River flotilla. Naval Historical Directory - Amur River Flotilla

During the civil war and foreign military intervention in Russia, river military flotillas were created and fought on the Volga, Kama, Danube, Dnieper, Don, Western and Northern Dvina, Pripyat, Kura, Volkhov, Amur and Syr Darya, Yenisei and Amur . The combat use of the forces of these flotillas had a significant impact on the effectiveness of the actions of the ground forces. A comprehensive analysis of the experience of the combat use of river flotillas clearly showed the feasibility of creating such formations in large river basins.

1. Pre-war views on the use of river military flotillas in armed struggle.

The theoretical provisions of domestic military and naval art in relation to joint actions of the army and navy, reflected in pre-war guidance documents, concerned mainly the combat use of naval forces in coastal areas. The general provisions of these documents, of course, also applied to river flotillas, but there was no special section in them or a separate document regulating the combat use of river flotilla forces.

Only on the eve of the Great Patriotic War in 1939, based on a generalization of the combat experience of river flotillas in the civil war and in the fighting on the Amur in 1929, taking into account the experience of combat training, a temporary Manual on the combat activities of river flotillas was developed and put into effect ( NRF-39). In it, based on an assessment of the nature of a possible war, the military-geographical conditions of a possible theater of war, the purpose and tasks of river flotillas were determined.

“The basis, purpose and content of the combat activities of river flotillas,” the manual said, “are actions together with ground forces and in the interests of ground forces.” The main purpose of river flotillas, therefore, was considered to assist ground forces in their offensive and defensive actions in river basin areas.

Combat operations by river flotillas without connection with ground forces could take place only as an exception. Even in the fight against a purely riverine enemy, flotillas had to rely on the shore and use the help of ground forces. In this regard, the organization of operational and tactical interaction with ground forces and combat command and control of forces were of great importance. The general provisions for organizing interaction were reflected both in the governing documents of the fleet (NRF-39) and the ground forces (draft Field Manuals of the Red Army of 1940 and 1941), but specific recommendations on this matter were not enough in these documents.

River flotillas were considered a means of high command and could be assigned to military formations no lower than a corps, and individual formations or ships of the flotilla - to divisions or regiments. When assigning a task to the assigned forces of the flotilla, the corresponding combined arms commander was obliged to listen to the considerations of the flotilla commander or the commander of a formation of ships on the most appropriate use of river forces. In general, the flotilla commander had to participate in the development of a plan of action for the ground forces if it was related to the use of the forces of a given flotilla. In cases where the use of flotilla forces was supposed to have a decisive influence on the course of joint military operations, the overall leadership of the interacting forces could be entrusted to the flotilla commander. The pre-war views of the command on the nature of front-line and army offensive and defensive operations and the purpose of the flotillas also determined the tasks of the flotilla forces, which boiled down mainly to the following:

• assistance to ground forces in the offensive and defense during their actions along rivers (independent and joint with ground forces breakthroughs along the river to strike at the enemy’s depth, bypasses and envelopment of his coastal flanks; covering the flanks of one’s troops from detours and envelopment along the river by enemy flotillas or troops along the opposite bank; defense of the rear of one’s troops from the advance of enemy river forces.);
• assisting ground forces in overcoming possible obstacles during an offensive and maintaining crossings and defensive lines during defense;
• ensuring military and national economic transportation along rivers;
• fight against the forces of enemy river flotillas.

Assisting ground forces in attack and defense, the forces of the river flotillas had to fight enemy artillery, tanks and infantry. Therefore, naval coastal and anti-aircraft artillery was considered the main weapon of the flotilla forces.

In the pre-war years, the theory of artillery firing of ships at coastal targets was comprehensively developed, and a fire control technique was created. During the combat training of monitors and gunboats, they were trained as one of the course tasks of a single ship “Actions against the shore” (task No. 6) and joint tasks of a formation of ships “Fire support for the army flank (fighting a division of river ships with a land enemy)” (C -3). Much attention was paid to practicing these tasks, and the ships of the river flotillas were well prepared for firing at coastal targets.

The most active type of assistance to ground forces both in offensive and defensive operations was considered to be landings. For landings, it was planned to create special “consolidated river groups”, consisting, as a rule, of a transport flotilla (transport detachment), a naval support detachment, a covering detachment and an air group. Command of the combined river group, depending on the situation, was assigned either to the flotilla commander (formation commander) or to the corresponding commander of the ground forces (landing forces).

The content and nature of the tasks facing the flotillas were also determined by the composition of the forces of the river flotillas, which were supposed to have river ships with predominantly artillery weapons (monitors, gunboats, floating batteries, armored boats, patrol boats), as well as minelayers, minesweepers and torpedo boats; air force; ground forces and coastal defense. River warships were considered the core of the flotilla's forces.

The air force, consisting of fighter, bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, could be directly part of the flotilla or quickly attached to it. In addition, to conduct observation and adjust artillery fire, the air force could have tethered balloons, which were united into so-called “aeronautical units”. Ground forces could either be part of the flotilla, or be assigned to them under operational subordination. They were called “escort troops” and their composition could reach a battalion with reinforcements. The regular escort troops were to consist of marines.

