34 meter. The death of C-178 submarines in 1981, the story of first mate Sergey Kubynin
"The Ram in the Gulf of Peter the Great" Photo: A reproduction of a painting by A. Lubyanov. 2009 year.
Russia for a long time, since the end of the Great Patriotic War, has not fought wars at sea. However, in peacetime with our submarines happened two dozen catastrophes, which ended with the death of the entire crew or part of it. Information about most of these tragedies has long been kept under the heading "Secret." So the incident with 21 in October 1981 of the year in the Far East of the emergency with the C-178 boat became known only after a quarter of a century.
But the feat of captain-lieutenant Sergei Kubynin and today remains unappreciated homeland ...
21 October 1981 of the year. 19.45. Ram
- You are from the family of a naval sailor, Sergei Mikhailovich?
- We can say we have a dynasty. Father participated in the Second World War, fought with Japan, served as the chief foreman in the Pacific Fleet - Pacific navy. I was born in Vladivostok, so from the first day I was imprisoned and doomed. A road other than the sea was ruled out.
- Are you born in a vest?
- In flannelke. But with Huys. Even a photo as evidence can show ...
In 1975, he graduated from the mine-torpedo department of the Makarov Higher Naval School and was immediately appointed commander of the combat unit (CU-3) of a diesel submarine. In 1978, at C-179, he participated in firing for the prize of the commander-in-chief of the Navy. We loaded six torpedoes under the ocean liner "Bashkiria", on which was the admiral of the fleet Gorshkov. All went exactly under the goal, as required. We return to the shore, and the head of the political department of the Pacific Fleet hands me the keys to the apartment. Imagine the apartment! Room eleven squares, but its own.
Soon the order came out, and I became the senior assistant commander on C-178.
- On it you also got into trouble.
- Our whole crew ...
It was a good, clear day. The excitement of the sea - two points, the visibility is excellent. We returned to Vladivostok, from where we had gone three days earlier to ensure the C-179 deep-sea diving, on which I had previously served. On board the neighbors was a brigade commander, we have - the chief of staff of the brigade. That is the order. C-179 dived one hundred eighty meters, completed the task, and everyone spanked back. When we approached the house, we received a radiogram: go to the 24 area near the Russian Island and measure the noise level of the boat. They did what was required and went on. As it should be, they moved in the surface position, with a speed of nine and a half knots. It was an hour and a half before the base, when in eleven cables from Skryplev Island, we were rammed by the oceanic “Refrigerator-13”, after a hole in the sixth compartment ...
I was in the second compartment and was about to go up to the bridge in order to announce the alarm. This is what the charter prescribes: on certain lines, combat readiness rises. The boat after all went through the entrance Shkotovsky target, further - the Eastern Bosphorus Strait. However, we did not get there ...
On the "Ref-13" in the morning celebrated the birthday of the first mate Kurdyumov and by the evening so "noted" that they went out to sea without turning on the signal lights, although it was already dark. The fourth assistant captain of the refrigerator, who was on the watch, noticed our bearing, but Kurdyumov did not change course, only dismissed it: it’s not a problem, some small vessel hangs, it will give way. We rush through!
But the fishermen saw us, and we did not see them! This is also recorded in the materials of the criminal case.
“Could you detect the threat only visually?”
- Acoustic heard the noise of screws, but around there were many other boats, they created a single hydraulic noise background. What is there isolate? In addition, the refrigerator moved along the coast, from the side of the Russian island. Do not grab!
We had a boat commander, third-rank captain Valery Marango, navigator, boatswain, helmsman, signalman, watch officer, sailors on the bridge ... Twelve men. And no one noticed! We saw the silhouette of the ship, when he came very close. They didn’t understand at once whether the vessel was standing or coming. The commander shouted to the signalman standing upstairs: "Light him up with Ratier." This is such a special flashlight, a special device. The sailor turned on the spotlight: mother dear! Huge bow in the face! Distance - two cables, 40 seconds of travel! Where do you dodge? The refrigerator walked us practically head-on and could land in the first compartment, where there were eight battle torpedoes, which is two and a half tons of explosive explosives. They would not withstand a direct strike and probably detonated. It would have blown up so that both the submarine and the fishermen would have had a wet place. Literally! Would option "Kursk". Huge nuclear submarine cruiser, and he died. And our boat is six times smaller ...
