The Russian Hydrographic Service, full current official name Department of Navigation and Oceanography of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation,
/ref> is

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

hydrographic office A hydrographic office is an organization which is devoted to acquiring and publishing hydrographic information. Historically, the main tasks of hydrographic offices were the conduction of hydrographic surveys and the publication of nautical ch ...

, with responsibility to facilitate navigation, performing

hydrographic survey Hydrographic survey is the science of measurement and description of features which affect maritime navigation, marine construction, dredging, offshore wind farms, offshore oil exploration and drilling and related activities. Surveys may als ...

s and publishing

nautical chart A nautical chart or hydrographic chart is a graphic representation of a sea region or water body and adjacent coasts or river bank, banks. Depending on the scale (map), scale of the chart, it may show depths of water (bathymetry) and heights of ...

s. Since the Russian state is of such a vast size and nature that it includes many different seas, long and indented coastlines and a great number of islands, as well as a complex system of waterways and lakes,

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of Point (geom ...

has been an indispensable activity for the Russian Navy since its modernization at the time of Czar

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

in the 17th century. The hydrographic service has been historically attached to the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

and the agents and supervisors of hydrographic works have been largely

naval officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...

s throughout its history. Russia is a member of the

International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) (French: ''Organisation Hydrographique Internationale'') is an intergovernmental organization representing hydrography. the IHO comprised 102 member states. A principal aim of the IHO is to ...

Competences and functions

Despite having undergone a number of name changes along its history, the main functions of the Hydrographic Service of the Russian Navy have been quite consistently the following: *Providing specific services to the Navy, including other branches of the

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Russian Ground Forces, Ground Forces, Russian Navy, Navy, and Russi ...

, related to the Russian maritime and coastal areas, as well as navigable inland waters. These services are of a strategic order and encompass the following fields: **

Navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...

and

hydrography Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primary ...

. **

Hydrometeorology Hydrometeorology is a branch of meteorology and hydrology that studies the transfer of water and energy between the land surface and the lower atmosphere for academic research, commercial gain or operational forecasting purposes. Whilst tradition ...

** Surveys *Navigation and hydrographic support of maritime activities within Russian waters and implementation of the international

Safety of Life at Sea The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) is an international maritime treaty which sets out minimum safety standards in the construction, equipment and operation of merchant ships. The International Maritime Organizat ...

Convention regulations in the waters under Russian jurisdiction. Navy Hydrographic Service – Structure – Russian Ministry of Defence

History

Background

At the time of

Peter I Peter I may refer to: Religious hierarchs * Saint Peter (c. 1 AD – c. 64–68 AD), a.k.a. Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simon, apostle of Jesus * Pope Peter I of Alexandria (died 311), revered as a saint * Peter I of Armenia (died 1058), Catholicos ...

hydrographic surveys were carried out following personal

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

s of the emperor through the General admiral. Hydrographic tasks were always performed by Naval officers, who from 1724 onward began to work under instructions from the

Admiralty Board The Admiralty Board is the body established under the Defence Council of the United Kingdom for the administration of the Naval Service of the United Kingdom. It meets formally only once a year, and the day-to-day running of the Royal Navy is ...

. By 1746 important matters concerning hydrography were entrusted to Fleet Captain

Alexey Nagayev Alexey Ivanovich Nagayev (, March 17, 1704, Sertyakino - January 8, 1781, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian hydrographer, cartographer and an admiral. Biography Born in a family of the lesser nobility, he graduated from the Saint Petersburg Naval A ...

who compiled the first

atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

of the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea ( , ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre, p=ˈbʲerʲɪnɡəvə ˈmorʲe) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasse ...

, as well as of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

in 1752. Nagayev's charts were very detailed for its time and, despite a few shortcomings, his atlas of the Baltic Sea was republished in 1757, 1788, 1789 and 1795, serving Russian mariners for more than 50 years.

