STOCKPILING IN THE MERCHANT FLEET OF THE USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600040625-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 19, 2011
• Sequence Number: 625
• Publication Date: January 13, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE, AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY tSSR DATE DISTR. /0- January 1954
SUBJECT Stockpiling in the )brchant Fleet of the LhSSR NO. OF PAGES 6
CLASSIFICATION SEW
Neese
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
a listing of the equipment and materials in the enterprises and organisatioms of the
Merchant Fleet, not only those in Hess but those not WS1 I could be
placed in the category of a stockpile, included in
the stockpile wires
tters steel (ras'ezddn jjs )m transport
Shuttle
Trwks and mpr cam
Road transport (hies and vagams)
Internal combustion engines of all. t,?pes
pp
(10 Ltlb-saving objects andmams
(11 Nonferrous and srsciaas metal and euttine oars
Arms and adlilary sgpliss -?--r--~-
9 Navigation navigatae's and shipboard egaipoat and sm
l4.
N Rsmm!al_and spars parts and parts for machinery and aschanisme
(B) The leaders of the organisatsas and enterprises of the lircbant Fleet to ask. an
accounting of the pa~assnosm technical c--t- Ladh of this in operation, and also
to atrib a balance of the cost of the aeteria s and equipments ca^de under the heading
of stockpiled itsms. Lists of this scoedtiag sere sent to the main administrations of
the Ministry scardiq to the snbcr+tmmlls of the emit amh the accomitiag.
(C) That aqdpmmat and n toriall, ships so a result of the esae1matian of the lists of
c c c u n t w i l l be 1 a1 d in t m eta inprils, be aaistatamd in good working order so that,
at any given acrosnte they will be At tae anLiw Mevics
.. ........+ w..er.r!w
~.
LAST YAG! F 1Z :~ L U.: rT c~ r .zti CCBA
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(D) That equipment in the stockpile category which is in use be kept constantly in good
technical working condition, and the materials in the stockpile category which are
used be replaced.
(E) That equipurcent and material, not in service be maintained in a state of constant
readiness for a ~ of natural wear, be rehabilitated. Special
precautionary measures for, thee event these items were to be ta:.en.
,,.
(F) That control over the fulfillment of the, present order rest with the individual Chiefs
of the War Mobilization Divisions of the organizations and enterprises of the Maritime
Peet.
JJ' in general
no 1-n np S{;[9P1
were the contents the Ministry
of rccumulati ?1400 UY ov woria war u a system
ng stockpiles was in existence in the MSR. The system amounted to this: In the
various enterprises and organizations special inviolable stocks of equipment and materials in
the sense of a stockpile were proparsd and these materials and equipment were specially
safeg~:arded. As the experience or the war proved, this system proved to be irresponsible and
wee, of but little effectiveness. This was so primarily because there was always a deficiency
in many types of eouipment and materials in the country. With the relegation of these
materials and equipment to the category of stockpiles, mar' of the enterprises were not able
to cope with the fulfillment of the tasks established for them because of the lack of material
and eqquipment which, at the same time, wars ~~ idle in the warehouse,,. Secondly, with
the volume of shortages of materials and equipment in the country, andwith the unsatisfactorily
organized production in the majority of the branches of the econo , the equipment and
materials which were hold back were worthless and Wars, not used at all, When the DBSR
entered World Warp much or the earl an& ~i aE anae or their ~r~r to hnical
condition were unfit for meeting to?n eoa~y~ of war, but even of tUe needs of
civilian industry. Much of the listed stockpiled material, although in proper technical
condition, could not be used for war purposes. As a result of this situation the government
neglected all the stockpile materials and simply took the sours of appropriating from the
enterprises sash arripment and material as were required for militarymeas. Actually I
remember how in the first months of the war, representatives of the military authorities,
invested with special powers, went into an enterprise and simply asked for and selected
trucks, compressors engines, materials, etc, not paying am r attention to whether or not these
materials were in the stockpiles, or whether they were in operation or in a state of
preservation. Protests on the part of the management of the enterprise usually met with little
success.
