BE-12 Chaika (Nato:Mail)

This is an ASW aircraft that entered service during the Soviet Union and continued to serve into the new century.  It is believed that several of the aircraft are still operational with the Black Sea fleet.

The Mail looks like it is a relic of Wold War II, but it if fact entered the fleet in 1960.

150 of the aircraft were built, with its primary mission being ASW and maritime patrol. 

The Be-12 is an amphibious aircraft that is often referred to as a flying boat. 

In addition to serving in the Soviet Navy and later the Russian Navy, the Be-12 served with a number of other navies, including Egypt and Syria. 

Russia is currently testing a new ASW aircraft and with its appearance the last of the Mail's should be retired. 

In past blogs we have talked about some of the various fleets of the Russian Navy. Today I wanted to talk about one of the Russian Navies most important ports:

Severomorsk

Severomorsk is situated in the northwestern part of the Kola peninsula, close to Norway. The main asset of this port is that it remains ice free all year, thus allowing for naval operations at any time. 

To get to the city you would need a special pass. Since the 1950's when Severomorsk became the administrative center for the Northern Fleet it has been a closed city. 

Severomorsk is the home port for the bulk of the Russian Northern Fleet. 

Aerial view of Severomorsk

This city was once a mystery to other navies of the world. You would even see references to it in popular Cold War fiction and movies, but since the fall of the Soviet Union many navies have done port visits to Sevormorsk. 

USS Yorktown in port Severomorsk

Severomorsk will continue to be the headquarters of the Russian Northern Fleet, and will likely see a resurgence in the coming years as the Russian Navy modernizes and rebuilds. 

Since I was young and my dad took me to see The Hunt for Red October I have been very interested in submarines. I would read books about them and watch movies about them. Whenever there is news about a submarine, or a picture on the internet it attracts my attention. So to continue with our blogs about submarines here is another. 

Victor Class

The first flight of the Victor class submarine first put to sea in 1967. 

For its time it was an innovative tear-shaped hull that allowed for higher speeds. 

The submarine was improved upon throughout its production, which eventually resulted in the modern Victor-III with its distinctive pod.

This was the first Soviet submarine to be seen with the pod.  At first it was thought that this was a new kind of weapons systems, but it was later confirmed to be a housing for a towed array sonar. 

Of all the submarines built there are four that are still in service today. These were all built in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

These units could be decommissioned when the new Yasen class comes on line. 

IL-38

This aircraft is one of a submarines worst nightmares. 

The Il-38 was built to hunt and kill US submarines during the Cold War. A prototype was ordered in 1960 and first flew in 1961. The aircraft entered production in 1967. 

However production was halted after 58 units because the newer and longer-range TU-142 was coming on line. These aircraft however did continue to serve and mainly conduct anti-submarine operations close to the coastline of Russia. 

The air frame is a modification of the IL-18 transport aircraft. The wings were moved forward and a MAD detector was added to the tail. 

About 25 IL-38's remain in service with the Russian Navy. In the 1970's 5 aircraft were given to the Indian Navy. These remain in service.

Though these aircraft are old they are still a formidable weapon. 

This is one of my favorite ships. I don't know why I like it, but the design of the ship has a certain appeal to me. This ship is the Soviet helicopter carrier Moskva and her sister ship Leningrad. There were only two of the ships built. Apparently they didn't handle well in rough seas. They carried only helicopters and thus could not be considered aircraft carriers.

The forward part of the ship was used for conventional naval weaponry while the large area in the rear was used for aircraft operations. 

The ships were designed to be flagships of ASW groups that would protect the areas where Soviet ballistic missile submarines would patrol. 

The cruisers were laid down in the middle of the 1960's and were commissioned by the end of the decade. 

They were both homeported in the Black Sea. 

The Leningrad was removed from service in 1991, but the Moskva was put in reserve status in 1994, and later sold for scrap to India. 

A Continuing Theme

With all the attention on Syria it's hard to find any other news about the Russian Navy. I managed to find some as well as the main news out of the Russian Navy.

Syria- 

We have covered this topic a lot lately. Now it has been confirmed that Russia is sending two warships with Naval Infantry to protect the base at Tartus, and to protect Russian citizens in Syria. This is a small commitment of forces and despite what the media is saying I don't believe that this is an escalation from the Russian side. 

