On May 18, the Baltic Fleet Day is celebrated in Russia, established by the order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy of July 15, 1996 "On the introduction of annual holidays and professional days in the specialty".
The Baltic Fleet (BF) is one of the oldest fleets of Russia, created by Peter I during the Northern War of 1700-1721. The first warships for him were built in 1702-1703 at the mouth of the Syas River on Lake Ladoga and on the Svir River.
The birthday of the Baltic Fleet is considered May 18 (May 7, old style), 1703. On this day, a rowing flotilla with soldiers of the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments under the command of Peter I won the first combat victory, capturing two Swedish military vessels at the mouth of the Neva. The historical significance of that victory for Russia was emphasized by awarding all participants of the battle with specially made medals with the inscription "The unprecedented happens".
With the assistance of the Russian Fleet, Vyborg, Revel (Tallinn), Riga, the Moonsund Islands, Helsingfors (Helsinki in Finnish), Abo were taken in the Baltic during the Northern War; victories at Gangut (Finnish name - Hanko, 1714), Ezel (1719), Gringam (1720) were won at sea.
In the XVIII-XIX centuries, the main base of the fleet was in Kronstadt, then in the cities of Helsingfors and Revel.
Throughout history, the Baltics have won many victories over the invaders who tried to push the Russian state away from the Baltic Sea coast. More than once they had to defend the interests of the country in other maritime theaters.
The squadrons of the Baltic Fleet participated in the implementation of the policy of armed neutrality in the 1780s, in the 1st and 2nd Archipelago expeditions, during which victories were won in the Chesma (1770), Athos (1807) and Navarino (1827) battles. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the ships of the Baltic Fleet made an unprecedented transition to the Far East as part of the 2nd and 3rd Pacific Squadrons.
In the XIX – early XX centuries, the sailors of the BF made a significant contribution to domestic and world science. Circumnavigation and long-distance voyages with scientific purposes occupied an important place. There are 432 geographical discoveries on the world map, which bear the names of 98 admirals and officers of the Baltic Fleet.
After the unsuccessful Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905, in which the ships of the Baltic Fleet participated, it was restored in numbers and took an active part in the First World War (1914-1918). During it, having destroyed more than 100 enemy ships and auxiliary vessels, the Baltic Fleet won the Battle of the Baltic from the German fleet, despite the superiority of the latter's forces.
Since January 1918, the ships and vessels of the BF became part of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet (RKKF) being created. During the Civil War and foreign military intervention (1918-1922), Baltic sailors successfully defended the approaches to Petrograd (since 1924 - Leningrad, since 1991 – St. Petersburg), fought on all land fronts.
From March 1918 to January 1935, the Baltic Fleet was called the Baltic Sea Naval Forces. During the interwar period, the BF was technically re-equipped, replenished with new ships and aircraft. It served as a base for the creation of the Northern and Pacific Fleets.
During the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), the Baltic Fleet, in cooperation with the army, defended the Hanko Peninsula, Tallinn, and the Moonsund Islands in 1941, participated in the defense of Leningrad in 1941-1944, in operations to break through and completely lift the blockade of the city, in 1944-1945 supported the offensive of ground forces in the Baltic States, East Prussia and Eastern Pomerania.
More than 110 thousand Baltic sailors fought on land fronts. The BF forces landed 24 amphibious landings, sank 1205 warships, transports and auxiliary vessels, destroyed 2418 enemy aircraft. Over 100 thousand Baltics were awarded orders and medals, 137 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In 1946, the Baltic Fleet was divided into two fleets – the 4th and 8th, in December 1955, the fleet was restored to its former structure.
Since the beginning of the 1950s, the successful development of new military equipment began in the Baltic, the fleet began to be replenished with rocket ships, jet aircraft, its combat capabilities increased dramatically. The ships of the Baltic Fleet began to perform combat service tasks in the Northern and Mediterranean Seas, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
For outstanding services to the Motherland, the Baltic Fleet was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner (1928, 1965).
In 1991, after the collapse of the USSR, the BF forces were withdrawn from naval bases on the territory of the Baltic republics and included in the Kaliningrad Special Region, which is headed by the commander of the fleet.
The modern Baltic Fleet is a balanced force grouping of forces and troops, consisting of surface and underwater forces, aviation and air defense troops, coastal troops, as well as parts of logistics.
At the same time, an important role in solving the tasks facing the fleet is assigned to modern corvettes "Watchful", "Smart", "Brisk" and "Persistent", as well as small rocket ships "Sovetsk", "Serpukhov", "Green Dol" and "Mytishchi".
The processes of equipping the fleet with advanced technical means and weapons, as well as the modernization of aircraft, helicopters, missile systems and ships already in its composition will continue in the future.
The main tasks of the BF are: protection of the economic zone and areas of production activity, suppression of illegal production activities; ensuring the safety of navigation; implementation of foreign policy actions of the government in economically important areas of the World Ocean (visits, business visits, joint exercises, actions as part of peacekeeping forces, etc.).
The main bases are Baltiysk (Kaliningrad region) and Kronstadt (Leningrad region).
The commander of the Baltic Fleet is Viktor Liina.
All units of the Baltic Fleet belong to the category of permanent readiness, they are able to start performing tasks for their intended purpose in the shortest possible time.
Ships and support vessels of the BF solve tasks in the interests of naval groups of the Navy, the safety of international navigation, in the most remote areas of the World Ocean. The Baltic Fleet, being an outpost of Russia in the Western region, ensures the stability of the military-political situation and the state interests of the country.
The geopolitical situation in the world for three centuries has confirmed that the existence of the Baltic Fleet is an objective and historically justified necessity, one of the indispensable conditions for Russia's security in the western direction.
(Additional source: Military Encyclopedia. Moscow. In 8 volumes. 2004)
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources