01/29/10 Text: Central Naval Portal, Igor Kozyr
In the memoirs of veterans and the works of historians dedicated to the heroic defense of Leningrad, the epithet “unparalleled” is often found. The suffering and sacrifices of the civilian population were unprecedented. The courage of its defenders can be called unparalleled. The sailors of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet had to operate in unprecedented conditions, deserving the grateful memory and recognition of their descendants...
On the days when Russia celebrates the 66th anniversary of the complete lifting of the siege of Leningrad, we remind our readers of some episodes of the Battle of Leningrad in which sailors of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet distinguished themselves.
They were called "black devils"
Combat operations in the Baltic during the Great Patriotic War bore little resemblance to the scenarios developed in the mid-1930s, when the fleet was preparing for combat operations on sea lanes and battles with the German fleet.
The mine war imposed by the enemy led to huge losses in the very first months of hostilities, as a result of which, according to the famous historian V.D. Dotsenko, “by the end of 1941, the Baltic fleet practically did not exist.” Let us leave such a categorical statement to the author’s conscience. Bleeded but not broken, the Red Banner Baltic Fleet continued to operate. True, now the participation of the fleet in the defense of the city sometimes took completely unusual forms. The Marines go into battle.
In 1941-1942 The Baltic Fleet sent 11 marine brigades, 2 regiments, 38 battalions and several detachments, not counting small units, totaling 110 thousand people to the land front. The 1st brigade heroically defended Krasnoye Selo; the 5th and 2nd brigades held a stubborn defense on the Oranienbaum bridgehead. The 4th Marine Brigade, stationed on the islands of Lake Ladoga, bravely defended the Road of Life and the Nevsky Piglet. It was the front commander Marshal Voroshilov who led the soldiers of the 1st Brigade into a bayonet battle near Duderhof on September 11, when the enemy approached 14 kilometers to the city. According to a participant in this battle, at 13:00 the front commander, Marshal K.E., arrived at the brigade. Voroshilov said that he would personally lead the sailors into the attack. This news caused a rise in military spirit. K.E. Voroshilov made a short speech: “Comrades! There is nowhere to retreat further. Leningrad is behind us. This is where we will die or win." Then the marshal took a pistol from his holster and commanded “Attack!” Forward!”, went towards the enemy. The enemy retreated several kilometers with heavy losses. Despite the miscalculations and mistakes made, the brigade, together with other units, successfully completed the main task - the enemy was stopped in the most dangerous direction. At the same time, the marshal received a shrapnel wound in his left arm, and the brigade lost two-thirds of its personnel.
In October 1941, an emergency situation arose again in the Leningrad region. German tank formations broke through to the coast of the Neva Bay in the Peterhof-Uritsk section, reached the sources of the Neva and captured Shlisselburg. In order to prevent the enemy from capturing Leningrad, our troops launched a counterattack from the Oranienbaum bridgehead to Krasnoe Selo. In Kronstadt, a detachment of volunteers from ships, units, training units and schools was urgently formed to conduct demonstration amphibious landings. On October 3, on 14 boats and 20 six-oared yawls, a detachment of sailors numbering 225 people landed in the area of Pishmash, a typewriter factory near Strelna. The paratroopers fought the enemy stubbornly, but had to retreat - only 70 people returned alive. And on the night of October 4-5, the largest amphibious assault force, numbering 687 people, under the command of Colonel Voroshilov and military commissar Petrukhin, landed in Peterhof. The Peterhof landing force fought bravely and almost all died. But these landings diverted significant enemy forces to the Peterhof direction, which allowed the Soviet command to gain time, strengthen the defense of Leningrad and ensure its long-term defense. The Nazis treated the sailors who fought on land with fear and hatred, earning the enemy the nickname “black devils.” In 1944, a terrible discovery was made in the basements of a cutting factory in the vicinity of Peterhof. “Obviously, this basement housed a front-line hospital. On the beds are the headless bodies of Soviet soldiers. At the headboards there were caps, helmets... The severed heads of an ominous pyramid were blackened in the corner (some of them were wearing gas masks).” Most likely, the last heroes of the Peterhof landing found their death in this basement.
Along with the “Nevsky Piglet,” the heroic defense of the Oranienbaum bridgehead on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland rightfully entered the chronicle of the Patriotic War. The bridgehead occupied an area of 60 kilometers wide and 26 kilometers deep. At the end of October 1942, the 8th Army, which had previously defended it, was removed from it, and instead, 50 kilometers of the front was defended by the 2nd Marine Brigade, formed on June 12, 1941 from sailors of ships, training detachments and coastal defense units. The sailors of this brigade did not give up an inch of the bridgehead to the Nazis, thanks to which the possibility of the movement of ships and vessels along the Sea Canal, as well as the entry of submarines into combat positions, was preserved.
According to veterans, there was no unit on the Leningrad Front where the sailors who came ashore did not fight...
Shipbuilders defending Leningrad
Home / Publications / Literature / Bookshelf / On stocks under fireP. G. KOTOV, admiral engineer, Hero of Socialist Labor
By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, thanks to the care and attention of the Communist Party and the Soviet government, our country had a powerful Navy. The creation of such a fleet became possible as a result of the industrialization of the country, the collectivization of agriculture, and the successful implementation of five-year plans by the working people of the USSR. In the thirties, the party and government adopted a program for the construction of a sea and ocean fleet that corresponded to the state interests of the Soviet Union. At the end of 1940, 219 ships were under construction under this program. Some of them entered service in the first half of 1941, many were completed during the war. The new ships were superior in their tactical and technical characteristics to the ships of capitalist countries. A great contribution to the development and organization of fundamental scientific research was made by outstanding shipbuilding scientists A. N. Krylov, Yu. A. Shimansky, P. F. Papkovich, V. L. Pozdyunin, V. I. Pershin, V. G. Vlasov, M. I. Yanovsky.
Design managers and chief designers made a significant contribution to the creation of projects of first-class ships and improving the combat qualities of ships that were in service in the Baltic during the war: V.V. Ashik, S.A. Bazilevsky, Yu.Yu. Benois, V.M. Burlakov, Yu. G. Derevyanko, M. V. Egorov, L. L. Ermash, Ya. A. Koperzhinsky, N. G. Loschinsky, B. M. Malinin, A. I. Maslov, V. I. Neganov , V. A. Nikitin, L. M. Nogid, M. A. Rudnitsky, A. G. Sokolov, E. S. Tolotsky, S. F. Farmakovsky, N. M. Khomyakov, B. G. Chilikin, E I. Yukhnin, O. F. Jacob and many others.
During the war years, the leaders of the shipbuilding industry I. I. Nosenko, N. M. Razin, A. M. Redkin, G. D. Kaplun, N. V. Isachenkov and many others ensured the prompt fulfillment of orders from the front.
Before the war, Leningrad occupied a leading place in the country's shipbuilding. A significant part of the vessels of the Russian navy floated off its slipways. But with the beginning of the war, the center of gravity of the labor efforts of Leningrad shipbuilders shifted to carrying out restoration repairs of ships that had received battle damage, to arming civilian ships and providing tasks for the front.