Here is the article in English

RIMPAC

RIMPAC is the largest naval exercises in the world, and for the first time the Russian Navy has chosen to participate in the exercise. The Russian Navy send the large ASW ship Admiral Panteleev to take part in the exercises.

Here is a short article in English, and here is an article in Russian explaining why Russia is taking part in RIMPAC. 

And some other news:

The development of a nuclear ice breaker fleet.

Russia risks being without a modern fleet.

Tartus, Syria

This city has been in the news a lot lately. I have heard of Tartus often in articles about the Russian Navy, and knew that it was a port facility that the Russian Navy often used. What I didn't know about was the history of how and why the Russian Navy maintained a presence in Tartus.

Russian facilities in Tartus

The Soviet Navy first began using Tartus in the 1970's, along with other ports in the Mediterranean Sea. At the time the Soviet Navy maintained 5th Mediterranean Squadron. Eventually only Tartus was used for support and repair of vessels that were deployed to the Mediterranean Sea. 

Russian and Syria naval officers in Tartus

After the fall of the Soviet Union the Russian navy very rarely sent and ships out into the Mediterranean Sea, but they still maintained a presence in Tartus. 

Through various agreements with the Syrian government the Russian Navy is currently expanding and modernizing its facilities in Tartus. 

Currently the facilities are supporting anti-piracy operations.

Russia has invested a lot of time and money into the facility in Tartus, and I believe that with the current situation in Syria the Russian Navy is worried about losing that investment. 

News for the Week

Frukus

The United States, France, United Kingdom, and Russia are conducting join operations and drills in the Baltic Sea. These are annual exercises that build cooperation and security measures between the countries. The following ships are participating in the exercises.

United States-USS Normandy (CG-60)

France- DeGrasse

Russian- Yaroslav Mudriy

United Kingdom- HMS York

Here is a quote from the commanding officer of the USS Normandy,Capt. Kevin Hill

“Another essential part to promoting peace and security throughout a region is that we and our partner nations need to be able to work together and stand tall to deter an enemy threat. With these security exercises, we showed that we are more than capable of coming together to stand up for freedom and democracy in a way that says we stand united. We will continue to ensure that the waters of the world are secure and free of oppression.”

Here is an article about FRUKUS

Yuri Dolgorukiy

The Yuri Dolgorukiy has completed all of its sea trials and will soon be accepted into the fleet. The planned day of turnover will be Navy Day, 29 July. Also mentioned by the shipyard is that the former Admiral Gorshkov will be turned over to the Indian Navy by the 4th of December.  

For the Russian speakers out there here is the article. 

Russia's First Submarine

I have always been interested in submarines, and this is what lead me to read submarine classics like 20000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Hunt for Red October. The latter book is what sparked my interest in the Soviet and then Russian Navies. So it got me thinking about the first submarine in the Russian Navy.

There were reports of some submarine development during the time of Peter the Great, and some other developments during the 19th century. The first real combat submarine however was called the Дельфин, Russian: "Dolphin".  

The submarine was designed by Russian engineers and naval officers for the Construction Commission for Submarines which later became the Rubin Design Bureau. 

During operations and testing the Delfin sank in the Neva river killing 24 men. This was the first Russian Navy's accident with a submarine. 

The submarine was salvaged and transferred to the Pacific, where it participated in combat operations during the Russo-Japanese War. 

During the First World War the submarine was transferred to the Northern Flotilla.

She served until 1917, and was later scrapped. 

This submarine gave the Russian's experience in submarine operations and warfare. 

Russian Marines-aka Naval Infantry

Amid this weeks conflicting news reports about Russia sending ships loaded with marines to Syria, I thought that I would spend some time in this update covering the Russian Naval Infantry. 

The Naval Infantry was officially formed in 1705, and has fought in every major conflict since then. 

Naval Infantry at the battle of Stalingrad

It is a small organization consisting of around 12000 men. They don't often use heavy weapons and are meant to be used as an initial strike force that would later be reinforced. 

In wartime they would seize strategically important islands and port facilities. 

Each major fleet has at least one regiment of Naval Infantry. 

If actually sent to Syria, these troops would be used to increase the security at the port of Tartus, and help in the evacuation of Russian citizens.