The combined operation of the German naval and land forces "Albion" is connected with Moonsund (the strait that separates the Moonsund archipelago from the mainland coast of Estonia). For Russia, the Moonsund operation September 29 - October 7, 1917 - the last military operation during great war.

In operational terms, for the Germans, the Moonsund operation is an amphibious operation to capture the islands of the archipelago. The strategic goal of the operation was to capture the Gulf of Riga - the most important promising bridgehead. In addition, having captured the islands, the Germans deprived the Russian command of the opportunity to use their aircraft in the Gulf of Riga (the airfields were mainly on Ezel Island) and provided the coastal flank of their 8th Army from any surprises.

The German fleet was so much stronger than the Russian Baltic Fleet that no operational and tactical skill of the latter could balance his chances in an open struggle at sea. Proceeding from the balance of forces, the Russian naval command built its plan of war on the Baltic theater of operations on the concept of defending the most dangerous operational areas for Russia by methods of positional struggle. The narrow Gulf of Finland and the entrances to the Gulf of Riga and the Gulf of Bothnia made it possible to block them with mine and artillery positions. By themselves, these positions could not prevent the breakthrough of the enemy fleet, but they fettered the maneuvering of the enemy, allowed the Russian naval forces to act on the flank of the enemy breaking through the minefields.

By the spring of 1916, the following were created: 1) Central mine and artillery position on the Nargen-Porkallaudd line; 2) The forward mine-artillery position, which consisted of a minefield between Gangeudd and Cape Takhona (the northern tip of Dago Island - its flanks were to be protected by batteries on Russare Island, south of Cape Gangeudd) and on about. Dago (near m. Takhon); 3) Abo-Oland fortified position (closed the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia) and 4) Moonsund fortified position (along with minefields in the Irben Strait, it protected the entrance to the Gulf of Riga).

The forward position made it possible to advance the forward base of the Baltic Fleet from Helsingfors to the west. A special place in the defense system was occupied by the Naval Forces of the Gulf of Riga, which included, in addition to the obsolete battleship Slava, several cruisers and almost the entire Mine Division of the Baltic Fleet. The main operational task of this grouping was to defend the entrance to the Gulf of Riga through the Irben Strait - the northern flank of the minefield was provided by the Moonsund position, and the southern flank rested on the coast of the Gulf of Riga captured and fortified by the Germans.

Capturing the coast of the Gulf of Riga is one of the most important tasks of the German forces during the period of hostilities in the Baltic states in the summer of 1915. It was then that the Irben operation of the German fleet was carried out. But the breakthrough of the German fleet into the Gulf of Riga did not achieve the main goal - the destruction of the Russian naval forces in the Gulf. The main goal of the Irben operation - to maintain dominance in the bay to assist the troops of the coastal flank of the German Neman Army - was also not achieved. Nevertheless, the enemy owned the coast as a base for the deployment of subsequent military operations.

The entire set of mine and artillery positions created by the Russian command by the summer of 1916 in the Baltic theater of operations constituted a single powerful fortified system, the center of which was the Forward Position (with the main forces of the Baltic Fleet deployed on it), with flanks in the form of positions of the Irben Strait and Olandsgaf (behind which the auxiliary units of the fleet should have been located). The central and rear positions ensured the stability of the defensive system and guaranteed the reliability of the protection of the sea approaches to Petrograd.

The combat stability of the system of Russian mine-artillery positions largely depended on the competent and active maneuvering of the naval forces of the fleet. The weakest links in the system were the flank positions - Irbenskaya and Olandsgafskaya: they had only one flank each adjoining their coastal fortifications (the other flank of the Olandsgaf position went into Swedish territorial waters, and the southern flank of the Irbenskaya position rested on the Courland coast, occupied and fortified by German troops ). Under the cover of coastal batteries, German ships could freely move along the Courland coast - only in 1917, after the installation of a 305-mm battery at Cape Tserel, which blocked the entire width of the Irben Strait with its fire, the work of German minesweepers in the fairway along this coast was difficult.

The Moonsund fortified position was an important element in the system of Russian defense in the Baltic - it was an intermediate link between the Irbenskaya and Advanced positions. Possession of Moonsund provided communications in the Gulf of Riga, made it possible to successfully defend the Irben Strait, and also to assist the flank of the Northern Front, and ensured freedom of maneuver in the Baltic theater of operations.

The main vulnerability of the Moonsund position was its accessibility to enemy landing (almost the entire coast favored the landing), which the enemy did not fail to take advantage of in the 1917 campaign. The islands of Ezel and Dago, the entrances to the bays of Tagalaht and Leo, Soelozund were not sufficiently protected. The most vulnerable point of the archipelago was Soelozund - the strait separating the largest (Dago and Ezel) islands and leading from the Baltic Sea into Moonsund. On the island of Ezel, just before the entrance to the strait, there were two largest bays - Tagalakht and Mustelgam - convenient for a large fleet.

Accordingly, the main burden of the defense of the islands lay on their garrison, which was insufficient both in quantitative and qualitative terms, and by the autumn of 1917 it was also morally and psychologically decomposed. Deployed behind the mine and artillery positions, the Russian fleet was a serious fighting force capable of going to sea at any moment and attacking both the enemy who was making a sea crossing and the landing landing force of the enemy. But, on the one hand, its combat effectiveness was also undermined by revolutionary events, and on the other hand, having, thanks to the Kiel Canal, the ability to transfer ships of any class to the Baltic, the Germans concentrated large forces and means from the High Seas fleet by the beginning of the Moonsund operation.

Scheme of the area of ​​the Moonsund operation.

The Germans involved in the operation more than 300 ships, 102 aircraft (94 were based on the St. Helena aircraft and nearby airfields, plus 8 seaplanes in the 16th squadron), up to 25,000 landing troops (23rd Reserve Corps, 42nd and 77th I infantry divisions, 2nd scooter brigade) with 40 guns, 80 mortars, 220 machine guns [Chishvits A. von. Capture of the Baltic Islands by Germany in 1917. M., 1937. S. 28-29]. The landing party was taken to transports in the city of Libava.

The group operated: the battlecruiser Moltke, 10 newest battleships (3rd and 4th squadrons - the battleships Bayern, Koenig, Grosser Kurfürst, Kronprinz, Markgraf; Friedrich der Grosse ”, “Konig Albert”, “Kaiserin”, “Prince Regent Luitpold”, “Kaiser”), 9 light cruisers (2nd and 6th reconnaissance groups - “Koenigsberg”, “Karlsruhe”, “Nuremberg”, “ Frankfurt", "Danzig", "Kolberg", "Strasbourg", "Augsburg"; "Emden" was the flagship of the destroyer formation), over 100 destroyers and destroyers, 6 submarines (the Courland flotilla) and more than 100 auxiliary vessels (transports , minesweepers, motor boats, etc.). Vice-Admiral E. Schmidt commanded the naval "Special Operations Detachment", the landing corps was commanded by General von Caten.

2. E. Schmidt

3. von Caten

4. German battleship-dreadnought "Prince Regent Luitpold"

5. 280-mm guns of the battlecruiser "Moltke".

The naval forces of the Gulf of Riga included: 2 obsolete battleships (Grazhdanin and Slava), 3 old cruisers (Admiral Makarov, Bayan, Diana), 12 new destroyers (of the Novik type) and 14 old destroyers: 4th ("General Kondratenko", "Border Guard"), 5th ("Horseman", "Amurets", "Finn", "Moskvityanin", "Emir of Bukhara"), 6th ("Guarding", "Don Cossack", "Transbaikalian", "Military", "Ukraine", "Turkmen of Stavropol", "Terrible"), 11th ("Winner", "Brawler", "Thunder"), 12th ("Desna ”, “Samson”, “Lieutenant Ilyin”, “Captain Izylmetiev”), 13th (“Avtroil”, “Konstantin”, “Izyaslav”, “Gavriil”) destroyer divisions, destroyer Novik, 3 English submarines ( S-26, S-27, S-32), 3 gunboats ("Khivinets", "Brave", "Thundering"), auxiliary vessels (about 100). During the operation, reinforcements arrived, including several destroyers.

6. Battleship "Glory" in the parking lot

Accordingly, the Germans, having concentrated forces many times superior to the Russians both quantitatively and qualitatively, guaranteed an unconditionally successful outcome of the operation for themselves. The superiority of the enemy was overwhelming.

For the Russian side, the situation was aggravated by a number of unfavorable circumstances. The first is technical. So, if on the large ships of the Naval Forces of the Gulf of Riga the condition of the mechanisms was relatively satisfactory, then the destroyers and smaller ships were so “tugged up” that their material part required constant overhauls and corrections. The forces of the Gulf of Riga, like the entire fleet in 1917, due to poorly completed repairs and the almost complete absence of constant supervision of the command staff over the equipment, was in a much worse condition than before.

Describing the Russian defensive positions, it should be noted that the rare minefields exposed on the approaches to Soelosund and near the bays could not serve as a serious obstacle for the enemy. In the Irben Strait, there was actually no full-fledged mine position. The bulk of the coastal batteries were not camouflaged, and the largest hydro-air station was located near Tagalakht Bay - under a probable enemy attack.

There were 39 coastal batteries (caliber 47-305 mm), but half of them were anti-aircraft. The personnel of the batteries was about 1.5 thousand people [Pukhov A.S. Moonsund battle. L., 1957. S. 40].

The main defense force of the Irben Strait is the 305-mm battery No. 43 at Cape Tserel. But the battery had a limited sector of fire, and it was impossible to cause serious damage to the enemy with four guns from long distances. The battery was very vulnerable to fire from the sea, in particular, from the Leo Bay.

7. 305-mm battery gun No. 43 at Cape Tserel.

8. Deployment of Russian batteries on the Moonsund Islands.

Naval aviation(4 bus stations) consisted of 36 aircraft [Kosinsky A. M. Moonsund operation of the Baltic Fleet in 1917. L., 1928. S. 41].

The second unfavorable circumstance is moral and political. The morale of the garrisons of the islands (parts of the 107th and 118th infantry divisions, border guards, sappers - 15 battalions and 5 squadrons) was affected by the general decay and decline in discipline in the Russian army (after the revolutionary events of February 1917 and the spring-summer " deepening of the revolution"), distrust of officers, interference of committees in all aspects of military operations.

The condition of the fleet personnel was not the best either. Often there were cases of non-execution of orders, including combat ones.

Added to all the negative factors was the fact that the people in the subunits were already tired and demoralized by air raids even before the start of the enemy's active operation. So, on September 5, another raid on the Tserel battery led to a fire and explosion of the cellars. Colonel K. V. Loman, Lieutenant Colonel Maklyutin and about 120 other artillerymen and infantrymen were killed.

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Forces and means to defend the position

Means of Defense

The means of defense of the Moonsund position consisted of the Naval Forces of the Gulf of Riga, minefields, batteries, land garrison, engineering training of the islands, naval aviation and communications posts.
The Commander of the Naval Forces of the Gulf of Riga during the 1917 operation was Admiral Bakhirev; in the order to him of the Commander of the Fleet, dated July 20 / August 2, 1917, No. 1004 op., It was stated: “In the event of the start of the German fleet’s operation on the Gulf of Riga, I instruct you to take over the overall command of the Naval Forces of the Gulf of Riga and the Moonsund position for unification their actions, as it was previously supposed" 1 .

His appointment adm. Bakhirev explains this: “Circumstances could require the strengthening of the forces of the Gulf of Riga by other parts of the fleet, and there could be friction between the newly arrived flagships and the head of the Mine Division, who was constantly in the bay, who was the junior admiral in the fleet all the time (first was adm. Razvodov, then Adm. Stark).
Meanwhile, when the enemy appeared, everything was to be led by a person who had already become acquainted with the state of affairs in the bay. I was the eldest of the flag officers in the active fleet, and therefore, I believe, the choice of the authorities settled on me.
The Commander of the Naval Forces, in addition to the ships in the bay, was operationally subordinate to the Rogekul base and the Tserel batteries. The head of the Moonsund position, despite the above order, apparently remained directly subordinate to the Commander of the Fleet. Due to the difficulty, due to the lack of command personnel, to form a special headquarters for the Commander of the Naval Forces, during his stay in the bay, the headquarters of the Mine Division was directly subordinated to him, which was located on the Libava transport, which stood on the roadstead in Kuivaste on a barrel connected by telephone to the skid and shore 2 .

Maritime Forces of the Gulf of Riga (See Appendix I)

The Naval Forces of the Gulf of Riga included the battleships Grazhdanin and Slava. It was not possible to reinforce them with other battleships, since work on deepening the Moonsund Canal was stopped in 1917, in the previous year the depth in it was only brought up to 26.5 feet, although much more was supposed; meanwhile lin. it was not considered possible for the ships "Andrew the First-Called" and "Republic" to reduce the draft for passage through this channel.
The experience of unloading these ships was carried out in August 1916 and did not give a positive result. Their value in Moonsund would be enormous, since the range of their 12 "artillery with heavy shells reached 135 cable 3, while on the "Glory" the range was brought only to 115 cable, and on the "Citizen" the old one remained - only 88 cable 4 .
Of the cruisers, by the beginning of the operation, there was one Bayan in Moonsund. Already during the German offensive, the Admiral Makarov (October 4) and Diana (October 16) arrived. Admiral Bakhirev, assuming that the enemy had a swept fairway along the southern coast of the Irben Strait and, in view of the possibility of breaking through the strait of light cruisers and destroyers, was hard at work about sending relatively fast cruisers Bogatyr and Oleg with strong rapid-fire artillery to the Gulf of Riga, but he was denied this.

