Everything about Soviet Navy totally explained
The
Soviet Navy (
Russian: Военно-морской флот СССР,
Voyenno-morskoy flot SSSR, literally "Naval military forces of the USSR") was the
navy arm of the
Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the
Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have been instrumental in any perceived
Warsaw Pact role in an all-out war with
NATO when it would have to stop the naval convoys bringing reinforcements over the Atlantic to the Western European theatre. Such a conflict never occurred, but the Soviet Navy still saw considerable action during the
Cold War.
The Soviet Navy was divided into several major fleets:
Northern Fleet, the
Pacific Ocean Fleet, the
Black Sea Fleet, and the
Baltic Fleet. The
Caspian Flotilla was a semi-independent formation administratively under the Black Sea Fleet command while the Soviet Indian Ocean Squadron drew its units from and was under the jurisdiction of the Pacific Ocean Fleet. Other components included the
Naval Aviation,
Naval Infantry (the Soviet equivalent of
marines) and
coastal artillery. The Soviet Navy was reformed into the
Russian Navy after the end of the Cold War in
1991.
History
Early history
The Soviet Navy was formed in
1917 out of the remnants of the
Imperial Russian Navy. Many vessels continued to serve after the
October Revolution, albeit under different names. In fact, the first ship of the Soviet Navy could be considered to be the rebellious
Imperial Russian
cruiser Aurora, whose crew joined the
Bolsheviks. A previous
Bolshevik uprising in the fleet had occurred in
1905 involving
Potemkin, an Imperial Russian
battleship.
The Soviet Navy, established as the "
Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet" (Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянский Красный флот,
Raboche-Krest'yansky Krasny Flot or RKKF) by 1918
Decree of the
Soviet government, existed in a less then service-ready state during the interwar years, possessing several hundred combat and combat support vessels, including
battleships, and several naval air squadrons. Many vessels were lost due to the Revolution, intervention, and 23 combat vessels due to mines. Despite this state of affairs, the
Baltic Fleet remained a large naval formation, and the
Black Sea Fleet also provided a basis for expansion. There also existed some 30 minor waterways combat flotillas. As the country's attentions were largely directed internally, the Navy didn't see much in the way of funding or training. A telling indicator of the perceived threat of the Navy was that the Soviets were not invited to participate in the
Washington Naval Treaty, which served to limit the size and capabilities of the most powerful navies.
However, in the
1930s, as the industrialization of the Soviet Union proceeded, plans were made to expand the Soviet Navy into one of the most powerful in the world.
Approved by the Labour and Defence Council in 1926, a Naval Shipbuilding Program included plans to construct twelve submarines and the first six were to become known as the
Dekabrist class.
Since November 4, 1926, the
Technical Bureau No.4 under the leadership of
B.M. Malinin was managing the submarine construction works at the
Baltic Shipyard. The name
Technical Bureau No.4 was given to the former Submarine Department and is still a secret department. or partially completed German cruiser
Lützow). During the war, many of the vessels on the slips in
Leningrad and
Nikolayev were destroyed (mainly by aircraft and
mines), but the Soviet Navy also received captured Romanian destroyers and
lend-lease small crafts from the U.S., as well as old RN battleship
HMS Royal Sovereign named Arkhangelsk and US navy cruiser
Milwaukee named Murmansk given in exchange for the Soviet part of the captured Italian navy (after the war).
In the Baltic Sea, after Tallinn's capture, surface ships were blockaded in Leningrad -
Kronstadt by minefields, where they took part in
anti-aircraft defense of the city and bombardment of German positions. One example of Soviet resourcefulness was the battleship
Marat, an aging pre-WWI ship sunk at anchor in Kronstadt's harbor by German
Stukas in 1941. For the rest of the war, the non-submerged part of the ship remained in use as a grounded battery. Submarines, although suffering heavy losses due to German-Finnish antisubmarine actions, played a major role in the war at sea by disrupting
Axis navigation in the Baltic.
In the Black Sea, many ships were damaged by minefields and
Axis aviation, but they helped defend naval bases and supply them under siege, as well as later evacuating them. Heavy naval guns and courageous sailors helped defend naval cities long after they were besieged by
Axis armies.
In the Arctic Ocean, Soviet
Northern Fleet destroyers (Novik-class, Type 7, Type 7u) and smaller craft participated in the anti-aircraft and
anti-submarine defense of Allied
convoys conducting lend-lease cargo shipping.
In the Pacific Ocean, the Soviet Union wasn't at war with Japan before 1945, so some destroyers were transferred to the Northern Fleet.
From ruptured the hostilities,the
Morskaya Aviatsiya the Soviet Navy Air Service,was providing air support to naval or land operations was implied Soviet Navy. Such service was responsible to managed all shore-based Hydroplanes or long range maritime Flying Boats, catapult and vessel-based planes amongst the land-based aircraft in naval use.
