Recently, at a press conference by Vladimir Putin, it was not a question, but a demand that brooked no negative answer. And it consisted in returning the right to wear daggers to veterans of the Navy. Why did such a seemingly trifle deserve attention from the President and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of Russia, and what is the joy of the indisputable decision “and the daggers must be returned!”.

stumbling block

Back in 2010, by the Decree of the President Russian Federation dated March 11, 2010 No. 293 "On military uniforms, insignia of servicemen and departmental insignia" the dagger was excluded from the list of elements of the uniform of officers and midshipmen of the Navy. And in 2013, by the Order of the Ministry of Defense "On approval of the Guidelines for accounting for weapons, military, special equipment and other material assets in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation" after graduation military service everyone must hand over a personalized dagger to the warehouse.

« So I served 36 years in the Navy and I don’t quite understand who needs my dagger with the coat of arms Soviet Union. If you like supreme commander make a decision to sea ​​daggers leave the officers, as it was in imperial Russia, and in the Soviet Union, and in our new Russian history, I think that thousands of naval officers will be grateful to you, and their children, sons, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, who will serve Russia on the oceans, in the fleets, will be grateful with them. Thank you”, - retired Captain 1st Rank Sergei Gorbachev addressed President Vladimir Putin at a press conference on behalf of all representatives of the Navy. And the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of Russia firmly decided: the daggers must be returned!

Fight and don't give up

Since the dagger is a nominal weapon and for a long time accompanies an officer, it is quite natural that, retiring "old sea ​​wolf' does not want to part with him at all. Chairman of the Club of sailors - submariners captain 1st rank in the reserve Igor Kurdin says that when leaving military service with the right to wear dress uniform, the most common reason for refusing to hand over weapons to the warehouse is their loss. In fact, retired officers simply hide their dagger in order to keep it for posterity.

However, there is a share of a completely ignoble risk in this: since the dagger does not fit into the certificate of a reserve officer and is a melee weapon, its owner automatically becomes a lawbreaker.

Those who did not want to part with the dagger in such a "dark" way wrote letters to the Ministry of Defense demanding that this item of dress uniform be excluded from the list of weapons handed over to the warehouse. Sometimes cases even went to court. However, as Igor Kurdin emphasizes, the representatives of Themis were rarely on the side of the servicemen and obliged them to return the lost property. And the retired officers themselves are far from always ready to burden themselves with long lawsuits. That is why it is so important to legislate, at the highest level, to approve the fact that the dagger is the subject of full dress and is not subject to delivery to the warehouse.

Through the centuries

It is worth emphasizing that the dagger is issued along with lieutenant shoulder straps at the end of the naval educational institution and accompanies the officer throughout his entire service, and sometimes until the very coffin board. In addition, the history of this weapon has more than one hundred years.

Daggers first appeared in the 16th century and were intended for boarding attacks. Under Emperor Peter I, a dagger was introduced in the Russian fleet, and in 1730, Empress Anna Ioannovna approved the Regulations on weapons and ammunition items, which abolished the wearing of a long sword by a number of military officials and replaced it with a dagger. During the 20th century, the dagger became part of the statutory form of land officers, aviators, as well as a number of civilian ranks. By that time, it had already lost its significance as a weapon, becoming an element of the dress uniform.

After October revolution In 1917, wearing a dagger was abolished, and only by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of September 12, 1940, the dagger was returned to the officers and midshipmen of the Navy.

On December 13, 1996, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed the federal law"On Weapons", according to which the standard officer's dagger fell under the definition of edged weapons, but its wearing was allowed only to servicemen with full dress or dismissed from military service with the right to wear military uniforms.

In 2013, a new Arms Accounting Manual was approved, according to which, upon dismissal from military service, it is necessary to hand over a dagger and other weapons to the warehouse of a military unit according to waybills. After the return of the dagger to the uniform in the fall of 2015, appeals from veteran organizations began to be addressed to the Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu with a request to remove the provision on the surrender of daggers from the leadership.

