Northern Fleet - World War II

World War II

During the Great Patriotic War of 1941 to 1945, the Northern Fleet defended the coastlines of the Rybachiy and Sredniy peninsulas, secured internal and external transportation routes, and provided support to the maritime flank of the 14th Army. Marines 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 Nazi casualties fighting during the Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad, and North Caucasus campaigns.

Among the air units of the Northern Fleet was the 121st Fighter Aviation Regiment. The Northern Fleet was reinforced with naval aircraft and ships from the Pacific Ocean and Caspian Sea. Great Britain and the United States temporarily provided HMS Royal Sovereign and USS Milwaukee to the USSR in exchange for the Italian ships captured during the war and destined to be divided among the allies. During the war, the Northern Fleet secured safe passage for 1,463 ships in external convoys and 2,568 ships in internal convoys. Its submarines, torpedo boats, and aviation sank 192 enemy transport ships and 70 other hostile military ships. The Northern Fleet also damaged a total of 118 transport, military, and auxiliary ships. Soviet submarine K-21, under the command of Captain Nikolai Lunin, attacked the German battleship Tirpitz at 71° 22' 2"N, 24° 34' 3"E. The К-21 logbook reports observation of two torpedo explosions, but 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 Murmanryby) was sunk by a submarine.

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 promoted to the "Soviet Guards" status.
• Many formations, units, and ships were awarded with Order honorss.
• Eighty-five navymen of the Northern Fleet received the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union (with three of them receiving the award twice).
• More than 48,000 men were awarded with medals in total.