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).

Soviet Navy
Военно-морской флот СССР
Naval ensign of the Soviet Union
Founded	1918 (1918)
Disbanded	14 February 1992 (1992-02-14)
Country	Russian SFSR (1918–1922) Soviet Union (1922–1991) CIS (1991–1992)
Allegiance	Communist Party of the Soviet Union (until 1990) President of the Soviet Union (1990–1991) Commonwealth of Independent States (1991–1992)
Type	Navy
Size	467,000 personnel (1984) 1,057 ships (1990) 1,172 aircraft (1990) 5 aircraft carriers (1990) 2 helicopter carriers (1990) 3 battlecruisers 30 cruisers 45 destroyers 113 frigates 124 corvettes 63 ballistic missile submarines 72 cruise missile submarine 68 nuclear attack submarine 63 conventional attack submarine 9 auxiliary submarines 35 amphibious warfare ships 425 patrol boats
Part of	Soviet Armed Forces
Nickname(s)	Red Fleet
Engagements	Russian Revolution Russian Civil War Polish–Soviet War Soviet–Japanese border conflicts Invasion of Poland Winter War (Finland) World War II (Great Patriotic War) Soviet invasion of Manchuria Vietnam War 1966 Soviet submarine global circumnavigation Cold War
Commanders
Notable commanders	Fleet Admiral Sergey Gorshkov Fleet Admiral Nikolay Kuznetsov Vice Admiral Aleksandr Nemits Vice Admiral Yevgeny Berens Fleet Admiral Vasili Altfater Admiral Ivan Yumashev
Insignia
Naval jack
Guards Red Banner naval ensign

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. 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.

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

The Typhoon-class submarine is the largest class of submarine ever built

In 1990, the Soviet Navy had:

• 63 ballistic missile submarines:

6 Project 941 (Typhoon-class) submarines

40 Project 667B (Delta-class) submarines

12 Project 667A (Yankee-class) submarines

5 Project 658 (Hotel-class) submarines

• 72 cruise missile submarines:

6 Oscar-class submarines

6 Yankee Notch submarines

14 Charlie-class submarines

30 Echo-class submarines

16 Juliett-class submarines

• 68 nuclear attack submarines:

5 Akula-class submarines

2 Sierra-class submarines

6 Alfa-class submarines

46 Victor-class submarines

6 November-class submarines

3 Yankee SSN submarine

• 63 conventional attack submarines:

18 Kilo-class submarines

20 Tango-class submarines

25 Foxtrot-class submarines

• 9 auxiliary submarines

1 Beluga-class submarine

1 Lima-class submarine

2 India-class submarines

4 Bravo-class submarines

1 Losos-class submarine

• 7 aircraft carriers / helicopter carriers:

1 Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier

4 Kiev-class aircraft carriers

2 Moskva-class helicopter carriers

• 3 battlecruisers:

Kirov-class battlecruiser is a class of nuclear-powered warship

3 Kirov-class battlecruisers

• 30 cruisers:

3 Slava-class cruisers

7 Kara-class cruisers

4 Kresta I-class cruisers

10 Kresta II-class cruisers

4 Kynda-class cruisers

2 Sverdlov-class cruisers

• 45 destroyers:

11 Sovremennyy-class destroyers

11 Udaloy-class destroyers

18 Kashin-class destroyers

3 Kanin-class destroyers

2 Kildin-class destroyers

• 113 frigates:

32 Krivak-class frigates

1 Koni-class frigates

18 Mirka-class frigates

31 Petya-class frigates

31 Riga-class frigates

• 124 corvettes:

10 Parchim-class corvettes

36 Nanuchka-class corvettes

78 Grisha-class corvettes

• 42 amphibious warfare ships:

3 Ivan Rogov-class landing ships

19 Ropucha-class landing ships

14 Alligator-class landing ships

6 Polnocny-class landing ships

• ≈425 patrol boats

Soviet Navy Media

• 

  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.

• 

  USSR Navy hat

• 

  Pacific Fleet marines of the Soviet Navy hoisting the Soviet naval ensign in Port Arthur, on 1 October 1945

• 

  Soviet Navy enlisted personnel stand at attention (1982)

• 

  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

• 

  Overseas Facilities and Anchorages Used by Soviet Naval Forces, mid-1980s

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