Foundation and first phase (1777–1885)

In 1777 the Admiralty Board founded the Russian Hydrographic Service, implementing a plan that marked the beginning of systematic drawing of nautical charts.С этой чертежной началось централизованное производство морских карт в России, а дата утверждения штата чертежной — 2 (13) ноября 1777 г. — является датой основания ныне существующего Центрального картографического производства Военно-Морского Флота. In 1799 a committee for the dissemination of marine sciences and the improvement of the drawing of charts was created, and in 1807 the Russian Lighthouse Administration was established so that the lighthouse system in Russian shores, shoals and islands would follow an organized pattern and be provided with regular, state-controlled maintenance. The first director of this section was

Leontiy Spafaryev Knight Leontiy Vassilievich Spafaryev (; 19 March 1765 – 30 January 1847) was a lieutenant general of the Imperial Russian Navy.Igor Alexeev, ''Lighthouses of the Baltic Sea''
In 1827 the special Office of the Hydrographer General was established. In the same year the Corps of Naval Navigators was founded, the chief of which was also a hydrographer. The first and only general of the newly-instituted body was hydrographer Admiral Gavril Andreevich Sarychev (in office 1827–31), after whose death the management of the office was transferred to the Chief of Naval Staff Prince A. S. Menshikov. The first and only director of the hydrographic depot was F. F. Schubert (in office 1827–37).Russian Hydrography before 1917
/ref> In 1837 the former institutions dealing with hydrography were abolished and all the management of the hydrographic section was transferred to the newly-instituted Russian Hydrographic Department, the directors of which were: * A. G. Villamov (1837–54) *Baron F. v. Wrangel (1854–55) * M. v. Reinecke (1855–59) * S. I. Zelenoy (1859–74) * G. A. Vevel von Krieger (1874–81) * T. F. Veselago (1881) * P. N. Nazimov (1892–1898).

Publications

The Hydrographic Office engaged in the periodical publication of notes, devoted both to hydrographic information, as well as information on other sectors of naval affairs. The committee, established in 1799, published: *In 1801 – ''" Notice to Mariners"'' (1 vol.) *From 1807 to 1827 – ''"Notes of the State Admiralty Department"'' (13 pieces) *From 1835 to 1837 – ''"Notes of the Hydrographic Depot"'' (5 parts) *From 1842 to 1852 – ''"Notes of the Hydrographic Department."'' *1854–83 – ''Annual reports of the Director of the Hydrographic Department.''

The Main Hydrographic Office (1885–1917)

In 1885 the Russian Hydrographic Department was overhauled and renamed as 'Main Hydrographic Office' —Главное гидрографическое управление (ГГУ)— of the Admiralty. Its chief was the former director in charge of the

lighthouses A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark ...

and navigation of the Baltic Sea,

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

R. Bazhenov, who was also the chairman of the Maritime Scientific Committee —Морского учёного комитета. 1886 saw the establishment of the meteorological department. In 1891 the fields of drawing, engraving, lithography and printing were integrated into the maritime cartography section and from 1897 this section began successful experiments printing nautical charts using aluminum printing plates. In 1902 a new building with a photographic department, including a workshop introducing innovative photographic reproduction techniques, was built within the premises of the Main Hydrographic Office. By 1904 the new techniques had been mastered by the staff and high-quality material began to be printed.''150 лет гидрографической службе военно-морского флота.'' Исторический очерк. 1977 г.
/ref> The duties of the Hydrographic Department at the time included: *Planning and carrying out surveys. *Preparation of

map A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...

es,

sailing directions General information Sailing Directions are volumes published by various National Hydrographic Offices or Coast Guard Agencies which provide essential information to support port entry and coastal navigation for all classes of ships at sea. Sail ...

and other guidance materials for safe navigation, as well as making periodical corrections —when needed. *Erection and proper maintenance of

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

electric beacon In navigation, a radio beacon or radiobeacon is a kind of beacon, a device that marks a fixed location and allows direction-finding equipment to find relative bearing. But instead of employing visible light, radio beacons transmit electromagne ...

s, rescue stations,

towers A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

day beacon A day beacon (sometimes ''daybeacon'') is an unlighted nautical sea mark. A signboard identifying it is called a '' day mark''. Day beacons typically mark channels whose key points are marked by lighted buoys. They may also mark smaller navigab ...