Coastal defense of river flotillas included: coastal artillery, a system of fortifications on the shore and minefields in the water. Coastal defense was to be deployed in critical sections of the river in the form of fortified areas, individual positions, divisions or batteries, and was intended to counter the enemy or the enemy crossing the river in a given area or in a given section.

The Manual on the combat activities of river flotillas defined the tasks of individual classes of river ships, gave characteristics, purpose and recommendations for the combat use of flotilla combat forces (artillery, torpedo, mine weapons, barrage nets, etc.) Recommendations for the combat use of individual classes of river ships in in accordance with their purpose and objectives, were developed and enshrined in the relevant private manuals on the combat activities of monitors, gunboats, armored boats and minesweepers.

Organizationally, the forces of the river flotillas were to be united into “homogeneous” formations (divisions, brigades), consisting of ships of the same class, and “maneuverable” formations (individual detachments and brigades), consisting of ships of different classes and reinforcement units.

Until mid-1940, the Navy included two river flotillas - the Red Banner Amur (commander - P.S. Abankin), formed in May 1940 (main base Khabarovsk) and the Dnieper flotilla. In June 1940, in connection with the entry into the USSR of Western Ukraine, Western Belarus and Bessarabia, by order of the People's Commissar of the Navy, the Dnieper flotilla was disbanded and on its basis 2 flotillas were created - the Danube (commander - Abramov N.O., from 09/16/1941 - corps L.S. Frolov, main base Izmail), which became part of the Black Sea Fleet and Pinsk (commander - corps D.D. Rogachev, main base Pinsk), subordinate directly to the People's Commissar Navy (operationally it was subordinate to the commander of the Western Special Military District).

The ships and boats of these flotillas were consolidated into divisions of homogeneous ships, and coastal anti-aircraft artillery was combined into separate anti-aircraft artillery units. divisions (OZAD). The coastal artillery batteries of the Danube Flotilla were consolidated into the coastal defense sector.

The most powerful art. The ships of the river flotillas, capable of successfully solving all typical tasks, were monitors with artillery of caliber from 102 to 152 mm. This class was represented by several types of ships, including new ones (Khasan and Kakhovka) with 130 mm caliber turret artillery. However, the number of monitors in each flotilla was insufficient (especially small, only 5 units, they were part of the Danube flotilla).

At the beginning of the war, a new class of river ships were armored boats, which began to be built in 1936-38. As the main weapon, they had one or two tank turrets with 76 mm artillery mounts, which made it possible to repair damage to the boat in front-line or army tank repair shops. Possessing good maneuverability, sufficiently strong artillery and armor protection, armored boats, with sufficient numbers, could provide significant assistance to ground forces during their operations in areas of large river basins.

A very important advantage of this class of river ships was the ability to freely transfer them from one theater to another via internal water and land communications, which allowed the command, if necessary, to timely create appropriate formations of river forces in new operational directions.

No new gunboats were built before the war, so several of them from the Civil War period that were in service were modernized by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. In case of war, provision was made for the mobilization, re-equipment and arming of river vessels of civil organizations for this class of ships. It should be noted that the country's river transport fleet did not have a sufficient number of vessels suitable for these purposes. In addition, not all available transport vessels are available. Due to their technical condition and mobilization readiness, they turned out to be suitable for the needs of war.

A serious drawback in the development of river flotilla forces before the war was the small number of mine defense ships in their composition. There were only 24 minesweepers in the 3 existing flotillas. The flotilla's combat training on the eve of the war was carried out with great effort and was aimed primarily at practicing joint tasks with ground forces in offensive operations and combat operations.

Since the Danube and Pinsk flotillas were formed only in June 1940, by the first half of 1941, the formation of formed formations and individual ships had not yet finished, working out control and communications issues, developing instructions for the combat use of flotilla forces in the specific conditions of theaters, practicing the tasks of the BP Courses (for monitors, gunboats, armored boats and minesweepers, the BP Courses were put into effect on February 15, 1941)

A negative impact on the course of the BP and the state of the fleet's battlefield was caused by their understaffing with officers. Thus, on January 1, 1941, the shortage of officers in the Danube and Pinsk flotillas was about 24% and 21%, respectively.

In general, the main provisions of the theory of Soviet naval art before the Great Patriotic War regarding the purpose and tasks of river flotilla forces, as well as the forms and methods of their combat use, were correct. They corresponded to the possible nature of the war and reflected a unified approach and understanding by the command of the army and navy of the ideas of military doctrine of the pre-war period.

2. Tasks solved by military river flotillas, the scale of their actions.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the most important river basins of the country such as the Danube and Dnieper, and later the Volga, became theaters of military operations. Therefore, along with the Northern, Baltic and Black Sea fleets, the Danube and Pinsk river flotillas joined the hostilities. Already at 4.14 o'clock. On June 22, 1941, Romanian coastal batteries from the Satu Nou Peninsula opened massive artillery fire on the main base of the Danube flotilla, Izmail, and the ships located there, and at 9.00 German aviation made the first raid on the ships of the Pinsk flotilla.