Only for the period from June 22, 1941 to January 1, 1942. Leningrad shipbuilders handed over 280 ships, boats, vessels and watercraft to the Navy, performed emergency combat repairs on 138 ships and vessels, installed various weapons on 119 ships. During the same period, shipbuilders produced 4 armored trains, 13 armored vehicles, more than 1000 armored pillboxes, produced 1155 carriages for regimental guns, 65 thousand aerial bombs, 109 thousand mines, over 278 thousand parts for tanks, etc. In addition, on Shipyards built most of the railway batteries that played an important role in the defense of the city, armed with 130 mm naval guns and 37 mm anti-aircraft guns.
All shipbuilding enterprises in the city were subjected to intense enemy artillery fire and air bombing. Particularly difficult conditions developed at the plant named after. A. A. Zhdanov, whose territory was in close proximity to the front line. Despite this, the Zhdanovites more than once repaired destroyers that were damaged in battles and ensured the entry into service of two destroyers located at artillery positions on the Neva. The Baltic Shipyard again put into operation in the summer and autumn of 1941, after eliminating serious battle damage, a battleship, a cruiser and 6 destroyers. In the winter of 1941/42, the Baltic forces again repaired the battleship, 2 cruisers, 6 destroyers and 5 submarines.
At the Admiralteysky and Sudomekh factories, 55 ships were repaired, combat damage to submarines was repaired here over a hundred times, and other ships were overhauled.
The unforgettable labor feats of shipbuilders and ship repairers of Leningrad, Kronstadt, and the military sailors of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet are the restoration of heavily damaged warships: the leader "Minsk", the cruisers "Maxim Gorky", "Kirov", "Petropavlovsk", the patrol ship "Constructor", the gunboat "Red Banner" ", commissioning of the main caliber artillery of the battleship "Marat".
Leningrad shipbuilders also made an invaluable contribution to ensuring the operation of the legendary Road of Life across Lake Ladoga. In the spring of 1942, on the deserted shore of Ladoga, in Golsman Bay, a temporary shipyard was built in two and a half months, where 14 steel barges with a total carrying capacity of 13 thousand tons were built - the first barge was created in 20 days, and the rest initially in 10, and then in 6 days (with the pre-war norm of 3-4 months). By the fall of 1942, 115 self-propelled tenders and dinghies were put into operation on Ladoga, each taking 15-25 tons of cargo, and one large self-propelled tender with a capacity of 100 tons. At the Syaskaya shipyard, river workers built wooden barges with a carrying capacity of 300 tons.
The scale of summer transportation through Ladoga is evidenced by the following data: during the blockade, about 638 thousand people were evacuated along the ice route. and 575 thousand tons of cargo were imported, and 738 thousand people were imported by water. and 1040 thousand tons of cargo.
During the war in the Baltic, especially in the Gulf of Finland, the enemy widely used mine weapons, aircraft and combat boats for various purposes. To combat them, it was necessary to create appropriate countermeasures and retrofit existing ships in order to strengthen their anti-aircraft weapons and mine protection. There was a need for new types of small-tonnage ships for combat operations in skerries, narrows and near the coast in order to support the flanks of ground forces and landing troops, to combat submarines, as well as minesweepers and minesweepers.
On existing ships, anti-aircraft weapons were strengthened and degaussing devices were installed. To protect against bombs and shells, armor plates were laid on the decks. Submarine auxiliary mechanisms were mounted on shock absorbers.
Throughout the war, Leningraders replenished the Red Banner Baltic Fleet with ships and ships. In total, during the war, Leningrad shipbuilders handed over to the fleet more than 850 new ships and boats and more than 100 modernized and converted ships, which took an active part in the defeat of the Nazis in the Baltic.
This fact has not only military-economic, but also great political significance, since Hitler’s propaganda repeatedly announced that “Leningrad and its industry were practically destroyed.”
Not only the complexity of the work performed deserves attention, but also the unusually short time frame for its completion, which had never been achieved at any shipbuilding plant before the war. For example, serious damage to the cruiser Maxim Gorky as a result of a mine explosion required the most complex engineering and production solutions from shipbuilders. The Baltic Shipyard restored the cruiser in an extremely short time - within a month and a half. Repairs to the cruiser Kirov after enemy bomb attacks were completed by the Baltics in two months instead of six months. The first naval armored boat (MBK) with two turrets was built three times faster than required by the standards, etc.
The difficult conditions of the blockade, the acute shortage of workers, engineers, and designers required the involvement of women and teenagers in factories. It is necessary to note the great assistance of military sailors in repairing ships. The role of ship personnel in the implementation by shipyards of plans and tasks related to the restoration and increase of combat readiness of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet was exceptionally great.
The program for emergency combat repair of more than 200 ships, adopted by the Front Military Council in the difficult winter of 1941/42, when the physical strength of Leningraders was extremely exhausted, was carried out by Red Navy sailors and commanders on an equal basis with shipbuilders. The number of Red Navy men sometimes exceeded the number of workers directly involved in ship repairs by 3-4 times; At the beginning of 1942, only about 500 workers and foremen worked on the ships. Most of the workers produced complex ship parts and products in workshops and were engaged in the restoration of destroyed premises, machines, and cranes. But without the shipbuilders who worked on the ships, the personnel, naturally, would not have been able to cope with the construction and repairs on their own. Masters, foremen, and highly qualified assemblers technically supervised the entire operation and trained the Red Navy men in shipbuilding specialties. The sailors loved and cherished their mentors on ships. When shipyards began building new BMOs, MBKs, MTs, KTSCH, dinghies for Ladoga, etc., ships and fleet formations took patronage over a specific order, and hundreds of Red Navy men on the stocks, in workshops, at assembly sites under the guidance of foremen and foremen helped shipbuilders. Here, perhaps, it should be noted the special role that representatives of the Main Administration of the NK of the Navy played at the factories during the war years. Its control and reception apparatus, headed in wartime by the authorized officers of the Main Directorate of the NK Navy in Leningrad, Rear Admiral-Engineer A. A. Yakimov and Captain of the First Rank Engineer A. K. Usyskin, consisted of highly qualified shipbuilders, mechanical engineers, electricians and armed forces . This team, with its tireless activity, provided significant assistance to shipbuilders. Knowing the capabilities and resources of the fleet, he organized support and communication between the fleet and industry of Leningrad, and actively contributed to the restoration and increase in combat readiness of the ships of the Red Banner Baltic. The authorized GUK NK Navy and his apparatus, together with representatives of the shipbuilding industry, ensured, through state bodies and industry People's Commissariats, the manufacture and supply of weapons or mechanisms, the production of which in Leningrad was impossible at that time.
The authorized representative of the Main Directorate of the NK of the Navy and his apparatus distributed among the factories coupons for additional food allocated by the Lenfront Military Council (250 rations) for shipbuilders working on ship repairs. This helped save the lives of many enterprise workers.
About 100 scientists, LCI engineers and scientific shipbuilders worked at industrial enterprises.
In July 1941, a commission was created under the city party committee to review and implement defense inventions. The greatest scientists of Leningrad, including academician and shipbuilder A. N. Krylov, took part in its work.
Many studies were carried out directly on operational warships. Workers, engineers and scientists developed samples of new military equipment; mine protection equipment developed by prof. A.P. Aleksandrov and scientists from LPTI. Scientists helped the technical department of the KBF in creating and equipping the SVR.
