Submarine Lamprey
The use of submarines during the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 gave the first practical combat experience, and revealed both the positive and negative qualities of Kasatka-type submarines. One of the main disadvantages of submarines of this type was the presence of only torpedo tubes of the Dzhevetsky system. In addition to many positive qualities, they also had serious shortcomings - the difficulty of precise aiming during the underwater stroke, the inability to adjust and inspect the torpedoes that are in the vehicles. In contrast to them, the tubular torpedo tubes installed on submarines of the type "Osetr" and "Som" ensured better preservation of the torpedoes. At the same time, internal submerged torpedo tubes could be reloaded, which made it possible to have a spare kit.
The need for the use of tubular internal torpedo tubes was justified in a memorandum filed in May 30 GMSH on May, by the Rear Admiral, head of scuba diving Eduard Nikolayevich Schensnovich. In particular, he drew the attention of MGSH to the successful construction by the Baltic plant of Kasatka-type submarines and the creation of 1905-strong efficient engines for the surface course. Considering it necessary to further develop the domestic submarine shipbuilding, Schensnovich suggested “to immediately order submarines with internal torpedo tubes to the Baltic Plant.”
The content of the memo of Shensnovich E.N. coincided with the plans of the Marine Ministry, as the ITC 3 of May 1905 of the year reviewed the project of a submarine with a displacement of 380 tons, compiled by ship engineer IG Bubnov. and captain of the second rank Beklemishev M.N. Designers have chosen the path of further development of submarines of the "Killer Whale" type. The underwater speed was increased by the 4 node (up to 18), the range in the surface position - 5 thousand miles, in the submerged position - 32 miles (against 24). The project involved the installation of torpedo tubes of the Dzhevetsky system in the nose of the tubular torpedo tube and in the cut-outs of the superstructure. The members of the MTC, at a detailed review of the project, expressed the desire to move the tubular apparatus to the upper part of the superstructure to protect it from damage when the submarine touches the ground. The MTC meeting approved the project, stating that "building such a submarine ... in Russia with its own means is desirable for independent development, construction and improvement of scuba diving equipment." The Baltic Shipbuilding and Mechanical Plant was offered as a builder, and the L.Nobel plant was proposed as a manufacturer of surface engines. Based on the positive response of the ITC Vice-Admiral, Director of the Marine Ministry, Avelan F.K. 6 May 4 ordered the introduction of the project into the general shipbuilding program.
Bubnov I.G. September 25 sent a memo addressed to the Chief Inspector of Shipbuilding. In it, he pointed to the increased explosiveness of gasoline engines. It was proposed to replace two 600-strong gasoline engines with two 600 and 300 hp diesel engines operating on one shaft in series. To save the design speed Bubnov I.G. proposed to reduce the width of the submarine 305 mm and refuse to use wood in the hull shell. In addition, the designer suggested using four tubular vehicles with four spare torpedoes instead of one tubular and 6 torpedo tubes.
The ITC approved the changes, at the same time it was reviewed and approved by I.G. Bubnov the project of a small submarine with a displacement of 117 tons, armed with two tubular bow devices. The basis for the development of this project was the conclusions of the MGS commission on the need to have fleet submarines of two types - coastal, with a displacement of about 100 tons, and cruising, with a displacement of 350-400 tons. The meeting of the ITC approved the small submarine project and the changes made to the documentation of the submarine with a displacement of 360 tons. The construction of the submarine was entrusted to the Baltic Shipyard, and the general supervision was assigned to the ship engineer I. Bubnov The Department of Constructions of the GUKiS, on the basis of the subsequent resolution of the Minister of the Sea, AA Birilev, on February 9, 1906 issued the Baltic Shipyard the order No. 4457 for the construction of 2 submarines with a displacement of 360 and 117 tons. The deadline is 20 months.
The order to the Baltic Shipyard from the very beginning was insufficiently financed (total 200 000 rubles), which made it possible only to begin negotiations with contractors and launch preparatory work. Factory specialists in the summer of 1906 conducted negotiations with the company "MAN" (Augsburg, Germany), which was engaged at that time in building diesel engines with 300 hp power. for french submarines. Petersburg plant "L.Nobel" also took up the creation of such engines, but it seemed very doubtful due to lack of experience. Bubnov I.G. 19 August presented a memorandum to the MTC, in which he proposed to change the power plant for the underwater course. Taking into account the fact that the proposed 600-strong diesel did not fit into the overall dimensions of the hull and had a number of drawbacks, Bubnov suggested using three diesel engines with an 300 horsepower, each of which would work on a separate shaft.
Such an unusual project at the meetings of the ITC was considered three times - August 21, September 22 and October 13. The committee members at the first meeting proposed to suspend the construction and order the 1 diesel for extensive testing. All this submarine entry into operation pushed aside indefinitely, which is why the head of the Baltic plant Veshkurtsev PF. took responsibility for the construction of submarines with a displacement of 117 and 360 tons. At the last meeting of the ITC, Veshkurtsev’s proposal was accepted. The plant in October introduced the MTC tech. conditions approved by 7 December. This date should be considered the beginning of the construction of submarines.
The L.Nobel plant in January 1907 received an order for the manufacture of three 300-strong and two 120-strong engines, and the Volta plant in Revel for rowing electric motors. In this case, the delivery time of diesel engines - 15 months from the date of receipt of the order. The French company "Meto" was supposed to put the batteries (the term 11 months). Hull work went pretty quickly, especially on a small submarine, officially laid 6 February 1906 year.
14 June 1907, the small and large submarines of the Baltic factory were credited to the fleet lists as "Lamprey" and "Shark".
The descent of the first one, scheduled for the spring of 1908, had to be postponed, because the plant "L.Nobel" delayed the supply of surface-mounted engines. Much time was spent on the manufacture of the reversing device developed by the engineer KV Hagelin. In this regard, the first of the diesel engines was presented only in July, and the second - in October 1908. Plant "Volta" in the contract period also did not meet. All the work was complicated by the fire that occurred on 21 in March on a Baltic factory and destroyed the new batteries. This was the reason for the second order of the company "Meto". The submarine "Lamprey" 11 October launched on the water with a single diesel engine, 15 days after the tests were started, which had to be stopped due to solid ice. 7 November, only mooring trials were conducted. In April 1909, the submarine "Lamprey" was raised on the wall for the installation of lead keel, since a large number of pipelines in the hold did not allow additional ballast to be placed inside the hull.
At the beginning of June, a second diesel engine, a rechargeable battery, and all the mechanisms were tested. June 7 submarine "Lampa" under the command of Lieutenant A.V. Brovtsyna started in the Marine Channel runs under diesel engines, and later passed for acceptance tests (15-18 of October) in Bjørké-Sound. The acceptance committee concluded that the submarine is to be accepted into the treasury, even despite the reduction in the submarine and surface speeds compared with the contract (0,75 and 1 node, respectively). Also, the commission proposed to strengthen the armament of the submarine with two Dzhevetskogo torpedo tubes. However, the proposal remained on paper due to concerns about the deterioration of the stability of the submarine.
The submarine "Lamprey" (tonnage 123 / 152 tons, buoyancy reserve 24%) is a further development of submarines of the "Killer Whale" type with a characteristic placement of the main ballast outside the strong hull in the light ends. Robust housing, designed for 45 meter immersion, recruited by the transverse system. Concentric frames from 18 to 90 were made of angle steel 90x60x8 millimeters with a spline 305 millimeters, sheathing - 8 mm, limiting the solid body from bow to stern. An oval solid cutting (8 wall thickness of millimeters) was riveted to the strong body in the middle part, and the lining of the light extremities (from 0 to 18 and from 90 to 108 frames) was half the thickness.
Throughout the upper part of the hull, in order to improve the seaworthiness, a waterproof lightweight superstructure was assembled (lining 3 mm thick). The lamprey diving system consisted of two tanks (each 9 tons) of the main ballast in the extremities, which were designed for the 6-meter depth of immersion. The end tanks in the stern and bow were filled with two centrifugal reversible pumps of the Maginot system (diameter of 120 valves in millimeters, capacity depending on the depth of immersion, ranged from 45 to 200 м3 per hour). Inside the end tanks housed aft and bow trim tanks (capacity of each 0,75 tons), designed for maximum depth. 76 millimeter valves were used to fill them. Inside the robust hull (48-59 frames), the 2 medium tanks (each 2 ton capacity) were located, which were filled through separate 152 millimeter kingstones, whose drives were located in the battlehouse. The superstructure in the bow and stern (23-49 and 57-74 frames) contained two deck tanks of 4 tons, designed for atmospheric pressure 0,5 and filled with gravity during the dive. Differential and medium tanks were blown with high pressure air (approximately 3 of the atmosphere) at maximum depth. Water from these tanks was pumped through a special pipeline by centrifugal pumps. The residual buoyancy was regulated by means of two small tanks, with a total capacity of about 15 liters, located in the aft part of the conning tower. Filling was carried out by hand pump.
In general, the ballast system of the submarine "Lampa" differed reliability and simplicity. An important innovation was the presence of deck tanks, with closed ventilation valves which (after filling the stern and fore), the submarine moved into a positional position, in which only the wheelhouse remained on the surface.
The average nasal tank was completely filled when immersed, and the aft part partially, which made it possible to regulate the residual buoyancy. Essentially, the feed tank served the role of equalization. Purging medium tanks with high-pressure compressed air allowed the submarine to quickly float in an emergency.
The breech parts of the torpedo tubes, the compressor, the nose centrifugal pump and the electric motor for the underwater armature were located in the upper part of the nose compartment (18-48 frames). In the lower part there was a battery of the Meto system, consisting of 66 elements, located in two groups with a passage in the middle. In this case, the battery flooring served as the floor. Above the batteries, metal lockers were fastened on the sides. Their covers were intended for the rest of the team. In the hold of the nasal compartment was placed 7 air guards, torpedo firing was carried out by one of them. On the starboard side (48 frame), a fresh water tank with a capacity of 400 liters was attached. Between the 48 and 54 frames there were enclosures for the officers' premises, which were fenced off from the passage with cloth curtains. The beds of the commander and assistant, the electric motor of the periscope and the fans were located here. The stern bulkheads of the “cabins” were the walls of fuel tanks and the nasal bulkheads were light bulkheads (48 frame). Between the frames 54 and 58 housed fuel tanks, riveted of steel with a thickness of 7 millimeters, with a passage in the middle.
The engine room was located between the 58 frame and the spherical bulkhead, in which there were two three-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines (piston stroke 270 mm, cylinder diameter 300 mm), total power at 400 rpm - 240 hp In surface situations, the engines allowed them to reach speeds up to 10 knots and ensured cruising range up to 1000 miles with an 8 nodal economic course. Under water, the submarine moved under the rowing 70-strong electric motor with a speed of 4,5-5 knots. The battery capacity was enough for 90 miles to go. An electric motor and diesel engines installed in the center plane could be connected to each other by Leblanc friction clutches. A stern engine worked to charge the battery. Under the foundations of diesel engines, 6 fuel tanks were placed, the capacity of which was 5,7 tons, from where the diesel was fed into the consumable tanks with a hand pump, and from there it flowed by gravity.
The presence of dissimilar engines on a submarine "Lampa" on a single propeller shaft, as well as small possibilities for changing the rotational speed of diesel engines, made it possible to use the CPP (the first time in world practice), the blade pitch was set only without load depending on the operation mode. As a result, this technical innovation was practically not used. In the engine room, in addition to the above, there was a compressor, a centrifugal pump, aft ballast tank and 5 air ducts. One of the air guards (capacity 100 liters) was used to start diesel engines.
The submarine was controlled by a vertical rudder 2 m 2, as well as two pairs of horizontal rudders - stern and bow (areas 2 and 3,75 m 2, respectively), the posts of the latter were located in the stern and bow compartments, which made management difficult. The central post was absent as such, and the steering wheel of the vertical rudder was located in the conning tower. The same steering wheel was installed on the deckhouse roof to control on the surface. Visual observation of the external situation was conducted through five windows in the wheelhouse. Here, in the upper part, there was a durable cap with four windows, its cover also served as an access hatch. Two more hatches in the stern and bow were used for loading spare parts, torpedoes and batteries. Underwater, the observation was carried out using a kleptoscope and a periscope of foreign constructions, the first one having the following difference: during the rotation of the lens, the observer remained in place, and in conditions of extreme constraint this was very important.
