World navies comparative frigate strengths from 1939 to 1958.
| Year | USN | RN | Fr | Ne | USSR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | 43 | 46 | 5 | |||
| 1941 | 22 | |||||
| 1945 | 482 | 598 | 35 | 6 | 48 | |
| 1948 | 13 | |||||
| 1950 | 11 | |||||
| 1951 | 36 | 44 | 16 | |||
| 1952 | 89 | |||||
| 1954 | 33 | |||||
| 1955 | 60 | |||||
| 1957 | 71 | 26 | 61 | |||
| 1952 | 18 |
Source: Friedman, Norman. The Postwar Naval Revolution. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1986.
World navies comparative destroyer (DD) strengths from 1939 to 1958.
| Year | USN | RN | Fr | Ne | USSR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | 127 | 100 | 57 | 8 | |
| 1941 | 42 | ||||
| 1945 | 372 | 108 | 15 | 5 | 45 |
| 1948 | 135 | ||||
| 1950 | 109 | ||||
| 1951 | 28 | 11 | 5 | ||
| 1952 | 211 | ||||
| 1954 | 26 | ||||
| 1955 | 140 | ||||
| 1957 | 212 | 19 | 19 | ||
| 1952 | 12 |
Source: Friedman, Norman. The Postwar Naval Revolution. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1986.
On this day in history…
On 27 October 1981, the Soviet Whiskey-class submarine S-363 (a.k.a. U 137) struck an underwater rock in Swedish territorial waters, 2km (1.07 nautical miles) from the Swedish naval base at Karlskrona.
Soviet submarine S-363 (U 137).
The boat was stuck on the rocks for 10-days during a tense standoff that saw the Soviet Navy dispatch a flotilla of destroyers and frigates to the Swedish coast, and the Swedish armed forces scrambling aircraft, patrol boats and coastal artillery.
Soviet submarine S-363 (U 137).
The S-363 was finally hauled off the rocks on 5 November and towed out to international waters where it was returned to the Soviets.
Commemorative plaque at the location of the S-363 grounding in Sweden.
So the Yuri Andropov… sorry… I mean the Petr Veliky (old Soviet leopard, new Russian spots) warrants 4 nuclear-powered icebreakers for a jaunt through the Nordenskiöld Archipelago, but a floundering tanker loaded with diesel oil is left to its own devices. There’s Soviet logic … oops… sorry… I mean Russian logic for you. What’s the harm of an ecological disaster here or there?
{sigh} They don’t make this easy, you know, renaming ships an’ all. The Andropov is the Veliky, the Ural is the “50 Years of Victory or Fiftieth Anniversary of Victory”, the Nordvik is the Volgoneft. You know what this is? Maskirovka! 😉
Four icebreakers for missile cruiser – none for damaged tanker
The Northern Fleet’s flag ship «Petr Veliky» was escorted by no less than four nuclear-powered icebreakers on its voyage eastwards along the Northern Sea Route. At the same time a damaged tanker fully loaded with diesel fuel has been waiting for assistance for a week after it was struck by an ice floe.
Nuclear icebreakers escorting Russia’s heavy missile cruiser “Petr Veliky” along the Northern Sea Route. (Photo: mil.ru)
A vessel group consisting of ten different vessels from the Northern Fleet and led by the heavy missile cruiser “Petr Veliky” yesterday sailed through the Matisen Strait north of the Taymyr Peninsula, the Defense Ministry’s web site reads. The group was escorted by no less than four of Atomflot’s nuclear-powered icebreakers, among them the two largest and most powerful icebreakers in the world, “50 Let Pobedy” and “Yamal”. Also the two shallow-water nuclear icebreakers “Vaygach” and “Taymyr” were put in to escort the world’s largest battlecruiser through the crumbling ice.
Watch video from the Northern Fleet’s voyage along the Northern Sea Route on TV Zvezda.
Matisen Strait is the same place where a nearly 30 year old tanker loaded with diesel oil has been waiting for assistance for a week after it collided with an ice floe and started taking in water.
The 6403 dwt tanker “Nordvik” was struck by ice in the area last Wednesday while sailing in medium ice conditions – in all probability without icebreaker escort, while it only had permission to sail in light ice conditions. In the first information about the accident – which came from the Seafarer’s Union of Russia and not from any governmental source, it was said that the vessel was on its way to Murmansk, but later information from the Federal Agency for Sea and River Transport revealed that the tanker was drifting in the area, waiting for another tanker to come and unload the diesel and for an icebreaker to come and escort the vessel to port.
Ship-to-ship reloading of oil in ice conditions is considered to be a risky business, but in this situation it is probably safer than trying to sail the damaged ship to port.