The mine division led by its chief is all navigation time, since 1915, spent in Moonsund, but part of the destroyers constantly came off to carry out various tasks in the Gulf of Finland and Bothnia; in addition, constant service at sea necessitated the overhaul of machines, various corrections, and sometimes larger repairs, which also diverted part of the destroyers to Revel and Helsingfors; more small works performed in Rogekul. By the beginning of the operation in Moonsund, they were under the command of the head of the Mine Division, Adm. Stark to ten Noviks (XI, XII and XIII divisions) and eleven destroyers of the old coal type (IV, V and VI divisions). In the next few days, two more Noviks (Gavriil and Kapitan Izylmetev) and two old destroyers approached. In addition, there were several small destroyers of the Patrol Vessel Division.
There were only three submarines at the beginning of the operation - the English C 26, C 27 and C 32. Before that, there were our boats of the A G type, which had recently entered service, but "due to the low experience of the personnel and, probably, the imperfection of the mechanisms, they often failed" 6 . Regarding the British submarines, the commander of the Naval Forces of the Gulf says: “The most serviceable part was the English submarines“ C ”, which I can only speak of with the greatest praise: all orders were executed by them accurately, not only meekly, but also with. full desire to bring military benefits. At the request of adm. Bakhirev, faulty boats, when there was an opportunity, were replaced by others. So, once a "Leopard" was sent, which, despite its large size, brilliantly fulfilled the assignment given to it to monitor the entrance to the Western Dvina. The “Cougar” sent another time on September 7 as a result of; malfunction refused to go to work given to him.
In the Gulf of Riga there were also gunboats"Khivinets", "Brave" and "Threatening"; minelayers "Amur", "Volga" and "Pripyat"; minesweepers, patrol vessels, motor ships, patrol boats, transports and various auxiliary vessels.
The divisions of trawling and patrol ships, whose winter repairs were greatly delayed, due to the large work in the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia, could devote only an insignificant part of them to the Gulf of Riga; meanwhile, the need for these ships, especially after the appearance of enemy submarines in the bay and the fall of Riga, greatly increased. Transports to Mento, Arensburg and Pernov could no longer be sent without an escort, and therefore the available patrol ships were only busy with this business and distracted from their direct duties. Admiral Bakhirev several times asked the Fleet Commander to increase the number of small vessels, and in the usogram dated September 22 / October 5 he indicated that only two patrol vessels remained for the needs of the bay.
With the same requests, he addressed the minesweepers; even on September 28 / October 11, on the eve of the appearance of the Germans, he reported that he had only one Minrep minesweeper left and the last Russian submarine was out of action.
As for the condition in which our ships were, big ships the condition of the machines was relatively satisfactory; destroyers and small ships were so torn up that, with very few exceptions, they required constant bulkheads and corrections in Rogekül and even in Revel and Helsingfors after short trips and even stops in Ahrensburg and Kuivast.
In general, in a technical sense, the ships of the Gulf of Riga, like the entire Russian fleet in 1917, due to poorly completed repairs and the almost absence of constant, correct supervision of the command staff over the material part, were in a much worse condition than in previous years. Admiral Bakhirev gives several examples characterizing the state of the materiel. So, on September 8, the destroyers, twice attacked by hydroplanes, could not open fire from their air cannons; the destroyer of the patrol division, placed at night at the milestone to indicate its place, could not open the searchlight. When October 17 for the final destruction of lin. of the Slava ship, several Whitehead mines were fired at it, only one exploded. The investigation showed that the explosion of the rest did not occur due to careless storage of mines and lack of care for them.
The gunboat “Khivinets”, which had been stationed in Helsingfors all the time and was not disturbed by anyone, came to the Gulf of Riga with such a number of hours (up to 800) of boiler operation that it immediately began to ask for a temporary decommissioning of it. There were many similar cases with mechanisms and boilers. Often, work that was previously carried out by ships and whose duration was determined by hours was now transferred to workshops and time wasted on the transition from Kuivast to Rogekul and back. "The cadres of experienced conductors and extra-conscripts were destroyed, and in general, young people tried to oust the old people from the ships."
“The ships that have been based on Moonsund since the spring, thanks to the efforts of the former head of the division, Rear Adm. Razvozov in the military sense, that is, shooting, artillery and mines, setting up minefields, etc., one might say, were trained satisfactorily; unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the ships that arrived at the end of the summer” 8 .
As a necessary base for the ships of the Gulf of Riga, a port was built in Rogeküle. It was connected by rail through Gapsal to Revel; dredging was carried out in it, piers were erected to protect the harbor and form a large mooring line; there were some workshops and warehouses.

minefields

The most significant means for protecting the position both from a breakthrough and against various actions of the enemy fleet were minefields, exposed both in the straits and on the approaches to them and in the internal waters of the position itself, renewed annually, starting in spring, and reinforced during the whole summer.
The most important of the barriers was considered to be the barrier of the Irben Strait, for which a huge amount of money and effort was used.
This barrier included two positions: Irbenskaya and Domesnesskaya. The northern limit of the first limited itself to a maneuverable space, the so-called "maneuvering bag". Domesnes position, which consisted of four barrier lines in the direction of Domesnes - Vost Bank. Kalkgrund, with a total depth of five miles, closed it on the east. Both positions, for the most part, were covered by the range of the 12" guns of the Zerel battery.
Regarding this barrier, Admiral Bakhirev writes in his report: “In the Irben Strait itself, a minefield had long been set up and maintained, which by no means could be considered a mine position: 1) the southern coast of the strait belonged to the enemy and was heavily fortified; 2) the large area of ​​the field made it possible for the enemy to carry out sweeping work all the time, and we could not catch the moment when he really intended to force the passage; besides, thanks to this field, we were deprived of the possibility of constant observation of enemy minesweepers; 3) the enemy could carry out these minesweeping operations completely without the support of his fleet; 4) in case of a breakthrough, thanks to the arrangement of our position, the enemy is always guaranteed from our attacks by destroyers and submarines, since he was protected by our barriers placed parallel to the coast (this was, in my opinion, a huge mistake); 5) the enemy had the opportunity to make a swept fairway along its own coast and monitor its good condition; 6) we did not have the opportunity to send our destroyers and submarines from the Gulf of Riga, unexpectedly for the enemy, to the W-th in the sea and, therefore; 7) this field made it impossible for us to conduct reconnaissance in the Baltic Sea from the Gulf of Riga.
Thus, we did not have a mine position in the Irbensky passage, there was only a minefield, covered and covered with mines: the enemy was trawling, we were adding mines. Nevertheless, the situation made it necessary to continue such a positional struggle” 9 .
A minefield was also placed in front of the entrance to Moonsund from the south, both to protect against an enemy breakthrough to Kuivast, and in order to make it difficult to maneuver his fleet in the event of a fight with our batteries and ships that had retreated to Kuivast. On the sides of this barrier, a passage was left for our ships.
A barrier was also set up from the sea at the approaches to Soelosund; the very same strait remained unobstructed in order to enable our destroyers to freely enter the sea. It was supposed to be blocked both by mines and by flooding a steamer in it, only in case of a direct threat from the enemy 10 .

Batteries

Of the batteries built on the islands of the position, the battery at Cape Tserel (No. 43) of four 12 "guns of 50 calibers, on unitary tower installations, behind concrete parapets, occupied the first place in terms of its importance. It was entrusted with the protection of the Irben passage and its barriers from enemy trawling, as well as assisting our ships in their fight against the enemy fleet breaking through.Slightly to the north of it, on the same Svorbe peninsula, near the village of Karust, there was a battery (No. 40) of four 120 m / m guns of 50 cal. armored gunboats of the Amur flotilla, and at Cape Mento - a battery (No. 41) of four 130 m / m guns of 50 cal.
The approach to Soelosund from the sea was protected by batteries: on the northeastern coast of about. Ezel, on capes Khundva and Ninnast (No. 45 and 46), - each of the four 6 "guns in 45 cal., And on the southwestern tip of about. Dago, near the village of Cerro (No. 34), from four 120 m / m guns in 50 calibers. Apparently, the first was also responsible for preventing the landing in the most convenient, and therefore threatened, place, namely in Taggalakht Bay; however, placed on the outer capes, they were the first to be subjected to ship artillery fire, which is why they could not fulfill this role. Probably, they would have performed it more successfully if they were located in the depths of Taggalakht and Mustelgam bays.
Further north, on the northeast and north side of about. Dago, to defend the approaches to the Forward Position and protect its left flank, as well as to help the fleet in the event of a battle, there were batteries: on Dagerort, near vil. Germust (No. 47, of four 6" in 45 cal.), on the Simperness Peninsula (No. 39 of four 12" in 52 cal.) near the Tahkona lighthouse, and a little to the east (No. 38 of four 6" in 50 cal.) At the same time, the latter covered the approach from the north to Moonsund, for which battery No. 30 also served at the northwestern tip of Worms Island from four 6 "in 45 cal., and to the northeast, in front of the entrance to Nukke-Worms strait, at Cape Dirgamn - No. 37, out of four 6 "in 50 cal.
The southern entrance to Moonsund was defended by two batteries to the southeast. extremities of Moon near vil. Howl: No. 36 of five 10" guns in 45 cal. and No. 32 of four 6" in 45 cal., and battery at Cape Werder No. 33 of four 6" in 45 cal.
To combat enemy aircraft, air batteries were installed on the coast in the most critical and decoy places for them; in addition to most of the batteries with large guns, they defended the air stations in Kilkond and Ahrensburg, as well as the Rogekul base.
All permanent batteries were completed by naval teams. In addition, the Moonsund position was armed with several batteries and ground field artillery.
Without going into details about the state of the batteries, we will refer to the review of the ground researcher of the Moonsund operation: “ Engineering work on all the batteries were not completely finished, the parapets were left unfinished, the batteries had no camouflage, rangefinders were not equipped” 11 . On battery No. 36 (10 "on Moon Island), only two guns were mounted on concrete bases, the rest on wooden ones.
In particular, with regard to the Tserel battery adm. Bakhirev writes:
“To protect the Tserel passage itself, a 12 "Tserel battery was supplied, which, due to the lack of cover (work began only in the fall), could not be considered complete, and to protect it and partly the approaches to Ahrensburg, several small and anti-aeroplane batteries on the Svorbe peninsula .
The equipment of the new batteries at Svorba, proposed by Captain 1st Rank Knupfer, was not completed due to lack of funds and excessive demands made by the teams for the work. After the attack on September 17 (30) by enemy airplanes and the explosion of the 12 "cellar, 7 officers and 114 sailors of various specialties were out of order. Not all specialists (and even then late) were replaced, but none of the officers: there was no one to replace them "12 .

Position assignments for ground forces

According to the campaign plan for 1917, the defense of the islands was entrusted to the ground forces in accordance with the following guidelines to the head of the Moonsund position.
1. Prevent the passage of enemy ships using the fairways lying within the range of fire of position batteries, during inland waters Moonsund.
2. Unconditionally secure battery positions, hydroelectric stations, communications posts and other structures of military importance on the outer shores of the islands from possible enemy attempts to land a small assault force or otherwise destroy or capture them.
3. Timely detect the approach of the enemy fleet to the position, take preventive measures against a possible landing and, if one has begun, eliminate it with all the forces and means at our disposal.
At the same time, recognizing the greatest strategic importance for the position for the island of Ezel, the chief of the latter was given the following tasks:
1. Prevention of landing by the enemy on the islands of Ezel and Dago.
2. The most stubborn hold on the Svorbe Peninsula.
3. Vigorous defense of the islands of Ezel and Dago with the aim of keeping the Moonsund island region in our hands.
4. In the event of the loss of the islands of Ezel and Dago - the most stubborn defense of the islands of Worms and Moon and the prevention of landing on the mainland within the borders of the Moonsund region.

In particular, the Svorbe peninsula must be defended especially stubbornly, bearing in mind that with its retention. connected with the question of preventing the enemy from breaking through the Irben Strait. Therefore, even in the event of withdrawal of units defending other parts of the coast, the Svorbsky fortified area must be held. In this case, the supply of everything necessary for the garrison must be organized by sea and its defense will be supported by our naval forces.

