Through minefields

With the liberation of Novorossiysk and the entire Taman Peninsula from the Nazi invaders, favorable changes occurred in the situation in the Black Sea theater of military operations. The expansion of the naval forces' basing zone created conditions for strengthening the combat activities of ships and formations in subsequent offensive operations Soviet troops for the liberation of Crimea and Sevastopol. The ships of the OVR formations and the trawling and barrage brigade had to solve new complex tasks.

As early as February 8, 1943, the Kerch naval base and its OVR began to take shape. On November 6 of the same year, the Odessa and Ochakov naval bases were formed, and on February 25, 1944, the OVR of the Sevastopol naval base was formed. It included the 2nd division of small hunters (commanded by captain-lieutenant S. G. Fleisher) and the 12th division of minesweepers (commanded by senior lieutenant B. D. Gnoevoy). Somewhat later, the formation included the 1st and 9th divisions of small hunters and the 3rd division of large hunters.

April 8, 1944 troops of the 2nd Guards Army launched an offensive in the Perekop direction. At the same time, troops of the 51st Army set out from a bridgehead on the southern bank of the Sivash. Having broken through the enemy's defenses, they occupied Dzhankoy. The Separate Primorsky Army was advancing on Kegl.

Now every day brought joyful news. On April 11, Kerch was liberated, on April 13 - Feodosia, Simferopol, Evpatoria. April 16 Soviet troops They entered Yalta, and the next day they reached Sevastopol and captured Balaklava.

On April 18, the commander of the OVR, Captain 1st Rank K. Yu. Andreus, officers of the political department and headquarters on MO-072 (commander senior lieutenant V.V. Sedletsky) and MO-0512 (commander senior lieutenant D. I. Aksenov) left from Poti and headed for Yalta. The lead was “MO-072”, on it were Captain 1st Rank Andreus and the flagship navigator, Senior Lieutenant G.F. Saratovtsev. Having entered Feodosia, the boats refueled. We arrived in Yalta on April 20. At the pier there were already minesweepers and torpedo boats of the 1st brigade under the command of Captain 2nd Rank G.D. Dyachenko.

Yalta lay in ruins. The Nazis, fearing an amphibious landing, turned the city into a powerful stronghold. They converted the facades of houses adjacent to the embankment into pillboxes, covered the windows and doors with bricks, and lined the alleys with barbed wire. The streets going down to the sea were blocked with stone walls. Reinforced concrete pillboxes were installed on the embankment. The port waters were mined. While fleeing, the Nazis also mined the piers, but did not have time to blow them up.

There was plenty of work for the OVR sailors. It was necessary to clear the port's waters and approaches to it, carry out patrol duty and combat duty.

On the approaches to Sevastopol, as well as on enemy communications leading to the ports of Constanta and Sulina, torpedo boats based in Yalta operated successfully. Small hunters, while on patrol, had an additional task - to cover torpedo boats traveling to the combat area and returning from missions.

On May 9, 1944, Sevastopol was liberated. Immediately, the OVR ships moved to Streletskaya Bay for permanent deployment, and the minesweepers of the 1st trawling brigade moved to the Southern Bay.

On May 31, 1944, for exemplary performance of tasks, displaying courage, fortitude and heroism, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Order of the Red Banner was awarded to the 4th division of small hunters for submarines(division commander Hero of the Soviet Union, captain-lieutenant I.V. Lednev). In fierce battles, the boats' personnel acted bravely and selflessly, inflicting significant blows on the enemy. By November 1, 1943, the hunter boats had covered 29,168 miles, escorted 1,474 transports, landed 11,014 troops, shelled the coast occupied by the enemy 35 times, shot down 6 enemy aircraft with anti-aircraft fire, destroyed a torpedo boat, 103 mines, 63 times provided assistance to dying ships. and boats, and 3,180 people were saved.

Immediately after the liberation of Crimea, intensive work on mine sweeping began in the Sevastopol bays, and the port facilities destroyed by the Nazis were restored.

The Ovrovites acquired experience in such work back in Novorossiysk. Immediately after its liberation from the Nazi invaders, they began to prepare the port for basing the main forces of the fleet in order to expand the area of ​​​​its combat operations.

The Ovrovites had no documents about mining the harbor. But the explosion of a raid boat, a dry cargo barge and a diving boat left no doubt that the Nazis had mined the port. It was necessary to clear it of mines in a short time.

