Floating batteries "Do not touch me!" And "Marat"
During the Great Patriotic War, the USSR Navy consisted of thousands of the most diverse ships — battleships, cruisers, destroyers, boats, submarines, and numerous auxiliary vessels. However, today we decided to talk about the most, perhaps, unusual warships that were part of the Soviet fleet - floating batteries "Do not touch me!" and Marat.
"Kings of the seas" for the Soviet fleet
During the first half of the twentieth century. "Dreadnoughts" were a symbol of the power of the leading fleets of the world. Each major naval power built for its navy the most powerful ships with strong armament and the most perfect protection. It was not for nothing that such ships were called "kings of the seas", because they could protect the interests of the country only by their existence. In the middle of 30's. a new race of naval armaments began in the world and the USSR did not stand aside. In our country at the end of 30's. began large-scale construction of a huge navy, called the “great sea and ocean”, but its construction ceased in June 1941.
The basis of the power of the Soviet fleet was to be made up by huge superlinkors, which were superior in their combat capabilities to ships of foreign fleets. In the USSR, two projects were created in parallel - type “A” (project 23, displacement 35000 t with 406-mm artillery) and “B” (project 25, displacement 26000 t with 305-mm artillery). It was planned to build 20 battleships: four large and four small for the Pacific Fleet, two large for the Northern Fleet, four small battleships for the Black Sea Fleet, six more small battleships were supposed to replenish the composition of the Baltic Fleet. The process of creating large ships was controlled personally by I.V. Stalin. The development took into account advanced foreign experience, primarily Italian, German and American. In 1937, project “B” was recognized as “sabotage” and the Soviet shipbuilding industry concentrated on preparing for the serial construction of 23 project battleships. It was supposed to be a modern warship - the total displacement exceeded 67000 t, its greatest length was 269,4 m, the greatest width was 38,9 m, the draft was 10,5 m, the power of the power plant was more than 231000 hp, the cruising speed was about 29 knots, the cruising range 7000 miles (with 14,5 knots. In terms of armament (9X406-mm, 12x152-mm, 12x100-mm guns and 32x37-mm anti-aircraft gun) he outperformed all his colleagues, with the exception of the American Montana and the Japanese Yamato. The battleship had a powerful reservation and mine protection system. His crew were 1784 sailor. Before the start of the war, four battleships were laid: “Soviet Union” in Leningrad (plant number XXUMX), Soviet Ukraine in Nikolaev (plant number XXUMX), construction of Soviet Russia and Soviet Belorussia began in Molotovsk (plant No. XXUMX) ". But not one of them was commissioned ...
Creating a floating battery №3
In the exposition of the Museum of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, the whole hall is devoted to the heroic 250-day defense of the city against the German troops in 1941-1942. The sailors of the Black Sea Fleet and the inhabitants of the city made many feats defending the Sevastopol frontiers. Museum visitors are told about them numerous exhibits, photographs and wartime relics. There is among them a small photograph, which speaks little to ordinary visitors. It is signed as follows - Lieutenant-Captain S.A. Moshensky, commander of the floating battery No. XXUMX. What he became famous for is that the floating battery number 3, which feats her crew performed was not specified. Unfortunately, there is no more information about this ship in the museum exposition.
As already noted, at the end of 30's. At the shipyards of the USSR, large-scale construction of battleships of the “Soviet Union” type was launched. This was preceded by colossal research and development work carried out by Soviet designers and engineers. They paid special attention to the development of weapons and ship protection systems. Many experiments were conducted on the Black Sea to determine the optimal PMZ system (mine protection - according to the terminology of the time). At the first stage, 24 explosions of large-scale compartments (on the scale of 1: 5) were carried out with a PMZ of seven different types. According to the results of the experiments, it was concluded that the Italian and American protection systems are the most effective. In 1938, in Sevastopol, the second stage of experiments took place. As before, they were produced on large-scale compartments, 27 explosions were carried out. But this time for the experiments a huge full-scale compartment was built, on which the construction of the PMZ system of the 23 battleship was fully reproduced. It was rectangular in shape, its dimensions were impressive - the length of 50 m, width of 30 m, depth of the board 15 m. According to the results of these experiments, the commission determined that the maximum explosion power for the PMZ was 750 kg. After the end of the tests, the experimental compartment was used as a target for shooting practice, and then it was laid up in one of the Sevastopol bays.
