Amur Red Banner Flotilla 1941 1945 surname lists. The fighting of the Amur flotilla

The Red Banner Amur Flotilla in the battles against Japan in 1945. Sungarian campaign.
Part one.
KAF during the Great Patriotic War.Preparation for the war with Japan.

After the defeat of Nazi Germany, Japan remained the only Axis state to continue hostilities. Despite the sharp deterioration in the international situation, it firmly stood for the continuation of the war, counting on a stubborn defense to achieve a favorable peace for itself. To wage a protracted war, Japan had a fairly large force. And the calculations of the Japanese command were justified. The operations of the American-British armed forces on the outskirts of Japan developed extremely slowly. This development of operations did not foreshadow the imminent end of the war with Japan, and this forced the allies to turn to the Soviet Union for help.
The Soviet Union entered the war with Japan in accordance with the decision of the Crimean Conference of the Heads of Government of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain, held in February 1945. At the Potsdam Conference of Heads of State, held in July 1945, the governments of the United States and England confirmed their interest in joining our country to the war with Japan.
The Soviet Armed Forces were to conduct combat operations mainly on the territory of Manchuria and Korea, as well as on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, i.e. on the front, exceeding 6 thousand km. Along the border of the USSR, the enemy had 21 fortified areas
Despite the fact that Japan was drawn into a protracted war against China and waged military operations against the American armed forces on a wide front, it constantly strengthened the Kwantung Army. If in June 1941. its number did not exceed 300 thousand people, then on January 1, 1942. it was 1,100 thousand people (about 35% of the entire Japanese army), i.e. has quadrupled in six months. Border rivers during the Great Patriotic War repeatedly became a place of provocations.
During the war years, the Amur flotilla sent 9542 sailors to the front, who fought on various fleets and fronts. Between February 25 and March 2, 1945. The Military Council of the Red Banner Amur Flotilla held a bilateral operational game on the topic "Assistance to ground troops in an offensive operation along the water line with the fortification of the fortified water line and the destruction of the enemy flotilla", which was a preparation for the Soviet-Japanese war.


KAF ships in Osipovsky backwater (mid 40s)
By the beginning of the war with Japan, the Amur flotilla included four brigades of river ships, the Sretensky separate division of river ships, the Khanka and Ussuri separate detachments of armored boats. On July 1, 1945, the flotilla included: eight monitors, 11 gunboats (three of special construction, and eight wheeled from among the mobilized ships), 52 armored boats, 12 wheeled river minesweepers, 36 cutter minesweepers, seven mine boats of the Ya-5 type with NURS, one mine layer, one net layer, five floating anti-aircraft batteries (including three self-propelled), 15 semi-gliders, three patrol boats, three floating bases and one command ship. However, some of the ships mentioned above were under overhaul. For example, out of eight monitors - two ("Kirov" and "Dzerzhinsky"), out of five gunboats of a special construction - two ("Red Banner" and "Buryat"). With the outbreak of hostilities, all patrol boats of the border guard on the Amur and Ussuri rivers were transferred to the operational subordination of the flotilla. Also in the flotilla there were about 70 aircraft.


mine boat type Ya-5 with NURS on Zeya


Canboat "Red Star" after modernization. 1945.

Border boat on the Amur. Late 30s

The first brigade included monitors Lenin, Krasny Vostok and Sunn-Yat-Sen; 1st battalion (four wheeled river minesweepers), 1st bka detachment (boats project 1124 N- 11, 12, 14, 23), 5th bka squad (boats project 1124 No. Alarm No. 91 and 92), the 1st and 2nd detachments of katsch (six minesweepers each), 1 detachment of the MKA (seven mine boats), self-propelled floating battery N-1234 and non-self-propelled floating battery N "1231.
The second brigade included the monitors Sverdlov and the Far East Komsomolets, the 2nd division of the tank (four wheeled river minesweepers), the 2nd detachment of the bka (boats pr. 1124 N "-" 13, 21, 22, 24), 3rd detachment of BKA (boats pr. 1124 No. 51-54), 3rd detachment of boats (six boat minesweepers), self-propelled floating battery No. 1232, non-self-propelled floating battery No. 1230.

Monitor "Serdlov" 1945

The third brigade included the 1st division of gunboats (Proletary and Mongol), the 3rd division of gunboats (wheeled gunboats No. 30, 31, 36 and 37), the 4th detachment of the bka (boats project 1125 No. 31 -34), 4th and 7th katsch detachments (six boat minesweepers each), self-propelled floating battery No. 1233, Strong wheeled mine layer.

Armored boat Pr.1125 on the Amur. Early 40s.
The Zee-Bureya brigade of ships included the 2nd battalion of gunboats (monitor Active and gunboat Red Star, wheeled gunboats N "32-35), 3rd battalion tshch (three river minesweepers), 1st battalion bka (boats pr. 1124 No. 41-46, 55 and 56), 2nd division of the bka (boats pr. 1124 No. 61-64 and boats of type K No. 71, 73, 74, 74), boat minesweepers), 2nd glider detachment (5 units), 3rd glider detachment (4 units).

Monitor "Active"
The Sretensky separate detachment of river ships included the 1st detachment of the bka (boats pr.1124 No. 16-19) the 2nd detachment of the bka (boats of type H N "81 and 84, boats of the Pika type No. 93 and 94), a detachment of gliders (AR 41 and 42).
The Ussuriysk separate detachment of armored boats included boats pr. 1125 N "26-29.
The Khanka separate detachment of armored boats included boats pr .1124 No. 15, 25, 65 and 66.
The security of the raids of the Main Base included three patrol boats and the ZBS-1 bonnet barrier.
The Amur River Flotilla had nine separate anti-aircraft artillery divisions, armed with 76-mm guns - 28, 40-mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns - 18 and 20-mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns - 24. In addition, the flotilla had its own air force in as part of a fighter regiment, separate squadrons and detachments. In total there were LaGG-3 - 27, Yak-3 - 10, Il-2 - 8, I-153-bis - 13, I-16 - 7, SB - 1, Po-2 -3, MBR-2 - 3, Yak-7u - 2, S-2 - 1.
At the same time, despite the advance preparation for the war with Japan and the presence of a trained reserve in the form of two European fleets, the Amur flotilla was staffed by officers only by 91.6%, and by 88.7% for petty officers and privates. The situation was leveled by the fact that four relatively large ships were under repair, as well as good special training of personnel. The latter is partly explained by the fact that during the Great Patriotic War, even in comparison with the Pacific Fleet, the Amur Flotilla was in constant readiness to repel aggression, and therefore they tried not to pull apart its personnel. The foremen and most of the rank and file by that time had served for 6-8 years, and most of the officers came to the flotilla 10-15 years ago.
The main command of the Soviet troops in the Far East entrusted the Red Banner Amur Flotilla with a very difficult and responsible task - to ensure the crossing of the river. Amur troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front and assist their offensive in the Sungaria and Sakhalyan operations.
It should be noted that r. Amur is the largest water communication in the Far East, navigable almost along its entire length (more than 2800 km). Full-flowing and its tributaries - the Sungari and Ussuri. In the most important directions along the state border of the USSR with Northeast China, which runs mainly along the Amur and Ussuri, the enemy created strong fortified areas. The main ones were: Sakhalyan (opposite Blagoveshchensk), Sungari (covering the entrance to the Sungari River) and Fujin (70 km from the mouth of the Sungari, protecting the approaches to Harbin). The fortified areas consisted of nodes of resistance and strong points connected by communications, the basis of which were pillboxes, bunkers, and reinforced concrete structures. The Red Banner Amur Flotilla (commanded by Rear Admiral N.V. Antonov) had up to 150 warships and boats by the beginning of hostilities and significantly outnumbered the Japanese Sungaria River Flotilla in terms of combat strength and armament.

