The order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy of 25 May 2014 determined 1733 as the year of foundation of the Northern Fleet, and June 1 as its annual holiday".

During the Soviet era the Northern Fleet operated more than 200 submarines, ranging from diesel-electric to nuclear-powered ballistic missile classes.

In June 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an executive order making the Northern Fleet an independent military-administrative entity, effective January 1, 2021.

[4] That status was abolished on February 26, 2024 by a new presidential decree (effective since March 1, 2024) and fleet became part of the recreated Leningrad Military District.

[5] On June 19, 1916, the Imperial Russian Navy formed the Arctic Ocean Flotilla (Флотилия Северного Ледовитого океана, or Flotiliya Severnogo Ledovitogo okeana) during World War I to safeguard transportation routes of Allied ships through the Barents Sea from the Kaiserliche Marine of the German Empire.

[6] The Northern Flotilla was quickly expanded in the years after it was formed, receiving new ships, airfields, coastal and air defence artillery.

Subsequent commanders were Vice Admiral Georgy Stepanov (in October), Rear-Admiral Stepan Kucherov, and Vice-Admiral Yuriy Panteleyev.

During the German-Soviet War of 1941 to 1945, the Northern Fleet defended the coastlines of the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas, secured internal and external transportation routes, and provided support to the maritime flank of the 14th Army.

Naval Infantry and up to 10,000 Northern Fleet personnel participated in land warfare including the Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation of 1944.

Northern Fleet Naval Infantry units caused tens of thousands of German casualties fighting during the Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad, and North Caucasus campaigns.

Great Britain and the United States temporarily provided HMS Royal Sovereign and USS Milwaukee to the USSR in exchange for the Italian ships captured during the war and destined to be divided among the allies.

In June 1956, Northern Fleet Zulu-class submarine, (NATO designation Zulu IV 1/2) “Б-67” (B-67) became the first to carry ballistic missiles.

Two Northern Fleet submarines made a 25,000-nautical-mile (46,000 km; 29,000 mi) journey "around the world" (actually only between the Kola Gulf and the base at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy around South America) without surfacing in 1966.

The Museum of the Air Forces of the Northern Fleet was opened on 20 August 1976, in the closed settlement of Safonovo, Murmansk Oblast.

Fortification of the southern reaches of the Barents Sea during the 1980s marked a Soviet naval strategy shift to an emphasis on bastion defense.

In May 1990 the aircraft and personnel were moved to Olen'ya Airbase, near Olenegorsk, Murmansk Oblast where they operated in support of the Soviet Navy.

In May 1994, after the Russian Ministry of Defence had ordered the retirement of the MiG-23/27 family, the unit was re-equipped with the Sukhoi Su-25 and its aircraft were allowed to deteriorate, being stripped for scrap by the locals.

An analysis of the Northern Fleet produced by Chatham House in the UK notes that: "After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin paid little attention to the Arctic.

As argued in the Chatham House analysis: "Moscow's intentions for the Arctic are not Arctic-specific, but are related to the Kremlin's global ambitions for reviving Russia as a great power.

[23] The formal status of the Northern Fleet as a command equal to that of other Russian military districts took effect on January 1, 2021.

In this regard, reports suggest that Russian third-generation nuclear submarines have not been modernized to a level to avoid block obsolescence before 2030.

Samarkand is designed to assess electromagnetic situation, search, detect and analyze radio emissions and Barnaul-T helps conduct reconnaissance round-the-clock.

[27][28] Russia's Northern Fleet in 2018 resumed regular air patrols of the Arctic by long-range anti-submarine aircraft and its share of modern samples of weapons and equipment exceeded 56 percent.

[29][30] An air defense regiment of the Northern fleet armed with S-400 SAM launchers went on combat duty in Novaya Zemlya in the September 2019.

It has taken part in the ceremonial arrival of ships to the Northern Fleet Headquarters including the Vice-Admiral Kulakov[37] and the USS Nicholas.

[39] In mid-March 2018, it took part in a competition at the Murmansk Nakhimov Naval School, which was presided by Colonel Timofey Mayakin, the Senior Director of Music of the Russian Armed Forces.

[43] That status was abolished on February 26, 2024 by a new presidential decree (effective since March 1, 2024) which transferred the Northern Fleet to the re-formed Leningrad Military District.

[52][53][54] The Russian Coast Guard provides additional armed patrol vessels in Arctic waters with a further expansion of its capabilities anticipated in the 2020s.

Nevertheless, programs to modernize the Russian Navy are continuing with the Northern Fleet traditionally having a priority focus with respect to major combatants.