Sandman

So what was once a surface fleet of 250 major warships, and almost 400 submarines, is today less than 50 operational subs, and even fewer surface warships that can actually get underway, along with a carrier that can only make 18 knots?
I had a relative who was commander of a Knox class frigate, and he noticed that the Soviets spent a lot of time towing their warships around. He thought at the time they were just trying to save fuel and time on the engines, but now I suspect that their naval engineering just sucks. I am guessing they have very unreliable, and very short lived engines and hulls. Glowing north fleet submariners are further proof of this. Perhaps they hadn't learned as the traditional and historic naval powers like the Great Britian and the USN have that the first enemy a navy must deal with is the sea. Was the Sov navy such a paper tiger, built more to impress the Commisars than to actually fight? My relative also said that the Sovs also painted their ships immaculately.