Head of a fortified position

Manage all ground forces and by means of the position was concentrated in the hands of its chief (which at the time described was Rear Admiral D. A. Sveshnikov), directly subordinate to the Commander of the Fleet. The chief of his staff, located in Ahrensburg, was an officer of the land General Staff.
Being at the head of the land defense of the admiral, in whose subordination not a single ship of the operating fleet was, but there were almost exclusively ground forces and coastal batteries, manned by sailors, was recognized by some of the land as inappropriate. Seconded in April 1917 to the Moonsund fortified position, Lieutenant Colonel Gen. Headquarters Shcherbakov wrote in his report:
“In view of the fact that the admiral has to command exclusively the ground forces, I would consider appointing the chief of the land commander as the head of the Moonzicji. This is not only my personal opinion, but also the voice of all military commanders with whom I had to speak. The question was often asked: “Do we really not have capable generals who would command the ground forces, and there was a need to appoint a direct commander of a sailor who does not know our service and does not understand us?” 14
Further, in the same report, the undesirability of leaving the existing subordination of the head of the position to the Commander of the Fleet, who “is difficult to direct the actions on Moonzition at a time when he may have to go to sea and fight.
It is most desirable to subordinate the head of Moonzition to the Commander of the Army and consider Moonzition to be the advanced position of the land front.
Regarding the above opinion, the head of the naval department of the headquarters of the Northern Front, Capt. 1st rank Altvater expresses in his response that all the tasks of the position follow from those general combat missions that are assigned to the fleet, and, consequently, the entire strategic importance of the Moonsund fortified position is entirely purely naval; the fulfillment of all general and particular tasks assigned to the Moonsund position is in direct connection with the operations of the Fleet, and is entirely dependent on them.
“Based on the foregoing, it is completely understandable why a naval officer is at the head of the position, and in essence the matter should always be.”
Cap. 1st rank Altfater also disagrees with the conclusion of the lieutenant colonel. Shcherbakov that the head of the position should be subordinate to the Commander of the 1st Army.
"From the above of strategic importance The Moonsund position, which is needed only by the fleet for the successful fulfillment of the combat missions assigned to it, it is clear that the Moonsund position is an integral and inseparable part of the fleet, connected with it by a commonality of operations and goals and having little more connection with the Commander of the 1st Army than with the Chief Head of the Dvina Military District.
The question of the correct and rational management of the Moonsund position, in my opinion, boils down to the fact that on the island of Ezel, where almost all the ground forces are concentrated, there is a land commander subordinate to the Chief of the Moonsund position, and the latter should not be on the island of Ezel (in Ahrensburg), as it is now, but in Gapsala, which is the natural base of the whole position.
Under this condition, the troops will be directly subordinate to the land commander located on Ezel, the defense of which from the landing force is a land task, but not a general task in relation to all the tasks assigned to the Moonsund position, but a private one, why, in turn, this commander should be subordinate to the head of the Moonsund positions - to a naval officer located in Gapsala and in charge of the position, and not to the commander of the troops of the island of Ezel, as it unwittingly happens when he is on this island.
The land commander on the island of Ezel should be the head of the 107th infantry. division, which makes up the garrison of Ezel.
I consider it necessary to add that such a solution to this issue has already been taken by the Commander of the Baltic Sea Fleet and at present the Head of the Moonsund position is being relocated with his Headquarters in the city of Gapsal, and on Ezel Island - the Head of his garrison and defense - remains the Head of the 107th Infantry . divisions with its Headquarters" 15 .
The latter, however, was not confirmed, since Admiral Sveshnikov and his staff continued to be in Ahrensburg and hastily moved to Gapsal in the midst of the operation itself (Altvater's recall is dated May 25), when Gen. Heinrichson.
I dwelled on this controversy in some detail, since it is typical example traditional dispute for power between the land and sailors.

But both the leadership of military operations and the preparation for them, in addition to the profession of the chief, are no less influenced by his personal qualities. The available materials do not provide enough data to evaluate the activities of the head of the position of adm. Sveshnikov neither in one nor in the other area. True, there is a very negative, but one-sided characterization of him in a private letter from his former chief of staff, Colonel Vasiliev, 16 who asserts that the position, as long as Adm. Sveshnikov, does not represent any force of resistance. This letter (dated August 10/23, 1917), written with great passion and in harsh terms, in any case indicates the existence of a feud between the head of the position and his chief of staff, a feud that entailed the replacement of the latter shortly before the start of the operation.
The sudden appointment at the very beginning of the operation of General Heinrichson to lead the fighting in the Moonsund position, with Adm. Sveshnikov, testifies, however, to the lack of confidence on the part of the top authorities in the ability of the latter to lead the defense of the position.

Land garrison of the islands

The garrison of the islands of the position consisted of units of the 107th and later the 118th infantry divisions, a small number of cavalry, field artillery and engineering troops. According to the combat schedule, by September 23 (October 6) it was only in the area of ​​the Moonsund fortified position: 15 battalions, 5 squadrons, 140 machine guns and 60 small guns.
Since the main task of the ground forces was to prevent the enemy landing and, in the event of his landing, spreading it deep into the coast, then on about. Ezel, as the most threatened, most of the garrison was concentrated, distributed along the coast with a reserve in Ahrensburg: infantry regiments - the 425th Kargopolsky, 426th Povenetsky and 472nd Masalsky, 3 companies of the Guards crew, 3 hundreds of border guards, several batteries and about two companies of sappers. On about. Dago was one 427th infantry. Pudozh regiment, one field battery, one hundred border guards and a platoon of sappers. Gapsal was the base of the whole position. On the coast of the entire region there was another infantry regiment - the 470th Dankovsky and one hundred border guards.
Adm. Bakhirev points out that “the garrison on the islands also could not be considered strong enough, and the Commander of the Fleet, on the order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Front, to strengthen the garrison of Pernov and its region, having allocated units from the fortress of Peter the Great and the Moonsund position, answered him with a usogram on August 30 (September 12 ) that the separation of units is impossible, since the fortress and position require not only the abandonment of all units, but also their strengthening, that, in addition, the units are not completed, and some have not completed the formation "17.
The strengthening of the garrison, moreover, at a feverish pace, began already at the height of hostilities and almost did not bring any benefit.

Engineering training

As for land positions on the islands, by the spring of 1917, "engineering preparations consisted in the fact that trenches were built on some sections of the coast." At the same time, a whole network of resistance nodes was designed both directly in the areas of possible landing and in the rear. But in the spring, the construction of the designed positions had not yet begun. According to the withdrawal of the above-mentioned report sub. Shcherbakov: “In general, the engineering training of Moonzition is reduced to zero, since even completed trenches are only suitable for kneeling and have neither dugouts nor shelters” 18 .

And in the future, the construction of positions was carried out, apparently, not intensively enough, judging by the above-mentioned letter from the chief of staff of the position dated August 10/23: “The positions under construction hardly move. After all, it’s a shame to say that 5-6 trenches were dug on Svorba all summer. And by the beginning of the operation, “all the work on Ezel and Dago was not even half completed. Most of the trenches were brought to the profile “from the knee”, wire barriers were not set up in many places, shelling was not cleared” 19 .

Naval aviation had four air stations on Ezel: at Kilkond - 2 detachments, 12 devices; on Cape Tserel - 2 detachments, 12 devices; in Ahrensburg - 1 detachment, 6 devices and on the floor. Werder - 1 detachment, 6 vehicles 20 . The base for all was Kilkond. The advanced position of the base, ahead of the line of land defense, made it completely defenseless in the event of an enemy landing in b. Taggalaht, and in fact she had to be abandoned with all the workshops and large supplies of gasoline at the very beginning of the operation.
On Dago, there were air stations at Tahkona and at Hohenholm on Dagerort; the base for them was in Gapsala.
The commander of the Naval Forces of the Gulf of Riga, regarding aviation, says in his report: “Air vehicles, despite the fact that we have several excellent pilots, were inferior in technical qualities to the German ones, who also prevailed in their numbers. The number of fighters was not enough. Apparatus often deteriorated, and their correction was delayed. A few days before the Germans landed on Esel, precisely on September 26 (Oct. 9), I had to convey to the Commander of the Fleet using yuzogram No. about sending serviceable ones, taking them from places where they are less needed. The bay, chosen by someone for hydroplanes in the Kuyvast roadstead, turned out to be suitable for lifting them only in calm weather and when there is no swell. At the very beginning of the existence of the base (post?), one of the two devices, trying to fly, broke down.

Communication Service

Turning to the communication service, I will also confine myself to the review of the adm. Bakhireva.
“The posts of the communications service, one of the most serviceable and orderly parts of the Gulf of Riga, were located in Ahrensburg and from Tserel along the western points of the islands of Ezel and Dago. There were none on the southern coast of the Ezel, and when enemy submarines appeared in the Gulf of Riga, we ourselves had to establish a post on Kyubosar, for which signalmen from large ships were appointed [my order on August 26 (Sept. 9)], and On September 7 (20) the post opened its operations. Around the same time, the communications service equipped the Weyland post.
Head of Communications Service Capt. The 1st rank Novopashenny went to meet our needs, and our requests were fulfilled by him, if there was an opportunity for that. In fact, we could not carry out reconnaissance, but nevertheless we were sufficiently aware of the movement and possible intentions of the enemy from his telegrams.
It is only a pity that the latter, for the reasons set out below, were not always obtained in a timely manner.

The morale of the defenders of Moonsund

Having listed in a cursory review the means available for the defense of the Moonsund position, I did not touch upon in their characterization the main factor in the conduct of all sorts of
military operations, that morale troops. I considered it necessary to single it out especially, both in view of its extremely important significance, and in order to study it simultaneously for different types of service, both on ships and on the dry route, since the actions of both sailors and land forces were extremely closely connected and equally influenced the outcome of the entire operation; in addition, the main reasons that influenced the spirit of the troops were common to them.
The morale of the Russian armed forces, which in 1917 experienced a revolution on the armed fronts of a war that had already lasted three years and engulfed a huge empire, was inevitably subjected to the deepest shocks. In particular, with regard to the Moonsund operation, in order to objectively assess the morale of the armed forces defending the position, it must be remembered that this operation took place in the seventh month of the revolution, when the authority of the Provisional Government among the population and among the troops had already completely fallen; when the collective will of the working people demanded that the Soviets seize power; when the aggravated class and national contradictions in the population of the former Russian Empire, in some places already passing into civil war, inevitably revealed the same irreconcilable contradictions in the composition of the Russian armed forces, in the first place - between their command and non-command structures. Prior to the Moonsund operation, Russia and its armed forces had already painfully experienced such events as the unsuccessful July offensive on the southwestern front, as Kornilov’s speech, the fall of Riga ...
The following reviews of the chiefs who led the actions of our armed forces during the Moonsund operation should be considered not only as drawing an actual picture of the moral state of the units subordinate to them, but also as reflecting the mood and attitude to the events of themselves and the bulk of the command staff. Among these reviews,
Undoubtedly, the recall of the chief leader of the naval defense of the Moonsund position during the operation adm. Bakhirev, which we place in the first place.

Feedback from admin. Bakhireva. Team

What is most difficult, in developing plans for an operation and in carrying out them, we had to take into account a moral element that could not be considered equal in strength with the enemy: already experience with our army showed how little we were reliable in this sense.
“The team, under the influence of agitation, did not trust the officers; with constant proximity to the enemy, the result of this was excessive nervousness, in dangerous moments turning into confusion, and in difficult moments even turning into panic (the case with "Grom" 1 (14) Oct., with "Slava" 4 (17) Oct.). What was not noticed before, on campaigns in warm and clear weather, far from the enemy and in places where the presence of barriers is difficult to assume, quite a few wore kapkovy vests. During the stay in Ahrensburg, few people went to bed. Concern for their safety reached the point that the XI division esk. destroyers when moored on the Arensburg roadstead, where, it seems, there was little to be afraid of, he demanded a boat for his protection and even dressed up a delegation to search for suitable barges. The main concern of "Glory", upon her arrival at the Kuyvast roadstead, were constant inquiries about the depth in the Moonsund Canal.
Discipline, one might say, was absent, and the team was aware of complete irresponsibility and confidence that it could do everything with its superiors.
The ship's committees wanted to interfere in everything, in a purely military unit, and even demanded their presence during the recruitment and analysis of operational telegrams. On some ships, such control was carried out and even secret packages were opened. When the Germans turned their attention to the Gulf of Riga, enemy agents and their henchmen, of course, carried out more intensified propaganda among the teams. Unbelievable rumors spread about the situation inside the country, on the fronts, they indicated the exact amount for which the generals had sold Riga. If you take the point of view of the team that believed these absurd rumors, the demand for control becomes easily explained. But the thing is that when it was carried out, the secret would already cease to be a secret and, most importantly, dark forces with unclean hands from German money would cling to this matter. On the same basis, I have already reported to the Fleet Commander about the inadmissibility of greeting and encouraging radio telegrams transmitted in cipher, sent by ships to each other. (It is remarkable that in these telegrams, ships that could not pass Moonsund were most willing to lay down their bones in the Gulf of Riga.) I fought against operational control with all possible measures and, finally, managed to have it destroyed on those ships where it already existed.
Politicism spread with might and main: almost daily gatherings of delegates from ships, eternal negotiations over a semaphore and cloth lamps, frequent rallies on the shore, general meetings on ships only distracted people from the case, which was not particularly controversial anyway, and kept the already nervous teams are even more tense.
Some destroyer commanders, in order to at least slightly direct the minds of people to real military affairs, asked for a few days to move closer to the enemy, to Svorba or Ahrensburg, where enemy air raids were more frequent.
Yuzograms and telephone messages of a political and administrative (from different committees) nature were transmitted in the first place; purely operational ones were delayed, so that several times, both verbally and by hand, I had to ask for orders from the Commander of the Fleet to stop this mess.
“On August 30 (September 12), the general meeting of trusted delegates of the naval and fortress forces of the Gulf of Riga demanded that I establish operational control, and when I did not agree to this, it addressed this demand to the Commander of the Fleet by telephone, and in the conversation indicated that the general meeting of teams finds it justified not to trust me before the adoption of elective control (unfortunately, I learned about the distrust expressed to me much later). After that, the Fleet Commander had a conversation with them and with me, asking them to settle the matter.
Regarding the harassment of the operational control institution, there are indications from other sources. 26 Sept. At the Headquarters of the Commander of the Fleet, a resolution was received from the commands of the Naval Forces of the Gulf of Riga, which demanded the formation of a special committee under the Commander of the Naval Forces of the Gulf, to control all parts, combat espionage, etc.
The resolution was brought by a delegation that told the Central Committee of the Baltic Fleet (Tsentrobalt) that if it did not receive a satisfactory answer, it would leave with nothing, and control would be introduced in any case, and opposition could lead to excesses. According to the source cited: K. B. F. understands that control over the operational part is very dangerous from a military point of view, but is powerless to insist on it. It seems that he will turn to Tsentroflot in Petrograd.

