Many residents of Leningrad-St. Petersburg know or have been on the street of Podvodnik Kuzmin. It is named after the commander of the U-408 submarine.
On May 3, 2016, in the Gulf of Finland, 30 kilometers from the Estonian city of Verg, Russian search engines launched wreaths at the site of the sinking of the Soviet submarine Sch-408 in 1943.
About a week ago, after a long search, she was found by the expedition "Bow to the ships of the Great Victory", she rests in the territorial waters of Estonia. The project manager, Konstantin Bogdanov, told reporters that Russian divers want to install a memorial plaque on the submarine's hull, but so far they have not been able to obtain permission for this from the Estonian authorities.
According to the laws of Estonia, Bogdanov explained, it is impossible not only to lift the dead objects, but even to touch them. It is forbidden even to lift the soil from the bottom, so it was decided to dive, collect sea water near the submarine, fill flasks with it and hand over the dead submariners to the relatives.
The last mission of "Shch-408", or, as it was affectionately nicknamed, "Pike", was to find a way out into the Baltic Sea through minefields. She went on a campaign on May 18, 1943. The enemy soon tracked her down and chased her for about two days. First, it was shot by an enemy aircraft, then it was attacked with depth charges, as a result, the Pike was seriously damaged.
Lieutenant Captain Pavel Kuzmin, who commanded the submarine, decided to surface - to give battle. When the submarine's hull appeared over the water surface, the artillery guns on it were turned towards the enemy.
The battle was unequal, the riddled "Pike" went to the bottom, but did not lower the flag. For another two days the acoustics noted the blows on it: the crew was trying to repair the submarine and surface. However, this did not succeed, all the submariners died.
Searches for "Pike" were conducted by Russian and Finnish search engines. The Russians handed over archival documents to the Finns and determined the search area, they went out to sea, established the coordinates of the submarine, and then a series of joint research dives were carried out.
According to Konstantin Bogdanov, the submarine is located two miles from the coordinates that were indicated in the archival documents. On the deck, the divers managed to make out traces of battle, the guns were turned towards the enemy, all hatches were battened down, the crew, according to the search engines, was inside. The boat is corroded by rust and riddled with enemy shells, however, the hull is well preserved, even the wooden anti-mine shell has survived, and the antennas have been preserved.
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Link to the publication with the video on the TV Star website
The heroic fate of the crew of the Shch-408 submarine, which repeated the feat of the crews of the Varyag, the TFR of the Tuman, is described in the books of L.A. Kurnikov and S.A. Gurov
L.A. Kurnikov
BALTIC SUBSMERS
Feat and tragedy Ш-408
The command of the fleet sought to bring submarines to the enemy's Baltic communications as quickly as possible. This was dictated by the interests of the front. And each boat still had to look for a "hole" in the Nargen-Porkkalaud obstacle independently. The place where one could pass was almost impossible to accurately designate for others. There was no reason to hope that somewhere there would be wide "gates" free of nets and mines. And if a breakthrough of this line was at all possible, then the search for passages not by one boat, but by two or three at a time, probably could have led to success faster. So, in any case, they looked at it then.
The second submarine, Sch-408, which had been at Lavensari since May 11, was ordered by the fleet commander to be sent on a military campaign on May 19.
Sinking in the same place where Shch-303 began its independent movement eight days ago, Lieutenant-Commander Kuzmin went further not through Narva Bay, like Travkin, but along the northern route. And he proved its maneuverability: this submarine successfully crossed the Gogland border. And to charge the batteries, Shch-408 surfaced where Shch-303 was charged - in the area of Vaindlo Island.
However, Kuzmin was unlucky here: the Pike was discovered and attacked by an anti-submarine aircraft. She managed to submerge without receiving serious damage, but the explosions of the bombs dropped by the aircraft, apparently, broke the tightness of some of the fuel tanks. It is very likely that it was the oily trail of the diesel fuel that allowed the boats that quickly appeared to cling to the Pike, and they could not get away from them.
This is how the feat and tragedy of the Shch-408 crew began. about which her commander could broadcast very little on the radio. The reports of the pilots who flew there and were involved in the sea battle helped to give a more complete picture of what happened.
The pursuit of the boat by boats following its trail lasted more than two days. Even with the most economical maneuvering underwater, it should have used up almost the entire battery charge during this time. Damage from the bombing probably also appeared. Near three o'clock On the night of May 22, a short radiogram was received from Kuzmin, for the transmission of which it was necessary to rise to the surface at least for a minute. It said that the enemy was continuously bombing the boat, preventing it from surfacing for charging.
“Please help with aviation,” the commander of Shch-408 radioed.
By order of the fleet commander, fighters were sent to the area of Vaindlo Island. In terms of range, this place was at the very limit of their flight capabilities. Then another group of planes took off. They had to engage in battle with enemy fighters, but they also stormed enemy boats, and, as far as I know, not without results.
However, the naval pilots could not destroy or disperse the forces that the Nazis had pulled into this area close to their bases. They were not able to reliably cover the submarine at such a distance from their airfields, although they tried to help her until the very end of the unequal battle. The pilots saw how the Sch-408, which probably could no longer remain under water due to damage to the hull or simply because there was already nothing to breathe in the compartments, surfaced, how the crews of two 45-mm guns jumped up and opened fire on boats.
Our submariners (I think this can be said about each crew) have always been internally prepared for the fact that surfacing in the face of a stronger enemy and a fire fight with extremely small chances of victory would become the only alternative to inevitable death in the depths of the sea. I told how, during such ascents, not only gun crews, but also sailors armed with machine guns and grenades came out onto the deck.
And no matter how small the likelihood of a favorable outcome for the submariners of such actions, which do not fit into the usual concepts of submarine tactics, it happened that the insolence and courage of the commander saved the seemingly doomed ship. Let us recall how the C-4 escaped from the clutches of the enemy, which the Nazis considered their prey so much that they had already marked its place on the ground with floating landmarks.
But Lieutenant Commander Kuzmin, his military political officer Lieutenant Commander Kruglov and the entire crew of Sch-408 could hardly expect that they would somehow be able to deceive the enemy. The circumstances were not the same, the situation was not the same. And it is practically impossible to defeat at least five patrolmen, who had a total of at least ten rapid-fire guns, in an artillery fire battle at a short distance. The submariners went into their last battle with the only real goal - to inflict some kind of damage on the enemy before they die.
The crew of Sch-408 achieved this goal. The pilots saw how one boat, at which the submarine was firing, began to sink, as the other was engulfed in flames. After Finland's withdrawal from the war, the sinking of two anti-submarine boats by Kuzmin's boat was confirmed in Finnish official documents.
The submarine Shch-408 is fighting an unequal battle with five enemy combat boats. Painting by artist I. Rodionov
The pilots saw the "Pike" disappear under water with a naval flag fluttering over the wheelhouse. It is difficult to say with absolute certainty whether she died from the received holes (they undoubtedly were) or whether the commander decided to dive again. The first is more likely. Be that as it may, some compartments of the boat, which sank to the ground, remained unsubmerged, and the sailors in them continued to fight for the survivability of the ship. I myself later heard from the Finnish officers, who then visited the area, that for many hours the acoustics of their boats caught the sounds of metal blows coming from the bottom: the submariners, who had retained their fortitude to the end, tried to patch up the holes and repair the damage.
