Uprising on the cruiser "Ochakov" (1905): how it happened. Literary and historical notes of a young technician How it all began
In accordance with program for the revival of the Black Sea Navy (1895) they began to build in Russia similar armored cruisers according to several projects.
One of the best projects, according to the unanimous opinion of experts, was considered projects of Bogatyr-class cruisers. Lead ship of the series Bogatyr was built in Germany in 1902. The same type of cruisers were laid down in St. Petersburg, Nikolaev and Sevastopol. Gained the greatest fame Ochakov , built at the State Shipyard in Sevastopol by engineer N. Yankovsky.
From other projects and, in particular, from the project of cruisers of the type Aurora ships type Bogatyr They were distinguished primarily by their higher speed - 23 knots and the number of main caliber guns (twelve 152-mm guns versus eight on Aurora-class cruisers).
Main dimensions, m. .132.3x16.6x6.3
T........................ 6 645
Main engines power
l. s........................................ 19,500
Speed, knots........................... 22.7
Person........................... 570
The power of triple expansion steam engines was 19,500 liters. With. On Ochakov there were 16 steam boilers. The ship had three funnels and two propellers. The thickness of the deck armor protection was 38 mm, with 75 mm bevels.
Main caliber guns There were two barrels in two end turrets, protected by 125 mm armor, and the outer main caliber guns were placed in casemates, the armor thickness of which was 78 mm. In addition, the cruiser was armed with twelve 75 mm guns, twelve smaller caliber guns, and six . The ship's crew consisted of 570 people, including 23 officers.
Ochakov launched in the fall of 1902. The everyday work of finishing the ship afloat began. The work was carried out slowly and lasted until November 1905.
The time was special: the period of greatest growth was approaching The first Russian revolution of 1905 (December 1905). The revolutionary movement swept the entire country. Just passed October All-Russian political strike . Frightened by the scale of the revolutionary struggle, the tsar published on October 17, 1905. Manifesto “On Improving Public Order” , in which he promised to “grant” to the people “the unshakable foundations of civil freedom,” personal inviolability, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and union.
The manifesto was a forced move by the tsarist government, and they called on the people to continue the general strike and to prepare for a nationwide armed uprising.
Events continued to develop. The strike movement expanded, and revolutionary unrest swept through all segments of the working population of Russia. The revolutionary movement began to develop in the tsarist army and navy. Spontaneous demonstrations of soldiers and sailors took place in Kronstadt and Vladivostok, in Kyiv and in
Turkestan Military District, but the strongest, brightest, and significantly influenced the subsequent course of events, was the famous November armed uprising of 1905 in Sevastopol.
Only a few months have passed since the revolutionary Potemkin and renamed it to Panteleimon , and again the sailors on the ships of the Black Sea Fleet rebelled Prut, St. George the Victorious and some others. The tsarist government brutally punished the rebels. 25-th of August 46 The leaders of the uprising on the ship were executed Rod , September 3 - leaders of the uprising on St. George the Victorious . Dozens of sailors were sent to hard labor, hundreds were thrown into floating prisons in the Sevastopol Bay.
However, bloody repressions could not stop the revolutionary movement of sailors, as well as soldiers of the Sevastopol garrison and port workers. New revolutionary battles were brewing, which resulted in November armed uprising in Sevastopol , and in this uprising it is not difficult to see the development of the revolutionary June events on the Black Sea.
Among the leaders of the November uprising were sailors, members of the military organization of the RSDLP, who participated in the preparation of the June uprising: A. I. Gladkov, R. V. Dokukin, V. I. Karnaukhov-Kraukhov and others. And the plan itself for a new simultaneous general uprising completely coincided with plan developed by the “sailor Central” before the revolutionary uprising Potemkin .
The revolutionary movement among sailors, soldiers and workers intensified. The naval authorities of the Black Sea Fleet could not help but see this. Vice Admiral G.P. Chukhnin reported to the Minister of Navy:
“The mood in the teams is unreliable, there are signs of it in Ochakov, Panteleimon and in the division... I expect a riot, extreme measures are needed" (TsGVIA, f. 400, d. 21, l. 158).
But the following happened. Just as in June, the plan for a simultaneous general uprising was disrupted by a spontaneous uprising of sailors and soldiers.
As the revolutionary unrest in Sevastopol intensified, members of the military organization of the RSDLP decided to hold a rally on the evening of November 11, at which they wanted to warn soldiers and sailors against premature action and convince them to better prepare for the uprising.
The naval authorities became aware of this, and Rear Admiral S.P. Pisarevsky decided to commit a provocation. He instructed a company of sailors to fire a volley at the soldiers of the training team, commanded by Staff Captain Stein. Further, according to the scenario, Stein was supposed to shout to the soldiers: “At the gun, they’re shooting at us!” and order them to open fire on the rally participants.
This conversation was accidentally overheard by a young sailor from a combat company. He shot Stein and wounded S.P. Pisarevsky. Thus began the famous November armed uprising spontaneously, which was a harbinger December armed uprising in Moscow when the 1905 revolution reached its climax.
At that time Ochakov was at sea, where he went out on November 11 to test the turret guns. On board, 300 workers were completing the completion of the ship. From the shooting Ochakov returned to Sevastopol at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when the city was already engulfed in an uprising, and the commander ordered not to let anyone go ashore.
A few days earlier, on November 8, a conflict arose between sailors and officers on the cruiser. The sailors of the engine and fire crews demanded improvement of difficult working conditions, protested against the rudeness of the commanders and stated that until they replaced the commander, Captain II Rank Glizyan, and satisfied their demands, they would not serve.
The next day, the sailors who took over the watch refused to respond to the commander’s greeting. Then the naval prosecutor, Colonel A.I. Kramarevsky, arrived at Ochakov, and in response to his questions, a member of the ship's Social Democratic organization, driver A.I. Gladkov, on behalf of the crew, complained about the rudeness of the commander and bad food.
When the Ochakovites, returning from the shooting on November 11, learned that an uprising had begun in the city, the unrest on the cruiser intensified. Officers executing an order
command, rendered the ship's guns unusable by releasing oil from the compressors, but the sailors demanded that it be refilled, which was done.
The next morning, Ochakov’s call sign and a signal appeared on the mast of the naval division’s barracks and the signal: “Send deputies to the barracks.” Despite the resistance of the command staff, the sailors elected A.I. Gladkov and R.V. Dokukin as deputies, and they went to the barracks.
Returning to the ship, the deputies spoke about the events on the shore: about the arrest of the commandant of the fortress and the commander of one of the infantry divisions, about rallies and demonstrations taking place in the city. The program requirements developed by the council of the military organization of the RSDLP were immediately read out:
1) immediate convening of the Constituent Assembly on the basis of universal, direct, equal and secret suffrage;
2) introduction of an 8-hour working day;
3) release of political prisoners;
4) lifting martial law;
5) polite treatment of officers with lower ranks;
6) increase in wages for sailors;
7) reducing the length of military service, etc.
Upon learning that the crew Ochakova goes out of obedience, G.P. Chukhnin ordered the ship’s commander to write a report of dismissal, but the sailors Ochakova have already joined the uprising. The new commander M. Skalovsky, together with the officers, accompanied by whistles and hooting from the sailors, boarded the flagship battleship Rostislav . On a cruiser Ochakov the uprising began.
Chukhnin ordered all ships to be taken to sea to keep the crews from revolting, and Ochakov And Panteleimon blow up if possible.
The next day, November 14, deputies from the ships addressed to naval officer Lieutenant P.P. Schmidt with an offer to take command of the cruiser Ochakov , and then by all the ships that will go over to the side of the revolution.
What kind of person was P.P. Schmidt and why did the sailors and soldiers turn to him at the decisive hour?
Petr Petrovich Schmidt (1867-1906) did not belong to any political party, but was a convinced revolutionary democrat, and the revolutionary sailors trusted him. In October-November 1905, P.P. Schmidt was known to all the revolutionary sailors, soldiers and workers of Sevastopol: his bright, sincere speeches at rallies and demonstrations were remembered for a long time. P.P. Schmidt was elected for life as a deputy of the Sevastopol Council of Workers' Deputies. In October, P.P. Schmidt was arrested, but released at the request of the revolutionary masses of Sevastopol.
P.P. Schmidt was a wonderful captain - skillful, knowledgeable, friendly, and getting on his ship was considered a great honor and good luck.
In 1904, when the war with Japan began, P. G1. Schmidt was drafted into the Navy and assigned to transport Irtysh , which as part of the Second Pacific Squadron of Vice Admiral Rozhdestvensky headed east. But Schmidt did not have the chance to become a participant Tsushima battle : in Port Said he was written off due to illness, and when he recovered, he was appointed commander of the destroyer № 253 , which was part of the Black Sea squadron.
Here are a few examples that characterize P.P. Schmidt as a skilled navigator and strong-willed person.
1903 year. Schmidt - captain of ocean transport Diana with a displacement of 800 tons. Due to the fault of the navigator, the ship landed on rocks near the Isle of Men on a November night. The chaos began. And then Schmidt’s quiet but firm voice was heard. The power of his influence on the team was extraordinary. Everyone calmed down. Order was restored, the crew began to work clearly and in an organized manner. People knew that the captain could be trusted.
On the third day, the ship found itself in a dangerous position, and Schmidt ordered the ship to be abandoned. The boats were lowered, everyone on board took their places without panic and safely reached the shore.
