May 18 is Day of the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Navy

May 18 is Day of the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Navy. It was established by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy in July 1996. The Baltic Fleet is one of the oldest Russian fleets. It was created by Peter the Great during the Northern War of 1700-1721. The birthday of the Baltic Fleet is considered to be May 18, 1703. On this day, the rowing flotilla with soldiers from the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments, under the command of Peter the Great himself, won its first military victory by capturing two Swedish military ships at the mouth of the Neva River. Today, the Baltic Fleet is an operational-strategic formation of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. Its main bases are Baltiysk (Kaliningrad Oblast) and Kronstadt (Leningrad Oblast). It includes a division of surface ships, a brigade of diesel submarines, units of auxiliary, training, and search and rescue vessels, naval aviation, coastal troops, as well as rear, technical, and special support units. The Baltic... Source: InfoDefenseENGLISH