From the beginning of the first "Muraviev rafting" along the Shilka and Amur rivers in the mid-1950s and until the end of the century, the situation in the Far East region of Russia was relatively calm. In 1900, it escalated in connection with the Yihetuan uprising that swept China, or, as it was called then, the Boxer Rebellion. In principle, it was the struggle of the Chinese people against the dominance of foreigners, and Russia in Northeast China at that time also had its own economic and political interests. As early as the beginning of 1897, the Amur-Ussuri Cossack flotilla was created to ensure the safety of Russian settlements located along the banks of the Argun, Shilka, Ussuri and Amur. It consisted of steamships "Cossack Ussuriysky" (former "Shilka") and "Ataman", steam boat "Patrol" and two barges. In 1900, the civilian ships of the Waterways Administration hastily began to be converted into original gunboats with guns and machine guns, equipped with teams of riflemen and artillerymen. The crews, as a rule, consisted of Transbaikal, Amur and Ussuri Cossacks, who were familiar with river business. Naturally, these were not quite combat-ready ships and they could not cope with the tasks of that time. In this regard, in 1903, the State Defense Council of the Russian Empire decided to create a permanent military flotilla on the Amur. Thus, the approved plan was based on the idea of ​​creating a mobile defense of the Amur by the forces of river ships. Organizationally and technically, this project was extremely difficult to implement, primarily due to the remoteness of this territory from the European part of Russia. Nevertheless, it was implemented in full and quite original, without significant financial costs.

The ancestor of the Amur River Flotilla was Kokuy, at that time an unremarkable village of three streets with a railway siding. He picked up a kind of baton at the Shilkinsky Zavod, where in the middle of the 19th century ships for "Muravyov's alloys" were built, including the first steamships "Argun" (1854) and "Shilka" (1855). The choice fell on Kokui not by chance. It is from Kokuya that the deep, and, consequently, the least dangerous for navigation, Shilka fairway begins. Plus, the Trans-Siberian Railway (Chelyabinsk - Sretensk) had already been built, and the terrain in the Kokuya area was perfect for it. Kokuy, moreover, had two piers, Upper and Lower, and was already known as a certain center of shipbuilding on the Shilka - in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, barges and steamships of small tonnage were assembled here.

A typical design of a steam gunboat for the needs of the Russian fleet was developed back in 1887, but only 15 years later, they finally began to implement it. The gunboats were intended specifically for sailing along the Amur. According to the decision of the Council of State Defense of the Russian Empire, the military department signed a contract with the Sormovo plant for the construction of ten steam gunboats. The first ship was launched on September 7, 1905. Others followed.

By order of the Naval Department of November 14, 1905, they were given the names: “Buryat”, “Vogul”, “Vostyak”, “Zyryanin”, “Kalmyk”, “Kyrgyz”, “Korel”, “Mongol”, “Orochanin” and “ Siberian". The project was a vessel 54 meters long and 8.2 meters wide, with a displacement of 193 tons. It carried two 75-mm guns and 4 machine guns. The draft, as it should be for a river steamer, was small - 60 cm. It should be noted that the first gunboat was tested on the Volga, while the rest were supposed to be sent disassembled by rail for further assembly to Kokuy.

In the summer of 1906, work was already in full swing in Kokuya: assembly, painting, testing of ship hulls with water, installation and testing of boilers for steam engines, rudders, installation of pipes, drainage systems. All work was carried out by hand in the open air. The shipyard of the Sormovsky plant was located in the area of ​​​​the Upper pier.

On May 10, 1907, in the presence of the commander of the Amur River Flotilla, Captain 1st Rank A.A. Kononov, Andreevsky flags and pennants flew over the Buryat, Mongol and Orochanin. Then the ships made their first trip along the Shilka and Amur, and in the fall they returned to the Muravyevsky backwater of the city of Sretensk (after the revolution it became the backwater named after Samarin). The crews of the gunboats were completed mainly by Baltic sailors, and future ship radio telegraph operators were also trained in St. Petersburg. In the album of the industrialist P.E. Shustov, stored in the Sretensky Museum of Local Lore, there is a unique photograph of the three lead gunboats of this series from the time of their first campaign. It has been reproduced by us in this edition.

Seven other boats were being completed at this time. Taking into account the perfect campaign of the first three ships, they were modernized. For example, deck superstructures were removed, the engine room was protected by armor, two 120-mm guns, a howitzer and 4 machine guns were already installed on each ship. The ships became 51 tons heavier, but received more powerful weapons and began to be called armored.

Acceptance of gunboats of this class took place from May to July 1908. For the winter, eight of them went down to Blagoveshchensk, to one of the main bases of the flotilla, while the Buryat and Zyryanin, with the commander of the flotilla, remained in the Muravievsky backwater, laying the foundation for the Sretensky detachment. The backwater was built in 1861 for the wintering of merchant ships. By 1907, a workshop with a lathe was built in it. In 1911, the ice-protecting dam was overhauled, and in the same year up to 68 units of various ships wintered in Zaton. In the spring of 1909, combat ships were radio-equipped, and the coastal station in Zaton received the first radiogram from Chita from the district commander.

So in July 1906, the Amur military flotilla was born, which in 1917 went over to the side of Soviet power, and in September 1918 was captured by the invaders. Then only the Orochanin and the messenger ship Pika, also assembled in Kokuy, managed to leave Blagoveshchensk for the upper reaches of the Zeya. Together with them, 20 ships and 16 barges with troops and evacuated personnel of the Soviet institutions of the Amur region left. In one of the battles, the Orochanin fought back to the last shell, and then the crew blew up the gunboat, repeating the feat of the legendary Korean during the Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905. Having captured the "Buryat" and "Mongol", the Japanese took them to Sakhalin Island, and returned only in 1925. "Buryat" was reactivated, put into operation and in October-November 1929 participated in hostilities during the well-known conflict on the CER. In 1932, the Mongol also went into service. In 1936 - 1937, both gunboats were overhauled, and then participated in the 1945 war with Japan as part of the Amur River Flotilla under the command of Rear Admiral N.V. Antonov. The Mongol was withdrawn from the active flotilla on February 28, 1948, and the Buryat on March 13, 1958.

The experience of the Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905 forced the Russian government to take up the construction of more modern ships for the Amur military flotilla. In addition, it became clear that ten gunboats were clearly not enough to protect the vast river area. The designers were placed in extremely harsh conditions: the draft of the ship should not exceed 1.2 - 1.4 m, the fuel supply should be enough to go from Khabarovsk to Blagoveshchensk and back. The ships needed to install long-range naval guns, reliable armor and provide a speed of at least 10 knots. Baltiysky won in the fierce competition between factories, having received an impressive order worth 10,920,000 rubles from the Coastal Defense Committee.

