The first reliably confirmed test of the steamer took place in July 1783, when the Marquis Claude Geoffroy d'Abban presented the people of France with his Piroscaf, powered by a steam engine that rotates paddle wheels along the sides of the ship. The vessel managed to overcome about 365 m in 15 minutes, after which the steam engine broke down. The very first steamer, which turned out to be suitable for successful operation, was created by Robert Fulton in 1807. He flew the Hudson from New York to Albany, at speeds up to 5 knots. Russia is not far behind the West either. The first steamer in our country, named "Elizabeth", was manufactured in St. Petersburg in 1815 at the Charles Byrd factory (later this enterprise became part of the "Admiralty Shipyards"). In September, the Russian steamer was launched into the water of the pond of the Tauride Palace in the presence of the royal family. "Elizaveta" showed good driving characteristics. A single-cylinder steam engine of 4 liters was installed in its wooden case 18 meters long. with., which brought in rotation the side paddle wheels. The steamer sailed between St. Petersburg and Kronstadt and could develop a course of 5 knots. In 1817 at the Izhora factories the first Russian military steamship "Skory" was built, the power of the steam engine of which was already 30 hp. A few years later, the military steamships "Provorny" and "Izhora" with machines of 80 and 100 hp were put into operation. The construction of steamships, starting from the twenties of the XIX century, was also carried out in Nikolaev, Astrakhan and Arkhangelsk. In addition, our fleet was replenished with steam ships purchased abroad.
The development of the steam fleet proceeded at a fairly rapid pace. Naturally, the appearance of steam engines on the ships of the fleet required the training of appropriate specialists for their maintenance. For this, first of all, people with engineering knowledge were required, capable of operating steam engines and organizing a service of machine commands, which began to be formed for such ships. The need for engineers in the Russian fleet has arisen long ago. Therefore, back in 1798, two schools of ship architecture were established, in St. Petersburg and in Nikolaev. Those who graduated from colleges had the necessary theoretical training, knowledge in the field of shipbuilding and certain practical skills in this matter. Later they formed the basis of the Corps of Naval Engineers formed by the order of the Chief of the Main Naval Staff (in February 1831). It included ship craftsmen and their assistants, draftsmen (draftsmen, designers) and timmermans (carpenters). Their activities took place mainly in shipyards, although some of them served in port authorities and on military ships. However, the new conditions required a different level of training for specialists. The Navy needed mechanical engineers, and in 1832 the training of mechanics for steam ships began in the "Training Marine Work Crew", formed instead of the St. Petersburg School of Naval Architecture. The first graduation (four people) took place in 1833.
By the middle of the 19th century, there were already 49 steam warships in Russia, their construction continued. Along with mastering the operation of steam engines and boilers on ships, their daily maintenance required the repair of these mechanisms, as well as competent recommendations for their improvement. To accomplish these and other tasks that accompanied the further introduction of steam power plants on the ships of the fleet, it was decided to form the Corps of Fleet Mechanical Engineers, and on December 29, 1854, the "Regulations on the Corps of Mechanical Engineers of the Naval Department", "Regulations on Engineer Working Crews" were approved, "Staff for the Corps of Mechanical Engineers and Machine Work Crews" and other organizational documents. They determined the order of manning the hull and its organization, while the naval engineers, "serving actually in the control of steamship machines", were renamed "Mechanical Engineers of the Naval Department".
The corps was to include officers who had completed a full course of science under the programs of the conductor companies of the Training Marine Working Crew, and conductors graduated from the "middle" classes of the said crew. The service in the conductors of the corps of mechanical engineers could also include volunteers who passed the exam according to the corresponding program. Graduates of the "upper" class, destined for graduation in mechanical engineers, had to spend at least two summer campaigns on steam ships to master the rules of machine control.
Mechanical engineers were assigned ranks from conductor to lieutenant general. From rank to rank, up to and including the captain, they could be carried out according to the "blameless length of service" of five years in each rank or after four years, but for special distinctions in service. For ship mechanical engineers, a division into three categories was introduced, depending on the power of the steam engines they served. The size of the pay, in turn, depended on the category. The first category included senior mechanical engineers on sea steamers, which had machines with a capacity of 350 hp. and more, to the second - senior mechanical engineers on sea steamers with machines with a capacity of less than 350 hp, and first assistants to senior mechanical engineers of the first category, and to the third - senior mechanical engineers on river steamers, second assistants to senior engineers - mechanics of the first category and first assistants to senior mechanical engineers of the second category. A strict sequence of transfer from category to category was also established.
