DA VINCI OF THE SOVIET INTELLIGENCE The October Revolution of 1917 was met by officers and generals of the tsarist army in different ways. Some of them went over to the Bolshevik side. Some patriotic former military personnel were recruited in the nascent era.

IN THE FIELD OF VIEW OF SOVIET INTELLIGENCE Plevitskaya and her husband came to the attention of Soviet intelligence, which was well aware of Skoblin’s position in the EMRO. External intelligence of state security agencies - the Foreign Department of the OPTU - was actively developing the Russian

Soviet intelligence officer From my own experience, I have the impression that the Kremlin intelligence officer represents a specific type of Soviet person. This is homo soviticus, so to speak, in its most perfect form. Devotion to communist ideas -

Chapter 7. AND MORE ABOUT THE IMPORTANT SUCCESSES OF SOVIET INTELLIGENCE Contrary to all the myths, lies and slander against Soviet intelligence, especially those coming from Marshal G.K. Zhukov - remember, for example, his statement on the topic that “from the first post-war years to the present, in some places in

Reorganization of Soviet military intelligence A member of the Military Council of the Voronezh Front, corps commissar Fyodor Fedotovich Kuznetsov returned from the front headquarters and, without undressing, said from the threshold, turning to his assistant Major Vdovin: “Fyodor, get ready, we’ll fly to Moscow.

Valuable sources of Soviet intelligence Soviet intelligence officers never had any complexes about the representative appearance and high positions of their recruiting candidates. Their network of agents also included senior officials of civil departments

I read the article Other light cruisers of the Olga type (Zhemchug-2 and Zhemchug-3), 4 units, 1911-1914 and found in my memory one alternative that I was working on. I'll start posting a little bit. I can immediately say that nothing beyond the natural is planned in the courts, the laying dates are shifted, the type is changed, and everything else is the same as it was in the Republic of Ingushetia.

The Russo-Japanese War actually bled the flotilla dry; it lost its main combat force - the gunboats that were now in the ports of Korea and China. Of the 5 gunboats, only the Manjur, interned in Shanghai, returned to the flotilla.

The mine cruisers “Ekashennik”, “Gaydamak”, the II rank cruisers “Zabiyaka”, “Robber”, “Dzhigit”, the transport “Angara” and a couple of schooners and port ships died or were captured in Port Arthur. Thus, at the disposal of the flotilla leadership, only the Defensive Detachment of Vladivostok of the Siberian Flotilla remained, consisting of two detachments of outdated “numbered” destroyers (No. 201..206 and No. 208..211), and a detachment of transports (“Aleut”, “Yakut”, “ Kamchadal", "Kamchatka", "Tungus") and a detachment of 6 destroyers.

The only port icebreaker in Vladivostok, Nadezhny, served fleet vessels in the winter. The Lena transport was organizationally included in the Vladivostok cruiser detachment. The flagship of the flotilla was the mine transport Aleut.

But throughout the war, the flotilla was actively replenished with mobilized, requisitioned and purchased ships. These included the submarine transport base "Shilka", the minelayer "Mongugai", the aerocarrier transports "Ussuri", "Kolyma" and "Argun", the transport bases of the trawling party "Selenga" and "Sungari", the transport "Tobol" "

But the most serious addition to the army’s time was the “Separate detachment of destroyers” in Vladivostok, as the first submarine formation in the Russian Federation was then called for secrecy purposes. The first, in October 1904, came into service with the small “Trout” - a German present, and from mid-February the Russian “Dolphin”, the Russian “Killer Whale” and the American “Catfish” - “Killer Whale”, transported by rail - went into operation. Skat", "Field Marshal" and "Burbot Count Sheremetyev". Only 8 boats by May 1905.

At one point, there were 6 armed steamships on the Amur (“Selenga”, “Khilok” of the Army Department, “Third”, “Sixth”, “Eighteenth”, “Askold” of the Border Guard), border boats “Chasovoy” and “Arthur”, 7 152-mm two-gun floating non-self-propelled batteries of the Siberian flotilla (Berkut, Orel, Lungin, Chibis, Grif, Sokol, Krokhal), 17 obsolete destroyers (No. 3, No. 6, No. 7, No. 9, No. 18, No. 47, No. 48, No. 61, No. 64, No. 91, No. 92, No. 93, No. 95, No. 96, No. 97, No. 98, No. 126) and a semi-submarine destroyer (torpedo boat ) "Chum salmon".

On April 2, 1905, a separate detachment of ships of the Siberian Military Flotilla was created. This detachment included some ships that remained after the defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. 3 EMs of the “Whale” type, 2 of the “Trout” type, 4 each of the “Falcon” and “Buiny” types. The flagship ship of the flotilla was the armored cruiser Askold.

During repairs and docking of the Askold, the flagship became the Zhemchug, the second and last cruiser of the flotilla at that time.

In 1906, the flotilla included squadron destroyers of the “Hard” type and two destroyers of the “Mechanical Engineer Zverev” type transported to Vladivostok by rail. This allowed the creation of a full-fledged mine brigade of 4 divisions by 1907.

The main task of the flotilla ships was stationary work in Chinese and Korean ports, of course countering enemy landing operations and fighting light forces.

The fleet leadership had no illusions about the combat capabilities of the flotilla on the high seas; based on this, it directed its main forces to strengthening the river component, which was supposed to counter the enemy’s advance deeper into the territory because the only land artery, the Trans-Siberian Railway, had insufficient throughput capacity. It was natural that a possible enemy (regardless of who it would be) would either advance along the Amur, or try to force it.

