REVIEWS STATE OF USSR FLEET

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600280916-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 22, 2011
• Sequence Number: 916
• Publication Date: February 14, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIA cpcnj, c.'N] 1 .~9
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
COUNTRY
PATE OF
SUBJECT
Military - Navy
INFORMATION
19119
HOW
PUBLISHED
Daily newspaper
DATE DIST. /y
Feb 1950
SUPPLEMENT TO
LANGUAGE German REPORT NO.
DATE
PUBLISHED 22 Nov 1949
THIS OOC0N N., CONTAINS IM NONSATIOT AATACTIN0 TIIT IIATOMAL GIA/SSI
OF TNI UNITED STATTI WITHIN TNI NTA-'NO OF ITNICNAAI ACT AT
O, N A.. SI ANO IN.AS ASINOAO. ITS TNANNNISSION ON THE NETALATION
MIlITIA NT TIN!. IN ANY MANNI. OF THIS PORN OIT PNOIITIT.O. IS ANO
SOURCE Neue zurcher Zeitung.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
Surface Craft
The USSR did not formerly occupy a prominent position among the sea-
faring powers. It made no significant achievements either in the field of
shipbuilding or in its naval operations. The Soviet Navy is well aware of
this deficiency and expliins it on the basis of its lack of access to the
open seas. As a result of the past war, the Soviet Union gained access to
ice-free oceans. Postwar external political developments, furthermore, did
not ostensibly weaken the poeicion of the two wpild naval pcwers, the USA
and England. Acceleration of the naval construction program is receiving
top priority along with the production of atom bombs and the expansion of
the Air Force. .Whatever can be done f,-)r the Soviet Navy is being done to-
day.
talc vatayavA annyu :;c YViy YtaO1y u, ...A... ~.. .,-,,.,... -, _ __
Kommuna, the Molotov, and the Giulio Cesare, recently taken over from Italy.
If the Marat, which suffered heavy damage during the war, is rebuilt, the
USSR would then have five large battleships. Except for the Molotov, all
are older models (1914) but were modernized in the period between the two world
wars. The Molotov has been redesigned. No details can be furnished on it
since it has been seen only from a dietence, hut it can be conservatively
estimated at 23,000 tons. Although the Giulio Cesare, with its 23,622-ton
displacement, 27-knot speed, oil-firing, Belluzzo turbines, and heavy arma-
ment, was built in 1911, it has been modernized and represents a consider-
able reinforcement for the Black Sea Fleet.
It is not known whether the Russians succeeded in capturing the decisive
naval-artillery secrets of the German battleships and armored ships. In the
case of the Bismarck-Tirpitz class, for example, this secret consisted in
the ability, after radar determination of the directional data, to aim with-
in 15 seconds all guns on one side on one point from an electrically operated
CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL
STATE_ NAVY NSRB ~(.."yy~~77DIS~RISUTION
I ARMY K-n AIR J/I/6, 411
Today he USSR possesses at least four battleships: in the Baltic Sea,
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mounted on large Cerman war vessels.
In 1941 the USSR had four heavy cruisers, among them three 8,000-ton
100,000-HP cruisers of the Kirov class built in 1938 - 1939, 183 meters
long, and with 18-centimeter guns. The Kirov and M:ksim ror'kiy were in
the Baltic, and the Vuroshilov in the Black Sea. Also in the Black Sea
was the Krasnyy Kavkaz, launched in 1916 and subsequently modernized. After
heavy bombardment by the German A'r ] o, the Kirov finally had to be
written off the books. The other three cruisers survived the war. In the
harbor of Kronchtadt there is anchozed, in addition, the Krnsnaya Zvezda,
a heavy 10,00n-ton cruiser of the German Admiral Hipper class (probably the
former Lut.ow), 195 meters in length, capable of a speed of 32 knots, with
eight 20.3-centimeter guns, 24 antiaircraft guns, and.12 torpedo tubes
arranged in sets of three. The Baltic Fleet soon may _)e reinforced with
such newly designed ships as the Kuybyshev and the Ordzhonikidze, which
The light cruisers are stationed chiefly in the Black Sea. The only
light cruiser in the Baltic is the Marty, now suitable only for mine lay-
ing. The most im ortant of the five light cruisere in the Black Sea Fleet
are the Tashkent and the Duca d'Aosta, both of which were built in Livorno.
