"Crushing" is one of the most disliked themes of our historians. If possible, then they generally prefer not to remember her once again. If the latter fails, then they talk about "Crushing" casually and quickly. There are plenty of reasons for such persistent dislike. For a long time, nothing was written about "Crushing" at all. The disgraced destroyer was mentioned only in the memoirs of the commander of the Northern Fleet during the Great Patriotic War, Admiral Golovko.
The destroyer "Crushing" belonged to the series of destroyers of the "7" project. The destroyers of the project "7" (or, as they are usually called, "sevens") rightfully occupy a prominent place in our naval history. And it is not surprising - after all, they were active participants in the Great Patriotic War, were the most massive Soviet surface ships built in the 30s, several generations of Russian destroyers, large missile ships and even cruisers trace their ancestry from the Sevens. One type 7 destroyer became a Guards destroyer, and four became Red Banner destroyers. At the same time, a lot of contradictory things have been said and written about them. This is especially true of the military operations of the "sevens" during the war years - here real, often tragic events were replaced by legends for a long time. There were always a lot of rumors about the tragic death of the destroyer "Crushing". The first six "sevens" were laid at the end of 1935, and the next year - and all the rest. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet Navy had 22 destroyers of the "Wrathful" class. These were our most massive pre-war ships.
The destroyer "Crushing" was built at the plant No. 189 named after S. Ordzhonikidze. Serial number C-292. Laid down on 1936-29-10, launched on 1937-23-08, acceptance certificate signed on 1939-13-08. Soon after commissioning, it was transferred through the White Sea-Baltic Canal (September - November 1939) to the Northern Fleet. In November, the destroyer arrived at Polyarny. During the war with Finland, he carried out patrol and convoy service, then was engaged in combat training. From July 18, 1940 to July 4, 1941, it underwent a warranty repair at the plant number 402 in Molotovsk. In total, before the start of the Great Patriotic War, he covered 10,380 miles.
After the completion of the sea trials, the "Crushing" was included in the White Sea flotilla, where it remained until September 29. During this time, he escorted transports several times, made 3 mine laying (installed 90 mines of KB-1 and 45 mines of the 1908 model), underwent short-term preventive maintenance.
On October 1, the "Crushing" arrived at Polyarny and became part of a separate destroyer division.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Northern Fleet was the youngest and smallest, but at the same time the most active operational formation of our Navy. By June 1941, its largest ships were precisely the "seven". Five destroyers of this type ("Loud", "Grozny", "Thundering", "Swift" and "Crushing") together with three "noviks" made up the 1st separate destroyer battalion. At the end of 1942, with the arrival of the Pacific "Reasonable", "Enraged" and the leader "Baku", a destroyer brigade was formed (commander - captain 1st rank, then rear admiral, PI Kolchin).
Until January 1, 1942, he went out 11 times to fire at enemy positions, firing 1297 130-mm shells. In addition, together with the "Grozny" and the British cruiser "Kent" participated in the search for German destroyers (albeit without results), escorted transports. The most difficult campaign was a joint escort operation with "Grozny" on December 24-26. During a 9-point storm with a 7-point wave and strong icing of the superstructures, the roll of the ship reached 45 °, and because of the salinity of the refrigerator, for some time it was necessary to go on one TZA. By some miracle, the ships escaped major damage. This time, "Crushing" just got lucky and made it to the base.
On March 28, after the completion of the scheduled preventive maintenance, "Crushing" together with the "Thundering" and the British destroyer "Oribi" went out to meet the convoy PQ-13, and in the morning of the next day they entered its escort. At 11:18 am, in poor visibility, gunfire was heard, and after 2 minutes, bursts from five artillery shells rose at the left side of the "Crushing". After 6-7 seconds, 3 more shells fell on the bow and stern. The destroyer has increased its speed. A few seconds later, at a course angle of 130 ° and a distance of 15 cables, the silhouette of a ship identified as a German destroyer of the Raeder class was discovered. "Crushing" opened fire and with the second salvo achieved a cover with a shell hitting the area of the enemy ship's second pipe. He got tired and turned sharply to the left. Our destroyer made 4 more volleys in pursuit, but no more hits were observed. The flowing snow charge hid the enemy from sight. In total, "Crushing" fired 20 130-mm shells.
