Annually on November 27, Russia celebrates the Day of the Marine Corps - a professional holiday for all military personnel, liable for military service, as well as civilian personnel who are or have served and work in military units of the marines of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The history of the Russian marines is already 313 years old, it was formed by Peter I back in 1705. For more than three hundred years of its existence, the Russian marines have written many glorious victories in the history of our state. It is no coincidence that the motto of the Russian Navy Marine Corps is "Where we are, there is victory!"
The history of the Russian marines dates back to the 18th century, more than three centuries ago. The decree on the creation of the first "regiment of sea soldiers" in the Russian Empire was signed by the then Tsar Peter the Great on November 16 (November 27, new style), 1705. It was this historical date, according to the order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy No. 253 of July 15, 1996, that was established as the Day of the Russian Marine Corps. So, despite the rich and long history, Marine Corps Day in our country is a relatively young holiday.
It is symbolic that it was Peter I, who is the founder of the Russian regular fleet, who established the regiments of naval soldiers, which marked the beginning of the glorious history of the Russian marines. The Marines accepted their baptism of fire in the battles of the Northern War with Sweden, during which for the first time in our country a large airborne unit was created - a corps with a total number of about 20 thousand people. In the future, the "soldiers of the sea" took part in almost all battles and wars that Russia had to wage.
Historically, the first military formations that most closely resembled the traditional marines appeared in England in 1664. At that time, the marines were used on ships to conduct rifle fire at the crews of enemy ships, as well as boarding and guard duty. Formed in 1705, the Russian marines were baptized by fire in 1706 in Vyborg Bay during the capture of the Swedish boat Espern in a boarding battle, and it distinguished itself in the Battle of Gangut in 1714, which ended in victory for the Russian fleet. In those years, the marine boarding and landing teams of the Marine Corps were directly subordinate to the commanders of the ships, and the chief of the Marine Corps squadron was in charge of their special combat training. After the completion of the next military campaign, the boarding teams united in their battalions, engaged in combat training on the shore and carried out guard duty in the barracks and at the base.
At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century, in connection with the change in the methods of conducting combat operations of the fleets and the nature of wars, the marines in Russia were repeatedly subjected to the process of reorganization. During this period of time, the marines were considered mainly as a combat type of troops, the main purpose of which was landing operations. Detachments of the Russian marines took part in the Russian-Turkish war (1768-1774), in the Mediterranean campaign of Admiral Fyodor Ushakov (1798-1800) during the war of Russia as part of the second coalition against France, when, as a result of successful amphibious operations, it was French troops of the Ionian Islands, to storm the fortress of Corfu from the sea, which was considered impregnable, and also to liberate the southern and central regions of Italy, to occupy Naples and Rome. Later, formed in 1810, the naval guard crew became the only part of the Russian fleet, which simultaneously represented both the ship's command and the infantry guards battalion, and took part in the Patriotic War of 1812. Taking part in the battles on the land front, the Marine Guards crew partially performed some of the functions of the Marine Corps, participating in the guidance of crossings across various water obstacles.
In 1813, units of the marines were transferred from the fleet to the army department, after which, for almost 100 years, there were no large regular formations of the marines in the Russian fleet. However, the already heroic defense of Sevastopol in 1854-1855 demonstrated the need for a large number of naval rifle units in the fleet, confirming the importance of creating regular marines. During the defense of the city, such formations had to be urgently created on the spot from the crews of ships sunk in the roadstead.
Despite this, the question of the formation of permanent units of the marines in Russia was raised again only in 1910, and already the following year, the General Naval Staff presented its project for the creation of permanent infantry units located in the main bases of the Russian fleet: an infantry regiment of the Baltic Fleet, and also the Vladivostok battalion and the battalion of the Black Sea Fleet. In August 1914, three separate battalions were formed in Kronstadt, personnel for them were taken from the 1st Baltic Fleet Crew and the Guards Fleet Crew. Permanent units of the marines of the Russian fleet took part in the battles of the First World War (1914-1918), and also took part in the civil war in Russia, after its completion they were again disbanded.
