At the beginning of May 1917, the Naval Engineering School named after Emperor Nicholas I in Kronstadt graduated about 40 fleet mechanical engineers, who, after being promoted to midshipman on May 10, were sent to the headquarters - across the seas.
I had to go to the Arctic Ocean flotilla, to Arkhangelsk.
At this time, Kronstadt was actually a city in which all power belonged to the Council of Deputies, although the Provisional Government kept its commissar there, Pepelyaev.
Participation in the work of the Council of Deputies and the naval section, on the one hand, and life in the environment of an educational institution, on the other, confronted me with the contradictions of two principles: old and new.
At the school, for example, captain 1st rank Goryunov I.S. delivered a pathetic speech at the evening roll call, with the conclusion: “Gentlemen midshipmen, what have we lived to see, we live under a red rag!”
At the same time, at the rallies, on the contrary, calls were proclaimed for unification under the red banner of the revolution.
The school liberally accepted the program of the Provisional Government and supported it; and on May 1, on Yakornaya Square, Raskolnikov, in a midshipman’s uniform, campaigned for the defeat of this government. He spoke in a loud voice about the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas, who was an obedient Chinese dummy in the hands of landowners and capitalists: “The people overthrew this dummy, of course, not in order to transfer power into the hands of a government consisting of the same capitalists.
Down with Guchkov and Milyukov! All power to the Soviets!”
Roshal called for the henchmen of capitalism to be wiped off the face of the earth.
Repeated clashes between various factions in the Council forced us to think and understand the essence.
Here is the troika chosen by the Council to draw up a response to Kerensky’s correspondence about his arrival in Kronstadt.
Kerensky’s letter was replete with the expressions “we overthrew!”, “we established!”
Krasovsky, who in the first months of the February Revolution was the chairman of the Council and influenced me with the authority of his position, conveyed to me his proposal, in which the Kronstadt proletariat bowed low to Kerensky.
I was ready to support this message, but the third member of the troika - a sailor in a cap with an inverted ribbon, in a pea coat and with glowing, excited eyes - having read Krasovsky’s note, cursed and expressed, although not smoothly, but expressively his opinion that in In response to Kerensky, one must refer to Krylov’s fable, in which a fly, sitting on the horns of a hardworking ox, squealed: “And we plowed!”
It turned out that the editor's choice of answer would depend on me. Who should I join?
These were fundamental differences between the parties; they more than once led to major clashes at Council meetings.
Under this influence of events, many of the people well known to me were in equal conditions, but not all reacted to it in the same way: some were irresistibly drawn to the old, others welcomed the Provisional Government in its fight against the old regime, others were not satisfied and, finally, muddied the waters unprincipled, apolitical “swamp”.
I do not undertake to give an exhaustive explanation of the process of awakening subconscious class feelings that led us to certain political directions. I only clearly remember that when the biblical question “Where are you coming?”* arose before me, I felt the need, together with the general mass of workers, to participate in the responsible management of the city, country, and fleet.
So I recognized the power of the Soviets. This was my first step...
It was with this consciousness that I arrived in Arkhangelsk.
After the rush and stress associated with graduating from engineering school, hectic work in the Kronstadt Soviet of Deputies and a somehow, impatiently spent vacation, I reported to the headquarters of the Arctic Ocean flotilla, where the pace of my activities was reduced: I was calmly asked to wait for my return from a business trip flagship mechanical engineer captain 1st rank Rodionov**.
I settled in the Marine Assembly and, having nothing else to do, began to play billiards. The marker attracted me according to all the rules of his art and, finally, “divided” me so much that I was glad when, after rummaging in my pockets, I found some small change. I owe everyone. It’s good that this happened before Rodionov’s return.
The flag mechanic informed me that I was destined for the cruiser Askold, and before his arrival from England, the headquarters sent me to a vacant vacancy as a mechanic for the T-35 minesweeper.
Having received an advance payment and a letter for travel, I paid off my debts and went by ship to Murmansk, where my first ship, the T-35, was being repaired.
In Murmansk, I introduced myself according to all the rules of the old order to the head of the Kola region, Major General Rybaltovsky. In addition to this general, who impressed me as a passive phlegmatic person, I met at headquarters with Senior Lieutenant Loboda, who formalized my reception and appointment. Loboda instructed me to determine the state of the mechanisms of the T-35 minesweeper and inform him.
Subsequently, I got to know Rybaltovsky better. Once he treated me like a boy, so his phlegmatism turned out to be relative. It happened like this: in mid-August, the general urgently called me to his place and informed me that, unexpectedly for him, a train with workers was arriving in Murmansk. There is nowhere to place the workers, there is nothing to feed them, there are no funds in the database for construction work. He ordered the train to be delayed at one of the neighboring stations and asked me, as the chairman of the Central Committee of the flotilla, to go there, because the workers demand the chairman of the committee.
I found it inconvenient to refuse and went on a steam locomotive, accompanied by a base employee. It turned out that the matter was much more serious than Rybaltovsky stated. I was greeted with hostility - with hostility. The workers were traveling under an agreement, demanding money and food, and Rybaltovsky hoped to get away with my eloquence and persuasion.
I had to do troublesome work before sending the train back, and at the same time I felt that I was covering up some mistakes of the administration with the authority of Centromur.
It is characteristic of Rybaltovsky that, citing the lack of food supplies, in particular, to supply the specified working train for the return trip, it turned out that significant reserves of venison spoiled in warehouses, and the meat had to be thrown away, and this was done poorly *. The meat was buried on the shore of the bay within the city so that after several ebbs and flows it was washed out of the sand and rolled in a decomposed state on the shallows.
Loboda was of an age that did not correspond to the rank of senior lieutenant; this was explained by the fact that, released from the Naval Corps in 1902, he soon left the fleet and was returned only in connection with the war. Loboda, as they said, did not remove stars from the sky, however, the following year, occupying a leadership position in Centromur, he skillfully conducted a treacherous line of assistance to the interventionists and finally revealed himself to be an active White Guard. In 1919, he commanded the armored train “Admiral Kolchak” ** on the Northern Front.
The T-35 stood on the shore, the mechanisms were worn out, and it would be better not to touch them, limiting ourselves to cleaning the boiler and overhauling the dynamo. This conclusion did not please the commander, a warrant officer of the fleet, who could hardly crawl through the neck of the escape into the engine room and was in no hurry to go to sea. The majority of the team adhered to the same position, which began to look at me with dissatisfaction. I was bombarded with all sorts of information about defects and warned of dangers. The matter ended with me giving up my position and certifying with my signature the old defective overhaul sheet.
The commander demanded that the ship be transferred to Arkhangelsk, where the entire crew of the minesweeper was being drawn. While headquarters was coordinating this issue with Arkhangelsk, I again had nothing to do.
Before the cruiser arrived from England, I had enough time to get acquainted with Murmansk and its short but instructive history.
The most far-sighted figures of the tsarist government took into account the importance of Murman with its ice-free bays.
At the beginning of the century, S.Yu. Witte, as Minister of Finance, presented memos to the Tsar with detailed justifications for the need to allocate funds to create a port on Murman and establish a railway connection with it. However, the Council of Ministers was dominated by supporters of the development of Baltic ports, and preference was given to the Libau port. Only the war with the Germans in 1914 showed the full significance of Murman, not only economically, but also strategically.
Since 1915, it was necessary to feverishly speed up the construction of a railway line connecting the country's transport routes with an ice-free port in the North.
