I’ve had a long-term interest in the Soviet Navy, and when the first volume of this three-part series was published, I was determined to buy copies ... and I have finally managed to buy the first two volumes!
The first volume covers the major combatants (battleships, cruisers, destroyer leaders, fleet torpedo boats, submarines, monitors, gunboats, armoured motor gunboats, armed boats/rocket boats, and motor torpedo boats) as well as chapters that deal with:
- Ship types and classifications
- The Fleets and Flotillas
- Shipyards and constructors
- The warship building programmes 1922-1945
- Mobilisation of civilian tonnage
- Quality of Soviet warship
- Performance
- The composition of the Soviet Navy 1939-1945
The second volume covers escorts and smaller fighting ships. These include:
- Escort ships
- Large submarine hunters
- Small submarine hunters
- Patrol boats
- Floating artillery batteries
- AA defence ships
- Minelayers
- Netlayers
- Minesweepers
- Minesweeping boats
- Landing vessels and craft
Whilst quite a few of the ships covered in the books are reasonably well known, some of the smaller fighting ships (and especially those that have been extemporised from merchant ships) are often rather quirky. For example, there are several paddle wheel gunboats and a class of gunboats that were converted from German-built dredgers.
The third volume will be published in July, and I have already pre-ordered a copy.
WARSHIPS OF THE SOVIET FLEETS 1939–1945: VOLUME I: MAJOR COMBATANTS was written by Przemyslaw Budzbon, Marek Twardowski, and Jan Radziemski, and published by Seaforth Publishing in 2022 (ISBN 978 1 5267 5193 5)
WARSHIPS OF THE SOVIET FLEETS, 1939-1945: VOLUME II: ESCORTS AND SMALLER FIGHTING SHIPS was written by Przemyslaw Budzbon, Marek Twardowski, and Jan Radziemski, and published by Seaforth Publishing in 2022 (ISBN 978 1 3990 2277 4)
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Rather an unusual topic, Bob. One curiosity I find: all three authors seem to be Polish. Not a trio one might expect putting together this subject! Seems as though that during WW2 there was more to the Soviet Navy and its doings than one generally supposes.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteThe Soviet Navy was the only part of the Russian armed forces to actually be on alert and ready when Operation Barbarossa started.
It never received the sort of financial resources in the various five-year plans that were given to the army and airforce but after a slow start, it did manage to renovate the more modern ships that it had inherited from the Tsarist Navy and - with Italian assistance - it had begun to build more modern cruisers and destroyers. It also built up a substantial force of submarines (thanks to the salvaging of a British submarine - L55 - that had sunk in the Baltic during the RCW) and motor torpedo boats that were similar in design the the Royal Navy’s Coastal Motor Boat.
In the Baltic and Black Seas the Soviet Navy undertook numerous amphibious operations, and ships and their crews assisted in the defence of Leningrad and Sevastopol.
Towards the end of the war, the Soviet Navy attempted to stop German troops and civilians being evacuated ahead of the Russian advance along the Baltic coast, and did manage to sink the Wilhelm Gustloff, causing the biggest ever loss of life of sea from the sinking of a single ship.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteOn Russia: Way back prior to 1900 our New South Wales Colonial Authorities thought that an invasion by Russia of the Colony was immanent which prompted the building of headland forts and other military developments. Back in 1986 I run a game in 1/72nd- The battle of Warrilla NSW (1984) featuring ESCI Figures, townships and a gunboat. Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteI knew about the 'war scare' but had not realised quite how much of an impact it had had. The wargame sounds as if it was rather interesting and something a bit different.
All the best,
Bob
Very interesting .. I just ordered a bundle of Navwar 1/3000 Soviets as it happens
ReplyDeleteGeordie and Exile FoG,
DeleteThe exploits and ships of the Soviet Navy have tended to be disregarded by many western historians, mainly because they relied on German sources. These Polish historians seem to have much better access to the Russian archives, and the balance is now being redressed somewhat.
All the best,
Bob