Misplaced Pages

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105-583: In the late 1970s, the Soviet Navy adopted a plan to build large aircraft carriers capable of operating conventional aircraft rather than the VSTOL Yakovlev Yak-38s operated by the existing Kiev class aircraft carriers . These new carriers required a shipborne airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft to be effective, and the Yakovlev design bureau was instructed to develop such an aircraft in 1979. While

210-533: A salinity of approximately 1.2% (12 g/L), about a third of the salinity of average seawater . It is bounded by Kazakhstan to the northeast, Russia to the northwest, Azerbaijan to the southwest, Iran to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southeast. The name of the Caspian sea is derived from the ancient Iranic Caspi people. The sea stretches 1,200 km (750 mi) from north to south, with an average width of 320 km (200 mi). Its gross coverage

315-621: A Soviet fleet was a national priority, but many senior officers were killed in the Great Purge in the late 1930s. The naval share of the national armaments budget fell from 11.5% in 1941 to 6.6% in 1944. When the Soviet Union entered the Second World War, during Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, initially millions of soldiers were captured, many sailors and naval guns were detached to reinforce

420-636: A cave in Georgia. Discoveries in the Hotu cave and the adjacent Kamarband cave , near the town of Behshahr , Mazandaran south of the Caspian in Iran, suggest human habitation of the area as early as 11,000 years ago. Ancient Greeks focused on the civilization on the south shore – they call it the (H)yr(c/k)anian Sea ( Ancient Greek : Υρκανία θάλαττα , with sources noting the latter word was evolving then to today's Thelessa : late Ancient Greek : θάλασσα ). Hafiz-i Abru ,

525-493: A factor of 10. The Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water in the world by area and accounts for 40–44% of the total lake waters of the world, and covers an area larger than Germany . The coastlines of the Caspian are shared by Azerbaijan , Iran , Kazakhstan , Russia , and Turkmenistan . The Caspian is divided into three distinct physical regions: the Northern, Middle, and Southern Caspian. The Northern–Middle boundary

630-505: A fleet-defense operational concept, in distinction to the Western emphasis on shore-strike missions from distant deployment. A second carrier (pre-commissioning name Varyag ) was under construction when the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991. Construction stopped and the ship was sold later, incomplete, to the People's Republic of China by Ukraine , which inherited part of the old Soviet fleet after

735-658: A fourteenth century Timurid Empire geographer, recorded that the destruction of the Oxus river dam and irrigation works diverted the river flow towards the Caspian Sea, which caused the Aral sea to nearly disappear. Later, in the Tang dynasty (618–907), the sea was the western limit of the Chinese Empire. The area is rich in fossil fuels . Oil wells were being dug in the region as early as

840-543: A naval strategy designed to disrupt sea lines of communication . Nonetheless, the Soviet navy pursued an aircraft carrier program as a way of matching stoking competition with the U.S. Navy . The Soviet Navy still had the mission of confronting Western submarines, creating a need for large surface vessels to carry anti-submarine helicopters. During 1968 and 1969 the Moskva -class helicopter carriers were first deployed, succeeded by

945-488: A result of the petrochemical industry; this has significantly decreased the number of species of marine birds in the area. Existing and planned oil and gas pipelines under the sea further increase the potential threat to the environment. The high concentration of mud volcanoes under the Caspian Sea were thought to be the cause of a fire that broke out 75 kilometers from Baku on July 5, 2021. The State oil company of Azerbaijan SOCAR said preliminary information indicated it

1050-474: Is 386,400 km (149,200 sq mi) and the surface is about 27 m (89 ft) below sea level . Its main freshwater inflow , Europe's longest river, the Volga , enters at the shallow north end. Two deep basins form its central and southern zones. These lead to horizontal differences in temperature, salinity, and ecology. The seabed in the south reaches 1,023 m (3,356 ft) below sea level, which

1155-479: Is a wholly freshwater species. The zebra mussel is native to the Caspian and Black Sea basins, but has become an invasive species elsewhere, when introduced. The area has given its name to several species, including the Caspian gull and the Caspian tern . The Caspian seal ( Pusa caspica ) is the only aquatic mammal endemic to the Caspian Sea, being one of very few seal species that live in inland waters, but it

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1260-405: Is different from those inhabiting freshwaters due to the hydrological environment of the sea. A century ago the Caspian was home to more than one million seals . Today, fewer than 10% remain. Archeological studies of Gobustan Rock Art have identified what may be oceanic species including cetaceans from baleen whales to dolphins , and auks most likely Brunnich's Guillemot , although

1365-414: Is home to a wide range of species and is famous for its caviar and oil industries. Pollution from the oil industry and dams on rivers that drain into it have harmed its ecology. It is predicted that during the 21st century, the depth of the sea will decrease by 9–18 m (30–60 ft) due to global warming and the process of desertification , leading to an ecocide . The sea's name stems from Caspi ,

1470-601: Is the Mangyshlak Threshold, which runs through Chechen Island and Cape Tiub-Karagan. The Middle–Southern boundary is the Apsheron Threshold , a sill of tectonic origin between the Eurasian continent and an oceanic remnant, that runs through Zhiloi Island and Cape Kuuli. The Garabogazköl Bay is the saline eastern inlet of the Caspian, which is part of Turkmenistan and at times has been a lake in its own right due to

