The Ostrovsky mine layer was born at the Sevastopol Marine Plant. And at the very beginning, he was quite a peaceful cargo-passenger ship. By order of the Sovtorgflot, on August 1, 1928, a civil vessel was laid down according to the project of the motor ship "Dolphin". And the name of the future mine zag was different - "Seagull". The ship was launched on April 15, 1930. The vessel was intended for the Azov-Black Sea basin, and the port of registration was Rostov-on-Don.
Tactical and technical characteristics:
- length: 79.9 m, width: 12 m, draft: about 4 m;
- freeboard height: 6, 1 m;
- displacement: 2625 tons;
- maximum speed: 12, 5 knots;
- power plant: two diesel engines, 715 liters each. with. each;
- carrying capacity: 742 tons;
- passenger capacity: 24 people in 1st class, 76 in 2nd class, 242 in 3rd class, as well as from 50 to 100 people on the upper deck.
In 1934, the ship became part of the Azov State Shipping Company. Thus, a single-tube, two-masted motor ship with a crew of 94 people began to peacefully sail the waters of the Azov and the Black Sea. In 1937, the ship was renamed "Nikolai Ostrovsky", and until the end of 1939, it was paired with the same type motor ship "Anton Chekhov" making express flights on the route Rostov - Batumi. There were also occasional flights to Turkey.
Pre-war mobilization
The motor ship "Nikolai Ostrovsky", unlike many other vessels of the civilian fleet, was mobilized long before 1941. So, on October 29, 1939, i.e. after about two months from the beginning of the Second World War, "Nikolai Ostrovsky" was withdrawn from the Azov GMP and transferred to the Black Sea Fleet. At the same time, the ship lost the name "Nikolai" in its name and began to appear simply as "Ostrovsky". The ship was immediately put on conversion into a minelayer.
The peaceful "citizen" bristled with two 76, 2-mm 34-K guns and four 45-mm guns. In addition, on board the mine layer carried up to 250-300 mines of the 1926 model and KB-1 or up to 600 mines of the 1908 model.
From the very first days of the war, the mine layer was actively involved in hostilities, conducting mine laying on the approaches to the naval bases and the coast. In July 1941, "Ostrovsky" operated in command with the basic minesweepers of the "Fugas" type: "Anchor" and "Seeker". Ships in the area of Lake Ustrichnoye, in the modern Kherson region, deployed up to 510 mines of the 1926 model and about 160 mine defenders. During the first two months of the war, the mine layer made up to eleven mine laying. By the end of 1941, the former transport worker was switched to a more familiar element of military transport between the ports of the Crimea and the Caucasus.
Disastrous parking in Tuapse
At the beginning of 1942, the Ostrovsky mine was sent to Tuapse for repairs at the Tuapse shipyard. The work was in full swing. During the war, every day was appreciated, so they worked in an emergency mode, trying to put the ship into full operation as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the situation in Tuapse itself was developing difficult. Back in December 1941, the first bombing raids on the port and railway junction began, but they were sporadic. But in the spring of 1942, the residents of the city clearly understood that the enemy had set himself the goal of wiping Tuapse off the face of the earth. The reason for this was the intensification of military transport. Thousands of bombs rained down on the city. Even the SBe Concrete Fragmentation Bomb was not exotic. The body of such a bomb consisted of wire-reinforced concrete interspersed with metal fragments. The weight of the largest representative of this family of ammunition reached 2.5 tons.
Despite the difficult situation, already on March 23, 1942, the Ostrovsky minefield was preparing for testing on the mooring lines, since it was repaired ahead of schedule. At the same time, the ship carried on board, in addition to the main crew, a whole brigade of ship repairmen and even a team of teenagers from local vocational schools, who made every effort to get ahead of the schedule, and at that moment were finishing finishing work.
At around 4:00 pm, German bombers appeared on the horizon, as if deliberately guessing the time of Ostrovsky's departure from the dock of the shipyard. Forty vultures of Goering attacked the Tuapse port. At 16:07, according to some sources, two, according to others - three 250-kilogram bombs hit the Ostrovsky mine lagging station at the pier. Another part of the bombs exploded 10-15 meters from the ship, showering it with fragments. The hits were recorded in the area of the utah, the wardroom and the engine room. It was also mentioned about the detonation of a bomb directly under the hull of the ship, which literally threw the ship.
Almost immediately there was a list on board, and the outbreak of a fire quickly de-energized the ship. The engine room and the mine deck were on fire. The burning people threw themselves overboard, and the presence of civilians on board spurred panic. Some of the workers rushed to help the team fight for the survivability of the ship.
Arriving fire trucks immediately started to work. Firefighters rushed to rescue people from the flaming mine sign. However, at that moment, another series of bombs fell on the dock. As a result, the explosions literally scattered people and equipment, one fire engine burned out, and the second was disabled by shrapnel.
The neighboring ships were already in a hurry to the ship: the mobilized tug "Borey" and the motor ship "Georgia", which lowered the boats, trying to pick up the burnt sailors and workers from the water. The roll soon reached 70 degrees and continued to increase. Part of the crew was locked inside the ship. The divers made a daring attempt to save the blocked crew, despite the fact that the towering section of the Ostrovsky continued to burn. Alas, they managed to save only three people. Lieutenant Commander Mikhail Fokin, intending to flood the artillery cellars to avoid an explosion, soon realized that this was no longer required. At 16:15, the ship touched the ground with its hull. Nineteen naval sailors and dozens of civilians, including teenagers from local schools, who were in such a hurry to put the ship into operation for the benefit of the belligerent Motherland, were killed.
Fading into oblivion and memory
After the death of the minelay, its crew was disbanded and assigned to other ships of the Black Sea Fleet. In July 1943, a commission was assembled to examine the sunken ship and decide on the possibility of its subsequent operation. Unfortunately, the commission came to an unequivocal conclusion: the ship's hull cannot be restored. And in order not to complicate the task of lifting the entire hull, a plan was developed for cutting the hull with the help of explosive works and lifting it in parts.
In September 1946, the 68th rescue squad began to work. By 1948, the minelay ceased to exist even as a drowned man, reminding of its existence with its left side towering 3 meters above the water.
Now Tuapse, which once resembled a cauldron boiling with fire with the destruction of almost 90% of the city's buildings, is a cozy southern corner of Russia. In the author's humble opinion, Tuapse is an improved version of Sochi. This city is less pretentious, bloated and hectic than its "fat" southern neighbor.
Now, among the palm trees and the warm southern sun, the only reminder of the tragedy of the Ostrovsky mine log is a small laconic monument to the nineteen dead members of the ship's crew. This monument was erected in September 1971.