These requests were motivated not only by the fact that officers and midshipmen of the Navy, transferred to the reserve with the right to wear uniforms, were forced to wear uniforms without a dagger in violation of the rules, but also, according to the Charter of the internal service of the Russian Federation, during the ritual of burying officers and midshipmen of the fleet on the lid of the coffin crossed dagger and scabbard must be fixed. Thus, the annulment of the right of a military pensioner to keep a dagger at his place violated several points of the law at once.

/Tatyana Luzanova/

First officer's weapon appeared in our country for a long time.

Today there is no consensus regarding the origin of the dagger. Some officers argue that the boarding tactic appeared to better capture the ship in order to extract a trophy. Other military men consider it one of the varieties of the dagger.

The secret is revealed

Officer and naval daggers are a symbol of nobility and courage of a certain social status. Consider in more detail in the photo and video the varieties of a shortened version of the sword.

In sea battles, the goal of robbery dominated constantly. Much earlier today The dagger was considered the first dagger of British sailors. They stabbed them in the fights of the enemy.

Military sailors boarded captured ships, and considered them the property of the fleet. Sailors often had to move around the deck of the ship. The long blades of the combat officers constantly clung to any things in the hold narrow passages.

The symbol of courage, valor and honor is a dagger. Combat weapons must be in every man. Now as military weapons the dagger is not used, so a souvenir dagger bought here https://luxprezent.ru/category/kortiki/ will be a great gift for a man.

All about knives

Being a gentleman of fortune, order a dagger individually, taking into account even the smallest details. There are no strict standards for what exactly it should be. Sprinkle the scabbard with gems and other design elements.

The appearance of the dagger much earlier was a harsh practical necessity, and not the romance of sailing. Long sea adventures teemed with surprises and dangers. There was no point in wielding with fists; firearms and edged weapons were used.

Select several main types of daggers:

  • Daggers with a saber-shaped blade, sharpened on one side;
  • Outstretched sword;
  • Cruciform guard;
  • Combat weapon with a straight blade;
  • Etc.

People tried to protect themselves with weapons from pirates and other "sea robbers".

The shape of nautical daggers recently developed by designers is very different from previous models. So that the weapon does not slip out of the scabbard, there is a latch. The tapered diamond-shaped blade makes the product thin.

The handle, made by craftsmen from natural, high-quality material, is stylized as ivory. There are many other options as well.

The Russian dagger, which is the main parade weapon of all military branches, should be worn by almost all ranks, from ensigns to generals!

The Russian naval dagger was so beautiful and elegant in its form that the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, bypassing the crew of the newest Russian cruiser Varyag in 1902, was delighted with him and ordered to introduce a dagger for the officers of his "High Seas Fleet" according to a slightly modified Russian sample. In addition to the Germans, back in the 80s of the XIX century, the Japanese borrowed the Russian dagger, making it look like a small samurai sword.

Officer's dagger.

Dagger in the middle of the 19th century

Dagger in the middle of the 19th century, two-blade diamond-shaped blades became widespread, and with late XIX centuries - tetrahedral needle-type blades. The sizes of blades, especially in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries, varied greatly. Blade decorations could be different, often they were images related to the marine theme.

Over time, the length of the blade at the dagger has slightly decreased. The Russian naval dagger of the 1913 model had a 240 mm long blade and a metal handle. Somewhat later, the handle was changed, and the metal on it remained only in the form of a lower ring and a tip. On January 3, 1914, by order of the military department, daggers were assigned to officers of aviation, mine companies and automobile units. These were naval-style daggers, but not with a four-sided blade, but with a double-edged one.

Wearing daggers in the Russian Navy

The wearing of daggers in the Russian fleet with any form of clothing, except for the full dress uniform, the obligatory accessory of which was a naval saber and broadsword, was considered mandatory in some periods, sometimes it was required only when performing official duties. For example, for more than a hundred years in a row, until 1917, the descent of a naval officer from the ship to the shore obliged him to be at the dagger.

Service in the coastal institutions of the fleet - headquarters, educational institutions - also required naval officers serving there to always wear a dagger. On the ship, wearing a dagger was mandatory only for the chief of the watch. Since 1911, such a dagger was allowed to be worn with an everyday uniform (frock coat) by the ranks of port institutions; when visiting ports - to officials of the department of commercial ports and inspectors of merchant shipping of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. During normal official duties, the ranks of the main department of merchant shipping and ports were allowed to be unarmed.