The commander ordered: "Right to board!" If the target is on the left, and it is necessary to diverge under all maritime laws on the left sides. Had the Ref-13 been lit, Marango would have had a choice, room for maneuver, and in the dark he acted at random. We barely managed to slip through, a few seconds was not enough. In fact, we saved the refrigerator. The blow was not a frontal, but at an angle. "Ref-13" crashed into the sixth compartment, making a hole of twelve square meters and dropping the boat to starboard. In three compartments instantly gushing water, and after half a minute, having scooped about one hundred and thirty tons of water, we were already lying at a depth of 34 meters.
Captain 3 of rank Borchevsky, captain of 3 of rank Valery Marango, Smolyakov V, S. Kubinin (right)
Photo: From the personal archive of S. Kubynin
- What happened to those on the bridge?
- The strongest blow threw them overboard. Eleven people were in the water, only the mechanic captain-lieutenant Valery Zybin managed to jump into the central post. On the "Ref-13", apparently, they did not immediately realize what they had done, they delayed the engines with a delay and started throwing lifebuoys. Raised Marango, say to him: "Who is this? Where from?" He replies: "From a submarine. Which you, sons of bitches, sunk!" Saved seven. The commander, navigator, deputy commander, boatswain, doctor survived ... Unfortunately, three sailors and senior lieutenant Alexei Sokolov died. He was a wonderful guy, graduated with honors from college, became the best watch officer of the brigade. Drowned. Late autumn, the form on the fur, wet, pulled to the bottom ... The body was never found.
Only after the first submariners were lifted to the refrigerator, was a state of emergency reported to the coast. Latitude, longitude ... Even after a quarter of an hour, the duty officer announced the alarm to the search forces and the rescue squad.
19.46. Compartments
- And at this time under water?
- The blows blew off the ceiling of the mount, the light was instantly cut out. It was pitch darkness. For me, everything could have ended sadly at the same second: the Moscow typewriter on the shelf whistled past the head. Fortunately, only struck through her hair and hit the wall.
Eighteen sailors from the fourth, fifth and sixth compartments did not have time to seal the bulkheads and died immediately after the accident, in the first two minutes. Motorists, electricians ... They had no chance.
- They knew they were doomed?
- A man hopes for salvation to the last breath. The guys acted strictly according to the regulations, fenced the bulkhead into the central compartment, remained in the flooded part of the boat and saved the rest. Otherwise I would not be sitting in front of you now ...
In the seventh compartment, the most distant, four remained alive. It turned out later. And then I rushed a bullet into the central post. The chief of staff of the brigade, captain of the second rank, Vladimir Karavekov, was in the first compartment. He was a good sailor, a commander beautiful. Unfortunately, Vladimir Yakovlevich let down a weak heart, after a boat collided with Ref-13, he collapsed in pre-infarction condition and could not lead the rescue operation. Even speech was given to him with difficulty. And it was necessary to act quickly.
Tried to blow air to float to the surface. Useless! Anyway, that the Pacific Ocean siphon off. We didn’t know that a solid case was a jerk like a tin can. And the device showed: the boat at the periscope depth was seven and a half meters. Then it turned out that the depth gauge was jammed from the impact.
We guessed that we were lying on the ground. Because of the strong roll on the starboard side, it did not work out evenly, like monkeys, we were crawling along the central post, clutching at the valves, protruding tubes ... Besides me, there were six more in the third compartment. The submarine mechanic Valera Zybin and five sailors. A bilge, young, fledgling boy by the name of Noskov hid in a corner and could not get out on his own. Somehow pulled out by the collar. Well, that found! The compartment was flooded, after half an hour the water rose to the level of the knees. Can you tell where it is leaking in the dark?
In a word, we found ourselves in a mousetrap, we had to carry the legs. And here they report to me: there is a fire in the second compartment! A battery circuit breaker that powered the submarine from the battery has been closed. Imagine what a fire in a closed space?
This is what the 1 th bay of the C-178 submarine looked like. Photo: from the personal archive of Sergey Kubynin
- Even scary to think.