These new generation gunboats with diesel engines were later called monitors. Their length was 70.9 m, width - 12.8, draft - 1.5 m, speed 11 knots, displacement - 950 tons. The hull of the ship was divided into 11 compartments with watertight bulkheads. In the middle part, the hull had a double bottom. The ship did not have any superstructures, except for the conning tower and gun turrets on the deck. Four diesel engines with a capacity of 250 hp each. at 350 rpm each provided sufficient speed for that time. The thickness of the turret and side armor was 114 mm, the armor deck - 19 mm. With its two 152 mm turret guns and four 120 mm guns in two turrets, the monitor represented a formidable fighting force with seven machine guns.

The lead gunboat called "Shkval" was assembled and tested in the Gulf of Finland. Ships of this class were planned to be delivered disassembled to Kokuy by rail for subsequent assembly and combat service on the Amur.

On July 5, 1907, an agreement was concluded with a large Sretensky entrepreneur Ya.S.

The first batch of St. Petersburg masters left for Kokuy at the end of September 1907, and on October 22 they already started work. Since a branch of the Sormovsky Plant (later Votkinsky) already operated in the area of ​​the Upper Pier, the Amur branch of the Baltic Shipbuilding and Mechanical Plant was located in the area of ​​the Lower Pier (on the site of the modern Sretensky Shipbuilding Plant).

In St. Petersburg, ships were assembled using temporary bolts. Blocks and sections were carefully adjusted, assembled, then disassembled into parts, marked, loaded into trains and followed in Transbaikalia. Each echelon was accompanied by two artisans who knew the ship assembly technology well.

By this time, wooden ship workshops and barracks for workers had already been built in Kokuy. A floating workshop was also built to provide outfitting work. The stocks were arranged parallel to the shore in two rows, and the ships were launched sideways.

On March 12, 1908, the first echelon of 19 wagons and platforms with dismantled warships arrived from the Baltic. At the beginning of April, three parties of workers of 100 people each and about 300 poods of cargo departed from St. Petersburg. On April 24 they arrived in Kokui.

In five large barracks with steam heating and electric lighting with common bunk beds, 650 workers were accommodated, although, heading here, the St. Petersburg residents demanded accommodation for no more than 10 people with iron beds and mattresses, and put forward other requirements. The factory in Kokuya did not even have a canteen. And, nevertheless, in comparison with the factories that existed here before, it was a fairly solid enterprise. Its territory was surrounded by a fence, there was a bathhouse, a first-aid post and even a cinema.

The lead Shkval was launched on June 28, 1908. The assembly of all, as they were then called, turret gunboats was completed in November 1908. In 1909 they were launched, and the "Mongol" and "Zyryanin", which, as we already know, remained in Sretensk, took them to the right bank.

In the late autumn of 1910, the Amur military flotilla was replenished with monitors with the formidable name "Whirlwind", "Blizzard", "Thunderstorm", "Smerch", "Typhoon", "Hurricane", "Squall", "Storm". Already the first tests of turret gunboats showed their high reliability and it was no coincidence that they were recognized as the most powerful military river boats in the world of that time. The latest artillery systems installed on them made it possible to fire on both sides, which at that time was a new and important advantage of such a ship. At the same time, a large dock was built in Kokuy to serve the ships of the Amur military flotilla, which, with high water, was towed to Khabarovsk.

At the beginning of the First World War, weapons were removed from most of the monitors and sent to the operating fleets. In 1920, the Japanese captured and took away with them all the remaining ships, leaving the Storm as unarmed. In 1925-1926, the Japanese returned part of the monitors, and together with the gunboats they formed the backbone of the Soviet Amur River Flotilla. "Storm" was repaired and renamed "Lenin". In 1929, he took an active part in the battles during the conflict on the CER. Fire from it, as well as from the Sun-Yatsen (formerly Shkval), Sverdlov, and Krasny Vostok monitors, destroyed the Chinese Sungarian flotilla, and ensured the landing and movement of the landing force. For military operations, the Amur military flotilla in 1930 received the Order of the Red Banner.

And, finally, in 1909, in Kokuya, the Putilov plant completed ten messenger ships (armored boats) of the Pika type. These were small ships compared to gunboats. Their length was 22 m, width - three, displacement - 23.5 tons, draft - 51 cm. Two engines with a capacity of 200 hp. provided a speed of 15 knots. The wheelhouse, sides, deck and cellars were protected by bulletproof armor 7.9 mm thick. The armament of the vessel consisted of a 76-mm mountain gun and two machine guns. The boats also became part of the Amur River Flotilla under the names "Dagger", "Spear", "Broadsword", "Pika", "Pistol", "Bullet", "Rapier", "Saber", "Saber", and "Bayonet" .

By the beginning of the First World War (1910-1914), the Amur military flotilla was quite combat-ready and fully carried out the tasks assigned to it to protect the Amur and Far Eastern borders of Russia. It consisted of 28 warships, which included monitors (8), gunboats (10) and armored boats (10). The given data testify that it is Kokuy that is the birthplace of the Amur military flotilla, since all warships without exception were assembled by factories on its territory.

It can also be added that at the end of 1914, 8 armored boats were transferred to the west in connection with the outbreak of the First World War. Four - to the Baltic, where their 76-mm guns replaced 47-mm, and throughout the war they carried guard duty in the Baltic skerries. In April 1918, the Finns captured them, but the Russian crews managed to bring the ships into complete disrepair.

The other four boats were captured by the Germans on May 1, 1918 in Sevastopol. One was handed over to Turkey, the rest in 1919 operated in the Caspian Sea as part of the White Guard flotilla. The "Pika" and "Spear" remaining in the Far East participated in the civil war and were taken by the Japanese to Sakhalin, and then returned to the Soviet Union. After a major overhaul, they entered service, participated in all hostilities in the Far East. And only in 1954 they were excluded from the fleet.

A new period in the construction of warships for the Red Banner Amur Military Flotilla (KAF) and the Pacific Fleet (Pacific Fleet) began at the end of the 30s of the last century in connection with another aggravation of the situation in the Far East. The choice again fell on Kokui - it was historically predetermined. But it was necessary to start work in the Lower Wharf area from scratch, since with the outbreak of the First World War, all industrial production in Kokuya ceased. By 1917-1918, the equipment of the shipbuilding branches of the St. Petersburg plants was dismantled and removed, and the buildings were sold.

In 1934-1935, the construction of a shipyard began in Kokuy, and in 1938, the new enterprise was already receiving technical documentation for the construction of special-purpose ships under the code names "Liter A", "Liter G" and others. These were landing ships for the transport and landing of military equipment. The shipyard acquires a special department, a secret part, armed guards, and in 1939 it receives a new status - the plant of mailbox 22 with the telegraph index "Anchor", later "Sopka". And in May 1940, the plant under number 369 is included in the list of special regime enterprises of the shipbuilding industry of the USSR. Thus, by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the enterprise already produces military products, has a specific structure, which greatly facilitates its transition to a military footing literally from the very first days of the war. The construction and development of the Sretensky shipbuilding plant is the subject of a separate study, in this part we will only touch on the issue of the production of military ships by this enterprise.

The development of new products took place with great tension. The "letter" ships (A and G) were ships of a completely new type. They had continuous elongated superstructures with protective armor plates, equipped with special descending gangways, armed with rapid-fire cannons and machine guns. It was planned to release 4 units of each type, which was done. Later, these ships took part in the fighting against Japan in 1945.

The plant receives an order for another 5 ships, now "Litera M" - sea barges for transporting mines and, finally, "Litera T" - for transporting torpedoes. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, 5 units of letter ships were commissioned. And the plant introduces the institution of military representatives (military representatives) or representatives of the customer. Products of defensive significance during the war years are called "front-line orders." The deadlines for the delivery of facilities are set by the State Defense Committee of the USSR.