1575-475: Is the deepest, with oceanic depths of over 1,000 m (3,300 ft), greatly exceeding the depth of other regional seas, such as the Persian Gulf . The Middle and Southern Caspian account for 33% and 66% of the total water volume, respectively. The northern portion of the Caspian Sea typically freezes in the winter, and in the coldest winters ice forms in the south as well. Over 130 rivers provide inflow to

1680-459: Is the third-lowest natural non-oceanic depression on Earth after Baikal and Tanganyika lakes. Written accounts from the ancient inhabitants of its coast perceived the Caspian Sea as an ocean, probably because of its salinity and large size. With a surface area of 371,000 square kilometres (143,000 sq mi), the Caspian Sea is nearly five times as big as Lake Superior (82,000 square kilometres (32,000 sq mi)). The Caspian Sea

1785-666: The Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences estimated that the level of the sea was dropping by more than six centimetres per year due to increased evaporation due to rising temperatures caused by climate change . The Volga River , the longest river in Europe, drains 20% of the European land area and is the source of 80% of the Caspian's inflow. Heavy development in its lower reaches has caused numerous unregulated releases of chemical and biological pollutants. The UN Environment Programme warns that

1890-611: The Baltic Sea there remained only three much-neglected battleships, two cruisers, some ten destroyers, and a few submarines. Despite this state of affairs, the Baltic Fleet remained a significant naval formation, and the Black Sea Fleet also provided a basis for expansion. There also existed some thirty minor-waterways combat flotillas. During the 1930s, as the industrialization of the Soviet Union proceeded, plans were made to expand

1995-811: The Battle of the Kerch Peninsula , one during the Caucasus Campaign and one as part of the Landing at Moonsund , in the Baltic . During the war, five brigades and two battalions of naval infantry were awarded Guards status. Nine brigades and six battalions were awarded decorations, and many were given honorary titles. The title Hero of the Soviet Union was bestowed on 122 members of naval infantry units. The Soviet experience in amphibious warfare in World War II contributed to

2100-613: The Black Sea , a remnant of the ancient Paratethys Sea . Its seafloor is, therefore, a standard oceanic basalt and not a continental granite body. It is estimated to be about 30 million years old, and became landlocked in the Late Miocene , about 5.5 million years ago, due to tectonic uplift and a fall in sea level . The Caspian Sea was a comparatively small endorheic lake during the Pliocene , but its surface area increased fivefold around

2205-639: The Black Sea . In the late Pontian stage , a mountain arch rose across the south basin and divided it into the Khachmaz and Lankaran Lakes (or early Balaxani ). The period of restriction to the south basin was reversed during the Akchagylian – the lake became more than three times its size today and took again the first of a series of contacts with the Black Sea and Aral Sea . A recession of Lake Akchagyl completed stage one. The earliest hominid remains found around

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2310-539: The Caucasus , west of the broad steppe of Central Asia , south of the fertile plains of Southern Russia in Eastern Europe , and north of the mountainous Iranian Plateau . It covers a surface area of 371,000 km (143,000 sq mi) (excluding the highly saline lagoon of Garabogazköl to its east), an area approximately equal to that of Japan , with a volume of 78,200 km (19,000 cu mi). It has

2415-762: The Coastal Artillery . The Soviet Navy was formed from the remnants of the Imperial Russian Navy during the Russian Civil War . After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian Federation inherited the largest part of the Soviet Navy and reformed it into the Russian Navy , with smaller parts becoming the basis for navies of the newly independent post-Soviet states . The Soviet Navy

2520-483: The Czar . Some imperial vessels continued to serve after the revolution, albeit with different names. The Soviet Navy, established as the " Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet " by a 1918 decree of the new Council of People's Commissars , installed as a temporary Russian revolutionary government, was less than service-ready during the interwar years of 1918 to 1941. As the country's attentions were largely directed internally,

2625-569: The Mediterranean Sea . The squadron's main function was to prevent largescale naval ingress into the Black Sea , which could bypass the need for any invasion to be over the Eurasian land mass. The flagship of the squadron was for a long period the Sverdlov -class cruiser Zhdanov . In the strategic planning laid by the Soviet strategists, the aircraft carriers were seen as relatively unimportant and received little attention, as Moscow focused on

2730-596: The Mike-class submarine Komsomolets , both lost to fire, and the far more menacing nuclear reactor leak on the Hotel-class submarine K-19 , narrowly averted by her captain . Inadequate nuclear safety , poor damage control, and quality-control issues during construction (particularly on the earlier submarines) were typical causes of accidents. On several occasions there were alleged collisions with American submarines. None of these, however, has been confirmed officially by

2835-515: The Red Army ; these reassigned naval forces had especially significant roles on land in the battles for Odessa , Sevastopol , Stalingrad , Novorossiysk , Tuapse , and Leningrad . The Baltic fleet was blockaded in Leningrad and Kronstadt by minefields, but the submarines escaped. The surface fleet fought with the anti-aircraft defence of the city and bombarded German positions. The composition of