The railway reached the shore of the Kola Bay with the terminal station Murman, where, naturally, the construction of the village began.
Until the fall of 1916, the geographical location of this settlement and the Kola fleet base did not have a specific name. These places were mostly called Semenov Islands, after the location of the fisherman Semyon’s hut, near his fishing boat.
Subsequently, I met this white-blond “historical” Semyon in Kola, an ancient settlement of the Pomors, located in the depths of the Kola Bay, at the confluence of the Kola and Tuloma rivers. The occupation of “his” islands as a pier for a trading port thoroughly ruined the “ruling” Semyon.
Former Minister of the Navy Grigorovich went on an inspection trip to Murman in August 1916, traveled by train to Kem, and then, together with the Minister of Railways, moved onto the icebreaker Canada. We had to take this combined route to get to the Kola Bay.
In his memoirs, Grigorovich writes: “The Minister of Transport, by order of the highest order, founded the church and thereby founded the city of Romanov - the final point of the Murmansk railway, after which I was asked to sign a telegram addressed to the sovereign about the opening of the railway. I refused because... The road was far from finished and not ready for use. This was only a working route; many things were still missing, for example, water was supplied to the locomotives by hand in buckets, all station buildings were temporary, etc.
The situation of the workers - prisoners of war and especially the Chinese - was very bad, the latter were almost naked and exhausted from hunger.
From my personal recollections, it can be added that in Murmansk itself at the beginning of summer, the situation of both construction and port workers was not much better.
In the first months of the revolution, Romanov-on-Murman was renamed Murmansk. Murmansk at that time was a barracks village. Crowded barracks, with few surviving windows, littered with garbage and all sorts of garbage, in the swampy streets of the taiga, made a depressing impression on a fresh person.
Lack of soap and linen and poor food contributed to unsanitary conditions.
Twenty thousand workers lived this way. Everywhere they complained about the almost complete absence of women.
In the context of the great European massacre since 1914, the Murmansk route was the only one, not counting the long and overloaded Siberian route, which connected Russia with the allied countries of the West all year round. This route consisted of a sea part - from Norwegian neutral waters to Murmansk - and a railway from Murmansk to the Zvanka junction station.
The significance of the new route was especially obvious in winter, when the White Sea froze and navigation in Arkhangelsk was interrupted.
The beginning of the arrival of imported goods into the Kola Bay dates back, apparently, to the end of 1915, when some of the cargo was loaded onto icebreakers for further transportation to Arkhangelsk, and most of it was awaiting transportation by rail.
So on March 9, 1916, the newly arrived head of the defense of the Kola Bay telegraphed to the Chief of the General Naval Staff: “At present, all attention should be directed to ensuring that the countless combat cargoes of colossal value and importance accumulated in the Kola Bay are not destroyed. The British are warning about the danger from the Germans.”
A year passed, the situation at the end of February 1917 was as follows: there were three berths in the port, allowing, according to calculations, to unload up to 1000 tons per day - about 300 tons from the berth. In fact, no more than 400 tons per day were unloaded from all three. By March 1, the 4th berth was being prepared for delivery.
The port began operating on December 26, 1916. In just the first month and a half, more than 70 thousand tons of military cargo arrived, only 20 thousand tons were processed, of which a little more than 5 thousand tons were sent by icebreakers to Arkhangelsk.
It was possible to count on the railway only until May 1, because... significant sections of the track were laid on frozen soil without ballast. There were 400 people working as loaders, although there were significantly more on the list. Scurvy was raging.
The port had one crane (floating) with a lifting capacity of 45 tons, but it was also faulty. Transportation of goods by rail was carried out for a long time with horse-drawn transshipment in areas that had not yet been docked. These horse-drawn transportations along log-paved roads were led by captain 2nd rank Roshchakovsky, known throughout the region at that time, under whom workers were driven to work with sticks.
From the above figures it is clear that during the year transport organizations failed to clear the congestion at the port. Indeed, upon my arrival in Murmansk, both the pier and the surrounding area were littered with cargo, which was only partially stacked and covered with a tarpaulin.
Numerous audits by high-ranking officials, sometimes with the participation of representatives of the Allied governments, spoke of a difficult period throughout 1916.
In 1917, the Provisional Government, hoping to ensure a “general offensive” and “war to a victorious end” through the supply of military equipment from the West, sent a special interdepartmental commission to Murman. This commission concluded that by November the port and railroad would be sending 150 cars per day south.
The Allied governments viewed this reassuring conclusion of the commission with doubt. According to the British, the floating crane needed major repairs with the replacement of parts that were not manufactured in Russia; the workshop, due to a lack of workers, was far from satisfying local needs; the reloading barges were leaking and required docking.
Only 100 people worked on the construction of the port, instead of 400 noted by the commission. Only 4 barracks were built, and 16 were required. There was no special pier for unloading explosives.
The British reported that the lack of food and poor living conditions did not allow them to count on retaining their workforce in the winter. There was inconsistency in the actions of port and railway authorities. The Allies energetically insisted on taking decisive measures to properly prepare Murmansk for the winter navigation of 1917-1918.
From the English forecast we can conclude about the difficult situation in which the Murmansk route passed to the Soviet government.
The subsequent report of the head of the region on the state of affairs by November 1917 fully confirmed the fears of the British.
Naturally, I was more interested in naval issues. From conversations with experienced specialists, it was easy to establish dissatisfaction with the activities of the Maritime Ministry.
Critical remarks regarding such an authoritative organization for me, as a young officer, left a deep impression. It turns out that it was not the highest authorities of the fleet, but the Minister of Railways, who raised the question in January 1916 about the need to establish a naval command in the Kola Bay.
The matter was brought to the attention of the supreme authorities, and on the instructions of the Tsar, the Naval Ministry launched activities to create the Kola base and flotilla with an irreparable loss of a year and a half.
This is the first omission of Minister Grigorovich and the General Naval Staff, which had irreparable consequences.
The communication lines between Russia and England and America through Murman that emerged during the war required ensuring their security. It became obvious that for the German fleet Murman and the trade routes to it were a tasty morsel. The British predicted this danger. At the beginning of February 1916, after a year and a half of war, the Chief of the Naval General Staff informed the commander-in-chief of the city of Arkhangelsk and the Belomorsky water region that the Minister of the Navy ordered that the General Staff be given direct leadership in the construction of a base in the Kola Bay and in the defense of the latter. Somewhat earlier than this telegram, at the end of January 1916, according to Grigorovich’s report, the tsar approved the formation of a detachment of ships for the defense of the Kola Bay consisting of the minelayer “Ussuri”, the hydrographic vessel “Khariton Laptev”, the minesweeper “Vostok” and auxiliary vessels - the steamships “Kolguev” and “Vasily the Great” - based at Aleksandrovsk in Ekaterininskaya Harbor, located approximately 50 km from Murmansk.
Captain 1st Rank Krotkov was appointed head of the detachment from the Baltic Fleet, reporting to the commander-in-chief of the mountains. Arkhangelsk and the Belomorsky water region, but with the right of direct relations with the Naval General Staff, under which a special department was created to manage the defense of the Kola Bay.
In addition to commanding the detachment, Krotkov was entrusted with equipping a base in the Kola Bay for the naval forces of the Arctic Ocean, as well as defending the bay.
Krotkov took command of the detachment on February 26, 1916 and raised the braid pennant* of the senior naval commander on the Ussuri minelayer.