For this purpose, the construction of 10 river gunboats with a shallow depth was started (“Buryat”, “Orochanin”, “Mongol”, “Vogul”, “Sibiryak”, “Korel”, “Kirgiz”, “Kalmyk”, “Votyak” and “ Zyryanin"). River gunboats were built at the Sormovo plant, transported by rail and planned in 1907-1909. in Sretensk.

After this, the construction of even stronger tower gunboats began (later called river monitors). Built in 1907-1909. Baltic Shipyard and assembled in the village of Kokuy, Chita province, they all went into operation in 1910. These gunboats (“Shkval”, “Smerch”, “Whirlwind”, “Typhoon”, “Storm”, “Thunderstorm”, “Uragan” " and "Blizzard") were the most wonderful and ideal river ships in the world for their time.

In addition, the flotilla included 10 armored messenger ships of the "Bayonet" type - the world's first armored boats (despite the fact that this term did not yet exist).

As a result, a paradoxical situation developed: the mass of a second salvo of river vessels exceeded those that were planned to be used on the open sea. The Amur gunboats had 16-152 mm guns, versus 14 on Askold and Mandzhur, and 46-120 mm versus 9 on Zhemchug and the same Mandzhur.

All this allowed, by order of the Maritime Department of November 28, 1908, all Amur ships assigned to the Siberian Flotilla to be united into a virtually independent unit, the Amur River Flotilla, with its timely subordination to the commander of the armies of the Amur Military District. But the commander of the river flotilla, Captain 1st Rank A.A. Kononov, remained an assistant to the head of the Naval Forces in the Pacific Ocean.

So in 1910, the flotilla had 2 cruisers (detachment of cruisers), 20 EM (mine brigade), 8 submarines (submarine detachment), 19 CL (of which 18 were based on the Amur), of course a couple of dozen small ships of the Navy (dilapidated destroyers, armored boats and other).

But one should not think that the naval department did not think about strengthening the flotilla with modern ships; back in 1908, at a meeting of the naval headquarters, the question of building two armored cruisers for the Pacific Ocean was raised. But while the debate was taking place about what they should be, the situation in the Far East was heating up, and it was necessary to urgently strengthen the naval group, at least to counter trade and long-range reconnaissance.

The strengthening resulted in the sending of two of the most modern light cruisers at that time to the Far East, and the oldest cruiser in the Pacific Ocean, Askold, went to Russia, because the Japanese authorities were wary of any strengthening of the naval presence. In addition, the cruiser built in 1902 required important modernization and repairs, which was difficult to accomplish in the conditions of the Far East.

As for the cruisers Sapphire and Topaz, their appearance in the fleet was quite unusual.

Back in 1904, they were going to lay down two enlarged cruisers of the same type on the slipways freed from the Izumrud "and" construction of the "Pearl", but the outbreak of the war and its inglorious finish adjusted the plans. It was necessary to generalize the combat experience gained; moreover, larger numbers of ships were required to at least somehow make up for the losses, and for this purpose the destroyers, which occupied all the production areas, were better able to reach them.

Then it was decided to order an improved version of the “Pearl”, but already abroad, since the German shipyard Schichau already had experience in building a similar cruiser “Novik”.

To begin with, it was decided to rework the project with the addition of belt armor near the engine room, cellars and steering compartment, while the hull of the new cruiser actually retained the same contours. After that we turned to weapons. If it was originally planned that it would correspond to that installed on the "Pearl", then according to the January 1906 project, the placement of mines was changed and it was planned that they would amount to 7 guns due to the appearance of a raised installation on the poop and the removal of two aft onboard guns.

In June of the same year, instead of Kane’s guns, they decided to install 120/50-mm Vickers guns, and in September-October they worked on the option of replacing the bow and stern guns with two-gun turrets, lightweight up to 40 tons, similar to those installed on the Shkval monitor, which were already planned for laying in St. Petersburg. And not long before the order was handed over to the builder in March 1907, two more important transformations of the project occurred.

In mid-1906, permission was received from the German government to sell 6 turbines similar to those installed on the cruiser "Lublin", and they decided to install them on new cruisers, this allowed, with the power of the mechanisms and maintaining the displacement, to further strengthen the weapon in the form of replacing a single stern installation which was placed according to a linear scheme on another twin turret, thus bringing the number of main battery guns to 10. The 76 mm guns were also removed completely.

So ultimately the cruiser had the following characteristics:

The first ship was laid down on February 15, 1907, and thanks to the rapid pace of construction, the Topaz entered service in March 1909, and was joined by the Sapphire in July.

The cruiser Sapphire during her stay in the Baltic Fleet, 1910.

For the first 9 months, the ships served in the Baltic as part of a brigade of cruisers together with Oleg and Bogatyr, but already with the beginning of the campaign in 1910, they began to prepare for their transition to the Far East.

Such a rush was due to the fact that intelligence reported about the probable annexation of Korea by Japan, which actually happened in August 1910, the ship and the event of the cruiser "Kalmyk" had already left the Suez Canal from behind. On the beam of Singapore there was a meeting of the Askold en route to Kronstadt and on October 23 all three ships dropped anchor in Peter the Great Bay.

All winter they carried out the necessary repairs and in April the “pebbles” (Pearls, Topaz, Sapphire), which for this occasion were called a cruising brigade, made a trip to the ports of the Sea of ​​​​Japan.

