From the Black Sea to the Arctic Ocean,
the Soviet Navy fought a deadly but largely forgotten war
that led to some of the greatest maritime tragedies in history. Originally produced
for Russian television in 2011, this is the story
of Russia’s Great Patriotic War and the Red Army’s long road
from defeat to victory. On the deck of a German warship, the crew rolled trolleys loaded with huge
metal spheres towards the stern. It was nearly midnight on 21st June 1941 —
the eve of the German invasion of the Soviet Union — and German warships
were busy mining the Gulf of Finland. There were just a few hours left before the
first German air raids hit the Soviet Union, and the German ambassador in Moscow
handed over a declaration of war. But here in the Baltic,
the war had already begun. Unlike the army and air force,
the Soviet navy was expecting war. For three days it had been on high alert.
Its ships and aircraft mounted regular patrols to give
early warning of any incoming attack. Just before midnight on 21st June, the navy
was put on red alert by its commander, People’s Commissar Nikolai Kuznetsov. But while Soviet airfields were hammered
on the first day of the war, the navy was hardly
in the firing line at all. The main Baltic naval base
at Tallin wasn’t even attacked. But naval mobilization
still left plenty to be desired. Submarine Commander Petr Grishchenko
was asleep when the Germans attacked. But it was not the submarine base that
was being attacked. It was the airfield. If the bombers
had targeted the Soviet fleet, there was every chance they would have
pulled off a German Pearl Harbor. But the Germans planned instead to blockade
Soviet ships in their ports with mines. The Soviet Navy was divided between
four distinct operational zones: the Baltic Sea and Black Sea,
the Arctic, and the Far East. The distances involved were vast — it was a sea voyage of nearly 9,000 miles
from Vladivostock to Leningrad. In 1941 the Soviet navy possessed
few large modern warships. Its expansion had focused instead
on submarines and light ships — a strategy advocated by several
young Soviet naval theorists. The argument ran:
“One submarine can disable a battleship. Several submarines can impede
the actions of several fleets.” The doctrine received official approval. People’s Commissar of Defense,
Kliment Voroshilov, declared: “All we want is to protect our coasts
and borders. Our light forces, naval aviation, and submarines
will cripple an attacking enemy.” The USSR began a massive programme
of submarine-construction. The navy conducted manoeuvres,
in which submarines practiced working with coastal batteries, aircraft and light
ships to repel an enemy naval attack. At the outbreak of war, the Soviet Navy
had 3 battleships, 7 light cruisers, 54 destroyers, 215 submarines,
22 guard ships, 290 torpedo boats, and 62 sub-hunters. All three battleships dated back
to the days of the Tsar. The Baltic Fleet was strongest,
with 2 battleships, 2 modern light cruisers, and 21 destroyers. The Northern Fleet was weakest,
with just 8 destroyers. The German navy, in contrast,
had 3 battleships, 8 cruisers, 34 destroyers, and 155 submarines. At 6:30 am on 22nd June, Baltic Fleet Headquarters received orders
from People’s Commissar Kuznetsov. But such a course could have little effect.
As Admiral Panteleyev pointed out: “The Nazi navy had no intention
of entering the Gulf of Finland. On the contrary, it intended
to blockade us inside it.” A cruiser, covered by a smokescreen, manoeuvred slowly
through the harbor of Tallin. Every few minutes,
its main guns roared out. The Cruiser Kirov was firing at German
troops advancing on the Estonian capital. The enemy retaliated with heavy artillery. This was why the Kirov kept on the move,
hiding amongst the smoke. By late August 1941, the Red Army had been forced
to yield most of its Baltic conquests. Only Tallin remained —
a last Soviet bastion in Estonia. The Germans and their Finnish allies were determined to prevent
the evacuation of Tallin by sea. There were only two navigable
channels to the city, one along the coast, and one through the middle
of the Gulf of Finland. The Germans and Finns filled
this central channel with 2,500 mines. The sea mine was
a highly effective naval weapon, responsible for one fifth
of all shipping losses during the war. The German EM, or moored contact mine, consisted of a hollow sphere
with seven thin "horns". Inside, in a watertight box,
was a 300 kilogram explosive charge. Most of the sphere was empty,