By the beginning of the war, the Red Banner Baltic Fleet already had trawls to combat proximity mines. Designers and workers, with the active participation of military sailors, created boat and snake trawls for the navigation of 1942 and organized their mass production. In total, during the blockade period, shipbuilders handed over to the fleet about 1,200 sets of contact and non-contact trawls.
Navy specialists, studying combat damage, developed measures to increase the survivability of ships. Shipbuilding scientists and military specialists participated in solving complex issues related to ensuring the strength and stability of ships, and helped the fleet in the development and repair of engines.
Instrument designers, on instructions from the command, helped restore ship systems and instruments damaged in battle, and a group of scientists created the Redut radar station, with the help of which objects within a radius of almost 100-200 km were confidently detected.
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated January 2, 1942, a large group of Leningraders, including scientists, were awarded orders and medals for the successful completion of defense tasks.
At the anniversary session of the USSR Academy of Sciences on July 26, 1945, dedicated to the 220th anniversary of its founding, Vice Admiral L. A. Vladimirsky delivered a greeting on behalf of the Baltic sailors. He warmly thanked the Leningrad scientists and engineers who found the strength in the difficult and hungry winter of 1941/42 to actively participate in the construction of new ships and equipping existing ships with the latest military equipment. The feat of engineers and scientists during the days of the siege will forever remain in the chronicles of the heroic defense of Leningrad as one of the most striking manifestations of the patriotism of the Soviet intelligentsia.
Leningraders not only defended their hometown, but also provided assistance to other fronts. At the height of the battle for Moscow, they sent disassembled more than a thousand regimental guns and mortars to Muscovites on transport planes, in the manufacture of which shipbuilders also participated.
Shipbuilders actively helped the land front - they built ferry facilities, produced pipes for the Ladoga oil pipeline, organized specialized production and participated in the production of more than 3 thousand mortars, over 200 thousand machine guns for the Leningrad and other fronts.
During the first winter of the siege, shipbuilders converted two city power plants to use local fuels (peat), installed a plant for the production of food protein from sawdust, equipped a garrison hospital, worked on cleaning and restoring the city, procuring fuel, etc.
Workers of the city's largest 16th construction and installation trust participated in the construction of the Luga fortified zone, the Moscow sector of the city's defense, bomb shelters, the conversion of schools into hospitals, and in the spring of 1942 they built a temporary shipyard on the shore of Ladoga.
Together with many Leningraders, thousands of volunteer shipbuilders joined the militia. The seven artillery and machine gun battalions (out of 16) consisted mainly of shipbuilders. In addition, two militia regiments and one partisan regiment were formed at the shipyards, as well as dozens of fighter and worker battalions and partisan detachments. The workers of the Izhora plant in the fall of 1941 stood up in defense of Kolpin and helped the regular units of the Red Army stop the enemy.
Leningrad was under siege, but was never cut off from the country. The leadership of all the heroic activities of Leningrad workers and sailors in the interests of victory over the enemy was constantly carried out by the Central Committee of our party and the Soviet government, the Leningrad regional and city party committees.
Leningrad shipbuilders and scientists, the personnel and engineering staff of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, under the daily leadership of the Leningrad Party Organization, the Military Councils of the Front and the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, honorably fulfilled their duty to the country during the Great Patriotic War. When its last salvos died down, our scientists, engineers and workers created a fundamentally new base for the construction of the Navy. The capacity and technological capabilities of the shipbuilding industry of the USSR increased immeasurably. Today our Navy, created by the hands of workers, designers, engineers and scientists of the shipbuilding industry, is a formidable force capable of defending the interests and security of our Motherland.
Pearl Harbor never happened again
From the first days of the defense of Leningrad, the naval artillery proved itself to be a powerful fire force, capable of destroying the enemy in the depths of its defense.
The enemy first felt this on September 17, 1941, when the fire from the main caliber guns of the cruiser Petropavlovsk (purchased unfinished from Germany in 1939 under the name Lützow) thwarted the Nazi offensive near Uritsk. Unable to maneuver, the ship that day received 53 direct hits from 210-mm shells. Through holes up to 30 square meters in area, water began to penetrate into the hull. Slowly flooding, "Petropavlovsk" heeled to the left side and after 6 hours, with a trim on the bow, it lay on the ground, without ceasing to fire at the enemy. The cruiser "Kirov" fires at the enemy.
On September 21, the Germans attempted to disable the remaining ships in service with one blow and throw the defenders of the Oranienbaum bridgehead into the water, and then begin a direct assault on Leningrad from the Pulkovo Heights area. The German command was confident that without powerful fire support from the naval artillery of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, the defenders of besieged Leningrad would not be able to resist for long... In this they were obviously right, but the attempt to repeat the success achieved by the Japanese during the attack on Pearl Harbor failed. The Redut-3 radar station on the Oranienbaum bridgehead near the village of Bolshaya Izhora promptly detected the battle formations of German aviation, thanks to which air defense forces and means were placed on high alert in advance. According to various estimates, from 400 to 600 enemy aircraft took part in the massive raids undertaken on September 21, 22 and especially 23. Air strikes, carried out simultaneously from three sides, were accompanied by artillery shelling of ships on the Neva, in the seaport, in the sea canal and in other places. Subsequent estimates showed that the total bomb load of German bombers was at least three times higher than the bomb load that hit Pearl Harbor, but - if we compare the losses - ours turned out to be an order of magnitude less than the losses of the American fleet. However, the leader “Minsk”, the destroyer “Steregushchy” were sunk, the destroyer “Gordy”, the minelayer “Oka”, the submarine “M-74”, other ships and auxiliary vessels were damaged.
On September 21, the cruiser "Maxim Gorky" under the command of Captain 1st Rank A.N. Petrov, who was stationed in the Sea Canal, came under enemy artillery fire and was taken out of the shelling zone - in reverse, without the help of tugs, he walked against the current to a new firing position for several miles.
On September 23, during an air raid in which up to 70 enemy aircraft participated, two 500-kilogram or 1000-kilogram bombs almost simultaneously hit the bow of the battleship Marat. The ammunition magazines of the first main caliber turret exploded. The explosion almost completely destroyed the hull of the battleship; the turret “jumped” and fell into the gap that had formed in the deck. The bow superstructure, along with all the combat posts, instruments, anti-aircraft artillery, the bow conning tower and the people there, fell to the starboard side, collapsing into the water. The bow chimney flew there along with the armored grate casings. The explosion killed 326 people, including the commander, commissar and many officers.
Repelled enemy attacks did not guarantee stabilization of the situation at the front, so in the last week of September, commanders of formations and units received a directive to prepare ships and the most important naval facilities for destruction in order to avoid their capture by the enemy. According to Admiral N.N. Amelko, the surface ships were in this state until the blockade was lifted.
