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The Imperial Russian Navy ((ロシア語:Российский императорский флот)) was the navy of the Russian Empire, it existed from 1696 until the February Revolution of 1917, growing out of a smaller force that existed before Peter the Great founded the regular Russian Navy during the Second Azov campaign. It was expanded in the second half of the 18th century and by the early part of the 19th century had reached its peak strength, only behind the British and French fleets in terms of size. The navy then went into a period of decline due to Russia's slow technical and economic development in the first half of the 19th century but it underwent a revival in the latter part of the century during the reign of Tsar Nicholas II until most of its Pacific Fleet was destroyed in the disastrous Russo-Japanese War. The First World War was mixed for the navy, with the Germans generally gaining the upper hand in the Baltic but the Black Sea falling under Russian control. The Russian Revolution marked the end of the Imperial Navy with its sailors fighting on both sides and its surviving ships forming the core of the Soviet Navy upon its creation in 1918. ==Background== Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship actually built within Russia was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein according to European design and was christened ''Frederick''. During its maiden voyage on the Caspian Sea, ''Frederick'' sailed into a heavy storm and was lost at sea. During the Russo-Swedish War, 1656-1658, Russian forces seized the Swedish fortresses of Dünaburg and Kokenhusen on the Western Dvina, the former being renamed to Borisoglebsk and the latter, Tsarevich-Dmitriyev. A ''boyar'' named Afanasy Ordin-Nashchokin founded a shipyard at Tsarevich-Dmitriev fortress and began constructing vessels to sail in the Baltic Sea. In 1661, however, Russia was once again forced to abide by the harsh terms of a treaty, this time the Peace of Cardis. Russia agreed to surrender to Sweden all captured territories, and all vessels constructed at Tsarevich-Dmitriev were ordered destroyed. ''Boyar'' Ordin-Nashchyokin, not grieving long over defeat, turned his attention to the Volga River and Caspian Sea. With the Tsar's approval, the ''boyar'' brought Dutch shipbuilding experts to the town of Dedinovo near the confluence of the Oka and Volga Rivers. Shipbuilding commenced in the winter of 1667. Within two years, four vessels had been completed: one 22-gun galley, christened ''Орёл'' ("Oryol" = "Eagle"), and three smaller ships. The ill-fated ''Frederick'' had been a Holstein vessel; ''Орёл'' became Russia's first own three-masted, European-designed sailing ship but met with a similarly unfortunate end. The ship was captured in Astrakhan by rebellious Cossacks led by Stepan Razin. The Cossacks ransacked ''Орёл'' and abandoned it, half-submerged, in an estuary of the Volga. During much of the 17th century, Russian merchants and Cossacks, using koch boats, sailed across the White Sea, exploring the Rivers Lena, Kolyma and Indigirka, and founding settlements in the region of the upper Amur. Unquestionably, the most celebrated Russian explorer was Semyon Dezhnev, who, in 1648, sailed the entire length of present-day Russia by way of the Arctic Ocean. Rounding the Chukotsk Peninsula, Dezhnev passed through the Bering Sea and sailed into the Pacific Ocean. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Imperial Russian Navy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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