- And right. The spectacle is not for the faint of heart. But the communications guys are great, they did it right. The commander of the compartment, captain-lieutenant Sergey Ivanov, kept discipline. He had even more experience than me. Yes, and by age he is older, for thirty years against my twenty-seven ...
In the dark, to the touch, we somehow attached a small light bulb to the emergency power sources from the radio station. At least some light! In the second compartment were eight people, in total - already fifteen. And there is nothing to breathe. Carbon monoxide swallowed, standing, swaying, hardly think.
Sergey Kubynin: This rescue kit saved our lives. Photo: From the personal archive of S. Kubynin
- Diving equipment used?
- Each had a “tinker”, an individual breathing apparatus IDA-59, there was an air mixture in it for half an hour under heavy load. And what would we do then? Nothing! There would be nobody ...
- And what is the surviving four from the seventh compartment?
- Hour two guys fought for life. They did everything right, tried to get out, but could not. The boat didn’t have to change so much that the exit hatch did not open. From the first compartment, the onboard telephone communication was maintained with the seventh until everything was quiet there ...
You know, the crew is considered excellent not only when it accurately fires torpedoes or rockets, solves other combat tasks, but also when it comes to the ability to get out of a difficult situation correctly. I am proud of my guys, I will not say a bad word to anyone’s address. All acted with dignity. And saved together, without panic, and died courageously ...
22 October. 04.00. End of communication
- How many people were in the first compartment?
- Eleven. When the neighbors started a fire, they were sealed. So it should be.
- But then let in?
- I will not lie, any problems. More precisely, a short hitch. At first they were afraid to reveal to us. But there is an explanation for this: there was no officer. The commander of the compartment, Senior Lieutenant Sokolov, died, remaining at the top. In the next compartment - a fire, and in the first - dry and there are rescue kits ...
- Was the brigade chief there?
- He doesn't count. I told you that Vladimir Karavekov had a heart, he physically could not command. When I was in the compartment, Vladimir Yakovlevich was lying on a bed, pale, white as a sheet, and only nodded in response to questions. I asked: "Quite a shit?" He closed his eyes ...
- Nobody in the crew twitched, realizing the scale of the disaster?
- All were doing well, clearly executed commands. However, after some time, the guys began to sneak on the sly. In the compartment there was a terrible, deadly cold. And our seven, who came from the central post, in addition to everything else, and soaked to the skin. We floundered in the water ... Then my doctors will find bilateral pneumonia. In addition to six other diagnoses ... But it was after, and then I began to think about how to raise morale. The first thing I remembered was the faithful, time-tested method. He went into his cabin and took out a hidden canister with an “awl”.
- With what?
- So in the Navy alcohol is called. Everybody knows this - both bosses and subordinates.
- Clean, not diluted?
Very much counted on it. It turned out that before going to sea one of the fighters visited my cabin. The sealed canister was kept in a locked safe, all the seals remained in place, yet the craftsmen somehow opened the locks and discharged the alcohol in a ratio of one to three. They did everything so carefully that I did not notice anything. Handsome!
Commander mechanics: "Pour in each of twenty grams for warming." Zybin himself and I splashed a little more. They drank and look at each other with suspicion. What was it? Obviously not alcohol, but some kind of murmur for young ladies! Degrees thirty from strength. And laughter, and sin ...
- Was there a connection with the land?
- At first. In the first few hours I talked with the rescuers. When the boat went to the bottom, we released two signal buoys from the first and seventh compartments, they surfaced with the cable and headset. Inside the boat was also a tube. So they talked on the radio. First came the rescue ship Mashuk, then others pulled up. Towards midnight, a storm arose, and by morning the buoys had broken. A loss of communication means a loss of control. The first law ...
- But you had time to report the situation?
- A couple of times I spoke with Vice Chief of Staff of the Pacific Fleet Vice Admiral Rudolf Golosov, whom the commander-in-chief of the Navy, Sergey Gorshkov, appointed head of the rescue operation. The fleet admiral himself flew in the next day, stationed on board the BOD Chapaev. By that time, everyone was standing on their ears ...
I reported that we needed ten ISP-60 rescue kits for independent access to the surface. I proposed: I release sixteen people, and with the rest I wait for help. But in the end they decided that next to us on the ground a special rescue boat "Lenok" would fall down, we would all come out together, and the divers would take us to the "Lenok".