The Germans also failed in their repeated attempt to destroy the ships of the Baltic Fleet, undertaken in the early spring of 1942 as part of Operation Aishtoss (Ice Strike). The enemy planned to launch a concentrated attack on the ships with the heavy artillery of the 18th Army and at the same time carry out a massive air raid of the 1st Air Fleet. It was assumed that ships frozen in the Neva ice would not be able to maneuver or change their moorings. The main target of the aviation was the battleship "October Revolution", two cruisers and the minelayer "Marti". The list of targets also included destroyers and submarines. On March 26, aircraft of the 1st Air Fleet began training in bombing ships. To do this, life-size outlines of Soviet ships were made on the ice of one of the lakes in the order in which they stood in the Neva. A few days before the start of the operation, German siege artillery intensively fired at the positions of anti-aircraft batteries in the areas where the ships were moored. All preparatory activities were completed in early April. The operation began on April 4 with a powerful artillery attack on the ships. Following this, 191 enemy aircraft took off. 33 bombers and 62 dive bombers operated against ships, and 33 bombers attacked anti-aircraft batteries. They were covered from the air by more than 60 fighters. Despite the massive strike, our air defense systems were very active, and all fighter aircraft took to the air. We managed to shoot down 18 enemy aircraft. Only single planes broke through to the ships, the rest dropped bombs on residential areas of the city. Until the end of April, the enemy launched five more large, massive raids, but heavy losses depleted the air force. On April 25, 55 aircraft took part in the raid, on April 27 - only 24. The main objectives of Operation Aishtoss were never completed. The Nazis not only failed to destroy our ships, they even failed to inflict serious damage on them. The Germans lost almost 90 combat vehicles during this operation. After such a failure, the enemy stopped raids on warships of the Baltic Fleet. In the Battle of Leningrad, naval artillery was the main fire force ensuring the stability of the ground defense, which is why front-line and naval artillery is usually called the fire shield of Leningrad.
Project 26-bis: a unique cruiser guarding Leningrad
Cruiser of the "mosquito fleet"
At its birth, the USSR fleet was in a difficult situation. Of the ships remaining from the former Russian Empire, some were hopelessly outdated, some needed major repairs, some were sunk during the civil war or stolen abroad. Heavy damage was also caused to the shipbuilding industry - primarily in the fact that the majority of qualified engineering personnel either died during the same war or emigrated. Another problem was that for a long time the USSR could not understand what kind of fleet should be built?
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At the turn of the 20-30s in the USSR, the so-called “young school” temporarily won in the field of naval thought - its representatives denied the need for large ships. They proposed making do with a “mosquito fleet” designed to defend their own shores, but not at all for deep operations and long-distance expeditions to enemy harbors.
To a certain extent, these proposals were justified by the realities of the current moment - the country, straining in the industrialization spurt, could not yet afford the construction of an ocean-going fleet.
Towards the mid-30s, Soviet designers proposed the idea of an unusual cruiser. You need to know that at that time, according to international agreements concluded in Washington and London, cruisers were divided into two subtypes.
Firstly, heavy, or “Washington” cruisers, whose displacement was limited to 10 thousand tons, and caliber - 203 millimeters. Secondly, light cruisers: displacement up to 8,000 thousand tons and caliber - 152 mm. However, the Soviet Union, pushed into international isolation, did not sign treaties in Washington and London - accordingly, its designers had a free hand. And they proposed a “hybrid” ship: fit in the size of a light cruiser, but approaching the armament of a heavy one.
In its initial form, the project was developed by a design team led by Yulian Szymansky, who also participated in the creation of pre-revolutionary Sevastopol-class battleships. The direct author of the project was engineer Anatoly Iosafovich Maslov, who was a student of the famous shipbuilder Alexei Krylov.
How Maxim Gorky got a new nose
In 1935, construction of Project 26 cruisers, called “Kirov” and “Voroshilov”, began in Leningrad and Nikolaev. At that time, they became the largest and most powerful warships created in the USSR: a standard displacement of about 8000 tons, a length of 191 meters, a full speed of 34 knots - which was achieved by turbines with a total power of 122 55 horsepower. Each ship carried on board nine of the latest 180-mm guns (firing range - 38.6 km) in three turrets, as well as smaller caliber cannons and anti-aircraft machine guns - 6 - 100 mm, 6 - 45 mm, 4 - 12.7 mm.
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The ship was also armed with two three-tube 533 mm torpedo tubes and could carry 164 mines. The ship's equipment also included an aviation catapult and two specially designed KOR-1 seaplanes.
It was a successful project, but not free from some shortcomings. Therefore, almost immediately Maslov and his assistants presented an improved project 26-bis.
Four ships began to be built according to it: “Maxim Gorky” was intended for the Baltic Fleet, “Molotov” (later “Slava”) - for the Black Sea, “Kalinin” and “Kaganovich” (later “Petropavlovsk”) - for the Pacific Ocean. Compared to the previous type, the armor protection of the 26-bis has increased - the thickness of the side belt has increased from 50 to 70 mm.
The armor that protected the abeam bulkheads, frontal walls and tower roofs also became thicker. The number of 45-mm anti-aircraft guns has increased to nine. The four-legged foremast was replaced with a turret, which improved all-round visibility from the conning tower, made the cruiser’s silhouette less “convenient” for enemy gunners, and expanded the range of action of the 100-mm guns on the bow corners.
The fuel supply on board increased to 1660 tons, which made it possible to increase the cruising range to 4880 miles (at a speed of 17.8 knots). The cruisers of Project 26-bis were equipped with more advanced main caliber fire control device systems "Molniya-ATs" and "Gorizont-2". As a result of the modernization of the project, the ship's normal displacement increased to 8882 tons - with an average draft of 5.87 meters.
"Maxim Gorky" was built at shipyard No. 189 in Leningrad. The ship was launched on April 30, 1938 and, after completion afloat and acceptance tests, was commissioned into the fleet on December 12, 1940.
The cruiser was assigned to be based in Tallinn, and when the Great Patriotic War began six months later, Gorky found itself at the forefront of Soviet defense.
In the very first days of the war, the enemy tried to break into the Gulf of Riga, for the protection of which the Gorky was sent. On June 23, the ship was engaged in covering Soviet mine laying - and being near Cape Takhuna (near the northern tip of the island of Hiiumaa), it itself ran into an enemy mine.
A powerful explosion tore off the ship's bow along the 47th frame, but the crew got involved in the fight for survivability in time. The internal bulkheads withstood the pressure of the water while the sailors hastily constructed a false bow from wood and canvas and unloaded ammunition from the bow magazines. The ship set sail and managed to independently reach Tallinn, from where it was sent to Kronstadt.
The work to eliminate the terrible damage was completed in just forty-three days - “Maxim Gorky” had a new nose.
The cruiser was included in the artillery defense system of Leningrad - and on September 4, its artillery for the first time opened fire on Finnish troops advancing in the Beloostrov area.
Then “Maxim Gorky” took part in repelling the September assault on Leningrad - “processing” enemy units advancing in the Krasnoe Selo area with its main calibers. So, on September 11 alone, the ship carried out ten firings with its main caliber, firing 285 shells at the Germans. At the same time, with its medium caliber - 100 mm - the Gorky fought off enemy planes bombing the harbor.