The plant is gaining momentum and already in 1942 it was commissioning 28 units of various ships, including 12 type-built ships, 2 mother ships, 2 tugboats equipped with armored tubes and mounts for turrets. During the work, many difficulties had to be overcome, especially in the processing of the edges of the armor plates, their fitting, riveting. There was a lack of special tools, experience in performing these works. It was not easy to install and adjust the installations of machine guns and cannons. Their fine-tuning and testing was carried out with the participation of the personnel of the receiving teams. Trial firing was carried out at night in the direction of the hill on the right bank of the Shilka.

In 1944, the plant included in the plan a fairly large amount of ship repair work for the Amur military flotilla.

In 1945, the plant was given the task of building a large series of offshore semi-icebreaking tugs of the 719 project for the Pacific Navy. Their draft - 1.5 meters did not allow rafting along the shallow Shilka, so they were delivered to the Khabarovsk plant named after S.M. Kirov on specially made pontoons. In Khabarovsk, the final refinement and delivery of the ships was carried out.

In total, during the years of the Great Patriotic War, the plant built 56 ships for the Amur Military Flotilla and the Pacific Navy. Among them: 5 landing barges, 4 floating batteries, 2 floating bases of armored boats and other ships. He carried out medium and current repairs of ships in the amount of 1,240,000 rubles, with a plan of 845 thousand. In addition to the main products, the range of wartime production included the manufacture of floating bridges, buoys for installing barrier nets in the sea, spare parts for tractors and water-filled rollers, sleds for heavy machine guns and ski mounts for ski battalions of the Red Army, and much more.

Speaking about the ships of the Amur military flotilla, which were repaired at the plant in certain years, perhaps it should be said that armored boats were based in Sretensky backwater until 1952. They were armed with a cannon in a tank turret. A rocket launcher for 16 shells was located at the stern, there was also a coaxial heavy machine gun. The 1000-horsepower Packard boat engine ran on the highest octane gasoline. The ship could move upstream at a speed of 30 km / h. Light armor protected only from small arms. The team consisted of 16 people. The living conditions for the crew were harsh: the boat had neither heating nor a toilet.

The Sretensky detachment was part of the Zeya-Bureinsky brigade, stationed in the village of Malaya Sazanka, in a channel, 20 kilometers from the Zeya bridge, or 160 km from Blagoveshchensk. This also included the slow-moving gunboat Krasnaya Zvezda and the Aktivist monitor. In addition to six armored boats of a separate Sretensky division, the RCHB-24 tugboat Yakov Dmitrievich Butakov from the department of military courts of the harbor was in Zaton. In the summer, this tugboat led the armored boats, side-by-side with "wads" three by one, but led back in the wake one at a time, since it is easier to overcome the resistance of the current "on crumpled water".

The maneuvering base of the division was located on the Amur in Davan, a place above the village of Utesnoye, 40 km from the mouth of the Shilka. The general naval base for combat training was located on the Zeya River.

This begs the question, why was the detachment stationed so far from the central base? There is only one answer: from Sretensk it is faster and easier to get to the border Argun. This was well shown and proved by the fighting against the Japanese in the summer of 1945.

For selfless work on front-line orders, plant director I.M. Sidorenko and head of the technical department I.S. Gudim were awarded the Order of the Red Star, chief engineer E.N. war II degree. I.S. Gudim and E.N. Shaposhnikov subsequently worked as directors of the Sretensky shipbuilding plant, and the latter eventually became the Deputy Minister of the USSR shipbuilding industry and a laureate of the State Prize. The medal "For Military Merit" was awarded to advanced workers, "guards of labor": V.P. Zuev, Z. Ibragimov, P.A. Mironov, N.G. Perelomov, S.I. Shipitsyn, I.S. . 435 shipbuilders were awarded medals "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945".

With the end of the war, the construction of warships does not stop. Moreover, the production plan in the summer of 1950 includes the construction of ships of the 450th project.

Project 450 is a small tank landing ship. Its length is 52.5 m, width - 8.2 m, side height - 3.3 m. The ship is single-deck, with a twin-shaft diesel engine, capable of receiving three medium tanks. The total displacement of the vessel was 877 tons. The average draft with an empty displacement did not exceed 1.5 meters (fore - 0.6 m, stern - 2.38 m). Full reserves: diesel fuel - 33 tons, lubricating oil - 1.3 tons, boiler water - 5.1 tons, drinking water - 1.8 tons, washing - 2.7 tons. Autonomy in terms of provisions and fresh water - 10 days .

Behind the scenes, these ships were called "disposable ships." That is, the construction was considered justified if the ship died before it had time to land the tanks. But since the deadline for the “one-time throw” never came, the crews had to operate these simple ships for years with a large number of design flaws, they were conscious and explained by the desire to make the ships as cheap as possible. The ship was intensively used to supply garrisons and frontier posts on the eastern coast of the USSR. It did not have sufficient seaworthiness, especially when going against the wave, it splashed and flooded excessively. The tank hold could be flooded with minor damage to the gangway or side. There was no special winch for self-pulling the ship from the beach after the equipment was disembarked; maintenance of the stern anchor device was inconvenient. The engine room is unbearably cramped. Special vehicles (vans) did not pass into the hold, the transportation of which was a vital necessity.

Before starting the engines of the landing tanks, it was necessary to remove the hatches (wooden covers of the cargo hatches of the tank hold), since the hold did not have forced ventilation, it was gassed immediately and to an unbearable level. The operation of opening the hold was very laborious, and the means of self-defense were minimal - only 2 coaxial machine guns. There was no talk of any measures of anti-aircraft protection. And more than fifty such ships were built.

Ships of this type were not built in the country before, so many problems immediately arose, noted A.P. Laid, who was then the senior builder of the lead ship. The summer of 1951, when the head order was to be launched, turned out to be dry, Shilka was shallow, and the ship was quite large. There were many fears, they were afraid of a possible accident. The ceremony was attended by all the district leadership, including from the district department of the MGB. But everything went well, and in the future, the descent of the ships of this series did without trouble.

The program of mooring tests included the loading and unloading of tanks. This part of the test, for reasons of secrecy, was carried out on the second shift with the involvement of a limited number of participants.

Ships were delivered to Khabarovsk on pontoons. On the sides of the ship, 12 powerful butts were welded on the slipway, to which, after launching, welded brackets were hung. Under them, three submerged pontoons were brought on board, the entire system was leveled, the pontoons were properly fastened to the brackets, the pontoons were blown through, and the ship floated as required. Towing to Khabarovsk lasted about two weeks. There, a dispontoinization took place, then the ship made a control exit on the Amur, after which it went under its own power to the sea base. The pontoons were returned to the plant by rail.

Shipbuilders were particularly difficult to ensure the tightness and watertightness of the ramp, pressed in the closed state along the perimeter and contour of the frame with a rubber seal of a special shape. When raised and closed, the ramp was, as it were, a bow watertight bulkhead; when lowered, tanks entered the hold along it.

In the first year, two ships were commissioned, and in 1952 already seven units. Moreover, the last ship was sent on October 5 unfinished, the completion was carried out en route by a team of 49 people, headed by the builder G.M. Sintsov. All the work was done, the ship was handed over to the customer in Khabarovsk, but it remained to winter there, since it was already risky to take it through the estuary to Vladivostok. In the future, this method of completing the ships was used on other orders.

