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Osprey New Vanguard #324
Soviet Motor Gunboats of World War II: The Red Army's 'river tanks' from Stalingrad to Berlin
A compelling account of the heavily armed and highly mobile Soviet river gunboats which took on the Germans during World War II.
Russia's enormous river system has long been its highway and, as early as 1908, the Tsar's armies were developing armoured riverboats that brought tank-like mobility, firepower and survivability to Russian battlefields.
This book, the first history of these vessels in English, explains how this concept led to one of the most remarkable naval weapons of World War II, the Soviet 'river tank', or Armoured Motor Gun Boat (AMGB). Highly mobile, capable of carrying up to 20 infantrymen directly into action and providing immediate firepower from their tank turrets, machine guns or Katyusha rockets, their military value was widely recognized. They were versatile enough to be used in naval landing operations off the Gulf of Finland, the Azov Sea and the Black Sea, and their capabilities were prized by local commanders.
Using meticulously researched new colour profiles, rare photos and spectacular artwork, this book uncovers the history of river warfare on the Eastern Front, and the boats that played such a key part in the fighting.
Russia's enormous river system has long been its highway and, as early as 1908, the Tsar's armies were developing armoured riverboats that brought tank-like mobility, firepower and survivability to Russian battlefields.
This book, the first history of these vessels in English, explains how this concept led to one of the most remarkable naval weapons of World War II, the Soviet 'river tank', or Armoured Motor Gun Boat (AMGB). Highly mobile, capable of carrying up to 20 infantrymen directly into action and providing immediate firepower from their tank turrets, machine guns or Katyusha rockets, their military value was widely recognized. They were versatile enough to be used in naval landing operations off the Gulf of Finland, the Azov Sea and the Black Sea, and their capabilities were prized by local commanders.
Using meticulously researched new colour profiles, rare photos and spectacular artwork, this book uncovers the history of river warfare on the Eastern Front, and the boats that played such a key part in the fighting.
- GenresMilitary History
47 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 23, 2023
3 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 22, 2025
This was a quick and easy read as one can expect from these compact Osprey books. This is a good addition to Eastern Front literature from World War 2 looking at these obscure vessels that roamed the rivers in Russia. Almost built like small battleships for riverine warfare complete with tank turrets, they played an important part in supporting Soviet troops, especially in Stalingrad and the amphibious Kerch operation. A lot of focus is given to the design and development of these "river tanks", but unfortunately it lacks in operational details which would have added a star to this book.
March 6, 2024
SOVIET MOTOR GUNBOATS OF WORLD WAR II not only tells about the Red Army's 'river tanks' of WWII but sheds some light on a Soviet Union that was most secretive. By way of explanation, the Soviet regime had built and used special gunboats to support their army just as they had with their armored trains. According to Soviet wartime tactics, every arm, whether it be the navy or air force, was subordinate to helping the army conquer territory. They didn't develop a strategic bombing campaign against Axis targets, nor did they build up a submarine force to cut off Germany from Scandinavian resources like their allies in the west. They understood that no matter how much you bomb a target, it wasn't conquered until troops on the ground occupied it.
To help their army do this they developed special gunboats that were small enough to move intact by rail yet powerful enough to carry the fight to the enemy. These river craft were called 'river tanks' because they carried one or more tank turrets on them. Later they also carried the fearsome Katyusha rocket launchers as well.
The author was well qualified to tell this story as he was a naval architect who worked on construction for the Soviet navy in the 1980s. Besides telling the story of the ship's development and use, he made several comments worth noting by historians.
Although the Communists could take a no nonsense approach to problems, the early regime was quite barbaric and foolish, much like the Khmer Rouge. Many educated or upper class people fled Russia fearing for their lives when the Reds took over. This denuded the navy of their best designers and technical staff. One man was in charge of submarine design. Given the handicaps he was to work with, there were many problems with the sub he built. Blaming everybody but themselves, 50 Russian and three German technicians were tried for treason and sentenced to death, even though they fixed all the problems in the meantime. Had the sentence been carried out it would have wrecked the submarine program, so they were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in an elite labor camp instead.
