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gap · 01-03-14, 04:43 PM

@ vlad29, Serge65, volodya61 and Trevally

Sorry for the late reply guys.

The information we are looking for is spread over many websites, mainly Russian ones, but not impossible to find. During the past days my progress has been pitifully slow especially due to language barriers, but I was nonetheless able to collect some information. This is what I have got so far:

About the Soviet Naval Aviation of WWII

Ignoring some minor units, The Russian Navy was (and still is) divided into four independent fleets, each with its own air unit: the Northern fleet based at Murmansk, the Baltic Fleet based at Leningrad, the Black Sea Fleet, and the Pacific Ocean Fleet. Compatibly with equipment shortages and lack of trained crews (common during the first years of the war), each fleet had ideally a Mine-Torpedo Air Division (Minno-torpednyy Aviatsionnyy), a division of fighters (Istrebitel'nyy Aviatsionnyy), a division of bomber/dive bombers (Bombardirovchnyy Aviatsionnyy), and one or more reconnaissance regiments, plus some independent air regiments and air flights. At the start of the war a Regiment might range from 40-64 aircraft depending on type in 4 squadrons. By 1942 the established regiment size had been reduced to 21 aircraft in 2 squadrons. By the end of the war regimental size was back to 3 squadrons and 30-40 aircraft.

Source (in English):
http://weaponsandwarfare.com/?p=29379

Short history of the Northern Fleet

An "Arctic Sea Flotilla" (Flotiliya Severnogo Ledovitogo okeana) had been established on June 1916. On March 1920, after the October Revolution, it was replaced by the "White Sea Flotilla" (Belomorskaya flotiliya), based in Arkhangelsk, and finally disbanded on January 1923. In early 1933 a "Northern Flotilla" was re-established in Polyarny, on the outermost western side of the Murmansk Fjord. On September 1935 (September 1936 according to other sources) the Flotilla received its first flight of MBR-2 flying boats (transferred from Leningrad to Murmansk), and it was designated "the Northern Fleet" on May 11, 1937, after receiving new ships, airfields and coastal and air defense artillery.

Source (in English):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Fleet

Northern Fleet Air Force during WWII

On September 16, 1939, the first air unit of the Northern Fleet became operative as the 118th Short-Range Marine Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (118-y morskoy blizhne razvedyvatel'nyy aviatsionnyy polk VVS SF), just in time for taking part to the Winter War with 18 aircraft. In the meanwhile, the Northern Fleet Air Force was reinforced with new aircraft and units. On the eve of the Great Patriotic War (June 1941) it consisted of two regiments and three independent units operating 116 aircraft in total:

118th Marine Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (118-y morskoy razvedyvatel'nyy aviatsionnyy polk) - 35 Beriev MBR-2 and 7 GTS (Russian-made PBY Catalinas) flying boats;
72th Mixed Aviation Regiment (72-y smeshannyy aviatsionnyy polk) - 28 Polikarpov I-15bis, 17 I-153 and 4 I-16 fighters, and 11 Tupolev SB bombers;
49th Maritime Reconnaissance Squadron (49-ya otdel'naya morskaya razvedyvatel'naya aviaeskadril'ya) - 10 MBR-2;
24th Liaison Flight (24-ye otdel'noye aviatsionnoye zveno svyazi) - 2 MBR-2
34th Air Rescue Flight (34-ye otdel'noye sanitarnoye aviatsionnoye zveno) - 2 MBR-2

No minelaying and torpedo-bomber nor ground attack aviation regiments were attached to the Northern Fleet yet. The mentioned units operated from one airfield, Vaenga-1, near Murmansk (69° 1'52.91"N, 33°25'16.91"E) and three seaplane bases, Guba Gryaznaya, near Murmansk (69° 3'50.72"N, 33°17'26.79"E), Kholmovskaya, near Arkhangelsk (64°22'52.95"N, 40°43'16.82"E) and Solovki, Bolshoi Solovetsky Island ( 65° 1'46.43"N, 35°43'58.05"E):

This is just what I was able to grab from the many Russian-written sources available on the web. There is much more in them. I wish some Russian buddy could help me abstracting the information they contain, because google translate does a really poor job of them.

Here they are:

The defeat of the summer of 1941 (General essay with lot of useful information):
http://www.nationshistory.ru/nhistorys-122-1.html

Naval Aviation of the USSR during the war:
http://www.airaces.ru/stati/morskaya...nyjj-flot.html

Northern Fleet Air Force during World War II, a brief overview:
http://sk16.ru/vvssf.shtml

Maritime reconnaissance aircraft (Baltic, Black Sea, Northern and Pacific Fleets):
http://www.airaces.ru/stati/vvs-vmf-...-aviaciya.html

118th Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment Northern Fleet Air Force:
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/118-%D0...BE%D1%82%D0%B0

49th Maritime Reconnaissance Squadron:
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/49-%D1%...BE%D1%82%D0%B0

Soviet fighter units which fought in the Arctic:
http://www.e-reading.co.uk/chapter.p...1941-1944.html

72th Mixed Aviation Regiment Northern Fleet Air Force:
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/72-%D0%...BE%D1%82%D0%B0

History of the 255th Fighter Regiment of the Northern Fleet
http://sk16.ru/255iap/index.shtml

"Airacobra" in the 255th IAP Northern Fleet:
http://airaces.narod.ru/all/255_iap.htm