Officer's dagger.

Dirk in the 19th century

In the 19th century, the dagger was even part of the uniform of Russian postmen. During the First World War, daggers were worn by members of the "Union of Cities" ("Sogor") and the "Joint Committee of Unions of Zemstvos and Cities" ("Zemgor") - all-Russian organizations liberal landlords and bourgeoisie, created in 1914-1915. on the initiative of the Cadet Party with the aim of helping the government in the First World War in the areas medical care, assistance to refugees, supplying the army, the work of small and handicraft industries.

Army aviation daggers

Army aviation daggers differed from marine handles in black. In August 1916, for all officers, except for cavalry and artillery, daggers were introduced instead of checkers, and in November of the same year, for military doctors.

Since March 1917, all officers and military officials began to wear daggers. In November 1917, the dagger was canceled and for the first time returned to the command staff of the RKKF until 1924, but two years later it was abolished again, and only 14 years later, in 1940, it was finally approved as a personal weapon of the command staff of the Navy.

Officer's dagger.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, officers of some army units have also worn daggers.

Later, daggers again became an accessory exclusively to naval officer uniforms. After the war 1941-1945. a new form of dagger was adopted - with a flat steel chrome-plated blade of a diamond-shaped section 215 mm long (the length of the entire dagger is 320 mm). On the right side of its handle there was a latch that prevents the blade from falling out of its sheath. The four-sided handle is made of ivory-look plastic.

The lower fitting, the head and the crosspiece of the handle are made of non-ferrous gilded metal. A five-pointed star was superimposed on the head of the handle, and an image of the coat of arms was applied on the side. The wooden scabbard was covered with black leather and varnished. The device of the scabbard (two clips and a tip) is made of non-ferrous gilded metal. An anchor is depicted on the upper clip on the right side, on the left - sailing ship. The upper and lower clips had rings for the harness. Harness and belt were made of gilded threads.

An oval clasp made of non-ferrous metal with an anchor was fastened to the belt. Buckles for adjusting the length of the belt were also made of non-ferrous metal and decorated with anchors. A belt with a harness was worn over the dress uniform so that the dagger was on the left side. Persons on duty and watch service (officers and midshipmen) wore a dagger over a blue tunic or overcoat.

now sea daggers

Now sea daggers are allowed to be worn only in full dress and on duty. And therefore, the wonderful expression of the officers of the imperial navy disappeared: “I felt out of sorts all day long,” which in land language meant: “I was out of my element.”

Traditions have been preserved to this day. At present, in Russia there are naval daggers and daggers of other branches of the armed forces, which differ only in emblems. Now admirals, generals and officers wear a dagger in a sheath on a belt naval forces, as well as midshipmen of extended service in dress uniform and during duty and watch service.

Officer's dagger.

Dagger as a personal weapon

A dagger, as a personal weapon, and lieutenant shoulder straps are solemnly presented to graduates of higher naval schools along with a diploma of graduation from a higher educational institution and the assignment of the first officer rank. So in Ufa, far from the seas, a solemn ceremony of initiation of students of the naval corps into cadets is held.

On the square, the boys, chasing a step in a military way, get out of order, kneel, and the officer touches their shoulder with a dagger. Newly minted cadets are given shoulder straps and a certificate. From that moment on, they belong to the glorious class of sailors.

The Fyodor Ushakov Baltic Naval Institute in Kaliningrad prepares for the graduation of officers of the Russian Navy every year. At the solemn formation, the head of the faculty presents lieutenant shoulder straps and the main item of parade uniform - naval daggers. In the evening, despite strict prohibitions, hiding the daggers in the sleeves of their white jackets, the now former cadets carry them to the restaurant, where, according to officer tradition, personal weapons are washed. IN last years it became customary to consecrate daggers in the church or to invite Orthodox priests for this ceremony.

Officer's dagger.

