Harpoon 4 Naval Sitrep 37 Iran

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Issue #37 October 2009Movie Review: AdmiralMovie Review: Admiral, directed by Andrei Kravchuk, starringKonstantin Khabenskiy, $35.99What attracted me to this movie was a battle scene, whichbegins the story. A small Russian vessel in WW I is laying minesin the Baltic when it is attacked by a German dreadnought. TheCGI depiction of the WW I vessels, as well as the live actionscenes aboard ship, were stunning. Forget Battleship Potemkin. Theproduction values were worthy of any Hollywood studio.The admiral of the title is Aleksandr Kolchak, an ImperialRussian naval officer and a real-life historical figure. Researchinghim after I watched the movie, I read that he distinguished himselfin the Russo-Japanese War and participated in the rebuilding of theRussian Fleet after its disastrous defeat by the Japanese. He was alsoa noted Arctic explorer in the years before WW I.Distinguishing himself in the Great War, he rose to commandthe Black Sea Fleet. When the Revolution began, he initiallysupported the Kerensky government, but when that collapsed, heopposed the Bolsheviks and eventually commanded the Whiteforces during the Russian Civil War.Some nationalist groups in Russia want to rehabilitateAleksandr Kolchak as a heroic Russian historical figure. As leaderof the Whites, his name was not mentioned in Soviet Russia, andthe movie glosses over the many faults of the Tsarist Navy, and theuglier parts of Kolchak’s struggle with the Reds. The Revolutionwas a bloody business, and Kolchak was a harsh disciplinarian withhis own troops. He showed no mercy to the enemy. The moviealso makes many references to the Russian Orthodox church, animportant group with Russian nationalist movements.The movie follows Kolchak through the war and theRevolution, but takes many liberties with both the historical recordand Kolchak’s personal life. It’s better if you don’t know too muchabout the man before you watch this.Think Titanic meets In Harm’s Way, with a dash of PT 109.Linking the battle scenes is a love story, with Kolchak falling for oneof his officer’s wives. But although they are attracted to each otherand eventually declare their love, they never betray their spouses.At one point, Kolchak says, “We never even danced.” Torn apart bywar, able to steal only moments together, blah, blah,…Israeli Player Special UpgradesYou get the idea. But the acting is good, the battle scenes areexcellent, the love story doesn’t get in the way, and like Titanic, youknow how it ends. After all, the best love stories are tragic ones, andit is a Russian movie.It’s available at Amazon. Watch out for bootleg copies. Thepeople who made this movie did a good job. They deserve theirpiece of the pie.Larry BondThe Israeli player has 70 points to spend on upgradesImproved offensive EW performance (+10% on all jammers)10 pointsBetter intelligence on facility, results in improved targeting (+10% damage)30 pointsSpecial Warfare team plants differential GPS (+10% GPS weapon accuracy)40 pointsU.S. AGM-88 HARM missiles (20 purchased) for F-16I vice STAR-1,+20% to SAM suppression die roll) 30 pointsLieutenant Zidon’s idea20 pointsLieutenant Zidon’s Idea: [Do not tell the Israeli player about this until after they have spent the points.] There is a valley running east-westwhose eastern end is near the NW corner of the facility. A pilot could fly at RLow (Really Low) altitude down the valley and not be detectedby air defense radars. The Israeli player must decide to adopt this tactic during the planning process, so that the pilots(s) who perform thismaneuver can be briefed and practice. The option can be aborted up to the time of execution. [Ed Note: I’m not making this up. Look onGoogleEarth TM at 33°43’40.66” N, 51°41’19.97” E]Pilots have a 2% chance of crashing (01- 02) and a 10% chance of being detected on radar (03-12).Naval SITREP Page 30Doug Birtles (Order #25307632)
