Peter the Great recognized the crucial role of the navy in Russia’s fight for access to seas. That is why, immediately after founding Saint Petersburg in 1703, along with the construction of fortifications and city buildings, he ordered to build a shipyard known as the Admiralty in the center of the new city. In February 1704, the first low-displacement sailing and rowing boats were laid down at the shipyard. Five years later, the construction of the first ship of the line began. After several years, the shipyard started building the largest sailing vessels. One of them was Russia’s first 90-gun three-deck ship named “Lesnoye” after the victory of Russian forces over the Swedish in the Battle of Lesnaya near Mogilev on September 28, 1708.

The ship was laid down on November 7, 1714 and was constructed by Peter the Great himself under the pseudonym Peter Mikhailov and his assistant Fedosey Sklyayev. “Lesnoye” was launched on July 29, 1718 and joined the Baltic Fleet. In June 1718, the tsar made a short record in his sea log, “On the 29th day, the ‘Lesnoy’ ship built by the Tsar was launched.” The day of the celebration was chosen for a reason — on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the name day of Peter the Great. The ship had a length of 49 m, a width of 14 m, and a depth of 6.5 m. The equipment included 90 weapons, and the crew consisted of 800 members.

The “Lesnoye” ship participated in the Great Northern War of 1700–1721. In May 1719, she sailed to the Kronstadt roadstead. On May 23, while laying off, the ship hit its own anchor with her bottom. Water started entering the cargo hold through the hole, the ship tilted to one side, and all the masts and bowsprit broke down. The ship was raised and moved to Saint Petersburg for repairs. In July 1720, “Lesnoye” sailed to Krasnaya Gorka for testing. At the end of May 1721, together with a detachment of vessels, “Lesnoye” sailed from Kronstadt to Reval. In June, together with other ships of the Baltic Fleet, “Lesnoye” accompanied the “Ingermanland” ship of the line under the flag of Peter the Great to the Rågervik bay. In July 1721, she maneuvered near Krasnaya Gorka. In 1723 and 1724, “Lesnoye” sailed in the Gulf of Finland. After that, she never put out to sea again. In the spring of 1728, the ship was armed once again but did not leave the harbor. In early October 1741, her board was battered by a wave during a storm, after which “Lesnoye” was disassembled. The commanders of “Lesnoye” during various periods included Martin Gossler, M. Knie, Vitus Jonassen Bering, and Robert Litel.