Russian Holidays - Shipbuilder's Day

The navy appeared in Russia under Peter I By order of the tsar, the first shipyard for the construction of ships was founded in Arkhangelsk in 1693 Later, the Admiralty was created in Voronezh with a school of navigational sciences, where future sailors and shipbuilders studied Peter I made a great contribution to the creation of the Russian naval forces However, the first ship, the frigate "Eagle", was built by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, issued on June 29, 1667 Shipbuilder's Day is celebrated annually on this date A relatively young holiday appeared in 2017 on the initiative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and JSC United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) To select the date of the celebration, the Russian Historical Society conducted a study of archival documents The basis for the establishment of the holiday was the beginning of construction at public expense of the first Russian two-deck three-masted frigate with a width of 64 m and a length of 245 m "Eagle" has become an ideal vessel for Russia's access to the Caspian Sea - a maneuverable and protected ship with a powerful military force on board The frigate was armed with 22 guns The first Russian sailing ship of the European type was similar in design to a Dutch pinnace It was built not from damp wood, like flat-bottomed single-sail boats, plows and barges, but from dried wood The frigate is associated with the appearance of the coat of arms on the seal of the Moscow kingdom, a double-headed eagle, which was sewn onto the banners and pennants of the ship Before the "Eagle", military banners of individual branches of the military were usually hoisted on ships, the main one among which was the Sovereign's banner However, according to international tradition, a symbol must be installed on the ship to help identify the country to which it belongs on the high seas The birth of the Russian flag - a white-blue-red tricolor, the colors for which Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich chose, is also associated with the first warship "Eagle" Russian shipbuilding made a powerful breakthrough in development under Peter I In addition to the Solombala shipyard, in 1702 he founded others on the Svir and Svyaz rivers In 1704, construction began on the Admiralty in St Petersburg Two years later, the first ship was launched from the slipway of this shipyard - the flat-bottomed floating artillery battery "Arcanne" In May 1706, the yachts "Ekaterina" and "Lyubov" launched into the water, and in 1712 - the 54-gun ship "Poltava" By 1725, thanks to Peter I, a regular fleet was created in Russia Over more than 300 years of activity, the Admiralty Shipyards have built more than 2,600 ships of various classes and types They are one of the oldest industrial enterprises, which, together with other factories, are part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation The joint stock company was created in 2007 according to the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation The largest shipbuilding centers are St Petersburg, Severodvinsk, Nizhny Novgorod and Kaliningrad, which have 40 construction and repair plants, as well as design bureaus USC employs more than 80 thousand professionals engaged in scientific research, design and production of ships, development of navigation, deck and other types of equipment, production of engines and other activities Russia is one of the leaders in world shipbuilding and the only country that launches nuclear icebreakers Every year, USC delivers more than a hundred fleet units, which include submarine cruisers, fishing trawlers, oil tankers, gas carriers, self-propelled platforms for polar research and other types of marine equipment Russian shipbuilders are glorious successors of the traditions of shipbuilding, which is considered part of the cultural heritage of the peoples of our country The history of the development of this one of the most capital-intensive and knowledge-intensive industries goes back hundreds of years Paying tribute to the professionalism and significance of the work of shipbuilders, on June 29 they are congratulated on Shipbuilder’s Day