The Great Purge directly attacked the navy's accumulated institutional knowledge. Eight of nine admirals were killed, while the service cycled through senior commanders in roughly eighteen months after far greater continuity during the preceding years. Survivors understood both the power and the extreme precariousness of senior office, making strict political conformity safer than professional initiative. The purge left empty posts and altered command culture, professional judgment, and the navy's capacity to prepare coherently for the coming war.
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The Great Purge erased Soviet naval command memory
The destruction of eight of nine admirals and rapid turnover at the top deprived the Soviet Navy of leadership continuity just before the Second World War.