In 1953, 11 ships were already handed over. But due to severe drought and, accordingly, low water level in Shilka, four objects remained to spend the winter in Sretensky backwater.

The head of the department of the control and receiving apparatus of the Main Directorate of Personnel of the Navy at the plant at that time was an engineer-captain of the 1st rank E.M. Rovensky. An order bearer, he served throughout the war on ships in Kronstadt, and after the war he became the flagship mechanic of the Tallinn Naval Brigade. From 1955 to 1958, A.F. Nikolsky was subordinate to him, later also captain of the 1st rank - engineer, laureate of the State Prize "For work in the field of shipbuilding", awarded the medal "For Military Merit".

In 1962, orders for the Navy resumed, the production plan included the construction of the lead ship of the sea transport project 1823, which is very complex in terms of equipment and installation of special device systems. There are three options for the construction of this ship, two of them are export for operation in the tropics. The customer is the mine and torpedo department of the Pacific Fleet. In connection with the construction of ships of a new order in 1963, welding of polyethylene pipes was mastered at the plant.

The place of completion and delivery of the ships of project 1823 was determined at the plant No. 175 of the Pacific Fleet in Vladivostok. And again, considerable difficulties had to be overcome, since the plant had no experience, especially in processing and testing the special systems of the ship. In 1964, the plant was unable to hand over the ships to the customer, handing them over only in the second half of 1965, already on the basis of the Khabarovsk shipbuilding plant in Vladivostok.

When sending ships from Kokuy, a difficult situation arose due to the shallow waters of Shilka and the Upper Amur. Having run aground a large motor ship, the Amur Shipping Company refused to tow ships of a military order. Then the factory decided to manage on their own. Sretenskaya pier handed over to Kokuy the decommissioned passenger steamer Murom, built here before the revolution. In just a few days, shipbuilders converted it into a tugboat, recruited a team of machinists, stokers, helmsmen and sailors, invited two retired pilots, and in September 1965, the old wheeled Murom led two warships downstream. For insurance to the Amur, he was accompanied by the factory boat "Sputnik" and the tugboat "Baley" rented from the Sretenskaya pier. The ships safely reached Khabarovsk, and the tugboat returned to Kokuy, where it was re-equipped now as a delivery base and served the plant in Khabarovsk for another 20 years, until it sank in the 80s from an accidental hole.

The first two sea transports were named "Lot" and "Lag". A total of four units were built. The length of the ships of this series was 51.5 m, width - 8.4 m, height - overall 11.2 m, empty draft - 1.87 m, empty displacement - 456 tons, carrying capacity - 220 tons, power - 600 l .with.

Ten years later, in 1976, the plant's production plan includes the construction of the head order of project 1481, a river tanker for the Amur military flotilla, and preparatory work begins for the production of an artillery boat of project 1248 ("Mosquito") for the border troops. By 1978, oil tankers managed to build 4 units.

In the same year, the lead artillery boat of the Mosquito class was laid down. Its length is 38.9 m, width - 6.1 m, displacement 210 tons. The boat has three engines of 1,100 hp each. each and two generators of 50 kW. A tank turret with a 100-mm cannon, a Utes mount, an AK-306 six-barrel mount (a 30-mm ship assault rifle), a ZIF double-barreled 140-mm rocket launcher and a 30-mm grenade launcher are installed on its nose. The armament of the boat includes a portable air defense system of the "Needle" type. The crew is 19 people. During the construction of artillery boats, the most advanced technologies of that time were used at the plant. Their production took place in a regime of heightened secrecy. Ships of this class are rightfully considered the pride of Kokuy shipbuilders in terms of military production.

For the first time in the same years, repairs were provided at the plant for patrol boats and dry-cargo motor ships of the marine units of the KGB border troops of the USSR.

The construction of 8 units of tankers was completed in 1981. Construction of Mosquito-class artillery boats was discontinued in 1992. A total of 23 units were built at the plant. Well-armed and equipped, these ships are still adequately serving to protect the country's water borders. And the small border boat of project 1298 "Aist", mastered by Kokuy shipbuilders, fell in love with the border guards of the Sretensky patrol boat division. Its crew consists of only two people. "Sretenets", as the border guards call them, provide a reliable connection between the outposts on the Argun and the Amur.

In our article on military shipbuilding in Kokuy, it would be unfair to keep silent about the fact that over the years, at different shipyards in the country, envoys from the Sretensky Shipyard participated in the construction of warships of various types, both surface and underwater.

For example, in March 1948, a large group of workers from the ship-assembly shop was sent to Kerch by order of the ministry in order to ensure the delivery of the head order intended for minesweeping and laying mines, and landing operations within the deadline set by the government. And the shipbuilders did not disappoint. Soon the first "ploughman" - that's how the minesweeper was affectionately called by military sailors, left the stocks of the plant and got involved in the difficult and dangerous work of clearing the Black and Azov Seas from mines.

In the future, Kokuy shipbuilders more than once showed examples of selfless labor at other plants, thereby making a significant contribution to strengthening the country's defense capability. No wonder the day of the Navy here has long been considered a professional and national holiday, and in recent years it has also become the Day of the village.

At present, despite the catastrophic upheavals of the 1990s, the shipyard has retained its production capacities. Shipbuilders are ready to produce both civil and military vessels. Unfortunately, under the current system, without state support, the plant cannot compete in a clearly unequal struggle with other large shipyards. It is a pity if the history of Russian shipbuilding on Shilka remains only a bright flash in time, full of labor prowess and heroism.

Amur military flotilla

Flotilla banner

general information

Number of members

Technics (as of 1910):

• Surface equipment - 33 units.

Technics (as of 1945):

• Surface equipment - 126 units.

Technics (as of 1997):

• Surface equipment - 82 units.

Military conflicts

Order of the Red Banner

History of the flotilla

First formation

Russian explorers first appeared on the Amur in the middle of the 17th century. These were separate detachments of Cossacks who collected tribute from the indigenous population. And only in the middle of the 19th century, as a result of the productive activity of the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia N.N. Muravyov-Amursky, economic life in one of the most distant regions of Russia revived significantly. So, in 1850-1855. hydrographic descriptions of the river were taken up by the Amur expedition under the command of Captain 1st Rank G.I. Nevelsky (several officers and 60 sailors).

N.N. Muraviev-Amursky

The spring of 1852 was marked by the beginning of steam navigation on the Amur, when the steamer Argun, built at the Shilkinsky plant, entered its waters. On May 14, N.N. Muravyov-Amursky set off from Nerchinsk on 77 ships for the first military expedition. A large amount of materials, tools, ammunition and food supplies for two years were transported on the caravan of ships. With this expedition, the mass development of the Far East began. In 1854, a second caravan brought a hundred horses and all sorts of provisions for two years ahead.

In the spring of 1857, the resettlement of the Cossacks became much more intense, since in Nikolaevsk-on-Amur two steamships of the Siberian flotilla "Amur" and "Lena" were assembled and launched. By the end of the year, there were already 17 Cossack villages on the Amur, which housed three horse hundreds and two army battalions with a field artillery division. The number of the population of both sexes was 1850 people, but already in 1858 it increased to 2350, and the villages - to 32. At the same time, a cavalry regiment was formed and the relocation of foot Cossacks to the village of Khabarovka (now the city of Khabarovsk).