Further there:
"The commander of the Grozashchy writes that he refuses responsibility for the ship, because he has been given complete control over it" 21 .
I return to the report admin. Bakhireva:
“On the 3rd (16) of September, on the “Slava” in the ship’s punishment cell, a team arrested a senior engineer. mechanic captain 2nd rank Dzhelepov for refusing to sign her resolutions regarding the events taking place at that time. On
the next day I had to send him on a destroyer to Helsingfors on the Krechet, at the disposal of the Headquarters of the Commander of the Fleet. The commander of the "Glory" capt. 1st rank Antonov, shortly before the battle, reported to me that he was not at all confident in his team and that during any operation it was possible that the team would decide not to go to the appointed place and, if its desire was not fulfilled, would bandage him and the officers.
On September 20 (October 3), returning from duty from Ahrensburg, the “Winner”, under the braided pennant of the head of the XI division, Esq. destroyers cap. 2nd rank of Pilsudski, entered the roadstead of Kuivast at high speed, rocked the Libau transport with the Novik standing at its side and cut off the moorings of some minesweepers and patrol vessels that were at the pier. At the request of k.-a. Stark, who more than once demanded a decrease in the turn on the raids, I declared my displeasure to the "Winner" for the big move. To this, the "Winner" raised a signal: "The fleet is notified, the head of the mine division is suffering from pitching." Most of the ships in the roadstead rehearsed this signal. I sent a usogram on 21st Sept. (4 Oct.) No. 157 p. To the Commander of the Fleet with a reasoned request to dismiss me from the post of Commander of the Naval Forces of the Gulf of Riga. A more detailed report about this was sent by courier to me, and a detailed report was also submitted by k.-a. Stark. The case dragged on until the Germans landed on Ezel on 29 September. (Oct. 12), when, of course, it was no longer up to resolving these disputes.
The drop in discipline among the teams was also expressed in many seemingly trifles, which are of great importance in the life of ships: the watch service fell, the people needed for the battle went on vacation and countless political and business trips; and so on.
Despite all this, I was sure, and now it seems to me that I was right then, that a good half of the ship's crews, who had been in the Gulf of Riga since early spring, sincerely wished to repulse the enemy and defend the Gulf from
mastery of the enemy. On the naval batteries, people were very concerned about the possibility of a timely retreat, and the servants of the Moon batteries for this purpose even demanded tugboats at their exclusive disposal. With the ground forces stationed on the islands, things seemed to be worse.

officers

“The general state of affairs, of course, could not but affect the officers: eternal misunderstandings and friction with the team, mutual distrust gave rise to nervousness; frequent disobedience, little desire to do anything, and hopelessness for improvement robbed the energy of the officers.
Rarely, it is true, but still there were conversations among the officers that there was nothing to be done with such a team anyway and there was no hope of military success. Some officers and even commanders, due to a nervous breakdown, had to leave their ships. The commander of the "Glory", politically the most restless ship, Capt. 1st rank Antonov, for parking in Moondzund got nervous, often sick; according to my report to the Commander of the Fleet and after a joint discussion with him, it was still decided not to replace him, since it was difficult to find a hunter to command the Glory, and the ship’s crew would not accept any commander.
In quantitative terms, the warships were staffed tolerably with officers; but on ships, especially large ones, there was a significant percentage of completely inexperienced young midshipmen, who, moreover, took an abbreviated course in the school or cadet classes. There were also wartime midshipmen. There were cases that officers were moving up, who in peacetime, against their will, left the service and were re-admitted to it during the war.
On the Khiva, just before the start of the German operation, there was neither a commander nor a senior officer, and a very young lieutenant Afanasyev took command. Because of his kinship with General Kornilov, the commander had to leave the “Brave” (although he was replaced by the most worthy senior officer, Senior Lieutenant Rennenkampf). Some ships had commanders chosen by teams. The experience with elected commanders in the navy turned out to be unsuccessful: for the most part, not the best candidates were chosen, and often because of an accommodating character; and the elections themselves did not always take place without the initiative and assistance of the elected themselves. In defense of some of the chosen commanders of the ships of the Gulf of Riga known to me (“Hunter”, “Grom” and some others), I must say that in their previous positions they were excellent officers, some would have made excellent captains, but their big drawback is the failure to pass all the necessary steps service and low experience in naval affairs for the command, which affected especially difficult moments” 22 .
This state of affairs, of course, could not but affect the highest command in the Gulf of Riga. In this regard, the usogram adm. Bakhirev, sent by him to the Commander of the Fleet after the above case with the "Winner"; in this usogram, the admiral informs:

“Cases of non-execution of orders have already taken place more than once during my short stay in the Gulf of Riga. Admiral Stark reported to me that he was no longer able to remain in the post of namindiva, asked for his expulsion and now filed a report. For my part, I also ask to be released from command of the Riga forces, because, despite strong nerves, constant friction and vain efforts to maintain order prevent me from devoting all my abilities to the defense of the Gulf, they force me to waste my strength in vain, and I begin to lose hope of success.
Therefore, I consider myself unsuitable for the responsible position of the commander of the Riga forces at such an important time and I consider it a moral duty to ask to replace me with a more suitable and popular flagship among the team, who can be appointed for this time from another part of the fleet. Anticipating your objections, I report that due to the above, at the right time I may not be up to par, and then a belated replacement may not improve things. I read this usogram to Admiral Stark, and he said that the reasons that prompted him to ask for expulsion were the same as mine.
The mood of some of the teams sent to defend the Gulf of Riga can also be judged from the following resolution of the ling team. box "Glory", issued by her upon receipt of the news of the appointment of their ship to the Naval Forces of the Gulf:
"The entire staff of the team battleship"Slava" recognizes the assignment of our glorious ship, together with us, to the Gulf of Riga unfair, in view of the fact that "Slava" and the entire crew defended the Riga waters for 16 months, which is known not only by the Baltic Fleet, but by all Free Russia, and now finds fair to go to the Gulf of Riga to fulfill their sacred duty to the Free Motherland one of the ships - "Republic" or "Andrew the First-Called", since they can also pass through the canal.
In addition, the entire crew of the "Slava" never refuses, even if at any moment an appointment comes, to go into battle, which will fulfill it, as far as there are enough forces and how much the combat power of our glorious ship is capable of, but only outside the Gulf of Riga ...
And also the entire team of "Glory" is ready to go to the Gulf of Riga, but only when one of the above-mentioned ships is there to protect, and if it needs combat assistance, then our valiant ship will go and show its combat capability, as it has already shown during the 16-month defense of the Riga coast, although they consider our ship to be weaker than the others, and in view of this they send us a second time to the Gulf of Riga. No! we will not allow this, so that we and our ship are weaker than others; we are sure that here we will be able to show the valor of our ship and we will stand, and if necessary, we will die for the freedom of Russia.
Slava's protest, however, was not successful, and she had to obey, but at the same time she set her own conditions:
“We, the whole ling team. box “Glory”, although we consider our appointment to the Gulf of Riga unfair, but, considering the situation of the present moment, we are going to fulfill our sacred duty to the Free Motherland and obey the will of the Central Committee and the Commander of the Baltic Sea Fleet, as well as our comrades, who, seeing an unfair decision, they confirm that Slava should go to the Gulf of Riga, and do not realize that they are going against their conscience and even rape.
But we, executing your decision, also, in our turn, demand:

1) We go to the Gulf of Riga only until the end of navigation in 1917, but not to the winter camp.
2) All patients of our team who are on long vacations on the mend of health should be excluded from the lists of the team and urgently replaced with healthy ones.
3) Produce immediately medical checkup the entire Slavic crew and all those recognized as incapable of carrying out ship service should also be replaced with healthy ones.
4) Immediately replenish the combat kit of the team.
5) Leave is at the discretion of the team, and we require white letter A for travel.
6) And we also demand that the monthly salary and all the necessary allowances, which our comrades from the port of Helsingfors use, should not be diminished, but should receive at the rate of 266 marks for 100 rubles and pay in Finnish marks.
7) Please deliver as soon as possible fresh water boiler supply.

This resolution was followed by the answer of the Fleet Commander:

"To the Commander of Glory."
Convey to the team gratitude for the conscientious attitude to duty. Wintering is not expected. Get ready to go by July 1st.
Verderevsky" 24 .

Decomposition in the ground forces

The land garrison also presented a gloomy picture. The same conditions that destroyed the combat resistance of our army on all fronts also affected the troops destined to defend the Moonsund position. Everywhere in the reviews of military commanders we meet with the most hopeless assessment of the moral state of the units - even more hopeless than in the fleet, where the ships nevertheless united their personnel to some extent, still retaining at least the habit of the previous organization.
A characteristic picture is drawn by the following description of the journey of one of the regiments sent back in the spring from Reval to reinforce the Ezel garrison.
The 472nd Infantry Mosalsky Regiment was sent by rail in five echelons. Even in Reval, according to the officers, before boarding the regiment in the cars, private individuals penetrated into the barracks, apparently distributing alcohol. Therefore, already when boarding the trains, there were many drunks and "there was no order when boarding." Several soldiers took their places in the officers' cars, on the way some fired live ammunition from the windows upwards.
Upon arrival at the Schloss-Lode manor, which belonged to Count Buxhoveden, the lead echelon was located in the main house, in which there were three locked rooms. Someone said that weapons, bombs, copper, etc., were stored in these rooms, prepared for the Demians, and that the same thing takes place in all baronial estates. The soldiers broke down the doors and, indeed, in one of the rooms they found 2-3 Arisak rifles and a lot of live ammunition. The news of this immediately spread throughout the train, caused a general outburst of anger towards the Germans, and the soldiers began to sack the estate, destroying and damaging furniture, household items and livestock. The brutality reached the point that, for example, chickens were not cut, but torn to pieces, pigs were not stabbed or shot, but were slashed with bayonets, knives, etc. True, many of the soldiers were indignant at the violence of their comrades, but were afraid to touch the drunk, and exhortations led to nothing but anger and threats. The efforts of the officers to reassure the soldiers also did not lead to anything, they were not listened to at all, although “there were no cases of deliberate insult or anything in general directed against the officers, with the exception of isolated cases on the basis of competition (?) of regimental units.”
The following echelons, having learned about the atrocities of the head, continued his work; the first echelon through the town of Leal passed safely, the second one defeated it. The soldiers smashed not only the baron's manor, but broke into the houses of Estonians, took away property, which they immediately sold to local residents, took away horses or exchanged the worst for the best. They captured several horses and part of the products belonging to the cruiser Admiral Makarov. A team was sent from the cruiser to guard against the destruction of property and curb passions.
With exhortations and threats of being shot with machine guns, the sailors influenced the soldiers, and the echelons were already approaching Werder "in relatively good order."

