Pacific Ocean Fleet (Russia)

The Pacific Fleet (Тихоокеанский флот in Russian, or Tikhookeanskiy flot) is part of the Russian Navy stationed in the Pacific Ocean, which formerly secured the Far Eastern borders of the USSR. The fleet headquarters is located at Vladivostok. Another important fleet base is Vilyuchinsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

In the Soviet years, the Pacific Fleet was also responsible for the administration and operational direction of the Soviet Navy's Indian Ocean (8th) Squadron and Soviet naval bases hosted by nations in the Indian Ocean rim, such as the facilities at Aden.

History

In 1731, the Russians created the Military Flotilla of Okhotsk (Охотская военная флотилия, or Okhotskaya voyennaya flotiliya) under its first commander, Grigori Skornyakov-Pisarev, to patrol and protect fishery operations. In 1799, 3 frigates and 3 smaller ships were sent to Okhotsk under the command of Rear-Admiral I. Fomin to form a functioning military flotilla. In 1849, Petropavlovsk-na-Kamchatke became the flotilla's principal base, which a year later would be transferred to Nikolayevsk-on-Amur and then to Vladivostok in 1871. In 1854, the ships of the flotilla distinguished themselves in the defense of Petropavlovsk during the Crimean war. In 1856, the Military Flotilla of Okhotsk changed its name to the Siberian Military Flotilla (Сибирская военная флотилия, or Sibirskaya voyennaya flotiliya).

At the turn of the 19th century, the flotilla was still small in numbers. Owing to a gradual deterioration in Russo-Japanese relations, the Russian government adopted a special shipbuilding program to meet the needs of the Far East region, but its execution dragged on and on. This is why they had to transfer a number of ships of the Baltic Fleet to the Pacific Ocean (see Pacific Squadrons).

By the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, Russian naval forces in the Far East consisted of the 1st Pacific Squadron (7 battleships, 8 cruisers, 13 torpedo boats, 2 gunboats) and a number of ships from the Siberian Military Flotilla (2 cruisers, 2 mine cruisers, 12 torpedo boats and 5 gunboats), based in Port Arthur. Other ships of the Siberian Military Flotilla (4 cruisers, 10 torpedo boats) were stationed in Vladivostok.

During the Russo-Japanese War, the sailors of the Pacific Fleet showed heroism and courage; however, most of the Russian Navy in the Pacific was destroyed. The Russian Baltic Fleet under Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky, renamed the Second Pacific Squadron, sailed halfway around the world to confront the Japanese after the defeat of much of the Russian Pacific Fleet forces. However the Second Pacific Squadron was defeated at the Battle of Tsushima.

During the Russian Revolution of 1905, the sailors of the Pacific Fleet were actively engaged in the revolutionary movement, participating in armed revolts in Vladivostok in January 1906 and October 1907. During the October Revolution of 1917, the sailors of the Siberian and Amur military flotillas fought for the establishment of Soviet authority in the Far East and against the White Army and interventionists. During the Russian Civil War, almost all of the ships of the Pacific Fleet were taken away by the White Army and the Japanese. After the expulsion of the interventionists in 1922, the Soviets created the Naval Forces of the Far East, under commander Ivan Kozhanov, as a part of the Vladivostok unit, and the Amur Military Flotilla (Амурская военная флотилия, or Amurskaya voyennaya flotiliya). In 1926, these were disbanded: the Vladivostok unit was transferred to the command of the frontier troops in the Far East, and the Amur flotilla became a flotilla of its own.

Owing to Japanese aggression in Manchuria in 1931, the Central Committee and the Soviet government decided to create the Naval Forces in the Far East on April 13, 1932. In January 1935, they were renamed the Pacific Fleet, under commander M. Viktorov. The creation of the fleet entailed great difficulties. The first units were formed with small ships delivered by railroad. In 1932, the torpedo boat squadron and 8 submarines were put into service. In 1934, the Pacific Fleet received 26 small submarines. The creation of the naval aviation and coastal artillery was underway. In 1937, they opened the Pacific Military School.

