3 Soviet Warships Will Visit in July

Three Soviet warships will sail to San Diego in July for a five-day visit, marking the first such trip to the West Coast.

As part of an exchange agreement designed to enhance understanding and good will between the two countries, the ships, carrying about 2,000 sailors, will arrive in San Diego on July 16, said a Navy official, who requested anonymity.

Pacific Fleet Commander-in-Chief Adm. Charles R. Larson is expected to play host to the Soviet guests. Although the visitors’ itinerary has not been hammered out, it is expected to include Disneyland and a visit with Mayor Maureen O’Connor.

Adm. Gennadij Alkesandrovich Khatov, commander of the Soviet Pacific fleet, is scheduled to head the flotilla. Khatov is the Soviet equivalent of Larson.

It is not yet known what types of ships will visit, but the vessels are expected to dock at the 32nd Street Naval Station, the Navy official said.

The visit represents the second round in the naval exchange program established by Adm. William Crowe, former chairman of the U. S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Marshal Sergei Akhromeyev, former Soviet chief of staff. Last July, the Soviet navy visited a U. S. naval base in Norfolk, Va. The following month, the U. S. Navy sailed to Sevastopol in the Crimea.

The Soviet visit to San Diego this summer will mirror the trip to Norfolk, officials say. In that trip, the 1,100 Soviet guests toured Norfolk’s City Hall, an amusement park and the Navy base. They were feted at cookouts, receptions and dinners.

Soviet sailors were fascinated by American music, blue jeans, white bread and cars, said Cmdr. Deborah Burnette, spokeswoman for the U. S. Atlantic Fleet.

But there were a couple of problems. The older officers declined to ride the roller coasters. And few sailors would eat cole slaw or potato salad because it had mayonnaise, which they didn’t like, said Burnette, who helped coordinate the visit.

Burnette’s advice for her Pacific Fleet counterparts in planning this summer’s San Diego visit: “Hold the mayo.”

Neither the menu nor the schedule of events for the San Diego visit is final, say officials, who expect to announce details soon.

The Pacific Fleet--which has more than 2,000 aircraft and about 255 ships--patrols 102 million square miles of ocean, stretching from the West Coast of the United States to the east coast of Africa.

This fall, Khatov will host Larson and three U. S. warships in Vladivostok, the headquarters for the Soviet Pacific fleet, which is located in the Soviet Far East. Navy officials do not yet know which ships will embark for the four-day visit, which is scheduled to begin Sept. 10.

Military experts hailed the visits, saying they will promote good will and understanding.

“The visits should be welcomed and viewed as lessening tension between the U. S. and Soviet Union,” said Myron Hera, a military analyst for the RAND Corp.

“These kinds of visits will show many Americans for the first time that Soviet military folks look just like us, and they are pretty nice people,” said retired Rear Adm. Gene R. La Rocque, director of the Center for Defense Information in Washington.

La Rocque also predicted that the visits might add to what has become a drumbeat in Washington to cut defense spending.

“A visit like this will certainly increase the pressures in Congress to reduce military spending for weapons to be used in war with the Soviet Union,” La Rocque said. “You can’t get a lot of enthusiasm to spend money to buy weapons to fight an enemy when you are entertaining him at a major naval base.”