In memory of the heroes of Port Arthur. Seven feats in the Russo-Japanese War. In memory of the heroes of Port Arthur Grigory Khodasevich commander of the port of the Arthurian fortress

On the night of February 8-9, 1904, without a declaration of war, the Japanese squadron attacked the Russian naval base of Port Arthur. This was preceded by a meeting at sea of Russian and Japanese ships. Russian sailors, not having an order, did not open fire on the Japanese, but as a result of inept maneuvering, two Japanese destroyers collided with each other and were damaged.

After that, four Japanese ships approached Port Arthur undetected and launched a torpedo attack. It was impossible to call it successful. Of the 16 torpedoes fired, thirteen either missed their targets or failed to explode. However, three torpedoes damaged three of the strongest Russian ships based in Port Arthur - the battleships "Retvisan" and "Tsesarevich" and the cruiser "Pallada".

The first battle of the Russo-Japanese War continued in the morning, when the fleets began a skirmish from a distance of eight kilometers. The total losses in this battle amounted to 150 people among the Russians and 90 people among the Japanese. Only the next day, on February 10, 1904, Japan officially declared war on Russia ...

One of the true heroes of the defense of Port Arthur, of course, is the commandant of the fortress, Lieutenant General Roman Kondratenko. He personally led the defense in the most difficult and dangerous areas. Roman Kondratenko knew how to raise the morale of the soldiers in the most difficult moments of the siege of the city, which could several times reflect the assault of the Japanese. He died on December 15, 1904 from a direct hit in the casemate of the fort by a howitzer shell. 8 more officers died with him. After the end of the Russo-Japanese War, the body of the hero was solemnly reburied in St. Petersburg, in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Grigory Khodosevich, commandant of the Port Arthur fortress, was on board the Russian destroyer Strashny when on March 30, 1904, the ship entered into an unequal battle with four Japanese warships. 49 sailors died in the battle, only five people survived, including Khodosevich. He ended up in icy water with a severe back injury. He had secret documents hidden under his life jacket. Seeing a Japanese boat approaching him, Khodasevich, with fingers stiff from the cold, began to tear the bag and eat the paper along with the seaweed. When the Japanese approached and lifted him on board, there was practically nothing left of the package. The interrogation also yielded nothing - Grigory Khodosevich did not say a word about the content of the secret documents. The hero was sent to a prisoner of war camp and returned to his homeland only after the war.

The very defense of Port Arthur is often presented as a confrontation between patriots led by the heroic General Roman Kondratenko and a certain "party of cowards and capitulators" consisting of Stessel and his "accomplices" - General Fock

and Colonel Reis.

It is alleged that while Kondratenko was alive and led the defense, the Japanese suffered one defeat after another, but when he died, the "party of traitors" raised its head and quickly brought the fortress to capitulation.

Indeed, Kondratenko was killed on December 2, 1904 (hereinafter, the dates are given according to the old style), and only eighteen days later Port Arthur surrendered. But does it follow that the city could hold out longer? Strictly speaking, no.

On November 25, 1904, the Fortress Defense Council was held, and the idea was expressed that January 1, 1905 was the deadline until which the garrison was able to resist. Kondratenko participated in this discussion. And in those years it was accepted that if the opinion of a member of the Council differs from the point of view of the majority, and the officer himself wants to emphasize his disagreement, then the “dissenting opinion” of this person is recorded in the protocol, separately from common text. If a member of the Council believes that his words were distorted when the recording was made, then he has the right not to sign the protocol at all. Kondratenko did not express any particular opinion and signed the text. In other words, he did not protest against the thesis that the city could only hold out until January 1, 1905.

In reality, Port Arthur fell on December 20, and the remnants of the garrison were withdrawn from the fortress on December 23. As you can see, there is no fundamental difference between these dates and January 1.

Move on. Port Arthur Dudorov subsequently recalled that when the Japanese captured Mount High, Kondratenko himself said that "this is the beginning of the end." Moreover, it was Kondratenko who oversaw the defense of Vysokaya, and then he also organized a counterattack in order to regain control over this key point. The counterattack failed. In other words, the events that predetermined the fall of Port Arthur took place during the life of Kondratenko and with his direct participation. Given these facts, the confrontation between the “party of heroes” and the “party of capitulators” no longer looks obvious.