so the mine would float. The mine was rolled
overboard with its trolley, to which it was attached by a cable. The trolley acted as the mine’s
anchor and held it in place. The cable length could be adjusted,
to set the depth of the mine. The metal "horns" triggered the mine. When a ship hit one, it broke
an acid container within the horn. This turned it into a battery and sent
an electric charge to the detonator. The mine would then explode. Having fought their way to the coast, the Germans opened fire
on the navigation channel. But neither artillery, nor the mines, could prevent Soviet
transports reaching Tallinn. Soviet mine-hunters led the way. Because of their shallow draft
they passed safely over the mines, dragging a trawl that cut their cables. When a mine floated to the surface
it was destroyed with gunfire, creating safe lanes through the minefield. During August, a steady stream
of wounded Soviet soldiers and refugees were evacuated from Tallinn by sea. But it took a heavy toll on the Soviet
mine-hunters. Some hit shallow mines. Others were sunk by TMA "influence" mines,
triggered by a ship’s magnetic field. On 26th August,
Stalin telegrammed Voroshilov, authorizing a withdrawal from Tallin
and the evacuation of its garrison by sea. The operation called for an armada
of more than 200 Soviet ships. They would have to run a gauntlet of German
and Finnish aircraft and torpedo boats, and minefields that could not
be cleared because of bad weather. The convoy departed Tallin
at noon on 28th August, carrying 28,000 soldiers and refugees. The ships sailed in the central channel, meaning German and Finnish coastal
batteries fired at extreme range. Luftwaffe divebombers joined the attack, as Soviet destroyers laid smokescreens
to protect the convoy. There were dozens of mines in the channel. They soon began to claim their victims. The cruisers and destroyers forged ahead, making for the heavily-defended
naval base at Kronstadt. The slower transports were left behind. German aircraft fell upon
them like vultures. Of the 75 transports that left Tallinn, 12
were destroyed by mines and 19 by aircraft. If the warships had slowed down
to protect the convoy, the losses might have been fewer. But the Fleet Commander
needed his warships back safely. The Baltic Fleet could not be sacrificed. The cruiser Kirov reached Kronstadt
without serious damage, as did 11 of 13 submarines,
but only 5 out of 10 destroyers. Of the 28,000 evacuees,
two-thirds arrived safely. But more than 15,000 lives had been lost
on the 200 mile voyage from Tallin. Within days, the Germans began
their assault on Leningrad. The warships, saved by the brutal
decision to abandon the Tallin convoy, would play a vital part
in the city’s defence… Hitler’s hopes of a rapid victory against
the Soviet Union had been dashed. As the war entered its second year, the Germans became increasingly concerned
about their own shipping routes. Vital supplies of Swedish
iron ore came across the Baltic and along the Norwegian coast. Chrome ore came across
the Black Sea from neutral Turkey. The Germans turned
to their sophisticated sea mines to protect all these shipping lanes. In 1942, they created huge minefields
along Norway’s northern coast, watched over by aircraft
and coastal batteries. It had an immediate and deadly impact
on Soviet submarine patrols. In April 1942, the Shch421
hit a German mine and sank. The same month Shch401
went missing on patrol. Three further submarines
were lost in quick succession. Sinkings by Soviet Northern Fleet
submarines dropped off rapidly — from 21 in the first half of 1942,
to just 4 in the second half of the year. They came at a cost of 9 submarines. The sailors of the Baltic Fleet suffered
all the hardships of their home base, the besieged city of Leningrad. Rations were so meager that many of them
suffered the effects of malnutrition. Meanwhile, German factories were turning
Swedish iron ore into tanks, guns and shells. Only the submarines of the Baltic Fleet
could disrupt this supply. On 2nd July 1942,
S7, under Commander Lisin, slipped through the minefields
of the Gulf of Finland. Sweden was neutral. But while surfaced, Lisin came under attack from Swedish
aircraft, and was lucky to escape. That night Lisin sank the Swedish
transport Margareta, loaded with coal. Two days later, he sank another Swedish
ship, Luleo, carrying iron ore to Germany. The Swedes claimed both ships
had been sunk within territorial waters — a violation of their neutrality.
