Sunken ships in the Black Sea. Sunken ships that are visible through the water

Minesweeper T-413
and patrol boat No. 092

The minesweeper T-413 was laid down on October 29, 1939 according to project 58. Launched in 1940. Entered service in April 1941.
Displacement: 476 tons.
Speed: 18 knots.
Armament: 1 100 mm and 1 45 mm gun, trawls.
Crew: 53 people.

Patrol boat No. 092 - type MO-IV, a former border patrol boat, entered service in 1939, from 06/22/1941 under operational, and from 07/19/1941 and under organizational subordination of the Black Sea Fleet, until 09/04/1941 g. - PK-136.
Displacement: 56.5 tons.
Speed: 25.5 knots
Armament: 2 45 mm guns, 2 machine guns,
2 bomb releasers.
Crew: 21 people.

On June 13, 1942, at 11:45 am, in the area of Cape Fiolent, 15 enemy bombers attacked the minesweeper T-413 and patrol boat No. 092. About 80 bombs were dropped on the ships. From three direct hits (in cockpit No. 2, the bow engine room and the wardroom) and the explosions of a large number of bombs in the immediate vicinity of the ship, the minesweeper received numerous holes. Gradually filling with water, the T-413 began to slowly heel, lay down on the starboard side, then sharply turned upside down with its keel and at 11:55 hours disappeared under water at a distance of 15 cable lengths from Cape Fiolent along a bearing of 310°. Patrol boat No. 092 also sank due to bomb hits. There are no coordinates for the sinking.

According to sonar data in this area, at a distance of 11-14 cables from Cape Fiolent, at a bearing of 311°, there are two underwater obstacles with coordinates 44°30"5"N 33°28"3"E and 44°30"4"N 33° 28"2"E. Depths are 50 and 27 meters, elevation above the ground is 8 and 3 meters, respectively. It is possible that these obstacles are the minesweeper T-413 and patrol boat No. 092.

"Bialystok"
Sanitary transport. Former cargo-passenger motor ship of the Black Sea State Shipping Company. As part of the Black Sea Fleet from 08/12/1941 as a floating base submarines. Since September 19, 1941, ambulance transport. Capacity 2048 brt. Medical staff 15 people. The standard evacuation capacity is 200 people.

The ambulance transport "Bialystok" (commanded by senior lieutenant T.P. Rymkus) literally broke into Sevastopol on the night of June 17-18, 1942 with a load of ammunition and food. The ship moored to the pier in Yuzhnaya Bay. "Bialystok" became the last transport ship that was able to break through to Sevastopol before it was abandoned in early July 1942. By the evening of June 18, several hundred wounded and evacuees were taken on board the ship. According to various sources, there were over 800 people on this small ship.

At 21:30, 06/18/1942, "Bialystok", guarded by the base minesweeper "Anchor" and five patrol boats, left Sevastopol for Tuapse. On the night of June 19, at the exit from fairway No. 3, 20 miles south of Cape Fiolent, the silhouette of a torpedo boat was seen from a minesweeper, which was mistaken for our own, and fire was not opened on it, which allowed the enemy to approach the convoy. At 01:48 on June 19, 1942, a convoy of ships consisting of the motor ship Bialystok was attacked by torpedo boats of the Italian Navy. As a result of being hit by one of the torpedoes, the Bialystok received a large hole and sank quite quickly. When the escort vessels began to pick up people who were in the water, the Italian boats opened machine-gun fire on those who were escaping, but this attack was repulsed (from the escort vessels). It was possible to rescue and lift 157 people onto escort vessels. According to various sources, over 680 people died.
The depth at the place of death is about 250 meters. The remains of the ship lie in a hydrogen sulfide layer. Not examined.

"Romania"
Minelayer. Belonged to Germany. Former Romanian steamship, launched in 1904, transferred to the German Navy in 1942.
Capacity: 3152 brt
Length: 108 m
Armament: 4 20-mm anti-aircraft guns,
80 anchor min.

On May 11, 1944, the minelayer "Romania" was traveling from Sevastopol as part of the high-speed convoy "Ovidiu" guarded by the destroyer "Regele Ferdinand" and submarine hunters Uj-110, Uj-301, Uj-305. The convoy was attacked by Soviet top-mast carriers. At 0952 hours, after being hit by bombs, the minelayer caught fire and lost speed. The command decided not to risk the remaining ships of the convoy, removed people from the damaged "Romania" and left it to be torn to pieces by Soviet aviation. After several air raids, only a charred skeleton remained of the ship. At 2346 hours, Soviet torpedo boats No. 353 and No. 301 torpedoed the Romania minelayer. Due to the damage received, the ship sank at dawn on May 12. According to another version, the ship, damaged by aircraft, died from the detonation of ammunition. According to sources, the point of death is located in the area of Cape Fiolent. The coordinates are not indicated. At a distance of 10 kilometers west of Cape Fiolent, on the ground there is an object similar in size to the Romania mines.

The coordinates of the object are 44°30"N 33°21"E. Depth is about 96 meters. The elevation above the ground is 14 meters. With a small degree of probability, it can be argued that this object is the Romania minelayer.

"AGNES BLAIKIE"
Belonging to England. Sailing ship, launched in 1841 in Aberdeen. Displacement 381 tons. She operated under the pennant of the Aberdeen & Commonwealth Line company on the England-Australia line.

Discovered in the 70s of the last century, during a test of sonar systems.
The three-masted sailing ship is approximately 40 meters long and lies on an even keel.

A break was found on the port side near the waterline, probably caused by a collision with a ship. At the stern there is a bell market with the inscription AGNES BLAIKIE.
The Ukrainian authorities decided to raise it to the surface. This failed due to the fact that the fastening of the ship's bell passes through the ship's hull.

A garden vase, an ornamented steering wheel trim, and a flintlock gun were lifted from the side.

Coordinates
Depth 86 meters.

"Prince"
English paddle steamer.
On November 14, 1854, the steamship "Prince" sank as a result of a storm in the Balaklava Bay area.

