Guide to the Soviet Navy, 4th Edition

by Norman Polmar

Book by Polmar, Norman

Genres: History, Military History, Nonfiction, Naval History, War, Military Fiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Norman Polmar is an author specializing in the naval, aviation, and intelligence areas.
He has led major projects for the United States Department of Defense and the United States Navy, and foreign governments. His professional expertise has served three Secretaries of the U.S. Navy and two Chiefs of Naval Operations. He is credited with 50 published books, including nine previous editions of Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet and four editions of Guide to the Soviet Navy. Polmar writes a column for Proceedings and was editor of the United States and several other sections of the annual publications of Janes Fighting Ships.
In 2019, the Naval Historical Foundation awarded Polmar the Commodore Dudley W. Knox Naval History Lifetime Achievement Award.

Reviews

[Joe Krakovsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot of information here, most of which many would find boring. What is interesting though is the firepower and secondary backup systems on their ships. As was typical of Warsaw Pact weapons, they were made to be rugged and abused and still keep on working. They also had so many weapons and backup radars that they looked like some Syfi-comic book spaceships. US ships by comparison look bare. Sure, they got really cool radar and missile systems with 40 or maybe 70 missiles that can be either anti-air or anti-ship but what if you got 120 missiles coming your way?

Also, the Soviets have a reason for everything they do. (Please excuse me if I get Warsaw Pact Soviets and current day Russians mixed up, but to me they are really still one and the same.) They traded ships and planes for bases around the world.

A reoccurring theme I noticed early in the book was "first of its kind" and "Biggest in the world".

They are no doubt still building newer and better ships and thanks to Hillary's uranium, they are probably making a lot more nuclear mines, bombs, torpedoes, and etc.

If you are really interested in modern ships, this is an excellent book to read or at least keep in your library. Makes for dull reading though.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now it's an artifact of a past era - but when I first bought it, it was a reference text for the folks I went out and worked against every day I put on a flight suit.

I don't miss it. It was an important job that needed doing and I do miss the flying, but I don't miss the "staring the Bear in the eye" bit.

[David Bober · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal detail, as expected with any Polmar book. You're going to have to find a copy via Abebooks or Worldcat.

[Sean Chick · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extensive guide to ships of every class as well as weapons and technology, with discussions of training, personnel, and other factors. A must have for naval nerds like me.

[Tom Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met Mr. Polmar at Naval Postgraduate School in 1995, or 1996. I had an old dog-eared, duct taped (EB Green of course) copy and asked him to sign it for me. I apologized for the condition of the book, but he laughed and said he was happy to see that it had gotten a lot of use.

[Nikky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the real deal. Perhaps more detail than what you’re looking for but always fascinating.