The brigadier commander, Gen. Martynov gives data on its composition. In 10 companies and in all teams there were 50 officers and 2086 soldiers, of which 1200 were bayonets. He considered the command staff unsatisfactory, because there was only one career officer who temporarily commanded the regiment. Battalions and companies were commanded by ensign officers. Paying tribute to them "in full hearted desire and great effort be useful, Gen. Martynov, at the same time, could not but admit their lack of positive knowledge, life, service and combat experience, which circumstances could not but affect the general situation.
In August, they reported from Gapsal: “The garrison is in great agitation, they are going to plunder the city. The commandant gathers committees for an emergency meeting” 25 .
With the dispatch of troops to reinforce the garrison of Moonzitsia, it generally went wrong, even during the operation itself, when the demoralized units on Ezel, almost without resistance to the landing Germans, irresistibly retreated before them. Even the 25th Cossack regiment with a horse battery refused to travel from Helsingfors to Revel in transports, probably not trusting either the sea or the sailors, and it had to be sent by rail through Petrograd. With the infantry regiments it was even worse.
The first echelon of the 471st infantry. The Kozelsky regiment, having arrived in Gapsal, refused to get out of the cars, and its third echelon, already put on the train in Kegel, did not want to go to Gapsal at all and "behaved". Battalion of the 470th infantry. Dankovsky regiment, planted in Gapsala on transports, refused to go and went home. Measures were taken to stop the outrage: all local democratic organizations were involved in explaining to the troops the inadmissibility and criminality of such acts; the commissar of the front sent telegrams both to the regiment and to the Revel Soviet about the deportation of the deputies to Kegel; the commander-in-chief of the Northern Front ordered the units to be announced that failure to comply with military orders would lead to their disbandment and the surrender of the instigators to a military revolutionary court. In addition to telegrams, Fridman, an authorized commissar of the front, was specially sent to Gapsal, who reported: “Sending reinforcements to Moon is not going quite smoothly: yesterday I was fiddling with the echelons of the Kozelsky regiment, now there is a complication with the battalion of the Dankovsky regiment.
At least to hold out with such troops on Moon.
As a result, representatives of the Tsentroflot, Tsentrobalt, etc. managed to influence the regimental committee, which vouched for the regiment to carry out the combat orders of the commanders unquestioningly; representatives of the regiment asked to assure the Fleet Commander of their full readiness to die for their homeland and help out their comrades. A telegram was sent to the echelons: "We propose to immediately come to the rescue of our revolutionary troops on Ezel and obey the military orders, which are controlled by representatives of the Central Fleet and the Central Balt."
Such was the moral element in the troops defending the Moonsund position.

1 Archive M.I.K. Report on the actions of the Naval Forces of the Gulf of Riga in 1917, p. 1.
2 The commander of a large formation of various forces, who is entrusted with a responsible and complex combat mission, without a headquarters and using the headquarters of one of the formations subordinate to him, is a phenomenon that is completely unacceptable in organizational terms. As we will see later, this absence of headquarters from the Chief of the Naval Forces of the Gulf of Riga had a significant impact on the course of events in the Moonsund operation. (Ed.)
3 About 25 kilometers.
4 We cannot agree with the author regarding the impossibility of strengthening the Naval Forces of the Gulf of Riga. ships "Andrew the First-Called" and "Paul"; as early as 1916, when a landing operation in the Gulf of Riga was planned, they should have been allocated from the main forces to this theater. Together with 12 Tserel batteries, they would have been a formidable force for the defense of the Irben Strait. In the extreme case, when the German fleet would still break into the Gulf of Riga, they could take refuge in Kuivast, based on which they could continue to fight the enemy in the Gulf of Riga for possession of it. (Ed.)
5 Report on the activities of M.S.R. Hall, p. 6.
6 Report on the activities of M.S.R. Hall, p. 7.
7 Ibid.
8 Report on the activities of M.S.R. Hall, p. 15.
9 Report on the activities of M.S.R. Hall, pp. 3-4.
10 The experience of the Moonsund operation showed how wrong such a calculation was. The enemy appeared at the western entrance to Soelosund at dawn and, holding the strait under his fire, secured him from the barrier. (Ed.)
11 Military Historical Commission. F. N. Vasiliev. Moonsund operation 1917
12 Report on the activities of M.S.R. Hall, p. 3.
13 Campaign Plan for 1917, A. Defense Plan. Part IV. Archive M.I.K. Case No. 7498, p. 95.:
14 Campaign Plan for 1917, A. Defense Plan. Part IV. Archive M.I.K. Case No. 8047, p. 101.
15 Archive of M.I.K. File No. 8047 p. 93.
16 Archive of M.I.K. File No. 8047, p. 337.
17 Report on the activities of M.S.R. Hall, p. 5.
18 Archive of M.I.K. File No. 8047, p. 107.
19 Vasiliev O. N. Moonsund operation of 1917.
20 Vasiliev O. N. Moonsund operation of 1917.
21 Archive M. I. K. Rengarten I. I. World War Diary, pp. 463 and 464.
22 Report on the activities of M.S.R. Hall, pp. 16-21.
23 Report on the activities of M.S.R. Hall, appendix III.
24 Archive of M.I.K. File No. 12801, pp. 142, 143 and 108.
25 Rengarten. World War Diary, p. 436.

Imperial Baltic Fleet between the two wars, 1906–1914 Count Harald Karlovich

Chapter II. Swimming of the Mine Division. Our sailors (1907)

Chapter II. Swimming of the Mine Division. Our sailors (1907)

The first training voyage of the division in 1907 could not yet be carried out according to a strictly developed program, since not all destroyers were put into operation and the necessary auxiliary equipment for mine and artillery firing had not yet been prepared.

At the beginning of April, an order came - to send one destroyer to Moonsund, at the disposal of the border guard posts, since the revolutionary organizations began to ship weapons from Sweden by sea. Even one steamer loaded with weapons jumped out onto the stones at the Dagerort lighthouse. The revolutionaries sought to arm the population of Estonia and Finland.

The Admiral sent a "Volunteer" and we immediately went to our destination. Arriving in Kuyvast, they immediately got in touch with the officer of the border guards, the head of the posts on the islands of Dago and Ezel. He was supposed to let us know if he received disturbing information from his agents or suspicious ships or boats noticed his posts. In addition, we almost daily began to make runs along the coasts of the aforementioned islands. Even while at anchor, it was necessary to have couples ready, so that immediately upon receipt of reports to go out in the indicated direction. A boat with an officer and rowers armed with revolvers was always ready to inspect suspicious ships.

At first, this appointment interested us very much, since we, the youth, thought that it would involve almost fights with smugglers. But in reality it turned out pretty boring and monotonous. It is especially boring because we all turned out to be completely sewn to the ship and about the exits to the shore, even to the very a short time, it was impossible to think, since the destroyer had to be ready to weigh anchor at any moment. However, all our camps in different bays of Dago and Ezel were of no interest, and, apart from fishing villages, nothing could be found. True, there was one town on Ezel, Ahrensburg, but even that was extremely boring.

There was only one alarm. The head of the border guard came to us and mysteriously informed the commander that information had been received that in the next few hours a schooner loaded with weapons was to go to Moonsund.

The commander invited him to go with us, and we weighed anchor a little before light and went to the Kassar reach. Everyone was terribly interested and intensely peered at the horizon. Indeed, some kind of schooner soon appeared, and we rushed towards it. Approaching, they fired a blank shot, and the commander at the mouthpiece ordered to immediately lower the sails. The boat was quickly lowered, and Lieutenant Witgeft was sent to inspect the schooner. We were waiting with interest for the results, and just in case there were servants at the machine guns.

However, Vitgeft soon returned and reported that the captain of the schooner was frightened to death and willingly let them check the documents and inspect the premises and holds. Witgeft found nothing suspicious. A schooner is like a schooner. Went to Vindava, had no cargo. The border guard also went to her, but also found nothing. I had to let her go in peace.

Our border guard was extremely embarrassed and apologized for causing trouble. But the commander, nevertheless, still wandered for several hours, and then anchored. However, everyone was in a good mood and, over a glass of wine, listened with interest to the guest's stories about his service. Service in the border guard is, in fact, very interesting, although it takes place for officers in the most uncultured conditions of life.

The main subject of smuggling in this area was alcohol, which went abroad. On boats, kegs of alcohol were taken out to sea at night and flooded in a conditional place, and after a while schooners came there and found them by buoys and pulled them out. Of course, other methods were also used, but this was the more common one.

Our guest had previously served in the cavalry, but now, as a sweet memory of it, he had only spurs left, and he had to serve not on a horse, but mostly on the water. In addition to the boats, he had no other floating means at his disposal. Only occasionally did customs cruisers come from Reval, and this greatly facilitated the work. There were only a few such cruisers, and they were commanded by former naval officers who transferred to the Border Guard. The funny thing was that they put on cavalry uniforms and wore spurs, which looked extremely awkward on ships.

Being constantly under steam, the destroyer spent a lot of coal, and soon had to take care of replenishing its supply. To do this, the commander decided to go to the nearest port, which was Vindava. There was only a commercial port, and I had to turn to his boss. The commander himself went to him and took me with him as an auditor.

The head of the port turned out to be the sweetest old man. He was an old sailor and the owner of a large family, among which were adult ladies.

The arrival of a warship in such a remote port as Vindava could not but arouse interest among the locals, of course, especially the ladies. We immediately received an invitation to dinner at the head of the port. In the afternoon, coal was loaded, and by the appointed hour, all our officers, led by the commander, appeared at his apartment.

The dinner was attended only by the family, and the whole family won our sympathy with its cordiality and simplicity. Our commander, with his cheerfulness and wit, created a wonderful mood, and everyone felt as if we had known each other from time immemorial.

After dinner the guests arrived. Soon a decent society gathered - all, so to speak, the nobility of Vindava. At the initiative of the commander, some games were organized, and then dances.

The pretty daughter of the hosts was a great success and danced to the point of exhaustion. After the dancing, the hospitable hosts arranged a dinner. Only about five o'clock, when it was already beginning to get light, the commander resolutely got up and announced that he had to disperse, since with the raising of the flag he wanted to go to sea. The whole company went to see us off to the pier, and we parted as great friends. The ladies begged the commander to go to Vindava again. He promised, although it was impossible, since warships could only accidentally get into this port.

After such a thorough shake-up, our mood became somewhat better, otherwise Moonsund, with its dull shores, had long been depressing. Moreover, during all this time we did not find any smuggling. Perhaps the arrival of the "Volunteer" frightened the smugglers, or the above-described incident with the steamer that sat on the stones at Dagerort and made so much noise made the Swedish government think about it and not allow the export of weapons.

Fortunately, a month later we were recalled and we returned to Libava. They immediately learned that an interesting trip to St. Petersburg was ahead, where it was decided to show the people the ships built with voluntary donations. This was of great propaganda importance in order to restore the sympathy of the people for the fleet after the ill-fated disaster near Tsushima.

The entire division was to enter the Neva, anchor against Winter Palace and allow all residents to inspect the destroyers.

Immediately began to paint and restore cleanliness. The division passed Kronstadt without delay, and passed through the Sea Canal to the Neva. The bridges for us were supposed to be drawn up at dawn, so we calculated in such a way that by 6 o'clock we would reach the Nikolaevsky bridge. Thanks to the white nights, it was completely light.

It seemed extremely interesting to us, junior officers, to sail the Neva on large destroyers, but it did not seem so to the commanders. It was especially difficult to pass through the divorced parts of the bridges, especially the Nikolaevsky. In this place there was a very strong current, which nailed the ships to the shore. Therefore, it was necessary to give a relatively large stroke in order to overcome the pressure of the current and not touch the embankment. Some commanders were very worried, they really didn’t want to disgrace themselves in front of the population of the capital and let people say: “Well, our sailors are good, they don’t know how to handle their ships.”

Thank God, everything went well, and we went upstream in a long line to the Palace Bridge.

It would seem that such an early hour could not attract a lot of people, but along the parapets of the embankment there were crowds of people who noisily greeted us. Due to the fact that we were walking very close to the left bank, it was even possible to distinguish faces. Most of them were cab riders on a spree going home, residents of the Admiralty, workers, local janitors, porters and ladies of very easy virtue. The latter expressed their enthusiasm with particular fervor, to the great delight of the crew.

Having passed the Palace Bridge, we anchored in two lines in front of the palace. The admiral ordered that officer watches be installed on all destroyers for order and in case there were people among the visitors who were trying to spoil something. The parking was to last four days.

A few days before, all the capital's newspapers widely informed the population about our arrival, and it was indicated when and where the destroyers could be visited. Therefore, it was expected that the influx of the public would begin in the morning. We were completely ready for this: newly painted, with shiny copper and nickel-plated parts and cleanly tidied rooms, we were waiting to be judged by the inhabitants of the capital.

Indeed, already from 9 o'clock, skiffs with the public began to approach all the destroyers. Whom only among it was not, and, mainly, the simple public.

The workers examined the mechanisms with a businesslike air and expressed their opinion; the guys were interested in where and how the team lives; women paid special attention to the "terrible" guns and mines, as well as to officer cabins and galleys. Boys, adolescents, showed the greatest interest in everything, and, probably, our arrival lured more than one of them to maritime service. Their faces expressed such genuine admiration for everything they saw and learned that it was a pleasure for us to look at them. The gun will be examined from all sides; they will look at the mine with surprise and will be imbued with special respect for it, recognizing all its qualities; with pleasure they crawl around the engine and stoker rooms, smeared in oil and soot; they will gladly stand on the bridge and look with emotion at the mast, which they so want to climb.

What funny and naive questions we have heard, especially from those who for some reason fancied themselves an expert in maritime affairs. These questions often sounded so comical that it was hard not to smile, but everyone tried to give clarifications. After all, it was not for nothing that these ships were built on voluntary donations from the Russian people and, therefore, were their gift to the fleet.