The commander of the submarine Sch-408 Pavel Semyonovich Kuzmin
The valor of the Shch-408 sailors delivered this Baltic submarine to the Russian maritime history on a par with the legendary "Varyag", the North Sea patrol "Tuman" and other ships, the crews of which repeated their exploits. Such ships are truly immortal.
In Leningrad, from the embankment of which this submarine left on its last voyage, there is now in the Kirovsky district, behind the Narvskaya Zastava, Podvodnik Kuzmin street with a memorial plaque on the corner house, reminding of what the young commander and his heroic crew did for the glory of the Motherland , in the name of the coming Victory.
Submariner Kuzmin street
On May 22, 1943, the Shch-408 submarine, which had overcome the Gogland anti-submarine line, was discovered and attacked by an enemy aircraft. The crew's attempt to eliminate the damage in the submerged position was unsuccessful; moreover, the boat unmasked an oil slick on the surface. Unable to break away from the enemy, the commander decided to surface and take battle with five enemy boats. Due to heavy damage received in the battle, the boat sank. The crew died along with the ship, having accepted a heroic death, but did not lower the naval flag in front of the enemy.
New "Pike"
Sch-408 in besieged Leningrad
The beginning of the Great Patriotic War Submarine "Shch-408" met as part of the training brigade of submarines of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet in Kronstadt. The degree of technical readiness was 80%. By the end of September 1941, the boat was quickly accepted into the Baltic Fleet and began preparations for the transition from Kronstadt to Leningrad to work out combat training tasks. On September 26, in the Morskoy Canal, the Shch-408 submarine collided with the Onega network minelayer. As a result of the accident on the boat, a solid hull was broken and the periscope bollard was bent. The submarine was forced to return to the plant and get up for repairs, which ended only in the spring. next year... On June 22, 1942, "Shch-408" was at the wall of the plant number 194 (named after Marty) in Leningrad, eliminating the remarks revealed during the coursework tasks. Here it was again damaged as a result of being hit by two enemy artillery shells shelling the city.
Through the holes formed, water began to flow into the boat. The fifth compartment was completely flooded. The second shell severely damaged the superstructure. The ship needed repairs again. On October 16, the long-suffering "Pike" moved to Kronstadt, but even here it was haunted by sad events. On October 25, 1942, a 210-mm German shell exploded near the side of the boat. The submarine again received two shrapnel holes in a solid hull. Five crew members were injured and taken to hospital. It seemed that the streak of failures would not end, but the personnel managed to turn the tide and "Shch-408" by May 1943 was ready to carry out a combat mission. A difficult, very difficult task fell to the lot of Pavel Semyonovich Kuzmin in that harsh forty-third year for the Baltic submariners. Nobody in the navy could imagine the degree of its complexity and the difficulty of overcoming it.
Sch-408-In the afternoon on June 22, 1942. the boat was hit by two shells, the 5th compartment was flooded, the superstructure was damaged
Steel pliers
By 1943, the enemy had significantly strengthened the minefields on the anti-submarine lines in the Baltic Sea. In addition, in the narrowest point of the Gulf of Finland - on the line of the Nargen-Porkkalaud position - two rows of anti-submarine networks were installed, which completely blocked the bay to its entire depth. In the area between the Gogland and Porkkalaud lines, five enemy search and strike groups, of two or three ships each, operated, and aircraft were patrolled. Artillery batteries were installed on the islands and on the coast. These forces and assets formed a single anti-submarine zone more than 150 miles deep. Nowhere before and during World War II were there such strong anti-submarine lines as in the Gulf of Finland.
Submarine "Shch-408"
Medium submarine type "Sh" (serial number 513), X-bis series. Laid down on 04/23/39 at plant No. 194 in Leningrad, launched on 06/04/40 and on 09/22/1941 included in the KBF.
Displacement: surface 590 t, underwater 708.3 t; length: 58.75 m; width: 6.4 m; draft: 3.95 m; power: diesel 2x800 hp sec., electric motor 2x400 hp; maximum speed: surface 14.25 knots, submerged 8.92 knots; range of economy voyage: above water (8.5 knots) 4,000 miles, under water (2.5 knots) 100 miles; immersion depth: up to 90 m; autonomy: 20 (45) days; armament: 4 bow and 2 stern 533-mm torpedo tubes (10 torpedoes), 2x45-mm guns (1000 sn.),
2x7.62 mm machine gun; crew: 40 people, including 7 officers.
In this situation, the command of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet by May 1943 prepared the first group of three submarines for a breakthrough into the Baltic Sea. The first to leave the island of Lavensari on May 11 was the guards submarine "Shch-303" under the command of Captain 3rd Rank I.V. Travkin. She successfully forced the Hogland anti-submarine position. But then she failed - in the area of the Nargen-Porkkalaud position, she fell into anti-submarine nets three times and was pursued by enemy ships. And only thanks to the endurance and resourcefulness of the commander, the boat was saved. With great difficulty, "Shch-303" managed to break away from the pursuit and return to the base.
A hike to immortality
Without waiting for a radiogram from "Shch-303" to force the second mine and artillery position, the command ordered Kuzmin to go to sea. On the night of May 19, 1943, the submarine "Shch-408" under the command of Lieutenant-Commander PS Kuzmin left the raid of Lavensari Island for a position in the Baltic Sea. She was escorted to the dive point in the eastern Gotland Reach by five sea hunter patrol boats and seven minesweeping boats. Further, the boat continued to move independently and safely crossed the Gotland anti-submarine line. Three days later, the submariners reported that the boat received minor damage, due to the fact that the enemy did not allow the battery to be charged. At the headquarters of the fleet, urgent measures were taken - they sent attack aircraft and fighters to the location of the "Shch-408". With a sudden blow, they scattered the accumulation of enemy ships, one patrol boat and two boats of the anti-submarine defense of the Nazis sank. The Germans sent their fighter aircraft to the area. Heated air battles began in the sky. Our pilots lost four fighters, two La-5s and one I-16 and one I-153.
Kuzmin Pavel Semenovich, Lieutenant Commander, Submarine Shch-408
Born on January 2, 1914. Russian. Member of the CPSU (b) since 1937. In RKKF since 1933. In 1938 he graduated with honors from the VMU them. MV Frunze and was appointed commander of the warhead-1 submarine "Shch-303". In October 1940, he graduated from special courses for command personnel at the Diving Training Unit named after V.I. SM Kirov and was appointed assistant commander on the submarine "S-9", where he received his baptism of fire, entering the Great Patriotic War. On October 6, 1941, the submariner Kuzmin was awarded the military rank of Lieutenant-Commander, and on October 24 he had already taken over the Shch-408 submarine under construction under his command.
By the spring of 1943, the submarine under the command of Lieutenant-Commander P. Kuzmin entered service. Hardworking, demanding and capable, Pavel Kuzmin prepared the crew well for the first military campaign, but this was the first time he went on such a difficult and dangerous mission on his own.
Pavel Semenovich Kuzmin died along with his ship in the first military campaign. A street in the city of St. Petersburg is named after the commander of the submarine "Shch-408". The submarine officer was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit of the British Empire, V degree.