Sailors of the Soviet destroyer of Project 7 "Crushing" with a ship's pet, the area of bow torpedo tubes, nose view. Northern Fleet
This fleeting battle occupies a prominent place in the history of Soviet naval art, since it is the only episode in the entire Great Patriotic War when our surface warship collided with an enemy of its own class and even emerged from it as a winner. The German destroyer Z-26 is usually indicated as the enemy of the "Crushing". Recently, however, materials have appeared in print in which other versions are put forward. So, the authors of a number of publications, rightly pointing out that by the moment described, the Z-26 was badly damaged and was fired back from the cruiser Trinidad from the only surviving gun, and the Z-24 and Z-25 circling around the convoy were far enough from the place of the skirmish, express the hypothesis that the "Crushing" was fighting … the English destroyer "Fury". This seems unlikely, since hitting the allied destroyer (by the way, which arrived in Murmansk the next day) would certainly have been reflected both in documents and in historical literature. It is more logical to assume that Z-26 served as a target for the gunmen of the "Crushing", only that the fire on the Soviet destroyer was fired by someone else, since the first 5-gun salvo could not have been fired by any of the destroyers in the vicinity (both British and German the ships had 4 main guns each). By the way, the report of the commander of the "Crushing" says nothing about the Germans firing. So the two volleys that fell at the side could well belong to the same cruiser Trinidad, which mistook the Crushing and Thundering for the Z-24 and Z-25. In any case, there is no unambiguous explanation of some inconsistencies in the Soviet, German and English descriptions of this battle.
In April, the "Crushing", while guarding convoys, repeatedly repelled air attacks, again suffered a 9-10-point storm. under lend-lease. However, lack of fuel forced "Crushing" after 8 hours to go to base. Having replenished the supply of fuel oil, "Crushing" on the evening of May 1 returned to the location of the cruiser, but, alas, it was too late. Six hours before the approach of the destroyer "Edinburgh" was sunk. Later, the British complained that the Soviet destroyers abandoned their damaged cruiser at the most difficult moment. These claims had nothing to do with the commander of the "Crushing" and his crew and were entirely related to the command of the Northern Fleet, which, when planning the operation, did not take into account the fuel reserves and their consumption on their ships.
On May 8, the "Crushing" sailed twice into the Ara Bay to fire at coastal targets. According to intelligence, both attacks were successful and inflicted some damage on the enemy. The second campaign, however, almost ended in tragedy. During the shelling of coastal targets, the "Crushing" suddenly attacked at once 28 German aircraft. The destroyer managed to urgently unfasten the anchor chain (there was no time to choose the anchor) and, successfully maneuvering, avoided hits from the bombs that rained down on him. At the same time, the ship's anti-aircraft gunners managed to shoot down one bomber from a 37-mm machine gun.
Torpedo tube 39-Yu of one of the destroyers of the Northern Fleet ("Crushing")
From 28 to 30 May, "Crushing" together with "Grozny" and "Kuibyshev" was guarded by the allied convoy PQ-16. The convoy transports were subjected to massive attacks by fascist bombers and torpedo bombers all this time. On May 29, in just one attack, the Germans dropped 14 torpedoes on the ships of the convoy, but none of them hit the target, but the Focke-Wulf torpedo bomber was shot down by a 76-mm shell from the Shattering one from a distance of 35 cables. The next day, another plane, this time a Junkers-88, was destroyed by a direct hit from a 76-mm destroyer shell, and two others were damaged. And here the "Crushing" team was the best of the best. As for the destroyer's anti-aircraft gunners, they were rightfully considered the best in the entire Northern Fleet. On the evening of May 30, the convoy's transports, reliably covered by our destroyers, safely reached the Kola Bay.
On July 8, Crushing and Thundering were heading towards the infamous PQ-17 convoy. On the way, the destroyers got into floating 4-point ice. Forced to slow down to a small speed and deprived of the ability to maneuver, on the night of July 10, they were attacked by four Ju-88 bombers, dropping 8 bombs on each ship. Fortunately, there were no direct hits, but from close explosions, the "Crushing" received minor damage and deformation of the hull. Later the attack was repeated, but the destroyers were lucky again - they repulsed this attack without loss. However, our ships did not manage to meet the transport, and they were forced to return to Vaenga.
