Russian Hydrographic Department
| Гидрографическая служба России | |
Flag of hydrographic vessels of the Russian Navy (since 2001)
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | November 1777 |
| Jurisdiction | Russian Federation |
| Headquarters | St. Petersburg |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent agency |
Ministry of Defence Russian Navy |
| Child agency |
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The Russian Hydrographic Service, full current official name Department of Navigation and Oceanography of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (Russian: Управление навигации и океанографии Министерства обороны Российской Федерации), is Russia's hydrographic office, with responsibility to facilitate navigation, performing hydrographic surveys and publishing nautical charts.
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 has been an indispensable activity for the Russian Navy since its modernization at the time of Czar Peter the Great in the 17th century. The hydrographic service has been historically attached to the Russian Navy and the agents and supervisors of hydrographic works have been largely naval officers throughout its history.
Russia is a member of the International Hydrographic Organization.
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:
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.
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Wikipedia