One man, Iurij Iurevich Benua, was of displaced French nobility. He was in charge of building the 'river tanks.' Although the OGPU (later known as the NKVD, and then the KGB) wanted to get their hands on Benua simply because of his ancestry, they did not because they feared the wrath of Stalin who saw a use for him.
The Soviet war plans were to let Germany and France bleed each other dry and then the Red Army would invade both countries in support of a Communist uprising. These plans were thrown out of kilter by the purges of the army, the fiasco of the Winter War with Finland, and Germany's quick defeat of France. This helped make possible Russia's losses early in the war which cost them millions of lives.
Later in the war Stalin ordered his armies to stop and rest while the Nazis destroyed the Polish Home Army uprising in Warsaw because he couldn't accept a Polish government that was hostile to Communism.
Besides the navy, the NKVD had need of the boats to patrol the coastlines. Their job was to stop people from leaving the Soviet Union and to keep out the smugglers who were trying to get goods into the country. In those days the most basic things were in extremely short supply due to Soviet mismanagement, which the author mentioned more than once. I can attest to this fact as a relative who traveled behind the Iron Curtain in the 1970s had people begging to buy their shirts off their backs. There was money to be made there if you didn't get killed.
Creature comforts took second place to weapon design. During some of the darkest days of the war the crews of these ships had to use buckets as toilets were not essential.
In spite of mismanagement, factory directors and upper management had to meet production quotas or face firing or execution.
During the war the workers donated part of their earnings to pay for weapons. The author said these donations started again when Russia invaded Ukraine. He didn't say they were mandatory, but what do you think?
Overall, it was a good book covering a subject that few know about.
To help their army do this they developed special gunboats that were small enough to move intact by rail yet powerful enough to carry the fight to the enemy. These river craft were called 'river tanks' because they carried one or more tank turrets on them. Later they also carried the fearsome Katyusha rocket launchers as well.
The author was well qualified to tell this story as he was a naval architect who worked on construction for the Soviet navy in the 1980s. Besides telling the story of the ship's development and use, he made several comments worth noting by historians.
Although the Communists could take a no nonsense approach to problems, the early regime was quite barbaric and foolish, much like the Khmer Rouge. Many educated or upper class people fled Russia fearing for their lives when the Reds took over. This denuded the navy of their best designers and technical staff. One man was in charge of submarine design. Given the handicaps he was to work with, there were many problems with the sub he built. Blaming everybody but themselves, 50 Russian and three German technicians were tried for treason and sentenced to death, even though they fixed all the problems in the meantime. Had the sentence been carried out it would have wrecked the submarine program, so they were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in an elite labor camp instead.
One man, Iurij Iurevich Benua, was of displaced French nobility. He was in charge of building the 'river tanks.' Although the OGPU (later known as the NKVD, and then the KGB) wanted to get their hands on Benua simply because of his ancestry, they did not because they feared the wrath of Stalin who saw a use for him.
The Soviet war plans were to let Germany and France bleed each other dry and then the Red Army would invade both countries in support of a Communist uprising. These plans were thrown out of kilter by the purges of the army, the fiasco of the Winter War with Finland, and Germany's quick defeat of France. This helped make possible Russia's losses early in the war which cost them millions of lives.
Later in the war Stalin ordered his armies to stop and rest while the Nazis destroyed the Polish Home Army uprising in Warsaw because he couldn't accept a Polish government that was hostile to Communism.
Besides the navy, the NKVD had need of the boats to patrol the coastlines. Their job was to stop people from leaving the Soviet Union and to keep out the smugglers who were trying to get goods into the country. In those days the most basic things were in extremely short supply due to Soviet mismanagement, which the author mentioned more than once. I can attest to this fact as a relative who traveled behind the Iron Curtain in the 1970s had people begging to buy their shirts off their backs. There was money to be made there if you didn't get killed.
Creature comforts took second place to weapon design. During some of the darkest days of the war the crews of these ships had to use buckets as toilets were not essential.
In spite of mismanagement, factory directors and upper management had to meet production quotas or face firing or execution.
During the war the workers donated part of their earnings to pay for weapons. The author said these donations started again when Russia invaded Ukraine. He didn't say they were mandatory, but what do you think?
Overall, it was a good book covering a subject that few know about.
