Peter the Great was interested in shipbuilding and aquatic vessels from the time he was an adolescent. At the age of 17 Peter oversaw the building of a small flotilla at Perejaslavskom Lake near Moscow. The Grandfather of the Russian Fleet was the name given to Peter the Great’s first ship, in which he learned to navigate. In 1692, Peter had a small shipyard constructed where two small frigates and three small yachts were built. The next year he ordered the building of two more ships and placed an order for a ship to be made in Holland. After the two ships had been completed they were then armed for battle. The ship from Holland was a 44 gun frigate named Over the Prophecy. In 1695 Russia entered the first Azov campaign. The main objective given to the navy in this first campaign was to deliver provisions and supplies to the fighting ground troops. The first campaign was not successful, but Russia was not finished in Azov. In the summer of 1696 more ships were brought in to fight, and Azov was taken. Just before the turn of the century Peter went to Holland to study the most advanced nautical sciences of the day, worked in ship construction as a ship's carpenter and earned the title of shipwright. By the turn of the century Peter had moved on to creating larger war ships. In the spring of 1700 a 58-gun ship was completed and the construction of a 56-gun ship began. Shortly after this, Russia would become involved in a war with the Swedes. At the conclusion of the war with the Swedes a plot of land at the mouth of the Neva River was opened. This site would become the new Russian city, St. Petersburg, and later the country’s capital.
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This course was created by an undergraduate student at St. Lawrence University. last update: May 1, 2003