Conductors of the corps of mechanical engineers were divided into two classes. Higher training was required to enroll in the first grade. Officers and conductors for the period between summer campaigns, if there was no need to leave them on the ships, were to be sent to the factories of the Naval Department or received other appointments "to improve themselves in the mechanical part." The main duty of senior mechanical engineers on ships during the period between campaigns was determined by the formula: "Supervising the repair of the machines entrusted to him and preparing them for the future campaign."
A rule was introduced for regular monitoring of the level of preparedness of specialists. All chief officers of the corps, up to the rank of lieutenant inclusive, and the conductors were to be subjected to an examination in their specialty in the presence of an inspector and a specially appointed commission annually, in December. A special report card determined the number of mechanical engineers, conductors, machinists and stokers on various steam ships. So, for example, on a ship with a capacity of machines from 550 to 800 liters. with. relied on 3 mechanical engineers, 2 conductors, 13 machinists and 28 stokers. With machine power up to 200 h.p. - 2 mechanical engineers, 2 conductors, 5 machinists and 8 stokers.
The formation of the corps of mechanical engineers and machine working crews laid the foundation for the organized mastering of the technical means of steam ships, the organization of the service for the operation of power facilities and the training of relevant specialists. This was of decisive importance in realizing the problem of introducing steam power plants on the ships of the fleet, without which the further development of the fleet was no longer possible. When the Corps was formed, its composition consisted of 85 people.
With the development of the steam fleet, issues related to ensuring the fire safety of ships, and with the beginning of the construction of iron ships and their unsinkability, have become very aggravated. In addition, the difficult problem of fighting for the survivability of technical means was added. All this entailed the need to develop the foundations of the fight for the survivability of ships with steam power plants, and this work fell on the shoulders, first of all, of ship engineers and mechanical engineers.
In the middle of the 19th century, there were already 242 steam ships in Russia (including those under construction). The fleet and construction included: ships - 9, frigates - 13, corvettes - 22, clippers - 12, steam-frigates - 9, gunboats - 79, yachts - 2, schooners - 25, military transports - 8, small steamers - 49, steam launches and boats - 11, floating docks - 3. The capabilities of the country's industry in the construction of ships increased, and the intensity of navigation of ships also increased.
Over the next decades, the accumulation of experience in the operation of ship steam power plants continued. The construction of armored ships, which had begun, further complicated the task of mastering technical means. Firstly, the number of ships grew, and secondly, steam boilers and machines became more complex. The need to expand and improve the training of both mechanical engineers and lower ranks became obvious.
However, such a widespread introduction of steam boilers and machines on the ships of the fleet, which entailed the need to solve a wide range of issues related to ensuring the control of mechanisms and their repair, training specialists and improving the procedure for their service, caused very ambiguous views on the place and role of mechanical engineers of high-ranking officials. persons of the Maritime Department. One of the points of view was expressed quite clearly in his note dated December 7, 1878, Rear Admiral Chikhachev: with practical knowledge, machinists . Based on this, he proposed to stop training mechanics for the navy at the engineering school as an unnecessary occupation. However, people who understood the role and importance of mechanical engineers for the creation of a technically equipped, combat-ready navy argued against such judgments. The proposals presented by them substantiated the need not only to preserve the engineering school, but also to expand the educational base, to improve the training of specialists in every possible way and to more actively involve highly educated teachers in training.
The controversy on this topic lasted for several years. Various proposals were discussed, and it can be said that, in general, common sense prevailed. Proposals to replace mechanical engineers with people with only practical training in servicing steam engines and other technical equipment were not accepted, however, the assignment of officer ranks to mechanical engineers was stopped. In the new regulation on mechanical engineers, approved in 1886, it was indicated that they "were not promoted to ranks during their state in the naval service." This caused significant damage to the prestige of the mechanical engineer service. It is worth noting that when mechanical engineers had just appeared in the fleet, the old sailing officers greeted them extremely unfriendly, perceiving them as the first messengers and one of the reasons for the disappearance of the sailing fleet, which they are used to. Of course, by 1886, the situation had changed and almost straightened out. But the new decision to take the officers' ranks from the mechanics and issue the bureaucratic shoulder straps again complicated the relationship. It is worth remembering that mechanical engineers were not of the nobility, like combat officers, and this put them even below the other naval "black bone" - officers of the Corps of Navigators and Artillerymen. The mechanics were unjustly nicknamed "boots" and "Beelzebubs" in the navy. Be that as it may, but a similar attitude towards them on the part of the officers of the fleet persisted until 1917.
