This edition is the first lifetime edition of the author, which fully describes the history of the development of the Russian fleet and shipbuilding, in combination with a brief summary of the history of the fleet in general. The author conducts a brief excursion into the history of the fleet, starting from the first ships of the ancient Slavs and Varangians and the development of the fleet of such leading naval powers of the XV-XVII centuries as Portugal, Spain, England.