You can often come across the thesis that Port Arthur surrendered unexpectedly to its defenders, who were ready to defend themselves for a long time. This is also regarded as evidence of cowardice and (or) betrayal of Stessel and his "accomplices". However, entries from the diary of the Port Arthur military engineer Lillier show how erroneous this view is.

Here, please, is the entry dated October 21: “... A complete decline in animation is noticed. Everyone, obviously, was fed up with the experienced impressions of all the horrors of the war. November 22: "The fortress is overworked and makes its last desperate attempt, sending its last defenders to its last battle ...". November 25: "Many officers are fully aware of all the desperation and bleakness of the situation both for the fortress itself and for its defenders." November 27: “In general, the situation of the fortress is completely hopeless. There is even talk in the city about her surrender.

Please note that these remarks refer to the period when Kondratenko led the land defense, but there is no trace of optimism about the current situation.

The entry made by Lilje on December 19, that is, on the eve of the surrender, reflects the atmosphere of the hopelessness of further resistance: “The mood in the garrison is the most depressed. Now a lot of voices are openly heard about the complete impossibility of further defense of the fortress ... ".

Already after the trial of Stessel, the commission at the Main Directorate General Staff, who carefully studied the circumstances of the siege of Port Arthur, published her conclusion regarding the position of the fortress shortly before the surrender: “On December 19, the Japanese won a major success: they captured the first defensive line on the Western Front. The defense line on the Eastern Front has taken a position extremely unfavorable for defense.

Night of December 20: “The capture of the Great Eyrie put the second defensive line in such a position that it was almost impossible to hold on to it. ... It again changed the position of the Eastern Front line even more for the worse ... the position of the third defensive line became extremely difficult, since now sections of it could be hit not only by frontal, but also by rear fire.

The commission also found that by December 20, there were 11.5 thousand people in positions, of which more than half had scurvy. But despite the data of such an authoritative source, the ridiculous figure of 23 thousand defenders of Port Arthur is still walking in journalism and even professional historical works. At the same time, the army of General Nogi, which besieged Port Arthur, by December 20 consisted of about 70-80 thousand people.

Under such scenarios, the city could not hold out much longer. Another general assault by the Japanese would turn into a massacre of the remnants of the Russian garrison, and even into a massacre of civilians and the wounded, about which the Japanese themselves warned Stessel in advance. The garrison did everything they could. Stessel is the same hero as Kondratenko, who defended the city to the last, and then saved its population from massacre.

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Russian sailors, not having an order, did not open fire on the Japanese, but as a result of inept maneuvering, two Japanese destroyers collided with each other and were damaged.

After that, four Japanese ships approached Port Arthur undetected and launched a torpedo attack. It was impossible to call it successful. Of the 16 torpedoes fired, thirteen either missed their targets or failed to explode. However, three torpedoes damaged three of the strongest Russian ships based in Port Arthur - the battleships Retvizan and Tsesarevich and the cruiser Pallada.

The first battle of the Russo-Japanese War continued in the morning, when the fleets began a skirmish from a distance of eight kilometers. The total losses in this battle amounted to 150 people for the Russians and 90 people for the Japanese.

The cruiser "Varyag" and the gunboat "Koreets" are returning after the battle.

Only the next day, February 10, 1904, Japan officially declared war on Russia. Today we remember the exploits of the soldiers of the Russian army in this war.

The death of the destroyer "Guarding"

In St. Petersburg, on the Petrograd side, there is a magnificent monument to all the sailors who died in the Russo-Japanese War. On it, two surviving sailors of the destroyer "Guarding" open the kingstones in order to flood the ship and not give it to the enemy. The team of the "Guardian" really accomplished a real feat, only there are no kingstones on ships of this class and the "Guardian" sank itself from the holes received.

