Dedicated to the 159th anniversary of the battle in the Far East
Let's remember the battle that resulted in the two strongest states in the world abandoning plans to wage war against Russia in the Far East.
So, in 1854, Russia is waging a war against the sworn friends of England and France. We remember this war for the defense of Sevastopol. Rather, we remember two unsuccessful defenses. The first in 1854-1855 and the second in 1941-1942. Such an amazing thing. Everyone knows about two heroic but unsuccessful defenses and few remember about successful military operations in the White and Barents Seas, as well as in Kamchatka. Let's try to tell a little so that the descendants remember the exploits of their great-grandfathers.
There is not much information in the tyrnet and almost always these are dry enumerations of the number of guns, dates, names - everything is indigestible, difficult to understand, moreover, the dates are either the old style or the new one. Therefore, I decided not to make a chronological description of the event, but rather to tell in my own words about the battle, which went down in history as the Peter and Paul defense.
In the summer of 1854, in August, the united Anglo-French squadron entered Avachinskaya Bay and stormed the city of Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka (now Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky).
The squadron consisted of 6 ships with 216 guns:
- 3 British ships: the frigate "President" (52 guns), the frigate "Pike" (44 guns) and the steamer "Virago" (10 guns)
- 3 French frigate "La Fort" (60 guns), corvette "Eurydice" (32 guns) and brig "Obligado" (18 guns)
- personnel of 2600 sailors, of which 600 are professional marines.
In the picture the steamer "Virago":
The squadron was commanded by the combat rear admirad David Price, an order bearer, a participant in several wars, who made his career from cabin boy to rear admiral not in the quiet of an armchair, but in the roar of battles.
Surprisingly, literally on the eve of the battle for Petropavlovsk, he was found in his own cabin, shot in the heart with his own pistol. There are several versions of what happened, one more beautiful than the other.
1. Careless handling of weapons (professional military, oga), 2. Suicide from uncertainty of victory (a hardened battle admiral on the eve of a battle with an enemy three times weaker than him, oga)
3. Murder - “but try this!” ©. The admiral, in contrast to the rest of the commanding officers, insisted on an immediate assault without artillery preparation, which could not please the gallant Marines, who did not want to commit a suicidal attack on Russian artillery batteries.
The British consider this a suicide, and thus justify their failure. Price is buried on the shore of the Tarinskaya Bay of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
Rear Admirad David Price
From the Russian side, the frigate Aurora (42 guns) and the military transport Dvina took part in the battle. The personnel of the garrison is 920 people (41 officers, 476 soldiers, 349 sailors, 18 Russian volunteers and 36 Kamchadal-Itelmen), 18 coastal guns. The frigate "Aurora" and the military transport "Dvina" were anchored on their port sides to the exit from the harbor, the guns on the starboard side (27 guns) were removed to strengthen the coastal batteries. The entrance to the harbor was blocked by a boom. Frankly, the number of guns varies greatly in the sources, but it all comes down to the fact that there were no more than 70 of them.
In the picture, coastal battery No. 2 "Koshechnaya", a view of Avacha Bay, Signalnaya hill, an enemy squadron in the distance:
The defense was commanded by the commander of the Petropavlovsk port, Major General V. S. Zavoiko (of Little Russian origin, from the nobility of the Poltava province).
… Vasily Zavoiko received his first order at the age of 15. On board the frigate Alexander Nevsky, he commanded four cannons in the lower deck and was the chief of the first corporal of the first boarding party. The Russian frigate fought three ships at once. The fire of "Alexander Nevsky" was so destructive that one Turkish frigate was launched to the bottom, the second surrendered. Zavoiko took part in his captivity. During the descent from the rostrum of the boat, the stern hoists were interrupted by the cannonball. Vasily Zavoiko fell into the water, but got on the ship. He started new hoists, lowered the boat and, together with Lieutenant Borovitsyn, went to the Turkish ship. He brought a flag, a captain and officers …
This was the beginning of a glorious path; Vasily Stepanovich accomplished his main feat in 1854, commanding the defense of Petropavlovsk. Coastal guns and naval guns were distributed among six batteries located in strategic directions. The gunners were covered by sailors, soldiers and volunteers from among the local residents.
Major General V. S. Zavoiko.
So, the allies remembered Price and decided to continue the difficult task of storming the Russian port city. First of all, a new commander of the French Rear Admiral Fevrier de Pointe was appointed (in fact, he played the role of a reserve commander). Then an assault was ordered, which began with an artillery duel. At 9 o'clock the ships "Fort", "President", "Pike" and the steamer "Virago" took up a position to the west of Cape Signalny and began shelling battery No. 1, which was at its end. About 80 guns were directed against her 5 cannons. The unequal duel lasted over an hour. Only after two gunners were killed and several were wounded did Zavoiko give the order to leave the location of the battery. Then the enemy threw 15 landing boats and 600 marines on the flank of Battery No. 4, which was defended by 29 men. The crew riveted the cannons, hid the gunpowder and retreated in an orderly manner. The command of the frigate "Aurora" and the combined crews of batteries 1 and 3 in batches totaling 130-180 fighters were sent to repel the landing. The counter-attackers were supported by the Aurora's cannons.
