USSR CELEBRATES NAVY DAY 1950

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600350203-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 22, 2011
• Sequence Number: 203
• Publication Date: October 6, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

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SUBJECT
HOW
PUBLISHED
WHERE
PUBLISHED
DATE
PUBLISHED
LANGUAGE
CLASSIFICATION SECRET SURE'
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENO~ REPORT
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
Political; Military
Daily newspapers
USSR
4 - 25 Jul 1950
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENS[
OF THE UNITED STATES WITHIN THE MEANING OF TIPIONAR[ ACT 50
U. S. C.. SI AMC SE. AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION 6R TI{{ REVELATION
OS ITS CONTENTS IM ANT MANNER TO AN UNAUTHORIZED P ON IS PRO-
HIsITEO OT LAW. REPRODUCTION OF THIS FORM IS P8OHISI7CD,
DATE OF
INFORMATION
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
The USSR celebrated Navy Day 1950 on 23 July with the usual lecturee,
launch trips,?water-sports show, and meetings during the week preceding the
holiday.
telligence value,'as was the case with Aviation Day
1950 was almost completely lacking in newspaper accounts
of the Navy Day celebrations, apparently indicating a definite tightening
of security regulations concerning divulging of state secrets.
Navy Day of the USSR was established by a joint decree of the Council
of People's Commissars and Central Committee of the VKP(b) on 22 June 1939
"with the aim of rallying the broad masses of workers around the problems of
building the USSR Navy and the tasks facing it."
Krasnyy Flot, on 4 July set the tone for Navy Day 1950 in its article,
"USSR Navy Day," written for the guidance of speakers. The postwar strengthen-
ing of the Navy is explained by the statement that "as long as the capitalist
world exists, the threat of attack upon the USSR will also exist." The article
makes'reference to the Korean war, 3aming the US as the aggressor against both
the Korean and Chinese republics.
After reviewing briefly Russia's struggle for outlets to the sea, the ar-
ticle claimed Russian priority in naval tactics (Nelson is said to have us=i
Ushakov's tactical methods in the battle of Trafalgar), and in the inven,ion,
improvement, and utilization of many types of ships, naval gear, and machinery.
Discovery of the Antarctic in 1819 is also claimed, apparently with the aim of
reinforcing the Soviet government's noto of 7 June 1950 to the US and Great
Britain.on, the question of claims to the Antarctic.
? The article continues with a review of the Red Fleet's activities; a sep-
arate Ngval Ministry is held to be indicative of Party and government concern
for the strengthening of the USSR Navy.
CLASSIFICATION T SE.C
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biographical
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Celebrations in the union-republic capitals and other cities followed the
pattern for such celebrations. For several days prior to Navy Day, representa-
tives of DOSFLOT organizations, Party agitators, and lecturers from republic
Societies for the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge gave lec-
tures and talks on the role of Lenin and Stalin in the creation of the Navy, the
revolutionary tradition of the Red Navy, DOSFLOT as a mass organization of So-
viet patriots, the Russian Fleet as the cradle of the greatest technical dis-
coveries, the Navy during the war, Admiral S. 0. Makarov (1848 - 1904), etc.
A feature of this year's celebration was the trips made by naval launches
of the Baltic, Black, and White Sea fleets and Caspian Sea Flotilla from their
home ports to Moscow. Moskovskiy Komsomolets on 22 July 1950 carried the fol-
lowing account: using oar and sail, 40 sailors who comprised the four launch
crews traveled the waterways of the USSR, stopping frequently to give talks on
Navy Day en route, and arrived at Moscow in time for formal celebrations on
23 July. The launch of the Caspian Sea Flotilla left Astrakhan' on 21 May, and
covered 3,250 kilometers on its trip up the Volga. Tne Northern Fleet's launch
which traveled 2,226 kilometers, left Arkhangelsk on 2 June, navigated the
Northern Dvina and Little Dvina rivers, Kubin Lake, Sheksna River, the Rybinsk
Reservoir (where it met the launch of the Baltic Sea Fleet), the Volga River,
and the Moscow Canal to Moscow. The launch of the Baltic Fleet left Kronstadt
on 4 June and went by way of the Neva River, through Lake Ladoga, the Vytegra
and Kovzha rivers, Beloye Lake, Sheksna River, Rybinsk Reservoir, the Volga
River, and the Moscow Canal to Moscow, a total of 1,500 kilometers. The Black
Sea Fleet launch left Sevastopol' on 24 May, went through the Sea of Azov, up
the Don River, portaged between the Don and Oka rivers by train, traveled up the
Oka to Moscow River and the capital, for a 3,000-kilometer trip.
On 23 July the launches completed their trips in a ceremonial race (won by
the launch of the Northern Fleet) before thousands of Moscow residents gathered.
on the banks of the Moscow River in honor of Navy Day, and presented their re-
ports to Rear Admiral V. F. Kotov.
