Russian Imperial Navy

Russian imperial sea power from 1696, when Peter the Great’s decree founded a permanent navy, until the empire fell in 1917. Peter built the Baltic Fleet and the new capital Saint Petersburg around it, then added the Black Sea Fleet under Catherine II. The navy fought the Ottomans and Swedes, won at Chesma in 1770, but suffered catastrophe against Japan at Tsushima on 27 to 28 May 1905. It is the same institution as the Imperial Russian Navy; the two names describe one tsarist fleet.