Armenia ship disaster. Possible place of death (flooding) of the motor ship "Armenia"

On November 7, 1941, the Soviet motor ship Armenia, with over 5,000 people on board, perished in the Black Sea.

"White spot" of war

A symbol of large-scale disasters at sea was the death of the passenger liner Titanic, which in April 1912 claimed the lives of about 1,500 people. In fact, the Titanic is not even among the top thirty maritime disasters with the largest number of casualties. The most terrible tragedies of this kind occurred during the Second World War, when transports with thousands of people, not only military personnel, but also women, old people and children, sank to the bottom. On November 7, 1941, the Soviet motor ship Armenia, with several thousand people on board, perished in the Black Sea. The tragedy of “Armenia” to this day remains one of the “blank spots” of the Great Patriotic War, since many questions in this story have not been answered.

In the mid-1920s, when the country had recovered slightly from the shock of the Civil War, the government began to think about developing civilian shipbuilding. In 1927, at the Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad, the construction of the motor ship "Adzharia", the lead ship of the series of the first Soviet passenger airliners. In 1928, at the same Baltic plant, work was completed on five more ships of this project: “Crimea”, “Georgia”, “Abkhazia”, “Ukraine” and “Armenia”.
“Armenia” was a vessel 107.7 meters long, 15.5 meters wide, with a side height of 7.84 meters and a displacement of 5,770 tons. The ship was served by a crew of 96 people. The motor ship could simultaneously take on board up to 950 passengers. “Armenia”, like other vessels of the project, was intended for transportation between the ports of Crimea and the Caucasus. The ships coped with their task perfectly, having a very decent speed of 14.5 knots for their size.

floating hospital

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, “Armenia” was “called up” for military service. At the Odessa shipyard, she was urgently converted into a floating hospital, designed to transport and provide emergency care to 400 wounded. On August 10, 1941, “Armenia” began to fulfill its new duties. The captain of the ship was Vladimir Plaushevsky, and military doctor 2nd rank Pyotr Dmitrievsky was appointed chief physician of the floating hospital. Until recently, the head doctor was a civilian and worked in one of the hospitals in Odessa. The situation at the front was depressing. Five days before the Armenia officially became a medical ship, the enemy came close to Odessa. The ship had to evacuate not only the wounded from the besieged city, but also civilian refugees. Then “Armenia” began transporting the wounded from Sevastopol. By the beginning of October the ship had transported to Mainland about 15 thousand people.

By the end of October 1941, a catastrophic situation had developed in Crimea. Manstein's Eleventh Army, sweeping away Soviet defense lines, occupied one city after another. The threat of the fall of Sevastopol within a few days was more than real.
Under these conditions, on November 4, 1941, “Armenia” left the port of Tuapse in the direction of Sevastopol. On board there were reinforcements for the garrison of the main fleet base. "Armenia" reached Sevastopol safely. On November 5, Captain Plaushevsky received an order: to take on board not only the wounded, but also the personnel of all hospitals and medical institutions of the Black Sea Fleet, as well as part of the medical staff of the Primorsky Army.

Thousands of refugees and secret cargo

Considering that at that moment the battles for Sevastopol were just unfolding, the order looked somewhat strange. Who will save the lives of the wounded? Historians who studied this issue believe that the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Filipp Oktyabrsky, considered the fate of the city a foregone conclusion and decided to begin evacuation. But on November 7, 1941, Oktyabrsky received a directive from Headquarters, which said: “Do not surrender Sevastopol in no case should we defend it with all our might.” However, before November 7 there were no orders from Moscow, so “Armenia” took on board evacuated doctors and not only them. Actors of the local theater named after Lunacharsky, management and staff of the Artek pioneer camp and many others boarded the ship. There were no exact lists of those who boarded the Armenia. Captain Plaushevsky received another order: after loading in Sevastopol, go to Yalta, where to take refugees and local party activists on board. After leaving Sevastopol, an additional order came: to go to Balaklava and pick up a special cargo. The boxes were brought on board accompanied by NKVD officers. Perhaps it was gold or valuables from Crimean museums.

“The brave climbed onto the ship using the shrouds”

“Armenia” left Sevastopol at 17:00 on November 6, and arrived in Yalta at 2:00 on November 7. Crowds of refugees were waiting for the ship here. This is what Vera Chistova, who was 9 years old in 1941, recalled about this: “Dad bought tickets, and my grandmother and I had to leave Yalta on the ship “Armenia.” On the night of November 6, the pier was full of people. First they loaded the wounded, then they let in the civilians. No one checked the tickets, and a stampede began on the ramp. The brave ones climbed onto the ship using the shrouds. In the bustle, suitcases and things were thrown off the board. By dawn the loading was completed. But we never got to “Armenia”. Hundreds of people remained on the pier. My grandmother and I went to my father’s workshop on the embankment. I fell asleep there.” At that moment, those remaining on board the “Armenia” seemed lucky. In fact, everything was exactly the opposite.
How many people were on “Armenia” by that time? According to the most conservative estimates, about 3,000 people. The upper limit is 10,000 people. Most likely, the truth is somewhere in the middle, and there were between 5,500 and 7,000 people on board. And this despite the fact that even in its “passenger” version the ship was designed for only 950 people.

In fact, “Armenia” could have successfully evacuated a similar number of people if it had gone from Yalta to dark time days. But the loading was completed around 7 o'clock in the morning. Going to sea during the day without virtually any cover was tantamount to suicide. Admiral Oktyabrsky later wrote that the captain of the Armenia received a strict order to remain in the port until the evening, but violated it. But captain Plaushevsky, in fact, had no choice. The port of Yalta, unlike Sevastopol, did not have a powerful air defense system, which means that ships here became an excellent target for aviation. In addition, German motorized units were already approaching the city and occupied it in just a few hours. Therefore, at 8 o’clock in the morning on November 7, “Armenia” went to sea. The ship sank in 4 minutes

Before talking about what happened next, it should be noted that historians still have not decided whether “Armenia” can be considered a legitimate military target. According to the laws of war, a medical ship bearing the appropriate identification marks is not one of them. Some argue that “Armenia” was marked with a red cross, which means that the attack on the ship was another crime of the Nazis. Others object: “Armenia” violated its status by having four 45-mm anti-aircraft guns on board. Still others are completely sure that the ship, which was engaged not only in transporting the wounded and refugees, but also military cargo, did not have the signs of a medical ship. As cover, the “Armenia” was accompanied by two patrol boats, and two Soviet I-153 fighters were in the sky.

The circumstances of the fatal attack on the ship are also contradictory. For a long time it was believed that “Armenia” was the victim of an attack by several dozen bombers. One of the surviving passengers, a resident of Yalta Anastasia Popova, spoke about this: “Having gone out to sea, the ship was attacked by enemy aircraft. All hell broke loose. Bomb explosions, panic, people's screams - everything mixed up in an indescribable nightmare. People rushed around the deck, not knowing where to hide from the fire. I jumped into the sea and swam to the shore, losing consciousness. I don’t even remember how I ended up on the shore.” However, today the version that there was only one plane seems more reliable: the German torpedo bomber He-111, which belonged to the first squadron of air group I/KG28. This was not a targeted attack on “Armenia”: the torpedo bomber was looking for any of the Soviet transport ships on the Crimea-Caucasus line. Entering from the shore, the Non-111 dropped two torpedoes. One passed by, and the second hit the bow of the ship at 11:25 a.m. “Armenia” sank in just four minutes. Only eight people on board were saved. The bottom of the Black Sea became the grave for thousands.

Could not find

The mysteries of “Armenia” do not end there. 75 years after the tragedy, the exact location of the ship’s death has not been discovered. The official report on the death of the “Armenia” reads: “At 11:25 a.m. (November 7, 1941) TR “Armenia”, guarded by two patrol boats from Yalta in Tuapse with wounded and passengers, was attacked by an enemy torpedo plane. One of the two dropped torpedoes hit the bow of the ship and at 11:29 am it sank at w = 44 deg. 15 min. 5 sec., d = 34 deg. 17 min. Eight people were saved, about 5,000 people died.” The supposed site of the ship’s sinking was studied several times. In 2006, Robert Ballard, who found the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic, joined the search. In Ukraine it was reported that “Armenia” was about to be found, but this did not happen. No traces of the lost ship were found. There is an assumption that the real place of death of the “Armenia” is not where indicated in the documents. According to this version, Captain Plaushevsky sent the ship not to Tuapse, but to Sevastopol, under the protection of the air defense of the fleet base, but along the way he was attacked by a torpedo bomber.

This, however, is only an assumption, like much else in the history of the death of “Armenia”.
It will be possible to reveal all the secrets only when the ship’s final refuge is found.
The crash, which surpassed the number of victims of the Armenia, occurred at the end of the war. On the night of April 16, 1945, the Soviet submarine L-3 under the command of Vladimir Konovalov torpedoed the fascist transport Goya at the exit from Danzig Bay. Of the more than 7,000 people on board, less than 200 survived.

Andrey Sidorchik

A symbol of large-scale disasters at sea was the death of the passenger liner Titanic, which in April 1912 claimed the lives of about 1,500 people.

In fact, the Titanic is not even among the top thirty maritime disasters with the largest number of casualties. The most terrible tragedies of this kind occurred during the Second World War, when transports with thousands of people, not only military personnel, but also women, old people and children, sank to the bottom.

On November 7, 1941, the Soviet motor ship Armenia, with several thousand people on board, perished in the Black Sea. The tragedy of “Armenia” to this day remains one of the “blank spots” of the Great Patriotic War, since many questions in this story have not been answered.

In the mid-1920s, when the country had recovered slightly from the shock of the Civil War, the government began to think about developing civilian shipbuilding. In 1927, the Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad completed the construction of the motor ship Adzharia, the lead ship of the series of the first Soviet passenger liners. In 1928, at the same Baltic plant, work was completed on five more ships of this project: “Crimea”, “Georgia”, “Abkhazia”, “Ukraine” and “Armenia”.

“Armenia” was a vessel 107.7 meters long, 15.5 meters wide, with a side height of 7.84 meters and a displacement of 5,770 tons. The ship was served by a crew of 96 people. The ship could simultaneously take on board up to 950 passengers.

"Armenia", like other vessels of the project, was intended for transportation between the ports of Crimea and the Caucasus. The ships coped with their task perfectly, having a very decent speed of 14.5 knots for their size.

floating hospital

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, “Armenia” was “called up” for military service. At the Odessa Shipyard, it was urgently converted into a floating hospital, designed to transport and provide emergency care to 400 wounded.

On August 10, 1941, “Armenia” began to fulfill its new duties. The captain of the ship was Vladimir Plaushevsky, a military doctor of 2nd rank was appointed chief physician of the floating hospital Peter Dmitrievsky. Until recently, the head doctor was a civilian and worked in one of the hospitals in Odessa.

The situation at the front was depressing. Five days before the Armenia officially became a medical ship, the enemy came close to Odessa. The ship had to evacuate not only the wounded from the besieged city, but also civilian refugees. Then “Armenia” began transporting the wounded from Sevastopol. By the beginning of October, the ship transported about 15 thousand people to the mainland.

By the end of October 1941, a catastrophic situation had developed in Crimea. Manstein's Eleventh Army, sweeping away Soviet defense lines, occupied one city after another. The threat of the fall of Sevastopol within a few days was more than real.

Under these conditions, on November 4, 1941, “Armenia” left the port of Tuapse in the direction of Sevastopol. On board there were reinforcements for the garrison of the main fleet base. "Armenia" reached Sevastopol safely. November 5 Captain Plaushevsky receives an order: to take on board not only the wounded, but also the personnel of all hospitals and medical institutions of the Black Sea Fleet, as well as part of the medical staff of the Primorsky Army.

Thousands of refugees and secret cargo

Considering that at that moment the battles for Sevastopol were just unfolding, the order looked somewhat strange. Who will save the lives of the wounded?

Historians who have studied this issue believe that the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Filipp Oktyabrsky, considered the fate of the city a foregone conclusion and decided to begin the evacuation.

But on November 7, 1941, Oktyabrsky received a directive from Headquarters, which said: “Do not surrender Sevastopol under any circumstances and defend it with all your might.”

However, before November 7, there were no orders from Moscow, so the “Armenia” took on board evacuated doctors and others. Actors of the local theater named after Lunacharsky, management and staff of the Artek pioneer camp and many others climbed on board.

There were no exact lists of those who boarded the Armenia. Captain Plaushevsky received another order: after loading in Sevastopol, go to Yalta, where to take refugees and local party activists on board. After leaving Sevastopol, an additional order came: to go to Balaklava and pick up a special cargo. The boxes were brought on board accompanied by NKVD officers. Perhaps it was gold or valuables from Crimean museums.

“The brave climbed onto the ship using the shrouds”

Here crowds of refugees were waiting for the ship. This is what I remembered about it Vera Chistova, who was 9 years old in 1941: “Dad bought tickets, and my grandmother and I had to leave Yalta on the ship “Armenia.” On the night of November 6, the pier was full of people. First they loaded the wounded, then they let in the civilians. No one checked the tickets, and a stampede began on the ramp. The brave ones climbed onto the ship using the shrouds. In the bustle, suitcases and things were thrown off the board. By dawn the loading was completed. But we never got to “Armenia”. Hundreds of people remained on the pier. My grandmother and I went to my father’s workshop on the embankment. I fell asleep there."

At that moment, those remaining on board the “Armenia” seemed lucky. In fact, everything was exactly the opposite.

How many people were on “Armenia” by that time? According to the most conservative estimates, about 3,000 people. The upper limit is 10,000 people. Most likely, the truth is somewhere in the middle, and there were between 5,500 and 7,000 people on board. And this despite the fact that even in its “passenger” version the ship was designed for only 950 people.

