Admiral Vladimir Simonovich Sarnavskiy and Natural and Climatic Conditions for the Organization of a Commercial Port in Streletskaya Bay

The article discusses the natural and climatic conditions for the creation of a commercial port in the Streletskaya Bay of Sevastopol in the XIX - early XX centuries. Sevastopol was the center of commercial maritime trade with the Ottoman Empire and the Mediterranean countries. The presence of a large commercial cargo flow from sea trade required the city authorities to create acceptable conditions for the acceptance of foreign goods, therefore, the question of the formation of the Sevastopol port for civilian vessels was repeatedly raised. However, in this case, the interests of merchants repeatedly intersected with the wishes of the sailors, for whom Sevastopol was the naval base of the Black Sea Fleet. Moreover, the command of the Russian naval department constantly emphasized, first of all, the strategic importance of the naval base in the south of the Russian Empire to the detriment of the commercial interests of the merchants. Such a clash of the wishes of the Russian Maritime Ministry and large merchants engaged in international maritime trade had a very negative impact on the timing of the construction of a commercial port in the city of Sevastopol. One of the main problems in the construction of a commercial port in the city of Sevastopol was the future natural and climatic conditions. The location for a commercial port had to meet a number of requirements related to the relief, allowing to accept a significant number of merchant ships with commercial cargo. Another important factor was the protection of the commercial bay from bad weather and the possibility of rapid unloading of goods. All of the above circumstances, of course, were taken into account by the representative of the Black Sea Fleet Command, Rear Admiral V.S. Sarnavsky, when allocating Streletskaya Bay for the commercial merchant fleet.