buoy A buoy (; ) is a buoyancy, floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. History The ultimate origin of buoys is unknown, but by 1295 a seaman's manual referred to navig ...

s, signals, and other warning devices to improve navigation safety. *Supply of military tools such as maps, pilot manuals, signals manuals and other guides. *Inspection and evaluation of ships'

logbook A logbook (or log book) is a record used to record states, events, or conditions applicable to complex machines or the personnel who operate them. Logbooks are commonly associated with the operation of aircraft, nuclear plants, particle accelera ...

s in order to gather relevant navigational, astronomical, magnetic, and other observations. The jurisdiction of the Main Hydrographic Office included the management of: *

Pilotage instructions A maritime pilot, marine pilot, harbor pilot, port pilot, ship pilot, or simply pilot, is a mariner who has specific knowledge of an often dangerous or congested waterway, such as harbors or river mouths. Maritime pilots know local details s ...

and

navigational instrument Navigational instruments are instruments used by nautical navigators and pilots as tools of their trade. The purpose of navigation is to ascertain the present position and to determine the speed, direction, etc. to arrive at the port or point of ...

s workshops in St. Petersburg and Nikolaev *The Russian Maritime Observatory in

Kronstadt Kronstadt (, ) is a Russian administrative divisions of Saint Petersburg, port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Saint Petersburg, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg, near the head ...

and Nikolaev. *The

weather station A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasting, weather forecasts and to study the weather and clima ...

s on the shores of the Russian seas. *The maritime semaphore telegraph in Kronstadt. *The

signal station A signal station is a form of Navigational aid, Aids to Navigation that is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization, IHO simply as "A signal station is a place on shore from which signals are made to ships at sea". While this broad de ...

s in Nikolaev, Bogdanovka, Parutino, Adzhigol and

Ochakov Ochakiv (, ), also known as Ochakov (; ; or, archaically, ) and Alektor (), is a small city in Mykolaiv Raion, Mykolaiv Oblast (region) of southern Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Ochakiv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. ...

. The period between 1885 and 1917 was characterized by full-scale construction and modernization of lighthouse equipment,

compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with No ...

technology and improvements in the printing of nautical charts. The 1910–1915

Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition The Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition (GESLO) (1910–1915) was a scientific expedition organized by Russia for the purpose of the development of the Northern Sea Route. This expedition accomplished its goal of exploring the uncharted areas ...

, led by

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Boris A. Vilkitsky on

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

s ''Vaygach'' and ''Taymyr'' mapped the last blank areas of the northern coast of Eastern

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

—which were the last unmapped coastal areas of

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

, and gathered as well a vast amount of oceanographic and meteorological data.The Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition 1910–1915
The heads of the Main Hydrographic Office were: * Konstantin Mikhailov (1898–1903) *

Yakov Gilterbrandt Yakov (alternative spellings: Jakov or Iakov, cyrl, Яков) is a Russian or Hebrew variant of the given names Jacob and James. People also give the nickname Yasha ( cyrl, Яша) or Yashka ( cyrl, Яшка) used for Yakov. Notable people People ...

(1903–1907) * Andrey Vilkitsky (1907–1913) * M. Y. Zhdanko (1913–1917)

The Soviet period (1917–1992)

After the initial period of instability that followed the 1917

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

against the Imperial Government, the Hydrographic Office slowly returned to its duties as the situation calmed down and the Soviet takeover was completed. The work and dedication of hydrographers such as

Konstantin Neupokoev The first name Konstantin () is a derivation from the Latin name '' Constantinus'' (Constantine) in some European languages, such as Bulgarian, Russian, Estonian and German. As a Christian given name, it refers to the memory of the Roman emperor ...