On September 17, 1943, minesweepers from the OVR Novorossiysk naval base began working to clear the harbor of bottom non-contact mines. By the end of September they had destroyed nine mines. The fleet commander then assigned this work to the minesweeping and barrage brigade.

To manage the trawling, the commander of the BTZ, Rear Admiral T. A. Novikov, created a field headquarters. It included the flag navigator of the brigade, captain-lieutenant V. G. Chuguenko, who is also the chief of the marching staff, the flagship miner, captain-lieutenant I. V. Shchepachenko, navigators senior lieutenant V. A. Mishin and senior lieutenant I. A. Khomyakov, Flagship doctor Lieutenant Colonel of the Medical Service E.I. Gelekva. Hydrographic officers headed by Lieutenant-Commander S.F. Sakhoshkin, junior flagship miner of the fleet Captain 3rd Rank G.N. Okhrimenko and specialists from the mine sweeping department of the fleet were seconded to the field headquarters. The marching headquarters was located in Gelendzhik. The trawling at sea was led by the division commander, Captain 3rd Rank F.P. Shipovnikov.

The Novorossiysk harbor was first trawled with a boat trawl and no anchor mines were found. The divers then inspected the entire mooring line, up to 50 meters wide. And there were no mines here. After this, 2034 depth charges were first dropped on the port waters, and then sequentially trawled with electromagnetic boat, electromagnetic barge and acoustic trawls.

For successful work in mine clearance, the commander of KATSCH-154, midshipman P. A. Remezov, was awarded the Order Patriotic War I degree.

Navigation and hydrographic support for trawling was well established: portable gauges were installed, trawl areas and tacks were covered. Divisional navigators were assigned to assist the KATSCH commanders, who directly ensured the accuracy of ship navigation during trawling. The locations of the exploded mines were determined from the shore by taking bearings from two roadstead posts.

In total, 32 bottom proximity mines were destroyed during trawling of Novorossiysk harbor. At the same time, two trawl barges, a raft trawl, a loop trawl and three boat minesweepers were blown up and disabled.

Trawling of the traveling fairways to the port of Novorossiysk was carried out from October 17, 1943 to January 18, 1944 by boat minesweepers of the division. This was the first major minesweeping operation carried out by naval forces in the seaport and on the approaches to it. The trawling tactics developed here were then used in other ports.

In April 1944, the trawling and barrage brigade was reorganized into the 1st trawling brigade, which became the main trawling unit of the Black Sea Fleet. On April 18, 1944, by directive of the Military Council of the Fleet, the brigade was tasked with clearing mines from the port of Feodosia, Dvukyakornaya Bay, the roadstead at Cape Kiik-Atlama, and also to clear the entrance fairway to Feodosia.

In the Gulf of Feodosia, the enemy laid out a high-density minefield of small anti-boat anchor mines, and mined the port harbor and approaches to it with bottom non-contact mines and landmines.

To complete the task, the brigade commander, Rear Admiral T. A. Novikov, allocated the 4th division of boat electromagnetic minesweepers (nine units) and the 17th division of boat minesweepers of the same composition.

Feodosia, the structures of the seaport and railway station lay in ruins. The brigade headquarters at that time was located in Novorossiysk, and the direct management of mine sweeping operations was carried out by an operational group led by the flagship miner, Lieutenant Commander I.V. Shchepachenko. Having perfect knowledge of mine and mine sweeping weapons, he was a competent specialist in organizing mine sweeping.

The minesweeper sailors worked with full effort. They trawled the water area of ​​the Feodosia port and the outer roadstead three times with boat trawls. Divers carefully examined areas along the berthing lines and in the area of ​​the exit gates, discovering engineering mines, iron barrels filled with explosives, and bundles of depth charges with electric fuses. After the explosive devices were neutralized, the bombing was carried out. There were no anchor or bottom non-contact mines in Feodosia harbor.

During reconnaissance trawling on the approaches to Feodosia, a high-density minefield equipped with mine defenders was discovered. 197 anchor mines, 44 mine defenders, a bottom mine - this is the result of trawling and bombing in the fairway near Feodosia.

In the period from May 9 to May 19, trawling of the recommended courses was carried out from the port of Feodosia to Cape Kiik-Atlama and Dvuyakornaya Bay. In this area, 28 mines and 13 mine defenders were cleared.

The minesweeper crews showed courage and heroism.