In fact, “Armenia” could have successfully evacuated a similar number of people if it had departed from Yalta in the dark. But the loading was completed around 7 am.

Going to sea during the day without virtually any cover was tantamount to suicide. Admiral Oktyabrsky later wrote that the captain of the “Armenia” received a strict order to remain in the port until the evening, but violated it.

But Captain Plaushevsky, in fact, had no choice. The port of Yalta, unlike Sevastopol, did not have a powerful air defense system, which means that ships here became an excellent target for aviation. In addition, German motorized units were already approaching the city and occupied it in just a few hours.

The ship sank in 4 minutes

Before talking about what happened next, it should be noted that historians still have not decided whether “Armenia” can be considered a legitimate military target.

According to the laws of war, a medical ship bearing the appropriate identification marks is not one of them. Some argue that “Armenia” was marked with a red cross, which means that the attack on the ship was another crime of the Nazis. Others object: “Armenia” violated its status by having four 45-mm anti-aircraft guns on board. Still others are completely sure that the ship, which was engaged not only in transporting the wounded and refugees, but also military cargo, did not have the signs of a medical ship.

As cover, “Armenia” was accompanied by two patrol boats, and two Soviet I-153 fighters were in the sky.

The circumstances of the fatal attack on the ship are also contradictory. For a long time it was believed that “Armenia” was the victim of an attack by several dozen bombers. One of the surviving passengers, a resident of Yalta, spoke about this Anastasia Popova:“Having set out to sea, the ship was attacked by enemy aircraft. All hell broke loose. Bomb explosions, panic, people screaming - everything was mixed up in an indescribable nightmare. People rushed around the deck, not knowing where to hide from the fire. I jumped into the sea and swam to the shore, losing consciousness. I don’t even remember how I ended up on the shore.”

However, today the version that there was only one plane seems more reliable: the German torpedo bomber He-111, which belonged to the first squadron of air group I/KG28. This was not a targeted attack on "Armenia": the torpedo bomber was looking for any of the Soviet transport ships on the Crimea-Caucasus line.

Entering from the shore, the Non-111 dropped two torpedoes. One passed by, and the second hit the bow of the ship at 11:25 a.m.

"Armenia" sank in just four minutes. Only eight people on board were saved. The bottom of the Black Sea became the grave for thousands.

Chapel in Yalta dedicated to those who died on the ship Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Could not find

The mysteries of “Armenia” do not end there. 75 years after the tragedy, the exact location of the sinking of the ship has not been discovered.

The official report on the death of the “Armenia” reads: “At 11:25 a.m. (November 7, 1941), the TR “Armenia,” guarding two patrol boats from Yalta to Tuapse with the wounded and passengers, was attacked by an enemy torpedo plane. One of the two dropped torpedoes hit the bow of the ship and at 11:29 am it sank at w = 44 deg. 15 min. 5 sec., d = 34 deg. 17 min. Eight people were saved, about 5,000 people died.”

The supposed site of the ship's sinking has been studied several times. In 2006, Robert Ballard, who found the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic, joined the search. In Ukraine it was reported that “Armenia” was about to be found, but this did not happen. No traces of the lost ship were found.

There is an assumption that the real place of death of “Armenia” is not where indicated in the documents. According to this version, Captain Plaushevsky sent the ship not to Tuapse, but to Sevastopol, under the protection of the air defense of the fleet base, but along the way he was attacked by a torpedo bomber.

This, however, is only an assumption, like much else in the history of the death of “Armenia”.

It will be possible to reveal all the secrets only when the ship’s final refuge is found.

The crash, which surpassed the number of victims of the Armenia, occurred at the end of the war. On the night of April 16, 1945, the Soviet submarine L-3 under the command of Vladimir Konovalov torpedoed the fascist transport Goya at the exit from Danzig Bay. Of the more than 7,000 people on board, less than 200 survived.

Seventy years ago, the deadliest maritime disaster in the history of our country occurred in the Black Sea. On November 7, 1941, off the Crimean coast, Nazi aviation sent the ambulance ship "Armenia" to the bottom, on which the wounded, doctors and residents of the city were evacuated from besieged Sevastopol to the Caucasus. No one knows exactly how many people were on board. But According to experts, from 5 to 7 thousand people. 2-3 times more than on the infamous Titanic"! Only a few remained alive.

Official Soviet historiography did everything to hide the details of the terrible tragedy. The ends are hidden in such a way that attempts made in recent years, even with the help of American bathyscaphes and sonar equipment, to find one of the largest underwater mass graves in the world have led nowhere. The skeleton of the huge “Armenia” has not yet been discovered.

What is actually known from official sources? Towards the evening of November 6, 1941, the ambulance transport left Sevastopol for the last time. On board are the wounded, medical personnel and evacuees. Arrived in Yalta to receive passengers there too. The total number of people who found themselves on deck, in the cabins, corridors and holds of the Armenia, according to official data, reached 5,500 people. Everything that happened next looks like the recklessness of the transport commander.

It is unknown why in the morning, almost without cover and with complete air supremacy of Nazi aviation, the overcrowded ship left Yalta and, guarded by one, and according to others, two patrol boats, headed towards the Caucasus. At 11:25 a.m. abeam Gurzuf, the tiny convoy was attacked by the German torpedo bomber Heinkel-111. He dropped two torpedoes, one of which hit the bow of the ship. Just four minutes later—at 11:29 a.m.—the ship, stern up, sank to the bottom. According to some sources, 8 people were saved, according to others - 82 people..

And this is all that is contained in the memoirs of Soviet admirals on this matter. Even in the “Combat Chronicle of the Soviet Navy in 1941-1942,” published in 1983 by the Ministry of Defense on the basis of the archives of the General Staff of the USSR Navy. not a word about the largest naval tragedy of that war. Such blatant brevity requires explanation. I had to turn to the archives.

The motor ship "Armenia" was one of the first-born of Soviet passenger shipbuilding - the so-called "Krymchaks", the construction of which began in 1926. They were named so because they were intended to transport people between the ports of Crimea and the Caucasus. The two-pipe ships turned out to be successful. They were designed for almost a thousand passengers. With a length of 110 meters and a displacement of 5,770 tons, the speed was quite decent - 14.5 knots. In case of disaster there were 16 lifeboats with 48 seats each. Is it surprising that with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, it was the “Krymchaks” who were the first to be handed over to the medical service of the Black Sea Fleet for the evacuation of the wounded?

“Armenia” and its brothers “Georgia”, “Ukraine”, “Adjara” and “Crimea” were turned into floating hospitals by workers of the Odessa ship repair plant. Under the bombs of German aircraft, the partitions of the first-class cabins were hastily broken down to open an operating room and 4 dressing rooms with 11 tables each. It was believed that a maximum of 400 wounded would have to be taken on board. On August 10, 1941, “Armenia” was prepared for war.

