Forgotten Heroes (Part Two)
Linear icebreaker "A. Mikoyan (continued)
CM. Sergeev, the commander of the icebreaker "A. Mikoyan"
The dark night came on 30 November. Silently earned a windlass, and an anchor chain slowly crawled into the cluses, the icebreaker began to slowly move forward. As soon as the anchor came off the ground, Sergeyev gave a “small move”. In the night, the Mikoyan slid off the shore in silent shadow. Coming to the fairway, the commander gave "full speed". In the dark, not to jump on a boat floating without any lights or any floating object, Sergeyev ordered to put additional observers on the nose and on the sides. In the darkness, the smoke coming out of the pipes was not very noticeable. Moreover, the firemen tried their best - not a single spark escaped from the pipes. Fortunately, it was soon drizzling rain. Half an hour later, Istanbul was left behind.
In pitch darkness, without lights, they passed the Sea of Marmara, and approached the gorge of the Dardanelles. Strait winding and narrow, navigation in terms of navigation is quite difficult. Experienced pilots even conducted their ships here during the day with great care. And the icebreaker was generally without a pilot. In the middle of the strait, at анanakkale, the navigation conditions are extremely difficult, especially at night - here the strait narrows sharply to 7 cable and makes two sharp turns. In the most dangerous place to the helm became captain-mentor I.A.Boyev and successfully conducted an icebreaker. They went further, adhering to the European coast.
Out in the Aegean Sea. "Mikoyan" rushed to the south in full swing. In the morning, almost as close as the depth allowed, stumbled upon the rocks of a small, deserted island in the Gulf of Edremit. The boilers are turned down so as not to give a smoke out of the pipes. From the icebreaker, the island of Lesbos was viewed with the Italian naval base Mitilini located on it. The day passed in anxious anticipation, but no one appeared near, only far on the horizon fleeting silhouettes of ships noticed several times. Everything went well.
As soon as it got dark, the Mikoyan set off. Ahead lay the islands of the Greek Archipelago. SMSergeev immediately took the icebreaker off the once “rolling”, usual in peacetime road and led him along the route developed in Istanbul. They walked without running lights, trying to keep closer to the Turkish coast, winding between mountainous islets, constantly risking in the dark, on an unfamiliar channel, to run into the underwater rock or mine. External observation was strengthened: on the tank they carried the watch "forward-looking", in the "crow's nest" there were signalmen. They were walking in numbers, although the inclement weather helped to go unnoticed, but hid landmarks. As soon as it began to get light, they hid in a wide crevice of a rocky island. In preparation for the battle, in the ship’s workshop, the craftsmen prepared weapon - Forged several dozen rush and other cold weapons. Radio operators constantly listened to the air: did not the alarm come up? Another day passed in suspense.
At nightfall, the icebreaker continued its journey in the darkness of the night. Near the island of Samos "Mikoyan" was literally under the noses of the Italian patrol ships, illuminating the sea with searchlights. Only fresh weather, slanting rain and poor visibility helped our sailors. They passed safely only two miles from the enemy naval base. They stopped for a day, squeezing into the gap between the rocks of two deserted islands. There was no doubt that the enemy was looking for the missing icebreaker, the sailors were preparing for the worst.
In the previous nights, our sailors were lucky, the weather was inclement, and the Italians controlled the Aegean Sea, not the Germans, there were no locators. Therefore, the icebreaker, not surprisingly, remained undetected. But on the third night in the evening, surprisingly clear weather set in, a full moon shone in the night sky. And in front was the island of Rhodes, which was the main naval base of Italians in this area of the Mediterranean Sea. German was also based here aviationthat bombed the Suez Canal and British bases and ports. This was the most dangerous place.
December 3 icebreaker cautiously came out of his shelter and rushed at full speed for a breakthrough. Approaching hostile Rhodes. "A. Mikoyan" entered the strait between the Turkish coast and the island of Rhodes and went to the small island of Castellorizo, behind which opened spaces of the Mediterranean Sea.
At first a small schooner appeared, and for some time it was not far away, and then it turned aside and disappeared. Soon a reconnaissance plane appeared, flew around the icebreaker several times and flew over it, the pilot apparently looked out for and determined if there was any weapons, and flew towards the island.
It became clear that the "Mikoyan" was discovered and identified. An order from the commander came to all the posts from the bridge: - if the fascists try to seize the icebreaker and try to climb the upper deck, beat them with crowbars, pikes, axes, hooks, beat until at least one of the crew is alive. Kingston to open at the very last moment, when there will be nothing and no one to defend. An alarming wait was established on Mikoyan. Time seemed to slow down. Sailors, up to the pain in their eyes, peered into the expanses of the sea and the heavenly heights. The tense silence was broken by the loud cry of the signalman from the crow's nest.
- I see two points!
On the bridge and on the deck, everyone began to look in the indicated direction.
- Two torpedo boats are coming at us! The signalman shouted again.
“Italian,” said Senior Assistant Choline.
The alarm went off and everyone ran into their places. The huge, slow-moving and unarmed icebreaker had no chance to escape from two speedboats, each of which had two torpedoes.
Boats approaching. The main boatswain, midshipman Groisman, just in case hung the Turkish flag. But it was not possible to trick. There were no such ships, let alone an icebreaker, in Turkey. Boats approached a distance less than cable and lay on a parallel course. They asked from one of them through a megaphone in broken Russian.
- Whose ship?
By order of Sergeyev, a boiler mechanic, a Crimean Tatar Khamidulin, who knew Turkish, shouted the answer to the boat in the mouthpiece.
- The ship is Turkish, we are going to Smyrna! What do you want?
In response, a machine-gun fire rang out for warning, but Hamidulin managed to hide. From the boat sounded the team.
- Immediately follow to Rhodes under our escort!
On the "Mikoyan" no one thought to carry out the orders of the enemy, and he continued to follow his own course. Then the boats began to prepare for torpedo attacks. The fact that the icebreaker is completely unarmed, the Italians knew and acted fearlessly. In the attack, as on the training ground, rushed the first boat, clearly hoping for success. And it was here that the commander came in handy with the extraordinary maneuverability of the icebreaker and the experience gained in battle of evading enemy attacks. As soon as the boat reached the calculated point of fire, the commander's command rang out a second before the volley: “Steering wheel on board!” When the boat fired two torpedoes, the icebreaker almost on the spot was already turning towards the deadly cigars, and they passed along the sides. Coming out of attack, the boat fired at the icebreaker with a machine gun. Then the second boat went on the attack. But he acted differently - first released one torpedo. At the time of a volley, all three cars worked out "Full back." The icebreaker almost stopped, and the torpedo passed near the nose. And on the bridge, the machine telegraph has already echoed: "The most complete forward." Released at intervals, the second torpedo passed by, almost catching the stern.
Boats did not lag behind, opened fire from all machine guns and small-caliber guns. Boats are getting closer to both sides. The commander of the on-board broadcast ordered: “The ship should be prepared for flooding!” But the boats soon stopped firing and stepped aside. Sailors were happy about this, but as it turned out, premature. Three torpedo bombs appeared, caused by failed boats on the radio. The first immediately lay down on the combat course, under his fuselage could see a torpedo. The situation seemed hopeless. And then the unexpected happened. The elder hold Mefodiyev rushed to the hydro monitor and turned it on. A powerful, glittering in the moonlight light as silver, like an explosion of a wall of water, unexpectedly spilled out toward the plane. The pilot abruptly turned away and dropped a torpedo, which fell far from the icebreaker. Similarly, the second torpedo bomber was knocked off course. The third one dropped a circulating torpedo by parachute, which began to describe the death spiral. But Sergeyev managed to evade her with a quick maneuver. He turned the ship in the opposite direction, and then sharply turned aside. The torpedo passed by.