The Smetlivy is a Kashin-class destroyer commissioned into the Soviet Navy in 1969. Laid up for modernization in 1990, the Smetlivy returned to service with the post-breakup Russian Navy in 1995. At 44-years of age, the Smetlivy is the last Kashin-class destroyer in Soviet… sorry… Russian service.
Russia Sends 1 More Warship to Mediterranean Sea Fleet – Official
Russian destroyer Smetlivy.
MOSCOW, September 6 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will send another warship to the Mediterranean Sea next week, a high-ranking Russian Navy official told RIA Novosti Friday.
The Kashin-class guided missile destroyer Smetlivy from the Black Sea Fleet is due to leave the port of Sevastopol on September 12-14, the official said, adding that it is to join the Mediterranean task force “on a rotational basis.”
A group of warships, including the large amphibious landing ships Novocherkassk and Minsk, as well as the electronic intelligence ship Priazovye joined the Mediterranean fleet earlier on Friday, he said.
He also said the Slava class guided missile cruiser Moskva will reach the Mediterranean Sea, where it will take over from the Admiral Panteleyev destroyer, on September 17, and on September 29 the missile boat Ivanovets and the guided missile ship Sthil will reach an area off the Syrian coast.
Russia has strengthened its naval presence in the Mediterranean Sea for a possible evacuation of Russian nationals from Syria, Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov said Thursday.
Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said earlier on Thursday that the country’s increased presence in the Mediterranean is “a legitimate, natural and predictable reaction to the situation developing” in the region. However, he stressed that Russia’s naval presence in the Mediterranean Sea does should not be interpreted as an indication that the country plans to take an active role in any regional conflict.
K-159 was a November-class (Project 627A) nuclear-powered attack submarine built by Sevmash and commissioned into the Soviet Navy in 1963. Decommissioned in 1989, K-159 was laid up at Gremikha for 14-years as a rusting unmaintained hulk… with her reactors still fueled. When she foundered while under tow to Polyarny on 28 August 2003, K-159 sank in 780-ft (238-metres) with 9 of her crew and 800 kilograms of spent nuclear fuel aboard.
Ten years on, no plan to lift sunken nuclear sub
Last photo: This is how K-159 was looking when she was fastened to the pontoons supposed to keep the submarine floating while being towed from Gremikha on August 28, 2003. On the night to August 30, K-159 sank. (Photo: Courtesy of Bellona Foundation.)
K-159, the rust bucket of a nuclear powered submarine that sank off the coast of Russia’s Kola Peninsula on August 30, 2003, remains on the seabed in one of the best fishing areas for cod.
There are still no definite plans to lift the rusty November-class submarine from the depth of 238 meters in the Barents Sea. K-159 sank during towing from Gremikha naval base towards Polyarny shipyard northwest of Murmansk. The initial plan was to lift the submarine in autumn 2004.
In 2007, the St. Petersburg based design and engineering company Malakhit got the order to prepare a lifting plan. A decision would be taken in the beginning of 2008. That is five years ago. Nothing has happened since and no one is longer talking loudly about concrete steps on how to lift the submarine.
Nine of K-159’s crew members went down with the submarine after one of the pontoons that kept her floating was ripped away. Onboard, the two nuclear reactors still contain 800 kilograms of spent nuclear fuel with an estimated amount of radioactivity of some 600,000 Curie.
The waters outside the Kildin island, where K-159 sank, is one of the best joint fishing areas for Norwegian, Russian trawlers and consequently possible leakages of radioactivity concerns both countries. Ingar Amundsen is head of section for international nuclear safety with the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority.
“It is reported that no serious leakage from the submarine is observed so far and that measurements close to the sub indicate only background activity levels. Our bilateral marine monitoring program does not show elevated levels of radioactivity in the water,” says Ingar Amundsen to BarentsObserver.
Still, Amundsen is concerned about the future.
“K-159 sank under tragic circumstances ten years ago. The nuclear submarine contains spent nuclear fuel in its reactor and therefore represents a potential source or radioactive contamination in the future,” says Amundsen. He continues: “We are in dialogue with the Russian party to increase the monitoring activities in these areas. We also look at what risks objects in the Arctic containing spent nuclear fuel may possess to the Arctic environment.”
Last October, BarentsObserver reported that K-159 was included in a revised draft strategy developed to clean Russia’s Arctic areas. The problem is that Russia today doesn’t have the capacity to do such lifting operation on its own. When the ill-fated “Kursk” submarine was lifted from the bottom of the Barents Sea in 2002, the operation was led by a consortium of European companies headed by the Dutch salvage giant Mammoet.
“Potential lifting of K-159 or other objects in the Arctic is a Russian responsibility,” says Ingar Amundsen. “We have informed the Russian party that the marine resources in the North is of great interest to us, and that we continue to gain knowledge about status of contamination and potential risks in the future, he says.