Schmidt himself remained on the ship and stayed on it for 16 days, until December 14 Diana were not removed from the stones. Returning home, he used all his influence and energy to protect the offending navigator, declaring: “I am the captain, which means I am the only one guilty.”
1904 Mr. Schmidt - senior transport officer Irtysh . The ship was standing in the port of Libau when the order was received to immediately weigh anchor and proceed to Revel for the imperial review. Irtysh two tugboats were brought out. It was necessary to make a sharp turn. They began to turn around, but this maneuver was performed so unsuccessfully that as a result of a strong gust of wind, the tow rope broke and the transport was carried ashore. The port manager, who commanded the tugs, was at a loss. Commander
Irtysh Same. And then senior officer P.P. Schmidt moved both handles of the machine telegraph, and both steam engines worked “Full Back”. Then, in a calm, confident voice, he began to give orders, correcting the maneuver error. A few minutes later the ship stopped - the danger had passed.
1904 Transport Irtysh stands in Libau. An order was received to urgently take coal for the squadron of Vice Admiral Rozhdestvensky and leave for Port Said three days later.
Exhausted sailors worked days and nights, but loading 8,000 tons of coal in three days was unthinkable. And then the commander, at the end of the third day, orders his senior officer Schmidt to stop loading and create the appearance that the ship is loaded - to fill the double bottom tanks with sea water.
And the incredible happened. The exemplary Lieutenant Schmidt... refuses to carry out the order: the squadron is waiting not for sea water, but for coal. And the coal was accepted in full - all 8,000 tons, and only after that the ship left the pier.
October 18, 1905 Sevastopol. The first day after the publication of the Tsar's manifesto, October 17, 1905. There was a huge rally outside the prison. And suddenly the tsarist soldiers open fire on the unarmed crowd. Eight people were killed and many were wounded. On October 20, at the funeral of the murdered, Lieutenant P.P. Schmidt, who had just been elected as a deputy of the city duma, gave a passionate speech. On behalf of a crowd of thousands, P.P. Schmidt vowed that the struggle for freedom, for the benefit of the poor people, would continue (TsGIAM, f. 1166, on. II, unit archive/66).
On the same day, the “red lieutenant” was arrested and kept in custody for two weeks. Grateful workers elected Schmidt in absentia as a life-long deputy of the Sevastopol Council of Workers' Deputies, and upon learning of this, Schmidt said:
“They will never regret choosing me as a lifelong MP. Oh, I can die for them."
On November 4, after protests with thousands of signatures were published in Sevastopol newspapers, Schmidt was released from custody. So is it any wonder that it was Schmidt who was approached by representatives of military sailors with a request to become the head of the uprising?
And Schmidt himself speaks about subsequent events in his speech at the trial:
“When I stepped onto the deck of Ochakov, then, of course, I clearly understood the helplessness of this cruiser... without artillery, since there were only two handles from 6-inch guns, the rest of the guns could not operate. I understood the helplessness of the cruiser, incapable of even self-defense, and not just offensive actions» .
Ochakov turned into headquarters. Schmidt wanted to capture the flagship Rostislav , hoping that as the flagship, he would be able to call the squadron officers and arrest them. In addition, he intended to free Rod arrested Potemkinites.
On the evening of November 14, sailors of the naval division made their way to the port, captured a number of small ships, some weapons, and drummers removed from the guns by officers Panteleimon , Some of the officers were arrested. But the sailors were unable to capture the main weapons depots and extract strikers from the guns of other ships.
On November 15, Schmidt raised Ochakov flag: "I command the fleet" . On a destroyer Ferocious The lieutenant walked around the entire squadron, calling on the crews to join the uprising. One of the first to fight against tsarism was the battleship Panteleimon . Even under a new name and with a new crew, the ship remained true to its revolutionary traditions. Behind Panteleimon a training ship became under the banner of struggle Dniester , mine cruiser Griden , gunboat Uralets , several destroyers - a total of 14 ships with a crew of about 1,500 people.
On armadillos Rostislav, Sinop, Twelve Apostles and other ships in the roadstead, the sailors' cheers were heard and red flags were raised, but they were immediately lowered by order of the commanders. On some ships there were no sailors on the upper deck at all: they were driven into the living decks, and instead of them there were officers and conductors on the deck, who greeted Schmidt with hostility.
However, sympathizing with the rebels, the crews of most ships did not dare to take active action. Lack of decisive and courageous leaders,
the slowness of the rebels, as well as hesitation among the commands themselves, led to the fact that most of the large ships of the squadron did not join the rebels.
Then the destroyer Ferocious on Schmidt's orders, he headed to the floating prison Rod , on which the sailors languished Potemkin , convicted after the June uprising on the battleship. The Potemkin soldiers were released, and the officers Prut arrested and taken to Ochakov . To increase the number of hostages, the rebels on the boats
came up To Panteleimon and arrested the officers, who were also taken to Ochakov .
Meanwhile, the government was preparing a bloody reprisal. An experienced mutiny suppressor, General A. N. Meller-Zakomelsky, pulled the rebel ships around
government squadron, and deployed a 10,000-strong army against the revolutionary ground forces. The barrels of ship and coastal guns were pointed
against Ochakova and other ships that raised red flags.
At the second hour of the day on November 15, Meller-Zakomelsky gave the order to open cannon, machine-gun and rifle fire on ships standing under red flags, as well as machine-gun fire on boats communicating with the revolutionary ships. Gunboat Terets , from which all the sailors were prudently removed (they were replaced by officers), fired at a boat carrying food for the revolutionary ships. The boat sank, and there was another one on it cargo, much more important than food, - drummers for the battleship’s gunsPanteleimon .
Artillery shelling began on the barracks and ships stationed in the small roadstead. Then from Ochakova destroyer separated Ferocious with mine vehicles prepared for battle. By order of Schmidt, the destroyer Ferocious under the command of the battleship's engine quartermaster Panteleimon Bolshevik Ivan Sirotenko launched an attack on the battleships Rostislav And Memory of Mercury . The battleships immediately opened fire on the destroyer Rostislav, Saken And Memory of Mercury . Ferocious fired back, not lowering the red flag, until all its superstructures were demolished. Ivan Sirotenko himself died in this battle as a hero.
WITH Rostislav and two other battleships, as well as from coastal batteries, hurricane shelling began Ochakova .
When the shelling of the rebel ships began, the mine transport Bug stood in the South Bay. There were 300 combat mines on board, and therefore, fearing that an explosion would occur if a shell hit, the sailors opened the seams and sank Bug along with its terrible cargo (telegram from A.V. Kaulbars to Nicholas II 149, p. 163]).
The version given in K. Paustovsky’s story “The Black Sea” about what Schmidt wanted to stage Bug near Ochakova , to prevent artillery fire is not documented.
The main forces of punitive fire were concentrated on Ochakov , he was fired upon by the powerful guns of the flagship Rostislav and guns of fortress batteries. Ochakov He bravely defended himself for a long time, but, having exhausted his strength, was forced to lower the red flag.
We move on to the main reason for the defeat of the uprising - the unpreparedness of the uprising, the lack of organization of the revolutionary masses, i.e., the lack of clear plans of action, the absence of experienced and decisive leaders.
The revolutionary sailors were supported by workers of the Sevastopol port and soldiers of some military units. But at the decisive moment of the uprising, the soldiers of the Sevastopol garrison did not join the rebels, allowed themselves to be deceived, and many of them, on the orders of their officers and generals, directed against
revolutionary sailors and workers artillery pieces and rifles.
A typical episode occurred at one of the coastal batteries. The soldiers initially refused to shoot at the rebels, and then a provocative shot was fired at the battery. The shell killed two people, and the officers convinced the gunners that the shot was fired from a cruiser Ochakov . After this, the battery guns opened fire on Ochakov and other rebel ships.
A similar picture was observed on many ships of the Black Sea squadron, on which the command, by force or cunning, managed to force the sailors to shoot at their brothers.
As a result, the balance of forces was clearly not in favor of the rebels: 14 ships, mostly with guns unable to fire, and 1,500 people, against 22 ships and 6,000 people.
The workers were preparing to move, but they were all very poorly armed and even worse organized. Assessing the activities of the Odessa Committee of the RSDLP during the June events in Odessa and the revolutionary performance of the battleship Potemkin , V.I. Lenin noted that the committee “was terribly weak in the face of great tasks” (Lenin collection, XXVI. 1934, p. 433).
The same can be said about the activities of the Sevastopol Committee of the RSDLP. By the time of the November speech, many leaders of the Sevastopol
RSDLP organizations were arrested or executed and were replaced by other, less experienced leaders; In the committee, the influence of the Mensheviks, who seized command posts in the social democratic organization of the city after massive failures in October 1905, increased. All this made it difficult to develop a clear Bolshevik line during the preparation and conduct of the uprising.
The revolutionary sailors did not have a well-thought-out plan of action and a revolutionary combat headquarters. The Mensheviks from the Crimean Union of the RSDLP and the Sevastopol Military Organization of the RSDLP, trying to avoid an armed uprising, wanted to give the movement the character of a peaceful strike. The uprising broke out spontaneously, and since it was not prepared, the Bolsheviks were unable to give it an organized and offensive character. The rebels boldly entered into armed battles with
government troops, but in general their actions were defensive in nature.
Using this, the military authorities were able to keep a significant part of the soldiers of the Sevastopol garrison on their side and quickly bring up reinforcements.
