The tragic fate of the "Joseph Stalin" turbo electric ship that was blown up and abandoned in a minefield was kept silent for forty-eight years. The few publications usually ended with the message: ships of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet are leaving the liner with more than 2500 people on it! - defenders of Hanko
Participants' stories
At the end of November 1941, the steamer "Vakhur" moored at the iron wall of the Leningrad port under the command of Captain Sergeev. Its deck and holds were filled with soldiers who had arrived from the Hanko Peninsula, where our military base was located. The enemy was targeting our targets on this piece of Baltic land, and the covert transportation of parts was becoming more and more difficult.
Military technician of the second rank Mikhail Ivanovich Voitashevsky:
- I arrived at Hanko with my comrades who had previously graduated from civilian institutes, former cadets: Mikhailov, Martyan, Marchenko, Molchanov. We built an airfield, underground shelters for people and aircraft.
They did not know that we had to leave Hanko until the day of the last evacuation. Our battalion, as part of the consolidated regiment, left among the rear. Without noise, all the equipment of the base was destroyed or rendered unusable. Locomotives and carriages were thrown into the water. They took only weapons, ammunition and food. On December 1, 1941, at dawn, they began to load onto the I. Stalin turbo electric passenger ship, which was standing at the wall. The rest of the ships were in the roadstead. The enemy apparently detected the landing and began shelling the port. We received an order to hide on the shore. We were loaded on the next day, when "I. Stalin" with the number of military transport "VT-501" was in the roads. We, officers, were warned: “In case of shelling or explosions, stay put. The vessel is overloaded and it is dangerous to navigate”.
The caravan set off on the night of December 2–3. On the liner, not counting the team, according to the commander of the Khanko base S. I. Kabanov, there were 5,589 Khankovites. The commander of the liner was Captain 1st Rank Evdokimov, the commissar was Captain 2nd Rank Kaganovich, and the captain was Nikolai Sergeevich Stepanov. My platoon took over a three-man cabin.
In the middle of the night there was a violent explosion. The electric light went out. The soldiers jumped up and rushed to the exit, but I had already closed the doors and ordered everyone to stay where they were.
After a while, the light turned on, but soon there was a second explosion stronger than the first. The light went out again. In the dark, under the onslaught of the soldiers, I found myself on the deck. It was a complete mess here. People rushed about the ship, not understanding what had happened. The ship shuddered from the third explosion. The wounded moaned and shouted. Distraught people filled lifeboats, jumped overboard. The hoists of one boat got stuck. The boat stood upright, and people fell out of it into the water. A firefight began. Some shot themselves. It was difficult to understand what was happening and what needed to be done. One comrade in a leather jacket was holding two life buoys in his hands. I simultaneously grabbed the circle with someone, but could not master it.
Warships began to approach "I. Stalin", to which the wounded were transferred. The destroyer "Slavny" approached the bow of the ship, tried to take us in tow, but the ship again stumbled upon a mine. An explosion of great force tore the bow of the ship, and it began to sink faster. I was shell-shocked and fell to the deck.
The feed was torn off earlier. Only the middle of the ship survived, filled with dead, alive and wounded.1740 people, most of the wounded, were taken aboard warships for three hours, in the darkness of frosty stormy weather. The minesweepers, the destroyer and the boats left overcrowded, people stood close to each other. It was scary to look into the holds of the ship. Among the crates shattered by shells, interspersed with sacks of flour, floated the mutilated corpses of soldiers and commanders.
The capture of Soviet servicemen who survived the disaster of the liner "Joseph Stalin". The photo was taken from a German ship.
Captain 1st Rank L. E. Rodichev:
- The fifth detachment under the command of Vice-Admiral V. P. Drozd was supposed to complete the evacuation of our troops from Hanko before the ice became on the gulf.
… On December 2 at 21.25 we weighed anchor. Three minesweepers marched in front of the ledge. Behind them, forming the second row, were followed by two more minesweepers, followed by the flagship, the destroyer Stoyky. Following were the I. Stalin turbo-electric ship, the Slavny destroyer, the minesweeper without a trawl and the Yamb boat. The detachment was accompanied by seven boats of sea hunters and four torpedo boats.
I was on the bridge of the Slavny destroyer. A northeastern frosty wind burned his face. Excitement 5-6 points. Behind the stern, on Hanko, the city and port were ablaze.
