The Northern Fleet (, Severnyy flot) is the fleet of the Russian Navy in the Arctic.
According to the Russian ministry of defence: "The Northern Fleet dates its history back to a squadron created in 1733 to protect the territories of the Russian Empire, sea trade routes and fisheries in the White Sea near the coast of the Kola Peninsula. The order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy of 25 May 2014 determined 1733 as the year of foundation of the Northern Fleet, and June 1 as its annual holiday".
In its modern iteration, the Arctic Ocean Flotilla of the former Imperial Navy evolved into a full fleet of the Soviet Navy in 1933 as the Northern Flotilla. After being awarded the Order of the Red Banner in 1965, it was officially known as the Red Banner Northern Fleet. During the Soviet era the Northern Fleet operated more than 200 submarines, ranging from diesel-electric to nuclear-powered ballistic missile classes.
On 1 December 2014 the fleet became the core element of the newly established Northern Fleet Joint Strategic Command, including all Russian armed forces located in Murmansk and Arkhangelsk Oblasts and on Russia's offshore islands along its Arctic coast. It is co-equal in status with Russia's Military Districts. The Northern Fleet is tasked with responsibility for operations and defense in the Arctic seas along Northern Russia, including the Barents Sea and Kara Sea, as well as the northwestern maritime approaches to Russia including the Norwegian Sea and Atlantic Ocean.
The Northern Fleet's headquarters and main base are located in Severomorsk, Murmansk Oblast, with secondary bases elsewhere in the greater Kola Bay area. The current commander is Vice-Admiral Konstantin Kabantsov, who was appointed to the position in April 2024. In June 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an executive order making the Northern Fleet an independent military-administrative entity, effective January 1, 2021. That status was abolished on February 26, 2024 by a new presidential decree (effective since March 1, 2024) and fleet became part of the recreated Leningrad Military District.
History Origins The origins of the Northern Fleet can be traced to the interest of Peter the Great in the only Russian seaport available during the late 17th century, Arkhangelsk. In 1693, the Tsar personally visited, worked and lived at Arkhangelsk laying down and building a 24-gun frigate, Saint Paul. The explorer Vitus Bering was subsequently hired and tasked to search for a route to America from Kamchatka.
Later, Empress Anna put Bering in charge of the five Great Northern Expeditions, from 1733 to 1742. Thousands of kilometers of the coast from the White Sea to Anadyr were mapped for the first time.
Arctic Sea Flotilla and White Sea Flotilla In July 1916, the Imperial Russian Navy formed the Arctic Ocean Flotilla (Флотилия Северного Ледовитого океана, or Flotiliya Severnogo Ledovitogo okeana) during World War I to safeguard transportation routes of Allied ships through the Barents Sea from the Kaiserliche Marine of the German Empire. The Flotilla was formally an extension of the Baltic Fleet. After the October Revolution and the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917, allied forces intervened in northern Russia and occupied both Archangel and Murmansk in the spring/summer of 1918. The military intervention lasted until late 1919 when allied forces withdrew and White Russian forces were defeated.
With the Bolshevik victory, the Soviet Navy replaced the units of the former Imperial Russian Navy and formed the White Sea Flotilla (Беломорская флотилия, Belomorskaya flotiliya) in March 1920, based in Arkhangelsk. The White Sea Flotilla replaced the Arctic Sea Flotilla and was renamed as the Naval Forces of the North Sea, but was later disbanded in January 1923.
Soviet Navy Northern Flotilla The Northern Flotilla was formed on August 5, 1933, by transferring patrol boats Smerch and Uragan, D-class submarines Dekabrist (D-1) and Narodovolyets (D-2)Norman Polmar, Guide to the Soviet Navy, Fourth Edition (1986), United States Naval Institute, Annapolis Maryland, and two destroyers from the Baltic Fleet to Northern Russia. These ships departed from Kronstadt on 18 May 1933 and arrived at Murmansk on 5 August. Another destroyer, another patrol boat, another submarine, and two minesweepers joined the flotilla at Soroka in September 1933. Polyarny became the flotilla's main base, and a flight of MBR-2 flying boats joined the unit at Murmansk in September 1935.
The Northern Flotilla was quickly expanded in the years after it was formed, receiving new ships, airfields, coastal and air defence artillery. On May 11, 1937, the fleet entered its current form when it was renamed to the Northern Fleet (Северный флот, Severnyy flot).
Like all elements in Soviet society, the navy was decimated by the Stalin purges of the 1930s. At least 30 percent of the Soviet Army and Navy officer corps, including three of the four fleet commanders, were arrested and shot or sent to the gulags. This included a commander of the Northern Fleet, Konstantin Dushenov, who was shot in 1940. The purges are said to have "had a catastrophic effect on the Red Army’s ability to perform in the early stages of World War II".
World War II The Northern Fleet blocked the Finnish military base at Petsamo through the Winter War of 1939 and 1940.
In August 1940, the Soviets created the White Sea Military Base to defend the coastline, bases, ports, and other installations. The White Sea Flotilla was established in August 1941 under the command of Rear-Admiral M. Dolinin. Subsequent commanders were Vice Admiral Georgy Stepanov (in October), Rear-Admiral Stepan Kucherov, and Vice-Admiral Yuriy Panteleyev.
