'Amur military flotilla' (AMF) () was a military
flotilla on the
Amur river in the
Far East region of
Russia.
In
1900, the Russians formed a temporary flotilla on the Amur river out of private
steamers and
barges. Initially, it served transportation purposes during the
Russo-Japanese War of
1904-
1905. Officially, the AMF was created in July of
1906 for the purpose of defending the border line of the Amur
basin and securing water communication on the Amur river. In
1910, the AMF comprised 28
units, including 8
turret gunboats and 10 smaller gunboats. In December of
1917, they formed the
Soviet Amur military flotilla, which would take part in the
Russian Civil War.
In
1918, the AMF was captured by the
Japanese, who would take away almost all of the ships in May of
1920. With the end of the Civil War in the Far East, the Soviets began reconstruction of the flotilla. In
1925-
1926, it grew bigger with the return of the ships, taken away by the Japanese. In
1929, the AMF included 4
river monitors and other ships. In
1930, the AMF was awarded with the
Order of the Red Banner for its successful military operations during the
Sino-Soviet conflict of 1929.
During
Operation August Storm in
1945 (The Soviet Offensive in Japanese-held Manchuria), the AMF (8 monitors, 11 gunboats, 52
armored launches etc.) under the command of N.V.Antonov cooperated with the armies of the 1st and the 2nd Far Eastern fronts on the rivers of Amur,
Ussuri,
Sungari, and
Lake Khanka.
See also
★
Evacuation of Manchukuo