Ice Strike didn't help
^
By the middle of the month, the front line was so close to Leningrad that the Germans were able to fire at Gorky with direct fire. On September 16, the cruiser was hit by one 127-mm shell, and on the 17th, four at once. They pierced the upper deck and freeboard, damaging the chimney and superstructure. 7 crew members were killed and 28 were injured, but the fires that broke out on the ship were quickly extinguished. Further shooting for the Germans was disrupted by the Maxim Gorky artillerymen, who damaged the enemy balloon with spotters.
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On September 21, three more heavy shells hit the cruiser, breaking the navigation bridge and killing nine sailors. The commander of the Gorky, Captain 1st Rank Anatoly Petrov, reversed the cruiser from the parking lot at the Khlebny Mole and took it through the Sea Canal to the Gutuevsky Bucket. In the following months, "Gorky" repeatedly changed its location, continuing to fire at Nazi troops.
And he himself received retaliatory strikes - for example, on November 22, a German shell hit the forecastle in front of the first main caliber turret. Another shell - a 152 mm - hit the Gorky on January 21, 1942, damaging the 100 mm gun.
In the spring of 1942, the Maxim Gorky, like other ships of the Baltic Fleet, became the target of German aircraft conducting Operation Aishtoss (Ice Strike). On April 4 alone, over 70 bombs were dropped on Gorky. Two exploded on the quay wall next to the side, but the cruiser escaped with minor damage. On April 24, Gorky was attacked by 10 Yu-88 bombers, 12 Yu-87 dive bombers and 15 Me-109 fighters.
The raid was accompanied by artillery shelling, and the cruiser's radio operators detected the work of an enemy spotter located in the area where the ship was parked. Over 150 bombs and 50 shells exploded literally nearby. There were no direct hits, but the shrapnel killed three Red Navy men and wounded five. The Maxim Gorky anti-aircraft gunners shot down two planes that day.
The raids were repeated on April 25 and 27, when 15 aerial bombs and about 100 shells exploded near the cruiser, fragments of which made many small holes in the sides. On that day, the Maxim Gorky anti-aircraft gunners shot down two Yu-87s.
The ship continued to participate in the defense of Leningrad in 1942 and 1944. And in January 1944, during the operation to lift the blockade, Gorky again made a great contribution to the common cause.
On January 15 alone, he fired 276 shells at enemy positions. In general, during the operation the cruiser fired 701 main-caliber shells at the enemy. On March 22, 1944, the ship received the Order of the Red Banner - this is how the command noted the valor shown by its crew. And he fired his last shots at the enemy in June 1944, supporting the offensive of Soviet troops in the Vyborg direction. In total, in 1941-1944, the ship fired 2,300 180-mm shells at the Germans.
After the war, the veteran cruiser was based in Liepaja, Baltiysk, and then in Kronstadt, participating in numerous naval exercises. In July 1953, he led the parade of Baltic Fleet ships on the Neva, organized in honor of Navy Day.
On the ice of the Gulf of Finland and Ladoga
With the onset of winter and freeze-up, hostilities engulfed the ice-covered waters of the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga.
Preparing for a new assault on the city in the summer of 1942, the Nazis decided to destroy large ships in advance in order to prevent crushing attacks by naval artillery on the advancing columns of their troops. First of all, they wanted to break the connection between Kronstadt and Leningrad. To this end, at the end of the winter of 1941-1942, the enemy began mining the Neva Bay. Special teams at night transported magnetic mines across the ice to the areas of future fairways and lowered them to the bottom through ice holes. In turn, the command of the Baltic Fleet organized sea patrols on sports ice boats, and in the most dangerous areas there were ski detachments that tracked enemy ski slopes, looked for ice holes and destroyed mines, and often engaged in battle with enemy reconnaissance and enemy ambushes. The largest operation on the ice of the Gulf of Finland in the winter of 1941-1942 was the battle to capture the islands of Bolshoi Tyuters and Gogland abandoned by Soviet troops in the fall. On the last day of 1941, a detachment of 180 people under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Barinov was landed on the edge of the ice near the island of Lavensari from the icebreaker Ermak, which broke through at great risk from besieged Leningrad. Next, the detachment had to act independently. Having completed a 43-kilometer forced march across the ice of the Gulf of Finland, the paratroopers occupied the island of Tyuters, and two days later captured the island of Gogland. To navigate in difficult conditions among the hummocks and watersheds, the detachment was joined by a group of hydrograph guides, whose main tool was a five-inch compass on a sled. Unfortunately, the command of the Baltic Fleet and the Leningrad Front was unable to ensure the consolidation of the achieved success and in the spring of 1942 the islands again passed into the hands of the enemy.
Fleet hydrographers made a great contribution to the creation and organization of the work of the Road of Life. It was they who, in the shortest possible time, completed work on equipping fairways in the southern part of Lake Ladoga, along which the first transports with food passed on September 12, 1941. Well understanding the significance of this communication, the command of the Leningrad Front and the Baltic Fleet began in advance to develop plans and measures for the creation and use of ice roads through Ladoga. On the night of November 16, lieutenants V.I. Dmitriev, E.P. Churov and three sailors, armed with simple hydrographic equipment - sleds with compasses, maps, lines and ice picks - went onto the ice and surveyed the Osinovets-Kobona route, and then the Kobona-Karedzhi-Osinovets route. And already on November 23, the first trucks with food for Leningrad set off across the ice. However, the commander of the Ladoga Flotilla received a directive from the Front’s Military Council: “Continue to transport cargo by gunboats and transports from Novaya Ladoga to Osinovets and back until the last possible opportunity.” On November 27, the last convoy left Novaya Ladoga, consisting of the gunboat Bira, two transports and a detachment of minesweepers. Instead of the usual 10-12 hours in clear water, the transition lasted seven days.
Almost at the same time, the forces of the 80th Division of the 8th Army and the ski naval battalion were supposed to strike the enemy east of Shlisselburg. On the night of November 26, army columns headed by hydrograph guides set off from Osinovets across the ice of Lake Ladoga. However, despite the intensifying frost, large clearings and thin ice encountered along the way forced us to abandon the planned operation...
Few people know that, along with the Ladoga Road of Life, there were ice routes connecting Kronstadt with the southern and northern shores of the Gulf of Finland, as well as an ice route between the Shepelevsky lighthouse and the islands of Seskar and Lavensari. During the winter of 1941 alone, more than 200 thousand people, more than 40 thousand vehicles, about 30 tanks and hundreds of heavy weapons and other equipment passed along the Gorskaya - Kronstadt - Malaya Izhora highway. Ice roads continued to function in the winter of 1942-1943. Despite the fact that the winter turned out to be warm, in three months more than 270 thousand people, about 350 thousand vehicles, 1,240 guns and other military equipment were transferred along the ice routes.
Leningrad under siege
The commander of the Red Army at a battery of 85-mm anti-aircraft guns 52-K on Dekabristov Square (Senate Square) in Leningrad.
In the background is St. Isaac's Cathedral. What the defenders and residents of Leningrad experienced is almost impossible to convey in words. The Nazis stormed the city, methodically destroyed it with heavy artillery fire, air raids, and subjected it to a severe blockade. However, the Leningraders survived! According to various estimates, from 800 thousand to 1.5 million people died. The casualties among civilians were especially high. Thousands of people died from shells and bombs, but even more from hunger, exhaustion and cold.
