Azov Navigation School

In 1695-1666, during the Russo-Turkish War (1686-1700) , the Azov campaigns were undertaken by Peter I. After the conquest of the fortress of Azov, the boyar’s Duma discussed the king’s report on the outcome of the campaigns and decided to begin the construction of the army ( navy ) on October 20 ( 30 ), 1696 . To organize the fleet, marine specialists were needed, which Peter I and his associates recruited during the Great Embassy among foreigners.

On January 3, 1698, the Venetians Matvey Melankovich and Ivan Kuchitsa arrived at the Ambassadorial Order in Moscow with a carriageway from a Venetian resident in Poland. Melankovich had 20 years of experience as a captain in the Venetian fleet, and repeatedly participated in battles with the Turks ^[1] .

By decree of Prince F. Yu. Romodanovsky, the Venetian captains were placed at the disposal of the Volodymyr Court Order , which instructed the head of the Inozemsky order, Boyar A.S. Shein, to organize the first navigational school in Russia. The decree said: "... to teach the naval sea passage, and the map, and a compass, choose from the foreigners 10 people who are kind and human, who can read and write" ^[2] .

January 21, 1698 the first set of 10 Moscow "children of foreigners" took place. On February 1, A.S. Shein informed Admiralty A.P. Protasiev , the head of the Volodymyr Court Order, who supervised the construction of ships in Voronezh , that eight more students were accepted: “Lt. Colonel Larionov, son of Lorenz Karp, Mayor’s, Ivanov, son of Borondsky Mikhailov, Gavrilov Bidor’s son Ivan, captain Yakovlev son of Gadorsky Nikita, captain Ivanov son of Granbov Ivan, lieutenants - Ivan the son of Kip Andrei, Kashpirov son of Filatkin Karlus, Kondratiev son of Lenerma Ivan. ” Peter I, returning from abroad to Moscow in February 1698, ordered to teach not “newly baptized”, but Russian people. On April 1, the first 10 Russian students were admitted to the navigational school. Among them: Dmitry Divin, Bogdan Oladin, Fedor Kozlov, Ivan Ogarev, Vasily Proshkin and others ^{[3] [4]} .

Education at the school began in late April 1698 in Moscow. From the beginning of classes, three students fled, fearing the difficulty of learning in Italian and the severity of their future profession. An additional set of “school students who are familiar with the Italian language” (from students of the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy ) was carried out ^[5] .

By decree of March 31, 1698, Shein was supposed to send Melankovich "to teach the naval caravan on the Mius river, and teach students of the naval military route and map and compass near Azov." A harbor was built on Mius from the beginning of 1698, and then began to build a marina in Taganrog . At the end of May 1698, the students and their teacher Melankovich left for Azov, where the first navigational school, named in the history of Azov, began work. The exact location of the school is not known ^[5] .

In the Azov Navigation School, the inhabitants of Azov and Troitsky studied, who also studied navigation. For practical training carbasses and lodges were transferred from Voronezh to the school, and feedman Ivan Molot was sent from Astrakhan ^[6] . By the end of the year, more than 100 pupils were trained in marine science at the school ^[3] .

Education in the Azov Navigation School was practical. Having acquired the skills of shipbuilding, graduates entered the service mainly in the Azov fleet . Known graduates of the school Stepan Nero and Ivan Telnov. They began their service as sailors, after training in England (1707-1711) by personal decree of Peter I they were promoted to “schipers” and sent to serve in the Baltic Fleet as sub-navigators. Nero was later the crewmaster of the Arkhangelsk port with the rank of lieutenant . He trained crews for swimming. The further service of Telnov is unknown ^[5] .