The third and fourth torpedo tubes on boats of our type were usually used for nuclear weapons, but that time they were free, and this, strictly speaking, saved us. Otherwise they would not get out, would stay there, inside ...
We agreed that through the third unit we would be served by the missing ISP-60, we will flood the compartment and we will be selected by three. I am the last one, in front of me - Valera Zybin, a mechanic.
17.00. Award
- In short, I had to be patient and wait?
- Well, yes, the algorithm, in general, is understandable. All right, we sit, we shiver from cold and we listen. Day pass - no movement. Neither divers nor rescue kits. And there is no connection. Another half day in ignorance. Outside is still silence. Look, the guys hung their noses ... Again came to the rescue safe from my cabin. There were insignia - "Specialist 1-th class", "Excellence in the Navy", "Master of the Navy" ... And the seal, too, I kept. I say the mechanic: "The personnel will prepare military tickets. We will reward." He assigned the following titles: to one - midshipman, to another - foremen of the first article. All according to the charter, depending on the position. So it then remained, no one dared to review or cancel.
And then the guys cheered up, their spirits rose.
“The light in the compartment didn’t appear?”
- Gradually, the eyes get used to the darkness. In addition, devices on the boat with light storage. Of course, not a bedside lamp by the bed, but a minimal source of illumination, which allowed to navigate in space.
- What about food?
- The products were stored in the station in the central post, but it quickly flooded. In the second, living compartment, there was a kettle with compote and two forks of cabbage. Plus, the demob was taken out of the chocolate stashes, which were saved for dismissal from the service. They divided them equally. That's the whole meal.
This is not the worst. Worse, it was getting harder and harder to breathe every hour. Well, the unknown pressure on the psyche. When the second day passed through the middle, I sent up two liaisons. The commander of the warhead-4 Sergey Ivanov and the bilge Alexander Maltsev. To report on the situation on the boat. As time goes by, we lie on the bottom of the sea, and the forces are running out. Not the cards on hand, in the buy-in - only six.
So that Ivanov and Maltsev could rise, they released a cork buoy-view. When it comes up, it pulls up a special cable - buiprep with luminous meringings. You hold on to it and slowly approach the surface. If there were enough sets of ISP-60 on board, we wouldn't have waited for the rescuers, we ourselves got out into the wild.
“Have you met your messengers at the top?”
- Yes, they accepted it at Mashuk with open arms. True, the bosses, who had flown by then from Moscow and St. Petersburg, did not ask anything about them. That's all! Apparently, the admirals, who arrived at least a dozen, themselves knew the answers. As they say, without our hints ...
- strange story.
- More than! Alexander Suvorov liked to repeat the phrase that in military affairs a general should have courage, an officer should have courage, and a soldier should have good spirits. And then, they say, the victory is ours. On C-178, the soldiers (in this case, sailors) and officers with the qualities listed by Alexander Vasilyevich were in perfect order, but higher ... Apparently, the presence of the commander-in-chief hampered the will of the admirals. Later, having learned that our contacts didn’t ask any questions, I finally understood everything. Although, I confess, I was not particularly surprised.
And then, under the water, there was no time to figure out why the plan agreed with the Chief of Staff of the Pacific Fleet Golosovym was not being fulfilled. Who could have imagined that a big mistake had crept into it related to the decision to bring a rescue submarine to the operation? The idea itself seemed sound. And the ship was good. But there was no brave man who would have risked his shoulder straps and informed Commander Gorshkov of the most unpleasant news: “Lenok” is not ready to fulfill the task.
PL TOF C-178 and BS-486 rescue boat "Lenok". 21-23 October 1981 of the year. Bay of Peter the Great.
23 October. 15.45. "Lenok"
- That is?
- He could not be untied from the pier! The boat turned out to be completely faulty. The life of the battery has long expired, it is almost completely discharged, and in fact it was necessary to dive to the bottom and work there for a long time. In addition, the sonar complex has failed at Lenk. The boat went to bed with us blindly! Everything turned out so clumsily: instead of several hours, it took almost two days to begin the rescue operation. To determine our exact coordinates, the divers had to be lowered, they hit on special noise beacons ... Well, an hour, two, five, but not forty hours, to search for a boat at a depth of 34 meters, right? Rave!