The desire to create the Amur River Flotilla first appeared in 1885, but due to economic considerations, the decision did not materialize. In 1897, in spite of everything, a small Amur-Ussuri Cossack flotilla began its activities. Along with this, the ships of the Amur-Ussuri Cossack flotilla, as well as the Ministry of Railways: Selenga, Sungari, Gazimur, Amazor, Khulok and others had to be armed with light artillery and machine guns. For this, the head of the Vladivostok port allocated 10 - 4-pound guns of the 1867 model, as well as 3 - 47-mm guns hotchkiss. In 1900, the creation of a river flotilla was considered in an interdepartmental commission that worked on the initiative of the War Ministry.

Russo-Japanese War

During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. the urgent need for the defense of the river increased, as the Chinese Eastern Railway (hereinafter, for convenience, the abbreviation CER will be used) could not cope with the transportation of the necessary goods and most of them were transported along the rivers of the Amur basin. Due to the unpreparedness of the gunboats being built in Sormovo, it was necessary to use paddle steamers and screw boats of the Military Department and the Border Guard Corps, as well as barges of the Amur Shipping and Trade Society and the Ministry of Railways, to hastily supply them with artillery and these floating batteries to strengthen several important strategic points along the Amur. In addition, destroyers were additionally transported from the Baltic Fleet by rail and launched into the water in the village of Kokuy.

After the end of the war, which was unsuccessful for the Russian Empire (In 1905, the Portsmouth Peace Treaty cut off the South Ussuri Theater from the center of Russia, imposing a ban on the use of the CER for strategic purposes.) The importance of the development of communications in the Amur Basin, as the only communications line in the Far East, increased to unprecedented proportions . Especially for the development of this region, 4 seaworthy gunboats of the Gilyak type were laid down at the shipyards to protect the lower reaches of the Amur. But due to the excessive weight, the draft of the ships turned out to be too large for the rivers, and it was decided to leave them in the Baltic. But instead of them, eight more powerful turret gunboats of the Shkval type were laid down in Sormovo. Among the river ships of the world, they had the most powerful artillery weapons and anti-ballistic armor. In addition, the flotilla included 10 messenger ships, and in essence - artillery armored boats of the "Bayonet" type. By order of the Naval Department dated November 28, 1908, the Amur River Flotilla was formed. The city of Khabarovsk was appointed as the base of the flotilla. By the summer of 1910, the ship and ship composition of the flotilla was fully completed.

Second formation

Revolution and Civil War

gunboat "Orochanin" and messenger ship "Pika"

In December 1917, without any resistance, the flotilla raised red flags, joining the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Fleet (RKKF). In July-September 1918, the flotilla took part in the fight against the Japanese interventionists, the White Guards, and Czechoslovak military units. On September 7, 1918, the main flotilla forces, which were laid up in Khabarovsk, were captured by the Japanese and became part of the Japanese flotilla on the Amur River, and the Orochanin gunboat, the Pika messenger ship, along with 20 civilian steamships and 16 barges, went to the upper reaches of the river Zei, where they were flooded by crews at the end of September 1918 to avoid capture. The Amur flotilla as a unit ceased to exist. The White Army tried to create its own flotilla on the Amur River, but this was prevented by the Japanese invaders. In 1919, some of the ships were blown up to avoid being captured by the Red partisans; the ships that remained afloat were formed into the newly formed Amur Flotilla of the People's Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic. Due to the capture of Khabarovsk in 1920, for some time the headquarters was in Blagoveshchensk.

By the summer of 1921, after repairs, six gunboats, five armed steamers, six boats, six minesweepers, and about 20 auxiliary ships were commissioned. Since April 1921, the flotilla was subordinate to the headquarters of the Naval Forces of the Far East. She interacted with ground forces on the Amur and Ussuri rivers, defended a mine and artillery position in the Khabarovsk region. From November 1922 to September 1926 it was part of the Naval Forces of the Far East as the Amur River Flotilla. In May 1925, through diplomatic channels, it was possible to receive from Japan the river ships taken away by it. On September 6, 1926, after the abolition of the Naval Forces of the Far East, it was directly subordinated to the head of the Naval Forces of the Red Army. On September 29, 1927, it was renamed the Far Eastern Military Flotilla.

Interwar period

armored boat pr.1124 mixed layout (one T-34 tank turret, one Katyusha installation)

After all the troubles that had piled up at the same time, the flotilla fell into a deplorable state. Most of the ships stood in the backwaters without engines (during the First World War, expensive diesel engines were transported to the main theaters of operations) or destroyed, the remaining ships were in a rather neglected state. But starting from the first half of the 1920s, the battered flotilla began to return to life with great enthusiasm. The ships that remained from the Russian Empire were repaired, modernized and re-equipped. In 1927, several armored boats came from the Black and Baltic Seas. In total, after the start of the second life, the fleet consisted of: 7 gunboats of the Shkval type, 5 gunboats of the Buryat and Vogul types, and 7 armored boats of the Partizan, Spear, K and H types.

In 1929, the flotilla took part in battles with Chinese militarists during the conflict on the CER. Immediately after the capture of the CER by Chinese troops, shelling of Soviet traffic lights and nearby settlements began. In October 1929, the active phase began, and the Amur flotilla advanced along the Sungari to the city of Fujin. On October 11, 1929, a full-scale artillery battle of the main forces of the river fleets took place near Lakhasusu (Tongjiang) at the mouth of the Songhua, ending in the complete defeat of the enemy - the Songhua flotilla. On May 20, 1930, for well-coordinated and productive actions to defeat the "White Chinese", the flotilla was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and became known as the Far Eastern Red Banner Military Flotilla.

From 1935 to 1941, the Amur Red Banner Military Flotilla was replenished with modern river ships of a new construction. The list of innovations included: the monitor "Active", large armored boats pr.1124 with two tank turrets or two installations "Katyusha" and small armored boats pr.1125. Also in 1941, the ship's composition was replenished with 8 gunboats from former passenger ships, minelayers and other combat ships.

The Great Patriotic War

In essence, the Amur military flotilla did not take part in World War II, but made a huge contribution to the victory over the Japanese Kwantung Army and the armed forces of puppet states created by Japan on the territory of Manchuria and North Korea. The entire flotilla, consisting of 126 warships, 68 aircraft and 12.5 thousand personnel (the enemy flotilla consisted of 26 warships, three infantry regiments with 50 landing motorboats and 60 motor boats), in the period from August 9 to September 2, 1945 carried out the Manchurian operation, which was especially important for the victory. The main goal was to ensure the safe passage of ground forces across the Amur and Ussuri rivers, to facilitate the offensive of the front troops in the Sungarian direction. Among other things, she had to prevent the enemy from forcing these rivers and ensure her communications; as we move along the Songhua, to carry out the crossing of personnel and equipment; destroy crossings and suppress enemy resistance points in coastal areas, as well as his ships.

landing from the monitor "Far East Komsomolets"

On the night of August 9, 1945, the forcing of large water barriers began. In advance, ship and field artillery carried out artillery preparation. The offensive in the zone of the 15th Army began with the actions of advanced and reconnaissance detachments to seize the islands on the Amur. On August 9, the 2nd brigade of ships landed troops on the outskirts of the Fuyuan resistance center (the mouth of the Ussuri) and supported it with artillery fire. On August 10, the crossing of the Amur was carried out simultaneously along its entire length from the mouth of the Ussuri to its upper reaches. The ships of the flotilla, by landing assault groups and by fire, assisted the troops in capturing enemy strongholds on the opposite bank. The command of the 2nd Ship Brigade and the 630th Infantry Regiment from the monitor "Far East Komsomolets" carried out the control of the battle for the landing and on the shore. The landing area was covered by fighters. By 4 p.m. the troops had captured the city.