The very first joint cruises demonstrated that long-term cooperation with the “Pearl” was, to put it mildly, difficult; for turbine cruisers, the optimal speed was 15 knots, while the dilapidated “Pearl” had to spend more fuel to maintain such a speed, in addition, not paying attention to repairs, the armored deck vehicles were worn out and its maximum movement did not exceed 22 knots. It became obvious that the ship required not just repairs, but modernization. Then it was decided to send an armored deck for the Askold, but a replacement was needed and a strong one was needed, there were plans to send the Thunderbolt to the Pacific waters and they also began to prepare the transition, but in the end they settled on the equally armored, but more remarkable Admiral Makarov.

Comparative image of the cruisers Zhemchug and Sapphire during the 1912 campaign.

Armored train of the Siberian flotilla, early 1919.

SIBERIAN MILITARY FLOTILLIA, Russia's first permanent naval unit in the Far East.

Created as the Okhotsk flotilla in connection with the Senate decree of May 10, 1731 on the establishment of the Okhotsk military port. The flotilla included sailing ships, the construction of which was carried out in Okhotsk from 1714. 1st commander of the port and flotilla G. G. Skornyakov-Pisarev. The flotilla carried out patrol service and protection of fisheries in the Far East, took part in 1st(1725-30) and 2nd(1733-43) Kamchatka expeditions under the leadership V. Bering. By the middle of the 18th century. consisted of 7 warships and vessels. In subsequent years it fell into decay and did not represent a fighting force. In 1799, 3 frigates and 3 small ships were sent to Okhotsk under the command of Rear Admiral I.K. Fomin for the formation of a permanent military flotilla. From 1850 it was based in the port of Petropavlovsk (now - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky). During the Crimean War (1853-56), in August 1854, the ships of the flotilla took part in hostilities against the Anglo-French military squadron, playing an important role in the defense of Petropavlovsk. Since 1855, the main base of the flotilla was the Nikolaev post (now - Nikolaevsk-on-Amur). At this time, it included only transport ships.

Sailors of the Siberian crew took an active part in demonstrations in Vladivostok. On October 17, 1907, an uprising occurred on the destroyers of the flotilla. On the destroyer "Skory" the commander, Lieutenant A.P. Shter, was killed, the ship moved away from the pier and fired at the buildings of the military district court, the governor's house, and the barracks of the rifle regiment. Red flags also fluttered on the destroyers Bodriy and Trevozhny. The gunboat Manchzhur took an active part in suppressing the uprising, which caused severe damage to the Speedy. Clashes between the rebels and the troops remaining loyal to the government continued for two days, after which the unrest ceased. Several dozen sailors of the Siberian crew were shot, many received various sentences of hard labor.

Despite the poor technical condition, the ships of the flotilla continued to carry out permanent stationary service and carry out overseas voyages with midshipmen. In 1910-1912, all warships of the flotilla underwent repairs and modernization with rearmament.

First World War

During the First World War, the cruisers Askold and Zhemchug were involved in combat operations against Germany. “Pearl” was lost on October 15, 1914 in Penang, and “Askold” crossed the Indian Ocean and operated in the Mediterranean Sea.

The most combat-ready ships of the flotilla in 1915-1917 were transferred to the Arctic Ocean and included in the Arctic Ocean Flotilla:
in 1915 - minelayer "Ussuri";
in 1916 - the destroyers Vlastny and Grozovoy, the transport Ksenia, as well as the obsolete submarine Dolphin;
in 1917 - destroyers “Captain Yurasovsky”, “Lieutenant Sergeev”, “Besshumny” and “Besstrashny”.
The destroyers were transferred to the Arctic Ocean in several groups, while they traveled most of the way in tow.

On January 1, 1917, the personnel of the Siberian Flotilla numbered 6,055 sailors and conductors.

Siberian military flotilla (Okhotsk flotilla, Petropalovsk flotilla) - a formation of warships created several times in the Far East.

The beginning of voyages of Russian ships in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk dates back to 1639. A detachment of the Cossack foreman I. Yu. Moskvitin, sent from the Butalsky fort, ascended the Aldan River and descended on boats along the Ulya River on October 1 (11), 1639, and reached the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, which was then called the Great Lama Sea. Here the first Russian Pacific sailors spent the winter, built a “raft” (shipyard), on which two 17-meter seaworthy vessels, kocha, were built. On these ships in 1640, Ivan Moskvitin and his comrades explored the coast to the area of ​​​​present-day Magadan and to the Shantar Islands, and in 1641 returned to Yakutsk.

Then, until the end of the 17th century, several more Russian pioneers sailed the seas of the Pacific Ocean. The most famous include:

• the return of the expedition of the Cossack head V.D. Poyarkov on a seaworthy ship-dashchanik, by the Sea of ​​Okhotsk from the mouth of the Amur, in 1645-1646;
• expedition of the industrialist F.A. Popov and the Cossack S.I. Dezhnev, whose retreats in 1648-1649. passed from the mouth of the Kolyma to Kamchatka (presumably) and to the Anadyr fort, respectively;
• expedition of the Cossack foreman M. Stadukhin, which explored the north-eastern coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk from the mouth of the Penzhina River to Okhotsk on Shitik ships in 1651-1652.