Unsuccessful torpedo attacks infuriated the enemy. Now they could not sink the icebreaker, but they did not dare to board the ship. Firing from all machine guns and small-caliber guns, boats and aircraft attacked the icebreaker. But his body was invulnerable to bullets and small-caliber shells. On boats and airplanes, they understood this and concentrated fire on the bridge and wheelhouse, trying to disrupt control. Ruzakov, the senior elder of the Red Fleet, who was wounded, was taken to the infirmary, with the helmsman Molochinsky in his place. Ohnul and fell on the deck of the wounded signalman foreman 2 article Poleschuk. The senior political officer M.Novikov was wounded ...
Having spent ammunition, the planes flew away, but the boats continued to conduct fierce shelling. On Mikoyan, fires began to appear in various places. Sailors of fire-fighting groups under the leadership of the senior assistant commander of the captain-lieutenant Holin, ignoring the shelling, extinguished the fire centers. But it was half the trouble. Because of the numerous holes in the pipes, the thrust in the furnaces of the boilers fell. Despite the best efforts of the stokers, the steam pressure in the boilers began to fall, and the stroke gradually began to decline. Above the icebreaker in grave danger.
A few hours, dodging continuous attacks, Mikoyan stubbornly walked towards its goal. Fortunately, the weather began to deteriorate, clouds hung over the sea, the wind rose, waves appeared (obviously, the weather did not allow airplanes to rise again into the air). But the enemy did not let up, a rescue boat caught fire from his next turn, in the tanks of which there were almost two tons of gasoline, the explosion of which could have grave consequences. Noticing the high flames and thick smoke covering the icebreaker, the Italians decided that it was all over with. But they were wrong. Sailors rushed to the burning boat, chopped off attachment. The boat had time to throw overboard before it exploded, raising a column of fire and debris. And at that moment a downpour of unthinkable power began. Under his veil and managed to break away from the enemy. Taking the blast of the boat for the death of the icebreaker, the Italians raised several debris, a life buoy with the inscription "Mikoyan" and went to Rhodes.
When the danger had passed, they began to put the icebreaker in order, to repair the damage received. First of all, they began to plug holes in the pipes in order to create cravings in the furnaces of the boilers and increase the speed. Into the holes they began to hammer in hastily made wooden corks, everything that came to hand. But all this quickly burned in the heat of hot gases. I had to start all over again. And at the boilers, out of their strength, the firemen worked, throwing coal into insatiable fireboxes. Mikoyan survived, having received various holes near 150, and continued to go towards its goal.
As soon as December 4 appeared in the morning, the coast of Cyprus appeared, and the English destroyers rushed towards them with the guided guns. Senior Lieutenant Hanson radioed his ships and soon everything was clarified. It turned out that the radio stations of Berlin and Rome had already managed to inform the whole world about the destruction of a large Soviet icebreaker. Believing this message, the British took the icebreaker for the enemy ship. The British did not doubt a single minute that the Soviet adventure with a breakthrough would end inevitable death of all four ships. Therefore, did not expect to see an icebreaker. Accompanied by the Mikoyan destroyers, having traveled more than 800 miles, arrived in Famagusta. At the icebreaker was scary to watch. High chimneys burned, out of numerous, hastily sealed holes, smoke flowed. Bridge and superstructure riddled with holes. The boards are stained with pock marks. The upper deck, covered with teak, covered with fumes and soot, was almost black. The task of the State Defense Committee on the breakthrough to Cyprus was completed. What was reported to London via London?
The British met “Mikoyan” unwelcomingly, were not allowed to enter the port, ordered to anchor for the boms. Captain Sergeev demanded an immediate clarification. At any time the ship could be attacked by an enemy submarine or aircraft. A representative of the English naval command arrived on board. I looked at the received holes and informed the commander that the Mikoyan should be immediately removed from the anchor, and under the escort of the corvette go to Beirut. The ship, which withstood an unequal heavy battle with the enemy, was not given the opportunity to patch the holes and fix the damage. We reached Beirut calmly. But here they received an order: without stopping to continue moving to Haifa. This surprised the commander of the Mikoyan, he knew that Haifa was subject to frequent air raids by German aircraft. In Haifa, they said farewell to captain-mentor I.A.Boev. After completing his assignment, he returned to his homeland.
Here the Mikoyan began to moor for repairs. But less than two days later, as the port authorities demanded to change the parking place. A week later, I had to move to another place. For 17 days, the ship was rearranged 7 times. It became clear to all: the British use a Soviet ship to check for the presence of magnetic mines in the port.
Repairs were in full swing when a disaster occurred in the port. In Haifa, accumulated a lot of warships, transports and tankers. December 20 in the port unexpectedly thundered a powerful explosion and a powerful blow shook the Mikoyan. Almost simultaneously, the ship’s bells of a loud battle rang, announcing an “emergency alarm”. The sailors who ran out onto the deck of the icebreaker saw a terrible picture - the tanker “Phoenix”, as it was established later, hit a ground mine. Fire and clouds of thick smoke rose above him. A second explosion rang out, breaking the tanker hull into two parts, and he went into the water, slowly drifting towards the Mikoyan. Thousands of tons of burning oil poured from the fractured hull onto the surface of the water, which began to encircle the icebreaker with a ring of fire. The stern part of the Phoenix was burning, and the remaining sailors crowded and shouted at the bow, some jumped into the water, floated trying to escape to the shore or to the Mikoyan.
The icebreaker could not move - from three cars, two onboard were under repair and were dismantled, and the stern machine was in a “cold” state. There was only one boiler in action. The slightest delay threatened inevitable death. Sailors rushed to the monitors and powerful streams of water began to drive away the burning oil, shoot down the flame. Given moorings. The firemen rushed into the boiler rooms - urgently breeding steam in the boilers; machinists - in the engine room to prepare the car to give a turn.
For three days a huge fire raged in Haifa. Our sailors were surprised that neither the British command nor the local authorities even tried to fight the fire. As soon as the fire went out by itself, the senior naval commander in Haifa sent the commander of the "Mikoyan" captain 2 rank Sergeyev "Thanksgiving letter", in which he expressed admiration for courage and dashing. Manifested by the crew in a particularly dangerous situation. In the newspapers published in Haifa and Port Said, the British government expressed deep gratitude to the Soviet sailors for saving the British soldiers. When the consequences of an unprecedented conflagration were more or less eliminated, repairs continued on the icebreaker.
On January 6, the Mikoyan left Haifa and headed to Port Said, where a convoy of ships was being formed to cross the Suez Canal. 7 January icebreaker, taking on board the pilot, moved further south. We went to the Red Sea and anchored in the port roads. Here, by agreement with the British, guns and machine guns were to be mounted on the Mikoyan. But the British did not fulfill this important condition of the contract, they only installed an old 45-mm cannon, suitable only for a salute, from which they conducted training shots. Then, to give the icebreaker the appearance of a well-armed vessel, our sailors chose to be tricky. The local Arabs mined logs. A boatswain team of these logs and tarpaulin produced on the deck a kind of powerful artillery installations. Of course, these sham guns will not bring any benefit, but when meeting with an enemy ship they can even catch up with fear.
