To begin with, in the UK, data from Wikipedia is accepted in court, that is, there they can be referred to as a source. In Russia, our attitude towards it is more restrained - “trust but verify”. Why this is so is understandable: Wikipedia's sources of information are different, and one can be trusted, while others cannot. Recently, visitors to the TOPWAR website increasingly began to pay attention to the source base of certain materials, and rightly point out to their authors that it would be nice … own "discoveries" also refer to historical documents introduced by them into scientific circulation. And rightly so, because "noodles on the ears" decorate no one. Neither the one who hangs it, nor the one with whom it hangs! Meanwhile, there are many people who, to put it mildly, use the gullibility of the absolute majority of people to black letters on white paper in their own, and very unseemly, interests.
The armored cruiser Rurik II and the battleships Slava and Tsarevich on the roadstead in Kronstadt.
So, having recently turned to "Wikipedia", I was surprised to see the story about the so-called "Fiuma incident" that had already got there, fictional from beginning to end. On the pages of TOPWAR, my material exposing this duck of pseudo-patriots has already appeared. And there were links to archival materials. But … as often happens: links are in one place, and those who write to "Wikipedia" - in another. Therefore, in order not to let the reader of the site become stuck in lies and further, I consider it necessary to give the floor here to the authors of this story, with references to their names - the country should know its "heroes" and … the original text of the documents from the report of Admiral Mankovsky, who commanded the Russian ships in Fiume, and copies of the pages of the logbook of the battleship "Tsesavrevich" - its flagship. All originals of these documents are in the archives of the St. Petersburg Navy, and access to them is free. Well, you still need to start with Wikipedia - after all, this is, so to speak, a "source"! We read …
The Fiume incident is a conflict between the formations of the Austro-Hungarian (squadron) and Russian (part of the detachment) of the imperial fleets.
In 1910, part of a detachment of ships of the Baltic Fleet consisting of the battleship "Tsesarevich", the cruisers "Rurik" and "Bogatyr" under the command of Rear Admiral N. S. Mankovsky, when entering the port of Fiume on the Adriatic Sea (now - Rijeka), did not receive an answer to the fireworks produced, neither from the shore, nor from the Austro-Hungarian squadron of Vice Admiral Montecuccoli that soon approached. An obligatory ritual when warships entered a foreign port or when two squadrons belonging to the fleets of different countries met was the exchange of the so-called salute of nations, consisting of 21 salvoes; for its implementation, the ships had special fireworks cannons. NS. Mankovsky went to the Austro-Hungarian admiral to explain about the violation of naval etiquette, but was not accepted by him (later an apology was sent to the Russian admiral explaining what had happened by an oversight). Admiral Mankovsky said that he would not release the squadron of Admiral Montecuccoli without receiving the prescribed salute. Aware of the significant superiority of the Austro-Hungarian squadron, three Russian ships were preparing to fight two dozen Austrian ships supported by a powerful fortress.
On the morning of September 2, 1910, at eight o'clock, when the flags were raised on the Russian ships, the salute was fired. The teams of "Tsarevich", "Bogatyr" and "Rurik" were lined up to the front, the orchestras played the Austrian anthem; in response, the Russian anthem "God Save the Tsar!" - The Fiium incident was over.
Khramchikhin A. "Proud Andreevsky Flag" // Russian Life. - 2008. - No. 21.
Polyakov S. P. "Admiral" // Russian House. - February 22, 2009.
Now let's turn to a document containing not only information, but also the spirit of that era: the report of the head of the Baltic detachment, Admiral Mankovsky, dated September 3, 1910, No. 1926 to the naval minister - RGA of the Navy. Fond 417, inventory 1, delo 4002, pages 194 - 200. The original was printed on a typewriter with all the delights of the then Russian language - yatami, fita, etc. So I had to "translate" it into an ordinary text written according to the norms of the modern Russian language, but changes made to a minimum. So, we read …
"Report of Rear Admiral Mankovsky", p. 1.
Report
I inform Your Excellency about the circumstances of the voyage of the Detachment entrusted to me in August this year:
On August 1st, a detachment consisting of the battleships "Tsesarevich", "Slava", the armored cruiser "Rurik" and the cruiser "Bogatyr" was on the way from Portsmouth to Algeria. Due to a malfunction of the boilers on the Slava, the stroke was 8 knots. At 7 pm, while the squad was 35 miles from Gibraltar, the Slava stopped the cars. The commander and the flagship mechanic, at my request, arrived at the "Tsarevich" with a report, during which it turned out that the "Slava" could not go at all on its own. Therefore, I ordered the "Tsarevich" to take her in tow, which was done by 1 o'clock in the morning with complete calm and a small wave. The tug was handed in the following way: "Slava" etched out 3 bows of the rope, by the end of which she took 2 6-inch steel beads, which on the "Tsesarevich" were wrapped on bollards in the battery deck. The course during towing was 7 knots at 45 rpm, which would have given the Tsesarevich 9 knots without a tug.