During the course, the forces of our river and lake flotillas had to conduct combat operations on more than 30 rivers. Moreover, as expected before the war, the main content of combat operations was assistance to the ground forces.

The most typical tasks that flotillas solved with the assistance of troops were:

• artillery support for the flank of troops in defense and offensive along river lines;
• landing;
• ensuring the crossing of troops and equipment across water boundaries;
• combating enemy crossings;
• provision of longitudinal military river communications.

In addition, the most important task of river flotillas was to ensure transportation of strategic cargo along the rivers. This task was especially important for the Volga Flotilla (formed in October 1941 from a training detachment of ships on the Volga River, commander from 02/16/1942 - Rogachev V.V.), starting in the spring of 1942, when The scale of transportation of strategic raw materials (oil) along the Volga has increased significantly, and the enemy has significantly increased the impact of this communication with its aviation.

The Danube flotilla in 1941 also solved the problem of fighting the forces of the Romanian divisions on the Danube.

What specific tasks were solved by flotillas in a given period of the Great Patriotic War depended on the general situation on the Soviet-German front and on the tasks that were solved by ground forces in the river basins where the flotilla forces operated. The forms and methods of combat use of river flotilla forces were also determined by the army command's plan for a defensive or offensive operation by a group of ground forces.

In the first period of the war, when our troops fought mainly only defensive battles, artillery support for the troops was of exceptional importance. The significance of this task increased due to the fact that the ground forces had an insufficient amount of artillery. Artillery support was provided by all classes of ships. Firing was carried out both at targets visible and invisible from the ship, using correction posts located in the battle formations of our troops. The first of them were carried out, as a rule, on the move and were characterized by the transience of the battle. The most common were firing at invisible targets, which were carried out mainly from closed or semi-closed firing positions. The most frequent incidents were firing at artillery and mortar batteries and enemy personnel, as well as firing at the destruction of bridges and crossings.

All these tasks were carried out by naval artillery, both independently and in conjunction with field artillery of the ground forces. During joint operations, the artillery of river ships was assigned those tasks that could not be performed by field artillery. The intensity of the combat use of river ship artillery was quite high. Thus, during the defensive period of the Battle of Stalingrad alone, the ships of the Volga Flotilla conducted more than 1,200 live firing exercises.

No less important was the task of covering and ensuring the crossing of friendly troops across water lines when retreating under the pressure of superior enemy forces and raiding enemy crossings. While solving these problems, the ships of the Pinsk and Danube flotillas repeatedly found themselves in difficult situations and were forced to break through under the influence of the enemy. The flotillas mastered methods of breaking through ships when one or both banks were in the hands of the enemy and the river was shot not only by his artillery, but also by machine guns.

At the same time, the forces of the flotilla were reduced to the main and supporting groups, which together solved the problem of the breakthrough. The ships of the supporting group (minesweepers, armored boats, patrol boats and auxiliary vessels), following in front and behind the main forces (monitors and gunboats), diverted enemy fire, trawled fairways, suppressed machine gun points located on the shore and covered the main forces with smoke screens . In addition, they performed the task of towing damaged ships.

During the breakthrough, the main forces suppressed enemy artillery and mortar batteries. In some cases, ground forces artillery was also brought in to ensure a breakthrough for ships. It solved the problem of suppressing the fire of enemy artillery batteries that were preventing the breakthrough of our ships.

In subsequent periods of the war, when Soviet troops conducted mainly offensive operations and actions, along with artillery support for ground forces, which remained the most important task of river ships, the importance of such tasks as ensuring the crossing of wide water obstacles by troops, ensuring crossings of advancing troops and equipment increased across water boundaries and the implementation of river longitudinal troop transport.

The need to ensure troop crossings only by flotilla forces is explained by the fact that during the rapid advance of our troops, in a number of cases heavy engineering crossing facilities did not have time to follow the troops. During the Bobruisk operation on June 24-28, 1944, for example, for this reason, the ships of the Dnieper flotilla were transported across the river on their own. Berezina 66 thousand people. and 1,550 guns and mortars of the 48th Army of the 1st Belorussian Front.

In total, during the entire war, only when our troops crossed wide water barriers, river flotillas transported more than 2.5 million people.

With artillery support for the advancing ground forces, naval artillery was included in the general plan of the artillery offensive of the corps or army operating in riverine directions. The flag artilleryman of the flotilla or the corresponding formation of ships of the flotilla was involved in the development of such a plan. In these cases, individual ships or tactical groups of ships were given planned artillery fire tables. Along with naval rifled artillery, rocket artillery was also used to support ground forces.

Many times during the war, river flotillas solved the problem of landing troops. This task was solved both during defense and, especially during the offensive of ground forces. In terms of their scale, all river landings were tactical and landed in the tactical depth of the enemy’s defense (no more than 30-35 km from the front line). The composition of such landings ranged from a platoon to a reinforced brigade. There were no special landing ships or landing craft on the flotillas. Most often, armored boats were used for landings.