The ladies, of course, asked: “do sailors suffer from seasickness”, “is it scary when cannons fire”, “can officers’ wives live on warships”, etc. One gentleman could not understand how the mine itself runs into water. It seemed to him that there must be a person in it who controls it. The other was in full confidence that the mine was a submarine. Many were fascinated by the spotlights. One worker even remarked: "This is not a street lamp for you - this or that is burning brightly." One gentleman modestly asked the question: “But how your ship is moving, I won’t understand in any way.” He was especially struck by the screws. Many were surprised that we can turn sea water into fresh water. It seemed remarkably witty and cunning.

I listened with interest to how authoritatively the team clarified the most ridiculous questions, and often their answers were such nonsense that one had to be surprised at the ingenuity of the authors. We did not interfere with them, so as not to embarrass them. They especially lied when the questions were about digital data. It turns out that our guns are firing as far as Kronstadt; mines are rushing at a speed of one hundred miles per hour, and the destroyer gives a speed equal to the speed of a courier train. Colors were not spared for the description of sea horrors - storms, wrecks and winter trips. The simple-hearted listeners looked with great reverence at the heroic sailors. But questions were also asked that had a bad lining in them, such as whether the sailors were well fed, whether the officers offended them much, whether they were beaten, etc. The answers to them were given with caution.

For four days we were continuously engaged in satisfying the curiosity of visitors, and although several hundred people stayed with us, everything went off without a hitch. As far as the crews of the destroyers were kind towards the guests, they also paid them the same. There was not a single incident.

The arrival of the destroyers brought great entertainment to the population of the capital, and, as the newspapers put it, we won the hearts of the inhabitants of St. Petersburg.

At 6 pm the inspections stopped, and then we felt completely tired, but there was no time for rest. Those who were free from service moved ashore, and guests often came to those who remained. It was very rare that our relatives and friends who lived in St. Petersburg could visit our ships and even dine with us.

One evening, a tragicomic incident happened to me: there were no visitors left on the destroyer, the guests were having dinner in the cabins of the company, and I was on watch and therefore had no right to leave the deck. Tired of walking on the deck, I leaned against the side rail (a cable that replaces the railing) and suddenly felt that I was flying overboard (since the rail turned out to be loose). I instinctively grabbed onto it. In the water, I was immediately brought under the sloping side of the ship, under the stern. The side was so sloping that it was not visible from the deck. The end of the handrail, which I grabbed, fortunately for me, was kept by friction in the hole of the post, but it was enough for me to try to pull myself up, as it began to weaken and threatened to jump out completely, then I would have been carried downstream. I had a coat on, and heavy binoculars hung around my neck, so that it was difficult to stay on the surface, let alone swim; besides, the water was very cold. Seeing my rather critical position, I began to call for help from the watchman, who at that moment was on the forecastle. Fortunately, he heard and ran to the poop, but what was his surprise when he did not see me anywhere, but only heard my voice. At first I did not understand why he hesitated to help, but then I realized what was the matter and shouted that I was overboard. Then the officer on duty jumped down to the lead, pulled me up and helped me out onto the deck.

Here is the position! The chief of the watch is under the stern of his ship, like a boat on a backboard. I had to call a senior officer and ask permission to change clothes, and passing into the cabin through the wardroom, to appear to the guests in a wet state. Nothing, they laughed and regretted, but a good glass of cognac did not allow me to catch a cold.

The days that the division stood on the Neva flashed by unnoticed. She had to leave to begin to pass curriculum. Our commander, who, to be fair to him, knew how to "trick", asked the admiral for permission to use the opportunity and linger at the Putilov factory, where the "Volunteer" was being built, in order to make some repairs. The admiral, although reluctantly, nevertheless agreed, and, to our great pleasure, we were to spend two more days in Petersburg, moreover, in complete freedom. Received for the work, so to speak reward. The destroyers passed through the bridges again at dawn, and by the appointed hour they began to weigh anchor one by one. It was impossible to shoot all at once, because going downstream, it is much more difficult to manage, and the bridges were greatly delayed. The entire process took over two hours.

No matter how early we left, a large number of spectators gathered on the embankment. Now they were no longer a random audience, and among them were many of our relatives and old and new friends. Noisy greetings and wishes for a happy voyage were constantly carried from the embankment. The bridges were again passed quite safely, so that no embarrassment occurred.

At the Putilov plant, "Volunteer" separated from the division and approached its piers, and the rest of the destroyers went to the Sea Canal.

The admiral was quite pleased with how the visit to the capital came down. Pessimists among the destroyer commanders feared this visit and predicted all sorts of failures that did not actually occur. But now our division has become popular with the public, like the admiral himself, and this was very important.

At the Putilov Shipyard, the former builders of the destroyer greeted us with open arms. After all, we were their child for a reason. All our official and private requests they willingly satisfied.

Time passed quickly and cheerfully, and even the commander intercepted one extra day, since the work really delayed. Then we went to Helsingfors. We were to study the skerry fairways from Helsingfors to Gange. It was of great importance for the fleet that the commanders of all ships could navigate the skerries without pilots and, thus, be completely independent of them.

Such a voyage was both interesting and instructive, but for the commanders, then still completely inexperienced in walking along the skerries, extremely responsible. It was very easy to get confused in milestones and signs or get on the wrong fairway, and finally, in the narrowness, touch the rocks and, consequently, damage your ship. At first, such cases were very common, but the admiral fully understood all the difficulties and did not put mistakes in minus the commanders. But they quickly began to get used to sailing in skerries, and accidents became less and less frequent.

Skerries, which previously seemed like some kind of impenetrable labyrinth, and pilots - magicians and sorcerers, turned out to be easily digestible. Now we, for our part, began to wonder how sometimes pilots manage to put ships on stones that are guided along skerries, although they spend half their lives in the same area and, it would seem, every pebble should have been familiar to them. In a word, the belief that the skerries were impassable was destroyed. As I pointed out above, this was of great importance for the fleet, especially during the war, when skerries had to be used continuously. We would be good if we continued to be dependent on the pilots? Finns, often, perhaps, hostile to the Russians. During the Great War, skerry fairways for large ships were cleared, so that even dreadnoughts could go from Helsingfors to Ute in skerries and be calm that they would not be attacked by enemy submarines or they would run into a minefield. The resolution of this issue was also the great merit of Admiral Essen, who, however, was criticized by many commanders for this, saying that he was crippling ships. True, bad officers usually belonged to such commanders, who were simply afraid to walk around the skerries without pilots, who in such cases were legally responsible for the integrity of the ship.

Three weeks later, the admiral ordered the assembly of all divisions in the Gange. In that year, this place looked like a very fashionable resort. It was crowded with visiting people, and mainly Russian, and for some reason from Moscow.

The arrival of such a large number of warships excited all the guests of the resort, and the administration immediately took advantage of this to arrange a big ball and fireworks in honor of the sailors.

The summer has been exceptionally good. The holiday was a success: the hall was full of ladies and officers (there were few male elements at the resort), they danced until they dropped and admired the fireworks. We spent the three days at Gange with pleasure, which the Admiral provided us with.

After this respite, the division went into joint maneuvering. For about a week, the destroyers wandered in different directions at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland. The joint navigation of divisions was still unusual for the division and required a lot of experience. First of all, it was necessary that the destroyers floated among themselves, that is, they would learn to accurately keep their place in the ranks under all conditions of time and weather, and then learn how to rebuild as part of divisions. This was facilitated by the fact that the divisions included the same type of destroyers, and therefore, they had the same course, agility and circulation radius.

At first, especially during long passages, we stood on watch, keeping our eyes on the front destroyer, afraid to climb on it or stretch the formation. Over time, the eye became so accustomed that it immediately noticed the irregularity of the distance and the need to increase or decrease speed. The first condition for a good watch was to keep calm. If the watch commander was nervous, then this not only affected the accuracy of the destroyer's observance of the place in the ranks, but spoiled the entire formation of the division. In addition, this introduced nervousness into the control of the machines, since with frequent changes in speed, the drivers did not have time to fulfill the orders of the bridge. As soon as they began to add momentum, they received a reverse order.

In the dark, of course, it was even more difficult when the outlines of the front destroyer blurred, but then the wake lights saved. With the help of the Wel prism, it was easy to check the accuracy of the distance from them. During rainy weather and strong waves, and especially in fog, it was difficult and one had to have a lot of experience in order to keep the place in the ranks and the ships not to get confused.

In any case, it was impossible to yawn on the watch on the destroyers, all decisions had to be made quickly and without hesitation. This taught young officers to be independent and decisive. They ceased to be afraid to be controlled when they were left alone on the bridges.

The admiral spent a lot of time practicing rebuilding and signaling. He strove for the commanders to learn how to perform them harmoniously and confidently. He achieved automaticity in their implementation, which was so important during the battle and when performing various other combat missions. In addition, the admiral believed that by teaching destroyer commanders to maneuver, he thereby gave them experience for their future command of large ships.

When, on a signal from the admiral's destroyer, the divisions were reorganized from the wake formation to the front or bearing formation, with the harmony of this maneuver, a remarkably beautiful spectacle was obtained. As one, the destroyers turned the required number of degrees and swept in parallel. A new signal, and everyone made a reverse turn and again found themselves in the wake column.

After a cycle of these exercises, our division had to go to Revel to take a course of artillery firing, which was given three weeks. Difficulties were in the lack of sufficient funds for their implementation.

On the appointed days, the destroyers took turns shooting at about. Nargen - single and group. They fired initially at fixed shields, and then at towed ones. The former gave practice to gunners and gunners, and the latter also to officers in charge of firing.

These days, all the personnel were fond of artillery, and the gunners were a kind of heroes of the day. I wanted to achieve the best results, to be the best in shooting.

On individual destroyers, special artillery officers were not supposed to, and there was one in the division. Yes, in those days, due to the lack of artillery officers, they were very rare, so often the flagship artillery officer of the division alone had to lead all the firing (in those days, this was Lieutenant M.I. Nikolsky, the future commander of the Aurora cruiser; he was the first officer killed during the 1917 coup).

Lieutenant Witgeft was in charge of artillery on the Volunteer. He had experience with artillery at the siege of Port Arthur, so he successfully coped with ours. Initially, a lot of effort had to be expended in order to train the carriers to quickly bring cartridges and load guns, since this achieved a rate of fire, and from it the reality of defeat. This was dealt with quickly and reached 12-14 charges per minute.

“Combat alert” has become a common thing for us. The destroyers were ready for battle in a few minutes - the side racks were knocked down, the shells were fired on the deck, the guns were loaded. Everyone stood in their places, waiting for orders from the bridge to "open fire." The order is received - the destroyer shudders, the sound of the first shot is heard, then the second. Everyone is watching where the shells will fall, where the bursts will rise: “overshoot”, “undershoot”, “fork”. The installation of the sight changes, and the shooting goes "to kill", "quick fire" begins. Gals is finished. The destroyer lays down on the reverse course and opens fire with the other side. Observers at the shields report the results.

The team loved shooting. She fascinated her and gave birth to a sporting feeling. The shot is made, the shutter instantly opens, the sleeve automatically flies out, which flies to the deck, at the same second the carrier sticks in a new cartridge. The gunner closes the bolt, cocks the trigger, and the gun is ready (on large destroyers there were 120 mm guns in 40 calibers). The gunners continue to continuously point their optical sights at the target. All this takes 5-6 seconds.

After firing, the division returned to the harbor and moored at the wall. The servants of the guns had to wash the gun and lubricate it.

The shooting was very tiring, but still in the evenings we liked to go ashore to take a walk in the Ekaterinental, go to a restaurant to eat crayfish and drink good Revel beer, or even roll up on Gorka (a famous summer cafe? Chantan). If there was no desire to go ashore, then they sat in their company on destroyers for a friendly conversation.

By the way, it was temporarily increased by a divisional doctor, whom the headquarters settled with us. He turned out to be the sweetest and most sociable person. Although he was a deeply civilian person and first came into the naval environment (and besides, he was an Estonian), he quickly and easily entered our company, and after a few days we became great friends. Being a very good doctor and a serious person, he was not averse to having fun and was "not a fool to drink". Going ashore with him was often accompanied by the most amazing adventures, especially since he knew Revel "up and down." Somehow he took us to some mysterious cafe, which operated only at night and where girls in some fantastic costumes waited. Then he and I ended up in some kind of illegal card club, where major scandals often occurred. Like the losing player suddenly turning off the lights and stealing money from the tables, or there was a shooting with a carnage. Of course, we did not take part in the game and just watched for fun.

While staying in Revel, we suddenly began to notice that our commander began to disappear from the ship quite often and was constantly met in the ladies' society. Especially he often appeared in the company of the wife of the flagship doctor Zort and even once invited the spouses to our place for dinner. Subsequently, he married her, she was a very interesting woman. This seemed suspicious to us, and we joked that he was not going to be the first to violate the charter of our monastery.

