 1722 - it was from this moment that the modern Caspian military flotilla began its existence.

FLEET AFTER THE DEATH OF PETER THE GREAT

The position of the Russian naval fleet after the death of Peter I deteriorated sharply. In 1726, only one 54-gun battleship was laid down, and over the next 4 years not a single ship was laid down.

1728, from the report of the Swedish ambassador in Russia to his government: “Despite the annual construction of galleys, the Russian galley fleet, compared with the previous one, is greatly reduced; the naval industry is in direct ruin, because the old ships are all rotten, so that more than four or five battleships cannot be put to sea, and the construction of new ones has weakened. There is such negligence in the admiralties that even in three years the fleet cannot be restored to its previous condition, but no one thinks about it.”

At the end of 1731, the naval fleet included 36 battleships, 12 frigates and 2 ships, but only about 30% of the ships were fully combat-ready, and another 18.5% could operate in the Baltic only in favorable conditions. Ships of large ranks (90, 80, 70 - cannon) were out of action.

The condition of the galley fleet was more favorable: in 1728, 90 galleys were constantly afloat and another 30 were stored with timber already prepared for quick assembly.

The fleet of Peter II, the grandson of Peter I, who ruled the Russian Empire from 1727 to 1730, was not interested. Large sailing ships were not built under him at all, but only rowing ships were built. In April 1728, at a meeting of the Supreme Privy Council, the emperor ordered that out of the entire Russian fleet, only four frigates and two flutes should constantly go to sea, and another five frigates should be ready for cruising. Other ships, to “save the treasury,” had to remain in ports. The French diplomat M. Magnan informed his government that in response to the arguments of the sailors about the need to constantly keep the fleet at sea, the tsar replied: “When need requires the use of ships, then I will go to sea; but I don’t intend to walk around it like grandpa.”

From 1725 to 1729, the fleet received less than one and a half million rubles. The issuance of salary and clothing allowances was systematically delayed. The rank and file did not receive uniforms for several years, the food supply deteriorated, embezzlement and bribery of naval department officials flourished.

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This is an article from the project "History of the Russian Fleet". |

The best thing history gives us is the enthusiasm it arouses.

Goethe

The fleet of Peter 1 is the pride of the country, something the tsar worked on every minute of his life. At least, this is how many historians present to us the activities of the future emperor of Russia. Is everything so clear in this matter? By the end of the article, you will see for yourself that the answer is no. Of course, Peter was the first to create a fleet, but what, for what and instead of what - we will answer these questions below.

Creation of the fleet by Peter 1 in a new way

History textbooks tell us that Russia did not have a fleet, and only thanks to the fact that such a king appeared in the country, Russia began to build its own ships. Is it so? Of course not. There was a fleet in Russia before Peter the Great, and it was quite large and modern. It should be recalled that by the time the new Romanov came to power, Russia actually had one large port - in the north, in Arkhangelsk. Port with ships: military and commercial.

If you try to build the correct chain of those distant events, then the fleet of Peter 1 was built only after the king himself destroyed all the old ships! In fairness, it should be noted that among the destroyed ships there were practically no military ones, but other ships (merchant and fishing) were of very good quality and were excellent for sailing in northern waters. Many of them sailed to the shores of England and Persia, which once again testifies to their quality.

Western-style construction

Shipbuilding in the West, primarily in Holland and England, was an order of magnitude higher than in Russia. But their ships were built using special technology that had been developed over centuries, and they were intended for sailing in neutral and southern waters. In addition, the difference was that ships, for example, from Holland, were more maneuverable and fast. It would seem that Peter 1 did everything right, whose fleet was built according to Western models. Not everything is so simple. Busy (these are the main Russian ships, which were more pot-bellied, but also more easily caught even light winds) in Asia completely conquered the Indian Ocean and were in service until the end of the 18th century.

Peter 1 completely destroyed such ships. He destroyed everything that his predecessors had built over centuries. This behavior is very typical of Peter, and we will talk about its reasons in another article. Now it should be noted that having destroyed the fleet, the Russian ruler began to build it anew, in the Dutch and English manner. This is where we come to the essence of the story. The fleet of Peter 1 was not as magnificent as is usually written about. Many historians even say that the king built “something like a flotilla.” Why? The answer lies in technology. In England, for example, the process of building a ship is very scrupulous and consists of the following:

• Selecting the right type of wood and drying it thoroughly.
• Impregnation of wood with a special resin, which protects the ship from damage as a result of constant exposure to water.

These 2 rules are very simple, but they contain the secret of why Western countries build such good ships. The Russian Tsar learned the basics of these rules as a result of the great embassy, ​​but, naturally, no one initiated him into the intricacies of the technological process! As a result, the hasty construction of a new Russian fleet led to a clear violation of all technology. The wood was not dried properly (there was no time, the fleet was needed in the shortest possible time), and its impregnation was not carried out with the same composition that was used for this in Western countries.

The fate of Peter's fleet

Speaking about the greatness of the Russian flotilla during the reign of Peter Romanov, many historians for some reason forget to clarify - where are these same ships now? How long did they serve the state? For example, some English ships of that era are still afloat! What about our ships?

The fate of the Black Sea Fleet is known to everyone - it was burned. The reason for such events was 1711 and events in Russian-Turkish relations. You can read about this in the corresponding article in this section. For now, we note that the entire fleet of Peter the Great was destroyed without even existing for 10 years. But it is difficult to blame the Russian Tsar; after all, it was a political factor that we are not considering now.

We can trace the fate of the Baltic Fleet! Nobody destroyed him. It lasted until the end of the emperor's life. So, let's look at the events of that time. By 1708, the country had only a rowing fleet. The construction of large ships was not carried out at all! In 1714 alone, 7 large ships with 52 guns were built in Arkhangelsk. But as a result of excessive work, no more fleet was built in Arkhangelsk during the reign of Peter. Where did the large Russian ships come from? They were bought. For example, from 1712 to 1714. 16 copies were purchased. All of them were eventually destroyed in battle.