, ensured that the service returned to normality.''Синюков, В. В.'' Александр Васильевич Колчак : Учёный и патриот : в 2 ч. / В. В. Синюков; отв. ред. А. П. Лисицын ; Ин-т истории естествознания и техники им. С. И. Вавилова РАН. — М.: Наука, 2009. — (ч. 2), С. 34 Czarist names and symbols were quickly removed, the former hydrographic institution being renamed as the 'Main Hydrographic Office of the Russian Republic' —Главное гидрографическое управление Российской Республики. Between 1918 and 1922 hydrometeorological service units named Ubek (Убек) were established for the management of navigation safety measures. The Ubek regulated the particular hydrographic zone —in

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...

for example it was 'Ubek-North'— as part of the unified local authority directly responsible to the central Soviet government. In 1924 the Hydrographic Office was renamed the 'Central Hydrographic Department of the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

' and a set of new flags and pennants was issued. Barely two years later, in September 1926, the office underwent another name change; the new name was "Hydrographic Department of the Office of Naval Forces of the Workers' and Peasants'

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

" (UVMS Hydrographic Department of the Red Army) —Гидрографический отдел Управления Военно-морских сил Рабоче-крестьянской Красной Армии. In 1927 the name was simplified to 'Hydrographic Office UVMS Red Army' —Гидрографическое управление УВМС РККА.

Emperor Nicholas II Land Severnaya Zemlya (, ) is a archipelago in the Russian high Arctic. It lies off Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula, separated from the mainland by the Vilkitsky Strait. This archipelago separates two marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean, the Kara Sea in ...

first partially charted by Boris Vilkitsky in 1913, but still not fully surveyed when it was renamed ''Severnaya Zemlya'' by the

Presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some countries' political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. The term is also sometimes used for the ...

of the

Central Executive Committee of the USSR The Central Executive Committee of the USSR (), which may be abbreviated as the CEC (), was the supreme governing body of the USSR in between sessions of the All-Union Congress of Soviets from 1922 to 1938. The Central Executive Committee elec ...

in 1926, was the last blank area on the vast map of the Soviet Union. Vilkitsky's expedition, which in 1913 sighted and surveyed a section of the eastern coastline of what he assumed was a single landmass, had to concentrate on the Siberian continental shore in order to prepare the way for the

Northeast Passage The Northeast Passage (abbreviated as NEP; , ) is the Arctic shipping routes, shipping route between the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, Pacific Oceans, along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Russia. The western route through the islan ...

and he had no means to make a comprehensive survey further north. Finally a hydrographic expedition of the Arctic Institute of the USSR led by

Georgy Ushakov Georgy Alexeyevich Ushakov () (17 (30) January 1901 – 3 December 1963) was a Soviet explorer of the Arctic. Ushakov broke new ground when he surveyed and explored Severnaya Zemlya, together with four other Arctic explorers, establishing that it ...

and

Nikolay Urvantsev Nikolay Nikolayevich Urvantsev (; – 20 February 1985) was a Soviet geologist and explorer. He was born in the town of Lukoyanov in the Lukoyanovsky Uyezd of the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate of the Russian Empire to the family of a merchant. He ...

thoroughly surveyed the large Severnaya Zemlya archipelago in 1930–32, making it the last sizable territory on

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

to be put on the map. In 1935 the Ubek were replaced by hydrographic offices subordinate to the commander of the fleets and

flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same cla ...

s. In 1937 the 'Hydrographic Office UVMS Red Army' was renamed the "Hydrographic Office of the Workers' and Peasants' Navy" —Гидрографическое управление Рабоче-крестьянского Военно-морского флота (РК ВМФ). The design of the flags and pennants used by the office also underwent changes. In 1940 the Hydrographic Office was renamed 'Hydrographic Office of the Navy' —Гидрографическое управление ВМФ. The following year, owing to the dire situation of the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

(1941–1945), a

Task Force A task force (TF) is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology. Many ...

in the Hydrographic Department of the Navy was formed in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

by the

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Afghanistan) * Chief of the General Staff (Albania) * C ...

in order to deal more effectively with the emergency matters caused by the war in Russian soil and waters. In postwar times, after the initial period of reconstruction was over, the Soviet Navy began the challenging task of creating an oceanic fleet carrying

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...

s. The 1960–1970 decade saw the introduction and development of

ballistic missile submarine A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads. These submarines became a major weapon system in the Cold War because of their nuclear deterrence capabi ...

s as part of the strategical aims of the Soviet fleet. These submarines were designed to be able to navigate in all areas of the oceans, including in the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

under the

ice cover Sea ice arises as seawater freezes. Because ice is less dense than water, it floats on the ocean's surface (as does fresh water ice). Sea ice covers about 7% of the Earth's surface and about 12% of the world's oceans. Much of the world's sea ice ...