2940-454: The Red Terror , some joined the " White " (anti-communist) opposing armies, and others simply resigned) and most of the sailors walked off and left their ships. Work stopped in the shipyards, where uncompleted ships deteriorated rapidly. The Black Sea Fleet fared no better than the Baltic . The Bolshevik (Communist) revolution entirely disrupted its personnel, with mass murders of officers;

3045-509: The Russian Civil War , cooperating with the ships and the army during the combats at Petrograd , on the Baltic Sea , the Black Sea , the Volga , the Kama River , Northern Dvina and on the Lake Onega . The newborn Soviet Naval Air Force consisted of only 76 obsolete hydroplanes. Scanty and technically imperfect, it was mostly used for resupplying the ships and the army. In the second half of

3150-465: The Ural River discharge into the Caspian Sea, but it has no natural outflow other than by evaporation . Thus the Caspian ecosystem is a closed basin , with its own sea level history that is independent of the eustatic level of the world's oceans. The sea level of the Caspian has fallen and risen, often rapidly, many times over the centuries. Some Russian historians, such as Lev Gumilev , claim that

3255-634: The ancient people who lived to the southwest of the sea in Transcaucasia . Strabo (died circa AD 24) wrote that "to the country of the Albanians ( Caucasian Albania , not to be confused with the country of Albania ) belongs also the territory called Caspiane, which was named after the Caspian tribe, as was also the sea; but the tribe has now disappeared". Moreover, the Caspian Gates , part of Iran 's Tehran province , may evince such people migrated to

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3360-514: The sea lines of communication across the North Atlantic Ocean between Europe and North America, the primary role of these aircraft was to protect the Soviet mainland from attacks by U.S. carrier task forces. Due to the Soviet Union's geographic position, submarines were considered the capital ships of the Navy. Submarines could penetrate attempts at blockade, either in the constrained waters of

3465-538: The tidal areas of the Volga delta and riparian forests of the Samur River delta. The shoreline is also a unique refuge for plants adapted to the loose sands of the Central Asian Deserts . The principal limiting factors to successful establishment of plant species are hydrological imbalances within the surrounding deltas, water pollution , and various land reclamation activities. The water level change within

3570-401: The twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russia's extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it the second leading producer of oil and natural gas globally. Caspian littoral states join efforts to develop infrastructure, tourism and trade in the region. The first Caspian Economic Forum

3675-411: The 10th century to reach oil "for use in everyday life, both for medicinal purposes and for heating and lighting in homes". By the 16th century, Europeans were aware of the rich oil and gas deposits locally. English traders Thomas Bannister and Jeffrey Duckett described the area around Baku as "a strange thing to behold, for there issueth out of the ground a marvelous quantity of oil, which serveth all

3780-732: The 1920s, the Naval Aviation order of battle began to grow. It received new reconnaissance hydroplanes, bombers, and fighters. In the mid-1930s, the Soviets created the Naval Air Force in the Baltic Fleet, the Black Sea Fleet and the Soviet Pacific Fleet. The importance of naval aviation had grown significantly by 1938–1940, to become one of the main components of the Soviet Navy. By this time, the Soviets had created formations and units of

3885-537: The AEW would be the primary role for the aircraft, it was also planned to develop versions to serve in the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and carrier on-board delivery (COD) roles. The basic layout and size of the final Yak-44E design was similar to that of the Grumman E-2C which operated in the same role from American aircraft carriers, being a twin-engined high-wing monoplane with a rotating radar dome ( rotodome ) above

3990-653: The Arctic Ocean, Soviet Northern Fleet destroyers ( Novik class, Type 7, and Type 7U) and smaller craft participated with the anti-aircraft and anti-submarine defence of Allied convoys conducting Lend-Lease cargo shipping. In the Pacific Ocean, the Soviet Union was not at war with Japan before 1945, so some destroyers were transferred to the Northern Fleet. From the beginning of hostilities, Soviet Naval Aviation provided air support to naval and land operations involving

4095-565: The Baltic and Black Seas or in the remote reaches of the USSR's western Arctic, while surface ships were clearly much easier to find and attack. The USSR had entered the Second World War with more submarines than Germany, but geography and the speed of the German attack precluded it from effectively using its more numerous fleet to its advantage. Because of its opinion that "quantity had a quality of its own" and at

4200-433: The Black Sea basin or widespread Palearctic species such as crucian carp , Prussian carp , common carp , common bream , common bleak , asp , white bream , sunbleak , common dace , common roach , common rudd , European chub , sichel , tench , European weatherfish , wels catfish , northern pike , burbot , European perch and zander . Almost 30 non-indigenous, introduced fish species have been reported from

4305-560: The Caspi(an) descriptor; in Kazakh it is called Каспий теңізі , Kaspiy teñizi , Kyrgyz : Каспий деңизи , romanized :  Kaspiy deñizi , Uzbek : Kaspiy dengizi . Others refer to it as the Khazar sea : Turkmen : Hazar deňzi ; Azerbaijani : Xəzər dənizi , Turkish : Hazar Denizi . In all these the first word refers to the historical Khazar Khaganate , a large empire based to

