They appeared in one of the most difficult periods of the Great Patriotic War - April 3, 1942
The Russian Marine Guard traces its history back to the first quarter of the 19th century. The first naval unit of the Russian Imperial Guard - the Guards Crew - was formed only in 1810, 110 years later than the first ground guards units. After the October Revolution, the very concept of the guard was eliminated, and the return of the guard ranks in the Soviet fleet again occurred a little later than in the army! The first guards units of the ground forces in the USSR appeared on September 18, 1941, and the first guards ships received the title of guards only on April 3, 1942. By order No. 72 of the People's Commissar of the Navy, Admiral Nikolai Kuznetsov, four submarines of the Northern Fleet became guards: D-3 Krasnogvardeets, submarine K-22, M-171 and M-174. From the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, the first guards ships were the Stoyky destroyer, the Marty minelayer and the Gafel minesweeper. And only one battleship of the Black Sea Fleet was awarded the rank of guards, but it was the largest and most powerful ship - the cruiser Krasny Kavkaz.
For the sake of fairness, it must be said that a little earlier the marines and naval pilots, who fought hand in hand with the soldiers of the Red Army from the first days of the war, received the guards ranks. The 71st Marine Rifle Brigade, renamed the 2nd Guards Rifle Brigade, was first awarded the Guards rank on January 5, 1942. On January 8, four more naval units became guards: three Baltic air regiments (1st mine and torpedo and 5th and 13th fighter, after reformed into the 1st Guards mine and torpedo and 3rd and 4th Guards fighter) and one air regiment of the Northern Fleet - the 72nd mixed, after being awarded the rank became the 2nd Guards Fighter. And on March 18, 1942, the rank of Guards was assigned to the 75th Marine Rifle Brigade, which became the 3rd Guards Rifle Brigade.
Until the end of the war, the number of guards ships, units and formations of the Soviet Navy had grown significantly: 18 surface ships and 16 submarines, 13 battalions of combat boats, two air divisions, 20 air regiments, two anti-aircraft artillery regiments, a marine brigade and a sea railway artillery brigade. The last guards unit in the fleet during the war on September 26, 1945 was the 6th Fighter Aviation Regiment, after being assigned it was renamed the 22nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Pacific Fleet.
But no matter how great the merits of the marines and naval pilots, the fleet is, first of all, warships. That is why April 3, 1942 is considered to be the birthday of the Marine Guard in the Soviet Navy. And the first guards ships deserve to tell, albeit briefly, about the fate and combat path of each of them.
Guards submarine D-3 "Krasnogvardeets"
The D-3 submarine was the third submarine of the first Soviet project of large submarines - series I. Laid down at the Baltic shipyard on March 5, 1927, on November 14, 1931, became part of the Baltic Sea naval forces, and on September 21, 1933, having made the transition from Leningrad to Murmansk - in the Northern military flotilla. In February 1935, the submarine involved in the operation to support the operation of the first drifting polar station "North Pole-1" for the first time in the history of the world submarine fleet made a 30-minute ice voyage. During the Great Patriotic War, the boat made seven military campaigns and did not return from the eighth. The D-3 became the first submarine in the USSR Navy to be awarded the title of the Red Banner (the Order of the Red Banner of the Red Army was awarded on January 17, 1942) and the rank of the Guards. According to the official data of the Soviet side, 8 sunken ships with a total displacement of 28,140 brt and one damaged with a displacement of 3200 brt were recorded at the expense of the Krasnogvardeyts, which carried out 12 torpedo attacks and fired 30 torpedoes.
Guards submarine "K-22"
This submarine actually repeated the fate of the D-3: the same eight military campaigns, the last of which ended in the disappearance of the boat, the same entry into service, first of the Baltic, and then of the Northern Fleet. The boat was laid down in Leningrad at factory number 196 on January 5, 1938 according to the project of the series XVI - the largest Soviet submarines of the pre-war period - and after ten months it was launched. On August 7, 1940, the boat became part of the Baltic Fleet, and on October 30, 1941, after crossing the White Sea-Baltic Canal, the Northern Fleet. On the combat account of the K-22 there are 9 sunk ships - transport and auxiliary, as well as warships. On February 7, 1943, the submarine contacted the K-3 submarine for the last time, with which it was conducting a joint military campaign, and nothing else is known about it.
