The earlier Shchuka-class submarine force also suffered heavy losses, despite serving across several Soviet fleets and giving crews repeated exposure to conflict. In a stable institution, fighting from the First World War through the civil war, border conflicts, and the Second World War might have produced experienced officers, non-commissioned leaders, and durable doctrine. The purges removed people, disrupted professional continuity, and made accumulated knowledge dangerous to possess or apply independently. Officers learned that losing a state asset or departing from the approved method could endanger themselves and their families. Their caution was a rational response to the political system surrounding the fleet. Combat experience therefore failed to produce confident operational performance or reliable institutional learning.
Notable Point · 20:39-27:29
Submarine attrition and purges destroyed institutional learning
Frequent combat should have created a deep veteran cadre, but submarine losses and political purges prevented experience from becoming reliable doctrine and training.