After the beginning of the war, the compartment became interested in the captain 2 of the rank of GA. Butakov. He proposed the command of the Black Sea Fleet to use it to create a floating artillery battery. According to his plan, the “square” was planned to be armed and set at anchor in the region of the Belbek valley a few miles from Sevastopol. He was supposed to strengthen the air defense of the main base of the fleet and secure the approaches to it from the sea. According to intelligence data, a German landing party was expected to land in the Crimea, and the floating battery should have prevented this. Commander BSF F.S. October supported report G.A. Butakova, Commissar of the Navy N.G. Kuznetsov endorsed this idea. In July, 1941 on the "square" (as the compartment was called in the documents), work began on installing general ship systems and installing weapons. The project was led by engineer L.I. Ivitsky. Inside equipped living spaces, galley, radio room, warehouses and cellars. On the deck of the former compartment, they installed a conning tower, range finders and two searchlights. From the arsenal, 2x130-mm guns were delivered, which were supplied with “diving” projectiles designed to combat submarines. They were supplemented with 4x76,2-mm anti-aircraft guns, 3x37-mm anti-aircraft guns, 3x12,7-mm anti-aircraft guns. The crew of floating batteries were 130 people, 50 of them were called up from the reserve, the rest were recruited from all ships of the Black Sea Fleet. The workers attached a davit to the board of the “square”, but there were no boats. But the workers found in the warehouses of the plant a huge Admiralty anchor and transferred it to the battery. Old-timers claimed that he was from the battleship "Empress Maria." 3 August 1941. A naval flag was hoisted on a separate floating battery No.3. By the order of the Commander of the Black Sea Fleet from 4 of August she was incorporated into the Guard of the Water District of the Main Base. The crew of floating battery headed by Senior Lieutenant S.Ya. Moshensky began to serve.
Battle Path "Do not touch me!"
On August 9, the tugboats transferred the floating battery to Belbeks Bay. From the threat of attacks from the sea, it was fenced off with several rows of anti-submarine networks, from the coast it was covered with coastal batteries. The anchor of the "Empress Maria" firmly held the "square" in place. On the ship immediately began numerous shooting exercises, crew training to fight for survivability and various exercises. In the summer of 1941, the Luftwaffe raids on Sevastopol were infrequent. Basically, the German aircraft engaged in the exploration of military facilities and the production of magnetic mines. Only occasionally bombed ships in the port. Several times the floating battery was attacked by German aircraft, but their attacks were successfully reflected. The batteries covered the ships that entered Sevastopol with fire. The situation radically changed at the end of October 1941 after the Wehrmacht broke through to the Crimea. German troops began to storm the Sevastopol. Started 250-day defense of the city. The Germans captured all the Crimean airfields and now the flight time of their bombers to Sevastopol was just 10-15 minutes. The raids on the city and the port have become daily. The main forces of the fleet went to the Caucasus. At the end of October, two 130-mm guns, which were urgently needed for the land front, were dismantled from the “square”. Also removed the entire ammunition "stotridtsatok", except for "diving" shells, and calculations of guns. As a result, the crew of the ship was reduced to 111 people.