Guards submarine "M-171"
The submarine of the "Malyutka" type of the XII series was laid down at the plant No. 196 in Leningrad on September 10, 1936, 10 months later it was launched, and on December 25, 1937 it became part of the Baltic Fleet under the letter M-87. A year and a half later, on June 21, 1939, the boat, passing the Belomorkanal, reached Murmansk and became part of the Northern Fleet under the designation M-171. It was with this letter that the boat earned its military glory, having made 29 military campaigns during the Great Patriotic War, carried out 20 torpedo attacks, fired 38 torpedoes and chalked up two reliable trophies: the German transport "Curityba" sunk on April 29, 1942 (4969 brt) and damaged on January 29, 1943, the German transport "Ilona Siemers" (3245 brt). The submarine served in the Soviet Navy until 1960: in 1945 it returned to the Baltic as an underwater mine layer, in 1950 it was transferred to the training subclass, and on June 30, 1960, after 23 years of service, it was excluded from the lists of the Navy ships …
Guards submarine "M-174"
Like the M-171 submarine, the M-174 was laid down in Leningrad, but a little later, on April 29, 1937, and when it was laid it received the letter designation M-91. On July 7, 1938, she was launched, and on June 21, 1938, she entered the Baltic Fleet. Both "Malyutki" got to the North at the same time, having made the transition along the White Sea-Baltic Canal from May 15 to June 19, 1939. The boat was included in the Northern Fleet on June 21, 1939, already with the name M-174, and she managed to make one military campaign during the Winter War of 1939-40, although without achieving success. During the Great Patriotic War, the boat made 17 military campaigns, but did not return from the last one, which began on October 14, 1943. During the service, M-174 made 3 torpedo attacks and fired 5 torpedoes, crediting the authentically confirmed German transport "Emshörn" (4301 brt), sunk on December 21, 1941.
The submarine, which sank the Nazi transport, approached the pier of the base. Photo: TASS
Guards destroyer "Stoic"
This destroyer was laid down in Leningrad, at Plant No. 190 on August 26, 1936, according to the most massive pre-war design of Soviet destroyers. On December 26, 1938, it was launched, and on October 18, 1940, the Stoyky entered service and became part of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. He fought from the very first day of the war, and the glory of this ship was brought by participation in a unique operation to evacuate the Soviet garrison of the Hanko Peninsula. A detachment of ships for this operation was formed on October 30, 1941, and, among many others, included the Stoyky and two other first guards ships in the Baltic - the Marty minesweeper and the Gafel minesweeper. But it was on "Stoykom" that the squadron commander and head of the operation, Vice Admiral Valentin Drozd, held the flag, whose name was given to the ship on February 13, 1943, after the commander's death. The destroyer served in the Baltic until 1960, recently as a target ship.
Guards minelayer "Marty"
This is the oldest among all the first guards ships of the Soviet Navy. On October 1, 1893, she was laid down at the Danish shipyard as the tsarist steam yacht "Standart", and after launching on March 21, 1895, she became the favorite yacht of the last Russian emperor Nicholas II. In 1917, Tsentrobalt, the command of revolutionary sailors, was located on board, and after the legendary Ice campaign from Helsingfors to Kronstadt, the yacht was put into storage. And only in 1936 the ship returned to service: it was converted into a minelayer. War "Marty", which received this name in 1938, met on June 22 at the roadstead of Tallinn, and on the night of June 23 went to the first combat setting of mines. During the war, "Marty" made 12 military campaigns, delivered 3159 mines and shot down 6 enemy aircraft. It remained in service until 1961, bringing its last benefit to the Navy as a missile target ship.
Minelayer "Marty". Photo: wikipedia.org
Guards minesweeper "Gafel"
Another participant in the legendary campaign to Hanko, the Gafel minesweeper was laid down in Leningrad on October 12, 1937 according to Project 53u - the most massive project of basic minesweepers of the 1930-40s. On July 23, 1939, he entered service and became part of the Baltic Fleet. He participated in the Winter War, met the war in Kronstadt, became famous as an active participant in the evacuation of the defenders of Hanko, was engaged in trawling until the end of the war, and ended service in the Navy on September 1, 1955.
Guards cruiser "Krasny Kavkaz"
It was laid down in Nikolaev in 1913 as a light cruiser "Admiral Lazarev", but in 1918 the construction was interrupted. It resumed only in 1927, after the ship was renamed into "Red Caucasus". It entered service on January 25, 1932, becoming the most modern ship of the Soviet fleet at that time - and the last in its composition, which was laid down in tsarist Russia. The cruiser met the war in Sevastopol, and already on June 23 and 24 began laying minefields on the approaches to the Sevastopol harbor. "Krasny Kavkaz" took part in the defense of Odessa and Sevastopol, in the Kerch-Feodosiya landing at the end of December 1941. It was in Feodosia that on January 4, 1942, during the bombing, the cruiser received severe damage, which put it for repairs for six months. But already in August 1942, the Krasny Kavkaz returned to service, and served until November 21, 1952, when, already disarmed and turned into a target ship, it served its last service, adopting an anti-ship cruise missile from a Tu-4 bomber. It is symbolic that this happened in the Feodosia area, and the ship was excluded from the lists of ships of the fleet on January 3, 1953.
