In 2013, 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".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Fedyszyn |first=Thomas R. |title=Renaissance of the Russian Navy? |journal=[[Proceedings (magazine)|Proceedings]] |date=March 2013 |volume=138/3/1,309 |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute]] |url=http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2012-03/renaissance-russian-navy |issn=0041-798X |access-date=8 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120730175841/http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2012-03/renaissance-russian-navy |archive-date=30 July 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> In August 2014, Defence Minister [[Sergey Shoygu|Sergei Shoigu]] said that Russian naval capabilities would be bolstered with new weapons and equipment within the next six years in response to NATO deployments in eastern Europe and recent developments in Ukraine.<ref name="reuters.com">[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/20/russia-vows-naval-expansion-to-counter-nato-move-i/ "Russia vows naval expansion to counter NATO; move in response to Ukraine tensions"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821153357/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/20/russia-vows-naval-expansion-to-counter-nato-move-i/ |date=21 August 2014 }}, ''[[Washington Times]]'' (20 August 2014)</ref> Total tonnage for Russian Navy as of 2019 is 1,216,547 tonnes.<ref>{{cite web|last=Author|first=Guest|date=2019-04-24|title=Battle Force Missiles: The Measure of a Fleet|url=https://cimsec.org/battle-force-missiles-the-measure-of-a-fleet/|access-date=2021-10-19|website=Center for International Maritime Security|language=en-US}}</ref> ==OriginsHistory== {{Main| ImperialHistory of the Russian Navy}} ▼<!-- Unsourced image removed: Commented out because image was deleted: [[File:Emblem of Navy of the Russian Federation.jpg|Russian Navy Minor Emblem.|left|thumb|150px]] -->{{Main|History of the Russian Navy}}
==={{seealso|Soviet Navy|Imperial 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 peoples|Slavic]] flotillas consisted of small [[sailing ship]]s and [[rowboat]]s, 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]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://thediplomat.com/2017/04/russias-naval-policy-and-the-war-in-syria/ |quote=In Russian eyes, the Navy truly began with the riverine fleets of 9th century Kiev that protected trade routes through Constantinople. |magazine=[[The Diplomat]] |title=Russia's Naval Policy and the War in Syria |first=Robert |last=Cobb |date=3 April 2017 |access-date=4 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403173912/https://thediplomat.com/2017/04/russias-naval-policy-and-the-war-in-syria/ |archive-date=3 April 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The citizens of [[Veliky Novgorod|Novgorod]] are known to have conducted military campaigns in the [[Baltic Sea]] (e.g., the siege of [[Sigtuna]] in 1187)—although contemporary Scandinavian sources state that the fleet was from [[Karelia]] or [[Estonia]].<ref name="Tarvel">Enn Tarvel (2007). [http://haridus.opleht.ee/Arhiiv/7_82007/38-41.pdf ''Sigtuna hukkumine.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011191449/http://haridus.opleht.ee/Arhiiv/7_82007/38-41.pdf |date=11 October 2017 }} Haridus, 2007 (7-8), p 38–41</ref> ''Lad'ya'' (''ладья'' in Russian or sea boat) was a typical boat used by the army of Novgorod (length 30 meters with a width of five to six meters, and two or three masts, with the armament of battering rams and catapults, complement: 50 to 60 men). There were also smaller sailboats and rowboats, such as ''ushkuys'' (''ушкуи'') for sailing in rivers, lakes and skerries, ''kochis'' (''кочи''), and ''nosads'' (''носады''), used for cargo transportation.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the [[Cossacks]] conducted military campaigns against the [[Crimean Khanate]] and the [[Ottoman Empire]], using sailboats and rowboats. The [[Don Cossacks]] called them ''[[Strug (boat)|strugs]]'' (''струг''). These boats were capable of transporting up to 80 men. 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 [[List of Russian rulers|Tsar]] [[Michael of Russia|Mikhail Feodorovich]], the construction of the first three-masted ship to be built entirely within Russia was finished in 1636. She was built in [[Balakhna]] by [[Danes|Danish]] shipbuilders from [[Holstein]] with a European design. 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]] for the purpose of defending the [[trade route]]s along the [[Volga River]], which led to the [[Caspian Sea]]. In 1668, they built a 26-gun ship, the [[Russian frigate Oryol|''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 (boat)|koch boats]], sailed across the [[White Sea]], explored the rivers [[Lena River|Lena]], [[Kolyma River|Kolyma]] and [[Indigirka]], and founded settlements in the region of the upper [[Amur River|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 [[Chukchi Peninsula|Chukotsk Peninsula]], Dezhnev passed through the [[Bering Sea]] and sailed into the [[Pacific Ocean]].
