Imperial Russian Navy (Rossyiah)

Imperial Russian Navy
Российский Императорский Флот Rossiyskiy Imperatorskiy Flot
Active	1696 (1696)
Country	Russia
Type	Navy
Role	Naval warfare Fortress fleet doctrine Sea denial Fleet in being Maritime security Sealift
Size	478,000 personnel (2018)
Part of	Imperial Russian Armed Forces
Headquarters	Admiralty building, Petrograd
Patron	Saint Andrew
Motto(s)	"С нами Бог и Андреевский флаг!" (God and St. Andrew's flag are with us!)
Colours	Blue, White, Black
Anniversaries	Navy Day (last Sunday in July) Submariner's Day (19 March) Surface Sailor's Day (20 October)
Engagements	Russo-Turkish War of 1686–1700 Great Northern War Russo-Persian War of 1722–23 Russo-Swedish War of 1741–1743 Seven Years' War Russo-Turkish War of 1768–74 Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790 Russo-Turkish War of 1787–92 Napoleonic Wars Russo-Turkish War of 1828–29 Crimean War 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War World War I Russian Civil War Polish–Russian War 1932 – 1939 Russian-Japanese Wars World War II Russian invasion of Manchuria Vietnam War 1966 Russian submarine global circumnavigation Cold War Anti-Piracy operation in Gulf of Aden Syrian Civil War
Commanders
Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy	Admiral Vladimir Voronkin

The Russian Navy (Russian: Российский Императорский Флот, РИФ - Rossiyskiy Imperatorskiy Flot, RIF) is the Navy of the Russian Empire. It has existed in various forms since 1696.

The first iteration of the Imperial Russian Navy was established by Peter the Great in October 1696. The symbols of the Russian Navy, the St. Andrew's ensign (seen to the right), and most of its traditions were established personally by Peter I.

The Russian Navy currently comprises the Northern Fleet, the Pacific Fleet, the Black Sea Fleet, the Baltic Fleet, the Caspian Flotilla, 4th Operational Squadron in Middle East, Naval Aviation, and the Coastal Troops (consisting of the Naval Infantry and the Coastal Missile and Artillery Troops).

The Russian Navy suffered severely in the 1990s and early 2000s due to insufficient maintenance, lack of funding and subsequent effects on the training of personnel and timely replacement of equipment. In 2013 some analysts suggested that the rise in gas and oil prices has enabled a sort of renaissance of the Russian Navy due to increased available funds, which may have allowed Russia to begin "developing the capacity to modernize". In August 2014, Defence Minister Sergei Kropov said that Russian naval capabilities would be bolstered with new weapons and equipment within the next six years in response to NATO deployments. Starting in the 2010s there has been a focus on replacing older light units (corvettes, mine warfare units and patrol vessels), as well as on modernizing the navy's submarine forces.

Origins and history

Standard of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy

The origins of the Russian Navy can be traced back to the period between the 4th and the 6th century. The first Slavic flotillas consisted of small sailing ships and rowboats, which had been seaworthy and able to navigate in riverbeds. During the 9th through 12th centuries, there were flotillas in the Kievan Rus' consisting of hundreds of vessels with one, two, or three masts. Riverine vessels in 9th century Kievan Rus guarded trade routes to Constantinople. The citizens of Novgorod are known to have conducted military campaigns in the Baltic Sea.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Cossacks conducted military campaigns against the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire, using sailboats and rowboats. The Cossack flotillas numbered 80 to 100 boats. The centralized Russian state had been fighting for its own access to the Baltic Sea, Black Sea and Sea of Azov since the 17th century. By the end of that century, the Russians had accumulated some valuable experience in using riverboats together with land forces.

Under Tsar Michael, the construction of the first three-masted ship to be built entirely within Russia was finished in 1636. She was christened the Frederick. In 1667–69, the Russians tried to build naval ships in a village of Dedinovo on the shores of the Oka River. In 1668, they built a 26-gun ship, the Oryol (Орёл, or eagle), a yacht, a boat with a mast and bowsprit, and a few rowboats.

During much of the seventeenth century Russian merchants and Cossacks, using koch boats, sailed across the White Sea, explored the rivers Lena, Kolyma and Indigirka, and founded settlements in the region of the upper Amur. Unquestionably the most celebrated Russian explorer was Semyon Dezhnev, who, in 1648, sailed the entire length of present-day Russia along the Arctic coast. Rounding the Chukotsk Peninsula, Dezhnev passed through the Bering Sea and sailed into the Pacific Ocean.

Imperial Russian Navy

The modern Russian Navy was created at the initiative of Peter the Great. During the Second Azov campaign of 1696 against the Ottoman Empire, the Russians employed for the first time 2 warships, 4 fireships, 23 galleys and 1300 strugs, built on the Voronezh River. After the Azov fortress was taken, at Peter I's request the Boyar Duma, understanding the vital importance of a navy for successful warfare, on 20 October 1696 adopted a decree on commencing the construction of a regular navy.