At that time, the detachment under the command of Krotkov was assigned the following tasks: escorting transport to unloading ports, guarding transport during cargo operations, protecting the Murmansk coast with the water area from the Norwegian border to the meridian of Cape Holy Nose.
Along with the main directives on the activities, Krotkov received an order from the Chief of the General Staff, Admiral Rusin: “There are British naval forces in the White Sea and Murman, the composition of which will be increased in the spring. All English ships are under the overall command of Captain Kemp of the Royal Navy, subordinate to Vice Admiral Ugryumov.” It was further suggested that he work in contact with Kemp and in the near future provide assistance to the English battleship Albemarle. This ship was soon replaced by the battleship Glory, which I found in Murmansk.
It was obvious to specialists that the creation of a detachment of defense courts of the specified composition was a bureaucratic assignment of numbers, because the listed vessels were in no way able to carry out the tasks assigned to it*.
The Navy Ministry only now realized the powerlessness of the fleet in the North to ensure the safety of grandiose transfers of military equipment and therefore in the spring of 1916 it concluded with the British an act of general surveillance on Murman under the command of a Russian admiral.
Thus, without providing for the timely creation of a proper fleet in the North, the Ministry of the Navy was forced to put a hand into the mouth of the British lion, which was enough for him to snatch off his entire hand with the onset of appetite.
With fussy haste, the Naval General Staff sought to create naval forces of the Arctic Ocean. At the same time, a number of unjustifiable mistakes were made.
At first, the flotilla was staffed with large surface ships suitable for operations against the same enemy, and not against submarines, which appeared in the Arctic Ocean in 1916. Thus, the ships “Sagami”, “Tango” and “Soya” were acquired in Japan - our former battleship “Poltava” and the cruisers “Varyag” and “Peresvet”, while “Poltava” was renamed “Chesma”.
On March 22, 1916, in Vladivostok, a separate special-purpose detachment was formed from these ships under the command of Rear Admiral Bestuzhev-Ryumin, who sailed on the Varyag. On June 18, 1916, Bestuzhev-Ryumin left Vladivostok, but without Peresvet. The last one sat on the rocks and stayed until October 1916. This detachment was supposed to be supplemented by the cruiser Askold, which was being repaired in Toulon at that time, and form the main forces in the North.
Bestuzhev-Ryumin, on the way to Murman, telegraphed to the Chief of the General Staff about the need to replenish the detachment with destroyers to fight submarines and recommended taking them in Vladivostok. After this recommendation, only in October, Chief of Staff Rusin ordered the urgent dispatch to Murman of the destroyers “Captain Yurasovsky”, “Lieutenant Sergeev”, “Besshumny” and “Fearless” to Vladivostok. They marched under the command of the caperang Osten-Sacken*. This is how the Naval Staff’s mistake in identifying the enemy was corrected, but with a great delay.
The plans of the General Staff are revealed from the contents of a telegram from its chief to Toulon addressed to Bestuzhev at the end of 1916: “First of all, an admiral is needed on Murman who would draw up a defense plan on the spot. You must hurry to the North." From this directive it follows that until the end of 1916 there was no effective plan for the defense of Murman. This allowed the Germans to operate fairly freely with submarines in the Arctic Ocean, and the British to strengthen their forces in this theater.
Before Bestuzhev had time to arrive in Murman, a telegram from the General Staff was received for him in Aleksandrovsk with instructions to establish long-range patrols against submarines and other enemy ships, as well as to organize the convoy of transports coming from the west: “Krotkov will obey you, as the eldest, and will be directly in charge of the defense of the Kola region using local means, including small vessels.”
“Hasty messages” about accelerating the movement of ships to Murman poured out from the General Staff as if from a cornucopia. However, old ships with worn-out mechanisms slowly moved north, delayed for repairs. The cruiser Peresvet was especially unlucky, which, while catching up with Bestuzhev’s detachment, came across a mine ten miles from Port Said and sank on December 22, 1916.
The following information is available about the arrival of ships in Aleksandrovsk. The first to appear on June 24, 1916 were the destroyers of the Siberian flotilla “Grozovoy” and “Vlastny” and the next day the floating workshop “Ksenia”, which sailed from Vladivostok in the same detachment with the indicated destroyers.
The reports of the head of this detachment, Captain 2nd Rank Zilov, report several cases of submarine attacks.
The cruiser "Varyag" under the admiral's braid pennant arrived on November 17, and the battleship "Chesma", which left simultaneously with the "Varyag" from Vladivostok, appeared only on January 3, 1917, and finally, on June 17, the cruiser " Askold."
Four destroyers of the "Shihau" type, which were mentioned earlier, arrived with me - on August 28, 1917* After cleaning the boilers in mid-September, they went to sea to work in the Pechenga Bay**.
Of the total number of six seaworthy yachts purchased or registered for purchase abroad, I saw only “Yaroslavna”, “Goreslava” and “Sokolitsa”; they were listed as messenger ships and could carry out patrol duty.
In 1924, I had to supervise the re-equipment of the Yaroslavna for a voyage from Arkhangelsk to Vladivostok, where it was used as the hydrographic vessel Vorovsky. It was the first ship to sail abroad under the Soviet military flag.
Two small submarines, Dolphin and No. 1, were also based at Aleksandrovsk, however, their commanders refused to go to sea even in slight seas.
By order of Genmore on August 10, 1917, this special-purpose division under the command of Lieutenant Slavyansky was disbanded, and on August 23, it was excluded from the lists of fleet vessels. On September 10, the submarine “St. George the Victorious” arrived in Arkhangelsk, which was built in Italy without taking into account the harsh conditions of our North. It was based in Arkhangelsk.
The head of the shipbuilding unit, who supervised the inspection of it, reported to the head of the Diving Department that the boat was undesirable for sailing in the White Sea. It cannot operate in the Arctic Ocean; Moreover, in the singular it is useless. It is advisable to transfer it along internal routes to the Baltic for coastal defense*.
If we add to the listed ships a number of auxiliary ships previously named, then this will be the roster of the detachment of ships for the defense of the Kola Bay, which in my time bore the local name of the Murmansk flotilla. This flotilla as a defense detachment literally never existed, and Admiral Bestuzhev-Ryumin himself, who took command of the detachment on January 2, 1917, suddenly died from an attack of angina pectoris on March 23, 1917.
It is interesting that in the initial period of the February Revolution there was a Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies in Romanov. The activities of this organization were not known to me, much later in the archives I came across a telegram signed by Tomilov, chairman of the executive committee, dated March 25, 1917 addressed to the chief of the Naval General Staff: “In view of the sudden death of the head of the Kola region, Rear Admiral Bestuzhev-Ryumin, who worked together with public organization for the benefit of Free Russia, the executive committee of Romanov-on-Murman asks to urgently appoint a worthy deputy, because We cannot indicate a candidate in place.”
It follows from the telegram that at the end of March the city was still called Romanov, and in May I had orders from Arkhangelsk to go to Murmansk, thus the official renaming of the city apparently dates back to the month of April or May 1, 1917.
Krotkov had been away since March and the responsibilities of the head of the Kola region were temporarily taken over by Captain 1st Rank Lutonin, the head of the Kola base.
On the last day of March, the commander-in-chief of the city of Arkhangelsk and the Belomorsky water district, in agreement with the General Staff, invited Captain 1st Rank Roshchakovsky to act as the head of the Kola region and the detachment of defense vessels of the Kola Bay. Moreover, he was instructed to select a consolidated detachment from among the ships and floating craft located in the Kola Bay.