After the rebels lowered the red flag, the punishers spent two and a half hours shooting Ochakov from ships and from coastal batteriesDozens of shells pierced the sides and superstructure of the cruiser. Soon smoke began to billow from the middle part of the hull. A shell exploded in the engine room and a fire started. The sailors (and there were about 400 of them on the cruiser) began to rush into the water, many of them burned alive, and the people who escaped were shot from the shore by punitive forces.
Meller-Zakomelsky.
How many Ochakovites died that night is still unknown. Meller-Zakomelsky in his report to the Tsar gave a completely incorrect figure - only eight
killed and 15 burned, which, naturally, was a clumsy attempt to hide the true picture of the massacre. The letter from S.P. Chastnik, who was shot together with P.P. Schmidt, speaks of four hundred lives (TsGAKA, f. 32620, on. 3, d. 430, part II, l. 433).
A more accurate estimate of the death toll can be based on the following considerations. As we know, there were about 400 people on the cruiser that terrible night. Only 39 Ochakovites appeared before the royal court. Even if we assume that several dozen sailors managed to reach the shore and escape, the true number of victims of the shooting of the mutinous ship is enormous: over 300 people. Thus, it was one of the most massive massacres in the entire history of the revolutionary movement in
Russian navy.
I saw the execution of Ochakov with my own eyes great Russian writer A. I. Kuprin . He described the last minutes of the uprising:
“...Three quarters of the giant cruiser are continuous flames. Only a piece of the ship’s bow remains intact, and the beams of their searchlights rested motionlessly on it Rostislav, Three Saints, Twelve Apostles...
Never, probably, until my death will I forget this black water and this huge burning building, this last word of technology, condemned along with hundreds of human lives to death...
...It became quiet, terribly quiet. Then we heard a long, high-pitched cry coming from there, amid the darkness and silence of the night:
- Bra-a-a-tts!
...The red-hot armor with its steel rivets began to burst. It sounded like a series of rapid shots...”
After the article “Events in Sevastopol” containing this excerpt was published in the newspaper, Vice Admiral Chukhnin expelled A.I. Kuprin from Sevastopol within 48 hours, and in April 1906 Kuprin had to appear before the Petersburg District Court under Article 1535 “For libel in the press.” The writer was punished with only 10 days of house arrest, but the punishment could have been more severe if the authorities had known thatVthat terrible night A.I. Kuprin helped a group of surviving sailors with Ochakova take refuge in the vineyards of his friend, composer P. I. Blaramberg.
Wounded in the leg, P.P. Schmidt was one of the last to leave the cruiser and was captured by punitive forces. For three and a half months he was kept in a dim, damp dungeon on the island of the Marine Battery, awaiting trial.
“I don’t regret everything I’ve done,” P.P. Schmidt said in his last word at the trial. - I believe that I acted as every honest person should have acted... I know that the pillar at which I will stand to accept death will be erected on the verge of two different historical eras of our homeland. Behind me will be the people’s suffering and the shocks of the difficult years, and ahead I will see a young, renewed, happy Russia.”
Nicholas II hurried the Minister of the Navy to finish the case of the “red lieutenant”. Therefore, from several hundred defendants, a group of “main instigators” was chosen, led by P.P. Schmidt. Four people: Lieutenant P.P. Schmidt, conductor S.P. Chastnik, driver A.I. Gladkov and gunner N.G. Antonenko were sentenced to death.
The letters that P.P. Schmidt wrote to his loved ones before his execution have been preserved. The letters reveal P.P. Schmidt as a morally high person.
Early in the morning of March 6, 1906 P.P. Schmidt and his comrades, sentenced to death, were brought to Berezan Island. Ochakov fishermen flatly refused to give boats to the tsarist gendarmes: “We don’t have boats for this vile deed.”
Forty sailors of the gunboat were ordered to shoot at the revolutionaries. Terets . Behind them stood soldiers with rifles at the ready, so that if any of the sailors refused to shoot, he would have been immediately killed with a bullet in the back. Some of the sailors who carried out the sentence wept. P.P. Schmidt and his comrades behaved very courageously.
The news of the execution spread with lightning speed. Residents of Ochakov and other nearby towns and villages began to come to the island on fishing boats. Then the authorities forbade visiting the island, and the grave was razed to the ground.
And only in 1917 the ashes of the heroes were transferred from Berezan Island to Sevastopol.
Tsarist justice did not spare other participants in the Sevastopol uprising: several hundred sailors and soldiers were sent to hard labor, exile, and prison companies. In memory of the brutal reprisal against the rebels, a marble plaque hangs on the wall of the embankment of Primorsky Boulevard in Sevastopol: “Here on November 28 (November 15, old style - S.B.) 1905, the revolutionary sailors of the cruiser Ochakov were brutally shot by the tsarist troops.”
Burnt out body Ochakova I stood at the finishing pier for a long time. The tsarist government ordered the cruiser to be renamed, and it was included in the lists of the Russian fleet as Cahul.
Name Ochakov the cruiser was returned only after the February revolution of 1917, but not for long. During the intervention, the occupiers seized the ship and named it after hangman general L. G. Kornilov. And in 1920, Wrangel took the cruiser to the Tunisian port of Bizerte.
In the twenties, the Left Bloc came to power in France and agreed to return the ships of the so-called "Bizerte squadron" , including Ochakov .
At the end of 1924, the largest shipbuilding scientist, future academician A. N. Krylov, as part of a special commission, arrived in Bizerte. The commission examined the hijacked ships of the Black Sea Navy. In his memoirs, A. N. Krylov writes:
“A steam launch was provided and we set off to inspect the ships. The closest was Kornilov, formerly Ochakov, an old cruiser; its inspection did not last long, because our commission decided that there was no need to take it to the Black Sea, but should be sold for scrap.”
Thus the fate of the famous ship was decided.
For us a cruiser Ochakov - one of the first ships of the revolution, and our people honor the memory of the rebel sailors and Lieutenant P.P. Schmidt. In Leningrad, the bridge over the Neva, near which on the night of October 25 (November 7), 1917, stood the continuer of the revolutionary struggle Ochakova - cruiser Aurora , bears the name of Lieutenant Schmidt, a remarkable man who died for the revolution.
Notes:
Lieutenant P.P. Schmidt. Memories of a sister. Petrograd, 1923, p. 42.
TsGIAM, f. 1160, units hr. 100, on. 1, 1906.
Senior officer at Terez there was M. M. Stavraki, who later led the execution of Schmidt and his comrades.
The magazine “Legal Life” (1906, No. 1, p. 35) clearly stated that Ochakov had a very poor, fragile body, the rivet was very careless and above the builders Ochakova a secret investigation was underway.
This serious accusation cannot be considered proven, but the naval leadership of the Black Sea Fleet from the very first days of the Sevastopol armed uprising sought to destroy the ship. This is precisely the proposal that was expressed in the report of A. N. Meller-Zakomelsky to Vice Admiral G. P. Chukhnin (TsGIAM, f. 54L, d. 548, l. 6-11) and by Chukhnin himself at a meeting of squadron officers (TsGIAM, f DP, 1905, d. 1667, l. 252-257).
The island, which the Slavs once called Buyan, now has a different name - Berezan. It is located near the city of Ochakov. At the highest point of the island there is an unusual monument in the form of a three-winged sail. This is a monument to the feat of Lieutenant Schmidt and his comrades.
On November 11, 1905, a rebellion organized by the Social Democrats began in Sevastopol among the sailors of the Fleet crew and soldiers of the Brest Regiment. Within a few hours, over two thousand sailors of the naval division, part of the soldiers of the 49th Brest Regiment, a reserve battalion of fortress artillery and port workers joined the mutiny. The rebels arrested officers and presented political and economic demands to the authorities. During the endless rallies, a man in the uniform of a naval lieutenant stood out among the speakers. His name was Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt. He made speeches in which he accused the Tsar of the incompleteness of the freedoms granted, demanded the release of political prisoners, and so on. Schmidt’s personality is of undoubted interest to researchers in connection with the role he played in the Sevastopol events and, of course, in the mutiny on the cruiser Ochakov. Schmidt was turned by the Bolsheviks into another legend, and it must be said that it was a rare officer who received such an honor from the Bolsheviks. But was Schmidt a combat officer? You can call it that only with very big reservations.P. P. Schmidt was born in 1867 in Odessa. His father, hero of the Sevastopol defense, commander of the battery on Malakhov Kurgan, died with the rank of vice admiral. Mother was from the Skvirsky princes. Left early without his mother, whom he loved dearly, Schmidt was very sensitive about his father’s second marriage, considering it a betrayal of his mother’s memory. From a young age, he wanted to go against his father's will in everything. Despite his father, he married a girl of very dubious reputation. Nevertheless, Dominika Gavrilovna Schmidt turned out to be a good and loving wife, and their marriage until 1905 was generally happy. They had a son, Evgeniy.
In 1886, Schmidt graduated from the St. Petersburg Naval Corps and received the rank of midshipman. However, he served only a short time. That same year, he voluntarily left military service for health reasons. (Schmidt suffered from epileptic seizures). " Painful condition, - he wrote in a petition to Emperor Alexander III, - deprives me of the opportunity to continue serving Your Majesty, and therefore I ask you to resign me.”