Enough, a legendary ship, covered in legends and traditions. For the mid-19th century, the ship was a very large vessel with a displacement of 2,710 tons. The main dimensions of the frigate are 300 feet long and 43 wide - that's about three football fields. The ship was quite fast, the speed under sail reached 13–14 knots. The crew was 150 people, the frigate could accommodate 200 passengers. The ship had comfortable first and second class cabins with bedrooms and bathrooms! English newspapers of that time wrote that the Prince's cargo mainly consisted of clothes - shirts, sheepskin coats, hats, underwear, as well as sheets, blankets, sleeping bags and the like. But as soon as it ended Crimean War Sensational reports began to appear in the European press. It turns out that, along with the soldiers' underpants and socks, there was money on board the ship intended to pay salaries to the British expeditionary forces in the Crimea - dozens of barrels filled to the brim with gold coins. Information differed regarding the cost of the cargo: 200 thousand pounds, a million pounds, 500 thousand francs, 5-6 million rubles, etc. But the figure that came up most often was 60 million francs.

Popular rumor also added the word “Black” to the main name. Nowadays, most publications refer to the ship as the "Black Prince".
During various expeditions, in order to discover gold, a telescope, a rifle, a box of bullets and many metal parts rusted beyond recognition were raised to the surface. And also ancient hand grenade, a washstand, hospital shoes, a porcelain mortar, several unexploded shells, boot soles, lead bullets, a rusty lock, a galosh, two forks and a spoon, a wheel hub and several horseshoes.

In October 1924, while training young divers, near the ruins of a Genoese tower east of the entrance to the bay, one of the divers found at the bottom a rusty object of impressive size, in which the expedition leaders identified the ship’s steam boiler (later it was raised), as well as a mass of metal objects and a fragment of the side with portholes.

If you try to determine the specific location of the ship's sinking, the difficulty arises with depth. In some descriptions, the ship was found at a depth of 80 meters, in others - 54 meters. The personal opinion of the author of the publication is that the depth at the site of the death of the “Prince” is no more than 30 meters. It is known that the ship was damaged after hitting a coastal rock. Second: it is unlikely that young divers trained at a depth of more than 30 meters.

U-18
German submarine II B series. Launched in 1935.
Displacement: 250 t
Length: 42.7 m
Width: 4 m
working - 80 m

The submarine U-18 was heavily damaged on August 20, 1944 Soviet aviation in Constanta and 08/23/1944 sunk by her crew in the outer roadstead, at the end of 1944 she was raised by the Emergency Rescue Service of the Black Sea Fleet. 02/14/1945 laid up. On May 26, 1947, she was sunk by artillery fire from the Soviet submarine M-120 during an exercise.
According to sources, the flooding point is 44°20"N 33°20"E.
Depth more than 1000 meters.

U-24
German submarine II B series.
Launched in 1936
Displacement: 250 t
Length: 42.7 m
Width: 4 m
Immersion depth: maximum - 150 m,
working - 80 m
Armament: 2 20-mm anti-aircraft guns, 3 533-mm torpedo tubes (5 torpedoes); it is possible to take on board 18 mines instead of torpedoes.

The submarine U-24 was heavily damaged by Soviet aviation in Constanta on August 20, 1944 and scuttled by its crew on the outer roadstead on August 23, 1944. At the end of 1944 it was raised by the Emergency Rescue Service of the Black Sea Fleet. 02/14/1945 laid up. 05/26/1947 sunk by torpedoes of the Soviet submarine M-120 during exercises.
According to sources, the flooding point is 44°20"N 33°20"E. Depth more than 1000 meters.

S-32
Submarine IX-bis series. Laid down on October 5, 1937 at plant No. 198 in Nikolaev. 04/27/1939 launched
to the water. On April 21, 1941, it became part of the Black Sea Fleet.
Displacement, t 837/1073
Dimensions, m 77.7 x 6.4 x 4
Diesels, hp 4000
Email Motors, hp 1100 Speed, knots 19.5/9 Range, miles 8200/135
Immersion depth, m 100 Armament: Torpedo tubes, pcs. 6x 533 mm
Gun 100 mm, pcs. 1
Gun 45 mm, pcs. 1
Crew 45 people.

In terms of architecture, these “C” type submarines were one-and-a-half-hull submarines of mixed design, in which the strong hull was riveted and the lightweight one was welded. "Eska" had seven compartments; three of them were shelter compartments and were separated by spherical waterproof bulkheads designed for a pressure of 10 atmospheres. The design of the durable body was distinguished by high manufacturability - mainly due to the abandonment of the spacing of joints and grooves and the simplified shape of the cylindrical and conical sections. The strong cabin was oval, which reduced its width and, accordingly, the resistance of water when moving underwater.

The submarine's ascent system, despite its simplicity, was highly effective. Ballast tanks were drained not by pumps, but by exhaust gases from diesel engines or compressed air emergency ventilation systems. All main ballast tanks, except the stern one, were equipped with kingstons of the original design.
Laid down on 10/15/1937 at plant No. 198 named after A.Marti (Black Sea Shipbuilding) in Nikolaev, launched on 04/27/1939, entered service on 06/19/1940 and 06/25/1940, raising the Naval flag , became part of the Black Sea Fleet.

Participated in the Great Patriotic War. In its first combat campaign, S-32 (commander - Lieutenant Commander S.K. Pavlenko) carried out patrol service in the area of Cape Sarych (15.7-5.8.1941). Soon after returning, she was sent to Cape Emine (25.8-8.9.1941), where a group of Bulgarian communists was landed on enemy territory. On the afternoon of the 31st, the "eska" attempted to attack a small convoy, but was discovered and attacked by a seaplane. On the night of September 6, she almost collided with the escort of the tankers Tampico and Superga. Having discovered smoke, Pavlenko declared a combat alert, deciding to shoot from the surface. The foreman, who was on duty at the central post, did not understand the command and opened the seacocks and ventilation of the main ballast tanks. The commander noticed the submersion of the boat late and ordered it to surface when the water had already reached the conning hatch. At the last moment, Pavlenko managed to jump down and batten down the hatch, leaving four people on the top watch on the bridge. A minute and a half later, the S-32 surfaced again, but there were no watchmen on the surface.