At the beginning of the war, the destroyer arm probably consisted of
approximately 50 ships, some of which were lost during the war. Today,
however, 48 destroyers are stationed in the Black Sea alone. The USSR
therefore must have sharply accelerated destroyer construction since 1945.
The destroyers have 13-centimeter guns, while nearly all other Russian
surface craft are equipped with 10.2-, 7.5-, and 3.7-centimeter antiair-
craft guns as well as with 53.3-centimeter traversable"torpedo tubes arranged
in groups of threes.
V e capacity of Soviet shipyards for building light surface craft is
comparatively high. The :crpedo boats, stationed mainly in the Baltic S'-a
and the Arctic Ocean, have a displacement of 700 tons and a speed of 29
knots; the mine layers have a displacement of 2,030 tons. In addition,
each destroyer carries 60 mines. Mine sweepers of the Fugas type have a
displacement of 500 tons. Soviet gunboats are of high quality. They serve
chiefly in the Caspian Sea as well as in the Far East in the Amur Red
Banner Flotilla, which includes the rive most powerrui river monitors in
the world., each having eight turrets with 114-millimeter armor plate and
12-centimeter guns. Other monitor flotillas are on duty on the Volga, the
Amu-Darya in Turkestan, and the Danube. A few gunboats saw service also
in the Baltic Sea during the last war and proved their worth.
Construction of coastal defense vessels has betn pushed strongly since
1945. A considerable number cf them are concentrated in Odessa. It should
be kept in mind, however, that some of the ships of the coastal defense and,
waterways service are responsible to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Con-
giderable attention is being given to the construction of motor torpedo boats,
'speedboats of the Italian MAS type, assault boats, and pontons (flat barges).
In the Black Sea, Kherson, and Balaklava near Sevastopol' are centers for
s eedboats and naval-infantry exercises, and in the Leningrad zone, Sherem
"heremet'yevkaj7 and Mor'ye on Lake Ladoga are important training centers
for assault craft and pontons. The most important tasks of light surface
vessels are coastal defense, convoy duty, and troop landings. For large-
scale landing operations Russia could resort to the "Siebel Ferry," a com-
bination of assault boat and ponton developed in 1y40 by the Siebel-Werke
1F~ _
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:ONFIDZ TIAL
at Halle-on-tlie-Saale. For troop transports in long-distance convoys, ships
ment for the submarine arm as ocean-going buoys and automatic weather stations.
The ocean-going buoy is dropped disassembled from long-range aircraft
and assembled in the water; it rests on a rubber ring and is protected from
aerial visibility by its ocean-colored cellophane cover. An"hored at points
where there are no deep-sea currents, the buoys hold three or four men, who
watch important convoy routos and radio orders to submarines to fire upon
enemy convoys. The ocean-going buoy may also be used in supplying submarines
with food and fuel, or in rescuing crows. The automatic weather stations are
particularlyortant for naval warfare in the Arctics. They are anchored
just below the surface and are equipped with telescopes which emerge
periodically to measure all essential meteorological phenomena, which data
is then transmitted by radio.
for any data on a possible combination of submarines with V-weapons. As is
known, German experiments in firing rockets with low initial velocity froa.
submarines without endangering the craft had reached a fairly advanced. stage.
The Russians also paid considerable attention to such modern auxiliary equip-
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generally only one-third of the submarine arm can be used at the front while
which include 100 captured German vessels and approximately 150 new vessels
built after 1945. It should be remembered, however, that in emergencies
ing combat strength. Of great importance is the fact that the Overman Naval
Experimental Station at Gdynia, having the latest combat-ready submarine
developments, fell into the hands of the Russians. It is common knowledge
that the Germans had created in the "',lalterboot" a submarine capable of re-
maining under water for days and thereby evading radar detection (radar is
effective only above the surface), It was carefully kept a secret even
from the Allies. The Soviet Navy has since concentrated the bulk of its
naval. construction program on the construction of these "Walterboote" which
Coastal Defense
Coastal defense measures initiated after 1945 are extremely broad in
scope. They indicate_ an anxiety over the vulnerability of the extensive
coastal regions.
Immediately after the retaking of Odessa, the old ring of fortifica-
tions around this city was restored and a second one was subsequently built.
