Skip to content

← Home

Kherson — Center of Maritime Education in Southern Ukraine

Kherson became one of the first centers of professional maritime education in Southern Ukraine: from government projects for naval institutions at the end of the 18th century, the city transitioned to training personnel for the commercial fleet, which materialized in the establishment of the Kherson School of Merchant Navigation in 1834 — the oldest civilian maritime institution in Ukraine.

Overview

The development of Kherson as the first russian Black Sea port and Admiralty shipyard created a need to train personnel for the Black Sea Fleet in close proximity to the place of its creation and basing. At the end of the 18th century, government projects to open naval educational institutions were partially implemented in Kherson, but with the transfer of the Black Sea Admiralty to Mykolaiv, the issue of naval military education in the city was closed. Instead, training specialists for the commercial fleet and civilian shipbuilding became acutely important — from the time of its founding, Kherson became a significant center of domestic and foreign trade.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Government projects for naval institutions (late 18th century): projects to open educational institutions for the fleet were partially implemented in Kherson, but after the transfer of the Black Sea Admiralty to Mykolaiv, they were closed.
  • Kherson Merchant Shipyard (from 1806): from 1798 to 1822, 358 vessels were built at the city's civilian shipyards for russian and foreign clients; seamanship was learned by local personnel in practice — young men served as sailors on merchant ships and took exams for the rank of skipper, navigator, or boatswain.
  • Kherson School of Merchant Navigation: on February 7, 1834, Emperor Nicholas I signed the "Regulations on the Kherson School of Merchant Navigation," and on October 1, 1834, the grand opening of the institution took place; three buildings of the former travel palace of Catherine II on the territory of the old Admiralty (built in 1787) were allocated for the school.
  • Educational process: duration of study — 4 years; cadets studied navigation, pilotage, nautical astronomy, commercial geography, naval architecture, as well as general sciences and foreign languages. Graduates received the titles of navigators, assistant navigators, shipbuilders, and assistant shipbuilders; after 4 years of ship practice with a mandatory 24-month sea time, navigators took exams for the rank of skipper.
  • Territorial coverage: the school trained personnel for the commercial fleet of the entire Black Sea region; young men from Kherson, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kerch, Yevpatoria, Feodosia, Izmail, and other cities were admitted on a competitive basis.
  • Summary and continuity: by 1867, the school had trained nearly 200 free navigators who served the russian merchant fleet as captains of sailing and steam vessels; today it is the Kherson State Maritime Academy — the oldest civilian maritime educational institution in Ukraine.
  • Kherson – Center of Maritime Education in Southern Ukraine — main source on the history of maritime education in Kherson and the Kherson School of Merchant Navigation (1834).
  • Kherson — the city that became the center of maritime education in Southern Ukraine.
  • Black Sea Fleet — the fleet whose demand for personnel prompted the development of maritime education in Kherson.
  • Kherson Admiralty — the Kherson Admiralty and the maritime school developed in the same city as centers of maritime affairs.