The first combat steamer of the Russian Navy "Meteor" was laid down on March 29, 1823
The first steamer in Russia was built back in 1815. Three years later, the Baltic Fleet received its first steam ship, and two years later the first steamer appeared in the Black Sea Fleet. However, these were exactly unarmed tugs equipped with a steam engine and paddle wheels - they were intended for cargo transportation and towing of sailing ships of the navy.
And only in the spring of 1823, at the shipyards of the Nikolaev Admiralty, the first steamer was laid down, armed with cannons and adapted not only for auxiliary work, but also for military operations. The first Russian military steamer was intended for the Black Sea Fleet - in the Baltic after the victories over Sweden, our country at that time did not have strong opponents, but in the Black Sea region, relations with the Ottoman Empire remained traditionally difficult. Therefore, the first combat steamer of Russia began to be built here.
The initiator of the creation of the first armed steamer was the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Alexei Samuilovich Greig, an experienced sailor who repeatedly made long voyages in the Pacific Ocean, who fought both in the Mediterranean Sea and in the Baltic. Admiral Greig entrusted the construction of the first combat steamer to one of the best shipbuilders in Russia of that time - Colonel of the Corps of Naval Engineers Ilya Stepanovich Razumov.
Ilya Razumov studied shipbuilding at the shipyards of St. Petersburg, England and Holland. At the beginning of the 19th century, during the wars with France and Turkey, he was a senior shipmaster in the squadron of Admiral Greig, who set off from Kronstadt to fight in the Mediterranean Sea. In the 20s of the XIX century only in Nikolaev, Colonel Razumov built 40 ships, in total he participated in the creation of over a hundred ships.
The construction of the first combat steamer, named Meteor, took two years to complete. In the summer of 1825, the ship was launched and after the completion of all work and testing of the steam engine, it entered the Black Sea Fleet. The steamer, almost 37 meters long and over 6 meters wide, was armed with 14 cannons.
Two of his steam engines with a total capacity of 60 horsepower were manufactured in St. Petersburg at the plant of the Scottish engineer Charles Brad, who took Russian citizenship. Steam engines allowed "Meteor" to develop a speed of 6.5 knots (over 12 km / h) even in complete calm with the help of two paddle wheels.
Two years after its commissioning, the steamer "Meteor" successfully took part in the hostilities. After the outbreak of the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829, one of the main tasks of the Russian Black Sea Fleet was the capture of Turkish fortresses on the coast of the Caucasus. The outpost of the Turkish army, threatening the Crimea and the Kuban, was then the strong Turkish fortress of Anapa. At the end of April 1828, the main forces of our fleet approached it - seven battleships and four frigates with a considerable number of landing and auxiliary ships.
On this cruise, the squadron was accompanied by the combat steamer "Meteor". On May 6, 1828, the Black Sea Fleet began an amphibious assault on Anapa. The Turks counterattacked our landing troops, and here the Meteor showed itself - sailing ships could not freely operate very close to the coast because of the shoals and the wind blowing from the mountains, and the steamer, having a shallow draft and freedom of movement, easily passed from one place to another near the coast and hit the enemy with cannon shots.
It was the actions of the steamer that did not depend on the winds that allowed our troops to successfully gain a foothold on the coast near Anapa and lay siege to the fortress, which fell a month later. So thanks to "Meteor" the Black Sea port became Russian and later turned from a Turkish fortress into a famous resort.
The successful participation of "Meteor" in that war did not end there - the next year he took part in the storming of Turkish fortresses on the Bulgarian coast, including the most heavily fortified Varna. In October 1828, after the surrender of Varna, Emperor Nicholas I returned from the Bulgarian shores to Odessa on the sailing battleship Empress Maria. In case of calm and other unforeseen circumstances, the sailboat with the Russian emperor was accompanied by the steamer "Meteor". The ships arrived safely in Odessa, having withstood a severe storm during the crossing, which lasted several days.
This is how the Meteor, founded on March 29 (March 17, old style), 1823, successfully opened the era of the military steam fleet in Russia.