By landing tactical landings, the flotillas assisted the ground forces in maintaining and improving their defensive lines and breaking through the enemy’s defensive positions. Landing operations of flotillas were the most active form of assistance to ground forces in defensive and offensive operations in riverine directions. During the war, the Danube, Dnieper and Volga flotillas alone landed more than 30 tactical landings.

The role of river flotillas in ensuring strategic and national economic transportation was significant. The role of the Volga Flotilla was especially significant in solving this problem, since the Volga waterway was of strategic importance. During periods of navigation, the most important strategic raw materials – oil and petroleum products – flowed along this route in a continuous flow. The enemy correctly assessed the importance of the Volga communication and tried in every possible way to interrupt it. Systematically, from the middle of 1942 to the middle of 1943 (during the navigation period), he carried out bombing attacks with his aircraft on ports, ships and ships in transit and carried out massive laying of mines in the area from Astrakhan to Saratov.

In this regard, important tasks for the Volga Flotilla in 1942-43 were the organization of air defense and air defense of this most important highway. The most difficult thing was organizing air defense. Despite the limited capabilities of forces and means, the flotilla successfully ensured the protection of communications in navigation in 1942-43. The functioning of important longitudinal communications was interrupted only during the battles directly for Stalingrad, when the enemy reached the Volga.

During the war, river flotillas were the most mobile and agile formations of the Navy. As the general situation on the Soviet-German front changed, as well as the situation in individual operational directions, the flotillas were disbanded, formed again, or created anew. So, in particular, in connection with the advance of the enemy deep into our territory, the Pinsk (October 1941) and Danube (November 1941) flotillas were disbanded. In October 1941, the Volga Military Flotilla was formed. After the completion of the radical change on the Soviet-German front and the access of our troops to the Dnieper, and then to the Danube, the Dnieper (September 1943) and Danube (April 1944) flotillas were re-formed. During the war, separate detachments of river ships operated in the basins of some rivers (in particular, the Don and Kuban detachments in 1941-42)

The entire experience of the Great Patriotic War testifies to the significant role of river flotillas in defensive and offensive front-line and army operations that were conducted in navigable river basins. The forces of river flotillas repeatedly influenced the outcome of these operations during the war.

Many naval officers could not come to terms with the death of the Russian Empire. They went through the crucible of the Civil War, more than once faced with a choice - life or death, took on an unequal battle, died, but did not betray the oath. Their destinies abroad turned out differently...

The book by historian N. Kuznetsov tells about the tragic consequences of the Civil War, the difficult life of Russian sailors in exile, the participation of naval officers in wars and conflicts of the 20th century, their service in foreign fleets, and the cultural life of numerous maritime emigrant organizations.

River flotillas and sea armored trains in the South of Russia.

In the South, white river forces were organized on the Don, Kuban, Dnieper and Volga. Unfortunately, despite the large amount of surviving archival materials, there is very little systematic information on the creation, reorganization and activities of flotillas operating in the South. Therefore, we will limit ourselves to a quick review of the history of naval formations operating on the Don, Dnieper and Volga.

The organization of river flotillas on the Don began in May 1918. During this period, German troops approached the borders of the Don Army region, with the support of which the government of the All-Great Don Army was formed, headed by Ataman P.N. Krasnov. The Don government included the manager of the military and naval departments. The first naval units began to be formed from the naval officers who found themselves on the Don at that moment. Thus, in March 1918, the Don Flotilla began to be created under the command of mechanical engineer senior lieutenant (later captain of the 2nd rank) A.G. Gerasimova. River steamers mobilized for the military needs of the fleet were equipped with three-inch field guns and machine guns; floating batteries were created by installing naval six-inch guns on self-propelled barges. On December 26, 1918, as a result of an agreement between the commander of the Volunteer Army A.I. Denikin and Don Ataman Krasnov formed the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (AFSR). Lieutenant General A.P., who assumed the post of ataman in early February 1919. Bogaevsky completely subordinated parts of the Don Army to the command of the AFSR, including naval units.

On January 31, 1919, the Naval Headquarters of the All-Great Don Army was created. At this period, the main sea and river forces of the army were the following units: the Don Military and Don Transport Flotillas, the Office of the Chief Port Commander, the Taganrog Port Office, the Inspector's Office and naval heavy artillery divisions. By order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Southern Russia dated June 27, 1919, the Naval Headquarters of the All-Great Don Army was transformed into the Headquarters of the River Forces of the South of Russia. During this period, the offensive of the white armies began in a northern direction, and therefore parts of the Don Flotilla and Naval Heavy Artillery were transferred to the Volga, Dnieper and the Black Sea.

