The Black Sea Fleet is one of the oldest divisions of the Russian Navy. It was created in the 18th century, and since then it has been guarding our southern borders. In the nearly 300-year history of this fleet, there were many outstanding, heroic pages, as well as curious and interesting events.
Two "parents"
Contrary to popular belief, the Black Sea Fleet (BSF) was not formed from scratch. May 13, 1783 is considered to be his birthday, when 11 ships of the Azov flotilla entered the Akhtiyar Bay in the south of Crimea. Later they were joined by 17 more vessels, this time from the Dnieper.
Two years later, in 1785, there were already 55 ships in the Black Sea Fleet, including 12 battleships and 20 frigates. Moreover, the first capital of the Black Sea Fleet was not Sevastopol, but Kherson - it was there that the shipyards were located ("Black Sea Admiralty").
Shipyard Seer
It was on them that the ships for the fleet were built by Vasily Vasiliev, a peasant from the Tula province, better known as monk Abel, a Russian seer who predicted the burning of Moscow in 1812, the October Revolution and the Great Patriotic War. He worked at the shipyards in his youth.
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Hard work undermined Vasiliev's health, he was on the verge of death. However, he recovered, in which he saw the "providence of God." After that, the future seer decided to leave the shipyard and go to a monastery. The ships, built with his participation, in the future more than once beat the Turkish fleet.
Sevastopol and Akhtiyar
Thanks to the Black Sea Fleet, many cities appeared on the coast. Initially, they were naval bases, but gradually they began to grow into courtyards and civil buildings.
The most famous city that appeared thanks to the Black Sea Fleet is Sevastopol, which to this day is the main base of the fleet. The name of the settlement was given by Catherine the Great, who was fond of the Greek language (translated from it, Sevastopol meant "the city of glory and worship"). After the death of the empress, her son Paul I renamed the city Akhtiyar, but already under Alexander I, the main base of the Black Sea Fleet received its former name.
Plague riot
There were also popular uprisings in the history of the fleet. One of them was the so-called plague riot of 1830. Then there was another war with the Ottoman Empire, an epidemic was brought to the Crimea. Sevastopol was immediately fenced off with outposts, a quarantine regime was introduced, although the plague did not rage in it. Nevertheless, food was no longer allowed to the city, and the supply of the fleet was going very badly.
The plight of the sailors and townspeople led to an uprising. On June 3, 1830, the crowd began to smash the center of Sevastopol, the houses of the nobility and officials were plundered. Soon the city was under the complete control of the rebels. The authorities were able to take the situation under control only after the quarantine was lifted.
Veteran ship
To this day, the Black Sea Fleet maintains the Kommuna ship - the oldest ship in the world in service. It was launched even before the revolution as a ship-lifting ship, in 1913, and was originally called the Volkhov.
In 1999, she was reoriented to a rescue vessel. The displacement of the "Commune" is 3100 tons, length - 96 meters. The ship has recently undergone modernization, it was equipped with the underwater robotic complex Seaeye Panther Plus. This year the ship celebrated its 105th anniversary.
Fleet or not?
In Soviet times, sailors jokingly decided to make their own ratings of all four fleets of the USSR, except for the Caspian Flotilla. As a result, the first place was taken by the Northern Fleet, which was proclaimed "Superflot".
The seamen ranked the Pacific Fleet in second place, and the Black Sea Fleet was in third place. Despite the "bronze", the third place was supplied with an offensive wording - "either the fleet or not." At the bottom of the table was the Baltic Fleet, which the compilers of the list called the “former fleet” altogether, hinting at its geostrategic significance, which had noticeably decreased since the time of Tsarist Russia.
The fate of Sevastopol
Not many people know, but a couple of years ago, the Black Sea Fleet could forever lose its main base - Sevastopol. The fact is that after the collapse of the USSR, Russia and Ukraine could not divide the Black Sea Fleet in any way. In July 1992, an incident occurred when the crew of one of the patrol ships unauthorizedly raised the flag of Nezalezhnaya and headed for Odessa. Three ships loyal to Moscow followed the rebel and tried to ram him. Nevertheless, the "watchman" still managed to leave.
In 1997, the two countries still agreed on the division of the fleet. Russia got 80% of the ships, Ukraine - 20%. At the same time, Moscow had to rent the port of Sevastopol for the Black Sea Fleet. The agreement was concluded for a period of 20 years, and expired in 2017. In addition to rent, Russia paid for utilities and transport services, as a result of which the city's budget consisted of 60% of our investments.
Pro-Western forces in Ukraine have repeatedly criticized the agreement, calling on the country's authorities to remove the Russian fleet from Sevastopol as a "threat to the sovereignty" of Independent. In 2010, as a result of the Kharkiv agreements, the lease was extended for 25 years, and after reunification with Crimea, Russia recognized the provisions of the document as invalid.
Ivan Proshkin