R.H. Harm
Description:
<p>After the second World War, Stalin decided on a naval programme for Soviet Russia in which the strategies of a 'fortress fleet' and a 'fleet in being' were combined. The naval strategy was based on the premise that a Western attack could only be repulsed in home waters under cover of ground based air support.</p> <p>Krushchev introduced no changes in the naval strategy in 1954. Admiral Gorschkov was appointed as chief of the Soviet navy and was directed to develop a missile armed and nuclear powered submarine force to defend the USSR. In 1961 the USSR decided to retain a defensive strategy but become tactically offensive as a result of the development of their navy on a world wide scale.</p> <p>During the fifties the commercial as well as the fishing fleets expanded and the USSR became independent of foreign navigation and was in the position to acquire overseas bases.</p> <p>Brezhnev didn't change this naval strategy. He built up a balanced fleet. Soviet Russia's basic naval problems could not be solved seeing that the navy was still dependent on foreign bases for replenishment and air support.</p>