ABSTRACT
As Peter Tsouras has demonstrated (Chapter 1), in contrast to the worldwide operations of the Western European and U.S. navies prior to 1900, the Russian Navy was essentially a coastal force, despite some transoceanic operations in the 1800s and the construction of ships in the latter half of the nineteenth century and in the early twentieth century. The situation remained the same after the 1917 revolution: The fleet inherited by the Soviet Union was already antiquated, a remnant of the huge force that had been destroyed in the Strait of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War.