As post war spoils, the Soviets received several Italian warships.
Cold War
In February 1946 the fleet assumed a new name of the Soviet Armed-Naval Fleet
After the war, the Soviets concluded that they needed to be able to compete with the West at all costs. They embarked upon a program to match the West. The Soviet shipbuilding program kept yards busy constructing
submarines based upon World War II German Kriegsmarine designs, and were launched with great frequency in the immediate post-war years. Afterwards, through a combination of indigenous research and technology obtained through espionage from
Nazi Germany and the Western nations, the Soviets gradually improved their submarine designs, though they initially lagged a generation behind NATO countries.
The Soviets quickly caught up with their Western counterparts. The Soviets were quick to equip their surface fleet with
missiles of various sorts. In fact, it became a hallmark of Soviet design to place gigantic missiles onto relatively small, and fast, missile boats. By contrast, in the West, such a move would never have been considered tactically feasible. Nevertheless the Soviet Navy also possessed several very large guided missile
cruisers with awesome firepower, such as those of the
Kirov class and the
Slava class cruisers. Some of their
submarines were considered superior to their American rivals.
Carriers and aviation
The Soviet Navy generally placed less importance on aircraft carriers than their American rivals, perhaps due to the vast geographical stretch and coastline of the USSR. However, it was felt that a carrier force of some form was needed.
In
1968 and
1969 the Soviet
Moskva class helicopter carriers appeared, followed by the first of four
aircraft carriers of the
Kiev class in
1973. Both of these classes were capable only of operating helicopters and
V/STOL aircraft (eg. the
Yak-38 'Forger'), and are thought to have been designed to operate primarily within range of land-based Soviet Naval Aviation aircraft.
In the 1970s the Soviets undertook
Project OREL with the stated purpose of creating a
supercarrier capable of competing against American equivalents. However, the project was canceled while still on the drawing board when strategic priorities shifted once more.
In the
1980s the Soviet Navy acquired its first true
aircraft carrier,
Tbilisi (subsequently renamed
Admiral Kuznetsov). A distinctive feature of Soviet carriers is their offensive missile armament (as well as a long-range AAW suite), reflecting an operational concept which placed less emphasis on escort vessels, compared with Western carrier operations.
In the late half of the
1980s, the Soviet Navy again began the construction of a supercarrier,
Ulyanovsk, which would have carried such aircraft as the
Sukhoi Su-33 'Flanker-D'. Though the vessel was approximately 40% complete, the end of the
Cold War and a major funding crunch ended the project. The incomplete
Ulyanovsk hulk was later sold for scrap.
In part to fill the role of aircraft carriers, the Soviet Navy deployed large numbers of
strategic bombers in a maritime role, as part of
Aviatsiya Voenno-Morskogo Flota (AV-MF, or Naval Aviation).
Strategic bombers such as the
Tupolev Tu-16 'Badger' and
Tu-22M 'Backfire' were deployed with high-speed
anti-shipping missiles. The primary role of these aircraft was the interception of
NATO supply
convoys traveling the
sea lines of communication between
Europe and
North America, and thus countering
Operation REFORGER.
Submarines
In some respects, including speed and reactor technology Soviet submarines were, and remain, some of the world's best. In addition to their relatively high speeds and deep operating depths they were difficult
ASW targets because of their multiple compartments, large reserve buoyancy, and especially their double-hull design.
Their primary shortcomings were insufficient noise dampening (American boats were quieter) and
sonar technology. It is in the area of acoustics as well as production methods the Soviets had sought the West's submarine-related technology. It is in acoustics that the long-active
Walker spy ring may have made a major contribution to Soviet knowledge..
Commanders-in-Chief of the Soviet Naval Forces
- Vasili Mikhailovich Altfater (October, 1918 — April, 1919)
- Yevgeny Andreyevich Berens (May, 1919 — February, 1920)
- Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Nemits (February, 1920 — December, 1921)
- Eduard Samoilovich Pantserzhansky (December, 1921 — December, 1924)
- Vyacheslav Ivanovich Zof (December, 1924 — August, 1926)
- Romuald Adamovich Muklevich (August, 1926 — July, 1931)
- Vladimir Mitrofanovich Orlov (July, 1931 — July, 1937)
- Mikhail Vladimirovich Viktorov (August, 1937 — January, 1938)
- Pyotr Andreyevich Smirnov (January — August, 1938)
- Mikhail Petrovich Frinovsky (September, 1938 — April, 1939)
- Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov (April, 1939 — January, 1947)
- Ivan Stepanovich Yumashev (January, 1947 — July, 1951)
- Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov - (July, 1951 — January, 1956), second term
- Sergey Georgyevich Gorshkov - (January, 1956 - December, 1985). Considered the officer most responsible for reforming the Soviet Navy
- Vladimir Nikolayevich Chernavin - (1985 - 1992)
Further Information
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