. In the field of navigation, during this period

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

reflectors,

radio beacons In navigation, a radio beacon or radiobeacon is a kind of beacon, a device that marks a fixed location and allows direction-finding equipment to find relative bearing. But instead of employing visible light, radio beacons transmit electromagn ...

and other modernized signal systems were introduced. The technological leap of that decade would impose a radical change in the navigational, hydrographic and hydrometeorological support of the Navy. During this period the need for innovative and detailed survey and mapping of the Earth's

geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and Physical property, properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct i ...

, including

gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...

and

magnetic field A magnetic field (sometimes called B-field) is a physical field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular ...

s, became of the utmost importance for the Hydrographic Service of the Soviet Union. At that time, using its survey vessels, the department spearheaded a comprehensive study of large areas of the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

, as well as of the then little explored

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the world ocean, generally taken to be south of 60th parallel south, 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is the seco ...

off the coast of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

. As a result, a huge volume of data on bottom topography,

physical field In science, a field is a physical quantity, represented by a scalar, vector, or tensor, that has a value for each point in space and time. An example of a scalar field is a weather map, with the surface temperature described by assigning a nu ...

s, and hydrophysical characteristics of the water masses, among other pioneering

oceanographic Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...

information of the oceans, were collected. In 1972, owing to

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

dictated priorities, the Hydrographic Office of the Navy was overhauled and transformed into the 'General Directorate of Navigation and Oceanography of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR' —Главное управление навигации и океанографии Министерства обороны СССР (ГУНиО МО). The 1970–1980 decade was marked by an increased international prominence of the 'General Directorate of Navigation and Oceanography of the Ministry of Defense'. Since then the Hydrographic Service of the USSR officially represented the interests of the Soviet Union —in the same manner that the organization that replaced it in later years would do for the Russian Federation— in the

and the

International Association of Lighthouse Authorities The International Organization for Marine Aids to Navigation (IALA), previously known as International Association of Lighthouse Authorities, is an association founded in 1957 to collect and provide nautical expertise and advice. IALA is also kn ...

, as well as the interests of the Ministry of Defence in the

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC/UNESCO) was established by resolution 2.31 adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It first met in Paris at ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. The heads of the Hydrographic Service of the USSR''История Гидрографической службы Российского флота.'' Т.4. — Спб.: Издание ГУНиО МО РФ, 1997 were: *

Eugene Byalokoz Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

(1917–1919) * Pavel Messer (1920–1922) * Sergei Blinov (1922–1925), 1st term * Mikhail Viktorov (1925–1926) *Sergei Blinov (1926–1928), 2nd term * Izrail Razgon (1928–1932) *

Vasily Vasilyev Vasily Pavlovich Vasilyev or Wassiljew (Василий Павлович Васильев; 1818-1900) was the preeminent Russian Sinologist of the 19th Century. Vasiliev was born in Nizhny Novgorod and entered the Oriental department of the Kazan ...

(1932–1937) *

Nikolai Gorbunov Nikolai Petrovich Gorbunov (; 21 June 1892 – 7 September 1938) was a Soviet politician, chemist, engineer and academic; at one time personal secretary to leader Vladimir Lenin. Biography Born in Krasnoye Selo, in Saint Petersburg, his paren ...

(1937–1939) *

Iakov Lagushkin Yakov (alternative spellings: Jakov or Iakov, cyrl, Яков) is a Russian or Hebrew variant of the given names Jacob and James. People also give the nickname Yasha ( cyrl, Яша) or Yashka ( cyrl, Яшка) used for Yakov. Notable people People ...