A new task was set before the ships of the flotilla - in the shortest possible time to transfer the forces of the second echelons to the captured bridgeheads. For this, three large crossings (Leninskaya, Sakhalyanskaya, Konstantinovskaya) and a couple of small crossings were equipped. Their effective work was achieved through coordinated actions of the military communications agencies of the front, the flotilla and the military transport service of the Lower Amur basin. At each crossing, a military commandant's office was created to deal with organizational issues. In a short time, tens of thousands of people, a huge amount of military equipment and various military equipment were transported across the Amur. During the Sakhalyan operation, the troops of the 2nd Red Banner Army, the 101st fortified area and the Zeya-Bureya brigade of river ships, crossing the Amur, in two days in stubborn battles captured three bridgeheads on its right bank (Sakhalyan, Aigun and Tsike). Developing the offensive in the Qiqihar direction, the troops captured the positions of the Zhalantun resistance center and destroyed the enemy's armored formations. On August 18, Sunyu was cleared of the enemy. The sailors of the Sretensky separate division successfully operated in the upper reaches of the Amur. Together with infantry units and border guards, they captured a large enemy resistance center - Mohe. The crews of the armored boats of the Khanka separate detachment defeated the border garrisons, commandant's offices, outposts and destroyed important firing points on the northern coast of Lake Khanko. As a result of the coordinated actions of the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, the ships of the Amur Flotilla and the border units, the entire coast of the Amur was liberated from the Japanese within three days. Taken by surprise, the enemy was unable to use the river flotilla in an organized manner to counter the forcing of the rivers and the development of an offensive along the Sungari. Here is how Marshal of the USSR K.A. Meretskov spoke about this operation:

Ten years after the victorious end of the war, in August 1955, the flotilla was reorganized into the Red Banner Amur Military River Flotilla of the Pacific Fleet. Since 1961, there was a brigade of ships under construction and repair on the Amur River, then a division of river ships of the Pacific Fleet. By decree of the President of the Russian Federation (V.V. Putin) dated June 7, 1998, the Amur Border River Flotilla was disbanded due to underfunding. The connection was decided to be divided into separate brigades of border patrol ships and boats.

Organizational structure

First formation

Headquarters

The headquarters of the first formation was in the city of Khabarovsk.

The Manchurian operation, carried out between August 9 and September 2, 1945 by Soviet and Mongolian troops against the Japanese Kwantung Army and the armed forces of the puppet states created by Japan on the territory of Manchuria and North Korea. The result of this operation, which is sometimes called the "Soviet-style blitzkrieg", was the complete elimination of Japan's military presence on the Asian continent.

BATTLE COMPOSITION AND TASKS OF THE AMUR FLOTILE

Red Banner Amur military flotilla , operationally subordinated to the commander of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, in the Manchurian operation was to ensure the forcing of the Amur and Ussuri ground forces, to facilitate the offensive of the front troops in the Sungarian direction. In addition, she had to prevent the enemy from forcing these rivers and ensure her communications; as we move along the Songhua, to carry out the crossing of personnel and equipment; destroy enemy crossings and nodes of resistance in coastal areas, as well as his ships.

The Amur military flotilla included four brigades and the Sretensky separate division of river ships, the Ussuri and Khanka separate detachments of armored boats. In total, the Amur flotilla consisted of 126 ships, 68 aircraft and 12.5 thousand personnel.

The Sungarian military flotilla of the enemy, which was part of the Kwantung Army, consisted of 26 ships, three regiments of marines with 50 landing motor boats and 60 landing motor boats. The balance of forces on the rivers was clearly in favor of the Amur flotilla.

GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS OF THE THEATER AND PREPARATION FOR OPERATION

Geographical conditions allowed the ships to operate in three operational directions: Sungari, Sakhalyan-Tsitsikar and Khankai. The Sungari was the main one, as it led the troops of the Red Army to the central regions of Manchuria. The enemy created a powerful defense system along the Soviet borders. Of the 17 fortified regions on the territory of Manchuria, 8 were in the areas of action of the Amur flotilla. In the lower reaches of the Sungari, they included about 950 structures.

The interaction of the flotilla with the ground forces was subordinated to the achievement of the main goal: to ensure a high rate of advance of the troops along the river. The artillery of the flotilla was planned to be used in conjunction with the front. She carried out artillery preparation, ensured the crossing of the river, the capture and expansion of bridgeheads, supported rifle formations and units in repelling enemy counterattacks.

The sailors studied the experience of conducting combat operations of river fleets in the war with Nazi Germany. In preparation, landing, forcing rivers, landing troops, joint actions with ground forces in capturing enemy resistance centers were practiced. Much attention was paid to the refurbishment of the theatre. In addition, points of supply and repair of equipment were built. Together with the army units, the rapid building of bridges, fascines, etc. was practiced for the approach of troops to crossings and landing points, rafts and ferries were prepared. Issues of interaction of landing forces with naval artillery and aviation were coordinated. The personnel of the ships were trained for landing operations. Sailors trained in blowing up pillboxes and bunkers, competitions were held for tank destroyers and snipers.

In February - March 1945, during the bilateral operational game "Assistance to ground forces in an offensive operation along the water line with the fortification of a fortified water line and the destruction of the "enemy flotilla", the organization of force control was worked out, for the mobility of which a command post was created on the ship.

ACTIONS OF THE AMUR FLEET DURING THE OPERATION

On the night of August 9, 1945, the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front crossed large water barriers, the opposite bank of which was heavily fortified. Pre-ship and field artillery conducted artillery preparation. The offensive in the zone of the 15th Army began with the actions of advanced and reconnaissance detachments to seize the islands on the Amur. So, the advanced battalion of the 361st rifle division, intended to capture about. Tatarsky (from here the enemy controlled the entrance to Sungari), boarded the ships of the 1st brigade, using the dark night and heavy rain, landed on the island and took it by morning. Thus, the exit of the Sungarian flotilla to the Amur at the very beginning of hostilities was cut off.

On August 10, the crossing of the Amur was carried out simultaneously along its entire length from the mouth of the Ussuri to its upper reaches. The ships of the flotilla, by landing assault groups and by fire, assisted the troops in capturing enemy strongholds on the opposite bank.

On August 9, the 2nd brigade of ships landed troops on the outskirts of the Fuyuan resistance center (the mouth of the Ussuri) and supported it with artillery fire. The command of the 2nd Ship Brigade and the 630th Infantry Regiment from the monitor "Far East Komsomolets" carried out the control of the battle for the landing and on the shore. The landing area was covered by fighters. By 4 p.m. the troops had captured the city.

A new task was set before the ships of the flotilla - in the shortest possible time to transfer the forces of the second echelons to the captured bridgeheads. For this, three large (Leninskaya, Sakhalyanskaya, Konstantinovskaya) and several small crossings were equipped. Their successful work was achieved through the coordinated actions of the military communications agencies of the front, the flotilla and the military transport service of the Lower Amur basin. At each crossing, a military commandant's office was created to deal with organizational issues. In a short time, tens of thousands of people, a huge amount of military equipment and various military equipment were transported across the Amur.