Schmidt later explained his departure from the Navy by saying that he wanted to be “in the ranks of the proletariat.” But contemporaries testified that he initially did not like military service, and could not live without the sea and ships. Soon, due to lack of money, thanks to the patronage of a high-ranking uncle, Schmidt returns to the navy. Midshipman Schmidt is sent to the cruiser "Rurik". By coincidence, it was on this cruiser that in 1906 the Socialist Revolutionaries prepared the assassination of Nicholas II. Schmidt did not stay long on the Rurik, and soon received an assignment to the gunboat Beaver. His wife followed him everywhere. At this time, Schmidt's psychopathic character traits, his painful pride, bordering on inappropriate reactions, become more and more apparent. So, in the city of Nagasaki, where “Beaver” had one of its hospitals, the Schmidt family rented an apartment from a rich Japanese man. Once, a dispute arose between the Japanese man and Schmidt’s wife over the terms of renting an apartment, as a result of which the Japanese man said several harsh words to her. She complained to her husband, and he demanded an apology from the Japanese, and when the latter refused to bring them, he went to the Russian consulate in Nagasaki and, having achieved an audience with the consul V. Ya. Kostylev, demanded that he take immediate measures to punish the Japanese. Kostylev told Schmidt that he could not do this, that he had sent all the materials of the case to the Japanese court for a decision. Then Schmidt began shouting that he would order the sailors to catch the Japanese and flog him, or he would kill him in the street with a revolver. " Midshipman Schmidt, - the consul wrote to the commander of the Beaver, - behaved indecently in the presence of consulate employees».
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Schmidt began sailing on commercial ships. Most likely, Schmidt was a good captain, since it is known that Admiral S. O. Makarov intended to take him on his expedition to the North Pole. He passionately loved and knew maritime affairs. At the same time, painful pride and ambition were always present in him. " Let it be known to you“,” he wrote to his friend, “ that I have the reputation of being the best captain and an experienced sailor.”
With the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, Schmidt was called up for military service and appointed senior officer on the large coal transport Irtysh, which was supposed to travel with the squadron of Admiral Rozhestvensky. For inept management of the ship, Rozhdestvensky put Schmidt in a cabin under arms for 15 days. Soon the squadron set out in the direction of the Far East to meet Tsushima. But Schmidt fell ill and remained in Russia. Among the officers, Schmidt was disliked and considered a liberal.
However, liberal views did not mean that Schmidt was ready to take part in an anti-state rebellion. The fact that this did happen indicates that Schmidt somehow, even before the events at Ochakovo, got involved with the revolutionary underground.
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Although it is difficult to figure out from these confused words of Schmidt where there is truth in them, and where wishful thinking is presented as reality, the fact that he was supported by the revolutionary organizations of Sevastopol, that Lenin himself knew about his existence, that Schmidt knew about the “Morozov millions”, says that there really were real organizations behind Schmidt. Therefore, it seems that it was no coincidence that Schmidt ended up on the rebel cruiser Ochakov.
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"Ochakov" returned from a training voyage on November 14, 1905. The team was no longer calm and the sailors Gladkov, Churaev and Dekunin, known for their revolutionary spirit, worried it about the establishment of democracy in Russia. Upon the return of "Ochakov" to Sevastopol, unrest among the team intensified even more, as they heard rumors about the indignation of the Sevastopol garrison. Captain II rank Pisarevsky, in order to ease this excitement, gathered the sailors after dinner and began to read to them about the heroes of the Russian-Japanese War. However, the team did not listen to him well. However, the night passed peacefully. On November 12, the division’s call sign “Ochakov” was raised at the mast and the signal was “send deputies,” that is, the revolutionaries from the mutinous military units demanded that the “Ochakovites” join them by sending their deputies. This greatly excited the team, which interpreted this signal in its own way, deciding that reprisals were being carried out against the sailors of the naval division. The team demanded to send de
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Gladkov and Dekunin talked with the sailors, found out their demands and, making sure that nothing bad was happening to them, returned to the cruiser.
The crew began to calm down, but some of the sailors continued to worry them, demanding immediate fulfillment of their demands. Sailor Churaev directly stated to Lieutenant Vinokurov that he was a convinced socialist and that there were many like him in the navy. At 5 p.m. the commander’s order was received: “ He who does not hesitate to stand for the Tsar, let him remain on the ship. Those who do not want to have Him or doubt them can go ashore.”
This order was announced on the morning of November 13th after the flag was raised. To the question of captain 2nd rank Sokolovsky: “Who is for the Tsar?”, the team answered: “everyone!”, and not a single person came forward when ordered to come forward to those who are for the rebellion. However, the muted excitement among the team continued. At the same time, an officer came to the Ochakov from another ship of the squadron, who said that if the Ochakov once again responded to the signals of the rebels from the garrison, they would shoot at it. To this the sailor Churaev replied: “Well, let them shoot.”
The sailors decided to continue moving towards the shore. At about 2 p.m. on November 13, two deputies arrived at Ochakov from the shore. The commander of the Ochakov tried to prevent them from meeting the sailors. but the team did not listen to him. The deputies told the sailors that the entire Brest regiment, the fortress artillery, the Bialystok regiment and other military units were on the side of the uprising. This was a gross exaggeration, but it had an effect on the team. The deputies told the sailors that they should support the rebels. The team answered in the affirmative. Then the officers decided to leave the cruiser, which they did, moving to the cruiser Rostislav. After lowering the flag, Captain 1st Rank Sapsay arrived at Ochakov with a flag officer. Sapsay gave a speech to the Ochakov crew, convincing them to stop the mutiny. At the end of the speech, Sapsay demanded that those “ who want to serve faithfully the Sovereign Emperor came forward" Once again, just like the first time, the whole team came forward. Then Sapsay demanded that those who did not want to serve further be extradited. The team responded that everyone wanted to serve. But at the same time, someone from the team asked: “What are our requirements?” Sapsay replied that they would be sent to St. Petersburg and examined there. The sailors asked Sapsay for the officers to return to the cruiser. Sapsay said that the officers would return only if the team gave their word of honor not to participate in the mutiny and obey their officers. The sailors promised. The inspired Sapsay rode to the Rostislav and told the officers that they could return. The officers returned and demanded that the sailors hand over their gun firing pins. The team was about to return the strikers when a man desperately shouted: “ Not giving up weapons is a trap!” The sailors refused to give up the firing pins, and the officers again left for the Rostislav.
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Meanwhile, the officers, hoping to calm the squadron's commands, decided to send deputies from all its ships to the rebellious Sevastopol. This was an absolute mistake, as it indicated the weakness of the officers, who seemed to allow negotiations to begin with the rebels. At 8 a.m. on November 14, deputies went to the pier. But before going to the garrison, they decided to first go to Schmidt to ask his advice. This point is extremely interesting: someone skillfully promoted Schmidt in this way, otherwise it is difficult to explain why the sailors went to him for advice?
Deputies went to Schmidt's apartment. He greeted them very warmly. After reading the demands of the sailors, Schmidt burst into a long speech criticizing the existing political system in Russia, talking about the need for a Constituent Assembly, otherwise Russia would perish. Thus, he skillfully replaced the naive and, in general, unimportant demands of the sailors, with the political program of the revolutionary parties. In addition, Schmidt stated that he was a socialist and that it was necessary to look for officers who sympathized with the revolution, select commanders from among them, and arrest the rest. When all the teams join the uprising, he will lead the fleet and send a telegram to the Sovereign Emperor, in which he will announce that the fleet has gone over to the side of the revolution. However, as soon as the deputies left him, Schmidt, dressed in the uniform of a captain of the second rank, went to Ochakov and told the team: “ I came to you because the officers left you and therefore I am taking command of you, as well as the entire Black Sea Fleet. Tomorrow I will sign a signal about this. Moscow and the entire Russian people agree with me. Odessa and Yalta will give us everything we need for the entire fleet, which will join us tomorrow, as well as a fortress and troops, at the agreed signal by raising the red flag, which I will raise tomorrow at 8 o’clock in the morning.” The team covered Schmidt's speech with a thunderous "hurrah!"
It is difficult to say whether Schmidt himself believed what he said. Most likely he did not think about it, but acted under the impression of the moment. F. Zinko’s essay about Schmidt says: “ Exalted, amazed by the greatness of the goals opening up to him, Schmidt did not so much direct the events as be inspired by them».
But despite the exaltation, Schmidt showed himself to be a calculating, cunning and double-minded person. When captain 2nd rank Danilevsky arrived on the cruiser, Schmidt received him in the captain’s cabin and said that he had arrived on the cruiser with the goal of influencing the crew, that his main task was to calm them down and return the cruiser to normal. Schmidt also said that he considers propaganda in wartime to be very dangerous. Danilevsky returned to “Rostislav” in full confidence that “Ochakov” was in good hands.
However, already at 18 00 A meeting of deputies took place in the garrison, at which Schmidt spoke. Schmidt reiterated that he was a socialist by conviction and that it was necessary to demand the convening of a Constituent Assembly. He called for a general uprising in the army and navy. Schmidt further said that it was necessary to capture Rostislav. To do this, he proposed the following plan: he, Schmidt, having made his way onto the Rostislav, will arrest the admiral, then on his behalf will give the command to all the officers to gather in the admiral’s cabin, where he will also arrest them all.