After parking in Suez, the icebreaker went further, passed the Red Sea and arrived in Aden. But by this time the situation in the world had changed for the worse. When leaving Batumi, there was peace in the Far East. 7 December 1941, Japan suddenly attacked the naval bases of Great Britain and the United States, and the war spread to these areas. Seafarers learned that on December 10, the Japanese government declared the Laperuz Straits, the Korean and Sangar, with its “sea defensive zones”, put the Japanese Sea and all exits out of it under control. Japanese ships stoked and seized the Soviet merchant ships. Thus, the shortest way to the Far East for “A. Mikoyan” became almost impossible. Under these conditions, it was decided to go south, to Cape Town, and further west, to their native shores. And then the allies once again did a “favor” - they refused to include the “Mikoyan” in their convoy, citing the fact that the icebreaker is slow-moving and smokes too much.
1 February 1942, despite everything, the Mikoyan left Aden and went south alone, heading for the Kenyan port of Mombasa. One day, ships appeared on the horizon. It took an alarming half an hour before the situation cleared. An English convoy of thirty pennants was going on the opposite course. It consisted of cruisers, destroyers and other warships escorting transports. Two cruisers separated from the convoy, deployed guns in the direction of "Mikoyan", requested the call sign. Apparently, the British took the mock guns as real.
“Give me a call,” ordered Sergeev.
Cruisers approached for a few more cables. One of them fell in the wake. The head cruiser demanded to stop the cars.
- Stop the car! - ordered Sergeev.
At that second, the lead cruiser fired a volley from the bow turret. Shells lay at the nose "Mikoyan." Inquiries poured from the cruiser: “Show the ship’s name”, “Give the captain’s last name”. "Who sent you from Aden." Having understood, the British allowed to follow their course. Further voyage to the port of Mombasa passed without incident. During the stay in the port reserves and, first of all, coal were replenished.
We went further, walking the Indian Ocean along the east coast of Africa. The tropical heat exhausted the crew. It was especially hard to keep a watch in the boiler rooms and engine rooms, where the heat rose to 65 degrees. Stokers and machinists poured water, but this did not help much. 19 March came to Cape Town. They replenished their stocks, over all standards they loaded more than 3000 tons of coal. Mikoyan was ready to go further. The British command informed SMMergeev about the situation in the Atlantic Ocean. On the line Cape Town - New York are German submarines. From the beginning of the year, they moved their operations from the shores of Europe, first to the east coast of the United States, and then to the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the region of the Antilles and Bermuda. German raiders "Michel" and "Stier" are supposedly operating in the South Atlantic. The path to the Panama Canal was extremely dangerous.
And then Sergeev decided to deceive the German intelligence service, which, he believed, acted here. To this end, he told local reporters that Mikoyan was heading to New York. This message was published in all local newspapers and broadcast.
At night, 26 March, quietly withdrawing from the anchor, the icebreaker left Cape Town. Just in case, for some time, it was as if going to New York. But in the desert area of the Atlantic they changed course. Sergeyev chose a different, longer way - to go around South America, and to go to the Far East in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean. Icebreaker went to the shores of South America. Caught in a band of brutal storms. Rolling reached 56 degrees, the ship threw like a sliver. Sometimes the ocean calmed down to collapse with a new force. The nasal superstructure suffered, heavy steel doors blew off and carried into the ocean. These were the “roaring forties” notorious to the sailors. So lasted seventeen days. In constant violent storms crossed the Atlantic Ocean and entered the Gulf of La Plata. Sailors breathed a sigh of relief.
Passed by the rusty superstructures of the German heavy cruiser "Admiral Count Spee", who died here in December 1939 year. Came to the Uruguayan port of Montevideo. Sergeyev requested permission to enter the port. But in response, he was informed that the authorities did not allow visiting the port with warships or armed ships, the fake “guns” of the icebreaker looked so impressive. I had to call a special representative to convince the port authorities that the "armament" is not real. Only after that they received permission to enter the port.
In Montevideo replenished stocks, carried out the necessary repairs, and after the rest went on the road. And to deceive the German intelligence, defiantly headed for the north. With the onset of darkness turned around and in full swing rushed to the south. At Cape Horn, there was a great danger of being attacked by German raiders or submarines. Therefore, we went to the Strait of Magellan, quite complex and dangerous for swimming. In frequent fogs, past Tierra del Fuego, with a call at the port of Pointa-Arenas, they passed the strait, entered the Pacific Ocean, and headed for the north. In rushes, with short visits to the ports of Coronel and Lot, they arrived in the Chilean port of Valparaiso, replenished their stocks, conducted an audit of boilers, machines and mechanisms. After a short rest, we continued on our way north, heading for the Peruvian port of Callao. Stocked up, and went to the port of Bilbao in Panama. Re-stocked up, and went to San Francisco.
The icebreaker arrived in San Francisco, and then moved to Seattle for repairs and armament. The Americans quickly and efficiently repaired the ship. They dismantled the English cannon and thoroughly armed: they installed four 76,2-mm guns, ten 20-mm anti-aircraft guns, four 12,7-mm and four 7,62-mm machine guns.
From Seattle, the Mikoyan headed for Kodiak Port in Alaska. From Kodiak I went to the port of Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. Coming out of Dutch Harbor, the Mikoyan rounded the Aleutian Islands to the north and headed for its native shores. Finally, in the haze, the outlines of distant shores appeared. Appeared deserted shore - Chukchi Cape. 9 August 1942 of the Year "Mikoyan" entered the Gulf of Anadyr.
The crew rest was short. Almost immediately received a new combat mission. In Providence Bay, 19 (nineteen) were awaiting his arrival! transports with weapons, ammunition and other military cargo, and warships of the Pacific fleet: leader of “Baku”, destroyers “Reasonable” and “Enraged”. “A. Mikoyan” was appointed a full-time icebreaker EON-18. In essence, this was the task to which the ship completed this route from Batumi.
Back in June 1942, the State Defense Committee decided to transfer several warships from the Far East in support of the Northern Fleet along the Northern Sea Route. June 8 by the order of the People's Commissar of the Navy No. 0192 a special purpose expedition was formed - 18 (EON-18). The commander was appointed captain 1 rank VI Obukhov. On July 22, the warships arrived in Providence Bay, where the 19 Soviet transports arrived from the United States with military cargoes were already there. Ahead was the Northern Sea Route.
On August 13, “A.Mikoyan” and 6 transports left Providence Bay, and the next day the warships. The expedition gathered in Emma Bay in Chukotka and continued on its way. Bering Strait passed in thick fog. They circled Cape Dezhnev and entered the Chukchi Sea. 15 August in 16 hours past Cape Whalen and entered the small-battered ice with a density of 7 points. With each mile the ice situation became heavier. There was a fog, the ships hardly continued movement. The 16 of August had to stop before the situation improved, among the 9-10 of scored old ice drifting to the southeast. By the morning of August 17 ice movement ships scattered from each other.
The destroyer "Intelligent", who was next to the leader of "Baku", attributed from him to 50-60 cable. In the most difficult position was "Furious." He was caught in ice, and he began to drift towards the shore. Guide expedition feared that the ship could be in shallow water, inaccessible to the icebreaker. Attempts of “A.Mikoyan” to rescue “Furious” from the ice captivity were not successful. On the contrary, the work of the icebreaker increased the pressure of the ice on the destroyer hull, which had dents in the skin of both sides. It became clear that the "A. Mikoyan" alone could not cope with the wiring of so many warships and transports. We had to fight with 9-10 with the ice field fields, then rescue destroyers, then rush to the aid of transports. An icebreaker “L.Kaganovich” came out to the aid of “A.Mikoyan” from Providence Bay, which approached 19 August. Bypassing the ice massif from the north, the ships of EON-18 joined the caravan of transports in the vicinity of Cape Serdt Kamen. Further progress took place along the coastline in thin ice. 22 August, ice became lighter behind Cape Jekretlan, and on the way to the Kolyuchinskaya Bay there was already clear water. With separately floating ice floes. We approached the Lok-Batan tanker anchored and began to receive fuel. At the same time they took products from the Volga transport.
