Promoted to become flagship navigator of the minelaying and minesweeping brigade of the fleet in January 1934, Gorshkov was given command of the Uragan-class guard ship Buran in November of that year.

During this period he participated in the Battle of Lake Khasan before being transferred west to command the Black Sea Fleet Cruiser Brigade in June 1940.

After the resulting disbandment of the flotilla, he became deputy commander of naval forces and a member of the military council of the Novorossiysk Defense District.

[1] After taking command of the reformed Azov Flotilla in February 1943, he led the unit during landings at Taganrog, Mariupol, and Osipenko, before supporting the troops of the North Caucasian Front in the capture of the Taman Peninsula.

Gorshkov was promoted to vice admiral in September 1944 and was transferred in December to command the Black Sea Fleet squadron, ending the war in that position.

[1] Following the end of the war, Gorshkov continued to command the squadron until becoming Chief of Staff of the Black Sea Fleet in November 1948.

In order to project Soviet military power, Gorshkov sent ships on lengthy cruises and formed operational squadrons in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, building a blue-water navy.

Transferred to the Group of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defense in December 1985, a retirement post for elderly senior officers, he was succeeded by Vladimir Chernavin.