Meanwhile, the counter-destroyer "Svirepy" and three numbered destroyers, which were assigned to the subordination of Schmidt, went over to the side of the uprising, who returned to the "Ochakov" in the evening, taking with him his 16-year-old son Evgeniy. At about 6 o'clock in the morning, the officers arrested in the garrison from the cruiser "Griden" and the destroyer "Zavetny" were brought to the "Ochakov". These officers went to the garrison for provisions, where they were captured by the rebels. Among them was also Major General Sapetsky. Schmidt ordered the prisoners to be placed in cabins. Then, on his orders, the passenger steamer Pushkin was captured. Schmidt ordered all passengers to gather on the deck of the Ochakov, which was done. At sunrise, in the presence of the crew and captured passengers, he raised a red flag over the Ochakov. At the same time, Schmidt gave a signal: “ I command the fleet - Schmidt." It is interesting that during the raising of the red flag, the orchestra played “God Save the Tsar!” By this, he wanted to attract other ships of the squadron to his side, to reassure the officers and sailors of other ships, convincing them that he was not a rebel. However, they were indifferent to this signal.
Seeing that the red flags were not being raised on other ships, Schmidt went to the destroyer “Ferocious” and began using a bullhorn to call on the sailors of other ships to come over to his side, since “ God, the Tsar and all the Russian people are with him.” The answer to him was the deathly silence of the other courts.
Then Schmidt and a group of armed sailors arrived at the Prut transport, where the arrested sailors from the battleship Potemkin were being held. The Prut officer mistook Schmidt and his men for a guard who had arrived to pick up the next batch of prisoners. Upon entering the ship, Schmidt immediately arrested the officer and freed the prisoners, taking them all to the Ochakov, where they were greeted with shouts of “Hurray!” At that moment, unsuspecting officers arrived on the Ochakov: the commander of the Prut, captain 1st rank Radetzky, and his entourage. They were immediately arrested and placed in cabins.
Meanwhile, Schmidt became increasingly convinced that his plans were failing. When he was moving from the Prut to the Ochakov, they shouted to him from the Ferocious: “ We serve the Tsar and the Fatherland, and you, robber, force yourself to serve!”
Schmidt ordered the passengers to be released from the Pushkin, since he no longer needed them. To his surprise, two of them, students, refused to leave the ship and joined the uprising.
Having made sure that the mutiny did not receive support from the rest of the courts, Schmidt dropped his mask and began to act like a real terrorist and revolutionary: “ I have many captured officers, that is, hostages", he sent a signal to all ships. Again there was no answer. Then Schmidt decided to capture the battleship Panteleimon, the former Potemkin, which he managed to do. Having arrested all the officers, he gave a speech to them: “ Here,- he said, - in Sevastopol, the best revolutionary forces were gathered. The whole world supports me. (...) Yalta supplies me with provisions for free. None of the promised freedoms have yet been realized. The State Duma is a slap in the face for us. Now I have decided to act, relying on the troops, the fleet and the fortress, which are all loyal to me. I will demand that the Tsar immediately convene a Constituent Assembly. In case of refusal, I will cut off Crimea, send my sappers to build batteries on the Perekop Isthmus, and then, relying on Russia, which will support me with a general strike, I will demand, I am already tired of asking, the fulfillment of conditions from the Tsar. During this time, the Crimean peninsula will form a republic, in which I will be president and commander of the Black Sea Fleet. I need a king because without him the dark mass will not follow me. The Cossacks are bothering me, so I announced that for each blow of the whip I will hang in turn one of you and my hostages, of whom I have up to a hundred people. When the Cossacks are handed over to me, I will imprison them in the hold of the Ochakov, Prut and Dniester and take them to Odessa, where a national holiday will be held. The Cossacks will be pilloried and everyone will be able to express to their faces the vileness of their behavior. I included economic needs in the sailors’ demands, because I knew that without this they would not follow me, but the sailor deputies and I laughed at them. For me, the only goal is political demands.”
Here Schmidt, as always, is wishful thinking. There was no talk of any significant assistance to the rebels either from Yalta or from Crimea, much less from all of Russia and “the whole world.” On the contrary, General Meller-Zakomelsky with loyal units was moving towards Sevastopol, the rest of the ships of the Black Sea squadron remained completely loyal to the government. Schmidt could not help but understand that the hours of his illusory power were inevitably numbered. And he went all-in, fantasizing about the republic, the secession of Crimea, his presidency, and so on. Rather, he convinced himself of his power not to the captured officers, but to himself. His thoughts sometimes take a painfully feverish turn: “ I will demand, I am already tired of asking, for the fulfillment of conditions from the Tsar...” From whom and what did Schmidt ever ask? But the main thing in these words is different: the Tsar humbly fulfilling Schmidt’s conditions - this is what the first “red admiral” dreamed of!
But one should not think that Schmidt was insane and acted in a semi-delusional state. No, his methods and tactics are absolutely thought out: hang hostages, his fellow officers, hiding behind sailors for his ambitious goals, deceive them, laugh at their naivety and gullibility, expose them in the name of his pride to a crime for which the death penalty was threatened, plan reprisals over the Cossacks - all these are well-known methods and tactics of terrorists of all times and peoples, and Schmidt acted like a terrorist.
But like any terrorist, no matter how lucky he was, Schmidt was doomed. His situation worsened every minute. General Meller-Zakomelsky entered Sevastopol and quickly put an end to the rebellion. The coastal artillery of the Sevastopol fortress opened fire on the Ochakov, which, together with the Ferocious, Prut and Panteleimon that had joined it, was surrounded by ships loyal to the Tsar. Hurricane fire was opened on the rebel ships with all guns. The Ferocious attempted to return fire, but it was overwhelmed and the ship lost control. The Ferocious crew rushed into the water. “Prut” and “Panteleimon” lowered their red flags after the first shots.
Meanwhile, at Ochakovo, Schmidt completely lost his cool. He shouted that he would hang all the officers if the fire did not stop. Then he said: “I’m going to accept death.” But at that moment, all the turret guns of “Rostislav”, “Tertz” and “In Memory of Azov”, as well as the coastal artillery of the fortress, began to hit “Ochakov”. The Ochakov team rushed into the water. Lieutenant Schmidt was one of the first to escape. This was not caused by his cowardice: simply, like any revolutionary, he considered it inappropriate to accept a “stupid” death on a doomed cruiser. He and his son were picked up by destroyer No. 270. A few minutes later, a boat sent from the Rostislav delivered Schmidt to the battleship. "Ochakov" raised a white flag.
Schmidt and his accomplices were tried by the Black Sea Naval Court, chaired by Admiral Chukhnin, who in March 1906 sentenced Schmidt to death by hanging, which was later replaced by shooting. The court sentenced sailors Gladkov, Chastnik and Antonenko to death. On March 6, 1906, the sentences were carried out.
Speaking at the trial, Schmidt said: “ Behind me will be the people's suffering and the shocks of the years I have lived through. And ahead I see a young, renewed, happy Russia.”
Regarding the first, Schmidt was absolutely right: people’s suffering and shocks remained behind him. But as for " a young, renewed and happy Russia,” then Schmidt was never destined to find out how deeply he was mistaken. 10 years after Schmidt’s execution, his son, the young cadet E.P. Schmidt, volunteered to go to the front and heroically fought “For the Faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland.” In 1917, he categorically did not accept the October Revolution and joined the White Army. It went all the way from the Volunteer Army to the Crimean epic of Baron Wrangel. In 1921, the ship took Evgeniy Schmidt abroad from the Sevastopol pier, from those places where in 1905 his father helped those who had now enslaved his homeland and were driving him to a foreign land. " Why did you die, father? Russian State Administration of the Navy, f. 11025, room 2, building 40.
Russian State Administration of the Navy, f. 1025, o.2, no. 40.
Russian State Administration of the Navy. F. 1025, o. 2, no. 40.
« Hero Ships" With. 96.
"Red Admiral"
The history of the uprising in November 1905 of the cruiser "Ochakov" is described in detail in the literature. Equally well known to us is the story of the life and death of P.P. Schmidt, who led the uprising, whom Nicholas II ordered to be called “a lieutenant expelled from the fleet,” although in fact he was a retired captain of the second rank.
However, it still remains a mystery why the cruiser Ochakov, which could soon become one of the newest and most powerful ships of the Black Sea Fleet, was destroyed - without obvious reasons.
A study of historical documents on the Sevastopol armed uprising of 1905 shows that the death of the cruiser was a foregone conclusion even before the start of the uprising.
Before the uprising was pacified, the chief commander of the Sevastopol port, Chukhnin, gave a telegram to Nicholas II, in which he indicated that the cruiser needed to be disarmed and only after that the troops could begin decisive action. The vice admiral was well aware that the cruiser being reconstructed had not yet entered service and was practically defenseless, since it did not have the required ammunition on board.
At the same time, secret police agents spread rumors around the city that Schmidt was going to bombard Sevastopol in order to kill the residents and sailor crews who were not with him.
When the trial of the participants in the uprising began, captain of the fortress artillery Ivanov, who received orders to sink the Ochakov without fail, stated that “seeing the cruiser already on fire, he decided not to sink it and take responsibility for himself...”.
The soldiers of the fortress, who sympathized with the rebels, told their officers that they would not shoot, and if they did open fire, it would only be return fire.
The suppressors of the uprising did not disdain provocation: on November 15, at four o’clock, a shell exploded on the bastion. The officers who came running began to call the soldiers to the guns and claimed that the shell had come from “Ochakov” or “Panteleimon”. They started shooting, but only at Ochakov.
