Activities of the rear of the Northern Fleet to ensure allied convoys
The Arctic convoys of the allies went from the USA through Great Britain and Iceland to the northern ports of the USSR. From August 1941 to May 1945, the Northern Fleet received 42 convoys and dispatched 36 convoys (there were 78 convoys in total, comprising about 1400 merchant ships), while there were no convoys between July and September 1942 and March and November 1943 . Arctic convoys delivered to the USSR about half of all aid under Lend-Lease 1 [1-3].
The terminal points for receiving transports of the Union Arctic convoys during the Great Patriotic War were the sea trade ports of the cities of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. The organization of loading and unloading operations and the shipment of goods arriving by sea inside the country was carried out by the specially created Office of the authorized State Defense Committee for Transport in the North, headed by Ivan Dmitrievich Papanin, which had special military teams and various vehicles at its disposal.
To the rear of the North fleet and the rear of the White Sea military flotilla were entrusted with the duty of comprehensively providing allied convoys. For example, the rear of the fleet and the rear of the flotilla were responsible for the quality and timing of emergency and emergency repairs of Allied warships and transport ships, for the deployment and maintenance of allied naval missions in the cities of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk and the village of Polyarny. In addition, the rear functions included the obligation to supply the ships and ships of the Allies with fuel, food, ammunition, skipper and other types of property on the return trip. Departments of auxiliary vessels provided comprehensive assistance to the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk trading ports, including towing transports to moorings (piers) and from moorings (piers) to the raid.
On August 31, 1941, even before the signing of the first agreement (protocol) on mutual deliveries between the USSR, the USA and the United Kingdom, the first caravan [3] of six ships arrived at the port of Arkhangelsk under the escort of British warships. Teams I.D. Papanin quickly unloaded them. The rear of the flotilla, in turn, provided the ships and ships of the allies with everything necessary. This first safe voyage through the North Atlantic, and even under the conditions of a polar day, convincingly showed that such sea crossings are possible in the future, of course, subject to the reliable protection of caravans by warships and aviation.
On January 13, 1942, a second caravan of allies from nine ships entered the Kola Bay, accompanied by warships. As part of this caravan from England, our Soviet ship “Decembrist” arrived, delivering 7000 tons of food and other essential goods [4]. However, the unloading of the ships of this caravan showed that the Murmansk commercial port is poorly prepared for receiving transports. There wasn’t enough manpower, loading and unloading mechanisms were practically absent: most of them in the first days of the war were dismantled and taken to Arkhangelsk or inland. Meanwhile, navigation in the White Sea was ending, and the entire flow of allied cargo was supposed to be received by the Murmansk commercial port.
The government took the most urgent measures to rectify the situation. I.D. Papanin, with his apparatus, relocated from Arkhangelsk to Murmansk and assumed direct control of the reception and unloading of allied convoys. The deputies of the USSR People's Commissar for Foreign Trade, Borisov and Krutikov, arrived in Murmansk.
After government intervention, the trading port of Murmansk was fully manned. In order to quickly eliminate the consequences of aerial bombardment, recovery teams were formed in the port, and all facilities were equipped with the necessary fire extinguishing equipment. It should be noted that unloading and loading of ships, as a rule, took place under continuous fierce bombing, which often required interruption of work, rescue of material assets, extinguishing of fires that occurred, provision of medical assistance to victims, as well as removal of ships for draining [4].
In the future, the implemented measures allowed quickly after raids to correct the damage caused to the objects and again, without delay, proceed with loading and unloading.
Of course, the equipment of the port took time, money, materials and people. The mechanisms were mined in various ways. Dismantled from the failed transports, restored decommissioned cranes in peacetime due to unsuitability of cranes, arrows and winches. Gradually, the port fleet was replenished with new lifting mechanisms supplied by industrial enterprises. At first, mainly manual labor was used, and often ... the proven Russian “club”.
And the allied convoys continued to arrive at the ports of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, and in increasing numbers. Caravans already counted dozens of transports, and all of them had to be unloaded as soon as possible and, without delaying a minute, loading the arrived cargo into railway wagons and sending it to its destination so that the valuable and necessary front property would not die on the berths under enemy bombs. At the end of the unloading, the transports had to be loaded with our cargoes intended for the allies. In loading and unloading operations, except for the personnel of special military teams at the disposal of I.D. Papanin, often attended by Murmansk workers.
In 1943, the personnel of the Northern Fleet came to the aid of the Murmansk Commercial Port [4]. Pursuant to the decision of the Military Council, a contingent consolidated regiment of up to 3000 men was formed at the rear of the fleet. This regiment consisted of sailors, soldiers, foremen, sergeants and coastal officers seconded to the rear of the fleet. Major Engineer M.G. Romanov, chief of staff - senior lieutenant P.I. Usikov. The consolidated regiment had a combat organization until the platoon, inclusive, instead of squadrons in the regiment, working number brigades were formed, headed by brigadiers from the sergeant.
