Warships - Russia / USSR: Books - History and Deployment

Warships of the Soviet Fleets (1939-1945) - Volume 1: Major Combatants

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.

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.

Russian Warships in the Age of Sail 1696-1860 - Design, Construction, Careers and Fates

Peter the Great created a navy from nothing, but it challenged and soon surpassed Sweden as the Baltic naval power, while in the Black Sea it became an essential tool in driving back the Ottoman Turks from the heartland of Europe.
In battle it was surprisingly successful, and at times in the eighteenth century was the third largest navy in the world - yet its history, and especially its ships, are virtually unrecorded in the West.

This major reference work handsomely fills this gap, with a complete and comprehensive list of the fleet, with technical detail and career highlights for every ship, down to small craft.
However, because the subject is so little recorded in English, the book also provides substantial background material on the organisation and administration of the navy, its weapons, personnel and shipbuilding facilities, as well as an outline of Russia's naval campaigns down to the clash with Britain and France known as the Crimean War.

Illustrated with plans, paintings and prints rarely seen outside Russia, it is authoritative, reliable and comprehensive, the culmination of a long collaboration between a Russian naval historian and an American ship enthusiast.

Warships of the Soviet Fleets (1939-1945) - Volume 2 - Escorts and Smaller Fighting Ships

NEW

This second part of the three-volume series on Soviet Navy ships includes all the remaining fighting vessels not already covered in Volume I. Beginning with the Uragan class - rated as Escort Ships and the first seagoing warships designed by the Soviet Union - the book then moves on to Submarine Hunters, both large and small, Patrol craft, Minelayers and Minesweepers, and unusual types like Floating Artillery Batteries and Anti-Aircraft Defence Ships, concluding with Landing Ships and Craft.
Many of these vessels have hitherto been poorly documented but given the nature of the land-centred Soviet war against Germany their contribution should not be underestimated. The details of their service and, not least, the circumstances of their loss, constitute a major addition to Western understanding of the Soviet Navy's war effort.

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. Furthermore, as recent Russian actions appear to revive Soviet-era aspirations, this book offers both new insights and valuable background of contemporary relevance.

Die Marine des Warschauer Paktes - Kampfschiffe, U-Boote und Versorger

Der Beginn des Kalten Krieges führte auch zu einem Wettrüsten auf See zwischen Ost und West. Obwohl die Sowjetunion den grössten Teil der Seestreitkräfte des Warschauer Paktes stellte, unterhielten auch kleinere Bündnispartner wie beispielsweise die DDR oder Polen ihre eigenen Flotten, um im Falle eines Ost-West-Konfliktes ihren Beitrag zu liefern.

Ingo Bauernfeind geht in diesem Bildband auf die einzelnen Marinen, ihre jeweiligen Rollen im Warschauer Pakt sowie ihre Über- und Unterseestreitkräfte ein. Das Buch beinhaltet eine Vielzahl von Fotografien, die bisher entweder noch gar nicht oder nur selten veröffentlicht wurden.