01-03-14, 04:43 PM	#4567
gap Navy Seal Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: CJ8937 Posts: 8,214 Downloads: 793 Uploads: 10	@ vlad29, Serge65, volodya61 and Trevally Sorry for the late reply guys. The information we are looking for is spread over many websites, mainly Russian ones, but not impossible to find. During the past days my progress has been pitifully slow especially due to language barriers, but I was nonetheless able to collect some information. This is what I have got so far: About the Soviet Naval Aviation of WWII Ignoring some minor units, The Russian Navy was (and still is) divided into four independent fleets, each with its own air unit: the Northern fleet based at Murmansk, the Baltic Fleet based at Leningrad, the Black Sea Fleet, and the Pacific Ocean Fleet. Compatibly with equipment shortages and lack of trained crews (common during the first years of the war), each fleet had ideally a Mine-Torpedo Air Division (Minno-torpednyy Aviatsionnyy), a division of fighters (Istrebitel'nyy Aviatsionnyy), a division of bomber/dive bombers (Bombardirovchnyy Aviatsionnyy), and one or more reconnaissance regiments, plus some independent air regiments and air flights. At the start of the war a Regiment might range from 40-64 aircraft depending on type in 4 squadrons. By 1942 the established regiment size had been reduced to 21 aircraft in 2 squadrons. By the end of the war regimental size was back to 3 squadrons and 30-40 aircraft. Source (in English): http://weaponsandwarfare.com/?p=29379 Short history of the Northern Fleet An "Arctic Sea Flotilla" (Flotiliya Severnogo Ledovitogo okeana) had been established on June 1916. On March 1920, after the October Revolution, it was replaced by the "White Sea Flotilla" (Belomorskaya flotiliya), based in Arkhangelsk, and finally disbanded on January 1923. In early 1933 a "Northern Flotilla" was re-established in Polyarny, on the outermost western side of the Murmansk Fjord. On September 1935 (September 1936 according to other sources) the Flotilla received its first flight of MBR-2 flying boats (transferred from Leningrad to Murmansk), and it was designated "the Northern Fleet" on May 11, 1937, after receiving new ships, airfields and coastal and air defense artillery. Source (in English): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Fleet Northern Fleet Air Force during WWII On September 16, 1939, the first air unit of the Northern Fleet became operative as the 118th Short-Range Marine Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (118-y morskoy blizhne razvedyvatel'nyy aviatsionnyy polk VVS SF), just in time for taking part to the Winter War with 18 aircraft. In the meanwhile, the Northern Fleet Air Force was reinforced with new aircraft and units. On the eve of the Great Patriotic War (June 1941) it consisted of two regiments and three independent units operating 116 aircraft in total: 118th Marine Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (118-y morskoy razvedyvatel'nyy aviatsionnyy polk) - 35 Beriev MBR-2 and 7 GTS (Russian-made PBY Catalinas) flying boats; 72th Mixed Aviation Regiment (72-y smeshannyy aviatsionnyy polk) - 28 Polikarpov I-15bis, 17 I-153 and 4 I-16 fighters, and 11 Tupolev SB bombers; 49th Maritime Reconnaissance Squadron (49-ya otdel'naya morskaya razvedyvatel'naya aviaeskadril'ya) - 10 MBR-2; 24th Liaison Flight (24-ye otdel'noye aviatsionnoye zveno svyazi) - 2 MBR-2 34th Air Rescue Flight (34-ye otdel'noye sanitarnoye aviatsionnoye zveno) - 2 MBR-2 No minelaying and torpedo-bomber nor ground attack aviation regiments were attached to the Northern Fleet yet. The mentioned units operated from one airfield, Vaenga-1, near Murmansk (69° 1'52.91"N, 33°25'16.91"E) and three seaplane bases, Guba Gryaznaya, near Murmansk (69° 3'50.72"N, 33°17'26.79"E), Kholmovskaya, near Arkhangelsk (64°22'52.95"N, 40°43'16.82"E) and Solovki, Bolshoi Solovetsky Island ( 65° 1'46.43"N, 35°43'58.05"E): This is just what I was able to grab from the many Russian-written sources available on the web. There is much more in them. I wish some Russian buddy could help me abstracting the information they contain, because google translate does a really poor job of them. Here they are: The defeat of the summer of 1941 (General essay with lot of useful information): http://www.nationshistory.ru/nhistorys-122-1.html Naval Aviation of the USSR during the war: http://www.airaces.ru/stati/morskaya...nyjj-flot.html Northern Fleet Air Force during World War II, a brief overview: http://sk16.ru/vvssf.shtml Maritime reconnaissance aircraft (Baltic, Black Sea, Northern and Pacific Fleets): http://www.airaces.ru/stati/vvs-vmf-...-aviaciya.html 118th Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment Northern Fleet Air Force: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/118-%D0...BE%D1%82%D0%B0 49th Maritime Reconnaissance Squadron: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/49-%D1%...BE%D1%82%D0%B0 Soviet fighter units which fought in the Arctic: http://www.e-reading.co.uk/chapter.p...1941-1944.html 72th Mixed Aviation Regiment Northern Fleet Air Force: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/72-%D0%...BE%D1%82%D0%B0 History of the 255th Fighter Regiment of the Northern Fleet http://sk16.ru/255iap/index.shtml "Airacobra" in the 255th IAP Northern Fleet: http://airaces.narod.ru/all/255_iap.htm __________________ _____________________ \|May the Force be with you!\| ...\/