▲=== Imperial Russian Navy === ▲{{Main|Imperial Russian Navy}}
[[File:J.-M. Nattier (d'après) - Portrait de Pierre Ier (musée de l’Ermitage).jpg|thumb|[[Peter the Great]], founder of the modern Russian Navy]]
[[File:Lansereships.jpg|thumb|''Fleet of Peter the Great'' by [[Eugene Lanceray]], 1709]]
[[File:Чифу. Русские матросы команды крейсера 'Адмирал Корнилов' соед.эскадры.1895г 117.jpg|thumb|[[Imperial Russian Navy]] sailors of the cruiser "[[Russian cruiser Admiral Kornilov|Admiral Kornilov]]" during training in rifle techniques. 1895]]
The modern Russian Navy was created at the initiative of [[Peter the Great]]. During the [[Azov campaigns (1695–96)|Second Azov campaign]] of 1696 against the Ottoman Empire, the Russians employed for the first time 2 warships, 4 [[Fire ship|fireships]], 23 [[galley]]s and 1300 [[strug (boat)|strugs]], built on the [[Voronezh River]]. After the [[Azov]] fortress was taken, at Peter I's request the [[Duma|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.<ref name="ReferenceA">The NAVY of the Russian Empire, St. Petersburg, 1996</ref>{{NoteTag|The date is based on the citation from the decision of the [[Boyar]] [[Duma]] ({{lang-ru|Боярская Дума}}) dated 20 October 1696 "Sea vessels there shall be..." ("Морским судам быть....") although the question was addressing the settlement of the Azov and the creation of the [[Sea of Azov]] fleet. This date was confirmed as the official birthday of the regular Russian Navy by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation on 22 July 1992 during preparations for the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Russian Navy.}}
Early on in his reign, Peter made a tour to western Europe, England, and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, he became acquainted with the work of the mathematicians Hans Gouda, Dirk Raven, and Hans Isbrandtsen Hoogzaat, which sparked his enthusiasm for the value of mathematics. A major result of this tour was the hiring of large numbers of foreign specialists of various expertise, including mathematicians. Among those hired was Henry (or Harry) Farquharson, called in Russia Andrei Danilovich (Daniloff) Farkhvarson or Farvarson (1675–1739), who had taught mathematics and astronomy at the University of Aberdeen and was recommended by Halley and [[Jacob Bruce|Jacob Daniel Bruce]] (1670–1735), while John Colson was hired to teach mathematics.<ref name="ReferenceA" />
Farquaharson's task in Russia was to create and administer a School of Mathematics and Navigation. It was under Farquharson's guidance that he and Tsar Peter wrote the mathematics curriculum for the new school. He was accompanied by Stephen Gwyn (1684–1720) and Richard Grice (1682?–1709), who were graduates of the England's Royal Mathematical School.{{citation needed|date=June 2011}} In 1700 at Voronezh the first major ships launched for the fledgling Russian Navy—for use with the Azov Fleet—were the 58-gun ''[[Russian ship of the line Goto Predestinatsia|Goto Predestinatsiya]]'' (God's Providence), the 80-gun ''Staryy Orel'' (Old Eagle), and the 70-gun ''Staryy Dub'' (Old Oak).<ref name="ReferenceA" />
During the [[Great Northern War]] of 1700–1721, the Russians built the [[Baltic Fleet]] and the city of St. Petersburg. In 1703–1723, the main base of the Baltic Fleet was located in [[St. Petersburg]] and then in [[Kronstadt|Kronshtadt]]. Other bases were later established in [[Vyborg]], [[Helsinki|Helsingfors]], [[Tallinn|Revel]] (now Tallinn) and [[Turku|Åbo]]. At first, the [[Vladimirskiy Prikaz]] was in charge of shipbuilding. Later on, these functions were transferred to the [[Admiralty Board (Russian Empire)|Russian Admiralty]].
Basic principles of the Russian Navy, its educational and training methods, as well as methods for conducting military action were all summarized in the Naval Regulations (1720) penned by Peter the Great, [[Fyodor Apraksin|Feodor Apraksin]], [[Alexei Senyavin|Alexey Senyavin]], [[Naum Senyavin]] and [[Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn (admiral)|Mikhail Golitsyn]] are generally credited for the development of the Russian art of naval warfare. Main principles of naval warfare were further developed by [[Grigory Spiridov|Grigoriy Spiridov]], [[Fyodor Ushakov|Feodor Ushakov]], and [[Dmitry Senyavin|Dmitriy Senyavin]].
