Russian Hydrographic Service
| Гидрографическая служба России | |
Flag of hydrographic vessels of the Russian Navy (since 2001) | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | November 1777 |
| Jurisdiction | Russian Federation |
| Headquarters | St. Petersburg |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent agency | Ministry of Defence |
| Child agency |
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The Russian Hydrographic Service (Russian: Гидрографическая служба России, Gidrograficheskaya sluzhba Rossii), officially the Department of Navigation and Oceanography of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, is the hydrographic office of Russia responsible to for operating lighthouses, facilitating navigation, performing hydrographic surveys and publishing nautical charts. It is formally a department of the Ministry of Defence and a unit of the Russian Navy. Its headquarters are located in Saint Petersburg.
The Hydrographic Service was established in 1777 during the expansion of the Imperial Russian Navy but can trace its origins to the time of Tsar Peter the Great in the late 17th century. It has been historically attached to the Russian Navy, and the agents and supervisors of hydrographic works have been largely naval officers throughout its history. Its surveying has been indispensable due to vast size of Russia and its nature that it includes many different seas, long and indented coastlines and a great number of islands, as well as a complex system of waterways and lakes.
The Russia Hydrographic Service is a member of the International Hydrographic Organization.