The Imperial Russian Navy (Russian: Российский императорский флот) was the navy of the Russian Empire, existing from 1696 until the February Revolution of 1917;it grew out of a smaller force that existed prior to Peter the Great's founding the regular Russian Navy during the Second Azov campaign. It was expanded in the second half of the 18th century and by the early part of the 19th century had reached its peak strength, only behind the British and French fleets in terms of size. The navy then went into a period of decline due to Russia's slow technical and economic development in the first half of the 19th century but it underwent a revival in the latter part of the century during the reign of Tsar Nicholas II until most of its Pacific Fleet was destroyed in the disastrous Russo-Japanes