In the third campaign (10-19.10.1941), Pavlenko observed how Romanian ships laid mines at Cape Emine (later the S-34 died on them), but was unable to launch an attack due to an unfavorable heading angle. Then the S-32 was involved in the shelling of the Crimean coast, and after repairs it made one unsuccessful trip to the Akhtebol area (7-25.3.1942). In April, the submarine was again repaired, and from the end of May it became part of the forces allocated to supply Sevastopol. Having started their transport flights simultaneously with Belorukov’s boat S-31; S-32 managed to make one more trip by June 20. The secret was this: she left the bases in the dark and, thanks to her high speed, managed to move far from the shore before dawn. During the day, she also continued to follow in a surface position, and therefore spent 17 to 22 hours on the voyage - on average, a third less than other submarines. In total, the S-32 delivered 320 tons of ammunition, 160 tons of food and gasoline to the besieged city, and also took out 140 people.

The boat set off on its last trip from Novorossiysk on June 26 at 9.18. She did not come to Sevastopol.
There are two versions of the death of the submarine S-32 (commander captain 3rd rank S.K. Pavlenko). According to the first, the S-32 became a victim of an attack by the Italian midget submarine SV-3 (commanded by Lieutenant Commander Russo) on June 26, 1942 in the area of Cape Sarych (or Ai-Todor). Some sources indicate that SV-3 unsuccessfully attacked an unknown submarine not on June 26, but on June 15, 1942. According to another version, the Pavlenko ship became the victim of a sudden air raid, and on June 26, 1942 it was attacked in the area of Cape Ai-Todor aircraft of the German 100th Bomber Aviation Squadron on the transition from Novorossiysk to Sevastopol, and the cargo transported by the Eska (40 tons of ammunition and 30 tons of gasoline) contributed to its rapid death. There were 55 people on board the S-32.

On July 1, 1942, the S-32 was expelled from the Navy.
Coordinates of death, by historical sources 44°12"N 33°48"E.
Depth is about 140 meters. There is no sonar data for the area where the submarine was lost.
According to unverified data, the submarine was discovered on the ground after the war.

Airplane "Boston-A20"
Belonging to the USSR. American-made twin-engine front-line bomber Douglas "Boston" A-20 Boston Ill series ("Havoc" - "Destroyer").

The date of death is unknown. In all likelihood, the plane crashed or was shot down by German aircraft during the Great Patriotic War. Patriotic War.

Almost nothing remained of the plane (a fragment of a wing, an engine). Discovered by accident. One radial engine was raised. An imported machine gun was also raised.

The object is not of great interest due to its accessibility and lack of trophies.
The depth is about 8 meters.

"Lenin"
Cargo-passenger ship. The original name was "Simbirsk", built in Danzig in 1909.
Capacity: 2713 GRT
Length: 94.8 m
Width: 12.6 m
Draft: 5.7 m
Speed: 16.5 knots.

70 years ago, on July 27, 1941, the defending Odessa was stirred up by terrible rumors - thousands of Odessa residents, who yesterday were considered lucky to have received a boarding pass for the Lenin steamship, the most comfortable ship of the shipping company, suddenly began to be considered “missing in action.”
There was a war going on, there were no official messages. There were only rumors. And for spreading panic rumors, according to the laws of war, one could get a bullet from a patrol in the nearest gateway - without trial. People remained in the dark and waited...

According to eyewitnesses, after the first rumors about the death of the Lenin steamship, the number of people wishing to evacuate from Odessa fell sharply. Moreover, already in August, ships of the Black Sea Fleet, transports with replenishment and shells began to arrive at the port. The front near Odessa had stabilized, and Odessa residents perceived this to mean that the city would not be surrendered to the enemy on the move; there would be a long defense ahead.

Soon after the withdrawal of the troops of the Odessa defensive region from Odessa (from October 15 to 16, 1941) and its occupation, some time later the first witnesses of the disaster on the Lenin steamship appeared in the city. Those who returned brought with them the terrible truth - almost all the women and children drowned along with the ship. Among the survivors, there were mostly strong men who could swim well - mobilized men and crew members, professional sailors. The rumors were reinforced by malicious reports in the newspapers, describing the details of the treachery of the Bolsheviks, who threw their citizens and the steamer with the “great name of the leader” onto their own mines.

The death of the steamship "Lenin" is one of the largest-scale maritime disasters of the 20th century (this tragedy can only be compared with the death of the ambulance ship "Armenia" in November 1941).

The route of the steamship Lenin on his last voyage

So, this is what eyewitnesses of that tragedy testify.
...The third day after the steamship "Lenin" left the Odessa pier, Captain Borisenko was waiting for the go-ahead to go to sea. The motor ship "Georgia" approached Sevastopol, leaving Odessa two days later.

“On the ship there were people like sardines in a barrel,” testifies passenger M.A. Chazova, “on the decks there were mobilized people standing side by side, who, instead of pillows, put cork lifebelts under their heads. Someone saw a “disorder” in this. On the third day, all the lifebelts "They collected it and locked it under a huge padlock, which they could not knock down even with an ax."

Everyone understood that the ship would have been in Yalta long ago, but for some reason halfway there it was returned to Sevastopol, and it again anchored in Kazachi Bay. The sailors considered this a bad omen. Time passed slowly and anxiously...
Finally, on the evening of July 27 at 7:15 p.m. We received a radiogram: “Transports should disengage and proceed to Yalta.”
"Lenin" and "Voroshilov", accompanied by the patrol boat "SKA-026", went to sea, but the convoy was strictly limited in its speed of movement: "Voroshilov" could not give more than 5 knots...

Already during the investigation, second mate G.A. Bendersky testified: “The caravan was composed absolutely incorrectly. I consider such a selection of courts criminal!”

But in this case, the appropriate question is: why then was everyone silent? The captain was silent, his assistants were silent... Finally, one cannot help but mention another unforgivable mistake by Captain Borisenko. As it was later found out, in Odessa, to repel enemy raids, two anti-aircraft guns were installed at the bow and stern. This, as the sailors say, is “additional metal” - therefore, it was necessary to “eliminate the deviation” in order to make more accurate readings compass.