The Battle of Leningrad completely buried Hitler's Barbarossa plan. Leningrad closed the way for the Germans and Finns in the northwestern direction of the Soviet-German front. This was a failure of Germany’s “blitzkrieg” strategy against the USSR.
General situation
The German Army Group North (16th and 18th Field Armies, 4th Panzer Group) was advancing in the northwestern direction, with a total of 42 divisions, including 7 tank and 6 motorized.
It consisted of over 720 thousand people, 13 thousand guns and mortars, 1,500 tanks. The ground forces were supported by the 1st Air Fleet - more than 1 thousand aircraft and the German Navy. Also in the north, in Scandinavia, the German Army Norway and two Finnish armies operated. They were supported by part of the forces of the 5th Air Fleet (240 aircraft) and the Finnish Air Force (over 300 aircraft). Finland declared war on the USSR on June 26, 1941, and its army launched an offensive in the Murmansk and Karelian directions. The Finns attacked Leningrad on both sides of Lake Ladoga to link up with the Wehrmacht, which was moving from the southwest and south. The enemy troops were opposed by the Northwestern Front (formerly the Baltic Military District) - the 8th, 11th and 27th armies, a total of 31 divisions, including 4 tank and 2 mechanized. Then the troops of the Northern Front (Leningrad Military District) - 21 divisions and brigades - were also brought to the defense of Leningrad. The Northern Front defended the Murmansk and Karelian directions, and later the northern part of Estonia. The ground forces were supported by the Baltic Fleet.
The enemy had an advantage in manpower, tanks, aviation and artillery. He had an advantage in the quality of command, organization and interaction of troops. Plus combat experience - campaigns in Western and South-Eastern Europe. In addition, the Red Army at that time was at the stage of reform, modernization, and the Nazis attacked during the concentration and deployment of troops. Therefore, the first blow was very impressive, although not what Hitler’s headquarters would have liked (the complete collapse of the Russian army).
The Germans immediately broke through the defenses of the 8th and 11th armies, which began to retreat along the entire 445-kilometer front. By the end of June 22, 1941, the Nazis had advanced 20–45 km and crossed the Neman. In the following days, the Nazis developed their success, our troops fought desperately, but most often it was local resistance. Our troops suffered heavy losses. In 22 divisions, losses in personnel and equipment amounted to more than 50%.
The Nazis sought to quickly break through to Leningrad and capture the second capital of the USSR, the most important strategic, economic and cultural center of the Union. In the future, the main forces of Army Group North were to turn south and take part in the capture of Moscow. Under the blows of the German troops advancing in the Riga direction, our troops left Liepaja and Riga at the end of June and retreated to the north and northeast. The 8th Army retreated to Estonia, the 11th to Polotsk. On June 26, the Nazis crossed the Western Dvina and occupied Daugavpils. In the first third of July, the Nazis captured the cities of Ostrov and Pskov and reached the Plyussa River. At the same time, the Germans are advancing in Estonia and breaking through to Tallinn.
Our troops are fighting heavy battles east of the Pskov – Pushkin Mountains – Opochka line, along the Velikaya and Opochka rivers. Intensified work is underway on the construction of defensive lines in the Leningrad direction. The main line ran along the Luga River and to Lake Ilmensky. The second line of defense ran along the line Peterhof - Krasnogvardeysk (Gatchina) - Kolpino. The third milestone was planned on the Avtovo-Ring Railway line. In Leningrad, all major construction projects (including the metro) were frozen, labor and equipment were transferred to the construction of fortifications. Hundreds of thousands of Leningraders, mostly women and old people, took part in the defensive work. In the city, militia divisions were formed and sent to the front.
Construction of a barricade on Stachek Avenue in Leningrad. September 1941
Corner of Nevsky and Ligovsky prospects. Victims of the first shelling of the city by German artillery
The Wehrmacht breaks through to Leningrad
On July 10, 1941, the Germans launched an attack from the area of Pskov and Ostrov.
Building on this success, the 56th Motorized Corps broke into the Solts area by July 13 and created a threat to Novgorod. The Soviet 11th Army launched a counterattack and defeated the enemy. The offensive of the German 4th Panzer Group was temporarily suspended at the turn of the river. Meadows. To strengthen the defense of Leningrad, covering the Tikhvin and Volkhov directions, the Soviet Headquarters deployed the 54th and 52nd armies south of Lake Ladoga and on the Volkhov River. On July 21, 1941, Adolf Hitler arrived on a special train to occupied Soviet territory at the location of Army Group North, where he held a meeting with group commander Leeb. The Fuhrer set the task of taking Leningrad as quickly as possible, clearing the Gulf of Finland of the Russian fleet, so that there would be a normal supply of ore from Sweden. They decided to remove the 3rd Tank Group from the central (Moscow) direction and send it to the northeast, which was supposed to contribute to the rapid fall of Leningrad. Hitler believed that the fall of Leningrad and Moscow would lead to the “collapse of the Russians.”
The counterattack near Soltsy and the stubborn defense of the Luga group of the Red Army forced the German high command to stop the offensive and regroup their forces. On July 30, Headquarters Directive No. 34 demanded that Army Group North launch the main attack between Lake Ilmen and Narva in order to encircle Leningrad and establish contact with the Finnish army. To strengthen Army Group North, the 8th Aviation Corps was transferred from Army Group Center.
In Estonia, part of the 8th Soviet Army was cut off from the main forces of the front. On August 5, 1941, the Germans reached the distant approaches to Tallinn, on the 7th - to the Gulf of Finland, cutting off the Tallinn group and the base of the Baltic Fleet. On August 27, the Nazis broke into Tallinn. On August 28–30, the Baltic Fleet makes a dramatic transition from Tallinn to Kronstadt (Baltic tragedy. How the Baltic Fleet broke through to Kronstadt, Part 2).
As a result, the Germans were unable to destroy the combat core of the Baltic Fleet, and the Soviet fleet strengthened the defense of Leningrad.
On August 8, 1941, the Germans went on the offensive in the Red Guard (Gatchina), Luga and Novgorod directions. After stubborn battles, the Nazis took Kingisepp on August 16, Novgorod on the 19th and Chudovo on the 20th, and intercepted the Moscow-Leningrad railway. Developing the offensive, German troops occupied Luga on August 24, and Lyuban on the 25th. On August 28, the Germans captured Tosno, and on August 30, they reached the Neva, cutting the railways that connected Leningrad with the country. During fierce fighting, the enemy was stopped in the Krasnogvardeysk area. The Finnish army on the Karelian Isthmus pushed the Soviet 23rd Army to the 1939 border.
To improve troop control, the Soviet Headquarters on August 23 divided the Northern Front into two fronts: Karelian and Leningrad (23rd, 8th and 48th armies). On August 26, a group of representatives of the State Defense Committee was sent to Leningrad: V. M. Molotov, G. M. Malenkov, N. G. Kuznetsov, A. I. Kosygin, P. F. Zhigarev and N. N. Voronov. The main command of the troops of the North-Western direction was disbanded on August 27, and the Karelian, Leningrad and North-Western fronts were subordinated to Headquarters. On September 1, the 55th Army was formed as part of the Leningrad Front. On September 5, the commander of the Leningrad Front, Lieutenant General M. M. Popov, was removed from office, and Marshal K. E. Voroshilov was appointed in his place. Since September 11, the front was headed by G.K. Zhukov.