An important event for Pacific navigation was the founding of a military port in Okhotsk in 1716. For 140 years, Okhotsk remained the main and only Russian naval and shipbuilding base in the Far East. In May 1716, shipwright K. Plotnitsky built the boat “Vostok” (also known as “Okhota” and “Great Lamskoye Sea”) in Okhotsk, which became the first and until 1727 the only Russian warship on the Pacific Ocean. From July 1716 to May 1717, this boat, as part of the expedition of the Cossack Pentecostal K. Sokolov and N. Treski, sailed to the Bolsheretsky fort, the then capital of Kamchatka, and back. Thus, communication with Kamchatka, which previously passed only by land through Anadyr, was significantly simplified. Since that time, regular military transport and expeditionary flights from Okhotsk to Kamchatka began.

In 1723, the government detachment in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk increased by one boat, in 1727 the Fortuna ship was built in Okhotsk, and in 1729 the boats Lev and Eastern Gabriel were built. A year earlier, in 1728, the first Kamchatka expedition of Captain 1st Rank V.I. Bering built the boat “St. Gabriel”, a remarkable scientific expedition vessel, in Nizhnekamchatsk.

These ships, not yet institutionalized into a fleet formation, actively participated in the following research voyages:

• Secret expedition of surveyors I.M. Evreinov and F.F. Luzhin to Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands to Simushir; the public part of the expedition involved clarifying the issue of the existence of a strait between Asia and America (which, however, Luzhin and Evreinov did not do), the secret part consisted of finding and annexing new lands to Russia (the Kuril Islands were annexed);
• The first Kamchatka expedition of captain 1st rank V.I. Bering 1725-1730, during which the ship “Fortune” for the first time in the history of Russian navigation passed the First Kuril Strait in 1728, and the boat “Saint Gabriel” explored the eastern coast of Kamchatka from Cape Lopatka to the Bering Strait;
• The punitive and research expedition of the Cossack head A.F. Shestakov and Major D.I. Pavlutsky 1729-1732, during which a naval detachment under the command of navigator J. Gens on the Fortuna explored the northern Kuril Islands, on St. Gabriel" - Shantar Islands, Udskaya Bay and the Bering Strait, and on 08/21/1732 "St. Gabriel" under the command of surveyor M. S. Gvozdev and navigator I. Fedorov for the first time crossed the Bering Strait from west to east and reached the coast of America; the boats “Lev” and “Eastern Gabriel” transported troops from Okhotsk to the Tauisky fort to conquer the “non-peaceful” Chukchi and Koryaks in 1730; bot "St. Gabriel" participated in the suppression of the Itelmen uprising in Kamchatka in 1731 and the restoration of Nizhnekamchatsk, which was burned by the rebels.

In addition, these ships regularly made transport flights from Okhotsk to the western coast of Kamchatka.

1731 - beginning of the 19th century

The Okhotsk military flotilla was created on May 21, 1731 and until the 1850s. performed the following main tasks:

1. Transportation of goods and passengers between the ports of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, especially between Okhotsk and Bolsheretsk.
2. Providing support for Russian research expeditions in the Pacific Ocean.
3. Occasionally she transported troops for the Anadyr Party, created to conquer the “non-peaceful” Chukchi and Koryaks; the conquest resulted in a low-intensity war that lasted until the 1760s.

Military tasks were not assigned to the flotilla due to the absence of a possible enemy, and therefore the vessels of the flotilla were mainly of the military transport type in design - sailing galliots, hookors and packet boats, sailing-rowing brigantines, double-boats and boats. These ships were either not armed at all or were armed with several small-caliber guns. In total, from 1731 to 1854, the flotilla included 85 ships of various classes, and at a time - from 5 to 10 ships of these types.

General economic backwardness, the weakness of the agricultural and industrial base, and the sparse population of the Far East quickly brought the flotilla to last place in the fleet both in terms of material and in terms of personnel training. Okhotsk shipbuilding was considered the lowest quality Russian military shipbuilding of its time, which was exacerbated by the lack of iron and weapons industries in the region. Although the flotilla's base was in Okhotsk, the admiralty was located in Irkutsk, from where anchors and guns were transported to the flotilla along rivers and portages. Provisions also had to be transported from the Lena River basin. The best naval officers remained to serve in the European part of Russia. The consequence of this sad state of affairs was a long and mournful list of flotilla ships that crashed on shoals and rocks: the Fortuna shitik of 1737, the Bolsheretsk boat of 1744, the St. Peter" 1755, galliot "Zachary" 1766, boat "Nicholas" 1767, brigantine "Natalia" 1780, boat "St. Zotik" in 1812, the brigs "Elizaveta" in 1835 and "Ekaterina" in 1838, the transport "Gizhiga" in 1845 and many others... Often ships perished with all their crews and passengers, and their fate became known only after several years.

Goods and passenger transportation occupied the bulk of the summer campaigns, but the most striking moments in the history of the Okhotsk flotilla in the 18th century are associated with its participation in research expeditions:

