Operation ‘Platinfuchs’ Was An Early Nazi Defeat On The Eastern Front
The Red Army and the Royal Navy raced to defend Murmansk
by SÉBASTIEN ROBLIN
The Soviet navy during World War II is perhaps best remembered for its vigorous role in the doomed defense of the ports of Odessa and Sevastopol in the Crimean Sea. However, in the Arctic north, the Soviet warships would have a major impact in the opening months of the war with Nazi Germany.
A ragtag fleet of destroyers and patrol boats, backed up by two stout-hearted rifle divisions, brought Hitler’s elite mountain troops skidding to a halt, preserving a vital supply line to Britain and the United States.
In November 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland in the Winter War. After initially suffering disastrous losses in the three-month-long conflict, Stalin managed to force the Finns into making territorial concessions. This ironically laid the groundwork for the German-Finnish alliance the Winter War had been meant to forestall.
When on June 22, 1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, the devastating German invasion of Soviet Union, German troops in the Arctic northern tip of Norway marched through Finnish territory to secure the vital nickel mines at Petsamo.
