Genadiy Popov joined the Soviet navy at 18 years old in 1942 at the height of the World War II. He served in the U.S.S.R’s Pacific fleet and credited his survival due to simply being sent to this region as almost everyone he signed up with was sent to the battle of Stalingrad and died.

This series of images are photographs of some of the pages from the Soviet Navy Marine Officer training manuals. These manuals were the complete guide to being a sailor including; technical engineering charts, ocean currents around the world, navy signalling flags, enemy aircraft identification, and more, a comprehensive guide to everything you needed to know about life at sea.

Popov served on ships from the Navies of three different countries His first ship was a russian built MO-4 (Malyj Okhotnik – Small Hunter), used in operations against enemy submarines. These ships had no armour and a wooden structure with nine internal isolated sections, allowing the vessel to stay afloat even after suffering heavy damage.

He also served on a U.S. built submarine destroyer, passed onto the U.S.S.R and a Japanese escort ship added to the Soviet brigade of torpedo boats after the Japanese surrender in 1945.

Popov eventually transferred to Port Arthur in the South China Sea, where he ended his Navy service at the rank of 1^st lieutenant in 1950 then moved to Kazan to become a radio/electronics engineer working in various military factories.

Images shot on 35mm DSLR. Limited edition, signed and numbered, 50 print run on gallery prints.

October 2017