Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy (Russian: Военно-морской флот СССР (ВМФ), tr. Voyenno-morskoy flot SSSR (VMF), lit. Military Maritime Fleet of the USSR) was the naval warfare uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. It was usually called the Red Fleet (Russian: Красный флот, tr. Krasnyy flot).
The Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning if a war were to every start with the opposing superpower, the United States, during the Cold War period between the two countries.[2] The Soviet Navy played a large role during the Cold War (1945-1991). It confronted the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in Western Europe and helped to keep the Soviet sphere of influence in eastern Europe.[3]
Fleets
The Soviet Navy was divided into four major fleets: the Northern, Pacific, Black Sea, and Baltic Fleets. It also had a smaller force, the Caspian Flotilla, which worked in the Caspian Sea and was followed by a larger fleet, the 5th Squadron, in the Middle East. The Soviet Navy included Naval Aviation, Naval Infantry, and the Coastal Artillery.
Disestablishment
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian Federation took the largest part of the Soviet Navy and turned it into the Russian Navy. The rest of the Soviet Navy were given to the other post-Soviet states.
Inventory
In 1990, the Soviet Navy had:[4]
- 9 auxiliary submarines
- 30 cruisers:
- 45 destroyers:
- 113 frigates:
- 124 corvettes:
- ≈425 patrol boats
Aurora was unofficially the first Soviet Navy vessel, after it mutinied against the provisional democratic Russian government of Alexander Kerensky in the second 1917 Russian Revolution in October/November.
Pacific Fleet marines of the Soviet Navy hoisting the Soviet naval ensign in Port Arthur, on 1 October 1945
Kiev, an aviation cruiser, and the rest of her class constituted an important component of the Soviet anti-submarine warfare system
The Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov deployed off the coast of Italy, as seen patrolling with USS Deyo in 1991
A Whiskey Twin Cylinder-class guided missile submarine, an important platform for launching anti-ship strikes
References
- ↑ "Soviet Military Power 1984 - Chapter III - Theater Forces". Federation of American Scientists. Archived from the original on 4 September 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
- ↑ Gottfried, Kurt; Bracken, Paul (2019). Reforging European Security: From Confrontation To Cooperation (google books). Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-30934-8.
- ↑ "Soviet Navy Ships - 1945-1990 - Cold War". GlobalSecurity.org. Archived from the original on 27 May 2014.
Bibliography
- Goldstein, Lyle; Zhukov, Yuri (2004). "A Tale of Two Fleets: A Russian Perspective on the 1973 Naval Standoff in the Mediterranean". Naval War College Review.
- Goldstein, Lyle; John Hattendorf; Zhukov, Yuri. (2005) "The Cold War at Sea: An International Appraisal". Journal of Strategic Studies. ISSN 0140-2390
- Gorshkov, Sergeĭ Georgievich. Red Star Rising at Sea (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1974)
- Mawdsley, Evan (1990). "The Fate of Stalin's Naval Program". Warship International. XXVII (4): 400–405. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Nilsen, Thomas; Kudrik, Igor; Nikitin, Aleksandr (1996). Report 2: 1996: The Russian Northern Fleet. Oslo/St. Petersburg: Bellona Foundation. ISBN 82-993138-5-6. Chapter 8, "Nuclear submarine accidents".
- Oberg, James (1988). Uncovering Soviet Disasters. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-56095-7.
- Rohwer, Jürgen, and Mikhail S. Monakov, Stalin's Ocean-Going Fleet: Soviet Naval Strategy and Shipbuilding Programmes, 1935–1953 (Psychology Press, 2001)
- Sokolov, Alexei Nikolaevich (2010). ""Our Ambitious Plans": Soviet Shipbuilding Programs of the Post-war Decades". Warship International. XLVII (3): 191–256. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Sokolov, Alexei Nikolaevich (2012). ""Our Ambitious Plans": Soviet Shipbuilding Programs of the Post-war Decades, Part III: 1981–1990 and 1986–1995". Warship International. XLIX (3): 245–269. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Sontag, Sherry; Drew, Christopher; Drew, Annette Lawrence (1998). Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage. Harper. ISBN 0-06-103004-X.
Other websites
- Russian Navy
- Admiral Gorshkov and the Soviet Navy
- Soviet Submarines
- Red Fleet
- Flags & Streamers Archived 2022-06-23 at the Wayback Machine
- Warship Listing
- Russian Navy Weapons Archived 21 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- All Soviet Warships – Complete Ship List (English)
- All Soviet Submarines – Complete Ship List (English)
- Understanding Soviet naval developments.
- Learn about Soviet Navy Archived 2022-01-23 at the Wayback Machine