Warships of the Soviet Fleets 1939–1945 (Hardback)
Volume 1: Major Combatants
Pages: 352
Illustrations: 350 b/w photos, 145 line plans
ISBN: 9781526751935
Published: 16th November 2022
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Seventy-five years after the end of the Second World War the details of Soviet ships, their activities and fates remain an enigma to the West. In wartime such information was classified and after a brief period of glasnost (‘openness’) the Russian state has again restricted access to historical archives. Therefore, the value – and originality – of this work is difficult to exaggerate. It sees the first publication of reliable data on both the seagoing fleets and riverine flotillas of the Soviet Navy, listing over 6200 vessels from battleships to river gunboats, and mercantile conversions as well as purpose-built warships. Divided into three volumes, this first covers major surface warships down to MTBs and armoured gunboats, as well as submarines.
For every class there is a design history analysing strategic, tactical and technical considerations, and individual ship detail includes construction yard, key building dates, commissioning, fleet designations, relocations and ultimate fate. Once a closely guarded secret, the wartime loss of every ship and boat (over 1000) is described. Furthermore, the confusion caused by frequent name changes is clarified by indexes that run to 16,000 items.
By following the ships through both their wartime and earlier history, the book reveals many aspects of Russian history that remain highly sensitive: clandestine co-operation with Weimar Germany and fascist Italy, the NKVD-enforced closure of Soviet borders, the ‘Gulag Fleet’, the faked Metallist sinking that excused the military occupation of Estonia, and the ill-conceived pact with Nazi Germany. Restrictions recently imposed on historical publications in Russia mean this book could certainly not have been published there – as proven by the fact that most of the authors' Russian collaborators preferred not to disclose their identities.
This is undoubtedly one of the most important naval reference works of recent years and will be welcomed by anyone with an interest in warships, the Soviet Navy or wider maritime aspects of the Second World War.
"...this collection of volumes is likely to be the definitive exposition of the Soviet fleets and their warships during the Great Patriotic War for the foreseeable future. The authors have set an extremely high bar for future researchers in this field."
Nautical Research Journal - Volume 69 (2024)
As featured on The Naval Review
Naval Review
This book is extremely valuable, being the first in english to address the Soviet Navy in such detail. It has considerable merit because of the depth of research and analysis provided by writers, who because of their Russian language skills, contacts and access to some official papers have been able to provide an accurate, balanced and unique view of the Soviet Navy.
Australian Naval Institute
Read the review here
Featured in
International Plastic Modellers Society, Newsletter of the Small Warship Special Interest Group – Issue 140, March 2023
Overall, this is a very impressive, well researched and wonderful volume that must have taken the authors a huge amount of time to produce. Their dedication to producing this volume shows in the quality of their research. If the “maritime” history (i.e., vessels) of the Soviet Navy during World War 2 / the Great Patriotic War interests you then this book and its sister volume should be added to your
Dr Stuart C Blank, Military Archive Research
personal library.
This book provides details of thousands of vessels, many of which have not appeared before in the English language, and is a tremendous new resource for those interested in this little known theatre of operations.
Les Brown, Small Warships
As featured in
The Bookseller
About Przemyslaw Budzbon
THE AUTHORS grew up in Poland under Soviet domination and were forced to learn Russian, which guaranteed a profound understanding of Soviet-Russian thinking and the smallest nuances of its history. Their experience is varied but pertinent: Przemyslaw Budzbon worked closely with officers of the Soviet Navy for a dozen years, as a constructor of Soviet warships; Marek Twardowski, a curator at the Polish National Maritime Museum, has an outstanding background in professional maritime history; while Jan Radziemski, thanks to a wide network of contacts among historians and maritime enthusiasts in Russia, was able to reach information and sources unavailable to official researchers.
About Jan Radziemski
THE AUTHORS grew up in Poland under Soviet domination and were forced to learn Russian, which guaranteed a profound understanding of Soviet-Russian thinking and the smallest nuances of its history. Their experience is varied but pertinent: Przemyslaw Budzbon worked closely with officers of the Soviet Navy for a dozen years, as a constructor of Soviet warships; Marek Twardowski, a curator at the Polish National Maritime Museum, has an outstanding background in professional maritime history; while Jan Radziemski, thanks to a wide network of contacts among historians and maritime enthusiasts in Russia, was able to reach information and sources unavailable to official researchers.
About Marek Twardowski
THE AUTHORS grew up in Poland under Soviet domination and were forced to learn Russian, which guaranteed a profound understanding of Soviet-Russian thinking and the smallest nuances of its history. Their experience is varied but pertinent: Przemyslaw Budzbon worked closely with officers of the Soviet Navy for a dozen years, as a constructor of Soviet warships; Marek Twardowski, a curator at the Polish National Maritime Museum, has an outstanding background in professional maritime history; while Jan Radziemski, thanks to a wide network of contacts among historians and maritime enthusiasts in Russia, was able to reach information and sources unavailable to official researchers.
Warships of the Soviet Fleets, 1939–1945 Volume II Escorts and Smaller Fighting Ships (Hardback)
Seventy-five years after the end of the Second World War the details of Soviet ships, their activities and fates remain an enigma to the West. In wartime such information was classified and after a brief period of glasnost (‘openness’) the Russian state has again restricted access to historical archives. Therefore, the value – and originality – of this work is difficult to exaggerate. It sees the first publication of reliable data on both the seagoing fleets and riverine flotillas of the Soviet Navy, listing over 6200 vessels from battleships to river gunboats, and mercantile conversions…
By Przemyslaw Budzbon, Jan Radziemski, Marek TwardowskiClick here to buy both titles for £67.50
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