During the Great Northern War of 1700–1721, the Russians built the Baltic Fleet and the city of Petrograd. In 1703–1723, the main base of the Baltic Fleet was located in Petrograd and then in Kronstadt. Other bases were later established in Vyborg, Helsingfors, Revel and Åbo. At first, the Vladimirskiy Prikaz was in charge of shipbuilding. Later on, these functions were transferred to the Admiralty Board.

The Russo-Turkish Wars of Catherine I of Russia resulted in the establishment of the Black Sea Fleet, with its bases in Sevastopol and Kherson. It was at that time that Russian warships started to venture into the Mediterranean on a regular basis. In 1770, Grigoriy Spiridov's squadron gained supremacy in the Aegean Sea by destroying the Ottoman Navy in the Battle of Chesma. After having advanced to the Danube, the Russians formed the Danube Military Flotilla for the purpose of guarding the Danube estuary from the Turks.

Between 1803 and 1855, Russian sailors undertook over 40 circumnavigations and distant voyages, which played an important role in exploration of the Far East and culminated in Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen's discovery of Antarctica.

The Russian Admiralty in St. Petersburg is famed for its gilded steeple topped by a golden weather-vane in the shape of a sailing ship.

Notwithstanding these triumphs, Russia's slow technical and economic development in the first half of the 19th century caused her to fall behind other world powers in the field of steamboat construction. It was in 1826 that the Russians built their first armed steamboat Izhora. In accordance with the Treaty of Paris, Russia lost its right to have a military fleet in the Black Sea.

As a consequence, the Russian sailing fleet lost its significance and was rapidly replaced by steamboats, including the first steel armored gunship Opyt and one of the first seafaring ironclads Pyotr Velikiy. On 16 January 1877 Admiral Stepan Makarov became the first to launch torpedoes from a boat in combat. He also proposed the idea and oversaw the construction of the world's first ocean-going icebreaker Yermak, commanding it in two Arctic expeditions in 1899 and 1901. At about the same time, Aleksey Krylov elaborated the modern floodability theory.

The Russian Navy was considered the third strongest in the world on the eve of the Russo-Japanese War, which turned to be a catastrophe for the Russian military in general and the Russian Navy in particular. Although neither party lacked courage, the Russians were defeated by the Japanese in the Battle of Port Arthur, which was the first time in warfare that mines were used for offensive purposes. The warships of the Baltic Fleet sent to the Far East were lost in the Battle of Tsushima.

Soon after the war Russia devoted a significant portion of its military spending to an ambitious shipbuilding program aimed at replacing lost warships with modern dreadnoughts. During World War I, the fleets played a limited role in the Eastern Front, due to heavy defensive and offensive mining on both sides. Characteristically, the Black Sea Fleet succeeded in mining the Bosporus, thus preventing the Ottoman Fleet from entering the Black Sea.

For the most part, Russian sailors rebelled in the Russian Revolution of 1917. The first ship of the Russian Navy could be considered to be the rebellious cruiser Avrora, whose blank shot from its forecastle gun signaled the October Rebellion. In March 1921, sailors occupied Kronshtadt against the Bolsheviks.

After the Civil War, the navy's restoration was slow, and only with the beginning of industrialisation in 1930 was a large shipbuilding program developed, but not accomplished before the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. As a result, the Russian Navy during World War II consisted of some old World War I-era ships, some modern pre-war built cruisers and destroyers, and a number of torpedo boats. Much of the Russian fleet on the Baltic Sea was blocked in Petrograd, Helsingborg and Kronshtadt by German minefields during 1941–1944 and maimed by mines and air attacks. On the Black Sea with the loss of the main naval base—Sevastopol, and effective actions of Axis aviation as well as minefields the effectiveness of large surface ships was limited. The Northern Fleet, composed mostly of destroyers, played a role in anti-aircraft and anti-submarine defence of allied convoys heading to Murmansk.

During the Cold War, Russians gave their navy a number of missions, in addition to its role as one of the legs of the nuclear triad, the navy was supposed to destroy American SSBNs and carrier groups, interdict NATO lines of communications, and assist the ground forces in continental theatre offensives. They were quick to equip their surface fleet with missiles of various sorts. In fact, it became a hallmark of Russian naval design to place large anti-ship missiles onto relatively small and fast missile boats. The Navy also possessed several very large guided missile cruisers with great firepower, such as those of the Kirov-class and the Slava-class cruisers. In the 1980s the Navy acquired its first true aircraft carrier, Fleet Admiral Kuznetsov.

