Soviet Light Cruiser Murmansk: The USS Milwaukee in Soviet Hands
Two things people don’t know about the USSR during World War II, is that:
- They DID have a navy
- Their Navy was kinda junk.
The Composition and Condition of the Soviet Navy
By the 1930s, the Soviet Navy was primarily made up of vessels that once made up the Imperial Russian Navy. The vast majority of which were pre-WWI era vessels that were more or less obsolete by this point. Now to be fair, the Soviets did attempt to modernize these older ships and by World War II, they had managed to build some modern vessels as well. But like stated in my post yesterday, the Soviets really didn’t have that much experience in shipbuilding. As a lot of the “newer” vessels had A LOT of issues due to build quality. Needless to say, the Soviet Navy was almost non-existent, as most of their surface ships were laid up in port. While the few that were able to venture out, didn’t always come back.
The Acquisition of USS Milwaukee
As a result, the Soviet Navy ended up receiving vessels from both the Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy, one of which was the Omaha-class USS Milwaukee.
Initially launched in 1922, Milwaukee (CL-5) was an old ship by the time World War II began. Prior to being transferred to the USSR, the vessel was used to hunt for Axis blockade runners in the South Atlantic and was even attacked by an Italian submarine off the coast of Brazil in 1942.
The Service of the Murmansk
In 1944, she was transferred to the Soviet Navy and renamed “Murmansk”. Where she would be used to escort Arctic convoys for the remainder of the war and would eventually be used as a training ship afterward. She would remain in Soviet hands for a few more years until she was returned to the U.S. in 1949 and ultimately scrapped.