On December 3 at 00.03, at the signal from the Stoyky flagship, according to the approved route, they changed the course from 90 to 45 degrees. Within five minutes after turning, three minesweepers were killed by explosions of mines. A hasty replacement began.
… At 01.14, at a change of course, "I. Stalin" left the swept strip, a mine explosion was heard near the left side of the turbo-electric ship. The very first explosion disabled the rudder control automatics. The vessel began to move along a curve and, leaving a swept strip, by inertia entered the minefield. Two minutes later, a second mine exploded from the starboard side of the liner. Dodging floating mines and pushing them away with poles, the Slavny destroyer approached the starboard side of I. Stalin at a distance of 20-30 meters.
… 01.16. The explosion of a mine under the stern of a turbo electric ship drifting in the wind. From the destroyer they shouted to the liner: "Anchor!"
… 01.25. A radiogram was received from the detachment commander from the destroyer Stoyky: "To the commander of Glorious, take the turbo-electric ship in tow."
… 01.26. The fourth mine explosion at the nose of the liner. From "I. Stalin" they said: "The windlass and anchors have been torn off, we cannot anchor!" The destroyer "Glorious", pushing off the floating mines with poles, anchored. The turbo-electric ship continued to drift southeast through the minefield.
… 01.48. The base minesweeper arrived to the rescue from the destroyer "Steadfast". By the explosion of a mine, his right paravan (Paravan is an underwater vehicle for protecting the ship from anchor contact mines. Hereinafter, the author's note.) Is disabled.
… 02.44. The destroyer "Glorious" weighed anchor and in reverse began to approach the liner, which had drifted for 1.5 miles, to feed the towing cable. Finding a floating mine behind the stern, "Glorious" made a move forward. The mine was thrown by the movement of water from under the propellers.
… 03.25. The Finnish battery Makiluoto opened artillery fire on our ships. A tow rope was started to be supplied to the turbo electric ship from the Slavny. At this moment, one of the enemy's shells hit the bow hold of the liner. In the hold were shells and sacks of flour, on which the soldiers were sitting. The explosion of a heavy projectile and detonating ammunition was terrible. A column of flame from the burning flour rose above "I. Stalin". The nose of the turbo-electric ship sank even deeper into the water. It was no longer possible to tow the liner.
Having learned about the incident on the radio, Vice-Admiral Drozd ordered all ships and boats to remove the fighters. The minesweepers began to receive people from Stalin. Strong excitement interfered. Two more minesweepers came to the rescue from the flagship destroyer Stoyky.
With the onset of day, an enemy air raid could be expected, and our detachment received an order: to follow to Gogland! Behind, in a minefield, there was a wounded turbo-electric ship.
Chief of the construction battalion Anatoly Semenovich Mikhailov:
- After the explosions of mines and detonated shells, those who could push their way to the side began to jump on the overcrowded minesweepers who approached. People crashed, fell between the sides of the ships into the water. The alarmists were shot at point-blank range, and the minesweepers were forced to retreat.
Order on the ship, in these desperate conditions, was hardly put in place by the commandant of the transport "I. Stalin" Lieutenant-Commander Galaktionov (After captivity Galaktionov disappeared, according to rumors, was repressed.), Who commanded 50 armed Red Navy men with machine guns.
As A. S. Mikhailov testifies and as confirmed by the headquarters of the KBF, only 1,740 people were able to remove from the liner. But after all, about 6,000 people were loaded onto the turbo electric ship from Hanko, according to various sources. Apart from the dead, more than 2,500 injured and healthy defenders of Hanko remained in the holds. Where did the rest go?
About 50 sailors of the merchant fleet, by order of the liner captain Stepanov and with the permission of Vice-Admiral Drozd, prepared a lifeboat by 05.00 in the morning.
Captain Stepanov gave his Browning to subkeeper D. Esin.
- Tell the authorities. I cannot leave the fighters. I'll be with them until the end. I appoint Primak's second mate as the senior on the boat. I handed him all the documents.
Pyotr Makarovich Beregovoy, turbine operator of the I. Stalin machine command:
- It was impossible to get out of the car where I was on the upper deck. All the aisles are packed with people. I got out along the staple ladder laid inside the chimney, opened the door and jumped into the radio room. Having squeezed to the side, I saw the commander of the ship Evdokimov and Captain Stepanov standing nearby. Captain Stepanov himself hunted the hoist, lowered the first boat. On an emergency alert, I was assigned to the first boat and told the captain about it. Stepanov said nothing. The boat, swaying, was already hanging below, and I, without hesitation, jumped into it. Shouts and shots rang out from behind, someone fell into the water. The boat moved away from the side.