In May - July 1919, from the ships transferred from the Sea of ​​​​Azov and the Don, the Whites managed to form the Middle-Dnieper (captain of the 2nd rank, from August 23, 1919 - captain of the 1st rank S.V. Lukomsky) and Nizhne-Dnieper (2nd rank captain V.I. Sobetsky) flotilla. The Middle Dnieper flotilla initially included divisions of gunboats (4 units), armored boats (8 units) and naval heavy artillery (2 - 152 mm guns). During the offensive of the AFSR in 1919, the flotilla supported troops in the Yekaterinoslav (Dnepropetrovsk) - mouth of the river section. Pripyat. At the beginning of September, she conducted a raid on the Desna River towards Chernigov and captured nine steamships that replenished her composition. On October 2, in a battle with ships of the red Dnieper military flotilla near the village of Pechki, while trying to land troops behind the Soviet troops, the enemy managed to inflict heavy damage to the floating battery, sink a boat and capture a gunboat. Subsequently, the flotilla did not conduct active operations, and during the retreat at the end of 1919, its ships had to be disarmed and put out of action.

The Lower Dnieper Flotilla (also called the Detachment of Special Purpose Vessels) - a division of river gunboats (6 units), 3 tugs, 2 boats - in October - November 1919, conducted military operations against rebel formations (in particular, those led by N.I. Makhno) in the areas of Kakhovka, Berislav, Nikopol and Kherson. It was periodically reinforced by light ships of the Black Sea Fleet. With the arrival of the Red Army troops to the mouth of the Dnieper in the winter of 1920, the ships of the flotilla were relocated to the ports of the Crimean Peninsula.

In the literature there is also a mention of the Upper Dnieper flotilla, but archival documents do not confirm its existence.

With the creation of the AFSR, the position of head of the sea and river forces of the Don was established (Rear Admiral S.S. Fabritsky). The Don Flotilla, formed in 1918, in the summer of 1919 consisted of the River Detachment of the Don Forces, the Naval Detachment of the Don Forces and the Transport Flotilla. The main task of the river detachment was to support the actions of ground units with artillery fire and landing troops. By the end of June 1919, the detachment's ships reached the upper reaches of the Don. The Don Flotilla (its river part) interacted with the Azov Sea defense detachment. The white sailors had no military clashes with the red Don military flotilla. In August 1919, the disbanded 1st division of ships moved to the Dnieper, the personnel and weapons of the other two divisions were sent to form the Volga detachment near Tsaritsyn (modern Volgograd). The Don Flotilla was finally disbanded on December 29, 1919.

On the Lower Volga in June 1919, the Volga detachment of ships was formed, later called the Volga Military Flotilla. The flotilla was formed in Tsaritsyn, liberated from the Reds. Patrol boats from the Black Sea Fleet, motor boats of the Don flotillas and four armored boats of the flotilla of the Kuban Cossack Army arrived on the Volga from Rostov by rail. A number of coastal units were also formed. Units of the flotilla operated until the end of 1919 in the coastal strip near Tsaritsyn, Cherny Yar and Solodnikov, engaged in mine laying and conducted a number of artillery battles. At the end of 1919, during the retreat of the Whites, only six boats (including all four armored ones) of the 7th Division were evacuated to Kerch, and the artillery and the remaining 28 boats had to be left in Sarepta, Tsaritsyn, Mariupol and in trains at the Karavannaya station. During the retreat, most of the flotilla's personnel fell behind and went missing. At the beginning of 1920, the remnants of the flotilla personnel gathered in Simferopol.

In connection with the active offensive of the Red Army troops on the Southern and South-Eastern fronts, which began on October 11, 1919, and the occupation by the Reds of the regions in which the flotillas operated, in the fall of 1919, the curtailment of their activities and the evacuation of ships and personnel to the Crimea began On February 12, 1920, from the remnants of the Volga flotilla, the 1st detachment of ships of the River Forces of the South of Russia was formed, and the ships of the Upper and Middle Dnieper flotillas entered the 2nd and 3rd detachments. The headquarters of the River Forces of the South of Russia existed, most likely, until mid-April 1920. Then, during the period when the main hostilities unfolded in the Crimea, the need for its existence disappeared, and the headquarters was disbanded (the commission for its liquidation worked until mid-July). The sailors of the flotillas who found themselves in Crimea continued to serve as part of the Black Sea Fleet.

Naval armored trains also operated in the South. The armored train “Dmitry Donskoy”, created in August 1918 and becoming one of the first armored trains of the Volunteer Army, distinguished itself in battles with the enemy. Unofficially, the armored train bore the name of the tragically deceased admiral of the Great War - “Admiral Nepenin”, since the bulk of its crew were naval officers. Already at the beginning of his service, under the command of captain 2nd rank V.N. Markov, a former artillery officer of the battleship "Slava", the armored train helped two thousand Drozdovites fight off the 30,000-strong army of the "Red Cossack" I.A. near Armavir. Sorokina. On November 15, “Admiral Nepenin”, under the command of an artillery officer from the battleship “John Chrysostom”, senior lieutenant A.D. Makarov, fell into a trap and died at the Bazovoya crossing. Senior Lieutenant Makarov, Lieutenant A. Vargasov, midshipmen N. Turtsevich, A.N. died the death of the brave. Khrushchev and midshipman Ivan Zavadovsky. The remaining sailors with gun locks managed to get to the white units after a difficult battle. The armored train "United Russia", located in a neighboring area, on which naval officers and midshipmen also served, after a fierce battle managed to make its way to its own. Subsequently, the "naval armored train" was restored, and it fought until November 2, 1920. Until mid-August 1919, it again was commanded by a naval officer - senior lieutenant (since March 27, 1919 - captain of the 2nd rank) B.N. Bushen.

