Russian Light Cruiser Zhdanov being refuelled somewhere south-east of Crete, 1973
In our first week of sailing this summer – from Rhodes to Crete – we cross the path Soviet vessels took in the 1970s to reach the Mediterranean. Departing from their naval bases in Odessa and Sevastopol they crossed the Black Sea, then the Straits (Bosporus and Dardanelles) and steamed down the Aegean into the open sea. Were we sailing in 1975, there would be a good chance of meeting a Soviet destroyer, cruiser or submarine.
Standard Route of the Soviet Navy 1970 from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean
The Soviet naval presence in the Med at the time was large. The USSR permanently kept up to 60 ships there. In time of crises the number increased to 90. The Soviet Navy was modern. Built to prevent a repetition of the humiliating retreat in the Cuban Crisis (1962), the ships were equipped with cruise missiles capable of sinking an US aircraft carrier. The Soviet ships were built to fit under the Montreux Convention of 1936 which limited the size of warships allowed to pass through the Straits. For the US 6th Fleet with 50 ships, including a carrier, the Soviet fleet posed a considerable threat. What motivated the Soviet Union to spend so much time and effort to maintain a fleet in the Mediterranean - so far away from Russia?.
USS Sam Houdson, a nuclear Submarine, visited Turkey in 1963. The presence of nuclear Missile Subs in the Eastern Mediterranean horrified the Soviet Union.
Russia’s interest in the Mediterranean dates back to Catharina the Great who took the Crimea from the Ottomans. In the 18th century, several Russian Fleets ventured into the Mediterranean and established short-lived presence. With the outbreak of the Napoleonic wars, Russia retreated though but never gave up its claims to control the Straits. The USSR raised them again after the end of the Second World War. This is the reason why Turkey joined NATO in 1953.
Range of the A1 Polaris Missile from Heraklion. The USS Sam Houston carried 16 of these missiles which could be fired when submerged - the submarines stayed south of Crete
The Soviet claim in 1945 was theoretical though – the USSR did not have a blue water navy. All this changed with the Cuba crisis and the visit of the USS Sam Houston, a nuclear ballistic missile submarine, in Turkey in 1963. The Sam Houston carried 16 Polaris A1 missiles with a range of 2’200 km. Suddenly, the entire Black Sea, the Ukraine, the Caucasus, the oilfields of Azerbaijan and the European Members of the Warsaw Pact were within range. Upgraded versions like the Polaris A2 could even reach Moscow and Leningrad.
Test Firing of an A1 Polaris Missile inf 1962
The USSR decided to send its hunter-killer submarines into the Med to neutralize the threat. Without a naval base though, these subs had to be supported and protected by surface vessels. The build-up of the Red Fleet in the Med started. Within ten years, it was sizeable, albeit entirely dependent on supply from the Black Sea. Whilst Egypt, Libya and Syria closely cooperated with the Soviet Union to modernize their armies, they never granted them a naval base. Russia got its first and only naval base only under Putin in 2012. He cancelled USD 13.4 bn of Syrian debt – President Assad gave him the naval base in Tartus.
A Soviet Submarine of the Juliette Class is repaired on the open Sea
Without permanent access to ports in the 1970s, the Soviet fleet in the Med was maintained, supplied and repaired on open sea. The waters south of Crete were the main area for these supply operations. Crete thus became an outpost on NATO's southern flank. The same was true for Sicily where we discovered abandoned radar equipment on the Santa Caterina Castle near Trapani on the island's western tip.
Abandoned Radar Equipment on the Santa Caterina Castle on Sicily's West Side (2020)
The waters south of Crete became almost the place for a hot shoot-out between the USA and the Soviet Union in October 1973. During the Yom Kippur War between Israel, Egypt and Syria, the Soviet and the US Navy were both within shooting range and on high alert. The US Navy had moved into the Eastern Med to protect the airlift to Israel which needed fighter planes, additional tanks and more ammunition. Every 600 miles, the US Navy placed an aircraft carrier to protect the vulnerable transport planes A5 Galaxies and A131 Starlifters.
Russian Sailors shake their Fists against a US Neptune Plane who forced a Soviet Submarine to surface - photo from 1973
Neither side was sure of the other's intention. The USSR had promised Egyptian president Sadat to protect Port Said and prevent Israel from taking it. Would the US Navy intervene on Israel's side? Or just protect the airlift? The Soviet Navy, knowing its limited chance of surviving a fight with the US Fleet, followed a “strike first” doctrine. For three days, Russian fire control radars tracked every NATO movement. Luckily, cooler heads in Moscow prevailed. The Soviet Admiralty never got the green light for a first strike. Once the airlift to Israel was completed, the US Navy pulled its carriers into the western Mediterranean, out of range of Soviet Cruise missiles. A hot war was avoided, but for three days it was close.
Tracking of US Carrier and Amphibious Group South of Crete 6 - 16 October 1973
After the Yom Kippur War, the Soviet Union maintained its presence in the Mediterranean until its collapse in 1991. For the next ten years it had to reduce the numbers of units until Putin decided to rebuild "his: Navy. The civil war in Syria in 2012 finally gave Russia the chance to get its naval base in the Mediterranean. Russia's intervention then saved the regime of President Assad - albeit for 12 years only. In 2024, to the surprise of many, the regime - now without Russia's support - fell within 10 days. Russia's dream of a naval base in the Mediterranean ended - again.
The deep Waters south of Crete are still an ideal hiding Place for Submarines
The sea south of the Dodecanes and Crete is today peaceful. We may encounter a Greek patrol ship, but the big powers left the area – I guess though the nuclear US and Israeli submarines still lurk in the deep waters south of Crete. The position is too well located. But these subs never surface – we won’t encounter any. We are going to see Souda Bay though, the most forward basis of the US 6th fleet and the only port east of Naples deep enough to accommodate an US aircraft carrier. I doubt we will see one – but we possibly could.
Souda Bay in Crete which we will visit in week 2 is NATO's most forward eastern Base in the Mediterranean
For further reading, I recommend the Naval War College Review "A Tale of Two Fleets"
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