Spring-summer 1942 1942-1943 1944 Complete liberation of Leningrad from the enemy blockade · Evacuation of residents · Supply of the city · Blockade results · Social aspects of life during the blockade · Soviet Navy (RKKF) in the defense of Leningrad · Memory · Blockade in art · Close articles · Literature · Diaries · Collections · Notes · Official site & middot

The Red Banner Baltic Fleet (KBF; commander - Admiral V.F. Tributs), Ladoga military flotilla (formed on June 25, 1941, disbanded on November 4, 1944; : Baranovsky V.P., Zemlyanichenko S.V., Trainin P.A., Bogolepov V.P., Khoroshkhin B.V. - in June - October 1941, Cherokov V.S. - from October 13, 1941) , cadets of naval schools (a separate cadet brigade of the Leningrad Military Medical University, commander Rear Admiral Ramishvili). Also, at various stages of the battle for Leningrad, the Chudskaya and Ilmenskaya military flotillas were created.

At the very beginning of the war, Naval Defense of Leningrad and the Lake District (MOLiOR)... On August 30, 1941, the Military Council of the Northwestern Direction determined:

On October 1, 1941, MOLiOR was reorganized into the Leningrad Naval Base (Admiral Yu. A. Panteleev).

The actions of the fleet turned out to be useful during the retreat in 1941, the defense and attempts to break the Blockade in 1941-1943, and the breakthrough and lifting of the Blockade in 1943-1944.

Ground support operations

Areas of activity of the fleet that were of great importance at all stages of the Battle of Leningrad:

Marines

Personnel brigades (1st, 2nd brigades) of the Marine Corps and subunits of sailors (3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th brigades formed a Training Detachment, Main Base, Crew) from ships laid up in Kronstadt and Leningrad in the battles on land. ... In a number of cases, key areas - especially on the coast - were heroically defended by unprepared and small naval garrisons (defense of the Oreshek fortress). Units of the Marine Corps and infantry units, formed from sailors, showed themselves in breaking and lifting the Blockade. In total, 68,644 people were transferred from the Red Banner Baltic Fleet in 1941 to the Red Army for operations on land fronts, in 1942 - 34,575, in 1943 - 6,786, not counting the marines that were part of the fleet or temporarily transferred to the subordination of military commands.

Ship and coastal artillery

Ship and coastal artillery (345 guns with a caliber of 100-406 mm, more than 400 guns were introduced if necessary) effectively suppressed enemy batteries, helped to repel land attacks, and supported the offensive of the troops. The naval artillery provided extremely important artillery support in breaking the Blockade, destroying 11 fortification nodes, the enemy's railway echelon, as well as suppressing a significant number of its batteries and partially destroying a tank column. From September 1941 to January 1943, naval artillery opened fire 26,614 times, using up 371,080 shells of 100-406 mm caliber, while up to 60% of the shells were spent on counter-battery combat.

Artillery pieces of the Krasnaya Gorka fort

Fleet aviation

The bomber and fighter aviation of the fleet operated successfully. In addition, in August 1941, a separate air group (126 aircraft) was formed from the KBF Air Force units, which was operatively subordinate to the front. During the breakthrough of the Blockade, more than 30% of the aircraft used belonged to the fleet. During the defense of the city, more than 100 thousand aircraft sorties were made, of which about 40 thousand were to support the ground forces.

Operations in the Baltic Sea and Ladoga Lake

In addition to the role of the fleet in battles on land, it is worth noting the direct activity in the waters of the Baltic Sea and Lake Ladoga, which also influenced the course of battles in the land theater of operations:

"The road of life"

The fleet ensured the functioning of the "Road of Life" and water communication with the Ladoga military flotilla. During the autumn navigation of 1941, 60 thousand tons of cargo were delivered to Leningrad, including 45 thousand tons of food; more than 30 thousand people were evacuated from the city; from Osinovets 20 thousand Red Army men, Red Navy men and commanders were transported to the eastern shore of the lake. During the navigation of 1942 (May 20, 1942 - January 8, 1943), 790 thousand tons of cargo were delivered to the city (almost half of the cargo was food), 540 thousand people and 310 thousand tons of cargo were exported from Leningrad. During the navigation of 1943, 208 thousand tons of cargo and 93 thousand people were transported to Leningrad.