The Baltic fleet of Peter I at the time of his death consisted of:

• Battleships – 36
• Frigates – 12
• Shnyavi – 2

A fairly good arsenal, which was at the level of any European power. But let's see what happened to these ships next. By 1731, only 8 of these ships (no new ones were being built at that time) could enter the ocean! Moreover, in 1742, not one of these ships was able to go to sea when a conflict arose with Sweden and a small enemy fleet tried to blockade the Baltic Sea.

So it turns out that the lifespan of those famous “miracle ships” that Peter 1 built was only 5-10 years. After this time, due to an incorrect technological process at the time of construction, the fleet simply rotted. So it turns out that the image of the creator of the fleet is not suitable for Peter, because he took over a country with strong and operational ships, but left behind no more than 10 full-fledged ships, none of which survived even until the end of the 18th century.

Summing up the above, I would like to return to where this article began - Peter 1 should rightly be called in historical textbooks the destroyer of the fleet, but not its creator. Although, in fairness, it should be noted that the tsar himself tried to make Russia a great naval power, but this was not in his power. The fleet of Peter 1 was weak and, apart from one victory over the rather weak Sweden, achieved nothing. The king believed that during the year of the Western embassy he had learned all the intricacies of shipbuilding, but this was not so. As a result, Russia after Peter was completely left without a fleet, and only 100 years later new construction of ships began, which were built using the correct technology and truly served the interests of the state.

27/07/2012

Everyone knows: under Peter I, Russia had its own navy. However, its real story turned out to be sad - the Azov fleet rotted, never having entered into battle with the enemy. And the squadrons of the Baltic Fleet inflicted disproportionately little damage on the enemy in comparison with the efforts required to acquire them.

Z and throughout the entire period of hostilities during the Northern War, Peter’s sailors managed to capture only one battleship. While the Danish fleet, allied with the Russians, captured four such ships in 1715 alone.

After the death of Peter in February 1725, of all the huge 70 - 90-gun battleships, many built by the “Tsar-Shiper”, only one went to sea from the base several times. The rest rotted, standing at the piers without any use.

At broken troughs

The military shipbuilding in the south of Russia, begun by Peter I during the preparation for the Azov campaigns of 1695 - 1696, continued in the most intensive way until the moment when Peter got involved in a new risky enterprise - the war against Sweden. In total, before 1700, 51 ships of various types were laid down as the main forces (that is, without taking into account small sailing ships and all kinds of rowing structures) of the Azov Fleet - galleasses, barcalones, barbarian and classic battleships, which were no less in rank than a frigate. That is, they could carry from 28 to 70 guns on board, including medium and large caliber guns.

70-gun - 2
66-gun - 1
64-gun - 1
62-gun - 3
58-gun - 3
54-gun - 1
52-gun - 5
46-gun - 1
44-gun - 9
40-gun - 2
38-gun - 2
36-gun - 12
(36 - 40) - cannon - 6
34-gun - 1
30-gun - 1
28-gun - 1

Of this number, 37 ships were built and launched by the beginning of the Northern War (for a detailed list with biographies of the ships, see the reference).

But since all of them were designed by far from the best specialists, indiscriminately invited from European countries, they turned out to be very unsuccessful. In addition, the quality of the work carried out by the hands of inexperienced Russian workers was below any criticism. Not to mention the fact that completely unsuitable material was used - undried wood, and even of suboptimal varieties. Therefore, from among the “newborns”, only 11 pennants, which were far from the largest, were brought out to sea relatively quickly (“quickly,” of course, by Russian standards - by the summer of 1699).

52-gun - 2 (“Fortress”, “Scorpion”)
38-gun - 1 (“Fearlessness”)
36-gun - 5 (“Good Beginning”, “Strength”, “Open Gates”, “Color of War”, “Apostle Peter”)
34-gun - 1 (“Apostle Paul”)
30-gun - 1 ("Connection")
28-gun - 1 (“Mercury”)

In addition, the 52-gun ships “Flag” and “Zvezda” were brought to Azov, where they tried to “bring them to mind” for a very long time. But all efforts did not bring results. They never reached the “big water”.

In addition to the disgusting quality of workmanship of the “watercraft,” one of the main mistakes of the shipbuilders and sailors of Peter’s fleet was that all the shipyards were located extremely inconveniently - hundreds of kilometers from Azov - near Voronezh, along the banks of the upper reaches of the Don and its tributaries there. And the water level in the rivers often dropped so much that it did not allow any large ships to navigate them. That’s why, after the spring flood subsided, they stood all summer (and often spent the winter) in completely unequipped places on some shallows. Which soon completely deprived the royal shipbuilders of the hope of bringing their products even to a state of limited combat effectiveness. Attempts to build dams did not bring the desired result.

However, expensive work to create a huge fleet tied to the newly recaptured small piece of the coast of the shallow Sea of ​​​​Azov continued throughout the entire first period of the struggle against Charles XII. However, the results of titanic stress turned out to be inadequate. Of the 38 ships mentioned above that remained in the Don basin by the beginning of 1700, over the next 5 years only 3 (!) pennants were completed and put to sea.

36-gun - 1 ("Light Iron") in 1702
66-gun - 1 ("St. George") in 1703
40-gun - 1 ("Hedgehog") in 1704

Thus, the summer of 1704 turned into the highest point in the development (at least quantitatively) of the Azov fleet. The ships, built from damp wood, quickly rotted and one after another began to fail.

And the last pre-war combat unit to see the sea waves was the 58-gun battleship Goto Predestination. He reached Taganrog in the summer of 1711. It was that summer that the moment came for which, strictly speaking, they acquired ships - the war with Turkey began. A little earlier (from mid-1710 to the spring of 1711), the last four “suffering travelers” were dragged to Azov.

62-gun - 2 (“Dolphin”, “Wingelhack”)
52-gun - 1 (“Hercules”)
44-gun - 1 (“Elephant”)

But these ships turned out to be in such a “raw” state that, despite all efforts, they could not be put into operation. As well as 30 other beauties (out of 51 laid down), who finally rotted in the watershed of the Don and its tributaries. By 1711 they were all dismantled for firewood. Thus, the results of Peter’s first “great sea leap” were extremely depressing.