The destroyers "Guarding" and "Resolute" on February 10, the day of the official declaration of the Russo-Japanese war, were returning to Port Arthur when four Japanese destroyers "Akebono", "Sazanami", "Sinonome" and "Usugumo" blocked their way. Subsequently, they were joined by two cruisers "Tokiva" and "Chitose". The commanders of the Russian destroyers decided to avoid the battle, but only the Resolute managed to break through to Port Arthur. The "Guarding" boilers were damaged from a direct hit of the projectile, and he continued the battle, having practically lost his course. Despite the significant superiority of the enemy, "Guarding" fought for almost an hour.

Even at the beginning of the battle, the St. Andrew's flag was nailed to the mast so that it would not be accidentally torn off by an explosion. The commander of the ship, Lieutenant Sergeev, led the battle while lying on the deck with broken legs. When he died, Lieutenant N. Goloviznin took command, but he was soon struck down by shrapnel. At the end of the battle, when the ship could no longer shoot back, the heavily wounded mechanical engineer V. Anastasov commanded it. When the last gun fell silent, the dying signalman Kruzhkov, with the help of fireman Osinin, was able to throw the signal books overboard, tying a load to them.

All the officers and 45 out of 49 sailors died on the Guardian. The Japanese tried to tow the sinking destroyer, but failed - the ship sank, breaking the towing cable.

The first Russian submarine "Dolphin", which took part in the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905.

Our proud Varyag does not surrender to the enemy

The beginning of the war was met by the legendary cruiser Varyag in the neutral Korean port of Chemulpo. The captain of the ship, Vsevolod Fedorovich Rudnev, had an order from the tsar's governor, Admiral Alekseev, not to get involved in Japanese provocations, so the cruiser remained in the roadstead even when the Japanese fired on the gunboat "Koreets", which was sent to Port Arthur with a report about the Japanese landing in the port .

On February 9, the captain of the Varyag, Vsevolod Fedorovich Rudnev, received an ultimatum from the Japanese: leave the port by 12 noon, otherwise Russian ships would be attacked in the roadstead. Rudnev decided to break through with a fight to Port Arthur, and in case of failure, blow up the ships. At noon, "Varangian" and "Korean" left Chemulpo. When leaving the port, Russian ships met the Japanese squadron, which occupied a position behind the island of Phamildo.

The heroic battle of the Varyag and the Korean against fourteen Japanese warships continued for an hour. "Varyag" and "Korean" destroyed the Japanese destroyer and cruiser, damaged another cruiser. But the Varyag itself was so riddled with shells that Rudnev decided to return to the port of Chemulpo. There they opened the kingstones on the cruiser and sank the ship. The gunboat "Koreets" was blown up. In this unprecedented battle, 1 officer and 30 sailors from the Varyag were killed, another 85 sailors were seriously wounded.

Soldiers erect fortifications for the defense of Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.

He closed the hole with his body

Russia still remembers another hero of the Russo-Japanese War. This is the mechanical engineer of the Russian destroyer "Strong" Vasily Zverev. On March 27, 1904, at 2:15 a.m., the Japanese attempted to block the entrance to the inner roadstead of Port Arthur by sending 4 large commercial steamships escorted by 6 destroyers there.

The enemy's attempt was thwarted by the patrol destroyer "Strong". The ship rushed to the attack, dealt with the ships and entered into battle with six Japanese destroyers. Having received a hole in the steam pipeline, "Strong" turned into a fixed target for enemy fire. Then Zverev closed the hole with his body and returned the course to the ship, sacrificing his life. The dead were solemnly buried in Port Arthur.

Soldiers wounded during the Russo-Japanese War are sitting on a bench.

Before reading - eat

Grigory Khodosevich, commandant of the Port Arthur fortress, was on board the Russian destroyer Strashny when on March 30, 1904, the ship entered into an unequal battle with four Japanese warships. 49 sailors were killed in the battle, only five people survived, including Khodosevich.

He ended up in icy water with a severe back injury. He had secret documents hidden under his life jacket. Seeing a Japanese boat approaching him, Khodasevich, with fingers stiff from the cold, began to tear the bag and eat the paper along with the seaweed. When the Japanese approached and lifted him on board, there was practically nothing left of the package. The interrogation also yielded nothing - Grigory Khodosevich did not say a word about the content of the secret documents. The hero was sent to a prisoner of war camp and returned to his homeland only after the war.

Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich with officers of the 4th Siberian Cossack regiment.

Port Arthur - from here to eternity

Emperor Nicholas II toured the formation of infantry regiments leaving for Manchuria.

The feat of the border guard

One of the heroes of Prot-Arthur was the lieutenant colonel of the Russian border guards, head of the Kwantung department of the Special Trans-Amur border district Pyotr Butusov.

In July 1904, Lieutenant Colonel Butusov led the search, in which the enemy cannon was blown up by border guards, and the locks were removed from three. On August 6, Butusov's border guards, together with the arrows, drove the Japanese out of the Water Redoubt they captured. On October 15, for the courage shown in the battles to repel the second assault on Port Arthur, Lieutenant Colonel Butusov was awarded the Order of St. George IV degree.

On November 21, 1904, during the fourth assault on Port Arthur, Butusov was appointed commandant of High Mountain, where he was mortally wounded. He died on November 22 and was buried in the military cemetery of Port Arthur.

Captured Japanese, caught near the village of Yuhuangtun.

Russian "Chinese" Vasily Ryabov

The scout of the Russian army, Private Vasily Ryabov, repeatedly went to the rear of the Japanese in the clothes and wig of a Chinese peasant. And one day Ryabov's group ran into a Japanese patrol. Vasily Ryabov was taken prisoner, but during interrogation he steadfastly kept a military secret and, being sentenced to death, behaved with dignity. Everything happened strictly according to the ritual. Shot from guns from fifteen paces. Vasily Ryabov accepted death with open eyes.

The Japanese were delighted with the courageous behavior of the Russian and considered it their duty to bring this to the attention of his superiors. The Japanese officer's note sounds like a presentation for an award: "Our army cannot but express our sincere wishes to the respected army that the latter educate more such truly beautiful, worthy of full respect warriors."

In the history of the Russo-Japanese War, the death of the "Terrible" in an unequal battle with six Japanese ships on April 13 (March 31, O.S.), 1904, was the beginning of a chain of fatal failures of the "rainy day" for the Russian fleet. No less tragic was the life of one of the participants in those events, Grigory Khodosevich, the commandant of the Port Arthur fortress, who, apparently, got on a destroyer with a report and shared the tragedy of the Terrible, although he was not even listed in the lists of the team. Moreover, he was considered dead, relatives in the Minsk province received a notice of his death and performed a memorial service for the murdered soldier. But Gregory survived. He returned to Vladivostok on the steamship Solovyov semi-paralyzed, barely alive.

For several years, local historians, archivists and museum workers bit by bit restored the life history and fate of the noble farmer (as he was officially called), met with his contemporaries and managed to bring back from oblivion and restore the good name of one of the founders of the city of Artyom - Grigory Khodosevich, who this year would have been the 125th anniversary of his birth.

All the materials they discovered with a high degree of certainty allow us to restore a picture of a hundred years ago.

LET'S REMEMBER, BROTHERS, ABOUT "TERRIBLE"

On the morning of April 12 (March 30, O.S.), the commander of the 1st Pacific Squadron, Vice Admiral S. Makarov, having received information that the enemy intended to use Elliot Island for the Japanese landing, gave the order to reconnoiter this area with the forces of a destroyer detachment . The overall leadership of a detachment of eight destroyers was entrusted to the captain of the 2nd rank Eliseev. The cruisers "Bayan" and "Diana" were ordered to assist the Eliseev detachment in the event of an attack by Japanese ships.

Around noon on the same day, a package was delivered to the Terrible from the squadron headquarters. The commander of the destroyer, captain of the 2nd rank K. Yurasovsky, was instructed: "... With darkness, together with a detachment of destroyers, go in search of the Santanshaw Islands ...".

It is not known exactly why Grigory Khodosevich, who was listed as the commandant of the sea fortress, ended up on board the Terrible. In the practice of that time, persons of noble origin, who did not have an officer rank and were in positions of lower ranks, were often appointed to the positions of clerks, cashiers, postal and courier employees. It can be assumed that it was Khodosevich who delivered the package with the reconnaissance mission.