River Flotilla of the Serbian Army Ground Forces designed for operations on inland waterways.

The command of the River Flotilla is located in Novi Sad, units are stationed in Novi Sad, Belgrade and Saptse.

The commander of the River Flotilla is Colonel Andrija Andrich.

Tasks of the River Flotilla:

Preparing command, subordinate units and flotilla military personnel to carry out assigned tasks.

Increasing and maintaining combat readiness to carry out missions of the Serbian Army

Control of inland waterways and ensuring maneuvers of Ground Forces units.

Organizational structure

River Flotilla Command

1st River Detachment

2nd River Detachment

1st Pontoon Battalion

2nd Pontoon Battalion

Command Company

Logistics company

Equipment and weapons:

- River minesweepers of the “Neshtin” class: RML-332 "Motajica", RML-335 "Vučedol", RML-336 "Berdap" and RML-341 "Novi Sad".

A series of six river minesweepers ("river minolovac") from RML-331 to RML-336 were built at the Brodotehnika shipyard in Belgrade from 1976 to 1980. The minesweeper RML-341, distinguished by enhanced artillery armament - two four-barreled 20 mm caliber guns, was built in 1999.

The ships are used primarily for counter-terrorism operations, with an emphasis on protecting infrastructure and ships in home areas, as well as assisting ground forces in searching and destroying terrorist groups, ensuring navigational safety and rescue on rivers. River minesweepers of the Neshtin class can transport six tons of cargo or 80 soldiers with equipment.

Standard displacement is 61 tons.

Full – 78 tons.

Weapons:

One four-barreled 20 mm M75 cannon (on RML-341 there are two), two single-barreled M71 cannons.

Launcher for four Strela 2M MANPADS missiles

18 proximity mines AIM-M82 or 24 anchor mines R-1

Mechanical trawl MDL-2R, pontoon electromagnetic-acoustic trawl PEAM-1 and acoustic explosive trawl AEL-1.

RML-332 "Motaitsa"

RML-335 "Vučedol"

RML-336 "Berdap"

RML-341 "Novi Sad"

- Landing assault boats type 411

The River Flotilla has two landing assault boats (landing-jurishna chamza) DЈCH-411 and DЈCH-412. Initially, the boats were based at sea and belong to a class of 32 ships from ДЈЧ-601 to ДЈЧ-632, built from 1975 to 1984 in three series at the Greben shipyard in Velikaya Luka. The River Flotilla boats belong to the third series with two diesel engines instead of one.

In 1995, a detachment of landing assault boats was transferred from the Adriatic coast to the Brodotehnika shipyard in Belgrade, where they were repaired and modernized before being included in the River Flotilla.

Standard displacement 32.6 tons

Full – 42 tons.

The boat can carry six tons of cargo or 80 soldiers with equipment.

Weapons:

Two M71 cannons of 20 mm caliber

Automatic grenade launcher BP-30 caliber 30 mm

Two 12.7 mm machine guns

ДЈЧ-411

ДЈЧ-412

- Special purpose ship BPN-30 "Kozara"(aka River auxiliary ship RPB-30 “Kozara”)

One of the oldest river ships in the armies of the world is “Kozara” - the command ship of the River Flotilla of the Serbian Army. It was built in 1939 at a shipyard in Regensburg, Austria. During World War II, it was part of the German Danube Flotilla, used for supplies and as a recreation area for officers. After the Allied victory, Kriemhild became Oregon Barracks as part of the American forces in Regensburg.

In June 1946, the ship was "demilitarized" and transferred to the Bavarian Lloyd company of Regensburg. The ship came to Yugoslavia in 1960, in exchange for a cargo ship. In 1962, it was transferred from the Danube Lloyd property list to the Yugoslav armed forces as a base ship.

Since 1971, the Command of the River Military Flotilla has been located on Kozar. The last repair of the ship took place in 2004 at the shipyard in Apatin.

Displacement 544.6/601.5 tons.

Armament - 3 three-barreled 20 mm M55 cannons, 70 R-1 anchor mines, or 20 AIM-M82 proximity mines, or 70 ROCKAN mines.

Crew of 47 people, can transport 250 soldiers with equipment.

- River patrol boat (Rechni patrolni chamats) RPC-111.

Built in 1956 at the Tito shipyard in Belgrade.

Displacement 27/29 tons.

Armament: 20 mm M71 cannon, 2400 rounds of ammunition.