On September 6, 1941, the German Headquarters in Directive No. 35 demanded to encircle the Leningrad Russian group, take Shlisselburg and blockade Kronstadt. On September 8, the Germans, having broken through the Soviet defenses in the Mgi area, took Shlisselburg and surrounded Leningrad from land. On September 12, the Nazis took Krasnoye Selo and reached the immediate approaches to Leningrad. On September 16, troops of Army Group North between Strelnya and Uritsk broke through to the Gulf of Finland, cutting off units of the 8th Army from the main forces of the Leningrad group. The Oranienbaum bridgehead was formed. On September 17, the Germans captured Pavlov and entered Pushkin. Fierce fighting took place near the villages of Volodarsky and Uritsk, on the Pulkovo Heights, but the enemy did not advance further. The German command withdraws the 4th Tank Group from the Leningrad direction to the Moscow direction.
By the end of September 1941, the situation near Leningrad had generally stabilized. The Soviet command is strengthening its defenses, which the Germans and Finns cannot overcome with their existing forces. The German command is relying on the blockade, artillery and aviation. Ground forces burrow into the ground and begin trench warfare.
A destroyed house and the panel “Defend the City of Lenin” in besieged Leningrad
Girls from the Leningrad Komsomol Fire Regiment
The formation of Red Army soldiers passes along the intersection of Ryabovskoye Shosse and Kommuny Street past fortifications under construction in Leningrad
Feat of Leningraders
The situation was catastrophic.
The huge city, the second largest in the Union, one of the largest in the world, lost its railway and highway connections with the rest of the country. Sea routes froze. There are enemies in the north and south. The enemy has the shores of the Gulf of Finland. The Germans and Finns broke through to the northern and southern shores of Lake Ladoga, located north and northeast of the city. They began to advance along the eastern shore. But they were unable to completely capture the lake. Our soldiers stopped them. Part of the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga remained in our hands. Here, along the water, along the lake, the road to Leningrad remained.
The road was long and difficult. The journey began in Vologda, where cargo was sent from all over the country. The trains went to Tikhvin and Volkhov, there was no further railway, cargo was loaded onto river barges that traveled along the river. Volkhov. There is new unloading in Novaya Ladoga, from river barges to lake barges. Ladoga barges go to the western shore of the lake, where the port of Osinovets was located 55 km from Leningrad. A narrow gauge railway was built here. The goods are loaded into the wagons again, but there is another overload on the way. From a narrow gauge road to a regular railway, then to motor transport.
When the Germans took Tikhvin, this only difficult path was cut short. Then we made our way kilometer after kilometer through forests, ravines and swamps. Often the road went where previously only wild animals roamed; in 20 days they paved a 200-kilometer road to Lake Ladoga. It began almost 100 km east of Tikhvin at the Zaborye station and, bypassing Tikhvin captured by the enemy from the north, went to Lake Ladoga, to Novaya Ladoga.
In November 1941, frosts began and the “road of life” along the lake stopped. And without ammunition, fuel and food, the defense will fall. But our people began to move on the ice of Ladoga (that’s what the lake was called). The path was dangerous: Ladoga was restless and capricious. Strong winds destroy the ice, causing cracks and gullies to appear. Even the most severe frosts cannot completely freeze Lake Ladoga. But there is no way out. On November 22, the first automobile convoy (60 trucks) passed across the ice. The vehicles covered 27 km of dangerous icy path. The “road of life” was dangerous. Suddenly the ice broke and cars sank. German planes bombed the columns.
When our troops recaptured Tikhvin, cargo began to flow by rail again. But not right away, it was necessary to restore the destroyed bridges between Tikhvin and Volkhov. Therefore, again the cargo went around by car, but the route was already three times shorter. The road was restored to the Voybokalo and Zhikharevo stations, which shortened the route even more. Then they built a railway to the lakeside village of Kobone. The ice road to Leningrad now ran from Kobona through Ladoga.
Girls - fighters of local air defense (LAD) on watch on the roof of a house in Leningrad
Komsomol worker Ilya Trifonov at a machine at a Leningrad plant
A group of communists - Leningrad factory workers before being sent to the front. From right to left: hammer hammer V. A. Kravtsov, blacksmith N. S. Popov, smelter P. M. Kuznetsov, blacksmith I. A. Razumovsky, quality control inspector S. K. Dudarev
The days of the siege were terrible for the townspeople. The Nazis constantly shelled and bombed Leningrad. Fires started in the city. Houses collapsed from shells and bombs. People died in houses and on the streets. There was no fuel, the electricity froze, the water supply failed. Hunger began. Death mowed down people.
Soups were made from wild plants. We made pine “cutlets”. Siege bread was baked with various additives. Oatmeal, barley, soybean, and corn were added to rye flour, and flaxseed, cotton, and hemp cake were used. They used bran, sprouted grains, mill dust, rice husks, etc. The bread had a sour, bitter and grassy taste. But hungry people dreamed of him. Five times during the autumn-winter of 1941, the norm for bread distribution was reduced. On September 2, the first reduction took place: the norm was 600 grams of bread for adults, 300 grams for children. After 10 days, a new reduction: adults began to receive 500 grams of bread. In October, adults received 400 grams of bread, children - 200. In November there were two reductions: first, 300, then 250 grams of bread, adults began to receive, children - 125.
Despite all the horrors, the Leningraders held out. “Leningrad is under siege!” – the alarm bell rang across the country. The whole country tried to help the besieged city.
A convoy with grain moves on the ice of Lake Ladoga. December 1941
A car with food for Leningrad is moving along the Ladoga Ice Route
The platoon commander of the general training training center of the Smolninsky district of Leningrad, Sergeant Vera Fedorovna Berdnikova (b. 1922), conducts shooting classes in Leningrad. Smolninsky general education center. Vera Fedorovna Berdnikova (Popova), a 1st year student of the Electromechanical Faculty of the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute named after M.I. Kalinin, performed duties unusual for young girls. After returning from defense work in December 1941, she became a fighter in the first recruitment of the military training center of the Smolninsky region. After completing a military training course, she was appointed squad leader and then platoon commander. During the blockade, with the participation of Vera Fedorovna, 12 rifle platoons were trained. When classes resumed at the Polytechnic Institute, she continued her studies there and was a Stalinist scholarship recipient. After graduation, she remained in graduate school. In 1951 she defended her Ph.D. thesis.
Behind the stern is the Okhta Sea
Yes, we are not talking about the Okhotsk Sea, but specifically about the Okhta Sea - that’s what the submariners called a small section of the Neva just above the Liteiny Bridge with a depth of about 20 meters, where they underwent an accelerated course of combat training, putting their boats in order after the hardest winter of the siege.
