The Pacific Fleet sustained major damages and losses, as did the Baltic Fleet, which sent many of its vessels to the Far East for reinforcement. Although considered to be one of the strongest in the world, Russia’s Navy was devastated by the Imperial Japanese Navy and Japan took control of Port Arthur in the war.
Russia also maintained a naval base at Port Arthur, now in Manchuria, China, which became the scene for the opening battle of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. The Pacific Fleet was founded after the establishment of the far-eastern city of Vladivostok in 1859. Only 17% of Ukrainians support the continuation of the base and the Ukrainian Constitution actually forbids foreign military bases on its soil, although an exception was made for Sevastopol for an undetermined “transition period.” However, with a large package of deals on the table for renewed Ukrainian-Russian relations, it is likely that the base may be kept as part of a larger deal to secure Russian investment and improve energy relations.Ĭonstruction of the new base in Novorossiysk has been plagued by delays and, given the current economic crisis, it is possible that the completion of the naval base will be delayed, perhaps even indefinitely. However, with the election of the Russia-friendly Viktor Yanukovich, the fate of the fleet in Sevastopol is more secure, although it remains a hot political issue in Ukraine. With the contract set to expire in 2017, and Ukraine’s leadership demanding that the sum be raised to $2.5 billion or more per year, Russia began construction to expand an auxiliary base at Novorossiysk, which is also on the Black Sea but in Russian territory and which Russia also wants to develop further as a major commercial port. Sevastopol remains the main base of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet today, leased by Russia from Ukraine for $98 million per year. However, beginning in 1870, Russia stopped following the treaty and began to gradually rebuild its naval presence there. The 1856 Treaty of Paris subsequently turned the area into neutral territory, depriving Russia of its base.
Russia temporarily lost this strategically important port during the Crimean War that flared up in 1853 and during which the European Allies of England, France, and Turkey laid siege to Sevastopol for 349 days. The Black Sea Fleet began after Catherine II (the Great) annexed the Crimea from the Ottoman Empire in 1783 and established a naval base at Sevastopol on the Black Sea. Kronshtadt suffered substantial damage during World War II and the Baltic Fleet’s main base was subsequently moved to Baltiysk, in the Kaliningrad Region, in 1952, although there is still an operating naval base in Kronshtadt. Some ships from the “Azov fleet,” as the original ships built by Russia were called, were incorporated into this first fleet. Petersburg in 1703 during the Great Northern War, with its main base at Kronshtadt (now incorporated as part of St. The oldest, the Baltic Fleet, was organized at Peter the Great’s command in St. The Imperial Navy would come to consist of three main fleets. By 1745, the Russian Navy consisted of 396 oared vessels and 130 sailing vessels. A decree approving this was passed on October 20, 1696. After this success, Peter I requested funds from the Russian Boyar Duma, the tsar’s advisory council and state treasury, for the construction of a navy. Peter the Great’s fleet reached the Azov Sea via the Voronezh and Don rivers, where they successfully defeated the Turks and took the Azov fortress. He employed two warships, four “fire ships” (wooden sailing ships filled with combustibles that were set on fire and steered into enemy fleets), and twenty-three galley ships to move troops and supplies. Previous campaigns had failed because of the difficulties of moving large armies across the steppe, so Peter I decided to try a simultaneous land and water approach. Peter I (the Great) is generally credited with the official creation of the Russian Navy in 1696, after Russia’s second campaign to capture the Turkish fortress of Azov during the Russo-Turkish War of 1686-1700. Petersburg) Operations: Baltic and North Seas Deployment: Southern and Eastern Baltic Regions Photo by Erin Decker.īased: Kronshtadt (St. The Aurora battleship, which once served as part of the Baltic fleet.
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