By June 1941, the fleet included 8 destroyers, 7 escorts, 15 submarines, 15 patrol boats, 2 minesweepers and 116 airplanes. However, at least half the aircraft were considered obsolete. During the German-Soviet War of 1941 to 1945, the Northern Fleet defended the coastlines of the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas, secured internal and external transportation routes, and provided support to the maritime flank of the 14th Army. Naval Infantry and up to 10,000 Northern Fleet personnel participated in land warfare including the Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation of 1944. Northern Fleet Naval Infantry units caused tens of thousands of German casualties fighting during the Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad, and North Caucasus campaigns.
In official Soviet history, the Northern Fleet's role in defending the Murmansk region was emphasized. While the United Kingdom and the United States were described as temporarily providing HMS Royal Sovereign and to the USSR (in exchange for the Italian ships captured during the war and destined to be divided among the allies), the Northern Fleet was said to have secured safe passage for 1,463 ships in external convoys and 2,568 ships in internal convoys.Great Soviet Encyclopedia/Большая Советская Энциклопедия; entry: Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet. Morover, its submarines, torpedo boats, and aviation sank 192 enemy transport ships and 70 other hostile military ships while damaging 118 another transport, military, and auxiliary ships. In this regard, Soviet submarine K-21, under the command of Captain Nikolai Lunin, was said to have attacked the German battleship Tirpitz at 71° 22' 2"N, 24° 34' 3"E. While the К-21 logbook reports observation of two torpedo explosions, no damage is reported by German sources.
Ships were lost fighting against unequal odds. Patrol boat Tuman, a former trawler, was sunk by three Kriegsmarine destroyers at the entrance to Kola Bay on August 4, 1941. The icebreaker Sibiryakov was sunk on August 25, 1942 by the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer while defending two convoys. The patrol ship Brilliant (formerly trawler Murmany) was sunk by a submarine.
However, as argued by former Soviet naval officer Nicholas Shadrin, the general weakness of Soviet naval forces in the Arctic necessitated a heavy reliance on allied support. While Soviet naval forces were tasked with supporting the army and local merchant shipping, the strategically vital task of ensuring the safe arrival of supply convoys in the Soviet Union largely had to be provided by allied naval forces.
In the course of the war, the Northern Fleet received the following awards:
Two airborne regiments, a squadron of submarine hunters, eight submarines, and the destroyer Гремящий (Gremyaschiy, or "Rattler") were awarded "Soviet Guards" status. Many formations, units, and ships were awarded with Order honors. Eighty-five sailors of the Northern Fleet received the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union (with three of them receiving the award twice). More than a total of 48,000 men were awarded medals.
Cold War The White Sea Flotilla was reestablished under the fleet in December 1945 and the White Sea Naval Base in December 1956.
The Northern Fleet was considered secondary to the Baltic and Black sea fleets until operational responsibility for the Atlantic Ocean was shifted in the 1950s because of more direct access. In September 1955, the Soviet navy became the first to launch a ballistic missile from a submarine. In June 1956, Northern Fleet , (NATO designation Zulu IV 1/2) “Б-67” (B-67) became the first to carry ballistic missiles.
The 2nd Cruiser Division was formed on 31 May 1956 at Severomorsk, Murmansk Oblast. Its ships included the s (Project 68) , Aleksandr Nevskiy, and Molotovsk, and the 121st Destroyer Brigade, with 11 , , and destroyers.Michael Holm, 2nd Anti-Submarine Warfare Division , accessed October 2011 On 5 June 1969, the division was reorganised with the 170th Destroyer Brigade (8 Project 56 destroyers) and the 10th Anti-Submarine Warfare Brigade (10 Project 42 and 50 ASW vessels). On 1 April 1961, the division was renamed the 2nd Anti-Submarine Warfare Division.
On 1 July 1958, the Northern Fleet raised the Soviet Navy ensign over the first Soviet nuclear submarine, K-3 Leninskiy Komsomol. Following the 1958 voyage of USS Nautilus, the Leninskiy Komsomol (named for Vladimir Lenin's Komsomol) traveled under the Arctic ice and surfaced at the North Pole on 17 July 1962. Russian submarines have visited the North Pole region more than 300 times since then. Two nuclear submarines of the Northern Fleet made a journey under the Arctic ice cap and reached the Pacific Fleet for the first time in history in September 1963.
More than 25 Soviet submarines did the same in the following years. The Northern Fleet was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on 7 May 1965. Two Northern Fleet submarines made a journey "around the world" (actually only between the Kola Gulf and the base at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy around South America) without surfacing in 1966. The Northern Fleet had almost 50% of the Soviet Navy's submarines by 1986.
From 1968 to 30 November 2005, the was the main Atlantic operational force of the fleet. The Museum of the Air Forces of the Northern Fleet was opened on 20 August 1976, in the closed settlement of Safonovo, Murmansk Oblast. Aircraft carriers began entering service with the Fleet in the 1970s. The lead unit of the Kiev class of heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers, , became operational in 1977, and was commissioned in 1987. Large nuclear-powered missile-carrying cruisers, the and , also entered service from 1980. Fortification of the southern reaches of the Barents Sea during the 1980s marked a Soviet naval strategy shift to an emphasis on bastion defense. Russia has continued to employ that strategy.
In 1982, the 175th independent Naval Infantry Brigade was formed at Tumannyy, in Murmansk Oblast.