In addition, divers with "Lenka" never before rescued people under water. We worked with iron, raised parts of sunken ships or airplanes from the bottom, but, as they say, did not encounter living material. And here it was necessary to bring so many people ... Plus, incomplete staffing: out of three full-time doctors on board was one, the divers simply did not have enough to work in two shifts, without pauses replacing each other. I have six people killed because of this. From thirty two. Here is the price of indecision at the top!
When it became clear on the second day that the rescuers were not in too much of a hurry, I sent up the top three of the weakest crew members. Two sailors and sergeant. They independently surfaced along the buirepa, they were noticed from the ships that were standing around, but did not manage to be taken aboard. Storm, then yes ... So while they were going to pull out, all three of them swallowed the water and went to the bottom. Tel still not.
These are the first optional victims.
Well, the chief of staff didn’t hold his heart, but the sailor Peter Kireev died before our eyes. We have already flooded the compartment, prepared for the exit, gathered the last forces into a fist. After all, there was no air cleaning, there were only combat torpedoes in the compartment and people, we breathed, God knows what, the level of harmful impurities had long gone beyond the critical level.
And at that moment it suddenly became clear that we were immured!
22.00. Trap
- Who?
- Divers! First, they handed over the missing rescue kits to ISP-60, and then, on personal initiative, without warning, they threw rubber bags with food into the torpedo-tube. We did not ask for this and did not know anything about the "gift"! Moreover, I gave the signal that we are starting to go out and we do not need anything. As a result, people go, and there is a dead end! The first was Fedor Sharypov. I painted everyone in a certain order. Weak - strong, weak - strong ... For the one who is stronger, helps, hed. And the closing is the mechanic Zybin and me. Suddenly Fedor returns: "There is a bookmark. Do not get out! Shaitans!" Petya Kireev heard news - both stood and fell. Everything, there was no man! The body after all worked at the limit. The compartment is flooded, you can’t help ...
Then, at the trial about Petya, the "duck" was launched, as if he had refused to leave the boat. So to say, I decided to die heroically. Well, nonsense after all! And we could not even pull out Kireev’s body, we left C-178 inside. As the head of Karavekova. He failed to pass the torpedo tube, began to move backwards, and then his heart stopped ...
So that you understand: the length of the device is eight meters 30 centimeters, diameter is 53 centimeters. Try to squeeze an adult man in the ISP-60 rescue equipment, with an IDA-59 breathing apparatus and two cylinders into such a hole ... Add trim to the stern. We had to crawl upwards, with effort and resistance. Presented, yes? Here and a scarecrow would scream, but what is it for those who have spent more than two days under water in cold and darkness?
- You all got out through one machine?
- Through the third. The fourth could not be used, the boat lay on the starboard with a roll of 32 degrees. And the only way to save us caulked bags! What to do? I decided to send forward mechanic Zybina. Said: "Valery Ivanovich ... Valera, drag these damn bags inside or get in. You can get out, leave. Just warn me, give a signal." Time passes, I hear three hits. Means, the device is free. We won!
And at the crucial moment Valery Zybin saved his friends. Photo: From the personal archive of S. Kubynin
And earned the pipeline. My people have gone. Outside they were met by divers from Lenka. The six of us. Plus three on safety net. Total - nine. And I have a lot of people! After all, the main task was to prevent people from coming to the surface immediately, otherwise it was almost certain death. With a sharp rise after more than two days at a depth, there was a high risk of death, and the caisson disease was guaranteed. My crew should have been intercepted and taken to the three-stage Lenoka barocomplex designed for 64 people. So that according to the decompression tables gradually reduce the content of nitrogen in the blood to acceptable indicators.
Divers met only the first six, the rest no one waited at the torpedo tube. So my guys started to fly up like champagne corks. Miracle that survived, only one died. The sailor Lenshin got out of the boat with everyone, I personally helped him get into the vehicle, and then he disappeared. In the literal sense, as the water has sunk. He was neither on board the Lenka, nor among those who were picked up by rescuers on the surface of the sea. Man disappeared without a trace!
Unnecessary losses, senseless ...
22.50. Output
- The last to leave the boat you?