During the summer and autumn of 1942, "Crushing" underwent short-term preventive maintenance. At this time, the ship was also used for escorting transports, was engaged in combat training. In total, from the beginning of the war until September 1, 1942, the "Crushing" made 40 military campaigns, covering a total of 22,385 miles in 1,516 running hours. Without a doubt, this was one of the most warships of the Soviet Navy at that time.
In total, during the war years, "Crushing" fired 1639 130-mm shells (including 84 - at aircraft), 855 - 76-mm and 2053 - 37-mm shells, while shooting down 6 enemy aircraft (2 of them together with other ships). During the same time, two cases of spontaneous firing of torpedoes occurred on the ship (during one of them, the Red Navy sailor Starchikov died). Two more sailors drowned as a result of accidents - this is the only loss of the ship's personnel up to its last voyage. Not a single person suffered from the enemy's combat impact on the "Crushing".
On November 17, 1942, another QP-15 convoy left Arkhangelsk. The 26 allied transports and 11 British escort ships unloaded at the Arkhangelsk port were returning to Iceland for a new batch of military cargo for the fighting Soviet Union.
At the first stage of the transition in the area of responsibility of the Northern Fleet, the convoy cover forces were always reinforced by the ships of the Northern Fleet. This time, the leader “Baku” was assigned to escort the QP-15 under the braid pennant of the division commander, Captain 1st Rank P. I. Kolchin (commander of the leader - Captain 2nd Rank VP Belyaev) and destroyer "Crushing" (commander - Captain 3rd Rank MA Kurilekh). In the conditions of a severe storm, which reached hurricane force by the morning of November 20, with frequent snow charges and practically zero visibility, the convoy ships and escort ships lost sight of each other. The convoy dispersed and there was essentially no one to guard. For the ships of the convoy, the severity of the storm was compensated for by the safety from possible attacks by German submarines and aircraft. It was impossible to attack in a stormy sea with such a huge wind force and great waves. Therefore, with the permission of the convoy commander, the Soviet ships, before reaching the designated escort point, began to independently return to the base.
76-mm cannon 34-K on one of the destroyers of the Northern Fleet ("Grozny" or "Crushing"), 1942
When returning to Polyarny on the leader "Baku" from the impacts of waves of nine-point force, the hull tightness was broken, all bow rooms along the 29th frame were flooded, water penetrated into the 2nd and 3rd boiler rooms - only boiler No. 1 remained in operation. The condition of the ship was critical, the roll reached 40 ° aboard. The personnel waged a desperate struggle for unsinkability. With serious injuries, but "Baku" nevertheless reached the base, where he had to get up for repairs.
Destroyer Crushing was much worse. A strong wind with snow blasts spread a large wave. Crushing's speed dropped to a minimum, and the ship kept its bow against the wave. But it didn't help much. Soon "Baku" was lost from sight, and in order to find it, they started shooting from the destroyer with illuminating shells and shining a searchlight, but to no avail …
It is not known whether the battalion commander, Captain 1st Rank Kolchin, ordered the commander of the "Crushing" Kurilekh to go to the base on his own. The fact that missiles were fired from "Crushing", trying to find "Baku", suggests that, most likely, no command from the divisional commander to the destroyer was received at all. So Kurileh had to act at his own peril and risk.
Thus, we can talk about the divisional commander's failure to fulfill his direct duties - after all, as a detachment commander, he was responsible not only for the leader on whom he held his pennant, but also for the destroyer subordinate to him. Kolchin essentially abandoned "Crushing" to its fate. The only thing that justifies the divisional commander in this case is the plight of “Baku” himself, who barely made it to the base. Of course, in such a state, the leader could not provide any significant assistance to the destroyer. Most likely, this very argument was taken into account in the investigation of what happened to "Crushing", and no one accused Kolchin of anything. They just forgot about him.
