The Imperial Russian Navy was formally established in 1696, although Russian rulers had assembled naval forces before that date. Peter the Great and earlier tsars developed ships for campaigns that included the Second Azov campaign. The official institution then endured until the February Revolution of 1917. This short introduction places the navy's 1905 crisis within a history that stretched back more than two centuries.
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The Imperial Russian Navy's official foundation
A brief chronology traces the navy from forces assembled before 1696 to its formal existence under the Russian Empire and its end in 1917.