Grishin M.G.
Within the framework of the essay the main periods of the National Hydrographic Black Sea Service development are presented. Pre-revolutionary (1895–1917) period and Soviet pre-war one (1917–1940) of the hydrography development are shown. The role of the Black Sea Oceanographic Expedition (1923–1935) and the Azov-Black Sea scientific-commercial expedition (1922–1928) in the history of the Black Sea research is described. Relationship of the hydrography and the Black Sea hydrophysical station development is presented. The results of hydrographic research till 1940 are shown briefly. For the first time, the Black Sea Oceanographic Expedition gathered a detailed material on the conditions of the sea water existence, including the hydrophysical ones. One of the most important results of the Azov-Black Sea scientific-commercial expedition, which still retain scientific importance, was the position on the system of circular currents in the western and eastern parts of the Black Sea – so-called Knipovich glasses. The general conclusion is the fact that hydrographic studies made a significant contribution to the initial study of the hydrophysical fields of the Black Sea, the same studies have served as the basis for the development of oceanography and its new branches, such as marine physics.