Left to itself, "Crushing", consistently changing its course from 210 to 160 ° and gradually slowing down to 5 knots, with difficulty "raked" against the wave, having in operation the main boilers No. 1 and 3 (No. 2 was in the "hot standby"), 2 turbogenerators, 2 turbo-fire pumps, the fuel supply was about 45% of the total (only in the area of the machine-boiler rooms), the rest of the reserves were within the normal range. November 20 at 2:30 pm in the aft cockpit they heard a strong cracking sound (audible on the bridge) - it was the sheets of the upper deck flooring between the aft superstructure and 130-mm gun No. 4 that burst, just where the stringers ended and the hull area began with a transverse recruitment system (173rd frame). At the same time, a corrugation was formed on the outer skin of the left side, then both shafting breaks followed. Within 3 minutes, the aft part came off and sank, taking with them six sailors who did not manage to leave the tiller and other aft compartments. Soon a powerful explosion followed - this was triggered, having reached a given depth, the detonators of depth charges … The situation became critical in an instant.
The remaining aft compartments were quickly filled with water up to the aft bulkhead of the 2nd engine room (159th frame). The ship, which had lost its speed, turned lagged to the wave, the roll of the side reached 45-50 °, the keel - 6 °. A trim aft appeared, stability decreased slightly, which was noticeable by the increased period of rolling; the ship was "stale" in a banked position. The deck and superstructures were continuously covered with a wave, movement on the upper deck was extremely difficult, while the bottom was in full swing; reinforced and compacted the aft bulkhead of the engine room, drained the sections of the 159-173 frame, using not only a standard ejector, but also an oil transfer electric pump. All mechanisms worked flawlessly, the operation of drainage means and lighting was fully ensured, water filtration almost stopped, the aft bulkheads absorbed the shock of waves, the stability of the ship improved and the trim decreased. Even the reserve boiler No. 2 was put into operation (the commander of the electromechanical warhead took the initiative) to "load the personnel with work." All that remained was to wait for help. However, even this hope in the conditions of the most severe storm was rather dubious …
Having learned about the accident, Golovko ordered the leader of “Baku” to immediately go to the aid of “Crushing”. At the same time, orders were given to the destroyers Uritsky and Kuibyshev, located in Iokanka, and the destroyer Razumny, located in the Kola Bay, to also go to the aid of the Crushing and, having found it, lead to the Kola Bay; rescue ships "Shkval" and "Pamyat Ruslan", tugboat No. 2 to be ready to go to sea.
The destroyers left for their intended purpose. And an hour later, another radiogram came from Kurilekh: “The stern was torn off by the wave to the engine room. The poop drowned. I keep on the surface. Wind - south, ten points …"
Aft part of "Crushing" with an additional 37-mm submachine gun, 1942
Place "Crushing" - latitude 75 degrees 1 minute, longitude 41 degrees 25 minutes. It is four hundred and twenty miles north of Iokanka.
At about 18 hours 15 minutes, “Kuibyshev” (the commander of the Gonchar ship) and “Uritsky” (the commander of the Kruchinin ship) approached under the general command of Simonov (the battalion commander). Later, "Razumny" (the commander of the Sokolov ship) approached.
The state of the sea in the area where the Crushing was found was no better than the day before. Attempts of "Reasonable" to approach the wrecked ship and take it in tow ended in failure. Twice they started a tug, and twice the tug burst. Meanwhile, the weather worsened even more. Having reported this, Sokolov asked permission to remove the people and refuse to tow. Apparently, taking people off is the only way to save them. Sokolov's decision is correct in the first part, but it is too early to abandon towing. First you need to take pictures of people, then you will see.
From the next message it is clear that Sokolov failed in either one or the other. It was impossible to approach the board of the Crushing. The ships were thrown so hard that, when they came close, they had to break from impacts against each other. Attempts to keep "Reasonable" machines in place while approaching the maximum possible distance were unsuccessful. Many times the "Reasonable" approached the "Crushing" in order to enable the people of the damaged ship to get to the deck of the "Reasonable". Only one person managed to safely jump from the “Crushing” to the deck of the “Reasonable”. That was the end of Sokolov's attempts to film people.
Soon “Kuibyshev” and “Uritskiy”, both types of “Novik”, approached. Ships of this type kept the wave better.
Since the fleet headquarters sent a notification about enemy submarines in this area, Sokolov on "Razumny" took on the task of providing the ships with anti-submarine defense, and "Kuibyshev" and "Uritsky" took up the removal of personnel from the "Crushing".