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4410-509: The Caspian "suffers from an enormous burden of pollution from oil extraction and refining, offshore oil fields, radioactive wastes from nuclear power plants and huge volumes of untreated sewage and industrial waste introduced mainly by the Volga River". The magnitude of fossil fuel extraction and transport activity in the Caspian also poses a risk to the environment. The island of Vulf off Baku , for example, has suffered ecological damage as

4515-541: The Caspian Sea are from Dmanisi dating back to around 1.8 Ma and yielded a number of skeletal remains of Homo erectus or Homo ergaster . More later evidence for human occupation of the region came from a number of caves in Georgia and Azerbaijan such as Kudaro and Azykh Caves . There is evidence for Lower Palaeolithic human occupation south of the Caspian from western Alburz. These are Ganj Par and Darband Cave sites. Neanderthal remains also have been discovered at

4620-708: The Caspian Sea is an indirect reason for which plants may not get established. These affect aquatic plants of the Volga Delta, such as Aldrovanda vesiculosa and the native Nelumbo caspica . About 11 plant species are found in the Samur River delta, including the unique liana forests that date back to the Tertiary period . Since 2019 UNESCO has admitted the lush Hyrcanian forests of Mazandaran , Iran as World Heritage Site under category (ix). The Caspian turtle ( Mauremys caspica ), although found in neighboring areas,

4725-483: The Caspian Sea, but only a few have become established. Six sturgeon species, the Russian , bastard , Persian , sterlet , starry and beluga , are native to the Caspian Sea. The last of these is arguably the largest freshwater fish in the world . The sturgeon yield roe (eggs) that are processed into caviar . Overfishing has depleted a number of the historic fisheries. In recent years, overfishing has threatened

4830-431: The Caspian region economies are highly dependent on this type of mineral wealth. The world energy markets were influenced by Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, as they became strategically crucial in this sphere, thus attracting the largest share of foreign direct investment (FDI). All of the countries are rich in solar energy and harnessing potential, with the highest rainfall much less than the mountains of central Europe in

4935-676: The Caspian, the Volga River being the largest. A second affluent, the Ural River , flows in from the north, and the Kura River from the west. In the past, the Amu Darya (Oxus) of Central Asia in the east often changed course to empty into the Caspian through a now-desiccated riverbed called the Uzboy River , as did the Syr Darya farther north. The Caspian has several small islands, primarily located in

5040-535: The Eurasian landmass, it did not need a navy to protect a large commercial fleet, as the western navies were configured to do. Later, countering seaborne nuclear delivery systems became another significant objective of the navy, and an impetus for expansion. The Soviet Navy was structured around submarines and small, maneuverable, tactical vessels. The Soviet shipbuilding program kept yards busy constructing submarines based upon World War II German Kriegsmarine designs , which were launched with great frequency during

5145-690: The Germans and then, after the later Armistice of 11 November 1918 on the Western Front which ended the War, additional Russian ships were confiscated by the British. On 1 April 1919, during the ensuing Russian Civil War when Red Army forces captured Crimea , the British Royal Navy squadron had to withdraw, but before leaving they damaged all the remaining battleships and sank thirteen new submarines. When

5250-415: The Navy did not have much funding or training. An indicator of its reputation was that the Soviets were not invited to participate in negotiations for the Washington Naval Treaty of 1921–1922, which limited the size and capabilities of the most powerful navies – British, American, Japanese, French, Italian. The greater part of the old fleet was sold by the Soviet government to post-war Germany for scrap. In

5355-467: The Navy. Each Fleet was assigned a Marine unit of regiment (and later brigade) size. The Naval Infantry received amphibious versions of standard Armoured fighting vehicle , including tanks used by the Soviet Army . Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water , described as the world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea . An endorheic basin , it lies between Europe and Asia : east of

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5460-449: The North Caspian, the majority of the islands are small and uninhabited, like the Tyuleniy Archipelago , an Important Bird Area (IBA). The climate of the Caspian Sea is variable, with the cold desert climate (BWk), cold semi-arid climate (BSk), and humid continental climate (Dsa, Dfa) being present in the northern portions of the Caspian Sea, while the Mediterranean climate (Csa) and humid subtropical climate (Cfa) are present in

5565-470: The Protection of the Caspian Sea against Pollution from Land-based Sources in order to ensure better protection for the biodiversity of the Caspian Sea. The rising level of the Caspian Sea between 1995 and 1996 reduced the number of habitats for rare species of aquatic vegetation. This has been attributed to a general lack of seeding material in newly formed coastal lagoons and water bodies. Many rare and endemic plant species of Russia are associated with

5670-404: The Soviet Navy ( Russian : Советский Военно-Морской Флот , romanized :  Sovyetsky Voyenno-Morskoy Flot , lit.   'Soviet Military Maritime Fleet'). After the war, the Soviets concluded that they needed a navy that could disrupt supply lines , and display a small naval presence to the developing world. As the natural resources the Soviet Union needed were available on

