Introduction. Vladimir D. Ovchinnikov, author of the dissertation research on the topic “The personality of Admiral F.F. Ushakov and the influence of his activity on the construction and use of the Russian fleet" for the degree of Doctor of Historical Sciences in the specialty of National history, allows for artificiality, exaggerating the role of Admiral F.F. Ushakov in the construction of the Black Sea Fleet. Methods. Scientific analysis of archival documents, systematization of facts leads to conclusions about the role and importance of the flotation talent of Fedor F. Ushakov for the Russian Navy. According to the authors paper, V.D. Ovchinnikov relegates to the secondary plan the leadership of Russia and other persons of the hierarchical system that actually led and controlled the Black Sea Fleet. First of all, the Most High Prince G.A. Potemkin-Tavricheskogo and Black Sea Admiralty Board. The data of historical documents of the Russian State Archive of the Navy and the Russian National Library cited in