Later we were picked up and taken to Kronstadt by the Red Banner Baltic Fleet ships.
Warships departed from "I. Stalin". On the broken liner, through the efforts of the mechanics, the pumps continued to work tirelessly, pumping water from the broken compartments. At dawn, the enemy again fired at the liner, but quickly ceased fire.
During the shelling, someone on the upper superstructure threw out a white sheet, but he was immediately shot.
Without waiting for help, the liner commander, captain 1st rank Evdokimov and captain Stepanov gathered in the wardroom all the commanders of the units on the ship - about twenty people.
Artillery battery commander Nikolai Prokofievich Titov:
- At the meeting, besides other commanders, the ship's commandant, Lieutenant-Commander Galaktionov, was also present.
We discussed two issues:
1. Open the kingstones and go to the bottom together with 2500 surviving soldiers.
2. Everyone leave the ship and swim to the shore, which is 8-10 kilometers.
Considering that not only the wounded, but even the healthy could not withstand more than 15-20 minutes in the icy water, the second option was considered equivalent to the first.
I, as the youngest, inexperienced in life, patriotically brought up in school, took the floor:
“The Baltic people don’t give up,” I said.
- More specifically, - said Evdokimov.
- Open the kingstones and go all to the bottom, - I specified.
Silence reigned, after which the ship's commander Evdokimov took the floor.
- No one is to blame for what happened to us. We are not alone, we have people on the ship, and you cannot decide for them.
You are the passengers, and I, as the commander, alone will be responsible for your lives under the maritime laws to the government. What Comrade Titov suggests is not the best way. I think we need to get down to business. Those killed on deck should be betrayed by sea according to the custom of the sea. Help the wounded, warm them up, give them hot water. Tie everything that is buoyant into rafts. Maybe someone will get to the partisans at night.
Stepanov agreed with Evdokimov.
M. I. Voitashevsky:
-… Soon the drifting liner drove to a shallow place. The vessel lost its stability even more. Under the blows of the waves, it crawled along the shallows, falling on one side or the other. In order not to tip over, we continuously went from side to side and dragged heavy boxes with shells with us.
By morning, everyone was exhausted. A prickly frosty wind pierced. The storm intensified. Suddenly, the liner slipping from the shallow bank tilted dangerously. The remaining crates flew overboard. Leveling the roll, everyone who could move moved to the opposite side, but the roll did not decrease. Then they decided to throw a heavy reserve anchor overboard. They took the anchor and dragged as best they could. Only at dawn did they manage to push him into the water. Either the ship itself ran aground, or the anchor helped, the list decreased.
The wounded were still groaning. Most of them waited, believed, hoped: "brothers will not leave, they will help out."
On Gogland, in fact, they did not forget either about the liner or about its passengers, but most likely for the reason indicated in the article by VN Smirnov “Torpedo for“I. Stalin”. After all, the liner bore the name of the great leader. If the ship with people dies, no one from the highest echelon of power will reproach the sailors, but if the Germans seize the liner and take 2,500 soldiers prisoner, trouble is inevitable. The fear of punishment was probably the chief arbiter. The question was solved simply: what is more important - the inscription of the leader's name on the ship or the life of 2,500 of his soldiers and officers? Outweighed - the inscription.
Captain 1st rank retired, Hero of the Soviet Union Abram Grigorievich Sverdlov:
- In 1941, with the rank of senior lieutenant, I was the flight commander of the large wooden torpedo boats D-3 numbered 12 and 22. After the acceptance of two more boats from the factory, the 32nd and 42nd, I was appointed commander of the 1st detachment 2- 1st division of the brigade of torpedo boats.
The evacuation of the Hanko base ended on December 2, 1941. The base commander, Major General S. I. Kabanov and his headquarters on boats 12, 22 and 42, were the last to leave.
A storm wind of 7 points and snow charges made it difficult for the boats to move towards Gogland. When passing the Porkkala-Uud area, mines were observed at the location of the convoy.
At dawn on December 5, the commander of the Gogland water area guard (OVR), Captain 1st Rank Ivan Svyatov, ordered us to attack and drown the I. Stalin turbine electric ship drifting in the Tallinn area, near the island of Ae-gno, with two large D-3 boats. One I-16 aircraft was allocated for escort. The 12th and 22nd boats were ordered to carry out the order. The 22nd boat was commanded by senior lieutenant Yakov Belyaev.
