The birth of the Russian fleet. Azov period. 1695 - 1711

The book of the historian of the Russian fleet of Captain 1st Ran, Sergei Ivanovich Elagin (1824-1868), proposed to readers, was first published in 1864 under the name “History of the Russian Fleet. Azovsky period. Using a previously collected and systematic huge set of rare documents from Russian and foreign archives, published in 5 volumes called “Materials for the History of the Russian Fleet”, Elagin managed to release only the first volume of the planned multi -volume “History of the Russian Fleet”. Unfortunately, the researcher"s early death did not allow his extensive plans. The book is dedicated to the entire Azov and Voronezh periods, the importance of which the author emphasized. Elagin writes, for example, about the reasons that prompted Peter I for the construction of military courts in Voronezh, state decisions and decree on this subject and how they were carried out. The author tells in detail how the forests were taken for ship business, Kumanity was created, how foreign masters were hired, the fleet was equipped and armed. The book has many materials about the life and morals of first builders. This edition presents the main text of Elagin’s work without extensive applications containing various kinds of documents of the Petrine era