Russian Northern Fleet
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The Russian Northern Fleet (Россия Северный флот in Russian, transliterated as Rossija Severniy Flot) is the part of the Russian Navy that defends Russian territory beyond the Arctic Circle. It was originally founded in 1933 as the Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet, but changed its name after the fall of the Soviet Union. The fleet's headquarters are located in Murmansk and the main base and administrative centre is the Severomorsk naval base.
During the 1980s Soviet naval strategy shifted to an emphasis on bastion defense, fortifying the southern reaches of the Barents Sea for that purpose, and Russia has continued to employ that strategy.
Sites
In addition to the main base at Severomorsk, the Northern Fleet has six more naval bases and several shipyards and spent fuel storage sites.
Bases
- Severomorsk
- Olenya Bay
- Skalisti
- Ura Bay
- Ara Bay
- Bolshaya Lopatka
- Nerpichya
- Gremikha - also a spent fuel storage site
Shipyards
- Roslyakovo
- Polyarny
- Nerpa
- Malaya Lopatka
Spent fuel storage sites
- Murmansk - also a shipyard and base for Arktika nuclear-powered icebreakers
- Andreeva Bay
- Severodvinsk - also a shipyard
Vessels
The Northern Fleet is perhaps best known for its many nuclear-powered vessels. In fact, about two thirds of all the Russian Navy's nuclear force is based there.
List of current vessels
This is a list of Northern Fleet vessels currently in service that have Wikipedia articles.
- Aircraft carriers
- * RFS Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov
- Cruisers
- * RFS Marshal Ustinov
- * RFS Pyotr Velikiy
- Submarines
- * RFS Dmitri Donskoi (ТК-208)
- * RFS Novomoskovsk (K-407)
- * RFS Pskov (K-336)
- * RFS Vepr (K-157)
List of former vessels
This is a list of former Northern Fleet vessels that have Wikipedia articles (not including those who only served in the Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet).
- Aircraft carriers
- * RFS Admiral Gorshkov, sold to the Indian Navy and renamed the INS Vikramaditya
- * RFS Kiev
- Cruisers
- * RFS Admiral Ushakov, believed decommissioned in 2001
- Submarines
- * B-427, museum ship in Long Beach, California
- * K-77, now a museum ship in Providence, Rhode Island
- * RFS Kursk (K-141) - destroyed by a torpedo accident in 2000
- * ТК-202, scrapped in 2000
Commanders
| Name | Period of command |
|---|---|
| Vyacheslav Alekseyevich Popov | 1999-2001 |
| Gennady Suchkov | December 2001-2003 |
| Mikhail Leopoldovich Abramov | 2003-2005 |
| Vladimir Sergeyevich Visotskiy | September 2005-present |
Facts
- The flagship of the Northern Fleet, the nuclear-powered battlecruiser RFS Pyotr Velikiy, is named after Peter I of Russia (or Peter the Great).
- The Oscar class submarine Kursk was based at Ara Bay.
- The world's biggest submarines, the Typhoon class (called Akula (shark) in Russian) are based at Nerpichya.
External links
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