This year’s quota for North East Arctic cod is 940,000 tonnes and scientists recommend increasing the quota further to 993,000 tonnes for 2014, as previously reported by BarentsObserver.
K-159 had been laid up in Gremikha since 1989 and her hull was rusted through in many places already before the disastrous towing started. How ten years at the sea bed have speeded the corrosion of the hull on the 50 years old submarine is unclear. No underwater photos of the submarine have been published after 2003.
http://barentsobserver.com/en/security/2013/08/ten-years-no-plan-lift-sunken-nuclear-sub-28-08
In light of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force launching the “flat top destroyer” Izumo, the Telegraph has produced as list of the world’s largest and most powerful destroyers and aircraft carriers.
Izumo-class destroyer Officially labelled as a destroyer, it will have a flat top that will function as a flight deck for helicopters. The vessel has been criticised as a thinly veiled attempt to boost the country’s military capabilities. Currently Japan is limited by its constitution to self-defence only, but rising tensions with China has led to fears of an escalation of a dispute over island. Japanese officials have insisted the ship will be used to assist humanitarian missions and large scale evacuations following events like the 2011 tsunami. The vessel has not been officially named but it has been dubbed Izumo after the armoured cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which was sunk in an air attack in 1945.
Operated by: Japanese Navy
Number in fleet: 1 with two more planned
Length: 820ft
Displacement: 27,000 tons Maximum speed: 30 knots
Crew: 970 Weapons: 14 helicopters and anti-submarine warfare
Picture: AP Photo/Kyodo News
Yamato-class battleship
Although currently resting on the bottom of the ocean off the south of Kyushu, Japan, the Yamato is the biggest battleship ever built and dwarves Japan’s new Izumo destroyer. Commissioned just a week after the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941, she was the flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet. She only ever fired her massive main guns in one battle at enemy surface targets in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944. She was eventually sunk in 1945 after being attacked by US aircraft.
Operated by: Japanese Combined Fleet
Number in fleet: 2
Length: 862ft
Displacement: 70,000 tons
Maximum speed: 27 knots
Crew: 2,332
Weapons: 9 x 46cm guns, 12 x 155mm guns and 12 x 127mm guns. Seven aircraft
Nimitz-Class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
Currently the biggest warship in operation in the world. Capable of operating for over 20 years without being refuelled, the aircraft carriers are expected to have a service life of over 50 years. The first in the class, the Nimitz became mired in controversy shortly after entering service when following a fatal aircraft crash on deck, a forensic investigation revealed some of the personnel involved tested positive for marijuana. This led to the mandatory drug testing of all service personnel. Commissioned in 1975, the Nimitz-class vessels are due to be replaced by the even bigger Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier in around 2015.
Operated by: United States Navy
Number in fleet: 10
Length: 1092ft
Displacement: 100,000 tons
Maximum speed: 30 knots
Crew: 5,000
Weapons: 85-90 bomber/fighter aircraft, missile defence systems
Picture: AP
Admiral Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier
This beast was originally commissioned in 1990 as the flagship for the Soviet Navy in 1985 and has gone through a number of refits. She was due to have a sister ship called Varyag, but it was never completed. Instead the Ukraine, where the vessel was being built, sold the hull to China, who completed it themselves.
Operated by: Russian Navy
Number in fleet: 1
Length: 1,001ft
Displacement: 55,000 tons
Maximum speed: 29 knots
Crew: 2,356
Weapons: 52 aircraft, 60 rockets and 192 missiles
Picture: Royal Navy
Liaoning aircraft carrier
Purchased by the People’s Republic of China at an auction, this is the aircraft carrier the Varyag should have been. She was sold in 1998 under the pretext that it would be used a floating casino – many other former Soviet carriers have ended up as theme parks. Lacking engines, a rudder and operating systems, the Varyag was towed to a navy shipyard where it was given a refit, renamed the Liaoning and entered service in 2012.
Operated by: People’s Liberation Army Navy
Number in fleet: 1
Length: 999ft
Displacement: 66,000 tons
Maximum speed: 32 knots
Crew: 2,626
Weapons: 30 aircraft, 24 helicopters, 60 rockets and 192 missiles
Picture: AFP/GettyImages
INS Vikramaditya
This is another former Soviet vessel that has found a new life. After being decommissioned by the Russian Navy in 1996 for being too expensive to operate, it was purchased by India for around £1.5 billion and was given a refit. Having completed sea trails it is due to enter service in October this year. It is named after a 1st century BC emperor of Ujjain, India. As part of the refit she now has accommodation for 10 female officers and has been fitted with a water desalination plant.