Dagger personalized melee weapons

A dagger, a nominal edged weapon - a sea shrine, a symbol of naval honor and pride - is handed over to honored guests as a sign of friendship and cooperation in matters when dignity, honor and spirituality are most valued. During the official visit of Chinese diplomats, the commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet, Admiral Mikhail Zakharenko, met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin and presented him with a dagger, a symbol of honor, on behalf of the Pacific sailors. Russian officer. This gesture symbolized the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Zlatoust masters of damask steel creation also did not ignore the dagger.

They created the famous wave dagger, released for the 300th anniversary Russian fleet. In its manufacture, 999.9 fine gold and silver were used, and 52 dark blue topazes, 68 small rubies, garnets and alexandrites were used to finish the scabbard and handle.

The dagger blade itself is painted with gold patterns. The daggers "Admiralsky" and "Generalsky" were made to match him in terms of the level of craftsmanship of decoration, but without precious stones. Artists D. Khomutsky, I. Shcherbina, M. Finaev and master A. Balakin can rightly be proud of these real works of art. Sometimes there are some questions related to the storage or transfer of a dagger to another person. What should a person who wants to take to another country and give an officer's dagger do? To do this, you need to contact the licensing department of the internal affairs bodies at the place of registration and get a certificate stating that you have the right to carry and store edged weapons, which is an officer's dagger. Its number must be indicated.

If the dagger is more than fifty years old, it is necessary to contact the territorial office for the preservation of cultural property and obtain confirmation that the said dagger can be taken out of the country. It is better not to hide it far away, because you will have to declare at customs that you are transporting edged weapons and present it for inspection. Its further transportation on board the aircraft is already regulated by the rules established by the airline.

Vladimir Putin signed a law on the right to wear daggers for life retired Navy officers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a federal law allowing veterans of the Russian Navy (Navy) to wear daggers for life as part of military uniforms. The document, adopted by the State Duma on March 15 and approved by the Federation Council on March 22, is published on the official portal of legal information.

An officer's dagger, like a firearm, is an essential attribute of military service, a special sign of military prowess, however, if in relation to firearms the issue was legally settled, then in relation to daggers, which belong to the category of edged weapons, the issue was not properly resolved by law. The law fills this legislative gap.

The law establishes that the heads of state paramilitary organizations receive the right to "transfer daggers for life storage and wearing with military uniform clothes" for retired officers who "do not have medical contraindications to possession of weapons." To obtain a dagger, you must submit an application, according to the accompanying documents to the law.

Citizens of the Russian Federation who have received daggers for lifelong storage and wearing with military uniforms are required to apply for registration of this weapon within two weeks from the date of receipt. The law also provides for the inheritance of daggers. The heirs are issued an indefinite permit to keep such weapons.

Dagger history

The dagger first appeared in the 16th century in the navy as a convenient weapon for boarding attacks. Under Emperor Peter I, it was introduced into the Russian fleet. In October 1730, Empress Anna Ioannovna approved the Regulations on Weapons and Ammunition, which abolished the wearing of a long sword by a number of military officials and replaced it with a dagger.

In 1803, the standard type of dagger for officers of the fleet and midshipmen was approved, weapons were established as an obligatory part of the uniform. During the 19th - early 20th centuries, the dagger became part of the statutory form of land officers, aviators, as well as civil officials - postmen, rangers, foresters. By that time, it had already lost its significance as a weapon, becoming an element of the dress uniform.

After the October Revolution of 1917, wearing a dagger was abolished. In 1924-1926, he was temporarily introduced as part of the uniform of the command staff of the fleet. It was finally returned by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars (SNK) of the USSR of September 12, 1940. Initially, it was introduced only for the Navy, but then became part of the dress uniform of other types and branches of the military. In 1944-1954. it was worn by employees of the prosecutor's office and the People's Commissariat (later - the Ministry) of Foreign Affairs. In 1955-1957. awarded to graduates of all military schools. In 1958, the wearing of a dagger was abolished for most branches of the military, with the exception of the Navy.

In the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, daggers are a personal weapon and an accessory to the dress uniform of officers and midshipmen of the Navy (from March 2010 to June 2015, the dagger was absent from the list of elements of their uniform).