5775-412: The Soviet Navy into one of the most powerful in the world. Approved by the Labour and Defence Council in 1926, the Naval Shipbuilding Program included plans to construct twelve submarines; the first six were to become known as the Dekabrist class . Beginning 4 November 1926, Technical Bureau Nº 4 (formerly the Submarine Department, and still secret), under the leadership of B.M. Malinin , managed

5880-427: The Soviet Navy. This service was responsible for the operation of shore-based floatplanes , long-range flying boats , catapult-launched and vessel-based planes, and land-based aircraft designated for naval use. As post-war spoils, the Soviets received several Italian and Japanese warships and much German naval engineering and architectural documentation. In February 1946, the Red Fleet was renamed and became known as

5985-422: The Soviet fleets in 1941 included: In various stages of completion were another 219 vessels including 3 battleships, 2 heavy and 7 light cruisers, 45 destroyers, and 91 submarines. Included in the totals above are some pre-World War I ships ( Novik -class destroyers, some of the cruisers, and all the battleships), some modern ships built in the USSR and Europe (like the Italian-built destroyer Tashkent and

6090-450: The Soviet part of the captured Italian navy. In the Baltic Sea, after Tallinn 's capture, surface ships were blockaded in Leningrad and Kronstadt by minefields, where they participated with the anti-aircraft defence of the city and bombarded German positions. One example of Soviet resourcefulness was the battleship Marat , an ageing pre-World War I ship sunk at anchor in Kronstadt's harbour by German Junkers Ju 87 aircraft in 1941. For

6195-503: The U.S. Navy. On 28 August 1976, K-22 ( Echo II) collided with frigate USS  Voge in the Mediterranean Sea. After the dissolution of the USSR and the end of the Cold War, the Soviet Navy, like other branches of Armed Forces, eventually lost some of its units to former Soviet Republics, and was left without funding. Some ships were transferred to former Soviet states: In 1990, the Soviet Navy had: The regular Soviet naval aviation units were created in 1918. They participated in

6300-504: The West such an approach would never have been considered tactically feasible. The Soviet Navy did also possess several very large and well-armed guided-missile cruisers , like those of the Kirov and Slava classes. By the 1970s, Soviet submarine technology was in some respects more advanced than in the West, and several of their submarine types were considered superior to their American rivals. The 5th Operational Squadron ( ru:5-я Средиземноморская эскадра кораблей ВМФ ) operated in

6405-414: The aircraft's fuselage. The Yak-44 was designed to carry much more fuel, and was therefore far heavier. The engines were to be two Progress D-27 propfans rated at 14,000 ehp (10,290 kW) each, driving contra-rotating propellers . The crew of five were to be accommodated in a pressurized fuselage, while the aircraft's rotodome, carrying a NPO Vega pulse-doppler radar could be retracted to reduce

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6510-413: The aircraft's height when stowed below decks in the carrier's hangar . The aircraft's wings also folded upwards, while a twin tail was fitted. The aircraft was stressed to allow catapult launching and arrested landings, but was also capable of operating from the ski-jump ramps of the Project 1143.5 carriers (later to become known as the Admiral Kuznetsov class). A detailed full-size mockup

6615-514: The amount of North Atlantic depressions that reach the interior, and they in turn are affected by cycles of the North Atlantic oscillation . Thus levels in the Caspian Sea relate to atmospheric conditions in the North Atlantic, thousands of kilometres to the northwest. The last short-term sea-level cycle started with a sea-level fall of 3 m (10 ft) from 1929 to 1977, followed by a rise of 3 m (10 ft) from 1977 until 1995. Since then smaller oscillations have taken place. A study by

6720-435: The break-up of the USSR. It was commissioned into the People's Liberation Army Navy in 2012 as the Liaoning . Soon after the launch of this second Kuznetsov -class ship, the Soviet Navy began the construction of an improved aircraft carrier design, Ulyanovsk , which was to have been slightly larger than the Kuznetsov class and nuclear-powered. The project was terminated, and what little structure had been initiated in

6825-470: The building ways was scrapped. In part to perform the functions usual to carrier-borne aircraft, the Soviet Navy deployed large numbers of strategic bombers in a maritime role, with the Aviatsiya Voenno-Morskogo Flota (AV-MF, or Naval Aviation service). Strategic bombers like the Tupolev Tu-16 'Badger' and Tu-22M 'Backfire' were deployed with high-speed anti-shipping missiles . Previously believed to be interceptors of NATO supply convoys traveling

6930-457: The climate to the southwest and south are generally warm with uneven elevation due to a mix of highlands and mountain ranges ; the drastic changes in climate alongside the Caspian have led to a great deal of biodiversity in the region. The Caspian Sea has numerous islands near the coasts, but none in the deeper parts of the sea. Ogurja Ada is the largest island. The island is 37 km (23 mi) long, with gazelles roaming freely on it. In

7035-423: The country to burn in their houses. This oil is black and is called nefte . There is also by the town of Baku, another kind of oil which is white and very precious [i.e., petroleum ]." Today, oil and gas platforms abound along the edges of the sea. During the rule of Peter I the Great , Fedor I. Soimonov was a pioneering explorer of the sea. He was a hydrographer who charted and greatly expanded knowledge of