• Expedition of S.P. Krasheninnikov to Kamchatka in 1737-1741. (shitik “Fortune” and galliot “Okhotsk”).
• The Second Kamchatka Expedition of Captain-Commander V.I. Bering and Captain Colonel A.I. Chirikov 1733-1743, which was part of the Great Northern Expedition (packet boats “St. Peter”, “St. Paul”, gukor “St. Peter” ", the boat "St. Gabriel"), during which Russian sailors for the second time (after 1732) reached the northwestern coast of America and Alaska, discovered the Aleutian and Commander Islands, discovered and explored Avacha Bay.
• Okhotsk-Kuril expedition of captain colonel rank M.P. Shpanberg 1733-1743, which was part of the Great Northern Expedition (brigantine "Archangel Michael", double-boat "Nadezhda", boat "St. Gabriel", boat "Bolsheretsk", packet boat "St. John", shitik "Fortune"). In 1739 and 1742 The expedition made two voyages from Bolsheretsk along the Kuril Islands and the coast of Japan to the latitude of Tokyo Bay, described and annexed the southern islands of the Kuril chain to Russia.
• Expeditions to inventory the northern shores of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Penzhinskaya Bay on the boat "Aklansk" in 1749 and the brigantine "St. Elizabeth" in 1761
• Expedition of Lieutenant Ivan Sindt 1764-1767. on galliots “St. Paul" and "St. Ekaterina" to survey the coastline from the Bering Strait to the mouth of the Lena River.
• Secret expedition of captain-lieutenant P.K. Krenitsyn and lieutenant M.D. Levashov 1764-1769. for the study and development of the Aleutian Islands (brigantine “St. Catherine”, gukor “St. Paul”, galliot “St. Paul”, boat “Gabriel”).
• The category of expeditions, although forced, can include the “odyssey” of the galliot “St. Peter,” which was captured by rebels led by A. M. Benyevsky during the uprising in Kamchatka in 1770 and in 1771, driven by them to the Chinese port of Canton. In this somewhat strange way, the first visit by Russian sailors to the shores of Korea and the ports of China took place. Part of the crew subsequently returned to Russia on a French ship in a roundabout way, through France.
• North-Eastern geographical and astronomical maritime expedition of captain-lieutenant I. I. Billings and captain G. A. Sarychev 1785-1793. (ships “Pallas”, “Yasashna”, “Glory of Russia”, “Good Intention”, boat “Black Eagle”) from the mouth of the Kolyma River to the Bering Strait and from Okhotsk to the shores of Alaska, during which the eastern Aleutian Islands and coast were examined Alaska south of the Bering Strait, as well as the Southern Kuril Islands.
• Voyages of the merchant P. S. Lebedev-Lastochkin to the Kurl Islands and Hokkaido in 1777-1778. on the brigantine "Natalia".
• Lieutenant A.K. Laxman's voyage to Japan 1792-1793. on the brigantine "St. Catherine" with the aim of establishing diplomatic relations with Japan. The only thing that was achieved from the Japanese authorities was to obtain permission for Russian merchant ships to enter the port of Nagasaki.

The use of the Okhotsk flotilla exclusively for transport and expeditionary purposes became a kind of habit, and when the need arose to militaryly protect Russia’s interests in the Pacific Ocean, it did not fulfill its task. The first time a direct military threat arose during the Russian-Swedish war of 1788-1790, when the 16-gun brig of the English privateer J. Cox, who transferred to Swedish service, was sent to the north Pacific Ocean. “The Russians were clearly unprepared to repel this first serious military threat, since their villages were poorly fortified, and the clumsy and slow-moving galliots of industrialists were armed with, at best, several light falconets. Fortunately for the Russians, the crew and captain of the Swedish privateer, which approached the island of Unalaska in October 1789, contrary to their assignment, treated the Russian industrialists they met on the island in a friendly manner.”

Another threat was Japan, which in 1798-1800. began expansion to the South Kuril Islands (at that time belonging to Russia) and to the southern coast of Sakhalin Island (at that time not belonging to Russia). The Japanese, who did not have a navy, acted cautiously, with an eye on the actions of the Russian authorities, but the Russian military command and civil administration did not want to provide forceful resistance (in connection with which the action of lieutenants Davydov and Khvostov on the ships of the Russian-American campaign "Juno" and " “Avos” for the destruction of Japanese settlements on Sakhalin and the southern Kuril Islands in 1806 and 1807 were condemned by the Russian authorities as high-handed), and the Japanese regularly avoided attempts at diplomatic negotiations on the border. As a result, the islands of Urup, Iturup and a number of smaller islands came under Japanese control by 1800.

An important milestone in the Russian development of the Pacific region was the founding by the merchant G. I. Shelikhov of the North-Eastern Company, which at first waged fierce competition with other Russian merchant companies (primarily Lebedev-Lastochnik), and then merged with them into the Russian-American Company. Since 1783, the Company was actively involved in the colonization of Alaska and the islands close to it, and fishing for sea otters in Aleutian waters. Since 1784, the main colony, and then the capital of the Company in Russian America, became the island of Kodiak, and since 1808 - the city of Novoarkhangelsk (Sitka). The company, which existed until 1867, had its own flotilla of “company” ships and vessels that sailed under trade flags, but in a number of cases received the right to represent the interests of the Russian Empire.

There was a kind of “division of responsibilities” between the Okhotsk flotilla and the Company’s ships, according to which the flotilla served the ports of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the western coast of Kamchatka, and the Company served the trading posts in Russian America. The sphere of navigation of Russian ships and vessels at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. there were the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, Kamchatka, Chukotka, the Aleutian Islands, the coast of Alaska south of the Bering Strait and approximately to the Alexander Archipelago. The southernmost visited point in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk was Udskaya Bay. At that time, few people were interested in Sakhalin, the Shantar and Kuril Islands, except for the occasional industrialists.

Beginning of the 19th century - 1855

The first Russian round-the-world expedition under the command of Captain 1st Rank G.I. Mulovsky was prepared in St. Petersburg back in 1787, but due to the outbreak of the Russian-Turkish, then the Russian-Swedish war and the death of its main initiator, it was postponed for 16 years. Finally, in 1803-1806. The first Russian circumnavigation of the world took place on the ships of the Russian-American company “Nadezhda” and “Neva” under the command of Lieutenant Commander I. F. Kruzenshtern and Lieutenant Commander Yu. F. Lisyansky. Although these “ships,” as they were called in the Company, did not belong to the Russian Navy, but on the special instructions of the emperor they carried military (St. Andrew’s) flags, and the event itself became epoch-making for the Russian Far East, opening a series of round-the-world and semi-round-the-world voyages voyages of ships from the Baltic Sea to the port of Petropavlovsk and Novoarkhangelsk.