The armament of the submarine "Lampa" - two VTTA plant "G.A.Lessner" and two torpedoes R34 arr. 1904 year caliber 450 millimeters. Due to the lack of a torpedo replacement tank, shooting by volley was impossible. The supply consisted of a mushroom underwater anchor weighing 50 kg and a surface anchor weighing 150 kg. The crew of the submarine consisted of 22 man, two of whom - the officers.
Based on Libau, the submarine Minoga began combat training, carried out independent exits, and participated in annual fleet maneuvers. 23 March 1913 of the year during the training dive occurred unexpected - in a strong body through the ship ventilation shaft, because of the ingress of a foreign object, its valve was not completely closed, water began to flow. The submarine, having lost its buoyancy, sank at a depth of 30 meters, but thanks to the competent actions of Lieutenant A. Garsoev, the submarine commander, calm weather, as well as timely assistance, victims were avoided. With the help of specialists from the Libavsky military port, the submarine was raised and repaired. The practical lesson learned from this incident did an excellent service - on all subsequent submarines of the Russian fleet, the ventilation valves were now made open only to the inside of the hull.
During the First World War, the submarine "Lamprey" was part of the first division of the Brigade of the Baltic Fleet. The Lamprey was actively used to carry out patrols in the region of the Moonsund Archipelago in the Central Mine Artillery Position.
He was called Barsoev
Once in childhood, Garsoev dreamed of becoming an artilleryman. The house in Tiflis was located near the artillery regiment. Alexander soon got used to horses, carving from a bridge spark, and singing a trumpet. He liked the little, like toy, mountain guns, with whom the soldiers on the parade ground famously controlled. However, his enthusiasm for artillery disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Having left for Moscow to study, he bade farewell to Tiflis for a long time. Then came the sea. Garsoev graduated from Moscow University, Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, Mathematics Department by 23 years. The father wanted his son to become a scientist. At the same time, Alexander considered the days when he would receive a diploma and be able to file a petition for admission to the fleet as a cadet.
6 August 1904, Garsoev reported to the duty officer of the Metropolitan Eighteenth Navy crew. The summer was cold and rainy. Thick, as if serfs, walls of huge barracks were covered with mold ...
During the 16 months in the crew, Garsoev was able to master the full course of the Marine Corps. Having passed the exams and received the rank of midshipman, he was assigned to the destroyer. In the beginning was the number 217, later "Attentive", "Prominent", "Finn". Having drank plenty of life bearing life, suddenly transferred to the battleship "Andrew the First Called." Then a quick transfer to the cruiser "Diana". But Garsoev wanted to scuba diving. October 19 1910, he finally manages to get directions to the training squadron of scuba diving. After stories with the submarine "Lamprey", he understood - he could not live without a fleet. Then he could send to the devil both boats and fleet. Could, however, did not.
Boats ... He could not explain why they so entered into his life. After all, people serve on cruisers, armadillos, at worst there are destroyers. After all, people serve, and he served. He was repeatedly offered to go to headquarters. During the war, Garsoev nearly got to headquarters forever. As it turned out, it is not clear, but the clerical confusion led the combat commander of the boat to Revel to a land position. With great difficulty, operatives of the Main Naval Staff dragged him to him. However, the "ungrateful" Garsoev continued to file a report for a report. The position and position of the high headquarters officer did not suit him. He wanted to submarines.
Head Garsoeva - N. Ignatiev (a year after the October Revolution, they met again at the Scientific Research Committee, where Ignatiev became head) N. Podgursky, commander of the Baltic submarine connection: "Dear Nikolai Konstantinovich! As you know, in my diving department there is a senior Lieutenant Garsoev. This officer really wants to command the boat and constantly sticks to me with translation. Of course, I don’t like to be left without a diving expert, but what to do ... But if you have a lot of candidates and without Garsoeva, or you even have anything against this officer, I will not cry, because without it I would be difficult. On the other hand a shame not to use such an officer in the war .... Your Ignatiev.
Garsoev was immediately given the Lioness submarine — the newest for that time submarine of the Bars type. He did not know about the correspondence between Ignatiev and Podgursky.
Yes, getting out of the "Lamprey" - the steel coffin - he could throw scuba diving without fear of accusations of cowardice. Could, however, not quit. Moreover, Garsoev blamed himself in many ways. How was that?
Garsoev, having graduated from the scuba diving training squadron, was appointed assistant commander of the submarine "Shark". While in the detachment, but studied the "Lamprey", "Beluga", "Shiga", "Postal". During training, students moved from one boat to another. The same questions and activities, however, the boats are all different. It seemed Garsoev on the submarine "Postal" can blindfolded to understand the intricacies of the engine and the intricacies of highways. If in fairness - the boat was creepy. Its designer Dzhevetsky S.K. first attempted to implement the idea of a single engine for surface and underwater travel. Everything turned out quite difficult, the conditions of habitability - at the limit, something broke almost during each exit. No one grieved when, in connection with the complete unsuitability of the submarine "Postal" was put into port, in other words - for scrap.
In 1913, Garsoev took the submarine "Minoga" - a new, third submarine IG Bubnov, the world's first submarine with a diesel-electric power plant. With the arrival of the new commander, the team at the Minogue almost changed. Basically, the sailors were from the submarine "Postal" - extraordinary, family, power. With the device of the submarine "Lampa" got acquainted superficially, considering that after the "Post" the devil itself is not terrible.
23 March 1913 of the year in 14: 00 Garsoev for the first time led the submarine "Minogu" into the sea. Immediately began the "carousel". Working backwards from the wall, Garsoev, not knowing the inertia of the submarine, hit her with a stern of a barge standing at the opposite wall of the bucket. The double-headed eagle, which glittered on the submersibles of the submarines gilded, shattered into smithereens. Provided, or as they said at the time, the submarine was escorted by the port boat Libava. Garsoev was sent on it steering the submarine "Lampa" Guryev: the sailor knew how in an emergency to handle the phone on the rescue buoy. Earned pumps, filling the tank. At first, the boat began to sink smoothly, but failed and, hitting, lay on the bottom.
Garsoev knew: here the depth is 33 feet, but automatically he looked at the device. Arrow confirmed: the boat is at a depth of 33. A report arrived from the car: "There is water between diesel engines at the site." Here he made a mistake. Garsoev blew not all the tanks at the same time, but one by one ... To no avail. Moved into the car and realized that he was late. From somewhere in the hold there was a powerful jet. The water level was increasing rapidly. Probably, the valve of the mine ship ventilation did not close. The pipe seems to go into the hold, and there is a valve on the bridge. He cursed himself, because he was not sure that this was the case. I looked through the drawings briefly, hoped for memory - because I had studied the "Lamprey" by a detachment's listener quite recently. As if now it did not come at a high price ... Garsoev caught the glances of the sailors. Reflected. He ordered to give a rescue buoy. “Allow me to report, Your Honor?” Ivan Manaev, a non-commissioned officer of the second article, appeared in front of Garsoev. ". - "So why didn't you report?" - “I thought that at the“ Minogue ”otherwise everything else than at the“ Postal ”.“ “We will perish through whom,” cried someone. ““ Calmly, brothers, we have not drowned yet, ”said Garsoev, but not I felt firm confidence. Now, as if looking at myself from the outside, I was surprised at my levity. How did he venture to go with a team that practically didn’t know the boat? He tried not to think about himself, putting aside his revenge for later. " then "? Having picked up the telephone receiver, I started calling Guriev. In response, silence. Where is Guriev? What is happening on the surface?
The crew of "Lampor" made an attempt to overcome the stream poured into the boat. Someone raised the flooring and, looking into the hold, determined where the water came from. Confirmed - water gushes from the lower end of the ventilation pipe. We chopped the pipe above the flooring and wanted to drown it. Garsoev, removing the jacket, ordered to score it as a "chop." Few. He pulled the green cloth off the table in his cabin, pulled the curtains off the bunk, and ordered the curtains to be brought from the officer's room. Pillows, ripped mattresses and a set of stern flags went to work ... From the commander's cabin they even brought a rug torn into stripes and scored it. All in vain. Water could not be tamed. Perhaps for some time the jet weakened, but then the “chop” took off. Oily cold water rose above the main electric motor.
"What happened next?" - recalled Garsoev, feeling the grave cold of the sunken submarine. The commander made the right decision, ordering everyone to move away from the battery - to the stern. Knew: when the water gets to the batteries, chlorine will start to be released. In this case - exactly the end. It is necessary that the batteries flooded immediately, then part of the chlorine will then be dissolved in water. Commanding as if in half-forgetting - probably it was so - he somehow managed to raise the stern. Water poured into the battery. Garsoev reduced one threat, but the lights went out in the boat.
People gathered at the stern. Established places of rest, the role of which was performed by the covers of the boxes for batteries (personal belongings of the team were stored in boxes) were flooded. Therefore, whoever where could be arranged in the stern. Nerves passed. Many raved, someone moaned ...
Subsequently, thinking about this incident, Garsoev could not understand what they were breathing then. A destructive mixture of carbon dioxide, chlorine, vapors of oils and fuels. Hour, another, third ... The sailors took turns holding Nazarevsky by force. In a healthy and strong non-commissioned officer clouded in his mind. Boatsmanmat Oberemsky shouted something incoherently. The mine driver Kryuchkov, unconscious, fell off the diesels into the water. With difficulty pulled out, because he could drown right in the submarine. Garsoev periodically plunged into oblivion and with an effort of will escaped from complete silence and darkness on a sunken ship. Sweat flooded his face, Garsoeva was shivering, because after he gave the tunic, he was wearing one shirt. The sailors brought a blanket.
Garsoev, creating the differential, pursued another goal: the ascended feed might come to the surface, which would speed up their deliverance and make the task for rescuers easier.
Why, the commander thought, nobody appears, why is there no floating crane? Garsoev realized that their fate completely depended on what was being done above.
There is a lot of air on the surface, and people breathe freely and easily, without even noticing it. And here every minute their chances of salvation are reduced. The sigh is followed by an exhalation, saturating the already poisoned atmosphere of the boat with the next portion of carbon dioxide ...
So why at the top slow, where the Guryev, finally, and what happens?
From the report of the head of the first mine-division of the Baltic Sea to the commander of the Baltic Sea Forces: "During the first dive, the boat sank, but as the flag on the mast was clearly visible above the water, Guriev did not assume that the accident had happened and continued to hold on to the 5 cable Only after 5 hours, approaching the mast of the boat close, I saw a discarded emergency buoy. The excitement was so strong that it was impossible to take the buoy from the boat without danger of damaging the wire, so Guryev went to the floating beacon, where he took the boat and people, and asked for a wake-up call ... same Guryev himself stayed on the boat, which has raised the displacer. Thus was established contacts with the crew of the submarine. "
An electrician non-commissioned officer Nikolaev replied to Guryev: "Help, yes quickly!" From the port approached the destroyer. The captain of the second rank Plen jumped right off the board into the boat, picked up the phone from Guriev, ordered Nikolayev to report in detail and in order. The information did not please: the water in the boat, people gathered in the stern, a large air buffer was formed there. Garsoev asked if the feed appeared above the water. If not, it is necessary to raise it as quickly as possible, so that the hatch appears ...
Rear Admiral Chief of the First Mine Division of Storre, who assumed the leadership of the rescue work, nervously walked along the deck of the Aquarius transport. Divers wore costumes. Before coming to the accident site, the admiral spoke with the port director and learned that the crew of floating cranes were free-lance, at 5 hours of the evening they finished their work and went home without knowing about the accident. They all live in the city, not in the port. When will the messengers find them? And finally, what to do without an 100-ton crane? Therefore, the priority task is to provide the boat with air. Divers sank to the bottom, hoses filed with the transport, and they attempted to attach one of them to the special. the valve on the wheelhouse submarine "Lampa". The destroyers who surrounded the scene of the accident flooded the sea with the light of searchlights. Soon, one of the divers entangled in his own air hose was lifted to the surface unconscious. Others from the bottom handed unhappy news: you will not attach any nut of the hoses to the valve, because the thread does not fit ... Storre, whom everyone knew as an imperturbable person, stamped his feet and swore like a drunk fireman.
“Your Excellency,” the Kavtorang Plen shouted to him from the boat, “no one answers the call, I hear only moans!”