… Hiding from the fire of Russian ships, the paratroopers lay down. But at this time, Russian sailors and Kamchadals rushed to their positions, sliding along the green slopes, aiming at the enemy on the move. The impulse that gripped them, the passionate desire to inflict defeat on the enemy in hand-to-hand combat were so strong that the people were a single solid mass, frightening the enemy with an irresistible urge forward. In a bayonet battle, the battery was repulsed, and the allied paratroopers, dropping their weapons in panic, falling head over heels into the water, jumped into the boats, which one after another hurriedly set off.
Later, one of the participants in this battle wrote: “Despite our small number, despite the fact that he was at least four times stronger than all our united parties, the enemy began to retreat at a run and with such speed that before we arrived at the battery he occupied, he was already in the boats …
In turn, in the memoirs of the allies, the counterattacking Russian sailors are described as an enemy, three times outnumbered, instilling horror with his fearlessness and contempt for death. In general, fear has big eyes. Until now, military historians argue how you can take 150 for 1800 and why the flight of the landing was so hasty.
Subsequent attempts by the Anglo-French to land troops south of battery No. 3 on that day were also repulsed. Then the enemy ships concentrated their fire on battery No. 2, which had 11 cannons and covered the entrance to the Peter and Paul harbor. For ten hours, the Russian artillerymen fought an unequal battle with enemy frigates. And eighty of his guns could not silence the coastal battery. As soon as any enemy ship approached her, the precise volleys of the Russian gunners hit him. With the onset of darkness on August 20, the shooting stopped, the first onslaught of the enemy was successfully repulsed by the defenders of Petropavlovsk.
It is noteworthy that in several sources there are references to the memories of the British, how the very first volleys of Russian cannons shot down the flag on the frigate of the commander and that this was regarded as a bad omen, which had a bad effect on the morale of the allies.
For three days, the allies licked their wounds, patched ships and carried out reconnaissance of the area. At this time, batteries 1, 2 and 4 were being repaired in the city. The dead were buried. Interestingly, in Tarja, the British met two American sailors, who treacherously violated their duty to the country that had shown hospitality, provided a lot of useful information about the terrain of Petropavlovsk, which pushed the allies to another direction of attack.
A second assault followed.
… Warrant officer Nikolai Fesun, who was on the frigate Aurora, recalled this eve of the last battle in the following words: “For our part, we were completely ready and, having decided to die once and for all, and not retreat a single step, we waited for the battle as a means to end the matter at once. The evening on the 23rd was beautiful - such as rarely happens in Kamchatka. The officers spent it in conversations about the fatherland, in memories of distant Petersburg, about relatives, about loved ones. The shooting parties cleaned their guns and learned to fight with bayonets, yet they were generally calm …"
Captain Arbuzov, having gathered his team that evening, addressed her with the following words: “Now, friends, I am with you. I swear by the cross of St. George, which I have been honestly wearing for 14 years, I will not disgrace the name of the commander! If you see a coward in me, then spit with bayonets and spit on the dead man! But know that I will demand the exact fulfillment of the oath - to fight to the last drop of blood!.."
"Let us die - we will not move back!" - was the unanimous response of the team. …
It is no coincidence that battery No. 3 "Peresheichnaya" bears the second name "Mortal" This battery covered the isthmus between the Signalnaya and Nikolskaya hills. This is the most convenient landing site, practically a gateway to the city and the most inconvenient for defense. The rocky rear gave off stone chips that hit the defenders when hit by cannonballs.
In the photo battery # 3, this is how this place looks now:
… So that battery No. 3 on the isthmus between Nikolskaya Sopka and Signalny Cape was not an obstacle in the attack, the first blow was struck at it. The steamer "Virago" at about 7 o'clock in the morning began to bring the French frigate "Fort" to its approaches. At 0730 hours a five-gun battery opened fire on the Fort. An unequal battle began. The battery, poorly protected from nuclei, resisted 30 enemy guns. The steamer "Virago" joined the shelling, having freed itself from setting up the British frigate "President" opposite battery No. 7. In this duel, the battery commander, Lieutenant Prince A. P. Maksutov, showed firmness and courage. He directed the guns himself and left the battery only when he was mortally wounded. At 9 o'clock the battery could no longer respond with shots. …
Lieutenant Alexander Maksutov lost his arm in this battle, which was torn off by a direct hit from the cannonball. There is a street in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky named after him.
Monument to the heroes of 3 batteries.
