300 years ago, in May 1719, a Russian squadron under the command of Captain 2nd Rank N. A. Senyavin defeated a detachment of Swedish ships in the area of Ezel Island. Russian trophies were the battleship Vakhtmeister, the frigate Karlskrona and the brigantine Bernhardus. This was the first victory of the Russian naval fleet on the high seas.
Creation of a ship fleet
It is generally accepted that the fleet in Russia was first created under Peter the Great, but this is not the case. The Russian people (Rus, Slavic) from ancient times knew how to build ships of the "river - sea" class - lodya, boats, plows, etc. They served for campaigns in the Caspian, Russian (Black), Mediterranean and Varangian (Venedian) seas. Skilled seafarers were considered Slavic Russians - Wends - Veneti - Varangians. The Varyag-Rus was the founder of the Rurik dynasty - Rurik (Sokol). The first princes of the Rurikovich family were the organizers of large-scale naval expeditions.
During the collapse of the Rurik empire, Russia was cut off from the Black and Baltic Seas. At the same time, the Russians have preserved the tradition of the rapid creation of river flotillas and sea vessels. In particular, this tradition was preserved in the north, in Novgorod and on the White Sea, and Cossack flotillas operated in the south. An attempt to create a ship fleet in the Baltic was undertaken by Ivan the Terrible during the Livonian War ("The First Russian Fleet - Pirates of the Terrible Tsar"). During the reign of Peter the Great, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the frigate "Eagle" was built for operations in the Caspian Sea.
The problem was that the Russian state was deprived of access to the Baltic and the Black Sea. It was necessary to reclaim the lost lands in order to be able to build a ship fleet. Peter made his first attempt to create a fleet during the war with Turkey for Azov. After an unsuccessful campaign in 1695, Peter Alekseevich quickly realized his mistakes and in the shortest possible time created a flotilla, which helped in 1696 to take Azov. Russia received the Azov flotilla, but then it was necessary to repulse Kerch, Crimea, or the Northern Black Sea region from the Ottomans in order to enter the Black Sea.
Meanwhile, Peter in 1700 got involved in a war with Sweden, which lasted right up to 1721. As a result, plans for a breakthrough in the southern direction had to be shelved. Moreover, Porta used the opportunity to restore its position in the Azov region. The Prut campaign of Peter in 1711 ended in failure and Russia had to abandon the Azov and the Azov fleet, to destroy the already built fortifications in the south.
Construction of the Baltic Fleet and its first victories
In the north, Russia, having entered the war with Sweden, a powerful naval power that considered the Baltic a "Swedish lake", first used ancient, time-tested tactics. She built small rowing ships that could attack large enemy ships and take them on board (assault). Thus, the previous experience of the Cossack flotillas, the Azov campaigns and the construction of the fleet in Voronezh was fully used in preparation for the struggle for the Baltic Sea. Just like in the south, in the north-west of Russia the construction of transport ships, and then of combat sailing and rowing ships, was launched. The ships were built, and they also bought ready-made ones from the owners, on the river. Volkhov and Luga, on the Ladoga and Onega lakes, on the Svir, Tikhvin, etc. However, it took time to build their ships, equip them, select personnel, train crews. Therefore, at first, Peter relied on foreign command personnel.
In 1702, they began to build a shipyard on the Syas River (flowing into Lake Ladoga), where they began to build the first warships. In 1703, ships began to be built on the river. Volkhov and Svir. The Olonets shipyards were created near Lodeynoye Pole, which became one of the main centers of the Baltic Fleet being created (the first ship was the Shtandart).
Detachments of small river vessels, which previously served in transporting goods along rivers and lakes, with teams of soldiers, played a leading role in the fight against squadrons of Swedish ships in the region of Lake Ladoga and Peipsi (they were armed with 10-20 guns, crews of experienced sailors). So, in May 1702, Russian ships defeated a Swedish detachment in a narrow strait connecting Lake Peipsi with Pskov. The Russians, in their small boats, which did not have artillery weapons, boldly attacked the enemy, leading the artillery fire. The Russians boarded the yachts "Fundran", "Vivat" and "Vakhtmeister". Thus, they broke into Lake Peipsi. Then the Russian ships defeated the Swedish squadron of Admiral Numers and on Lake Ladoga. As a result, the Swedes retreated along the Neva to the Gulf of Finland.
This allowed the Russian troops to take the Swedish fortresses of Noteburg (Oreshek) and Nyenskans. On the night of May 6, 1703, guardsmen in 30 boats, led by Tsar Peter and Menshikov themselves, approached the Swedish ships Gedan and Astrild, which were standing at the mouth of the Neva, and took them on board. Thus, the Russians occupied the entire course of the Neva and got access to the Gulf of Finland. Peter begins the construction of a new sea fortress - Petropavlovsk, which marked the beginning of the foundation of the new capital of the Russian state - St. Petersburg. At the same time, Peter decided to create an advanced fort, protecting Petersburg from the sea. They began to build it on the island of Kotlin, so the fortress of Kronshlot (Kronstadt) was laid.