The next day at 6 o'clock in the morning the detachment entered Gibraltar Bay, from where an English squadron, consisting of the battleships Exmouth, Swiftsure, Triumpf and Russel, and the cruisers Lancacter and Bachante, were leaving. She fired a 17-round salute and received a response from the Exmouth, which carried the flag of the full Admiral.
At 7 o'clock in the morning, the detachment anchored in the roadstead of Gibraltar outside the pier. At 8 o'clock he exchanged a salute of 21 shots with the fortress. Now, after anchoring, the Russian Consul Mr. Porral and the English officer with congratulations arrived on the ship. At 10 o'clock, together with the Commanders and the Flag Captain, accompanied by the Consul, I made visits to the Commander of the Troops and the Commander of the Port. Upon my arrival and departure from the shore, the fortress saluted me, and a guard of honor with a banner and music was lined up in front of the house of the Commander of the Troops. The Port Commander and the Commander of the Troops made return visits to me in the first part of the day.
At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the port tugs brought Slava into the harbor, where they put them in the northern part on barrels from the bow and stern. In the morning, a commission of engineers and mechanics of the Detachment, appointed by me under the chairmanship of the Commander of the Bogatyr Captain 1st Rank PETROV, worked at the Slava to investigate the damage to the boilers and mechanisms of the Slava. The preliminary work of the commission was completed only in the evening before the departure of the Detachment.
Having visited "Slava" and wishing its personnel to join the Detachment as soon as possible, at 7 o'clock in the evening I weighed anchor with the "Tsarevich", "Rurik" and "Bogatyr" and went to Algeria with a 12-key course in the wake formation.
On August 4th at 8 o'clock in the morning, the detachment approached Algeria and, after exchanging a 21-shot salute with the fortress, entered the harbor under the direction of the expelled pilots. Due to the advance notification of the Consul from Algeria, places were prepared for the ships of the Detachment, and the tackle was immediately put in the harbor as follows: "Tsesarevich" - on a bridle in the middle of the harbor, "Rurik" moored stern to the city, and "Bogatyr" to the pier opposite the city. At 10 o'clock, accompanied by Vice - Consul Delacroix, along with the Commanders and Flag Captain, I went to make visits to Port Commander Counter Admiral Mallet, Commander of the Forces General Baillond and local civil authorities. The visits were made on the same day.
During their stay in Algeria, all ships replenished their supplies of coal and water.
On August 8, 2 German battleships "Kurfurst Freidrih Welhelm" and "Weissnburg" entered the harbor, the first under the flag of the German Counter - Admiral von Koch. These battleships, bought from Germany and Turkey, went to the Dardanelles for surrender to the Turkish Government, and they had a certain number of officers and crew - the Turks. In addition to these ships, 2 destroyers, built in Elbing at the Shihau plant for Turkey, sailing under the German commercial flag, went to Algeria for coal.
On August 10 at 8 o'clock in the morning, the detachment left the harbor of Algeria and began to destroy the deviation, after which, at 1 o'clock 10 minutes of the day, lined up in a wake column and gave 12 knots to the course. At 2 hours 55 minutes, the man overboard exercise was carried out. The first boat was lowered from the "Tsesarevich" in 3 minutes, and after 5 minutes the boats "Rurik" and "Bogatyr" were simultaneously lowered. The boats were demanded to the "Tsesarevich", where the mail, which arrived in the morning, was handed over to them. At 3 hours 30 minutes, the squad made the previous move.
On the 2nd of August at 5 pm we passed Bizerte. For the experiment I made a radio telegram to the Port Commander, to which I received an answer. At 9 o'clock in the evening he headed for the W - th extremity of the island of Sicily.
On August 12, at 2 o'clock in the morning, they passed the traverses of Palermo, and at 6 o'clock in the evening they entered the Strait of Messina. As far as they managed to notice because of the darkness that came soon, the houses, both in Messina and in Reggio, are not rebuilt, and many ruins are visible, but new ones have appeared around the old cities, consisting of one-story buildings of the same type.