It was more difficult with the crew. Experienced Captain Vladimir Plaushevsky dressed in a naval jacket and began to be called the commander of the ambulance transport. Military doctor 2nd rank Pyotr Dmitrievsky became the chief physician of the floating hospital, mobilized from the Odessa railway hospital. Huge red crosses were painted on the upper deck and sides, indicating the exclusively medical purpose of the ship. But since no one had any illusions about the Nazis’ compliance with the civilized rules of warfare even then, anti-aircraft machine guns were installed on the ship, which was painted in a khaki color. Civilian sailors just had no time to learn how to accurately fire them at air targets. The enemy was already at the walls of Odessa, the wounded were flowing into its hospitals and medical battalions. Therefore, the crew of the “Armenia” had to immediately begin evacuating them to the Caucasian ports.

Before its death, ambulance transport managed to transport 15 thousand people from Odessa and Sevastopol to the mainland. His last campaign began in Tuapse in the early morning of November 4, 1941. Having taken on board marching reinforcements for the garrison of Sevastopol, the Armenia, guarded by the destroyer Soobrazitelny, approached the city, the siege of which was just beginning. Moored at Coal Wharf. And suddenly Plaushevsky received an order: way back along with the wounded accept on board all medical facilities of the fleet without exception. What exactly - allow us to clarify the memories of a participant in the defense of Sevastopol Colonel of the Medical Service A.I. Vlasova. Here they are: “On November 5, the head of the Main Base department received orders... to close hospitals and infirmaries. About 300 wounded were loaded onto the "Armenia", medical and economic personnel of the Sevastopol Naval Hospital (the largest in the fleet), led by its chief physician, military doctor 1st rank S.M. Kagan. The heads of departments (with medical staff), X-ray technicians were also located here... The 2nd naval and Nikolaev base hospitals, sanitary warehouse No. 280, sanitary-epidemiological laboratory, 5th medical and sanitary detachment, and a hospital from the Yalta sanatorium were also located here. Some of the medical personnel of the Primorsky and 51st armies, as well as evacuated residents of Sevastopol, were accepted onto the ship».

Just imagine: the enemy is at the gates, since October 29 Sevastopol has been declared in a state of siege, fighting is taking place fifteen kilometers away, and all hospitals and almost all medical personnel are being sent from the city to the rear! I believe there can be only one explanation for this - the command of the Black Sea Fleet in those days did not expect that the main base of the Black Sea Fleet would hold out for at least a few days. I believe that it was precisely this conclusion, which did not fit with the official version of the heroic defense, that throughout the post-war years politicians and history censors tried to bury it under the archival stamps “Top Secret”. So they hid the materials about the death of “Armenia”.

It must be said that there were enough facts for the pessimism of the Black Sea admirals. German 11th Army Colonel General Manstein in a matter of weeks, it gnawed through our thin and ineptly constructed defenses on the narrow Perekop Isthmus and at the end of October burst into steppe Crimea. Confused, Moscow still did not decide who should defend Sevastopol. In the city itself, the garrison consisted of only two marine regiments and a local rifle regiment. On October 30-31, the 8th Marine Brigade was hastily transferred by ship from Novorossiysk to help. But even with it, the number of defenders was only about 20 thousand people. No matter how you arrange them, you won’t be able to fight off Manstein.

Sevastopol was saved, in essence, by chance and military talent Commander of the Primorsky Army General Ivan Petrov. After the Perekop defeat, his army in the Crimean steppes was left to the mercy of fate. There was no communication either with Moscow or with the commander of the Crimean troops, Admiral Gordey Levchenko, with his headquarters, which was retreating to Alushta. There were no contact planes. There wasn’t even an order to retreat to Kerch or Sevastopol? In the small Tatar village of Ekibash, the commanders of the abandoned Primorsky Army gathered for a military council. AND according to their own understanding, they decided that they must save Sevastopol. This largely allowed the city to subsequently become a hero. But the Primorye people still had to get to it.

Eyewitnesses say that their columns, in a forced march along parallel roads, collected dust in a race with Hitler’s. Ours didn't make it in time. The Germans managed to cut the road to Bakhchisarai. The Primorye Army had to take a roundabout, long, but the only free route to the main base of the Black Sea Fleet - to the mountains South Bank Crimea. And the main question became: who will reach Sevastopol first? Primorye or Manstein? Manstein was much closer, and his aircraft did what they wanted in the air.

In such unenviable conditions Fleet Commander Admiral Philip Oktyabrsky had to decide what to do with the city? In any case, there is more than one piece of evidence that, contrary to the official version, he was not preparing for a long defense. Moreover, in early November, when the first salvos thundered on the outskirts of Sevastopol, the fleet commander considered it necessary to urgently go to the Caucasus to check the bases of the squadron being transferred there. It was as if he had never seen these places before.

The commander returned to Sevastopol on the 10th. And before this, it was on November 7 that a categorical directive from the Headquarters came from Moscow, after which it became clear to Oktyabrsky that if he did not save Sevastopol, he would not save himself either. Below is its full text.

DIRECTIVE OF THE Supreme Command Headquarters No. 004433 TO THE COMMANDER OF THE CRIMEA TROOPS, THE BLACK SEA FLEET ON MEASURES TO STRENGTHEN THE DEFENSE OF THE CRIMEA

In order to pin down enemy forces in Crimea and prevent them from entering the Caucasus through the Taman Peninsula, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command orders:

2. Do not surrender Sevastopol under any circumstances and defend it with all your might.

3. Keep all three old cruisers and old destroyers in Sevastopol. From this composition, form a maneuverable detachment for operations in the Gulf of Feodosia to support the troops occupying the Ak-Monai positions.

4.A detachment of the Azov flotilla to support the troops of the Ak-Monai position from the north.

5.Battleships and new cruisers will be based in Novorossiysk, used for operations against the coast occupied by the enemy, and to strengthen a detachment of old ships. Deployment of destroyers at your discretion.

6. Part of the ZA from the abandoned areas will be used to strengthen the air defense of Novorossiysk.

7. Organize and ensure transportation to Sevastopol and Kerch of troops leaving for Yalta, Alushta and Sudak.

8. Leave fighters, attack aircraft and some ICBM aircraft in Sevastopol and Kerch, and use the rest of the aircraft from the airfields of the North Caucasus Military District for night strikes on enemy airfields, bases and troops in Crimea.

9.Evacuate from Sevastopol and Kerch to the Caucasus everything valuable, but not needed for defense.

10. Entrust the leadership of the defense of Sevastopol to the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Comrade Oktyabrsky, subordinating to you. The deputy commander of the Black Sea Fleet will have a naval staff in Tuapse.

11.You are in Kerch.

12.For direct leadership of defense Kerch Peninsula appoint Lieutenant General Batov.

I. STALIN B. SHAPOSHNIKOV N. KUZNETSOV

What was left for Oktyabrsky? Urgently return from the relatively safe Caucasus to besieged Sevastopol. And Admiral Oktyabrsky hastened to lead the battle for his main base.