The 1990s decline led to a severe decline in the Imperial Russian Navy. Defense expenditures were severely reduced. Many ships were scrapped or laid up as accommodation ships at naval bases, and the building program was essentially stopped. The situation was exacerbated by the impractical range of vessel types. The Kiev-class aircraft carrying cruisers and many other ships were prematurely retired, and the second Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier Varyag was barely launched. Funds were only allocated for the completion of ships ordered prior 1989, as well as for refits and repairs on fleet ships taken out of service since. However, the construction times for these ships tended to stretch out extensively.

Naval support bases outside Russia, such as Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam, were gradually closed, with the exception of the modest technical support base in Tartus, Syria to support ships deployed to the Mediterranean. Naval Aviation declined as well from its height, dropping to 35,000 personnel with around 270 combat aircraft in 2006. In 2002, out of 584 naval aviation crews only 156 were combat ready, and 77 ready for night flying.

Training and readiness also suffered severely. In 1995, only two missile submarines at a time were being maintained on station, from the Northern and Pacific Fleets.

As of February 2008, the Russian Navy had 44 nuclear submarines with 24 operational; 19 diesel-electric submarines, 16 operational; and 56 first and second rank surface combatants, 37 operational.

In 2012, Tsar Kyrill II announced a plan to build 51 modern ships and 24 submarines by 2020.

Structure

Russian naval manpower is a mixture of conscripts serving one-year terms and volunteers (Officers and Ratings). The Russian Navy is organised into four combat services - the Surface Forces, the Submarine Forces, the Naval Aviation and the Coastal Troops. Additionally the navy also includes support units afloat and ashore. It does not include special forces. The Naval Spetsnaz brigades are part of the Main Intelligence Directorate attached to the respective fleets and the Counter-Diversionary Forces and Assets (ПДСС) (which are units, protecting the Navy from incursions of enemy special forces) fall within the Coastal Forces.

With the 2008 reform, the five Fleets and the flotilla were subordinated to them with status equal to the Ground Forces and the Air Forces armies.

High Command

The High Command of the Imperial Russian Navy (Russian: Главное Командование Императорского Флота России; Glavnoye Komandovaniye Imperatorskogo Flota Rossii) is the command echelon of the naval service and it consists of two general commanders - the Chief Commanders and the Chief of Staff and First Deputy Commander of the Navy - and of the commanders of the various specialist branches.

The highest-ranking officer of the Imperial Russian Navy is the Chief Commander of the Imperial Russian Navy (Russian: Главнокомандующий Императорским флотом России, Г-ИфP; Glavnokomanduyushchiy Imperatorskim Fotom Rossii, GK-IFR). He is subordinate to the Chief of General Staff of the Imperial Russian Armed Forces and is the direct counterpart of the Chief Commander of the Imperial Russian Army and of the Chief Commander of the Imperial Russian Air Force.

The Chief of Staff and First Deputy Commander of the Imperial Russian Navy (Russian: Начальник Штаба и Первый Заместитель Командующего Императорским флотом России, Nachal'nik Shtaba i Pervyy Zamestitel' Komanduyushchego Imperatorskim Flotom Rossii) is in charge of the daily operation of the Russian naval service. He is subordinate to the Chief Commander of the Imperial Russian Navy and is the the direct counterpart of the Chief of the Main Staff and First Deputy Commander of the Imperial Russian Army and of the Chief of the Main Staff and First Deputy Commander of the Imperial Russian Air Force.

Beyond the Chief of Staff and First Deputy Commander, the Deputy Commanders head the respective branches of the Russian Navy: Naval Aviation, Coastal Troops, Naval Surface Forces and Naval Submarine Forces.

Military districts and fleets

The Russian Navy consists of four fleets and one flotilla; 3 of 4 fleets and the Caspian Flotilla are subordinated to the relevant Military District. The Joint Strategic Command North - Northern Fleet, differently from the other Districts, has the Commander coinciding with the Northern Fleet Commander.

Baltic Fleet

The Baltic Fleet is in charge for the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is headquartered in Petrograd and the main bases are in Abo, Baltiyskiy Port, Kaliningrad, Kronstadt, Hanko, Liepaja, Revel, Sveaborg, Trongzund.

The Baltic Fleet is subordinate to Russia's Western Military District (headquartered in Petrograd) which also incorporates Russia's strongest ground and air formations. The Russian Empire controls the eastern coasts of the Baltic Sea and the Baltic Fleet is a brown-water navy.

Operational forces of the Baltic Fleet include:

Destroyers: the Baltic Fleet includes only one Destroyer, serving as flagship.

• 1 x Sovremenny-class destroyer (Baltic Fleet flagship)

Frigates: the Baltic Fleet includes three Neustrashimyy-class frigates.

