Naval cadets around the world think of Sergey Gorshkov as the man who said ‘Better is the enemy of good’ and transformed the Red Fleet into the powerful Soviet Navy

Naval cadets around the world think of Sergey Gorshkov as the man who said ‘Better is the enemy of good’ and transformed the Red Fleet into the powerful Soviet Navy. Little known fact is that he ‘fathered’ the Indian Navy, too.
There was little to suggest Sergey would become a sailor in February 1910, when he was born in Kamenets-Podolsky, in what would later become Ukraine. From the vast inland plains of Podolia, his family moved to Kolomna, near Moscow – and even farther away from the sea. Yet at 17, Gorshkov joined the Red Fleet. He would make its way through its ranks, fighting and leading many engagements during WWII, to become the Soviet Navy’s youngest-ever supreme commander in 1956, at the age of 42.

Soviet Admiral Sergey Gorshkov (file photo) © Russian Defense Ministry
So why did the Indian Embassy in Moscow host the celebration of what would have been Gorshkov’s 110th birthday recently? Because the legendary admiral who built the Soviet Navy into a Cold War powerhouse also transformed the Indian Navy into a modern sea power to be reckoned with.

“Gorshkov built the Soviet navy… and it was because of his efforts and skill, that the Soviet Union became a global power,” India’s ambassador to Russia Bala Venkatesh Varma told, adding that the Indo-Russian naval relationship is a rare and “unique example where something that started in the last century, 55 years ago, is still continuing today.”

This special relationship can be directly traced to Gorshkov, who laid the foundation for the ever-evolving modern military relationship between New Delhi and Moscow.