The Amur Military Flotilla (AMF; ) 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 cla ...

on the

Amur River The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ''proper'' is ...

in the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...

History

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

steamers Steamer may refer to: Transportation * Steamboat, smaller, insular boat on lakes and rivers * Steamship, ocean-faring ship * Screw steamer, steamboat or ship that uses "screws" (propellers) * Steam yacht, luxury or commercial yacht * Paddle st ...

and

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

s. Initially, it served transportation purposes during the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

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 * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...

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 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Amur military flotilla, which took part in the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

. 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 () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

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

Neon Antonov Neon Vasilyevich Antonov (; – 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 January 1907 in the village of Kraskovo in Moscow Gove ...

(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 First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and the 2nd Far Eastern fronts on the Amur,

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

, and

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

rivers and

Lake Khanka Lake Khanka () 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 ''Himgon'' and from it flows a ri ...

. 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 Russian fleets Military units and formations disestablished in 1998 1998 disestablishments in Russia Sino-Soviet conflict (1929)

History

See also

Notes

References