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Northern Fleet patch featuring the St. Andrew ensign

The Russian Northern Fleet (Россия Северный флот in Russian, transliterated as Rossija Severniy Flot) is the part of the Russian Navy that defends Russian territory beyond the Arctic Circle. It was originally founded in 1933 as the Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet, but changed its name after the fall of the Soviet Union. The fleet's headquarters are located in Murmansk and the main base and administrative centre is the Severomorsk naval base. During Soviet Era it was the base of more than 200 submarines between SLBM and SSN.

During the 1980s Soviet naval strategy shifted to an emphasis on bastion defense, fortifying the southern reaches of the Barents Sea for that purpose, and Russia has continued to employ that strategy.

The Oscar class submarine Kursk was destroyed in a torpedo accident during Fleet exercises in 2000. The submarine was previously based at Ara Bay. The Northern Fleet staged another series of major exercises in January 2004 involving thirteen ships and seven submarines in the Barents Sea. The involvement of Admiral Kuznetsov and Pyotr Velikiy was overshadowed however by two ballistic missile launch failures, made more embarrassing because President Vladimir Putin was afloat aboard the Typhoon class ballistic missile submarine Arkhangelsk to witness the tests. Neither Novomoskovsk nor Karelia were able to successfully launch what were apparently RSM-54 SLBMs.^[1]

The flagship of the Northern Fleet, the nuclear-powered large guided missile cruiser Pyotr Velikiy, is named after Peter I of Russia (or Peter the Great). The Northern Fleet is perhaps best known for its many nuclear-powered vessels. In fact, about two thirds of all the Russian Navy's nuclear force is based there.

Map of naval bases, shipyards and spent fuel storage sites operated by the Northern Fleet

In addition to the main base at Severomorsk, the Northern Fleet has six more naval bases and several shipyards and spent fuel storage sites, according to the Bellona Foundation. The spent fuel storage sites include Murmansk, which is also a shipyard and base for Arktika nuclear-powered icebreakers, Andreeva Bay, and Severodvinsk, also a shipyard.

• Severomorsk
• Olenya Bay
• Skalisti
• Ura Bay
• Ara Bay
• Bolshaya Lopatka
• Gremikha - also a spent fuel storage site

• Roslyakovo
• Polyarny
• Nerpa
• Malaya Lopatka

Flagship of the Northern Fleet, the Pyotr Velikiy (Peter the Great)

This is a partial list of Northern Fleet vessels and air units currently in service.

• 43rd Rocket Ship Division
  • RFS Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov (TAVKR 063)
  • RFS Pyotr Velikiy
  • RFS Marshal Ustinov (GRKR 055)
• 11th Squadron, Zaozersk
  • RFS Dmitri Donskoi (ТК-208) (Nerpichya)
  • RFS Severstal (TK-20) (Nerpichya)
  • RFS Arkhangelsk (TK-17) (Nerpichya)
  • 7th Division, Vidyaevo
    • RFS Pskov (K-336)
    • RFS Daniil Moskovsky (K-414)
    • other submarines
• 12th Squadron, Gadzhiyevo
  • 31st Division (Yagelnaya Bay, Sayda Inlet)
    • RFS Novomoskovsk (K-407)
    • RFS Verkhoturie (K-51)
    • RFS Ekaterinburg (K-84)
    • RFS Ryazan (K-44)
    • RFS Borisoglebsk (K-496)
    • RFS Tula (K-114)
    • RFS Bryansk (K-117)
    • RFS Karelia (K-18) (D-IV)
  • 24th Division
    • K-480, K-317, K-461, K-328, K-154
    • RFS Vepr (K-157)
• Northern Fleet Aviation^[2]
  • 924th Separate Maritime Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (Tu-22M) (Olenegorsk/Olenya)
  • 279th Shipborne Fighter Aviation Regiment (Su-33) (Severomorsk)
  • 73rd Separate Anti-Submarine Squadron (Tu-142) Kipelovo (Кипелово (Федотово))
  • 403rd Separate Mixed Aviation Regiment (Severomorsk-3) (transport aircraft)
  • 830th Separate Shipborne Anti-Submarine Helicopter Regiment (Severomorsk-1)
  • 35th Separate Signals Regiment

This is a list of former Northern Fleet vessels that have Wikipedia articles (not including those who only served in the Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet).

• Aircraft carriers
  • RFS Admiral Gorshkov (TAKR 069), sold to the Indian Navy and renamed the INS Vikramaditya
  • RFS Kiev
  • RFS Minsk, sold to military theme park "Minsk World"
• Cruisers
  • RFS Admiral Ushakov, believed decommissioned in 2001
• Submarines
  • B-427, museum ship in Long Beach, California
  • K-77, now a museum ship in Providence, Rhode Island
  • ТК-202, scrapped in 2000

1. ^ Jane's Fighting Ships, 2004-05, p.29
2. ^ http://www8.brinkster.com/vad777/russia/navy/ma/ma.htm

• (Russian) Official site at mil.ru
• (English) Bellona Foundation site about the Russian Northern Fleet
• (Russian) "Northern Fleet... Will Not Let You Down!" - independent information portal, Severomorsk City