The Russian and Soviet fleets of the 20th century don't get a whole lot of western press; especially those outside of the Russo-Japanese War. In fact while the Russians and later the Soviets did not have much in the way of a blue water navy, they did have a fair number of ships to operate in areas around their country. This meant ships capable of performing well in the Baltic, the Black Sea, the Arctic to some extent, as well as the areas around Russia's eastern shores in the Yellow Sea and Japan Sea.

In most of those areas, Russia/Soviet Union did not have much in the way of competition for much of the time. Prior to WWI it was the British and Germans in the Baltic and the Japanese in the East, but once WWI was over, the Germans were no longer a threat. Despite needing a naval presence in these areas, Russia did not have as great a military shipbuilding industry as did the UK, for example, and Russian designers were unable to properly design really modern warships. This meant that they either bought 'foreign' ships outright or bought the right to build non-Russian designs at home.

One area this was particularly prevalent was in the design of destroyers. Most Russian destroyer designs were British, though there was some local modifications to these designs, frequently degrading performance. Still, it was sufficient to provide a viable naval force to meet needs. This book covers those Russian-built destroyers that saw service with foreign navies. The vast majority of these cases was through their loss due to wars. The Japanese operated a fair number due to winning the Russo-Japanese War of 1905. Others were due to Russia signing an armistice with Germany in 1917 while others were due to the Bolshevik Revolution between Red and White Russia. Still others were actually built specifically for the navies of other nations.

This book covers all of that and more. The history of the various classes of ships are covered in addition to specific ships that changed hands during the time covered. Basically, the book covers the period into the early 1920s and the final outcome of the Russian Revolution. Typical of books in this series, there are full color profiles as well as a number of well chosen period photographs. Not as many profiles as in some other titles, but enough to please most readers. In all, a fascinating look at something few have covered before. A book I enjoyed reading and one I can easily recommend to you.

April 2026

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