On the night of May 22, in the area of Vaindlo Island, "Shch-408" was found on the trail of oil and attacked by Finnish anti-submarine defense ships: six patrol boats "UMU" and a minelayer "Riilahti", which pursued her for three days. In the last report, received at 2 hours 58 minutes on May 22, the commander said that from the explosions depth charges the submarine has damaged fuel tanks, and asked to send aircraft against the ships pursuing it. An inhuman struggle for the survivability of the submarine was underway. It was headed by an experienced mechanical engineer of the Baltic submarine, a professional in his field and an officer respected by everyone in the crew - the commander of the warhead-5, Lieutenant-Commander Kurbatov Petr Pavlovich. Enemy ships chased the submarine for three days. The fuel tank was damaged, and the trail of diesel fuel on the surface was the correct guide to the location of the boat. "Shch-408" has completely used up its supply of electricity, the concentration of carbon dioxide on the boat has become threatening. Our aviation, having used up its ammunition, flew away, and the enemy was again gripping the ring with a death grip. More and more explosions rumbled closer and more distinctly. The critical moment came, and the commander gave the last order: “Float to the surface! Accept the fight! "
Kurbatov Petr Pavlovich, engineer-lieutenant-commander, commander of the warhead-5 submarine "Shch-408"
Was born in 1914 in the city of Novorossiysk. In 1938 he graduated from the diesel faculty of the V.I. F.E. Dzerzhinsky and was appointed head of the special, department of his native school, then head of the course, engineer of the ICE laboratory, teacher.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, engineer-senior lieutenant Kurbatov was sent to the disposal of the military council of the Siberian military district. Since 1943 he was the commander of the BC-5 submarine "Shch-408" KBF.
On May 25, 1943, Pyotr Pavlovich died as a hero in an unequal battle with the Nazi invaders along with the crew of a submarine.
In June 1943, Engineer-Lieutenant-Commander Kurbatov was excluded from the lists of the command personnel of the Navy as he died in the battles for the Motherland.
I accept the fight
The enemy did not immediately understand the maneuver. The boat surfaced. There was some confusion on the enemy ships, perhaps a joyful relief: “Surrender! Stop shooting!" But the illusion of anticipated victory was short-lived. The naval flag fluttered on the boat's flagpole, and two 45mm cannons opened fire. The submariners entered into an artillery battle with five boats. The unequal fight lasted two hours. The gunners sank two boats with well-aimed shots. Having received damage and smoke, the third failed, but the boat also had several hits in a solid hull. Some of the servants of the guns were killed, but the wounded and survivors did not leave their combat posts. Water flowed into a solid hull, the trim at the stern increased. The bridge was riddled with shrapnel, and there was no one left. The bow gun fired at all the ammunition, and only one stern gun responded to the enemy. When the last shot rang out, the water ran along the deck flooring, and the waves of the gray-haired Baltic closed over the boat with the remaining heroic crew. The enemy ships remained in the area where the Pike sank for a long time, hoping that someone would surface. There were survivors on the boat. Noise finders of enemy ships picked up the sounds of heavy blows on metal. The submariners apparently tried to patch up the holes, but soon everything calmed down ... By the morning of May 23, a group of Finnish ships was reinforced with the Ruotsinsalmi minelayer and aviation. On May 24, after repeated bombing, a large amount of oil and bubbles appeared on the surface of the water. On May 25, the enemy considered the submarine destroyed.
Minelayer Ruotsinsalmi
Submarine mousetrap
Of the five submarines tasked with crossing the Gulf of Finland, not a single one managed to overcome the anti-submarine nets of the Nargen-Porkkalaud line, while four boats were killed. The command of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet temporarily abandoned the use of submarines in enemy communications. The task of disrupting enemy sea communications was entrusted to the air force of the fleet. From June 1943, this problem was solved mainly by torpedo aircraft. Submarine operations were resumed only in the second half of 1944, after Finland's withdrawal from the war (09/04/1944) and the redeployment of part of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet submarines to the Hanko Peninsula and Turku.
Return from oblivion
Analyzing after the war the Finnish archives and reports in one of the headquarters of the anti-submarine forces of the former ally of Germany, the command of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet received information about what was the last hour of the submarine "Shch-408". As it became known from these documents, "Shch-408" did not manage to break away from the pursuit. Enemy planes and a detachment of ships, reinforced with the Ruotsinsalmi minelayer, pursued her until 25 May. According to the Finnish historian P.O. Ekman, "Shch-408" died on May 25, 1943 south of Keri Island from depth charges dropped on it by the Ruotsinsalmi minelayer. German authors believe that "Shch-408" was sunk on May 26, 1943 by ships of the 31st minesweeper flotilla.
Everything remains for people
In memory of the courageous submariner, communist, commander of the heroic crew of the submarine "Shch-408" Pavel Semyonovich Kuzmin, by the decision of the Leningrad City Executive Committee in 1964, the former Oboronnaya Street in the Dachny District of Leningrad was renamed Podvodnik Kuzmin Street. In the Central Naval Museum at the stand of breaking the blockade of Leningrad, a portrait of the hero-submariner Pavel Kuzmin is exhibited, his personal watch received for excellent graduation from the MV Frunze, diploma of completion of the Higher Special Courses for the Command Personnel of Diving. S.M. Kirov.
Heroes don't die. They are immortal!
Full list of crew members of the submarine Sch-408
1. Kuzmin Pavel Semyonovich, Born in 1913, lieutenant commander, submarine commander. Was born in Grozny.
2. Kruglov Alexander Fedorovich, Born in 1911, lieutenant commander, deputy commander for political affairs. Was born in the village. Lead Moscow Region
3. Orlov Igor Mikhailovich, Born in 1917, senior lieutenant, commander of warheads-1-4. Was born in Kazan.
4. Dolgolenko Petr Kondratyevich, Born in 1914, senior lieutenant, assistant commander of the submarine. Was born in the city of Novorossiysk.
5. Belokopytov Gennady Ivanovich, Born in 1917, senior lieutenant, commander of the warhead-2-3. Born in the city of Nerchinsk, Chita region.
6. Kurbatov Petr Pavlovich, Born in 1914, engineer-captain of the 3rd rank, commander of the warhead-5. Was born in the city of Novorossiysk.
7. Borzenko Nikolay Ivanovich, Born in 1922, lieutenant of the medical service, senior paramedic. Born in Krasnodar
8. Muranov Methodius Ivanovich, Born in 1912, lieutenant commander, divisional signalman. Born in Starobelsk, Voroshilovgrad region.
9. Kolpakov Nikolay Andreevich, Born in 1912, midshipman, boatswain. Was born in the village. Myachevo, Yaroslavl region
10. Britvin Vasily Nikolaevich, Born in 1916, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of the helmsman squad. Was born in the village. Verkhny Bystrov, Nyuksenskaya district, Vologda region.
11. Bragin Nikolay Dmitrievich, Born 1920, senior sailor, senior helmsman. Was born in the village. Malaya Bragina Kozhevensky district of Novosibirsk region
12. Pokrovsky Nikita Ivanovich, Born in 1921, sailor, helmsman. Was born in the village. Stucco molding of the Fatezhsky district of the Kursk region.