The Tsar, of course, knew about the deplorable situation of his southern fleet. And, despite the difficulties of fighting the Swedes, he tried to rectify the situation near the Sea of ​​​​Azov. He regularly came to the Don, personally supervised shipbuilding, and tried to organize the construction of more thorough hydraulic structures that would facilitate the movement of ships from the upper reaches of the Don to the mouth. And he continued to hire specialists in Europe to carry out the work. At the same time, Peter made a second attempt to “jump in over his head” - another 20 large ships were laid down at the shipyards adjacent to Voronezh.

82-gun - 1
80-gun - 4
70-gun - 2
60-gun - 4
50-gun - 1
48-gun - 7
24-gun - 1

Of these, only 8 ships managed to be launched before the Prut campaign (1711). And only two managed to overcome the path to the mouth of the Don - the 50-gun "Lastka" and the 60-gun "Speech". However, the “Sword” at Azov had to be repaired again - this time “eternally”. Therefore, the actual replenishment was limited to just one, not the largest ship.

By that time, of all the ships delivered to the Sea of ​​Azov in 1696 - 1704, only two of the smallest were able to move any far from the shore - “Connection” and “Mercury”. Together with “Lastka” and “Goto Predestination” they formed a detachment that marked an attempt at naval operations against the Turkish fleet in 1711 (smaller ones, mainly sailing and rowing vessels, also tried to assist them). This turned out to be the result of all the exorbitant efforts of the “Azov” shipbuilding.

So, in a decade and a half - from 1696 to 1710, Peter I laid down 71 large ships (no less than a frigate) at the shipyards of the Azov Fleet. But after this period only 4 of them could go to sea.

By pan-European standards, a sailing ship of the late 17th - early 18th centuries should have “lived” for at least 25 - 30 years (in practice, often 50 - 60). Otherwise, maintaining the high seas fleet lost its meaning, since the task of renewing its livestock would “flatten” the budget of the richest state. So, without exaggeration, Peter’s creation of the Azov Fleet ranks among the most expensive super-projects.

Having smashed his nose on the shores of Azov, Peter then, already on the Baltic Sea, stepped on the same rake - he repeated almost the entire set of recently made mistakes.

Where do the firewood come from? From the shipyard, of course!

It has long been known that for some reason Russia enters any war unprepared. But the dispute with Charles XII, started by Peter I in the hope of a quick victory, stands out even against this specific background. It is not clear what prevented Peter from organizing a thorough preliminary examination of the future theater of operations. Time made it possible to identify convenient locations for proposed shipyards, prepare equipment for them in the depths of the country, and organize the production of small ship components. It was then easy to transfer all this to the north-west. And thus, by 1701, acquire the necessary flotillas.

However, they did not look for the “easy road” - the sites for the shipyards and all the wood, both for the construction of the factories themselves and for the ships, were chosen after the start of the battles with the Swedes - in a terrible hurry. Therefore, the enterprises found themselves located in very inconvenient places. And they began to make ships from the first available material. In general, if the Swedish king at the end of the 17th century had managed to introduce a saboteur into the Russian government, then he would hardly have been able to do more. All pennants of the first formation of the Baltic Fleet rotted just a few years after being commissioned. And the shipyards had to be moved to other points on the coast and founded anew.

In concrete terms, the situation looks like this. The Luga, Novgorod and Pskov shipyards, built in haste in 1701, were closed already in 1703 - 1704. The Syaskaya shipyard and the Selitsky row on the Volkhov (opened in 1702 - 1703) shared their fate in 1706 - 1707. All other factories, although they continued to exist, were unable to produce ships of optimal quality. In addition, a fundamental mistake was made in determining the types of ships needed at that time. There were no prospects to advance further than the Neva delta in the first years of the war. On the contrary, there was a threat of losing even the little patch that we managed to capture. For its defense, cheap designs of the army fleet were required - jets, bombardment ships, floating batteries. Large rafts with reinforced fastenings and cannon armament would also be suitable. However, they began to build not them, but a much more expensive cruising flotilla based on frigates, naval ships and large galleys. Which resulted in additional financial costs. In total, 46 large units were built in the northwest between 1702 and 1707:

32-gun frigates - 2
28-gun frigates - 10
26-gun frigates - 1
18-gun frigates -2
18-gun prams - 2
16-gun shnyavas - 3
14-gun shnyava - 13
14-gun tartans - 1
12-gun frigates - 2
large galleys - 8
bombardier galliots - 2

Not a single one of them took part in naval battles. However, the composition of the fleet, starting in 1708, began to decline catastrophically. And by 1711, almost all the ships were used for firewood. That is, less than 10 years after the laying of the first ship for the Baltic Sea, the fleet disappeared again. Peter tried to correct the situation. He founded new shipyards and laid down new ships - with an eye to entering the expanses of the central Baltic. And again he repeated most of the old, Azov mistakes.

Ships again began to be manufactured from unusable materials at enterprises located at a great distance from the arena of hostilities. Those that were laid in the depths of the continent - on rivers, also had congenital defects - design defects caused by the need to drag them to the mouths through shallows. The construction of ships proceeded extremely slowly. In 1708 - 1713, 20 large units were commissioned:

60-gun - 1
54-gun - 2
52-gun - 3
50-gun - 3
32-gun - 2
18-gun - 8
16-gun - 1

Three of them died during the fighting. However, in the lists of combat personnel of Peter’s squadrons after the signing of the Peace of Nystad, only one of these 20 appeared, the others rotted without serving even half of their minimum term.

Peter continued to make extreme efforts, trying to fill the bottomless barrel. All the time remaining until the end of the Northern War, he enthusiastically laid down new battleships and frigates, each time increasing their size and artillery power.