Storre escaped from the deck. He seemed to do everything, but people died. Only on 22: The 25 private tugs hired by the harbor master brought the 100-ton crane to the crash site. While the crane was anchored, while the diver was putting on equipment, another hour and eleven minutes passed. The diver went to the submarine, put the gini - devices that are used to lift loads of the greatest mass. “The groans have stopped,” he shouted, not tearing himself off the pipe, Plen. “No one responds from the submarine.”
At midnight, Fleet Commander Storré reported that people were in a chlorine-rich atmosphere for 9 hours and the hope of salvation was constantly diminishing. The 100-ton crane started working, several people with chisels and hammers prepared to open the hatch as soon as it appeared above the water. Storre took a chance, giving the order to start climbing, immediately after the first guinea were laid. The diver, without undressing, waited for the feed to come out. Then you can lay the second gini for insurance, and the boat just will not break. Above the water in 00: 45 seemed to hatch, which then began to open from the inside. So there are live! Three officers from the students of the scuba diving training squad - midshipman Terletsky, lieutenants Gersdorf and Nikiforaki rushed to the submarine from the boat. “To the waist in the water,” wrote Rear Admiral Storr in his report, “they helped to lift the hatch and began to pull out the rescued one by one. Lieutenant Garosev was lifted by the eighth. People were transferred to the boats, and from them to Aquarius and the crane; their appearance was terrible after what they experienced. The boat commander, Lieutenant Garsoev, who was unconscious the last time he came to his senses, was taken to a crane, where they were laid near the boilers ... There was a steering boatman Ivan Gordeyev, who was in the command room for cutting, He was told from the stern compartment with water. They talked to him, and the boatswain-mate said that he had enough air, but it was impossible to remove it from the wheelhouse before pumping water.
Michman Terletsky, lieutenants Gersdorf and Nikiforaki, repeatedly descended into the submarine and took out exhausted and weakened people from there and, according to these officers, selflessly devoted to the service, who showed an outstanding example of courage, even with an open hatch, the air in the boat was impossible, they were suffocating in it. For the release of Gordeyev, the water from the boat was pumped out by the port tugs Avanport and Libava. The water was sinking slowly, in an hour and 45 of minutes its level was reduced to a level that allowed Lieutenant Nikiforaki to pass to Gordeyev's board, on which he crawled and left the hatch himself; in the boat on the surface of the water floated acid coming from batteries and oil. "
Further, Storre noted: “According to the report of Lieutenant Garsoev, commander of the submarine“ Minoga ”, the behavior during the crash of the steering boatswain Gordeev is outstanding and beyond all praise: not losing composure, encouraging words of all the surrounding lower ranks, disposability and personal example, boatswain for some the time before the hatch was opened, he took a boat from Lieutenant Garsoev, who called him for this purpose and lost consciousness at the same time. His endurance is amazing: in the sunken boat he stayed the longest and had a spa en about 3: 00 hours of the night, refused any help, and immediately inquired about the health of the commander and other lower ranks. "
After the accident, an order was received through 6 days to award the boatswain of Garsoev "for the difference in rank of senior lieutenant". Gordeyev was awarded the title of non-commissioned officer of the second article.
The trial took place in May.
Before the special presence of the Kronstadt Naval Court, Rear Admiral, the head of the diving training detachment, PP, and his assistant, Captain Second Rank Nikitin, AV, appeared. and Senior Lieutenant A.N. Garsoev
From the sentence:
“The cause of the drowning on the Libausky raid of the submarine Minoga, which took place on 23 in March of this year, was that an untidy bundle of rags and two semaphore flags left in the cabin casing fell under the vent pipe valve, not allowing it to close tightly. Due to this, during when the boat plunged into combat position through the valve, the water began to flow into the hold and, having lost its buoyancy, the boat sank to a depth of 33 feet, where it lay on the bottom.He stayed in this position from 16: 00 to 00: 45 when ... she was lifted to the surface. Everything those in the boat were rescued ... But many parts of the boat were damaged, which would require 20000 rubles to fix. "
The verdict on Garsoev said: “Although Garsoev did not show proper care for the above mentioned dive, he didn’t adequately and promptly assess the sudden circumstances of the loss of buoyancy by boat, in his subsequent actions, showed orderliness and full presence of mind, managed to keep up the team with vigor, which worked all the time with outstanding energy, thanks to which the submarine lasted until the moment of rendering assistance. "
The court acquitted Nikitin and Garsoev. For poor control Levitsky was declared a remark. The accident of the submarine "Lampa" forever left the memory of Garsoev - poor health, as well as the deathly pale complexion - the result of poisoning with acid fumes and chlorine. From the cruel lesson "Lamprey", he concluded. Actually, Garsoev became a real submariner only after the accident, having gone through what all submarine employees were afraid of. Garsoev did not suffer from the gentleness of his character even before that, but the 9 hours spent in the steel "coffin" did not pass for nothing: but he became stricter and tougher.
The submarine "Lamprey", he commanded for another 8 months. How many exposures did it take to make the first dive after an accident? “The submarine“ Lamprey ”made Garsoev and Terletsky friends. Garsoev forever retained good feelings for the man, who, regaining consciousness, saw first. The meetings were both enjoyable, especially since their fates were alike, like many officers who swore allegiance to the new Russia. The names of these prominent people will forever remain in the history of the national submarine fleet. When Garsoev was assigned to the Leo submarine of the Bars type, the submarine wits gave him the nickname Barsoev, and so it remained for him.
Once the following happened ... There was a fog in which the submarine "Minoga" was making its way to the position. The fog suddenly dissipated, and the German destroyer turned out to be close by, following a head-on course and immediately spotting a Russian submarine. The commander of the Lamprey saw how the feed of the destroyer sank and the breaker almost instantly grew, while water rose in the air under the bow - the enemy’s vessel increased its speed. - "Immediate immersion!" - The signalman and the submarine commander rushed down, closing the hatch behind him. Already heard the noise of the screws of the destroyer. And Grigory Trusov, non-commissioned officer of the first article, rushed about in the stern of the submarine near the cars. What happened was that he had already foreseen a long time ago: the coupling failed.
The submarine "Lamprey" was the world's first submarine with diesel engines. A propeller motor and two diesel engines operated on the same shaft. Couplings stood in three places gross line. You cannot do without couplings on the submarine, since the engines of the underwater and surface run were on the same shaft, and when switching to an electric motor, it was necessary to disconnect the diesels. With couplings not everything was alright.
The third feed coupling, installed between the electric motor and diesel engines, was located in the engine hold low in the place where the waste oil and water accumulated. When rolling, especially during a storm, a mixture of water and oil got into the clutch, so it did not work at the right time. And now, when the fate of the submarine is being decided, a refusal has occurred.
Diesels stopped, but since the clutch did not work, the electric motor, straining the load, rotated not only the screw, but also the diesels. In turn, they became a piston compressor sucking the air out of the boat, driving it into the gas manifold. After a few more turns, the vacuum will become critical. Yes, and the submarine is sinking very slowly ...
Wielding a crowbar, Trusov still manages to separate the clutch. The diesel stopped, the speed of the dive increased. Above the submarine "Lamprey", stunning everyone with its screws, the German destroyer raced. The submarine from the ram was separated seconds won by Trusov. He acted contrary to all the rules that categorically forbade the coupling to disengage during the course. Working without shutting down the electric motor, Trusov strongly risked - he could have been hit with a crowbar or tightened under a shaft. But there was no choice. As stated in the order of the Baltic Fleet Commander, "the destroyer passed over the submarine in such proximity that the latter received a list in 10 degrees". In October, the non-commissioned officer Trusov was awarded the third degree St. George Cross ...
In the winter of 1914-1915, during the next repair, in the aft part of the submarine, an 37 caliber gun was installed. In the autumn of 1917, after several years of combat service, the submarine, along with 4 submarines of the Kasatka type, was sent to Petrograd for major repairs. However, the revolutionary events of the repair period was postponed for an indefinite period. By order of MGSH No. 111 from 31.01.1918, all these submarines were deposited at the port.
In the summer of the same year, an urgent strengthening of the Caspian military flotilla was required. By order of Lenin VI, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, the submarines Minoga, Kasatka, Makrel and Okun were urgently repaired and sent to Saratov by rail transporters. On November 10, after they were launched, they were enlisted in the Astakhan-Caspian military flotilla.
The submarine "Minoga" under the command of Poiret Yu.V. 21 May 1919 at Fort Alexander during the battle with the British ships was on the verge of death, as having lost the course of winding the steel cable on the screw.
Only the courage of the steering signalman Isaev V.Ya., who managed to free the propeller in cold water, saved the submarine from being shot by the interventionists. V.Ya. Isaev for this feat was awarded the Order of the Battle of the Red Banner. The submarine "Minoga" after the end of hostilities in the Caspian Sea was stored for some time in the Astrakhan military port. 21 November 1925, after almost 16-year service, she was scrapped.
The long-term operation of the submarine "Minoga" only confirmed the correctness of the design solutions. Bubnova IG Some of them (the design of the diving system, the overall layout) were further developed during the design and construction of small submarines in the Russian and Soviet fleets.
Astrakhan ... The strategic and economic importance of this outpost of the Soviet Republic on the Caspian Sea in the summer of 1918 was tremendous. He chained, not allowing to unite, the forces of the volunteer army of General Denikin advancing from the North Caucasus, and the Ural White Cossack Army moving from Guriev. Through Astrakhan at the mouth of the Volga, which became almost the only transport artery of the Soviet Republic, surrounded by enemies, there were products of sea fishing and oil, maintained links with the Caucasian revolutionary forces.
A new and probably the most serious threat to Astrakhan was coming from the Caspian Sea. The British interventionists in September 1918 began to form their navy in the Caspian. They captured the merchant ships Africa, America, Australia, the tanker Emmanuel Nobel, and others. They were armed with long-range naval artillery and turned into auxiliary cruisers. A large number of small and medium-sized vessels were converted into patrol ships and gunboats. From Batum, where the British ruled at that time, the latest Tornicroft torpedo boats, as well as sea planes, were delivered to the Caspian via Georgia by rail aviation Shorty. And all this force was moving north - to the "red" Astrakhan. In addition, the ships of the interventionists and White Guards, supplying ammunition and weapons to the White Cossacks, and the troops of General Denikin, threatening the city penetrated the mouth of the Volga.
The Soviet government decided: "... in the shortest time possible to organize a powerful military flotilla, whose main task is to seize the Caspian Sea, expel the enemy forces of the Russian proletarian revolution and the opponents of Soviet power from its waters and coast ..."
During the formation of the flotilla had to overcome many difficulties. Lacked technical equipment, ammunition, and most importantly experienced personnel. The Soviet government and Lenin personally provided serious military assistance and support to the young Caspian flotilla. In the autumn of 1918, the destroyers Rastoropny, Active, Moskvityanin came from the Baltic to Astrakhan. A little later, the destroyers "Turkmen Stavropol", "Emir of Bukhara", "Finn", as well as the minelayer "Demosthenes".
IN AND. In August Lenin 1918 ordered the headquarters of the Navy to send several submarines to the Caspian from the Baltic. Lenin, checking the execution of the order, 28 of August asked: "How is the question of sending submarines to the Caspian Sea and the Volga? Is it true that only old submarines can be sent? How many are they? How has the shipment order been given? What has been done? "
The next day, having received an unsatisfactory response from the headquarters, Lenin again categorically demanded: “It’s impossible to confine ourselves with such uncertainty — we’re looking for it” (Looking for our property ??. It’s necessary to present names to me who are looking for, the date from which the search began, and so more). "The possibility of sending is clarified" is also incredibly vague. Who ordered to “find out” when I ask? I ask 30 in August, that is, tomorrow, I have to inform it officially, since the deal with sending submarines does not tolerate delay. ”
Exactly a week later, V.I. Lenin, not recovering from a wound after the assassination attempt by Kaplan, passed a directive to Petrograd: "The struggle for the Caspian Sea and the south is going on. In order to leave this area behind you (and this can be done!), You must have several light destroyers and two submarines ... I beg you to break all barriers, making it easier and moving forward to quickly get what you need. The North Caucasus, Turkestan, Baku, of course, will be ours if the demands are met immediately. Lenin. "
This directive was submitted for execution to S. Saks, a member of the Board of the National Commissariat for Maritime Affairs. The TsGA funds keep a voluminous business: prescriptions, telegrams, letters, dispatches, which are in one way or another connected with the transfer to the Caspian of the submarines Minoga, Makrel, and later, of the same type, the Okun submarines and Killer Whale. And no special comments are required on the documents in order to understand the scale of the submarine’s unprecedented maneuver for that time, assess the difficulties that confronted the Leninist task and feel the spirit of the times.
