Description

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This third and final part of the series includes all the ships in naval service that were not frontline fighting vessels. Despite auxiliary status, these were not insignificant ships--indeed the icebreakers were the largest vessels built by the USSR before the war and carried so much prestige that every leading member of the Soviet regime wanted their name on one. Apart from the obvious fleet support types - oilers, tugs and depot ships--this volume also covers unsung heroes like the salvage fleet, highly significant in the 1930s for generating much-needed foreign currency and later essential to the war effort, allowing so many sunken Soviet warships to be returned to service.

This book contains the first clear and comprehensive listing of ex-mercantile transport ships, their periods of service and ultimate fates. Even harbor service craft are included, right down to the humble 'heaters' that supplied warmth to icebound warships in the depth of the Russian winters.

This volume concludes with appendices on subjects like weaponry and a detailed cross-referenced index that will allow readers to differentiate between ships of the same name and to track every name change.

This volume covers:

• Staff & communication ships
• Dispatch ships
• Surveying vessels
• Salvage vessels
• Depot ships
• Training ships
• Sanitary transport ships
• Icebreakers
• Transport ships
• Oilers
• Water carriers
• Tugs
• Experimental and special purpose vessels
• Cable layers
• Harbor vessels

About the Author

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The authors grew up in Poland under Soviet domination and were forced to learn Russian, which guaranteed a profound understanding of Soviet-Russian thinking and the smallest nuances of its history. Their experience is varied but pertinent: Przemyslaw Budzbon worked closely with officers of the Soviet Navy for a dozen years, as a constructor of Soviet warships; Marek Twardowski, a curator at the Polish National Maritime Museum, has an outstanding background in professional maritime history; while Jan Radziemski, was able to reach information and sources unavailable to official researchers.