At the appointed time, the detachment went to sea. The night was dark and rainy. At about 22:00 "Terrible" lost sight of those walking ahead.

Separated from the main forces of the detachment, "Terrible" wandered all night. Only at about four o'clock in the morning on March 31 did the observers report to the commander that they had found the silhouettes of six ships that looked like our destroyers. Having given an identification signal, "Terrible" stood in their wake. Only at dawn did it become clear that two cruisers and four destroyer-fighters were Japanese.

LAST PARADE

The fight was brutal and short. With the first explosions of enemy shells, the commander of the Terrible was killed on the spot. The command of the ship was taken over by the chief of the watch, Lieutenant Yeremiy Maleev. Japanese shells continuously raining from all sides swept away everything alive from the deck. But the ship's machine continued to work properly. E. Maleev, using the advantage in speed, tried to break away from the enemy. Already visible in the distance was the saving harbor of Port Arthur.

“When the enemy opened fire, we began to respond with guns,” recalled miner Mikhail Cherepanov, one of the few who survived that battle. - One mine was released into the cruiser. Soon the cruiser tilted, and two destroyers approached him. At this time, a shell hit the apparatus, and our mine exploded. The car stopped, the guns were all shot down ... ... Only destroyers (Ikazuchi, Oboro, Inazuma and Akebono. - Approx. Aut.) fired at us. Commander Captain 2nd Rank Yurasovsky, midshipman Akinfiev, mechanic Dmitriev and most of the team were killed. There were still wounded... When the stern began to sink quickly, Lieutenant Maleev ordered us to save ourselves...”.

The survivors saw how the officer's cap was knocked off, wounded in the temple. We saw how he fell ... ... Having received a hole below the waterline, the "Terrible" quickly plunged into the depths of the sea.

In the meantime, by order of Makarov, the Bayan cruiser came out to help the dying destroyer, and the squadron was put on alert. However, having come under fire from Japanese ships, the cruiser barely managed to take on board only five sailors of the Terrible and immediately hurried to leave. (In his report dated April 1, the Bayan commander indicates that his signalmen saw three more remaining in the water.) Soon Japanese destroyers approached the scene of the tragedy.

SALVATION, CAPTURE ... AND THE CROSS OF GEORGE

And then ... Here's how you can reconstruct the events of that time, using the information that Grigory Khodosevich himself told his relatives (the memoirs of one of his daughters, Evdokia Poida, were preserved, which Artyomovsk local historian Z. M. Ovchinnikova managed to record back in the early 70s, all this time they were not in demand).

A boat rolled off the side of one of the destroyers and headed towards the Russian sailors, who were holding on with their last strength on the surface of the water. Grigory Khodosevich was seriously wounded in the back. Once in the icy water, he did not feel his legs at all. Before leaving the sinking ship, Grigory hid a secret package with a reconnaissance task under a cork rescue belt, following the order of the chief of the watch Maleev. Khodosevich knew well what military duty was. Seeing the Japanese boat, with stiff fingers he began to tear the package to shreds and hurriedly chew the soaked scraps of paper mixed with seaweed. The Japanese, noticing a Russian who was hastily destroying, apparently, some important document, hurried to take Khodosevich and his comrades on board.

When the Russian squadron, having driven away the enemy, managed to approach the place of death of the Terrible, only the surviving fragments could be seen on the water.

The death of four officers and 45 sailors of the crew of the Terrible was announced by a circular of the main naval headquarters, while Khodosevich was listed as "who died from no one knows which crew and from which ship."

The Japanese sailors, having interrogated Khodosevich to no avail and unsuccessfully examined the remains of the package, sent Gregory to a prisoner of war camp. There he stayed until the end of the war. Khodosevich's spine was damaged, he could hardly move on crutches. After the end of the war, among 70 thousand Russian prisoners of war, Grigory Khodosevich returned to his homeland. He was treated for a long time at the Vladivostok Marine Hospital, he learned to walk again. Only at this time did the authorities become aware of the circumstances under which Gregory was taken prisoner. Appreciating his diligence in the performance of military duty, Khodosevich was awarded the St. George Cross.