Can carry 30 soldiers with equipment.

- River station for demagnetization of ships RSRB-36 “Shabac”

- Motor patrol boat (Chamats motor patrol) ChMP -22

- Bridge park PM M-71

The river flotilla was reorganized into a brigade rank unit on October 2, 2008, when pontoon units were included in its composition.

Unit Day is celebrated at the same time as River Unit Day - August 6. On this day in 1915, on the Sava River, not far from Belgrade Čukarica, the first Serbian warship Jadar was launched, which officially began the creation of the Serbian river flotilla.

For officers of the River Flotilla, the naval rank system has been preserved. After the ranks common to the entire army: waterman, old waterman, old waterman in the first class, zastavnik, zastavnik in the first class, lieutenant - come the naval ranks: lieutenant of the corvette, lieutenant of the frigate, captain of the corvette, captain of the frigate, captain of Bojnog Ford, commodore, rear admiral, vice admiral, admiral

Small ships of Project 21630 with artillery weapons were created specifically to strengthen the Caspian flotilla. The ships have a small displacement and therefore can be used in river and sea flotillas. In 2002, from spring to autumn, large-scale exercises were held in the Caspian Sea, involving the forces of many departments and ministries. Almost all the heads of Russian security forces attended the exercises, and Russian President V. Putin also attended the Caspian exercises. One of the results of the exercises was the first Russian ship program, which included the creation of modern small warships for the Caspian flotilla.

MAK "Astrakhan" pr.21630, 2006 (http://militaryphotos.net)

The developer of the newest river-sea ship is JSC Zelenodolsk Design Bureau. The ship project is named “Buyan” and numbered 21630. The work on creating the ship was supervised by the head of the design department Y. Kushnira, and the chief observer from the fleet, captain 1st rank V. Denisov, assisted the designers in scientific and technical support of the project. The MAC of the new project 21630 “river-sea”, developed for use in the Caspian Sea, is intended to perform tasks in the near sea zone, river deltas and river sections. The small displacement and draft are specially selected for the shallow depths of the Caspian and Volga. The designers also provided a sufficient cruising range - the ships can travel the entire Volga or Caspian Sea on one refueling.

Design of MAK project 21630
The ship's hull is made using stealth technologies, which significantly reduces radar signature - the planes of the superstructure are inclined, protruding parts of the equipment and hull are kept to a minimum, many doors, hatches and superstructures are hidden in the planes, and the equipment is in fairings, radar-absorbing coatings and materials are used . In addition, modern domestic achievements in shipbuilding were used in the creation of the Buyan MAK. All materials, equipment and weapons are produced by Russian enterprises. Electronic equipment is built on Russian element base. The ship is significantly superior in armament to similar projects of Western and domestic production.

Armament MAK "Buyan"
Project 21630 ships for combat duty to protect and guard Russia's 200-mile economic zone in the Caspian Sea are equipped with the following weapons:
- universal 100 mm gun mount “A-190-01”, installed in the bow of the ship. Controls the fire of the Laska fire control system;
- two units of a six-barreled 30 mm AK-630 assault rifle, installed on the left and right sides;
- retractable MLRS 122 mm "Grad-M", installed in the stern of the ship;
- launcher for the 3M-47 “Gibka” air defense missile system using the “Igla/Igla-1M” missile defense system, installed in the stern of the ship. PU control is remote;
- 2 machine gun mounts 14.5 mm MTPU;
- additional weapons - anti-sabotage grenade launcher of hand-held depth charges and mines dropped from 2 points.

Equipment of MAC "Buyan"
- BIUS type “Sigma” with an integrated bridge system;
- radar station MR-123 for the Laska fire control system;
- optical-electronic type observation device;
- navigation radar station MR-231;
- four PK-10 jamming systems;
- GAS "Anapa-M" of lowered type.

The competition for the construction of project 21630 was won by Almaz OJSC in 2003. The construction of 10 new ships is planned. The first (lead) ship of the series was laid down at the St. Petersburg shipyard at the end of January 2004. The ship received serial number 701 and became known as “Astrakhan”. The name of the ship was given on the initiative of the commander of the Caspian flotilla and the governor of the region. The launch took place in early October 2005. In 2006, Project 21630 MAK, under the name “Astrakhan” and tail number 012, joined the ranks of the Caspian Flotilla.

The first serial and second in the series ship "Volgodonsk", laid down at the end of February 2005, was launched in May last year, and at the end of 2011 with the number 161 (serial number 702) it was put into operation. It is currently undergoing various tests and will be relocated to the Caspian Sea in the summer.

The second serial, third (last) in the series ship “Makhachkala”, laid down at the end of March 2006, is currently preparing to leave the slipways for water, it is expected that this will happen at the end of this month. The Caspian flotilla is expected to be replenished at the end of 2012.

Known modifications:
- project 21630 – basic MAK project;
- project 21631 - a corvette or small missile ship, also intended to strengthen the Caspian flotilla. Apart from the overall weight characteristics and missile weapons, the rest of the weapons and equipment are almost identical to the basic design;

Project 21632 is an export version of Project 21631. Armament on ships of the project is of export standard or according to customer requirements. 6 such ships will be built for the Kazakh Navy.