In early November, there were severe storms on the Black Sea. Their strength was such that a huge anchor could not hold the floating battery in place. The waves began to bring it closer to the shore, which was now occupied by German troops. It was decided to change the parking area of the "square". On November 11, tugboats transferred the floating battery to Cossack Bay and drowned it in the shallows, now she was not afraid of storms. A new combat mission that the command set for the crew was the defense of a military airfield at Cape Khersones. He remained the last Soviet airfield in the Crimea. All was based on his field aviation Sevastopol defense region. The raids on the Chersonesus airfield became more frequent. On the afternoon of November 29, 1941, anti-aircraft gunners of the floating battery managed to win their first victory. They shot down a Bf-109. On December 17, the Germans launched a new assault on Sevastopol. Throughout the day, the batteries had to repel air raids. In this case, the Ju-88 was shot down. From that day on, the anti-aircraft gunner’s combat score began to grow - when defending the airfield, they shot down 22 German aircraft. The winter assault was successfully repelled, but raids on the city continued. The Germans did not forget about the airfield. They tried to interfere with the actions of Soviet aviation, and the stories of our pilots constantly mentioned the help of the floating battery: "The floating battery put the curtain ..." Do not touch me! " cut off the German ... ". On January 14, 1942, anti-aircraft gunners shot down another Ju-88; on March 3, non-111.19 on March XNUMX, writer Leonid Sobolev visited batteries. He spent the whole day on the “square”, talked with the commander and crew. He wrote about this in the essay “Do not touch me!”. In March, the battery commander, Senior Lieutenant S. Ya, Moshensky was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, he became a lieutenant commander, and other crew members received awards for the downed planes.
In May 1942, the raids on the city intensified, the Germans began preparations for a new assault and sought to neutralize the Soviet pilots. In this, they were hampered by the accurate fire of the floating batteries No. XXUMX, which the Black Sea sailors began to call “Don't touch me!”. 3 May anti-aircraft gunners managed to shoot down two Me-27 at once.
The Germans launched a new assault on the city and concentrated a large number of aircraft on the Crimean airfields. They had multiple superiority in aviation, but the Soviet aviators were able to strike at the enemy and this was due to the merit of the floating battery crew. On June 9, three Ju-88 replenished his combat score, June Jun-BN-12 Ju-109,13 88. The battery interfered with the actions of enemy aviation and the German command decided to do away with it. 14 June "square" attacked 23 Ju-87, 76 bombs were dropped, but they failed to achieve direct hits. From close breaks of the aerial bombs, the searchlight failed, fragments cut off the davit, three sailors were injured. Reflecting this raid, the sailors shot down two Ju-87. In the afternoon, the attacks continued; the German battery opened fire on the "square". New raids followed. By this time, the defenders of Sevastopol experienced great difficulties due to lack of ammunition. In the period between the assaults, the CPM command was unable to create sufficient stocks of ammunition in the warehouses and now the shells had to be saved. From the mainland, ammunition was now delivered on ships, but they were still sorely lacking. The Germans created huge stocks of ammunition, shells and cartridges, they did not spare. Their aircraft dominated the sky of Sevastopol. 19 June on "Do not touch me!" Was made another raid. It was the 450 th attack of German aviation on the battery, the crew of which was now at the guns day and night. Her fate was solved due to the lack of ammunition for guns. German pilots managed to break through to the battery. In 20.20, one of the bombs hit the port side of the "square", the second one exploded right at the side. The force of the explosion swept away all life on deck. Calculations of anti-aircraft guns and machine guns turned out to be killed and wounded, a fire started in the stern cellar, the fire was approaching the “diving” projectiles, but it was succeeded in extinguishing it. The commander of the battery and 28 crew members died. 27 sailors were injured, the boats immediately delivered them to the shore. By evening, the crew managed to put into operation an 37-mm machine gun and two DShK machine guns, but there was no ammunition for them on the ship. 27 June 1942. The floating battery crew was disbanded. The sailors were sent to fight in land positions, the wounded were taken to the mainland ships of the Black Sea Fleet, rushing into Sevastopol. After the fall of the city, German soldiers examined with interest the huge “Do not touch me!” Hull, standing in the shallows off the shore of the Cossack Bay.