The operation was extremely dangerous. The turbo-electric ship drifted near the enemy's artillery batteries. The Germans in the daytime would not allow Soviet torpedo boats to run under their noses. But an order is an order and must be carried out. It was stormy, the boats were flooded with waves, and the snow was blinding. I had to slow down. Abeam Roadsher Lighthouse received a radiogram: "Come back!" He did not explain the motives for which Svyatov gave the order and then canceled it.
So, four torpedoes, still on boats, were moving towards the target - the I. Stalin turbo-electric ship, filled with their soldiers, Red Navy men and officers who were waiting for help.
Let us recall the four torpedoes directed by the commander of the Soviet submarine, Alexander Marinesko, at the giant enemy liner "Wilhelm Gustlov". Three of them hit the target and drowned more than 7 thousand people along with the ship. That was the enemy, and now - our own, the Russians in trouble, the heroes of Hanko.
Private, machine gunner Anatoly Chipkus:
- Upon the return of the boat crews to Gogland, a rumor quickly spread in the garrison of the island that our torpedo boats were ordered to attack and sink the liner I. Stalin. The reasons for this order were explained in different ways. Some said: because of the name of the ship. Others argued that the Germans did not get shells and flour. Some were indignant, but there were also those who declared: this does not concern us. How many people remained on the liner, no one knew. The majority explained the reason for the failure to complete the task by a breakdown of the engine on one of the boats, by a storm and the proximity of the drifting turbo-electric ship to the artillery batteries of the Germans. Some said that the boatmen did not torpedo the ship because they did not want to sink their own.
M. I. Voitashevsky:
- After the meeting of commanders on "I. Stalin" people tried to leave the ship by any means. The soldiers made a raft from the logs lying on the deck. “The raft is needed to cross the ships that will come for us,” the soldiers explained. They lowered the finished raft into the water, and then, having given up the ropes, left the ship. The fate of this raft and of the people on it remained unknown. The second group hammered together with bayonets and tied a small raft with their belts. On it, together with my friend A. S. Mikhailov, the fighters began to jump.
A. S. Mikhailov:
- We easily lowered the raft - the water was almost at the level of the upper deck. Dozens of people jumped on the raft. The unstable structure shook and many fell into the water. When we left the ship, 11 people remained on the raft. During the eight-hour drift to the Estonian coast, the raft was turned over several times. Those who had the strength, with the help of comrades, got out of the icy water. Six numb people in wet clothes, huddled in a tight lump of people, reached the shore. Unknown persons armed with machine guns picked us up, took us to a warm room, warmed us with boiling water and handed us over to the Germans.
M. I. Voitashevsky:
- On December 5, at about 10 o'clock in the morning, ships were noticed from "I. Stalin". Whose?! There were German minesweepers and two schooners. Many tore documents and even money. The water around the ship was white with papers.
The nearest German minesweeper asked: can the ship move independently? Nobody answered. We could not move. The Germans began to moor to the "I. Stalin". With machine guns at the ready, they got on the liner. The command was given through the interpreter: to hand over your personal weapon. Whoever does not surrender will be shot. The first minesweeper took captain 1st rank Evdokimov, ship captain Stepanov, commanders and political workers, electrician Onuchin and his wife, barmaid Anna Kalvan.
Me and my friends, military technicians Martiyan and Molchanov, were dressed in the uniform of Red Navy men and got on the second minesweeper as privates. They took us to Tallinn, took away knives, razors, belts and drove us into the basement of a building in the port, where my other comrades and junior political instructor Oniskevich were found. At the end of the same day, our group - about 300 people - was sent under strong guard by rail to the Estonian city of Viljandi.
It was still dark in Viljandi when we were driven to a prisoner of war camp located in the center of the city. The first barbed wire gate opened and, letting us in and the guards in, closed. There was another closed gate ahead, and we entered the camp. Incomprehensible shadows quickly moved in a circle, fell into the snow and stood up again. The shadows were exhausted prisoners of war.
From that day on, continuous horror and many years of inhuman suffering in fascist dungeons began …
An epidemic of typhus began in the camp. Patients with high fever were “treated with sanitization”. They drove them under an ice shower, after which rare "lucky ones" survived out of hundreds. My friend Martyan died immediately after taking a shower, resting his head on my weakened hands.