(1939–1947) * Mikhail Kulikov (1947–1948) *

Vladimir Tributs Vladimir Filippovich Tributs (; – August 30, 1977) was a Soviet naval commander and admiral. Life and career Born in 1900 in Saint Petersburg, Tributs joined the Navy in 1918 and during the Russian Civil War participated in combat action ...

(1949–1952) * Pavel Abankin (1952–1958) * Valentin Chekurov (1958–1963) * Anatoliy Rassokho (1963–1985) * Arkady Mikhailovsky (1985–1988) *

Yuri Zheglov Yuri may refer to: People Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. *Yuri (Japanese name), feminine Japanese given names, including a list o ...

(1988–1994)

The Russian Federation (from 1992 onward)

In the wake of the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, the 'General Directorate of Navigation and Oceanography of Defense of the USSR' would be placed under the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, the legal successor of the USSR. In 1992 the service was renamed as the 'Main Directorate of Navigation and Oceanography of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation' —Главное управление навигации и океанографии Министерства Обороны Российской Федерации (ГУНиО Минобороны России). Depending from their location, some of the vessels of the Soviet Hydrographic Service managed to be released and join the navies of the newly-formed republics after the breakup of the USSR. These ships were usually renamed and overhauled or transformed before being put into use, for example the GS-13 small hydrographic vessel that had been launched in 1986 in

Soviet Lithuania The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was '' de facto'' one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944–1990. After 1946, its terr ...

became the

Pereyaslav (U512) ''Pereyaslav'' is a small reconnaissance ship of the project 1824B (type "Uhlomyer", Muna class by NATO classification), a special purpose ship of the 29th Division of the Naval Forces of Ukraine. It was originally named ''GS-13'' under the H ...

when it was made part of the

Ukrainian Navy The Ukrainian Navy (), is the Navy, maritime force of Ukraine and one of the eight Military branch, service branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The naval forces consist of five components: surface forces, submarine forces, Ukrainian Naval ...

in November 1995. Although the basic designs were left unchanged, prominent Communist-era symbols —such as the

hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: ) is a communist symbol representing proletarian solidarity between industrial and agricultural workers. It was first adopted during the Russian Revolution at the end of World War I, the hammer representing wo ...

and the

red star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. ...

, were removed from the flags of the Russian Hydrographic Service and the blue and white Russian Navy Ensign was restored. In 2001 a new regulation introduced slight alterations in the symbols that had been adopted in 1992 following the fall of the USSR. In 2006 the name of the Russian Hydrographic Service would be changed to 'Department of Navigation and Oceanography of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation' —Управление навигации и океанографии Министерства Обороны Российской Федерации (УНиО Минобороны России), its current official name. Russian military presence in Arctic waters resumed in the summer of 2013 when Hydrographic Service vessels belonging to the

Northern Fleet The Northern Fleet (, ''Severnyy flot'') is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Arctic. According to the Russian ministry of defence: "The Northern Fleet dates its history back to a squadron created in 1733 to protect the terri ...

sailed to

Rudolf Island Prince Rudolf Land, Crown Prince Rudolf Land, Prince Rudolf Island or Rudolf Island () is the northernmost island of the Franz Josef Archipelago, Russia and is home to the northernmost point in Russia. Owing to the island's location, its shelter ...

Franz Josef Land Franz Josef Land () is a Russian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. It is inhabited only by military personnel. It constitutes the northernmost part of Arkhangelsk Oblast and consists of 192 islands, which cover an area of , stretching from east ...

. The area had been neglected by the armed forces for a long time in the years that followed the fall of the USSR. The heads of the Hydrographic Service of the Russian Federation in recent times have been: *Yuri Zheglov (1988–1994) * Anatoly Komaritsyn (1994–2006) * Sergey Kozlov (2006–2010) * Alexander Shemetov (2010–2013) *

Sergey Travin Sergey may refer to: * Sergey (name), a Russian given name (including a list of people with the name) * Sergey, Switzerland Sergey is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Sergey is f ...