When the course of artillery firing was completed, the admiral allowed the destroyers to choose the ports where they would like to spend a week of rest. Our commander chose Hungerburg, which we were extremely pleased with. This resort with a wonderful beach was usually filled with summer residents from St. Petersburg. Therefore, one could expect to meet many acquaintances there.

We safely reached it and entered Narova. The commander did not like to anchor in the middle of the river, because in this case he had to get to the shore in boats. Therefore, he went to the head of the commercial port, to persuade him to allow him to stand at the pier, intended only for ships that were supposed to unload, since it was free. Of course, he managed to convince him, it was not for nothing that he had a talent for persuading.

As we thought, on the same day, acquaintances were found and invitations to picnics, dinners and evenings rained down. In addition, since we were standing near the shore, now and then the public came, asking to inspect the destroyer, which was readily allowed, and new acquaintances were made.

On weekdays, almost exclusively women's society remained in Hungerburg, since husbands came only on Saturday and Sunday. Thanks to this, our position turned out to be especially advantageous. In the Kurhaus a ball was given in our honor, which was very merry, and we reached the destroyer only in the early morning. In general, there were so many invitations that even torn to pieces.

Such cordiality could not be left unanswered, and we decided to have a big tea party on the Volunteer. In view of the fact that the cabins of the company did not accommodate a large number of people, tea was served on the upper deck under an awning, arranging something like sofas from the command berths and decorating everything with signal flags. There were more than fifty guests; Apparently everyone was very pleased. The mere fact that I managed to stay a couple of hours on a warship was a pleasure.

Unfortunately, the last day in Hungerburg was marked by tragic event. Several people of our team, released ashore, decided to swim and for this they chose a place that turned out to be very dangerous, since in this place, where the Narova flows into the sea, there were whirlpools and dangerous uneven bottoms. As a result, one of them drowned. He was soon pulled out, but it was too late.

The sailor had to be buried at the local cemetery, and the commander wanted to arrange a solemn funeral if possible. The whole day passed in trouble, and I, as the auditor, had to arrange everything.

The whole place quickly learned about the misfortune, so that the streets along which the sad procession was going were crowded with summer residents. The coffin was carried by the sailors, followed by all the officers and crew in all white.

Funeral singing, the solemnity of the whole situation and the beauty of a summer day created a sad, but not heavy mood. Although no one knew this poor sailor, everyone sincerely regretted the loss of a young life so tragically.

The grave was a continuous bouquet of flowers, which were laid by summer residents in order to express sympathy for the ship.

After the funeral, I had to leave immediately. We were already two days late, and the admiral did not like this very much and was always extremely accurate himself.

The next period was to be very hectic. The division was supposed to make several campaigns together, from the Gulf of Bothnia to Libau. While at sea, maneuvering and performing various tactical tasks were again assumed.

Admiral Essen was distinguished by tirelessness and extreme mobility and did not allow the destroyers to remain inactive. His destroyer "Border Guard" kept pace everywhere. The admiral was very difficult to find in a certain place; only radio stations and posts of the Communications Service always knew where he was. Either in St. Petersburg at meetings with the Minister of the Navy or in the Marine General Staff, then in Helsingfors or Riga at the factories where some destroyers were completed, then in Revel, or even on skerries. He closely watched as the division improved in its knowledge and gained experience. It seemed that in this small man there was an inexhaustible source of will and energy, and he did not know fatigue. On campaigns - on the bridge, at anchor - for writing orders and issuing orders, receiving reports and at meetings with destroyer commanders. Holidays and rest among the family did not exist for him.

Two weeks went on the joint navigation of the division in the Baltic Sea and camps in the Aland skerries and off the coast of Dago and Ezel. Finally we got to Libava.

After a short respite and sorting out the cars, we had to take a course of mine firing in Biorca. The division soon went there.

A fuss began with self-propelled Whitehead mines of the 1904 model. The technique of mine firing is much more complicated than artillery. There you will fire the prescribed number of shells, and the matter is over. With mine training shooting, it is necessary to catch a mine, lift it onto a destroyer, pump compressed air into the tank, pour oil and check all the mechanisms. Only then is she ready to fire.

When the shooting goes smoothly, then there is nothing, because, after passing the set distance, the mine will emerge and it remains only to be towed to the side of the destroyer. But there were often cases that, when it jumped out of the apparatus, the shield that opened the air valve did not recline and air could not enter the machine. The same type of mine with a full tank had negative buoyancy, and the mine sank. The reason for this was some kind of design flaw, which they subsequently tried to correct, but so far we have suffered a lot of trouble because of this. I had to quickly notice the approximate place where the mine was sunk and throw a buoy, and then lower a diver at this place, who tied the end to the mine, and they pulled it out. But often the place was not noticed accurately or the mine went deep into the muddy ground, and you had to wait for hours until the diver found it.

On the other hand, shooting mines is very exciting. You watch with interest how a huge “cigar” jumps out of the apparatus with a buzz, splashes into the water with a noise and quickly begins to take speed and depth. As if on a thread, it goes in the direction given to it until it passes its distance, after which it jumps out, and the calcium phosphorous cartridge inserted into the hole for the drummer lights up. The smoke from it spreads on the water, and the unpleasant smell of garlic rushes along the wind. After the shot, the destroyer turns sharply and goes in the direction of the trace of the mine, when it pops up and the calcium catches fire, it lowers the boat, which tows it to it.

This is what happens when the mine goes well. But there have been cases when the mine is capricious, that is, instead of describing the correct trajectory, it begins to describe the circulation - it means that something was wrong with the Aubrey device (gyroscope) or the spool of the steering machine is stuck. And then the other one starts buzzing to the surface, then goes to the depths (like dolphins) - this is a malfunction of the horizontal rudders, some kind of harmful friction has turned out in the rods of the hydrostatic device.

All this is not so scary, if only not to drown. And then, as luck would have it, you see that the mine has passed part of the distance, suddenly slowed down, then stopped, and the charging compartment begins to slowly protrude from the water. Mina becomes upright and disappears underwater. Everyone is in a flurry. The commander turns abruptly at her, the boat with the mine-drivers and the officer is already half-mast, so as not to lose a single second. As soon as the destroyer reverses, the boat is lowered into the water, and she tries to reach the mine, while the red charging compartment (training) is still visible. Yes, it wasn’t there? It was, in front of the very bow of the boat, the mine disappears under water. A buoy is thrown, and the boat returns to the destroyer. Sometimes they try to mine a mine with a cat (four-legged anchor), but this rarely succeeds.

Our commander in such cases was terribly angry and scolded the right and the wrong, it was not for nothing that he himself was a mine specialist. The mine operators, and especially the mine conductor and non-commissioned officers, felt completely disgraced and took the commander's outburst as something well deserved. Although, with rare exceptions, the fault was not in them, but in the technical shortcomings of this type of mine. The delicate mechanisms of mines were often capricious from the slightest flaws in them. To become really proficient in the preparation and firing of mines, one had to have a lot of practice, like the one that employees at the sighting station or instructors at the Mine Training Detachment had. On the destroyers, in those days, there was very little practice, and the personnel weaned from firing for many months when they were not. Mine shootings only happened once or twice a year, which was mainly because it was difficult to find time for them.

Of course, this was a big gap in the combat readiness of the destroyers. But, as the war showed in the future, they very rarely had to use mines for a combat purpose, and guns turned out to be more necessary.

After firing, the destroyers returned to the Biorca roadstead to prepare mines for the next firing. They were pulled out of the machines and placed on special carts.

I remember once, just at such a moment, one of the destroyers was returning from the sea and, as many commanders liked to do, famously “cut off” the sterns of several destroyers anchored, gave a full reverse and dropped anchor. It turned out very effectively, but from the strong wave that came from him, all these destroyers began to shake violently. Several mines, which were not fixed on carts, fell on the deck; crockery in the cabins fell off the tables; soup spilled in the galleys. There was an emergency and swearing. Since such cases were repeated, the admiral had to issue a special order on this occasion, which ordered to reduce the speed in advance before approaching the raid.

The captain of the 2nd rank Zakhar (sic! Sergey. - A.E.) Zakharovich Balk. He was to a certain extent historical figure due to extraordinary strength and adventures in his youth. He was a good sailor, but he could not be considered a good officer.

In Biorca, as usual, everyone was bored and therefore whined. The only entertainment was visiting the neighboring destroyers. After so many months of joint voyages, a close friendship was struck up between a number of cabins? Companies, and we often visited each other at the parking lots. These meetings usually took place at lunches and dinners in our cozy but small rooms. Especially small officer quarters were on the destroyers of the "Ukraine" type, which in general were somehow awkward, there was not enough space for them and their officers, and when guests appeared, it became quite crowded. But this did not bother us a little and created a family atmosphere. Such a close life (in the direct sense of the word) also contributed to the rapprochement of young officers with commanders, and often their relationship acquired excessive familiarity, and this already had a harmful effect on the service. It was not so on large ships, where the commander, according to the Naval Charter, appeared in the cabins of the company only at dinner on holidays, at the invitation of the officers. In general, not a single officer of the ship could go to the commander on a personal matter without the permission of the senior officer and without explaining to him the reason.

Thus, the sympathy of the personality of the commander on destroyers played a greater role than on large ships. Therefore, it was difficult to endure for a long time on destroyers a joint voyage with commanders with an unpleasant character, and the youth resorted to all means to “write off” as soon as possible, which, however, was not too easy. Such commanders at first were "Trukhments" - N.N. Banov and "Guardian" - Teshe. For commanders - good sailors (especially those who were well managed), the youth was ready to forgive their unpleasant character.

On the contrary, the compositions of their favorite commanders were so united that when they were assigned to other ships, everyone asked to be transferred to them, which sometimes succeeded.

It is impossible to demand that a person combine all the qualities in himself at the same time - he would be as good an officer as a nice person who knows how to get along with his co-fellows. Nevertheless, in a fleet where official relationships are closely intertwined with private relationships, it is extremely important to be loved by co-shippers. This especially affects the war, in difficult times.

When we were engaged in mine firing in Biorca, a radio telegram from the head of the division was unexpectedly received, instructing us to urgently prepare for the highest review. It was supposed to happen in the coming days at sea. The entire division was to show joint maneuvering in front of the emperor. This news excited the whole division, especially the commanders, on whose skill it depended that the review went well. Of course, something also depended on others, and especially ship mechanics, but still the main responsibility lay with the commanders. Watch commanders had to strictly observe the place. It was important that the signals were quickly sorted out and typed. On a warship, his brilliant maneuvering and, indeed, his condition depend on the skill and knowledge of the entire crew, from a simple sailor to a commander. Everyone contributes to this their particle of labor and skill.

Exactly on the appointed day and hour, all divisions in in full force gathered at the indicated place of the rendezvous, there were no “sick” people. The admiral was on the “Border Guard”, and the “Hunter” (maybe the “Siberian shooter”) was sent for the sovereign by the emperor.

When the "Hunter" appeared on the horizon under the sovereign's brad? Pennant, the division went to meet him. The "border guard" approached its side, and the admiral moved on to it.

Immediately a signal went up, indicating the reorganization that the divisions were supposed to carry out. Then one system was replaced by another, and when the whole cycle was completed, all divisions passed at a high speed very close to the "Hunter", so that the sovereign could greet the teams and officers standing in the front.

Destroyers flashed quickly, one after another. Answers to the royal greeting were heard continuously, and then loud cries of "Hurrah".

The division met its supreme leader with great enthusiasm, to whom it was deeply devoted and loved. Everyone knew that he, for his part, loved the fleet and understood its significance.

As we later learned, the sovereign liked the review very much, and indeed it presented a beautiful sight - the harmonious movement of 28 destroyers at high speeds.

But in this case, it was not the brilliant condition of the Mine Division and the beauty of maneuvering that played the main role, but the fact that after everything experienced by the fleet in Japanese war the sovereign could be convinced that the core of the resurgent fleet had been created, and that it was in the experienced hands of Admiral Essen; this core can grow into a powerful fleet and can be trusted with new ships.

The sovereign, apparently, appreciated this, and by a signal expressed "special gratitude" to the division, and at the same time it was reported on the radio that Rear Admiral von Essen was enrolled in "His Majesty's retinue."

We were very proud of the gratitude of the sovereign and the fact that he enrolled our beloved boss in his retinue. This greatly raised the spirit of the division and the desire to improve more and more.

After the highest review, all divisions returned to interrupted classes. Our division returned to Biorca. Autumn was coming, and our cabins had to part, as the senior officer, Lieutenant Dombrovsky, and I entered the Mine officer classes, and Lieutenant Witgeft - in artillery. By September 1, we had to appear for the entrance exam in Kronstadt.

Needless to say, it was with great regret that we parted with our dear "Volunteer", with the commander and crew, who were so able to tie him to us.

