The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with the opposing superpower, the United States, during the Cold War (1945–1991). The Soviet Navy played a large role during the Cold War, either confronting the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in western Europe or power projection to maintain its sphere of influence in eastern Europe.
The Imperial Russian Navy operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from a smaller force that had existed prior to Tsar Peter the Great's founding of the modern Russian navy during the Second Azov campaign in 1696. It expanded in the second half of the 18th century and reached its peak strength by the early part of the 19th century, behind only the British and French fleets in terms of size.
Naval warfare in the Mediterranean during World War I took place between the naval forces of the Entente and the Central Powers in the Mediterranean Sea between 1914 and 1918.
Imperator Aleksandr III was the third, and last, ship of the Imperatritsa Mariya-class dreadnoughts of the Imperial Russian Navy. She was begun before World War I, completed during the war and saw service with the Black Sea Fleet. She was renamed Volia or Volya before her completion and then General Alekseyev in 1920. The ship was delivered in 1917, but the disruptions of the February Revolution rendered the Black Sea Fleet ineffective and she saw no combat.
Rostislav was a pre-dreadnought battleship built by the Nikolaev Admiralty Shipyard in the 1890s for the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy. She was conceived as a small, inexpensive coastal defence ship, but the Navy abandoned the concept in favor of a compact, seagoing battleship with a displacement of 8,880 long tons (9,020 t). Poor design and construction practices increased her actual displacement by more than 1,600 long tons (1,600 t). Rostislav became the world's first capital ship to burn fuel oil, rather than coal. Her combat ability was compromised by the use of 10-inch (254 mm) main guns instead of the de facto Russian standard of 12 inches (305 mm).
The Bogatyr class were a group of protected cruisers built for the Imperial Russian Navy. Unusually for the Russian navy, two ships of the class were built for the Baltic Fleet and two ships for the Black Sea Fleet.
The American Holland-class submarines, also AG class or A class, were Holland 602 type submarines used by the Imperial Russian and Soviet Navies in the early 20th century. The small submarines participated in the World War I Baltic Sea and Black Sea theatres and a handful of them also saw action during World War II.
Almaz was a 2nd-class cruiser in the Imperial Russian Navy, built by Baltic Shipyard in Saint Petersburg, Russia, as a yacht for Viceroy Yevgeni Alekseyev,
The Morzh-class submarines were built for the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy shortly before World War I.
Wrangel's Fleet was the last remnant of the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy and existed from 1920 until 1924. This squadron was a White (anti-Bolshevik) unit during the Russian Civil War. It was known also as the Russian Squadron.
Mikhail Andreyevich Berens was an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy and the White Navy during the Russian Civil War.
Pamiat' Merkuria was an unarmored cruiser of the Imperial Russian Navy. She was initially named Yaroslavl, but was renamed on 9 April 1883.
The Russian submarine AG-22 was an AG-class submarine, designed by the American Holland Torpedo Boat Company/Electric Boat Company, built for the Imperial Russian Navy during World War I. The submarine was fabricated in Canada, shipped to Russia and reassembled for service with the Black Sea Fleet. Her reassembly was completed in 1919 by the White Movement during the Russian Civil War, and she joined Wrangel's fleet as it evacuated the Crimea in 1920 and was interned in Bizerte, Tunisia in 1921. AG-22 was abandoned there and subsequently scrapped.
Tserigo (Цериго) was one of eight Fidonisy-class destroyers built for the Imperial Russian Navy during World War I. She was never completed and was towed to Odessa and Sevastopol after the anti-Bolshevik White evacuation of her shipyard in early 1920. After the White movement abandoned Crimea later that year, the unfinished destroyer was towed to Istanbul and then French North Africa with Wrangel's fleet. After France recognized the Soviet Union in 1924, she was intended to be transferred to Soviet control, but the agreement was never implemented. The destroyer was instead scrapped in place by 1934.
The Arras class, sometimes known as the Amiens class, were a series of aviso built for the French Navy at the end of World War I.
The Leytenant Shestakov class consisted of four destroyers built for the Imperial Russian Navy. They were an enlarged derivative of the Vsadnik-class destroyers built by the Germany shipyard Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft. Originally classified as torpedo cruisers, they were redesignated as destroyers on 10 October 1907, prior to completion. The ships served as part of the Black Sea Fleet during the First World War and the Russian Civil War. They are often considered a part of the broader Dobrovolets class, which included several similar classes of destroyers.
Russian Empire