Regarding the formation of a consolidated detachment, there was an order from the commander of the Arctic Ocean flotilla, Vice Admiral Corwin, back in mid-December 1916, i.e. soon after the arrival of Rear Admiral Bestuzhev-Ryumin on the Varyag. The latter was appointed head of the Kola region and the detachment of defense vessels of the Kola region, and the commander of the combined detachment of ships of the Arctic Ocean flotilla was caperang Krotkov, subordinate to Ryumin.
According to this order, only the cruiser “Varyag”, the messenger ship “Kupava”, the floating workshop “Ksenia” and submarines No. 1 and “Dolphin” were included in the detachment of defense vessels of the Kola Bay. All other vessels in this area that were not part of the trawling division made up the above-mentioned combined detachment. This detachment was entrusted with guarding the routes to the Kola region and, if possible, escorting along the Murmansk coast from the Norwegian port of Varde to the Iokanga roadstead.
The formal implementation of the order began in January 1917. Krotkov again had to carry out significant organizational work, which was largely constrained by winter conditions. Bestuzhev and Krotkov still managed to develop and publish a number of instructions on passage to the bay, on the procedure for convoying, as well as rules for the movement of ships and behavior when encountering submarines, adapted to local conditions. However, the approaching revolutionary events, the death of Ryumin, the departure of Krotkov and other commanding officers disrupted the defense organization scheme.
When Roshchakovsky was appointed head of the Kola region, the creation of a consolidated detachment was again ordered, to which the tasks of protecting the entire water space adjacent to the Kola region and ensuring the safety of the routes to the bay were repeated. Caperang Aleksandrov was appointed to the position of chief of the detachment - nasvot. Roshchakovsky and Aleksandrov began work in early April 1917.
Alexandrov was a colorless person and was distinguished by drunkenness to the detriment of his service, for which he was fired from work after some time. Roshchakovsky is an extraordinary personality, a typical type for the tsarist regime. With all his negative qualities, which were briefly mentioned earlier in connection with his work transporting military cargo along the Murmansk railway during its construction, it was impossible to take away from him the presence of exceptional energy, endurance and knowledge of Murmansk conditions. Among the carters, loaders, and in general among the working classes, they did not call him anything other than a dog, but there were people who justified his actions by the fact that only a despot could carry out operations to supply the fronts in the conditions in which Roshchakovsky was placed. The tsarist regime gave Roshchakovsky nothing except a pitiful convoy without forage and “units” with bare hands and torn boots in the polar frosts.
The new boss was especially disliked by the Arkhangelsk authorities, with whom he constantly argued. He did not recognize the headquarters of the Northern Flotilla at all, and often ignored the orders of the commander. I was told a typical example of such relationships. When the flotilla offered to send motorists from Roshchakovsky’s detachment to Italy on the submarine “St. George,” although the naval crew was in Arkhangelsk, he replied: “I don’t need a boat, but I can’t do without motorists.” The order remained unfulfilled.
In Murmansk, various anecdotes about Roshchakovsky’s wit were often recalled in responses to staff requests from Arkhangelsk. This hard-hitting, practical person could not stand staff documentation and did not recognize reporting.
When appointed to a new position, Roshchakovsky had the main task of eliminating the accumulation of military cargo that had overwhelmed the Murmansk piers, because With the onset of summer, train traffic on the railway ceased. This work was his element, and he more or less coped with it, but commanding a detachment and combat service gave him a lot of trouble. From the beginning of spring, German submarine operations began to intensify.
In the very first ten days of his activity as the head of the region, Roshchakovsky reported to the chief commander that lighting the area further than the bay to the east, i.e. on the way to Arkhangelsk is not carried out either by us or by the British. He insisted on taking action, and soon the English cruiser Intrepid* and two submarines arrived in Murmansk. Despite this, it was still necessary to prohibit the departure of steamships in May, because... one group of enemy submarines took up positions near Varda, Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, and the second group was based off the Murmansk coast, threatening the approach to the Holy Nose. There were insufficient means for simultaneous reconnaissance, pursuit and escort.
All of Roshchakovsky’s proposals for organizing defense were criticized and even ridiculed at the headquarters of the Arctic Ocean flotilla. Finally, wounded by the pricks and ridicule of the Arkhangelsk staff officers, having quarreled with the chief commander, at the end of May he telegraphed to the chief of the Naval General Staff that he could no longer remain at work and was transferring the affairs to the head of the Kola base Rybaltovsky, replacing him with the mechanical engineer Caperang Sadokov. At the same time, he could not resist being witty, sending a telegram to the management that he was “sad” that his efforts did not satisfy the people sitting in the offices, but it was “gratifying” that the friendly and selfless efforts of his assistants Frolov, Klyagin, Arzhanov and many more “eagles” led to the elimination of the congestion in the transportation of goods. “I regret that I myself am bad, but my comrades are great,” he was caustically modest.
Roshchakovsky tried to get along with the February “democracy,” but with the advent of the October Revolution, the Soviet atmosphere clearly stifled his absolutism, he left the arena of action and, at the first opportunity, went over to the side of the enemies of Soviet power, content with auxiliary affairs with the White Guards of the Northern government in Arkhangelsk.
Several years passed, and then one day in Arkhangelsk I had to participate in the loading of a heavy weight in the most primitive way. The work was carried out by elderly master riggers. The difficulty of loading was that when the cargo was lifted, it was necessary to tilt the mast of the lifting device to direct the cargo into the ship's hatch. At the most tense moment, senior master Gorkavy lectured his assistant, who was clearly a coward and hesitated in poisoning the Lapps of the kanifas block *: “Hey, Stepan, have you forgotten Roshchakovsky’s training?” - and at the same time the old man burst out with such a florid word, which there is not even a hint of in Stanyukovich’s sea stories. These “Roshchak” words had an impact, involuntarily causing a smile, and the heavyweight took his place.
Yes, Roshchakovsky left behind a memory: some he drove to the next world with frostbitten hands and feet, and some he taught something to.
The transfer of naval forces to the North was given such great importance that the movement of each ship from port to port along the route was reported to the headquarters of the commander-in-chief in the name of His Imperial Majesty, and the Naval Ministry pretended seriously that Bestuzhev’s ships would arrive, and one could be sure of provision of supplies for the entire army of the land front, which was supplied by the allies through Murmansk.
It is characteristic that upon arrival at Murman, each of these ships was informed that “everything was going well” and the mechanisms were in excellent condition.
Grigorovich himself writes in his memoirs: “In Murmansk, I examined the base and was pleased. "Ksenia" and the destroyers "Grozny"** and "Vlastny" were in order, and the mechanisms were in brilliant condition. I went with them from Romanov to Aleksandrovsk and back.”
Krotkov made the same conclusion upon the arrival of the Varyag and Chesma. In fact, after a short time, the destroyers Vlastny and Grozovoy, as well as the cruiser Varyag, had to be sent to England for repairs. The British Admiralty Commission, having examined the Varyag, came to the conclusion that repairs would take at least twelve months, and recommended postponing it until the end of the war, with which our ministry agreed, leaving the ship in England.
Destroyers were exchanged for coal already in 1918, after the war.
It is quite obvious to me, as a mechanic, that for those reduced speeds that were sufficient for operations, these ships could remain in service if it were possible to carry out medium repairs on Murman. It is not clear what Grigorovich was pleased with when inspecting the Kola base, but this base did not have sufficient funds to repair the detachment’s ships.