The enemy landed an assault force of 700-900 people in 23 boats in place of the destroyed 3-battery. The battle on Nikolskaya Sopka is described in different colors, but in general the following can be said. Russian soldiers and sailors, 3 times outnumbered by the enemy, under the fire of enemy naval artillery in a fierce bayonet battle overturned the landing force into the sea. The enemy lost up to 300 people killed, including the commander. 7 officers' sabers, 56 guns and the banner of the Gibraltar Regiment of the Royal Marines of Great Britain were captured.
The picture shows a trophy banner:
A few days later, the significantly depleted Allied squadron left Avacha Bay. After that, the Lady of the Seas and her ally finally abandoned the idea of fighting the Russians in the Pacific Ocean. As you know, Russia lost the war of 1853-1856 to the allies, but thanks to the victory in the defense of Petropavlovsk, neither the French nor the British ever challenged Russia's sovereignty over the Far East and Kamchatka.
… “The board of only one Russian frigate and several batteries,” wrote the English magazine “United Service Magazine” at the beginning of 1855, “proved invincible before the combined sea power of England and France, and the two greatest powers of the globe were overpowered and defeated by an insignificant Russian garrison … …
Monument-chapel at the mass grave of the defenders of the city in 1854.
It should be noted that the Russian troops were obviously worse armed with outdated smooth-bore guns, were deprived of any hope of reinforcement and supply of ammunition and gunpowder from the mainland. In total, the enemy, having a threefold numerical superiority in men, ships and artillery, lost up to 450 people killed, while the Russian losses are estimated at up to 100 people. In different sources, the numbers of allied losses vary (150-450), this is due to the serious inaccuracy of data from the allies. However, it is noteworthy that one of the Spanish captains, who met the frigate "President" immediately after the battle in a neutral port, noted his surprise that the sails on the English frigate were raised in turn, separately on each mast, and not simultaneously at all at once, like that demanded a naval charter. The reason is simple - there were not enough people, with losses of 150 people. this would not have happened.
The shackles (!) Found on the killed French and English paratroopers on the battlefield, historians explain by the desire to profit from the slave trade, which at that time flourished in the region.
The Peter and Paul defense in August 1854, during which a victory over the Anglo-French squadron was won, is one of the glorious pages of the history of Petropavlovsk. A small military garrison on the outskirts of the Russian Empire prevailed over the enemy, which was several times superior in military strength. Against the background of Russia's failures during the Crimean War (1853-1856), this episode, insignificant in terms of the scale of hostilities, was Russia's only victory in this war. Not only Russia, but the whole world learned about the defenders of Petropavlovsk.
To conduct artillery duels and bombard coastal batteries, the Allies towed sailing ships with the help of the steamer Virago and set them up in position. Thus, the guns of several frigates (30-40 guns) always operated against any Russian battery (from 5 to 11 guns), and the steamer itself connected one of its sides (5 guns).
The enemy used 38kg of cannonballs, which fired "bombing guns".
The ammunition capacity of the Russian coastal batteries was 37 rounds per gun, on the frigate "Aurora" - 60 and the transport "Dvina" 30 rounds per gun.
The squadron tried to intercept the Aurora back in April, even before the news of the entry of England and France into the war reached the Russian captain. However, Izyltetyev managed to lull the vigilance of the allies by imitating the repair of the frigate. After the captain's "friendly visit" to the flagship of the squadron, under cover of darkness and fog, the Aurora escaped directly from under Price's nose and headed for Kamchatka. The American consul and the King of Hawaii warned the Russians about the beginning of the war in letters of friendship. This is a prime example of how friendly relations with neighbors can win battles. Greetings to the hooray patriots, out of place repeating the well-known phrase of Alexander III about the two only allies, the army and the navy.
After the victory over the squadron, it was decided that it was impossible to further defend the city. The houses were dismantled, local residents ears to the north, Cossacks and soldiers settled in a distant village of the Avacha River. The sailors cut through the ice and freed the ships. "Aurora" and "Dvina" went to sea before the arrival of the second squadron.
The second squadron in May 1855, already in the amount of 5 French and 9 English ships, found the bay empty, unfit for habitation and use for its intended purpose, after which it retired.
Unlike the fighting in the Crimea, the British and French were unable to take advantage of the quality of small arms - at close combat ranges, rifled barrels, the range and accuracy of the battle did not play a special role.
For the defense of Petropavlovsk, V. S. Zavoiko was re-certified as Rear Admiral and awarded the Order of St. George, 3rd degree and St. Stanislav, 1st degree. The streets of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky are named after the heroes of the defense, and the Nikolskaya hill itself has become a sacred historical monument to the courage and valor of the Russian army and navy.
cycle of paintings "Defense of Petropavlovsk"
thin Dyakov V. F.
painting "Defense of Petropavlovsk-on-Kamchatka in 1854" authors G. S. Zorin and Ya. S. Kurylenko, 1950
