Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/1324

 1202. RUSSIA

III. Navy. Estimates : —

1910 £10,219,800 I 1908. £8,355,890 I 1906. £10,843,169 I 1904. £11,949,906 1909 . £ 9,531,195 | 1907 . £8:437,682 | 1905 . £12,392,684 | 1903 . £12,349,567

The Russian Navy is subject to special conditions such as do not affect the navies of other Powers. Owing to the geographical situation of the Empire, and the widely separated seas which wash its coasts, Russia is obliged to main- tain four distinct fleets or flotillas, each with its own organization. Of these the most important in regard to Western relations is the Baltic Fleet. The chief base of the Baltic Fleet is Kronstadt, which is heavily fortified, as are Diinamiinde (Ust-Dvinsk), Viborg, Sveaborg, and other Baltic ports. The Gulf of Finland is usually blocked by ice from November to April, whereby the operations of the fleet are impeded, but a new ice-free port at Libau, in Courland, has now been made ready for the fleet. It is further in contem- plation to establish a naval port on the Arctic coast of Russian Lapland, which is free from ice throughout the year, and thus to open up the possibility of creating a naval force with free access to the Atlantic Ocean, but the advantages of this would be very slight, since such a force would be too distant from any scene of operations to effect much. Considerable pro- gress has lately been made in the construction of ice-breaking vessels, and Kronstadt can no longer be considered ice-bound.

In the Black Sea, Sevastopol, headquarters of the Euxine fleet, has been strongly fortified ; Nikolaiev, Kinburn, and Ochakov have received important defensive works ; Kertch and Yenikale have been made very strong, and Azov, Poti, and Batum have been strengthened. There is a flotilla also in the Caspian Sea, which ensures the communications of the Trans-Caspian railway between Baku and Krasnovodsk, and would have its purpose in operations against Persia.

State dockyards are at Nevsky, New Admiralty and Galernyi Ostrov, St. Petersburg; Kronstadt, Libau, Revel, Sevastopol, Nikolaiev, and Vladi- vostok. Semi-private yards exist at the Baltic works, St. Petersburg; Izhra- Abo, and Nikolaiev.

In the war with Japan disaster befell the Russian fleet. Damaged m the torpedo attack of February 8-9, it issued out later only to lose the Petropavlovsk with Admiral Makaroft' on board. In August it again issued from Port Arthur, and after a naval battle retreated again to its base, less its best battleship, the Tscssarevitch, interned at Kiao Chan, and three cruisers. Captain Wiren, of the Bayan, Avho alone had earned distinction on the Russian side in the war, was then made Admiral, but with a battered fleet and crews used by General Stoessel to man forts, he could accomplish nothing. In December the Japanese guns reached the warships, which were all sunk by this fire, or by the Russians when the surrender took

Subsequently the Baltic Fleet was sent out under Admiral Rojdestvensky. It consisted of five first-class battleships, six old battleships, some ancient armoured cruisers, some protected cruisers, and about ten destroyers, to- gether with a multitude of store ships. This heterogeneous armada encountered the Japanese fleet in the Straits of Tsushima, and was there completely annihilated by gun and torpedo without loss to Japan. One first-class and three old battleships were captured. A few protected cruisers escaped — all the rest were sunk.

The chief of the Russian Navy is the General Admiral, Commander-in- Chief. There are 10 admirals, 28 vice- and 37 rear-admirals, 102 captains,