The Ministry did not provide Murman with an appropriate technical and repair base. The means for repairs consisted of one floating workshop, the Ksenia, which had such limited capabilities that there is no need to talk about it as a repair base for ships of the named composition. Krotkov, in his reports to the ministry, screamed about the lack of repair facilities as the weakest point of the base. There was no dock, although there was an offer for its sale. But that is not all.
The entire fleet used English coal, which England itself lacked during this period. This situation made the flotilla completely dependent on the allies. Even the supply of fresh water to ships in winter was not properly prepared.
The so-called military pier for the approach of boats and longboats was a pile pier with an unfinished embankment dam and without a single crane or simple cargo boom, which, with significant fluctuations in water level, created great inconvenience not only for receiving supplies from the shore, but also for personnel.
As a result of the listed mistakes of the Naval Ministry in the formation of the detachment and the indicated insecurity of the base, we were helpless in the North, although the numerical strength of the detachment was sufficient to carry out the main tasks. The ships themselves were old, and even those that had sailed around the world, naturally needed repairs, but they could not get them; for operations they needed coal and did not have it.
Rank in the USSR Navy for naval service engineers - Engineer-Captain 1st Rank, in 1940, engineering floating personnel (floating personnel) of the navy were awarded the rank captain 1st rank engineer. The remaining military personnel of the Navy (coastal personnel: medical service, chemical service, marine corps, naval aviation) were awarded the rank of colonel.
In the navies of many countries around the world, the equivalent ranks are usually called " captain"(English) Captain). To distinguish it from the rank of "captain", the rank is often translated " captain». In the German Navy the equivalent rank is nem. Kapitän zur See(“kapiten zur see”, literally “captain of the sea”), in Spanish-speaking Spanish. Capitán de navío(“Captain de Navio”, literally “captain of a [battleship] ship”), in Portuguese - port. Capitão de mar e guerra(“capitau di mar i guerra”, literally - “captain of the sea and battle”)[[K:Wikipedia:Articles without sources (country: Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#property" was not found. )]][[K:Wikipedia:Articles without sources (country: Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#property" was not found. )]] [ ] . Other options are also possible.
Sometimes the abbreviated name “kaperang” and the slang “kapraz” are used.
History of military rank insignia in Russia
Samples of insignia Captain 1st rank and equivalent in the Russian Imperial Navy| Chin | 30px Russian Imperial Navy |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sleeve badge shoulder strap epaulet |
one wide braid with envy and two wide without envy - all three in 3/4 |
50px | 70px | 50px | 70px | 50px | 50px | 50px | 50px | 50px |
| Code 12
Class according to the Table of Ranks VI |
… sleeve sign (1917) |
Captain 1st rank (1904 - 1917) |
Mechanical Engineer captain 1st rank (1913 - 1917) |
Colonel mechanical engineer (1905 - 1913) |
Colonel by the Admiralty (1904 - 1917) |
Colonel nautical artillery (1904 - 1917) |
Colonel naval navigators (1904 - 1917) |
|||
| Rank | 30px USSR Navy |
30px Navy of the Russian Federation |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sleeve sign shoulder strap |
55px | 60px | 65px | 55px | 70px | 55px | 55px | 55px |
| Commander 1st rank ship (1918 - 1935) |
Captain 1st rank (1935 - 1991) |
shoulder strap to the jacket (1943 - 1955) |
... front door (1955 - 1991) |
... front door (1994 - 2010) |
... front door to a white shirt (1994 - 2010) |
...daily (1994 - 2010) |
... front door (since 2010) |
|
see also
- Military ranks in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
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Notes
Literature
- Captain // Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language: in 4 volumes / author's compilation. V. I. Dal. - 2nd ed. - St. Petersburg. : Printing house M. O. Wolf, 1880-1882.
- Military ranks // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
- Captain 1st rank // Military Encyclopedia: [in 18 volumes] / ed. V. F. Novitsky [and others]. - St. Petersburg. ; [M.]: Type. t-va I.V. Sytin, 1911-1915.
- Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, dated May 7, 1940, “On the establishment of military ranks of senior command personnel of the Navy.”
- Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, dated August 10, 1943, “On the division of military personnel of the Navy into privates, foremen and officers.”
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Excerpt characterizing Captain 1st Rank
“Well, what are you doing, dear... What are you doing, dear...,” the old man whispered, cradling the stranger in his big warm arms.And the woman stood there, hiding her face on his chest, childishly seeking protection and peace, forgetting about everyone else, and enjoying the moment that belonged only to the two of them...
“Is this your mother?” Stella whispered in shock. - Why is she like that?..
-You mean so beautiful? – Anna asked proudly.
– Beautiful, of course, but that’s not what I’m talking about... She’s different.
The reality was different. She was, as it were, woven from a shimmering fog, which either sprayed, making her completely transparent, then became denser, and then her perfect body became almost physically dense.
Her shiny, night-black hair fell in soft waves almost to her feet and, just like her body, it either thickened or dispersed into a sparkling mist. Yellow, like a lynx, the huge eyes of the stranger glowed with amber light, shimmering with thousands of unfamiliar golden shades and were deep and impenetrable, like eternity... On her clear, high forehead, a pulsating energy star, as yellow as her unusual eyes, glowed with gold. . The air around the woman fluttered with golden sparks, and it seemed that just a little more, and her light body would fly to a height unattainable to us, like an amazing golden bird... She really was unusually beautiful with some kind of unprecedented, bewitching, unearthly beauty.
“Hello, kids,” the stranger calmly greeted us, turning to us. And already turning to Anna, she added: “What made you call me, dear?” Did something happen?
Anna, smiling, affectionately hugged her mother by the shoulders and, pointing at us, quietly whispered:
“I thought they needed to meet you.” You could help them in ways that I can't. I think they're worth it. But forgive me if I was wrong... - and already turning to us, she joyfully added: - Here, dears, is my mother! Her name is Isidora. She was the most powerful Vidunya during that terrible time that we just talked about.
(She had an amazing name - From-and-to-Ra.... Emerging from light and knowledge, eternity and beauty, and always striving to achieve more... But I understood this only now. And then I was simply shocked by his extraordinary sound - it was free, joyful and proud, golden and fiery, like a bright rising Sun.)
Smiling thoughtfully, Isidora peered very carefully into our excited faces, and for some reason I suddenly really wanted to please her... There was no special reason for this, except that the story of this wonderful woman interested me wildly, and I really wanted what no matter what it takes to find out. But I didn’t know their customs, I didn’t know how long they hadn’t seen each other, so I decided for myself to remain silent for now. But, apparently not wanting to torment me for long, Isidora herself started the conversation...
- What did you want to know, kids?
– I would like to ask you about your Earthly life, if this is possible, of course. And if it won’t be too painful for you to remember... – I immediately asked, a little shyly.
Such a terrible melancholy shone deep in the golden eyes that I immediately wanted to take back my words. But Anna, as if understanding everything, immediately gently hugged me by the shoulders, as if saying that everything was fine, and everything was fine...
And her beautiful mother was hovering somewhere very far away, in her never forgotten, and apparently very difficult past, in which at that moment her once very deeply wounded soul was wandering... I was afraid to move, expecting that now she will simply refuse us and leave, not wanting to share anything... But Isidora finally perked up, as if waking up from a terrible dream she knew only, and immediately smiling at us friendly, asked:
– What exactly would you like to know, dears?