In fact, until the 1880s. there was no ship repair base in the Far East.

In the early 1850s. a rapid revival of Russia's naval presence in the Far East is planned, associated with the appointment of Count N. N. Muravyov, the future Muravyov-Amursky, to the post of Governor-General of Eastern Siberia. At this time, three important events took place in the naval sphere.

Firstly, as a result of the initiative of G.I. Nevelskoy, Russia in 1850-1853. acquired lands in the lower reaches of the Amur River, the seaside coast to the Imperial (now Sovetskaya) harbor and Sakhalin Island. The transports of the Okhotsk flotilla “Baikal” and “Okhotsk” were assigned to the Amur expedition of G.I. Nevelsky. Secondly, in 1849-1851. the main military port is transferred from the inconvenient harbor of Okhotsk to the port of Petropavlovsk on Kamchatka, and the leadership of the flotilla passes into the hands of the energetic military governor of Kamchatka, Major General V. S. Zavoiko. And thirdly, in 1853-1855. The diplomatic mission of Count E.V. Putyatin arrived in the Far Eastern waters with the aim of establishing diplomatic relations with Japan. In this regard, by 1854, an impressive detachment of warships of the Baltic Fleet found itself in the Far East - the 52-gun frigates Pallada and Diana, the 44-gun frigate Aurora, the 20-gun corvette Olivutsa, the 10-gun transport "Dvina" and 4-gun screw schooner "Vostok" (the first Russian steam ship in the Far East).

In this state, the Russian naval forces in the Far East were caught at the beginning of the Crimean War.

Not all warships were able to take part in it: the frigate Diana was lost off the Japanese coast in 1855 as a result of a tsunami, and the frigate Pallada, due to its dilapidation and the impossibility of evacuating at the mouth of the Amur, was sunk in the Imperial Harbor. But the frigate "Aurora" and the transport "Dvina" took an active part in the defense of Petropavlovsk in August-September 1854. Despite the successful completion of this battle for Russia, it was obvious that Petropavlovsk would not withstand the next, more powerful assault, so in April-May 1855 The main military port, as well as the population of the city, were evacuated from there to the Nikolaev post. The relocation was carried out by the transports "Baikal", "Irtysh", boats No. 1 and "Kodiak", that is, literally all the available ships of the Okhotsk flotilla (the screw schooner "Vostok" was used for messenger purposes), as well as the "Baltic" frigate that joined them. Aurora", corvette "Olivutsa", transport "Dvina". The schooner of the Okhotsk flotilla “Anadyr” fell victim to the war, destroyed by the Anglo-French squadron. The remaining Baltic and Siberian ships on May 16-24, 1855, literally under the noses of the Anglo-French detachment blocking them, passed from De-Kastri Bay through the Tatar Strait (the existence of which was known only in Russia) to the mouth of the Amur.

In 1855-1856 The flotilla was busy setting up a new base in Nikolaevsk.

1856-1904

At the end of the war, in 1856, the flotilla was renamed the Siberian Flotilla, headed by the “commander of the Siberian Flotilla and the ports of the Eastern Ocean,” and in important transition years (until 1865) it was headed by Rear Admiral P. V. Kazakevich. A new stage begins in the service of the flotilla, connected primarily with the development of the Primorsky Territory.

The main tasks of describing the new shores were assigned to the ships of the Baltic Fleet, which arrived in the Far East as part of the so-called “Amur detachments” from 1858 to 1860, and in 1860 they were first united into an independent formation, initially called the Detachment of ships of the Baltic Fleet in China sea, and since 1862 - the Squadron of the Baltic Fleet in the Pacific Ocean. They were based on sail-screw frigates, corvettes and clippers.

The Siberian flotilla solved problems more modestly - it escorted and towed ships from the Tatar Strait through the shoals to Nikolaevsk, and also carried out cargo and passenger transportation from Nikolaevsk to newly formed posts, the most important of which quickly became Vladivostok. The basis of the flotilla in the 1860-70s. consisted of: the steam corvette "America", the steam transports "Japanese" and "Manjur", as well as the screw schooner "Vostok", the sailing schooner "Farvater", the 5-gun steamer "Amur", the steam boat "Suifun". It was the steamship corvette “America”, at the head of a detachment under the flag of Count N.N. Muravyov-Amursky, that was the first Russian ship to visit Zolotoy Rog Bay, laying the foundation for the city of Vladivostok. “Manjur” and “Japanese” took an active part in the founding and construction of Vladivostok, and the crew of the “Japanese” in 1860, on the initiative of the head of the Detachment of Ships in the China Sea, Captain 1st Rank I. F. Likhachev, occupied Posyet Bay, which formally belonged to China, establishing there Novgorod post. The boat "Suifun" in 1865 became the first ship assigned to the port of Vladivostok, and carried out goods and passenger traffic between the port points of Peter the Great Bay.

