War Prizes - Great Patriotic War

After the Italian Fleet had surrendered the Soviet Government raised with the Governments of the United Kingdom and the United States the question of handing over to the Soviet Government a number of Italian war- 684 ships and merchant ships. The Soviet Government represented that they had waged war against Italy in alliance with His Majesty's Government and the United States Government, and that the Soviet Navy would make good use of any ships so handed over for prosecuting the war against the principal enemy, Nazi Germany.

The ships for which the Soviet Government asked were:

• 1 Battleship
• 1 Cruiser
• 8 Destroyers
• 4 Submarines
• 40,000 tons of merchant shipping.

These ships the United Kingdom and United States Governments agreed, at the Teheran Conference, should be made available to the Soviet Navy.

His Majesty's Government later pointed out however that the Italian ships were built to sail in the temperate waters of the Mediterranean and were unsuitable for immediate service in the severe climate of the Northern Seas where the Soviet Government proposed to employ them. It had moreover to be borne in mind that the Italian Navy had sailed forth from their ports to join the Allies in defiance of German orders, that they were pursued by aircraft and suffered losses in vessels and personnel, including one modern capital ship. Their surrender was received by Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham in Malta harbor and must be considered an honourable naval event. The accession of the Italian Fleet to the naval forces of the Allies was, at that time, definitely helpful. Some served in the Mediterranean as warships, others as warship transports, and a good deal of valuable work was done by them. They also served in the Indian Ocean and on anti-blockade runner patrols in the Atlantic. Their dockyards rendered important service.

On 05 June 1945 Prime Minister Winston Churchill stated "The question then arose of how to meet the very reasonable and natural request of Soviet Russia. His Majesty's Government did not wish to see Italy, at that moment, deprived of its Navy, which was an essential part of the national life we are resolved to preserve. We therefore proposed that the request of Soviet Russia for this share of the Italian Navy should be met by the United States and Great Britain. Accordingly it was further agreed that the Italian ships should, for 685 the time being, continue to serve the Allied cause, which they had done with discipline and vigour, and that an equivalent number of British or American warships and merchant ships should be delivered to the Soviet Navy on temporary loan. This leaves the issue of the disposition of the Italian Navy to the Peace Conference, which I hope will take place some time or other, it being quite usual that wars should be followed by Peace Conferences."

The following action was therefore taken. Half the merchant shipping and all the warships, with the exception of the United States cruiser "Milwaukee," were provided by His Majesty's Government. The British warships handed over to the Soviets were the battleship "Royal Sovereign," eight ex-American ("Town" Class) destroyers and four modern submarines. A further non-operational "Town" Class destroyer was made available to provide spare parts.

The Russian sailors came to the United Kingdom in the spring of 1944 and spent some weeks here working up the ships preparatory to taking them to North Russia. When this important Fleet of 13 vessels sailed into the Russian harbor of Murmansk, a good impression was made upon the Soviets, and Prime Minister Churchill received a message of thanks from Marshal Stalin himself. Churchill felt bound to state that he took full personal responsibility for this transaction. The units of the Royal Navy then began operating as part of the Red Fleet. The destroyer "Churchill" and submarine "Sunfish" were lost on active service and the remaining ships would continue on loan to the Soviet Government until otherwise agreed between the two Governments.

War Prize Battleships

The Soviet battleship 'Novorossiysk' was a prize of war taken from the Italians after World War II. The Italian battleship Giulio Cesare was ceded to the Soviet Union as compensation of war damages, and on 1949-02-03, was commissioned into the Soviet Navy as Novorossiysk. The Italian Conte di Cavour-class battleship "Giulio Cesare" had served in the Regia Marina in both World Wars before joining the Soviet Navy.

On the night of 1955-10-29, the Novorossiysk was moored in Sevastopol Bay, 300 meters (1000 feet) from shore and opposite a hospital. At 1:30am, an explosion estimated to be the equivalent of 1,200 kilograms of TNT under the bow of the ship pierced all decks from the bottom plating to the forecastle deck. In the forecastle deck there was one hole which measured 14×4 meters in size. The damage extended from the bow aft 22 meters. The ship sank slowly, capsizing at 4:15am, 2 hours 45 minutes after the explosion, and 18 hours after that fully submerged. The capsizing resulted in the death of 608 sailors, most of whom were staying in the ship's compartments. The loss of life as well as the complete destruction of the ship was directly caused by the incompetent actions of her captain, Fleet Commander Vice Admiral V. Parkhomenko.