The Russo-Turkish Wars of [[Catherine I of Russia|Catherine the Great]] resulted in the establishment of the [[Black Sea Fleet]], with its bases in [[Sevastopol]] (1783) 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|Turkish fleet]] 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 and they came in 1771 as guests to [[Dubrovnik]] in the [[Republic of Ragusa]].<ref>[[Ruđer Bošković]], page 54, Željko Brnetić, Školska knjiga, 1990. {{ISBN|9788603998177}}</ref>
The [[Beluga caviar]] from the Danube was famous and the merchants from the Republic of Ragusa dominated the import-export business in [[Serbia]] with the [[Habsburg Monarchy]].<ref>Serbien und Montenegro: Raum und Bevölkerung, Geschichte, Sprache und Literatur, Kultur, Politik, Gesellschaft, Wirtschaft, Recht, p. 152, Walter Lukan, Ljubinka Trgovcevic, Dragan Vukcevic {{ISBN|9783825895396}}</ref> The Russian Navy captured in 1780 two British cargo vessels, their cargo were hemp and iron.<ref>Adams Family Correspondence: October 1782 – November 1784, page 417, Lyman Henry Butterfield, Marc Friedlaender, Richard Alan Ryerson, Harvard University Press, 1963.</ref> The Republic of Ragusa became one of the chief carriers of the Mediterranean in 1783 with the help of the U.S., when Britain acknowledges the United States independence, although the Americans agreed to allow Dubrovnik's ships free passage in their ports.
During the Mediterranean expedition of 1799, [[Fyodor Ushakov]] single-handedly carved out the Greek [[Septinsular Republic|Republic of Seven Islands]], proceeding to clear from the French [[Corfu]] and all the [[Ionian islands]]. His squadron then blocked the French bases in [[Italy]], notably [[Genoa]] and [[Ancona]], and successfully assaulted [[Naples]] and [[Rome]]. Ushakov, proclaimed a [[patron saint]] of the Russian Navy in the 21st century, was succeeded in command by Dmitriy Senyavin who reasserted Russian control of the southern [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]], disrupted [[Dubrovnik]]'s sea trade, and destroyed the Ottoman Fleet in the [[Battle of Athos]] (1807). Between 1803 and 1855, Russian sailors undertook over 40 [[circumnavigation]]s 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]].
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 power]]s in the field of [[steamboat]] construction. It was in 1826 that the Russians built their first armed steamboat ''[[Izhora (steamboat)|Izhora]]''. At the outbreak of the [[Crimean War]] in 1853, steamships were few and sailing ships heavily predominated. The [[Battle of Sinop]]e, won by [[Pavel Nakhimov]], is remembered in history as the last significant naval battle involving sailing ships.
During the [[Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855)|Siege of Sevastopol in 1854–1855]], Russian sailors set an example of using all means possible for defending their base from land and sea. Although the Russians introduced modern naval mining in the Baltic and repelled the [[Siege of Petropavlovsk|Siege of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy]] in the Pacific, Sevastopol was finally surrendered on honourable terms but only after the Russians sank their ships to prevent outside use of the harbor. In accordance with the [[Treaty of Paris (1856)|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 armoured [[gunship]] ''[[Russian gunboat Opyt (1861)|Opyt]]'' and one of the first seafaring ironclads ''[[Russian ironclad Petr Veliky|Pyotr Velikiy]]''. On 16 January 1877 Admiral [[Stepan Makarov]] became the first to launch [[torpedo]]es from a boat in combat. He also proposed the idea and oversaw the construction of the world's first ocean-going [[icebreaker]] ''[[Yermak (1898 icebreaker)|Yermak]]'', commanding it in two Arctic expeditions in 1899 and 1901. At about the same time, [[Aleksey Krylov]] elaborated the modern [[floodability (ship)|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 [[dreadnought]]s. 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. After the revolution forced Russia to quit the war, the Baltic Fleet was evacuated from Helsinki and Tallinn to Kronshtadt during the [[Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet]] and many of the ships of the Black Sea Fleet found their last refuge in Bizerte.
===Soviet Navy===
{{Main|Soviet Navy}}
[[File:Soviet navy personnel (1982).JPEG|thumb|Sailors of the [[Soviet Navy]], circa 1982.]]