Today this port is protected by fifty 30.5-centimeter guns and two super-
heavy coastal batteries as well as by extensive mine fields. Forty batteries
of 30.5 centimeter guns are stationed on the 60-kilonetor-long Tenderov islet
at the mouth of the Dnepr to protect the city of Odessa, the Nikolayevc sh,,,-
yards, and the approach to Perekop. The harbor entrance of Nikolayev was
mined a year ago as a precautionary measure.
Sevastc2ol' is being made into the strongest fortress of the Black Sea
region. The greatest massing of firepower so far is to be found on the
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Co? FiDETTTIAL
In addition,/150 heavy antitank g'ns were placed imposition around Sevastopol'
a
n
and las-ge tunnels were driven into the mountain to serve as subterrane
torpedo storage facil.i.tier.
Island of Kronshtadt, located off the entrance to Leningrad. At present
it has no less than ten superheavy batteries, each with four 45 centimeter
guns. Not counting the light weapons, Kronchtadt's defenses consist of 256.
Kronshtadt can be taken by sea only with massed air support. on the Soviet
side of the Gulf of Finland, the coastal defenses extend from the b*rracks
city of Kiviyli (northeast of Narva) via Nava and Reval to Paldiski. Pald
iski and Hango, which is on the opposite side, should prevent access to the
Gulf. ',f Finland. The approach to the Gulf of Riga has been given improved
protection by new structures on the Island of Ezell. Amine blockade has
been placed off the city of Riga it,elf. In addition, Kaliningrad is being
converted into a sea'.srtress.
Since 1945 the Soviet Union has built large airfields with concrete
runways near naval installations in Korsak-Magila (near Melitopol') in
etc. ";;^k on the new Moscow- Kharkgv -Pe rekop-Simferopol'-Sevastopol' super-
highways is being given high priority. A new road leading from Suvastopol'
to Kerch' has been completed, a double-track railroad between Nikolayev and
Kherson is under construction, and -- it is believed -- a subterranean oil
pipe between Feodusiya and Sevastopol', too, has been finished. The Batumi-
Baku line has been electrified and a number of purely strategic roads have
been built through the Caucasus toward the Black Sea. Additional improvements
in communications are in progress in the Leningrad sector.
Industry
On the"basis of experiences gained in the last war, the Russians hays
refrained from building any new large shipyards at Odessa. Only lesser
works and improvements are being carried out there. In the harbor of Ingernain,
the new Sevastopol', however, there are three huge shipyard shops, each
being 400 meters long and 100 meters wide. All are equipped with the best
German machine tools. Ingerman is replacing Odessa hi the building of ocean-
,.,,,_.. ..-i5.. Tht "Southern SbinynrR" of 'i(hPrnnn_ ton, is again ODeratinz.
The extensive shipyards of Leningrad have been in fall operation for
a considerable period. The Baltic Shipyard, now called the Zhdanov Ship-
building Plant. is equipped to built ships of all types, including larger
submarines. The Kronshtadt shipyards,' however, are equipped to repair only
ships of __p to 1(;000 tons. on the Russian side of the Baltic Sea only the
shipyards and the drydock at Riga are of greater in4loitance.
Between Leningrad and the Arctic Ocean there is, among other things,
extensive. production of assault boats and pontons in Sherem on Lake Ladoga,
medium-sized shipyards in Petrozavodsk on Lake Onega and in Belomorsk on
the White Sea, large submarine-building yards in Arkhangel';.k, extensive
yards in Murmansk which were built after 1945, as well as the heavily guarded
Molotovsk yard, which is 60 kilometers from Arkhangelsk and is Russia's
largest. shipyard in the Arctic Ocean region. Disregarding the submarine
shipyards of Vladivostok and Komsomolsk in the Far East, the only other
notable shipyards located within Russian sovereign territory are those in
Astrakhan', which supply the gun-boat flotillas on the Caspian Sea. The
shipyards along the Volga are of lesser importance militarily since they
can build only ricer monitors.
CONFIDENTIAL
Fr,
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oil plants. Fuel for submarines and destroyers is to be produced from
bituminous oil shale, of which Estonia is the main source.
The Russian shipbuilding industry gained great advantages from the
occupati,a of Eastern Germany as well as from the military-economic co
slovakia, and Hungary.
Molotovsk. This city will be the largest Russian naval base of the Far
North.
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