The guarantor of Russia's security and ensuring compliance with its interests in the Caspian region is the Caspian flotilla. The composition of this association of the Navy is constantly updated. This is the key to the combat effectiveness of the fleet and its compliance with modern standards. The composition of the Caspian flotilla, as well as its brief history will be the subject of our study.
Russians on the Caspian Sea
In order to understand how the composition of the Caspian flotilla was formed, you need to delve into history.
Our ancestors appeared on the Caspian Sea (then it was called Khvalynsky) back in the era of the Old Russian state. Then the Russians made the famous Caspian campaigns, which were to confirm their influence in the region and bring good income from the capture of cities. Known campaigns 910, 914, 987 and 1030-1032. But the most famous was the campaign of 943, during which the city of Berdaa was captured. There is evidence of a campaign in 1174 already at the sunset of Kievan Rus, but more often than not, its reality is called into question.
But then Russia fell apart, the period of the heavy Mongol-Tatar yoke began. The Russian state was able to resume the struggle in the Caspian Sea only after the unification of the lands around Moscow. In 1466, Athanasius Nikitin made his famous journey to India through this sea.
Truly, the sovereigns began to think about creating a fleet on this sea after the conquest of the Astrakhan Khanate by Ivan the Terrible, as a result of which the Russian power came to the shores of the Caspian.
The first attempts to create a fleet
The first attempt to create the Caspian fleet was made only in 1634. Prior to this, the Caspian borders of the Russian state were mainly monitored by Cossacks. It was then that the representatives of one of the small German states proposed to the Russian Tsar to build ships for flights along the Caspian to Persia. The composition of the Caspian flotilla was to consist of 10 vessels. Only one ship was built - the Frederick, and he soon got aground. The construction of the remaining ships was abandoned.
In 1668, the first Russian sailing ship Eagle, a boat, a yacht, and two boats were built. The Caspian flotilla was to begin to form from them. The composition of this fleet was completely burned during the revolt of Stepan Razin in Astrakhan in 1670.
Creation of the Caspian Flotilla under Peter I
Under Peter I, the Russian state significantly strengthened, turned into an empire and began to show attempts of external expansion, including in the Caspian direction. In this region, Persia was the main rival of Russia. Therefore, the question of building your own fleet on the Caspian Sea has become more relevant than ever.
In 1704, the Admiralty was established in Kazan and the construction of ships began. The naval composition of the Caspian flotilla was to consist of 45 flipper ships and 200 boats for movement along the rivers.
According to the decree of Peter I, the Caspian flotilla was finally formed in September 1722. She successfully participated in the Russian-Persian war of 1722-1723. By the end of this campaign, the Caspian flotilla comprised 80 large vessels.
Further development of the flotilla
Since then, the history of the Caspian flotilla has been counted. She was continuously developed and improved.
In 1781, the Caspian flotilla was sent to the Gulf of Astrabad for war with Persia. The composition of the ships was as follows: 20 frigates with guns, two bots and one bombing ship. The flotilla took an active part in later wars against Persia, for example, in 1813. According to the peace treaty concluded as a result of this war, the Russian Empire became the only state that had the right to maintain its own fleet in the Caspian.
In 1818, the composition of the Caspian flotilla of Russia was replenished with new ships. They became a series of three-masted corvettes, each of which was equipped with sixteen guns. The most famous ship of this series is the Kazan.
In 1867, the Caspian fleet was relocated from Astrakhan south to the city of Baku.
Throughout the 19th century, the composition of the ships of the Caspian flotilla of Russia changed, but the following vessels were delivered during this period:
- 16 corvettes equipped with guns;
- 4 lugers;
- 13 schooners;
- 3 bombardier ships;
- 22 steamboats;
- 2 tenders;
- 18 brigs;
- 26 transport ships.
In addition, smaller swimmers were delivered.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Caspian flotilla was morally and physically quite outdated. The composition of the ships was as follows: 4 steamboats, 2 gunboats, 3 floating lighthouses, one sailing sea barge and 2 longboats. In order to reduce the technical gap from potential opponents, which could be Great Britain or Germany, in 1910 two gunboats were built specifically for the flotilla - Ardagan and Kars.
During World War I, the Caspian Fleet did not actively participate in hostilities against the enemy.
Fleet size during the Civil War
During the Civil War, the Caspian Flotilla was originally part of the White Movement Army. In 1919, ships blocked the mouth of the Volga, in order to prevent the Red Army from passing into the Caspian Sea. The fleet coped with this task quite successfully, making the Caspian closed to the "red" water area.
The combat strength of the Caspian flotilla at that time totaled 7 gunboats, 9 cruisers, and 10 seaplanes.
But in 1920, the Red Army managed to occupy the main ports of the fleet's base - Krasnovodsk and Guryev. Therefore, the fleet was transferred to Baku. In the end, part of it was transferred to the Azerbaijani government, part went to the side of the Red Army, and the rest of the ships were interned by Great Britain, and then recaptured by Soviet Russia.
Soviet period
In 1931, the Soviet Union created the Caspian Flotilla. Its task was to eliminate the threat to the USSR from the south. The composition of the Caspian military flotilla was formed from the ships of the Union republics. In particular, it included the previously mentioned gunboats Ardagan and Kars, which, being the remnant of the White Army fleet, became part of the Azerbaijani flotilla. Only now these ships received new names - "Trotsky" and "Lenin".
