Saibene, Marc La Marine Impériale Russe de 1870 à sa chute

The Russian Imperial Navy is nevertheless an extraordinary navy, because divided between three main theaters: the Baltic, the Pacific and the Black Sea, of which only the first two could be connected (at the cost of great difficulties), the Black Sea remaining throughout its history a sea closed by a hereditary enemy: Turkey. Exceptional also because it has always strived to develop innovative technical means to be pioneers in several areas such as submarine torpedo or mine warfare; many more ... But also hampered by harsh climatic conditions, questionable doctrines and bad management of crews. A story in contrast that saw the navy rebuild in a few years after being almost crushed in the Russo-Japanese war, while the virus of the revolution contaminated it. This historical work on the Russian Imperial Navy and its ships is based on original archival sources. Thus, the author took as main support of his research the reports of the French naval attachés in Saint Petersburg, particularly provided and documented because of the Franco-Russian alliance. He supported them with the publications of the French war school of the time and then with some Russian books and contemporary specialized journals. This book includes a historical part developing the evolution of the Navy and its structures (detailed work on advances or technological and industrial deficiencies, arsenals, shipyards, industries, officer corps, training of crews and, of course, conflicts and events, lessons learned, etc.) and a technical part detailing each ship and series of vessels with characteristics and brief histories.

This book contains a historical section that explains the historical and technical development of the tsarist navy and its structures. Detailed explanations of technical advances, technological and industrial shortcomings, the arsenals, shipyards and industries, the officer corps, the training of ship crews and, of course, the conflicts and events in which the Russian navy was involved between 1870 and 1918. The technical section presents all the ships and ship classes of the Tsarist fleet, draws attention to the special features and differences of the individual ships and provides brief operational histories for all ships and classes.