In addition, metal was also loaded into the holds as the necessary cargo (450 tons) to be transported to Mariupol.
And finally, last but not least: for some reason, on the ship "Lenin" there was no echo sounder for measuring depth, and the log for calculating the speed of the ship was not adjusted...

So, a whole series of omissions, errors plus and criminal negligence before setting out on a night voyage on a ship overloaded with people along a narrow fairway surrounded by minefields. At the same time, only one patrol boat, SKA-026, was allocated to guard the Lenin, Voroshilov and Georgia, where a total of about 10,000 people were located.

The southern night came quickly. Pitch darkness enveloped the Lenin, Georgia, Voroshilov and the patrol boat, which were following each other in their wake. On the left, the bank could only be guessed; not a single light was visible (blackout). Captain Borisenko, young pilot Svistun and watch helmsman Kiselev peered into the darkness. Pilot Whistler was nervous. As they proceeded from the shore, the “manipulation service”, at the direction of the operational duty officer, was to short time light conventional lights. But there were still no lights, and there was no way to clarify the course using the bearing. Dul north wind, causing ships to drift. He was helped by the current behind Cape Fiolent... Captain Borisenko was also nervous. In Sevastopol, there was no briefing of convoy officials, there was no written order, not even a convoy senior was appointed, and the specifics of navigation in the area and security issues were not specified. There is confusion all around. There was no trace of “naval order”!... The speed was minimal. Time 23 hours 30 minutes Yalta is coming soon.

At 11:33 p.m. A strong explosion made the entire ship "Lenin" tremble. It exploded between holds No. 1 and No. 2. The steamer began to settle with its nose and list to starboard. People ran in and shouts were heard: “We’re drowning!”

Captain Borisenko gave the command: “Left rudder!” - and then - “Full speed ahead!” - in the hope of getting closer to the Crimean coast.

Eyewitness Kolodyazhnaya: “At the time of the explosion, I was sleeping in the cabin... Having woken up, I went down to the second deck, the ship was rapidly falling to the starboard side. Passengers were running towards me from the main deck, screaming. At that moment, the ship’s list was approximately 15-20° I realized that it would not be possible to lower the boat and ran to my cabin. I took the bib (life belt), the briefcase with the money, grabbed my mother’s hands and began to get out. There was a lot of water in the corridor. The ship’s tilt increased. on the starboard side, and I moved her to the left. At that time someone fell on me, I missed my mother’s hand...

Something pulled me. I found myself in the sea and saw a pipe falling on me. I sailed to the side and watched the whole time as the ship sank. I saw the stern of the steamer rise, the propellers continued to work. Then he stood up vertically and quickly went under the water. There was an amazing silence, and then there were screams of horror from people who were in the water. I began to swim to the shore...
I stayed on the water for three hours, then they lifted me aboard the Georgia.

It has long been noted that in extreme situations Few people manage to act logically, calmly and purposefully. Panicked, people often doom themselves and others to death. The fear of death makes them "abnormal." The famous team "Women and Children - Forward!" in the entire history of disasters at sea has saved large number lives.

Eyewitness M.A. testifies. Chazova (she was 16 years old at the time):
“I woke up from a cry: “Water!” It was my neighbors screaming - a family with two children. I quickly jumped up, pulled myself to the porthole and climbed out onto the deck. Then I began to ask the parents of this family to give me the boys - I would pull them out...
But their mother decided to get out first. A plump, doughy woman, she was unable to do this. It was stuck tightly in the porthole, and it was impossible for me to pull it out...

I got out to the upper deck. She jumped into the water. The ship was still moving forward by inertia and fell onto the starboard side. It seemed to me that it would capsize and hit me with the mast. Pushing off from the side, I swam to the stern.

The ship was already sinking. People were rushing about the decks, screaming terribly. Someone else lifted children above the water, plunging himself into the dark abyss. The man, who apparently did not know how to swim, offered money for a lap (I later had this whole nightmare, and I screamed in my sleep). The dress was bothering me, so I took it off.
Several boats passed very close. Somewhere they shouted: “On the boat!” I screamed too. It was a shame that they didn’t pick us up. It's dark all around..."

The steamer "Lenin" plunged into the waters of the sea in 7-10 minutes. The “Georgia”, which was in its wake, approached the place of death. The captain gave the broadcast command: “Lower the boats!” Without understanding what was happening, people rushed to the boats in panic. The team tried to fight back with oars and fists. “The boats are being lowered to assist the passengers of the Lenin,” the broadcast wheezed, but this was of little help. A lot of precious time was lost. The boats were lowered into the water only after 30 minutes.

Of course, many members of the crew of the Lenin steamship behaved selflessly, saving people's lives, but the quickly sank ship dragged them to the bottom. Captain Borisenko, his three assistants and the pilot were the last to leave the ship. Only two lifeboats were launched. "Georgia", "Voroshilov" and the boats that arrived in time managed to save only about 600 people in a sea boiling with human heads. These were mainly those who received cork belts, life preservers and who were in lifeboats. Those who could not swim drowned instantly. Many were carried away into the abyss by wet clothes... According to various sources, from 650 to 2,500 people died.

There were many rumors about the inglorious death of "Lenin". The trial was quick. It was found out that due to the approximate and inaccurate course plotting, the Lenin could “touch” the very edge of the minefields at Cape Sarych and be blown up. This was seen as the pilot’s fault and his inexperience. However, it was strange that the Voroshilov, which passed to the right and to the sea, remained unharmed. Consequently, "Lenin" could have run into a floating mine torn from the mine. Quite a lot of such mines floated after the war, which is why passenger ships in the Black Sea for a long time We only went during the day.

A torpedo attack by a Romanian submarine was unlikely. For her, the minefield was a big obstacle. In addition, such a submarine called "Dolphin", according to intelligence data, was at that time in another area of the Black Sea.

Captain Borisenko and his assistants found it difficult to name not only the number of dead, but also the total number of passengers. It was clear that most of the deaths were children, women and the elderly...

Former pilot Lieutenant Ivan Svistun was demoted and sentenced to death. On August 24, 1941, the sentence was carried out. He was later posthumously acquitted for lack of evidence of a crime.