True, sometimes there were exacerbations with the commander, when he was out of sorts and angry at everyone. But this aggravation quickly passed, and soon peace was restored and a good mood returned. I remember once on the Reval roadstead during a firing practice, when, in addition to the commander, there were Vitgeft on the bridge, who controlled the fire, and I, as the chief of the watch, we were all so carried away by our shooting that we missed the signal from the lead destroyer to stop it. This terribly annoyed the commander. He first pounced on Witgeft, and then told me: “I think I could expect more attention from you,” and then he went on to write: “There is a collapse on the ship, no one is doing anything,” etc., etc. d At supper he sat gloomy and silent, and then went ashore. We, too, were offended and kept silent. The next morning, having overslept and calmed down, he began to talk to everyone, and soon everyone was in a good mood. More often than others, our junior midshipman L.B. Zayonchkovsky, very young and very exemplary behavior, but incredibly slow in all his actions. This often plagued the commander, and not only him, but all of us. Indeed, how can you not get tired here, when, for example, in fresh weather, when laying mooring lines on the pier, it was necessary to seize the moment so that the destroyer would not be carried away from it, and Zayonchkovsky was slowing down for some reason and did not order to throw throwing lines. When he finally realizes, the distance has already increased so much that they cannot be thrown. We have to set sail again and approach the pier, and this was sometimes very difficult because of the lack of space in the harbor, as, for example, in Revelskaya. Then “encouraging” exclamations began to pour from the bridge to Zaionchkovsky, and he was finally lost. In the end, a senior officer descended from the bridge to "cheer" him up. The commander especially did not like it when one of the officers was late for shooting or anchoring. Witgeft, who had the ability to sleep a lot and soundly, mainly sinned with this. The commander is already on the bridge, but the tank officer is not yet in place. Witgeft was urgently sent for, and he jumped out onto the deck, sleepy, fastening on the move. And from the bridge you can already hear a healthy wick. There's nothing you can do about merit. Witgeft drew himself up and put his hand to his visor. It happened even worse when, on duty, the signal and watch non-commissioned officer missed the returning commander and the officer on duty did not have time to meet him at the gangway. It's already quite salty here.

We sometimes thought that the commander was unfair and too harsh, but in such cases the senior officer was the peacekeeper, who was extremely able to calm and support everyone. a good relationship. He calmly began to prove that if the commander was harsh, then after all, who, if not him, should make sure that the service was on top. If the commander does not show strictness, then everyone will dissolve and devastation will begin. Well, in the end, you calm down, and everything falls into its own rut.

On such small ships, senior officers were simply senior officers and did not differ much in age from other staff. Therefore, relations with them were not too formal and simple.

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This was at a time when the Russian State owned in the Baltic Sea almost all the ports of the Gulf of Finland, Bothnia and Riga and the islands of the Abo-Oland skerries. The ships of the fleet were scattered, according to their location, in the ports of Libava, Helsingfors, Abo, Marienhamn, Kronstadt and St. Petersburg.

A detachment of recruits of the 1st Mine Division, together with that of the Submarine Fleet, was in the Port of the Emperor Alexander III. Both made up two separate battalions under the command of the adjutant wing Capt. 2nd rank S. S. Fabritsky and submariner cap. 2nd rank A. N. Nikiforaki. The entire detachment, as a senior, was commanded by S. S. Fabritsky. They were placed in a stone two-storey building, with an arena, on one of the banks of the canal of the port's inner basin. The spacious square in front of the barracks overlooked the wall of the canal, near which stretched orderly rows of destroyers of the 1st Mine Division and submarines, with the Okean training ship on the flank. Such a sea town was in perfect harmony with the purpose and way of life of the Recruit Detachment, in which the future cadres of the ship crews of the Baltic Fleet were brought up. Here, the recruits visually got acquainted with all branches and order of naval life and with the tireless work of old sailors in repairing and arming ships preparing for the upcoming summer campaign.

Further, behind the barracks, closer to the sea, were the officers' wings, the Port Office, the post office and, finally, the beautiful building of the Naval Assembly with a beautiful view of the sea. It had a huge dance hall, salons, a library and a wonderful buffet - restaurant. Our regular guests at the Assembly were the Smolensk Lancers and the officers of the Staraya Russian Infantry Regiment, who at that time were quartered in Libava.

Head of the Detachment, he is also the commander of the esq. min. "Amurets", led the Detachment according to the model and programs of the then guards regiments. It was necessary to pull up the fleet in combat terms. There was also a hope that the young officers of the Detachment would pour a new stream into ship life. The Royal review was coming, and the young sailors were supposed to show off their combat bearing on it.

The unmarried officers all had to live in the barracks, near their companies, and all dined in a common wardroom, in the same barracks. Thanks to this, a special cohesion was created in the Detachment, and everyone was inspired by the desire to show themselves no worse than the ground forces. And, indeed, the results of this animation and such work showed themselves at the Tsar's review.

In my time, the 1st battalion was commanded by Lieutenant P.P. Mikhailov and four of his companies by Lieutenants G.P. Gedrimovich V.V. Zavadsky, P.S. Pogozhev and B.P. Ivanov. Every day, except for Sundays and holidays, all companies went to the square and, in the sight of the destroyers, scattered into platoon groups. The whole square was covered with a frantic uproar, especially of young midshipmen, who excelled in various ways of giving commands, and in response there was a friendly crackle of rifle butts or monotonous typing with their feet “as one” of the brave, quickly pulling themselves up beyond recognition, naval recruits.

A drawn-out command “battalion at attention! Gentlemen officers! - Head of the Detachment S. S. Fabritsky descends the gangway from the Amurets. His representative, tall, broad-shouldered figure, military bearing and golden aiguillettes on his frock coat simply hypnotized the young sailors. The whole area froze in silence, and only on destroyers did the crew get out of the cockpits, engine rooms and stokers to stare at the "army porridge", as they called the recruits.

The 3rd company of helmsmen and signalmen under the command of P. S. Pogozhev was especially distinguished in the drill art. One should have seen his extraordinary ability to "conduct" not only the mazurka at balls in the Naval Assembly, but also on the square - with his trained company. The company was proud of its superiority over others, and the young sailors swaggered like roosters, knowing in advance that their company would be called to show our work at the Tsar's review. But that's the end of pre-lunch time. From the barracks for a mile away they carried the soaring "naval cabbage soup" and freshly baked rye bread. The smell of this unusually stimulating effect on the appetite. Everyone knew that in the wardroom the “team test” was already waiting for the Head of the Detachment, on a tray in the hands of the cook on duty (the cook in a white cap and snow-white apron). Right there stood the duty officer and the sergeant major, with a pipe around their necks. The remaining sample was usually handed over to the midshipmen and lieutenants who rushed from the square to be torn to pieces, in order to have a bite and grunt under a cold glass of vodka.

With dashing songs, accompanied by overflows and whistles, the companies went to the barracks. After dinner, everything calmed down around, and there was an "afternoon" serene rest in the Detachment and on the destroyers. Complete silence was interrupted only by the fragmentary ringing of flasks on all ships; they fought back every half an hour, according to the exact time.

After a lunch break, the companies in most cases were engaged in the so-called "literature" (History of the Navy, Naval Charter and Charter of the Coastal Service). This happened under the leadership of officers and non-commissioned officers. Some groups under the command of the same officers and non-commissioned officers went on ships to study in various specialties or to study ship engines on the Ocean. On Sundays, under the command of their junior officers, they went on military walks in separate companies, as they say, "without weapons, but with songs."

In the evenings, in their free time, the youth - midshipmen - rolled into Libava, on the famous "octopuses" (old-fashioned high 4-seater landau, harnessed by a pair of nags) and, depending on inspiration, went to the Boinitsa confectionery or to the "Petersburg Hotel" listen to a local celebrity - the violinist Kreisler and eat oysters, or turned into the Hamburg Garden Variety, which was forbidden for her, where she occupied a box with dignity. Those who stayed until late hours in restaurants found shelter in a charitable institution of the so-called "Princess Maria Alekseevna", distinguished by its disinterested care for young, inexperienced young men.

But, in addition to "coastal" entertainment, young people often attended balls and masquerades in the officers' assembly of the Starorussky regiment. The regiment commander had two daughters and, naturally, the sailors were welcome guests for him. More often than not, when "midshipmen's finances sang romances" and the midshipman was aground, drying his empty pockets, there was an opportunity to have fun in the wardroom. As a rule, in the evening the officers gathered in the wardroom of the Detachment, in a circle of good friends. Over a good glass of cognac, the mood quickly became complacent and cheerful, at the piano appeared the mischievous prankster midshipman Boba, a participant in many midshipman pranks and tricks, which he somehow always successfully got away with. The soul of this cheerful society was usually the assistant to the Head of the Detachment, Capt. 2nd rank Timofei Leonidovich von der Raab-Thielen. floated a lot Far East, a typical representative of the local famous humorous "Lancepup tribe", the description of which should be devoted to a special essay, small in stature, thin, reddish, with sideburns and mustaches and a typical sea waddle gait.

When he appeared in the wardroom, the youth gradually closed the ring around him and the stories of the unforgettable storyteller about the old days of the cheerful and carefree life of youth in Vladivostok poured. His crowning number was the presentation in the faces of prominent generals and admirals passing by a ceremonial march at parades in Tsarskoye Selo. This number was performed by him inimitably.

But back to the Recruit Squad. The month of March came, a breath of spring was felt, and the sun sent its life-giving rays to the ships standing at the wall, gleamed on the shiny parts of compasses, guns, mine vehicles and other marine fittings. There was a smell of red lead and other fresh paint. The mechanical "woodpecker" (drill) tapped out its monotonous, sharp melody, and the father-commanders courted their offspring, looking with a jealous eye at the resurrecting beauty of their ships.

It was at this time that a detachment of recruits set out in a long echelon of a military train from the station of Libava to the Tsarsky Review, to Tsarskoye Selo. The train was moving very slowly, through Muravevo, Riga and Pskov. Occasionally, at large stops in the first-class station premises, officers arranged dinners with a balalaika orchestra, and the Detachment brass band played on the platform, entertaining the assembled audience, eyeing the sailors with curiosity. In Riga and Pskov, the Detachment was met by representatives of the garrison, who accompanied it to the barracks of the regiments, where a hot meal was waiting for it.

In Tsarskoye Selo, the detachment was located in the barracks of l. guards His Majesty's Hussar Regiment.

The next day, the day of the review, the weather was rainy and the square in front of the palace was full of puddles. The detachment was lined up in brilliant order opposite the main entrance to the palace. At the appointed time, the Sovereign Emperor and the Heir Tsesarevich left the palace in naval uniform, accompanied by the Flag-Captain of His Majesty Admiral Nilov, the Minister of the Navy Admiral Grigorovich, the Chief of the Naval Forces of the Baltic Fleet Admiral von Essen and the next watch. The orchestra played "Nikolaev March", the Sovereign went along the front, greeting the young sailors. In response, a statutory greeting thundered, a shout of "Hurrah" and the orchestra began to play National anthem. After the detour, dead silence reigned, and then the command of the commander of the parade, captain 2nd rank Fabrytsky, was heard: “Battalions for gymnastics!”

Having rebuilt, the Detachment began gymnastics under funny sounds orchestra, and with each kick of the feet, splashes of puddles were carried on the ground, mercilessly dousing our shiny full officer uniforms, embroidered with gold. The sovereign thanked the detachment for the gymnastics, and then called the 3rd company under the command of Lieutenant Pogozhev for a company exercise. The teaching also went brilliantly and the company was awarded the Tsar's "thank you". After that, the Detachment marched in a ceremonial march in half company. The sovereign thanked each half-company separately, and we returned with the orchestra to the hussar barracks, where the sailors were offered a wonderful dinner, while the officers were invited to the palace, to the Tsar's table. Half of the officers received leave for three days, and the other went with the Detachment to Libau.

Upon returning to Libava, the young sailors were assigned to ships and I had to lead a party on the cruiser Gromoboy, where I sailed as a ship's midshipman. Thus ended my epic in the Recruit Detachment, and I met the coming Holy Resurrection of Christ already on my own ship, the minelayer Narova.

Boris Arsky.

Russian Empire and RKKF.

In the Baltic Fleet in 1908, the 1st mine division was formed, consisting of 37 destroyers and the 2nd mine division, consisting of 10 destroyers and 16 destroyers. In 1916, during the First World War, both of these divisions were combined into one. In 1922, the mine division of the Baltic Fleet was disbanded. On Cherno navy a mine division consisting of 1 cruiser, 17 destroyers and destroyers and 4 submarines was formed in 1911. In 1914, it was reorganized into a mine brigade. In 1920-1921, a mine division consisting of 10 destroyers and 5 destroyers existed as part of the Volga-Caspian military flotilla, then it was reorganized into a separate destroyer division of the Naval Forces of the Caspian Sea.

In the 1940s, destroyer divisions were created in the Navy of the Armed Forces of the USSR as formations of the light forces of the fleet.

Notes

1. // Military encyclopedia: [in 18 volumes] / ed. V. F. Novitsky [i dr.]. - St. Petersburg. ; [ M. ] : Type. t-va I. D. Sytin, 1911-1915.
2. Mine division // Military encyclopedia / I. D. Sergeev. - Moscow: Military Publishing House, 2001. - T. 5. - S. 139. - ISBN 5-203-1876-6.