Previous Names

• 1946-1950 - Tsentral'nyi arkhiv Narkomata (Ministerstva) Vooruzhennykh Sil SSSR
  [Central Archive of the People's Commissariat (Ministry) of the Armed Forces]
• 1945-1946 - Tsentral'nyi arkhiv Narkomata Voenno-Morskogo Flota
  [Central Archive of the People's Commissariat of the Navy]
• 1942-1945 - Tsentral'nyi arkhiv Upravleniia delami pri Narkomate Voenno-Morskogo Flota
  [Central Archive of the Administration of Affairs of the People's Commissariat of the Navy]
• 1940-1942 - Otdel arkhivov Upravleniia delami pri Narkomate Voenno-Morskogo Flota
  [Division of Archives of the Administration of Affairs of the People's Commissariat of the Navy]
• 1938-1940 - Arkhivnoe otdelenie Upravleniia delami pri Narkomate Voenno-Morskogo Flota
  [Archival Division of the Administration of Affairs of the People's Commissariat of the Navy]

About TsVMA

Based in Gatchina since 1961 and subordinate to the Chief of the Navy General Staff, the Archive serves as the central repository for all post-1941 naval records. The Archive holds the records of central administrative agencies, fonds of the Navy General Staff, the Main Administration of the People's Commissariat of the Navy, and the Ministry of the Navy as well as those of staffs and commanders of fleets and flotillas, as well as various formations, military units, ships, and other institutions subordinate to them, all fleets and flotillas, naval units, research and educational institutions, naval ports, shipbuilding and other enterprises, and naval hydrographic and scientific expeditions, dating from 1941 to the present. The Archive is one of the largest repositories in the country for records of the World War II.

Access

Access for Russian and foreign citizens requires a letter to the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Navy of the Armed Forces.

Between 1991 and 1999, inquiries and research arrangements for military archives under the Ministry of Defense were handled through the Historico-Archival and Military-Memorial Center of the General Staff of the Armed Forces [Istoriko-arkhivnyi i voenno-memorial'nyi tsentr General'nogo Shtaba Vooruzhennykh Sil RF] (1997-1999, renamed the Military History Center of the Armed Forces), but since 1999, arrangements are handled directly by individual archives, or (for foreigners) the Archival Service of the Ministry of Defense.

Declassification work is currently proceeding for some records through 1970, in accordance with regulations providing for increased access to files thirty years after their creation.

The archive maintains a large inquiry service (by letter or in person) for veterans needing official verification of records of their naval service.

Recent General Guides

A comprehensive guide covering the holdings for the 1941-1960 period is in preparation, the first volume of which appeared in late 1998.

• Tsentral'nyi voenno-morskoi arkhiv: Spravochnik po fondam (1941-1960): Organy upravleniia Voenno-Morskim Flotom, chasti i uchrezhdeniia tsentral'nogo podchineniia. Compiled by T. V. Polukhina, I. A. Belova, S. V. Vlasiuk, et al. Edited by S. P. Tarasov. St. Petersburg: Blits, 1998. 263 p. Added English title page: Central Naval Archives: Reference-book on archival collections (1941-1960): Administrative Organs of the Navy, Units and Institutions of the Central Subordination.
  This new short guide to TsVMA contains a systematized list of archival fonds of the central naval administrative agencies, subordinate units, and other naval institutions, including the headquarters, educational institutions, military hospitals, and construction agencies. In most cases previous names with dates of the agencies are provided, together with a brief annotation of the records included in each fond. An appendix lists fonds in numerical order, but there are no indexes. According to the prepublication announcement, this was intended as the first of a multi-volume guide; five additional volumes were projected with coverage of: (2) the Arctic Fleet; (3) the Baltic Fleet; (4) the Black Sea Fleet; (5) the Pacific Fleet; and (6) Flotillas (lakes, rivers, channels).