Azerbaijan celebrates Navy Day today

Azerbaijan marks Navy Day on August 5.

The Navy in Azerbaijan began to take shape after the British forces left the country in August 1919, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

Until that time, the defence of the western shores of the Caspian Sea had been provided by British warships. The vessels of the Caspian Naval Fleet had been seized and taken to Port-Petrovsk, only to be returned following the arrival of the British in Baku in November 1918.

In the newly established Azerbaijani Navy, there were only two Azerbaijani high-ranking officers — Captain of Naval Service Hasan Chilingarzade, who served on the ship Ardahan, and Captain 1st Rank Gitanchizade, who served on the ship Astrabad. Since the Ministry of War lacked a dedicated naval department, the Caspian Naval Fleet fell under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport.

At the end of 1919, a special naval department with six staff positions was created under the General Staff. The Azerbaijani Caspian Naval Fleet included two gunboats armed with 75 mm, 100 mm, and 120 mm cannons — Ardahan and Kars — as well as service and auxiliary vessels Astrabad, Goytapa, Araz, Nargin, the transport ship Orel, the military steamer Pushkin, and a sufficient number of motorboats.

To train personnel for the navy, a Special Naval Aviation School was established on the basis of the Baku Naval Aviation School, and on October 14, 1919, a naval aviation unit was also created.

In an effort to improve technical capabilities, a memorandum submitted to the Paris Peace Conference included a request for assistance in equipping the fleet with submarines, a sufficient supply of ammunition, and other necessary resources. A formal request was made for the delivery of six submarines, various types of combat boats, and naval artillery systems. However, the fall of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1920 made it impossible to establish a strong naval force.

Following the restoration of independence, the Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan adopted the Law “On the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan” on October 9, 1991, which laid the legal foundation for the creation of the Navy as part of the Armed Forces.

According to an agreement between the newly independent former Soviet republics — Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan — as Caspian littoral states, Azerbaijan was granted control over all Caspian Naval Fleet bases located on its territory, as well as 25 per cent of the fleet's warships.

On July 26, 1992, the tricolour State Flag of independent Azerbaijan was raised for the first time on the patrol ship Bakili, marking the official beginning of the establishment of Azerbaijan’s own Naval Forces. In the initial phase, the Navy consisted of five divisions equipped with various types of ships, as well as ground-based units. Observation posts and lighthouses located within the Caspian basin also began to be restored.

To participate in the battles for Karabakh, a Marine Regiment was swiftly formed from both naval and land personnel of the Naval Forces. The regiment was deployed to the front on April 19, 1994, to prevent an enemy offensive in the Aghdam–Tartar direction. Upon successfully completing its combat mission, the regiment returned to its base on July 25, 1994.

According to a decree signed in 1996 by National Leader Heydar Aliyev, August 5 is officially celebrated each year as the Day of the Azerbaijani Navy.