Russian and Soviet Navy History: Aurora to Moskva
From the Tsar's fleet to Putin's: the cruiser Aurora, shot at by her own squadron and later famous for the revolution, the Zhemchug sunk at anchor in Penang, the unfinished carrier Varyag, the submarine Kursk lost with 118 men, and the cruiser Moskva, sunk by two missiles in 2022.
Russia’s navy has been three navies in a little over a century: the Imperial fleet of the Tsars, the Soviet Navy, and the Russian Navy that inherited Soviet ships after 1991. It has usually been split between separate seas, the Baltic, the Black Sea, the Pacific and the Arctic, with long distances between them. Several of its worst days came from that geography, and from a habit of keeping bad news quiet. The stories here run from 1904 to 2022.
The Tsar’s fleet and Tsushima
In 1904 Russia was at war with Japan, and what was left of its Pacific ships sat at Port Arthur. In October, Admiral Rozhestvensky sailed from the Baltic with the Second Pacific Squadron on an 18,000-mile voyage to relieve them. Days out, in fog off Dogger Bank, the squadron took British fishing trawlers from Hull for Japanese torpedo boats and opened fire. The trawler Crane was sunk, and the cruiser Aurora was hit five times by her own battleships.
The fleet sailed on for seven months. At Tsushima on 27 and 28 May 1905, Admiral Togo destroyed it for the loss of three torpedo boats. On the second morning Rear Admiral Nebogatov, surrounded with the last Russian battleships, hoisted surrender signals. A handful of cruisers, Aurora among them, got away to Manila and were interned.
War and revolution
In the First World War the Russian cruiser Zhemchug was in Penang in October 1914, boilers cold and no lookouts posted, while her captain was at a hotel ashore. The German raider Emden came in with a fake fourth funnel and torpedoed her at anchor. Eighty-one of her crew died.
In 1917 the navy turned on its officers. Aurora’s crew mutinied in February and shot their captain. On the evening of 25 October she fired a single blank round on the Neva, which Soviet lore made the signal for the assault on the Winter Palace. She opened as a museum ship in 1957 and is still in St Petersburg.
The Soviet Navy
In the Second World War the Soviet submarine S-13, under Alexander Marinesko, sank the German refugee ship Wilhelm Gustloff in the Baltic on 30 January 1945. It was the deadliest ship sinking ever recorded. Marinesko was demoted, discharged and jailed, and only made a Hero of the Soviet Union in 1990.
During the Cold War the Soviet Navy built ships to kill American carriers, and at Mykolaiv it launched a carrier in late 1988, officially a “heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser” so she could pass the Turkish Straits. Renamed Varyag, she was 68 percent complete when the Soviet Union ended in 1991. Ukraine could not afford to finish her. A Chinese front man bought the hull for $20 million as a casino, and in 2012 she was commissioned as China’s first aircraft carrier, Liaoning.
The Russian Navy after 1991
On 12 August 2000, in the Barents Sea, a leaking practice torpedo sank the submarine Kursk with 118 men. Twenty-three survived the explosions. Russia refused foreign help for days, and Norwegian divers opened the hatch nine days late.
The cruiser Moskva, the Black Sea Fleet flagship, was one of the Slava class built at Mykolaiv to hunt carriers. In April 2022, during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, two Ukrainian Neptune missiles hit her off Odesa and she sank on 14 April. Moscow admitted one death. Its own court later counted 20.
All Russian and Soviet Navy stories
The Cruiser That Got Shot by Its Own Fleet, Started a Revolution, and Became a Museum
Russia's 2nd Pacific Squadron mistook British fishermen for Japanese torpedo boats. Aurora took fire from her own battleships. Then she survived Tsushima, fired the shot that started the Bolshevik revolution, and never left.
SMS Emden: The Raider Who Faked a Funnel and Killed a Ship in Port
SMS Emden rigged a fake fourth funnel, slipped into British-controlled Penang harbor, and torpedoed the Russian cruiser Zhemchug. Her captain was at the E&O Hotel with a woman. He watched through the window.
China Bought a Soviet Aircraft Carrier to Build a Casino. The Casino Never Existed.
A former PLA basketball player bought an unfinished Soviet carrier for $20 million, told everyone it was for a casino, towed it around Africa when Turkey blocked the shortcut, and delivered China its first aircraft carrier. He spent $120 million. China never paid him back.
Kursk: The Submarine That Sank Twice, Once in the Sea and Once on Television
In August 2000 a leaking practice torpedo sank the Russian submarine Kursk with 118 men. Twenty-three survived the blasts, Russia refused foreign help for days, and Norwegian divers opened the hatch nine days late.
Built in Ukraine, Sunk by Ukraine: The Last Voyage of the Cruiser Moskva
The flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet was built in Mykolaiv, sank off Odesa in April 2022 after two Ukrainian Neptune missiles, and became the largest warship lost in combat since the Belgrano. Moscow admitted one death. Its own court later counted 20.
Wilhelm Gustloff: The Deadliest Sinking in History and the Captain Nobody Wanted to Honor
On 30 January 1945 the Soviet submarine S-13 sank the refugee ship Wilhelm Gustloff in the Baltic. Estimates of the dead run from 6,000 to 9,600, and the captain who fired the torpedoes was demoted, discharged and jailed before the USSR made him a hero in 1990.
Tsushima: The Fleet That Sailed 18,000 Miles to Lose in a Day
Russia's Baltic Fleet spent seven months sailing around the world to fight Japan. At Tsushima on May 27-28, 1905, Admiral Togo destroyed it for the loss of three torpedo boats.