Pacific Fleet (Russia)

Russian Pacific Fleet sleeve insignia

The Pacific Fleet (Russian: Тихоокеанский флот, translit: Tikhookeanskiy flot) is the part of the Russian Navy that is stationed in the Pacific Ocean, which formerly secured the Far Eastern borders of the Soviet Union. The fleet headquarters is located at Vladivostok and a number of fleet bases are located in the Vladivostok area. Another important fleet basing area is Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy in Avacha Bay on the Kamchatka Peninsula with a major submarine base at Vilyuchinsk in the same bay.

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 technical support points hosted by nations in the Indian Ocean rim, such as the facilities at Socotra Island.

History

Navies of Russia
Imperial Russia Navy (1696–1917) Soviet Union Soviet Navy (1917–1991) Russian Federation Russian Navy (1991–Present)

In 1731, the Russians created the Okhotsk Military Flotilla (Охотская военная флотилия, or Okhotskaya voyennaya flotiliya) under its first commander, Grigoriy 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 men of the flotilla distinguished themselves in the defense of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy during the Crimean war. In 1856, the Okhotsk Military Flotilla changed its name to the Siberian Military Flotilla (Сибирская военная флотилия, or Sibirskaya voyennaya flotiliya).

In 1860 the Convention of Peking ceded parts of Outer Manchuria, including the modern day Primorsky Krai to the Russian Empire. A large squadron under Rear Admiral A.A. Popov was sent from the Baltic Fleet to the Pacific. During the American Civil War ships of the squadron visited San Francisco. Parts of the squadron, including the Finnish ship, the corvette Kalevala returned to the Baltic in 1865.

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 most of the 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 departure 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 eight 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 two surface ship subdivisions, four submarine subdivisions, one torpedo boat subdivision, a few squadrons of ships and patrol boats, airborne units, coastal artillery and marines.

Great Patriotic War

Light cruiser Lazar Kaganovich

During the Great Patriotic War, as the expulsion of the invader in World War II of 1941-45 was known in the Soviet Union, the Pacific Fleet was in a permanent state of alert and ready for action. At the same time, the Soviets transferred 1 destroyer leader, 2 destroyers, and 5 submarines from the Pacific 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 two cruisers, one destroyer leader, ten destroyers, two torpedo boats, 19 patrol boats, 78 submarines, ten minelayers, 52 minesweepers, 49 "MO" anti-submarine boats (MO stands for Малый Охотник, or "little hunter"), 204 motor torpedo boats and 1459 war 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.

Ships of the Soviet Pacific Fleet at Vladivostok in 1990

Cold War

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

Following the communist conquest of South Vietnam, a Soviet naval technical support 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, its 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. There were also 23 other Soviet ships in the South China Sea, at the same time. In addition, Soviet IL-38 reconnaissance planes, based in Aden or Ethiopia, maintained close watch on U.S. vessels, as did Ka-25 Hormone helicopters from Soviet warships.

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. The Admiral Lazarev 'battlecruiser' of the Kirov class served with the fleet in the 1980s and 1990s as well.

Recent events

In the 1990s and 2000s the Pacific Fleet lost many of its larger units. Just years after the collapse of the Soviet union the Fleet lost all its aircraft carriers and by early 2000 only one cruiser remained active with the Fleet. By the end of the 2010s the Fleet consisted of one large missile cruiser, five destroyers, ten nuclear submarines and eight diesel-electric submarines.

Plans for deployment of new large units to the Fleet have been announced. Several new Mistral class amphibious ships, SSBN submarines and large cruisers are to join the Fleet in the coming years.

2008 Russian submarine accident

Main article: 2008 Russian submarine accident

An accident aboard Nerpa, a nuclear-powered attack submarine doing a test run during sea trials in the Sea of Japan on Saturday November 8, 2008, killed more than 20 people, marking the worst submarine disaster since the Kursk sank in 2000. Nerpa is an Akula class attack submarine belonging to the Pacific Fleet. Her construction started in 1991, but was delayed due to lack of funding.