A few words must be said about the commander of the floating battery "Do not touch me!" Captain-Lieutenant Sergey Yakovlevich Moshensky. He was born in Zaporozhye. He worked at the factory as an electrician, he graduated from the work school. In 1936, he was called to serve in the navy. Komsomol members with completed secondary education were sent to biennial courses for commanders. Upon their completion, he was promoted to lieutenant and was sent to serve as commander of the first GK tower on the battleship Paris Commune. Before the war, S.Ya. Moshensky graduated from Leningrad one-year advanced training courses for naval commanders in the specialty of the commander of an air defense battery. He was married, the family was waiting for the first child. After the start of the war, the pregnant spouse was evacuated from Sevastopol. Ten months commanded by S.Ya. A fraud floating battery, every day he risked his life for the freedom of the motherland. He died on it, never seeing his daughter, who was born in the evacuation. He was buried in Kamyshovaya Bay, but the exact burial place, unfortunately, is unknown.
History battleship "Marat" After Tsushima in our country began the revival of the Navy. The most powerful ships of the Russian Imperial fleet were four battleships of the type “Sevastopol” - “Gangut”, “Poltava”, “Sevastopol” and “Petropavlovsk”. The Bolsheviks managed to preserve three of them, it was they who formed the basis of the power of the resurgent worker-peasant fleet. By the beginning of the war, the Marat and the October Revolution in the Baltic and the Paris Commune on the Black Sea were part of the Soviet Navy. Another battleship, Frunze (former Poltava), was never rebuilt after a small fire in 1919. The Navy’s leadership repeatedly suggested restoring it as a battleship, battlecruiser, monitor, floating battery and even an aircraft carrier. In 20-s. Dozens of similar projects were developed, but none of them, unfortunately, have been implemented. Mechanisms with "Frunze" were used as spare parts for the repair of the remaining battleships. Petropavlovsk in March 1921 was renamed Marat. In 1928-1931 he went through upgrades. The battleship was the flagship of the MSBM. His biography was not without his state of emergency - 7 August 1933 due to a protracted shot a fire occurred in the Ns2 tower, 68 seamen died. 25 July 1935 g. "Marat" rammed the submarine "B-3" on the exercises. The most notable event in his peaceful life was a visit to England in May 1937. The battleship took part in a naval parade on the Spithead raid in honor of the coronation of King George V. Soviet sailors proved themselves from this show from the best side. Both battleships were part of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet squadron. The ship took part in the Soviet-Finnish war 1939-1940. He fired at the Finnish coastal batteries. In May, the 1941 was mounted on the battleship in the winding of the Physics and Technology Institute - the Marat became the first Soviet ship to receive protection from magnetic mines. Captain 2 of rank PK commanded them. Ivanov.
The beginning of the war the ship met in Kronstadt. On that day, the anti-aircraft gunners opened fire on a reconnaissance aircraft. Over the summer and autumn, the 653 sailor from the “Marat” left to fight the marines. In the summer of 1941, the German offensive developed rapidly, and already on September 9, a battleship located in the Leningrad sea channel, began to fire at German units that were on the nearest approaches to Leningrad. Every day, the sailors of the Marat helped the soldiers of the 8 and 42 armies to defend their positions. With their fire, they restrained the enemy and did not allow Wehrmacht units to launch an assault on the “cradle of the revolution”. During these days, the battleship released an 953 305-mm projectile. It was the fire of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet that prevented the enemy from successfully completing the offensive and seizing the city. The German command issued an order to destroy the battleship, which is frustrating with its shelling plans for an offensive. Aviation and artillery were used against him. September 16 1941. Marat received ten 150-mm shells and four direct hits of 250-kg bombs. 24 killed, 54 wounded sailor. A number of auxiliary mechanisms were damaged on the battleship, the fourth GK tower was damaged, the stern group 76-mm anti-aircraft guns and the nasal battery 37-mm anti-aircraft guns ceased to operate. These hits significantly weakened the capabilities of the ship’s air defense and played a fatal role in the history of Marat.
