Kherson – Cradle of the Black Sea Fleet

The city of Kherson, founded on June 18, 1778, can rightfully be called the cradle of the Black Sea Fleet.

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The city of Kherson, founded on June 18, 1778, can rightfully be called the cradle of the Black Sea Fleet. The mighty ramparts of the Kherson fortress, reinforced by bastions and ravelins, and artillery of 220 guns, came down to the very bank of the Dnipro and reliably protected the citadel – the Black Sea Admiralty.

Already in 1779, docks were built at the shipyard for the construction of large ships of the line. On the shore, on the slipways, the hulls of fast and maneuverable frigates and other military vessels were assembled. On September 16, 1783, the firstborn of the Black Sea Fleet, the 66-gun battleship "Slava Yekateriny" ("Glory of Catherine"), was launched.

Next, on October 12, 1784, a 66-gun rank ship "Svyatoy Pavel" ("Saint Paul") was launched, commanded by Captain 1st Rank Fyodor Ushakov. After being fully equipped, both ships set course for the new Black Sea harbor – Sevastopol. The 50-gun frigates "Kherson", "Krym", "Khobryi" ("Brave") and others joined the fleet one after another.

Model of the ship "Slava Yekateriny". Authors Y. Smyrnov, M. Lomakin. Scale 1:100. Length – 50 cm.

Military shipbuilding in Kherson took on significant proportions during the 1780s and 1790s, when vessels armed with 66 to 110 guns were built on 5 slipways. In total, from 1783 to 1827, about 200 vessels were built at the Kherson shipyard: 33 ships of the line, 16 frigates, a bomb vessel, numerous galleys, yachts, boats, transport vessels, and floating batteries. A significant contribution to the creation of the fleet was made by famous shipbuilding masters who worked in Kherson: Semen Afanasyev, Mykhailo Surovtsev, and Oleksandr Katasonov. The first Kherson shipbuilders were also thousands of workers, sailors, and soldiers.

Drawing of a flatboat signed by shipbuilder M. Surovtsev. Kherson. 1817.

Nails used for wooden shipbuilding. 1790s.