The ship sank, according to archival data, at the point 44°20"N 33°44"5"E at a depth of 94 meters. The condition of the ship's hull is excellent. The bow hold is open.

There is a complete absence of cargo inside the hold.

"Hydrograph"
Hydrographic vessel. It entered service in 1892 and was a minelayer until 1924. Until December 31, 1922 it was called “Danube”, then until January 1, 1932 it was called “May 1”.
Displacement: 1380 t
Speed: 10.5 knots
Armament: 1 76 mm gun
Crew: 59 people.

On November 4, 1941, the hydrographic vessel "Hydrograph", towed by the patrol ship "Petrash", left Sevastopol for Tuapse. At 15:08 the ships entered Yalta. After leaving Yalta, the ships were attacked by enemy aircraft. As a result of damage received from bomb explosions, a leak arose on the Hydrograph, the flow of water could not be stopped, and it sank 19 miles east of Yalta. There were no casualties among personnel. There are no coordinates for the death. At a distance of 19 miles east of Yalta, the depth of the Black Sea is about 1000 meters.

"Armenia"
Belonging to the USSR. Sanitary transport. Former cargo and passenger ship. Launched in 1928. As part of the Black Sea Fleet from 08/08/1941.
Capacity: 4727 brt. Speed: 14 knots
Length 81.7 meters.

One of the most terrible and mysterious disasters at sea in the history of mankind. She took away approximately 7 thousand human lives, several times more than the tragic death of the Titanic and Lusitania combined. The paradoxical thing about this tragedy is that “Armenia” had every opportunity to make this transition at night and with a 100 percent guarantee of arriving in Tuapse safe and sound. However, due to completely incomprehensible and inexplicable orders from the command of the Black Sea Fleet, the ship went to sea on the morning of November 7 and died.

The motor ship "Armenia" was launched in Leningrad in 1928 and was designed to carry 980 passengers and 1000 tons of cargo. "Armenia" was one of the six best passenger ships in the Black Sea. These beautiful high-speed motor ships were popularly called “trotters”. They served the Odessa - Batumi - Odessa line and regularly transported thousands of passengers until 1941.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Armenia was urgently converted into a medical transport ship. Luxurious salons and restaurants were converted into operating rooms and dressing rooms. Huge crosses were painted on the sides and deck in bright red paint, and the flag of the International Red Cross was raised on the mast. Looking at him, the captain of the ship, Vladimir Yakovlevich Plaushevsky, remarked to the first mate: “I don’t think this will help us!”
Indeed, from the first days of the war, hospital ships were attacked by German aircraft. In July 1941, the ambulance transports Kotovsky and Anton Chekhov were damaged, and the Adzharia, engulfed in flames, ran aground near Odessa. In August, the ship "Kuban" sank. After this, four 45-mm cannons were installed on the Armenia.

Meanwhile, the Red Army defended Odessa in stubborn and bloody battles, and the main front retreated to the east, to the Crimea. There were a lot of wounded. Day and night, in any weather, on board the "Armenia" there was a struggle for the life and health of our soldiers and officers. Captain Plaushevsky managed to make fifteen incredibly difficult and dangerous flights from Odessa to the ports of the Caucasian coast, evacuating about 16 thousand wounded and civilians.

The offensive of Manstein's 11th Army to the Crimea was rapid. Under powerful blows from superior enemy forces on October 26-27 Soviet troops began a disorderly retreat from Perekop. Only on the approaches to Sevastopol those who suffered big losses units of the Red Army were able to organize defense and provide serious resistance to the enemy. Two days later, on October 29, a state of siege was introduced in the city. However, this did not prevent the terrible confusion. They tried to evacuate everything without thinking about the future.

On the morning of November 6, boarding began on the motor ship "Armenia" in Sevastopol. It took place spontaneously, and no one even knew the number of people taken on board. Another November 5th to all naval medical organizations it was ordered to evacuate, although a difficult and bloody defense of the city still lay ahead. Several naval hospitals, along with the wounded, medical personnel and equipment, ended up on the Armenia.

Suddenly, a message came to the fleet headquarters that a meeting had gathered in Yalta. large group leading workers and party activists who had to be evacuated. There were enough small ships in Sevastopol that could well have completed this task, but they decided to send the Armenia, although there was no need to risk such a valuable ship. To accomplish this task, the ship was ordered to set sail at 17:00, i.e. two hours before dark.

Leaving Sevastopol during daylight hours was associated with great risk, since the ship could well have been sunk on the way to Yalta, but this time he was lucky. Immediately after leaving Sevastopol, a new order followed - to go to Balaklava. There, several boats approached the Armenia, and NKVD officers loaded wooden boxes onto the ship. The day before, November 6, Stalin signed an order for the urgent evacuation of the most valuable property from Crimea. In this regard, it is assumed that the boxes contained gold and valuables from Crimean museums. After this, the ship again headed for Yalta and arrived there only at about 2 am. The loading of evacuees, wounded and hospital personnel began again. Thus, one ambulance transport contained 23 hospitals - almost the entire medical staff of the Black Sea Fleet.

In Yalta, an order was received from the fleet commander that the departure of the "Armenia" was prohibited until 19:00, that is, until darkness fell. The captain of the motor ship Plaushevsky violated this order and went to sea on November 7 at 8.00.

Here history asks the question: what was the captain of the “Armenia” Vladimir Plaushevsky guided by when he put the ship out to sea during daylight hours in violation of the order of the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Filipp Oktyabrsky? According to some, Plaushevsky, believing that the city is not sufficiently equipped with funds air defense, simply saw no point in staying in the port of Yalta, where the stationary ship was an excellent target for Nazi pilots - especially since German troops were already on the way (Soviet units left Yalta on November 9). Others believe that the captain had to submit to pressure from the NKVD officers who were on board and sought to leave Crimea as quickly as possible in order to save themselves and not allow the Germans to seize the said valuable cargo.

The weather deteriorated, a storm began, the sky was covered with low, ragged clouds. At 11:25 a.m., the ship was discovered by a German Air Force reconnaissance aircraft and then attacked by a German bomber. According to the official version, a Heinkel He 111 that accidentally found itself over this section of the sea dropped two torpedoes on the ship, one of which reached its target.