The battleship was sent for repairs to Kronstadt, and on September 18 it began to berth Ust-Rogatka. He did not stop firing at the enemy, 89 305-mm projectiles were fired. German aircraft continued to follow the ship, a new plan was developed to destroy the battleship. The 1000-kg PC-1000 armor-piercing bombs were delivered to the airfield in Tirkovo from Germany. The Soviet command had no reserves for strengthening the air defense base, since everything was thrown on the defense of Leningrad. Here's how the situation was described by one of the sailors: “The enemy flies cheekily, and we only have anti-aircraft guns, and it doesn’t matter if they shoot. A total of six fighters. No more. All naval aviation works in the interests of the front near Leningrad. ” Now the main target of the Luftwaffe attacks are ships in Kronstadt. The 21, 22 and 23 of September on Kronstadt were held a series of massed raids. The anti-aircraft gunners of the battleship Marat and the few Kronstadt air defense forces could not repel the simultaneous attack of several Ju-87 groups. In 11.44 23 September, the battleship attacked the "pieces." The first 1000-kg bomb fell near the left side of the battleship. A huge ship got roll to starboard. At that moment, an 1000-kg armor-piercing bomb hit the nose of the Marat. She pierced the armor, exploded inside the ship and caused the detonation of the ammunition of the first GK tower. There was a huge explosion. The flame absorbed the superstructure of the battleship, it was torn off from the hull and thrown to the pier. The explosive fragments scattered throughout the Middle Harbor of Kronstadt. A pillar of smoke enveloped the Ust-Slingshot wharf, he climbed up to vystota about a kilometer. Killed 326 sailors, incl. commander and commissioner of the ship. The case of "Marat" sat on the ground harbor. He was severely destroyed and ceased to exist as a warship. This is how one of the eyewitnesses described this catastrophe: it crashes into the water and crashes into the water ... Just below the mast, the gun turret also slowly rose, its three 12-inch guns break off and fly into the water too. The bay seems to be boiling from the mass of red-hot steel thrown into it ... ”.
Combat path of floating battery "Marat"
Immediately after the explosion at the “Marat”, the crew began a struggle for survivability, the “Maratovs” managed to prevent the flooding of the rest of the ship’s compartments. They came to the aid of sailors from other ships. The explosion interrupted the body of the battleship in the area of 45-57 frames, the body got about 10000 tons of water, the surface part of the body in the area of the superstructure was destroyed, the bow tower of the Civil Code, the foremast with chopper, superstructure and the first chimney ceased to exist. Many ship life support systems are out of order. The body of the battleship lay on the ground, but because of the shallow depths in the harbor it did not sink, the board continued to protrude from the water on the 3 m. The Marat seamen managed to land the ship on an even keel and soon began work to restore its combat capability. They were assisted by rescue ships "Signal" and "Meteorit", EPRON divers. Here's how the situation on the ship was described by one of the sailors: “When I went up to the battleship, the deck was already tidied up, everything was lying and standing in its place. And only going up to the second tower, I found myself on the edge of the abyss - the deck was cut off here ... There was simply no other ship. I was standing over a vertical wall. It seemed that you see the ship in the cut. And ahead is the sea ... ”.
The third and fourth towers of the Civil Code were not damaged during the explosion, the second tower of the Civil Code was in need of repair. It was decided to use the ship as a non-propelled floating battery. For this, it was necessary to raise the hull from the bottom of the harbor and restore the artillery boospobennost. The new captain of the ship became the captain of the 3 rank VP Vasiliev, the crew consisted of 357 people. 120-mm guns were removed from it, three batteries were formed and delivered to the land front. October 31 the third and fourth towers opened fire on German positions. The Germans fired on a ship that came to life with large-caliber artillery. They fired aimed fire at a fixed target. To protect the floating battery from being hit on the deck, granite slabs 32-45 cm thick were laid, and armored slabs were placed in the boiler room area. December 12 held the first exchange of fire with the enemy. By ship the German battery from the village of Carefree was released 30 280-mm shells. Three shells hit the floating battery, after which the German battery was crushed by Marat fire. 28 December 1941. The floating battery re-launched an artillery duel with an 280-mm railway artillery battery located at New Peterhof station. According to the "Marat" 52 projectile fired, four of them hit the ship. He received significant damage, but did not stop the fire and put down the battery. A German projectile sank the Aquarius auxiliary vessel standing at the side, providing heating for the floating battery. By 1 January 1942, the number of crew "Marat" has increased to 507 people. In January, the 1942 of the floating battery was fired eight times, 85 shells of 150-203-mm caliber were fired at it, but there were no hits. Aft Zx37-mm anti-aircraft guns on land installations were installed. To protect them from splinters, they were fenced with cotton bags. Later, several more anti-aircraft guns were installed on the ship. October 25 floating battery held another artillery duel with a German battery. According to the "Marat" 78 280-mm shells were fired, four of them hit the deck of the ship, but did not cause significant damage. Additional “booking” helped. Throughout the winter, spring and summer of 1942, work continued to restore the combat capability of the second tower. October 30 successfully passed its tests and it was commissioned. On this day, she fired 17 shells on German positions. On November 6, 29 280-mm projectiles were fired on the ship, only one hit the ship. The boiler was disabled, a number of mechanisms were damaged, two sailors were killed, six were wounded. Another artillery duel took place on December 30 1942.
