"Varyag" gives a signal. The feat of the legendary cruiser today again stirs the minds
On the eve of the 110 anniversary of the battle of the Varyag and the Koreans - two against 14 - the idea of raising the cruiser hull, from the depths of 6-8 and off the coast of Scotland, is receiving increasing support.The main attention was always attracted by the sailors' feat, but what do we know about the future of the cruiser after the crew opened the kingstones and flooded valves, and he plunged into the water of the gulf near the port of Chemulpo (now Incheon) with a flying flag on the mast?
A year and a half, the Japanese raised the cruiser, spending about one million yen, and after two years of repair under the name "Soya" he was enlisted in the Japanese military fleet, and on the stern they left the inscription "Varangian" out of respect for the courage of Russian sailors (albeit under hieroglyphs). For nine years, the cruiser was a training ship of the cadet school. And each new cadet team was lined up on the deck and announced that they would be trained on a Russian ship that refused to surrender and accepted the battle with a whole Japanese squadron. Following the samurai logic, the government of Japan after the war awards the captain of the cruiser V.F. Rudnev’s Order of the Rising Sun and creates in Seoul a memorial museum of heroes "Varyag". Subsequently, the ashes of the Varyag sailors who died in battle buried in Korea are transferred to the Vladivostok Sea Cemetery. For four million yen, the Russian government redeems Varyag in 1916, and on March 21 it enters the Golden Horn. Since then, the "Varangian" is equipped only with guards crews. Enrolled in the fleet of the Arctic Ocean, he makes the transition from Vladivostok to Romanov-on-Murman (now Murmansk), after which he goes for repair to the UK, alas, in fateful time - February 1917 ... According to the conditions, the repair would cost in 300 thousand pounds, but the Bolsheviks did not intend to pay. What follows is the development of events: the disarmament of the cruiser by allied England, the confiscation and sale of scrap to German firms. Caught in a severe storm when towing (1925), the ship is stuck in the rocks in the Irish Sea off the coast of Scotland, near the village of Landelfoot. Later, the cruiser’s hull was simply blown up so as not to interfere with the local ships.
To support heroic traditions, all members of the Varyag team alive in 1954 to the date of the 50 anniversary of the feat are awarded the Soviet medal "For Courage".
The film "Cruiser Varyag" (1946) is being screened, the monuments to Rudnev are solemnly opened in his homeland in Tula (1956) and in the village of Savino (1992). A museum was opened in the village of Rusyatino (1984). That is why Orlovsky writer Valentin Rassokhin, his essay on Varyag, written for the 100 anniversary of the feat, rightfully called “Varyag is alive!” This is evidenced by the remarkable film by Alexei Denisov (VGTRK), who told about his feat to his contemporaries, and most importantly to the current one market "youth generation. The crew showed off the flood ennuyu of the cruiser hull in the Irish Sea and has proven that it is the "Varyag", filmed under the water sign of the manufacturer - the US firm on the back of which can be seen the hieroglyphs Japanese shipyard, where the cruiser repaired in 1907 year.
Russian entrepreneurs create the Charitable Foundation “Cruiser Varyag” (head M. Slipenchuk). The foundation’s efforts put a buoy with the flag of St. Andrew’s flag over the submerged cruiser hull, a memorial plaque on the Scottish shore, and then a three-meter bronze cross (2007) monument. He has an amazing story. Hundreds of enthusiasts, professional artists, sculptors took part in the contest announced by the foundation, and the layout presented by three Nakhimovists won, and a monument was made on it.
During an official visit to Seoul in November 2010 to President D.A. Medvedev was solemnly presented with the cruiser flag, which, as a sacred relic, was kept in Korea for over a century. Speaking at the ceremony, the President of Russia, in particular, said: “Taking today the guys from the cruiser Varyag, we pay tribute to the feat of our sailors and, on the other hand, try to show that in every life there is a place for feat, and we hope for the fact that the appropriate storage, which will be carried out with us, will enable the younger generations of Russians to also be guided by what was done by their ancestors many years ago. "
It seems that “Varyag” constantly reminds of itself, giving us signals so that we don’t forget about it, don’t leave it at other shores ...
