Russian naval institutions needed sustained investment

Was the Russian Navy simply incompetent and incapable of learning?

No; it could create strong institutions and designs, but leadership repeatedly failed to sustain the infrastructure, education, and organization needed to preserve capability.

Russian sailors and designers were not inherently incompetent, and Russian institutions could produce capable people and interesting work. The deeper problem was that schools, accommodation, logistics, and organizational systems were created and then allowed to decay. Establishing an academy or base once did not preserve its buildings, staff, doctrine, or accumulated knowledge. Naval capability depended on continuing funding, maintenance, and access to the information personnel needed. Repeated failure was an institutional-sustainment problem rather than a national character trait.