7140-426: The current Caspian Sea and either the Arctic Ocean or North Sea , or the Black Sea . This is supported by the existences of current endemic, oceanic species such as lagoon cockles which was genetically identified to originate in the Caspian and Black Seas regions. The sea's basin (including associated waters such as rivers) has 160 native species and subspecies of fish in more than 60 genera . About 62% of

7245-414: The development of Soviet combined arms operations. Many members of the Naval Infantry were parachute trained, conducting more drops and successful parachute operations than the Soviet Airborne Troops (VDV) . The Naval Infantry was disbanded in 1947, with some units being transferred to the Coastal Defence Forces . In 1961, the Naval Infantry was re-formed and became one of the active combat services of

7350-421: The first of four aircraft-carrying cruisers of the Kiev class , in 1973. Both types were capable of operating ASW helicopters, and the Kiev class also operated V/STOL aircraft ( e.g. , the Yak-38 'Forger' ); they were designed to operate for fleet defense, primarily within range of land-based Soviet Naval Aviation aircraft. During the 1970s the Soviets began Project 1153 Orel (Eagle), whose stated purpose

7455-415: The fish stocks, since it targets reproductive females. Reptiles native to the region include the spur-thighed tortoise ( Testudo graeca buxtoni ) and Horsfield's tortoise . The main geologic history locally had two stages. The first is the Miocene , determined by tectonic events that correlate with the closing of the Tethys Sea . The second is the Pleistocene noted for its glaciation cycles and

7560-633: The full run of the present Volga. During the first stage, the Tethys Sea had evolved into the Sarmatian Lake, that was created from the modern Black Sea and south Caspian, when the collision of the Arabian peninsula with West Asia pushed up the Kopet Dag and Caucasus Mountains , lasting south and west limits to the basin. This orogenic movement was continuous, while the Caspian was regularly disconnected from

7665-445: The immediate post-war years. Afterwards, through a combination of indigenous research and technology obtained through espionage from Nazi Germany and the Western nations, the Soviets gradually improved their submarine designs. The Soviets were quick to equip their surface fleet with missiles of various sorts. Indeed, it became a feature of Soviet design to place large missiles onto relatively small, but fast, missile boats , while in

7770-892: The insistence of Admiral of the Fleet Sergey Gorshkov , the Soviet Navy continued to operate many first-generation missile submarines, built in the early 1960s, until the end of the Cold War in 1991. In some respects, including speed and reactor technology, Soviet submarines achieved unique successes, but for most of the era lagged their Western counterparts in overall capability. In addition to their relatively high speeds and great operating depths they were difficult anti-submarine warfare (ASW) targets to destroy because of their multiple compartments, their large reserve buoyancy, and especially their double-hulled design. Their principal shortcomings were insufficient noise-damping (American boats were quieter) and primitive sonar technology. Acoustics

7875-478: The isthmus that cuts it off from the Caspian. Differences between the three regions are dramatic. The Northern Caspian only includes the Caspian shelf, and is very shallow; it accounts for less than 1% of the total water volume with an average depth of only 5–6 m (16–20 ft). The sea noticeably drops off towards the Middle Caspian, where the average depth is 190 m (620 ft). The Southern Caspian

7980-453: The mountains of the west, which are also rich in hydroelectricity sources. Iran has high fossil fuel energy potential. It has reserves of 137.5 billion barrels of crude oil , the fourth largest in the world, producing around four million barrels a day. Iran has an estimated 988.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas , around 16 percent of world reserves, thus key to current paradigms in global energy security. Russia's economy ranks as

8085-515: The north of the Caspian Sea between the 7th and 10th centuries. In Iran, the lake is referred to as the Mazandaran Sea ( Persian : دریای مازندران ), after the historic Mazandaran Province at its southern shores. Old Russian sources use the Khvalyn or Khvalis Sea ( Хвалынское море / Хвалисское море ) after the name of Khwarezmia . Among Greeks and Persians in classical antiquity it

8190-542: The north with a collective land area of roughly 2,000 km (770 sq mi). Adjacent to the North Caspian is the Caspian Depression , a low-lying region 27 m (89 ft) below sea level . The Central Asian steppes stretch across the northeast coast, while the Caucasus mountains hug the western shore. The biomes to both the north and east are characterized by cold, continental deserts. Conversely,

8295-525: The north, the Caspian Sea water is almost fresh in its northern portions, getting more brackish toward the south. It is most saline on the Iranian shore, where the catchment basin contributes little flow. Currently, the mean salinity of the Caspian is one third that of Earth's oceans. The Garabogazköl lagoon , which dried up when water flow from the main body of the Caspian was blocked in the 1980s but has since been restored, routinely exceeds oceanic salinity by

8400-584: The opposing Czarist White Army captured Crimea in 1919, it rescued and reconditioned a few units. At the end of the civil war, Wrangel's fleet , a White flotilla, moved south through the Black Sea, Dardanelles straits and the Aegean Sea to the Mediterranean Sea to Bizerta in French Tunisia on the North Africa coast, where it was interned. The first ship of the revolutionary navy could be considered