In the spring of 2008, the representative of the Round Table of the descendants of noble families of the Russian Empire S.S. Zuev expressed the idea of lifting parts of the building and organizing the museum. Long persistent work in this direction has been done by him for several years of correspondence with institutions and authorities. The Admirals Club, a regional public organization, responded to his initiative, highly appreciating the importance of the project and proposing to install the raised aft and bow parts in the new building with the required length - 115 m, which can be ordered directly in Scotland. The group of admirals headed by the admiral of the fleet I.M. Captain, who will decide on behalf of the club advisory and technical issues of the project. The concept of the exposition has been developed, where flags, portraits, personal belongings, photos of crew members, documents, pictures of sea battlements will be presented. Chairman of the "Club of Admirals" Fleet Admiral V.I. Kuroyedov writes: "After repairing parts of the cruiser hull and restoration work, it will be possible to create in the sea capital of Russia in the city of St. Petersburg on the Neva River near the Palace Bridge opposite the monument to Peter I" Varyag cruiser museum. The creation of a memorial to the feat of his crew will be an important and inspiring stimulus for educating Russian citizens on the patriotic examples of heroic service to the Fatherland of sailors. "
Here is what Dr. Kravorenko, captain of the 1 rank A. Kramarenko, wrote to the Acting Head of the Scientific Research Institute for Rescue and Underwater Technologies: “When lifting the hull of the Varyag cruiser, the specialists from the Scientific Research Institute VUNC Navy Naval Academy can participate at all stages of the work, including in the composition of the expedition formed a special purpose submarine operations, as it was when lifting the battleship "Novorossiysk", submarines C-80 and Kursk, radioactive experimental ship "Whale" and other difficult to lift objects ".
It is impossible to manage in this case without elaboration of international legal aspects, and it is fully implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. A set of measures aimed at establishing the status of the remains of the Varyag, finding out the requirements of British legislation in terms of obtaining permits to work on raising the cruiser remains and taking them to Russia is taken. A note was received from the German Foreign Ministry informing that the German side does not have documentary evidence of the ownership rights to the remnant cruiser Varyag in Germany. Russia's Ambassador to the UK, A. Yakovenko, reports: "In contact with the British authorities, we are continuing to elaborate on clarifying the ownership of the remains of the Varyag cruiser. The Historic Scotland Agency and the Marina Scotland Agency received answers about the possibility of raising the cruiser remains, as well as a printout from the online forum of British divers, which may be of interest in terms of deciding to lift the ship. " Deputy Director of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia D. Gonchar states that the study of the international legal aspects of raising parts of the Varyag cruiser through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia has been completed.
It can not but rejoice that even in Scotland, this plan finds a response. The St. Andrew's flag is also holy for them: Saint Andrew is the patron saint of not only Russia, the Slavs, sailors, but also of Scotland. Divers bring the details that they had previously shot from the Varyag Corps, since they have not forgotten about the joint work on the creation of the Belfast Museum-cruiser on the Thames in central London, which participated in 1941-1942 in the Northern Convoys. Then some money for this museum were donated by the Russian Ministry of Defense, headed at that time by S. Ivanov.
So that the people are not at all “silent”, but support the work of sacred traditions.
Paradoxically, after 110 years, the details of the feat have not been forgotten, but, on the contrary, more and more clear. History puts everything in its place.
For example, before it was a popular opinion that the “Varyag” could not abandon the low-speed gunboat “Koreyets”, and now they write that in fact everything was exactly the opposite. So, it is still not generally known that the cruiser propulsion system was destroyed during the tests in Philadelphia, where it was built. The ship's steering wheel was almost half as much as other ships of such a displacement, which affected maneuverability (it was insufficient). Americans saved in the cost of bronze and other expensive metals. There were no gun turrets or at least shields on the cruiser. A defective wireless was installed. Plus, the error of American engineers in the calculation of steam distribution. Even in Philadelphia, the cylinder of a steam dynamo was torn, and the hatches of furnace boilers and cast-iron dampers glowed red hot. The temperature in the boiler room was over 70 degrees Celsius, and in 1901, a fire broke out in the central coal bunker due to overheating in the engine room, but due to the skillful actions of the crew there were no casualties. It was also possible to find out that the famous song "The Sea Spread Widely" was written exactly on "Varyag".