The main festivities, including a 21-hour water-sports show, were held in
Moscow on 23 July. The celebration, according to Vechernyaya Moskva, 24 July
1950, was opened by a naval cutter carrying Captain First Rank Ya. loaeliani
of the Submarine Service, and was followed by a formation of river boats bearing
Party slogans and posters. The ceremonial finish of the naval launch trips was
followed by the water-sports competition sponsored by the All-Union J,JSFLOT Coun-
cil. Twenty teams from various republics, krays, and oblasts participated in
the shell and sailboat races,.and swimming and tug-of-war contests. An under-
water crossing of the Moscow River by 20 divers highlighted the water sports.
Two divers with underwater air-supply equipment strapped to their chests were
pictured in Vechernyaya Moskva, 25 July. Later in the evening there were fire-
works and a 20-gun salute in honor of Navy Day.
A formal meeting dedicated to Navy Day was held on the evening of 22 July,
in the Zelenyy Theater of the Central Park of Culture and Rest imeni Gor'kiy,
according to Leningradskaya Pravda, 23 July 1950. The meeting, which was spon-
sored by the Naval Ministry, was attended by representatives of Party, soviet,
and civic organizations, the Soviet Army, and the shipbuilding industry. Seated
in the presidium were V. A. Malyshev, Minister of the Shipbuilding Industry and
a deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers USSR; Admiral I. S. Yumashev, Naval
Minister of the USSR; N. V. Novikov, Minister of the Maritime Fleet; Z. A. Shash-
kov, Minister of the River Fleet; Marshal of the Soviet Union V. D. Sokologskiy;
Colonel General F. F. Kuznetsov; Admiral A. G. Golovko; Lieutenant General of the
Coastal Service S. Ye. Zakharov; Lieutenant General N. V. Pupyshev; I. I. Rumyant-
sev, secretary, Moscow City Committee, VKP(b); T. I. Yershova, secretary, Central
Committee, VLKSM; and others. Both Yumashev and Zakharov delivered addresses.
No mention was made of, nor were any articles published under the signature
of Vice-Admiral A. Nikolayev, chairman, Orgburo and Central Committee, All-Union
DOSFLOT, in newspaper accounts of the Navy Day celebrations. Nikolayev was iden-
tified in this position in Komsomol'skaya Pravda, 9 November 1949.
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Formal meetings were also held in other union-republic cities on 22 July:
In Baku, an address was made by Rear-Admiral G. G. Oleynik, commander of
the Caspian Sea Flotilla. A newspaper article written by the admiral in Bakin-
skiy Rabochfy, 23 July, dealt with the creation of the 15 river and lake flo-'
tillas, and with the wartime activities of the Caspian Sea Flotilla.
General of the Army I. Kh. Bagramyan, commander of the Baltic Military
District, was in the presidium of the formal meeting at Riga on 19 July. The
meeting was probably held at this early date so as not to interfere with the
formal celebration of the tenth anniversary of Soviet Latvia on 21 July. An
address on Navy Day was given, but the speaker was unidentified in the account
carried in Sovetskaya Latviya on 23 July.
In Minsk, the 22 July Navy Day address was delivered at the formal meeting
by M. Kuchumov according to an account in Sovetskaya Beloruaaiya, 23 July 1950.
The formal meeting in Vil'nyus on 23 July, addressed by Gal'vidis, chairman,
DOSFLOT Committee, Lithuanian SSR, was reported by Sovetskaya Litva, 25 July
1950.
The Navy Day address in Klaypeda was made by Kavalerchuk, according to
Sovetskaya Litva, 23 July.
Vice Admiral Fadeyev made the Navy Day address at a formal meeting in Khar-
barovsk on 22 July, according to eningradskaya Pravda, 23 July 1950. The meet-
ing was attended by representatives of Party, soviet, and civic groups, and by
sailors and officers of the Amur River Flotilla.
Nearly all papers carried advertisements for Serge Eisenstein's The Battle-
ship Potemkin, originally released as a silent film in 1925, which was reissued
this year with an added sound track, in time for Navy Day celebrations. Moskov-
skaya Pravda on 23 July announced the reissue in commemoration of Navy Day of
S. 0. Makarov's Works on oceanography.
On Navy Day, reviews of fleets and flotillas took place in their home ports
throughout the USSR, with members of the fleet participating afterward in mass
swims (in Sevastopol', Vladivostok, Baku, Riga, Kharbarovsk, and Odessa), meet-
ings with the general public, and lectures on the activity of the Navy during
the war. Song and dance ensembles from the Black and Baltic Sea fleets-gave
evening concerts in Moscow parks.
Displays of naval equipment and model ships as well as model ship contests,
were held in a number of cities under the sponsorship of local DOSFLOT organiza-
tions. Boat trips for the general public were given by Yerevan and Przheval'sk
DOSFLOT organizations.