Both at the trial and in a number of official documents, the police authorities, including prosecutor Ronzhin, tried to prove that the first shot during the uprising was fired from the Ochakov. Meanwhile, from numerous testimony of witnesses, as well as reports from a number of newspapers, it can be concluded that the provocative shot belonged to the gunboat Terets. The defense attorney in the Schmidt case, A. Alexandrov, regarding P.P. Schmidt’s accusation that “Ochakov” was the first to shoot, stated in his memoirs: “The fighting argument of the prosecutor’s position was the assertion that “Ochakov” was the first to start firing from the guns and that, therefore, the shelling of the cruiser by the squadron and the guns of the Konstantinovsky battery was only an act of self-defense. The prosecutor had to prove this thesis at all costs, since otherwise the shooting of an anchored, almost unarmed cruiser would be a senseless act of cruelty. The prosecutor needed this shot from the Ochakov like manna from heaven, but this manna was never sent down from heaven, because most of the prosecution witnesses, if not all, denied the cruiser’s attack on the squadron, knowing full well that the almost unarmed cruiser would artificially provoke the squadron to be shot.”
As soon as they started shooting at Ochakov, a signal “Outraged by the actions of the squadron” soared above the cruiser. Then the cruiser began firing at government troops and coastal batteries.
The cruiser was fired upon by guns of all calibers from a distance of 50 to 200 fathoms. The shores of the bay were cordoned off by soldiers who shot with rifles and machine guns everyone who tried to escape from the cruiser by swimming.
“On the Ochakov,” recalled a sailor who miraculously escaped from it, “something terrible was happening. The shells exploded with terrible force, turning everything into ashes. On the deck it was impossible to distinguish who was wounded and who was killed, since the wounded and dead lay one on top of the other, forming a pile of bodies.
Nearby, entrails were floating in a pool of blood, arms and legs were lying around. One high-explosive shell hit the engine room and killed about twenty sailors. The shells that hit the Ochakov spared no one and caused terrible destruction inside the ship.
In the engine room there were about thirty people wounded by shrapnel: the wounded asked their comrades for help; The dying asked to finish them off in order to save them from suffering. The roar of guns and machine guns did not stop.
Soon the wounded and dying were engulfed in furious flames, and a minute later they were gone..."
P.P. Schmidt recalled a month before the execution that when he left Ochakov, most of the people had already thrown overboard or were killed. Captured officers from other ships, captured by the rebels as hostages, broke out of the wardroom under arrest, lowered the red flag and instead of it, a white tablecloth was hoisted on the mast.
The fire on the cruiser immediately stopped. The officers were removed from the Ochakov unharmed: this indicated that the cruiser had completely ceased resistance. In a telegram sent to the Tsar, Vice Admiral Chukhnin noted this fact, but in order to forestall possible questions about the fate of the cruiser, he indicated: “Ochakov” continues to burn, the fire cannot be put out.”
Just at this time it was still possible to save the cruiser, which cost the treasury very dearly. Equipped with modern mechanisms, the Ochakov was preparing for the new year to take its rightful place among the warships of the Russian fleet. The ship was replete with many technical innovations: it had metal boats and furniture - the shipbuilders' concern was to eliminate flammable materials. The drives of many mechanisms were electrified. The ship was equipped with new equipment that had gained popularity in the navy, telephones of the Lieutenant Kolbasyev system, ship radios, mast semaphores, electrical fire control devices, rudder position indicators and much more.
In the first days of November, the last work on the cruiser was hastily completed - about three hundred workers from the Sevastopol Marine Plant and specialists in the main engines seconded from Sormovo worked on board every day. In a word, there was something to save... And there was someone. The largest ships were under steam and could easily extinguish the fire with water from their fire hoses. At this time, it was even possible to freely land troops to capture the cruiser.
Mortgage board of the cruiser "OCHAKOV"
Instead of saving the burning ship, a second bombardment began, the reason for which was two shots allegedly fired from the Ochakov. P.P. Schmidt claimed that there was an explosion on the cruiser, which was issued by the punitive forces in all official documents as a shot.
“Ochakov” burned like a giant fire for two days in the middle of the bay. There is no exact information about the number of those killed on the cruiser. It is known that on November 15 there were up to 380 crew members on the ship, not counting sailors from the squadron and coastal units. According to other sources, there were about 700 people on Ochakovo. The Bolshevik newspaper Borba wrote that “no more than forty to fifty people were saved. 39 Ochakovites were put on trial.” Gendarmerie captain Vasiliev indicated in his report: “... both the dead and wounded remained on the Ochakov after it caught fire, and everyone burned... at nine in the evening I myself saw the hot sides of the Ochakov.”
Disfigured by shells (there were Fifty-two holes from large-caliber shells alone!), with burnt-out bulkheads, the ship's hull was towed to the deserted shore of the Northern Bay near Kilen Balka, where they hastily began dismantling the ship.
“When we climbed the ladder onto the ship,” recalled one of the workers, “we saw several dozen coffins on the upper deck, and orderlies, like ants, were carrying the remains of revolutionaries into coffins. We went down to the cabin. There was a burning smell and charred corpses were visible. In those cabins where the fire did not penetrate, shapeless, mutilated human bodies lay strewn. The walls and ceilings were splattered with blood."
At the trial on February 14, 1906, P.P. Schmidt said in his speech: “When I stepped onto the deck of the Ochakov, I, of course, understood with complete clarity the helplessness of this cruiser, defenseless, with an engine that could barely give eight knots.” on the move, and without artillery, there were only two handles from six-inch guns, the rest could not operate...”
Why was Ochakov bombed after all? The long period of construction of the Ochakov testified to the criminal activities of the factory contractors and the highest ranks of the fleet, headed by Vice Admiral Chukhnin, who received a lot of the subsidies allocated for the construction of the cruiser. Instead of workers, sailors were widely used during construction (fortunately, most of them were workers before service), and the monetary difference went into the pockets of clever businessmen.
The official tactical and technical data of the ship, which, according to all reports, was preparing to enter service, clearly did not correspond to reality. The cruisers “Oleg” and “Memory of Mercury”, of the same type as “Ochakov” and laid down at the same time, entered service long ago, and the second even took part in the execution of its brother.
Many naval officers spoke about the abuses during the construction of the Ochakov, and even the newspaper Legal Life wrote about it. A secret investigation was carried out over the builders, which Chukhnin could not have been unaware of due to his high official position. The uprising was an unusually convenient excuse for the destruction of the ill-fated cruiser.
On March 6, 1906, P.P. Schmidt and his comrades-in-arms, the “Ochakovites,” were shot on Berezan Island. This was the final chord of the death of the cruiser "Ochakov", sacrificed to the interests of the schemers.
Anatoly GRIGORIEV, captain of the second rank
"Ochakov"
(from March 25, 1907 “Cahul”)
(from the end of August 1919 "General Kornilov")
"Bogatyr"
"Ochakov"
(from March 25, 1907 “Cahul”)
(from the end of August 1919 "General Kornilov")
Historical data
Total information
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real
doc
Booking
Armament
Project weapons
Artillery
- 12 x 152 mm guns;
- 12 x 75 mm guns;
- 8 x 47 mm guns;
- 2 x 37 mm guns;
- 2 machine guns;
- 2 landing guns.
Mine weapons
- 2 381 mm torpedo tubes.
Armament after modernization in 1915
Artillery
- 16 x 152 mm guns;
- 2 x 75 mm anti-aircraft guns;
- 2 machine guns.
Armament after modernization in 1916-1917
Artillery
- 14 x 130 mm guns;
- 2 x 75 mm anti-aircraft guns;
- 2 x 40-mm Vickers anti-aircraft guns.
Same type ships
History of creation
After Prussia defeated France in 1871, Russia achieved, as a reward for its neutrality in this war, the elimination of those articles of the Paris Treaty of 1856, according to which Russia was prohibited from maintaining a navy in the Black Sea. Lack of finances did not allow us to begin the revival of the Black Sea Fleet immediately, so during the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, the Black Sea Fleet included 2 floating batteries - “popovki”, several steamships hastily converted into cruisers and boats equipped with mines. The first program providing for the construction of a powerful modern armored fleet on the Black Sea was adopted in 1881. According to this program, 8 battleships, 2 cruisers, 20 destroyers and 6 gunboats were to be built over 20 years.
The main task of the fleet was the unconditional dominance of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and a potential operation to capture the straits. In this regard, minimal attention was paid to cruisers in this program - all efforts were devoted to creating powerful battleships (Ekaterina II), gunboats (Zaporozhets), as well as destroyers and mine cruisers.
As for cruisers, there was only one representative of this class in service - “Yaroslavl” (since 1883 - “Memory of Mercury”) - a very strange ship, something between a steamship (as which it sailed in 1880 to the Black Sea under commercial flag) and a warship. It had no armor, was armed with outdated artillery, and by the end of the 19th century had lost its military significance. Meanwhile, the gunboats and mine cruisers used for cruising coped with this service with difficulty.
Finally, the shipbuilding program of 1895-1902 for the Black Sea Fleet provided for the construction of two cruising class ships. In the late 1880s, the British company Armstrong Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd
) at the Elswick shipyard (eng. Elswick Ship Building Yard) began the construction of very specific armored cruisers for foreign fleets. With a small displacement, they developed a good speed for their time and were armed with powerful main battery guns (254-203 mm), as well as several high-speed medium-caliber guns.
