ABSTRACT
In contrast to the "small wars" theory then somewhat popular in Red Navy circles, Boris B. Zherve advocated naval forces strong enough to gain control of the seas for the Soviet Union. Marshal Zakharov, writing in the mid-1960s, considered that Zherve's concept was unworkable at the time because resources were too limited to build the surface ships needed. Nevertheless, Soviet strategists consider that Zherve's views did play a significant role in the development of Soviet naval theory. When performing offensive missions naval forces must strive for the achievement of total supremacy at sea, that is, for destruction of the hostile navy or, in any case, for its effective containment at its base of operations. In all cases the first immediate goal of naval operations of the stronger, attacking side is to achieve total supremacy at sea, while that of the defending side is to challenge this supremacy.