On August 25, having passed Cape Vankarem in heavy ice, the ships EON-18 drifted until dawn. At night, a strong wind caused the ice to move, the ships and transports turned out to be trapped by hummocks. How difficult the conditions turned out to be, it can be judged by the fact that even at the icebreaker "L.Kaganovich" the rudder stock turned out to be 15 degrees.
Only five days later, the icebreakers managed to bring the leader "Baku" and the destroyer "Furious" out of hard ice to clear water. Both ships were damaged (screw attachments were torn off, dents were taken in the sides, tanks were damaged). Having made their way through heavy ice, they replenished fuel supplies from the tanker Lok-Batan, not waiting for Reasonable, the leader of Baku and the destroyer Razyarenny went on their way through clear water along the edge of fast ice. Due to the small depths (5-5,6 m), the progress was very slow: in front of the ships they carried out boat depth measurements.
Icebreaker "L. Kaganovich" stuck in heavy ice. But the destroyer "Reasonable", sandwiched between two large hummocks of multi-year ice, found itself in the worst position. The ice floes squeezed the hull from the sides, jammed the screws. The personnel were exhausted, fighting for the release of the ship from the ice captivity. Day and night, special teams blew ice with ammonal, pricked it with their ice pick. Spent the steam line and tried to cut the ice jet of steam. It turned out that the screws were firmly frozen into the ice field. They were only released with the help of divers: they brought a steam line and cut ice around the propellers with steam. When the situation was complicated, the ship's commander allowed the use of depth charges to destroy the ice. Explosions destroyed the ice to the full thickness, made ice anchors and pulled up to them. During the day, it was possible to pass 30-40 meters. The icebreaker “A. Mikoyan” repeatedly approached the ship, took it in tow, but was not successful. He could not chop the ice around the destroyer. This was dangerous, since ice was accumulating between the icebreaker and the hull of the ship, and the pressure of the icebreaker could lead to a hole in the hull.
On August 31, the I.Stalin icebreaker who came from the west came to the aid of “A.Mikoyan”. Two icebreakers with short forays crushed thick ice, each time moving to 2 - 2,5 meters. Work continued from August 31 to September 8. Two channels were broken through to the “Reasonable” in the ice, but it was not possible to tow the destroyer, because the icebreakers themselves could not move through these channels due to ice compression.
September 8 ice conditions in the area of drift "Reasonable" has changed dramatically. The wind changed direction, the movement of ice began, separate strains appeared, the compression of the ship hull decreased. "A. Mikoyan" took the destroyer in tow and began to slowly withdraw to clean water. "I.Stalin" went ahead, breaking the ice fields, clearing the way to "A.Mikoyan" and "Reasonable". By the 14 clock 9 September came to clean water. The destroyer took the fuel from the tanker "Locke-Batan", along with all headed west along the edge of fast ice. In the area of Cape Two pilots, we met a heavy ice dam and stopped, waiting for the icebreaker L. Kaganovich, which led the destroyer to Ambarchik Bay.
17 September the ships of the EON-18 united in Tiksi Bay. Here the expedition was ordered to linger. The German ships, the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer and submarines, penetrated the Kara Sea, rounding from the north to the New Earth. Learning from the Japanese about the expedition, the Germans decided to carry out Operation Wunderland (Wonderland) in order to intercept and destroy transports, warships and all Soviet icebreakers from the Vilkitsky Strait. At the eastern entrance to the strait, EON-18 and a convoy of ships from Arkhangelsk, under the escort of the Krasin icebreaker, were to meet.
Finale
Recently, I posted an article about the exploits of the icebreaker steamer “Dezhnev” on “VO”, the heroism of the workers of the workers of the consort allowed to keep ships and ships of oncoming convoys. It would seem, where is the Black Sea and where is the Arctic Ocean? But the idea of the State Defense Committee and the courage, perseverance, sense of duty of the Soviet sailors reduced the heroism of Dezhnev and Mikoyan to one point on the map of a great war. The fate of the ships and ships mentioned in the article took shape in different ways.
Following the "A.Mikoyan" from Istanbul 19 December, the tanker "Varlaam Avanesov" left. Time was calculated so that the Dardanelles go through before dark and enter the Aegean Sea at night. In 21 the hour of 30 minutes “Varlaam Avanesov” passed the strait and lay down on the main course. On the port side a tall gloomy cape Babakale sailed with a fortress on top. Suddenly, a searchlight flashed in the fortress, the beam lay on the black water, slid along it and rested against the tanker. Five minutes lit it, then went out. But not for long, after a few minutes, everything happened again. And then there was an explosion near the shore. It took another fifteen minutes. Little by little the anxious feeling caused first by the light of the searchlights and then by an unknown explosion began to pass. Suddenly the tanker abruptly threw up, a high column of fire, smoke, and foamed water flew out from under the stern. It became clear to whom the tanker was shown by a searchlight. The German submarine "U-652", having missed the first torpedo, sent the second one exactly on target. Boats with the crew, one after the other, departed from the side of the sinking tanker, heading for the near Turkish coast. The captain made the last entry in the logbook: “22.20. Korma plunged into the sea on the bridge. Everyone left the ship. ” Killed one person. 23 December 1941, the tanker crew arrived in Istanbul, and from there to their homeland.
The continuation of the operation now seemed frankly insane, but the T-bills were not going to cancel the order. January 4 1942 from Tuapse left Istanbul. He, like Mikoyan, moved in short rushes, walked only at night, and during the day hid among the islands. And a week later he reached Famagusta, neither the Germans nor the Italians found it at all!
On January 7, Sakhalin went on the march. And, surprisingly enough, he repeated the success of Tuapse. Nobody found him at all. 21 January, he also reached Cyprus, spending two weeks on the transition, which normally takes no more than two days.
Such a result, of course, could be considered a miracle. All Soviet ships were doomed. They passed through the water belonging to the enemy, having neither weapons nor protection, while the enemy was aware of the time of withdrawal and knew the purpose to which the ships were following. However, of the four ships, three reached Cyprus, while two were not detected at all and, accordingly, did not even have any loss in people or damage. However, the fate of the Mikoyan, which withstood daily attacks, but survived (and not even one of the sailors died) seems to be a true miracle.
When going from Haifa to Cape Town. Sakhalin and Tuapse made an unexpected contribution to the overall victory of the anti-Hitler coalition. They delivered to South Africa 15 thousands of tons of petroleum products, with which British ships that took part in the seizure of Madagascar refueled.
In Cape Town, the further route between the captain of “Tuapse” Shcherbachev and the captain of “Sakhalin” Pomerantz had some disagreements. Shcherbachev, to save time, decided to carry Tuapse through the Panama Canal. Not always saving leads to a good result, sometimes it turns into a tragedy. 4 July 1942, when Tuapse reached the Caribbean Sea and was stationed at Cape San Antonio (Cuba), it was attacked by the German U-129 submarine. At short intervals, four torpedoes hit the ship. Ten people from the team died, but most were saved.
Pomeranz led his Sakhalin on the same route as A. Mikoyan. Withstanding the strongest storms, Sakhalin 9 December 1942 of the year came to his native Vladivostok.
The leader of "Baku" became the Red Banner ship, the destroyer "Furious" 23 January 1945 was torpedoed by the German submarine U-293. The destroyer pulled the stern and until the middle of 1946, he stood in the repair. The destroyer “Reasonable” went through the whole war, repeatedly participated in the escorting of convoys, took part in the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation.