The next camp, where we were transferred, was a real hell. Life has lost all value. Police chief Chaly and his assistant Zaitsev, for any reason and without a reason, together with their team, beat the exhausted people, set the shepherd dogs on. The prisoners lived in dugouts, which they built themselves. They were fed with gruel made of rotten unwashed potatoes without salt.
Hundreds of prisoners died every day. My friend Sergei Molchanov also passed away. During the year, out of 12,000 prisoners of war, less than 2,000 remained. (The Germans motivated the inhuman treatment of Soviet prisoners of war in comparison with prisoners from other countries by the non-adherence of the USSR to the 1929 Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War (Germany signed the convention in 1934). The USSR did not sign the convention from - for the negative attitude of the Soviet government (Stalin, Molotov, Kalinin) to the very possibility of capturing Soviet soldiers and officers. In addition, the government believed that if a war broke out, it would be fought on enemy territory and there would be no conditions for capturing Soviet soldiers. However, only by the end of 1941, the Germans captured 3.8 million of our soldiers and officers.)
In April 1944, American troops approached our last camp in western Germany. A group of 13 prisoners decided to flee. We crawled to the camp fence, cut a hole in the barbed wire with pliers, and headed for the nearest military barracks that the retreating Germans had left behind. A food pantry was found in them and a feast was held. We barely got out of the barracks, loaded with biscuits and marmalade, when bullets whistled around. We hid in the bushes. I felt a blow and pain in my left arm. After a while, he lost consciousness from loss of blood. As it turned out later, SS men returning from the city fired at us. The officer ordered all the fugitives to be shot.
Our doctor, who spoke German, began to prove to the officer that there was no law on the execution of the wounded in Germany. A German soldier, a medical student at the University of Berlin, joined his arguments. The officer agreed and ordered two wounded to be transferred to the barracks, and eleven fugitives to be shot …
On August 25, 1945, I was discharged to a camp for repatriated prisoners of war, where I was declared unfit for military service, my arm had grown together incorrectly and hung like a whip.
The next check I took place in the Pskov region, at the station Opukhliki. In this camp, former prisoners of war were tested most severely.
In October 1945, as a disabled person, I was sent to Kiev, from where I was drafted into the Navy. The military registration and enlistment office did not register me, since I did not work anywhere, and they did not hire me because of the mark: "I was in captivity" …
Of the living comrades whom I knew from "I. Stalin", Mikhailov was the only one left. He passed away in 1989.
Sergeant major of the 1st article of the surveillance and communication service (SNIS) Nikolai Timofeevich Donchenko:
- At that time I was an orderly for the commander of the Hanko defense forces, Major General S. I. Kabanov. The general had to go on the I. Stalin turbo-electric ship. A cabin was prepared for him, but he went with the headquarters on torpedo boats. I and the last minute before leaving with the general's suitcase, which contained the documents and seals of the headquarters, were taken to the liner by a torpedo boat. I remember that during the second explosion the anchor blew off. Chains and cables, twisting, hooked and threw people into the water, broke their arms and legs. Explosions tore apart the fireproof safe, and where I was, money strewn the deck. Stormy. It was dark and cloudy. Nobody knew where he was taking us. After we killed the senior radio operator who was transmitting distress signals, by order of Stepanov, we destroyed all the equipment in the radio room.
At dawn on the third day of the drift, the Paldiski lighthouse appeared in the distance. Under the groans of the wounded, they began to prepare machine guns for the last battle. The enemy's artillery battery fired at the ship, but soon fell silent. Captain Stepanov commanded the ship until the last minute. When the German ships appeared, he ordered me to sink the suitcase with the headquarters documents. I broke the lid of the suitcase with the general's nagant and threw it along with documents, seals and a revolver into the water.
After the Germans took the commanders away, they sent the foremen and privates to the Tallinn Merchant Harbor. Fifty sailors, including myself, were transported separately.
In the morning, everyone who could move was lined up to be sent to the station. We were surrounded by a crowd, some blond guy, turning around, forcefully threw a stone at the Russians. The stone hit the head of the young Red Army soldier Sergei Surikov from the first company of the second battalion, bandaged with bandages. Surikov was a believer and prayed secretly at night. They laughed at the quiet, incredibly kind soldier, under the tacit encouragement of his superiors. Only the soldier Stepan Izyumov, who was supporting the now weakened Surikov, knew that his father and older brother, “believers and alien elements,” had been shot in Stalin's camps … on falsetto, in a voice unexpectedly loudly sang a prayer verse from the Holy Scriptures. The crowd quieted down. And in the line of prisoners who knew suffering and humiliation, no one laughed.