But the short absence of the fleet commander in the city at the most critical moments gave rise to growing panic. Is it any wonder that a decision was made to urgently load all the fleet’s medical personnel onto the “Armenia”? And many more, even artists from the city theater named after Lunacharsky. Despite the crush on the narrow ramps, the parking of the "Armenia" in Sevastopol was shortened by two hours: from Yalta it was reported that there, along with crowds of wounded and refugees, a large group of party and Soviet workers of the Crimea was awaiting evacuation. I had to go get them too.

Why exactly was the crew of the “Armenia” entrusted with this reckless task? If not for the fatal stop, with its decent speed for a civilian ship, the transport could have safely reached Tuapse overnight: German planes did not fly in the dark. Those who were waiting for rescue on the Yalta piers could have been taken first to Sevastopol, which was only a couple of hours away. There remained an abundance of ships and watercraft for this at the main base. In the end, on the very night when the “Armenia” was losing precious hours while mooring in Yalta, the 7th Marine Brigade departing from Perekop was loaded onto the destroyers “Boikiy” and “Impeccable” quite safely there. The ships took on board about 1,800 soldiers and commanders, part of the military equipment, and left Yalta at 3:40 a.m. At dawn they moored in Sevastopol. However, the point, apparently, is that the evacuation to Sevastopol then seemed to be a salvation for few of the panicked influential leaders. If you tear your claws from the Nazis, then only to the Caucasus!

The motor ship "Armenia" set off to its death at 5 p.m. Almost immediately he came after order from fleet headquarters: make another stop at the Balaklava roadstead and take some cargo from the shore. Who, what, was not stated in the short radiogram. Having stopped the move at Balaklava, Plaushevsky immediately understood why. Boats carrying NKVD workers approached the transport. Wooden boxes were dragged from them onto the deck. According to some researchers, these were valuable exhibits of Crimean museums.

Be that as it may, several more precious hours were lost. As a result The transport arrived in Yalta only at 2 a.m. on November 7. What was waiting for him at the pier? This is recalled by one of those who really wanted to get on the deck of the Armenia, but never managed to do so. As it turned out, to his happiness. Otherwise we would not have read this testimony. Word - E.S. Nikulin: “Since the evening, we still didn’t know anything about the motor ship “Armenia”. At night, at about two o'clock, they woke us up and led us almost in formation down the middle of the street to the port. There was a huge ship in the port. The entire pier and pier are filled with people. We joined this crowd. Boarding the ship was slow; In two hours we moved from the pier to the pier. The crush is incredible! Loading lasted from about two o'clock until seven in the morning. NKVD soldiers with rifles stood across the pier and only women and children were allowed through. Sometimes men broke through the cordon. The weather was stormy and it rained often. A fuel depot began to burn in the city, and huge black clouds of smoke were blown towards the city by the wind.».

The family didn’t make it to “Armenia” either Vera Chistova, who was 9 years old at the time. She recalls: “Dad bought tickets, and my grandmother and I had to leave Yalta on the ship “Armenia”. On the night of November 6, the pier was full of people. First they loaded the wounded, then they let in the civilians. No one checked the tickets, and a stampede began on the ramp. The brave ones climbed onto the ship using the shrouds. In the bustle, suitcases and things were thrown off the board. By dawn the loading was completed. But we never got to “Armenia”. Hundreds of people remained on the pier. My grandmother and I went to my father’s workshop on the embankment. I fell asleep there».

Subsequently, Admiral Oktyabrsky wrote in his diaries that the commander of the Armenia violated his order to wait in Yalta for the night of November 8 in order to protect the ship from air strike. But the experienced captain Plaushevsky was not suicidal. Even without a commander, he knew perfectly well what the morning campaign threatened him with. However, panic reigned in Yalta, there was no power, and Nazi reconnaissance was unhindered towards the city from Alushta, which had been occupied on November 4th.

In addition, carrying out the order of the commander of the Black Sea Fleet meant standing all day in a port that had never had air defense. No one would have stopped the German aviation from bombing a huge stationary target right at the pier.

In a word, Plaushevsky decided not to wait until “Armenia” was drowned right in Yalta. And gave it away mooring lines at 8 a.m. on November 7.

By that time, the Germans had not managed to establish any reconnaissance in the port, and the Heinkels were clearly not hunting for the Armenia. The Germans probably knew that the Black Sea ships were hastily transporting troops of the retreating Primorsky Army from the southern coast of Crimea to Sevastopol. And since the morning of November 7, they were probably hunting for them. And then the almost defenseless “Armenia” turned up... At 11:25 a.m. the ship was attacked by a single German torpedo bomber He-111, belonging to the 1st squadron of air group I/KG28. The plane came in from the shore and dropped two torpedoes from a distance of 600 meters. One passed by, and the second hit the bow of the ship. After 4 minutes, “Armenia” sank to the bottom.

This happened exactly on the 24th anniversary of the October Revolution. A historic military parade has just ended on Red Square in Moscow. They just finished speaking Stalin's words:"The German invaders are straining their last strength. There is no doubt that Germany cannot withstand such tension for long. A few more months, another six months, maybe a year - and Hitler’s Germany should burst under the weight of its crimes.”

Then many chose to forget this mournful episode of the victorious war. It was more convenient that way. It's amazing, but During the Soviet years, no one tried to discover the ship lying on the bottom. The first attempts were made already in independent Ukraine. In 2006, at the request of Kyiv, he joined the work US Institute of Oceanography and Oceanology under the direction of Robert Ballard. The same Billard who found the Titanic, the battleship Bismar and the aircraft carrier Yorktown that perished in the oceans. The expedition, which cost the Americans $2.5 million, passed over the supposed point of death of Soviet transport 27 times! Even 20-centimeter-long shell casings from artillery shells were discovered at a depth of 300 meters. But no traces of “Armenia” were seen.

In 2009, the Ukrainian underwater robot Sophocles was involved in the search work. Just 270 meters from the point indicated on the map, Sophocles discovered an ancient 30-meter sailing ship. But not “Armenia”! However, a 110-meter ambulance is not a needle in a haystack, is it? Even if we imagine that those who believe that “Armenia” was covered with a thick layer of silt are right, such a mass of metal should have produced at least some magnetic disturbances?

What's the matter? In my opinion, there is only one reasonable explanation - we're looking in the wrong place. The location of the tragedy on maps is not accurately recorded. Why not consider a different version? Vladimir Plaushevsky was too experienced a captain not to understand the dangers of sailing throughout the daylight hours along the shores of Nazi-occupied Crimea. The most reasonable thing he could do was to turn to Sevastopol, under the cover of anti-aircraft artillery and fighters from the main fleet base.

Of course, it was, of course, impossible to do this without coordination with the fleet headquarters. But who today will undertake to claim that there was no such agreement? And while there are no traces of such negotiations in archival documents, there are, for example, no traces of an order for Plaushevsky to go to Balaklava. It is not even known who gave this fatal order.