(2013–)

Vessels

The vessels operating for the Russian Hydrographic Service have been historically of two orders or categories. To the first category belong those vessels that were built specifically as survey ships, of which there are different classes, and to the second, other kind of vessels of the Russian Navy that, although not especially built for the purpose, have eventually engaged in survey operations. The latter usually undertook surveys for specific periods of time during their naval service, such as the a four-masted tall ship Kruzenshtern, which performed hydrographic surveys between 1961 and 1965.

Types of vessels

Hydrographic vessels

1896 Project Events January * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports Wilhelm Röntgen's disc ...

, large hydrographic boats *

Baklan Baklan is a municipality and district of Denizli Province, Turkey. Its area is 283 km2, and its population is 5,296 (2022). The town is at a distance of about an hour from the city of Denizli, neighboring the town of Çivril, and it is situate ...

(19920 Project), large hydrographic boats * Yaroslavets (G376 Project), middle-sized hydrographic boats *

Flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes () are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbe ...

(T-1415 Project), middle-sized hydrographic boats * 382 Project, small hydrographic boats *

727 Project 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has symbolic associations in religion, myt ...

, small hydrographic boats * Kaira (1403 Project), small hydrographic boats * Drofa (16830 Project), small hydrographic boats

Oceanographic vessels

* Project 97B,

Vladimir Kavrayskiy Vladimir Vladimirovich Kavrayskiy (; April 22, 1884 – February 26, 1954) was a Soviet astronomer, geodesist and cartographer. Scientific research In 1939, he invented the Kavrayskiy VII projection. Kavrayskiy produced a lifetime of scient ...

(only ship built; no longer in service) * 852 Project, 6 vessels built, including Admiral Vladimirskiy * 22010 Project

Survey vessels

* Ocean class, large survey vessels *

Kamchadal The Kamchadals (, ) inhabit Kamchatka, Russia. The name "Kamchadal" was originally applied to the descendants of the local Siberians and aboriginal peoples (the Itelmens, Ainu, Koryaks and Chuvans) who assimilated with the Russians. The descen ...

Nord class Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

* 860 Project *

Arktika class Arctica was an ancient continent that formed in the Neoarchean era. Arctica or Arktika may also refer to: * Arctica (bivalve), ''Arctica'' (bivalve), a bivalve genus in the family Arcticidae * Arctica (song), "Arctica" (song), a single by Amberia ...

(861 Project) *

862 Project 86 may refer to: * 86 (number), a natural number * 86 (term), a slang term for getting rid of something * 86 Semele, a main-belt asteroid Dates * 86 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * AD 86, a common year of the Julian calendar * 198 ...

(Yug class), 9 ships built; includes hydrographic survey ship ''Senezh''.Гидрографическое судно «Сенеж» проекта 862 Северного флота РФ
/ref> *

865 Project __NOTOC__ Year 865 ( DCCCLXV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * King Louis the German divides the East Frankish Kingdom among his three sons. Carloman receives Bavaria (with more l ...

870 Project 87 may refer to: * 87 (number) * one of the years 87 BC, AD 87, 1987, 2087 * Atomic number 87, francium * Intel 8087, a floating-point coprocessor * 87; Common gasoline rating * 87 Sylvia, a large asteroid * Tatra 87, a luxury car See also * * Li ...

, small survey vessels * 871 Project, small survey vessels *

872 Project 87 may refer to: * 87 (number) * one of the years 87 BC, AD 87, 1987, 2087 * Atomic number 87, francium * Intel 8087, a floating-point coprocessor * 87; Common gasoline rating * 87 Sylvia, a large asteroid * Tatra 87, a luxury car See also

* ...

, small survey vessels * 16611 Project, small survey vessels * Alex Maryshev class, small survey vessels * V19910 Project, small survey vessels

Images of selected vessels

Notes

References

External links

The Siberian Sea Road: The Work of the Russian Hydrographical Expedition to the Arctic 1910–1915Hydrographic Society Russia – Hydro International

Department of Navigation and Oceanography. Of the Russian Federation. Ministry of Defence

{{Authority control Government agencies of Russia Scientific organizations based in Russia Russian Navy National hydrographic offices Lighthouse organizations 1777 establishments in the Russian Empire Surveying organizations Soviet Navy