Navy Day is celebrated in Russia on the last Sunday of July on the basis of the decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated May 31, 2006 "On the establishment of professional holidays and memorable days in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation". In 2022, it falls on July 31.
The Navy as an independent type of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was formed from the end of the XVII century to the beginning of the XX century. The creation of a regular navy in Russia was due to the urgent need of the country to overcome territorial, political and cultural isolation, which became the main obstacle to the economic and social development of the Russian state at the turn of the XVII-XVIII centuries.
The first permanent grouping of the Russian Navy was the Azov Fleet, which was formed from ships and vessels built in the winter of 1695-1696. It was intended to assist the army in the campaign to capture the Turkish fortress of Azov. On October 30 (October 20, old style), 1696, the Boyar Duma, on the proposal of Tsar Peter I, adopted a resolution "To be sea vessels ...", which became the first law on the fleet and the official recognition of its foundation.
During the Northern War of 1700-1721, the Baltic Fleet was created, which promoted Russia to the number of major maritime powers. The first warships for him were built in 1702-1703 at the mouth of the Syas River on Lake Ladoga and on the Svir River. In 1703, the base of the Russian fleet in the Baltic was laid – Kronshlot (later – Kronstadt).
During the Northern War, the main tasks of the fleet were determined, the list of which remains virtually unchanged to the present time, namely: the fight against the enemy's naval forces, the fight on sea communications, the defense of its coast from the sea direction, assistance to the army in the coastal areas, strikes and ensuring invasion of enemy territory from the sea direction. The specific weight of these tasks changed as the material means and the nature of the armed struggle at sea changed. Accordingly, the role and place of individual types of forces that were part of the fleet changed.
Before the First World War (1914-1918), the main tasks were solved by surface ships, and they were the main kind of fleet forces. During the Second World War (1939-1945), this role was transferred to naval aviation for some time, and in the post-war period, with the advent of nuclear missile weapons and ships with nuclear power plants, submarines were established as the main kind of forces.
Before the First World War, the fleet was homogeneous. Coastal troops (marines and coastal artillery), which had existed since the beginning of the XVIII century, were not organizationally part of the fleet. In 1906, the submarine forces were born and began to develop as a new kind of Navy forces. In 1914, the first units of naval aviation were formed, which in 1916 also acquired signs of an independent kind of forces. Finally, the Navy as a heterogeneous strategic association was formed by the mid-1930s, when naval aviation, coastal defense and air defense units (air defense) became part of the Navy organizationally. During the formation of the regular fleet of Russia, its organizational and staff structure and functions were unclear. In 1717, by decree of Peter I, an Admiralty Board was formed for the day-to-day management of the fleet. In 1802, the Ministry of Naval Forces was formed, later renamed the Maritime Ministry and existed until 1917. The bodies of combat (operational) control of the Navy appeared after the Russian-Japanese War (1904-1905) with the creation of the Naval General Staff in 1906. The modern system of the Navy's governing bodies finally took shape on the eve of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945). On January 15, 1938, by the decree of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) and the Council of People's Commissars (SNK), the People's Commissariat of the Navy was established, which included the Main Naval Headquarters.
Permanent groupings of forces at sea theaters were formed as the Russian state solved historical tasks related to the acquisition of outlets to the World Ocean, the inclusion of the country in the world economy and politics. In the Baltic, the fleet has existed continuously since May 18 (May 7, old style), 1703, the Caspian Flotilla – from November 15 (November 4, old style), 1722, and the fleet on the Black Sea – from May 13 (May 2, old style), 1783. In the North and the Pacific, fleet force groupings were created on a temporary basis or, without significant development, were periodically abolished. The current Pacific and Northern Fleets have existed as permanent groupings since April 21, 1932 and June 1, 1933, respectively.
The fleet received the greatest development by the mid-1980s. At that time, it included four fleets and the Caspian Flotilla, which included more than 100 divisions and brigades of surface ships, submarines, naval aviation and coastal defense.
The Navy of the Russian Federation is the successor of the Russian Navy and the Soviet Navy, consists of naval strategic nuclear forces and general–purpose naval forces. It includes surface forces, submarine forces, naval aviation and coastal troops, which include two types of troops – coastal rocket and artillery troops and marines.
Organizationally, the Navy consists of five operational and strategic associations: the Northern, Pacific, Baltic and Black Sea Fleets and the Caspian Flotilla.
