Military shipbuilding in the Asian part of the Russian Empire: Results of studies and evaluation by domestic researchers
Authors:   Mozhaisky Military Space Academy, Alekseev Timofey V. 
Published: October 2024

The article examines the problem of the formation and development of military shipbuilding in the Asian part of Russia in the 18th – early 20th centuries. The objectives are to identify the main stages of the formation of the shipbuilding and ship repair base of the Okhotsk (Siberian) flotilla in the Far East and Siberia, as well as the Amur Flotilla in the Amur River basin; to analyze the course of the formation and development of industrial facilities of this base, quantitative and qualitative indicators of their work; to show ways and means of solving problems of a logistical and logistical nature in the formation and functioning of the shipbuilding industry; to get an idea of the replenishment of the Aral Flotilla by ship. The work is based on the analysis of the works of Russian researchers of the prerevolutionary, Soviet and post-Soviet periods using the necessary set of general philosophical, general scientific and special historical methods, such as ascent from the concrete to the abstract, historical-genetic, problem-chronological and perspective analysis. The article shows that during the period of sailing shipbuilding (18th – the first half of the 19th centuries), about ten shipyards operated in Siberia and the Far East, most of which were temporary. The leading role at that time was played by the shipyard in Okhotsk, where the vast majority of the most diverse vessels for the Okhotsk military flotilla were built. The Irkutsk Admiralty acted as a subsidiary enterprise for the Okhotsk shipbuilding. The most important factor that influenced the appearance of the shipbuilding industry in the region was the absence here, unlike in the European part of Russia, of the need to solve important military and political tasks. Large naval formations were not created here, and the ships under construction were intended mainly for transport and security functions. Despite the enormous difficulties, primarily of a logistical nature, the shipbuilding base formed in Siberia and the Far East made it possible, on the whole, to successfully solve the tasks facing it. During the period of steam and metal shipbuilding (the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries), in the context of a sharp increase in the geopolitical role of the Far East for Russia, the development of the shipbuilding industry here was reduced only to the creation of a rather limited ship repair base. The reasons for this situation could be both traditional problems for domestic military shipbuilding (chronic technical and technological lag behind the leading maritime powers, constant lack of funding for naval programs, etc.), and the same logistical factor. The following methods were used to solve the urgent tasks of replenishing the naval forces of the fleet in the Far East: the construction of collapsible ships of small tonnage with their final assembly at local production sites, the arming of civilian vessels, and, most importantly, the creation of branches of large shipbuilding enterprises based in the European part of Russia in the region.