31 August. Saks - Sklyansky. "Lamprey" can be finished in two and a half weeks. To send a boat, two transporters are required, each with a lift of at least 3000 pounds. The length of the submarine "Lamprey" 108 feet ... width - 8,75 feet, height from top of the cabin to the keel - 22 feet, weight without command and fuel - 150 tons ... "
1 September. Sklyansky - Saksu. "Izhorsky Zavod has the required transporters. Immediately begin the preparation and loading of two submarines of the specified types ..."
7 September. Saks - Sklyansky. "Repair of submarines" Lampa "and" Mackrel "started on September 3 ... At the place of loading transporters are transferred from the Izhora factory to load submarines ... To maintain the strength of the workers, bread flour is daily released."
17 September. "To Comrade Breitshprekher, Emergency Commissar. I suggest you, with this order, IMMEDIATELY, through Moscow, depart for the city of Saratov, as well as other points on the Volga coast to exercise control over the commission consisting of engineers: Alexey Pustoshkin, Vsefontov Ruberovsky, Pavel Belkin and carpenter Semenov Ivana, who is to find, adapt, carry out preliminary work, as well as equip a place for the descent of submarines, which will arrive to October 1 this year to the place of sport ka. You must keep relentless surveillance of the activities of the commission entrusted to you, and daily telegraph to inform me about the progress of preparatory work ... Sacks, a member of the board of the People's Commissariat for Naval Affairs. "
30 September. Altfater - the head of military communications. “Echelon number 667 / and on the night from 29 to September 30, the submarine Minoga from Moscow-Saratov departed from Petrograd.
Please order the unimpeded and urgent progress of the echelon ... "
1 October. Member of the board of the National Commissariat for Maritime Affairs - Commissioner of the Baltic Sea submarine division. "I propose to immediately begin staffing the Kasatka and Okun submarines with commands, naturally, by communists and extremely sympathetic, since these boats are intended for serious operations in the Caspian Sea."
The train was equipped in the strictest secrecy. It looked very unusual: a cool car, goods, and between them a multi-axle conveyor carrying a huge iron box. Under the conveyor workers worked railway workshops and lubricators. And then the beeps of two locomotives were heard and the secret squad number 667 / was broken ... It happened on the night of 30.09.1918 of the year ...
Unusual train moved slowly. Under the platform on which the load box was installed, the sleepers groaned hollowly, the rails sagged. So, by rail, the submarine “Minoga” with a mass of 115 tons set off on a long journey. A few days later the second echelon left the submarine Mackrel and the torpedoes. Two more submarines, the Killer Whale and the Perch, were shipped out of Petrograd. The final destination of these four submarines was the Caspian ...
The echelons went to the south without delay, with a speed unprecedented for that time. The telegraph operators, warning the neighboring stations about sending trains, tapped: "By order of VI Lenin ..."
Yes, in 1918, it was very difficult to ship almost the whole country, mainly by land, a whole division of submarines. However, the military situation in the Astrakhan region demanded this, and people did everything to ensure that the submarines took turns to arrive at the Volga bank. However, another question arose - how to remove from the conveyors without cranes and launch steel masses weighing more than 100 tons into the water?
The miracles of engineering fiction were manifested by Extraordinary Commissar Konstantin Breitshprecher and members of the technical commission sent to Saratov. After all, the slightest inaccuracy and oversight could cause a catastrophe, since the width of the slip was less than the length of the submarine 10 times. The preparatory works turned out to be very difficult, however they were carried out technically competently, and the Volga waters received the Baltic submarines one by one. "Mackrel" and "Lamprey" in Astrakhan came in late autumn. And if the first ships were redeployed more or less smoothly, then the counter-revolution later decided to correct its mistake. The enemies did everything they could to ensure that the Baltic submarines did not reach the goal. In the course went sabotage, sabotage, sabotage. Some secret intentions were revealed - for example, a plan for decommissioning conveyors.
A few days later, an emergency occurred. In this regard, I.Vakhrameev, the manager of the technical and economic part of the maritime department and authorized by the RVS of the Republic, “very urgently” informed the people's commissar of communications: “The submarine echelon crashed on Bologoy. It was assumed that the switch was intentional. I’m asking investigate the accident with the train. " During the investigation it turned out that the transfer of the arrow was not accidental ... The Baltic submariners in the Caspian Sea did a lot of glorious fighting. But in the spring of 1919, they particularly distinguished themselves in battles. During this period, the submarine "Lampa" more than once went to the enemy coast to combat positions. Skilfully and bravely acted in these battles the crew of the submarine headed by Commander Poiret Julius Vitalyevich. Despite the difficult and extremely difficult sailing conditions - frequent storms and shallow waters, Poiret controlled the submarine exceptionally skillfully. Thanks to the skill of the captain "Lampa" evaded attacks from the water and from the air, and the enemy airplanes and boats never managed to catch the crew of this submarine by surprise.
21 May 1919, auxiliary cruisers of the British invaders tried to break into the bay of the Caspian Sea Tub-Aaragansky, where several Soviet ships stood at the fort of Alexander. The ensuing naval battle was described more than once, and we only recall: even despite the almost 3-multiple superiority in strength, the enemy refused to conceive - mainly because of the danger of receiving a blow from under the water.
In this battle, the submarine "Lampa" and its commander from the very beginning had no luck. Initially, the engines went berserk, and the captain took the submarine to the Revel board ship, so that, as the commander wrote in the report, "hastily repair the engines." However, as soon as the submarine moored to the "Revel", as a shell hit it, the steamer "caught fire like a torch, the boat was also engulfed in fire." Poiret tried to divert the boat from the burning floating headquarters, however, "steel mooring lines were wound around the screw, and the machines did not have enough strength to turn around." Then Poiret and five more sailors, despite the fact that the ship with a stock of torpedoes and mines on board at any moment could explode, jumped into the boat and towed the submarine to a safe place. But how to get rid of the cable? Perhaps, it will be possible to turn a shaft the electric motor? But where there! “Let me try,” said the steering member of the control panel (b) Isaev Vasily to Poiret. Without a diving suit, literally with his bare hands, release the screw from the 40 meter steel cable? Does it cope? The water is pretty cool, you can’t hold it for more than a quarter of an hour after all the work for a few hours. Y. Poiret became thoughtful, weighed all the pros and cons, and finally decided: “Well, try it!”
Vasily Isaev had been working in cold water for the second hour, when the commander of the submarine Minoga received a written order to undermine the ship. There were moments of meditation, because the captain himself began to believe that the warrior-hero could do the impossible. However, the order is an order ... - "We will not violate the order," said Isaev, when he was rubbed with alcohol before another dive, "and we will not surrender the submarine to the interventionists. Please prepare the ship for the explosion. When approaching enemy ships, everyone should go ashore." - "I will remain Yuli Vitalievich. The two of us will be safer and more convenient," said Isaeva’s friend, the Communist electrician "Lampi" Grigory Efimov. So they decided.
Isaev again and again dived under the screw, and Efimov, standing on the safety end, supported a friend. There was an alarming moment when the British ships took off and went. This is probably the end. But no, the enemy ships do not go into the bay, but away. Looks like they were running away from someone. So it is, they are “fleeing” from the submarine Mackrel, which Mikhail Lashmanov led the enemy towards even though the submarine was discovered by an airplane and attacked by it. He led in shallow water when there were only a few feet under the keel. And the enemy flinch, walked away.
“I managed to take off the propeller blades relatively easily with the propeller blades, although my body was constantly cramping from the cold,” Vasily Yakovlevich remembered Isaev several decades later. “The work moved slowly because it had to be interrupted several times because of an airplane of the enemy that bombed in the court bay. "
Isaev in the evening managed to almost completely free the screw from the cable. The remaining end was pulled out using a small winch used for loading torpedoes.
The following is an excerpt from the report of the submarine commander Poiret Yu.V. from 25.05.1919: “On the“ Minogue "all day long, the screw was cleaned, which was crowned with success in 17: 30. I consider it my duty to note the signalman Isayev, who did this hellish work in insanely cold water and saved the submarine from drowning ... When the submarine had the opportunity move, I immediately transferred it to the prodbase, from there already in 21: 30 went to the 12-ftovy raid. The boat arrived there on 23 in May around 14: 00. "
It remains to add that for this feat and other services to the homeland of Isaev Vasily Yakovlevich in 1928, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Battle and the Certificate of Honor of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee.
At the conclusion of his report, Poiret wrote that "... the enemy did not enter the bay because he discovered the submarine Mackrel from an airplane and ships. From this it is clear that Soviet boats can play one of the main roles in our war ... just as Russia needs fuel. "
All 4 submarines - "Lamprey", "Makrel", "Kasatka" and "Okun" - in the spring of 1920, were already in Baku at the floating base, against the Maiden Tower: Soviet power came to Azerbaijan. The White Guards and interventionists were defeated and thrown out of the Caspian Sea. Peace days have come.
Garsoev Alexander Nikolaevich in 1918, he moved from the old fleet to the RKKF, without being demobilized. Garsoev’s service was curious: in almost all posts he had to organize or create something, because he was assigned to affairs that were completely neglected or completely new. Garsoev was engaged in the revival of the diving training squadron, which completely collapsed after a double evacuation from Libava and from Reval. The same scuba diving squad, which he and Zarubin had finished at one time. In 1920, Garsoev was sent south. He took part in the creation of the sea forces of the Azov and Black Seas. In 1921, he became the main submariner, there was such a position in the fleet. A year later, there was a department at the Naval Academy. Garsoev created the department for a new discipline - submarine tactics. Then he organized his faculty.
In December 1923, while continuing to work at the academy, Garsoev was introduced into the newly created scientific and technical committee as chairman of the scuba diving section. However, this is not all .. Garsoev in 1925, retaining all other posts, begins work in the Technical Department. Load increased. All that Garsoev was charged, he performed flawlessly. R. Muklevich, head of the Navy of the Red Army, summoned Garsoev together with Leskov, chairman of the STC. Warned that the topic of conversation was absolutely secret, and action would require the most urgent, Muklevich said: “It’s time to start developing the projects of the first submarines. Who will we entrust?” He noticed how the usual pallor of Garsoev was replaced by a feverish blush, as his eyes lit up. It seemed another moment, and Garsoev, forgetting about the chain of command, would start dancing or shouting with delight. However, the submariner, bound by the framework of discipline, patiently waited for the head of the Red Army Navy to say. "Comrades, are there any suggestions?" Leskov stretched out: “Yes, we have been waiting for such an order, we have thought it over more than once. Comrade Garsoev and I believe that the tasks for the development of boats and all calculations should be carried out by a small group of trustees in the walls of the NTK. an organization that can take on a case like this. " Muklevich looked at Garsoev: "Is the lineup scheduled?" Muklevich nodded: "I can report. I suppose to put engineer Malinin Boris Mikhailovich in the first place. This engineer has been known to me for 10 years. Once I took the Lioness submarine from him. A real submariner, a man of fine mind."
Muklevich confirmed: "I know him, he fits unconditionally." - “Still,” continued Garsoev, - engineers Ruberovsky Xenophon Ivanovich, Scheglov Alexander Nikolaevich, Kazansky Nikolai Ivanovich ”. - "And Zarubin?" - interrupted Muklevich. - "Of course. Such a group is simply not conceived without him ..."
The temporary design team also included Professor PF Papkovich, electrical engineer Govorukhin V.I., mechanical engineer Beletsky L.A., three designers - Kuzmin K.V., Fedorov FZ, Shlyupkin A.Kyu .
"It is necessary to work in complete secrecy, not to waste a minute," said Mlevich, the staff of STC.
Exactly one year has gone for everything - from October 1 1925 to October 1 1926. We worked in the evenings, as everyone had duties at the main places of work. For twelve months, engineers and designers invited to NTK did not have a single holiday, for one free evening. Garsoev oversaw the development of the design assignment, as they say, on a voluntary basis. He was not paid a single ruble. The command only at the very end encouraged the participants with very modest amounts. Work in the NTK is probably the most important thing that Garosev did for the Soviet submarine fleet.