Marine mine blockade

From 1942 to 1944, the Baltic Fleet was locked within the Neva Bay. His combat operations were hampered by a minefield, where, even before the declaration of war, the Germans secretly placed 1,060 anchor contact and 160 bottom non-contact mines, including to the north-west of Naissaar Island, and a month later there were 10 times more of them (about 10,000 mines) , both their own and German. The submarines were also hindered by mined anti-submarine nets. After several boats were lost in them, their operations were also terminated. As a result, the fleet carried out operations on the enemy's sea and lake communications mainly by submarines, torpedo boats, and aviation.

After the complete lifting of the blockade, minesweeping became possible, where, according to the armistice, the Finnish minesweepers also participated. In January 1944, a course was set to clear the Great Ship Fairway, then the main exit to the Baltic Sea.

On June 5, 1946, the Hydrographic Department of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet issued Notice to Mariners No. 286, which announced the opening of navigation in the daytime along the Great Ship Fairway from Kronstadt to the Tallinn-Helsinki fairway, which by that time had already been cleared of mines and had access to Baltic Sea. Since 2005, by the decree of the government of St. Petersburg, this day is considered an official city holiday and is known as Day of the breakthrough of the naval mine blockade of Leningrad ... Combat trawling did not end there and continued until 1957, and all Estonian waters became open for swimming and fishing only in 1963.

Evacuation

The fleet evacuated bases and isolated groupings of Soviet troops. In particular - the evacuation from Tallinn to Kronstadt on August 28-30, from Hanko to Kronstadt and Leningrad on October 26 - December 2, from the north-west. the shores of Lake Ladoga to Shlisselburg and Osinovets on July 15-27, from about. Valaam to Osinovets on September 17-20, from Primorsk to Kronstadt on September 1-2, 1941, from the islands of the Bjerk archipelago to Kronstadt on November 1, from the islands of Gogland, Bolshoi Tyuters, etc. October 29 - November 6, 1941. This made it possible to preserve the personnel - up to 170 thousand people - and part of the military equipment, partially remove the civilian population, and strengthen the troops defending Leningrad. Due to the unpreparedness of the evacuation plan, errors in determining the routes of the convoys, the lack of air cover and preliminary trawling, due to the action of enemy aircraft and the death of ships in their own and German minefields, there were heavy losses.

Airborne operations

During the battle for the city, amphibious operations were carried out, some of which ended tragically, for example, the Peterhof landing, the Strelna landing. In 1941, the Red Banner Baltic Fleet and the Ladoga Flotilla landed 15 landings, in 1942 - 2, in 1944 - 15. Of the attempts to prevent enemy landing operations, the most famous are the destruction of the German-Finnish flotilla and the repulsion of the landing during the battle for about. Sukho in Lake Ladoga on October 22, 1942.

Memory

For services in the course of the defense of Leningrad and the Great Patriotic War, a total of 66 formations, ships and units of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet and the Ladoga Flotilla were awarded government awards and distinctions during the war. At the same time, the irrecoverable losses of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet personnel during the war amounted to 55,890 people, of which the bulk falls on the period of the defense of Leningrad.

On August 1-2, 1969, to the sailors-artillerymen who defended the "Road of Life" on the island of Sukho, the Komsomol members of the Smolninsky RK of the Komsomol installed a memorial plaque with the text from the records of the commander of the defense.

