Revolutionary Naval Committee

Revolutionary Naval Committee 

formed on V. I Lenin’s initiative on Oct. 26 (Nov. 8), 1917, in Petrograd at the conference of the delegates of the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies from the fleets and flotillas.

The Revolutionary Naval Committee (RNC) was set up to mobilize the forces of the navy for the defense of the gains of the Great October Revolution and to reorganize the command of the navy. It was subordinate to the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee. The first people to be elected to the RNC were sailors who were delegates to the Second Congress of Soviets: I. I. Vakhrameev (chairman), A. G. Zhelezniakov, V. P. Evdokimov, V. S. Miasnikov, N. M. Neverovskii, N. A. Khovrin, D. N. Marulin, T. M. Ryzhkov, A. P. Popov, and V. I. Penkaitis. Seven of them were Bolsheviks. The working machinery of the RNC was com-posed of 16 Bolshevik-leaning members of the Tsentroflot (Central Soviet for the Navy and 45 sailors assigned by the Tsentrobalt (Central Committee of the Baltic Fleet) who were loyal to the cause of the revolution. After disbanding Tsentroflot, which had taken a position hostile to the socialist revolution, on October 27 (November 9), the RNC became the leading body of the revolutionary sailors. On November 5 (18) the RNC was reorganized. The committee was headed by the Collegium of Ten, which had the deciding vote; the other members, who had a consultative vote, were distributed among the various sections (military, technical control, administrative, investigative, editorial, personnel, and economic). The work of each section was managed by a member of the collegium. The RNC formed agitators’ detachments and groups and sent them to different regions of the country, and it waged a struggle against the counter-revolutionary underground and sabotage. The RNC prepared and organized the All-Russian Congress of the Navy (November 18-25 [December 1-8]). By the decision of this congress, a new administrative body for the navy was set up, the Naval Section of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee; the RNC, having fulfilled its tasks, was dissolved on Nov. 26 (Dec. 9), 1917.

REFERENCES

Lenin, V. I. “Rech’ na pervom Vserossiiskom s”ezde Voennogo flota 22 noiabria (5 dekabria) 1917 g.” Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed., vol. 35.
Vakhrameev, I. I. Vo imia revoliutsii: Vospominaniia. Moscow, 1957.
Khesin, S. S. Matrosy revoliutsii. Moscow, 1958.
Baltiiskie moriaki v bor’be za vlast’ Sovetov (noiabr’ 1917-dekabr’ 1918): Dokumenty i materialy. Leningrad, 1968.

S. S. KHESIN