THE FARM "BLOODDRINKERS-EXPLOYER"

“Khutor Khodosevich of the Knevichan volost of the Shkotovsky district” - this is how the district where the Zybunny mine of Skidelsky was located, which gave rise to the city of Artyom, was called in postal items until the mid-20s. Local researcher - historian Yuri Tarasov managed to document the years of life of the farm owner Grigory Zakharovich Khodosevich (1879-1924). He also found documents on the allotment of a land use plot near the Zybunnaya River. They were dated 1907.

... Dismissed after treatment in a naval hospital, due to disability, Grigory Khodosevich at the end of 1906 received a decent amount from the treasury. And soon he acquired a land plot in a free lane near the railway line to Suchan.

Archived Far East documents have been preserved in which it appears: “Grigory Khodosevich, a nobleman-tiller. The site was credited for agriculture on September 27, 1907. There are 28 acres of forest and 19 acres of badlands.

In 1908, Grigory invited two brothers, Klim and Ignat, to his new possession. The wife of one of them, Maria, brought her sister with her - the 18-year-old beauty Stefa, who became Grigory's wife.

A few years later, there were already three strong houses with outbuildings on Khodosevich's site. There was a beautiful garden, a large apiary. The farm of Khodosevich was well known in those days. Its owner had a close friendship with the wealthy and influential Vladivostok businessman Yakov Skidelsky. Yakov headed the coal industry in the industrial and financial clan of the Skidelskys and was the founder and owner of the Zybunny mine, opened in 1913.

There is evidence that in December 1911 Khodosevich and Skidelsky traveled together to the burial ceremony of the sailors of the Varyag cruiser.

Alas, further fate Gregory was tragic.

In the very first year of the resettlement, unable to withstand the severity of the Far Eastern climate, brother Ignat caught a cold and died.

But the main test fell on him during the civil war. At the beginning of 1918, the three-year-old son Vasya died in the arms of his parents. And the events of the bloody Russian civil strife in these places caused the death of his wife Stephanida.

Three daughters were left orphans, the youngest of whom was five years old.

The death of his beloved wife finally undermined Khodosevich's strength. His illness began to progress, he could hardly move on crutches.

In 1922, with the advent of Soviet power, the farm owner, as a nobleman and large landowner, was registered with the OGPU. And his friendly relations with the former owner of the Zybunny mine only increased suspicion and hostility. new government. He was listed as "unreliable", "bloodsucker-exploiter". But, apparently, fate had mercy on him. He died in his own bed. He was 45 years old.

The coffin with the body of the deceased was brought to the mine graveyard by Grigory's faithful friend Luka Tulupov. He also bequeathed to bury himself next to Khodosevich. In 1930, the farm was nationalized and its inhabitants dispossessed. The farm itself survived until 1974, it was burned down when it was polished, preparing for the international meeting of L. I. Brezhnev with US President D. Ford.

93-year-old Uliana Tulupova (who died in the mid-70s), the wife of Luka Tulupov, was firmly convinced that all the troubles and trials that befell Grigory Khodosevich and his loved ones were the curse of the Terrible.

INSTEAD OF EPILOGUE

At the old Artyomovsky cemetery, at the 8th kilometer, the grave of the nobleman-farmer Grigory Zakharovich Khodosevich was miraculously preserved. 85-year-old Dmitry Lukich Tulupov helped find her.

The granddaughter of the hero of the Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905, the Knight of St. George, Galina Ivanovna Skvortsova, lives in Vladivostok.

The author expresses his gratitude to everyone who took an active part in the search for documents and was able to return the name of the hero from oblivion. These are local historians - N. Miz, Z. Ovchinnikova, Yu. Tarasov, a senior employee of the Pacific Fleet Museum G. Kondratenko, a resident of Vladivostok V. Mikhailov.

The article uses materials from the Russian State Archives of the Navy and documents from the personal fund of E. Minaev (Yelets).

