Abstract
The Russian Imperial Navy has never been thought highly of, and this is especially true of the fleet of Nicholas II. This fleet has been maligned for its poor performance at Tsushima and its revolutionary activity that overthrew the Tsar and established Lenin's rule. It has been assumed that its ships were terrible, its technology was bad, and its officers were cowards or simply incompetent. However, these are mere myths. The following will address these incorrect assumptions by identifying the roots of the myths in the legacies of Tsushima and of the Bolshevik Revolution. The assumptions will then be corrected by demonstrating the technical strengths of the ships and the tactical creativity and visionary leadership of its officers. The myth of the Bolshevik sailor will also be disproved, for while the sailors were revolutionary, they were not Bolsheviks. The following will utilize memoirs and documents from the period as well newly published works to disprove the myths and correct the false assumptions.