The Soviets denied this, but felt it prudent to order S7 away
from the Swedish coast. On 30th July, Lisin sighted four
more ships. To overtake them, he took a huge risk — sailing on the
surface at full speed in broad daylight. He attacked from a depth of just 20 feet. If detected,
he stood little chance of escape. But Lisin’s audacity paid off —
the German transport Kathe was sunk. S7 had no torpedoes left and was heading
home, when a Finnish steamer was detected. The main deck gun had jammed, so the crew
opened fire with their anti-aircraft gun. It took almost 400 shells to sink her. From the wreckage, Lisin picked up
the Finnish captain and his engineer and brought them to Leningrad. It was a very rare example
of a submarine taking prisoners. Four crew members of the S7 were decorated. Lisin was recommended
for the highest award, the title "Hero of the Soviet Union". In September 1942, S-12,
under Commander Turayev, left on patrol. But one day in, she was damaged
in an attack by Finnish aircraft. Her leaking oil tanks left
a greasy trail on the water’s surface. Then the sonar operator picked up
the sound of propellers. The submarine’s batteries were almost dead,
and she was in shallow water. On the charts, Turayev spotted a small
60 metre deep trench on the sea floor. The sea-bed all around was 40 metres — this was where the Finns would set
their depth charges to explode. S-12 descended into the trench. The submarine was rocked
by exploding depth charges, and battered by debris from the sea bed. But she suffered no serious damage. After dark S-12 made her escape. But Turayev had no intention
of cutting short his patrol. He made a torpedo attack on the ageing
German battleship Schlesien, but missed. He was finally forced back
to base by autumn storms. On 17th October 1942, Commander Lisin
took S-7 on a second Baltic patrol. But while recharging
batteries on the surface, S-7 was attacked by a Finnish submarine. Four men of the upper watch, including
Commander Lisin, were thrown clear. The other 42 crew members perished. It was from inside
a Finnish prisoner-of-war camp that Lisin heard he’d been
made a Hero of the Soviet Union. When Finland signed an armistice in 1944,
Lisin returned to active service. He fought against Japan in 1945, and
finally retired from the service in 1970. In 1942, Soviet submarines
had struck a small but significant blow against Germany’s
vital supply line across the Baltic Sea. But it came at a heavy price… In 1942, Soviet submarines sank
at least 21 ships, and damaged a further 9. But of 27 Baltic Fleet submarines
on patrols, 12 did not return. And was already a dangerous
environment for Soviet subs, was about to become a deathtrap… By the end of 1941, it was clear that Hitler faced a long struggle
against the Soviet Union. He assigned the German air force and navy the task of stopping Allied aid convoys
reaching Russia across the Arctic Ocean. These convoys brought
much-needed shipments of food, supplies and vehicles to the northern
ports of Murmansk and Archangelsk. Cargo ships from North America
and Britain were assembled into convoys, and assigned a naval escort for the dangerous
Arctic crossing to Northern Russia. The proximity to German-occupied Norway
made the protection of warships essential. Convoys bound for the USSR were
codenamed PQ, and those returning — QP. The first Allied convoy
of 7 merchant ships arrived — without loss — at Arkhangelsk
on 31st August 1941. The convoys passed within 200 miles
of the Norwegian coast, at speeds of no more than 10 knots. Conditions on the crossing could be
horrendous — waves the size of houses, temperatures of minus 30 degrees
centigrade, and incessant Arctic gales. Destroyers of the Soviet
Northern Fleet joined the escort for the final leg of the journey to Russia, and provided defence against
German air and submarine attack. The early convoys to Russia consisted
of no more than a dozen transport ships, and the first 7 convoys
suffered no losses at all. The first U-boat attack against an Arctic
convoy did not occur until January 1942, and resulted in the loss of one
transport from Convoy PQ-7A. But as the convoys increased in size,
so too did their losses. Convoy PQ-17 set sail
in June 1942 with 34 ships, of which 23 were sunk
by German aircraft and U-boats. This disaster led to the suspension
of Arctic Convoys for 3 months. Hitler, in his determination to choke off
any aid to the Soviet Union, sent heavy reinforcements to Norway, including the mighty
new battleship, Tirpitz. She was a sister-ship
to the Bismarck, and like her, carried a fearsome battery
of eight 15 inch guns. Soviet sub K-21, under Commander Lunin,
was also bound for Norway. On the afternoon of 5th July 1942, K-21’s sonar officer reported
the sound of heavy warships. It was the Tirpitz,
leading a German squadron to intercept the Allied convoy PQ-17. Lunin used his periscope
to observe the target — although he knew that in clear weather, there was a danger that its wake
could be spotted by a German lookout. The German ships were moving at high speed, leaving only a small window
for Lunin to make his attack. As Lunin made his approach,
the warships suddenly changed course. He had to act quickly. From inside the enemy formation,
K-21 attacked with its stern torpedo tubes. Lunin fired 4 torpedoes…
then waited for the sound of explosions. The sonar officer reported two explosions. Lunin radioed the Fleet Commander,
claiming a hit on the Tirpitz. But they were wrong.