... 4 hour strong hand-to-hand combat. The battery is being bombed by planes. Out of 70 we have 13 left, 32 wounded, the rest fell. Cannons 3, fired 120 shots. Of the 30 pennants, 16 barges were sunk, 1 was taken prisoner. They beat a lot of fascists ... May 9, 1990 at the Central Park of Culture and Leisure. SM Kirov, a commemorative stele was unveiled, installed on the site of the basing during the years of the blockade of the 8th division of boat minesweepers of the Baltic Fleet. In this place, every May 9 (since 2006, every June 5), veterans-minesweepers meet and from a boat they lower a wreath of memory to the fallen into the waters of the Srednyaya Nevka. On June 2, 2006, a solemn meeting dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the breakthrough of the naval mine blockade took place at the St. Petersburg Naval Institute - the Naval Corps of Peter the Great. The meeting was attended by cadets, officers, teachers of the institute and veterans of combat trawling of 1941-1957. On June 5, 2006, in the Gulf of Finland, the meridian of the lighthouse of the Powerful Island (formerly Lavensaari), by the order of the commander of the Baltic Fleet, was declared a memorable place of "glorious victories and deaths of the ships of the Baltic Fleet." When crossing this meridian, Russian warships, in accordance with the Ship's Regulations, pay military honors “in memory of the minesweepers of the Baltic Fleet and their crews who perished while sweeping minefields in 1941-1957”. In November 2006, in the courtyard of the Marine Corps of Peter the Great, a marble plaque "GLORY TO THE MINERS OF THE RUSSIAN FLEET" was installed. June 5, 2008 at the pier on Srednyaya Nevka in the Central Park of Culture and Leisure named after S. M. Kirov, a commemorative plaque was unveiled on the stele "To the sailors minesweepers". June 5 is a memorable date Day of the breakthrough of the sea mine blockade of Leningrad. On this day in 1946, boats 8 DKTSH, together with other minesweepers of the KBF, completed the clearance of mines from the Great ship's fairway, opening a direct route from the Baltic to Leningrad. The inscription on the commemorative plaque installed on the stele.

Anchor mines.

Post-war combat trawling- a set of operations for the clearance of shipping lanes, harbors and coastal waters from mines and ammunition left after the Second World War.

Mine threat

Soviet poster of 1941.

As a result of the massive use of mines by the belligerents on the seas washing the shores of the Soviet Union, by the end of World War II a complex mine situation was created, which forced to restrict the freedom of navigation, allowing ships to cross only along the tracked fairways, required a lot of effort and money to demagnetize ships before they left in the sea.

In the Baltic alone, during World War II, the German fleet lost 66 ships and 103 warships from mine explosions. Losses of the USSR Navy from mine explosions - 65% of submarines and 32% of surface ships. The greatest damage from the ships of the USSR Navy during the war was suffered by the "toilers of the sea" - mine minesweepers. Their total losses amounted to 295 units.

The mine threat greatly complicated sea and river transport and hindered the restoration of the country. By decree of March 18, 1945, the Council People's Commissars determined for all fleets the sequence of trawling areas and the approximate time for their complete clearance of mines.

After the war, Soviet sailors continued their difficult military service, ensuring the safety of navigation on the seas, rivers and lakes, they went out to sweep minefields. Divers took an active part in demining, who in special non-magnetic equipment examined and demined berthing lines, port facilities, harbors, roadsteads and sea canals that were mined by retreating enemy troops.

Especially great was the danger of being blown up by mines in the shallow Baltic Sea, in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, on the Danube, in the southeastern part of the Barents Sea and in the area of ​​the Novaya Zemlya straits. In the Gulf of Finland alone, the naval forces of Germany, Finland, and the Soviet Union delivered almost 67 thousand mines different types... In the area of ​​operation of the Northern Fleet, 38 areas closed to navigation with a total area of ​​about 10 thousand square miles were subject to trawling. Over the course of 1,930 km of the navigable part of the Danube, over 3,300 mines were delivered, which created an average density of obstacles of up to 1.6 mines per kilometer.

Floating mines also posed a great danger to navigation - after the war, naval sailors destroyed about 5 thousand floating and thrown ashore mines. The command of the Navy established navigation routes for civilian ships, on which specially designated boats searched for and destroyed mines.

