According to the Decree signed by the national leader Heydar Aliyev in 1996, August 5 is celebrated annually as Naval Forces Day in Azerbaijan.

The Navy of Azerbaijan was established during the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. Thus, after the British left Azerbaijan in August 1919, the Naval Forces of Azerbaijan started to form. Until then, British warships had taken on the task of defending the western coastline of the Caspian Sea. The ships of the Caspian Fleet were re-directed to Port-Petrovsk when Baku was liberated and returned only when the British arrived in Baku in November 1918.
 
There were only two Azerbaijani nationals among the high-ranking officers serving in "Ardahan" and "Astrabad" ships of the newly established Azerbaijani Fleet: Navy Captain Hasan Chilingar-zadeh and 1st Class Captain Gitanchizadeh. Since the Ministry of Defence did not have a navy department, the Caspian Fleet was under the charge of the Ministry of Transport.
 
In late 1919 a special navy department was established at the General Staff, consisting of 6 staff members. Overall, the Caspian Navy had two gunboats equipped with 75, 100 and 120 mm cannons, the “Ardahan” and the “Kars”; service and auxilliary vessels – the “Astrabad”, “Goytepe”, “Araz”, “Nargen”; a transport ship the “Oryol”; an armed steamer “Pushkin”, as well as a sufficient number of motor patrol boats.

With the view of training navy personnel, a Specialized Military Maritime Aviation School was instituted at the Baku Maritime Aviation School, and on October 14, 1919, a maritime aviation squadron was established.

In an effort to improve the technical support, a memorandum was submitted to the Paris Peace Conference requesting assistance in providing the navy with submarines, necessary quantities of munition and other needed support to the fleet, and an order was subsequently placed for 6 submarines, a variety of war-boats, and naval artillery equipment. Due to the collapse of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1920, it became impossible to form a strong navy.

After regaining independence, the Parliament passed the Law “On the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan” on October 9, 1991, which established a legal basis for developing the Navy as part of the Armed Forces. According to the agreement reached between the Caspian littoral states of Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, which restored independence from the former Soviet Union, Azerbaijan stood to inherit all of the Caspian Navy's bases located on its territory, and 25% of the warships.

On July 26, 1992, the tricolor national flag of independent Azerbaijan was hoisted on the guard ship "Bakili" for the first time, heralding Azerbaijan's first step in forming its own Navy. Initially, the Navy included five divisions and ground troops equipped with various types of vessels. The observation posts and lighthouses located in the Caspian Sea basin started to function.

A Marine Corps Regiment was formed from the personnel of the naval and coastal units of the Fleet in a short period of time to take part in the battles for Karabakh. The regiment was dispatched to the front on April 19, 1994, to prevent the enemy's attack in the direction of Aghdam-Terter, and returned to the military unit on July 25, 1994, after doing their duties.
 
The Law “On the Naval Flags of the Republic of Azerbaijan” dated November 4, 1997, entailed the adoption of a regulation on flags hoisted on warships and auxiliary vessels. Since August 7, 2000, the Azerbaijani Navy flag has been flying on all ships.

Today, Azerbaijan Higher Naval Academy trains personnel for the Azerbaijani Navy. Since 1999, the school has been training military officers in accordance with the curriculum of NATO standards. With the aim of increasing the qualifications of seafaring officers, a 10-month course has been operating under the Azerbaijan Higher Naval Academy since 2003 on the specialties of ship navigation, weapons of surface ships, communication and radio technical means of surface ships, ship-diesel and diesel-electric power installations.
 
The Azerbaijani Navy actively participated in the Second Karabakh War. On the second day of the war, the first special forces group of the submarine attack and underwater defense special forces group of the Navy successfully completed its first combat mission in Goranboy district in the direction of the "Mubariz action station" named after the legendary hero of Azerbaijan Mubariz Ibrahimov without loss. Then the naval forces continued the Victory march in the directions of Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Khojavand, Gubadli and many liberated residential areas, as well as the military town and outpost of the enemy.
          
After the successful operations in Gubadli, the naval forces showed real examples of heroism and bravery in liberating settlements and many strategic heights of the Khojavand region. Our naval forces distinguished themselves in the battles for the liberation of Qizilgaya as well, where the enemy turned it into an impregnable fortress and many of our popular heroes were killed.

Under the leadership of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Ilham Aliyev, significant steps are being taken to further strengthen the material and technical base of the Azerbaijani Army and Naval Forces. As a result, the Azerbaijani Army and Navy, which are becoming stronger day by day, are ready to repel any attack on our country. 

Recommended literature:

1.  Əliyev, Nurulla Arif oğlu. 1918-1920-ci illərdə Azərbaycan hökumətinin fəaliyyətində hərbi-dəniz aspektləri /N. A. Əliyev; elmi red. Q. Hacıyev; elmi məsləhətçi Y. M. Mahmudov ; Azərb. Resp. Silahlı Qüvvələrin Hərbi Akademiyası. - Bakı: [s.n.], 2018. - 77 s.
2. Əliyev, Nurulla Arif oğlu. Azərbaycanda Hərbi-Dəniz qüvvələri ücün kadr hazırlığı (1918-1997): hərbi məktəblər ücün dərs vəsaiti /N. A. Əliyev; elmi red. M. N. Çobanov ; rəyçilər: M. Abbasov, R. Darabadi. - Bakı: Səda, 1999. - 140 s.
3. Əliyev, Nurulla Arif oğlu. Zabit kadr hazırlığında və Xəzər bölgəsinin hərbi-dəniz müdafiəsində Azərbaycanın rolu: (1939-1945): [monoqrafiya] /N. Əliyev; elmi red. Q. Hacıyev; hərbi məsl. H. Piriyev ; Azərb. Resp. Silahlı Qüvvələri Hərbi Akademiyası. - Bakı: [n. y.], 2022. - 143 s.
4. Azərbaycan Ali Hərbi Dənizçilik Məktəbi-Donanmanın xidmətində 70/N. Əliyev; elmi red. P.Q. Darabadi; rəyçi Ş. Ə. Sultanov [və b.]; Azərbaycan Ali Hərbi Dənizçilik Məktəbi. - Bakı: [s.n.], 2009. – 430 s.
5. Гритченко, Александр. Адмиралы Каспия/А. Гритченко, М. Г. Абасов ; ред. К. О. Гасанов ; [худож. А. А. Гапон]. - Баку: Военное издтельство, 1998. – 203 с.
6. Мусаев, Гидаят Мамед оглу. Забытый адмирал/Г. Мусаев. - Севастополь: Дельта, 2014. - 173 с.