I accidentally looked at Anna... And just for a short moment I felt what she experienced. It was terrible, and I don’t understand why people could do this?! And what kind of people are they in general after this?.. I felt that indignation was boiling inside me again, and I tried my best to somehow calm down, so as not to seem like a “child” to her. – I also have a Gift, although I don’t know how valuable it is and how strong it is... I still know almost nothing about it. But I would really like to know, because now I see that gifted people even died for this. This means that the gift is valuable, but I don’t even know how to use it for the benefit of others. After all, it was not given to me just to be proud of it, right?.. So I would like to understand what to do with it. And I would like to know how you did it. How did you live... Sorry if this doesn't seem important enough to you... I won't be offended at all if you decide to leave now.
I almost didn’t know what I was saying and was more worried than ever. Something inside told me that I really needed this meeting and that I should be able to “talk” to Isidora, no matter how hard it would be for both of us...
But she, like her daughter, seemed to have nothing against my childish request. And leaving us again into her distant past, she began her story...
– There was once an amazing city - Venice... The most beautiful city on Earth!.. In any case, it seemed so to me then...
– I think you will be pleased to know that it still exists! – I immediately exclaimed. – And he’s really very handsome!
Nodding sadly, Isidora lightly waved her hand, as if lifting the heavy “veil of bygone time,” and a bizarre vision unfolded before our stunned eyes...
The azure-pure blue of the sky reflected the same deep blue of the water, right from which the amazing city rose... It seemed as if the pink domes and snow-white towers had somehow miraculously grown straight from the depths of the sea, and now stood proudly, sparkling in the morning rays of the rising sun , showing off to each other the grandeur of countless marble columns and the joyful glare of bright, multi-colored stained glass windows. A light breeze cheerfully drove the white “caps” of curly waves straight to the embankment, and they, immediately breaking into thousands of sparkling splashes, playfully washed the marble steps going straight into the water. The canals glittered like long mirrored snakes, cheerfully reflected as sun “bunnies” on the neighboring houses. Everything around was breathing light and joy... And it looked somehow fabulously magical.
The head of the State Defense Department of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, Anatoly Shlemov, during the DEFEXPO-2014 exhibition held in India, told the Voice of Russia about the prospects for the naval landing forces and further military-technical cooperation between the Russian Federation and India.
– Anatoly Fedorovich, “Vikramaditya” was recently transferred to India. Will there be more joint projects of this scale?
“Our cooperation with India by no means ends with Vikramaditya.” Although, of course, this project is the most ambitious of all. Work in this area is not limited to Vikramaditya. As you know, Russia supplied aviation technical equipment developed by the Nevsky Design Bureau for the Indian carrier-based aviation training complex (analogous to our NITKA - Ground Test Aviation Training Complex - editor's note), as well as for the Indian new aircraft carrier of the project 71. In addition, negotiations are underway on post-warranty maintenance and life cycle support of the aircraft carrier.
– While working on the Vikramaditya, Sevmash gained extensive experience in repairing large surface ships. How will he be in demand? Should we wait for the Kuznetsov to be repaired?
“Admiral Kuznetsov, of course, needs serious factory repairs and modernization. Now the fleet cannot afford to lose an aircraft carrier for a long time - the ship performs important political tasks. And in fact, this is the only platform for training carrier-based aviation pilots. Taking Kuznetsov out for repairs will result in a loss of qualifications.
– But the new “THREAD”?
– Yes, the complex has been built, and when it is fully put into operation, the aircraft carrier can be taken out for repairs. I think this will happen in the next 3-4 years.
– A radical solution to the issue would be the construction of a new aircraft carrier. Is it worth waiting for in the foreseeable future? What is the state of development?
“Several options for a ship of this class are being worked on, but it will be possible to say anything definite only after the approval of a long-term military shipbuilding program, which should be completed this year. It will determine the parameters for fleet construction and the needs for ships of the main classes until 2050.
– What can you say about the repair of the Admiral Nakhimov (heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser)? How much will it cost?
“Preparatory work is currently underway; in the near future, the ship will be placed in the basin where the Vikramaditya recently stood.” The ship's delivery date to the fleet is 2018. As for the price, I would not name a specific price. During the renovation, the cruiser will receive new capabilities thanks to new weapons systems and electronic equipment.
– Can we say that the repair of the Nakhimov is preparation for the same for Peter the Great?
- Certainly. "Peter the Great" is also extremely important for the fleet and performs a large number of tasks. The ship entered the fleet in 1998 and has been in active use since then. The deadline for its repair will soon approach, and it will have to be modernized in the same way as the Nakhimov.
– How is work progressing on the Leader project?
– You probably know that last year the Ministry of Defense signed a contract for experimental design work (R&D) “Leader” to create a surface ship in the ocean zone.
– How will it be classified? Is this a destroyer or a cruiser?
– While we are talking about a multi-purpose ocean-going surface combat ship, this term more fully describes the tasks and capabilities of a promising ship.
– Is it possible to say something about the technical face of the ship? Displacement, energy, weapons?
– This choice has yet to be made - the fleet has not yet decided whether it needs a ship with a gas turbine power plant - and then it’s just the dimensions and displacement. If with a nuclear installation, these are completely different parameters. As for weapons, much of what we have to have on a ship in the ocean zone, we must work out on a frigate of Project 22350 (a type of multi-purpose frigate in the far sea zone, developed for the rearmament of the Russian Navy).
– The fleet is in dire need of ships in the ocean zone, and now, in addition, the Admiral Chabanenko has been taken out for repairs. What changes are expected on it?
– The ship will be completely repaired, in addition, “spot” modernization will be carried out on those components whose repair is impossible or too expensive.
– Will the ship’s armament change?
- What for? It has sufficiently high characteristics that allow this ship to carry out its tasks. Through modernization, we will further increase them somewhat, without spending money on a complete replacement.
In general, it should be noted that the Chabanenko and its predecessors of Project 1155 are extremely successful ships, ensuring the presence of the fleet and the execution of tasks in all key areas - the Pacific, Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden, Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic... We will keep them in the fleet - until a sufficiently massive replacement appears.
– Why didn’t “Chabanenko” get a sequel? Could it have been possible to make an updated ship using the same general ship systems 15 years ago?
– I have a special relationship with this ship - I was responsible for its construction. This required enormous effort - there was no money for anything at that time. But the ship was still put into operation.
The then Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Vladimir Kuroyedov, came up with a proposal to build a series - if it had been accepted, we could now have at least 6-8 modernized ships of this project. However, in those years, funding for the Navy was minimal. Construction of the series turned out to be simply impossible.
– Today, a series of Project 22350 frigates are being built, but the launch of the lead ship for testing and its commissioning are constantly being postponed. Are there any changes?
– This year the ship will go to sea. The project has problems. They are associated with a large percentage of novelty - both in energy and in electronics, and we have laid down many promising solutions. Of course, there were some difficulties, in particular with the supply of relevant weapons systems and radio-electronic equipment from manufacturers.
We are solving these problems. In December, a meeting was held in St. Petersburg under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government Dmitry Rogozin, dedicated to these issues. Specific decisions were made on the timing of equipment deliveries and the obligations of manufacturers. We have high hopes for this project; it should give us an effective tool both in the far sea zone and, partly, in the ocean.
– What can you say about the prospects for the Navy’s landing forces? What is the fate of the Ivan Gren and Project 11711 in general (a type of the latest large landing ships designed for landing troops and transporting military equipment and equipment)?
– The Gren’s problems are also related to changes in technical specifications by the Navy, but we will deliver this ship next year. It is planned to build 2-3 more large landing ships of this project.