HELP "B"

The destroyer "Terrible" - one of the ships of the "Sokol" type was built at the Nevsky Shipyard in St. Petersburg. He was transferred to Port Arthur railway disassembled and assembled for almost two years, from 1901 to 1902.

"Terrible" was part of the destroyer detachment of the Port Arthur squadron. The regular strength of his crew is four officers and 49 lower ranks. Armament - three 47 mm guns, one 75 mm gun and two torpedo tubes.

The destroyers of this project were at that time the fastest in Russian fleet. There were nine of them in total: "Quick", "Slender", "Angry", "Strong", "Stately", "Watchdog", "Brave", "Guarding" and "Terrible".

The name of Khodosevich Grigory Zakharovich is well known to the inhabitants of the Primorsky Territory, but almost nothing is known about him in other regions of the country. Meanwhile, this is a truly legendary person, the Cavalier of St. George, one of the survivors from the destroyer crew "Scary" who died in an unequal battle in the Russo-Japanese War. The feat of a destroyer is comparable to the feat of cruisers "Varangian" and "Rurik".

Grigory Zakharovich Khodosevich was born in 1874 in the city of Borisov. With the outbreak of war with Japan, he was mobilized and sent to serve in the fortress of Port Arthur. The circumstances under which G.Z. Khodosevich, being the commander of the fortress, got on a warship are unknown, but already in March 1904 he took part in a naval battle.

On March 30, 1904, the destroyer Terrible, as part of a detachment of Russian ships of the 1st Pacific Squadron, carried out the task of reconnaissance of the location of the Japanese fleet and the installation of minefields covering Port Arthur from the sea. During the night search, he broke away from the main detachment of ships and headed for the harbor alone.

When it began to get light, four unknown ships were found nearby. "Terrible" gave call signs. In response, the ships lit up with flashes of shots. An unequal battle began. Almost immediately, the commander was killed - captain of the 2nd rank K. Yurasovsky. Other dead and wounded appeared on the deck, in the rooms. After the projectile hit the mine apparatus, the destroyer swayed helplessly on the waves.

The cruiser that left Port Arthur to help the Terrible "Accordion"picked up only five sailors from the water, the remaining 49 died

Khodosevich was among the rescued. In the bloody confusion of the battle, he managed to get out of the safe and hide between two life jackets the secret package of the commander of the Pacific squadron S.O. Makarov and the entire cash amount of the ship's treasury. For this feat, he was awarded the Order of St. George IV degree.

Grigory Zakharovich, who received a serious spinal injury and spent several hours in a cold sea water, the remaining years of his life was deprived of the opportunity to move normally. Only after two years of treatment in a Vladivostok hospital did he learn to walk on crutches.

With his retirement in 1907, he decides to stay in Primorye and acquires a plot. During the construction, the farm was consecrated with the icon of the Kazan Mother of God. A city subsequently arose on the site of the farm, which received the name Artem under Soviet rule. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the inhabitants of this city call G.Z. Khodosevich the first founder and settler of Artyom. By 1912, there were three houses on the site where Grigory Khodosevich and his brothers Klim and Ignat lived, who, at the invitation of Grigory, came from Borisov to live in the Far East.

The personal fate of our countryman was difficult and tragic. In 1908, his brother Ignat died after catching a cold. In 1918, his three-year-old son Vasya died. tragic events civil war in Primorye caused the death of his wife Stefanida in March 1919. Three young daughters were left orphans. The death of his beloved wife undermined Khodosevich's strength and he barely moved on crutches. His second marriage in 1920 proved unsuccessful. And with the Bolsheviks coming to power in Primorye in 1922, Grigory Zakharovich was put on a special register, being recorded in the category of "unreliable."

After a serious illness, he died in 1924 and was buried in the cemetery of the 8th km of the city of Artem. There were no male line heirs after his death.

Today there is nothing from the farm, except for a conditional place. In 1974, during a meeting between Brezhnev and US President Ford, so as not to overshadow appearance cities with old buildings, the farm was ordered to be burned. In 2005, a memorial plate was installed at the burial place of the first settler Artem.

