Day specialist mine and torpedo service of the Russian Navy
June 20 date was not chosen by chance. It was on this day more than a century and a half ago that in order to protect the borders of the Fatherland, Russian sailors for the first time had to use mine weapon.
In June 1854, the British and French naval forces, united in a squadron, decided to seize Kronstadt, Sveaborg, Revel and Ust-Dvinsk. Russian sailors were not going to surrender the city and put minefields. In the Gulf of Finland, the enemy squadron was unable to overcome the obstacle that was set up. And in 1855, the Anglo-French squadron once again tried to break through to the north-west of the Russian Empire. Immediately 4 of the enemy ship was blown up at the exposed minefields and went to the bottom. In many ways, it deprived the enemy of hope for the possibility of opening a full-fledged second front of the Crimean (Eastern) War.
Mine-torpedo division of the Navy of Russia - an important body of military control.
The servicemen employed in it are qualified, experienced specialists in their field, because how quickly and how successfully the enemy will be defeated and their defensive positions are strengthened depends on their successful work. Sometimes in this case it is not so much the battle itself that is important, but the understanding by the adversary that the minefields are insurmountable for him. Such an understanding often cooled hotheads.
It is necessary to note about such an important direction of the mine-torpedo service as the disposal of ammunition, which can be called an echo of various wars in stories country. Until now, the specialists of mine and torpedo units have been eliminating ammunition left on the seabed since the Great Patriotic War.
From the first days of the Great Patriotic War, Soviet naval miners began to put up defensive minefields. From 23 June to 21 July, fleet ships intensively mined approaches to Sevastopol, Odessa, Novorossiysk, Tuapse, Batumi and the strategically important Kerch Strait. Total Black Sea Fleet during the war put 10745 min. Of these, in defensive barriers - 8388 min. Like our other fleets, he fought a defensive mine war. The ships of the Baltic Fleet only in 1941 put 12047 mines. A mining of enemy waters has become one of the most frequently performed combat missions.
Torpedo boats designed to destroy torpedoes of warships and transport ships of the enemy were also widely used during World War II. By the beginning of the war, the USSR had 269 torpedo boats.
On all seas, the launch ships not only came out in dashing torpedo attacks, but also put up minefields, hunted enemy submarines, landed landings, guarded ships and convoys, trawled fairways, bombarding German land mines with depth bombs.
The Soviet torpedo bombers demonstrated not only iron endurance and the will to win, but also genuine skill, training, ability to think, to find unconventional, and therefore unexpected for the enemy, in lightning naval battle conditions.
In St. Petersburg, on the Maritime Glory Square, located on the very shore of the bay, there is an unusual monument: a torpedo boat from the time of the war is on a pedestal of gray granite. Below it is a bronze inscription cast from old screws: “To heroic sailors of the Baltic torpedo boats. 1941 — 1945. ”
Today, the mine-torpedo units of the Russian Navy form the basis of the Coast Defense Forces, their duties include the protection of the bases of the Russian Navy, ports and other important sectors of the coast.
Modern torpedo weapons are included in the package of torpedo submarines. In 2015, universal deep-sea self-guided torpedoes of the FGIU UGST entered service with the Russian Navy. Currently undergoing state tests on the Issyk-Kul lake in Kyrgyzstan, a new version of the torpedo "Case". If successful, the torpedo will be adopted, and already in 2017, the mass production of these naval weapons will begin. Torpedoes, as a further development of the Physicist UGTs, will be placed primarily on the newest nuclear submarines of the Borey and Ash Trees projects.
In 2018, the 12700 project “Ivan Antonov”, the second in the series of the mine defense mine, will be launched (Alexandrite project).
The 12700 Alexandrite project was created at the St. Petersburg Central Design Bureau MT Almaz and is a new generation of mine defense ships. Ships of this project are designed to search and destroy mines in the waters of naval bases on a safe distance for the ship.
Currently, mine and torpedo weapons are being improved. New materials are being developed, new equipment is being created, laser and other modern technologies are being actively applied. This makes it possible to move along the path of progress in creating weapons capable of effectively protecting the sea borders of Russia.
On this holiday, "Military Review" congratulates all involved in the holiday - the Day of the mine-torpedo service of the Navy.
- Wikipedia, Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
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