February 8, 2024
This fairly new Osprey release is an outstanding addition to their compact reference booklets. The relatively obscure topic of river gunboats gets short thrift from the publishing world for the most part, but I'm pleased to say here that at least we now have a pretty solid addition covering the Soviet river flotillas. The author has a sizable personal photo collection which is scattered through out the work, offering up some nice flavor to the descriptions of the various types.
The real stars of the book are the color plates and artwork. I know of no other color pictures showing the camouflage schemes used by the Soviet flotillas and I was very happy with the action paintings illustrating specific actions discussed in the text. The miniature painter in me was excited.
Overall, the work accurately describes the various classes, gives some accounting for their performance, and included modern updates to these craft which served up until the 1990's in several countries. Eleven additional reading references was provided which also pleases me.
Solid 4 Stars
The real stars of the book are the color plates and artwork. I know of no other color pictures showing the camouflage schemes used by the Soviet flotillas and I was very happy with the action paintings illustrating specific actions discussed in the text. The miniature painter in me was excited.
Overall, the work accurately describes the various classes, gives some accounting for their performance, and included modern updates to these craft which served up until the 1990's in several countries. Eleven additional reading references was provided which also pleases me.
Solid 4 Stars
June 23, 2024
Excellent book on Soviet/Russian motor gunboats from Imperial period, through Revolution, Stalin's rule, WW2, Cold War and modern times.
While title says "of World War II" it goes beyond that. Also it does not cover just coast/river (brown water navy) gunboats but also sea-worthy gunboats that saw action in Baltic and then also were made parts of the fleet in both Baltic and Black Sea.
Photographs and art sections are truly beautiful, all ships are presented with great detail and from a very interesting perspectives. Author worked in ship building industry, seems to have written many books on the topic (I am on the lookout for this) and level of details provided truly show great love towards ship building and design. We are given lots of details like camouflage painting of various boats and their movement into action. I only wish some of the pictures were made bigger because you truly need to use magnifier to see some of the things author describes on the picture.
All in all 5 stars for the subject and presentation.
Reason why I took one star is political commentary that is so strongly anti-Soviet/Russian that it reminds me of Mr. Galleotti's works. I fully understand form where this comes from (unlike Mr. Galleotti's comments) but it was funny reading about the great terror spreading through Central Europe in 1945, especially since some of the countries mentioned by the author were liberated by Soviets, or to be more precise Soviets assisted local forces to liberate themselves, but remained independent (which in current times seems to be something incredible - imagine not belonging to any block!). Also I have to admit that recently whenever I read about economic-situation-over-there I start to giggle. I mean ..... propaganda is powerful thing....... sad....
But again, even with the above commentary book is truly beautifully put (again, I wish some of the photographs were little bit bigger) and is truly a great well of information on gunboat development and combat in USSR/Russia.
Recommended.
While title says "of World War II" it goes beyond that. Also it does not cover just coast/river (brown water navy) gunboats but also sea-worthy gunboats that saw action in Baltic and then also were made parts of the fleet in both Baltic and Black Sea.
Photographs and art sections are truly beautiful, all ships are presented with great detail and from a very interesting perspectives. Author worked in ship building industry, seems to have written many books on the topic (I am on the lookout for this) and level of details provided truly show great love towards ship building and design. We are given lots of details like camouflage painting of various boats and their movement into action. I only wish some of the pictures were made bigger because you truly need to use magnifier to see some of the things author describes on the picture.
All in all 5 stars for the subject and presentation.
Reason why I took one star is political commentary that is so strongly anti-Soviet/Russian that it reminds me of Mr. Galleotti's works. I fully understand form where this comes from (unlike Mr. Galleotti's comments) but it was funny reading about the great terror spreading through Central Europe in 1945, especially since some of the countries mentioned by the author were liberated by Soviets, or to be more precise Soviets assisted local forces to liberate themselves, but remained independent (which in current times seems to be something incredible - imagine not belonging to any block!). Also I have to admit that recently whenever I read about economic-situation-over-there I start to giggle. I mean ..... propaganda is powerful thing....... sad....
But again, even with the above commentary book is truly beautifully put (again, I wish some of the photographs were little bit bigger) and is truly a great well of information on gunboat development and combat in USSR/Russia.
Recommended.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews