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Amur military flotilla in the Manchurian operation. Amur military flotilla Amur flotilla of river border boats 1950

Amur Military Flotilla Notes The Amur Flotilla is an association of warships created several times armed forces Russia, different periods of time, on the Amur River and other rivers of the Far East. In the literature there are names - Amur River Flotilla, Red Banner Amur Flotilla, Amur Red River Flotilla, KAF.

History of the Amur Military Flotilla The first documentary mentions of the Amur, other rivers and adjacent territories were brought to Yakutsk by Ataman M. Perfilyev, who hunted with his detachment of Cossacks ( sovereigns people), in the summer of 1636, on the Vitim River. In the period from 1639 to 1640, fragmentary information about the Amur land came from I. Yu. Moskvitin, who collected it from the native tribes inhabiting the shores of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. The first Russian warships appeared on the Amur River in the summer of 1644 - these were the plows of the Cossack head V.D. Poyarkov, who, with a small detachment of 85 people, rafted down the river and, after wintering in the lower reaches of the Amur, returned through the Sea of ​​Okhotsk to the Yakutsk fort. The second expedition under the leadership of Ataman E.P. Khabarov, which reached the Amur in 1650, also on plows, managed to temporarily create Russian settlements along the Amur, but after unsuccessful military operations with Qing China in 1689, under the terms of the unequal Treaty of Nerchinsk, the Russians were forced to leave Amur for 160 years. On July 10, 1850, as a result of the expedition of Captain-Lieutenant G.I. Nevelsky (later transformed into the Amur expedition), the lower reaches of the Amur became again accessible to Russia, and on May 18, 1854, the Argun steamship built on the Shilka River of the Siberian Military Flotilla sailed to the Amur and for the first time carried out rafting to the lower reaches, becoming the first ship of the Russian Navy in the upper and middle reaches of this river. Almost simultaneously, in 1855, the screw schooner “Vostok” of the same flotilla and the steam longboat “Nadezhda” of the Amur expedition sailed in the lower reaches of the Amur. By the time of the conclusion of the Aigun Treaty in 1858 and a little later (by 1863), Russia had a pair of wooden gunboats and steamships “Sungacha” and “Ussuri” on the Amur and Ussuri rivers for sailing along the Ussuri, Sungacha and Lake Khanka rivers. All these ships were organizationally part of the Siberian Flotilla of the Maritime Department. However, a permanent Navy connection on the Amur did not exist for about 60 years, despite the aggravation in relations with China in 1860 and 1880. Along the Amur and its tributaries since the 1860s. There were private and state-owned ships, some of which belonged to the Military Department and could be armed: “Zeya”, “Onon”, “Ingoda”, “Chita”, “Konstantin”, “General Korsakov”. On the Amur there were also unarmed steamers of the Siberian flotilla “Shilka”, “Amur”, “Lena”, “Sungacha”, “Ussuri”, “Tug”, “Polza”, “Success”, screw longboats and barges. The steamships were mainly engaged in economic transportation and supplies. TO end of the 19th century centuries, 160 steam ships and 261 barges sailed along the Amur and its tributaries.

The first connection appeared in 1895-1897, although it was not naval. To defend the border line and serve the Cossack villages located on the banks of the Amur, Ussuri and Shilka, the Amur-Ussuri Cossack flotilla was created. It initially consisted of the steamships Ataman (flagship), Cossack Ussuriysky, the steam boat Dozorny, and the barges Lena and Bulava. The crews included Transbaikal, Amur, and Ussuri Cossacks. Senior commander (a position equivalent in status to the position of commander of a separate Cossack hundred) until 1901 - Lukhmanov, Dmitry Afanasyevich. Financing of the flotilla was determined from the funds of two Cossack troops at once - the Amur (8,976 rubles per year) and the Ussuri (17,423 rubles per year). The Cossacks also procured firewood and coal for the flotilla ships (since 1898, 20% of the proceeds from private voyages were allocated to pay for their supplies), but since 1904 this duty was replaced by payment from military capital (2156 rubles per year from Amur and 4724 rubles. from the Ussuri troops). The flotilla was based on the Iman River and was subordinate to the Amur Cossack troops and quite successfully protected Russian subjects from attacks by Chinese Honghuis, transporting goods and passengers until 1917. The Boxer uprising of 1900, during which Boxer and Honghuz gangs fired at Russian ships on the river, showed the need for actual ownership of the waters of the Amur and its tributaries. In addition, the suppression of this uprising resulted in a real war for Russia with regular Chinese troops, during which Russian troops defended the Chinese Eastern Railway, Harbin and occupied Manchuria. During these hostilities, the military command took a number of urgent measures: the steamships of the Waterways Administration “Khilok”, “Tretiy”, “Gazimur”, “Amazar”, “Selenga” and “Sungari” were armed with field artillery. The steamships were subordinate to the army command. Their crews, as well as the Cossacks of the Amur-Ussuri flotilla, under Chinese fire, had to accompany civilian ships along the Amur, and also break through to Harbin along the Sungari. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. on the Amur there were 6 armed ships (“Selenga”, “Khilok” of the Military Department, “Third”, “Sixth”, “Eighteenth”, “Askold” of the Border Guard), border boats “Arthur” and “Chasovoy”, 7 152-mm two-gun floating non-self-propelled batteries of the Siberian flotilla (Berkut, Orel, Lungin, Chibis, Grif, Sokol, Krokhal), 17 obsolete destroyers (No. 3, No. 6, No. 7, No. 9, No. 18, No. 47, No. 48, No. 61, No. 64, No. 91, No. 92, No. 93, No. 95, No. 96, No. 97, No. 98, No. 126) and the semi-submersible destroyer (torpedo boat) “Keta” "Siberian flotilla. Based mainly in Nikolaevsk, these ships carried out military transport, carried out anti-landing defense of the mouth of the Amur and De-Kastri Bay, although they did not take direct part in hostilities (except for the Keta). Even before the Russo-Japanese War, in 1903, the Naval Department decided to create a permanent naval flotilla on the Amur and build special military vessels for it. Shortly before the end of hostilities, on April 2, 1905, a separate detachment of ships of the Siberian Flotilla was formed, which included all warships on the Amur River. After the end of the unsuccessful war for Russia, the importance of warships on the Amur increased even more. For the Separate Detachment, 4 seaworthy gunboats of the “Gilyak” type were laid down to protect the mouth of the Amur. However, they did not get to the Amur, but remained in the Baltic, since due to the deep draft they could only swim in the lower reaches of the Amur - from Khabarovsk to the mouth. But the construction of 10 river gunboats with a shallow depth (Buryat, Orochanin, Mongol, Vogul, Sibiryak, Korel, Kyrgyz, Kalmyk, Zyryanin and Votyak) began "). River gunboats were built at the Sormovo plant and transported along railway and gathered in 1907-1909. in Sretensk. The boats turned out to be quite powerful artillery ships, capable of operating in the difficult conditions of the Amur and Ussuri. After completing the construction of the boats, the plant began building steamships and barges for private customers. Then the construction of even stronger tower gunboats began (later called river monitors). Built in 1907-1909. Baltic Shipyard and assembled in the village of Kokuy, Chita province, they all went into operation in 1910. These gunboats (“Shkval”, “Smerch”, “Whirlwind”, “Typhoon”, “Storm”, “Thunderstorm”, “Blizzard” " and "Uragan") were the most powerful and advanced river ships in the world for their time. In addition, the flotilla included 10 armored messenger ships of the "Bayonet" type - the world's first armored boats (although this term did not yet exist). By order of the Maritime Department of November 28, 1908, all Amur ships assigned to the Siberian Flotilla were united into the Amur River Flotilla with operational subordination to its commander of the Amur Military District. The flotilla was based in the Osipovsky backwater near Khabarovsk. The main disadvantage was the weakness of the basing system. The flotilla did not have a shipbuilding base, since the workshops in Kokuy (the future Sretensky plant) provided only the assembly of ships built in the European part of Russia, as well as the construction of small steam-powered civilian ships. The ship repair base existed in the form of handicraft port workshops in the same Osipovsky backwater. The existence of the flotilla greatly helped in 1910 when revising the treaty with China on navigation along the Amur and its tributaries. However, the first one that started World War forced the partial disarmament of the main warships of the flotilla - severely scarce diesel engines and 152- and 120-mm guns were removed from them and sent to the Baltic and Black Sea. Most of the ships were transferred to the Khabarovsk port for storage. In December 1917, the flotilla raised red flags, becoming part of the Russian fleet Soviet Republic. In July-September 1918, the flotilla took part in the fight against Japanese invaders, White Guards, and Czechoslovak military units . On September 7, 1918, the main forces of the flotilla, which were laid up in Khabarovsk, were captured by the Japanese and became part of the Japanese flotilla on the river. Amur, and the gunboat "Orochanin", the messenger ship "Pika", along with 20 civilian ships and 16 barges, went to the upper reaches of the Zeya, where they were destroyed by the crews at the end of September 1918 to avoid capture. The Amur flotilla as a unit ceased to exist. The Whites tried to create their own flotilla on the Amur, but the Japanese actively prevented this. At the end of 1919 - beginning of 1920, the Japanese partially blew up the ships of the flotilla, the rest were captured in Khabarovsk by Red partisans on February 17, 1920. Some gunboats were put into operation, included in the Amur Flotilla of the People's Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic, organized on May 8, 1920 (since 04/19/1921 - Amur Flotilla of the Naval Forces of the Far Eastern Republic) and took part in the civil war until October 1922. Initially they were based in Khabarovsk, but after its capture in May 1920 by the Japanese - in Blagoveshchensk, and from October 1920 - again in Khabarovsk. However, before leaving Khabarovsk in October 1920, the Japanese took 4 gunboats, a messenger ship and several auxiliary ships to Sakhalin. Most of the gunboats of the former Amur flotilla continued to be in a destroyed and half-submerged state in Khabarovsk throughout 1920. On December 22-23, 1921, they were captured there by the White Rebel Army of the Amur Region, and on February 14, 1922 - again by the red units of the NRA of the Far Eastern Republic. By the summer of 1921, after repairs, the combat-ready forces of the (red) flotilla consisted of six gunboats, five armed steamships, six boats, six minesweepers and up to 20 auxiliary vessels. Since April 1921, the flotilla was subordinate to the headquarters of the Naval Forces of the Far Eastern Republic. The flotilla interacted with ground forces on the Amur and Ussuri rivers and defended a mine and artillery position in the Khabarovsk area. From January 9, 1922 it was called the People's Revolutionary Fleet of the Far Eastern Republic. The last operation of the flotilla during the civil war was the campaign of a detachment of ships as part of the Northern Group of Land and Sea Forces in September-October 1922 with the aim of liberating the lower reaches of the Amur from the Japanese and pro-Japanese authorities. Shortly after the occupation of Vladivostok by the NRA FER, on November 7, 1922, the NRF FER was again divided into the Naval Detachment, which included the remnants of the Siberian Flotilla captured by the Reds in Vladivostok, and the Amur Flotilla of the NRF FER. But a few days later, the Far Eastern Republic announced its accession to the RSFSR, and, accordingly, the flotilla became 17. 11.1922 to be called the Amur River Military Flotilla of the Naval Forces of the Far East of the RSFSR. In May 1925, through diplomatic means, it was possible to receive from Japan the river ships it had withdrawn. After the intervention and the civil war, the flotilla was in a deplorable state, having lost more than half of its combat strength, but in the mid-1920s. began to recover with great enthusiasm through repairs, modernization and rearmament of river ships inherited from the Russian Empire, as well as the transfer of several armored boats by rail from the Baltic and Black Seas. This was mainly done by 1927-1935, when the flotilla included monitors “Sun-Yat-Sen”, “Lenin”, “Kirov”, “Far Eastern Komsomolets”, “Dzerzhinsky”, “Sverdlov”, “Red Vostok” "(former river gunboats of the "Shkval" type, which changed their names several times), gunboats "Buryat", "Mongol", "Krasnaya Zvezda", "Krasnoe Znamya" and "Proletary" (former gunboats of the "Buryat" and "Vogul"), as well as 7 armored boats of the "Partizan", "Spear", "K" and "N" types. From September 6, 1926, in connection with the abolition of the Naval Forces of the Far East, the flotilla was directly subordinate to the commander Navy Red Army. From September 29, 1927 to June 27, 1931 it was called the Far Eastern Military Flotilla, like the entire future Pacific Fleet. In 1929, she took part in battles with Chinese militarists during the “Conflict on the Chinese Eastern Railway.” In July 1929, immediately after the Chiang Kai-shek troops captured the Chinese Eastern Railway, shelling of Soviet ships and coastal settlements on the Amur and its tributaries began. In October 1929, at the beginning of the active phase of hostilities, the Far Eastern military flotilla had 4 monitors led by Lenin, 4 gunboats, a hydroaviation floating base, 3 armored boats and several other vessels. They were opposed by the Chinese Sungari flotilla of one seaworthy gunboat, 3 river gunboats, 5 armed steamships, a floating battery and armed transport and other vessels. Until the end of October, the Amur flotilla advanced along the Sungari to the city of Fujin. In the first and last time In the entire history of Russian and Soviet military river flotillas, on October 11, 1929, a full-scale artillery battle of the main forces of the river flotillas took place near Lahasusu (Tongjiang) at the mouth of the Sungari, which ended in the complete defeat of the enemy - the Sungari flotilla. Three gunboats, two armed steamships and a floating battery were destroyed in the battle, the rest were finished off two weeks later by naval hydroaviation. On May 20, 1930, for excellent actions in defeating the “White Chinese” (as they were then called), the flotilla was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and became known as the Far Eastern Red Banner Military Flotilla. In the 1930s During the large-scale campaign to develop the Far East, the flotilla base was significantly improved. In Khabarovsk in 1932, the shipbuilding plant “Osipovsky Zaton” opened (Shipyard No. 368, later the shipbuilding plant named after S. M. Kirov). Since 1934, the interests of Rechflot were served by the Sretensky shipbuilding plant, created in Kokuy on the basis of small civilian shipyards and plant branches. This plant built auxiliary vessels and boats for the Navy and border guards. But the largest shipbuilding enterprise on the Amur was shipyard No. 199 named after. Lenin Komsomol (now the Amur Shipyard) in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, which had been building ships since 1935. Repair bases operated in Khabarovsk and Komsomolsk. On June 27, 1931, the flotilla was renamed the Amur Red Banner Military Flotilla. In the pre-war years, from 1935-1937. began to be actively replenished with special new-built river warships. These included one of the first-born of the Soviet monitor program - the “Active” monitor (1935), large “Amur” armored boats of Project 1124 with two tank turrets (or Katyusha-type installations) and small “Dnieper” armored boats of Project 1125 with one tank turret. By 1945, there were 31 units of the former, 42 units of the latter. In addition, by 1941, the flotilla was replenished with eight gunboats converted from river steamers, as well as mine and boom-net layers, river minesweepers, mine boats, floating anti-aircraft batteries and other necessary vessels. By the time of the zenith of its military power in 1945, the flotilla consisted of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd brigades of river ships based in Khabarovsk (each brigade consisted of a detachment of 2-3 monitors or two divisions of 2-4 gunboats, two detachments of armored boats of 4 units each, a division of 4 minesweepers, one or two detachments of boat minesweepers and individual ships), as well as the Zee-Bureya brigade of river ships based in Blagoveshchensk (1 monitor, 5 gunboats, two divisions of armored boats, a total of 16 armored vehicles , a division of 3 minesweepers, a detachment of boat minesweepers, two detachments of gliders), the Sretensky separate detachment of river ships (8 armored boats in two detachments and two gliders), the Ussuri separate detachment of 3 armored boats based in Iman, the Khanka separate detachment of 4 armored boats and Security raids on the flotilla's main base. 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 composition of a fighter regiment, individual 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-7 - 2, Su-2 - 1. At the same time, despite advance preparations for the war with Japan and the presence of a prepared reserve in the form of two European flotillas, the Amur flotilla was staffed with only 91.6% officers, and petty officers and privates - by 88.7%. The situation was leveled by the fact that four relatively large ships were under repair, as well as good special training of the 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 “take away” its personnel. Starshinsky and most of the rank and file had served for 6-8 years by that time, and most of the officers joined the flotilla 10-15 years ago. In 1945, it took part in the war with Japan, being operationally subordinate to the 2nd Far Eastern Front - in the Manchurian offensive operation on August 9 - 20, 1945. The Amur flotilla ensured the advance of Soviet troops along the Amur and Sungari, landed troops in the rear of Japanese troops, participated in the occupation of the Manchu cities of Fuyuan, Sakhalyan, Aigun, Fujin, Jiamusi and Harbin, shelled Japanese fortified sectors, and captured ships of the Songhua river flotilla Damanzhou-Digo in Harbin. After the war, the flotilla was replenished with trophies, among which the most valuable were four Japanese-built gunboats that previously belonged to the Manchu Sungari flotilla. In addition, 40 new, more protected and with better weapons, Project 191M armored boats, which could truly be considered “river tanks,” entered service. Finally, for the mouth of the Amur in 1942-1946. Three powerful Project 1190 monitors (Khasan type) were built, which were also in the Amur Flotilla for a short time. However, since the early 1950s. The decline of river flotillas begins in the USSR. No new ships are being built for them. The formation of the initially friendly People's Republic of China in 1949 also played an important role. By 1955-1958 all existing river military flotillas were disbanded, and the ships and boats that were part of them were scrapped. This was extremely short-sighted, since armored boats do not require large expenses for their preservation - they can easily be stored on the shore in a mothballed form, as a huge number of tanks, artillery and cars were once stored. The Amur Flotilla was disbanded in August 1955. Instead, the Red Banner Amur Military River Base of the Pacific Fleet was created. Since the beginning of the 1960s, relations between the USSR and China began to deteriorate sharply. The defenselessness of the Amur River became so obvious that the country's military leadership was forced to urgently revive the military river forces. In 1961, the Amur Brigade (later a division) of river ships of the Pacific Fleet was created. New ships had to be built for it: the basis of the river forces were artillery boats of Project 1204, which in 1966-1967. built 118 units. , as well as 11 small artillery ships of Project 1208, built in 1975-1985. The first were supposed to be a replacement for the previous armored boats, the second - for river monitors. However, according to experts and the military, a full-fledged replacement did not work out: if the armored boats of Project 191M were created specifically for war as “river tanks,” then the new artillery boats are more likely to be peacetime patrol boats with bulletproof protection. MAKs pr. 1208, for various reasons, also turned out to be not very successful. In addition, especially for border guards in 1979-1984. eleven border patrol ships of Project 1248 were built (based on MAK Project 1208), and for headquarters and management purposes - eight PSKR Project 1249 in the same years. In fairness, it should be noted that foreign analogues of Soviet river ships of Projects 191M, 1204, 1208 either significantly inferior to them, or absent altogether. With this ship composition, the former Amur Flotilla took on the tension of the Soviet-Chinese border conflicts, which peaked in 1969, and entered the 1990s with it. Reorganizations began again... By decree of the President of the Russian Federation of February 7, 1995, the Amur Border River Flotilla was created as part of the border troops Russian Federation. However, soon, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation of June 7, 1998, the Amur Border River Flotilla was disbanded. Due to underfunding, the connection is divided into separate brigades border patrol ships and boats. All warships and the boats were transferred to the Federal Border Service. In 2000, 5 brigades and 1 division were stationed on the Amur border ships and boats: 32 PSKR project 1204, 12 PSKR project 1248, 5 PSKR project 1249, 2 PSKA project 1408.1, 12 PSKA project 371, 3 MAKs, 2 Saigas, 3 tankers (2 large and 1 small), 2 self-propelled barges, 1 unarmed river boat, 2 tank carriers. In 2003, MAKs (small artillery ships) and part of the Murena landing ships were cut into scrap metal (the rest were sold to South Korea). As of 2008, in addition to several dozen border patrol ships (for example, Project 1248 Mosquito) and boats, only one warship survived from the Amur military flotilla - the small artillery ship Vyuga. In 2009, the Border Service on the Amur had 15 river artillery armored boats of Project 1204 “Shmel” (possibly already decommissioned), 1 river small artillery ship of Project 1208 “Slepen”, from 7 to 9 river artillery boats of Project 1248.1 “Moskit”, 8 river artillery boats of Project 1248.1 “Moskit” armored control boats of Project 1249 and 3 artillery armored boats of Project 12130 “Ogonyok”. The composition of the flotilla is 126 ships in service, including: Disbanded 11 OBRPSKR (Jalinda), PSK Division as part of Skovorodinskogo Pogo PSKR project 1248, PSKR project 1249, 18 PSKR project 1204, PSKA project 1408.1, PSKA project 371 9 PSKR project 1248, PSKR project 1249 2 PSKR project 1248, 2 PSKR project 1249, PSKR project 1208, 12 PSKR project 1204, PSKA project 1408.1, PSKA project 371, 3 MAKs, 2 Saigas, 3 tankers (2 large and 1 small), 2 self-propelled barges, 1 unarmed river boat, 2 tank carriers PSKR project 1249, PSKR project 1204, 9 PSKA project 371 PSKa different projects, PMK project 1398 “Aist”, as well as the PMK group in the village. Priargunsk (subordinate to the commander of the OdnPSK)

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 blitzkrieg,” was the complete elimination of Japan’s military presence on the Asian continent.

COMBAT STRUCTURE AND TASKS OF THE AMUR FLOTILLA

Krasnoznamennaya Amur military flotilla , operationally subordinate to the commander of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, in the Manchurian operation it was necessary to ensure the crossing of the Amur and Ussuri by ground forces, and to facilitate the offensive of the front forces in the Sungari direction. In addition, it had to prevent the enemy from crossing these rivers and ensure its communications; as we move along the Sungari, carry out the crossing of personnel and equipment; destroy enemy crossings and resistance centers 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 enemy's Sungari military flotilla, part of the Kwantung Army, consisted of 26 ships, three marine regiments with 50 landing motorboats 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, Sakhalin-Tsitsikar and Prikhankai. Sungari was the main one, as it led the Red Army troops to the central regions of Manchuria. The enemy created a powerful defense system along the Soviet borders. Of the 17 fortified areas on the territory of Manchuria, 8 were located in the directions of the Amur Flotilla. In the lower reaches of the Songhua they included about 950 structures.

The interaction of the flotilla with the ground forces was subordinated to achieving the main goal: ensuring a high rate of advance of troops along the river. The flotilla's artillery was planned to be used together with the front-line artillery. It carried out artillery preparation, ensured river crossings, captured and expanded bridgeheads, and supported rifle formations and units in repelling enemy counterattacks.

The sailors studied the experience of conducting combat operations of river flotillas in the war with Nazi Germany. In preparation, they practiced landing, crossing rivers, landing troops, and joint actions with ground forces to capture enemy resistance centers. Much attention was paid to retrofitting the theater. Additionally, supply and equipment repair points were built. Together with army units, they worked on quickly building bridges, fascines, etc. for troops to approach crossings and landing points, and rafts and ferries were prepared. The issues of interaction between landing forces and naval artillery and aviation were agreed upon. The ships' personnel were trained for landing operations. Sailors trained in blowing up pillboxes and bunkers, and tank destroyer and sniper competitions were held.

In February - March 1945, during the bilateral operational game “Assisting ground forces in an offensive operation along a water line with crossing a fortified water line and destroying 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 FLOTILLA DURING THE OPERATION

On the night of August 9, 1945, troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front crossed large water barriers, the opposite bank of which was heavily fortified. Previously, the naval and field artillery carried out artillery preparation. The offensive in the 15th Army zone began with the actions of advanced and reconnaissance detachments to capture the islands on the Amur. So, the advanced battalion of the 361st rifle division, designed to capture o. Tatarsky (from here the enemy controlled the entrance to the Sungari), boarded the ships of the 1st Brigade, using the dark night and pouring rain, landed on the island and took it by morning. Thus, the exit of the Sungari 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 using fire, assisted the troops in capturing enemy strongholds on the opposite bank.

On August 9, the 2nd brigade of ships landed troops on the approaches to the Fuyuan resistance center (the mouth of the Ussuri) and supported it with artillery fire. The battle for the landing and on the shore was controlled by the command of the 2nd brigade of ships and the 630th rifle regiment from the Far Eastern Komsomolets monitor. The landing area was covered by fighters. By 16:00 the troops captured the city.

The ships of the flotilla were given a new task - to transfer the forces of the second echelons to the captured bridgeheads as soon as possible. For this purpose, three large (Leninskaya, Sakhalyanskaya, Konstantinovskaya) and several small crossings were equipped. Their successful work was achieved through coordinated actions of the military communications bodies 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 period of 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 region and the Zee-Bureya brigade of river ships, having crossed the Amur, in two days in stubborn battles captured three bridgeheads on its right bank (Sakhalyan, Aigun and Tsike). Developing an 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, the city of Sunyu was cleared of the enemy.