Of course, nothing came of Simonov's intention to bring “Kuibyshev” sideways to “Crushing”. I had to establish a ferry for people with the help of a gazebo. At the same time, fuel oil was released from the damaged ship, which somewhat reduced the sea roughness at the side. And yet the steel ends broke off almost immediately. Then a hemp cable was wound from the Kuibyshev and a gazebo was attached to the cable. It seemed impossible to transport people in such a way, in such a wave, and even in snow charges. And yet it was done. Simonov was in charge at the stern, from where he started the cable and where they began to transport the people of the "Crushing", and the commander of the "Kuibyshev" Gonchar, using the machine telegraph, controlled the machines, trying to maneuver the moves so as not to break the hemp cable. Both Simonov and Gonchar acted not only skillfully, but also with great skill, both fully possess maritime skills, flair and will.
Ninety-seven people of the "Crushing" had already been transferred to the "Kuibyshev" when the hemp cable burst.
The weather continued to deteriorate. I had to resort to another method: to shoot people with the help of lifebuoys tied every two meters into a new hemp cable. Such cables, each 300 meters long, were fed to the "Crushing" from one side of the "Kuibyshev", from the opposite - "Uritskiy". It is difficult to imagine how it all looked in the snow charges that covered the ships every now and then, in the roughness of the sea, seven to eight points, in the darkness … Nevertheless, there is already a message that in this way, pulling up lifebuoys with people in them, it was possible to seventy-nine more people aboard the Kuibyshev. “Uritsky” took eleven.
15 people remained on board the "Crushing", among them the miner, senior lieutenant Lekarev and the deputy commander for political affairs of the BC-5, senior lieutenant Vladimirov. Where are the other officers? With Kurilekh it is clear: he hastened to save his person, and where is the deputy, chief officer, navigator, artilleryman and others? Did they follow Kurilekh's example?..
Requested by the headquarters of the fleet, Vladimirov said that the command had left the ship. Immediately, he very sensibly reported on the measures he had taken: he raised the vapors, started the mechanisms. Final words of Vladimirov's report: - The destroyer is holding up well.
In connection with the departure of the destroyers from the "Crushing" Golovko ordered to immediately go there "Loud". He left at 17 o'clock. Information about his movement is not very encouraging. At 18 hours 10 minutes, when leaving the Kola Bay, I lay down on a course of 60 degrees, walked at a speed of 20 knots with a weak wind and a calm sea. However, as the ship moved north, by 21 o'clock, the wind and wave gradually increased to six points. Due to the strong impacts of the wave in the body, the "Loud" stroke was slowed down to 15 knots. In 45 minutes the wind and wave are already seven points. Having reduced the speed to ten knots, “Loud”, to weaken the impact of the waves, turned into the wind.
Golovko later recalled in his memoirs:
“I regret not having sent minesweepers to 'Crushing' yesterday. Rumyantsev offered to send them, but then I did not accept his offer. This is my mistake. I was sure that after the destroyers found the "Crushing", they will be able to take it in tow. A day has been lost, for it is still necessary to send minesweepers.
I call P. V. Panfilov (commander of the minesweeper division) and set him the task of reaching the "Crushing" with two minesweepers - TShch-36 and TShch-39; remove everyone who remained on the broken ship; then take it in tow and sail to the Kola Bay, weather permitting; if the weather does not allow either to take pictures of people or to tow the ship, then stay at the "Crushing" and guard it until the weather improves; if, due to its condition, the destroyer cannot be towed even in good weather, remove all personnel from it, after which the ship will be blown up and destroyed. At 23 o'clock, both minesweepers left for their destination."
“Reasonable” at 15 hours 15 minutes, and “Kuibyshev” and “Uritsky” at 15 hours 30 minutes left “Crushing”, since it is impossible to continue rescuing personnel with the help of ends and lifebuoys, and the fuel supply does not allow waiting for the weather to improve: it was left on all three ships just barely enough for the return trip. Before leaving, Simonov sent a semaphore to "Crushing" that everyone who remained aboard the broken ship would be removed by the submarine as soon as the weather improved.