13. Puteshev Nikolay Sergeevich, Born 1920, sailor, helmsman. Was born in the village. Andreev-Navolok of the Kondopoga region of the Karelo-Finnish SSR
14. Volkodamov Pavel Stepanovich, Born in 1919, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of the department of navigational electricians. Born in the city of Cherkessk, Karachay-Cherkess Autonomous Okrug.
15. Rakitsky Alexey Karpovich, Born in 1920, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of the gunnery squad. Born in the village. Yatseno Kamyshevsky district, Kursk region.
16. Dryakhlov Nikolay Grigorievich, Born in 1912, chief petty officer, senior torpedo group. Born in Tambov
17. Evstigneev Vasily Petrovich, Born in 1916, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of a torpedo squad. Was born in the village. Nesterovo Novozavidovsky district of Kalinin region
18. Pilipenko Grigory Zakharovich, Born in 1921, senior sailor, senior torpedo operator. Born in the village. Manotintsy Peryatinsky district Poltava region
19. Smirnov Mikhail Nikolaevich, Born in 1920, Red Navy, torpedo operator. Was born in the village. Sandyrevka Fekrmansky district, Ivanovo region
20. Finogenov Nikolay Ivanovich, Born in 1912, chief foreman, foreman of the group (commander of the radio operators' squad). Was born in the village. Babino Lukovnikovsky district, Kalinin region
21. Moskalevsky Vladimir Grigorievich, Born in 1921, sailor, radio operator. Born in the village. Maryinka, Maryinsky district, Donetsk region
22. Sapunov Nikolay Grigorievich, Born in 1923, Red Navy sailor, sonar student. Born in Penza
23. Starostin Mikhail Afanasevich, Born in 1912, midshipman, foreman of a group of electricians. Was born in Moscow.
24. Glazachev Pavel Vasilievich, Born in 1913, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of the electricians' department. Was born in Shenkursk, Arkhangelsk region.
25. Voevodin Boris Mikhailovich, Born in 1919, senior sailor, senior electrician. Born in the village. Boltino Ladsky district of the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
26. Alexandrov Anatoly Dmitrievich, Born in 1919, sailor, electrician. Was born in the village. Sakharovka station Valovo, Tula region.
27. Ivanov Ivan Petrovich, Born in 1920, Red Navy sailor, electrician. Was born in the village. Parshino, Voldaysky District, Leningrad Region
28. Romanin Georgy Andreevich, Born in 1913, chief foreman, foreman of minders. Was born in Leningrad.
29. Zorin Mikhail Petrovich, Born in 1920, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of the department of mechanics. Was born in the village. Lychna, Ustyuzhensky district, Vologda region.
30. Rodionov Petr Artemovich, Born in 1920, foreman 1 article, commander of the department of minders (minder?). Born in Ufa
31. Vasily Shkatulov, Born in 1916, senior sailor, senior mechanic. Born in Moscow
32. Gumenyuk Vasily Afanasevich, Born in 1916, senior sailor, minder. Born in Kiev
33. Kirillov Nikolay Vasilievich, Born in 1921, Red Navy sailor, minder. Born in the city of Novy Oskol, Kursk region.
34. Artamonov Anatoly Mikhailovich, Born in 1913, chief foreman, foreman of the group of hold. Was born in the village. Maryino, Ustyuzhsky district, Vologda region
35. Linkov Nikolay Romanovich, Born in 1920, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of the hold compartment. Was born in the village. Volokovo Sebersky District, Pskov Region
36. Onishchenko Alexey Dmitrievich, Born 1920, sailor, hold. Born at mine 2/7 "Lidievka", Donbass
37. Ryabov Nikolay Alekseevich, Born in 1921, sailor, hold. Was born in the village. Staraya Russa, Novgorod region
38. Ostashev Vasily Vasilievich, Born in 1921, sailor, cook. Born in the village. Osievshchina, Podporozhsky District, Leningrad Region
39. Fomin Petr Efimovich, Born 1920, sailor, combatant. Born in the village. Kamenpodolnoe Dolzhansky District, Oryol Region
40. Samoylenko Konstantin Maksimovich, Born in 1918, foreman of the 1st article, commander of the SKS department. Born at Dolzhanka station in Krasnodar Territory
41. Krolichenko Ivan Korneevich, Born in 1920, senior sailor, commander of the hydroacoustics department. Born in the village. Berezovka, Belolutsk district, Voroshilovgrad region
On May 1 of this year, Russian submariners-search engines of the international expedition "Bow to the Ships of the Great Victory-2016" identified in the Gulf of Finland the Soviet submarine Shch-408 (in Russian military historiography it is referred to as the "Underwater Varangian"), which sank in 1943. Until that time, the location of the boat was known only from Finnish and German documents, but thanks to the joint work of Russian and Finnish search engines, it was still found 73 years after the death. Now the Pike lies at the bottom of the Baltic Sea in Estonian territorial waters and has become a mass grave for 40 sailors. But touching it or lifting something from the Pike is prohibited by local law. During this expedition, Russian search engines, who were forced to go to sea under the Finnish flag, controlled the plane from the air, and the police on the coast.
This expedition will mark a new historic milestone in the naval search movement. Like the cruiser Varyag in 1904, the crew of the Sch-408 decided to take a clearly unequal battle and fight to their last breath. The Shchuka-408 crew left on May 22, 1943, gasping from under the water, in order to give battle to the overwhelmingly superior number of Nazi ships with their two 45-mm guns and two machine guns. And then all the hatches of the submarine were battened down, which sank to the bottom, but did not surrender. 40 sailors then deliberately went to their death. Among them was the boat commander, Pavel Kuzmin, after whom a street was named in St. Petersburg. A military history museum dedicated to the feat of the "Baltic Varyag" was created in the St. Petersburg school # 504.
“Our team of 12 people from the“ Bow to the Ships of the Great Victory ”project, together with the Finnish search team Subzone, conducted a series of dives to identify, study and video the hero's submarine,” Konstantin Bogdanov, a diver from Moscow, project manager, told Top Secret. - Until that time, only the approximate area of her death was known, but now we were able to accurately reach the hull and carry out underwater work on the absolute identification of the Soviet combat submarine ship. It was exactly the Sch-408 - the very boat that took an unequal battle near the Estonian island of Vaindlo and with a proudly raised battle flag sank to the bottom, for which it is called the "underwater Baltic Varyag".
The lost submarine was searched for by a joint expedition of Russians and Finns
THE GERMANS KILLED, AND THE FINNS KILLED
We have been preparing for this expedition for over a year, - continues Bogdanov. - At first we tried to do it last summer. However, at the time that we allocated for prospecting work, a storm began, because of which we simply could not go to sea. And in March of this year, we met with the Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Kirill Molodtsov (he is the initiator of the creation of a military history museum dedicated to the feat of the "Baltic Varyag"). Cyril was simply burning with the idea to bring the search to the end. And we jointly decided to find this boat - we had coordinates from the Finnish archives, the points where the Pike was bombed. It was then discovered by the Germans, and finished off, as it turned out later, by the Finns. There were two Finnish "hunters" standing there.
In these the May holidays we started searching. Moreover, together with the Finnish team Subzone. They marked a square to search for. A few days before our arrival, our fellow Finns-search engines went out to sea and began to survey the area using a side-looking locator. About six hours later, as is usually the case with the last "breath", when they already wanted to leave for the port, the boat was found. It is noteworthy that the next day we were already planning to leave for another area - to the northern part of this square. Judging by the Finnish documents, there is a lot of incomprehensible here - how exactly did the boat end up in this place? Either the Finns then made a mistake with the calculations, or the boat was able to "crawl" there. But somehow she was not in the coordinates she should have been, but two miles to the south.