In 1883, the company created, by order of Chile (which traditionally built ships in British shipyards), the small cruiser Esmeralda (2,800 tons, 2-254 mm, 6-152 mm guns, 18.25 knots), which caused a furor in the shipbuilding circles of that time. “Esmeralda” did not have an armor belt - only an armored carapace deck, which covered with its bevels the vital parts of the ship - the engine and the cellar.
The appearance of the Esmeralda coincided with a reservation crisis, when, according to shipbuilders, even the thickest armor did not provide guaranteed protection from shells. This led to the emergence of armorless battleships (Italy), numerous torpedo carriers - destroyers, torpedo boats, as well as armored cruisers of all varieties - from tiny ships of the 3rd class (in fact, large gunboats) to the giants "Powerful", "Gishen", " Columbia". However, the main shipbuilding powers quickly revealed the futility of a large armored cruiser, its high vulnerability and unsuitability for squadron battles of equal fleets. Therefore, at the turn of the century, England, France and the United States began serial construction of armored cruisers for squadron combat.
Russia, which has chosen its own path, is a different matter. Until the mid-1890s, the emphasis was on building classic, distinctive armored cruisers - raiders. Having gone through a consistent development path from the “Admiral General” and “Minin” to the “Rurik”, “Russia” and “Gromoboy”, these ships reached a high degree of perfection for the role for which they were intended - raider operations in the open ocean. And these same magnificent ships were absolutely unsuitable for squadron combat.
Cruiser 1st rank "Bogatyr"
Their gigantic sides, protected by a small belt, provided an excellent target for rapid-fire medium-caliber guns; the artillery mounted in the sponsons could fire only half of the guns on the side. These shortcomings, together with the admiration for foreign armored cruisers (Elswick) on the part of a number of domestic admirals (primarily S.O. Makarov, who considered the Esmeralda an “ideal fighting machine”) led to the fact that all Russian cruisers built according to the programs 1895-1902 and 1898, with the exception of Bayan, were armored.
It was decided to place a number of orders for these cruisers abroad to gain advanced foreign experience. And these ships really turned out to be one of the best representatives of the domestic fleet - “Varyag” (USA), “Askold” and “Bogatyr” (Germany). All these 3 ships of the conventional series had a powerful armament of 12 152-mm guns, high speed (although the Varyag could not really develop it due to the disgusting Nikloss boilers), and good deck armor.
With each new ship, the defense of the main caliber artillery was strengthened. “Varyag” did not have it at all, and the guns were placed poorly - parallel along the sides, “Askold” had a shield and casemate cover for the guns, and on “Bogatyr” 4 of the 12 guns were placed in two turrets - on the bow and stern, and 4 more - in casemates and 4 behind shields. Of all these ships, "Bogatyr" was recognized as the best and became the founder of a series of 3 ships built according to his drawings in Russia - 1 in the Baltic ("Vityaz", after the fire that destroyed it - "Oleg") and 2 on the Black Sea ("Ochakov " and "Cahul").
Design
Having learned about plans to build cruisers in Russia based on the Bogatyr model, the Baltic Shipyard took the initiative and proposed its own project in which all 12 152-mm guns were placed in turrets. This solution made it possible to dramatically increase the survivability of the main artillery and increase the efficiency of its use due to reliable protection of servants, increased firing sectors and improved conditions for supplying shells from the magazines provided in the middle part of the ship for each pair of side turrets. There were also disadvantages to this solution - the technical imperfection of the turret installations of that time, the lower rate of fire of the guns installed in them, and greater dispersion. These shortcomings were demonstrated quite convincingly by “Kahul” (formerly “Ochakov”) during the First World War.
However, this promising (or premature) project was not implemented. To speed up construction, it was decided to use the ready-made Bogatyr project, which was quite satisfactory to the naval leadership. An additional effect was provided by the fact that this project is foreign and “takes into account all the latest foreign trends.” Actually, this was all not far from the truth, but the construction of a large warship according to foreign drawings in Russia, and even at a state-owned enterprise, with all the bureaucratic delays, was naturally fraught with problems.
"Cahul" on the Buyuk-Dere roadstead in the Bosphorus Strait, 1913
The final readiness of "Cahul" for service was achieved only in the company of 1911 - 6 years after the execution. Since May 1911, the Cahul participated in sea trials to identify the influence of depth on the wave resistance of water to the movement of the ship and the reasons for the drop in speed in shallow water. Also, as part of the squadron, the cruiser made repeated trips throughout the entire Black Sea with calls at Russian, Turkish and Bulgarian ports. On October 27, 1912, the Cahul, the battleship Rostislav and the gunboat Donets, as part of an international squadron, stood in the roadstead of Constantinople to ensure the security of embassies that could be threatened by the advance of the Bulgarian army during the Balkan War.
The ships of this detachment returned to Russia only in August 1913. The rest of 1913 was spent in training voyages and celebrations in honor of the Emperor (in October). On April 29, 1914, “Cahul” and “Memory of Mercury” were organizationally consolidated into a semi-brigade of cruisers subordinate to the head of the mine division. With the beginning of the war, the auxiliary cruisers “Almaz”, “Emperor Nicholas I” and “Emperor Alexander III” were included in it (in connection with the construction of a battleship with that name, it was renamed “Emperor Alexander I”), subsequently converted into carriers of seaplanes - “hydrocruisers” "
Participation in the First World War
The first military campaign of "Cahul" took place on October 16, 1914. The fleet went to sea to search for the German-Turkish battle cruiser Goeben and Turkish ships that had begun military operations against Russia by shelling Sevastopol and Odessa. On October 22-25, the Russian fleet retaliated by bombing the Turkish coal center of Zongludak.
On November 5, 1914, the fleet forces off the coast of Crimea met the Goeben and the light cruiser Breslau (Medilli). Due to heavy fog, the battle came down to a duel between the Goeben and the battleship Eustathius, which saw it better than anyone else. Having received several hits, the Goeben took advantage of its speed advantage and disappeared into the fog. During the campaign to the shores of the Caucasus on December 24-29, “Cahul”, “Memory of Mercury” and “Eustathius” took part in a firefight with the cruisers “Gamidie” and “Breslau”. “Cahul” managed to fire only 4 shots from the casemate gun due to the weak aperture of the sights and the commander’s reluctance to blind the Eustathius gunners, who had much more powerful guns, with his salvos. The battle was inconclusive for both sides. In the subsequent trip to the port of Rize, 11 Turkish small cargo ships, abandoned when Russian ships appeared, were sunk by 152-mm gun fire. The shooting also showed the complete ineffectiveness of the 75 mm guns.
On January 14, 1915, a new meeting of “Cahul” and “Memory of Mercury” with “Gamidiye” and “Breslau” took place. Russian cruisers began the pursuit. Breslau tried to cover the Turkish cruiser, but then abandoned it and left at a 25-knot speed. "Gamidiye" was never overtaken due to the fact that "Cahul" suddenly stopped pursuing. The reason was the failure of mechanisms and contamination of boilers that did not allow steam to rise. The maximum speed developed by the Cahul in this pursuit is 22 knots. The general deterioration of the boiler part forced steam to stop at times in 6 of the 16 boilers, but the cruiser continued to be used “for slaughter” for more than a year.
In March-April 1915, the remaining 8 75-mm guns were removed from the cruiser (another 4 were removed during the restoration of 1905-1910) and replaced with 4 152-mm Kane guns. The number of the latter was 16. 2 75-mm anti-aircraft guns were also added - a conversion of the 50-caliber Kane guns. From January to September 1915, the cruisers made more than 10 trips to the shores of Turkey to shell the coast. By mid-1915, 3 “maneuver groups” appeared in the fleet. The first consisted of the Cahul and the dreadnought battleship Empress Maria.
In the second half of 1915 - early 1916, "Cahul" participated in the exits of the maneuver group, supporting the actions of "Empress Maria". On March 22 and July 9, the fleet met Breslau twice, and both times it managed to break away and escape. In the second half of the year, the cruiser continued to be plagued by accidents and breakdowns of the boiler and engine installation. Finally, its wear and tear reached the point where it became clear to the command that further use of the worn-out ship would lead to a serious accident or death. “Cahul” could no longer take part in battles and campaigns.
On September 25, ammunition was unloaded from the cruiser; in November, all guns were removed and the turrets were dismantled. The ship was undergoing major repairs. The repairs included a complete replacement of the boilers, the removal of all 16 152 mm guns and their replacement with 14 new 130 mm 55 caliber guns. Both towers, which had not justified themselves, were removed and replaced with single deck installations with shields. The artillery armament was replenished with 2 40-mm Vickers anti-aircraft guns.
Revolutionary events and intervention of 1917-1918
Little is known about this period in the history of Cahul. R. M. Melnikov, who described the events of November 1905 almost minute by minute, in his work describes only the participation of members of the cruiser’s crew in the revolutionary events. It was as if the ship itself did not exist. On March 1, 1917, in the wake of revolutionary events, the ship was returned to its original name - “Ochakov”. However, historically it “did not take root” (which is clearly shown by the attitude of both the “Reds” and the “Whites” towards the acts of power and command of the times of the Provisional Government). In all documents and historical works, the cruiser continued to be called “Kahul”. Perhaps - due to an unspoken "conspiracy" - the Reds were embarrassed that "Ochakov" became "General Kornilov", and the Whites - that "General Kornilov" was once "Ochakov". Meanwhile, the repair of the cruiser was completed in December 1917.