All previous life and military service prepared Garosev for such work, since he not only perfectly knew the design of submarines, but also brilliantly understood in principle their combat use.
In 1930, Garsoev was appointed commander of the new submarine division. It was logical, since he was at their cradle, and he was entrusted to establish the organization of the service on these boats.
The need for the use of tubular internal torpedo tubes was justified in a memorandum filed in May 30 GMSH on May, by the Rear Admiral, head of scuba diving Eduard Nikolayevich Schensnovich. In particular, he drew the attention of MGSH to the successful construction by the Baltic plant of Kasatka-type submarines and the creation of 1905-strong efficient engines for the surface course. Considering it necessary to further develop the domestic submarine shipbuilding, Schensnovich suggested “to immediately order submarines with internal torpedo tubes to the Baltic Plant.”
The content of the memo of Shensnovich E.N. coincided with the plans of the Marine Ministry, as the ITC 3 of May 1905 of the year reviewed the project of a submarine with a displacement of 380 tons, compiled by ship engineer IG Bubnov. and captain of the second rank Beklemishev M.N. Designers have chosen the path of further development of submarines of the "Killer Whale" type. The underwater speed was increased by the 4 node (up to 18), the range in the surface position - 5 thousand miles, in the submerged position - 32 miles (against 24). The project involved the installation of torpedo tubes of the Dzhevetsky system in the nose of the tubular torpedo tube and in the cut-outs of the superstructure. The members of the MTC, at a detailed review of the project, expressed the desire to move the tubular apparatus to the upper part of the superstructure to protect it from damage when the submarine touches the ground. The MTC meeting approved the project, stating that "building such a submarine ... in Russia with its own means is desirable for independent development, construction and improvement of scuba diving equipment." The Baltic Shipbuilding and Mechanical Plant was offered as a builder, and the L.Nobel plant was proposed as a manufacturer of surface engines. Based on the positive response of the ITC Vice-Admiral, Director of the Marine Ministry, Avelan F.K. 6 May 4 ordered the introduction of the project into the general shipbuilding program.
Bubnov I.G. September 25 sent a memo addressed to the Chief Inspector of Shipbuilding. In it, he pointed to the increased explosiveness of gasoline engines. It was proposed to replace two 600-strong gasoline engines with two 600 and 300 hp diesel engines operating on one shaft in series. To save the design speed Bubnov I.G. proposed to reduce the width of the submarine 305 mm and refuse to use wood in the hull shell. In addition, the designer suggested using four tubular vehicles with four spare torpedoes instead of one tubular and 6 torpedo tubes.
The ITC approved the changes, at the same time it was reviewed and approved by I.G. Bubnov the project of a small submarine with a displacement of 117 tons, armed with two tubular bow devices. The basis for the development of this project was the conclusions of the MGS commission on the need to have fleet submarines of two types - coastal, with a displacement of about 100 tons, and cruising, with a displacement of 350-400 tons. The meeting of the ITC approved the small submarine project and the changes made to the documentation of the submarine with a displacement of 360 tons. The construction of the submarine was entrusted to the Baltic Shipyard, and the general supervision was assigned to the ship engineer I. Bubnov The Department of Constructions of the GUKiS, on the basis of the subsequent resolution of the Minister of the Sea, AA Birilev, on February 9, 1906 issued the Baltic Shipyard the order No. 4457 for the construction of 2 submarines with a displacement of 360 and 117 tons. The deadline is 20 months.
The order to the Baltic Shipyard from the very beginning was insufficiently financed (total 200 000 rubles), which made it possible only to begin negotiations with contractors and launch preparatory work. Factory specialists in the summer of 1906 conducted negotiations with the company "MAN" (Augsburg, Germany), which was engaged at that time in building diesel engines with 300 hp power. for french submarines. Petersburg plant "L.Nobel" also took up the creation of such engines, but it seemed very doubtful due to lack of experience. Bubnov I.G. 19 August presented a memorandum to the MTC, in which he proposed to change the power plant for the underwater course. Taking into account the fact that the proposed 600-strong diesel did not fit into the overall dimensions of the hull and had a number of drawbacks, Bubnov suggested using three diesel engines with an 300 horsepower, each of which would work on a separate shaft.
Such an unusual project at the meetings of the ITC was considered three times - August 21, September 22 and October 13. The committee members at the first meeting proposed to suspend the construction and order the 1 diesel for extensive testing. All this submarine entry into operation pushed aside indefinitely, which is why the head of the Baltic plant Veshkurtsev PF. took responsibility for the construction of submarines with a displacement of 117 and 360 tons. At the last meeting of the ITC, Veshkurtsev’s proposal was accepted. The plant in October introduced the MTC tech. conditions approved by 7 December. This date should be considered the beginning of the construction of submarines.
The L.Nobel plant in January 1907 received an order for the manufacture of three 300-strong and two 120-strong engines, and the Volta plant in Revel for rowing electric motors. In this case, the delivery time of diesel engines - 15 months from the date of receipt of the order. The French company "Meto" was supposed to put the batteries (the term 11 months). Hull work went pretty quickly, especially on a small submarine, officially laid 6 February 1906 year.
14 June 1907, the small and large submarines of the Baltic factory were credited to the fleet lists as "Lamprey" and "Shark".
The descent of the first one, scheduled for the spring of 1908, had to be postponed, because the plant "L.Nobel" delayed the supply of surface-mounted engines. Much time was spent on the manufacture of the reversing device developed by the engineer KV Hagelin. In this regard, the first of the diesel engines was presented only in July, and the second - in October 1908. Plant "Volta" in the contract period also did not meet. All the work was complicated by the fire that occurred on 21 in March on a Baltic factory and destroyed the new batteries. This was the reason for the second order of the company "Meto". The submarine "Lamprey" 11 October launched on the water with a single diesel engine, 15 days after the tests were started, which had to be stopped due to solid ice. 7 November, only mooring trials were conducted. In April 1909, the submarine "Lamprey" was raised on the wall for the installation of lead keel, since a large number of pipelines in the hold did not allow additional ballast to be placed inside the hull.
At the beginning of June, a second diesel engine, a rechargeable battery, and all the mechanisms were tested. June 7 submarine "Lampa" under the command of Lieutenant A.V. Brovtsyna started in the Marine Channel runs under diesel engines, and later passed for acceptance tests (15-18 of October) in Bjørké-Sound. The acceptance committee concluded that the submarine is to be accepted into the treasury, even despite the reduction in the submarine and surface speeds compared with the contract (0,75 and 1 node, respectively). Also, the commission proposed to strengthen the armament of the submarine with two Dzhevetskogo torpedo tubes. However, the proposal remained on paper due to concerns about the deterioration of the stability of the submarine.
The submarine "Lamprey" (tonnage 123 / 152 tons, buoyancy reserve 24%) is a further development of submarines of the "Killer Whale" type with a characteristic placement of the main ballast outside the strong hull in the light ends. Robust housing, designed for 45 meter immersion, recruited by the transverse system. Concentric frames from 18 to 90 were made of angle steel 90x60x8 millimeters with a spline 305 millimeters, sheathing - 8 mm, limiting the solid body from bow to stern. An oval solid cutting (8 wall thickness of millimeters) was riveted to the strong body in the middle part, and the lining of the light extremities (from 0 to 18 and from 90 to 108 frames) was half the thickness.
Throughout the upper part of the hull, in order to improve the seaworthiness, a waterproof lightweight superstructure was assembled (lining 3 mm thick). The lamprey diving system consisted of two tanks (each 9 tons) of the main ballast in the extremities, which were designed for the 6-meter depth of immersion. The end tanks in the stern and bow were filled with two centrifugal reversible pumps of the Maginot system (diameter of 120 valves in millimeters, capacity depending on the depth of immersion, ranged from 45 to 200 м3 per hour). Inside the end tanks housed aft and bow trim tanks (capacity of each 0,75 tons), designed for maximum depth. 76 millimeter valves were used to fill them. Inside the robust hull (48-59 frames), the 2 medium tanks (each 2 ton capacity) were located, which were filled through separate 152 millimeter kingstones, whose drives were located in the battlehouse. The superstructure in the bow and stern (23-49 and 57-74 frames) contained two deck tanks of 4 tons, designed for atmospheric pressure 0,5 and filled with gravity during the dive. Differential and medium tanks were blown with high pressure air (approximately 3 of the atmosphere) at maximum depth. Water from these tanks was pumped through a special pipeline by centrifugal pumps. The residual buoyancy was regulated by means of two small tanks, with a total capacity of about 15 liters, located in the aft part of the conning tower. Filling was carried out by hand pump.
In general, the ballast system of the submarine "Lampa" differed reliability and simplicity. An important innovation was the presence of deck tanks, with closed ventilation valves which (after filling the stern and fore), the submarine moved into a positional position, in which only the wheelhouse remained on the surface.
The average nasal tank was completely filled when immersed, and the aft part partially, which made it possible to regulate the residual buoyancy. Essentially, the feed tank served the role of equalization. Purging medium tanks with high-pressure compressed air allowed the submarine to quickly float in an emergency.
The breech parts of the torpedo tubes, the compressor, the nose centrifugal pump and the electric motor for the underwater armature were located in the upper part of the nose compartment (18-48 frames). In the lower part there was a battery of the Meto system, consisting of 66 elements, located in two groups with a passage in the middle. In this case, the battery flooring served as the floor. Above the batteries, metal lockers were fastened on the sides. Their covers were intended for the rest of the team. In the hold of the nasal compartment was placed 7 air guards, torpedo firing was carried out by one of them. On the starboard side (48 frame), a fresh water tank with a capacity of 400 liters was attached. Between the 48 and 54 frames there were enclosures for the officers' premises, which were fenced off from the passage with cloth curtains. The beds of the commander and assistant, the electric motor of the periscope and the fans were located here. The stern bulkheads of the “cabins” were the walls of fuel tanks and the nasal bulkheads were light bulkheads (48 frame). Between the frames 54 and 58 housed fuel tanks, riveted of steel with a thickness of 7 millimeters, with a passage in the middle.
The engine room was located between the 58 frame and the spherical bulkhead, in which there were two three-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines (piston stroke 270 mm, cylinder diameter 300 mm), total power at 400 rpm - 240 hp In surface situations, the engines allowed them to reach speeds up to 10 knots and ensured cruising range up to 1000 miles with an 8 nodal economic course. Under water, the submarine moved under the rowing 70-strong electric motor with a speed of 4,5-5 knots. The battery capacity was enough for 90 miles to go. An electric motor and diesel engines installed in the center plane could be connected to each other by Leblanc friction clutches. A stern engine worked to charge the battery. Under the foundations of diesel engines, 6 fuel tanks were placed, the capacity of which was 5,7 tons, from where the diesel was fed into the consumable tanks with a hand pump, and from there it flowed by gravity.
The presence of dissimilar engines on a submarine "Lampa" on a single propeller shaft, as well as small possibilities for changing the rotational speed of diesel engines, made it possible to use the CPP (the first time in world practice), the blade pitch was set only without load depending on the operation mode. As a result, this technical innovation was practically not used. In the engine room, in addition to the above, there was a compressor, a centrifugal pump, aft ballast tank and 5 air ducts. One of the air guards (capacity 100 liters) was used to start diesel engines.
The submarine was controlled by a vertical rudder 2 m 2, as well as two pairs of horizontal rudders - stern and bow (areas 2 and 3,75 m 2, respectively), the posts of the latter were located in the stern and bow compartments, which made management difficult. The central post was absent as such, and the steering wheel of the vertical rudder was located in the conning tower. The same steering wheel was installed on the deckhouse roof to control on the surface. Visual observation of the external situation was conducted through five windows in the wheelhouse. Here, in the upper part, there was a durable cap with four windows, its cover also served as an access hatch. Two more hatches in the stern and bow were used for loading spare parts, torpedoes and batteries. Underwater, the observation was carried out using a kleptoscope and a periscope of foreign constructions, the first one having the following difference: during the rotation of the lens, the observer remained in place, and in conditions of extreme constraint this was very important.
The armament of the submarine "Lampa" - two VTTA plant "G.A.Lessner" and two torpedoes R34 arr. 1904 year caliber 450 millimeters. Due to the lack of a torpedo replacement tank, shooting by volley was impossible. The supply consisted of a mushroom underwater anchor weighing 50 kg and a surface anchor weighing 150 kg. The crew of the submarine consisted of 22 man, two of whom - the officers.