The most likely military adversary at that time was considered Great Britain, with which Russia had a relationship throughout the second half of the 19th century. and the beginning of the 20th century. was in a state of “cold war”, which several times threatened to develop into a “hot” war. The main anti-Russian instrument in the hands of British politicians was Qing China, which was incited to war with Russia and promised all kinds of help. The North American United States (in the 1860s-70s), France and Germany (from the 1880s), and Japan (until the end of the 1890s) were considered Russia's main allies.

An important matter for the training of flotilla officers was the opening in 1858 of the Naval School in Nikolaevsk, the most famous graduate of which was the outstanding Russian naval commander Vice Admiral S. O. Makarov.

During the Russian-Chinese political crisis of 1860 (associated with the capture of Posyet by the Russians), the flotilla was preparing to repel an attack by Chinese troops and the English fleet.

The mouth of the Amur, full of shallows and difficult to navigate, was a forced base, so in 1871 Vladivostok became the main base of the Siberian flotilla, although in 1879-1881. the issue of moving the port to Olga Bay was discussed. A naval hospital was transferred to Vladivostok from Nikolaevsk in 1872, and in 1877 construction of the Vladivostok fortress began. In 1872, the flotilla consisted of the steamship-corvette “America”, gunboats “Morzh”, “Sobol”, “Ermine”, “Nerpa”, steam transports “Manzhur” and “Japanese”, schooners “Vostok”, “Aleut” , "Farvater", "Ermak" and "Tunguz", several steamships, longboats, barges and boats.

The flotilla's gunboats were intended for coastal defense in wartime and for stationary service in the ports of China and Korea, that is, for displaying the Russian flag. Since the early 1860s. They were stationed mainly in the ports of Chifoo, Shanghai and Chemulpo, and were based in the ports of Japan - Nagasaki and Hakodate. In addition, on the Amur there were also unarmed steamers of the Siberian flotilla “Shilka”, “Amur”, “Lena”, “Sungacha”, “Ussuri”, “Tug”, “Polza”, “Success”, screw barges and barges. The steamships were mainly engaged in economic transportation and supplies.

Period 1870-80s was characterized by the aggravation of Russian-British and Russian-Chinese relations in 1878 (Turkish crisis), 1880 (Kulja crisis) and 1885 (Afghan crisis). During these years, the ships of the Pacific Squadron were preparing for cruising operations on sea lanes, and the ships of the Siberian Flotilla were preparing to protect the coast of Primorye from a possible attack by the English fleet. In particular, in 1880, six destroyers (the ancestor of torpedo boats) were delivered to Vladivostok to protect the port on ships of the Voluntary Fleet, which became the first Russian torpedo bombers in the Far East. At the same time, the Voluntary Fleet steamships Moscow, Petersburg, and Rossiya were transferred to the Siberian Flotilla as auxiliary cruisers.

Since 1880-1881 Civil transport functions are gradually being removed from the Siberian Flotilla, since private companies - the Voluntary Fleet and the shipping company of G. M. Shevelev - have taken over civil transportation in the Far East. The flotilla retains military transport transportation and participation in the hydrographic description of the Primorye coast, but after the sale of Alaska in 1867 and the liquidation of the Russian-American Company, the task of protecting fisheries in the Okhotsk and Bering Seas from Sakhalin to the Commander Islands was added. The predatory fighting of seals, as well as the unequal exchange of whalebone, walrus tusks and arctic fox furs among the Chukchi, was mainly carried out by American private schooners. One of them was detained in 1886, confiscated and included in the flotilla under the name “Kreyserok”.

At the end of the 1880s. There was a qualitative renewal of the flotilla's ship composition with new types of equipment and weapons. In the 1880-90s. The flotilla consisted mainly of the gunboats “Sivuch” (flagship), “Beaver”, “Koreets”, the minelayer transport (layer) “Aleut” and a detachment of destroyers. By the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War, in 1894, the cruiser Zabiyaka and the destroyers Sungari, Ussuri, Yanchikhe and Suchena were added. Now the flotilla’s tasks were distributed as follows: gunboats demonstrated the Russian military presence in China and Korea, destroyers and mine transport were preparing for the defense of Vladivostok, and transport and messenger ships carried out communications and military transportation.

The main problem remained the poorly developed basing system. There was no shipbuilding base. The main ship repair enterprise - the Mechanical Establishment of the Vladivostok Port (the current "Dalzavod") - was built only in 1883-1887, the first and only floating dock functioned in Vladivostok from 1886-1891, and the construction of a dry dock (also the only one) was completed in 1897. The quality of ship repair, according to reviews of military sailors, even by the time of the Russian-Japanese War, noticeably lagged behind the quality of factories in St. Petersburg and Nikolaev. The first port icebreaker (Vladivostok - a freezing port) began guiding ships through the ice in 1895. A civilian cargo-passenger steamship line connected Vladivostok with the ports of the European part of Russia (Odessa) in 1880, and a railway connection with St. Petersburg along the Trans-Siberian Railway was opened in 1903 The first coal mine for the needs of the flotilla was launched in 1895 in Suchan.

On March 15 (27), 1898, Russia signed a 25-year lease agreement with China for part of the Kwantung Peninsula with the ports of Port Arthur and Dalniy. From 1898 to 1904, ships of the Pacific Squadron of the Baltic Fleet began to be based here. Significant financial investments were directed towards the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway and the Southern Moscow Railway in Manchuria, and the development of a fleet base in Port Arthur with its own docks, factories and fortifications. The development of the Russian Primorsky Territory and Vladivostok, where the Siberian Flotilla continued to be based, on the contrary, slowed down greatly. Time has shown the fallacy of such a Far Eastern policy: Russia failed or was unable to protect its interests in Manchuria, and the fruits of gigantic efforts and huge investments went to China and Japan. As a result, a large-scale government campaign to boost the economy of Primorye was organized only in the 1930s.