Operated by: Indian Navy
Number in fleet: 1
Length: 928ft
Displacement: 45,400 tons
Maximum speed: 32 knots
Crew: 1,400
Weapons: 16 aircraft, 10 helicopters
Picture: Wikipedia/Sevmash shipyard/Alexey Popov
Charles de Gaulle nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
Named after the famous French leader, this is the largest warship in Western Europe and the only nuclear powered surface vessel outside of the United States. Following successful sea trials, she is due to enter active service later in 2013. During the vessel’s construction in 1993, it was claimed that a group of visiting engineers were British MI6 agents attempting to learn the technical details. The Guardian, which published the story, later published a denial from both the British and French governments that there been an incident.
Operated by: French Navy, Marine Nationale
Number in fleet: 1
Length: 858ft
Displacement: 42,000 tons
Maximum speed: 32 knots
Crew: 1,950
Weapons: 40 aircraft, missile defence systems
Picture: AP Photo/Franck Prevel
Wasp Class amphibious assault ship
Essentially a giant floating helicopter platform, one of these vessels is capable of transporting almost the entire US Marine Corp’s quick reaction Marine Expeditionary Unit. It has two folding aircraft elevators on the outside that move between the hanger and flight deck, which can fold inwards to allow the vessel to pass through the Panama Canal.
Operated by: United States Navy
Number in fleet: 8
Length: 831ft
Displacement: 40,500 tons
Maximum speed: 22 knots
Crew: 1,208 crew and 1,894 Marines
Weapons: 6 vertical take off aircraft, 24 helicopters, missile defence systems
Picture: AP Photo/Andrew Medichini
Invincible class aircraft carrier
Although far down the list in terms of the world’s biggest warships, this is the Royal Navy’s largest currently in operation. Brazil, Italy and Spain all have larger aircraft carriers, but when the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier comes into service in 2018, it will leave Britain with the second biggest warship in the world, behind the US.
Operated by: Royal Navy of Great Britain
Number in fleet: 3
Length: 686ft
Displacement: 22,000 tons
Maximum speed: 28 knots
Crew: 1000 crew and 500 marines
Weapons: 22 aircraft and anti missile systems
Picture: Royal Navy
Sejong the Great class destroyer
Possibly the best named class of ship in operation at the moment and the biggest destroyer after the new Izumo class, it is named after the fourth king in the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, who is credited with creating the Korean alphabet. These guided missile destroyers are the biggest of their kind in operation in the world at the moment, but are set to be out-classed by the US Navy’s new Zumwalt-class stealth destroyer, which will use electric motors and carry advanced weaponry, when it completed sometime in 2015.
Operated by: Republic of Korea Navy
Number in fleet: 3
Length: 541ft
Displacement: 11,000 tons
Maximum speed: 30+ knots
Crew: 400
Weapons: 1 5 inch naval gun, 16 anti-ship missiles, 32 cruise missiles and 6 torpedoes. Two helicopters
Picture: US Navy
70-years ago today…
Allied losses:
Soviet minesweeper T-904 (557 GRT) struck a mine laid by U-625 (Kptlt. Hans Benker commanding) in the Yugorsky Strait.
Allied successes:
USS Pompon (Lt.Cdr. E.C. Hawk commanding) torpedoed and sunk the Japanese cargo ship Thames Maru (5871 GRT) and torpedoed and damaged the Japanese troop transport Kinsen Maru (3081 GRT) north of the Admiralty Islands.
HMS Safari (Lt. R.B. Lakin, DSO, DSC, RN commanding) sunk the Italian minesweeper FR70/La Coubre (120 GRT) with torpedoes and gunfire west of Elba.
HMS Unrivalled (Lt. H.B. Turner, DSC, RN commanding) sunk the Italian tug Iseo (80 GRT) with gunfire 1-mile south of Cape Vaticano.
Near misses:
Soviet Malyutka class submarine M-112 fired 2 torpedoes at a German barge off Yalta. Both torpedoes missed their target.
HMS Tally-Ho (Lt.Cdr. L.W.A. Bennington, DSO, DSC, RN commanding) sighted two unidentified U-boats in the Atlantic (one at position 45°50’N, 05°17’W, the other at 45°54’N, 05°18’W)
Operation Gomorrah begins:
The saturation bombing of the German port city of Hamburg began on 24 July 1943 and lasted for 8-days and 7-nights. The Royal Air Force conducted night raids while the USAAF carried out daylight raids. During the raids, firestorms occurred, creating an 1,500 °F (800 °C) inferno with 150mph (240 kmph) winds. Over 42,000 German civilians were killed during the raids.
Entering the fray:
HMS Tantivy (Cdr. Michael Gordon Rimington, DSO, RN commanding) was commissioned into the Royal Navy.
HM S/M Tantivy (Navy Photos/Mark Teadham)
US Navy film MN-9294.
Naval Matters 