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Kherson

Kherson is a city on the Dnieper, founded on 18 June 1778, which is rightly called the cradle of the Black Sea Fleet. It was here, at the Kherson shipyard, that the fleet's first ships of the line were built at the end of the 18th century.

Overview

The mighty ramparts of the Kherson fortress, reinforced with bastions and ravelins and armed with 220 guns, reached right to the bank of the Dnieper and reliably protected the citadel — the Khersonske Admiralteystvo. As early as 1779, docks for building large ships of the line were erected at the shipyard, and on the slips the hulls of fast and maneuverable frigates and other warships were assembled.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Founding: 18 June 1778.
  • Kherson Fortress: ramparts, bastions and ravelins, artillery with 220 guns; protected the admiralty.
  • Scale of shipbuilding (1780s–1790s): on 5 slips, vessels armed with 66 to 110 guns were built.
  • Shipyard output (1783–1827): about 200 vessels were built — 33 ships of the line, 16 frigates, a bomb vessel, galleys, yachts, boats, transport vessels, floating batteries.
  • Shipbuilders: a significant contribution to the creation of the fleet was made by Semen Afanasiev, Mykhailo Surovtsev and Oleksandr Katasonov; the first Kherson shipbuilders were thousands of workers, sailors and soldiers.
  • Connection with the fleet: from Kherson, the ships "Slava Yekateriny" and "Svyatyi Pavel" (under the command of Fedir Ushakov) set course for the new Black Sea harbor — Sevastopol, which became the main base of the Black Sea Fleet.

Controversies and Open Questions

The section is not filled in — the available source contains no contradictory information.