In his work, "The Seapower of the State", Soviet Admiral Sergei Gorshkov stated: "To understand better the possibilities of the present-day fleet and to gain an idea of its lines of development in the future, it is very useful to look at the processes of its development in the past and the role played by navies in the system of armed forces of the states in strengthening their independent position".
In this regard, sea power usually played a secondary role as Russia expanded, though at times it was closely associated with the desire of particular Russian rulers to secure warm water ports and access to the open sea. Such an objective fueled Peter the Great's desire to secure access to the Baltic Sea, to develop Russian navigation in the Arctic and to build the Russian Navy. It was also a component of Catherine the Great's Greek Project which envisaged securing Russian access to the Turkish Straits. And it fueled Russia's later drive to develop its access to the Pacific Ocean. These objectives were not ones that were consistently pursued by Russian governments. However, when they were pursued they often brought Russia into conflict with neighbouring states, and other Great Powers, making them part of any examination of Russia's naval history.
Strategically, the Russian Navy has always faced two overarching issues: securing access to the high seas through warm water ports and the reality of a vast land mass that separates the various seas to which Russia has tried to gain access. As a result, as Russia tried to develop a fleet in the Arctic or pushed toward the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea or the Pacific, separate naval groupings were compelled to develop in relative isolation from each other.
The origins of Russia's development of maritime capabilities can be traced back more than one thousand years. Admiral Gorshkov traced the origins of Russian naval art to the seventh century A.D., when "our forefathers engaged in armed combat on the Black Sea." However, it was in the 9th century that the Kievan Rus' joined forces with Varangian/Norse warriors to attack Constantinople. The fleet formed at the time was irregular and primarily used for raids against Byzantium, five of which are said to have occurred in the period between 907 and 1043.
The Mongol Empire's destructive invasion in the 13th century led to the dissolution of the Kievan state and its fleet. The Novgorod Republic, which had access to open seas through the Baltic and White Seas, and had used its fleet in warfare against the Swedes and other neighbouring principalities, was able to avoid the worst of the Mongol invasion, though it was still necessary for Prince Alexander Nevsky (1221–1263) to yield to Mongol hegemony. By the 14th century, all trade routes in Black, Caspian, and Baltic Seas were lost, although Novgorod continued to navigate the White Sea.
16th century up to the reign of Peter the Great Under the rule of Ivan the Terrible (1533–1584), the Grand Duchy of Moscow began its expansion toward the Pacific Ocean and attempted, unsuccessfully, to gain access to the Baltic and Black Seas. In 1570, in order to support Russian navigation on the Baltic Sea, Ivan created a flotilla which existed for about a year.
In the 17th century, the Russian sailors actively studied the seas of the Arctic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean itself. By the end of the century, they reached the Pacific Ocean. In 1648 the Russian sailor Semyon Dezhnev discovered the Bering Strait which separates Asia and the Americas.
Marine operations were actively conducted during the Russo-Swedish War of 1656–1658. Thus, a detachment of Governor of Brovsky Peter Potemkin was sent to Izhora Land part of Sweden. The detachment acted in a support of flotilla belonging to the Don Cossacks, who had experience of the sea trips in the Black Sea. The whole army of Potemkin consisted of 570 Don Cossacks and 430 local volunteers. In June 1656, Potemkin and his unit crossed the border to Sweden and on June 13, 1656, besieged the fortress of Notburg. Part of the detachment were sent to the mouth of Neva River and on July 10, 1656, he occupied the Nyenschantz fortress left by the Swedes, located at the mouth of Okhta River, at the confluence of Okhta and Neva rivers. Then Governor Potemkin with a part of his forces and flotilla of the Don Cossacks landed on the Kotlin Island. On August 1, 1656, decisive naval battle took place between the Cossack flotilla and the Swedish Navy near the Kotlin Island. The Russians broke out through the Swedes gunfire and took the flagship-6 ships to boarding. The rest of the Swedish ships were forced to retreat. The battle was won by the Cossacks and they captured the 12 Swedish galleys, naval equipment and also a number of Swedish soldiers including their commander. The battle near the Kotlin Island didn't give any significant impact on the course of Russo-Swedish War of 1656–58, according to the terms of the peace treaty of 1661 between the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Swedish Empire, Russians destroyed their all ships on the Baltic. However, the Battle of Kotlin was marked by historians as the first victory of the modern Russian Navy.
The first Russian ship of the Western European style, the Orel Frigate, was built in 1667.
Founding of the Russian Navy under Peter the Great Peter the Great (reigned 1682–1725) created the first regular Russian navy.
In May 1688, the young Tsar Peter who was barely 16 years at the time discovered a small boat that had been presented to his father Alexis of Russia (Tsar of Russia, 1645–1676). After the repairing of the boat, Tsar Peter gained experience in handling the vessel on the Yauza river and the Prosyanoye pond. The amusing fleet created by Peter in 1688 - 1693, was the forerunner of the regular Russian fleet.