The Navy is the main component and basis of the maritime potential of the Russian Federation, one of the instruments of the state's foreign policy and is designed to ensure the protection of the national interests of Russia and its allies in the oceans by military methods, maintaining military and political stability at the global and regional levels, repelling aggression from sea and ocean directions.
The Navy creates and maintains conditions for ensuring the safety of Russia's maritime activities, ensures the naval presence of the Russian Federation, the demonstration of the flag and military force in the oceans, takes part in the fight against piracy, in military, peacekeeping and humanitarian actions carried out by the world community that meet the interests of Russia, calls ships and vessels in ports of foreign states.
The Commander-in–Chief of the Russian Navy is Admiral Nikolai Evmenov.
Throughout its history, the fleet has played an important role in the fate of Russia.
The legendary battles of the Russian fleet at Gangut (now the Hanko Peninsula in Finland), Tendra, Sinope, Chesma, and the most important operations during the First World War and the Great Patriotic War are forever imprinted in world history.
The history of celebrations in honor of the fleet dates back to the time of Peter I.
The reason for the first real naval parade was the victory won by the Russian Navy on July 27 (August 7, new style) in 1714 in the Battle of Gangut during the Northern War. It became the first naval victory of the Russian fleet in Russian history. This event was solemnly celebrated in St. Petersburg. The celebration lasted for several days. In his decree, Peter I ordered to celebrate the day of the Gangut Victory annually on July 27 with solemn divine services, naval parades and fireworks. This day has become a kind of celebration of the Navy. Later, the celebration of victory was limited only to a solemn prayer service. In the middle of the XIX century, the tradition of the times of Peter I was revived: on July 27, parades of ships decorated with flags and gun salutes began to sound.
In 1917, the holiday was canceled. Since 1920, at the suggestion of the Headquarters of the Baltic Sea Naval Forces, the day off in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) began to celebrate the Red Fleet Day in honor of the first victory won by the Russian regular fleet in the Baltic Sea on the day closest to May 18. On May 18 (May 7, old style), 1703, the Swedish boat "Gedan" and the shnyava (a small two-masted vessel with straight sails) "Astrild" were captured in a boarding battle. Subsequently, the date of this battle was adopted as the day of the emergence of the Baltic Fleet.
The Navy Day holiday in the USSR was first celebrated on July 24, 1939 on the basis of the resolution of the SNK of the USSR and the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) of June 22, 1939, by which it was established. Until 1981, military sailors celebrated a professional holiday every year on July 24. In October 1980, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the date of the celebration was postponed to the last Sunday of July.
From the first years, after the official introduction, the Day of the Navy is a review of the achievements of the domestic military shipbuilding, the successes of the Navy personnel in combat training. On this day, solemn formations of personnel, parades of ships, theatrical performances, water sports holidays and other events are organized.
Parades of warships on this day have been held annually since 1939, and were not held only during the Great Patriotic War.
In recent history, according to the decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated May 31, 2006, the Day of the Navy was established as a memorable day in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The date of the celebration remained the same. Until 2017, it was celebrated only in the main bases of the fleet – Astrakhan, St. Petersburg, Severomorsk, Sevastopol and Vladivostok and did not have the status of an all-Russian event.
In 2017, on behalf of the President, for the first time in recent history, the Main Naval Parade was held in St. Petersburg. In terms of the scale of the event, the number of ships and aircraft involved, this event could be compared with the Victory Day Parade on May 9 on Red Square in Moscow.
The event was designed to revive the glorious maritime traditions of the country, to show the strength and power of the Russian navy, its readiness to perform a wide range of tasks in any areas of the World Ocean.
The main naval parade in St. Petersburg on the Day of the Navy has been held annually since then. In 2020, an air part was added to it.
In 2021, the Main Naval Parade in St. Petersburg, dedicated to the 325th anniversary of the creation of the Russian regular fleet, was attended by sailors from all fleets and the Caspian Flotilla, as well as the Russian naval base in Syria. This is more than 15 thousand personnel, as well as more than 200 ships and submarines of various classes, over 80 aircraft, about 120 units of military equipment.
In recent years, ship parades have been held in other Russian cities in honor of the Russian fleet. In 2020, in addition to St. Petersburg, they took place in the bases of the Russian Navy - Baltiysk, Vladivostok, Petropavlovsk–Kamchatsky, Kaspiysk, Severomorsk and Sevastopol, and in 2021 - in Baltiysk, Vladivostok, Kaspiysk, Sevastopol, Severomorsk and on the territory of the Naval base in the port of Tartus (Syria).
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