8505-586: The partially completed German cruiser Lützow ). During the war, many of the vessels on the slips in Leningrad and Nikolayev were destroyed (mainly by aircraft and mines ), but the Soviet Navy received captured Romanian destroyers and Lend-Lease small craft from the U.S., as well as the old Royal Navy battleship HMS  Royal Sovereign (renamed Arkhangelsk ) and the United States Navy cruiser USS  Milwaukee (renamed Murmansk ) in exchange for

8610-525: The rebellious Imperial Russian cruiser Aurora , built 1900, whose crew joined the communist Bolsheviks. Sailors of the Baltic fleet supplied the fighting force of the Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky during the October Revolution of November 1917 against the democratic provisional government of Alexander Kerensky established after the earlier first revolution of February against

8715-604: The rest of the war, the non-submerged part of the ship remained in use as a grounded battery. Submarines, although suffering great losses due to German and Finnish anti-submarine actions, had a major role in the war at sea by disrupting Axis navigation in the Baltic Sea. In the Black Sea, many ships were damaged by minefields and Axis aviation , but they helped defend naval bases and supply them while besieged, as well as later evacuating them. Heavy naval guns and sailors helped defend port cities during long sieges by Axis armies . In

8820-509: The rising of the Caspian in the 10th century caused the coastal towns of Khazaria to flood, resulting in the Khazars losing approximately two-thirds of their territory due to flooding. Over the centuries, Caspian Sea levels have changed in synchrony with the estimated discharge of the Volga, which in turn depends on rainfall levels in its vast catchment basin. Precipitation is related to variations in

8925-464: The rock art on Kichikdash Mountain which is assumed to depict either a beaked whale or a dolphin , it may represent the famous beluga sturgeon instead due to its size (430 cm in length). These petroglyphs may suggest potential presences of oceanic faunas in the Caspian Sea presumably until the Quaternary or even the last glacial period or antiquity due to historic marine inflow between

9030-489: The sea. He drew a set of four maps and wrote Pilot of the Caspian Sea , the first lengthy report and modern maps. These were published in 1720 by the Russian Academy of Sciences . Countries in the Caspian region, particularly Azerbaijan , Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan , have high-value natural-resource-based economies, where the oil and gas compose more than 10 percent of their GDP and 40 percent of their exports. All

9135-534: The ships were allowed to decay to unserviceability. At the end of April 1918, Imperial German troops moved along the Black Sea coast and entered Crimea and started to advance towards the Sevastopol naval base. The more effective ships were moved from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk where, after an ultimatum from Germany, they were scuttled by Vladimir Lenin 's order. The ships remaining in Sevastopol were captured by

9240-588: The shores of Kola Bay and Polyarny was made up of three destroyers and three patrol ships, while the Pacific Fleet had two destroyers, transferred east in 1936, and six patrol ships assembled in the Far East. The Soviet Navy had some minor action in the Winter War against Finland in 1939–1940, on the Baltic Sea. It was limited mainly to cruisers and battleships fighting artillery duels with Finnish forts. Building

9345-571: The south. The Iranian city of Qazvin shares the root of its name with this common name for the sea. The traditional and medieval Arabic name for the sea was Baḥr ('sea') Khazar , but in recent centuries the common and standard name in Arabic language has become بحر قزوين Baḥr Qazvin , the Arabized form of Caspian. In modern Russian language, it is known as Russian : Каспи́йское мо́ре , Kaspiyskoye more . Some Turkic ethnic groups refer to it with

9450-405: The southern portions of the Caspian Sea. The Caspian has characteristics common to both seas and lakes. It is often listed as the world's largest lake, although it is not freshwater : the 1.2% salinity classes it with brackish water bodies. It contains about 3.5 times as much water, by volume, as all five of North America's Great Lakes combined. The Volga River (about 80% of the inflow) and

9555-900: The species and subspecies are endemic , as are 4–6 genera (depending on taxonomic treatment). The lake proper has 115 natives, including 73 endemics (63.5%). Among the more than 50 genera in the lake proper, 3–4 are endemic: Anatirostrum , Caspiomyzon , Chasar (often included in Ponticola ) and Hyrcanogobius . By far the most numerous families in the lake proper are gobies (35 species and subspecies), cyprinids (32) and clupeids (22). Two particularly rich genera are Alosa with 18 endemic species/subspecies and Benthophilus with 16 endemic species. Other examples of endemics are four species of Clupeonella , Gobio volgensis , two Rutilus , three Sabanejewia , Stenodus leucichthys , two Salmo , two Mesogobius and three Neogobius . Most non-endemic natives are either shared with

9660-421: The sturgeon population to the point that environmentalists advocate banning sturgeon fishing completely until the population recovers. The high price of sturgeon caviar – more than 1,500 Azerbaijani manats (US$ 880 as of April 2019 ) per kilo – allows fishermen to afford bribes to ensure the authorities look the other way, making regulations in many locations ineffective. Caviar harvesting further endangers