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

As a result of the coordinated actions of the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, ships of the Amur Flotilla and border units, the entire Amur coast 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 crossing of rivers and the development of an offensive along the Sungari.

After capturing the mouth of the river, troops and ships rushed forward. Marshal 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 strike formations advanced along both banks of the river.”

AMUR MILITARY FLOTILLA - formation within the navy. Created in 1900 to defend the border along the Amur and Ussuri rivers. During Civil War the ships were captured by Japanese invaders. Recreated in 1920. Participated in hostilities 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 steamships that carried out military transportation, since before the construction of the CER river. Cupid was the only means of communication. The B 4904 flotilla was reinforced with armed steamers and destroyers. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, the flotilla ships transported 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 ensure communications along the river. Cupid and the construction of special military ships for it. 10.5 1907 the first gunboats became part of the flotilla. In 1910, it consisted of 8 tower 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 Japanese invaders and 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 flotilla sailors, successfully acted against Gamow's gangs in Blagoveshchensk. In April, a combined detachment (about 1000 people) of sailors from 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 out guard duty on the Amur and Ussuri rivers and provided assistance to the Red Army troops. At the end of June 1918, when parts of the rebellious Czechoslovak corps occupied Vladivostok, a detachment of Amur sailors and two armored trains arrived on the Ussuri front. The ships of the flotilla provided significant assistance to the troops in repelling the enemy's offensive.

After the Japanese invaders captured the flotilla base in the Osipovsky backwater (near Khabarovsk) on September 7, 1918, some of the ships were scuttled by their crews. The gunboat "Orochanin" as part of the Blagoveshchensk detachment fought stubborn battles with the interventionists until the end of September, then retreated up the river. Zeya, where she was rendered unusable, and her crew went to guerrilla actions. In October 1920, the Japanese took them to the island. Sakhalin is the best ships of the flotilla - the Shkval monitor, the Buryat, Mongol and Votyak gunboats, 2 steamships and several barges with cargo worth more than 13 million rubles in gold.

8.5 1920 the reconstruction of the Amur flotilla began in Blagoveshchensk. From April 19, 1921, it was subordinated to the headquarters of the Naval Forces of the Far Eastern Republic and in May it was relocated to Khabarovsk. By the summer of 1921, the Storm and Hurricane monitors, the Sibiryak, Vogul and Kalmyk gunboats, 4 armed steamships, and 2 floating batteries were put into operation. In October, due to the threat of the city being captured by White Guard and Japanese troops, the ship moved to Blagoveshchensk. The Amur flotilla took part in the defeat of the White Guards in Primorye. On September 10, 1922, in Nikolaevsk, troops were landed from two gunboats and took part in the liberation of the Lower Amur from the White Guards and interventionists. On September 30, a detachment of flotilla ships defeated the White Guard ships on the lake. Hanka. Significant role The sailors of the flotilla played a role in eliminating the last centers 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 (main base Khabarovsk) and subordinated to the Administration of the Red Army Navy. In 1929, on the eve of the conflict on the Chinese Eastern Railway, the flotilla consisted of 3 divisions of ships (4 MN, 4 KL, 3 BKA, 1 ZM), a group of minesweepers, an airborne battalion, and a seaplane detachment (14 seaplanes). During the fighting during the Soviet-Chinese conflict, the flotilla successfully landed a number of tactical landings, 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. 27.6 1931 renamed the Amur Red Banner Flotilla.


During the Great Patriotic War, marine battalions and other units formed in the flotilla (in total more than 9.5 thousand sailors) 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 TSCH, 36 KATSCH and auxiliary vessels) provided operational transportation for landings, crossing the Amur, Ussuri, and Sungari rivers. Together with units of the 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts, it participated in the capture of a number of Japanese strongholds and cities in Manchuria. The flotilla was subsequently disbanded.

The flotilla was commanded by: G. G. Ogilvy (December 1917 - September 1918), V.Ya. Kanyuk (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, interim), 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).

Amur military flotilla

Flotilla Banner

Total information

Number of members

Technique (as of 1910):

  • Surface equipment - 33 units.

Technique (as of 1945):

  • Surface equipment - 126 units.

Technique (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, due to productive activity Governor General of Eastern Siberia N.N. Muravyov-Amursky, economic life in some of the most distant regions of Russia has significantly revived. So, in 1850-1855. The Amur expedition under the command of Captain 1st Rank G.I. Nevelsky (several officers and 60 sailors) began hydrographic descriptions of the river.

N.N. Muravyov-Amursky

The spring of 1852 was marked by the beginning of steam navigation on the Amur, when the Argun steamship, built at the Shilkinsky plant, entered its waters. On May 14, N.N. Muravyov-Amursky set out from Nerchinsk on 77 ships on his first military expedition. The convoy of ships carried a large number of materials, tools, ammunition and food supplies for two years. This expedition began the massive development of the Far East. In 1854, a second caravan brought a hundred horses and all kinds of supplies for two years to come.

In the spring of 1857, the resettlement of the Cossacks became much more intense, as two steamships of the Siberian flotilla, Amur and Lena, were assembled and launched in Nikolaevsk-on-Amur. By the end of the year, there were already 17 Cossack villages on the Amur, which housed three cavalry hundreds and two army battalions with a field artillery battalion. 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 foot Cossacks were resettled in 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 was not completed. In 1897, in spite of everything, the small Amur-Ussuri Cossack flotilla began its activities. Along with this, the steamships 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 purpose, 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 by 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 river defense increased, since 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 Corps border guard, as well as the barges of the Amur Shipping and Trade Society and the Ministry of Railways, hastily supply them with artillery and strengthen several important strategic points along the Amur with these floating batteries. In addition, additional destroyers were transported by rail from the Baltic Fleet and launched into the water in the village of Kokuy.

After the end of the unsuccessful war 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 Chinese Eastern Railway for strategic purposes.) the importance of the development of communication lines of the Amur Basin, as the only communication 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 was too great for the rivers, and it was decided to leave them in the Baltic. But to replace them, eight more powerful Shkval-type tower gunboats were laid down in Sormovo. Among the river ships in the world, they had the most powerful artillery weapons and missile-proof armor. In addition, the flotilla included 10 messenger ships, essentially artillery armored boats of the “Bayonet” type. By order of the Maritime Department of 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 flotilla's ships and vessels were fully equipped.