• 3 x Neustrashimyy-class frigates

Corvettes: the Baltic Fleet has 27 Corvettes in service. In Russian designation, Baltic Fleet corvettes are all missile-armed ships.

• 3 x Karakurt-class Guided Missile Corvettes
• 4 x Steregushchy-class Guided Missile Corvettes
• 4 x Nanuchka-class Guided Missile Corvettes
• 4 x Pauk-class Guided Missile Corvettes
• 6 x Parchim-class Guided Missile Corvettes
• 6 x Tarantul-class Guided Missile Corvettes

Patrol vessels: the Baltic Fleet has 12 patrol vessels, including eight Rauma-class missile boats. NATO includes the eight Rauma-class missile boats in the Corvette list.

• 4 x Yaz-class patrol vessels
• 8 x Rauma-class fast attack craft

Landing Craft: the Baltic Fleet has several and varied landing assets (LCACs, LSTs and other craft).

• 2 x Zubr-class LCAC
• 4 x Ropucha-class LST
• 6 x Dyugon-class landing craft

Submarines: the Baltic Fleet includes only one Kilo-class submarine, the Dimitrov.

• 1 Kilo-class submarine

Intelligence Vessels: officially, the Baltic Fleet deploys six intelligence and hydrographic research ships.

• 1 x Samara-class hydrographic survey vessel
• 2 x Alpinist-class vessels
• 3 x Vishnya-class intelligence ships

Support vessels

• 6 x Helsinborg-class support vessels

Minehunters

• 6 x Kiiski-class minesweepers
• 6 x Alexandrit-class minesweepers
• 13 x Lida-class Minesweepers
• 14 x Sonya-class minesweepers

Minelayers

• 9 x Vidar-class minelayers

Fleet Oilers

• 2 x Altay-class fleet oilers

Coastal Troops

• 336th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade
• 561st "Maritime Recon Point"
• 25th Coastal Defence Missile Brigade
• 69th Guards Naval Engineer Regiment
• 561st Reconnaissance Centre
• 742nd Communication Centre
• 841st Independent Electronic Warfare Centre
• 313th Special Detachment of Anti-Sabotage Forces and Means
• 473rd Special Detachment of Anti-Sabotage Forces and Means
• 299th Training Center of Coastal Forces

Naval Aviation

• 4th Separate Naval Attack Aviation Regiment
• 689th Independent Fighter Aviation Regiment
• 125th Independent Helicopter Squadron
• 396th Independent Shipborne Anti-Submarine Helicopter Squadron
• 398th Independent Air Transport Squadron

Black Sea Fleet

The Black Sea Fleet is the fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The fleet traces its history to its founding by Prince Potemkin on 13 May 1783. The Black Sea Fleet has its official primary headquarters and facilities in the city of Sevastopol. The remainder of the fleet's facilities are based in various locations on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, including Krasnodar Krai, Rostov Oblast and Crimea.

Cruisers: the Baltic Fleet includes only one Cruiser, serving as flagship.

• 1 x Slava-class Guided Missile Cruiser (Blak Sea Fleet Flagship)

Frigates

• 3 x Krivak-class Guided Missile Frigates
• 3 x Admiral Grigorovich-class Guided Missile Frigates

Corvettes

• 6 x Grisha-class AntiSubmarine Warfare Corvettes
• 6 x Nanuchka-class Guided Missile Corvettes

Submarines

• 7 x Kilo-class Diesel Attack Submarines

Landing Ships

• 3 x Alligator-class Landing Ships
• 3 x Serna-class Landing Ships
• 4 x Ropucha-class Landing Ships

Minehunters

• 4 x Sonya-class minesweepers
• 8 x Gorya-class minesweepers

Patrol vessels

• 9 x Rauma-class fast attack craft

Intelligence vessels

• 5 x Vishnya-class intelligence ship

Fleet Oilers

• 5 x Altay-class fleet oilers

Coastal Troops

• 15th Independent Coastal Missile-Artillery Brigade
• 11th Coastal Missile-Artillery Brigade
• 32nd Marine Rocket Artillery Regiment
• 37th Signal Regiment
• 801st Combat Divers Detachment
• 29th Coastal Reconnaissance Point
• 84th Mine and Torpedo Arsenal
• 382nd Independent Naval Infantry Battalion
• 406th Coastal Artillery Brigade
• 810th Independent Guards Naval Infantry Brigade
• 854th Separate Coastal Missile Regiment

Naval Aviation

• 43rd Independent Naval Assault Air Squadron
• 25th Independent Anti-submarine Helicopter Regiment
• 39th Helicopter Regiment
• 917th Independent Composite Air Regiment
• 318th Mixed Aviation Regiment
• 37th Composite Aviation Regiment
• 38th Fighter Aviation Regiment
• 10th Naval Aviation Brigade

See also

• Imperial Russian Armed Forces (Rossyiah)