The St. Petersburg Admiralty also did not provide a convenient technology for constructing “products” of serious size. After launching, the hulls were dragged on special pontoons - kamels - several tens of kilometers along the Neva and through the shallows of the Marquis Puddle to Kotlin Island. And only there they installed the equipment and completed the complete finishing of the “new recruit”. In total, from 1714 to the time of the conclusion of peace, the sailing squadron in the Baltic was replenished with another 30 large warships of domestic “baked goods”:

90-gun - 3
80-gun - 4
70-gun - 3
68-gun - 1
66-gun - 3
64-gun - 2
60-gun - 2
52-gun - 4
40-gun - 1
32-gun - 1
20-gun - 1
24-gun - 1
14-gun - 2
6-gun - 2
66-gun - 3 (remained unfinished)

However, if you open the directory again and look at the register of combat-ready pennants in 1722, you will find that 4 new ships from the last line of the final military campaigns also managed to rot. And after 1725 (that is, after the death of the emperor), only three battleships out of all those built by Peter before the victorious autumn of 1721 left the ports several times. And in the War of the Polish Succession, which began in 1734, due to the deplorable condition, only 4 ships out of all 96 units were able to enter the arena of hostilities. Only one ship managed to survive until the next war with the Swedes in 1741 - 1743. It was he who became the only ship of Peter I (in all naval theaters) about which, with some stretch, we can say that it served the minimum required period by the standards generally accepted at that time.

A completely different picture emerges when analyzing the composition and biographies of imported ships. In total, for the Baltic sailing squadron, the tsar bought 30 ships of all types in the West in 1711 - 1720:

70-gun - 1
60-gun - 1
56-gun - 1
54-gun - 2
52-gun - 1
50-gun - 12
44-gun - 2
42-gun - 1
32-gun - 6
12-gun - 2
6-gun - 1

Moreover, there were only a few new - just built "orders" among the purchased ships. Either out of greed or the incompetence of Russian buying agents, old, battered ships, shaken by storms, were acquired. The Moscow emissaries were given a lot of already rotten troughs on the cheap. But those that turned out to be newer served under Russian flags for 20 years or more (even despite not the most skillful service). About a dozen actually made it to the War of the Polish Succession, taking an active part in it.

The price of a small finished ship made of oak with iron fastenings on the European market was only about 20 thousand rubles - two-thirds of the cost of a similar-sized Russian-built ship made of pine forest. The procurement and delivery of oak logs to Russia for just one ship required an additional additional 10 thousand rubles.

In conclusion, a few comments. It should be noted that by the end of his life Peter turned into a very well-trained professional sailor and shipbuilder. But an analogy with the famous master Lefty suggests itself. The writer Nikolai Leskov, who created his image, was an ardent Slavophile and sought to prove with this story the superiority of the Russian man over the British. But Leskov was also talented, so the story turned out to be almost true. Think about it - having shoed a flea, the Russian craftsman actually successfully did the most difficult work, but the result was disastrous - the flea, not designed for the weight of horseshoes, stopped jumping. And the toy lost its main charm. The result was the Chernomyrdin formula - to want what is best, but in the end to receive incredible work as always... However, Peter almost managed to break this tradition. But not in the case of the fleet.

Reference

Ships of the Azov Fleet, built and officially included in its composition before the start of the Northern War.

1. “Hercules” (52 guns) - launched at the Voronezh shipyard in May 1699. Brought to Azov in 1710. Upon inspection, “it turned out to be thin.” Placed in the boathouse for repairs. Not taken to sea. Abandoned during the return of Azov to Turkey.

2. “Fortress” (52) - launched at the Panshinskaya shipyard in the spring of 1699 and launched into the Sea of ​​Azov. In 1704 it was put in for repairs. By 1711 it had rotted.

3. “Scorpion” (52) - launched at the Panshinsky shipyard in the spring of 1699 and launched into the Sea of ​​Azov. By 1711 it had rotted.

4. “Flag” (52) - launched at the Panshinskaya shipyard in the spring of 1699 and hauled to Azov. It was put there for repairs. Not taken to sea. It burned down in 1709.

5. “Zvezda” (52) - launched at the Panshinskaya shipyard in the spring of 1699 and pulled out to Azov. It was put there for repairs. Not taken to sea. By 1709 it had rotted and been dismantled.

6. “Bell” (46) - launched at the Voronezh shipyard in December 1697. Not taken to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1710

7. “Lion with a saber” (44) - launched at the Voronezh shipyard in the spring of 1699. Not taken to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1710

8. “Unicorn” (44) - launched at the Voronezh shipyard in the spring of 1699. In 1700 it was still being completed. Not taken to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1710

9. “Dumkracht” (44) - launched at the Stupino shipyard in the spring of 1699. In 1700 it was still being completed. Not taken to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1710

10. “Stone” (44) - launched at the Stupino shipyard in the spring of 1699. In 1700 it was still being completed. Not taken to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1710

11. “Elephant” (44) - launched at the Stupino shipyard in the spring of 1699. In 1700 it was still being completed. He was brought to Azov in 1710. Upon examination, “he turned out to be thin.” Placed for repair. Not taken to sea. Abandoned during the return of Azov to Turkey.

12. “Lynx” (44) - launched at the Stupino shipyard in the spring of 1699. Not taken to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1709

13. “Guarding Crane” (44) - launched at the Stupino shipyard in the spring of 1699. Not taken to sea. Rotted in the river, dismantled in 1709.

14. “Falcon” (44) - launched at the Stupino shipyard in the spring of 1699. Not taken to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1709

15. “Dog” (44) - launched at the Stupino shipyard in the spring of 1699. In 1700 it was still being completed. Not taken to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1709

16. Unnamed ship (38) - built by the “Cherkassky merchants”. Launched at the Voronezh shipyard in the spring of 1699. Never put to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1710

17. “Fearlessness” (38) - launched in the spring of 1699 at the Khoper shipyard and launched into the Sea of ​​Azov. By 1710 it had rotted and was dismantled.