The beginning of post-war combat trawling

Sailors are preparing a paravan-trawl for setting.

For the first two years, mines were destroyed in harbors, roadsides and fairways. In the next five years, a continuous sweep of all known minefields was carried out, then a second bottom sweep was organized in order to completely destroy the mine threat. The scale of the work done is impressive - in the Baltic Sea alone, Soviet minesweepers cleared an area of ​​15 thousand square miles of mines and destroyed 6,850 mines.

For four years, sailors from the Soviet Union, Romania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia were jointly engaged in the difficult and dangerous work of demining the Danube, which was cleared of mines by 1948. The ships swept the river from the mouth to Vienna, destroying 459 bottom non-contact mines.

During 1948-1951. minesweepers of the Black Sea Fleet swept through vast coastal areas of the western part of the Black Sea, helping Bulgaria and Romania.

Minesweepers Pacific Fleet in 1945-1946, a strip of coastal waters of the Korean Peninsula was cleared of bottom mines. At the same time, only in the areas of the ports of Racine, Seishin and Gyeongzan 412 mines delivered during the war by American aircraft were destroyed.

Lifting the naval mine blockade of Leningrad

During the Second World War, the Baltic Sea was even jokingly nicknamed "dumplings soup", meaning mines by dumplings. In total, by the end of the 1944 campaign, about 66,500 mines were delivered here on both sides. After the complete lifting of the blockade of Leningrad and Finland's withdrawal from the war, it became possible to carry out combat trawling in order to clear the Gulf of Finland from mines. Under the terms of the armistice agreement, Finnish minesweepers also took part in the operation.

Medal 60 years of breaking through the sea mine blockade of Leningrad.

But even after the end of World War II, the Gulf of Finland remained an area closed to the passage of ships and vessels. Leningrad's maritime communication with the "mainland" could only be maintained along the skerry fairway provided by Finland. On the the final stage During the war, this channel was used by our submariners to go to the Baltic Sea to combat positions bypassing the mined Gulf of Finland. Unfortunately, the skerry channel was intended only for small vessels. The situation was aggravated by the fact that the seaports of the Baltic were completely destroyed.

The restoration of the deep-water outlet from Leningrad to the Baltic Sea along the Gulf of Finland has acquired the most important state significance. The main fairway for such sea traffic was the Great Ship's Fairway, which was repeatedly blocked by minefields during the war years. In accordance with the decision of the government of the USSR, this channel was to be opened for the safe passage of ships and vessels.

For several months the heroic sailors of the Baltic Fleet "cut through" a new "window to Europe" in enemy minefields. Trawling was complicated by the fact that the minefield creators took care to make the minefields almost impregnable. Clearing the fairway from mines, which began in the fall of 1944, was completed by the beginning of June 1946.

Immediately before the opening of the fairway, four divisions of minesweepers with trawls delivered simultaneously crossed it, during which several more mines were spent. On June 5, 1946, the command of the Baltic Fleet notified the mariners of the opening of the Great ship fairway from Kronstadt to the Tallinn-Helsinki fairway, which by that time had a connection with the Baltic Sea. Then the Leningrad seaport started working again in full force.

In memory of an important historical event - the opening of the passage along the Great ship fairway from Kronstadt to the Tallinn-Helsinki fairway - the date of June 5 "Day of the breakthrough of the sea mine blockade of Leningrad" days of memory in St. Petersburg ".

Combat trawling did not end there and continued until 1957, and all the waters of Estonia became open for swimming and fishing only in 1963. The war for the minesweepers lasted almost 20 years after the surrender of Germany.

Trawling on the Black Sea

Minesweepers of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol in 1947. In the foreground is EMTSH-407 "Mina", in the back - the destroyer "Ognevoy" and the battleship "Sevastopol".

In 1944, Soviet troops liberated Sevastopol. Long after the end of hostilities in the Black Sea, the mine danger remained - over the years of the Great Patriotic War adversaries delivered 19995 mines and mine defenders. Some of the mines were destroyed during the hostilities, but the rest had to be removed as soon as possible. The minesweepers and their crews had a great deal of work to do in sweeping German, Romanian, Bulgarian and Soviet minefields.

