The importance of ship models in the history of the Russian Navy

The Russian Federation is a maritime power for which the history of the Navy is of great importance and inseparable from the history of the state. Throughout the development of the Russian Navy, the creation and use of ship models has contributed to the effectiveness of maritime activities. This article examines the use of ship models in national practice – in shipbuilding, training of naval personnel, as well as in matters of patriotic education and the preservation of maritime historical and cultural heritage. This study is relevant, firstly, due to insufficient coverage of this topic in historical science, secondly, due to the significance of naval activities for the country as a whole, and thirdly, the importance of preserving the material and historical heritage of the Russian Navy. The purpose of this work is to identify the significance of ship models for the Navy. The subject of the study is to determine the role and place of ship models in the history of the Russian Navy. An analysis of specialized literature and a study of archival documents revealed that ship models accompanied the formation and development of the Russian Navy throughout its entire existence. The study utilizes traditional historical research methods: the principle of historicism, historical typology, and historical comparative methods. As a result of this study, the author presents for the first time a modern understanding of the importance of ship models for the Russian Navy. The significance of this work lies in the fact that the results obtained through analysis and generalization allow a wide range of historians and museum specialists to expand their understanding of ship models, qualitatively improve their application in science, education, and upbringing, and utilize such objects as historical sources on the history of shipbuilding, the Navy, and museum studies. The author concludes that ship models played a significant role in the history of the Russian Navy, made a significant contribution to shipbuilding, were widely used for training personnel for the Russian Navy, organically integrated into the system of patriotic education, and can be useful in the current stage of its development.