Having cleared out another mine, “KATSCH-5385” (commander midshipman V.A. Leongard) stopped its progress to reload the trawl. Meanwhile, the mine-demolition workers, Red Navy man G.F. Rak and foreman of the 1st article V.E. Tovstik, went on a boat to the mine to detonate it. Having suspended the cartridge, they set fire to the fuse and hurried to the minesweeper. Midshipman Leongard went to meet the boat in order to take it in tow and quickly take it to a safe area. And at that moment a cable was wound around the screw. The boat began to drift towards the mine. The Red Navy men who were in the boat realized the danger facing the minesweeper and immediately went to the mine. There were only 40 seconds left before the explosion when they cut the burning fuse, thus preventing disaster.

Here's another case. It was already evening when “KATSCH-39” (commander chief petty officer I.G. Baturin) cleared a mine. A boat was needed to destroy it, but there was none on board. Communication with other minesweepers, already heading to the port, was interrupted: they were covered by a thick veil of rain, accompanied by heavy winds. Among the raging waves, an ominous black ball swayed menacingly. The only way out is to swim to the mine and detonate it. The choice fell on the commander of the miner department, a young communist, foreman of the 2nd article N.V. Anikin.

Having prepared a demolition cartridge, the miner put on a life belt and jumped into the water. The sailors watched the foreman's every move with bated breath. Time passed slowly. Finally Anikin is at the mine. Deftly grabbing the fuse glass with one hand, with the other he threw a demolition cartridge onto it, set fire to the fuse and quickly swam back. When the foreman climbed aboard the minesweeper, it immediately set off. Soon there was an explosion, but the minesweeper managed to retreat to a safe distance.

Mining work required high voltage from personnel, constant readiness to decisive action.

One evening, a detachment of minesweepers, having finished trawling, was returning to the port. "KATSCH-38", commanded by midshipman N.M. Khrushchev, was the end one with the trawl. Dusk fell on the sea when the minesweepers, one after another, began to enter the bay.

Right steering wheel! - the midshipman commanded.

But before the boat had time to complete the turn and set on a new course, a strong double explosion was heard. A sharp blow shook the minesweeper. Petty Officer 2nd Class Ya. M. Denisov and Red Navy machine gunner G. M. Gavrilov, who were on the upper deck of the mechanic, were thrown overboard by the blast wave. A black wall of water crashed noisily onto the minesweeper. The engine stopped and there was silence.

Check the car, inspect the premises! - came the command.

Red Navy engine mechanic V.A. Averyanov and Red Navy miner P.F. Sveshnikov hurried to the engine room, the rest of the Red Navy began to inspect the hull and interior. Denisov and Gavrilov boarded. Acting without fuss, the sailors quickly eliminated the problems. "KATSCH-38" arrived safely at the port. For skillful actions, the division commander expressed gratitude to the commander of the miner department, foreman of the 2nd article F.V. Karavaitsev, the miner, senior Red Navy man P.F. Sveshnikov, and the electrician, senior Red Navy man N.S. Stykalo.

The best among those who distinguished themselves was the crew of KATSCH-29. For the courage shown during combat missions and skillful command of the minesweeper, Chief Petty Officer A. N. Eltansky was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. This order was also awarded to the commander of KATSCH-35, Chief Petty Officer A.I. Pankratov. During the month of combat trawling of the fairway, its crew neutralized 30 mines.

Unfortunately, there were losses. On April 19, 1944, from “RTShch-37” (commander chief petty officer G.I. Utsin), walking at the end of the ledge in the formation, a mine was discovered right on the nose, standing at a shallow depth. Due to the short distance, it was not possible to turn away; the minesweeper hit a mine and sank after 35–40 seconds. The crew managed to escape.

On April 29, when destroying a mine bank in the fairway area, KATSCH-6 cleared the mine, but the trawl cartridge did not work. In order to cut the pin, the boat foreman gave full speed, and at that time another mine was discovered right on the bow. Being constrained in maneuvering, the foreman did not have time to turn away: the explosion tore off the stern part of the boat. In general, trawling in this area was successful.

In total, in April - May 1944, the crews of boat minesweepers of the 4th and 17th divisions trawled and destroyed 283 anchor mines and mine protectors, bottom and 6 engineering mines, 4 barrels filled with explosives, and a bunch of depth charges in the Feodosia region. Total quantity mines of all types and explosive devices amounted to 295.

The task of trawling the Feodosia region was completed on time.