Officers of other types and branches of the military wear daggers only in parades and on special instructions. As award weapons the dagger is also found in various law enforcement agencies.

Appearance

The standard type of army dagger was adopted after the end of the Great Patriotic War in 1945. They have a flat steel chrome-plated diamond-shaped blade 215 mm long (total length with scabbard - 340 mm). Blade blades are not sharpened. The handle is made of orange plastic "under the bone", has a safety latch to hold the scabbard. The scabbard is made of wood, covered with leather, has a brass tip and two brass clips with rings for wearing on a belt belt.

A modern dagger has a thin, faceted, diamond-shaped, double-edged, unsharpened blade, 215-240 mm long. Today it is a personal cold, worn with the full dress and full dress uniform of officers in navies, ground army units and the police of some states.

The short, unsharpened blade, intended primarily for stabbing, is controversial about the effectiveness of the dagger as a melee weapon. Why did the dagger, and not the more functional dagger, take root in the navy and become a symbol of the honor and courage of its owner? The heroes of the sea battles of the 17th century died in battle, but did not part with the dagger.

There are several versions of the origin of this blade. According to one of them, it was a weapon for the left hand paired with a rapier, or a heavier sword. According to another, it happened in the process of shortening the rapier, which is extremely inconvenient in the close hold battles that are inevitable during boarding. According to the third dirk is a kind of dagger.

One way or another, this glorious weapon began in the middle of the 16th century.

During the confrontation between the Spaniards and the Turks in the sea, the rapier, known among the Spanish nobility since the end of the 15th century as "espada" - a sword for dress, became widespread in the navy. The long (up to 1300 mm) thin blade of a military rapier gave a great advantage in battles with Ottoman pirates with their short crooked scimitars.

The civilian "espada" had many variations in execution: it could be either double-edged or with one-sided sharpening, or not sharpened at all, both piercing and cutting and exclusively piercing weapon. Received great popularity as a dueling weapon. As the art of fencing developed, it became shorter, lighter, and eventually gave way to a piercing-chopping sword. But that's a completely different story.

All in the same half of the 16th century, in the battles for sea routes between Spain and England, the latter received captured "espadas" into service. The subjects of Elizabeth 1 appreciated the trophy for the fact that the straight blade of the rapier ideally hit the enemy, passing through the joints of the armor of the Spanish armor.

But if the long-bladed weapon gave an undeniable advantage in battles in open space, then in the ship's premises, which did not differ in expanse, the long blade was only a hindrance. A knife or dagger, due to its short length, was not a serious weapon against the same saber or scimitar.

This is where our hero appears on the stage - a dagger!

The exact parameters of the first daggers are not known, their length ranged from 500 to 800 mm, and they called it either a hunting cleaver or a buccaneer dagger. There were both sharpened double-edged blades for butchering carcasses, and faceted blades, exclusively for stabbing. By the beginning of the 17th century, combining attacking and defensive properties, convenience and outstanding effectiveness in combat, daggers gained extraordinary popularity not only among the military, but also among civilians. The nobles preferred a short, light and elegant dagger to a heavy and long sword.

At first, the dagger was used by military officers and sailors, who had to move around the ship a lot, and the long blades of the sabers constantly clung to something in the narrow hold spaces. But by the second half of the 18th century, the commanding staff also armed themselves with them. The dirk became not just a weapon, but a symbol of honor and courage.

In the Russian Navy, the dagger first appeared during the time of Peter the Great, as an official naval weapon, an element of the dress uniform of officers.

The length and shape of the blade of the Russian dagger changed many times during the 17-19 centuries. There were two-edged diamond-shaped blades, and tetrahedral needle-shaped ones. Blade decoration was most often associated with a marine theme. The dagger blade of the 1913 model was 240 mm long, and in 1945 a diamond-shaped blade 215 mm long was adopted with a latch on the handle from falling out of the scabbard. In 1917, the wearing of a dagger was canceled, and only in 1940 was it re-approved as a personal weapon of the fleet command.

Now an admiral, officer, combined arms, army or navy dagger can be a wonderful gift for a person whose profession is somehow connected with the army or navy, for a historian or collector.