Kronslot withstood the attacks of the Swedes. However, it was obvious that a ship fleet was needed to defend Petersburg. In the fall of 1704, the first ships began to arrive along the Neva to St. Petersburg. In the spring of 1705, new ships arrived. The young Baltic Fleet already had about 20 pennants. The ships had 270 guns and about 2,200 crew members. Rear Admiral Cruis was in command of the fleet. In the summer of 1705, the batteries of Kronschlot and the Russian fleet withstood the attack of a strong Swedish fleet. The enemy troops that the Swedes tried to land on the island were defeated. After the defeat on July 14, 1705, the Swedish ships left the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland.
Meanwhile, St. Petersburg is becoming a new shipbuilding base for the Russian fleet. In 1704, on the left bank of the Neva, not far from the sea and under the protection of the Peter and Paul Fortress, a large shipyard was founded - the Main Admiralty. In 1706, the first ships were launched in the Main Admiralty. At the same time, other shipyards were built in St. Petersburg: Particular shipyard - for the construction of auxiliary ships, Galley yard - for rowing ships. As a result, St. Petersburg became one of the largest shipbuilding centers not only in Russia, but also in Western Europe. Only in the Admiralty ten years after its foundation, about 10 thousand people worked. In the first seven years of the war with Sweden alone, about 200 combat and auxiliary ships were included in the Baltic Fleet. It is clear that the first ships of the Russian fleet were inferior to the ships of the leading Western naval powers in terms of their seaworthiness and artillery weapons. However, the rate of technical progress in Russian shipbuilding during the Northern War was very high. Already 10-15 years after the laying of the first ships at the Baltic shipyards, ships appeared in the Russian fleet that could compete with the best Western ships in terms of basic characteristics.
A lot of work has been done to train maritime personnel. In 1701 the Navigation School was opened in Moscow, in 1715 in St. Petersburg - the Maritime Academy. In addition to them, under Peter Alekseevich, about 10 schools were opened that trained personnel for the fleet - admiralty schools in Voronezh, Revel, Kronstadt, Kazan, Astrakhan, etc. Active training of national personnel led to the fact that the Russian government was able to refuse the services of foreign specialists. In 1721, an imperial decree prohibited the admission of foreigners to serve in the navy. True, this decree did not prevent foreigners from occupying top command posts, especially after the death of the first Russian emperor. The rank and file in the navy was recruited, as in the army, by recruiting among the tax-paying estates. The service was then lifelong.
New successes
The victory of the Russian army in the Battle of Poltava on June 27, 1709 led to the fact that Russia consolidated the previous successes of Russian weapons on the shores of the Baltic and created the possibility of a further offensive. Large formations of the Russian army were transferred to the seaside direction, and with the support of the fleet they began to push the enemy from the coast of the Gulf of Finland and Riga. In 1710, the Russian army, with the support of the fleet, took Vyborg. In the same year, the Russians took Riga, Pernov and Revel. The Russian fleet received important bases on the southern coast of the Baltic. The Moonsund Islands, which were of strategic importance, were also occupied. Thus, during the summer campaign of 1710, the Kingdom of Sweden lost its main bases in the eastern part of the Baltic from Vyborg to Riga.
War with Turkey 1710-1713 for some time distracted Russia from the war with Sweden. In the campaign of 1713, the Russians recaptured their bases on the northern coast of the Gulf of Finland from the Swedes: Helsingfors, Bjerneborg and Vaza were taken. Russian forces reached the shores of the Gulf of Bothnia. At the Baltic shipyards, the scope of shipbuilding has noticeably increased, never before have so many ships been laid here as in 1713-1714. They also built ships in Arkhangelsk. Two battleships built at the Arkhangelsk shipyard joined the Baltic Fleet. Also, the Russian tsar bought several ships in Western Europe. By the 1714 campaign of the year, there were already 16 battleships in the Baltic ship fleet, and the rowing fleet had more than 150 galleys, half-galleys and scampaways. In addition, there were a significant number of auxiliary and transports. In Stockholm, they tried to blockade the enemy in the Gulf of Finland, stopping the Russian fleet in the most convenient place - near the Gangut Peninsula. However, Russia could not be stopped. On July 27, 1714, the Russian galley fleet under the command of Peter I defeated the Swedish detachment of Shautbenacht Ehrenschild. The Russian trophies were the Elephant frigate, 6 galleys and 3 skerboats.