In addition, we now know with what care other leaders “cleansed” our archives of truth that was personally compromising on them. If everything that concerned last flight“Armenia”, it was decided to carefully hide throughout the post-war years, why not, just to be safe, not destroy some materials from the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet?

If so - then after leaving the Yalta port, the Armenia was not supposed to head towards the Caucasus. The course was reversed! It turns out that now we need to look for her not at Gurzuf, but somewhere abeam Cape Sarych. There seems to be some logic to this.

"Armenia" was designed by marine engineers of the Leningrad Central Bureau of Maritime Shipbuilding under the leadership of chief designer J. Koperzhinsky, launched in November 1928 and entered the top six passenger ships The Black Sea, consisting of “Abkhazia”, “Adjara”, “Ukraine”, “Armenia”, “Crimea” and “Georgia”.

Although almost all of these ships were built in Leningrad, at the Baltic Shipyard (only the last two were built in Kiel in Germany), the political leadership of the country decided to express the unbreakable friendship of the young people in the names of the ships. Soviet republics, which was inscribed on the high sides of these beauties, which Odessa residents christened in their own way, calling them “trotters” for their speed.

As for the "Armenia", it had a cruising range of 4600 miles, could carry 518 passengers in class cabins, 125 "seated" and 317 deck passengers, as well as up to 1000 tons of cargo, while developing maximum speed 14.5 knots (about 27 km/h). All these ships began to serve the “express line” Odessa - Batumi - Odessa, regularly transporting thousands of passengers until 1941...

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the fate of the Black Sea “trotters” changed dramatically. The "Armenia" was urgently converted into a medical transport ship: the 1st and 2nd class restaurants were turned into operating rooms and dressing rooms, the smoking lounge was turned into a pharmacy, and additional hanging beds were installed in the cabins.

39-year-old Vladimir Yakovlevich Plaushevsky was appointed captain of “Armenia”, Nikolai Fadeevich Znayunenko was appointed chief mate. The ship's crew consisted of 96 people, plus 9 doctors, 29 nurses and 75 orderlies. The head physician of the Odessa railway hospital, whom many in the city knew well, Pyotr Andreevich Dmitrievsky, was appointed head of the medical staff with the rank of military doctor 2nd rank...

The laconic, self-possessed, always smart captain of “Armenia” Plaushevsky quickly gained authority, and all his orders and commands were carried out immediately.

Huge crosses, clearly visible from the air, were painted on the sides and deck in bright red paint. A large white flag also with the image of the International Red Cross was raised on the mainmast. Looking at him, Plaushevsky quietly said to the senior mate:

I don’t think that the Wehrmacht will strictly comply with the provisions of the Hague and Geneva Conventions. The Germans have traditionally not been particularly merciful in wars...

His words turned out to be prophetic. From the first days of the war, Goering's aircraft carried out raids on hospital ships in the Black Sea. In July 1941, the ambulance transports “Kotovsky” and “Anton Chekhov” were damaged, and the “Adzharistan” (“Adzharia”), attacked by dive bombers, completely engulfed in flames, ran aground near Dofinovka in full view of Odessa. In August, the same fate befell the Kuban ship.

Pressed by the enemy, the Red Army suffered heavy losses in heavy battles. There were a lot of wounded... Day and night, in any bad weather, the medical staff worked until exhaustion on board the Armenia. Operations, operations and endless dressings. There were wounded everywhere. There were especially many seriously wounded. Loud groans were heard on all decks, and people were tormented by thirst. Many women cared for the wounded.

Captain Plaushevsky slept in fits and starts, without leaving the captain's bridge for many hours. He managed to make fifteen incredibly difficult and dangerous voyages with wounded defenders of Odessa and transport about 16 thousand people, whom the crew members placed in their cabins with the tacit consent of the captain, his assistants and the boatswain himself. Thanks to them, many refugees, who at that time were called “evacuees”, were saved...

The pilot and writer Saint-Exupery, who died during the war, said: “War is something that can take so much meat from a person’s face that he will forever be deprived of the opportunity to smile at people.”

Yes, there is a lot of mystery in the circumstances of the death of “Armenia”. In addition to searching the archives, we also had to interview witnesses to that terrible tragedy, of whom, alas, there are very few left!

The book “Chronicle of the Great Patriotic War...” says that the “Armenia”, as well as the “Kuban” and the training ship “Dnepr”, made their voyages from Odessa accompanied by the destroyer “Besposhchadny”, which undoubtedly saved these ships from the daring attacks of the German aviation.

The offensive of Manstein’s 2nd Army on the Crimea was rapid, to which the command of the Black Sea Fleet, including Vice Admiral F.S. Oktyabrsky were not ready. All fleet exercises before the war boiled down to the “destruction” of large amphibious assault forces and military campaigns of ships of the Black Sea Fleet. It never occurred to anyone that Sevastopol would have to be defended from the land side...

In October and November 1941, confusion reigned everywhere. Everything that was needed and not needed was hastily evacuated from Sevastopol. The hospitals equipped in the adits and the city itself were filled with wounded, but someone gave the order to urgently evacuate all medical staff. They tried to evacuate even the well-equipped and fortified fleet command post. Only the energetic intervention of the newly arrived Deputy for Ground Defense, Major General I.E. Petrov put an end to the terrible confusion. The legendary 30th battery of Georgy Alexander began to operate successfully, piercing both sides of German tanks with huge shells and smashing motorized infantry with shrapnel. Fierce battles broke out on the approaches to Sevastopol...

Thanks to the documents found and eyewitness testimony, it was possible to reconstruct many of the events preceding the “Armenia”’s exit to the sea from Sevastopol Bay on November 6, 1941.

The ship was stationed in the internal roadstead and hastily took on board numerous wounded and evacuated citizens. The situation was extremely nervous. An enemy air raid could begin at any moment. The bulk of the fleet's warships, on Oktyabrsky's orders, went to sea, including the cruiser Molotov, which had the only shipborne radar station in the fleet, Redut-K.

In addition to the "Armenia", another former "trotter" - the motor ship "Bialystok" - was loading in Quarantine Bay, and equipment and people were loaded onto the transport "Crimea" at the Morzavod pier. Loading continued continuously day and night.

Noteworthy is the great variety of all kinds of orders given in the most categorical and intimidating form, in which, in case of non-compliance, there was a promise of severe punishment “up to and including execution”. There were especially many such orders after the state of siege was introduced in Sevastopol on October 29. Both the residents of Sevastopol and the German command knew well that there were no Red Army units on the approaches to the city. Therefore, Manstein gave the order to the 54th Army Corps and a motorized brigade to capture Sevastopol on the move. This did not happen only because the commander of the Primorsky Army, Major General I.E. Petrov (historians would later call him “the second Georgy Zhukov”) managed to make a difficult transition through the mountains, reach Sevastopol, organize a strong defense and save the city. The massive display of heroism by the defenders of this “southern Kronstadt” was also important...

