Hichborn published an extensive book dealing with the dockyards in Europe. Despite the title the book is mainly dealing with England and France, but he gave some information dealing with the Russian navy.
“The navy list of Russia is formidable in the number of vessels and men, which places the nation third in the rank of naval forces. The apparent navy aggregated at the beginning of the present year three hundred and seventy vessels of all descriptions, but a cursory examination reveals the fact that probably not more than one hundred and twenty, exclusive of torpedo-boats, can properly be classed as vessels for offensive and defensive warfare. The fleet is composed of two chief divisions, the Baltic and the Black Sea; in addition to which are the Siberian and White Sea flotillas. The Caspian and Aral flotillas have probably passed out of existence by this time, and are not included in the total of ships. The Baltic division is, of course, the most important, while the Black Sea, neglected since the Crimean war, has within the past few years been considerably strengthened; and the programme of Grand Duke Alexis and Admiral Tshestiakoff will in a few years develop in the Russian navy a big degree of efficiency. The naval depot of the Baltic division is at Cronstadt, 16 miles distant from St. Petersburg, although the vessels are built at the capital.”
Source
Report on the European dockyards by naval constructor Philip Hichborn, USN, 1885. Washington, 1886, p. 24. Digitized by Google.