After that, we carried out a series of surface searches and dives in order to shoot and identify Sch-408, because outward appearance it is very similar to another boat - Shch-406. That is, it is impossible to distinguish them, there are no structural differences. But it turned out to be exactly the submarine that we were looking for: it has traces of hits from military weapons on its hull, which are described in German and Finnish documents (it clearly describes that “they hit the rear of the wheelhouse”, etc.). We look - yes, it is all there. The submarine is now standing level on the ground, without powerful visible damage. All hatches are battened down. It is not visible that the boat was blown up by a mine, as it was in the overwhelming majority of cases during those hostilities in the Baltic. There was, of course, a version that maybe there is violent destruction, but it is not yet possible to find out. Cannons on the boat - two 45-mm cannons are turned towards the port side and are in a combat position. And on the deck are boxes with shells and, probably, the personal weapon of the boat commander Pavel Semyonovich Kuzmin - a PPSh submachine gun. According to the charter, during a night battle, the commander was supposed to be on the bridge. He was here and, apparently, died during the battle. As established by military historians, after 10 minutes of battle and a radio message for help, the boat made an urgent dive, and then the crew fought for life for 2 days.
The boat was discovered when all hopes were already lost
FROM THE BOTTOM ALLOWED TO TAKE ONLY WATER
The sunken boat is now in the territorial waters of the Republic of Estonia. To the place where it lies, we went to sea with the Finns on their ship under their flag, - says Konstantin Bogdanov. - Otherwise, they would simply not let us in. Thank them very much for their help! The whole operation to dive to the boat (it is 72 meters) took about 4 hours. We were at the bottom for about half an hour, the water temperature at that time did not exceed 4 degrees Celsius. Only the ascent itself took an hour and a half.
According to Bogdanov, neither the hull nor any mechanisms of the submarine could be touched. “According to the laws of Estonia, search engines have no right not only to clean anything at an object found under water, but even to touch it! - The commander of the expedition continues. - It was possible to make only photo and video filming, sketches and visual analysis. The grandson and son of the hero-captain of the ship Pavel Kuzmin very much asked us to lift a piece of soil, but we were not even allowed to do that. They only took water from the place of the sinking of the boat ... Also, because of this, we could not install a commemorative plaque with the names of all the dead sailors, as it should be on the graves, because now, after the discovery of the Pike, it officially becomes a mass grave for 40 heroes of the Red Navy ... But we all hope that in the future, when permission is received from the Estonian authorities, all this will happen. In the meantime, we have not even been able to clean the windows of the machine telegraph ...
When we went down there, it was dark and cold, and a little creepy - the feeling that someone is watching you, watching. After all, this is a mass grave for 40 sailors. This was not the first boat we found. Within the framework of our project, since 2005 there are already 9 such submarines (the first was found in Bulgaria). But every time, of course, it is important and pleasant, having seen this, to tell these people who rest there (as in the film "We are from the Future") that the war ended on May 9, 1945, that they did not die in vain and their today's descendants know and remember their feat. Probably, this is the feeling with which you go down to such a grave every time. "
In addition, Bogdanov emphasized that from the point of view of lifting some things, and the boat itself, this is probably pointless, because the Baltic water is quite aggressive towards metal products, wood is better preserved in it. “And from a moral point of view, it is better not to touch the boat. In Estonia, all underwater monuments are protected, and I do not think that they can commit any blasphemy there. Even we, as researchers, were warned not to touch anything - just take pictures. And on the first day, there was even an Estonian border boat cruising around us - they made sure that all the norms of the legislation were complied with, ”says Konstantin Bogdanov.
In the near future, Russian divers are going to make a request for the installation of a commemorative plaque with the names of those killed on the submarine. If the Estonians allow it, then it will be installed. Until that time, this tablet will be kept in the museums of St. Petersburg.
None of the sailors who died on Shch-408 have yet been awarded awards. The application for the presentation of awards to them has already been from the museum to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, but before last moment there they answered that the boat had not been found, the circumstances of the death were unknown ... “Now that the Pike has been identified, it is simply necessary to return to this question again. These people deliberately went to their death, but did not give up, says Bogdanov. - In addition, on May 3, over the place where Shch-408 was killed, Orthodox priests held a memorial service for all the sailors who died there. The ceremony was attended by the 52-year-old grandson and 78-year-old son of the deceased ship commander Pavel Kuzmin. It seems to me that they were very impressed, but I don’t know what they went through inside. I looked at them and realized that they finally got the opportunity for the first time in 73 years to put flowers on the grave of their father and grandfather. "
73 years later, the souls of sailors were sung right over their mass grave.
SEVERE ESTONIAN GUYS
“My grandfather was the commander of this boat from the moment of its 'birth,'” said Pavel Kuzmin, the grandson of the deceased commander of the Pike. “When I was there, at the place of death of my grandfather, together with my father, and he was already 78 years old, we didn’t even believe that we had finally found it… After all, so much time had passed. And we didn't even expect this to happen. Because in the USSR, for some reason, no one needed all this. And here the guys are really enthusiasts in their field. Many thanks to them! Now we have finally visited specifically the grave of my grandfather and other dead sailors. That is, after so many years we were able to lower the wreath, lay flowers. The priests from the Moscow Patriarchate consecrated this place of death, now it is revered as Orthodox. My father went through all this calmly, of course, with tears in his eyes, although so much time had already passed. But then, finally, it happened. In the end, by and large, the son found the father, and I the grandfather. But he doesn't have a single Soviet award! The museum, which is in St. Petersburg, tried to somehow raise this question, who lives on the street of Submariner Kuzmin - and everyone says - but he is a hero of the Soviet Union! And they do not know that he does not have such a title. Because it was a failed operation in 1943. And then, in those days, no one advertised how many people were killed. Everything was hidden. These people knew they were going to die. But they didn't give up. And it was unrealistic to pass. Not a single boat passed there until Estonia withdrew from the war and removed the “net”. If the Finns and Estonians had stayed with the Germans to the end, we would never have gone to the Baltic. Five boats were destroyed. "
When asked whether he would be able to come to the place of the submarine wreck, Pavel Kuzmin answered ambiguously: “Next time it will be simply impossible to come to this place privately. This place is 20 km from the coast, you need to hire a boat. And every exit means a lot of problems with the Estonian side. When we brought the wreaths, put them in the water and were already returning - an airplane flew in, flew over us, and on the shore the police were already waiting for us. Alas, our Estonian friends are not very loyal to us. They even forbade the Finns and the ship to make the last descent when it became clear that the Russians were with them. They hinted correctly - it is undesirable to be with the Russians ... But the Finns are great, they did everything they could. They helped until the Estonians found out that our divers were with them. They turned in one direction, the border guards approached the boat, looked at what was on board. If we were alone without the Finns, we would not have been allowed into this square at all. When the next day we were going to install a memorial plaque on the boat, the priests to sing the liturgy, we were already without the Finns - they apologized and said that they could not - their laws. Yes, they didn’t go to the conflict, so they said - "we still have to live and work here" and retreated. But they made a 3D model of the boat and they will give it to us.
