Raising the
Red Banner
The Pictorial History of the
Stalin's Fleet 1920-1945
by Vladimir Yakubov and Richard
Worth
reviewed by Timothy Dike |
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| The Russian Navy has always been somewhat of a mystery
to me. There has been little published about it's development and build
up to what it is today. You could always pick up bits and pieces from different
books. But now thanks to Vladimir Yakubov and Richard Worth we now have
a nice overview of Soviet Naval ships during the forming years up to the
end of the second world war. |
| The book covers all kinds of ships, many that I never knew
existed. Each class of ships are featured in their chapters filled with
rare photos with informative captions. The photo quality is not the best,
but there are a wide variety of them. Besides the capital ships, there
is good coverage of the submarine force as these were an important part
of the Soviet fleet. Gunboats, minelayers, auxiliary vessels and all kinds
of makeshift warships pressed into service to fight off the German offensive
into Russia.
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One of the most fascinating things in the book is the coverage of the
captured war prize ships such as the Talin (ex Lutzow), and the Kerch (ex
Duca D'Aosta). Also worthy of note are the ships loaned to the Russians
by the Allies such as the British battleship Royal Sovereign and the American
light cruiser Milwaukee.
Conclusions:
It is great to finally have a good look at how the Stalin's navy came
to be. This book is a must have for the Russian Navy buff. It provides
a great overview of the navy as it developed under Stalin. Hopefully we
will be treated to a follow up book covering the post ww2 cold war years
in the near future. Finally it is great to see a couple of ModelWarshippers
collaborating to bring us great reference books. |
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