Main characteristics:
- length 62 meters;
- draft 204 centimeters;
- width 9.6 meters;
- displacement about 500 tons;
- speed 28 knots;
- range 1.5 thousand miles;
- autonomous operation 10 days;
- team of 29-34 people.

Information sources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n190OQb6DGU
http://militaryrussia.ru/blog/topic-394.html
http://www.warships.ru/Russia/Fighting_Ships/Patrol_Craft/21630.html
http://vpk.name/news/50884_proekt_21630_buyan__malyii_artilleriiskii_korabl.html

September 3rd, 3:08

1. Residents of Manchuria greet Soviet troops disembarking from the ships of the Red Banner Amur Flotilla.
On the right you can see one of the KAF monitors. Unlike the mass-produced photographs (staged and taken after combat operations) with the landing of troops from the Sverdlov monitor, this one clearly shows the combat appearance of the ship - camouflage painting, camouflage nets on the superstructures and numerous branches.

Thanks to the extensive program of digitization of archives and funds of museums of the Russian Federation, various historical photographs and materials have become available, incl. photographs on the history of the KAF, from the funds of the Central Naval Museum in St. Petersburg.
I present a selection of such photographs from August-September 1945 to the attention of blog readers.
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August 9th, 2011

The Red Banner Amur Flotilla in battles against Japan in 1945. Sungari trek.
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 that continued military operations. Despite the sharp deterioration of the international situation, she firmly stood for the continuation of the war, counting on stubborn defense to achieve a peace beneficial to herself. Japan had sufficiently large forces to wage a protracted war. And the calculations of the Japanese command were justified. The operations of the American-British armed forces on the approaches to 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, 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 our country's entry into the war with Japan.
The Soviet Armed Forces had to conduct combat operations mainly on the territory of Manchuria and Korea, as well as on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, i.e. at a front exceeding 6 thousand km. Along the USSR border 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 amounted to 1,100 thousand people (approximately 35% of the entire Japanese army), i.e. increased 4 times in six months. During the Great Patriotic War, border rivers repeatedly became places of provocations.
During the war years, the Amur Flotilla sent 9,542 sailors to the front, who fought in various fleets and fronts. In the period from February 25 to March 2, 1945. The Military Council of the Red Banner Amur Flotilla held a bilateral operational game on the topic “Assisting ground forces in an offensive operation along the water line with crossing the fortified water line and destroying the enemy flotilla,” which was 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, and the Khanka and Ussuriysk separate detachments of armored boats. On July 1, 1945, the flotilla included: eight monitors, 11 gunboats (three specially built, and eight wheeled from among the mobilized ships), 52 armored boats, 12 wheeled river minesweepers, 36 cutter minesweepers, seven mine boats of the I-5 type with NURS, one minelayer, one network minelayer, five floating anti-aircraft batteries (including three self-propelled), 15 semi-gliders, three patrol boats, three floating bases and one headquarters ship. However, some of the ships mentioned above were under major repairs. For example, out of eight monitors - two ("Kirov" and "Dzerzhinsky"), out of five specially built gunboats - two ("Red Banner" and "Buryat"). With the outbreak of hostilities, all border guard patrol boats on the Amur and Ussuri rivers came under the operational control of the flotilla. The flotilla also included about 70 aircraft.


mine boat type I-5 with NURS on Zeya


Gunboat "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 Tsh Division (four wheeled river minesweepers), 1st BK detachment (boats project 1124 N- 11, 12, 14, 23), 5th BK detachment (boats project 1124 No. 20 and 47, boats of the type Alert No. 91 and 92), the 1st and 2nd detachments of cutters (six boat minesweepers each), 1st MKA detachment (seven mine boats), self-propelled floating battery N-1234 and non-self-propelled floating battery N "1231.
The second brigade included monitors Sverdlov and Far Eastern Komsomolets, the 2nd division of trucks (four wheeled river minesweepers), the 2nd detachment of the bka (boats pr. 1124 N "-" 13, 21, 22, 24), the 3rd BKA detachment (boats pr. 1124 No. 51-54), 3rd detachment of cutters (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 armored forces (boats pr. 1125 No. 31 -34), 4th and 7th detachments of cutters (six boat minesweepers each), self-propelled floating battery No. 1233, wheeled minelayer Strong.


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

Monitor "Active"
The Sretensky separate detachment of river ships included the 1st detachment of the armored vessel (boats pr. 1124 No. 16-19), the 2nd detachment of the armored vessel (boats of the N type "N" 81 and 84, boats of the Pika type No. 93 and 94), a detachment of gliders (AR 41 and 42).
The Ussuri 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 Main Base raids included three patrol boats and the boom net minelayer ZBS-1.
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-7u - 2, S-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 by only 91.6% of officers, and 88.7% of petty officers and enlisted men. 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.
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 of water. 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.