18. “Apostle Peter” (36) - launched at the Voronezh shipyard in the spring of 1696. Participated in the siege of Azov. At the end of the summer of 1696, he was taken to the Sea of ​​Azov. By 1711 it had rotted. Abandoned during the return of Azov to Turkey.

19. “Lily” (36) - launched at the Voronezh shipyard in the spring of 1699. Not taken to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1710

20. “Drum” (36) - launched at the Voronezh shipyard in the spring of 1699. Not taken to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1710

21. “Three glasses” (36) - launched at the Voronezh shipyard in the spring of 1699. Not taken to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1710

22. “Chair” (36) - launched at the Voronezh shipyard in the spring of 1699. Not taken to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1710

23. “Good Beginning” (36) - launched in the spring of 1699 at the Khoper shipyard and launched into the Sea of ​​Azov. In 1704 it was delivered to Taganrog for repairs. Rotten. Dismantled in 1710

24. “Strength” (36) - launched in the spring of 1699 at the Voronezh shipyard and launched into the Sea of ​​Azov. By 1710 it had rotted and was dismantled.

25. “Open Gates” (36) - launched in the spring of 1699 at the Voronezh shipyard and launched into the Sea of ​​Azov. By 1710 it had rotted and was dismantled.

26. “Color of War” (36) - launched in the spring of 1699 at the Voronezh shipyard and launched into the Sea of ​​Azov. In 1704 it was put in for repairs. By 1710 it had rotted and was dismantled.

27. “Harp” (36) - in 1700 it was still being completed at the Stupino shipyard. Not taken to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1710

28. “Granat-Apol” (36) - in 1700 it was still being completed at the Stupino shipyard. Not taken to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1710

29. “Apostle Paul” (34) - launched in the spring of 1696 at the Voronezh shipyard. By the summer of 1699, it was withdrawn to the Sea of ​​Azov. By 1711 it had rotted. Abandoned during the return of Azov to Turkey.

30. “Connection” (30) - launched in the spring of 1699 at the Khoper shipyard and launched into the Sea of ​​Azov. In 1711 he took part in the war against Turkey. Burned during the surrender of Taganrog to the Turks.

31. “Mercury” (28) - launched in the spring of 1699 at the Voronezh shipyard and launched into the Sea of ​​Azov. In 1711 he took part in the war against Turkey. After the surrender of Taganrog to the Turks, he was taken up the Don to Cherkassk. Rotted in the river, dismantled in 1716.

32. “Scales” (?) - launched at the Voronezh shipyard in the spring of 1699. Not taken to sea. Rotted in the river, dismantled in 1710.

33. Nameless (?) - built by the “companion of Dolgoruky”. Launched at the Voronezh shipyard in the spring of 1699. Never put to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1710

34. Nameless (?) - built by the “Kurpanism of Zmeev”. Launched at the Voronezh shipyard in the spring of 1699. Never put to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1710

35. Nameless (?) - built by Tolochanov’s “kumpanism”. Launched at the Voronezh shipyard in the spring of 1699. Never put to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1710

36. Nameless (?) - built by Zykov’s “kumpanism”. Launched at the Voronezh shipyard in the spring of 1699. Never put to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1710

37. Unnamed (?) - built by the “companion of the Novodevichy Convent”. Launched at the Voronezh shipyard in the spring of 1699. Never put to sea. Rotted in the river. Dismantled in 1710

* Illustration - a painting by the Swedish artist Ludwig Richard “Battleship “Wacktmeister”” alone fighting the Russian squadron” (in Russian historiography the battle of Grenham) .

Vyacheslav KRASIKOV

HISTORY OF THE CREATION OF THE RUSSIAN FLEET BY PETER I

Peter I went down in history as a reformer, commander and naval commander, the first emperor of Russia. But his role in creating the fleet of the young empire is especially noticeable. Peter understood that without a fleet his country would not be able to enter the “club” of great powers. And he began to do his best to correct the situation. Thus, first the Azov Fleet appears, the historical significance of which is simply impossible to underestimate, and 7 years later, in 1703, the Baltic Fleet is created - the strongest naval unit of modern Russia.

It cannot be said that before Peter there were no attempts to create a naval force. There were, but they were very disorganized, unsystematic and, as a result, unsuccessful. Ivan the Terrible, for example, actively used the river fleet in his campaigns against the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates. Later, during the war with the Swedes of 1656-1661, the Moscow kingdom became concerned with building a full-fledged fleet capable of operating in the Baltic waters. Voivode Ordin-Nashchekin especially distinguished himself in its creation. But under the terms of the peace signed in 1661, the Russians had to destroy all ships and shipyards. Having failed in the north, Ordin-Nashchekin turned the attention of Emperor Alexei Mikhailovich to the south of the kingdom.

There it was decided to build a flotilla for the Caspian Sea and even began this ambitious project - in 1667-1668. The three-masted sailing ship "Eagle" was built, the "great-grandfather" of the Russian sailing fleet (displacement 250 tons, length 24.5 meters, width 6.5 meters). It had two decks, the artillery armament consisted of 22 guns, about the tests of which a note has been preserved:

« the guns were shot, and according to the shot, the guns were all intact and fit for the ship».

Unfortunately, the fate of the ship was tragic - it served little, and was later completely burned by Razin’s rebels right in the harbor. The creation of a real fleet had to be postponed for several decades.

A significant event for the entire Russian fleet happened in 1688 in the village of Izmailovo near Moscow. 16-year-old Peter found a small boat (6 meters long, 1 meter wide) in an old barn. This little boat was brought from England as a gift to Tsar Alexei. Peter subsequently wrote about the amazing find:

« It happened to us (in May 1688) to be in Izmailovo, in the flax yard and, walking through the barns, where the remains of things from the house of Nikita Ivanovich Romanov’s grandfather lay, between which I saw a foreign ship, I asked Franz (Timerman) [Peter’s Dutch teacher], what kind of ship is this? He said that it was an English bot. I asked: where is it used? He said that with ships - for riding and carriage. I asked again: what advantage does it have over our ships (I have seen it in a manner and strength better than ours)? He told me that he sails not only with the wind, but also against the wind; which word brought me into great surprise and supposedly incredible».

