The Amur Military Flotilla (AMF) (russian: Амурская военная флотилия) was a military

flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' (fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class ...

on the

Amur The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...

river in the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

region of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

History

In 1900, the Russians formed a temporary flotilla on the Amur from private steamers and

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

s. Initially, it served transportation purposes during the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

of 1904–1905. Officially, the AMF was created in July 1906 for the purpose of defending the border line of the Amur basin and securing water communication on the Amur. In 1910, the AMF comprised 28 vessels, including eight

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

s and ten smaller gunboats. In December 1917, it formed the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Amur military flotilla, which took part in the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

. In 1918, the AMF was captured by

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

forces, who took away almost all of the ships in May 1920. With the end of the Civil War in the Far East, the Soviets began reconstruction of the flotilla. In 1925–1926, it grew bigger with the return of the ships which had been taken away by the Japanese. In 1929, the AMF included four

river monitor River monitors are military craft designed to patrol rivers. They are normally the largest of all riverine warships in river flotillas, and mount the heaviest weapons. The name originated from the US Navy's , which made her first appearance in ...

s and other ships. In 1930, the AMF was awarded with the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

for its successful military operations during the Sino-Soviet conflict of 1929.

Neon Antonov Neon Vasilyevich Antonov (russian: Неон Васильевич Антонов; – 24 October 1948) was a Soviet Navy Rear Admiral and recipient of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, during World War II. Early life Antonov was born on 19 ...

(1907–1948) was transferred to command the flotilla in preparation for the war against Japan. During the operation, the AMF (eight monitors, eleven gunboats, 52 armored launches etc.) under the command of Antonov cooperated with the armies of the 1st and the 2nd Far Eastern fronts on the Amur,

Ussuri The Ussuri or Wusuli (russian: Уссури; ) is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and forming part of the Si ...

, and

Sungari The Songhua or Sunghwa River (also Haixi or Xingal, russian: Сунгари ''Sungari'') is one of the primary rivers of China, and the longest tributary of the Amur. It flows about from the Changbai Mountains on the China–North Korea bord ...

rivers and

Lake Khanka Lake Khanka (russian: о́зеро Ха́нка) or Lake Xingkai (), is a freshwater lake on the border between Primorsky Krai, Russia and Heilongjiang province, Northeast China (at ). Etymology On the Delisle map of 1706, the lake is named ...

. The Amur Military Flotilla was disbanded on 7 June 1998.УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА РФ ОТ 07.06.98 N 662 О РАСФОРМИРОВАНИИ АМУРСКОЙ ПОГРАНИЧНОЙ РЕЧНОЙ ФЛОТИЛИИ

Notes

References

* {{Russia-mil-stub Naval units and formations of the Soviet Union Naval units and formations of Russia Military history of Manchuria

History

See also

Notes

References