As a result of the repairs, the cruiser's combat capability was largely restored. In December 1917, like other ships of the Black Sea Fleet, it formally went over to the side of Soviet power. Since March 1918 - it was handed over to the port for storage. The team, led by the commander, moved to the battleship Free Russia. In May, when German troops approached Sevastopol, he remained at the main fleet base with all the old and incapacitated ships.
In the summer of 1918, as a base for the rescue “Mariinsky Party”, he took part in the ongoing (already under German control) operation to raise the battleship “Empress Maria” from the bottom of the Sevastopol Bay, which died from an internal explosion in 1916. At the same time, the cruiser itself almost sank - its propeller and shaft were separated. Water began to enter the hull and flooded the engine room. The influx of water was discovered and eliminated by pure chance.
In November 1918, the Germans were replaced by the allies, who immediately lowered the St. Andrew's flags that had been raised on the ships of the fleet and took control of them. "Cahul", obviously, was mistaken by them for an uncombatable ship - a floating barracks. Therefore, they did not capture him. Meanwhile, the cruiser was in fairly good technical condition.
As part of the White Fleet
On March 28, 1919, Captain 2nd Rank Potapyev V.A., after agreement with the fleet headquarters (a formal body located in Sevastopol under the control of the Allies), received permission to occupy the Cahul and remove the rescue party workers from it. The evacuation of the city was being prepared and Potapyev energetically began preparing for the ship to go to sea. At the time of departure, there were 42 officers, 19 mechanics, 2 doctors, 21 ground officers and 120 “fleet hunters” - volunteer sailors - on the ship. Before the cruiser left, Captain 1st Rank Lebedev, who arrived, took over its command, and Potapyev became a senior officer.
On April 12, the Reds approached Sevastopol, but there was no one to defend the city. The Allies were also unable to evacuate Sevastopol - the battleship Mirabeau was in the dock, having shortly before landed on the rocks and been removed from them with the help of the Cahul. On April 15, the commander of the French ships, Admiral Amet, sent a telegram to Admiral Sablin with a request to withdraw the cruiser Cahul and other ships from Sevastopol during the night and the next morning. Despite Sablin's written protest, the ships could only be saved by leaving Sevastopol.
On April 16, the Kagul, the submarine Tyulen, the messenger ship (former minelayer) Bug, the messenger ship No. 7 (former destroyer No. 273), several steamships and tugs left for Novorossiysk. In tow they managed to take away the submarines "Dutka" and "Burevestnik", the destroyers "Ardent" and "Pospeshny", the destroyers "Zharkiy", "Zhivoy", "Strict" and "Svirepy", the gunboat "Terets", the messenger ship No. 10 (former destroyer No. 258). In addition, the K-15 gunboat left Karkinitsky Bay under its own power. The remaining ships of the fleet were either sunk by the Allies (submarines) or their cylinder covers and bearings were blown up (old battleships, the cruiser Memory of Mercury, the destroyer Bystry, the destroyers Zhutkiy and Zavetny).
The cruiser "Cahul" near Feodosia. Nearby is the light cruiser HMS Caradoc
"Kahul" became the most powerful ship of the tiny naval forces of the Armed Forces of Southern Russia. After arriving in Novorossiysk, Captain 1st Rank P.P. Osteletsky was appointed to command the cruiser. And although there was a huge shortage of command, on April 27 the cruiser reached the Ak-Monai Isthmus, where General Borovsky’s units were holding out. Due to the lack of stokers, the ship could only develop 6 knots.
From April 28 to May 4, he took part in the shelling of Red positions together with the K-15 gunboat, the British battleship Iron Duke, two small monitors and the Greek battleship Lemnos. The ship had only 600 main-caliber shells, and actually fired one gun. After a short rest since May 13, “Cahul” is again in the Feodosia Gulf. The cruiser shelled the shore and landed tactical troops. On June 17, the cruiser's landing in the rear of the Reds united with Borovsky's units, which had broken through the Ak-Monai front. Since at the same time white troops approached the isthmuses, the reds were forced to evacuate Crimea and Sevastopol. On May 3, the cruiser was enlisted in the naval forces of Southern Russia
On June 27, 1919, the cruiser, with General Denikin and Admiral Sablin on board, visited the cities of the Sochi district - Tuapse, Sochi and Adler, confirming their belonging to the government of the South of Russia. On July 6, the cruiser arrived in Sevastopol with Admiral Sablin on board. The admiral lowered his flag and moved to the battleship George the Victorious. In early August 1919, the Cahul, the destroyer Zhivoy, the transport Margarita, the minesweepers Rosa and Adolf, the tugboat Dobrovolets, boats No. 52 and 58, 3 barges were landed near Odessa by the Crimean Cavalry Regiment and infantry part of the corps of General Schilling, on August 10, the Consolidated Dragoon Regiment was landed in Sukhoi Liman, and on August 11, Odessa was taken by white units. An attempt to break into the city of the red armored train was repulsed by Cahul fire.
For this feat, the cruiser was renamed “General Kornilov” in honor of the leader of the White movement, Lavr Georgievich Kornilov, who died during the assault on Yekaterinodar in 1918. P. P. Osteletsky received the rank of rear admiral. The attack on Moscow launched by Denikin in the fall of 1919 was carried out without the participation of the fleet. Its catastrophic conclusion left the remnants of the white units in Crimea and the fleet without fuel. On January 4, 1920, the underground wanted to sink the cruiser, but they failed. Problems with fuel were resolved only by the summer of 1920, simultaneously with the start of the offensive in Northern Tavria.
On July 10, 1920, a landing force was landed from the General Kornilov, which arrived in Tendrovsky Bay. At the end of July, the fleet received the task of destroying the three-gun 152-mm Red battery in Ochakov and preparing a breakthrough for gunboats into the Dnieper-Bug estuary. By this time, the small crew of the cruiser, who had been on it for almost a year, had sufficient experience. On July 17, "General Kornilov" under the command of Captain 1st Rank Potapyev left Sevastopol. On July 20, he entered the Tendrovsky Bay, and, approaching the Kinburn Spit, opened fire on the Red battery. Having fired 18 shells, the cruiser retreated, the battery responded with 7 ineffective shots.
- “OCHAKOV”, a cruiser of the Black Sea Fleet, the crew of which took part in the Sevastopol uprising of 1905. The commander of the revolutionary fleet P.P. Schmidt was on the cruiser... encyclopedic Dictionary
OCHAKOV (city)- OCHAKOV, a city in Ukraine, Nikolaev region (see MYKOLAEV REGION), a seaport on the Dnieper estuary (see DNIPRO ESTURATE), 69 km from the Nikolaev railway station. Population 18.4 thousand people (2001). Food flavoring (including fish)… … encyclopedic Dictionary
OCHAKOV- a cruiser of the Black Sea Fleet, the crew of which took part in the Sevastopol uprising of 1905. The commander of the revolutionary fleet, P.P. Schmidt, was on the cruiser. Source: Encyclopedia Fatherland, a city on the shores of the Dnieper estuary of the Black Sea, 19 ... Russian history
OCHAKOV- a cruiser of the Black Sea Fleet, the crew of which took part in the Sevastopol uprising of 1905. The commander of the revolutionary fleet, P.P. Schmidt, was on the cruiser... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Ochakov (armored cruiser)- “Ochakov”; from March 25, 1907 “Cahul” ... Wikipedia
OCHAKOV- Russian cruiser Black Sea Fleet, who led the roar detachment. ships during the Sevastopol war. uprising against the autocracy in November 1905. Launched in Sevastopol in 1902. At the time of the uprising it was not completed and armed (because... ... Marine encyclopedic reference book
Ochakov (disambiguation)- Ochakov (Ukrainian Ochakiv) is a polysemantic term. Ochakov is a city in the Nikolaev region of Ukraine, the administrative center of the Ochakov district. Ochakov (large anti-submarine ship) large anti-submarine ship of Project 1134B. Ochakov (armored deck... ... Wikipedia
First rank cruiser "Bogatyr" type- Cruiser of the first rank Type “Bogatyr” (4 units) Bogatyr Project of the German company “Vulcan”. Laid down on December 9, 1899. Launched on January 17, 1901. Installed. on page 08/07/1902 (Stettin/Vulkan shipyard). Was part of the 1st Pacific... Military encyclopedia
Ochakov- I Ochakov is a city in Ukraine, a seaport on the Dnieper estuary, 69 km from the Nikolaev railway station. 19.7 thousand inhabitants (1991). Food-flavoring (including fish) industry. Climatic resort. Museums: military historical named after... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
"OCHAKOV"- Black Sea Fleet cruiser, name. in honor of the victory at Ochakov in Russian. tour. war 1787 91. Launched in 1902. Waterism. 6645 t, speed 22.7 knots (42 km/h); armament: 12 (from 1915 16) 152 mm ord. and 22 op. smaller caliber, 2,450 mm torpedoes. apparatus; crew... ... Military encyclopedic dictionary
Books
- "Wonderful Ships" series (set of 4 books), . The series is dedicated to the history of Russian ships, fleet veterans who took part in the most important events and left a noticeable mark on history. The series includes the following books: R. M. Melnikov... Buy for 1300 rubles
- Cruiser "Ochakov", R. M. Melnikov. The author, known to readers for his previous books ('Cruiser Varyag' - 1975 and 1982 and 'Battleship Potemkin' - 1989), talks about the tragic and glorious history of the 'rebellious...