Having repaired the boat, Peter immediately took a short walk along the Yauza River. Later, the “grandfather of the Russian fleet” (as Peter himself called the boat) was moved to different places (Prosyanoye Lake, Pleshcheev Pond, Pereyaslav Lake), as the prince’s skill in shipping grew. He built a shipyard right on Lake Pereyaslavl and in 1692, in addition to the boat, two small frigates and three yachts sailed on the lake. The construction of the Amusement Flotilla was carried out by craftsmen under the leadership of the Dutchman Karsten Brant, who was hired by Peter’s father Alexei Mikhailovich to build the Caspian Fleet. It is interesting that for a long trip to the lake, Peter had to lie to his mother Natalya Kirillovna: “Where I asked my mother to go to the Trinity Monastery under the image of a promise.”

In 1689, the internal crisis was resolved - Princess Sophia was removed from power and tonsured as a nun. Peter actually became the ruler of an entire country. By this time, the idea of ​​organizing a fleet had completely taken possession of the king. He worked diligently, studied everything that could be useful for the king-military leader - geometry, navigation, carpentry, cannon casting and other sciences. And all this time he did not abandon his passion for the fleet. But the lake was clearly not enough for the young king and he decided to go to Arkhangelsk, to the White Sea.

In 1693, the road from Moscow to Arkhangelsk took as much as 24 days - from July 6 to July 30, Peter was on the road. Despite his mother’s promise not to leave the shore, the young king broke it without any qualms of conscience. According to various sources, either on the first day of his arrival, or towards the end of the visit, he went out to sea on the 12-gun yacht “St. Peter” to escort Dutch and English merchant ships. This journey took 6 whole days and made a huge impression on the king.

In the same 1693, he built the first state shipyard in Arkhangelsk - Solombala. And he immediately laid down the 24-gun ship “St. Apostle Paul” there. This was not enough for Peter and he bought the 44-gun frigate “Holy Prophecy” in Holland. The trip to Arkhangelsk was an important milestone in the development of the young ruler’s hobbies. The real sea, foreign ships and sailors, the construction of the shipyard - all this made a strong impression. But it was time to return - after being absent for almost three months, on October 1 the tsar returned to Moscow.

However, in January 1694, Peter's mother dies. Of course, this was a strong emotional shock for the king. But already at this age he showed his nature - without indulging in excessive sadness, on May 1 Peter left for Arkhangelsk for the second time, at the beginning of the summer navigation. This time he was accompanied by soldiers of the Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments, who, as planned by the sovereign, were to become sailors on his ships. Upon arrival, Peter personally supervised the armament of the St. Paul and inspected the frigate Holy Prophecy, which had arrived from Holland (both ships were later converted into merchant ships). In general, the tsar spent a lot of time “in the field” - he was constantly on ships, participated in repair and rigging work, and communicated with foreign sailors.

As part of a squadron of three ships ("St. Apostle Paul", "St. Prophecy" and "St. Peter"), Peter escorted the merchant squadron to the exit from the White Sea. Unfortunately, this trip did not go too well. During a fairly short passage, the shortage of naval officers became obvious - all of Peter’s associates were good for the Amusement Flotilla, but had difficulty sailing on real ships. If “Admiral” Romodanovsky and “Vice Admiral” Buturlin somehow coped with their duties, then “Rear Admiral” Gordon, only by luck, did not land the yacht “Svya” on the rocks that Peter."

On the same yacht, Peter decided to visit the Solovetsky Monastery, but on the way the ship was caught in a strong storm. Nowadays, there is a maritime museum on Bolshoi Solovetsky Island. . According to some sources, the priests persuaded the king to take communion in order to die with a clear conscience. But Peter only brushed aside the offer and took the helm of the yacht himself. Everything worked out well - after spending some time in Solovki, he returned to Arkhangelsk.

Upon returning to Arkhangelsk, Peter began arming and equipping the ship “Apostle Paul”, and after the arrival of the ship “St. Prophecy" took him under command and sailed in the White Sea to St. Nos in a squadron under the flag of Romodanovsky. Peter returned from his second trip to the White Sea with an indomitable desire to begin building the Russian fleet. Russia at that time owned two sea coasts - White Sea and Caspian.

It was natural to strive for White, which connected the country with England, Holland and other countries. Not everyone in Moscow understood these aspirations. Peter understood that a great country and its economy required access to the sea. He could not then fight for the return of the Baltic coast of Russia; a powerful power dominated there. And he turned his gaze to the south, to the Azov and Black Seas.

Russia was looking for access to the sea. It was decided to start from the south... In February 1695, Tsar Peter I ordered to gather an army to recapture the city of Azov at the mouth of the Don from the Turks. Under the name of the bombardier Pyotr Mikhailov, the tsar set off along with the first Western-style regiments: Preobrazhensky, Semenovsky and Lefortov. After a long siege, they decided to take the Azov fortress by storm. Many Russian soldiers and officers died, but the city could not be taken. The Turks brought fresh troops and food by sea. The first Azov campaign of 1695 ended ingloriously...

Peter took the failure seriously, but did not think about retreat. It was difficult to take the seaside fortress without a navy. Thousands of “working people” began to flock to Voronezh from all over Russia. It was necessary to build shipyards, harvest and transport timber, twist ropes, sew sails and cast cannons.

They built shipyards, barns, and barracks. Two 36-gun ships, twenty-two galleys and four fire ships were laid down on the stocks. Everything was ready by spring. The second Azov campaign began. In May 1696, on the new 34-oar galley “Principium”, Peter appeared near Azov at the head of an entire flotilla, and the ground forces, replenished and rested, again besieged the fortress from land and built batteries at the mouth of the Don.

This time the Turks failed to fight back, although they defended desperately. The Russian fleet prevented the supply of ammunition and food to the besieged fortress. The Turks had to surrender. For the first time in the history of Russia, a brilliant victory was achieved with the help of the fleet. This happened on July 18, 1696. From that day on, free access to the Sea of ​​Azov opened.

