The Russian navy during the reign of Catherine II

In the Union Magazine of July 1801 is a small note published, dealing with the costs of building warships for the Russian navy. Such information is not common known or available. So its' worth to mention it on this weblog.

p. 16: "his establishment was considerably diminished under the Empresses who immediately succeeded him [Peter I]; and the marine was much neglected, until the accession of Catherine II. The principal object of whose reign was to carry into effect all the enterprises of Peter I. Her design was in many respects successful. In 1778 she had increased the Baltic fleet to 40 sail of the line, carrying from 100 to 64 guns each; 15 frigates, from 46 to 2-1 guns; and 12 sloops of war, from 18 to 16, exclusively of about 70 yachts, pinks, and bomb-ketches, making a total of 137 vessels of all sizes. This force composed the principal department of the marine. The second was established at Sisterberg, near Petersburg. It consisted of no more than 100 galleys, the object of which was to make the Russians better skilled in the navigation of the coasts, and to facilitate their descents on the Swedish dominions. The invasion of the Crimea furnished the Empress with the means of forming a third navy on the Black Sea. In 1793 the force in that quarter consisted of 34 sail of the line, and 12 large frigates, fit for sea. Of the ships of the line 8 carried 100 guns each, and the oldest were built in 1783. These 8, and a third part of the lower rates, were entirely of oak. These were constructed at Petersburg and Cronstadt. The remainder, of fir, were built at Archangel. Adding to this force the 6 sail of the line, and 4 frigates, which went from Archangel in 1794, the total of the fleet in the Black Sea will amount to 40 ships of the line and 16 frigates.

p. 17: It was some time ago proposed to make the caliber of the marine artillery one third larger. Guns of this weight of metal, however, can only be intended for the oak-built ships, for those of fir could not support them. The depot of this newly constructed navy was, at first, at Cherson, a city recently built in the bed of the Dniester, on a spot where the river, forming a great number of islets, divides its stream into an infinity of canals of but very little depth. The original plan of this city was formed upon ideas too gigantic to be carried into execution. The air is extremely unhealthy; the channels are so shallow that no vessel, even without guns, stores, or ballast on board, can be launched but by the assistance of the machines called camels; and as nothing could leave Cherson without passing under the guns of Oczakow, it was evident that no permanent naval establishment could be formed at this port, while that fortress remained in the hands of the Turks. Soon after this inconvenience was removed. Intrigue, corruption, and force, joined to the imbecility of the Turks, added the whole of the Crimea to the Russian territory, and with it a great number of excellent ports on the Black Sea. Among these may be particularly distinguished, that port formerly known by the name of Actiar, afterwards by that of New Cherson, and at present by the name of Sebastopolis. The Russian marine was soon removed to this harbour, which is of vast extent, commodious, sheltered from every wind, and so deep, that the largest ships can moor alongside the beach. But all these advantages were counterbalanced by the destructive progress of the worm in that station. The Russians were consequently obliged to seek another depot for their marine, and began to construct a new harbour at the mouth of the Dniester. The plan of this undertaking was conceived by M. Koiser, but the execution was intrusted to M. Voland; both of them Dutchmen, and officers of engineers. No accounts have yet been published of the progress of the work. The naval force of the Russians in the Caspian Sea is scarcely worthy of notice; and nature prevents it from becoming at any J time considerable. The vessels employed in this sea are constructed at Casan, which produces abundance of oak, and launched into the Volga. But this grand river, which possesses considerable depth and breadth, through a navigable course of 800 leagues, enters the Caspian sea below Astracan, by a number of channels, the largest of which is only nine feet deep. This circumstance renders it necessary to build the vessels with flat bottoms, which of course prevents them from being good sailers. The Russian squadron, in the Caspian Sea, consisted in 1788 of only 3 frigates, a bomb-ketch, and a corvette. These frigates are employed, from time to time, in visiting the different ports in that sea belonging to other nations, in destroying their vessels' and docks, and filling up their harbours.

Source

The Union Magazine and Imperial register, vol. II, from June to December, inclusive, London, 1801, p. Digitized by Google.