On the 13th of August, about noon, we entered the Adriatic Sea, and on the 15th of August, at 2 hours 15 minutes of the night, I anchored in the roadstead of Fiume. At 7 o'clock in the morning, the Consuls Saloratti and the harbor - master arrived, proposing to put 2 Detachments on barrels, and the third to anchor in line with the others, which was done that hour after 8 o'clock in the morning; "Rurik" had to stand at a depth of 35 sazhens. On the same day, I exchanged visits with the Governors of Land and Sea, the Mayor and the Commander-in-Chief. Received return visits at the same time.
On August 16-17, the ships were painted. On the 16th, a deputation of the 15th infantry named after the Prince of the Montenegrin Regiment, consisting of its commander Colonel VEIL, Captain LEBEDEV and Feldwebel GRISHAK, arrived at the detachment. I put her on the cruiser Rurik. On the same day, the officers and I visited Whitehead's factory and inspected it with the kind assistance of its directors and accompanied by our mine inspector, Captain PSHENETSKAGO.
The cruiser "Bogatyr" in 1910
On August 17, the cruiser "Bogatyr" received 200 tons of Cardif coal, as there was a fear that the stock that he had would not be enough until the second return to Fiyme.
On the 18th, at 7 o'clock in the morning, according to the instructions received, the flag was sent to the harbor to the place indicated by the coastal authorities - the Captain in civilian dress and boats to meet the train with HIS IMPERIAL HIGHLIGHTS Grand Duke NIKOLAI NIKOLAEVICH with his family and retinue, who arrived with an emergency by train from Russia, completely incognito to follow to Montenegro to the Detachment.
At 7 o'clock. 20 minutes the train approached the embankment. Their IMPERIAL HIGHNESS Grand Duke NIKOLAI NIKOLAEVICH, Grand Duchess ANASTASIA NIKOLAEVNA, THEIR HIGHNESSES Prince SERGEY GEORGIEVICH and Princess ELENA GEORGIEVNA, and the retinue immediately got on the boat. In the retinue of THEIR IMPERIAL HIGHLIGHTS arrived: General PARENSOV, Colonels ROSTOVTSEV and Count NIROD, Headquarters - Captain Baron WOLF, military doctor MALAMA and 6 men and women servants. These persons were stationed on all ships of the detachment.
At 9 hours 35 minutes, the Great Duke's braid pennant was raised on the battleship Tsesarevich, and their flag was transferred to the Rurik. At 10 o'clock, after transporting all the luggage, he weighed anchor and went to the destination in the port of Antivari at a speed of 12 knots. At 12 am this speed was increased to 14 knots. At 2 o'clock in the morning on the 19th of August, off the island of Kazza, I was joined by the cruiser "Admiral Makarov", who had been assigned a rendezvous at this island.
On the 19th of August at 8 o'clock in the morning, by order of HIS IMPERIAL HIGHNESS, he replaced the braid pennant with the flag of the Grand Duke, to whom all ships made the prescribed salute. At the second hour. 25 minutes, being in sight of the shores of Montenegro, while setting the right ladder on the "Tsesarevich", a sailor fell overboard, despite the fact that he was overboard with the end. Acting in accordance with the regulations, the Cannon Detachment stopped the vehicles, the lifeboats were lowered and after 8 minutes the fallen one was picked up by a whaleboat from the Bogatyr and taken to the Tsarevich. At the second hour. 55 minutes The detachment lifted the boats and moved on. At 12 o'clock. 55 minutes of the day entered the Antivari bay, where there were: Montenegrin Royal yacht and Greek ships: battleships, "Kydra" and "Psara" and destroyers "Uelos" and "Nike". Having exchanged salutes with the fortress and the Greek military ships, everyone suddenly anchored.
At 1 hour 30 minutes, Korolevich DANILO arrived on the "Tsarevich", to whom HIS IMPERIAL HIGHNESS Grand Duke NIKOLAI NIKOLAEVICH on the quarterdecks handed over the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, bestowed by the STATE EMPEROR. At 1 hour 50 minutes, all the Imperial Persons with their retinue departed on a steam boat to the shore to the Royal Palace DANILO, from where they later went by car to Cetinje. At 1 hour 55 minutes, with a salute of 21 shots from all ships of the Detachment, he lowered the flag of the Grand Duke and transferred his flag from "Rurik" to "Tsarevich".