9765-472: The submarine construction works at the Baltic Shipyard . In subsequent years, 133 submarines were built to designs developed during Malinin's management. Additional developments included the formation of the Pacific Fleet in 1932 and the Northern Fleet in 1933. The forces were to be built around a core of powerful Sovetsky Soyuz -class battleships . This building program was only in its initial stages by

9870-521: The time of the Pliocene-Pleistocene transition. During warm and dry climatic periods, the landlocked sea almost dried up, depositing evaporitic sediments like halite that were covered by wind-blown deposits and were sealed off as an evaporite sink when cool, wet climates refilled the basin. (Comparable evaporite beds underlie the Mediterranean .) Due to the current inflow of fresh water in

9975-600: The time the German invasion forced its suspension in 1941. By the end of 1937, the biggest fleet was the Baltic Fleet based at Leningrad, with two battleships, one training cruiser, eight destroyers including one destroyer leader, five patrol ships, two minesweepers , and some more old minesweepers. The Black Sea Fleet at Sevastopol included one battleship, three cruisers, one training cruiser, five destroyers, two patrol ships, and four minesweepers. The Northern Fleet operating from

10080-807: The torpedo and bomb aviation. During World War II , about 350,000 Soviet sailors fought on land. At the beginning of the war, the navy had only one naval brigade in the Baltic fleet , but began forming and training other battalions. These eventually were: The military situation demanded the deployment of large numbers of marines on land fronts, so the Naval Infantry contributed to the defense of Moscow , Leningrad , Odessa , Sevastopol , Stalingrad , Novorossiysk , and Kerch . The Naval Infantry conducted over 114 landings, most of which were carried out by platoons and companies. In general, however, Naval Infantry served as regular infantry, without any amphibious training. They conducted four major operations: two during

10185-458: The world's largest submarines. While Western navies assumed that the Soviet attack submarine force was designed for interception of NATO convoys, the Soviet leadership never prepared their submarines for such a mission. Over the years Soviet submarines suffered a number of accidents, most notably on several nuclear boats. The most famous incidents include the Yankee-class submarine K-219 , and

10290-453: Was a mud volcano which spewed both mud and flammable gas. It is calculated that during the 21st century, the water level of the Caspian Sea will decrease by 9–18 m (30–60 ft) due to the acceleration of evaporation due to global warming and the process of desertification , causing an ecocide . On October 23, 2021, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed the Protocol for

10395-540: Was a particularly interesting type of information that the Soviets sought about the West's submarine-production methods, and the long-active John Anthony Walker spy ring may have made a major contribution to their knowledge of such. The Soviet Navy possessed numerous purpose-built guided missile submarines , such as the Oscar-class submarine , as well as many ballistic missile and attack submarines; their Typhoon class are

10500-536: Was based on a republican naval force formed from the remnants of the Imperial Russian Navy , which had been almost completely destroyed in the two Revolutions of 1917 (February and October/November) during World War I (1914–1918), the following Russian Civil War (1917–1922), and the Kronstadt rebellion in 1921. During the revolutionary period, Russian sailors deserted their ships at will and generally neglected their duties. The officers were dispersed (some were killed by

10605-705: Was completed in 1991, and approved with minor changes by the Soviet Naval Aviation (A-VMF). The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in the program being delayed, with the catapult-equipped Ulyanovsk being cancelled and scrapped, and the second Admiral Kuznetsov class carrier, the Varyag , being left incomplete. The Yak-44 program was abandoned by the Russian Navy in 1993. Data from Yakovlev Aircraft since 1924 General characteristics Performance Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy

10710-632: Was divided into four major fleets: the Northern , Pacific , Black Sea , and Baltic Fleets, in addition to the Leningrad Naval Base , which was commanded separately. It also had a smaller force, the Caspian Flotilla , which operated in the Caspian Sea and was followed by a larger fleet, the 5th Squadron , in the Mediterranean Sea . The Soviet Navy included Naval Aviation , Naval Infantry , and

10815-661: Was the Hyrcanian ocean. Renaissance European maps labelled it as the Abbacuch Sea (Oronce Fine's 1531 world map), Mar de Bachu (Ortellius' 1570 map), or Mar de Sala (the Mercator 1569 world map ). It was also sometimes called the Kumyk Sea and Tarki Sea (derived from the name of the Kumyks and their historical capital Tarki ). The Caspian Sea is at its South Caspian Basin , like

10920-899: Was the naval warfare uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces . Often referred to as the Red Fleet , the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union 's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with the opposing superpower , the United States , during the Cold War (1945–1991). The Soviet Navy played a large role during the Cold War, either confronting the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in western Europe or power projection to maintain its sphere of influence in eastern Europe . The Soviet Navy

11025-745: Was to create an aircraft carrier capable of basing fixed-wing fighter aircraft in defense of the deployed fleet. The project was canceled during the planning stages when strategic priorities shifted once more. In 1981, the Soviet Navy ordered its first true aircraft carrier, Tbilisi , subsequently renamed Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov , which carries Sukhoi Su-33 'Flanker-D' and MiG-29 fighters, as well as Ka-27 helicopters. A distinctive feature of Soviet aircraft carriers has been their offensive missile armament (as well as long-range anti-aircraft warfare armament), again representing

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