US Naval Training Center - Compass Yearbook (Bainbridge, MD)

Page 15 text:

RUSSIA RANKS SEO0N0 T0 THE UNITED STATES IN WORl0 NAVAL POWER l 84l i ; l l ; i l l l l l 15 9 a t : l 1 l T l A l l l ATTACK SUPPORT PATROL MINE AUXILIARY AIRCRAFT AIRCRAFT VESSELS WARFARE VESSELS CARRIERS CARRIERS VESSELS CODE: U; S. ACTIVE FLEET - CRUISERS DESTROYERS SUBMARINES U.S.S.R. FLEET MAJOR COMBATANT MINOR COMBATANT GROWING SOVIET NAVAL POWER In keeping with Soviet strategic objectives, the Soviet Union is a growing naval power. As a world naval power the Soviet active fleet ranks second only to the United States. Her sub- marine Heet continues to grow at an alarming rate; she has nearly 500 submarines. In her auxiliary program she has a num- ber of small submarine tenders which implies mobility and advanced bases. Her planned use of submarines has shifted away from the restraint of early 20th Century Fortress Fleet con- cepts which characterized the Imperial and early Soviet Navy. She has a growing surface Navy of 27 cruisers and 175 destroyers. These facts become increasingly significant when we realize that during World War II the Bismarck and other German surface raiders at various times tied up large Allied naval efforts and at the same time they had a definite ePfect on Allied cargo ship- ments. The Soviet Union has full appreciation of mine warfare. Mines are a cheap and inexpensive method of sinking ships. Her mine warfare force consists of 500 ships plus the mining capabilities of her major combatant ships. Although we believe the Soviet Navy has no aircraft carriers she does have a naval air arm of more than 3,000 planes. She intends to provide coverage for her naval forces with land based air and sea planes. This is in complete keeping with the Soviet strategic objectives to control Eurasian waters. This, in the eyes of the Soviet, is a balanced Heet. She does not need aircraft carriers to deny to us the use of those waters contiguous to the Eurasian Continent. We, on the other hand, must be able to control and exploit the entire ocean area. Aircraft carriers are an essential part of that capability. This is not the end of the Soviet story. Her program of build- ing ships is accelerating. Since 1950 the Soviet Union has con- structed over 200,000 tons in cruisers, she has built 9 times as much tonnage in destroyers as we have, 6 times as much in sub- marines. The United States went to war twice when control of the seas was threatened. Control of the seas will have a definite bearing on our decision to fight the next war. The Soviet Union's ac- celerated naval pace is in keeping with the communistic doctrine of world domination. TONS 250,000 TONS 3,000,000 l NAVAL 00NSTRO0TION SINCE 1950: SHOW- ING INCREASE IN 00MMUNIST MER- L'HANT SHIPS 0VER 1,000 TONS USSR AND ALLIES 200,000 MERCHANT SHIPS OVER 1,000 TONS 100,000 700 SHIPS 100 SHIPS 'I'IO SHIPS TONS 300,000 DESTROYERS SUBMARINES CRUISERS SATELLITE CHINA u.s. lCONSTRUCTIONl- CONSTRUCTION 1950-'56 ESTIMATED INCREASE

Page 14 text:

THE WORlDlS SECOND lARGEST FLEET Communist Obiectives in Their Plan For World Conquest IEWING EUROPE from Moscow, we see a vast peninsula surrounded on three sides by water. This view is similar to one looking from the Manchurian border down that bitter test- ing ground, the Korean Peninsula. In the event of war, it is highly probable that the Soviet would make every attempt to overrun the European Continent. In the Allied effort to thwart this move, U. S. Naval Power will play a decisive role. A major function of the United States Navy will be the projection of the military might of this nation from the Menu MOSCOW seas against the flanks of forward movement of Russian armies. Todayls Soviet war machine comprises in land power 2,500,000 troops, with an additional 1,100,000 in the satellite countries. This does not include the massive armies of RedVChina. Soviet Naval power includes 1,650 ships plus 1,100 miscellaneous craft, and 100 more from the satellite countries. Soviet Air power in- cludes 20,000 aircraft plus 4,000 more from the satellite countries. With such military power as this, Soviet strategic objectives are now apparent. ATLANTIC OCEAN EUROPEAN PENINSULA AS SEEN FROM MOSCOW ATLANTIC THRUST Soviet objectives would be two fold. First, they would try to keep our naval forces at such distances from the shores of Europe as to render them ineffectual. Secondly, they would try to prevent the arrival in the European ports of those merchant ships loaded with logistic support so vital to the defense of the European Peninsula. In its broadest aspects, there can be no question that a major objective, political and military, of any prospective enemy will be to isolate the United States from its friends and Allies and weaken our capability to bring our strength to bear in united effort. For centuries Russia has sought to acquire ports which have access to navigable oceans the year round. Today the Soviet Union is on a llpolitical-economic offensive, If the Soviet Union should go to war, this offensive would accelerate. For example, as she moves down the European Peninsula she will find a need for merchant ships as we need them now. In anticipation of this, the Soviet Union owns a merchant fleet of some 700 ships. The satellite countries have 100, and communist China has 110. The estimated annual increase of this fleet is 60 ships. Here are some interesting sidelights to the foregoing facts: Very few of these ships are being constructed inside of Soviet Russia. Most of the major shipbuilding facilities inside the Soviet Union are engaged in warship construction. 01 those merchantmen being built out- side of the Soviet periphery, the majority are being built in the shipyards of the free nations of the world.

Page 16 text:

LEGEND: El MUTUAL DEFENSE NATIONS AND POSSESSIONS MAGG NATIONS AND POSSESSIONS I NEUTRAL NATIONS I USSR AND SATELLITES ,5 MAJOR SEA LANES PROJECTED BUMMUNIST MOVE T0 BUT MAJOR SEA lANES AND DIVIDE THE FREE WORLD FREE WORLD DEFENSE HE FREE WORLD is in effect an oceanic coalition which includes such major treaties as the Organization of American States, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Northern Tier, South East Asia Treaty Organization, Australia-New Zealand- United States and bilateral treaties with Spain, the Philippine Republic, Nationalist China, The Republic of Korea and Japan. Combined, these nations face the power of the Soviet Union and her satellites, including Red China. This means that the United States needs a Navy with the planes, ships and men to do a job which in many aspects is peculiar to naval power alone. Current events point up the urgency of backing our immobile bases on foreign real estate with a modern, fast, hard-hitting Navy. The United States has become the arsenal of the free world. Current commitments undertaken by the United States include eight treaties involving 42 nations, and military assistance agree- ments with 20 additional nations. Although not all of these treaties bind the United States to go to war, there is a strong moral obligation to do so. That all these treaties are dependent on sea usage is not so surprising if it is remembered that 7202, of the world is water. At the present time 62 nations, 52 percent of the worlds land area, and 54 percent of the worlds popula- tion, depend upon sea power for survival. DISTANT DEFENSE The distant defense we build against communist aggression depends upon sea power for maintenance of our international lanes of communication. These sea lanes must be made secure. Over these ocean lanes come the raw materials which keep the industrial machine of this nation running and, conversely, over these same lanes go the finished products which are vital to the survival of the free world and the economy of the free nations. The offensive capabilities of the United States Navy are specifi- cally designed to maintain the security of these sea lanes. In a general war it is obvious that Soviets will make every effort to cut these lanes. To lose control of these sea lanes would divide the free world