– But this is clearly not enough to renew the landing forces? What type will be the main one, Mistral?
– The Navy will soon include two DVKD (landing helicopter-carrying ship-dock) of the Mistral type, but these are quite expensive ships, and they will not be widespread.
I believe that the main type of landing ship could be a medium-sized DVKD, similar in ideology to the Dutch Rotterdam, with a displacement of 13-15 thousand tons. 6-8 units of such ships can be built. In combination with the Mistrals, Project 11711 and the repair of existing landing craft, this will allow maintaining the landing forces at the proper level.
Anatoly Shlemov’s interview sheds light on the roots of many recent decisions in the field of naval construction, says the military observer of the Voice of Russia. The closest attention should be paid to the stated timing of the start of construction of promising surface ships of the ocean zone, in combination with the decision to repair Project 1144 cruisers and negotiations regarding the possible purchase of the cruiser "Ukraine" (formerly "Admiral" located at the Black Sea Shipyard (Nikolaev, Ukraine) Lobov"), and the repair of other ships of this class, as well as maintaining the readiness of Project 1155 ships.
The stated time frame for the implementation of the Leader project, with the expected laying of the lead ship in the region of 2017-2018, means that the lead ship can enter the fleet around 2022-2023, the first serial one - in 2024-2025, and more or less they will become widespread only by the end of the second decade of our century. This is the price of a long break in the development of new ships in the ocean zone, but Russia has no right to lose this part of its sea power. In these conditions, the repair of ships of projects 1144, 1164, 1155 is the only opportunity to maintain the capabilities of the fleet in this area, and, as far as possible, to increase them with a relatively quick result.
As a child, every child dreamed of becoming a military man. It is a valiant and courageous profession, supported by universal honor and respect among all people. There are many ranks in military affairs - from junior personnel to general, but today we will talk specifically about captain 1st rank.
Everything you need to know
What is a 1st rank captain? Let's try to answer this question. Sea captain 1st rank (abbreviated kapraz, or koperang) is a naval military rank used in the CIS countries. Refers to senior officer ranks. In terms of its importance, captain 1st rank is a colonel according to the land rank in the Russian Armed Forces.
A little history
The rank of captain 1st rank was introduced in 1713 in the Russian Empire by the founder of the Russian navy, Peter I. In 1731, the division into ranks was abolished until September 1751.
What does the title correspond to?
Captain 1st rank corresponds to the highest rank among all ranks classified as the so-called senior officers of the Navy. It also includes a captain of 3rd rank (relatively lower in seniority) and a captain of 2nd rank. Above captain 1st rank are only admiral ranks, such as rear admiral, vice admiral and admiral. The age limit for a 1st rank captain should not exceed 55 years.
What are the powers?
A captain of the 1st rank, according to his status, can command the corresponding ships. These include the largest vessels in the Navy, such as aircraft carriers, large missile cruisers and nuclear submarines. A ship of first rank and, accordingly, its captain has seniority over ships of lower rank. In Russia, at the moment, ships of the first rank include such ships as “Admiral Kuznetsov”, “Admiral Nakhimov” (nuclear-powered missile cruiser) and so on.
Sometimes in the navy you can find the title of engineer-captain of the 1st rank for engineering-floating personnel. It was introduced already in the Soviet Union in the Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet in 1971, and then moved to the USSR Navy and began to apply to senior engineering and technical personnel.
Differences between shoulder straps
The shoulder straps of a captain of the 1st rank practically correspond to the shoulder straps of a colonel in the ground forces and aviation, with the exception of color. They are black with gold lines and stars in the ceremonial version, and have a gold (yellow) color with black lines. Every valiant profession has its heroes. It is about outstanding captains of the 1st rank that we will discuss further.
Hero posthumously
Captain 1st rank is a hero of Russia, who was born in 1955 in the Volgograd region. He commanded the notorious sunken submarine "Kursk" of the K-141 project. After graduating from school, he decided to enter the Leningrad Higher Naval School of the Lenin Komsomol. Over the entire existence of this school, more than a hundred of its graduates received the rank of admiral, and 16 became Heroes of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. In 1998, in connection with reforms in the Navy, the school was merged with the Higher Naval School named after M. V. Frunze. The educational institution changed its name to the St. Petersburg Naval Institute.
On August 10, during a scheduled patrol, the Kursk submarine disappeared from radar; none of the crew made contact for more than two days. Domestic and foreign specialists were sent to rescue the sailors. Unfortunately, there was no good news for the relatives. As a result, it became known that on August 12, 2000, Lyachin and the entire personnel of the submarine died. This disaster of the agro-industrial complex has become one of the most tragic in the recent history of modern Russia. Captain Gennady Lyachin was presented to the Hero of Russia posthumously. He was buried at the Seraphim Cemetery along with members of his crew. The Volgograd school where he studied was named after him.
Captain 1st Rank Alexey Dimitrov
Another outstanding officer and hero of the Russian Federation is Alexey Dimitrov, the commander of a nuclear submarine. Alexei’s father is also a captain of the 1st rank, commanded the well-known submarine K-19. After graduating from school in 1990, Alexey did not face the question of his future fate. He entered the naval school. After training, he began military service on the Tiger multi-purpose submarine.
After receiving the rank of captain 1st rank, he served on the following submarines: “Wolf”, “Leopard”, “Vepr”, “Cheetah” and “Panther”. He now commands the crew of the Tiger submarine. During the exercises of the Northern and Pacific fleets, his crew received high praise from Vysotsky. In 2006 and 2009, the submarines under the command of Captain Dmitrov were recognized as the best in the country's navy.
From frigate to majestic vessel
The next captain I would like to talk about is Sergei Zakharovich Balk. He was born in 1866 in the family of a retired military man. In 1887 he graduated from the Naval School. After that, he served on the frigate “General Admiral”, and from 1890 to 1892 he served on the cruiser “Minin”.
Captain V.F. Rudnev spoke about Balka as follows: “When performing the most serious job duties, he does not experience any problems, does everything clearly, confidently, efficiently and with great enthusiasm. He is well versed in maritime affairs, and people often turn to him for advice. He is efficient and knows how to obey, but in terms of combat he requires more diligence. He is a straightforward, honest and fair person. An excellent comrade and subordinate."
Captain "Ermak" D. F. Yuryev, who treated Balk with contempt, notes that he has a special craving for dangers caused by storms, war, natural disasters, for life-threatening campaigns, he is always the first to rush into battle, because he dreams about heroic deeds. These circumstances ignite his passion and enthusiasm. It is in such dangerous circumstances that he can bring the greatest benefit to the Russian Empire.
For courage and courage during emergency incidents, Sergei Zakharovich was awarded the Order for saving those who died in 1890. Thanks to his personal qualities, Balk made a good impression on the command and was appointed captain of the tugboat "Strong". By the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, Balk had gained great fame in the Russian fleet for his unbending character. He was entrusted with the most complex and difficult tasks. He was highly respected by the sailors. Balk’s finest hour was the defense of Port Arthur, where he and his crew on their tugboat “Strong” provided invaluable assistance to ships damaged in battle.
