The Russian Hydrographic Service (Russian: Гидрографическая служба России, Gidrograficheskaya sluzhba Rossii), officially the Department of Navigation and Oceanography of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, is the hydrographic office of Russia responsible to for operating lighthouses, facilitating navigation, performing hydrographic surveys and publishing nautical charts. It is formally a department of the Ministry of Defence and a unit of the Russian Navy. Its headquarters are located in Saint Petersburg. The Hydrographic Service was established in 1777 during the expansion of the Imperial Russian Navy but can trace its origins to the time of Tsar Peter the Great in the late 17th century. It has been historically attached to the Russian Navy, and the agents and supervisors of hydrographic works have been largely naval officers throughout its history. Its surveying has been indispensable due to vast size of Russia and its 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. The Russia Hydrographic Service is a member of the International Hydrographic Organization.
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, 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 and hydrography. Hydrometeorology Surveys Navigation and hydrographic support of maritime activities within Russian waters and implementation of the international Safety of Life at Sea Convention regulations in the waters under Russian jurisdiction.
History
Background
At the time of Peter I hydrographic surveys were carried out following personal decrees 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. By 1746 important matters concerning hydrography were entrusted to Fleet Captain Alexey Nagayev who compiled the first atlas of the Bering Sea, as well as of the Baltic Sea 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. 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. 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). 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 and navigation of the Baltic Sea, Vice Admiral 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. The duties of the Hydrographic Department at the time included:
Planning and carrying out surveys. Preparation of maps, atlases, sailing directions and other guidance materials for safe navigation, as well as making periodical corrections —when needed. Erection and proper maintenance of lighthouses, electric beacons, rescue stations, towers, day beacons, buoys, 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' logbooks in order to gather relevant navigational, astronomical, magnetic, and other observations. The jurisdiction of the Main Hydrographic Office included the management of:
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