31 May 1943. Marat was returned its original name Petropavlovsk. 2 December 1943 was an artillery duel with a German battery. She was the last, because our troops were preparing to lift the blockade of Leningrad. The guns of “Petropavlovsk” were attracted by the command to shelling German positions in January 1944 during the Krasnoselsko-Ropsha operation to completely lift the blockade of Leningrad. The last shots at the enemy of the floating battery gun Petropavlovsk were made in June 1944 during the Vyborg offensive operation, which ended the battle for Leningrad. Over the years of the Second World War, the ship conducted 264 live firing and fired an 1971 305-mm projectile at the enemy.
Memory
After the liberation of Sevastopol, the floating battery hull No. XXUMX continued to stand on the shallows in the Cossack Bay. At the end of 3's he was lifted and towed to Inkerman for disassembly. About the feat of the crew "Do not touch me!" Gradually began to forget. Only in the meager lines of the official chronicles of the war the unprecedented feat of its crew was recorded: “During the defense of Sevastopol, units and ships guarding the water area shot down an 40 enemy aircraft. Of these, the 54 aircraft was hit by a floating battery No. XXUMX. ” Only from the essay of the writer Leonid Sobolev “Don't touch me!”, The story “The Mysterious Island” by children's writer Oleg Orlov, several articles in newspapers and magazines, Soviet readers could learn about this unique ship. A major role in preserving the memory of the floating battery №22 was played by Moscow journalist Vladislav Shurygin. For many years he collected materials about the “Do not touch me!” Battle way, met with veterans, worked in archives. In 3, a meeting of floating battery veterans was organized in Sevastopol with its help. In 3, he wrote the book “Iron Island”, which told about the feat of the crew of the floating battery and its commander S.Ya. Scam. Thanks to these people, the feat of the sailors of the floating battery №1977 was not forgotten. Unfortunately, in Sevastopol there is not a monument or a memorial sign dedicated to the heroic deeds of the floating battery crew “Do not touch me!”.
Marat was more fortunate. After the war, several projects were developed to restore the ship as a battleship (using the fate of the Frunze hull), but they were never implemented. "Petropavlovsk" was used as a training artillery ship. In 1947-1948 In the dock, work was carried out on the complete separation of the remnants of the bow from the hull. 28 November 1950 The former Marat was reclassified to a non-self-propelled training vessel and renamed the Volkhov. 4 September 1953 was excluded from the fleet lists. The body of the former battleship was cut into needles only at the beginning of the 60s. Veterans of "Marat" decided to perpetuate the memory of the ship. In 1991, they opened a memorial sign on the pier Ust-Rogatka. In the same year, they decided to create a museum dedicated to the battle path of the battleship. For him, managed to find a small room in the Nevsky Polytechnic Lyceum. The museum houses the diorama “Reflection of the September 1941 of the assault on Leningrad by the ships of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet squadron”, various photographs and exhibits. In 1997, they managed to publish a collection of "salvos from the Neva". It includes memoirs of veterans of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet squadron, including the sailors of the Marat. The museum continues its activities at the present time.
- Alexey Tsarkov, magazine "Weapon"
- from the collection of the author, collections AG Kuzenkova and A.V. Tameeva.
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