The article used materials from the sites:
http://mmflot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=1661
http://www.vokrugsveta.ru/vs/article/5720/
CM. Sergeev, the commander of the icebreaker "A. Mikoyan"
The dark night came on 30 November. Silently earned a windlass, and an anchor chain slowly crawled into the cluses, the icebreaker began to slowly move forward. As soon as the anchor came off the ground, Sergeyev gave a “small move”. In the night, the Mikoyan slid off the shore in silent shadow. Coming to the fairway, the commander gave "full speed". In the dark, not to jump on a boat floating without any lights or any floating object, Sergeyev ordered to put additional observers on the nose and on the sides. In the darkness, the smoke coming out of the pipes was not very noticeable. Moreover, the firemen tried their best - not a single spark escaped from the pipes. Fortunately, it was soon drizzling rain. Half an hour later, Istanbul was left behind.
In pitch darkness, without lights, they passed the Sea of Marmara, and approached the gorge of the Dardanelles. Strait winding and narrow, navigation in terms of navigation is quite difficult. Experienced pilots even conducted their ships here during the day with great care. And the icebreaker was generally without a pilot. In the middle of the strait, at анanakkale, the navigation conditions are extremely difficult, especially at night - here the strait narrows sharply to 7 cable and makes two sharp turns. In the most dangerous place to the helm became captain-mentor I.A.Boyev and successfully conducted an icebreaker. They went further, adhering to the European coast.
Out in the Aegean Sea. "Mikoyan" rushed to the south in full swing. In the morning, almost as close as the depth allowed, stumbled upon the rocks of a small, deserted island in the Gulf of Edremit. The boilers are turned down so as not to give a smoke out of the pipes. From the icebreaker, the island of Lesbos was viewed with the Italian naval base Mitilini located on it. The day passed in anxious anticipation, but no one appeared near, only far on the horizon fleeting silhouettes of ships noticed several times. Everything went well.
As soon as it got dark, the Mikoyan set off. Ahead lay the islands of the Greek Archipelago. SMSergeev immediately took the icebreaker off the once “rolling”, usual in peacetime road and led him along the route developed in Istanbul. They walked without running lights, trying to keep closer to the Turkish coast, winding between mountainous islets, constantly risking in the dark, on an unfamiliar channel, to run into the underwater rock or mine. External observation was strengthened: on the tank they carried the watch "forward-looking", in the "crow's nest" there were signalmen. They were walking in numbers, although the inclement weather helped to go unnoticed, but hid landmarks. As soon as it began to get light, they hid in a wide crevice of a rocky island. In preparation for the battle, in the ship’s workshop, the craftsmen prepared weapon - Forged several dozen rush and other cold weapons. Radio operators constantly listened to the air: did not the alarm come up? Another day passed in suspense.
At nightfall, the icebreaker continued its journey in the darkness of the night. Near the island of Samos "Mikoyan" was literally under the noses of the Italian patrol ships, illuminating the sea with searchlights. Only fresh weather, slanting rain and poor visibility helped our sailors. They passed safely only two miles from the enemy naval base. They stopped for a day, squeezing into the gap between the rocks of two deserted islands. There was no doubt that the enemy was looking for the missing icebreaker, the sailors were preparing for the worst.
In the previous nights, our sailors were lucky, the weather was inclement, and the Italians controlled the Aegean Sea, not the Germans, there were no locators. Therefore, the icebreaker, not surprisingly, remained undetected. But on the third night in the evening, surprisingly clear weather set in, a full moon shone in the night sky. And in front was the island of Rhodes, which was the main naval base of Italians in this area of the Mediterranean Sea. German was also based here aviationthat bombed the Suez Canal and British bases and ports. This was the most dangerous place.
December 3 icebreaker cautiously came out of his shelter and rushed at full speed for a breakthrough. Approaching hostile Rhodes. "A. Mikoyan" entered the strait between the Turkish coast and the island of Rhodes and went to the small island of Castellorizo, behind which opened spaces of the Mediterranean Sea.
At first a small schooner appeared, and for some time it was not far away, and then it turned aside and disappeared. Soon a reconnaissance plane appeared, flew around the icebreaker several times and flew over it, the pilot apparently looked out for and determined if there was any weapons, and flew towards the island.
It became clear that the "Mikoyan" was discovered and identified. An order from the commander came to all the posts from the bridge: - if the fascists try to seize the icebreaker and try to climb the upper deck, beat them with crowbars, pikes, axes, hooks, beat until at least one of the crew is alive. Kingston to open at the very last moment, when there will be nothing and no one to defend. An alarming wait was established on Mikoyan. Time seemed to slow down. Sailors, up to the pain in their eyes, peered into the expanses of the sea and the heavenly heights. The tense silence was broken by the loud cry of the signalman from the crow's nest.
- I see two points!
On the bridge and on the deck, everyone began to look in the indicated direction.
- Two torpedo boats are coming at us! The signalman shouted again.
“Italian,” said Senior Assistant Choline.
The alarm went off and everyone ran into their places. The huge, slow-moving and unarmed icebreaker had no chance to escape from two speedboats, each of which had two torpedoes.
Boats approaching. The main boatswain, midshipman Groisman, just in case hung the Turkish flag. But it was not possible to trick. There were no such ships, let alone an icebreaker, in Turkey. Boats approached a distance less than cable and lay on a parallel course. They asked from one of them through a megaphone in broken Russian.
- Whose ship?
By order of Sergeyev, a boiler mechanic, a Crimean Tatar Khamidulin, who knew Turkish, shouted the answer to the boat in the mouthpiece.
- The ship is Turkish, we are going to Smyrna! What do you want?
In response, a machine-gun fire rang out for warning, but Hamidulin managed to hide. From the boat sounded the team.
- Immediately follow to Rhodes under our escort!
On the "Mikoyan" no one thought to carry out the orders of the enemy, and he continued to follow his own course. Then the boats began to prepare for torpedo attacks. The fact that the icebreaker is completely unarmed, the Italians knew and acted fearlessly. In the attack, as on the training ground, rushed the first boat, clearly hoping for success. And it was here that the commander came in handy with the extraordinary maneuverability of the icebreaker and the experience gained in battle of evading enemy attacks. As soon as the boat reached the calculated point of fire, the commander's command rang out a second before the volley: “Steering wheel on board!” When the boat fired two torpedoes, the icebreaker almost on the spot was already turning towards the deadly cigars, and they passed along the sides. Coming out of attack, the boat fired at the icebreaker with a machine gun. Then the second boat went on the attack. But he acted differently - first released one torpedo. At the time of a volley, all three cars worked out "Full back." The icebreaker almost stopped, and the torpedo passed near the nose. And on the bridge, the machine telegraph has already echoed: "The most complete forward." Released at intervals, the second torpedo passed by, almost catching the stern.
Boats did not lag behind, opened fire from all machine guns and small-caliber guns. Boats are getting closer to both sides. The commander of the on-board broadcast ordered: “The ship should be prepared for flooding!” But the boats soon stopped firing and stepped aside. Sailors were happy about this, but as it turned out, premature. Three torpedo bombs appeared, caused by failed boats on the radio. The first immediately lay down on the combat course, under his fuselage could see a torpedo. The situation seemed hopeless. And then the unexpected happened. The elder hold Mefodiyev rushed to the hydro monitor and turned it on. A powerful, glittering in the moonlight light as silver, like an explosion of a wall of water, unexpectedly spilled out toward the plane. The pilot abruptly turned away and dropped a torpedo, which fell far from the icebreaker. Similarly, the second torpedo bomber was knocked off course. The third one dropped a circulating torpedo by parachute, which began to describe the death spiral. But Sergeyev managed to evade her with a quick maneuver. He turned the ship in the opposite direction, and then sharply turned aside. The torpedo passed by.