Based on Libau, the submarine Minoga began combat training, carried out independent exits, and participated in annual fleet maneuvers. 23 March 1913 of the year during the training dive occurred unexpected - in a strong body through the ship ventilation shaft, because of the ingress of a foreign object, its valve was not completely closed, water began to flow. The submarine, having lost its buoyancy, sank at a depth of 30 meters, but thanks to the competent actions of Lieutenant A. Garsoev, the submarine commander, calm weather, as well as timely assistance, victims were avoided. With the help of specialists from the Libavsky military port, the submarine was raised and repaired. The practical lesson learned from this incident did an excellent service - on all subsequent submarines of the Russian fleet, the ventilation valves were now made open only to the inside of the hull.
During the First World War, the submarine "Lamprey" was part of the first division of the Brigade of the Baltic Fleet. The Lamprey was actively used to carry out patrols in the region of the Moonsund Archipelago in the Central Mine Artillery Position.
He was called Barsoev
Once in childhood, Garsoev dreamed of becoming an artilleryman. The house in Tiflis was located near the artillery regiment. Alexander soon got used to horses, carving from a bridge spark, and singing a trumpet. He liked the little, like toy, mountain guns, with whom the soldiers on the parade ground famously controlled. However, his enthusiasm for artillery disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Having left for Moscow to study, he bade farewell to Tiflis for a long time. Then came the sea. Garsoev graduated from Moscow University, Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, Mathematics Department by 23 years. The father wanted his son to become a scientist. At the same time, Alexander considered the days when he would receive a diploma and be able to file a petition for admission to the fleet as a cadet.
6 August 1904, Garsoev reported to the duty officer of the Metropolitan Eighteenth Navy crew. The summer was cold and rainy. Thick, as if serfs, walls of huge barracks were covered with mold ...
During the 16 months in the crew, Garsoev was able to master the full course of the Marine Corps. Having passed the exams and received the rank of midshipman, he was assigned to the destroyer. In the beginning was the number 217, later "Attentive", "Prominent", "Finn". Having drank plenty of life bearing life, suddenly transferred to the battleship "Andrew the First Called." Then a quick transfer to the cruiser "Diana". But Garsoev wanted to scuba diving. October 19 1910, he finally manages to get directions to the training squadron of scuba diving. After stories with the submarine "Lamprey", he understood - he could not live without a fleet. Then he could send to the devil both boats and fleet. Could, however, did not.
Boats ... He could not explain why they so entered into his life. After all, people serve on cruisers, armadillos, at worst there are destroyers. After all, people serve, and he served. He was repeatedly offered to go to headquarters. During the war, Garsoev nearly got to headquarters forever. As it turned out, it is not clear, but the clerical confusion led the combat commander of the boat to Revel to a land position. With great difficulty, operatives of the Main Naval Staff dragged him to him. However, the "ungrateful" Garsoev continued to file a report for a report. The position and position of the high headquarters officer did not suit him. He wanted to submarines.
Head Garsoeva - N. Ignatiev (a year after the October Revolution, they met again at the Scientific Research Committee, where Ignatiev became head) N. Podgursky, commander of the Baltic submarine connection: "Dear Nikolai Konstantinovich! As you know, in my diving department there is a senior Lieutenant Garsoev. This officer really wants to command the boat and constantly sticks to me with translation. Of course, I don’t like to be left without a diving expert, but what to do ... But if you have a lot of candidates and without Garsoeva, or you even have anything against this officer, I will not cry, because without it I would be difficult. On the other hand a shame not to use such an officer in the war .... Your Ignatiev.
Garsoev was immediately given the Lioness submarine — the newest for that time submarine of the Bars type. He did not know about the correspondence between Ignatiev and Podgursky.
Yes, getting out of the "Lamprey" - the steel coffin - he could throw scuba diving without fear of accusations of cowardice. Could, however, not quit. Moreover, Garsoev blamed himself in many ways. How was that?
Garsoev, having graduated from the scuba diving training squadron, was appointed assistant commander of the submarine "Shark". While in the detachment, but studied the "Lamprey", "Beluga", "Shiga", "Postal". During training, students moved from one boat to another. The same questions and activities, however, the boats are all different. It seemed Garsoev on the submarine "Postal" can blindfolded to understand the intricacies of the engine and the intricacies of highways. If in fairness - the boat was creepy. Its designer Dzhevetsky S.K. first attempted to implement the idea of a single engine for surface and underwater travel. Everything turned out quite difficult, the conditions of habitability - at the limit, something broke almost during each exit. No one grieved when, in connection with the complete unsuitability of the submarine "Postal" was put into port, in other words - for scrap.
In 1913, Garsoev took the submarine "Minoga" - a new, third submarine IG Bubnov, the world's first submarine with a diesel-electric power plant. With the arrival of the new commander, the team at the Minogue almost changed. Basically, the sailors were from the submarine "Postal" - extraordinary, family, power. With the device of the submarine "Lampa" got acquainted superficially, considering that after the "Post" the devil itself is not terrible.
23 March 1913 of the year in 14: 00 Garsoev for the first time led the submarine "Minogu" into the sea. Immediately began the "carousel". Working backwards from the wall, Garsoev, not knowing the inertia of the submarine, hit her with a stern of a barge standing at the opposite wall of the bucket. The double-headed eagle, which glittered on the submersibles of the submarines gilded, shattered into smithereens. Provided, or as they said at the time, the submarine was escorted by the port boat Libava. Garsoev was sent on it steering the submarine "Lampa" Guryev: the sailor knew how in an emergency to handle the phone on the rescue buoy. Earned pumps, filling the tank. At first, the boat began to sink smoothly, but failed and, hitting, lay on the bottom.
Garsoev knew: here the depth is 33 feet, but automatically he looked at the device. Arrow confirmed: the boat is at a depth of 33. A report arrived from the car: "There is water between diesel engines at the site." Here he made a mistake. Garsoev blew not all the tanks at the same time, but one by one ... To no avail. Moved into the car and realized that he was late. From somewhere in the hold there was a powerful jet. The water level was increasing rapidly. Probably, the valve of the mine ship ventilation did not close. The pipe seems to go into the hold, and there is a valve on the bridge. He cursed himself, because he was not sure that this was the case. I looked through the drawings briefly, hoped for memory - because I had studied the "Lamprey" by a detachment's listener quite recently. As if now it did not come at a high price ... Garsoev caught the glances of the sailors. Reflected. He ordered to give a rescue buoy. “Allow me to report, Your Honor?” Ivan Manaev, a non-commissioned officer of the second article, appeared in front of Garsoev. ". - "So why didn't you report?" - “I thought that at the“ Minogue ”otherwise everything else than at the“ Postal ”.“ “We will perish through whom,” cried someone. ““ Calmly, brothers, we have not drowned yet, ”said Garsoev, but not I felt firm confidence. Now, as if looking at myself from the outside, I was surprised at my levity. How did he venture to go with a team that practically didn’t know the boat? He tried not to think about himself, putting aside his revenge for later. " then "? Having picked up the telephone receiver, I started calling Guriev. In response, silence. Where is Guriev? What is happening on the surface?
The crew of "Lampor" made an attempt to overcome the stream poured into the boat. Someone raised the flooring and, looking into the hold, determined where the water came from. Confirmed - water gushes from the lower end of the ventilation pipe. We chopped the pipe above the flooring and wanted to drown it. Garsoev, removing the jacket, ordered to score it as a "chop." Few. He pulled the green cloth off the table in his cabin, pulled the curtains off the bunk, and ordered the curtains to be brought from the officer's room. Pillows, ripped mattresses and a set of stern flags went to work ... From the commander's cabin they even brought a rug torn into stripes and scored it. All in vain. Water could not be tamed. Perhaps for some time the jet weakened, but then the “chop” took off. Oily cold water rose above the main electric motor.
"What happened next?" - recalled Garsoev, feeling the grave cold of the sunken submarine. The commander made the right decision, ordering everyone to move away from the battery - to the stern. Knew: when the water gets to the batteries, chlorine will start to be released. In this case - exactly the end. It is necessary that the batteries flooded immediately, then part of the chlorine will then be dissolved in water. Commanding as if in half-forgetting - probably it was so - he somehow managed to raise the stern. Water poured into the battery. Garsoev reduced one threat, but the lights went out in the boat.
People gathered at the stern. Established places of rest, the role of which was performed by the covers of the boxes for batteries (personal belongings of the team were stored in boxes) were flooded. Therefore, whoever where could be arranged in the stern. Nerves passed. Many raved, someone moaned ...
Subsequently, thinking about this incident, Garsoev could not understand what they were breathing then. A destructive mixture of carbon dioxide, chlorine, vapors of oils and fuels. Hour, another, third ... The sailors took turns holding Nazarevsky by force. In a healthy and strong non-commissioned officer clouded in his mind. Boatsmanmat Oberemsky shouted something incoherently. The mine driver Kryuchkov, unconscious, fell off the diesels into the water. With difficulty pulled out, because he could drown right in the submarine. Garsoev periodically plunged into oblivion and with an effort of will escaped from complete silence and darkness on a sunken ship. Sweat flooded his face, Garsoeva was shivering, because after he gave the tunic, he was wearing one shirt. The sailors brought a blanket.
Garsoev, creating the differential, pursued another goal: the ascended feed might come to the surface, which would speed up their deliverance and make the task for rescuers easier.
Why, the commander thought, nobody appears, why is there no floating crane? Garsoev realized that their fate completely depended on what was being done above.
There is a lot of air on the surface, and people breathe freely and easily, without even noticing it. And here every minute their chances of salvation are reduced. The sigh is followed by an exhalation, saturating the already poisoned atmosphere of the boat with the next portion of carbon dioxide ...
So why at the top slow, where the Guryev, finally, and what happens?
From the report of the head of the first mine-division of the Baltic Sea to the commander of the Baltic Sea Forces: "During the first dive, the boat sank, but as the flag on the mast was clearly visible above the water, Guriev did not assume that the accident had happened and continued to hold on to the 5 cable Only after 5 hours, approaching the mast of the boat close, I saw a discarded emergency buoy. The excitement was so strong that it was impossible to take the buoy from the boat without danger of damaging the wire, so Guryev went to the floating beacon, where he took the boat and people, and asked for a wake-up call ... same Guryev himself stayed on the boat, which has raised the displacer. Thus was established contacts with the crew of the submarine. "
An electrician non-commissioned officer Nikolaev replied to Guryev: "Help, yes quickly!" From the port approached the destroyer. The captain of the second rank Plen jumped right off the board into the boat, picked up the phone from Guriev, ordered Nikolayev to report in detail and in order. The information did not please: the water in the boat, people gathered in the stern, a large air buffer was formed there. Garsoev asked if the feed appeared above the water. If not, it is necessary to raise it as quickly as possible, so that the hatch appears ...
Rear Admiral Chief of the First Mine Division of Storre, who assumed the leadership of the rescue work, nervously walked along the deck of the Aquarius transport. Divers wore costumes. Before coming to the accident site, the admiral spoke with the port director and learned that the crew of floating cranes were free-lance, at 5 hours of the evening they finished their work and went home without knowing about the accident. They all live in the city, not in the port. When will the messengers find them? And finally, what to do without an 100-ton crane? Therefore, the priority task is to provide the boat with air. Divers sank to the bottom, hoses filed with the transport, and they attempted to attach one of them to the special. the valve on the wheelhouse submarine "Lampa". The destroyers who surrounded the scene of the accident flooded the sea with the light of searchlights. Soon, one of the divers entangled in his own air hose was lifted to the surface unconscious. Others from the bottom handed unhappy news: you will not attach any nut of the hoses to the valve, because the thread does not fit ... Storre, whom everyone knew as an imperturbable person, stamped his feet and swore like a drunk fireman.
“Your Excellency,” the Kavtorang Plen shouted to him from the boat, “no one answers the call, I hear only moans!”
Storre escaped from the deck. He seemed to do everything, but people died. Only on 22: The 25 private tugs hired by the harbor master brought the 100-ton crane to the crash site. While the crane was anchored, while the diver was putting on equipment, another hour and eleven minutes passed. The diver went to the submarine, put the gini - devices that are used to lift loads of the greatest mass. “The groans have stopped,” he shouted, not tearing himself off the pipe, Plen. “No one responds from the submarine.”