Defense of Port Arthur, 1905

On the night of February 8-9, 1904 without declaring war, the Japanese squadron attacked the Russian naval base of Port Arthur. This was preceded by a meeting at sea of Russian and Japanese ships. Russian sailors, not having an order, did not open fire on the Japanese, but as a result of inept maneuvering, two Japanese destroyers collided with each other and were damaged.

Soldiers build fortifications in the defense of Port Arthur

Fire at the Golden Mountain during the defense of Port Arthur, 1905

Only the next day, February 10, 1904, Japan officially declared war on Russia. Today we remember the exploits of the soldiers of the Russian army in this war.

The death of the destroyer "Guarding"

In St. Petersburg, on the Petrograd side, there is a magnificent monument to all the sailors who died in the Russo-Japanese War. On it, two surviving sailors of the destroyer "Guarding" open the kingstones in order to flood the ship and not give it to the enemy. The team of the "Guard" really accomplished a real feat, only there are no kingstones on ships of this class and the "Guard" sank itself from the holes received.

The first Russian submarine "Dolphin", which took part in the Russo-Japanese War

The destroyers "Guarding" and "Resolute" on February 10, the day of the official declaration of the Russo-Japanese war, were returning to Port Arthur when four Japanese destroyers "Akebono", "Sazanami", "Sinonome" and "Usugumo" blocked their way. Subsequently, they were joined by two cruisers "Tokiva" and "Chitose". The commanders of the Russian destroyers decided to avoid the battle, but only the "Resolute" managed to break through to Port Arthur. The "Guarding" boilers were damaged from a direct hit of the projectile, and he continued the battle, having practically lost his course. Despite the significant superiority of the enemy, "Guarding" fought for almost an hour.

All the officers and 45 out of 49 sailors died on the Guardian. The Japanese tried to tow the sinking destroyer, but failed - the ship sank, breaking the tow rope.

Operating room in a field hospital during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905

Wounded soldiers in the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905

Our proud Varyag does not surrender to the enemy

The cruiser "Varyag" and the gunboat "Koreets" are returning after a hard battle to the Korean port of Chemulpo

On February 9, the captain of the Varyag, Vsevolod Fedorovich Rudnev, received an ultimatum from the Japanese: leave the port before 12 noon, otherwise Russian ships would be attacked in the roadstead. Rudnev decided to break through with a fight to Port Arthur, and in case of failure, blow up the ships. At noon, "Varyag" and "Korean" left Chemulpo. When leaving the port, Russian ships met the Japanese squadron, which occupied a position behind the island of Phamildo.

The heroic battle of "Varyag" and "Korean" against fourteen Japanese warships lasted for an hour. "Varyag" and "Korean" destroyed a Japanese destroyer and a cruiser, damaged another cruiser. But the Varyag itself was so riddled with shells that Rudnev decided to return to the port of Chemulpo. There they opened the kingstones on the cruiser and sank the ship. The gunboat "Koreets" was blown up. In this unprecedented battle, 1 officer and 30 sailors from the Varyag were killed, another 85 sailors were seriously wounded.

He closed the hole with his body

Russia still remembers another hero of the Russo-Japanese War. This is the mechanical engineer of the Russian destroyer "Strong" Vasily Zverev. On March 27, 1904, at 2:15 a.m., the Japanese made an attempt to block the entrance to the inner roadstead of Port Arthur by sending 4 large commercial ships there, accompanied by 6 destroyers.

Emperor Nicholas II inspects the formation of regiments leaving for Manchuria

Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich together with officers of the 4th Siberian Cossack regiment

Before reading - eat

Captured Japanese taken at the village of Yuhuangtun

Port Arthur - from here to eternity

The feat of the border guard

Another of the heroes of Port Arthur was the lieutenant colonel of the Russian border guards, head of the Kwantung department of the Special Trans-Amur border district Pyotr Butusov.

Orenburg Cossacks at rest. Russo-Japanese War 1994 - 1905

Russians in ambush in Kaoliang

Russian "Chinese" Vasily Ryabov

Dmitry Grigoriev - Rossiyskaya Gazeta