Fate with Surikov decreed in its own way. He survived Nazi captivity and ended up in Stalin's camps.
I went through fascist death camps in Estonia, Poland, Prussia. While unloading coal on one of the steamers, one of the hungry prisoners of war stole food from the ship's crew. The SS men lined up all those who worked and shot every tenth. I was the ninth and survived.
I tried to escape from a camp in Poland. They caught me and beat me half to death with ramrods. When I remember the past, not only my hands are shaking, but the whole body …
The torpedo operator of the first brigade of torpedo boats Vladimir Fedorovich Ivanov:
- The ship drove very close to the Estonian coast. Only after the war, during a meeting with the Khankovites, I learned that this drift saved our liner from torpedoing. The turbo-electric ship was off the coast at gunpoint of enemy batteries.
From Estonia the Germans took us to Finland. The Finns separated the commanders from the privates. Sent to restore work on the destroyed Hanko. We tried to move to the village to the peasants, from where it was easier to escape. Together with Viktor Arkhipov they went over to the peasants. In the village, the Finns wanted to beat me for an unbecoming attitude to work and agitation. Victor grabbed a pitchfork and drove the peasants away. After the skirmish, a Finnish officer came to the village and threatened to be shot.
Filippova, Maslova, Makarova and me were separated from other prisoners in a penal camp, where we stayed until the conclusion of peace with Finland.
I passed the state political check in the camp of the NKVD of the USSR No. 283, the city of Bobrin, Moscow region. After that, as an amateur artist, I tried to enter an art school, but because of captivity I was not accepted.
After the war, it became known that the Germans from "I. Stalin" handed over to the Finns about 400 Soviet prisoners of war for the restoration of Hanko. The Finns adhered to international laws on the humane treatment of prisoners of war and fed them tolerably. After Finland left the war, all prisoners of war returned to their homeland.
The Finns also saved the life of the Hero of the Soviet Union, the commander of the submarine Lisin. When the boat exploded, he was thrown overboard. The Germans demanded to hand over Lisin to the Gestapo, but the Finns did not obey.
And what happened to the captain of the ship, Nikolai Sergeevich Stepanov?
Chairman of the Council of Veterans of the Baltic Shipping Company Vladimir Nikolaevich Smirnov:
- Brave, smart, enjoying great prestige in the Baltic Shipping Company, he was not a military man. Electrical mechanic Aleksey Onuchin and his wife Anna Kalvan said that Stepanov had been sawing firewood in the port since December 1941 and was a pilot. He, through Onuchin and Kalvan, transmitted data on the transport of troops and cargo of the Germans. Feeling no guilt in himself, he waited for the arrival of the Soviet units.
With the entry of our troops into Tallinn, Captain Nikolai Sergeevich Stepanov disappeared.
According to NP Titov, he was immediately shot by the "faithful servants" of the people.
There were many rumors about the fate of the liner commander, Captain 1st Rank Evdokimov, but nothing definite could be found. According to Voitashevsky and other prisoners of war, he was in a Nazi concentration camp, and then also disappeared.
Onuchin and his wife Anna Kalvan survived and worked in Tallinn for a long time. According to data for 1990, Anna Kalvan died, and Onuchin was seriously ill and lost his memory.
Captain Stepanov's son Oleg Nikolaevich Stepanov:
- The last time I saw my father was on November 16, 1941. My father was getting ready for a voyage, and that day I defended my diploma in mechanical engineering at the Institute of Water Transport Engineers. Shortly before that, the father took a picture, In the photo he is 53 years old. November 1941 was tragic. Leningrad is under siege, the Gulf of Finland is strewn with mines. My father and I had a premonition: we will see each other for the last time.
What happened to the liner I. Stalin itself, which for many years, broken, half-flooded, sat on the stones near the port of Paldiski?
Captain 1st rank (retired) Evgeny Vyacheslavovich Osetsky:
- The last time I saw a turbo electric ship, or rather its remains, was in 1953. At that time I was in command of the ships of the auxiliary fleet of the Tallinn port. They tried to cut the corroded body into metal, but they found shells stacked in layers with sacks of flour. Above lay the decayed bodies of Hanko's defenders. The soldiers removed the dead, cleared the shell of the ship and cut the hull into metal. I don’t know where the dead were buried.
In an attempt to torpedo the liner "I. Stalin" with soldiers, Red Navy men and officers, there is still a lot of unclear …