It is eerie to read how many other engineering errors were there: the metacenter was undervalued, the ship did not have the required stability, which is extremely dangerous during a storm. Defective cars were being let down all the time, repairs were constantly needed, and the speed was almost ten knots less than estimated, i.e. did not exceed 14 nodes (some sources write 9).
And the speed of the "Korean" - 13 nodes. Surprisingly, the feat of the “Korean”, as it turns out, is undervalued, the information about its commander and team is scarce. The society is looking forward to when the promised channel "History" will work in full force and tell us more about the captain of 2 rank Grigori Pavlovich Belyaev. In the meantime, we know that this clever and brave commander, the son of a naval officer, was born in Kronstadt, and his crew was skillful and harmonious. When 26 January 1904, the gunboat is sent to Port Arthur, the Japanese squadron of six cruisers, eight torpedo boats and one ship messenger have already lined up on the outer roads of the bay in two columns, blocking the exit from the port. Hitting between them "in the pincers", but continuing the movement, the "Korean" is subjected to a mine attack by Japanese ships, on which all the guns are uncovered and all the barrels are aimed at the gunboat. The captain does not give in to the provocation and the boat, moving away from the torpedoes with which the Japanese destroyers attack before the declaration of war, a successful maneuver, - as the sailors write, - drives the destroyer "Tsubame" aground, stops with two warning shots "Takachiho" and, making a turn on Full speed to return to the port of Chemulpo, goes to the ram of the destroyer "Hate", which turns aside.
On January 27, after an hour-long battle of two against 14, when Varyag received 5 underwater holes and lost control of most of its combat capability with the broken steering wheel, Koreans covered the Varyag withdrawal with fire and distracted some Japanese forces and sank the Japanese with several shots the destroyer, fired on the cruiser Takachiho (which sank later), completely destroyed the battleship Asama (the thickness of its armor was 6 inches, and the 8-inch gun was only on the Korean) and kept the gunboat in full combat readiness. There are no damages on the Koreyts, no dead or wounded, because the day before the captain ordered the masts to be shortened, wooden spars and trunks were dropped into the sea, which prevented a fire on the ship and prevented the Japanese artillery from accurately determining the distance and correcting the fire. In addition, the "Korean" shot with black powder projectiles and after each shot was shrouded in thick clouds of smoke.
Despite the fact that they have been writing about the feat for more than a hundred years, it is interesting today to find out that three-quarters of the Varyag team were from the Volyn province (Little Russia).
And the current "Varyag", the flagship of the Pacific Fleet, before the dissolution of the Soviet Union was called "Chervona Ukraine". When he arrived in the Republic of Korea in November 2010, Russian sailors were greeted with applause on the streets of Incheon and Seoul, because the memory of the battle of two against 14 at the beginning of the last century was preserved in Korea.
At the press conference (Interfax) director A.G. Denisov told reporters that during the filming of the film "Varyag" in the United States, the Republic of Korea, Japan, France, Great Britain, unique relics, documents, photographic materials on the history of "Varyag" were unexpectedly discovered, which were never published or shown in Russia.
Few people know that Sergey Sergeevich Zuev, who is unusually energetic in his 87, although he modestly calls himself the coordinator of the movement for raising the cruiser Varyag, started and heads this campaign. Not yet translated patriots on Russian land!
By the way, the Swedes in 1963 g. Raised their seventeenth-century galleon "Vasa", although he still could not do anything, but only went out to sea for the first time. The royal flagship four-deck, for its manufacture used thousands of oaks. He was taken from the depths of 32 m, and now he flaunts himself in the center of Stockholm on Fr. Yurgorden. The museum is open all year round in Oslo, on the Byugdey peninsula, where Norwegians store the Kon-Tiki raft, on which Thor Heyerdahl swam across the Pacific Ocean, the Ra papyrus boat and the reed Tigris.
Another remarkable innovation: on the Internet in detail dismantled the events of those days, up to the maneuvers of ships; seamen, writers, journalists, historians, military experts analyze the situation from the point of view of specific digital data; the versions differ in polarity, the authors argue fervently, criticize each other, and all this says only one thing: “Varyag” is alive!
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