Unsuccessful torpedo attacks infuriated the enemy. Now they could not sink the icebreaker, but they did not dare to board the ship. Firing from all machine guns and small-caliber guns, boats and aircraft attacked the icebreaker. But his body was invulnerable to bullets and small-caliber shells. On boats and airplanes, they understood this and concentrated fire on the bridge and wheelhouse, trying to disrupt control. Ruzakov, the senior elder of the Red Fleet, who was wounded, was taken to the infirmary, with the helmsman Molochinsky in his place. Ohnul and fell on the deck of the wounded signalman foreman 2 article Poleschuk. The senior political officer M.Novikov was wounded ...
Having spent ammunition, the planes flew away, but the boats continued to conduct fierce shelling. On Mikoyan, fires began to appear in various places. Sailors of fire-fighting groups under the leadership of the senior assistant commander of the captain-lieutenant Holin, ignoring the shelling, extinguished the fire centers. But it was half the trouble. Because of the numerous holes in the pipes, the thrust in the furnaces of the boilers fell. Despite the best efforts of the stokers, the steam pressure in the boilers began to fall, and the stroke gradually began to decline. Above the icebreaker in grave danger.
A few hours, dodging continuous attacks, Mikoyan stubbornly walked towards its goal. Fortunately, the weather began to deteriorate, clouds hung over the sea, the wind rose, waves appeared (obviously, the weather did not allow airplanes to rise again into the air). But the enemy did not let up, a rescue boat caught fire from his next turn, in the tanks of which there were almost two tons of gasoline, the explosion of which could have grave consequences. Noticing the high flames and thick smoke covering the icebreaker, the Italians decided that it was all over with. But they were wrong. Sailors rushed to the burning boat, chopped off attachment. The boat had time to throw overboard before it exploded, raising a column of fire and debris. And at that moment a downpour of unthinkable power began. Under his veil and managed to break away from the enemy. Taking the blast of the boat for the death of the icebreaker, the Italians raised several debris, a life buoy with the inscription "Mikoyan" and went to Rhodes.
When the danger had passed, they began to put the icebreaker in order, to repair the damage received. First of all, they began to plug holes in the pipes in order to create cravings in the furnaces of the boilers and increase the speed. Into the holes they began to hammer in hastily made wooden corks, everything that came to hand. But all this quickly burned in the heat of hot gases. I had to start all over again. And at the boilers, out of their strength, the firemen worked, throwing coal into insatiable fireboxes. Mikoyan survived, having received various holes near 150, and continued to go towards its goal.
As soon as December 4 appeared in the morning, the coast of Cyprus appeared, and the English destroyers rushed towards them with the guided guns. Senior Lieutenant Hanson radioed his ships and soon everything was clarified. It turned out that the radio stations of Berlin and Rome had already managed to inform the whole world about the destruction of a large Soviet icebreaker. Believing this message, the British took the icebreaker for the enemy ship. The British did not doubt a single minute that the Soviet adventure with a breakthrough would end inevitable death of all four ships. Therefore, did not expect to see an icebreaker. Accompanied by the Mikoyan destroyers, having traveled more than 800 miles, arrived in Famagusta. At the icebreaker was scary to watch. High chimneys burned, out of numerous, hastily sealed holes, smoke flowed. Bridge and superstructure riddled with holes. The boards are stained with pock marks. The upper deck, covered with teak, covered with fumes and soot, was almost black. The task of the State Defense Committee on the breakthrough to Cyprus was completed. What was reported to London via London?
The British met “Mikoyan” unwelcomingly, were not allowed to enter the port, ordered to anchor for the boms. Captain Sergeev demanded an immediate clarification. At any time the ship could be attacked by an enemy submarine or aircraft. A representative of the English naval command arrived on board. I looked at the received holes and informed the commander that the Mikoyan should be immediately removed from the anchor, and under the escort of the corvette go to Beirut. The ship, which withstood an unequal heavy battle with the enemy, was not given the opportunity to patch the holes and fix the damage. We reached Beirut calmly. But here they received an order: without stopping to continue moving to Haifa. This surprised the commander of the Mikoyan, he knew that Haifa was subject to frequent air raids by German aircraft. In Haifa, they said farewell to captain-mentor I.A.Boev. After completing his assignment, he returned to his homeland.
Here the Mikoyan began to moor for repairs. But less than two days later, as the port authorities demanded to change the parking place. A week later, I had to move to another place. For 17 days, the ship was rearranged 7 times. It became clear to all: the British use a Soviet ship to check for the presence of magnetic mines in the port.
Repairs were in full swing when a disaster occurred in the port. In Haifa, accumulated a lot of warships, transports and tankers. December 20 in the port unexpectedly thundered a powerful explosion and a powerful blow shook the Mikoyan. Almost simultaneously, the ship’s bells of a loud battle rang, announcing an “emergency alarm”. The sailors who ran out onto the deck of the icebreaker saw a terrible picture - the tanker “Phoenix”, as it was established later, hit a ground mine. Fire and clouds of thick smoke rose above him. A second explosion rang out, breaking the tanker hull into two parts, and he went into the water, slowly drifting towards the Mikoyan. Thousands of tons of burning oil poured from the fractured hull onto the surface of the water, which began to encircle the icebreaker with a ring of fire. The stern part of the Phoenix was burning, and the remaining sailors crowded and shouted at the bow, some jumped into the water, floated trying to escape to the shore or to the Mikoyan.
The icebreaker could not move - from three cars, two onboard were under repair and were dismantled, and the stern machine was in a “cold” state. There was only one boiler in action. The slightest delay threatened inevitable death. Sailors rushed to the monitors and powerful streams of water began to drive away the burning oil, shoot down the flame. Given moorings. The firemen rushed into the boiler rooms - urgently breeding steam in the boilers; machinists - in the engine room to prepare the car to give a turn.
For three days a huge fire raged in Haifa. Our sailors were surprised that neither the British command nor the local authorities even tried to fight the fire. As soon as the fire went out by itself, the senior naval commander in Haifa sent the commander of the "Mikoyan" captain 2 rank Sergeyev "Thanksgiving letter", in which he expressed admiration for courage and dashing. Manifested by the crew in a particularly dangerous situation. In the newspapers published in Haifa and Port Said, the British government expressed deep gratitude to the Soviet sailors for saving the British soldiers. When the consequences of an unprecedented conflagration were more or less eliminated, repairs continued on the icebreaker.
On January 6, the Mikoyan left Haifa and headed to Port Said, where a convoy of ships was being formed to cross the Suez Canal. 7 January icebreaker, taking on board the pilot, moved further south. We went to the Red Sea and anchored in the port roads. Here, by agreement with the British, guns and machine guns were to be mounted on the Mikoyan. But the British did not fulfill this important condition of the contract, they only installed an old 45-mm cannon, suitable only for a salute, from which they conducted training shots. Then, to give the icebreaker the appearance of a well-armed vessel, our sailors chose to be tricky. The local Arabs mined logs. A boatswain team of these logs and tarpaulin produced on the deck a kind of powerful artillery installations. Of course, these sham guns will not bring any benefit, but when meeting with an enemy ship they can even catch up with fear.
