Navigator (fleet)

In the Middle Ages , a significant expansion of borders took place in navigation, which began the era of great geographical discoveries . This entailed not only the improvement of marine vessels, but also navigation aids. Sophisticated navigation aids, such as astrolabe , required special training for proper operation, and as the complexity of the ship required the captain more and more time to manage the team and control the supply of supplies, an individual who combined mathematical knowledge was increasingly employed for navigation , pilotage and astronomy . In Spain and Portugal of the XV - XVI centuries, such a person was called a pilot ^[2] .

In the Russian Empire

The beginning of a centralized navigational service in Russia was laid by Peter I ^[2] , issuing a decree on January 25 (February 5), 1701, on the introduction of the position of “captain over navigators” and the centralized training of navigators ^[3] . His duties included the management of hydrographic and pilotage services, as well as knowledge of the fairways far ahead of the proposed fleet maneuvers and the guidance of the installation of beacons in the studied waters ^[4] .

In 1768, Catherine II published the “Regulation on the Administration of the Admiralties and Fleets,” which contained a completely similar Peter's chapter “On sending from the College to inspect shallows and raids on shallows and the state of the depth of the captain above the navigators in the sea” ^[4] .

In 1797, Paul I approved the new Charter of the Navy, according to which the position of Professor of Astronomy and Navigation appeared in the Headquarters of the chief over the fleet, whose duties included:

• be on the ship of the chief leader;
• daily calculate the location of the fleet and notify each ship with signals;
• train the midshipmen and command all the navigators who are required to inform him of their observations and calculations;
• observe the tides , the change of the magnetic needle and similar phenomena;
• notice harbors and straits, and if possible - describe them with navigators;
• keep records, which at the end of the campaign to send to the Admiralty College .

The position, however, was inconsistent, since the charter referred to the camp headquarters of the emperor. In addition, the Pavlovsky charter was practically not applied in the navy. These circumstances do not allow to fully study the responsibilities of the Professor of Astronomy and Navigation ^[4] .

The Navy Education Committee in 1804 made another attempt to systematize and streamline naval navigators. He presented a report to Alexander I , in which the following points were put:

• navigators must be controlled from the very beginning of training in order to improve its quality, when distributing the navigator, take into account its previous ships, so that he has the opportunity to familiarize himself with the intricacies of managing the rest;
• in every possible way to promote the additional education of navigators after graduation, in order to increase the quality of education, invite the most deserved and experienced navigators;
• organize practical exercises for students on the navigator.

The report was approved by the emperor on February 10 (22), 1804 . These rules were valid until 1827 ^[4] .

On April 13 (25), 1827, Nicholas I approved the “Regulations on the Naval Naval Corps ”, according to which the Inspector of the Federal Penitentiary School was appointed the head of the newly created corps of the Naval Ministry . This position was held by the General Hydrograph, the head of the Office of the General Hydrograph created at the same time (in 1837 it was transformed into the Geographic Department with the preservation of functions). To help the KFS inspector, two private inspectors were appointed for the Baltic and Black Sea fleets . In the Caspian and Okhotsk flotillas, similar duties were assigned to senior navigational officers who were directly subordinate to the flotilla commanders ^[5] .

In 1830, in the fleets, and in 1836 in the flotillas, chancery of one adjutant and clerks were created ^[5] .

The Maritime Charter of the 1853 edition prescribed that the head of the navigators be at the headquarters of the fleet commander, to whom all the KFSh ranks subordinate. His responsibilities included monitoring the provision of ships with navigation instruments, maps and locations, to control the calculations of the navigators of each ship during the campaign, to monitor navigation safety. And in 1857 the inspectors of the KFSh were abolished, which completely transferred the management of navigational activities to the level of fleets and flotillas. In 1869, the head of the navigator was renamed the flagship navigator. True, the flagship navigator until the XX century was appointed only for the period of one campaign ^[5] .