At midnight, Fleet Commander Storré reported that people were in a chlorine-rich atmosphere for 9 hours and the hope of salvation was constantly diminishing. The 100-ton crane started working, several people with chisels and hammers prepared to open the hatch as soon as it appeared above the water. Storre took a chance, giving the order to start climbing, immediately after the first guinea were laid. The diver, without undressing, waited for the feed to come out. Then you can lay the second gini for insurance, and the boat just will not break. Above the water in 00: 45 seemed to hatch, which then began to open from the inside. So there are live! Three officers from the students of the scuba diving training squad - midshipman Terletsky, lieutenants Gersdorf and Nikiforaki rushed to the submarine from the boat. “To the waist in the water,” wrote Rear Admiral Storr in his report, “they helped to lift the hatch and began to pull out the rescued one by one. Lieutenant Garosev was lifted by the eighth. People were transferred to the boats, and from them to Aquarius and the crane; their appearance was terrible after what they experienced. The boat commander, Lieutenant Garsoev, who was unconscious the last time he came to his senses, was taken to a crane, where they were laid near the boilers ... There was a steering boatman Ivan Gordeyev, who was in the command room for cutting, He was told from the stern compartment with water. They talked to him, and the boatswain-mate said that he had enough air, but it was impossible to remove it from the wheelhouse before pumping water.
Michman Terletsky, lieutenants Gersdorf and Nikiforaki, repeatedly descended into the submarine and took out exhausted and weakened people from there and, according to these officers, selflessly devoted to the service, who showed an outstanding example of courage, even with an open hatch, the air in the boat was impossible, they were suffocating in it. For the release of Gordeyev, the water from the boat was pumped out by the port tugs Avanport and Libava. The water was sinking slowly, in an hour and 45 of minutes its level was reduced to a level that allowed Lieutenant Nikiforaki to pass to Gordeyev's board, on which he crawled and left the hatch himself; in the boat on the surface of the water floated acid coming from batteries and oil. "
Further, Storre noted: “According to the report of Lieutenant Garsoev, commander of the submarine“ Minoga ”, the behavior during the crash of the steering boatswain Gordeev is outstanding and beyond all praise: not losing composure, encouraging words of all the surrounding lower ranks, disposability and personal example, boatswain for some the time before the hatch was opened, he took a boat from Lieutenant Garsoev, who called him for this purpose and lost consciousness at the same time. His endurance is amazing: in the sunken boat he stayed the longest and had a spa en about 3: 00 hours of the night, refused any help, and immediately inquired about the health of the commander and other lower ranks. "
After the accident, an order was received through 6 days to award the boatswain of Garsoev "for the difference in rank of senior lieutenant". Gordeyev was awarded the title of non-commissioned officer of the second article.
The trial took place in May.
Before the special presence of the Kronstadt Naval Court, Rear Admiral, the head of the diving training detachment, PP, and his assistant, Captain Second Rank Nikitin, AV, appeared. and Senior Lieutenant A.N. Garsoev
From the sentence:
“The cause of the drowning on the Libausky raid of the submarine Minoga, which took place on 23 in March of this year, was that an untidy bundle of rags and two semaphore flags left in the cabin casing fell under the vent pipe valve, not allowing it to close tightly. Due to this, during when the boat plunged into combat position through the valve, the water began to flow into the hold and, having lost its buoyancy, the boat sank to a depth of 33 feet, where it lay on the bottom.He stayed in this position from 16: 00 to 00: 45 when ... she was lifted to the surface. Everything those in the boat were rescued ... But many parts of the boat were damaged, which would require 20000 rubles to fix. "
The verdict on Garsoev said: “Although Garsoev did not show proper care for the above mentioned dive, he didn’t adequately and promptly assess the sudden circumstances of the loss of buoyancy by boat, in his subsequent actions, showed orderliness and full presence of mind, managed to keep up the team with vigor, which worked all the time with outstanding energy, thanks to which the submarine lasted until the moment of rendering assistance. "
The court acquitted Nikitin and Garsoev. For poor control Levitsky was declared a remark. The accident of the submarine "Lampa" forever left the memory of Garsoev - poor health, as well as the deathly pale complexion - the result of poisoning with acid fumes and chlorine. From the cruel lesson "Lamprey", he concluded. Actually, Garsoev became a real submariner only after the accident, having gone through what all submarine employees were afraid of. Garsoev did not suffer from the gentleness of his character even before that, but the 9 hours spent in the steel "coffin" did not pass for nothing: but he became stricter and tougher.
The submarine "Lamprey", he commanded for another 8 months. How many exposures did it take to make the first dive after an accident? “The submarine“ Lamprey ”made Garsoev and Terletsky friends. Garsoev forever retained good feelings for the man, who, regaining consciousness, saw first. The meetings were both enjoyable, especially since their fates were alike, like many officers who swore allegiance to the new Russia. The names of these prominent people will forever remain in the history of the national submarine fleet. When Garsoev was assigned to the Leo submarine of the Bars type, the submarine wits gave him the nickname Barsoev, and so it remained for him.
Once the following happened ... There was a fog in which the submarine "Minoga" was making its way to the position. The fog suddenly dissipated, and the German destroyer turned out to be close by, following a head-on course and immediately spotting a Russian submarine. The commander of the Lamprey saw how the feed of the destroyer sank and the breaker almost instantly grew, while water rose in the air under the bow - the enemy’s vessel increased its speed. - "Immediate immersion!" - The signalman and the submarine commander rushed down, closing the hatch behind him. Already heard the noise of the screws of the destroyer. And Grigory Trusov, non-commissioned officer of the first article, rushed about in the stern of the submarine near the cars. What happened was that he had already foreseen a long time ago: the coupling failed.
The submarine "Lamprey" was the world's first submarine with diesel engines. A propeller motor and two diesel engines operated on the same shaft. Couplings stood in three places gross line. You cannot do without couplings on the submarine, since the engines of the underwater and surface run were on the same shaft, and when switching to an electric motor, it was necessary to disconnect the diesels. With couplings not everything was alright.
The third feed coupling, installed between the electric motor and diesel engines, was located in the engine hold low in the place where the waste oil and water accumulated. When rolling, especially during a storm, a mixture of water and oil got into the clutch, so it did not work at the right time. And now, when the fate of the submarine is being decided, a refusal has occurred.
Diesels stopped, but since the clutch did not work, the electric motor, straining the load, rotated not only the screw, but also the diesels. In turn, they became a piston compressor sucking the air out of the boat, driving it into the gas manifold. After a few more turns, the vacuum will become critical. Yes, and the submarine is sinking very slowly ...
Wielding a crowbar, Trusov still manages to separate the clutch. The diesel stopped, the speed of the dive increased. Above the submarine "Lamprey", stunning everyone with its screws, the German destroyer raced. The submarine from the ram was separated seconds won by Trusov. He acted contrary to all the rules that categorically forbade the coupling to disengage during the course. Working without shutting down the electric motor, Trusov strongly risked - he could have been hit with a crowbar or tightened under a shaft. But there was no choice. As stated in the order of the Baltic Fleet Commander, "the destroyer passed over the submarine in such proximity that the latter received a list in 10 degrees". In October, the non-commissioned officer Trusov was awarded the third degree St. George Cross ...
In the winter of 1914-1915, during the next repair, in the aft part of the submarine, an 37 caliber gun was installed. In the autumn of 1917, after several years of combat service, the submarine, along with 4 submarines of the Kasatka type, was sent to Petrograd for major repairs. However, the revolutionary events of the repair period was postponed for an indefinite period. By order of MGSH No. 111 from 31.01.1918, all these submarines were deposited at the port.
In the summer of the same year, an urgent strengthening of the Caspian military flotilla was required. By order of Lenin VI, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, the submarines Minoga, Kasatka, Makrel and Okun were urgently repaired and sent to Saratov by rail transporters. On November 10, after they were launched, they were enlisted in the Astakhan-Caspian military flotilla.
The submarine "Minoga" under the command of Poiret Yu.V. 21 May 1919 at Fort Alexander during the battle with the British ships was on the verge of death, as having lost the course of winding the steel cable on the screw.
Only the courage of the steering signalman Isaev V.Ya., who managed to free the propeller in cold water, saved the submarine from being shot by the interventionists. V.Ya. Isaev for this feat was awarded the Order of the Battle of the Red Banner. The submarine "Minoga" after the end of hostilities in the Caspian Sea was stored for some time in the Astrakhan military port. 21 November 1925, after almost 16-year service, she was scrapped.
The long-term operation of the submarine "Minoga" only confirmed the correctness of the design solutions. Bubnova IG Some of them (the design of the diving system, the overall layout) were further developed during the design and construction of small submarines in the Russian and Soviet fleets.
Astrakhan ... The strategic and economic importance of this outpost of the Soviet Republic on the Caspian Sea in the summer of 1918 was tremendous. He chained, not allowing to unite, the forces of the volunteer army of General Denikin advancing from the North Caucasus, and the Ural White Cossack Army moving from Guriev. Through Astrakhan at the mouth of the Volga, which became almost the only transport artery of the Soviet Republic, surrounded by enemies, there were products of sea fishing and oil, maintained links with the Caucasian revolutionary forces.
A new and probably the most serious threat to Astrakhan was coming from the Caspian Sea. The British interventionists in September 1918 began to form their navy in the Caspian. They captured the merchant ships Africa, America, Australia, the tanker Emmanuel Nobel, and others. They were armed with long-range naval artillery and turned into auxiliary cruisers. A large number of small and medium-sized vessels were converted into patrol ships and gunboats. From Batum, where the British ruled at that time, the latest Tornicroft torpedo boats, as well as sea planes, were delivered to the Caspian via Georgia by rail aviation Shorty. And all this force was moving north - to the "red" Astrakhan. In addition, the ships of the interventionists and White Guards, supplying ammunition and weapons to the White Cossacks, and the troops of General Denikin, threatening the city penetrated the mouth of the Volga.
The Soviet government decided: "... in the shortest time possible to organize a powerful military flotilla, whose main task is to seize the Caspian Sea, expel the enemy forces of the Russian proletarian revolution and the opponents of Soviet power from its waters and coast ..."
During the formation of the flotilla had to overcome many difficulties. Lacked technical equipment, ammunition, and most importantly experienced personnel. The Soviet government and Lenin personally provided serious military assistance and support to the young Caspian flotilla. In the autumn of 1918, the destroyers Rastoropny, Active, Moskvityanin came from the Baltic to Astrakhan. A little later, the destroyers "Turkmen Stavropol", "Emir of Bukhara", "Finn", as well as the minelayer "Demosthenes".
IN AND. In August Lenin 1918 ordered the headquarters of the Navy to send several submarines to the Caspian from the Baltic. Lenin, checking the execution of the order, 28 of August asked: "How is the question of sending submarines to the Caspian Sea and the Volga? Is it true that only old submarines can be sent? How many are they? How has the shipment order been given? What has been done? "
The next day, having received an unsatisfactory response from the headquarters, Lenin again categorically demanded: “It’s impossible to confine ourselves with such uncertainty — we’re looking for it” (Looking for our property ??. It’s necessary to present names to me who are looking for, the date from which the search began, and so more). "The possibility of sending is clarified" is also incredibly vague. Who ordered to “find out” when I ask? I ask 30 in August, that is, tomorrow, I have to inform it officially, since the deal with sending submarines does not tolerate delay. ”
Exactly a week later, V.I. Lenin, not recovering from a wound after the assassination attempt by Kaplan, passed a directive to Petrograd: "The struggle for the Caspian Sea and the south is going on. In order to leave this area behind you (and this can be done!), You must have several light destroyers and two submarines ... I beg you to break all barriers, making it easier and moving forward to quickly get what you need. The North Caucasus, Turkestan, Baku, of course, will be ours if the demands are met immediately. Lenin. "
This directive was submitted for execution to S. Saks, a member of the Board of the National Commissariat for Maritime Affairs. The TsGA funds keep a voluminous business: prescriptions, telegrams, letters, dispatches, which are in one way or another connected with the transfer to the Caspian of the submarines Minoga, Makrel, and later, of the same type, the Okun submarines and Killer Whale. And no special comments are required on the documents in order to understand the scale of the submarine’s unprecedented maneuver for that time, assess the difficulties that confronted the Leninist task and feel the spirit of the times.