After parking in Suez, the icebreaker went further, passed the Red Sea and arrived in Aden. But by this time the situation in the world had changed for the worse. When leaving Batumi, there was peace in the Far East. 7 December 1941, Japan suddenly attacked the naval bases of Great Britain and the United States, and the war spread to these areas. Seafarers learned that on December 10, the Japanese government declared the Laperuz Straits, the Korean and Sangar, with its “sea defensive zones”, put the Japanese Sea and all exits out of it under control. Japanese ships stoked and seized the Soviet merchant ships. Thus, the shortest way to the Far East for “A. Mikoyan” became almost impossible. Under these conditions, it was decided to go south, to Cape Town, and further west, to their native shores. And then the allies once again did a “favor” - they refused to include the “Mikoyan” in their convoy, citing the fact that the icebreaker is slow-moving and smokes too much.
1 February 1942, despite everything, the Mikoyan left Aden and went south alone, heading for the Kenyan port of Mombasa. One day, ships appeared on the horizon. It took an alarming half an hour before the situation cleared. An English convoy of thirty pennants was going on the opposite course. It consisted of cruisers, destroyers and other warships escorting transports. Two cruisers separated from the convoy, deployed guns in the direction of "Mikoyan", requested the call sign. Apparently, the British took the mock guns as real.
“Give me a call,” ordered Sergeev.
Cruisers approached for a few more cables. One of them fell in the wake. The head cruiser demanded to stop the cars.
- Stop the car! - ordered Sergeev.
At that second, the lead cruiser fired a volley from the bow turret. Shells lay at the nose "Mikoyan." Inquiries poured from the cruiser: “Show the ship’s name”, “Give the captain’s last name”. "Who sent you from Aden." Having understood, the British allowed to follow their course. Further voyage to the port of Mombasa passed without incident. During the stay in the port reserves and, first of all, coal were replenished.
We went further, walking the Indian Ocean along the east coast of Africa. The tropical heat exhausted the crew. It was especially hard to keep a watch in the boiler rooms and engine rooms, where the heat rose to 65 degrees. Stokers and machinists poured water, but this did not help much. 19 March came to Cape Town. They replenished their stocks, over all standards they loaded more than 3000 tons of coal. Mikoyan was ready to go further. The British command informed SMMergeev about the situation in the Atlantic Ocean. On the line Cape Town - New York are German submarines. From the beginning of the year, they moved their operations from the shores of Europe, first to the east coast of the United States, and then to the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the region of the Antilles and Bermuda. German raiders "Michel" and "Stier" are supposedly operating in the South Atlantic. The path to the Panama Canal was extremely dangerous.
And then Sergeev decided to deceive the German intelligence service, which, he believed, acted here. To this end, he told local reporters that Mikoyan was heading to New York. This message was published in all local newspapers and broadcast.
At night, 26 March, quietly withdrawing from the anchor, the icebreaker left Cape Town. Just in case, for some time, it was as if going to New York. But in the desert area of the Atlantic they changed course. Sergeyev chose a different, longer way - to go around South America, and to go to the Far East in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean. Icebreaker went to the shores of South America. Caught in a band of brutal storms. Rolling reached 56 degrees, the ship threw like a sliver. Sometimes the ocean calmed down to collapse with a new force. The nasal superstructure suffered, heavy steel doors blew off and carried into the ocean. These were the “roaring forties” notorious to the sailors. So lasted seventeen days. In constant violent storms crossed the Atlantic Ocean and entered the Gulf of La Plata. Sailors breathed a sigh of relief.
Passed by the rusty superstructures of the German heavy cruiser "Admiral Count Spee", who died here in December 1939 year. Came to the Uruguayan port of Montevideo. Sergeyev requested permission to enter the port. But in response, he was informed that the authorities did not allow visiting the port with warships or armed ships, the fake “guns” of the icebreaker looked so impressive. I had to call a special representative to convince the port authorities that the "armament" is not real. Only after that they received permission to enter the port.
In Montevideo replenished stocks, carried out the necessary repairs, and after the rest went on the road. And to deceive the German intelligence, defiantly headed for the north. With the onset of darkness turned around and in full swing rushed to the south. At Cape Horn, there was a great danger of being attacked by German raiders or submarines. Therefore, we went to the Strait of Magellan, quite complex and dangerous for swimming. In frequent fogs, past Tierra del Fuego, with a call at the port of Pointa-Arenas, they passed the strait, entered the Pacific Ocean, and headed for the north. In rushes, with short visits to the ports of Coronel and Lot, they arrived in the Chilean port of Valparaiso, replenished their stocks, conducted an audit of boilers, machines and mechanisms. After a short rest, we continued on our way north, heading for the Peruvian port of Callao. Stocked up, and went to the port of Bilbao in Panama. Re-stocked up, and went to San Francisco.
The icebreaker arrived in San Francisco, and then moved to Seattle for repairs and armament. The Americans quickly and efficiently repaired the ship. They dismantled the English cannon and thoroughly armed: they installed four 76,2-mm guns, ten 20-mm anti-aircraft guns, four 12,7-mm and four 7,62-mm machine guns.
From Seattle, the Mikoyan headed for Kodiak Port in Alaska. From Kodiak I went to the port of Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. Coming out of Dutch Harbor, the Mikoyan rounded the Aleutian Islands to the north and headed for its native shores. Finally, in the haze, the outlines of distant shores appeared. Appeared deserted shore - Chukchi Cape. 9 August 1942 of the Year "Mikoyan" entered the Gulf of Anadyr.
The crew rest was short. Almost immediately received a new combat mission. In Providence Bay, 19 (nineteen) were awaiting his arrival! transports with weapons, ammunition and other military cargo, and warships of the Pacific fleet: leader of “Baku”, destroyers “Reasonable” and “Enraged”. “A. Mikoyan” was appointed a full-time icebreaker EON-18. In essence, this was the task to which the ship completed this route from Batumi.
Back in June 1942, the State Defense Committee decided to transfer several warships from the Far East in support of the Northern Fleet along the Northern Sea Route. June 8 by the order of the People's Commissar of the Navy No. 0192 a special purpose expedition was formed - 18 (EON-18). The commander was appointed captain 1 rank VI Obukhov. On July 22, the warships arrived in Providence Bay, where the 19 Soviet transports arrived from the United States with military cargoes were already there. Ahead was the Northern Sea Route.
On August 13, “A.Mikoyan” and 6 transports left Providence Bay, and the next day the warships. The expedition gathered in Emma Bay in Chukotka and continued on its way. Bering Strait passed in thick fog. They circled Cape Dezhnev and entered the Chukchi Sea. 15 August in 16 hours past Cape Whalen and entered the small-battered ice with a density of 7 points. With each mile the ice situation became heavier. There was a fog, the ships hardly continued movement. The 16 of August had to stop before the situation improved, among the 9-10 of scored old ice drifting to the southeast. By the morning of August 17 ice movement ships scattered from each other.
The destroyer "Intelligent", who was next to the leader of "Baku", attributed from him to 50-60 cable. In the most difficult position was "Furious." He was caught in ice, and he began to drift towards the shore. Guide expedition feared that the ship could be in shallow water, inaccessible to the icebreaker. Attempts of “A.Mikoyan” to rescue “Furious” from the ice captivity were not successful. On the contrary, the work of the icebreaker increased the pressure of the ice on the destroyer hull, which had dents in the skin of both sides. It became clear that the "A. Mikoyan" alone could not cope with the wiring of so many warships and transports. We had to fight with 9-10 with the ice field fields, then rescue destroyers, then rush to the aid of transports. An icebreaker “L.Kaganovich” came out to the aid of “A.Mikoyan” from Providence Bay, which approached 19 August. Bypassing the ice massif from the north, the ships of EON-18 joined the caravan of transports in the vicinity of Cape Serdt Kamen. Further progress took place along the coastline in thin ice. 22 August, ice became lighter behind Cape Jekretlan, and on the way to the Kolyuchinskaya Bay there was already clear water. With separately floating ice floes. We approached the Lok-Batan tanker anchored and began to receive fuel. At the same time they took products from the Volga transport.
