Project 159 class, Strozhevoi Korabl (light escort) Frigates 8 General Purpose Frigates 1948-1970: 54 completed. One aspect of the Soviet Navy of the cold war, especially early phase in the 1950-60s was the emphasis on mass production, just as in interwar years. Famous examples of the time were the Project 613 Whiskey class submarines, and … Read more
Project 42 Sokol class, Strozhevoi Korabl (light escort) Frigates 8 General Purpose Frigates 1949-1980 The Kola class frigates were known under this name under NATO reports. These Soviet frigates built postwar received the designation or Storozhevoi Korabl (for “escort ship”) and official Project 42 and Sokol class after the lead ship post-1990 by historians. They … Read more
Project 613 (NATO “Whiskey”) conventional attack submarines 215 submarines (340 initially) 1951-58 After seeing the GUPPY, K (Barracuda) and Tang class, first generation conventional (postwar) USN attack submarines, it was logical to see what was their greater concern: The Soviet Navy’s fleet of attack submarines directly based on the German WW2 Type XXI. Known in … Read more
Project 56, 56A, 56M (1958-1988) 27 conventional, ASW and missile destroyers The Kotlin (project 56) are the first “true” post-war soviet navy destroyers, if we consider the Skoriy a continuation of the prewar Ognevoi design. The Kotlin derived from Neutrashimyy (or Tallinn, project 41-1951) with an improved flush-deck hull, born from a 1951 specification based … Read more
Project 1134B Berkut ASW Cruisers 7 ASW cruisers: Nikolayev, Ochakov, Kerch, Azov, Petropavlovsk, Tachkent, Vladivostok The Kara class missile cruisers were seven rather versatile ships (1969-76), destined to succeed the Kresta I and Kresta II. They had a tactical anti-ship capability with SSN-14 conventional or nuclear missiles, good short range anti-aircraft capability with their two … Read more
Destroyer Neustrashimy (1952) In service 1955-74 Neustrashimy (“Dauntless”) was an attempt by the admiralty to replace the large-scale Skoriy class destroyers in the early 1950s by a larger, more capable ship, comparable to the new generation of 1950s USN “feet escorts”, and with an equally large producton scale. This prototype however was considered too large … Read more
Project 1134 Berkut (1964) Admiral Zozulya, Vladivostok, Vitse-Admiral Drozd, Sevastopol. Though considerably larger, more effective and reliable than the previous Kynda class, the Kresta I carried half the number of antiship missiles, with just a quarter in reserve. SS-N-12 Sandbox (P-500 Bazalt) protracted development meant they went into service with the obsolete SS-N-3 instead, but … Read more
Project 615 – NATO “Quebec” 30 submarines (1950-54) Preserved M-296 These thirty conventional attack submarines called internally project 615, were the smallest Soviet models ever deployed during the cold war. They proceeded from the idea of a cheap, mass-produced coastal submarine to ensure close defense of Soviet harbours and trade lines. They were also the … Read more
Cold War Soviet Submarines circa 1,450 submarines 1950-90 Introduction The Soviet silent service in the cold war: Like in the 1930s, Submarines made the bedrock of a navy that saw itself at first still efensive, but grew in global ambition until the 1980s when the surface fleet capability reached its zenith. The USSR had the … Read more
Project 68 Chapayev class cruisers (1941) 5 cruisers (1941): Chapayev, Zheleznyakov, Kuybyshev, Chkalov, Frunze The Chapayev class cruisers were a continuation of Soviet cruiser design of the 1930s. Although USSR was not a signatory of the Washington treaty in 1921, the naval staff was well aware of the developments of the time, in the West … Read more