Further events developed at the White Sea. Peter I's interest in the only Russian seaport at that time was Arkhangelsk, arose simultaneously with the plan to build a fleet. Tsar Peter arrived in Arkhangelsk at the summer of 1693. On August 7, 1693, Tsar arrived at Kholmogory, where he was received by Andrey Matveyev and on July 30, 1693, he finally reached to Arkhangelsk. Over two months, the Tsar spent in Arkhangelsk, he met with the ship business and commercial operations of the commercial people and ordered the construction of the first shipbuilding shipyard in Russia on Solombala Island. From the middle of the 17th century, the shipyard, which already had slipways, workshops, warehouses, and other ancillary enterprises, became known as the Arkhangelsk Admiralty. On September 28, 1693, Tsar Peter himself laid the naval ship here – the 24-gun frigate Saint Paul.
Next, Peter I turned his gaze to the Azov and Black Seas. As a result, the regular fleet was also laid in the shipyards of the Voronezh Admiralty. The campaign of the Russian Army to the Ottoman Empire's Azov Fortress in 1695 ended in failure - the siege of the fortress had no success. The complete blockade of Azov failed because the Russians did not have a fleet. The fortress was supplied with fighters, provisions and ammunition from the sea by the Ottoman Navy.
Only in the winter of 1695-1696 the first ships and ships were built, and the Second Azov campaign proved successful. On June 6, 1696, the fleet built in the Voronezh Admiralty shipyards entered the Sea of Azov and cut off the fortress of Azov from sea sources, and in late July the Azov garrison surrendered. On July 30, 1696, the fortress Lyutikh, located at the mouth of the northernmost arm of the Don, also surrendered. Since 1696, the founding day of the Russian Navy, October 30, is celebrated every year.
In 1697 Peter embarked on his 17-month Grand Embassy to Europe, a leading purpose of which was to study ship construction techniques and naval tactics of European Great Powers in order to initiate modernization and similar naval construction in Russia.Peter the Great: Part 1 of 3 (The Carpenter Czar) . Radio Netherlands Archives. 8 June 1996. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
The Baltic Fleet was built under Peter the Great during the Great Northern War of 1700 - 1721. Constructions of galley fleets were launched in 1702 until 1704. A sailing fleet of ships built in Russia and bought in other countries was created to protect the conquered coasts and to attack the enemy sea routes of communication in the Baltic Sea. In the years 1703 - 1723 the main naval base of the Baltic fleet was in Saint Petersburg and later in Kronstadt. The new bases were established in Vyborg, Helsingfors (Helsinki), Reval (Tallinn) and Åbo (Turku). In July/August 1714, Peter's fleet in the Baltic defeated a Swedish fleet at the Battle of Gangut.
Nevertheless, during the latter years of Peter's reign, Russia's gains in the south had to be surrendered to the Turks during the Russo-Turkish War of 1710 to 1713. The resurgence of Russia's position in the south advanced marginally as a result of the Russo-Turkish War of 1735 to 1739, and then accelerated markedly during the reign of Catherine the Great (1762–1796).
In 1722, Peter the Great created the Caspian Flotilla. Led by the admiral Fyodor Apraksin, the Flotilla participated in Peter's Persian campaign of 1722–1723 though most of the gains made during that conflict were subsequently lost and it would be left to the reign of Catherine the Great to reignite Russian ambitions in the region.
In 1725, the Russian Empire had 130 sailing ships, including 36 ships of the Line, 9 frigates, 3 Snow and 77 auxiliary vessels. The army fleet consisted of 396 ships, including 253 galleys and 143 brigantines. The ships were built in 24 shipyards which were located in the following cities: Voronezh, Kazan, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Arkhangelsk, Olonets, Saint Petersburg, and Astrakhan. Naval officers coming from the families of nobleman and sailors were recruited from the common citizens. Service in the navy was for life and there was no retirement. Young officers studied in the school of mathematics and navigation sciences founded in 1701 and often were sent abroad for training. Foreigners can also join the naval service, for example Scottish Thomas Gordon served as the commander of Kronstadt port.
The Russian Navy after the death of Peter the Great Very quickly after the death of Peter the Great, the Imperial Russian Navy deteriorated sharply. In 1728, the Swedish envoy to Russia informed his government about the situation of the Russian Navy:
"Despite the annual construction of the galleys, the Russian galley fleet, compared with the former, is greatly reduced; the ship's ship is falling into direct ruin, because the old ships are all rotten, so more than four or five ships of the line cannot be brought into the sea, and the construction of new ones has weakened. In the admiralty, such disregard is such that even in three years the fleet cannot be brought back to its former condition, but no one thinks about it."
During the reign of Peter II (1727–30), the intensity of the combat training of fleet crews sharply decreased. In April 1728, the emperor at a meeting of the Supreme Privy Council ordered that only four frigates and two flutes go out to sea from the entire fleet, and five more frigates were ready for cruising. The remaining ships were to remain in the ports for "saving the treasury. " To the arguments of the flagships that it is necessary to constantly keep the fleet at sea, the emperor replied: "When the need calls for the use of ships, then I will go to sea; but I do not intend to walk on it like a grandfather ". The poor state of the treasury and irregular salary payments led to an outflow of officers, which caused a drop in discipline among soldiers and sailors.