On August 25, having passed Cape Vankarem in heavy ice, the ships EON-18 drifted until dawn. At night, a strong wind caused the ice to move, the ships and transports turned out to be trapped by hummocks. How difficult the conditions turned out to be, it can be judged by the fact that even at the icebreaker "L.Kaganovich" the rudder stock turned out to be 15 degrees.
Only five days later, the icebreakers managed to bring the leader "Baku" and the destroyer "Furious" out of hard ice to clear water. Both ships were damaged (screw attachments were torn off, dents were taken in the sides, tanks were damaged). Having made their way through heavy ice, they replenished fuel supplies from the tanker Lok-Batan, not waiting for Reasonable, the leader of Baku and the destroyer Razyarenny went on their way through clear water along the edge of fast ice. Due to the small depths (5-5,6 m), the progress was very slow: in front of the ships they carried out boat depth measurements.
Icebreaker "L. Kaganovich" stuck in heavy ice. But the destroyer "Reasonable", sandwiched between two large hummocks of multi-year ice, found itself in the worst position. The ice floes squeezed the hull from the sides, jammed the screws. The personnel were exhausted, fighting for the release of the ship from the ice captivity. Day and night, special teams blew ice with ammonal, pricked it with their ice pick. Spent the steam line and tried to cut the ice jet of steam. It turned out that the screws were firmly frozen into the ice field. They were only released with the help of divers: they brought a steam line and cut ice around the propellers with steam. When the situation was complicated, the ship's commander allowed the use of depth charges to destroy the ice. Explosions destroyed the ice to the full thickness, made ice anchors and pulled up to them. During the day, it was possible to pass 30-40 meters. The icebreaker “A. Mikoyan” repeatedly approached the ship, took it in tow, but was not successful. He could not chop the ice around the destroyer. This was dangerous, since ice was accumulating between the icebreaker and the hull of the ship, and the pressure of the icebreaker could lead to a hole in the hull.
On August 31, the I.Stalin icebreaker who came from the west came to the aid of “A.Mikoyan”. Two icebreakers with short forays crushed thick ice, each time moving to 2 - 2,5 meters. Work continued from August 31 to September 8. Two channels were broken through to the “Reasonable” in the ice, but it was not possible to tow the destroyer, because the icebreakers themselves could not move through these channels due to ice compression.
September 8 ice conditions in the area of drift "Reasonable" has changed dramatically. The wind changed direction, the movement of ice began, separate strains appeared, the compression of the ship hull decreased. "A. Mikoyan" took the destroyer in tow and began to slowly withdraw to clean water. "I.Stalin" went ahead, breaking the ice fields, clearing the way to "A.Mikoyan" and "Reasonable". By the 14 clock 9 September came to clean water. The destroyer took the fuel from the tanker "Locke-Batan", along with all headed west along the edge of fast ice. In the area of Cape Two pilots, we met a heavy ice dam and stopped, waiting for the icebreaker L. Kaganovich, which led the destroyer to Ambarchik Bay.
17 September the ships of the EON-18 united in Tiksi Bay. Here the expedition was ordered to linger. The German ships, the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer and submarines, penetrated the Kara Sea, rounding from the north to the New Earth. Learning from the Japanese about the expedition, the Germans decided to carry out Operation Wunderland (Wonderland) in order to intercept and destroy transports, warships and all Soviet icebreakers from the Vilkitsky Strait. At the eastern entrance to the strait, EON-18 and a convoy of ships from Arkhangelsk, under the escort of the Krasin icebreaker, were to meet.
Finale
Recently, I posted an article about the exploits of the icebreaker steamer “Dezhnev” on “VO”, the heroism of the workers of the workers of the consort allowed to keep ships and ships of oncoming convoys. It would seem, where is the Black Sea and where is the Arctic Ocean? But the idea of the State Defense Committee and the courage, perseverance, sense of duty of the Soviet sailors reduced the heroism of Dezhnev and Mikoyan to one point on the map of a great war. The fate of the ships and ships mentioned in the article took shape in different ways.
Following the "A.Mikoyan" from Istanbul 19 December, the tanker "Varlaam Avanesov" left. Time was calculated so that the Dardanelles go through before dark and enter the Aegean Sea at night. In 21 the hour of 30 minutes “Varlaam Avanesov” passed the strait and lay down on the main course. On the port side a tall gloomy cape Babakale sailed with a fortress on top. Suddenly, a searchlight flashed in the fortress, the beam lay on the black water, slid along it and rested against the tanker. Five minutes lit it, then went out. But not for long, after a few minutes, everything happened again. And then there was an explosion near the shore. It took another fifteen minutes. Little by little the anxious feeling caused first by the light of the searchlights and then by an unknown explosion began to pass. Suddenly the tanker abruptly threw up, a high column of fire, smoke, and foamed water flew out from under the stern. It became clear to whom the tanker was shown by a searchlight. The German submarine "U-652", having missed the first torpedo, sent the second one exactly on target. Boats with the crew, one after the other, departed from the side of the sinking tanker, heading for the near Turkish coast. The captain made the last entry in the logbook: “22.20. Korma plunged into the sea on the bridge. Everyone left the ship. ” Killed one person. 23 December 1941, the tanker crew arrived in Istanbul, and from there to their homeland.
The continuation of the operation now seemed frankly insane, but the T-bills were not going to cancel the order. January 4 1942 from Tuapse left Istanbul. He, like Mikoyan, moved in short rushes, walked only at night, and during the day hid among the islands. And a week later he reached Famagusta, neither the Germans nor the Italians found it at all!
On January 7, Sakhalin went on the march. And, surprisingly enough, he repeated the success of Tuapse. Nobody found him at all. 21 January, he also reached Cyprus, spending two weeks on the transition, which normally takes no more than two days.
Such a result, of course, could be considered a miracle. All Soviet ships were doomed. They passed through the water belonging to the enemy, having neither weapons nor protection, while the enemy was aware of the time of withdrawal and knew the purpose to which the ships were following. However, of the four ships, three reached Cyprus, while two were not detected at all and, accordingly, did not even have any loss in people or damage. However, the fate of the Mikoyan, which withstood daily attacks, but survived (and not even one of the sailors died) seems to be a true miracle.
When going from Haifa to Cape Town. Sakhalin and Tuapse made an unexpected contribution to the overall victory of the anti-Hitler coalition. They delivered to South Africa 15 thousands of tons of petroleum products, with which British ships that took part in the seizure of Madagascar refueled.
In Cape Town, the further route between the captain of “Tuapse” Shcherbachev and the captain of “Sakhalin” Pomerantz had some disagreements. Shcherbachev, to save time, decided to carry Tuapse through the Panama Canal. Not always saving leads to a good result, sometimes it turns into a tragedy. 4 July 1942, when Tuapse reached the Caribbean Sea and was stationed at Cape San Antonio (Cuba), it was attacked by the German U-129 submarine. At short intervals, four torpedoes hit the ship. Ten people from the team died, but most were saved.
Pomeranz led his Sakhalin on the same route as A. Mikoyan. Withstanding the strongest storms, Sakhalin 9 December 1942 of the year came to his native Vladivostok.
The leader of "Baku" became the Red Banner ship, the destroyer "Furious" 23 January 1945 was torpedoed by the German submarine U-293. The destroyer pulled the stern and until the middle of 1946, he stood in the repair. The destroyer “Reasonable” went through the whole war, repeatedly participated in the escorting of convoys, took part in the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation.
The article used materials from the sites:
http://mmflot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=1661
http://www.vokrugsveta.ru/vs/article/5720/
Information