In the current situation, it was impossible to continue withdrawing the personnel of the "Crushing" to destroyers. The waves began to roll over the ships, and a threat was created to the lives of all people on all ships. The removal of personnel was accompanied by casualties: eight people died from impacts by waves against the hull and under the propellers, ten people were brought aboard the Kuibyshev and Uritsky in an unconscious state, their lives could not be saved.
In total, 179 people were admitted to Kuibyshev, 11 to Uritsky, and one to Razumny.
Finally, they asked how many people remained on board. The destroyer answered: "Fifty fuel oil." The question was repeated, adding that the minesweepers were already on their way. Then a rocket soared over the "seven", then another, a third … At the bridge it was decided at first that a table of conditional signals was used, but the fourth rocket, the fifth, and it became clear - each rocket is a farewell salvo over a grave that has not yet been dug, and such rockets counted fifteen.
Both minesweepers (ТShch-36 and ТShch-39) arrived by deadline at 9.10 am on November 25 in the area of the "Crushing" accident and began a search in formation for the front, shifting the tack to the east. The ships kept at the line of sight of each other. Visibility at the start of the search is from 10 to 12 cables. The search is carried out in conditions of snow charges with a north-westerly wind of up to five points. The excitement of the sea is four points. Nothing like what happened for several days. "Crushing" was not found …
On November 26, the People's Commissar of the Navy N. G. Kuznetsov signed a directive to investigate the death of the destroyer "Crushing" No. 613 / Sh, and on November 30 - a directive on the preparation of an order on the death of the destroyer "Crushing" No. 617 / Sh.
In mid-December 1942, the commander of the Northern Fleet, Vice-Admiral Golovko, with a pain in his heart, as he writes in his memoirs, signed an order: stop the search for "Crushing", consider the ship dead.
Kurilekh, Rudakov, Kalmykov, Isaenko were put on trial. The navigator, signalman and medical officer were sent to the penalty platoon. The ship's commander, Kurileh, was shot.
The history of the tragedy of the destroyer "Crushing" showed not only examples of cowardice, but also great self-sacrifice in the name of saving comrades. Therefore, those who are trying to hide the truth about this tragic page of our naval history are wrong. It was "crushing", and we are obliged to remember those who died at its military posts, having fulfilled their military and human duty to the end.
1. Lekarev Gennady Evdokimovich, born in 1916, senior lieutenant, commander of warhead-3.
2. Vladimirov Ilya Aleksandrovich, (1910), political instructor of BCh-5.
3. Belov Vasily Stepanovich, (1915), chief sergeant-major, foreman of the team of bilge drivers.
4. Sidelnikov Semyon Semenovich, (1912), midshipman; chief boatswain.
5. Boyko Trofim Markovich, (1917), foreman of the 2nd class, commander of the department of turbine drivers.
6. Nagorny Fedor Vasilievich, (1919), Red Navy, signalman
7. Lyubimov Fedor Nikolaevich, (1914), senior Red Navy sailor, senior boiler operator.
8. Gavrilov Nikolai Kuzmich, (1917), senior Red Navy sailor, senior turbine driver.
9. Purygin Vasily Ivanovich, (1917), senior Red Navy sailor, senior boiler engineer.
10. Zimovets Vladimir Pavlovich, (1919), Red Navy sailor, electrician.
11. Savinov Mikhail Petrovich, (1919), Red Navy, bilge operator.
12. Ternovoy Vasily Ivanovich, (1916), foreman of the 2nd class, the commander of the department of minders.
13. Artemiev Prokhor Stepanovich, (1919), Red Navy, boiler operator.
14. Dremlyuga Grigory Semenovich, (1919), Red Navy man, boiler operator.
15. Chebiryako Grigory Fedorovich, (1917), senior Red Navy sailor, senior rangefinder.
16. Shilatyrkin Pavel Alekseevich, (1919), Red Navy, boiler operator.
17. Bolshov Sergey Tikhonovich, (1916), senior Red Navy sailor, senior electrician.
The approximate place of death of the destroyer "Crushing": latitude 73 degrees 30 minutes north, longitude 43 degrees 00 minutes east. Now this area of the Barents Sea has been declared a memorial place, passing by which the ships of the Northern Fleet lower the St. Andrew's flags.