Despite his great desire to join the fight, he understood the full responsibility of his work. Balk recalls his participation in the rescue of the damaged battleship Retvizan as follows: “I used to feel sadness and remorse that I was here, on a tugboat, and not on a destroyer, so that I could throw myself into the thick of the battle. But when you see that it is our “Strong Man” who is saving one of the best ships in Russia, you feel your importance and significance, and it immediately becomes easier.” Even in this difficult time, in the fall of 1904, Balk always looked confident and joked a lot. One of his colleagues recalls how they worked together with officials to obtain the necessary materials. For greater success, they waited for shelling from the Japanese, and after the last one (during which a Japanese shell fell a few meters from the office), upon entering the office, Balk loudly said in his bass voice: “Oh, that was a great bang!” Wow, damn it, it exploded right at our door. The cross-eyed ones took good aim!”
After the Russo-Japanese War, on December 6, 1910, he received a captain of 1st rank. After that, he commanded the patrol ship "BORDERMAN", and in January 1913 he was transferred to the transport ship "Riga". There he began to drink a lot, and thoughts of suicide increasingly came into his head, but everyone treated his words as a drunken joke. On February 27, 1914, he shot himself in his cabin. Balk was buried in the Helsingfors cemetery.
Finally
Not everyone knows, but the uncle of the head of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, Shelomov Ivan Ivanovich (1904-1973), a veteran of the USSR Navy, was also a captain of the 1st rank. He began his military service as a cadet (1924-1926) at the Naval School. From 1926 to 1930 he studied at the M. V. Frunze Naval School. After this, he served at the headquarters of the Baltic Fleet and was repeatedly rewarded for courage, valor and good service.
Ship ranks in the navy are used in the Russian Navy and are assigned to sailors to the extent they are able to take responsibility for the command of a particular military personnel. They are also assigned to the military coast guard of the border troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, underwater and surface units of the Navy and naval units of the troops.
Almost all naval ranks differ from the missile and ground forces, airborne forces and airborne forces. From 1884 to 1991 they changed due to a number of events:
- the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917;
- the creation of the Soviet Union and its subsequent collapse 1922-1991;
- creation of the Russian Federation in 1991
Modern ranks in the navy are divided into 4 categories:
1. Conscripts of conscript and contract service. These include: sailor, senior sailor, foreman of the second class, petty officer of the first class and the chief petty officer. The senior ranks also include a midshipman and a senior midshipman.
2. Junior officers of the fleet. These are: junior lieutenant, lieutenant, senior lieutenant and lieutenant commander.
3. Senior officers of the Navy. Ranks are divided into: captains of the third, second and first rank.
4. Senior officers. Consists of: rear admiral, vice admiral, admiral and fleet admiral.
Detailed description of ship ranks in ascending order
Sailor- a junior rank in the navy that corresponds to a land private. These are conscripts for military service.
Senior sailor- a parallel to the army rank of corporal, which is assigned to a sailor for maintaining discipline and exemplary performance of duties. Can be an assistant sergeant major and replace a sergeant major of the second class.
Petty Officers
Foreman of the second article- junior rank in the senior ranks, which was introduced on November 2, 1940. Situated in rank above the senior sailor and below the first class petty officer. May be a squad leader.
Petty Officer of the first article- a sailor of the fleet who is ranked higher in rank than the petty officer of the second article, but below the chief petty officer. Second in order of growth in the list of senior officers, introduced on November 2, 1940. This is a squad commander who has shown excellent results in performing military and organizational duties.
Chief petty officer– military rank in the Navy of the Russian Federation and Coast Guard. Occupies a place between the first class petty officer and the midshipman of the fleet. The naval rank of chief naval sergeant corresponds to the army rank of senior sergeant. Can replace a platoon commander.
Midshipman– a word of English origin, which is assigned to a sailor after completing appropriate training programs and courses. In land terms, this is an ensign. Performs organizational and combat duties within the framework of a platoon commander or company sergeant major.
Senior midshipman- a military rank in the Russian Navy, which is higher in rank than midshipman, but lower than junior lieutenant. Similarly - senior warrant officer in other branches of the military.
Junior officers
Rank junior lieutenant comes from French and translates as "substitute". Occupies the first rank in the junior officer ranks, both in the ground and naval forces. May be a post or platoon commander.
Lieutenant- second among ranks in the navy, in rank above junior lieutenant and below senior lieutenant. Awarded upon completion of service with the rank of junior lieutenant.
Senior Lieutenant- a naval rank of junior officers in Russia, which is higher in rank than lieutenant and lower than lieutenant commander. With excellent performance in the service, he can be an assistant to the captain of a ship.
Lieutenant Commander- the highest rank of junior officers, which in the Russian Federation and Germany corresponds to captain of the army of the ground forces. A sailor with this rank is considered the deputy captain of the ship and the commander of a company of hundreds of subordinates.
Senior officers
Captain 3rd rank- corresponds to an army major. The abbreviated name for the shoulder strap is “captri”. Responsibilities include commanding a ship of the appropriate rank. These are small military vessels: landing craft, anti-submarine ships, torpedo ships and minesweepers.
Captain of the second rank, or “kapdva” is the rank of sailor in the Navy, which corresponds to lieutenant colonel in land ranks. This is the commander of a ship of the same rank: large landing ships, missile and destroyers.
Captain of the first rank, or “kapraz”, “kapturang” is a military rank in the Russian Navy, which is higher in rank than captain of the second rank and lower than rear admiral. May 7, 1940 exists among ranks in the navy, decided the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. "Kapturang" commands ships with complex control and enormous military power: aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines and cruisers.
Senior officers
Rear Admiral can command a squadron of ships and replace the commander of a flotilla. Adopted since 1940 and since that time corresponds to major general of the ground forces and aviation.
Vice Admiral- a rank of sailors in Russia, which allows you to replace an admiral. Corresponds to a lieutenant general of the ground forces. Manages the actions of flotillas.
Admiral translated from Dutch as “lord of the sea”, therefore he is a member of the senior officer corps. Army employees are assigned the rank of Colonel General. Manages the active fleet.
Fleet Admiral- the highest active rank, as well as in other types of troops, army general. Manages the fleet and is assigned to active admirals with excellent combat, organizational and strategic performance.
What types of troops are assigned naval ranks?
The Navy of the Russian Federation (RF Navy) also includes the following units:
- Marine Corps;
- coast guard;
- naval aviation.
The Marine Corps is a unit that carries out the defense of military installations, coastal areas and other sea lines. The Marines include sabotage and reconnaissance groups. The Marine Corps motto is: “Where we are, there is victory.”
The Coast Guard is a branch of the military that defends Russian naval bases and special facilities in the coastal zone. They have at their disposal anti-aircraft, torpedo, mine weapons, as well as missile systems and other artillery.
Naval aviation is troops whose responsibilities include detecting and destroying the enemy, defending ships and other elements from enemy forces, and destroying enemy aircraft, helicopters and other air structures. Russian aviation also carries out air transportation and rescue operations on the high seas.
How and for what is the next rank assigned to sailors?
The assignment of the next title is specified in the current laws of the Russian Federation:
- For a senior sailor, you must serve 5 months;
- obtaining a sergeant major 2nd article can be expected after a year of service;
- three years for senior sergeant and chief petty officer;
- three years to become a midshipman;
- 2 years for junior lieutenant;
- 3 for promotion to lieutenant and first lieutenant;
- 4 years to become a captain-lieutenant and captain of the 3rd rank.
- 5 years to captain 2nd and 1st rank;
- for senior officers, at least a year at the previous rank.
It is also worth knowing that military ranks in the navy may be assigned if the due date has not yet passed, but the military man has demonstrated his organizational, tactical and strategic abilities. A bad sailor is one who does not want to become an admiral, especially since it is possible. There are many examples of motivated, big-thinking sailors who became admirals.