Military historian Dmitry Boltenkov — about the origin and tasks of long-range sea voyages of detachments of Russian Navy ships
This August, the 13th Arctic campaign of the forces of the Northern Fleet began. The detachment included the large anti-submarine ship Vice Admiral Kulakov, the large amphibious ship Alexander Otrakovsky, the rescue tugboat Altai and the tanker Sergei Osipov. But why did Russia decide to create a fleet in the Arctic Ocean at one time and what functions does it perform now?
The first military operations in the Arctic Ocean took place during the First World War, when Russia had to create a flotilla to protect and defend convoys traveling from the Entente countries to the ports of Arkhangelsk and Romanov on Murmansk (present-day Murmansk).
In the 1920s and 1930s, the Soviet government invested enormous efforts in the development and development of the Arctic and the northern territories of the RSFSR. Coal was found and began to be developed in the Vorkuta region, non-ferrous metals in Norilsk, etc. The supply of cities and towns of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the export of extracted resources went through the Northern Sea Route.
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in August 1941, the White Sea Military Flotilla (BVF) was created as part of the Northern Fleet for the tasks of defending the sea communications of the Arctic Ocean (SLO). In fact, the Northern Fleet was tasked with fighting German forces in the North Atlantic and the task of protecting and defending convoys traveling from our then allies to the same ports as in the First World War. The BVF also participated in the protection of Allied convoys, but most of the forces fought in Arctic waters.
In the future, the flotilla's forces were regularly strengthened. Of the small number of German submarines reliably destroyed by our submarines and surface forces, two were sunk in the Kara Sea. These are U-639, sunk by our boat C-101 on August 28, 1943, and U-362, destroyed on September 5, 1944 by the minesweeper T-116. We also suffered considerable losses. Already at that time, the difficulties of conducting military operations in this region were visible: low water and air temperatures, strong winds, white and polar nights, ice, huge distances. In general, these are not warm waters of the Black Sea at all.
After the war, the BVF was folded into the White Sea Naval Base. Interestingly, the generally sound idea of the late 1940s to divide the Baltic and Pacific into two fleets each was not implemented in the Northern Fleet, which has a huge area of responsibility from the North Atlantic to the Bering Sea.
Over time, the Northern Fleet became the main fleet of the country. During its heyday, it consisted of three flotillas and two squadrons of submarines, a flotilla of heterogeneous forces and a squadron of surface ships. But all these forces were focused on fighting in the North Atlantic against NATO forces. In the memoirs of the commanders of the Northern Fleet, Admirals A.P. Mikhailovsky and I.M. Kapitants, describing in sufficient detail the goals and objectives of the Northern Fleet in the 1980s, practically nothing is written about the tasks of protecting and defending maritime communications in the Arctic Ocean in general and in the Kara Sea in particular.
And in this region are the key ports of the region — Dixon and Dudinka. It was assumed that the Arctic Flotilla, deployed in wartime on the basis of mobilized armed vessels of the civilian fleet, would conduct military operations there. The campaigns of surface warships in the waters east of the White Sea were extremely rare.
In the post-Soviet period, large reserves of oil and gas were discovered in the SLA. Their active development is underway, LNG processing plants are being created. In Norilsk, residential buildings are being built again for the first time since 1991 for employees of Norilsk Nickel, which, according to some estimates, gives 1% of the country's GDP. Russia is again spending huge amounts of money on the development of its Arctic regions.
In this regard, the forces of the Northern Fleet have begun practicing combat operations in Arctic waters and exploring the waters of this region since 2012. First of all, amphibious operations are carried out to transfer and disembark both marine corps units and Arctic troops. This is a very important element, given the vast distances of the North of Russia and the lack of other transport routes other than by air and by sea.
The nuances of the fight against foreign submarines and warships are being worked out. That is why anti-submarine and amphibious ships are included in the detachments. Also, during the campaigns, joint combat operations are being established with tactical groups deployed on the islands of the Arctic Ocean. Such groups themselves have Bastion-type coastal missile systems in their composition. Often, the detachments also include transport vessels for the transportation of especially valuable cargo for tactical groups and for garbage removal from Soviet times.
A very important element of the experience of the conducted military training was the development of interaction between the military and civilian structures of both state and local authorities and with commercial structures conducting their economic activities in the Arctic. Rescue operations are also being practiced. Extensive work is underway to refine the hydrography and hydrology of the Arctic Ocean.
The issue of transferring ships of the Northern Fleet by the Northern Sea Route to the Pacific and, conversely, in order to strengthen one or another direction remains important for the Russian navy. To ensure navigation in difficult ice conditions, nuclear icebreakers of the Rosatom State Corporation are involved. The changed climatic situation made it possible to arrange the transfer of newly built warships and auxiliary vessels through the NSR to the Pacific Fleet.
New shipbuilding and navigation technologies, as well as the general warming of the climate and the actions of unfriendly countries, once again open up the possibility of fighting in the Arctic. This is evidenced by the recently adopted new Arctic strategy of the United States. The American Navy is actively strengthening submarines, and Canada has plans to build new submarines. Canada is also actively updating its surface fleet, including the construction of patrol icebreakers. Unfriendly Western countries are actively trying to conduct their activities in waters that Russia legitimately considers its own. Do not forget that at one time the Americans were escorted "by the ear" from the territory of Wrangel Island.
The author is military historian Dmitry Boltenkov
The editorial board's position may not coincide with the author's opinion
