5th Operational Squadron

Fifth Eskadra
пятая эскадра
Fifth Squadron bases in 1973.
Active1963–1992
Country Soviet Union
Allegiance Soviet Union
Branch Soviet Navy
RoleNaval warfare
Amphibious warfare
Nickname(s)5th Squadron
EngagementsCold War

The 5th Squadron (Russian: пятая эскадра, translit. pyataya eskadra, was a squadron of the Soviet Navy.

The squadron was first established in 1963–64 during the Cold War. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) generally referred to it as the Soviet Mediterranean Fleet (Russian: Средиземноморский флот), as it was the primary adversary to the U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet. Attached to the Russian Navy after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the 5th Squadron was deactivated amid the downsizing of the Russian Armed Forces on 31 December 1992.[1]

Since 2013, the Russian Ministry of Defence has operated the permanent task force of the Russian Navy in the Mediterranean Sea.[2]

  1. ^ Дубягин, П. Р. На Средиземноморской эскадре. – М.: Андреевский флаг, 2006. – 344 с. – ISBN 5-9553-0053-8, 337.
  2. ^ Operational formation of the Russian Navy in the Mediterranean Sea will receive the Smetlivy guard ship of the Black Sea Fleet Archived 1 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine Russian MoD, 22 May 2017.