During the Sakhalyan operation, the troops of the 2nd Red Banner Army, the 101st fortified area and the Zeya-Bureya brigade of river ships, crossing the Amur, in two days in stubborn battles captured three bridgeheads on its right bank (Sakhalyan, Aigun and Tsike). Developing the offensive in the Qiqihar direction, the troops captured the positions of the Zhalantun resistance center and destroyed the enemy's armored formations. On August 18, Sunyu was cleared of the enemy.

The sailors of the Sretensky separate division successfully operated in the upper reaches of the Amur. Together with infantry units and border guards, they captured a large enemy resistance center - Mohe. The crews of the armored boats of the Khanka separate detachment defeated the border garrisons, commandant's offices, outposts and destroyed important firing points on the northern coast of Lake Khanko.

As a result of the coordinated actions of the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, the ships of the Amur Flotilla and the border units, the entire coast of the Amur was liberated from the Japanese within three days. Taken by surprise, the enemy was unable to use the river flotilla in an organized manner to counter the forcing of the rivers and the development of an offensive along the Sungari.

After mastering the mouth of the river, the troops and ships rushed forward. Marshal of the Soviet Union K. A. Meretskov wrote: “The Amur flotilla rose along the Sungari, which became, as it were, the axis of the front’s actions, and ground attack formations advanced along both banks of the river.”

AMUR MILITARY FLEET - formation as part of the navy. Created in 1900 to defend the border along the Amur and Ussuri rivers. During the Civil War, the ships were captured by the Japanese invaders. Recreated in 1920. Participated in combat operations during the Soviet-Chinese conflict of 1929, in the Manchurian operation of 1945 during the Soviet-Japanese war.

The flotilla was created as a temporary formation to protect Russian outposts in the Far East. It included armed commercial ships that carried out military transportation, since before the construction of the CER, the river. Cupid was the only way of communication. B 4904 the flotilla was reinforced with armed steamships and destroyers. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, the ships of the flotilla transferred troops and cargo to Manchuria.

In July 1906, a resolution was adopted on the establishment of the Amur military flotilla to defend the border line of the Amur basin and provide communications along the river. Amur and the construction of special military ships for it. On May 10, 1907, the first gunboats joined the flotilla. In 1910, it consisted of 8 turret seaworthy gunboats (monitors), 10 shallow draft gunboats, 10 messengers and several auxiliary vessels. The main base was Khabarovsk.

In December 1917, the Soviet Amur military flotilla was created. It included ships and vessels whose crews went over to the side of Soviet power. The flotilla took an active part in the fight against the Japanese interventionists and the White Guards, in the establishment of Soviet power in Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk. In March 1918, the gunboat Orochanin and the messenger ship Pika, as well as a detachment of sailors from the flotilla, successfully operated against Gamow's gangs in Blagoveshchensk. In April, a combined detachment (about 1000 people) of the sailors of the Siberian and Amur flotillas fought against the detachments of Ataman Semenov in the Chita region. 2 monitors and 5 gunboats of the flotilla carried guard duty on the Amur and Ussuri rivers and assisted the troops of the Red Army. At the end of June 1918, when units of the rebellious Czechoslovak corps occupied Vladivostok, a detachment of Amur sailors and two armored trains arrived at the Ussuri Front. The ships of the flotilla provided significant assistance to the troops in repulsing the enemy offensive.

After the capture of the flotilla base in the Osipovsky backwater (near Khabarovsk) by the Japanese invaders on September 7, 1918, some of the ships were scuttled by the crews. The gunboat "Orochanin" as part of the Annunciation detachment fought stubborn battles with the invaders until the end of September, then retreated up the river. Zeya, where she was brought into disrepair, and her crew switched to partisan operations. In October 1920, the Japanese took to about. Sakhalin, the best ships of the flotilla are the Shkval monitor, the Buryat, Mongol and Votyak gunboats, 2 steamships and several barges with cargo worth more than 13 million rubles in gold.

On May 8, 1920, the reconstruction of the Amur Flotilla began in Blagoveshchensk. On April 19, 1921, she was subordinated to the headquarters of the Far East Naval Forces and in May she was transferred to Khabarovsk. By the summer of 1921, the Shtorm and Uragan monitors, the Sibiryak, Vogul and Kalmyk gunboats, 4 armed steamships, and 2 floating batteries were put into operation. In October, in connection with the threat of the capture of the city by the White Guard and Japanese troops, the ships moved to Blagoveshchensk. The Amur Flotilla participated in the defeat of the White Guards in Primorye. On September 10, 1922, an assault force was landed from two gunboats in Nikolaevsk, which took part in the liberation of the Lower Amur from the White Guards and interventionists. On September 30, a detachment of ships of the flotilla defeated the White Guard ships on Lake. Khanka. The sailors of the flotilla played a significant role in liquidating the last pockets of counter-revolution in the Far East. From January 9, 1922, the flotilla was part of the People's Revolutionary Fleet of the Far East, from November 1922 to September 1926 - part of the Naval Forces of the Far East, then, in April 1927, it was renamed the Far Eastern Military Flotilla (the main base of Khabarovsk) and subordinated to the Administration of the Navy of the Red Army. In 1929, on the eve of the conflict on the CER, the flotilla consisted of 3 divisions of ships (4 MN, 4 KL, 3 BKA, 1 ZM), a group of minesweepers, a landing battalion, and a hydro-aviation detachment (14 seaplanes). In the course of hostilities during the Sino-Soviet conflict, the flotilla successfully landed a number of tactical assault forces, broke into enemy defenses with ship fire, and destroyed the Sungari military river flotilla. On April 23, 1930, she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. In the 1930s, the flotilla was equipped with new ships. On June 27, 1931, it was renamed the Amur Red Banner Flotilla.

During the Great Patriotic War, the marine battalions and other units formed on the flotilla (more than 9.5 thousand sailors in total) fought on the land fronts against the Nazi invaders. During the war with Japan in 1945, the flotilla (6 MN, 11 KL, 7 MKA, 52 BKA, 12 TShch, 36 KATSCH and auxiliary vessels) provided operational transport, landing troops, forcing the Amur, Ussuri, Sungari rivers. Together with units of the 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts, she participated in capturing a number of strongholds of the Japanese and the cities of Manchuria. Subsequently, the flotilla was disbanded.

The flotilla was commanded by: G. G. Ogilvy (December 1917 - September 1918), V. Ya. Buzzard (May 1920 1920-June 1921), N. V. Tretyakov (August - October 1921), N. P. Orlov (October 1921 - January 1922), E. M. Voeikov (November 1922 - January 1923), P. A. Tuchkov (January - December 1923), S. A. Khvitsky (December 1923 - April 1926), V. V. Selitrennikov (May - September 1926), Ya. I. Ozolin (September 1926 - November 1930), D. P. Isakov (November 1930 - October 1933), I. N. Kadatsky-Rudnev (October 1933 - March 1938), F. S. Oktyabrsky (March 1938 - February 1939), D. D. Rogachev (1939, acting), A. G. Golovko (July 1939 - July 1940), P. S. Abankin (July 1940 - June 1943; March - September 1944), F. S. Oktyabrsky (June 1943 - March 1944), F. S. Sedelnikov ( September 1944 - June 1945), N. V. Antonov (June - December 1945).