Imperial Russian Destroyers: The Fidonisy (or Kerch class) destroyer were 20 planned ships (8 completed) in 1915, caught by the Russian Civil War. They had been authorized as early as 1914, based on Novik for the Black Sea Fleet by the Naval Ministry after a strengthening of the Ottoman Navy and approved by the Tsar … Read more
Soviet Navy Series II (L-1 to L-25), Four groups 1930-41. The Series II, also known as the “Leninets” or “L” class were the second medium submersible design for the Soviet Navy after the Dekabrist or D class of the late 1920s. They were the first also mass built to an extent, as part of the … Read more
Russian Empire/Soviet Navy 1910-1941 From 1910 the “Novik class” was a reaction to the results of the Russo-Japanese war, which caused a great train of reforms in the Navy, generating a new generation of large fleet destroyers. The Novik was a trailblazer leapfrogging current destroyer designs, made for “active minelaying” and protect lines of communications … Read more
Soviet Navy Series I (D-1 to D-6): Dekabrist, Narodovolyets, Krasnovgardeyets, Spartakovets, Revolutsyoner, Yakobinets The Series I, also known as the “Dekabrist” class were the first submersibles designed and built for Soviet Navy after Revolution of 1917. They were authorized in the Soviet Naval Shipbuilding Program of 1926, influencved by Italians designs such as the Balilla, … Read more
Soviet Navy Project 602F: 17 Planned, 11 completed. 9 lost, 2 retired 1950. A.G.11-15, 21-26. Metallist, Trotskogo, Lunacharskogo, Marxist, Politrabotnik. For the start of 2026, exactly 110 years ago, a brand new lineage was born. We will epxlore the entire Soviet Submersible class tree from the AG class to the series XVI, so fourteen entries, … Read more
WWI Russian and civil war seaplane Carriers Interwar & WW2 Soviet Aircraft Carriers projects: 2 Conversions + Project 71, 72, 69A/B, 85 If Russia had to wait for decades (in fact the 1990s and Admiral kuznetsov), going full circle between Imperial, Soviet and Russian Federation eras, the country-continent was certainly not stranger to naval aviation, … Read more
A Long lineage and new standard: Novik (1911) Russian Empire/Soviet Navy 1910-1941 In destroyer history, there are a few landmarks most authors agrees upon. Let’s cite for example the Spanish Destructor in 1886, recoignized generally as the earliest torpedo boat destroyer, the British Daring class in 1893, the US Bainbridge class inaugurated their own lineages, … Read more
WW2 Soviet Cruisers Between prewar, interwar and cold war designs, the Soviet Union’s Navy (Sovietsky Flota) aligned about 32 cruisers, many after the 1917 being relics of the pf even before the war of 1877 or the Russo-Japanese war. Those built afterwards were either designed to take the place of the cruisers sunk and captured, … Read more
WW2 Soviet Submarine Hunters Development of sub-chasers: The WWI experience Submarine-chasers (or “submersible” chasers as they shoud be called) appeared in WWI, developed from sloops and often built by civilian yards. Many were converted trawlers. During the great war, the Russian Imperial navy used for that task a variety of “guard ships”, clearly distinct from … Read more
WW2 Soviet Minesweepers Soviet Navy – 327 minesweepers 1924-45 Introduction: Soviet Mine warfare WW2 About early Russian naval mines & tactics: The Russians wre pioneers of mine warfare. They started to use them during the Crimean War, laying some 1,865 in the Baltic Sea to channel enemy ships into the path of fortification’s heavy guns. … Read more