5. After VJAIUAy In o within the system of the
oaganiml om as we invaluable materials and
equipment were not stoc dleds with the reception of purely military stows; and today the
idea of stockpiled mat=dale are equipment and materials Which in the event of xar, can be
quickly eaproPe'iated, and also those mabariaL and eontinmant Uieb ~4' be converted into
realization of
was the RuMtien.ofi~a area" innimmebps stores of gotp^emt and materials in +the~sense of
atoca j~
o w~ieli
paria si iia rai/el. to a bL s, it is maoMaary to tabs into mcOwnt the
circumstance which the creation of an invaluable star. inevitably brought about as a result
of the formation ineach x xdatjaa or satsapriss of above-nor. sepplias of steria'ls and
e~ s eves an aaagsissa ray'"remnsbisa eemearazg the faemation of asp
eabya stores mf eafsuUU ad essimommE. %a moommmimsa of the ase ohei se]
y
afire t~ s, dire! s3pa1 > &M MO
the .ore ,tss eob&i1aa$am of
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development which I ha
a Top Secret circc r o the conversion or frsomewhat om the hen Ministry isr the Reydtanker
of the Merchant 18'l concerning o Steamship C
eet thhe
PweAt of a epos,he.enterpaises,of the steamship company,
in the event of war, to work in the form of military enterprises. This order was received:
by other organizations of the Merchant Fleet as well, since it was circulated and
not r but to all enterm-ines anti orra devel$s
shi teas that the had volume of work i on o r an we -norms on i manpower he event that
ship repair yards 1-,ad to fulfill civil* All orders concuYa+entIr with military orders, At the
the enterprises was to be considerably increased, the
number of production workers was reduced because of mobilization into the arnar.
6. We shall pass on now to a review of the question concerning the fulfillment by the' enterprises
oan soorrgaanizations of the Merchant Fleet, of the decree concerning the creation of Stockpiles
(i) The}Reydtanker Steamship Company. TT~ 95
,was ships were planned included for the The hat future.
althouHowever# gh these in ships s the w were the category included of ships an stoelqAU
ile, they
considers a c be whole the series
continued dedia . of r in the pecial additional event
s
refitting, for lof in ttheshe form oof au military or.tr nsort rt iuit without
ensp , or in the
form of an awfllary unit serving the military organizations. In the stockpile there
were included:
(1) Six propellor-driven, tug motor ships, built in the 30's in the Sormovo yard for
Transport Machine Building imeni Zhdanov, These vessels were of 900 horsepower
each. Their hulls and superstructures, with the exception of the wheelhouse, were
all steel. On the spar deck two foundations for the installation of antiaircraft
machine guns or 37-*( cannons were installed. The technical condition of the ships
was satisfactory. It is to be noted that all six of these units were destined, in
the future, to be removed from the category of stockpile and to be replaced by ships
which were being built. The name of these six tug motor ships were: Pamnmyp Tov
Voykova, Dzhambul (the former Dzerzhinskiy), Profintern, Kuzmichoe, Uritskiy, Tenth
Godovshchina Oktyabrya,
(2) Two single-screw towing motor ships of 500 horsepower each, b-,dlt by the Riga Ship
Repair and Shipbuilding Yard (Zavod) in 19116-1947. The hulls and superstructure
of these ships (with the exception of the wheelhouse) were all steel. On the spar
deck foundations for antiaircraft machine guns or 37 MM cannons were installed.
The nos of these ships were: Ovardssts, Partisan.
(3) Five identical tug motorships, the engines of which were rated at 150-hp, and whose
hulls and superstructures were all steel. They were built in the Riga Ship Repair-
Shipbuilding Yard (saved) in 1949-50. The names of these ships were: BURGH, RB-1149,
RB-150, 8B-152, RB-153.
(4) As I have already mentioned, six old tug motorsb1ps were to be taken out of the
stockpile after the completion of construction, aid new ships were to be put in
service in the steamship company. Up to 1951, the Baku Ship Repair?Shipbuilding
Yard (saved) imeni Vano Sturua was under orders to build ships for a number of
steamship caapaniss, including towing metorships for the Reydtarker Steamship
CompanW. The following vessels were for aesigi at to Reydtanker:
(a) Two tlin-sorew towing motorehipe witli-8004p engines for each vessel. The
names of these two ships were TJ1I~ZIU amid DIM.
25X1 (b) Two twin?ecraw ta,inwe mDtGrYhii. with 1P(X w 1 in a for each hsel,
The hullo and superstructures of these _ships pore- steel, Qn deck foundations for
45 g were to be inete13ad, sad So?datiene far aatlaiar raft installations on
the spur deck. These ships were supposed to be easipleted in the period 1952 54.
Captain of the MurlUm F1es4 T rd Rank, Mat ydtaslwer, had permanent
4ertlsiaes aver the costssetiau of time
,
(5) Included in the atoelpd3m.nes the teem astoealdp DOOATffia of 1100-p. the hull
is oval-shopod, vitb a fcs efet of iasit.a ear fiat fitted with a stromt ins bolt.
!h
h
s
ell add I*eo~ trwaatarh, with the esssp~~a of tar tiaeelhemses at awl.
