The history of the Russian Navy considered on the Naval Knowledge Day in the Presidential Library

Students and cadets of Russian maritime educational institutions, veterans of the Navy and participants in the Main Naval Parade in 2018 in honor of the Navy Day, representatives of the Central Naval Museum, the Russian State Archive of the Navy, the Marine Council under the Government of St. Petersburg, the Admiral's Club St. Petersburg brought together in the Presidential Library to participate in the Naval Knowledge Day.

In his welcome address, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Vladimir Korolyov, noted that the Naval Knowledge Day in the Presidential Library at the beginning of the new school year has become already traditional: "Its main goal is to introduce the students of maritime educational institutions to the history of the Navy. The glorious past of the Russian fleet, its present and future, are the embodiment of the most progressive ideas in the use of the World Ocean, shipbuilding technologies, and especially the tradition of selfless devotion to the Fatherland and fidelity to professional duty".

It was also noted that a huge role in the history of our state was played by geographical discoveries made by Russian sailors. For the first time in years, our ships once again went on long-distance expeditions - in particular, they carry out oceanographic and research trips to Antarctica.

The Presidential Library’s collections, which have about 640,000 items of storage, present a large number of materials relating to the history of the Russian Navy, including those that tell about journeys and discoveries of Russian seamen. Tales of outstanding discoverers and their achievements are reflected in archival materials, books and magazines, documentary films and images.

Thus, the book "Russian toilers of the sea" tells about the sea voyage of Captain Vitus Bering in 1725, which was organized to decide whether Asia is connected with America. The publication contains the biographies of Captain Bering and former officers, Bering's report on the expedition to the eastern shores of Siberia, copies from the journals of Lieutenant Chirikov and Midshipman Chaplin, who took part in the expedition.

In 1732, the Empress Anna Ioannovna signed a Decree on sending Bering to the second Kamchatka expedition. It was then that the first time an inventory of some sections of the coast of the Arctic Ocean was made, the presence of the strait between Asia and America was confirmed, the Southern Kurile Islands were discovered and mapped, the coasts of Kamchatka, the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, and parts of the coast of Japan were surveyed. The description of the course of the Bering expeditions and their scientific results are reflected in Lev Berg's monograph The Discovery of Kamchatka and the Kamchatka Bering Expeditions. 1725-1742 and a collection of documents "The Bering Expedition", which was published in 1941. Bering completed the opening of the northeastern coast of Asia, and a map compiled by him together with his subordinates was later used by all West European cartographers in the depiction of the northeast of Asia.

In 1785-1790, another Russian polar explorer, Gabriel Sarychev, who was the first and only hydrographer general, examined the shores of the Arctic Ocean east of Kolyma. It was under his leadership that the Atlas of the northern part of the Eastern Ocean was printed in the Cherished State Admiralty Department.

Undoubtedly, an important milestone in the development of national geography and natural sciences was the circumnavigation of Ivan Fedorovich Krusenstern and Yuri Fedorovich Lisyansky, which lasted from 1803 to 1806. Description of the journey and the results of oceanological and ethnographic research Kruzenstern outlined in the three-volume work "Voyage around the world in 1803, 1804, 1805 and 1806 on ships "Nadezda" and "Neva". In 1812 Lisyansky's essay "Voyage around the world in 1803, 1804 and 1806 on the ship "Neva" was published.

To the compositions of the two captains were published atlases, which included valuable cartographic materials and various drawings that give an idea of ​​the nature of countries, peoples and their way of life. In particular, the illustrated chronicle of the events of the first Russian round-the-world expedition is presented in the album "Around the World with Kruzenstern". It includes engravings published at the beginning of the XIX century, as well as drawings from the archives of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Estonia, and Japan "commented on" by fragments from the diaries of officers and naturalists - participants in shipping.

In 1821-1824, during independent research expeditions on the brig "New Earth" Fedor Litke explored the depths of the White Sea and the coast of Novaya Zemlya. Upon completion of the expedition, he published the work "A Fourfold Journey to the Arctic Ocean on the Military Brig "Novaya Zemlya", which brought him fame and recognition in the scientific community. This work contains, among other things, historical information about former foreign and Russian voyages to the northern waters, with a detailed critical analysis of these voyages.

In 1826, Litke set off as the commander of the Sloop Senyavin for a new round-the-world voyage, which lasted three years. It was one of the most successful expeditions of the first half of the XIX century. More details about the journey are available in the work by Fyodor Petrovich, which is called "Voyage around the world, made on the sloop "Senyavin" in 1826, 1827, 1828 and 1829".

The Presidential Library's collection also contain general materials on round-the-world sea voyages and long-distance marches of Russian sailors, among them books "Russian circumnavigations. From Krusenstern to “Sedov”, "Russian navigators, Arctic and round-the-world", the magazine "Sea collection", popular science film "Ships of frozen seas" and others.