The torpedoes had missed. Meanwhile, in the Black Sea, Soviet submarines were
also active in hunting down the enemy. Lookouts on the Shch 205 studied
a freighter that carried no national flag. According to an Anglo-Turkish agreement, all chrome ore mined in neutral Turkey
was to be bought up by Great Britain, thus depriving Germany
of its main supply of chrome, which it needed for alloys
used in the armaments industry. But Turkey continued to sell
chrome ore to Germany as well, in shipments sent to Bulgaria,
which Soviet submarines tried to intercept. The Turkish freighter "Duatepe" spotted
the submarine, and raced for an inlet. Captain Lieutenant Sukhomlinov gave
the order to open fire with the deck gun. A stream of shells soon reduced
the Duatepe to a blazing wreck. The submarine’s next victim
was the Turkish transport Shafac. Two torpedoes tore
the small ship to pieces. The Shch 205’s next mission
was to deliver ammunition to the besieged naval base of Sevastopol. When the ammunition was unloaded, 50 wounded soldiers were crammed
into the small submarine for evacuation. The Shch 205’s survived around
40 bomb and depth-charge attacks, before reaching the safety of Novorossiysk
on the Black Sea’s eastern shore. The Black Sea was less dangerous for Soviet
subs than the narrow straits of the Baltic. But shallow coastal waters
posed their own risk — the sea was often
no more than 10 to 15 metres deep, and could be heavily mined by the Germans. Soviet submarine commanders
had to be bold and aggressive. In October 1942, Commander Greshilov,
in a small M class submarine, sank the 500 ton German
tanker "Le Progress", as she sailed under escort
near the Danube Delta. In August 1943 Greshilov, now commanding a larger
Pike class submarine, struck again, sinking the Turkish transport Tisbe under the noses of her escort of two
destroyers and two sub-hunters. She went to the bottom
with 1,600 tons of chrome ore aboard her. In 1944 Greshilov was awarded
the USSR’s highest honour, the title "Hero of the Soviet Union". Back in the Baltic,
the threat posed by Soviet submarines caused the Germans
to take drastic new measures. Minefields alone were clearly not working. In the spring of 1943, the Germans began erecting huge
steel nets across the Gulf of Finland. This double anti-submarine net,
codenamed Walrus, stretched 25 miles from Naissar Island, off the coast of Estonia,
to the coast of Finland. The net was too strong for even
the largest submarine to break through. For good measure, the Germans
and Finns laid another 9,000 mines in the Gulf of Finland. On Hogland Island, they built
an underwater listening station to detect passing submarines. When the winter ice melted,
the first Soviet submarines attempted to break through
this formidable array of defences. In May 1943, Shch-303,
under the command of Ivan Travkin, left Kronstadt bound for the Baltic. Two days into the patrol,
sonar reported a rhythmic, metallic rasping against the hull. Travkin made several attempts to get
through the net, but all ended in failure. With sonar also picking up several
enemy anti-submarine patrols, Travkin decided to report
his findings and head for home... Shch-408 was less lucky. She was
detected and sunk by enemy patrol craft. Shch-406, under the command of Hero
of the Soviet Union Yevgeni Osipov, also never returned to base. When Travkin returned, he and his crew
were greeted like men back from the dead. The Baltic Fleet command tried
bombing the nets from the air. Submarines tried firing torpedoes at it. But neither had any effect. Two more submarines, the S9 and S12,
were lost whilst investigating the net. After that, all attempts to break
through were suspended. For the time being, the Germans had
succeeded in trapping and neutralising the entire Soviet Baltic Fleet... In the Black Sea,
it was the German Luftwaffe that posed the greatest
threat to the Soviet navy. In the first weeks of the war,
the Soviet Black Sea Fleet conducted raids against Romanian
ports — and later, against the German-occupied Crimea. The first raid, just four
days into the war, targeted oil storage facilities
at the Romanian port of Konstanza. But after a short bombardment, the destroyer
Moskva hit a mine and sank rapidly, leading to the withdrawal
of the raiding force. Soviet marines also carried out small-scale
raids against Romanian targets. After the fall of the Crimea, the Black Sea
Fleet targeted Axis forces stationed on its coastline.