As a result, as a special branch of the Soviet Navy, the marines were re-formed only before the Great Patriotic War in 1939, when a separate rifle brigade was formed as part of the coastal defense forces of the Baltic Fleet. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the process of forming brigades and battalions of marines began in the country's fleets, flotillas and naval bases. They were staffed mainly with personnel from ships, various coastal units and cadets of naval educational institutions. Basically, the Marine Corps units were intended to conduct hostilities in the coastal areas of the front, to conduct amphibious and anti-amphibious operations. In total, during the war, 21 brigades and several dozen separate regiments and battalions of marines operated on the Soviet-German front. Marine units fought heroically against the enemy near Moscow and Leningrad, defended Odessa and Sevastopol, the Soviet Arctic, participated in the battles for Stalingrad and other significant battles of the war. In total, about 150 thousand people fought in these units.
Several brigades of marines as part of the ground forces reached Berlin, and in August 1945, Soviet marines landed on the Kuril Islands, in the ports of Korea and South Sakhalin, taking part in the war with Japan. In total, during the war, the marines took part in more than 120 landing operations of the Soviet troops. For their black jackets and incredible bravery, the Germans called the Marines "Black Death" and "Black Devils". Even when all the soldiers and officers of the Red Army were dressed in general uniforms, the marines retained their peakless caps and vests. For the heroism shown on the battlefields of the Great Patriotic War, dozens of marines received the honorary title of the Guards, as well as various honorary titles. Tens of thousands of marines received government orders and medals, more than 150 people became Heroes of the Soviet Union.
In 1956, once again in history, as part of the reorganization of the Armed Forces, the units and units of the marines were disbanded. They had to be re-created already in 1963, along with the growth of tasks that the USSR Navy was supposed to solve. Parts of the marines were formed on the basis of motorized rifle regiments of the ground forces. The 1st Guards Marine Regiment, as before, reappeared in the Baltic Fleet. In the same 1963, the Marine Regiment was formed in the Pacific Fleet, in 1966 - in the Northern Fleet, and in 1967 - in the Black Sea Fleet.
In the post-war years, marine units were involved in solving special tasks in Egypt, Syria, Angola, Yemen, Guinea, Ethiopia, Vietnam. In the 1990s, Russian marines from the Baltic, Northern and Pacific fleets took part in hostilities in the Chechen Republic. For the heroism shown in the battles in the North Caucasus, more than 20 marines were awarded the title of Hero of Russia, more than five thousand "black berets" were awarded government orders and medals.
Today, the Russian marines are a highly mobile branch of the coastal forces of the Russian Navy, designed to conduct combat operations as part of naval, airborne, airborne assault forces, as well as to defend the country's naval bases, islands, important coastal points and naval bases. Units of the Marine Corps disembark from landing boats and ships, or land on the coast by coastal and ship-based helicopters with fire support from the ships of the fleet and naval aviation. In some cases, the marines can overcome various water obstacles on their own using floating combat vehicles (in the overwhelming majority of cases, on armored personnel carriers). Russian Marine Corps units are mainly equipped with amphibious military equipment, portable anti-aircraft and anti-tank systems and automatic small arms.
More recently, main battle tanks have also appeared in service with the Russian marines. Earlier, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation made a decision to strengthen all marine brigades with T-72B3 and T-80BVM tanks. Although these heavy combat vehicles are not capable of sailing, the Russian navy has the necessary technical means to quickly bring them ashore. As the experience of recent exercises shows, the Marines after landing ashore do not have enough firepower in order to "catch on the bridgehead." In addition, tanks are needed for expeditionary operations, which would be similar to the Syrian campaign. Experts believe that the introduction of tank battalions into the marine brigades will significantly increase their firepower and combat stability, as well as expand the possible range of tasks to be solved. It is assumed that the Russian Marine Corps units operating in regions of the country with a cold climate (in the Arctic and Kamchatka) will receive T-80BVM gas-turbine main battle tanks, and the rest of the units - T-72B3.
The process of re-equipping the Russian marines with new military equipment continues. The marines received a significant number of modern armored personnel carriers BTR-82A, superior to their predecessors BTR-80 in many respects. In addition, the Russian marines receive new models of small arms, communications equipment and equipment, including the unique floating body armor "Korsar-MP". Also, the marines of the Baltic, Northern, Pacific and Black Sea fleets are receiving new combat equipment "Ratnik".
On November 27, Voennoye Obozreniye congratulates all active soldiers and officers, as well as veterans of Russian marines, on their professional holiday.