Current Fleet

Major active surface ships of the Russian Pacific Fleet

#	Type	Name	Class	Year
011	Cruiser	Varyag	Slava class cruiser	1983
543	Destroyer	Marshal Shaposhnikov	Udaloy I	1985
564	Destroyer	Admiral Tributs	Udaloy I	1985
572	Destroyer	Admiral Vinogradov	Udaloy I	1988
548	Destroyer	Admiral Panteleyev	Udaloy I	1991
715	Destroyer	Bystryy	Sovremenny	1989

Active Submarines of the Russian Pacific Fleet

#	Type	Name	Class	Year
K-44	SSBN	Ryazan	Delta III	1979
K-506	SSBN	Zelenograd	Delta III	1979
K-211	SSBN	Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy	Delta III	1980
K-223	SSBN	Podolsk	Delta III	1980
K-433	SSBN	Svyatoy Georgiy Pobedonosets (Saint George the Victorious)	Delta III	1981
K-150	SSGN	Tomsk	Oscar II	1991
K-456	SSGN	Vilyuchinsk	Oscar II	1991
K-186	SSGN	Omsk	Oscar II	1993
K-331	SSN	Magadan	Akula I	1990
K-419	SSN	Kuzbass	Akula I	1992
K-295	SSN	Samara	Akula I	1995
B-260	SSK	Chita	Kilo	1981
B-394	SSK		Kilo	1988
B-445	SSK		Kilo	1988
B-464	SSK	Ust'-Kamchatsk	Kilo	1990
B-494	SSK	Ust'-Bolsheretsk	Kilo	1990
B-187	SSK		Kilo	1991
B-190	SSK	Krasnokamensk	Kilo	1993
B-345	SSK		Kilo	1994

Naval Aviation

As of 2007 the Naval Aviation of the Pacific Fleet consisted of:

• 568th Independent Composite Aviation Regiment - HQ at Mongokhto - Tu-22M3, Tu-142MR/MZ;
• 865th Red Banner Order of Labour Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO - HQ at Yelizovo-Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airport - MiG-31 - transferred to Pacific Fleet on 1 July 1998;
• 317th Composite Air Regiment - HQ at Yelizovo - Tu-142;
• 71st Independent MIlitary Transport Air Squadron - HQ at Nikolayevka, Primorskaya - An-12, An-24, An-26;
• 175th Independent Shipborne Anti-submarine Helicopter Squadron - HQ at Yelizovo - Ka-27;
• 289th Independent Anti-submarine Air Regiment - HQ at Nikolayevka - Il-38, Ka-27, Ka-29;

Commanders of the Pacific Fleet

• Mikhail Vladimirovich Viktorov (from April 1932)
• Grigoriy Petrovich Kireyev (from August 1937)
• Nikolay Gerasimovich Kuznetsov (from January 1938)
• Ivan Stepanovich Yumashev (from August 1939)

In January 1947, the Pacific Fleet was divided into the 5th and 7th fleets:

5th Fleet: Aleksandr Sergeyevich Frolov (from January 1947) Nikolay Gerasimovich Kuznetsov (from February 1950) Yuriy Aleksandrovich Panteleyev (August 1951 – January 1953)

7th Fleet: Ivan Ivanovich Baykov (from January 1947) Georgiy Nikitich Kholostyakov (November 1951 – May 1953)

In April 1953, the Fleets were once again combined under one command:

• Yuriy Aleksandrovich Panteleyev (from January 1953)
• Valentin Andreyevich Chekurov (from January 1956)
• Vitaliy Alekseyevich Fokin (from February 1958)
• Nikolay Nikolayevich Amelko (from June 1962)
• Nikolai Ivanovich Smirnov (from March 1969)
• Vladimir Petrovich Maslov (from September 1974)
• Emil Nikolayevich Spiridonov (from August 1979)
• Vladimir Vasilyevich Sidorov (from February 1986)
• Gennadiy Aleksandrovich Khvatov (From December 1986)
• Georgiy Nikolayevich Gurinov (from March 1993)
• Igor Nikolayevich Khmelnov (from August 1994)
• Vladimir Ivanovich Kuroyedov (from February 1996)
• Mikhail Georgiyevich Zakharenko (from July 1997)
• Gennadiy Aleksandrovich Suchkov (from July 2001)
• Viktor Dmitriyevich Fedorov (from December 2001)
• Konstantin Semyonovich Sidenko (from December 2007)
• Sergei Iosfovich Avakyants (Acting from August 2010)

Organization of the Pacific Fleet

• Fleet HQ (Vladivostok)
• Seaboard (Primorsk) Naval Forces
  • Seaboard (Primorsk) Combined Forces Flotilla
    • Flotilla HQ (Fokino)
    • 36th Surface ship Division
    • 44th Anti-submarine ship Brigade
    • 100th Assault ship Brigade
    • 19th Submarine Brigade
    • 165th Surface ship Brigade
    • 34th Rescue vessel Brigade
    • 31st Auxiliary vessel Brigade
    • 72nd Brigade of ships under construction and repair
    • 515th Intelligence ship Brigade
  • Fleet Naval Infantry Force
    • Naval Infantry HQ (Vladivostok)
    • 155th Independent Guards Red Banner Naval Infantry Brigade - Vladivostok (formerly 55th Independent Red Banner Naval Infantry Division)
      • 165th Naval Infantry Regiment
      • 390th Naval Infantry Regiment
      • 106th Naval Infantry Regiment (disbanded 1 December 2007)
      • 921st Naval Infantry Artillery Regiment (disbanded 1 December 2008)
      • 923rd Naval Infantry AAD Missile Regiment (disbanded)
      • 84th Independent Naval Infantry Tank Battalion
      • 263rd Independent Naval Infantry Reconnaissance Battalion
      • 1484th Independent Naval Infantry Communications Battalion
    • 40th Krasnodar-Harbin Twice Red Banner Naval Infantry Regiment (formerly 40th Independent Twice Red Banner Naval Infantry Brigade)
    • 180th Independent Naval Engineering Battalion
  • Pacific Naval Air Forces
    • HQ, Pacific Naval Air Forces
    • 568th Independent Combined Air Regiment
    • 289th Independent Combined Anti-submarine Air Regiment
    • 71st Independent Air Transport Squadron
    • 72nd Independent Coastal Missile Regiment
    • 217th Independent Electronic Warfare Air Regiment
• Northeast Group of Troops and Forces (NEGTF)
  • Group HQ (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy)
  • Kamchatka Combined Forces Flotilla
    • 16th Submarine Squadron
      • 10th Submarine Division
      • 25th Submarine Division
    • 182nd Submarine Brigade Flotilla
    • 114th Coastal defense ship Brigade
    • 438th Independent Rescue vessel Division
    • 84th Auxiliary vessel Brigade
  • Naval Infantry and Coastal Defense Division
    • 40th Independent Naval Infantry Brigade
    • 520th Independent Coastal Missile-Artillery Brigade
  • Naval Air Forces of the NEGTF
    • 865th Independent Fighter Regiment
    • 317th Independent Combined Air Regiment
    • 175th Independent Shipborne Anti-submarine Helicopter Squadron
    • 216th Independent Combined Electronic Warfare Regiment
    • 1532nd Independent Anti-air Warfare Regiment

References

• Muraviev, Alexey D. (2007) (PDF). The Russian Pacific Fleet: From the Crimean War to Perestroika. Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs No. 20. Canberra: Seapower Centre - Australia. ISBN 978 0 642 29667 2. http://www.navy.gov.au/w/images/PIAMA20.pdf.