During World War II, the Caspian Flotilla participated in a landing in Iran. After that, she controlled a number of port cities of Iran, conducted mine action, provided supplies from the USA under Lend-Lease, and took part in the Battle of Stalingrad. At the end of the war, her merits were awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
After the war, until the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Caspian Flotilla was not a particularly important strategic unit, but nonetheless represented a stabilizing factor in the region. In addition, new types of weapons were tested here.
Caspian flotilla of the Russian Federation
After the USSR sunk into oblivion, the question arose of what to do with the all-Union Caspian naval flotilla. It was divided between the former republics with access to the Caspian: the Russian Federation. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The Russian part of the ships was transported from Baku to Astrakhan and Makhachkala. It was Astrakhan that became the central point of deployment of the new flotilla.
If previously the Caspian Sea was practically closed, not counting the southern Iranian section, now many states have appeared in the region, which means that the tasks that the fleet posed were complicated.
The material composition of the Caspian fleet was gradually updated. Especially intensively, the renewal process began in the second decade of the 21st century.
In 2010, the Caspian flotilla, on the basis of the new division of Russia into military districts, was included in the Southern District.
In the fall of 2015, the flotilla took part in the first military operation for many decades. It was an operation in Syria against the Islamic State. The positions of the terrorists were precisely hit by fleet missiles.
Fleet update
How was the Caspian flotilla of the Russian Federation updated? The fleet was actively replenished with ships.
In 2011, the small artillery ship Volgodonsk was included in the fleet. Two years later, small missile ships Grad Sviyazhsk and Uglich were added. The patrol ship Dagestan, which was planned to be transferred to the Caspian Fleet in 2012, was damaged and transferred a little later. Now he is at the disposal of the fleet and is ready to perform tasks.
In 2014, a series of Buyan small missile ships joined the flotilla. Initially, it was planned to introduce a larger number of vessels, but due to the sanctions of Western countries some of the materials and components that are required for the construction of ships could not be bought, so the completion date was postponed to a later date.
The renewal of the composition of the ships of the Caspian flotilla in the 2010s was, in general, successful. Currently, the fleet consists of more than 85% of the new ships. This allows us to say that it meets the basic requirements and standards of our time.
The modern composition of the Caspian flotilla
Let's take a closer look at what ships the Caspian naval flotilla of Russia is composed of. Its composition is presented below.
The fleet in the Caspian consists of two patrol ships, eight small warships, six combat boats, eight landing boats and seven minesweepers. Only 31 units of water equipment.
Patrol ships
The Caspian flotilla includes two patrol ships - Tatarstan and Dagestan. Both of them are made at Zelenodolsk plant. Only the date of commissioning of the first of them - 2003, and the second - 2012.
In addition, the ship "Tatarstan" is the flagship of the entire Caspian flotilla.
Small warships
The Caspian fleet in its composition has 8 units of small warships. The oldest in age is the R-101 “Stupinets” missile boat of 1985. Then, according to seniority, the small artillery ship MAK-160 of 1988 of release follows.
As part of the Buyan project, the small artillery ships Astrakhan and Volgodonsk and the newest of them, Makhachkala, were launched. The vessels were put into operation, respectively, in 2006, 2011 and in 2012.
In 2014, small missile ships Veliky Ustyug, Uglich, and Grad Sviyazhsk were commissioned as part of the Buyan-M project.
Battle boats
Currently, the Caspian flotilla has six combat boats. Four of them are very old. These are artillery boats of the Bumblebee project: AK-223 (1969), AK-248 (1971), AK-201 (1972), AK-209 (1972). The newer is the AK-326 artillery boat, commissioned in 1989.
The newest ship of this class is the P-351 anti-sabotage boat. It was commissioned in 2013.
Landing craft
The Caspian Fleet has eight landing boats at its disposal. Only relatively new models are presented here. This type of vessel includes the landing ship of the Shark project D-185 (2000) and the landing boat of the Dugong project D-105 Ataman Platov (2009).
Separate is the series of landing boats "Serna". It includes D-156 (1999 release), D-131 (2002 release), D-172 (2005 release), D-56 (2008 release), D-809 (2013 release) and D-810 (2013 release).
Minesweepers
The Caspian flotilla has seven minesweepers. Their main task is to search for and destroy mines. The last update of ships of this type occurred back in 1997. Not least this is due to the fact that at present there is no mine danger in the Caspian Sea. But still, in the future, these vessels are also subject to replacement with more modern ones, since anything can happen, and in this case such a safety net will come in handy.
The fleet includes raid minesweepers RT-59 (1979 onwards), RT-181 (1980 onwards), RT-71 (1981 onwards), RT-233 (1994 onwards), RT-234 (1996), as well as the base minesweepers BT-244 "German Ugryumov" (1988) and BT-116 "Magomed Gadzhiev" (1997).
General characteristics of the Caspian fleet
As can be judged from official data, at the moment the Caspian fleet of the Russian Federation is staffed quite well. At 85%, it consists of modern vessels that are ready to solve tasks. In the near future it is planned to understaff it with a number of new models of ships and boats.
The power of the Caspian fleet is a sufficient guarantee of the security of the Russian borders by the Caspian Sea from external invasion, as well as a guarantee of stability in the situation in the Caspian region. Moreover, the fleet’s ships are capable of solving even external tasks, as it was during the operation in Syria.
On the whole, the state of the Caspian flotilla is encouraging, and it is hoped that in the future it will only be strengthened by new modern units of naval equipment.