On July 12, 1885 , the navigational corps , as such, was abolished, however, the replacement of full-time navigational posts in the Navy by Corps officers remained until the training of a sufficient number of naval combat officers. This turned the navigational activity from a special service into a type of activity of naval specialists, which negatively affected the level of training ^[5] .

In Soviet Russia

On June 3, 1919, by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, the headquarters of the commander of all the Sea, River and Lake Armed Forces of the Republic was established, which included the position of the flagship navigator. It was occupied by N.F. Rybakov. But, as a result of repeated transformations in the high command of the Navy, by 1921 the position of the flagship navigator from the headquarters disappeared ^[6] .

The position of the flagship navigator was recreated in 1926, due to the increased need for qualified navigational personnel. K. A. Migalovsky was appointed to the post . Due to the lack of a centralized navigational service for a long time, all activities had to be started from scratch, so the position was renamed to the navigator inspector. In 1930, the Hydrographic Directorate was entrusted with the function of monitoring the development of navigational service in the Navy of the Red Army . But instead of the much-needed guidance for the training of navigators and ship commanders, navigation and ship navigation in general, the management was engaged only in “observations”. Therefore, on the initiative of Migalovsky, by order of the head of the Naval Forces of the Red Army at the GU, a Permanent Navigation Commission (PSC) was created, the main task of which was precisely the problems described above. In 1934, the post of inspector of the navigational service was transformed into the Head of the Navigation service (then department) of the Navy of the Red Army . In 1937, the PShK ceased to exist, and the position was transformed into the Chief of the Navigation Service of the Headquarters of the Navy of the Red Army ^[6] .

On December 30, 1937, the People's Commissariat of the Navy was created, in whose staff the position of flagship navigator (flag navigator) was introduced as part of the combat training department. In February 1938, F. F. Bulykin was appointed to the post ^{[7] [8]} . In May 1939, the combat training department was transformed into the RKKF combat training department , within which the navigational inspection was established (since 1942 - the navigational training inspection). The head of this inspection performed the duties of the chief navigator of the Navy's naval squadron ^[6] .

From the first days of World War II, the navigational inspection organized the issuance of information letters in which the naval personnel of the fleet brought the useful experience of their Soviet and foreign colleagues, clarified the position of the navigator on the ship during a naval battle and many other issues ^[9] .

Actually, the post of the chief navigator of the USSR Navy was introduced in August 1943, and F. F. Bulykin ^{[7] [8] was} appointed to the position previously held the position of flag navigator of the inspection of navigational training. In 1945, the navigational training inspectorate, which is the working body of the main navigator of the USSR Navy, was transformed into the naval training department of the Navy UBP. In the 60s, the department of navigational training was abolished ^[6] .

In 1952, the statutes of the navigation service were revised and published. They were called “Rules” and were published under the responsibility of the head of the Combat Training Directorate of the Navy of the USSR ^[6] . At the same time, the technical re-equipment of the fleet with new means of navigation, combat control and plotting began ^[8] .

In 1975, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Fleet Admiral S. G. Gorshkov, carried out reforms of the navigational apparatus. In the fleets, shipbuilding departments were created, headed by the flagship navigators of the fleets, subordinate to the chiefs of staff of the fleets. Under the chief navigator of the USSR Navy, an apparatus consisting of fleet officers was gradually created ^[6] .

In modern Russia

• Semyon Ivanovich Chelyuskin (1700 - 1764) - the navigator of the expedition Pronchishchev , the discoverer of the northernmost point of Eurasia .
• Fedor Rozmyslov (d. 1774) - researcher of the Arctic, including Novaya Zemlya .
• Andrei Ippolitovich Vilkitsky (1858 - 1913) - hydrograph - surveyor , head of the Main Hydrographic Directorate.
• Valerian Ivanovich Albanov (1882 - 1919) - one of the two surviving members of the Brusilov expedition .

In Russia , January 25 marks the day of navigator of the Russian Navy ^[10] .

• Electronic cartographic navigation and information system

• Navigator // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• Professions (unopened) (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment December 9, 2007. Archived December 22, 2007.
• Pocket guide for an aviation navigator (neopr.) .