The period from 1898 to 1904 is characterized by changes in Russian foreign policy. Relations with Japan, which have sharply deteriorated due to the Russian occupation of the Kwantung Peninsula, force us to see the Japanese as the main opponents in a future war. This, however, had little effect on the tasks of the Siberian Flotilla. But the suppression of the Yihetuan (“Boxer”) uprising in China in 1900 by international forces and the subsequent clearing of regular Chinese troops from Manchuria took place with the active participation of the ships of the flotilla, which was quickly subordinated to the detachment of the Pacific squadron under the command of Rear Admiral M. G. Veselago. The gunboats “Beaver”, “Koreets” and “Gilyak”, destroyers No. 203 and 207 took part in the assault on the Taku forts on June 17, 1900. The mine cruiser “Gaydamak”, destroyer No. 206, together with the Baltic gunboats “Brave” and “Gremyashchiy” took part in the occupation of the port of Yingkou on July 21-27, 1900, the gunboats “Manjur” and “Sivuch” and the mine cruiser “Vsadnik” transported Russian expeditionary troops to Taku.

XX century

Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905

With the outbreak of the war, the Siberian flotilla immediately lost its main combat force - gunboats, which at that time were in the ports of China and Korea. "Korean" was blown up by the crew after the battle at Chemulpo. "Gilyak" and "Beaver" remained in Port Arthur, came under the command of the local naval command, actively participated in the defense of the fortress and died by the time Port Arthur fell to the Japanese. The Sea Lion stationed in Yingkou retreated up the Liaohe River until it was blown up by its crew near the city of Sanchahe. "Manjur" was interned by the Chinese authorities in Shanghai until the end of the war. The mine cruisers "Vsadnik", "Gaydamak", the II rank cruisers "Zabiyaka", "Robber", "Dzhigit", the transport "Angara" and several port ships and schooners also ended up in Port Arthur. Thus, at the disposal of the flotilla command only the Defensive Detachment of Vladivostok of the Siberian Flotilla remained, consisting of two detachments of outdated “numbered” destroyers (No. 201..206 and No. 208..211), as well as a detachment of transports (Aleut, Yakut) , “Kamchadal”, “Kamchatka”, “Tunguz”) and a detachment of 6 destroyers. The only port icebreaker in Vladivostok, Nadezhny, served fleet ships in the winter. The Lena transport was organizationally included in the Vladivostok cruiser detachment. The flagship of the flotilla was the mine transport Aleut.

February 5, 1904 By the highest decree, the “Fleet in the Pacific Ocean” was formed under the command of Vice Admiral S. O. Makarov, to whom all Russian warships in the Far East are subordinate. After the death of Makarov, on April 17, 1904, this fleet was renamed the First Squadron of the Pacific Fleet under the command of Rear Admiral P. A. Bezobrazov (at the same time, the post of commander of the fleet in the Pacific Ocean was not abolished, it was occupied by Vice Admiral N. I. Skrydlov , and from May 1905 - Vice Admiral A. A. Birilev), while the reinforcements being prepared in the Baltic were called the Second Squadron. The Siberian flotilla as a formation, however, was not disbanded; it was still headed by the commander of the Vladivostok port (Rear Admiral N.A. Haupt, and from March 1904 - Rear Admiral N.R. Greve). If we add to this list the junior flagship of the head of the Separate detachment of cruisers in Vladivostok, Rear Admiral K. P. Jessen, who from November 1904 also commanded the First Squadron, then, as we see, Vladivostok did not suffer from the absence of senior naval command, which The same cannot be said about combat-ready ships.

Nevertheless, the flotilla fought as best it could. “Numbered” destroyers carried out a number of raiding operations in the Sea of ​​Japan and off the eastern coast of Korea - quite successful, but, unfortunately, of secondary importance. From destroyers No. 94, 97, 98, the mine transport "Aleut" and the transports "Selenga" and "Sungari" they formed a trawling party for the Vladivostok port under the command of Lieutenant N. G. Rein, and its work cannot be called secondary. "Aleut", in addition, laid defensive minefields. Transport "Yakut", "Kamchatka", "Tunguz" and "Lena" made a trip to the Sea of ​​Okhotsk in August 1904. Seventeen destroyers and seven floating batteries and the semi-submarine "Keta" made up a detachment on the Amur River, intended for the defense of Nikolaevsk.

The flotilla was actively replenished with mobilized, requisitioned and purchased ships. These included the submarine transport base “Shilka”, the minelayer “Mongugai”, the air transport carriers “Ussuri”, “Argun” and “Kolyma”, the transport bases of the trawling party “Selenga” and “Sungari”, the transport “Tobol” "

The most important wartime addition was the “Separate Detachment of Destroyers” in Vladivostok, as Russia’s first submarine formation was then called for secrecy purposes. The first, in October 1904, came into service with the small “Trout” - a German gift, and from mid-February the Russian “Dolphin”, the American “Som” and the Russian “killer whales” - “Kasatka”, “Kasatka”, transported by rail - entered service. Skat", "Bubot" and "Field Marshal Count Sheremetyev". Only 8 boats by May 1905. The head of the detachment was Lieutenant A.V. Plotto. The boats were intended for the defense of Vladivostok in case of bombing by an enemy squadron, but in April-May 1905 they also made several long trips of 70-100 miles to the shores of Korea and