In the period from June 16 to June 20, 1944, four minesweepers carried out trawling along the recommended course of Feodosia and Yalta. The trawling was led by the commander of the 12th division, captain-lieutenant P. G. Kamlyk. Coastal landmarks and buoys were used to provide hydrographic support for trawling. The position of the lead minesweeper boat was determined by two horizontal angles of coastal landmarks measured with a sextant. The total width of the trawled strip was 50 meters.

On one of the days of this trawling, an incident occurred when miner-demolition chief foreman A. M. Lepetenko and foreman of the 1st article V. E. Tovstik encountered a surprise. When they approached the floating mine in a skiff, they heard a hissing sound. The first thought is to go back immediately! But what if the mine doesn’t explode now and waits for its victim?

Two deaths cannot happen, but one cannot be avoided! - said Lepetenko. Approaching the mine, the demolition men turned the boat around. Lepetenko lay down on the trance board and threw his hands forward with the prepared cartridge. It required nerves of steel and inhuman endurance to work near a “bubbling” mine. However, the miners passed the test: after hanging the cartridge, they set fire to the cord. The mine exploded when the boat had already moved to a safe distance.

Later the bombers found out what was happening. It was a mine of a special design: when it surfaced, its self-destruct mechanism was automatically triggered and after a certain time it exploded.

Lepetenko and Tovstik found themselves in other, no less risky situations. One day the boat came within fifty meters of the horned ball when it exploded. The fragments flew through the boat and fell right next to the side. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

The experience acquired by minesweeper crews in the Novorossiysk and Feodosia areas was then successfully used in the Sevastopol area. Reconnaissance trawling on the approach fairways began on May 25, 1944. Over the course of a month, the Ovrov team trawled the approach fairways to a width of 10 cables, as well as Balaklava Bay, then Streletskaya and Karantinnaya Bays. No anchor mines were found.

From June 10 to 14, 1944, boat minesweepers of the 20th and 4th divisions, and later minesweepers of the 16th division of electromagnetic minesweepers carried out trawling with non-contact trawls of the Sevastopol port. 11 bottom non-contact mines were swept and destroyed. During the secondary trawling with a boat trawl in the Northern Bay, another mine, which was in combat condition, was trawled on the ground.

On August 16, 1944, while trawling in Sevastopol Bay, the KATSCH “V. Chkalov." Proceeding to Kilen Bay for trawling, the commander of the KATSCH midshipman M.V. Shevtsov, due to the tightness of maneuvering, decided to pull up the magnetic-acoustic trawl to fifty meters. At this time, a bottom mine exploded at shallow depth in the immediate vicinity of the stern. The minesweeper sank instantly. The commander and eight crew members were killed.

From October 15 to November 1, 1944, the Red Banner electromagnetic minesweeper "Mina" (commanded by Lieutenant Commander V.K. Steshenko) trawled with electromagnetic and acoustic trawls the central part of the Southern and Northern bays, as well as places intended for anchorage of ships. The minesweeper was armed with the most modern and reliable trawls, and the crew members were fluent in anti-mine methods.

The trawling of the Northern Bay was carried out by the minesweeper commander at the “stop”. The bay was divided into squares, and the squares into strips. The ship was anchored, and a trawl released astern processed one strip after another with electromagnetic and acoustic fields. After that, he moved to another square, and everything was repeated. In the Northern and Southern bays, 30 bottom non-contact mines were cleared in the outer roadstead.

On October 19, 1944, the tugboat “ChF-4”, having a water-loading barge towed by a log, walked along the trawled Inkerman site. When approaching the entrance boom gate, a mine exploded a hundred meters from the tug. The ship received minor damage. The reason for the explosion, as explained by experts, was that during depth bombing, the urgency clock in the mine came into action and it became dangerous. A passing tugboat caused it to explode.

The minesweeper crews worked from dawn to dusk. Day after day they plowed the sea, fought with mortal danger and completed work by November 4, 1944. This made it possible for the command of the Crimean sea defensive region to open Sevastopol bays and approach fairways for safe navigation.

For combat trawling in the Sevastopol area, many minesweeper sailors were awarded orders and medals, including the Order of the Red Banner, the commander of the 4th division of boat minesweepers, senior lieutenant P. P. Grigoriev, the commander of the minesweeper "Mina", captain-lieutenant V. K. Steshenko, commander of the minesweeper "Kopeikin" junior lieutenant P. A. Remezov.