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 Japanese invaders, White Guards, and Czechoslovak military units. On September 7, 1918, the main forces of the flotilla, which were laid up in Khabarovsk, were captured by the Japanese and became part of the Japanese flotilla on the Amur River, and the gunboat "Orochanin", the messenger ship "Pika" along with 20 civilian steamers and 16 barges went to the upper reaches of the river Zeya, where they were scuttled by crews at the end of September 1918 to avoid capture. The Amur flotilla as a unit ceased to exist. White Army tried to create her own flotilla on the Amur River, but this was prevented by the Japanese interventionists. In 1919, some of the ships were blown up to avoid capture by the Red partisans; the remaining ships 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, the headquarters was located in Blagoveshchensk for some time.

By the summer of 1921, after repairs, six gunboats, five armed steamships, six cutters, six minesweepers, and about 20 auxiliary vessels were put into operation. Since April 1921, the flotilla was subordinate to the headquarters of the Naval Forces of the Far Eastern Republic. It interacted with ground forces on the Amur and Ussuri rivers and defended a mine and artillery position in the Khabarovsk area. From November 1922 to September 1926 it was part of the Naval Forces of the Far East as the Amur River Military Flotilla. In May 1925, through diplomatic means, it was possible to receive from Japan the river ships it had withdrawn. On September 6, 1926, after the abolition of the Naval Forces of the Far East, she was directly subordinate 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 of mixed layout (one T-34 tank turret, one Katyusha mount)

After all the troubles that befell at the same time, the flotilla fell into a deplorable state. Most of the ships were lying in the backwaters without engines (during the First World War, expensive diesel engines were transported to the main theaters of combat) or destroyed; the remaining ships were in a rather disrepair. But starting from the first half of the 1920s, the battered flotilla began to return to life with great enthusiasm. Ships left over from Russian Empire repaired, modernized and rearmed. In 1927, several armored boats arrived from the Black and Baltic Seas. In total, after the start of its 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 N types.

In 1929, the flotilla took part in battles with Chinese militarists during the conflict on the Chinese Eastern Railway. Immediately after the capture of the Chinese Eastern Railway by Chinese troops, shelling of Soviet traffic lights and nearby settlements. 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 flotillas took place near Lahasusu (Tongjiang) at the mouth of the Sungari, which ended in the complete defeat of the enemy - the Sungari flotilla. On May 20, 1930, for 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, newly built river ships. The list of innovations included: the Active monitor, large armored boats of Project 1124 with two tank turrets or two Katyusha installations and small armored boats of Project 1125. Also in 1941, the ship's complement was replenished with 8 gunboats from former passenger ships, minelayers and other combat vessels.

The Great Patriotic War

Essentially, 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 the puppet states created by Japan in 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–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 and to facilitate the advance of front troops in the Sungari direction. Among other things, it had to prevent the enemy from crossing these rivers and ensure its communications; as we move along the Sungari, 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 Far Eastern Komsomolets monitor

On the night of August 9, 1945, crossing of large water barriers began. In advance, the naval and field artillery carried out artillery preparation. The offensive in the 15th Army zone began with the actions of advanced and reconnaissance detachments to capture the islands on the Amur. On August 9, the 2nd brigade of ships landed troops on the approaches to 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 using fire, assisted the troops in capturing enemy strongholds on the opposite bank. The battle for the landing and on the shore was controlled by the command of the 2nd brigade of ships and the 630th rifle regiment from the Far Eastern Komsomolets monitor. The landing area was covered by fighters. By 16:00 the troops captured the city.

The ships of the flotilla were given a new task - to transfer the forces of the second echelons to the captured bridgeheads as soon as possible. For this purpose, three large (Leninskaya, Sakhalyanskaya, Konstantinovskaya) and a couple of small crossings were equipped. Their effective work was achieved through coordinated actions of the military communications bodies of the front, flotilla and 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 period of 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 region and the Zee-Bureya brigade of river ships, having crossed the Amur, in two days in stubborn battles captured three bridgeheads on its right bank (Sakhalyan, Aigun and Tsike). Developing an 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, the city of Sunyu was cleared of the enemy. The sailors of the Sretensky separate division successfully operated in the upper reaches of the Amur. Together with rifle units and border guards, they captured a large enemy resistance center - Mohe. The crews of the armored boats of the Khanka separate detachment defeated border garrisons, commandant's offices, outposts and destroyed important firing points on the northern coast of Lake Hanko. As a result of the coordinated actions of the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, ships of the Amur Flotilla and border units, the entire Amur coast 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 crossing of rivers and the development of an offensive along the Sungari. This 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 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. It was decided to divide the formation into separate brigades of border patrol ships and boats.

Organizational composition

First formation

Headquarters

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

In 1941, in view of the danger of imperialist Japan entering the war against the Soviet Union, personnel and equipment were transferred from the West of the USSR to the East. The Amur flotilla, despite its high combat readiness, was 80 percent staffed, which caused Stalin's concern.

It so happened that fate threw my father, a native of Kuban, in the very first months of the war to the Far East, to the Red Banner Amur Flotilla. In his rare stories about the war, dad recalled distant Khabarovsk and Harbin.


Old photo. 1926 Art. Medvedovskaya, Krasnodar region.
Father and mother, Marfa Emelyanovna Shakun.


My grandfather, Ivan Alekseevich Shakun, died in the Kuban in the mid-20s of the last century.
In this regard, my father addressed all his letters from the front to my mother, my grandmother.

1918. Grandfather is 22 years old.

Summer 1941. My father and mother (my grandmother) made a memory card
before he was sent to the front.


Signature on the card:
Spring 1942, AKF. "To mother as a keepsake from her son and his friend."
Unfortunately, the friend's last name is not indicated.






Ivan Ivanovich Shakun at the age of twenty. AKF, 04/01/1942.

AKF, April 14, 1943.

back side previous card.
AKF, April 14, 1943.

On the left is Ivan Ivanovich Shakun.
I don't know the name of the second sailor.
17.12. 1944.


Military Council :)
1944
Father is third from left.