Iit4tililns? tin !ae ,.esa act. et....iad....'...e.:.v'..._- - .. - --_- __
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SECRET
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six meters, The motorship was
of from three to five J was obtained having a boom after reach World of'alx~st
Gexraan construction, and Pax' Gezrk~y,.
1 as t of reparations from nn
(B) Cato Caspian 19 no Tanker vessels Steamship Company tompps~c (Kampany sptawere nker designated as stoc sled." I
surmise that,
four in the towing
stockpile motorshi after of their the c TADZ~-t kp Letionby the and four lard of teethe Vano will be included
aamgg nt Vs~o Sturua in Baku and after
they have been put into service by Kaaptanker. These vessels were to be assigned to
the hters and to
operatioms the Caspian Stenoship Company ithe n B~ novvodekand hkala In the Agencies, of
(C) Cae ian Sea Stehip Company
Included in the ssttockpilee but not taken) out of service eight towing mot
ore built in
the Ship Repair-Shipbuilding lard (waved) iesni Vane Sterna in Baku in 194. These
were identical motorshipe with Nllashingtone-t~s engines of $00-hp. The hull and
superstructure, with4 he exception of he xhsolhonse,nd was all steel Foundations for
thh installation of gut~e were fitted on dock a on the spar Seek there were
foundations for an r ab the des
"moto hi moo began series the or thaete N and las the . They mall bore OBI eip. -ies because
N s follc*r:
then because the first vessel of thec]ssb was so s~asmed. his names oeship
MM=,
ppeBY]STRYIY, BDITBLN IT, E SSTR~SE mIY, BIiSP SIICR&2 1TIY, BOYKIY, tYIY, 3MOV I7.
each buiitnby the SormopvoaYard nits )c or Tra acitybof ding meni ly 3000 tons
b hire-building imeni Zhdanov in
1933w35. The names of these twin-screw motorehips follow: DAGESTAN, TURKlENISTAN.
Cargo-passenger motorehip BAGIROP, cargos tying capacity of approximately 1500 tons,
built by the Sormovo Yard for Transport Machine Build imeni Zhdanov in 1937. The
motgnsh p has twin acr!xs and like tie previously seat nisi two ships, although it was
inclluuddeed in the stockpile, wad not t a out of a ce.
7. I have no information concerning the number and types of ships included in the stockpile in
other steamship companies.
8. In concluaioi, it to notedd that all new eh oet.W_ grid War cons tion) have a
limiting nu nor of sealed) forr the main e . rats mesas at r peace time
conditions personnel operating the engines do not have the right to tamper with the governor
of the turns of the mein engine and to increase the turns and _ speed of the ship. With the
limit removed, engine turns can be increased an average of 15 16 . Mips' ? inners and
captains are warned that for wilful! breaking of the seals they are held accountabl' I think,
to some sort of non-judicial arrange ent (along the line of the IIVD).
9. In addition I found out that a whole group of ship- in particular those rassining f the
umbbe~rrooo~bta!nnstd~ttaa the- i8 on Tend-leaase ere wrl~ataken out of cee)).. oBBuudt this
atoekpils. This can espla3na~fireth t that a~tag capaci of the
fleet is considerably higher than the established velars of bsulage. Then too the government
evidently doss not want to risk putting to sea the ships obtained Bras the le,~fearing their
confiscation for the non-payment of Lend-Lease debts. This last co ecturq was made kngvm to
me by the Assistant Chief- of the !lain ministration for the Tanker Fleet (Glavneftflot ,
General Director of the Maritime Fleet 3rd Rank.
10. The June 1950 Top Secret order of the Ministry of the Merchant Fleet also required the
creation of a stockpile of certain heavy equipont, ieludift shipboard equipent.
In the
in the s@tocsekpiliwas the follosit~ caapstP~ tdtieh was not is ow but was in storage. Included
(n) To i to C~bna ? -iVa`L`0~'e--._ - ^------- -. i doe t iQpi what their
horeepossr wss, but their axternsl a eaairsnse II was guess them to be rather small,
something an the cot r of lS04gie. -7mus WjAimw had never own and sins their receipt
in 191s7. They ere corsrsd by a tatpsalia and staved in the trasster base of Dsydt nber
Steamship Ccepaj (Lach No 4) in the Yard of the base.
(b) ow internsl cwrboatim satins of tiro Iapresali~f,Pps tdsiob aecamdimp to or Sows, was of
about 19"W Ilia mime bed arwer baaa pat into serviss sided its receipt by the
utsasship caap.rp. It ws cdraaed W tatter and boards aed stand in the mda boss of
the Iigate^rer SEwrt Ce.*sq W110 tirssOaej at &wet r. ) la thi y ed of the
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base. The main base - of the, com g~any was located on the territory of the Ship Repair lard
imeni10th Anniversary of the October Revo, __u__on.
ngines of 12-hp each. The engines were in demand
(c) Two en been but had bmotinternal h-balled innaappproad.mately 194 (8 T). In 1951 one of the e
Technic lg engines was
to have been placed at the disposal of the al Section for the Vc a~aspian
Canal of Reydtanker Steamship Company and se4t to the village of Olye (apprgodmately Astrakhan down the Volga). These engines were stored in the
w
warehouse kilometers on the transfer base of ReydtankerSteamship Company (at Landing No4.).
