“Naval ships have got to be!” - 320 years ago at the behest of Peter I were decided to establish a regular navy in Russia

Shortly before the 320 anniversary of the Russian Navy, which is celebrated October 30, 2016, the Presidential Library released on its website a collection of materials on the marine theme. On this day in 1696 the Boyar Duma adopted a decision to establish the national regular navy.

A special place on that selection belongs to the best historiographers from the amount of former naval officers. Such, for instance, as a captain I rank, chief secretary of the Marine Science Committee S. I. Elagin and his followers, who collected a huge amount of documentary materials on the history of the Navy. The researcher himself had managed to prepare for publication only the first volume - A History of Russian Fleet; the Azov Period. Further work on the edition, dubbed “The materials for the history of the Russian fleet” (in 18 volumes), continued under the leadership of General Fleet F. F. Veselago.

“Inland waterways of ancient Russia and surrounding it seas much contributed to a quick connection of inhabiting it separate Slavic tribes into a solid strong state, - could be read from an electronic copy of A Brief History of Russian Navy brochure of Veselago. - In the absence of land roads floating over the rivers and lakes was for the inhabitants of ancient Russia the only way of traveling, and this need to such an extent contributed to the development of marine qualities within a nation that simultaneously with a foundation of the Russian state the Slavic-Russian squads in their small boats confident crossed the vast seas and collected a rich catch from the capital of the Greek Empire and the flowering Caspian sea shores.”

According to the author, controlled Kiev squad of armed Rurik’s people was the first who have executed the first sea campaign to Greece in 865, they reached Constantinople (Constantinople) boarding 200 ships.

“Love for the sea fishing and trade, paired at the time with huge dangers, since the beginning of time has been inherent part of the Russian people, - continues his study of The History of the Russian Navy, Navy General, a professor of Nikolay Naval Academy of the history of the Russian Fleet Y. I. Ahrens. - He demonstrated it in the worst circumstances, and our first Moscow sovereigns had nothing else left than to use it for the common good of their subjects.”

The first attempts in this regard belong to Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich Grozny. With the conquest of Kazan and Astrakhan czardoms he opened an access to the Caspian Sea, and in 1558 he has managed to take the Narva city from the Swedes, letting to the Baltic Sea. But come close to the waterfront is one thing, but the “to secure a footing in the sea” - that took the years from the Emperor Peter I. The Great Northern War between Sweden and Russia lasted from 1700 to 1721. In this war Russia was fighting for the return of the captured by the Swedes in XVI-XVII centuries the ancient Russian lands. In July 1714 near the Cape Hanko (Hangö) in the Baltic large Russian galley fleet routed the Swedish squadron in the battle of Gangut. The Emperor Peter I personally commanded the Russians. Gangut victory opened the first page in the tome of the glorious victories of the Russian fleet.

On January 13, 1720, the Emperor approved the first Russian Maritime Charter, which laid the basic laws of the Navy. The regulations relating to the main parties of naval life, have been combined into one document. The library website contains the important for the establishment of the Russian fleet publications: The Book of the Naval Charter (1778), The Draft of Naval Charter, with the references and explanations (1853) and others. These editions point to the fact that the main duty of seafarers has always been serving the homeland and a loyalty to moral ideals. “All ranks of the fleet at all times and in all circumstances must act so as to maintain the honor of Russian name and a dignity of Russian flag,” - stated in the Navy Charter, published in St. Petersburg in 1885.

The history, vividly and accurately embodying state of the Russian Navy at different stages of its development, is reflected in the numerous research works from the Presidential Library stock. They indicate that the first ships designed for military purposes, appeared on our ancestors’ not the 320 years ago, but much earlier. In particular, the Englishman Fred T. Jane agrees with this assumption in his book “The Imperial Russian Navy. Its past, present and future” (London, 1904),” where the author writes: “The Russian fleet can apply for more ancient origin than the British fleet. Over a hundred years before Alfred the Great has built the first British warships, the Russians had already struggled in desperate sea battles, and a thousand years ago, the Russians were considered the best sailors of their time.”