However, over time, and most importantly, as the technical means, systems and devices of ships became more complex, which increased the responsibility and role of mechanical engineers on ships, the injustice admitted to them became more and more obvious. But it took almost two decades for this situation to be corrected.
Even wars and battles did not align mechanics with combat officers. For example, they were not awarded the military order of St. George. After a heroic battle on January 27, 1904, the cruiser "Varyag" and the gunboat "Koreets", all officers of these ships, according to the highest decree widely covered in newspapers and magazines of that time, were awarded the highest military order of St. George, IV degree. However, in reality it turned out that all, but not all. By the same decree, doctors and mechanics were awarded the Order of St. Vladimir with swords of the III degree. The country's public, agitated by the heroism of the feat of Russian sailors, expressed disagreement with such a decision in the press. Nicholas II was forced to change the order of awards. It can be rightly considered that this event was the first act of recognition of "unclean specialties" by the officers of the fleet.
In 1904, it was announced that the naval mechanical engineers were renamed from ranks to military ranks and the regulations on naval mechanical engineers were changed. ", read: "The following ranks are established in the corps of mechanical engineers of the fleet: 1) generals: lieutenant general and major general; 2) staff officers: colonel and lieutenant colonel, and 3) chief officers: captain, staff captain, lieutenant and second lieutenant. "As a result, already in 1905, major generals became: V. I. Afanasyev, A. Ya. Lindebek, FA Tyulev, F. Ya. Porechkin, L. Ya. Yakobson, TF Zagulyaev These were prominent organizers of the activities of various parts of the electromechanical service, people with deep engineering knowledge and extensive experience.
One of the important forms of organizing the activities of mechanical engineers was the regular meetings of flagship mechanical engineers held by the technical bodies of the Maritime Department, at which important problems of the Corps' activities were discussed, work experience was summarized, information was provided on technical innovations in Russia and abroad. Continuous work with the flagship mechanical engineers was carried out by the then existing Marine Technical Committee. An important organizing role was played by the development of documents regulating the use of ship technical equipment. The instructions for the management and maintenance of steam boilers and machines on board ships were regularly reviewed. Regulations on the supply of ship mechanisms with "permanent items, stock and consumables" were developed and periodically adjusted. Flagship mechanical engineers and other specialists were involved in this work by the Marine Technical Committee. The practice of gathering port and flagship mechanical engineers to jointly discuss the most important issues related to the mechanical part “gave good results.
In 1914, "Rules for Mechanical Service on Navy Ships" were published. Their development was carried out by a special commission based on the accumulated experience of operating steam boilers, machines and other technical means. By order of the Minister of the Sea of May 23, 1914, the "Rules" were announced to the leadership. These rules and a number of other documents on the operation of naval equipment were the result of the experience accumulated by mechanical engineers, as well as their hard work. Their development also testifies to the desire of mechanical engineers to improve service, to ensure order and organization in the maintenance of ships and equipment in good condition. This is one of the good traditions of Russian military courts.
Work on the maintenance of technical equipment in good working order created the necessary conditions for ensuring long-distance voyages of ships, which became regular. At the beginning of the 20th century, the construction of submarines began in Russia. The first domestic combat submarine "Dolphin" was built in 1903, and 10 years later, before the First World War, there were already several dozen submarines in our country. Building them is not easy, but mastering them is no less difficult. These were fundamentally new ships, not only in terms of their operational and tactical properties, but also in terms of their technical design. A strong place among the technical means on submarines was taken by storage batteries, and internal combustion engines were installed as the main engines for the surface movement. The creation of submarines entailed the need to train new specialists, among whom were diving mechanical engineers.
The role and importance of the activities of mechanical engineers continued to grow steadily. The cramped world of the ship, where both the fulfillment of the combat mission and the life of the people on the ship depend on the actions of each crew member, is, in fact, incompatible with the division into any castes and varieties. In addition, mechanics died in a combat situation no less often than others, fighting with the hold crew for the survivability of their ship until the last moment, often without time to escape. In the Naval Department, it became more and more clear that the framework of the Corps of Mechanical Engineers was very narrow and unreasonably separated from the combatant officers of the fleet. It was decided to abolish this framework. As a result, in 1913 the Corps Mechanical Engineers were renamed Navy Mechanical Engineers. So the Corps of Mechanical Engineers, as a separate part of the officer corps of the Russian fleet, ceased to exist and passed into a new quality. Mechanical engineers became equal officers in the fleet. They received the rank of naval officers with the addition of "mechanical engineer", which equated them with naval officers in both the general advantages and benefits of military personnel.
