Customer Reviews

Commandos from the Sea: Soviet Naval Spetsnaz in World War II (Naval Institute Special Warfare)

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This is a pretty good book since it provides a good description of what Soviet commandos actually did during World War II. If you can get by some of the European-style bravado and the Communist titles, such as Hero of the Army, and that sort of thing, the book is worth reading and provides valuable insight into the work of these people.

Essentially, this book covers the Soviet commandos (all sailors) on the Danube River in areas largely occupied by the retreating Germans and in the Crimea area during the time the Germans held control there.

The book is broken up into short "adventures" or missions, each of which is exciting enough to keep the reader glued to the pages. Some of the missions are incredible but yet believable since they do make sense. What these commandos do, or did, is somewhat like the work of U.S. Navy Seals.

The book is a translation, so it does have a stilted tone to it; however, the narrations are so well done descriptively, that you get the impression it must be a beautiful work in Russian. And it probably is.

The book is easy reading, very revealing, and exciting. The characters are very real and act in a Euro-macho manner, making the reader chuckle at times at their naivete.

Uniquely detailed and accurate insight into the operations of the scouts of the black sea fleet and the Danube flotilla. Invaluable for those interested in the subject.

ThorBjorn, agree with your review here - it covers the scouts of the black sea fleet and the Danube flotilla rather dryly. I liked Blood on the Shores rather better. The translator, James F. Gebhardt, also wrote a really good short book on the Soviet attack into northern Norway at the end of WW2 - The Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation: Soviet Breakthrough and Pursuit in the Arctic, October 1944 as well as having translated numerous other books from Russian.

Cheers.......Cankiwi

This is mainly the story of the exploits of one Lt. Kalganov and his Soviet Naval Reconaissance team, during the Second World War. The title "Commandos from the Sea", is a bit misleading. I was hoping to read accounts of sea-borne raids. Naturally, as Naval scouts, this unit was far more involved in reconaissance, and most of the action takes place on the Crimean Peninsula and the Danube River.

Written somewhat like a novel, I found Yuri Strechnin's narrative to be a bit dry, tedious, and plodding. The propagandistic bragadoccio about "the brave Soviet lads" was also quite tiresome, but all too common in post World War II accounts from the Russian side. The missions of these Soviet sailors were certainly a lot more intense and hair-raising than they were portrayed. All in all, its a good insight into the origin of Soviet naval-spetnaz units.

There is another book on Soviet naval special-operations, "Blood on the Shores", by Viktor Leonov. Leonov's account is far more gripping, ...because its his story! He lived through those events as a Soviet naval-commando. Both Leonov's and Strechnin's books were translated into English by the same man, James Gephardt, a retired army officer.