It was necessary to establish ourselves in the entire Sea of ​​​​Azov, to move towards the Black Sea. And for this it was necessary to continue to create a fleet and build harbors, because, as Peter I said, “a harbor is the beginning and end of a fleet, without it, whether there is a fleet or not, it still does not exist.” On July 27, after the capture of Azov, Peter began to go around the coast in boats. As the legend says, on one of the capes, or, as they were called here, horns, fires were burning in the evening - then the shepherds were cooking food on the tagans. Here, on Taganrog, they decided to build a harbor (the future Taganrog) for Russia's first regular navy.

Later, in the preface to the Naval Regulations, Peter will write: “... the sovereigns of the navy who do not have only one hand have, but those who have a fleet have both!” Soon after the capture of Azov, on October 20, 1696, the Boyar Duma, at the suggestion of Peter, adopted a resolution: “There will be sea vessels!” This day is considered the birthday of the Russian Navy.

In 1697, Peter I volunteered at the Great Embassy to Holland to study shipbuilding and maritime affairs. He worked first in Saardam at a private shipyard, then in Amsterdam at the shipyard of the East India Company, where he participated in the construction of the ship from laying to completion and received a certificate of knowledge of naval architecture from the master Klass Paul. At the same time, the tsar greedily absorbed knowledge of various kinds, which in the future he used to carry out reforms in Russia.

In 1698, noticing that Dutch shipbuilders lacked theoretical knowledge and were more guided by experience and practice, Peter went to England and studied the theory of shipbuilding in Deptford. The future admiral sailed in the English fleet to the Isle of Wight, attended naval maneuvers organized in his honor, and visited museums, arsenals and other places that interested him. During the trip abroad, sailors and other specialists were hired into Russian service, including Vice Admiral Cornelius Kruys and Schoutbenacht (Rear Admiral) Rez, who set about putting the fleet administration in order.

European politics gave no reason to expect that Russia would receive support in the fight against Turkey for access to the southern seas. Nevertheless, the tsar continued the construction of the Azov fleet. Upon returning from a trip abroad, Pyotr Mikhailov, as the tsar called himself, accepted the title of shipmaster and began to receive a salary of 366 rubles a year. On November 19, 1698, he laid down a 58-gun ship in Voronezh. But still, the path to the wide, global sea spaces was difficult for Russian ships: the Kerch Strait was controlled by Turkey, as well as the Bosporus and Dardanelles - the straits connecting the Black and Mediterranean seas.

The main focus of the interests of the Russian sovereign changed, Peter I turned his attention to the Baltic. But there was already a strong fleet of the young and desperate Swedish king Charles XII who had just ascended the throne. Relying on the support of two other recognized maritime powers - England and Holland, he threatened not only his Baltic neighbors - Denmark and Poland, but also intended to capture Russian cities: Pskov, Novgorod and Arkhangelsk.

“The king dreams of only one war,” the French envoy wrote about Charles XII, “he was told too much about the exploits and campaigns of his ancestors. His heart and head are filled with this, and he considers himself invincible...” Such confidence was given to Charles by the possession not only of a fleet of 50 ships, but also of an army of 150,000, recruited from Swedish peasants who, in peacetime, lived on land received from the state . This army was superior in its fighting qualities to many Western European mercenary armies.

An anti-Swedish military Northern Alliance was created against Sweden in 1699. Each state of the anti-Swedish coalition had its own interests: the Danish king Frederick IV wanted to return the areas lost by his country in 1660 and 1689, in particular Schleswig (the area on the border of Denmark and Germany); Saxon Elector Augusta II, who was also the king of Poland, was attracted by the lands of Livonia and Estonia (the Baltic); Peter I sought not only to reach the sea, but also to return to Russia its ancestral territories with the cities of Korela, Koporye, Oreshek, Yam and Ivangorod, which went to Sweden by Treaty of Stolbov 1617

In May 1703, by order of Peter I, a fortress with six bastions was founded on the banks of the Neva, on the island of Yanni-Saari. They gave her the name Petropavlovskaya. Thousands of men, brought from all over Russia, standing waist-deep in water, with oak “women”, drove piles into the muddy bank. All the well thieves, by order of Peter, were also brought here to work. Hundreds of people lay down in the wet ground at the end of the world - they could not stand the work, and there was not enough bread. “They are very sick here, and many have died,” Peter wrote to Moscow, demanding that more people be sent. This is how the construction of St. Petersburg, the new capital of Russia, began.

The capital had to be protected from the Swedes... Not far from the mouth of the Neva, in the Gulf of Finland, lay an island Kotlin, overgrown with dense pine forest. Only close to it was it possible to go to the mouth of the Neva - in other places sandbanks were in the way. Soon construction of a new Russian fort began on the shallows south of Kotlin Island Kronshlot, part of the future naval fortress of Kronstadt. The instructions to the commandant of the fortress said: “Maintain this citadel with God’s help as long as it happens until the last man.”

A year later, the Swedes began to attack the new fortress, and on the coast too. Although all attacks were repulsed, it was still impossible to reliably defend St. Petersburg without ships. The axes clattered again and saws squealed. Shipyards arose on the banks of the Syas and Svir rivers, and then the Neva. The young Baltic Fleet grew rapidly. The first ship of the Baltic Fleet was built in 1703 - the 30-gun frigate "Standart".

In May 1703, commanding a detachment of boats with a landing party of the guard, Peter boarded the Swedish ships “Gedan” and “Astrild” standing at the mouth of the Neva, for which he was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. Finding themselves without support, the garrison of the Nyenschanz fortress capitulated after the shelling. The entire course of the Neva was at Peter's disposal. In September, with the rank of captain, he brought the ship “Standart” from the Olonets shipyard to St. Petersburg.

By the end of 1705, it consisted of more than two dozen ships, frigates and galleys. Three hundred guns stood on their decks, still smelling of fresh forest, and two thousand two hundred crew members, sailors and gunners, were waiting for the order to set off. Tsar Peter appointed Vice Admiral Cornelius Cruys as commander of the fleet.