At that harsh time, situations often arose that required courage and initiative not only from the commanders of units engaged in work at the port, but also from all the leaders of the rear, including the chief. Once such an incident occurred. One of the allied transports followed with a cargo of boards to Murmansk, where he was supposed to join the return convoy QP-16. In the Teriberka area, vehicles were bombed and seriously damaged, including holes in the underwater hull. There was a fire on the ship. The crew of the ship failed to eliminate the fire on their own. Having assessed the situation, the captain decided to bring the burning ship to the Kola Bay and, without the permission of the fleet rear command, put him to the berth, thereby creating an emergency situation when the fire spread to the coastal structures. Having learned about what had happened, the head of the rear suggested the captain of the vessel and representatives of the Allied mission take the transport out to dry, where it was possible to easily extinguish the fire by filling outboard water that penetrated the inside of the vessel through holes and open kingstones. However, the captain and representatives of the mission considered this measure risky and, in order to relieve themselves of any responsibility for the possible consequences, transferred the transport to the fleet rear, having previously received a safe receipt from the head of the rear.
Employees of the technical and emergency rescue departments of the rear of the fleet towed damaged vehicles to a site that had been previously examined and prepared by divers for drainage, strengthened the bulkheads, flooded the holds at high tide and quickly eliminated the fire. After the fire was eliminated, water was pumped out of the interior of the vessel, all the holes in the hull were sealed up, the transport was reloaded with the necessary cargo and, with the next convoy, safely sent to England.
The chief, like many other employees of the rear of the Northern Fleet and the rear of the White Sea military flotilla, had to deal a lot with the issue of emergency and emergency repairs of warships and transport ships of the Allied convoys. For the purpose of the most efficient management of these works, special engineering groups consisting of energetic, proactive and highly qualified specialists were created at the technical and rear departments.
Some ships needed a more serious and lengthy repair, and the time to carry it out, as a rule, was limited by the interval between unloading the next caravan and sending it on the return flight. In connection with these circumstances, the forces of all ship repair enterprises of the rear were involved in the repair work and workers were removed from other rear facilities.
It should be noted that the crews of the ships and crews of the Allied transport ships did not take any part in the repair work. Moreover, with the threat of an air attack, most crew members, taking food and drink supplies, mattresses and blankets with them, calmly went far into the hills and there without much hassle waited for enemy air raids. On the ships and vessels, there were only sailors of the upper watch who were very negligent in the performance of their duties. Such negligence of crew members in conditions of low air temperatures in winter often led to the defrosting of deck devices, mechanisms and pipelines, which also gave our repairmen a lot of additional worries and troubles.
Sometimes it happened that even with the slightest threat from the enemy, the crew in full force left their ship. Only in 1942-1944, the ships of the Northern Fleet picked up and saved five abandoned ships of the Allied convoys, removed from them 40000 tons of valuable cargo. All these abandoned ships were then repaired by us, and then transferred to their owners [4].
During the escort of the northern convoys, Soviet sailors often watched as the American and English crews abandoned their ships, as soon as there was a threat of their flooding. There were times when sailors abandoned their ships for no apparent reason at all. The transports abandoned by the crews were afloat until they were drowned by escort ships. The command of the Allied convoys did not stop such actions of their sailors, but justified them by the fact that the main task was to save people, not cargo. The British and Americans did not feel the need in those conditions to risk their lives for some material values, especially since these goods were intended for a foreign country.
In the winter of 1943/1944 A caravan of about 20 ships arrived in the Arkhangelsk port. All vessels had severe damage to the propellers. The head of the technical department of the rear of the White Sea Flotilla A.N. Dorofeev recalls:
“The ships fell into ice conditions, and their propellers turned into“ sockets ”: all the edges of the screws ... were bent in radius. Ship captains and the mission demanded to straighten the edges of the screws. However, we could not agree with this, because with our means this work would be delayed for a long time, and most importantly, winter would come and there was a threat to freeze ships in Arkhangelsk. The English mission was convinced of the impossibility of editing, and she agreed to trim the bent edges ... Having lost 2-3 knots of the course, the ships left Arkhangelsk on their own. ”
During the Great Patriotic War, 296 warships and transport ships were repaired at ship repair enterprises of the rear of the Northern Fleet and the rear of the White Sea Naval Flotilla, at the enterprises of civilian people's commissariats, which were operatively subordinate to them.
The senior officer of the British Naval Mission in Arkhangelsk Mond in November 1942 wrote to the flotilla command about the quality of the repair work performed as follows [4]:
“White Sea military flotilla. Technical department.
