The Sailor's Life

THE life of the average Soviet sailor--at least by comparison with that of his counterpart in the U.S. Navy --is austere, uncomfortable, constrained and boring. Some U.S. experts feel that if American sailors had to live under the same conditions, they would all mutiny.

Despite the sleek, functional modernity of their lines, Soviet ships are not designed for living. Armaments and electronic equipment take up all available space, and 20 Russians must hang their hammocks in quarters that would house ten U.S. sailors. Few Russian ships have air conditioning. Thus vessels on duty in tropical waters are frequently rotated not so much for maintenance as to provide relief for "roasted crews." At true bitterly cold bases of the Northern and Pacific fleets in Murmansk, Vladivostok and the Kamchatka Peninsula, crews spend uncomfortable winters ashore in badly heated, uninsulated barracks.

Nonetheless, Soviet sailors are among the elite of Russia's armed services, ranking in prestige with the men of the missile forces. Although there are periodic shortages of staple foods in Russia, sailors have a plentiful but monotonous diet of borsch, meat, potatoes, bread, butter and tea, supplemented by vitamin pills to make up for the absence of fresh fruit and vegetables.

The base pay of a seaman is six rubles per month (about $7). Sailors on duty at northern bases get an additional two rubles per month, and base pay is doubled for submarine crews. A specialist, like a sonar technician, earns about $10 per month, a chief warrant officer about $55, a lieutenant $65 and a captain $135, which is doubled if he commands a ship. There are enormous differences between the life-styles and privileges of the various ranks. Officers above the rank of commander, for instance, are provided with housing near bases for their families; enlisted sailors--mostly three-year conscripts who quit the service for jobs at home when their enforced tours are ended--get neither a housing nor a living allowance for their families.

Unlike most of their countrymen, the sailors get a chance to visit foreign lands on shore leave, but even then their liberty is severely restricted. Sailors travel in groups of six while ashore, under the supervision of an officer; seldom do they have enough money for anything more than the price of a sandwich and a bus trip back to port.

Aboard ship, the sailor is even more subject to discipline and ideological indoctrination than his civilian brothers at home. "Recreation time" is filled with Communist Party lectures, propagandistic books and films. TV shows visible in foreign ports are often banned as "corrupting." Ashore or at sea, the sailors' activities are closely watched by the ship's zampolit (political officer), a combination cheerleader, disciplinarian and father-confessor. He is the deputy of the ship's captain, with full authority to punish any wayward salt.

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