End of 1945.
Top row - Alexey Shakun and Ivan Shakun.
There are no grandfathers left in our family after the 20s,
In this regard, those who came from the front were greeted by wives, mothers and aunts.
Family photo.
My grandmother, bottom row in the center, after the death of her husband during the collectivization period,
never got married.
Let me tell you, the woman was kind but tough. The kingdom of heaven to her.


I buried my father on August 22, 2002. He lived to be just over 80 years old. He was very strong in spirit.

1964
Mom, older brother Igor, Aunt Lyusya (mother’s sister, participant in the defense of Leningrad, anti-aircraft gunner) and father.
I was no longer there at that time. I was born in 1968. I don’t even know.... Respect to my father.
My father lived several lives.


Dry facts:

Military sailors in the liberation of Northeast China

Military sailors of the Pacific Fleet and the Red Banner Amur Flotilla took an active part in the defeat of the Kwantung Army and the liberation of Northeast China from Japanese invaders, together with Soviet troops in the Far East. The success of the Manchurian operation of 1945 was greatly facilitated by the successful military operations of the Pacific Fleet and troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front to quickly capture the main ports and naval bases of the enemy on the Liaodong Peninsula (Port Arthur and Dalniy) and in North Korea, which led the main forces of the Kwantung Army to complete isolation from their own metropolis, depriving them of the opportunity to transfer reserves and evacuate.

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 with troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front and assist their offensive in the Sungari and Sakhalyan operations.

It should be noted that R. The Amur is the largest waterway of the Far East, navigable along almost its entire length (more than 2800 km). Its tributaries, the Sungari and the Ussuri, are also full-flowing. In the most important directions along the state border of the USSR with North-Eastern China, which runs mainly along the Amur and Ussuri, the enemy created strong fortified areas. The main ones were: Sakhalyansky (opposite Blagoveshchensk), Sungarisky (covering the entrance to the Sungari River) and Fujinsky (70 km from the mouth of the Sungari, protecting the approaches to Harbin). The fortified areas consisted of resistance nodes and strongholds connected by communication passages, the basis of which were pillboxes, bunkers, and reinforced concrete structures. At the beginning of hostilities, the Red Banner Amur Flotilla (commanded by Rear Admiral N.V. Antonov) consisted of up to 150 warships and boats and was significantly superior in combat strength and armament to the Sungari River Military Flotilla of the Japanese.

In the Sungari operation, which was led by the commander of the 15th Army, Lieutenant General K.S. Mamonov, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd brigades of river ships operated successfully (their commanders, respectively, were Captain 1st Rank V.A. Krinin, Captain 1 rank L. B. Tankevich and captain 2 rank A. V. Fadeev).

On August 9 and 10, 1945, troops of the 15th Army and the 5th Separate Rifle Corps successfully crossed the Amur and Ussuri rivers, captured all the islands on the Amur and cleared the opposite banks of these rivers from the enemy in a 120-kilometer strip from the mouth of the river. Sungari to the mouth of the river. Khor and captured the cities of Lubei, Tongjiang, Fuyuan, as well as the resistance centers of the Sungari fortified region. As a result, the opportunity was created for our troops to rapidly advance in the Harbin direction.

Big role played by the personnel and warships of the Red Banner Amur Flotilla.

In a short time, tens of thousands of people, a huge amount of military equipment and various military equipment were transported across the Amur. Together with the army soldiers, the Amur sailors courageously fought the enemy. They were in the vanguard of the advancing troops, with well-aimed artillery and machine-gun fire from the ships, they suppressed enemy firing points on the shore and paved the way for the paratroopers.

In the battle for Fuyuan, the personnel of the gunboat "Proletary" (commanded by Senior Lieutenant I.A. Sornev) and armored boats - under the command of Senior Lieutenant K.S. Shnyanin, Lieutenant P.S. Semenyak and Junior Lieutenant S.F. Yakushenko. Under enemy fire, they quickly landed troops ashore and, with accurate shooting from ships, ensured the successful capture of the city by the paratroopers.

In this battle, the sergeant major of the 1st article, communist Nikolai Golubkov, performed a heroic feat. Participating in the landing together with soldiers of the 630th Infantry Regiment, during an attack on one of the enemy targets, he destroyed an enemy firing point with grenades. This created the opportunity for our paratroopers to quickly move forward. But at the same time he was mortally wounded. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, N. N. Golubkov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The residents of Fuyuan greeted their liberators warmly. Crowds of them walked to the embankment where our ships stood, their faces glowing with joy. They warmly greeted and thanked Soviet soldiers and sailors for liberation from the Japanese colonialists.

On the monument erected in Fuyuan by local residents in memory of the fallen Soviet sailors, a deeply symbolic inscription was made: “The Soviet liberator soldiers will forever remain in the hearts of the Chinese people.”

Every Soviet soldier, having entered Chinese soil, knew well that he was fulfilling a high international duty, fighting for the liberation of the Chinese people from Japanese oppressors, and this found a grateful response in the hearts of Chinese workers.

Stubborn battles broke out for the capture of the Fongjin fortified area and the city of Fongjin. On the morning of August 11, under the cover of naval artillery fire, the armored boats of the 1st brigade of river ships approached the piers at full speed, quickly unmoored and landed the assault company. Following them, the 3rd Battalion of the 364th Infantry Regiment was landed from the Sun Yat-sen monitor (commanded by Captain 3rd Rank V.D. Korner). At the same time, naval landings were sent from the monitors to cover the advancing troops from the rear.

The fight was intense. The Japanese met the landing with powerful artillery, mortar and machine gun fire. The enemy fiercely resisted, repeatedly launched counterattacks, but was unable to withstand the onslaught of Soviet troops. Heroism Soviet soldiers was massive. Everyone tried to fulfill the combat mission assigned to them as best as possible.

Our monitor warships, armed with 130 mm cannons and rocket artillery, had an advantage over Japanese artillery, the caliber of which did not exceed 75 mm. Not a single enemy firing point could withstand their fire. For example, the Sun Yat-sen monitor destroyed and suppressed 5 pillboxes, 12 bunkers, 6 mortar batteries, destroyed an ammunition depot and big number Japanese soldiers and officers.

Armored boats also provided great assistance to the paratroopers, coming close to the shores and shooting at enemy firing points and manpower at point-blank range.