- Of course. The compartment was a grim picture, frankly. At first, I recalled everything calmly, but every year it becomes worse and worse. Now I understand, there was a real hell. And in it several times everything hung by a thread. Starting from the central post, when the guys from the fourth compartment managed to be sealed and saved the lives of others. Another bell rang at the time of the fire in the second compartment. Well, and then: divers then barricade the exit, then they will forget to meet ...
Nobody waited for me either. I foresaw such a turn of events and decided in advance that I would try to climb the superstructure of the boat, holding onto the railing, go to the wheelhouse, and from there I would climb to the periscope. Still, ten meters closer to the surface, the water pressure is not so strong.
- Why didn’t they go to Lenka?
- How do I know where he lies? In the dark on the bottom fumble? We agreed that the rescuers would tie the cable to the third torpedo tube through which we exited. To, then, to navigate. But divers hitched a cable from the other side. It was probably more comfortable for them ...
I will say more: when I got out of the boat, "Lenok" has already surfaced. Then he figured out, he asked: what are you guys so not as a friend? They left me and left. And the boat commander replied: "Seryoga, we almost drowned ourselves! Our batteries died!" They sat in the dark for a day in order to somehow save battery power and then rise to the surface. Can you imagine such a thing ?!
The commander of "Lenka" told me: "We thought you ran out of oxygen, and you ... remained forever in the boat." In short, I did the right thing by deciding to get out on my own. I did not take into account one thing: that I would lose consciousness when I climbed the periscope ...
I told you that two cylinders were attached to the breathing apparatus IDA-59: in one - a mixture of nitrogen, helium and oxygen, in the second - a liter of pure oxygen. He used the latter in the boat when he began to "cut down". In order to stuff the guys into the torpedo tube and give them acceleration, they had to get pretty hard. Breathing increased, poisoning with carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and chlorine increased. When little devils began to ride in the eyes, they washed the lungs with pure oxygen, which, in fact, was also not very useful for the organism. But enough for a minute. You will work until everything floats again, you take another sip. So the crew let out in short dashes, more precisely, in respite. And on its own ascent of air in cylinders is not enough. I got to the cabin and ... everything, I don’t remember anything further. I was automatically thrown to the surface.
- Well, that caught!
- My boys warned rescuers that the first mate is the last ...
He awoke a few hours later in the pressure chamber of the Zhiguli rescue ship. At first, I did not even understand where I was, what happened to me. According to the decompression regime, he came to life for five days, then he was transported to a hospital and began to make diagnoses. In addition to pneumonia, which he spoke of, carbon dioxide poisoning, barotrauma of the lungs, pneumothorax, decompression sickness ... Even a hematoma of the tongue! When he lost consciousness on the boat, bit him. There is such a physiological feature in humans. Infected, infection began. Language swelled, had to cut. If the doctors knew that I would start chatting to them without measure, maybe they would have otbromsi under the root. Would deprive the last word!
3 August 1982 of the year. Sentence
- asked uncomfortable questions?
- That's it! After the hospital, I was sent to a sanatorium in Solnechnogorsk, Moscow Region, for twenty-four days. I come back to Vladivostok and find out: the investigation has unfolded 180 degrees. StarPom Kurdyumov with "Ref-13" was immediately handcuffed, then given fifteen years in a colony. But our Valery Marango "desyatochku" rolled. With serving in the common zone in the district center Chuguevka. There is such in Primorsky Krai.
“Why did your commander sit down?”
- And I was interested. According to the official version, for violation of the rules of navigation, which led to the death of people.
- Were you interrogated, Sergey Mikhailovich?
- You - yes, but then - no. I was at the investigator once. Before leaving for the sanatorium. A formal conversation took place. Like, what to ask you, if at the time of the accident you were in the cabin, and then lay at the bottom for three days and did not see anything? But I knew why the head of the Karavek brigade died, the sailors Lenshin, Kireev ... It seemed that nobody cared. I was not even informed that the trial had begun. He himself came to the military tribunal of the Pacific Fleet, said he wanted to testify. Answered: do not!
After all, the logbook disappeared, which I kept on the boat until the last moment.
- In that hell?