And when we were already returning to Russia, we were literally “marinated” at the border for about 9 hours, despite the fact that my father is 78 years old. It was better not to speak at all for what reason and why we came here. "
Here is such a sign for installation at the site of the death of the crew prepared by the search engines
Will there be a reward for the heroes?
The participants of the "Bow to the Ships of the Great Victory" project support the initiative of posthumous awarding of all crew members of the legendary submarine Shch-408, which has not happened until now.
According to the St. Petersburg historian Maxim Puslis, the commander of the ship Pavel Kuzmin was presented to the Order of the British Empire 5th degree in 1943. This is the only award he has received. “Our command of the Baltic Fleet then considered it necessary,” says Maxim Puslis. - We have a lot of submariners awarded. There was a time when they awarded us, and we awarded them. The fact that now it is necessary to present all the dead sailors on this boat for a reward is not such a simple question, there, after all, 5 boats took part in the battles. If we talk about awarding at least some (I'm not talking about the "Hero of the Soviet Union"), then, most likely, the question should be raised about all these five boats, because they were all in the same conditions and four boats were killed. As for Sch-408 specifically, it has the highest award - a street in St. Petersburg named after Submariner Kuzmin, a museum exists. Everything else is legally practically impossible. There is a law on state awards, which clearly regulates how they are awarded in case of a posthumous award: only if completely new unknown data about the accomplished feat are revealed. And in this case, everything is known - everything is in the archives. But if we speak from a combat point of view, here the sailors did not fulfill their combat mission, the operation was a failure. But from the moral and ethical point of view, they are all worthy of awards, so that they know about their feat. We faced this last year, when the school and our museum turned to the State Duma and the Ministry of Defense ... All these submariners should be remembered, not just one boat. I think that it is necessary for all sailors to establish some kind of sign, and while their relatives are alive, it should be noted. And if we talk - we need to talk about everyone equally. Do not highlight anyone. All of them performed the same task - to break through communications and enter the Baltic Sea. Unfortunately, not a single boat was able to accomplish this. "
In the near future, the search engines have new tasks - to find two more submarines that are in the Russian waters of the Gulf of Finland.
“We want to continue cooperation with our Finnish and Estonian colleagues,” says Bogdanov. - And it doesn't matter now what kind of policy someone has - at the level of search teams, we have an absolute understanding. All this is much more important than any policy. Borders cannot and cannot be drawn along mass graves. The memory of this war is alive. It doesn't matter that now we are three different states. We gather, set ourselves a goal, search for ships and perpetuate the memory of the dead crews. "
The submarine Sch-408 was lost on May 22, 1943 in the Baltic Sea. The commander decided to flood it without surrendering to the enemy and not lowering the flag. Thus, this submarine repeated the feat of the legendary cruiser Varyag.
In 1944, by an edict of King George VI of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Lieutenant-Commander Pavel Kuzmin was awarded the title of Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire, V degree, with the posthumous award of the Order of the British Empire badge. But neither the commander nor the crew of the submarine were awarded Soviet state awards for their feat.
About the history of the submarine Shch-408, which repeated the feat of the cruiser Varyag, but did not have any Soviet awards for this, we are talking with the chairman of the board of the St. Petersburg Club of Submariners, Captain 1st Rank Igor Kurdin and Deputy Director of School No. 504, Head of the Memorial Hall of Fame dedicated to the feat of the crew of the submarine Shch-408, Marina Lukina.
- Igor Kirillovich, what kind of boat is this and why is its history important to us?
Igor Kurdin
- We had very large losses of submarines in the Baltic, nowhere was there such an echeloned effective anti-submarine defense: anti-submarine networks, and barriers, and support for ships, German submarines and aviation. But Soviet submariners constantly tried to break through these lines of defense. This boat is one of many who died there. And now the International Association of Submariners has taken the initiative to conclude an international treaty on the recognition of dead ships and submarines as fraternal graves, to mark them on maps to pay military honors by passing warships, and most importantly - to prohibit diving, equating them with plundering graves.
- Marina, how did it happen that you took up the history of this boat?
- This is an old story. Our school was founded in 1963, at the same time a museum was created, and not far from the school at that time lived the widow of the submarine commander Pavel Kuzmin, she came to us on holidays. And so enthusiasts, the first guides of that museum, graduates of 1985 came to us in 2013, but the museum had not survived by that time. And they donated a memorial hall to her for the 50th anniversary of the school. And I joined them and began to create this hall.
The submarine commanders understood that it was impossible to break through the unique engineering structures, that they were going to certain death.
Shch-406 - "Baltic" Varyag "died in 1943. I think the commanders understood that it was impossible to break through the unique engineering structures, that they were going to certain death. Of the five boats sent there, only one survived - Shch-303 of Commander Travkin ( he became the prototype for the hero of the film "Captain of the Happy Pike"). He escaped pursuit, lay down at the bottom and, in fact, led the enemy ships to the Kuzmin submarine: since he did not return, they sent Sch-408 next. There was a photographer on the Finnish ship that helped sink it - and the Finnish archives have a photograph of them throwing depth charges at the boat.
Lieutenant Commander Pavel Kuzmin, commander of the submarine Sch-408
The boat was chased for several days - at last it had to surface to recharge the battery. There were two German high-speed barges and two Finnish boats, which she tried to fight back with her 45-mm guns, and then went under water.
- Igor Kirillovich, is the situation with the U-408 submarine exceptional?
- Submarines are designed for submarine warfare, their main quality is stealth. If the boat has surfaced, it means that there is no other way out. Yes, it was necessary to charge the battery and accept a forced artillery battle, although its armament is weak against surface ships: only a miracle could save it. So many of our submarines were killed, which fought an unequal battle on the surface. Shch-408 is one of many, there is no uniqueness here. The boat lay down on the ground, they tried to repair it to the last, it literally crawled away, which is why it was found two kilometers from the alleged point of death.
- Can you really compare her feat with the feat of "Varyag"?
- Lieutenant Commander Kuzmin is one of many commanders. We have not had any cases of surrender. Yes, he surfaced, he saw that the battle would be unequal, that he would die, and he could surrender, be captured and possibly survive. We had a case when the Baltic boat "Esca" was blown up by a mine, the commander Sergei Lisin was thrown overboard, he was taken prisoner and already in captivity learned that he had been awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. But he perfectly understood that they simply did not know about the captivity, otherwise the performance would have been immediately withdrawn. Lisin was released, but he never held high positions again, although he was an outstanding submariner, because captivity is a stigma for life: the Russians do not surrender, a bullet in the forehead, that's all. But there was no fault of his!
The feat of Shch-408 was repeated by many boats, but, apparently, Kuzmin still stood out in some way, since his comrades in the 60s asked to name a street after him.
- Marina, you were engaged in the history of the boat and could not help but think about her lack of domestic awards. Do you think there are many such non-awarded heroes in Russia?
Copy of the Order of the British Empire V class
- I think a lot. But Kuzmin was presented among 40 other officers of the Baltic Fleet to be awarded the Order of the British Empire, V degree. A copy of this order is kept in our memorial hall, and the original is in the possession of Kuzmin's son.
- Igor Kirillovich, what did the British have to do with this boat?