By the beginning of World War II, the Pacific Fleet had 2 surface ship subdivisions, 4 submarine subdivisions, 1 torpedo boat subdivision, a few squadrons of ships and patrol boats, airborne units, coastal artillery and marines.

Great Patriotic War

During the Great Patriotic War or World War II of 1941-45, the Pacific Fleet was in a permanent state of alert and ready for action. At the same time, the Soviets transferred 1 flagship, 2 destroyers, and 5 submarines to the Northern Fleet (see Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet). More than 140,000 sailors from the Pacific Fleet were incorporated in the rifle brigades and other units on the Western Front. By August 1945, the Pacific Fleet had already had 2 cruisers, 1 flagship, 10 destroyers, 2 torpedo boats, 19 patrol boats, 78 submarines, 10 minelayers, 52 minesweepers, 49 “MO” boats (MO stands for Малый Охотник, or “little hunter”), 204 motor torpedo boats, 1459 battle planes.

During the Manchurian Operation of 1945, the Pacific Fleet participated in the removal of the Empire of Japan from Northern Korea, in the South Sakhalin Operation of 1945 and the Kuril Islands Landing Operation the same year.

Thousands of sailors and officers were awarded with orders and medals for outstanding military service; more than 50 men received the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union. 18 ships and fleet units received the title of the Soviet Guards, and 16 were awarded with the Order of the Red Banner.

Cold War

On May 5, 1965, the Pacific Fleet itself was awarded with the Order of the Red Banner.

Following the fall of South Vietnam, a Soviet naval base was established at Cam Ranh Bay in the south of the unified country.

The Pacific Fleet started deploying forces to the Indian Ocean, called the SOVINDRON (Soviet Indian Ocean Squadron) by the U.S. Government, in 1968 after the British government announced its intention to withdraw its military forces east of the Suez Canal by 1971. In addition to the defensive function of balancing the naval strength in the Indian Ocean against that of the United States Navy, the Squadron played a role in promoting Soviet foreign policy. Regular visits and port calls were made in the Indian subcontinent, the Persian Gulf, and the East African coast. After 1975, it´s major stronghold was Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam.

The Indian Ocean force, called the 8th Operational Ehskadra by the Soviets, grew quite substantial at times; in 1980, a Soviet flotilla of 'about ten guided missile cruisers, destroyers and frigates and more than a dozen support ships' confronted the U.S. Navy's Task Force 70 in the region. [Time, ' [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921817,00.html Confrontation at Camel Station] ,' Monday, Feb. 18, 1980] There were also 23 other Soviet ships in the South China Sea, at the same time. In addition, Soviet IL-38 "May" reconnaissance planes, based in Aden or Ethiopia, maintained close watch on U.S. vessels, as did "Hormone" helicopters from Soviet vessels.

In the 1980s, Soviet naval strategy shifted to an emphasis on bastion defense, fortifying the Sea of Okhotsk for that purpose. In the 1970s and 1980s, the aircraft carriers "Minsk" and "Novorossiysk" served with the fleet, until they were scrapped in the 1990s. Various 'battlecruisers' of the "Kirov" class served with the fleet in the 1980s and 1990s as well.

Current Fleet

In April 1953, the Fleets were once again combined under one command:
*Yuriy Aleksandrovich Panteleyev (from January 1953)
*V. A. Chekurov (from January 1956)
*Vitaliy Alekseyevich Fokin (from February 1958)
*Nikolay Nikolayevich Amelko (from June 1962)
*Nikolay Ivanovich Smirnov (from March 1969)
*V.P.Maslov (from September 1974)
*Emil Nikolayevich Spiridonov (from August 1979)
*V.V.Sidorov (from February 1986)
*Gennadiy Aleksandrovich Khvatov (From December 1986)
*Georgiy N.Gurinov (from March 1993)
*Igor Nikolayevich Khmelnov (from August 1994)
*Vladimir Kuroyedov Vladimir Ivanovich Kuroyedov (from February 1996)
*M.G.Zakharenko (from July 1997)
*G.A.Suchkov (from July 2001)
*Viktor Dmitriyevich Fyodorov (from December 2001)
*Konstantin Semyonovich Sidenko (from December 2007)

Notes

References

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