Photographic displays on the Soviet Navy, naval and water-sports meets,
film fLstivals, and concerts to celebrate Navy Day were held in most of the large
cities throughout the USSR.
Lead editorials in all newspapers on 23 July played up the priority of the
Soviet Union in naval inventions, naval science, and geographic discovery, and
called for a strengthening of the fleet in view of capitalist aggression. Almost
all repeated in some form the statement that, " So long as the capitalist world
exists, the threat of attack upon the USSR will also exist."
In addition to lead editorials, all newspapers carried articles on the second
page by high-ranking?Navy and DOSFLOT officials. The main theme in these also was
the USSR's priority in the field of naval science, the activities of the fleet
during the war; and the need for postwar strengthening of the Soviet Navy.
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Articles signed by Rear Admiral M. Yakovenko were published in 13 news-
papers in 11 of the Soviet republics, and dealt mainly with the Navy's activ-
ities in the war and the postwar imperialist threat from the West.
Izvestiya on 23 July carried what was probably the best-written newspaper
article on Navy Day. The author, Vice Admiral N. Vinogradcv, referred to the
sea boundaries of the USSR, the acquisition of warm-water ports, and the need
for strengthening the Navy to defend those boundaries. Imperialist Military
and air bases in 60 countries and island vroups and their threat to the USSR
were cited by Vinogradov as another reason for strengthening the Navy.
Admiral A. G. Golovko's article, "The Soviet Fleet in Defense of the
Motherland," in Pravda 23 July, followed closely the line set by lead editorials.
Lieutenant General of the Coastal Service S. Ye. Zakharov, in ,the prin-
cipal Navy Day article in Krasnyy Flot, 23 July, recalled Stalin's 1946 Navy
Day Order calling for a mightier Navy, new ships, and new bases, and claimed
that the;.Soviet,?Navy.is now.stronger-,than it was before the war.
Major General of the Coastal Service D. Korniyenko, in Moskovskaya Pravda
23 July, accused the US and Great Britain of exaggerating the roles their navies
play in the destruction of the German and Japanese navies, pointing to Pearl Har-
bor and MacArthur's retreat from the Philippines and claiming all glory for the
Soviet Navy.
Admiral G. I. Levchenko, whose article, "The Naval Fleet of the Soviet State,"
was carried in both Krasnyy Flot and Krasnaya Zvezda on 23 July, stressed past
Russian and Soviet naval victories.
Rear Admiral V. F. Kotov in Moskovskiy Komsomolets, 23 July, paid tribute
to the Komsomol organization and to its sponsorship of the Red Fleet, especially
during the early years of its existence.
Rear Admiral N. Piterskiy emphasized the role of Lenin and Stalin in the
creation of the Soviet Navy in Vechernyaya Moskva, 22 July.
Engineer Rear Admiral A Brykin, in Komsomol'skaya Pravda, 23 July, described
the work of the Komsomol among sailors, and credited that organization with b-lp-
ing to raise the level of military and political knowledge among fleet membt ,.
Colonel G. F. Borozdkin, in Morskoy Flot, 23 July, wrote on the maritime and
river fleets of the USSR and their role in the national economy, calling for an
adequate navy to protect that economy.
In his article "We Are Mastering Naval Science," in Morskoy Flot, 23 July
1950, S. M. Sergeyev, deputy chairman, Central Committee, All-Union DOSFLOT Coun-
cil, described the activities planned by DOSFLOT in connection with the celebra-
tion of Navy Day.
M. Artsev described the activities of DOSFLOT Navy Club No 2.in Moscow, in
his article "Future Sailors," in Vechernyaya Moskva, 22 July.
M. Podshivalov, chairman, Sverdlovsk City DOSFLOT Committee, described a
series of lectures on naval subjects given by DOSFLOT representatives and speakers
from the society for the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge, in
Ural'skiy Rabochiy, 23 July.
Captain First Rank F Ashanin, chairman, Moscow City DOSFLOT Committee, re-
marked on Moscow's 50-percent growth in DOSFLOT primary organizations during the
past, year, the two DOSFLOT navy clubs in the city, of the lecture schedule and
naval-mild water-sports contests planned for Navy Day, in an article carried by
Vechernyaya Moskva on 18.July and Moskovskiy Komsomolets on 23 July.
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An article written by V. Ushakov, chairman, Latvian SSR DOSFLOT Committee
in Sovetskaya Latviya, 23 July,, dealt with DOSFLOP activities in Latvian SSE.
during 1950.
V. Slavnin, deputy., chairman, Belorussian SSR DOSFLOT Committee, told bf
naval- and water-sports contests to be sponsored.by that organization in var-
ious cities of the republic in connection with Navy Day, in Sovetskaya Belorus-
siya, 23 July.
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