Our ships did not give respite to the retreating enemy troops. On August 16, with their active support, our troops captured the city of Jiamusi, for which they received gratitude from the Military Council of the 2nd Far Eastern Front. Eliminating pockets of enemy resistance, the ships of the flotilla continued to successfully move up the Sungari to join the airborne assault landing in Harbin on August 18.

On the way from Sanxing to Harbin, the population of villages and villages, seeing our ships, gathered in crowds on the shore with red flags and warmly greeted the Soviet sailors. On the morning of August 20, the ships of the Red Banner Amur Flotilla arrived in Harbin. The Harbin embankment was filled with people for many kilometers. Thousands of Chinese with flowers, banners and flags greeted their liberators. Soon a parade of Soviet sailors took place on the central square. Detachments of Amur residents marched with clear steps through the streets of the city to stormy applause from the residents. The day of the entry of Soviet sailors into Harbin turned into a big one folk holiday.

Military sailors were also active in the Sakhalin offensive operation. During August 10 and 11, the ships of the Zee-Bureya brigade (brigade commander Captain 1st Rank M. G. Voronkov) successfully landed troops of the 2nd Red Banner Army (commander Lieutenant General of Tank Forces M. F. Terekhin) in area of ​​the cities of Sakhalyan, Aigun and Tsike. Thus, three large bridgeheads were created on the right bank of the Amur, and the further development of the operation depended on how quickly the main forces of the army would be transferred here. This task was entrusted to the sailors of the Red Banner Amur Flotilla, and they completed it with honor.

From August 10 to September 1, the ships of the flotilla and vessels of the Upper Amur Shipping Company transported 22,845 people, 1,459 vehicles, 161 tanks, 116 armored vehicles and tractors, 429 guns and mortars, and over 4 thousand tons of various cargo from Blagoveshchensk to Sakhalin.

During the same time, through another crossing from the village of Konstantinovka to Khadagan (110 km below Blagoveshchensk), 64,861 people, 460 guns and mortars, 3,800 cars and tractors, 14,330 tons of various cargo were transported.

All this contributed to the rapid advance of the army into the central regions of Manchuria.

The population of the liberated cities warmly welcomed the Soviet soldiers. In Sakhalin, when our ships approached the pier, thousands of Chinese rushed towards them. Many of them carried red flags and flags in their hands. A rally spontaneously arose. Captain 1st Rank M.G. Voronkov, who spoke at the rally, said that Soviet troops came to them not as conquerors, but as friends, to help them free themselves from Japanese domination. The speech was listened to with great attention. The rally was accompanied by wild rejoicing and cheers in honor of the Soviet liberating soldiers.

In battles with the Japanese invaders, soldiers and officers of the Red Banner Amur Flotilla showed high combat training, discipline, courage, and a high understanding of the liberation mission.

During the operation, ships were the only means of providing high tempo promotion ground forces. They were constantly at the forefront of the advancing units and in 12 days they fought 930 km from Fuyuan to Harbin, of which over 700 km along the Sungari.

Fighting The flotilla received high praise from the Soviet command. The commander of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, General of the Army M.A. Purkaev, noted in the order: “The Red Banner Amur Flotilla, following the order of the Supreme High Command, in close cooperation with the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, contributed to a decisive victory over imperialist Japan. The ships of the flotilla, being the vanguard of the troops The 2nd Far Eastern Front crossed water barriers such as the Amur, Ussuri and Sungari rivers, and thereby accelerated the capture of strong strongholds of the Japanese and the cities of Manchuria."

For military services in the war against imperialist Japan, 3,315 sailors, foremen and officers of the flotilla were awarded orders and medals. Rear Admiral N.V. Antonov, Captain 1st Rank M.G. Voronkov, Captain 3rd Rank V.D. Korner, Lieutenant Commander I.A. Sornev and I.A. Khvorostyanov, Captain S.M. Kuznetsov and foreman 1st article N.N. Golubkov were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union. All four brigades of river ships of the flotilla were awarded orders and received honorary names: 1st Harbin Red Banner, 2nd Amur Red Banner, 3rd Ussuri Order of Nakhimov and 4th Amur Order of Ushakov.

On final stage Manchurian operation followed by airborne assault army units in Dalniy and Port Arthur, under the command of Lieutenant General of Aviation E. N. Preobrazhensky, landing forces of military sailors of the Pacific Fleet were landed from naval aircraft of the Amphibian type.

The Chinese population of Dalny and Port Arthur greeted Soviet soldiers and sailors very friendly. These days, the city streets were filled with thousands of lively and joyful people. The Chinese tried to provide every possible assistance to our units. So, for example, when the first planes landed on the water in the ports of Dalniy and Port Arthur, the Chinese quickly sent boats and schooners for landing on the shore. Cheers were heard everywhere in honor of the Soviet Army and Navy. And when our warships soon arrived in Port Arthur, the city was literally transformed. The news of the arrival of Soviet warships spread around the city with lightning speed. Crowds of Chinese with flags and banners began to flock to the port. They vigorously greeted the Soviet soldiers, sailors and officers - their liberators from the Japanese colonialists.

In the very first days of our stay in Port Arthur, the command of the naval base established in the city (base commander Rear Admiral V.A. Tsipanovich) established the most friendly relations with the local administration and the Chinese population. Considering the population's need for food and consumer goods, the base command met the requests of local authorities and donated a significant amount of food, fabrics and various materials from its reserves.

In the city and in the clubs of the base, joint concerts of amateur performances, performances by Soviet and Chinese artists, and screenings of Soviet films were constantly organized. Sports games and competitions were systematically held.

I remember well how the population of Port Arthur was full of feelings of appreciation and gratitude to the Soviet Army and To the Navy for her liberation, took an enthusiastic part in the celebration of the 28th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution.

These days the Chinese did not work; a festive mood was felt everywhere. On November 7, a large number of people in festive clothes, with red bands on their sleeves, gathered in the city squares. Soviet and Chinese flags were hung everywhere. The mass procession did not stop along the city streets. There were continuous cheers in honor of Soviet people, his army and navy.

In Dalny and Port Arthur, a significant number of Chinese workers worked at ship repair plants and in various workshops and institutions of the army and naval base. For their work they received the same pay as Soviet workers. When talking to us, the Chinese workers thanked the Soviet people for the work given to them and for their brotherly attitude towards them. You should have seen the joyful, welcoming smiles on their faces.