But then, on the eve of death, being on board the “Armenia” and receiving reports from assistants on the progress of loading, Captain Plaushevsky looked at the sky with alarm. He was given orders to leave Sevastopol on November 6 at 19:00 and proceed to Tuapse. Only a small sea hunter with tail number “041” under the command of Senior Lieutenant P.A. was allocated for escort. Kulashova.

Colonel of the medical service M. Shapunov testifies:

“On November 5, an order followed for all naval medical organizations to fold and evacuate. What prompted this strict order? After all, the defense of Sevastopol has just begun (and will last 250 days)...".

Colonel of the medical service A.I., a participant in the defense of Sevastopol, testifies. Vlasov:

“On November 5, the head of the Main Base department received orders... to close hospitals and infirmaries. About 300 wounded were loaded onto the "Armenia", medical and economic personnel of the Sevastopol Naval Hospital (the largest in the fleet), led by its chief physician, military doctor 1st rank S.M. Kagan. The heads of departments (with medical staff), X-ray technicians were also located here... The 2nd naval and Nikolaev base hospitals, sanitary warehouse No. 280, sanitary-epidemiological laboratory, 5th medical-sanitary detachment, hospital from the Yalta sanatorium were also located here. Some of the medical personnel of the Primorsky and 51st armies, as well as evacuated residents of Sevastopol, were accepted onto the ship...”

Captain Plaushevsky knew that in the absence of security, only a dark night could ensure secrecy of navigation and would not allow enemy aircraft to attack the Armenia. Imagine his surprise and annoyance when he was given an order from the Military Council of the Fleet to leave Sevastopol not in the evening twilight, but two hours earlier, that is, at 17:00, during daylight hours!

Such an order promised death, and some historians were inclined to believe that it came from the depths of the Abwehr of Admiral Canaris, from his special services involved in “misinformation.”

Colonel I.M. testifies Velichenko, a former covert communications specialist under the commander of the Black Sea Fleet:

“On that day, through unsatisfactory wire communications from Yalta, Rear Admiral N.M. was informed. Kulakov that a large group of leading workers and party activists had gathered in the city, who had nothing to evacuate... the choice fell on “Armenia”, and it went to its death...” However, “Armenia” managed to slip into Yalta.

But here's the mystery. "Armenia", leaving Sevastopol at 17 o'clock, moored in Yalta only 9 hours later (?!), that is, about 2 o'clock in the morning. It turns out that on the way there was a new order to make a stop at Balaklava and pick up NKVD workers, the wounded and medical personnel there, because the Germans continued to advance.

In fact, the situation was not so threatening, and people could have been picked up by other ships. Captain Plaushevsky understood perfectly well that such precious night time was being reduced inexorably, and nevertheless could not ignore the new “killer” order!

The sea was stormy and there were ragged low clouds in the sky. "Armenia", having moored, immediately began loading people, a great many of whom had gathered at the pier.

There is confusion in Yalta itself. There are no police. Massandra wines were released through pipes into the sea. Someone is robbing shops and warehouses. All the streets and alleys facing the embankment are blocked by parapets made from bags of pebbles and sand, which is not at all in harmony with the evergreen palm trees...

Captain Plaushevsky was informed that “Partaktiv”, NKVD workers and eleven more hospitals with wounded were awaiting loading in Yalta.

Volunteer E.S. testifies. Nikulin:

“Since the evening, we still didn’t know anything about the motor ship “Armenia”. At night, at about two o'clock, they woke us up and led us almost in formation down the middle of the street to the port. There was a huge ship in the port.

The entire pier and pier are filled with people. We joined this crowd. Boarding the ship was slow; In two hours we moved from the pier to the pier. The crush is incredible! Loading lasted from about two o'clock until seven in the morning (that is, all the precious night time. - S.S.). NKVD soldiers with rifles stood across the pier and only women and children were allowed through. Sometimes men broke through the cordon. The weather was stormy and it rained often. The full moon peeked through the gaps in the black, quickly rushing clouds. Waves rolled over the pier. A fuel warehouse in the city began to burn, and huge black clouds of smoke were blown toward the city by the wind. Dawn was coming..."

From the notes of Admiral F.S. Oktyabrsky: “When I learned that the transport “Armenia” was going to leave Yalta during the day, I myself personally conveyed the order to the commander in no case to leave Yalta until 19.00, that is, until dark. We did not have the means to provide good transport cover from the air and sea.

The communication worked reliably, the commander received the order and, despite this, left Yalta. At 11.00 she was attacked by torpedo planes and sunk. After the torpedo hit, “Armenia” was afloat for four minutes.”

The lack of documents destroyed in 1949 and later casts a shadow on Admiral F.S. Oktyabrsky, because any historian can suspect that the admiral is looking for an excuse retroactively, years after the terrible tragedy. However, it must be admitted that he, as the commander of the fleet, knew the operational situation in the theater, knew where the "Armenia" was located, knew the time when she left the pier, crowded with people, he also knew that with the dominance of German aviation in the air "Armenia", deprived of security, is an ideal target for torpedo bombers and dive bombers. Therefore, it is very likely that he actually conveyed the order, and even a very strict one, “to wait for the night,” to Captain Plaushevsky, but some ominous event occurred on the “Armenia” that forced the captain to violate Oktyabrsky’s order. This is another mystery about the death of the ship...

Let's explore the events and go back. It is reliably known that the initial order to Captain Plaushevsky was clearly formulated: to pick up the wounded and medical personnel and proceed from Sevastopol to Tuapse at night.

Then came an urgent order, which arose under the powerful pressure of the NKVD (as testified by Colonel I.M. Velichenko and N.S. Malinovskaya, a former employee of the Yalta department of the NKVD, a deputy of the City Council): to go to Yalta to save the party activists and the wounded. The departure time of the ship from Sevastopol has been changed to two hours.

The third order, transmitted to Captain Plaushevsky, forced him, without entering Balaklava Bay, to also pick up representatives of local authorities and the wounded. People were loaded from fishing longboats and boats (testimony of the same N.S. Malinovskaya).

The fourth order, transmitted to the captain of the “Armenia” early in the morning by F.S. October 7, ordered to leave Yalta no earlier than 19 hours, turned out to be strangely violated, and the captain set sail without security to meet his death.

Let us turn to the testimony of the boat from the sea hunter MO-04 M.M. Yakovleva.

“On November 7, at about 10 o’clock in the morning, in the area of ​​​​Cape Sarych, a German reconnaissance aircraft flew over us, and after a short time over the water, at low level, almost touching the crests of the waves (the weather was stormy, and we were thoroughly chattered), they entered our area two enemy torpedo bombers. One of them began to make a turn for a torpedo attack, and the second went towards Yalta. We could not open fire, since the boat's roll reached 45 degrees. The torpedo bomber dropped two torpedoes, but missed, and they exploded in the coastal rocks of Cape Aya. We were amazed by the power of the explosion - we had never seen a more powerful one before, and almost everyone said at once that if the second torpedo bomber hits Armenia, then it will be in trouble... And so it happened.”