Book Review: Raising the Red BannerIssue #37 October 2009Raising the Red Banner - The Pictorial History of Stalin’s Fleet1920-45, by Vladimir Yakubov and Richard Worth. SpellmountPublishers, 2008, ISBN 978 1 86227 450 1, $39.95In recent years, we have gradually seen more previouslyunavailable material from Russian sources appearing in English.This book covers an interesting era of twenty-five years, duringwhich the original Tsarist Russian fleet evolved into the Soviet Navy.As shown by the authors, the fleet started with a bunch of leftoversin very dubious condition, with crews not well trained to look afterthem. The situation was no better in the shipyards where there wasa serious lack of skilled workmen to keep the aging ships at sea or torepair those that were severely damaged during the revolution.The authors take the reader step-by-step through the shipclasses, starting with battleships and working down to smallervessels. They start by showing what was done with the aging vessels,and in many cases what the Soviets would like to have done, butlacked the industrial skill to achieve.Each chapter is accompanied by many photographs new tothe west, and indeed there was only one that I had not previouslyseen. Serious students of naval history will be aware that one ofthe frustrations of studying the Soviet fleet has always been thevery poor quality of most photographs. However the authors havecarefully selected views of higher standard.The discussion of each ship class includes many of thefrustrations and the compromises that had to be made to meetStalin’s demands, and the practicabilities of existing shipbuildingfacilities. From this it can be seen that the Soviets strove to producea fleet of high standard and were not afraid to take steps into newdesign territory to achieve what they wanted. Such a bold policyof design was not always matched by the skill of the workmen, thefactories and material available.Design experience was also lacking and resulted in some terribleerrors of weight calculation and ship layout. Once recognized, theSoviets attempted to acquire examples of overseas shipbuildingpractice. This was not as successful as they hoped, because of thehigh level of suspicion in which the Soviets were held. Foreigngovernments were relucant to grant permission for their shipyards toprovide much of the assistance the Russians sought.The largest section quite justifiably covers the submarinearm, which has always been the most confusing for non-Sovietresearchers. Although the book reveals interesting snippets notpreviously understood about the surface ships, it is with thesubmarine service that one finds at last a sense of clarity. The classeswere numerous and their wartime successes were few, but the sheernumber of submarines built and their variants makes for veryinteresting reading.One disappointment is that while the information on largeships and submarines is highly comprehensive, the data tails offdramatically when dealing with the small ships that were such a vitalpart of the fighting arm. Patrol craft, minesweepers and auxiliarycraft get short rift, being lumped into a single chapter with the title“Other Surface Vessels,” which is a great shame, because as we findmore and more Soviet Navy history revealed to us, it is obvious thesmall ships did most of the fighting. We are treated to temptingglimpses of some of these craft through photographs only, with verylittle text or discussion. That is surprising, considering that the otherchapters are full of information to back up the photographs.Doug Birtles (Order #25307632)Charts in most other chapters do show ships built, their actualnames, which is sometimes contrary to older histories, and someidea of WW II additions to armament and electronics. Apart fromname clarifications and clarification of which ships entered serviceand which did not, the charts are little different from those availablein most quality books available to the naval historian. It is nice tosee it in what appears to be a quite authoritive work.Via the photographs it becomes obvious that some previousbooks that have brushed past the subject of camouflage are quitewrong in asserting that it was uncommon, and mostly limited tothe Northern Fleet. Although black and white, a variety of paintschemes are evident for all fleets. I would love to have seen somediscussion of this or at least a little more detail. But having seen solittle of it in the past, I was grateful to see at least that much.There are statements that camouflage was not standardised,but an examination of ships in the Northern Fleet alone, revealssufficient similarities to suggest that there must have been some sortof standard idea given to those responsible for painting warships.I liked this book and considered it was well worth the purchaseprice. I just hope that the authors will consider more work to bettercover the small craft and of course that ever puzzling question ofcamouflage.Highly recommended.Mal WrightNaval SITREP Page 31
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Harpoon 4 Naval Sitrep 37 Iran

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