- So after all during the war we, the USA and Great Britain were allies. The British recognized the great contribution of the Baltic Fleet to the fight against the Nazis, and they said: we are ready to reward your commanders and admirals. And this list appeared, approved by the General Staff of the Navy - more than 40 officers and admirals were awarded the Order of the British Empire, among them Kuzmin. When the decree on awarding was issued, Kuzmin died. But his widow was invited to the British Embassy and there they solemnly presented the order.
When asked why the crew does not have Soviet awards, we are often answered that if then there was a presentation of the command for rewarding, but for some reason it was not implemented, then it would be possible to reward now. We tried to explain that for the British award Kuzmin was represented by the Main Headquarters of the Navy, and that this is the basis for reviewing the case and awarding posthumously not only the commander, but the entire crew. But, unfortunately, the joint efforts of the Submariners' Club and the memorial hall have so far been fruitless.
- Marina, how did you try to stand up for the dead submariners?
- We wrote a letter to Defense Minister Shoigu and to the State Duma - they told us that they would study the issue and write explanations. But we didn’t wait for them. The guys and I do not lose hope - now we turned to Igor Kirillovich, we want to try to contact high authorities together.
- Igor Kirillovich, what do you think will work out?
The award is important to everyone - to relatives, friends of the crew members, and most importantly - to children.
- Our appeal remained unanswered, and now we want to appeal directly to the president. The award is important to everyone - to relatives, friends of the crew members, and most importantly - to children who have a heightened sense of justice. And they constantly ask: why weren't the sailors rewarded for the feat? And the feat is confirmed by the Finns who participated in the operation.
- Marina, you probably know a lot about Kuzmin and the crew members?
Marina Lukina
- For the relatives of these sailors, I am now a link with the sailors who lie at the bottom, and even on the territory of Estonia, which is no longer part of Russia. This also complicated the search for the boat. But still in 2016 she was found. I went to this place with my graduates and with a team of divers, invited my son and grandson Kuzmin. Divers descended to a depth of 70 meters, took photos and filmed. There was an action in memory, the descent of wreaths, the son was very moved and grateful to all the people who are engaged in this. He parted with his father at the age of three and now, in fact, first came to his grave.
I read many letters from Kuzmin to his wife, they are unusually touching, there is not a word about the war - feelings, experiences, hopes for a long, happy life after the war. The sailors' relatives called from the Vladimir region, from Chita, we went to the Podporozhsky region, where the cook was from, and met with his relatives. Coca's sister is 100 years old, she keeps portraits, puts flowers to "my Vassenka". These are 40 people, each has its own story, and everywhere they want to preserve their memory.
- Igor Kirillovich, you talked about unique, clearly insurmountable obstacles, so why did they send boat after boat there?
Memorial Hall of Fame of St. Petersburg School No. 504, dedicated to the feat of the crew of the submarine Shch-408
- This is a war, and often we suffered biased losses. It was clear that this defense could not be broken through, but the boats were sent to certain death. There was a period when the command of the submarine forces reported that this was an impossible task, and they agreed with them - for a while, and then it began again: to break through at any cost. Then the Germans wrote in their memoirs: we did not quite understand the desire of the Russians to break through the defenses, because it was impossible, and we think that they also understood this.
Now such a project has been created - "A bow to the ships of the great Victory", search operations are carried out with the support of the state. This is painstaking work in archives, including Swedish, Finnish, German. For the Submariners' Club, the first story was with the C-2 submarine, this is our only loss during the Finnish war. An international group of divers found this boat, and we found 17 families who went with us to Finland on the Åland Islands.
And here is the attitude: we asked the command to provide us with some kind of military ship, so that it would come to the point of death of the C-2 to give military honors. But, unfortunately, such an opportunity was not found, and the Finns allocated the ship! Their coast guard ship came there for a ceremony - the launching of a wreath, in the center of which is a peakless cap with the inscription "Baltic Fleet". And I with the naval attaché approached the commander of the Finnish coastal defense detachment and said: according to our tradition, we need to lower the flag and give three long beeps. Finn thought about it, and then said: we will do it. They understood that during the war they had sunk this boat, nevertheless they lined up the crew and performed the entire ceremony.
Another collision arose: on the one hand, it is forbidden to dive there, on the other, it is necessary to install a commemorative stainless steel plate at the bottom near the boat. The divers plunged, installed it - and then the boat of the naval police flew up, and everyone was arrested. Then the Finns called us, and we turned to the governor of the Aland Islands, and the divers were released from prison.
Several years ago in Sestroretsk there was a church of Peter and Paul - in memory of the fallen submariners. There is a wall of memory, and on it - 168 tablets with the numbers and names of the commanders of all boats who died in the war, or those where there were accidents with the death of personnel. Unexpectedly, the British naval attaché came to us and said that this year is 100 years since the end of the First World War, where the British and I were also allies. A joint Russian-British submarine squadron was operating in the Baltic Sea, commanded by an English captain of the 1st rank, who had previously made several daring attacks and drowned many German ships, one of the most prominent submariners of Great Britain during the First World War. For better interaction, each British submarine had three Russian sailors, and each Russian had three Englishmen.
The squadron acted very successfully, its commander was awarded three Russian orders. In memory of this, the British proposed to hold a joint conference, and we said that on the wall of memory in Sestroretsk there will also be one British submarine - E-18, which died in 1916 at the exit from Tallinn. Three Russian officers were killed there. Relatives of the killed British have installed a memorial plaque in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Tallinn: there are two crossed flags, English and Russian. The Estonians objected, but the British said: you did not die there, but the Russians did.
- Here's how it turns out: the British awarded the boat commander, the Finns gave military honors, and Russia did not even have a ship - are you not offended?
- If both our former allies and enemies appreciate the feat of submariners so much, perhaps our leaders should also think that there must be a retaliatory move. I am the only Soviet officer to be awarded the American Medal for Victory in the Cold War. It was handed to me by the four-star Admiral Bruce De Mars, who at the same time said: "We cold war did not win, and you did not lose it. ”This message appeared on our website - and they began to accuse me: on whose side you fought, but you would have accepted the iron cross of the Wehrmacht - this is me, a commander who made 15 military campaigns! This attitude must be changed, we must respect our opponents, otherwise we will inevitably lose.
- Marina, are you not offended that the crew of Sch-18 received honors and awards not from their own people, but from foreigners, even from former enemies?
The memory that people keep is the greatest reward
- Awards are on the conscience of officials, but the memory that people keep is the biggest award. Although there is a feeling of disappointment and pain for relatives, children and grandchildren, they are probably offended.
- Igor Kirillovich, how often do you think about the useless losses of the war?
- Yes, perhaps there were unjustified losses, when at any cost it was necessary to capture the height, the fortified area - as a rule, by some date. After all, we tried to take Berlin by May 1, and the losses in the Berlin operation were unnatural.