For the most part, Russian sailors welcomed the [[Russian Revolution|Russian Revolution of 1917]], in which they participated. Earlier, in 1905, sailors of the [[battleship]] ''[[Russian battleship Potemkin|Potemkin]]'' in the Black Sea Navy revolted. In 1906 rebellious soldiers gained control of some [[Helsinki]] coastal fortifications during events known as the [[Sveaborg rebellion|Viapori Rebellion]], which was subsequently put down, following bombardments from ships of the Baltic Fleet which remained loyal to the Tsarist government. The first ship of the Soviet Navy could be considered to be the rebellious [[cruiser]] ''[[Russian cruiser Aurora|Avrora]]'', whose blank shot from its forecastle gun signaled the [[October Revolution]] according to Soviet narratives. In March 1921, the sailors of [[Kronstadt rebellion|Kronshtadt rebelled against the Bolsheviks]], demanding freedom of speech and closing of concentration camps, but this belated revolt was ruthlessly suppressed by [[Leon Trotsky]].
After the Revolution, 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, the Soviet Union's portion of World War II. As a result, the Soviet Navy during World War II consisted of some old World War I-era ships, some modern pre-war built cruisers and [[destroyer]]s, and a number of [[torpedo boat]]s.
Unfortunately, much of the Soviet fleet on the Baltic Sea was blocked in [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]] and Kronshtadt by Finnish and German minefields during 1941–1944 and maimed by mines and air attacks, nevertheless numerous sorties by attack boats and submarines actions were conducted. 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 (World War I Novik-class and more modern Design 7 and 7U vessels), played a role in anti-aircraft and anti-submarine defence of allied convoys heading to Murmansk.
During the Cold War, the Soviets 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.<ref>B N Makeyev, Voyenno-Morskiye Aspekty Natsionalnoy Bezopasnosti Rossii, Moscow: Komitet po Nerasprostraneniya i Kriticheskim Tekhnologiyam, 1997, p25, cited in Mikhail Tsypkin, Rudderless in a Storm: The Russian Navy 1992–2002, B58, Conflict Studies Research Centre, RMA Sandhurst, December 2002</ref> They were quick to equip their surface fleet with [[missile]]s of various sorts. In fact, it became a hallmark of Soviet design to place large [[anti-ship missile]]s onto relatively small and fast missile boats. The Soviet Navy also possessed several very large guided missile [[cruiser]]s with great firepower, such as those of the [[Kirov-class battlecruiser|''Kirov-''class]] and the [[Slava-class cruiser|''Slava-''class]] cruisers. In the 1980s the Soviet Navy acquired its first true [[aircraft carrier]], ''Tbilisi'' (subsequently renamed ''[[Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov|Fleet Admiral of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov]]'').<ref name="nwcr_flightops">"[http://www.nwc.navy.mil/press/review/1998/summer/art7su98.htm The Self-Designing High-Reliability Organization: Aircraft Carrier Flight Operations at Sea]." Rochlin, G. I.; La Porte, T. R.; Roberts, K. H. Footnote 39. ''[[Naval War College Review]]''. Autumn, 1987, Vol. LI, No. 3. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061213101112/http://www.nwc.navy.mil/press/review/1998/summer/art7su98.htm |date=13 December 2006 }}</ref>
In some respects, including speed and reactor technology, later Soviet submarines were, and remain, some of the world's best.{{citation needed|reason=Your explanation here|date=April 2016}} Their primary shortcomings were insufficient noise damping (American boats were quieter) and [[sonar]] technology{{citation needed|reason=Who measured that and how?|date=July 2020}}. The Soviets possessed numerous purpose-built [[guided missile submarine]]s, such as the {{sclass|Oscar|submarine}}, as well as many [[ballistic missile]] submarines, such as the [[Delta-class submarine|''Delta''-class submarines]], and [[attack submarine]]s, such as the [[Victor-class submarine|''Victor'']] and {{sclass|Akula|submarine}}. The Soviet Navy's [[Typhoon-class submarine|''Typhoon''-class]] ballistic missile boats are the world's largest submarines. The Soviet attack submarine force was, like the rest of the navy, geared towards the forward intercept and destruction of US/NATO naval forces, especially American [[carrier battle group|aircraft carrier battle groups]].
===Russian Federation Navy===
{{Russian military}} [[File:Flag of Russia's Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.svg|The Standard of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy|left|thumb]] |