(d) Two base~ 0-kw* One' electrical
station was in type
phase,
operation 5 in (Ship Repair The i othertstae
was not in operation and was on the main base of the steamship ccmpsny(in the.
Peration and was on the main bass ofthe steamshiF caacpany (dn theT (e) t six or eight three-phase n'tfknow whether they weree new or not. ?The were 20 to 30- stored kw. in theewarehouse use. I
on the
ase
tanker Steamship Garry (at T+anding No 4).
was considered to be in the stockpile and 7I Marro no information as toe . t in
. includeed d in
the stockpiles of other enterprises and organizations of the Merchant Fleet,
13. I?have no exact information with regard other types of shipboard equipment, stores and
materials of Reydtanker Steamship Company which were included in the stockpile. connection
with this subject I can say only the follovingr
(a) Navigation piloting atoms and equipment are considered to be
sharply the most necessary items were in constant short supply. ships The sr Y deficient. quickly. used u
d
up
the insignificant mounts of navigate stores and equipasnt being received b
the steamship company. At the main -"=e of tVHe anker Stssmshdp Cc.pany there were only
two new marine compasses with binnacles and they, evident l~yjr, Were the only ones included
in the stockpile. There was not one gyro-compass in the steamship company.
(b) The supply of communications equipment for ships of the company was also unsatisfactory.
Radio receivers and transmitters were received in insignificant numbers by the steamship
company and the ships quickly put them to use There was not one piece of conanications
equipment in store in the warehouses of the steamship company#
(c) Reserves o shipboard awd.liary machinery (winches, capstans, windlasses steering
equip sent ) did not exist in the warehouses of the steamship company. All these types
or egtuipasnt were in use on the ships of the comp=q.
(d) 1n the Yard (saved) i ni 19th Anniversary of the October Revel tion three old steam
boilers mature store ( Marine ) Thsv had a vorhing pressure of 15 atmospheres and a
heating surface of" to~ 1 square asters sash. The boilers wre operable.
I did not hear whether or not they were included in the category of stockpiled material.
(e) The supply of replacement and spare parts and units for the ships not only in Beydtanker,
but in other companies as well, was completa]y unatisfactory. There was a continuous
shortage of replacement and parts
c and waits on the ships. The a ul,l amounts of
ams reeSIVSd were quid bye ships and there van no stores in the
enterprises warehouseso and organisaattiemms of the t and spars parts and marts for the
Caspian basin (and other basins also) not
(1) The specialised plant lasni Oadshieva in Ild&wbks1a, replacement and
spare parts and units for internal combustion engines heads, pistons,
liners (vtulki) crankshaft.).
(2) The Ship Bepair-Shipbaildig Yard is.ni vane Sturua in Baku, suppling propellers
and also sane parts for internal combustiam .
(3) The spair ~Yard immnai ZaRdrderatsii in ~aj f1s1 spparatueee for
tar c engines (ataalsea s is at- tea.na_ .h..t
Within the system of the RRireba6t Rr1ee? t only slant mmaafaeturing fuel
aparattle,, in to ge ngnenti ege ?
.In l~^n Mwts a- vt the wufactom of Seel
apperatmew was bagmt in the Ship Repair Yard lent Marti in Odessa and the Ship
Repair Yard lean arshlnskove in T ample.
(4) The Ship Repair Yard iaeni Parishskgr 8==L in Bake, delivers atasisers for
- - steam badldrre.
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i oatiora"0or7. ix ii nat ria3 are qu ** there' is 1 -7 no aM ~ . no -
transferred to tha varsbc aee. fdsr? to be
~tdhco . aa d a 1 is I did"not" hoar 'te'g r a was bbiii
aesring' jr
sad 3-he
oew arshon6~ pprndd 150 asters of UB
(~? the vcloth iboot 200 '' of ~ s sb~t 3 ' 9r ss of wool and
,. I have no. infornatioon on the fcTaation o tocb~pils_
of other types of equipment., stores
ff' a _
6/743.415
6/743.21
6/743.221
6/743.416
6/741.15
6/743.44
6/743.42
174.21
736.534
743.43
756.53
756.532
756.513
6/735.92
6/741.72
6/746.5
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