The struggle went on for a long time and not always with success! For more than twenty years, from 1700 to 1721, the Northern War raged between Sweden and the countries of the Northern Alliance. Taking advantage of the fact that Frederick IV set out with his main forces to recapture Schleswig, Charles XII, with the support of the Anglo-Dutch fleet, landed troops on the Danish island of Zealand and besieged Copenhagen. Threatening to burn the capital of Denmark, Charles XII forced Frederick IV to capitulate and withdraw from the Northern Alliance. This happened on August 7, 1700.

This war is divided by modern historians into two periods: the first - from the autumn of 1700 (the beginning of the siege of Narva) to the summer of 1709 (the Battle of Poltava); the second from mid-1709 to 1721 (conclusion of the Peace of Nystadt).

With the beginning of the Northern War, the Baltic Fleet also became necessary. In 1702-1704. the construction of ships began in several places at once: on the rivers Syas, Svir, Luga, Volkhov, Izhora. In addition to the seven frigates, 91 ships were built. At the end of 1704, the fortress created by Peter on Kotlin Island already had more than 70 guns. By 1710, the Baltic fleet already included 12 battleships. A strong fleet accelerated the capture of Vyborg, Riga, and Revel by Russian troops.

In 1706, Peter I was promoted to captain-commander. On November 30, 1707, he laid down in St. Petersburg the 16-gun Liset, which he launched in 1708. From October 29, 1708, by decree of Admiral Count Apraksin, Pyotr Alekseevich began to receive salaries of a commander of 600 rubles, a ship master of 1200 rubles rubles From February 14 to May 27, 1709, he was at shipbuilding in Voronezh, surveyed the Azov ports, sailed on a brigantine in the Sea of ​​Azov, and on April 7 launched in Voronezh 2 ships he built: the 50-gun Lastka and the 80-gun Old Eagle "

Although many different ships and galleys were built for Russian sailors, it was still far from the Swedish fleet. However, little by little, Russian troops, with the help of the fleet, recaptured Narva, Vyborg, Riga and Revel from the Swedes, and finally, in July 1713, Helsingfors. The Swedes did not have a single stronghold left in the Gulf of Finland. In July 1714, the Russian fleet defeated the Swedes in the Gangut naval battle, defeating and capturing a detachment of Swedish ships.

The next stage of sharp intensification in the construction of new ships occurs in 1711-1713. Russian shipyards were already building powerful 52- and even 60-gun ships. In 1714, the Russian fleet won a major naval victory over the Swedes off the Gangut Peninsula (Hanko) on July 27. The victory allowed the Russian fleet to control the Åland skerries and the coast. In an effort to transfer the war to enemy territory, the Russian Tsar increased the number of powerful battleships and skerry fleet. The final approval in the Baltic Sea can be timed to coincide with the victory at Grengam on July 27, 1720. By the end of the war, Russia had 29 battleships, 6 frigates, 208 galleys and other vessels in the Baltic.

In 1705, recruitment began specifically for the fleet. Subsequently, until 1715, there were 5 sets, approximately 1-1.5 thousand people each. However, the complete recruitment of the fleet became a reality only starting in 1718. The first naval school was organized back in 1698 in Azov. In 1701, a school of “mathematical and navigational” sciences was opened in Moscow, training personnel for both the army and the navy. At first it was designed for 200, and from 1701 - already for 500 people. In 1715, the St. Petersburg Naval Academy for Officer Personnel began to operate. In 1716, the so-called midshipman company was organized.

In 1718, the royal vice admiral commanded the vanguard of the fleet of Apraksin F.M. sailing in the Gulf of Finland. On July 15, the completed 90-gun ship Lesnoye was launched in St. Petersburg. In 1719, the Tsar commanded the Baltic Fleet; the fleet sailed to Aland, where it remained for almost two months. In this and the previous years, Peter worked diligently on drawing up maritime regulations, sometimes working 14 hours a day.

Swedish senators tried to persuade their king Charles XII to make peace with Russia. However, Karl did not want to listen to anything. “At least all of Sweden would disappear,” he said, “and there would be no peace!” We had to again announce a new mobilization throughout Sweden...

The young Baltic Fleet won many more victories over the Swedes, and in 1721 the Swedes were forced to sign the Treaty of Nystadt. According to this agreement, the following were transferred to Russia: Ingermanland, on whose lands St. Petersburg arose, Estland with the city of Revel, Livonia with Riga and part of Karelia with Vyborg and Kexholm.

In honor of the Peace of Nystadt, Peter ordered large celebrations to be held, first in the fall in St. Petersburg, and then in the winter of 1722 in Moscow. An unusual procession passed through the streets of Moscow: many large models of ships, placed on sled runners, moved towards the Kremlin.

Peter I himself, who led this procession, sat on the flagship model. And in the Kremlin he was met by an old friend. On a pedestal decorated with paintings and inscriptions stood the “Grandfather of the Russian Fleet” - an old English ship, on which the young Russian Tsar sailed along the Yauza, and all the “ships” saluted the “grandfather”...

By the end of the reign of Peter I, the Russian navy was one of the most powerful in Europe. It consisted of 34 battleships, 9 frigates, 17 galleys and 26 ships of other types (Korobkov N.M. “Russian Fleet in the Seven Years’ War”, M., 1946). There were up to 30 thousand people in its ranks. St. Petersburg, Kronstadt, Revel, Arkhangelsk - these are the main ports and bases of his stay.

It is clear that without the work of many, many specialists, it would be impossible to create a fleet capable of defeating the age-old sailors of the Swedes. But it is equally obvious that it would have been impossible to accomplish this great undertaking in such a short period of time in history without the enthusiasm of young Peter the Great, who fell in love with maritime affairs, fully realized its importance for the state and forced those close to him to also become its enthusiasts.
Tsar Peter became a rare example of a man who had full power, but acted not so much through coercion as through personal example, especially in the field of maritime affairs. The fleet he created is a worthy monument to the reformer.