In 1731, the Imperial Russian Navy created the
Okhotsk Military Flotilla (, ) under its first commander,
Grigoriy Skornyakov-Pisarev, to patrol and transport government goods to and from
Kamchatka. 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-Kamchatsky became the Flotilla's principal base, which a year later would be transferred to
Nikolayevsk-on-Amur and later to
Vladivostok in 1871. In 1854, the men of the Flotilla distinguished themselves in the defense of
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky during the
Crimean War, (1853–1856). In 1856, the Okhotsk Military Flotilla changed its name to the
"Siberian Military Flotilla" (, ). In 1860, the provisions of the
Convention of Peking ceded parts of
Outer Manchuria in northeastern
China, including the modern day
krai of
Primorsky Krai to the
Russian Empire. A large squadron under Rear Admiral
A. A. Popov was sent from the
Baltic Fleet to the
Pacific Ocean. During the
American Civil War ships of the squadron visited
San Francisco while the Baltic Fleet visited
New York City. Parts of the squadron, including the Finnish corvette
Kalevala, returned to the Baltic in 1865. At the turn of the 20th century, the Flotilla was still small in numbers. Owing to a gradual deterioration in Russo-
Japanese relations, the Imperial Russian government adopted a special
shipbuilding program to meet the needs of the
Russian Far East region, but its execution dragged on and in addition there were several clashes and defeats between Russian and
Imperial Japanese Navy vessels. In response, the Naval headquarters in
St. Petersburg ordered the Baltic Fleet to the Pacific to reinforce Russian naval forces, primarily the First Pacific Squadron on the east coast of
Asia and its naval base at
Port Arthur. By the beginning of the
Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, Imperial Russian naval forces in the Far East consisted of the 1st Pacific Squadron (7
battleships, 7
cruisers, 13
torpedo boats, 2
gunboats) and a number of ships from the "Siberian Military Flotilla" (2
minelayers, 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, most of the Russian Navy in the Pacific was destroyed. The Russian Baltic Fleet under Admiral
Zinovy Rozhestvensky, renamed 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 seized 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.
Establishment in 1932 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 13 April 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.
World War II During the
Great Patriotic War (the Soviet World War II campaign against Germany from 1941 to 1945) the Pacific Fleet was in a permanent state of alert and ready for action, although the Soviets
remained neutral with respect to the Empire of Japan, the only
Axis power in the Pacific, even after
Japan entered World War II. At the same time, the Soviets transferred a
destroyer leader, three
destroyers, and five submarines from the Pacific Fleet to the
Northern Fleet. More than 140,000 sailors from the Pacific Fleet were incorporated in the
rifle brigades and other units on the
Soviet front against Germans in Europe. By August 1945, the Pacific Fleet consisted of 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
Soviet–Japanese War of 1945, the Pacific Fleet participated in the removal of the Empire of Japan from
Northern Korea (a part of the
Manchurian Operation of 1945), in the
Invasion of South Sakhalin and the
Kuril Islands Landing Operation the same year. Thousands of sailors and officers were awarded
orders and
medals for outstanding military service; more than fifty men received the title
Hero of the Soviet Union. Eighteen ships and fleet units received the title of the
Soviet Guards, and sixteen were awarded the
Order of the Red Banner.
Cold War On 5 May 1965, the Pacific Fleet itself was awarded with the Order of the Red Banner. The Pacific Fleet started deploying forces to the Indian Ocean, and established the 8th Operational (Indian Ocean) Squadron 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 8th 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. The 8th Operational Squadron 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' was juxtaposed to 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
Ilyushin Il-38 reconnaissance planes, based in
Aden or
Ethiopia, maintained a close watch on U.S. vessels, as did
Ka-25 Hormone helicopters from Soviet warships. In 1981 the fleet suffered the loss of many of its senior officers, including its commander in chief, Admiral
Emil Spiridonov, when the
Tupolev Tu-104 transporting them back to Vladivostok after meetings in Leningrad
crashed shortly after takeoff from
Pushkin Airport. A total of 16 admirals and generals, and 38 lower ranking officers, were killed. , Red Banner Pacific Fleet (1984) In the 1980s, Soviet
naval strategy shifted to an emphasis on
bastion defense, fortifying the
Sea of Okhotsk for that purpose. By the mid-1980s, the Pacific Fleet had constituted 32% of all Soviet naval assets, up from 28% in 1975 and 25% in 1965. It included approximately 800 ships, over 120 submarines, and 98
surface combatants. Two of the ships were
aircraft carriers and , which served from the 1970s and 1980s to the 1990s. The
battlecruiser Admiral Lazarev of the served with the fleet in the 1980s and 1990s as well. In 1988 the Primorskiy Flotilla (Military Unit Number 20885) comprised the 165th Missile Ship Brigade (Uliss Bay (Vladivostok)); the 202nd Anti-Submarine Warfare Brigade (Abrek Bay (Fokino), Primorskiy Kray); the 4th Brigade of Constructed and Overhauled Submarines (Vladivostok, Primorskiy Kray); the 72nd Brigade of Constructed and Overhauled Submarines (Bolshoy Kamen, Primorskiy Kray); the 45th and 47th Coastal Defence Brigades; the 7th Minesweeper Brigade (Razboynik Bay (Vladivostok), Primorskiy Kray); and the 19th Submarine Brigade (Uliss Bay, Vladivostok.