November 23, 1942. No. 88/141.
1. After the departure of the last warships that were in Arkhangelsk this year, I would like to note the good work of the Technical Department of the White Sea Naval Flotilla in repairing English ships.
2. Almost every ship calling at the port needed some kind of repair. Many ships, especially the Horrner minesweeper and the Deynman trawler, required a rather large and lengthy repair.
3. In each case, the work was completed and completed quickly, and the quality of work was first-class, satisfying all the highest requirements.
4. Such work is of great importance for the movement of convoys to Northern Russia.
Allow me to express special gratitude and gratitude to you on behalf of the English Admiralty. ”
November 23, 1942. No. 88/141.
1. After the departure of the last warships that were in Arkhangelsk this year, I would like to note the good work of the Technical Department of the White Sea Naval Flotilla in repairing English ships.
2. Almost every ship calling at the port needed some kind of repair. Many ships, especially the Horrner minesweeper and the Deynman trawler, required a rather large and lengthy repair.
3. In each case, the work was completed and completed quickly, and the quality of work was first-class, satisfying all the highest requirements.
4. Such work is of great importance for the movement of convoys to Northern Russia.
Allow me to express special gratitude and gratitude to you on behalf of the English Admiralty. ”
The scope of the work of the rear to supply the ships of the Union convoys with fuel, food and other types of material and technical support was quite large.
In fulfilling the mutual supply agreement, the USSR implemented the so-called reverse Lend-Lease program, according to which chrome ore, manganese ore, gold, platinum, wood, furs, mineral fertilizers and much more were supplied from the USSR to the United States and the United Kingdom. In addition, in accordance with this program, the USSR carried out free repair of allied warships and ships in its ports and provided other services. For example, free treatment of crew members of ships (ships) of the allies and their full material support in the event of damage or death of the ship (vessel) in Soviet territorial waters or when parking in ports [1].
The transport ships of the Allied convoys returned to their homeland not empty, their holds to the top were filled with timber, mineral fertilizers, ore and other vital for our allies in the fight against the common enemy (Nazi Germany) cargo.
Today at historical literature when covering the issue of Lend-Lease, individual authors allow themselves not to recall the existence of reverse Lend-Lease. Meanwhile, on October 1, 1941, an agreement (protocol) was concluded in Moscow on mutual deliveries, and not on unilateral assistance to the Soviet Union from the United States of America and the United Kingdom. There is no doubt that Lend-Lease allies' deliveries played a definite positive role in the victory of the USSR over fascist Germany, but the role of these deliveries is currently greatly exaggerated by the falsifiers of the history of World War II.
Использованная литература:
1. The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. In 12 volumes. Volume 1. The main events of the war. - M .: Military publishing house. 2011.S. 727-737, 933.
2. Kurmyshov V. M. The Northern Sea Route on the eve of and during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. // Collection of scientific articles of the International scientific-practical conference "The decisive contribution of the Soviet people to the defeat of Nazi Germany and its allies during the Great Patriotic War. Truth and fiction. - St. Petersburg: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, VA MTO, 2015.S. 362-364, 716.
3. The electronic encyclopedia Cyril and Methodius. 2007. The article "Lend-Lease".
4. Dubrovin N. P. I command the rear of the right flank. On the combat and everyday work of the rear of the Northern Fleet during the Great Patriotic War (memoirs of the deputy commander of the Northern Fleet - the head of the rear of the Northern Fleet, manuscript in the author’s edition). - L., 1985.S. 188-197, 202.
Footnotes:
1. Lend-lease (from the English. “Lend” - to lend and “lease” - to lease, for rent) - the US government program to assist the warring countries-allies in the anti-Hitler coalition. The first agreement (protocol) on mutual deliveries (not on unilateral assistance) between the USSR, the USA and the United Kingdom was concluded on October 1, 1941. This agreement was valid until June 30, 1942. There were five such protocols during the war, four during the Great Patriotic War and one, later called the program, on October 17, 1944, during the period of the war between the USSR and militaristic Japan. All Lend-Lease deliveries were discontinued on September 20, 1945. The USA and Great Britain supplied arms, military and other equipment, uniforms, foodstuffs, gunpowder, shell and mines to the USSR. Lend-lease supplies were received by the People's Commissariat of Foreign Trade of the USSR [1].
2. Ivan Dmitrievich Papanin - a famous polar explorer, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, head of the Northern Sea Route.
3. This allied convoy was code-named "Dervish." He delivered humanitarian aid from US citizens outside the Lend-Lease program.
4. Drying - the part of the surface of the seabed adjacent to the shore, freed from water at low tide and flooded with water at high tide, with a slight slope.
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