Other sources, citing eyewitnesses, say that “Armenia” was bombed by eight “Junkers Ju 87” at once. Enemy bombers allegedly targeted the hospital ship, which had red crosses painted on its side and deck, and methodically bombarded it. The fact that the Germans did not hesitate to bomb hospital ships - historical fact, but it is still doubtful that an entire squadron was specifically sent to destroy a transport filled with wounded.

One way or another, overloaded with passengers, many of whom were bedridden wounded, the ship sank in four minutes. Of the 5-7 thousand people on board, according to some sources, eight people survived, according to others - seven (even on the Titanic there were three to four times fewer victims). At the time of the sinking, the ship was accompanied by two Soviet patrol boats and two I-153 fighters, although this claim is also disputed.
The main reason for the death of the ship was the criminal orders of the command and the actions of the captain of the ship, as a result of which the Armenia went to sea during daylight hours. In 1941, not a single ship of ours on the Black Sea was attacked by enemy surface ships or submarines, and German aviation did not then have radar sights for carrying out night strikes on ships at sea.

For over half a century, documents relating to the sinking of the "Armenia" were kept under the heading "Top Secret". Attempts to lift the vessel or its cargo into Soviet era was not attempted. Apparently the authorities believed that the moral costs of disclosing the secret of the deaths of thousands of people would cost much more than the value of the valuables. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Department of Maritime Heritage of Ukraine carried out search work in the area of the sinking of the Armenia in order, according to official statements, to turn the sunken ship into an “International Maritime Memorial”.

Scientists from Russia and Germany assisted them in finding the site of the death of "Armenia". The Russian FSB provided Ukrainian researchers with the opportunity to work with secret documents. However, it was not possible to find reliable archival materials about the death of “Armenia”. In May 2006, American researcher Robert Ballard, head of the Institute of Oceanography and Oceanology, closely associated with the US Navy, began searching for “Armenia”. Previously, he managed to discover the Titanic and a number of other mysteriously missing ships, but this time he failed.

However, even before Ballard was involved in the search for “Armenia” (who, by the way, was more interested in looking for evidence of the theory of the Great Flood off the coast of Crimea), according to some sources, traces of “Armenia” were discovered by other researchers. At least this was stated in the article “Armenia Found!”, published in the sixth issue of Neptune magazine in 2008. The article, in particular, said that thanks to a unique search complex, a group of Russian and Ukrainian scientists managed to discover three sunken ships of various sizes in the area where the “Armenia” was lost (15 kilometers from the coast between Yalta and Gurzuf). One of them, based on remote sensing results, was identified as “Armenia”.

It was also claimed that on the sunken ship, which lies under a seven-meter layer of silt at a depth of 520 meters, scientists “remotely detected signs of a significant amount of items made of precious metals.” The article mentioned many indirect signs by which scientists identified the ship, such as: a large number of human remains in the form of bones, the location of the hull with its nose to the southeast (that is, in the direction where the “Armenia” was heading before its death), and so on.

It would seem that the search for the lost ship has come to an end. However, later, the head of the Center for Underwater Research at the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Sergei Voronov, stated that after receiving a report on the above-mentioned expedition, the Langoust underwater vehicle (dive depth - up to 600 meters) was sent to the place where “Armenia” was supposed to be located. , which found nothing. On the other hand, experts noted, the Lobster did not have equipment to detect an object under a thick layer of sea silt.

One way or another, the section of the seabed where the remains of the ship are supposed to be located has already been explored quite thoroughly - as Voronov admits, only two small squares remain. Previously, they were inaccessible due to the depth to which the Ukrainian remote-controlled underwater vehicle Sophocles, which replaced the Lobster, could not descend - the most advanced device of its kind that local scientists have had so far. Now the Center is counting on the French Archimedes apparatus, capable of diving to an incredible depth of 11 kilometers.

The search for the "Armenia" is complicated by the fact that the remains of the ship apparently lie in a layer of hydrogen sulfide, the concentration of which increases sharply in the Black Sea, starting on average from a depth of 150 meters. At the same time, paper is well preserved in hydrogen sulfide, and this gives us a chance to find intact documents from the captain's safe of the Armenia, which can shed light on one of the biggest mysteries of the Second World War. One way or another, today this secret is securely hidden in the depths of the Black Sea. Thus, even today we know almost nothing about this one of the largest and most tragic disasters at sea!

Archival coordinates of the point of death of the vessel are 44°15.5"N 34°17"E. There is no object at these coordinates.
The estimated depth ranges from 250 to 1200 meters.

These were the most tragic moments in the history of the Black Sea disasters. Of course, there are other large-scale deaths of warships and no less exciting stories. human tragedies at sea. However, according to the number of victims among civilian population, this Black Sea region bears a mournful leadership. Next time we will go further to the east and, among other dead ships from Gurzuf to the Kerch Peninsula, I will tell you about the largest losses among warships of the Black Sea Fleet in its entire history. All the best!

The history of ships sunk in the Black Sea is so great that no one has yet undertaken a complete and reliable description of it. The reason is that even the number of shipwrecks resting on its bottom is unknown. And there is no way to count them. Technical problems, depths and other difficulties are being solved as time passes and will certainly be solved in the future. But time itself is an insurmountable obstacle, hiding ships deep in the silt or destroying them without a trace through rust and decay processes.

Causes of ship destruction

The warm waters of the Black Sea have been navigable for a long time. We learn about the first sailors from legends Ancient Greece. Trying to stay close to the shore, they crashed against the rocks during storms and bad weather. They also reached our shores. Ancient amphorae with wine, incense and oils, which our seabed explorers find, speak of this.

A variety of ships perished during military campaigns, which these waters saw in abundance. Wooden sailboats and modern ships, getting holes, went under water. Most often together with his team. The Black Sea bottom is a huge mass grave, which continues to be replenished throughout the history of navigation.

But other reasons for the death of ships sunk in the Black Sea are also known. Here are some documented facts.