31 August. Saks - Sklyansky. "Lamprey" can be finished in two and a half weeks. To send a boat, two transporters are required, each with a lift of at least 3000 pounds. The length of the submarine "Lamprey" 108 feet ... width - 8,75 feet, height from top of the cabin to the keel - 22 feet, weight without command and fuel - 150 tons ... "
1 September. Sklyansky - Saksu. "Izhorsky Zavod has the required transporters. Immediately begin the preparation and loading of two submarines of the specified types ..."
7 September. Saks - Sklyansky. "Repair of submarines" Lampa "and" Mackrel "started on September 3 ... At the place of loading transporters are transferred from the Izhora factory to load submarines ... To maintain the strength of the workers, bread flour is daily released."
17 September. "To Comrade Breitshprekher, Emergency Commissar. I suggest you, with this order, IMMEDIATELY, through Moscow, depart for the city of Saratov, as well as other points on the Volga coast to exercise control over the commission consisting of engineers: Alexey Pustoshkin, Vsefontov Ruberovsky, Pavel Belkin and carpenter Semenov Ivana, who is to find, adapt, carry out preliminary work, as well as equip a place for the descent of submarines, which will arrive to October 1 this year to the place of sport ka. You must keep relentless surveillance of the activities of the commission entrusted to you, and daily telegraph to inform me about the progress of preparatory work ... Sacks, a member of the board of the People's Commissariat for Naval Affairs. "
30 September. Altfater - the head of military communications. “Echelon number 667 / and on the night from 29 to September 30, the submarine Minoga from Moscow-Saratov departed from Petrograd.
Please order the unimpeded and urgent progress of the echelon ... "
1 October. Member of the board of the National Commissariat for Maritime Affairs - Commissioner of the Baltic Sea submarine division. "I propose to immediately begin staffing the Kasatka and Okun submarines with commands, naturally, by communists and extremely sympathetic, since these boats are intended for serious operations in the Caspian Sea."
The train was equipped in the strictest secrecy. It looked very unusual: a cool car, goods, and between them a multi-axle conveyor carrying a huge iron box. Under the conveyor workers worked railway workshops and lubricators. And then the beeps of two locomotives were heard and the secret squad number 667 / was broken ... It happened on the night of 30.09.1918 of the year ...
Unusual train moved slowly. Under the platform on which the load box was installed, the sleepers groaned hollowly, the rails sagged. So, by rail, the submarine “Minoga” with a mass of 115 tons set off on a long journey. A few days later the second echelon left the submarine Mackrel and the torpedoes. Two more submarines, the Killer Whale and the Perch, were shipped out of Petrograd. The final destination of these four submarines was the Caspian ...
The echelons went to the south without delay, with a speed unprecedented for that time. The telegraph operators, warning the neighboring stations about sending trains, tapped: "By order of VI Lenin ..."
Yes, in 1918, it was very difficult to ship almost the whole country, mainly by land, a whole division of submarines. However, the military situation in the Astrakhan region demanded this, and people did everything to ensure that the submarines took turns to arrive at the Volga bank. However, another question arose - how to remove from the conveyors without cranes and launch steel masses weighing more than 100 tons into the water?
The miracles of engineering fiction were manifested by Extraordinary Commissar Konstantin Breitshprecher and members of the technical commission sent to Saratov. After all, the slightest inaccuracy and oversight could cause a catastrophe, since the width of the slip was less than the length of the submarine 10 times. The preparatory works turned out to be very difficult, however they were carried out technically competently, and the Volga waters received the Baltic submarines one by one. "Mackrel" and "Lamprey" in Astrakhan came in late autumn. And if the first ships were redeployed more or less smoothly, then the counter-revolution later decided to correct its mistake. The enemies did everything they could to ensure that the Baltic submarines did not reach the goal. In the course went sabotage, sabotage, sabotage. Some secret intentions were revealed - for example, a plan for decommissioning conveyors.
A few days later, an emergency occurred. In this regard, I.Vakhrameev, the manager of the technical and economic part of the maritime department and authorized by the RVS of the Republic, “very urgently” informed the people's commissar of communications: “The submarine echelon crashed on Bologoy. It was assumed that the switch was intentional. I’m asking investigate the accident with the train. " During the investigation it turned out that the transfer of the arrow was not accidental ... The Baltic submariners in the Caspian Sea did a lot of glorious fighting. But in the spring of 1919, they particularly distinguished themselves in battles. During this period, the submarine "Lampa" more than once went to the enemy coast to combat positions. Skilfully and bravely acted in these battles the crew of the submarine headed by Commander Poiret Julius Vitalyevich. Despite the difficult and extremely difficult sailing conditions - frequent storms and shallow waters, Poiret controlled the submarine exceptionally skillfully. Thanks to the skill of the captain "Lampa" evaded attacks from the water and from the air, and the enemy airplanes and boats never managed to catch the crew of this submarine by surprise.
21 May 1919, auxiliary cruisers of the British invaders tried to break into the bay of the Caspian Sea Tub-Aaragansky, where several Soviet ships stood at the fort of Alexander. The ensuing naval battle was described more than once, and we only recall: even despite the almost 3-multiple superiority in strength, the enemy refused to conceive - mainly because of the danger of receiving a blow from under the water.
In this battle, the submarine "Lampa" and its commander from the very beginning had no luck. Initially, the engines went berserk, and the captain took the submarine to the Revel board ship, so that, as the commander wrote in the report, "hastily repair the engines." However, as soon as the submarine moored to the "Revel", as a shell hit it, the steamer "caught fire like a torch, the boat was also engulfed in fire." Poiret tried to divert the boat from the burning floating headquarters, however, "steel mooring lines were wound around the screw, and the machines did not have enough strength to turn around." Then Poiret and five more sailors, despite the fact that the ship with a stock of torpedoes and mines on board at any moment could explode, jumped into the boat and towed the submarine to a safe place. But how to get rid of the cable? Perhaps, it will be possible to turn a shaft the electric motor? But where there! “Let me try,” said the steering member of the control panel (b) Isaev Vasily to Poiret. Without a diving suit, literally with his bare hands, release the screw from the 40 meter steel cable? Does it cope? The water is pretty cool, you can’t hold it for more than a quarter of an hour after all the work for a few hours. Y. Poiret became thoughtful, weighed all the pros and cons, and finally decided: “Well, try it!”
Vasily Isaev had been working in cold water for the second hour, when the commander of the submarine Minoga received a written order to undermine the ship. There were moments of meditation, because the captain himself began to believe that the warrior-hero could do the impossible. However, the order is an order ... - "We will not violate the order," said Isaev, when he was rubbed with alcohol before another dive, "and we will not surrender the submarine to the interventionists. Please prepare the ship for the explosion. When approaching enemy ships, everyone should go ashore." - "I will remain Yuli Vitalievich. The two of us will be safer and more convenient," said Isaeva’s friend, the Communist electrician "Lampi" Grigory Efimov. So they decided.
Isaev again and again dived under the screw, and Efimov, standing on the safety end, supported a friend. There was an alarming moment when the British ships took off and went. This is probably the end. But no, the enemy ships do not go into the bay, but away. Looks like they were running away from someone. So it is, they are “fleeing” from the submarine Mackrel, which Mikhail Lashmanov led the enemy towards even though the submarine was discovered by an airplane and attacked by it. He led in shallow water when there were only a few feet under the keel. And the enemy flinch, walked away.
“I managed to take off the propeller blades relatively easily with the propeller blades, although my body was constantly cramping from the cold,” Vasily Yakovlevich remembered Isaev several decades later. “The work moved slowly because it had to be interrupted several times because of an airplane of the enemy that bombed in the court bay. "
Isaev in the evening managed to almost completely free the screw from the cable. The remaining end was pulled out using a small winch used for loading torpedoes.
The following is an excerpt from the report of the submarine commander Poiret Yu.V. from 25.05.1919: “On the“ Minogue "all day long, the screw was cleaned, which was crowned with success in 17: 30. I consider it my duty to note the signalman Isayev, who did this hellish work in insanely cold water and saved the submarine from drowning ... When the submarine had the opportunity move, I immediately transferred it to the prodbase, from there already in 21: 30 went to the 12-ftovy raid. The boat arrived there on 23 in May around 14: 00. "
It remains to add that for this feat and other services to the homeland of Isaev Vasily Yakovlevich in 1928, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Battle and the Certificate of Honor of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee.
At the conclusion of his report, Poiret wrote that "... the enemy did not enter the bay because he discovered the submarine Mackrel from an airplane and ships. From this it is clear that Soviet boats can play one of the main roles in our war ... just as Russia needs fuel. "
All 4 submarines - "Lamprey", "Makrel", "Kasatka" and "Okun" - in the spring of 1920, were already in Baku at the floating base, against the Maiden Tower: Soviet power came to Azerbaijan. The White Guards and interventionists were defeated and thrown out of the Caspian Sea. Peace days have come.
Garsoev Alexander Nikolaevich in 1918, he moved from the old fleet to the RKKF, without being demobilized. Garsoev’s service was curious: in almost all posts he had to organize or create something, because he was assigned to affairs that were completely neglected or completely new. Garsoev was engaged in the revival of the diving training squadron, which completely collapsed after a double evacuation from Libava and from Reval. The same scuba diving squad, which he and Zarubin had finished at one time. In 1920, Garsoev was sent south. He took part in the creation of the sea forces of the Azov and Black Seas. In 1921, he became the main submariner, there was such a position in the fleet. A year later, there was a department at the Naval Academy. Garsoev created the department for a new discipline - submarine tactics. Then he organized his faculty.
In December 1923, while continuing to work at the academy, Garsoev was introduced into the newly created scientific and technical committee as chairman of the scuba diving section. However, this is not all .. Garsoev in 1925, retaining all other posts, begins work in the Technical Department. Load increased. All that Garsoev was charged, he performed flawlessly. R. Muklevich, head of the Navy of the Red Army, summoned Garsoev together with Leskov, chairman of the STC. Warned that the topic of conversation was absolutely secret, and action would require the most urgent, Muklevich said: “It’s time to start developing the projects of the first submarines. Who will we entrust?” He noticed how the usual pallor of Garsoev was replaced by a feverish blush, as his eyes lit up. It seemed another moment, and Garsoev, forgetting about the chain of command, would start dancing or shouting with delight. However, the submariner, bound by the framework of discipline, patiently waited for the head of the Red Army Navy to say. "Comrades, are there any suggestions?" Leskov stretched out: “Yes, we have been waiting for such an order, we have thought it over more than once. Comrade Garsoev and I believe that the tasks for the development of boats and all calculations should be carried out by a small group of trustees in the walls of the NTK. an organization that can take on a case like this. " Muklevich looked at Garsoev: "Is the lineup scheduled?" Muklevich nodded: "I can report. I suppose to put engineer Malinin Boris Mikhailovich in the first place. This engineer has been known to me for 10 years. Once I took the Lioness submarine from him. A real submariner, a man of fine mind."
Muklevich confirmed: "I know him, he fits unconditionally." - “Still,” continued Garsoev, - engineers Ruberovsky Xenophon Ivanovich, Scheglov Alexander Nikolaevich, Kazansky Nikolai Ivanovich ”. - "And Zarubin?" - interrupted Muklevich. - "Of course. Such a group is simply not conceived without him ..."
The temporary design team also included Professor PF Papkovich, electrical engineer Govorukhin V.I., mechanical engineer Beletsky L.A., three designers - Kuzmin K.V., Fedorov FZ, Shlyupkin A.Kyu .
"It is necessary to work in complete secrecy, not to waste a minute," said Mlevich, the staff of STC.
Exactly one year has gone for everything - from October 1 1925 to October 1 1926. We worked in the evenings, as everyone had duties at the main places of work. For twelve months, engineers and designers invited to NTK did not have a single holiday, for one free evening. Garsoev oversaw the development of the design assignment, as they say, on a voluntary basis. He was not paid a single ruble. The command only at the very end encouraged the participants with very modest amounts. Work in the NTK is probably the most important thing that Garosev did for the Soviet submarine fleet.
All previous life and military service prepared Garosev for such work, since he not only perfectly knew the design of submarines, but also brilliantly understood in principle their combat use.
In 1930, Garsoev was appointed commander of the new submarine division. It was logical, since he was at their cradle, and he was entrusted to establish the organization of the service on these boats.
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