572 
blue water capability. As late as. 1965, the Soviet Navy spent less 
than 4,000 ship-days on distant deployments. During the same year, 
the U.S. Navy spent more than 65,000 ship-days on distant deploy- 
ment. 
By contrast, the United States was, at the end of the Second World 
War, the world’s dominant naval power, with unchallenged control 
of world oceans. Its industrial infrastructure, which included an in- 
credible capacity to produce and equip naval vessels, was intact. The 
U.S. Active Fleet in 1948 consisted of 2,630 vessels. During the 
same year, the Soviet Union had only a few hundred coastal vessels 
and a few largely outdated, major combat vessels. 
The situation changed during the 1960’s, when the Soviet Union 
underwent a vast naval shipbuilding program. This Soviet effort coin- 
cided, during the latter part of that decade, with a substantial contrac- 
tion of the U.S. Fleet due to bloc obsolescence and a slower construc- 
tion program. Numbers alone, of course, can be misleading in any 
comparison of naval capabilities. It is easy, but misleading to add 
together ships with completely different capabilities and then to com- 
pare the totals. For example, table II shows an Active U.S. Naval 
Fleet of 477 vessels in April 1976, and an active Soviet naval fleet 
of 2,329 vessels.> Of the 2,329 Soviet craft, 1,770 were classified 
as minor combatants, amphibious ships, and auxiliaries. The U.S. Navy 
has only 189 such vessels, which include patrol craft, minesweepers, 
and amphibious ships. The Coast Guard has a number of small and 
medium-sized vessels, not included in this tabulation. Comparing major 
combatants only, the United States has 13 aircraft carriers in contrast 
to 1 Soviet V/STOL carrier. The Soviet Union has, on the other 
hand, an impressive lead in the number of attack submarines. 
‘See: Representative Les Aspin, ‘‘The Trend in the Naval Balance, a Fact Sheet,” Washington, 
D.C., July 1976, p, 15. According to Representative Aspin, the number of ship-days on distant 
deployment reached an all-time low for the U.S. Navy in 1974 (about 37,000) but is growing again. 
The Soviet Navy increased its ship-days on distant deployment to more than 20,000 in 1974, but 
dropped to below 20,000 in 1975. Ibid., p. 15. 
>See table Il. Does not include U.S, Coast Guard, Maritime Sealift Command, and NOAA. 