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon he transferred the temporary command of the Detachment to Captain I of rank LYUBIMOV I, and with the rest of the Commanders and the Headquarters left in cars in Cetinje. G. G. officers, 8 people from each ship, and naval midshipmen of 6 people, sent to celebrations from all 4 ships of the Detachment, and a consolidated company with a chorus of music, made up of people from the ships of the Tsesarevich, Rurik and Bogatyr detachments.
Armored cruiser "Rurik" in Toulon in 1910
In Cetinje, I, the Commanders and part of my Headquarters were placed in separate rooms in the building of the Ministry of War and in the Grand Hotel. The rest of the G. G. the officers received rooms for 2-4 people in the new building of the Ministry "Vladin Dom". The team is located in the same place, 8-12 people in a room. At all times of our stay in Cetinje, we had dinner as follows: I, the Commanders and my headquarters - at the Hoffmarshal's table in the Royal Palace. The rest of the G. G. officers at the Grandt Hotel, and the team at an Italian restaurant leased for this time by the Government.
On August 20, I, the Commanders and my Headquarters had the good fortune to introduce ourselves to HIS MAJESTY, King Nicholas I of Montenegro, who bestowed upon us the order. Then he made the necessary visits.
On August 21, a parade took place in the large hall of Vladina Doma, during which Grand Duke NIKOLAI NIKOLAEVICH, in the presence of the entire Royal family, retinue and the Diplomatic Corps, handed over to HIS MAJESTY the King of MONTENEGRO on behalf of the STATE EMPEROR Field Marshal's staff. Our company and the company of Montenegrins, and the choirs of musicians from both companies took part in the parade. After the parade, the solemn laying of the new cathedral took place in the open air in the presence of the Highest Persons and the mass of the people. After the foundation of the Cathedral, all G. the officers were invited to the Palace, where HIS MAJESTY personally gave them medals in memory of the 50th anniversary of his Prince.
On the 22nd of August, all G. the officers were invited to the palace for the royal dining table. In the evening, a ball was held in the large hall of "Vladina Doma", which was attended by the King and Queen of Montenegro and all the Highest Persons. On the same day, I and the officers were asked personally by HIS MAJESTY the King to use a car, carriages and riding horses to travel around the neighborhood.
On the 23rd at 8 o'clock in the morning in the Cathedral at the relics of St. Peter, a military associate of Admiral SENYAVIN, on the initiative of the officers of the detachment and with the consent of the Grand Duke NIKOLAY NIKOLAEVICH, the local clergy were served by the local clergy, in the concelebration of 4 priests who arrived with the detachment, a thanksgiving prayer for health Russian and Montenegrin Royal Houses and a short memorial service for Admiral SENYAVIN and all Montenegrins and Russians who died in battle who fought for the independence of Montenegro 100 years ago. The Divine Service was attended by HIS MAJESTY and the Royal Ladies, Grand Duke NIKOLAI NIKOLAEVICH. At 9 o'clock on a military field outside the city in front of the barracks, in the presence of the King and all the Highest Persons, a parade to the Montenegrin troops took place, which was received by Prince NIKOLAI NIKOLAEVICH. After the parade, the commanders and officers, and the retinue of the Grand Duke, and our team were invited to the barracks, where a snack and champagne were served. Toasts were proclaimed, testifying to the friendly feelings of the peoples of Russia and Montenegro. The applause was enthusiastic on both sides and ended with our officers, with clicks of "hurray", carried the King's son PETER into the Palace. At the Palace, the officers were greeted by HIS MAJESTY, who graciously expressed his pleasure and offered them champagne.
At 12 o'clock, a ceremonial breakfast was held in honor of the Russian officers at the Grandt Hotel on behalf of the Minister of War and the garrison. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon the officers and midshipmen, escorted by the Minister of War, officers of the garrison and crowds of people with cries of "live" and "hurray", drove off in cars to Antivari. Later, in the palace of the prince DANILO, a Qarden party took place, to which I, the Commanders, the Headquarters and the officers were invited. In the evening we dined at the Hoffmarshal's table in the Royal Palace DANILO.
On August 24, at 7 o'clock in the morning, our free company set out back to Antivari in the same way as it had arrived. When the company passed by the Palace, HIS MAJESTY the King stood in the window, and deigned to say goodbye to the team. At 10 o'clock in the morning, I, the Commanders and my Headquarters bowed to HIS MAJESTY, and at 2 o'clock. 35 minutes of the day left by car for Antivari, where we arrived in 3 ½ / hour by sunset.
(to be continued)
