Image source: topwar.ru
The annual professional holiday of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy has been celebrated since 1996, when the first of June was approved as the date for holding festive events by the Northern Fleet in honor of the creation of the Northern Military Flotilla on this day in 1933, which received the name of the Northern Fleet in 1937.
The Northern Flotilla was created in Murmansk, where two squadrons of surface ships and submarines were transferred from the Baltic in 1933. At the same time, the construction of the first naval base was started in the city of Polyarny, located on the shore of the Catherine Harbor of the Kola Bay of the Barents Sea. For some time, the Northern Fleet was considered the youngest naval formation in the armed forces of the USSR at first, and then Russia.
In fact, the first warships on the northern sea borders of our state appeared at the end of the 17th century. In 1694, they were built by order of Peter I at the Solombal shipyard. At that time, the young tsar personally took ships to sea on the frigate "Holy Prophecy" acquired in Holland to escort eight British merchant ships. Later these ships were transferred to the Baltic Flotilla.
The second, already official birth, the Northern Fleet has been leading since 1733, when the Arkhangelsk military port was created. A military squadron was later formed from the ships built at its shipyards. The next stage in the creation of a military fleet in the Russian North was the formation in 1916 of the Arctic Ocean flotilla, which performs the tasks of escorting Entente ships and hunting for German submarines during the First World War. After the 1917 Revolution, the Northern Flotilla was disbanded again.
After the revival in 1933, by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Northern Fleet had 15 submarines, 15 ships, including eight destroyers and 116 combat aircraft. Already on June 22, 1941, the Battle for the Arctic unfolded in the North, which was fought on land and at sea from June 1941 to October 1944. Despite all efforts, the Germans failed to capture Murmansk, which is strategically important for the region. It was the control over Arkhangelsk and Murmansk that made it possible to receive Allied ships delivering military aid to the Soviet Union under the lend-Lease program.
After the war, the Northern Fleet continued to actively increase its combat power. In 1955, a ballistic missile was launched from a submarine in the White Sea for the first time in the world, and in 1959 the first domestic nuclear submarine "K-3" joined the fleet. It was the submariners of the Northern Fleet who made the world's first ice voyage.
Today, the Red Banner Northern Fleet controls the waters of 13 seas around Russia, ensuring the protection of our country's interests in one of the most strategically important regions — the Arctic. At the head of the Northern Fleet is the heavy nuclear cruiser "Peter the Great" with a crew of over 1,000 people. The joint strategic command "Northern Fleet" of the Russian Armed Forces includes underwater and surface forces, naval aviation, coastal troops and air defense.
Taking into account the fact that NATO countries have been constantly strengthening their military presence in the north of Europe and in the Arctic in recent years, the Northern Navy sailors face serious and responsible tasks to ensure the protection of Russia's interests in the region.
The editorial board of the Military Review congratulates active servicemen and veterans of the Red Banner Northern Fleet on their professional holiday. We are confident that the sailors will cope with all the tasks assigned to them with honor and the Russian North will be reliably protected from any encroachments.