Sinking of ships in Tsemes Bay

Not far from the port of Novorossiysk in June 1918, on the orders of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, Soviet sailors sank ships. The Black Sea Fleet is not mentioned in the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, but due to the prevailing circumstances it was demanded for extradition by the German side in Sevastopol. The Soviet leadership, forced to accept this condition along with other demands, sent two orders to the ships. Official order demanded that Tikhmenev take the ships to Sevastopol and hand them over to German representatives, with a secret order to scuttle them near Novorossiysk.

The commander, after long and difficult discussions of both orders with the ships' committees, decided to carry out the official option. But not all commands obeyed him, and 16 military ships, including the battleship Free Russia, were sunk. With the signal flags “I’m dying, but I’m not surrendering” raised, the ships sank under the water.

The fate of ships and people after the sinking

Those who left remained in the service of Germany until its defeat, and then joined the Russian squadron. Tikhmenev fought on the side of the Whites, and the Bolsheviks who led the flooding, Raskolnikov, Kukel and Glebov-Avilov, subsequently occupied prominent positions in the USSR, but were repressed at the end of the 30s.

The fate of the ships sunk in the Black Sea was more positive. Two years after the events, their gradual rise, restoration and further exploitation began. Only two ships remained at the bottom: “Free Russia” and “Gromky”.

Monument to heroic sailors with the inscription: “I’m dying, but I’m not giving up!” installed on Sukhumi highway. On a huge granite stone the names of all sunken ships are listed with the exact coordinates of their places of temporary (or permanent) stay. But for almost a hundred years, historians and sailors continue to argue about what should have been done in that distant year to save the Black Sea Fleet.

The death of "Admiral Nakhimov"

On August 31, 1986, the story of the death of the large passenger steamer Admiral Nakhimov caused shock and desperate helplessness before formulating the cause of the accident: “ human factor" Comparison of this event with the death of the Titanic in 1912 from a collision with an iceberg had the right to exist only because a lot of people also died on our ship: 423 people out of 1243 (for comparison: 1496 people died on the Titanic). But we had a warm sea and no icebergs. There were only decisions of two captains and one mate.

"Admiral Nakhimov" (cruise ship) left Novorossiysk for Sochi late in the evening. The weather was good, the sea was calm, the passengers were having fun or settling down to relax. Captain Markov, a man with vast experience, calmly led his ship out of the bay. The only ship heading to the port at that time was the Pyotr Vasev, a dry cargo ship headed by Captain Tkachenko. He said that he was letting the Admiral Nakhimov through the gates of the bay first. At 23-00, during this maneuver, captain Markov, having handed over the watch to his assistant Chudnovsky, leaves the wheelhouse.

During the investigation, which was carried out by a government commission, much remained incomprehensible to ordinary citizens who were not privy to secrets. Why did two captains on ships catastrophically approaching head-on, seeing this on radar and with their own eyes, do nothing to save the situation? The watchmen on both ships pointed out to them that an accident was approaching, they clarified who was letting whom through, but what happened happened.

Two huge colossuses collided, despite desperate attempts to change something in last minutes. “Admiral Nakhimov” sank to the bottom in 8 minutes along with its passengers, joining the ranks of sunken ships in the Black Sea.

The team of “Petra Vasev”, together with the ships that came from the port to help, carried out rescue operations. Assistant Chudnovsky went to his cabin and remained on board the dying ship. Both surviving captains were tried and received 15 years.

Warship "Liman"

The story of difficult-to-explain disasters does not end there. Most recently, on April 28, 2017, the world exploded with numerous reports that a Russian warship sank in the Black Sea after colliding with the Togo-flagged cattle carrier Yozasif-H. All crew members were rescued and taken to Russia, and the Liman ship lies off the coast of Turkey at a depth of 80 meters.

It was built in 1970 at Polish shipyards and spent its first years operating in the Baltic. In 1974, he was transferred to the Black Sea Military Fleet, to a separate reconnaissance division N519. As a reconnaissance officer, he monitored the ships of a possible enemy, his negotiations, and could use the high-tech Igla weapon. To carry out its mission, it was equipped with sets of special reconnaissance equipment and a modern Don radar system, a Bronze sonar system and some other secret devices.

The sunken ship "Liman" in the Black Sea, while on combat duty, received a hole and sank a few hours later.

Sabotage or complete fog?

When you read the stated official representatives military forces the reason why it sank Russian ship in the Black Sea, you experience bewilderment, shock and shame. Exactly in this sequence. It turns out that the military reconnaissance ship, stuffed with secret expensive electronic equipment, did not see the cattle ship in the fog.

Maybe that’s why I so want to believe the Fleet Support Movement, which announced possible sabotage. In their opinion, the Liman, which worked effectively off the coast of Syria, displeased the American military forces present here. In order to prevent the scout from appearing at a specific point at a specific hour, a cattle truck was subtly placed under attack. Admiral V. Kravchenko considers the death of the Liman an extraordinary event.

There is only one irrefutable fact that a Russian ship sank in the Black Sea: the crew is alive. We will probably never see anything in this fog again.

I will support
“On the morning of June 17, crowds of people gathered on the shores of Tsemes Bay. Every now and then exclamations of indignation and indignation were heard. In the outer roadstead, ships dropped anchor, the crews of which, under the influence of counter-revolutionaries, decided to go to German-occupied Sevastopol. These were the battleship “Volya”, the destroyers “Daring” ", "Hasty", "Restless", "Ardent", "Loud" and the destroyers "Hot" and "Zhivoy". Following the departing ships, a signal went up on the halyards of the "Kerch": "To the ships heading to Sevastopol: shame on the traitors of Russia!"

The crew of the destroyer Gromky, which went to sea, decided to sink their ship. This was the first of the ships of the Black Sea Fleet to sink to the bottom near Novorossiysk, near Cape Myskhako.