The command of the submarine brigade faced the urgent task of preparing ships and crews for going to sea and operating on the enemy’s sea communications. According to the directive of the People's Commissar of the Navy N.G. Kuznetsov’s main task for the fleet in 1942 was “to inflict maximum damage on the enemy on his communications and clog the Finnish skerries with mines.” Despite heavy losses, 51 submarines remained in the Baltic Fleet. The boats had to break through two lines of anti-submarine lines in the Gulf of Finland, break out into the vast Baltic Sea and disrupt enemy shipping. It was assumed that submarine combat would continue throughout the summer campaign throughout the Baltic Sea. A submarine is preparing to set sail from besieged Leningrad.
It seems that the fleet command did not objectively assess the level of mine danger and the capabilities of its ships, which had to operate with virtually no air support in conditions of white nights, which precluded a long stay on the surface. The mine situation was especially difficult in the area of the islands of Hapasari, Gogland, Bolshoy Tyuters, Nargen and the Porkkala-Udd Peninsula, where in the first half of May 1942 the Nazis laid additional minefields. These minefields formed the basis of the Gogland (“Sea Urchin”) and Nargen-Porkkalaudd (“Rhinoceros”) anti-submarine positions. On Goglandskaya there were 177 mines per mile, on Nargen-Porkkalauddskaya - 98. The Nazis were also active in the Kronstadt area, where their boats laid 14 magnetic mines in the open part of the Sea Canal. In order to block the access to the sea for our submarines and block them in the Neva Bay, the fascist naval command created a special group of destroyer aircraft to mine the Kronstadt fairways from the air. In a short time, these aircraft dropped 413 bottom proximity mines, including those equipped with special self-destruct traps, the design of which was not yet known to Baltic Fleet specialists.
The submarines moved from Leningrad to Kronstadt and further to the island of Lavensari on the surface; they were covered by fire and a smoke screen from surface ships and boats. After this, having charged the batteries and received updated intelligence data, the boats continued moving on their own. They had to overcome more than 200 miles without security and escort at the greatest possible depth, but no closer than 10-15 meters from the bottom in order to avoid being blown up by bottom mines. Having crossed the Gogland anti-submarine position, the boats had to surface to charge batteries in the area where enemy anti-submarine ships and submarines were constantly patrolling and patrolling. Then - crossing another mine position and moving to the designated patrol area. And all this in shallow water conditions and long daylight hours. As a result, the Baltic Fleet lost 12 submarines out of 45 included in the submarine force in the 1942 campaign, while, according to the latest updated data, submariners sank 22 ships with a total displacement of 41,326 gross register tons. The relatively modest achievements of Soviet submariners, paid for in great blood, nevertheless bore fruit. The appearance of Soviet submarines off the coast of Sweden, where German ships had previously sailed as if in peacetime with their running lights turned on, forced the enemy to take measures to strengthen the anti-submarine defense system, introduce a convoy system, increase the density of minefields and move ship routes closer to the Swedish shores and in shallow water. In September, due to the lack of security ships in Finnish and German ports, there was a large accumulation of transport and cargo, which was eagerly awaited at the front and at German enterprises.
The year 1943 was no less difficult for submariners. From March to June, two rows of anti-submarine nets and nine six-tier lines of mines were installed at the Nargen-Porkkalaudda anti-submarine line, the number of which increased to 11,118 pieces. Two stationary underwater hydroacoustic stations were equipped. A ship patrol of 14–20 ships and boats is organized along the networks. By 1943, the enemy had planted 13,541 mines on the Gogland barrier. In addition, enemy aircraft and boats were deployed on the fairways from the island. Kotlin to o. Lavensari 384 contact and 113 non-contact min. The total number of mines in the Gulf of Finland by the end of 1943 was about 45,000. In this campaign, the submarine forces of the Baltic Fleet lost 5 ships without achieving a single confirmed victory. The last months of enemy domination in the Baltic were passing.
It is noteworthy that at the end of June - beginning of July 1943, two “baby” submarines “M-77” and “M-79” were transferred to Lake Ladoga to solve reconnaissance and anti-shipping tasks. On the lake by that time, the enemy, who had abandoned active operations against the ships of the Ladoga flotilla after the defeat at Suho Island in October 1942, had a small naval group, consisting mainly of Finnish boats and armed ships of small displacement. The enemy also had a small group of Italian torpedo boats and German airborne artillery self-propelled barge-catamarans of the Siebel type, delivered by rail through Finnish territory. The enemy essentially had no anti-submarine defense on the lake. The mine danger also seemed insignificant. Until the end of 1943, the “babies” made 12 military campaigns on the lake. In August - September, the submarine "M-77" under the command of Lieutenant Commander I.M. Tatarinova went out to the northern coast of the lake several times to search for enemy ships, but did not find objects of attack. In October - November, the boat successfully landed several reconnaissance and sabotage groups and took part in navigation support for the landing in Mustalahti Bay on October 12. "M-79" under the command of Guard Captain 3rd Rank S.Z. Trashchenko made four more trips before the freeze-up - mainly for reconnaissance purposes and to land a reconnaissance group. "Malyutki" continued their service on Ladoga in 1944, performing reconnaissance missions and providing cover for the landing of amphibious troops in the Tuloksa area (south of Vidlitsa) at the end of June.
On the eve of the complete breakthrough of the siege of Leningrad
Another little-known operation of the Baltic Fleet is ensuring a secret regrouping of troops of the Leningrad Front in anticipation of Operation Iskra to finally break the blockade of the besieged city.
Starting from November 5, 1943, for 28 days in extremely difficult ice and hydrometeorological conditions, 5 rifle divisions, 13 artillery and mortar formations and units, a tank brigade, 2 tank regiments (about 140 tanks in total) were transferred by sea directly from the besieged city and across Lisiy Nos. with ammunition and other types of weapons and military equipment. The transfer of troops was fraught with enormous difficulties, which consisted, first of all, in the lack of ships and vessels for special purposes. This role was performed by low-speed minesweepers - recently converted river and lake tugs, two self-propelled landing barges, net minelayers, Izhora boat minesweepers and simple barges. Operation Spark
The operation continued even when the Neva Bay was covered with 15 cm of ice. The strong movement of ice on the night of January 2, 1944 led to the fact that on the route to Oranienbaum the ice covered 18 ships and vessels, which within a day turned into stationary targets for fascist artillery. The only protection for these forces was a smoke screen put up by the planes and the crews themselves, who rolled out smoke bombs onto the ice. Only in the evening a change in the strength and direction of the wind allowed ships and vessels to free themselves from ice captivity.
It is worth citing the assessment of this operation given by the commander of the 2nd Shock Army, Colonel General I.I. Fedyuninsky: “It is hardly possible to recall a similar example in the history of military art, when the transfer of troops of huge masses of people and equipment directly into the enemy’s observation zone was carried out so secretly and without losses. Until the very last days, the enemy had no idea about the scale of transportation, believing that we were transferring troops from the bridgehead to the city and, apparently, did not attach importance to this regrouping.”
Transfer of troops of the 2nd shock army
***
At 20:00 on January 27, 1944, 324 guns with 24 artillery salvoes saluted the valiant troops of the Leningrad Front and the sailors of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, who liberated Leningrad from the enemy blockade. The ships of the Baltic Fleet stationed on the Neva also took part in this festive fireworks display. Thousands of Leningraders who took to the streets and embankments of the city, with tears in their eyes, congratulated each other and honored their liberators - the soldiers of the Leningrad Front and the sailors of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet.