As you know, the cruiser "Aurora" took part in the Great Patriotic War. He stood in Oranienbaum, was damaged, sat on the ground, but remained on an even keel, his large cannons were removed and installed on Voronya Gora, participated in the defense of Leningrad, and the ship itself with anti-aircraft guns and machine guns was part of the city's air defense system. So, the captain of the Aurora, in order to avoid unnecessary losses, hid the crew in the dugouts during air raids, leaving only anti-aircraft and machine-gun crews on board. And there was some zealous boss who accused him of cowardice, the captain was betrayed by a military tribunal and shot. But after all, he is just the shore of people's lives, the combat effectiveness of the ship did not suffer in any way! I don't think there is any excuse for that. Now they like to blame everything on Stalin, but I think this is wrong, because there were specific people who wrote denunciations and passed such sentences.
As for the submarines, I still would not put myself in the shoes of those who sent them to certain death. At the same time, none of the commanders refused to go to sea, - the chairman of the board of the St. Petersburg Club of Submariners said in an interview with Radio Liberty. Igor Kurdin.
When navigation began in 1943, it turned out that the Germans had not wasted time. The Gulf of Finland was blocked by an anti-submarine net with a mesh diameter of 1 meter. In addition, many minefields were laid. As a result, access to the operational space in the Baltic became almost impossible for Soviet submarines. But it was very important to cut off the supply of iron ore to Germany from Scandinavia, so it was decided to try to break through the barrage lines with five submarines.
At first, Shch-303 went on the campaign, but she faced powerful opposition from the Germans and, having used up all the reserves, her commander decided to return. Since, due to the constant struggle with the anti-submarine forces of the Germans, he did not get in touch, the boat was considered dead and Sch-408, commanded by Pavel Kuzmin, went on the campaign.
Shch-408 was able to pass the first line of anti-submarine obstacles, but then, due to oil or fuel leakage, she was noticed from a Finnish aircraft, and besides, it turned out that the courses of the returning Shch-303 and going forward Shch-408 almost crossed near Vaindlo Island. On the tail of the Shch-303 were the anti-submarine ships of the Germans. As a result, three high-speed barges began to pursue the Sch-408.
The pursuit left the boat running out of batteries and air. At 2:50 am on May 22, 1943, the Pike surfaced in line of sight of the German ships and began an artillery battle with them. According to the reports of the Germans, they hit the bow of the boat and near the stern gun, and after he got into the area of the stern gun and his servants got into the place of the dead, other sailors got up and continued the battle, having hit the German ships.
The commander of Shch-408 Kuzmin, after rising to the surface, transmitted a radiogram to the headquarters:
“Attacked by PLO forces, I have damage. The enemy does not allow charging. I ask for aviation help. My place is Vayndlo. "
But aviation did not come to the rescue, according to reports, could not break through. And the submarine, after a ten-minute fierce battle, according to the Germans, sank down aft.
Then three more attempts were made to break through by submarines S-9, S-12 and Shch-406. All substrates died with crews, found in 2013 and 2017. After that, attempts to break through the obstacle in the Gulf of Finland during the navigation of 1943 were terminated.
In 2016, Sch-408 was found at a depth of 72 meters. The boat lies at the bottom on an almost level keel, with a raised stern, both guns are in a combat position, deployed to the port side, where the German ships were located. The commander's periscope remained raised, the conning tower and emergency hatches were closed, and the PPSh was in the wheelhouse. There are few damage from shelling, there are hits in the wheelhouse, in the place where the commander was supposed to be. Depth charge damage is also noticeable.
Judging by what was found by the divers, the submarine commander died during a night battle, as evidenced by the hole from the shell and the PPSh left behind.
The last mission of the crew was an attempt to find an exit to the Baltic Sea through minefields. According to historians, this was an impossible task. For many years the feat of the Shch-408 crew, which preferred to die, but not surrender to the enemy, was practically forgotten. And just recently, at the end of April, the submarine was discovered by search engines at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Our correspondent Julia Seferinkina reports from Estonia.
My place - Vayndlo - this was the last message received from the submarine "Shch-408". Vaindlo is an island in the territorial waters of Estonia. Not far from it, the submarine took an unequal battle and went under water forever without lowering its flag. After 73 years, it was possible to accurately determine the place of her death. It lies 20 kilometers from the Estonian coast, at a depth of 75 meters.
Last preparations on a small Estonian ship. To pay tribute to the memory of the submariners, search engines, priests and relatives of Pavel Kuzmin, the captain of the heroically lost submarine, go to the place of the sinking of "Shch-408". She was found at the bottom of the Baltic Sea just a few days ago. These shots are a unique opportunity not only to touch the history of the crew's feat, but also to better understand what the last hours of the life of the Soviet submarine were like.
Valery Kuzmin, son of Pavel Kuzmin:“I didn’t think I’ll see these shots in my lifetime. Feelings are different. And heavy on the one hand, because we see the place of death, there are people in this boat who died a rather heavy death, but for a just cause, young guys, more than 20 years old. "
Shcha-408, or as it is also called "Pike", set off on May 7, 1943, on her first and last combat campaign. Its task was to cross the Gogland anti-submarine line. On May 22, she passed a minefield and reached Vindloe Island. At this moment, the boat was discovered by the opponents. Trying to break away from the pursuit, she went deep. When the reserves of air and electric power were exhausted, Pavel Kuzmin gave the order to surface. This decision turned out to be so courageous that it is hard to believe - the captain at that time was only 29 years old.
Kirill Molodtsov, Deputy Minister of Energy:“For about half an hour, she received direct artillery engagement with three German landing barges, which were armed with 75 mm cannons, which was significantly higher than the armament of the submarine itself.”
The crew of the boat asked for help, but the sent aircraft could not break through the enemy. There was no chance of survival. But the sailors were not going to surrender to the enemy. Without throwing away the white flag, "Sch-408" went to the bottom. For two more days, the team fought with holes. Then everything was quiet.
Pavel Kuzmin, grandson of Pavel Kuzmin:“Pride for the submariners, for the people who at one time performed their feat, giving their lives for the sake of victory, for the sake of their state. And feelings are also overwhelmed in our time, when very few people remember the feat, they are trying to rewrite history, there are still people, enthusiasts, who are not sparing their time and money in search. "
"Sch-408" was not found the first time. Last year, the divers failed, as it turned out, because the pike is not in the place where it was supposed to be.
Konstantin Bogdanov, head of the search expedition "Bow to the ships of the Great Victory":“Its real location differs by two miles, that is, the boat most likely managed to escape the shelling and died there. We saw that the bow and stern guns were turned towards the left side, they were clearly not in the stowed position, the sights were in place, there were boxes with shells next to them, next to the team's personal weapons, a PPSh submachine gun ”.
Mikhail Ivanov, researcher diver:“The boat is in an unusual condition, because almost all the boats that died in the Gulf of Finland were blown up by mines, they are in the stowed position, everything is closed and a big hole is visible, but here it is alive, it is clear that it was fighting, it’s all so frozen moment of history ".
The place where the boat died is considered a mass grave. 40 people are buried here. Now all over Orthodox traditions- Russian priests served a requiem here. And the son and grandson of Pavel Kuzmin will take away from here a flask with the water of the Baltic Sea, which has become the last refuge of the crew.
The feat of the submariners has already been immortalized in history. In St. Petersburg there is a memorial hall "Shch-408", which contains photographs and letters of the crew members. Next to the museum is Subvodnik Kuzmin Street, named after the boat's captain. Thanks to underwater filming, in the future, there will be three te model "Shch-408" with all the details and damage, and then it will be possible to accurately reconstruct the course of the tragic events in May 1943.