The battleship "Free Russia", the destroyers "Gadzhibey", "Kerch", "Kaliakria", "Fidonisi", "Piercing", "Captain-Lieutenant Baranov", "Lieutenant Shestakov" and the destroyers "Smetlivy" and "Swift" remained in Novorossiysk. . Late in the evening, V.A. Kukel gathered on the Kerch officers from other ships, active supporters of the sinking, and proposed to them an operation plan, which, after clarification, was accepted for execution. According to the plan, it was assumed that the ships, either independently or in tow, would begin entering the open roadstead at 5 a.m. on June 18. There they anchor and wait for the arrival of “Free Russia” abeam the Doob lighthouse. At a signal from the Kerch, the ships open their kingstons, and then the Kerch torpedoes the Free Russia. By morning it became clear that on all the ships, except for the Kerch and Lieutenant Shestakov, the crews had almost fled, and on the destroyer Fidonisi there was not a single person left at all; even the ship’s commander, Senior Lieutenant Mitskevich, had fled.

The destroyer "Lieutenant Shestakov" with "Captain-Lieutenant Baranov" in tow was the first to enter the raid. Then this destroyer towed all the other ships to the roadstead.

On the “Gadzhibey”, when he was being led to his last stop, a signal was raised: “I’m dying, but I’m not giving up.” When all the ships anchored, the destroyer Fidonisi, abandoned by the crew, was still standing at the wall. A crowd gathered at the side of the ship, a spontaneous rally began, the speakers demanded that the ship not be sunk. When a steam schooner approached the Fidonisi to transfer a tug to it, the crowd tried to prevent this. Then the combat alarm was sounded on the "Kerch", she started moving and approached the pier. Raising a megaphone sparkling in the sun to his lips, V. A. Kukep shouted in a firm voice: “If the towing of the destroyer is impeded, I will immediately open fire!”

The threat worked. The crowd on the pier instantly retreated, and the Fidonisi was towed to the roadstead.

At about four o'clock in the afternoon, the Kerch approached the Fidonisi and torpedoed it. This shot served as a signal for all ships. One after another, the ships of the Black Sea Fleet, opening their kingstons and clinkets, sank under the water.

The most difficult task was the sinking of the battleship Free Russia. At 4.30 "Kerch" approached the Doob lighthouse, where the dreadnought abandoned by the team stood. The first salvo was fired from 5 cables: one torpedo passed under the ship, the other exploded, but the hull of the battleship barely shuddered. They fired a torpedo again, the result was the same. The battleship built by Nikolaev shipbuilders turned out to be surprisingly durable! The Kerch began to get nervous: there were few torpedoes left. And only after the fifth torpedo hit there was a powerful explosion. The ship slowly began to turn over and go under the water with its nose.

Having fulfilled its duty, the destroyer “Kerch” headed towards Tuapse. On the night of June 18, on the approach to the Kadosh lighthouse, a radiogram that became historical was sent on air: “To everyone, everyone, everyone... He died, destroying those ships of the Black Sea Fleet that preferred death to the shameful surrender of Germany. Destroyer "Kerch". And at dawn on June 19, the sailors sank their ship."
Archive of the magazine Modelist-Constructor

In total, according to the calculations of historians and oceanographers, the remains of at least a million ships from all eras rest on the seabed. Most of the “drowned” found their end under the abyss of the highest waters, far from sun rays and storms raging above. However, a few lucky ones managed to drown in shallow water. They lie like a dead spot in the turquoise glow of the depths, reminding us of the omnipotence of the ocean.

To access such objects you do not need scuba gear and other things. special equipment. You just need to sail over them to see the silhouettes of sunken ships.

The ghostly remains of the yacht Mar Sem Fin(“Endless Sea”)

A Brazilian research yacht, covered in ice and sank at a depth of about 10 meters in Maxwell Bay in Antarctica.

Last parade of the cruiser Prinz Eugen

Participant nuclear tests on Bikini, he found his final refuge on the reefs of Kwajalein Atoll, 10,000 miles from his ancestral homeland.

After the surrender of Germany, the cruiser was captured by the Americans, who used the Eugen as a target. The ship survived the nuclear fire and was towed to nearby Kwajalein to await another round of explosions. Over the next six months, the cruiser slowly, compartment by compartment, filled with water and tilted toward the lateral side. At the last moment, the Yankees tried to save him, but before reaching the shore, the Eugen capsized and sank in shallow water. Where it remains to this day, with its propellers shamelessly raised above the water.

The picturesque remains of the schooner Sweepstakes

An old Canadian schooner that sank on the lake. Ontario in 1885. The remains of Sweepstakes rest under six meters of clear water. This made it possible to turn the schooner into a popular tourist attraction, making Sweepstakes part of the national natural park. Currently, work is being carried out at the bottom of the lake to restore and preserve the remains of a 19th-century schooner.

It fits really well!

The wreck of the brig “James McBride”, which sank on the lake. Michigan in 1857.

A pile of debris at the site of the sinking of the Rising Sun steamship. The ship was lost during a storm in 1917.

An unknown sunken ship, whose photo was found on the Internet.

The British ironclad steamer Vixen, sunk as a barrier in Bermuda.

Tears of the battleship Arizona

Battleship anchorage, Pearl Harbor, Hawaiian Islands. Further comments are probably unnecessary.

Arizona is one of two American battleships that died that day (the other six were returned to service). It was hit by four 800 kg bombs made from 356 mm armor-piercing shells. The first three did not cause any harm to the battleship, but the last one led to the detonation of the powder magazines of the bow main battery towers. The ship, destroyed by the explosion, sank to the bottom of the harbor, forever locking 1,177 people in its compartments.

A memorial was erected at the site of the death of the battleship. The deck of the battleship lies literally a few meters below it. Engine oil slowly seeping to the surface spreads across the water in a lilac-scarlet spot, supposedly depicting the “tears of a battleship” for its dead crew.

Supercarrier Utah

Not far from “Arizona”, at the bottom of Pearl Bay, lies another remarkable object. Sunken target ship (decommissioned battleship) Utah. The smooth wooden flooring on the site of the dismantled main battery towers was mistaken by Japanese pilots for the deck of an aircraft-carrying ship. The samurai took out all their anger on the target instead of flying to bomb the oil base, docks and other strategic objects of Pearl Harbor.

The last feat of “Ochakov”

The large anti-submarine ship “Ochakov” was used as a barrier at the exit from the lake. Donuzlav, during the “Crimean events” the year before last. Being in a non-combat state, the old BOD found the strength to complete the last task in the interests of the Fatherland.