- Yes. Carefully recorded all our actions, step by step, hour by hour. When the connection disappeared, when they bricked up, when they started to go out ... The guys told me: I surfaced unconscious, the rescuers hooked the wetsuit with a hook, threw it into a skiff, threw it into it. The first people rushed to me, before the doctors. They threw open their clothes, pulled out a ship's seal from one of his tunic's pockets, from the other — a logbook, and only after that they let doctors come to me.
I then asked at the trial the judge, Lieutenant Colonel Justice Sidorenko: "Where are the main material evidence?" There was nothing, he says ... Although the seal was later returned. And the hours received from the commander in chief Gorshkov for successful torpedo firing. True, they stood crushed under water ...
Due to the fact that I asked a lot of unnecessary questions, the attitude towards me changed dramatically. In the hospital, the brigade’s political department chief visited, patted him on the shoulder, said: “Twist the hole in his jacket, lieutenant commander. The idea of awarding you the Order of Lenin went to Moscow.” I replied: "Here will be a decree, then I will roll."
They also promised that after recovery he would be appointed commander for a new ship. Unless, of course, I will behave myself. How they imagined it. And all - no boats, no gingerbread ...
I wrote a cassation complaint demanding a review of the sentence of Marango. After all, not a single point of the prosecution was not documented. It was here that I was summoned to the competent authorities for the second time. The Prosecutor of the Navy, Colonel of Justice Perepelitsa himself. I started without preludes: "I heard you will get a new boat soon, you will go to study at the academy ... But take the cassation first." I asked: "And if I do not?" Perepelitsa immediately raised the tone on two registers: "So, you will sit on the bench next to your commander!" Well, I replied in the spirit that I was not for sale, bargaining with me was inappropriate. He said even sharper, I will not repeat, I will not print it anyway ... He was young, hot.
This is where my career in the navy is over.
- You regret not having restrained?
- Not a drop. If I kept silent, I would cease to respect myself. Approximately how I would get out of the boat not the last, but behind the back of my “fighter”.
It's a shame otherwise: the cassations did not help. All instances refused, including the Supreme Court.
That's the whole story. The story is over.
September 1985 of the year. Commander
- Take your time, Sergey, I have a couple of questions left. How was the fate of the crew?
“We were all cleared out so that our eyes would not be pricked.” Some were immediately removed, the rest - a little later. I am the only one who was promoted to the rank of captain of the first rank. Only for the reason that he went to another system. For a long time he was engaged in civil defense, graduated with honors from the Kuibyshev Military Engineering Academy. In 1995, I was transferred to the central office of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, where I served until 2003, until I retired. He commanded a search and rescue squad, was a senior mechanic of the rescue ship "Colonel Chernyshov" on the Moscow River. Not so long ago, I finally went ashore, now I work in the inspection department of the Civil Defense of the Moscow Government.
- Did you see the C-178 commander then?
- Met him from the zone. Four years later, Marango was transferred to the settlement, what is popularly called "chemistry." That's where I came. Heavy story, of course. Valery Alexandrovich did not have time to get to the colony, and his wife had already abandoned him. Natalya married Mikhail Ezhel, a classmate of Marango, who then commanded the patrol ship, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union quickly repainted, recalled that he was from Vinnytsia region, swore allegiance to Ukraine and even became independent defense minister. Until recently, he was ambassador to Belarus. And Natalia is with him. And her son from Marango left her own sister in the Far East. Andrei is disabled since birth, chained to a chair, although his head is smart and bright. Last year I was in Vladivostok, I visited him.
Previously, often flew to their homeland, now health does not allow. Here again, the operation must be done. Eighth in a row ...
And Valery Alexandrovich is already gone. He died in 2001 year. Long ... Tragedy with a boat undermined health. He took everything to heart, worried. And the colony of forces did not add. He was a wonderful man, a decent, intelligent to the core, a real Russian officer. And the fact that our crew in a difficult moment turned out to be united and ready for tests is the merit of Marango. At sea, after all, in any way. Two years after the emergency with the C-178 in Kamchatka, the nuclear-powered vessel K-429 sank with personnel. Most survived, but while the boat was lying on the bottom, there was sabotage on board, some officers refused to carry out orders from the commander Nikolay Suvorov. We cannot even imagine such anarchy. Excluded!
October 2015 of the year. Memorial
Unfortunately, for technical reasons, the last part of the story was not included in the article. You can get acquainted with it in primary source.
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