In October 1943, three destroyers — Kharkov, Sposobny
and Besposhchadny — left the east coast to conduct a night-time bombardment
of German positions at Yalta and Feodosia. Then they sailed for home. At dawn the destroyers were attacked by
8 Stuka dive-bombers with fighter escorts. Kharkov was hit in a boiler-room
and taken in tow by Sposobny. But the German air attack was unrelenting. The last raid consisted of 25 Stukas
with a large fighter escort. Soviet fighters arrived,
but it was an uneven contest. Anti-aircraft guns and fighters managed
to destroy 18 German aircraft. But all three Soviet destroyers were sunk. 780 sailors of the Black Sea Fleet
were lost with them. This disaster caused the Stavka to prohibit
any further surface raids in the Black Sea. From the conning tower of S-56,
men peered anxiously towards the shore. Finally, they saw the signal. The submarine was there to land
a reconnaissance team behind enemy lines. It was a frequent mission
for Soviet submarines during the war. S-56, under Commander Shchedrin, had travelled from Vladivostok more
than half way around the world, via the Panama Canal,
to reach the Arctic Ocean. This 17,000 mile route was the only way to avoid
major war zones and the winter ice. Northern Fleet Submarines were also
tasked with attacking the convoys that brought supplies to Axis forces
in northern Russia. On 17th May 1943,
near the northern tip of Norway, S-56 sighted a convoy of one tanker,
4 cargo ships and 8 escort vessels. Shchedrin fired a salvo of 4 torpedoes. In one salvo, S-56
had sunk the tanker Eurostadt, carrying 1,300 tons of fuel,
and damaged the steamer Wartheland. The attack was followed by a 6 hour chase, in which more than 60 depth charges
were dropped... but none found their mark. As huge battles raged
at Stalingrad and Kursk, in the North the front remained static, and the battle to defend
the Arctic convoys — with their vital cargoes
of military aid — continued. The Soviet Northern Fleet fought
a running battle against U-boats and the Luftwaffe into 1944. That year, a major
development finally allowed the Soviet Baltic Fleet
to break free of its shackles. In September 1944,
Finland signed an armistice, allowing Soviet ships to bypass the net
and mine defences of the Gulf of Finland, and even operate from Finnish ports. In January 1945, the Red Army launched
an offensive into East Prussia. The Germans began a massive
operation to evacuate military personnel and equipment by sea. The ships also
carried thousands of refugees. Amongst them was the Wilhelm Gustloff, a cruise ship requisitioned
by the German navy. On 30th January, she set sail from Gdynia amidst heavy snowfall
and temperatures of minus 10. On board were 918 U-boat cadets,
500 other military personnel, and according to some estimates,
as many as 9,000 refugees, of whom nearly half were children. Fearing a collision with other convoys, the captain of the Wilhelm Gustloff
turned on her navigation lights. It was these lights that led Commander
Marinesko’s S-13 to her shortly after 9pm. Marinesko stalked his quarry
for more than an hour. Having got into a firing position,
he launched 4 torpedoes. 3 hit the liner,
with devastating consequences. More than 9,000 lives
were lost on the Wilhelm Gustloff. But the Soviet navy defended its right
to attack a ship under escort, carrying military personnel. Two weeks later, the same submarine
sank the liner Von Steuben, with the loss of 4,000 lives —
the majority of them, in this case, wounded German soldiers. In the first months of 1945,
the Red Army was advancing rapidly, crossing Poland to threaten
Berlin in the north, and crossing Hungary
to reach Vienna in the south. But there were still pockets of German
resistance along the Baltic Coast, in Pomerania and Latvia. Destroying these groups’
communications by sea was the Baltic Fleet submarines’
last mission of the war. Searchlights swept across
the entrance to the Bay of Danzig. For the commander of Soviet submarine L3,
it was a discouraging sight. Commander Konovalov
had orders to break into the bay, but he considered it a suicidal task. L3 stood off at the bay’s entrance. In early 1945 it was the scene
of intense air and sea battles, particularly around the Hel Peninsula,
as the Germans desperately tried to evacuate the remnants of their military
forces, and thousands of terrified refugees. But they had to run the gauntlet
of Soviet submarines. On 17th April 1945,
L3 sighted a convoy leaving the bay. It was bound from Hel to Swinemünde. After dark, Konovalov attacked
with 3 torpedoes. His victim was the transport ship Goya,
carrying more than 6,000 passengers. There were just 183 survivors. In July 1945 Konovalov was awarded
the title Hero of the Soviet Union. His crew were also decorated. On the very first day of the war, the submarine L3 had been
at the mercy of the German Luftwaffe. It had only been spared, because the
Germans did not consider Soviet submarines to be a high enough priority. But they had gone on to prove themselves
a truly deadly adversary. Today the conning tower of L3 is on display at the Moscow Museum
of the Great Patriotic War. The Soviet people celebrated
Victory Day on 9th May 1945. And on 22nd July,
Soviet ships hoisted their colours to mark the first Navy Day
since the end of the war. It was also marked by parades,
and, on this occasion, an address from Josef Stalin
to all Soviet sailors. It read: “The navy has more than fulfilled
its duty to the Soviet Motherland.”
