Soviet Navy

The Soviet Navy (Russian: Военно-морской флот СССР (ВМФ), tr. Voyenno-morskoy flot SSSR (VMF), lit. 'Military Maritime Fleet of the USSR') was the naval warfare uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet (Russian: Красный флот, tr. Krasnyy flot), the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with the opposing superpower, the United States, during the Cold War period between the two countries.[2] The Soviet Navy played a large role during the Cold War (1945-1991), either confronting the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in western Europe or power projection to maintain its sphere of influence in eastern Europe.[3]

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (July 2020)

Soviet Navy
Военно-морской флот СССР
Naval ensign of the Soviet Union
Founded	1918 (1918)
Disbanded	14 February 1992 (1992-02-14)
Country	Russian SFSR (1918–1922)  Soviet Union (1922–1991)  CIS (1991–1992)
Allegiance	Communist Party of the Soviet Union (until 1990) President of the Soviet Union (1990–1991) Commonwealth of Independent States (1991–1992)
Type	Navy
Size	467,000 personnel (1984)[1] 1,053 ships (1990) 1,172 aircraft (1990) 5 aircraft carriers (1990) 2 helicopter carriers (1990) 3 battlecruisers 30 cruisers 45 destroyers 113 frigates 124 corvettes 63 ballistic missile submarines 72 cruise missile submarine 68 nuclear attack submarine 63 conventional attack submarine 9 auxiliary submarines 35 amphibious warfare ships 425 patrol boats
Part of	Soviet Armed Forces
Nickname(s)	Red Fleet
Engagements	Russian Revolution Russian Civil War Polish–Soviet War Soviet–Japanese border conflicts Invasion of Poland Winter War (Finland) World War II (Great Patriotic War) Soviet invasion of Manchuria Vietnam War 1966 Soviet submarine global circumnavigation Cold War
Commanders
Notable commanders	Fleet Admiral Sergey Gorshkov Fleet Admiral Nikolay Kuznetsov Vice Admiral Aleksandr Nemits Vice Admiral Yevgeny Berens Fleet Admiral Vasili Altfater Admiral Ivan Yumashev
Insignia
Naval jack
Guards Red Banner naval ensign

The Soviet Navy was divided into four major fleets: the Northern, Pacific, Black Sea, and Baltic Fleets, in addition to the Leningrad Naval Base, which was commanded separately. It also had a smaller force, the Caspian Flotilla, which operated in the Caspian Sea and was followed by a larger fleet, the 5th Squadron, in the Middle East. The Soviet Navy included Naval Aviation, Naval Infantry, and the Coastal Artillery.

Soviet Armed Forces
Components
General Staff Strategic Rocket Forces Red Army Soviet Army Air Defence Forces Air Forces Navy
Ranks of the Soviet Military
Military ranks of the Soviet Union
History of the Soviet Military
Military history of the Soviet Union History of Russian military ranks
v t e

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian Federation inherited the largest part of the Soviet Navy and reformed it into the Russian Navy, with smaller parts becoming the basis for navies of the newly independent post-Soviet states.