page_title: Soviet Navy
section_title: World War II: The Great Patriotic War (1941–1945)
hierarchical_section_title: Soviet Navy / World War II: The Great Patriotic War (1941–1945)
caption_attribution_description: English: “Hoisting the banner in Port-Artur. WWII (1941-1945)”. Pacific Fleet marines are hoisting the banner in Port-Artur. WWII (1941-1945). Photo made on October 1, 1945. Русский: «Водружение флага над Порт-Артуром. Великая Отечественная война 1941-1945 гг». Моряки-десантники Тихоокеанского флота водружают флаг над Порт-Артуром. Великая Отечественная война 1941-1945 годов. Снимок сделан 1 октября 1945 года. Китай, Порт-Артур
context_page_description: The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy was a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with the opposing superpower, the United States, during the cold war period between the two countries. The influence of the Soviet Navy played a large role in the events involving the Cold War, as the majority of conflicts centered with the American-led alliance in the Western Europe or power projection to maintain its sphere of influence in Eastern Europe.
  The Soviet Navy's organizational structure was divided into four major fleets: the Northern, Pacific, Black Sea, and Baltic Fleets, which were under the separate command was the Leningrad Naval Base. In addition, Soviet Navy had a smaller fleet, Caspian Flotilla, operated in the Caspian Sea and followed by a larger fleet, 5th Squadron, in the Middle East. The Soviet Navy included the Naval Aviation, Naval Infantry, and the Coastal Artillery.
context_section_description: Building a Soviet fleet was a national priority, but many senior officers were killed in Stalinist purges in the late 1930s. The naval share of the national armaments budget fell from 11.5% in 1941 to 6.6% in 1944.
  When Nazi Germany invaded in June 1941 and initially captured millions of soldiers, many sailors and naval guns were detached to reinforce the Red Army; these reassigned naval forces had especially significant roles on land in the battles for Odessa, Sevastopol, Stalingrad, Novorossiysk, Tuapse, and Leningrad. The Baltic fleet was blockaded in Leningrad and Kronstadt by minefields, but the submarines escaped. The surface fleet fought with the anti-aircraft defence of the city and bombarded German positions.
  The U.S. and Britain through the Lend Lease program gave the USSR several of their ships with a total displacement of 810,000 tons.
  The composition of the Soviet fleets in 1941 included:
  3 battleships,
  7 cruisers (including 4 modern Kirov-class heavy cruisers),
  59 destroyers (including 46 modern Gnevny-class and Soobrazitelny-class destroyers),
  218 submarines,
  269 torpedo boats,
  22 patrol vessels,
  88 minesweepers,
  77 submarine-chasers,
  and a range of other smaller vessels.
  In various stages of completion were another 219 vessels including 3 battleships, 2 heavy and 7 light cruisers, 45 destroyers, and 91 submarines.
  Included in the totals above are some pre-World War I ships (Novik-class destroyers, some of the cruisers, and all the battleships), some modern ships built in the USSR and Europe (like the Italian-built destroyer Tashkent and the 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 received captured Romanian destroyers and Lend-Lease small craft from the U.S., as well as the old Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Sovereign (renamed Arkhangelsk) and the United States Navy cruiser USS Milwaukee (renamed Murmansk) in exchange for the Soviet part of the captured Italian navy.
  In the Baltic Sea, after Tallinn's capture, surface ships were blockaded in Leningrad and Kronstadt by minefields, where they participated with the anti-aircraft defense of the city and bombarded German positions. One example of Soviet resourcefulness was the battleship Marat, an aging pre-World War I 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 great losses due to German and Finnish anti-submarine actions, had a major role in the war at sea by disrupting Axis navigation in the Baltic Sea.
  In the Black Sea, many ships were damaged by minefields and Axis aviation, but they helped defend naval bases and supply them while besieged, as well as later evacuating them. Heavy naval guns and courageous sailors helped defend port cities during long sieges by Axis armies. In the Arctic Ocean, Soviet Northern Fleet destroyers (Novik-class, Type 7, and Type 7U) and smaller craft participated with the anti-aircraft and anti-submarine defense of Allied convoys conducting Lend-Lease cargo shipping. In the Pacific Ocean, the Soviet Union was not at war with Japan before 1945, so some destroyers were transferred to the Northern Fleet.
  From the beginning of hostilities, Soviet Naval Aviation provided air support to naval and land operations involving the Soviet Navy. This service was responsible for the operation of shore-based floatplanes, long-range flying boats, catapult-launched and vessel-based planes, and land-based aircraft designated for naval use.
  As post-war spoils, the Soviets received several Italian and Japanese warships and much German naval engineering and architectural documentation.
caption: Pacific Fleet marines of the Soviet Navy hoisting the Soviet naval ensign in Port Arthur, on October 1, 1945
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