Recent events In the 1990s and 2000s, the Pacific Fleet lost many of its larger units. Within a few 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, eight diesel-electric submarines plus numerous light units, amphibious ships and auxiliaries. May 1992 saw the first of five large ammunition explosions at Pacific Fleet storage depots, 1992–2003. The blast rocked the city of
Vladivostok. Between 5–12 July 2013, warships from the Russian Pacific Fleet and the
North Sea Fleet of the
People's Liberation Army Navy participated in
Joint Sea 2013, bilateral naval maneuvers held in the
Peter the Great Bay. Joint Sea 2013 was the largest naval drills yet undertaken by the
PRC's navy with a foreign navy. In 2021, a joint Russian-Chinese squadron sailed around Japan, passing between Japanese islands through the
Tsugaru Strait and then the Osumi Strait. The Russian ships in the squadron included the destroyers
Admiral Panteleyev and
Admiral Tributs, the corvettes
Aldar Tsydenzhapov and
Gromkiy as well as auxiliaries. Plans for deployment of new large units to the Fleet were announced in the early 2010s. Several new
ballistic missile submarines, and large cruisers were projected to join the Fleet. However, these plans evolved over the course of the decade with a changed focus by 2020 on light units and submarines to renew the fleet. In this regard, the focus is now on new general purpose frigates (
Gorshkov-class), multi-role and missile corvettes (
Steregushchiy-class,
Gremyashchiy-class and
Karakurt-class) as well as on a full range of new submarines (the
Borei,
Yasen and
Improved Kilo classes). Vessels of these classes are all projected to enter service through the 2020s. From the early 2020s, with the arrival of the
Borei and
Yasen classes, Russian submarine activity in the region, and the length of submarine patrols, began to increase. In addition, the Pacific Fleet's amphibious capabilities will be modernized in the mid-latter 2020s through the acquisition of one or more of the
Ivan Gren-class landing ships and possibly one of the new
Ivan Rogov-class helicopter assault ships. These plans coincided with a seeming broader intent to expand all Russian naval infantry brigades into division-sized formations. In the Pacific, the combined expansion of the strength of the naval infantry and the fleet's amphibious shipping would enhance Russian power projection capabilities; though all of these plans await the outcome of the
Russo-Ukraine War. While existing ballistic-missile submarine production has fully replaced and increased numbers of SSBNs in the Pacific Fleet, it is unclear that the production of the Yasen-class vessels, and potential follow-on models, will be sufficient to replace aging older nuclear attack and cruise missile submarines on a one-for-one basis. Reports suggest that Russian third-generation nuclear submarines have not been modernized to a level to avoid block obsolescence before 2030. The 2016 decision to add six new "Improved Kilo"-class conventionally-powered submarines to the fleet (all of which were commissioned by 2025) may be partly designed to mitigate such a gap.
2008 submarine accident An
accident aboard , a
nuclear-powered attack
submarine doing a test run during sea trials in the
Sea of Japan on 8 November 2008, killed more than 20 people, marking the worst submarine disaster since
Kursk sank in 2000.
Nerpa was an belonging to the Pacific Fleet. Its construction began in 1991, but was delayed due to lack of funding.
2025 Kamchatka Peninsula earthquake Rybachy, a nuclear
submarine base located in
Avacha Bay, was damaged by the
2025 Kamchatka Peninsula earthquake and tsunami, according to satellite images. Satellite imagery showed that one of the base's floating piers had been damaged. The 8.8-magnitude earthquake occurred just 140 kilometers from the base. ==Order of battle==