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I - 165 : When 2 Navies almost triggered WW3

hbanziger

Updated: 6 days ago


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 Turkish 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 a submarine.


Standard Route of the Soviet Navy 1970 from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean


The Soviet naval presence in the Med was large at that time. The USSR permanently kept up to 60 ships there. The Soviet Navy was modern. Built to prevent a repetition of the humiliating retreat during 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 sail through the Turkiush Straits. For the US 6th Fleet (50 ships plus a carrier), the Soviet Mediterranean fleet posed a considerable threat. What motivated the Soviet Union to spend so much time and effort to maintain a fleet in the Mediterranean - 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 and claimed the Turkish Straits. With the outbreak of the Napoleonic wars, Russia retreated but never gave up its claims. After its victory in 1945, he USSR raised them again. 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


In 1945, the Soviet claim was theoretical though – the USSR did not have a blue water navy. All this changed after the Cuba crisis and the visit of the USS Sam Houston, a 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, Azerbaijan's oilfields 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 to the Med to neutralize the threat. Without a naval base though, these subs had to be supported by surface vessels. The build-up of the Red Mediterranean Fleet started. Within ten years, it was sizeable, albeit entirely dependent on supply ships from the Black Sea. Whilst Egypt, Libya and Syria cooperated with the Soviet Union to modernize their armies, they never granted them a naval base.


A Soviet Submarine of the Juliette Class is repaired on the open Sea


Without permanent port facilities, the Soviet fleet in the Med had to run complex supply and repair operations. The waters south and south-east of Crete were the main areas where the Red Fleet operated. Crete thus became NATO's southern flank. Radar installations went up on the island. The Souda Bay became NATO's most eastern forward base. The docks were enlarged - the deep harbor could even accommodate one of the large US carriers. When we visited Sicily on our way from Genoa to Syracuse in 2020, we discovered abandoned radar equipment on the Santa Caterina Castle near Trapani (western Sicily). It served the same purpose as the installations on Crete.


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 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 firing range and on high alert. The US Navy had moved into the Eastern Med to protect its airlift to Israel which delivered fighter planes, tanks and ammunition. Every 600 miles, from Gibraltar to Crete, the US Navy placed an aircraft carrier to protect the vulnerable transporters A5 Galaxy and A131 Starlift.


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 attacking it. Would the US Navy intervene on Israel's side? Or just protect the airlift? The Soviet Navy, knowing its limited chance of survival in a fight with the US Fleet, followed a “strike first” doctrine. For three days, Russian fire control radars tracked every NATO move. 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 came close.


Tracking of US Carrier and Amphibious Group South of Crete 6 - 16 October 1973


Due to the presence of American nuclear submarines south of Crete, the Soviets maintained its fleet in the Mediterranean until 1991. The following 15 years it reduced 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 long-desired naval base in the Mediterranean. Russia had already cancelled USD 13 bn of Syrian debt in 2005. Putin's intervention in 2012 saved President Assad - albeit for 12 years only. In 2024, to the surprise of many, the regime fell within 10 days. Russia's dream of a naval base in the Mediterranean ended in tears.


The deep Waters south of Crete are still an ideal hiding Place for Submarines


The sea south of the Dodecanes and Crete is peaceful today. 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 NATO forward base in western Crete, during our second week. I wonder which US Navy ships will be there.


Souda Bay in Crete which we will visit in week 2 is NATO's forward eastern Base in the Med


For further reading, I recommend the Naval War College Review "A Tale of Two Fleets"

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This blog is about getting to places which are today off the beaten track but where once the world met. It talks about people, culture, food, sailing, architecture and many other things which are mostly forgotten today.

 

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