This victory ensured the success of Russian weapons in Finland and made it possible to transfer the hostilities to the territory of Sweden itself. And the Swedish fleet, until recently dominating the Baltic, went on the defensive. The Russian fleet gained freedom of action, threatening sea communications and the most important industrial and economic regions of Sweden. In 1714, the Russian fleet made a cruise to the Aland Islands, and in the fall Golovin's detachment captured Umeå.
However, the successes of the Russian fleet alarmed the West. So, in London they were afraid that Pyotr Alekseevich would be able to conclude a lucrative peace treaty with the Swedish government, which would consolidate the successes of the Russians in the Baltic. Therefore, England began to support the Swedish war party and put military and political pressure on Russia, threatening the fleet. From the summer of 1715, the united Anglo-Dutch fleet under the main command of the British Admiral Noris began to be on duty in the Baltic Sea under the pretext of merchant shipping. From 1719, England's position became even more outspoken. The British made an alliance with Sweden. From 1720, the British combined their fleet with the Swedish and began to threaten the Russian ports and bases in the Baltic.
Ezel battle
In 1715 1719. the Russian fleet carried out cruising and landing operations. Russian ships fought with Swedish privateers, captured merchant ships and landed troops on the islands and coast of Sweden. In particular, in the period from April to November 1718, Russian ships captured 32 Swedish merchant ships, a 14-gun shnava and a 3-gun skerboat.
So, in the spring of 1719, two Russian detachments went to sea. A detachment of Captain-Commander Fangoft (Vangoft), consisting of 3 ships, 3 frigates and 1 kick, left Reval to the coast of Sweden with the aim of reconnaissance of enemy forces. He landed scouts on the island of Öland in May, and then returned safely to Revel. On May 15, a detachment of Captain 2nd Rank Naum Senyavin left Revel for the sea. The Russian detachment included six 52-gun ships: Portsmouth (Senyavin's pennant), Devonshire (Captain 3rd Rank K. Zotov), Yagudiil (Captain-Lieutenant D. Delap), Uriel (Captain 3rd rank V. Thorngout), "Raphael" (captain 3rd rank Y. Shapizo), "Varakhail" (captain 2nd rank Y. Stikhman) and 18-gun shnyava "Natalia" (lieutenant S. Lopukhin) … Senyavin's detachment was tasked with intercepting an enemy detachment of 3 ships, which, according to reconnaissance data, went to cruise the Baltic Sea.
On May 24, 1719, Senyavin's detachment, being near the island of Ezel, discovered three ships of a possible enemy. The ships Portsmouth and Devonshire began their pursuit under full sail. At five o'clock our ships approached the range of artillery fire and fired shots to force the captains of the unknown ships to raise their flags. On the ships - it was a battleship, a frigate and a brigantine, Swedish flags and a braid pennant of their commander, Captain-Commander Wrangel, were raised. At Senyavin's signal, the Russian detachment attacked the enemy. The battle lasted over three hours. On the Russian flagship, the stays were destroyed and the topsail was damaged. In an attempt to exploit this, the Swedish 34-gun frigate Karlskrona and the brigantine Bernhardus attacked Portsmouth. Senyavin made a turn, became a side to the Karlskrona and opened fire with buckshot. Unable to withstand the destructive effects of the fire, the frigate first surrendered, and then lowered the flag and brigantine.
The commander of the Swedish detachment, Wrangel, seeing that the frigate and brigantine had surrendered, tried to escape on the 52-gun battleship Vakhmester. However, the Russian ships "Yagudiel" and "Raphael" three hours later caught up with the enemy flagship and forced him to take battle. For some time, the Swedish ship was set in two fires (it ended up between the Russian ships). The Swedish flagship was badly damaged. Seeing that two more Russian ships - "Uriel" and "Varakhail", were coming to him, the Swedes capitulated.
Thus, as a result of the Ezel battle, the enemy was completely defeated. Our sailors captured the entire Swedish detachment - the battleship, the frigate and the brigantine. On the ships, 387 people surrendered, led by Captain-Commander Wrangel, more than 60 people were killed and wounded. The losses of the Russian crews amounted to 18 people killed and wounded. A feature of the battle was the fact that the Russian naval fleet won the first naval victory without resorting to sea assault (boarding). The success was achieved as a result of the good training of sailors and officers and the skill of Senyavin. The Russians found the enemy, did not allow him to leave, imposing a decisive battle, firing from naval artillery at various distances.
After the battle, the Russian commander reported to Tsar Peter: "All this … was done without a great loss of people, I am going with the whole squadron and the captured Swedish ships to Revel …" Peter the Great called the Ezel victory "a good initiative of the Russian fleet." Senyavin was promoted through the rank of captain-commander, ship commanders were promoted to the next ranks. The participants in the battle received prize money.
