Astrakhan-Caspian Military Flotilla

formed in October 1918 to defend the lower Volga and Northern Caspian. The Military Fleet of Astrakhan Krai operated in this region from April 1918; in the fall it was strengthened by torpedo boats and submarines arriving from Kronstadt. By November 1918 it consisted of 50 fighting ships and six seaplanes. In December 1918 it was placed under the command of the Caucasus-Caspian front. In early 1919 most of the Caspian Sea was controlled by the flotilla of the interventionists and White Guards (21 armed steamships and 13 torpedo launches). The Astrakhan-Caspian flotilla made a landing in May 1919, taking the fort of Aleksandrovsk and shortly afterward capturing the steamship Leila. Denikin’s representative General Grishin-Almazov was on the Leila, bound for Gur’ev to link up with Kolchak. During May and June of 1919 the flotilla provided fire to aid units of the Tenth Army in the defense of Tsaritsyn and the Eleventh Army in the defense of Astrakhan. Around this time it was composed of three cruisers (armed schooners), six torpedo-boat destroyers, three torpedo boats, four submarines, ten armed steamships, seven destroyers, four floating batteries, and other craft. After the Whites captured Tsaritsyn, the flotilla participated in the Astrakhan defense of 1919. On the night of July 30 sailors of the flotilla liberated the stations of Akh-tuba and Vladimirovka, thereby liquidating the direct threat to Astrakhan. On July 31, 1919, the Astrakhan-Caspian flotilla merged with the Volga Military Flotilla to become the Volga-Caspian Military Flotilla.