This edition presents extensive factual material, including information on the history of the creation and development of the Workers' and Peasants' Navy .. A special place in the book is devoted to the coverage of the pre-war period in his life .. The author made an attempt on the basis of the available archival material and memories of the direct participants of the fighting in the various sea theaters of the country to analyze the state and level of training of the Soviet fleets and flotillas, their combat readiness to repel possible aggression. The author makes a number of fundamentally new assessments, radically different from the well-known interpretation of some events of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. The book contains a large number of archival documents .. maps, diagrams, figures and tables. Designed for readers interested in the history of the Russian fleet.