Trawling of the Sevastopol bays began on October 15, 1944. The crews of the base minesweepers of the Black Sea Fleet began this deadly work. For example, the base minesweeper T-408 "Yakor" covered 9114 miles in 1945, of which more than 5000 miles with a trawl. The Red Banner T-412 minesweeper "Arseny Raskin" was trawling near Varna, where 132 mines were destroyed by the minesweepers. At Constanta, the Soviet "ploughmen of the sea" dumped 71 mines. When trawling the fairways near the port of Odessa in 1946, 177 mines were destroyed. In 1947, the T-406 "Seeker", the red-banner base minesweepers T-404 "Shield" and the T-412 "Arseniy Raskin" destroyed a minefield near Evpatoria - in four days they mined 45 minutes.

In total, during the period from 1945 to 1953, 5945 mines and mine defenders were destroyed on the Black Sea, an area of ​​9624 square miles was covered. A significant part of the mines was destroyed by Soviet minesweepers of the Fugas type.

Trawling difficulties

South Korean minesweeper YMS-516 is killed by a mine. October 1950.

Trawling is a laborious, complex and extremely dangerous work, which, as a rule, was carried out in the absence of data on the boundaries and composition of minefields, often in stormy weather, and was additionally complicated by the fact that mines of various systems were placed in the same minefield and types: anchor, antenna, bottom non-contact and others.

The mine planners surrounded the minefields with small mines - "mine defenders", in a large number laid booby-traps and used other tricks that made trawling difficult and extremely dangerous.

The mines themselves were often equipped with anti-blast devices and all kinds of traps. For example, bottom non-contact mines had magnetic, acoustic or combined proximity fuses with high sensitivity, as well as multiplicity and urgency devices that brought the mine into a combat state after the ship had repeatedly passed over it or after a certain time after setting (from an hour to several months).

For example, in the Gulf of Finland, where the Nazis sought to create an insurmountable mine barrier, the minefield lines consisted of several rows: in the first of them, as a rule, there were mines with traps, in the subsequent ones - mines of various designs intended against small surface ships. All mines had different indentations - from 20-30 centimeters to 1.5-2.0 meters, and the interval between the mines was 20, 30 and 40 meters.

To make trawling difficult, the enemy covered the mine lines with many mine defenders. In addition, on mines, instead of the usual minrope made of steel cable, a 4-6 meter chain was often used, which did not lend itself to the cutters of the undercutting trawls. In later setups, 2-3 cutters were also hung on such a chain against the trawling parts. Some mines were equipped with special devices for passing trawls, which sharply reduced the efficiency of trawling.

Post-war losses

After the end of the war from 1946 to 1951, 510 ships were blown up by mines in European waters, of which 271 sank. But even after the end of international combat trawling operations from 1951 to 1963, another 48 ships were blown up by mines, of which 19 sank.

10:30 - REGNUM

In St. Petersburg today, June 5, they remember those who helped the victorious Leningrad to break out of the mine blockade into which the enemies "chained" it during the Great Patriotic War.

Commons.wikimedia.org

The day of the breakthrough of the sea mine blockade of Leningrad was established by the city law in memory of an important historical event - the opening of the passage along the Great ship's fairway from Kronstadt to the Tallinn-Helsinki fairway, which took place on June 5, 1946.

During the war years, in order to blockade Leningrad from the sea, the navy of Nazi Germany installed in the Gulf of Finland many multi-tiered mine-barriers, consisting of tens of thousands of sea mines. As a result, the Gulf of Finland became impassable for ships.

After the complete liberation of Leningrad from the blockade in January 1944 and Finland's withdrawal from the war on the side of Germany in September of the same year, it became possible to start clearing the Gulf of Finland from mines.

But there were so many of these deadly traps that even by the end of the war, the Gulf of Finland was still an area closed to navigation. Clearing the navigable fairway from mines, which began in the fall of 1944, was completed only by the beginning of June 1946.