The memorable day of November 5th arrived - the arrival of the ships of the Black Sea squadron in Sevastopol. To meet them, all minesweepers, small hunters and torpedo boats lined up in the inner and outer roadsteads along the axis of the fairway. A light breeze rinsed the Navy flags and flags. Primorsky Boulevard was noisy: thousands of townspeople gathered here to welcome the warships.

The first salute sounded, followed by a second, a third... The ships entered the port.

On the shore, the brass of the orchestras thundered, glistening in the sun. The ships sailed in strict order and dropped anchors in the place designated for each of them. The sounds of the bell were heard, counting down the time of the ship's watch.

Listening to the sound of bells, the people of Sevastopol rejoiced. Their naval city, the capital of the sailors of the Black Sea Fleet, is alive! Again, naval peaks and ribbons with golden anchors flashed on the streets and squares.

And for the minesweepers, difficult days began. Back in July - August 1944, boat minesweepers of the 20th division (commander-lieutenant Ya. P. Volkov) carried out trawling in the waters of the port of Skadovsk, the roadstead of Ak-Mechet Bay (now Chernomorsk), as well as the approaches to them. Four watch mine devices were cleared, each of which consisted of four mines. At the same time, several tacks had to be made in one place. In Ak-Mechet Bay, the bottom was checked with a bottom trawl-cable, towed by two minesweepers. Two box-type bottom mines were discovered here. In total, 35 mines were trawled in this area - 32 anchor and 3 bottom non-contact mines.

At the same time, the forces of the Odessa naval base carried out trawling of the fairways and ports of Nikolaev, Kherson, Ochakov and Odessa.

According to available data, the enemy laid up to 30 bottom mines in the port of Nikolaev, in the Dnieper-Bug estuary the barrier consisted of contact and non-contact mines, and in the port of Odessa and on the approaches to it many anchor and bottom mines were placed. On April 18, 1944, at the entrance to Odessa at the Vorontsov lighthouse, two mine boats of the 4th separate brigade river ships.

The Military Council of the Fleet assigned the Odessa Naval Base the task of ensuring the safety of navigation from the Tendra Spit to the ports of Nikolaev, Ochakov, Kherson, Odessa and approaches to them, as well as the basing of ships and transports. Later, an additional task was set: to ensure the safety of navigation of fleet ships and transports in the Odessa-Sulina section.

Navigation and hydrographic support was carried out by a hydrographic party, headed by Senior Lieutenant V. G. Galyuga.

To solve problems, the commander of the Odessa naval base had the 3rd trawling brigade (commander captain 2nd rank A.P. Ivanov, and from March 16, 1945 - captain 2nd rank A.M. Ratner) and the 17th division of boat minesweepers ( commander senior lieutenant N. M. Sotnikov).

First, they decided to clear the ports of anchor mines with a boat trawl (a steel cable towed by two boats). This was dictated by the danger of minesweepers being blown up, especially in the area of ​​the Dnieper-Bug estuary, where the mines stood at a depth of up to twenty-five centimeters, while the minesweepers had a draft of 70 centimeters.

Trawling of bottom non-contact mines was carried out in the following sequence: first, divers inspected the mooring line, then the water area was treated with depth charges, and the job was completed with trawling with electromagnetic and acoustic trawls. In addition, the port of Odessa was trawled with open and acoustic trawls.

Thanks to this tactic, all areas were clear of mines. In total, the ships of the Odessa naval base in 1944 swept and destroyed 57 bottom non-contact mines and 385 anchor mines. Ports and approaches to them were open to navigation.

In the port of Kerch and Kerch Strait trawling was carried out by the crews of the 13th separate division of boat minesweepers (commander-lieutenant captain I.G. Chernyak) and the 2nd trawling brigade (commander captain 1st rank A.F. Studenichnikov). The density of the minefield here was extremely high. The enemy placed combined barriers of anchor and bottom mines at various depths, some of which were even visible from boats in calm weather.

In 1944, combat trawling of fairways in the strait zone and in the Sea of ​​Azov, as well as ports, was carried out, as a result of which 617 anchor mines and mine protectors were destroyed.

As a result of the trawling operations carried out during 1943–1944, all major ports and fairways to them became open for navigation.

In total, during the period of hostilities in the Black Sea from 1941 to 1944, 2,349 mines were destroyed, of which 1,788 anchor mines and mine protectors, 561 bottom non-contact mines.