Beginnings -- Peter the great: father of the Russian navy -- Successors to Peter -- Catherine the great: the Turkish wars -- Catherine the great: war with Sweden -- The Napoleonic wars -- The last years of the sailing navy -- Naval development -- Russo-Japanese war: life and death of the Pacific fleet -- Voyage to disaster -- The battle of Tsushima -- Between wars -- World war I: Baltic, Pacific, and Arctic -- World war I: Black sea -- Revolution, intervention, and civil war -- Rise of the red navy -- World war II: Black sea and Baltic operations -- World war II: Arctic, Pacific, and inland waters -- World war II: an evaluation -- The fight for sea power -- Strategic capabilities of Soviet sea power.