Before the opening of the fairway for navigation, four divisions of minesweepers simultaneously passed along it, which managed to find and eliminate several more mines.

Finally, on June 5, 1946, the Hydrographic Department of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet informed all mariners about the opening of the Great Ship Fairway from Kronstadt to the Tallinn-Helsinki Fairway. After that, the Leningrad seaport resumed its work, sending and receiving civilian ships.

However, work on demining the entire water area of ​​the Gulf of Finland continued until 1963.

“Thanks to the selfless, heroic labor of Soviet sailors 72 years ago, the Great Ship's Fairway was cleared of mines and the safe exit of ships to the open sea was ensured. This feat of the Baltic people will forever remain in the chronicle of the glorious deeds of St. Petersburg and our entire country ”,- said in his address on the occasion of the memorable date, the head of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg Vyacheslav Makarov.

The politician recalled that each combat exit to trawling demanded great courage and professionalism from Soviet sailors, and many sailors did not return to the base.

“It is impossible to overestimate the valor and courage of the crews of the minesweepers of the Baltic Fleet. For several years, they risked their lives every day, clearing the sea approaches to Leningrad. Eternal glory to the heroes who continued to fight for our city even after the last volleys of the war had already died down "- added the speaker of the city parliament.

In St. Petersburg on this day, a solemn and funeral ceremony of laying flowers at the monument to boat minesweepers in the Central Park of Culture and Leisure named after CM. Kirov.

History of the issue

The policy of the 90s, when everything connected with the Soviet Union was attacked, was replaced in Russia by an orientation towards patriotic education and the preservation of spiritual bonds that unite Russian citizens. The most important place here was occupied by the memory of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, as a manifestation of mass patriotism and heroism of the Soviet people.
However, attempts to distort military history continue both on the part of foreign journalists, historians and art workers, and within Russia. Thus, a 2015 RANEPA poll showed that 60% of Russian citizens notice such distortions in the domestic media, and 82.5% in the foreign press.
An especially fierce struggle against the legacy of the Great Patriotic War is being waged in countries that directly or indirectly support fascist ideas: primarily in Ukraine and the Baltic states.

During the Second World War, the Baltic Sea was even jokingly nicknamed "dumplings soup", meaning mines by dumplings. In total, by the end of the 1944 campaign, about 66,500 mines were delivered here on both sides. After the complete lifting of the blockade of Leningrad and Finland's withdrawal from the war, it became possible to carry out combat trawling in order to clear the Gulf of Finland from mines. Under the terms of the armistice agreement, Finnish minesweepers also took part in the operation. But even after the end of World War II, the Gulf of Finland remained an area closed to the passage of ships and vessels. Leningrad's maritime communication with the "mainland" could only be maintained along the skerry fairway provided by Finland. At the final stage of the war, our submariners used this fairway to move to the Baltic Sea to combat positions bypassing the mined Gulf of Finland. Unfortunately, the skerry channel was intended only for small vessels. The situation was aggravated by the fact that the seaports of the Baltic were completely destroyed.
The restoration of the deep-water outlet from Leningrad to the Baltic Sea along the Gulf of Finland has acquired the most important state significance. The main fairway for such sea traffic was the Great Ship's Fairway, which was repeatedly blocked by minefields during the war years. In accordance with the decision of the government of the USSR, this channel was to be opened for the safe passage of ships and vessels.
For several months the heroic sailors of the Baltic Fleet "cut through" a new "window to Europe" in enemy minefields. Trawling was complicated by the fact that the minefield creators took care to make the minefields almost impregnable. Clearing the fairway from mines, which began in the fall of 1944, was completed by the beginning of June 1946.
Immediately before the opening of the fairway, four divisions of minesweepers with trawls delivered simultaneously crossed it, during which several more mines were spent. On June 5, 1946, the command of the Baltic Fleet notified the mariners of the opening of the Great ship fairway from Kronstadt to the Tallinn-Helsinki fairway, which by that time had a connection with the Baltic Sea. Then the Leningrad seaport started working again in full force.
In memory of an important historical event - the opening of the passage along the Great ship fairway from Kronstadt to the Tallinn-Helsinki fairway - the date of June 5 "Day of the breakthrough of the sea mine blockade of Leningrad" days of memory in St. Petersburg ".
Combat trawling did not end there and continued until 1957, and all the waters of Estonia became open for swimming and fishing only in 1963. The war for the minesweepers lasted almost 20 years after the surrender of Germany.

