Concerning the organizational structure and special combat training of emergency rescue service of the naval pacific fleet (1941-1945)

The article reviews the issues of organizational structure and the features of combat training of emergency rescue service of the Naval Pacific Fleet during the Great Patriotic War. Their analysis is based on the records of the Branch of the Central Archives of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (the Archive of the Navy in Gatchina) and its archives department (the Pacific Fleet in Vladivostok) that are introduced for the first time. The author concluded that despite the considerable remoteness from the main naval base and the fragmentation among the departments of emergency rescue service in the Pacific area, the rescue units' activities in 1941-1945 confirmed the strategic advantage of such dislocation. Thus, the ships of the fleet were fully prepared to carry out combat rescue operations. The analysis of the archival materials showed that many rescue units of the Pacific Fleet were understaffed at that time. Nevertheless, the competent organization and special combat training during the Great Patriotic War in the West demonstrated that the personnel of the Pacific Fleet's rescue service was highly trained for rescue and marine salvage operations at the beginning of the war with Japan.