In 1900, the Russians formed a temporary flotilla on the Amur from private
steamers and
barges. Initially, it served transportation purposes during the
Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Officially, the AMF was created in July 1906 for the purpose of defending the border line of the Amur
basin and securing water communication on the Amur. In 1910, the AMF comprised 28 vessels, including eight
turret gunboats and ten smaller gunboats. In December 1917, it formed the
Soviet Amur military flotilla, which took part in the
Russian Civil War. In 1918, the AMF was captured by
Japanese forces, who took away almost all of the ships in May 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 which had been taken away by the Japanese. In 1929, the AMF included four
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.
Neon Antonov (1907–1948) was transferred to command the flotilla in preparation for the
war against Japan. During the operation, the AMF (eight monitors, eleven gunboats, 52
armored launches etc.) under the command of Antonov cooperated with the armies of the
1st and the
2nd Far Eastern fronts on the Amur,
Ussuri, and
Sungari rivers and
Lake Khanka. The Amur Military Flotilla was disbanded on 7 June 1998. ==See also==