Date of publication: 28.06.2017 14:17

Today, June 5, without much fanfare, St. Petersburg and Kronstadt will celebrate a significant date - the lifting of the sea or mine blockade of Leningrad.

Immediately after the defeat of the Nazi troops under the walls of the city on the Neva, the command of the Baltic Fleet, at the direction of the USSR Government, began to clear the waters of the Gulf of Finland from mines and other explosive objects. It was a very difficult and heroic job. In fact, demining of the eastern part of the Baltic Sea began in the fall of 1944 and continued until the early 1960s. We can recall that back in April 1943, the Military Council of the Navy made an important decision to build dozens of small minesweepers - “hundred-tonnage” - at all the shipyards of the still besieged city. At the same time, the construction of boat minesweepers with a wooden hull of the KM type was accelerated at the Katerny Zavod (now NPO Almaz). This strenuous and deadly work has had its victories and sacrifices. Probably the most significant victory - Breaking through the mine blockade of Leningrad in 1946. According to various estimates, more than 80 thousand mines were placed by us, the Germans and the Finns, only in the bay area. Not less than 100 thousand mines - in various coastal areas of the Baltic. The situation was aggravated by the fact that mines were sometimes placed chaotically, including by aviation, from the ice of the bay, hundreds and even thousands of mines were torn from anchors and minereps and floated freely in the navigation zone. There was one more problem - in the eastern part of the bay and the Neva Bay, the Germans set up more than one hundred magnetic, antenna and acoustic mines. Proximity trawls, and also - for ten minutes - there was one explosive device each - a mine defender. Special ammunition designed to destroy trawls and trawling vessels. Interestingly, the Archive of the Russian Navy contains a translation of a review article from the magazine "Navy", our then allies, in which it was given at least five years to clear the fairways of the Gulf of Finland. Dangerous and difficult work fell to the lot of the trawling brigades of our Baltic Fleet. Our sailors coped with it with dignity. Almost half of the minesweeping ships were based in Kronstadt. Our city, of course, can be called a participant in the breakthrough of the mine blockade. For months, small wooden boats, often with steam engines, ironed the fairways with contact and bottom trawls, destroying the “horned death”. Alas, more than three hundred Baltic sailors died or were injured only while clearing the waters of the eastern part of the gulf ... With the end of the war, the sea communication of Leningrad with the Baltic ports could only be maintained along the skerry channel provided by Finland. At the final stage of the war, our submariners used this fairway to move to the Baltic Sea to combat positions bypassing the mined Gulf of Finland. Unfortunately, the skerry channel was intended only for small-tonnage vessels, and it was also extremely difficult for navigation. The situation was aggravated by the fact that the seaports of the Baltic were completely destroyed. The restoration of the deep-water outlet from Leningrad to the Baltic Sea along the Gulf of Finland has acquired the most important state significance. The main fairway for such sea traffic was the Great Ship's Fairway, which was repeatedly blocked by minefields during the war years. For several months, the heroic sailors of the Baltic Fleet "cut through" a new "window to Europe" in enemy minefields. On June 5, 1946, the Hydrographic Department of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet notified the mariners of the opening of the Great ship fairway from Kronstadt to the Tallinn-Helsinki fairway, which by that time had a connection with the Baltic Sea. Then the Leningrad seaport started working again in full force. 71 years have passed since this, unfortunately, little-known, Leningrad victory ...

Museum of the history of Kronstadt