After the torpedoing, "Armenia" was afloat for four minutes. Only a few people survived, including Sergeant Major Bocharov and serviceman I.A. Burmistrov. The commander of the sea hunter, Senior Lieutenant P.A., also saw the death of the ship. Kulashov.

An attempt to find other witnesses to the tragedy through inquiries and correspondence with Odessa was also unsuccessful. Ukraine shamelessly illustrates all letters, and they arrive with traces of opening and a dirty stamp: “The letter arrived with traces of glue on the envelope.”

Through German veterans, they tried to find the crew of the torpedo bomber that attacked the “Armenia” in order to clarify the details and coordinates of the death of the ship, since German archives are famous for the high safety of documents. The answer came unexpectedly: “The Luftwaffe archive was taken to the USSR.”

The name of captain Vladimir Yakovlevich Plaushevsky is engraved on the tablets of the Walk of Fame in Odessa, near the tomb of the Unknown Sailor, as are the names of the captains of other “trotters” who found eternal rest at the bottom of the Black Sea. Eternal glory to them!

Today, in addition to two holiday dates associated with the October Revolution and the 1941 parade, there is another gloomy anniversary. 75 years ago, as a result of an attack by German torpedo bombers Heinkel-111, the motor ship "Armenia" was sunk, on board of which, according to various estimates, there were from 4 to 7 thousand people, mostly wounded evacuees from Crimea and doctors from Sevastopol hospitals. Only 8 people were saved. To this day, there is no complete clarity about how many people died there, why the captain of the ship, despite the order, went to sea, and where exactly the ship was sunk. But these are rather historical particulars that do not negate the fact of the large-scale tragedy with which 1941 was so rich.

THE BIGGEST MARINE TRAGEDY OF THE SECOND WORLD: JAVAD STAYED WITH THEM

When you look at old documents and photographs from the war period of 1941-1945. always want to know more about the people they are associated with. You start looking for relevant information - and the glorious and tragic pages of our history literally come to life before your eyes.

The young man in the photo is Muratkhanov Javad Feyzulla oglu.

He was born in 1914. in Salyan. The Muratkhanov family was famous in this city - Javad's grandfather was a local bailiff. Soon the family moved to Baku and Javad grew up in Icheri Sheher, on the famous Malaya Fortress street. He was fascinated by medicine and after school he graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Azerbaijan State Medical Institute. Then he worked in one of the Baku pharmacies on Bailovo. I just didn’t have time to start a family. The war came and Javad left to defend his homeland. The family knew that Javad, as a military feldsher-pharmacist, was in the ranks of the 8th separate medical battalion of the Black Sea Fleet. His letter home has also been preserved, where the young man asks not to worry about him and not to send him money.

A regular letter mentioning all the people close to his heart.

And in January 1942 Through the Voroshilovsky District Military Commissariat of Baku, Javad's father received a “funeral certificate” for his son, signed by the military commissar of the medical and sanitary department of the Black Sea Fleet - “In the fight against German fascism, he died at sea on November 7, 1941.”

And that’s all - nothing was known about any circumstances surrounding the death of military paramedic Muratkhanov. These documents were kindly provided to us by Javad Muratkhanov’s niece, Gulnara Khanum Radzhabova, the daughter of Javad’s sister Lumi Khanum Muratkhanova-Amrakhova. This is the same sister Lumi that Javad recalls in his letter. Thanks to information from the Memorial electronic database, we were able to find out where, how and under what circumstances Javad’s life ended that day.
He died in a sea disaster equal to the disaster of five (!) Titanics, when on November 7, 1941. The ambulance transport "Armenia", on board which was military paramedic Muratkhanov, was sunk as a result of a torpedo attack by German aircraft at the exit from Yalta.

Registration card of Javad Muratkhanov, stored in TsAMO USSR

Photo of transport "Armenia"

This was a little-known and perhaps the most tragic episode of that war at sea. Transport "Armenia" evacuated the wounded and refugees from Yalta when German troops were already approaching the city and was attacked by a fascist torpedo bomber abeam Gurzuf in the area of ​​Mount Ayu-Dag. As a result of a direct hit by a torpedo, the ship broke and sank. Almost all 7,000 people on board were killed. The death of the transport "Armenia" on November 7, 1941 is one of the most tragic cases of the death of passenger ships. For comparison, we can mention the disaster of the Titanic - 1503 dead, the death of the torpedoed Lusitania - 1198 dead.

"Armenia" on the slipway of a shipyard.

Official information about the death of “Armenia” is very scarce. More interesting information gives a “Final report on the combat activities of the Black Sea Fleet in the Second World War of 1941 - 1945.” The third volume of this closed document of the operational department of the Black Sea Fleet headquarters reports that “on November 7, 1941, on the ambulance transport “Armenia” the following were completely lost: “Sevastopol Naval Hospital” with 700 beds, the Black Sea Fleet naval hospital and its property, the 5th medical sanitary detachment, base hospital, and so on... the number of dead was about 7,000 people, 8 people were saved. After the death of “Armenia”, the Black Sea Fleet was left without medical support, and it was necessary to create the main hospital of the Black Sea Fleet No. 40, basic hospitals, calling in doctors from the reserve. Loading the entire staff of several medical and sanitary institutions onto one medical transport was a grave mistake."

The commander of the ship was Lieutenant Commander V.Ya. Plaushevsky. The ship's standard evacuation capacity was 400 people; there was one operating room and 4 dressing rooms with 11 tables. The ship's medical staff: 9 doctors, 29 nurses and 75 orderlies.
Among the members of the medical staff, in addition to Javad Muratkhanov, there were several more of our fellow countrymen:
Akhundov D.A. 3rd rank military doctor - surgeon;
Mamedova A.Kh. - pharmacist
Akhundova Sharifa - dentist
In total, before its death, the Armenia managed to make 15 evacuation flights (mostly from Odessa and Sevastopol) and delivered more than 15,000 people to the Caucasus (an average of 1,000 people per flight).
The ship was not so large (with a displacement of 6,700 tons), and was designed to transport 980 people. But that day, people literally packed into “Armenia” like sardines in a barrel. Eyewitnesses recall that the passengers stood on the deck, huddled closely together.
At the end of October - November, panic reigned in Sevastopol. On the morning of November 6, boarding began on the motor ship "Armenia" in Sevastopol. It housed several hundred wounded soldiers, as well as evacuated citizens. Loading was in complete disarray; not only did no one register the last names of those boarding the ship, their number was not even known exactly. The ship then headed to Yalta, where it took on even more evacuees.

While staying in Yalta, an order was received from the fleet commander that, due to the lack of air cover, the departure of the "Armenia" from the port was prohibited until 19:00, that is, until darkness fell. The transport commander Plaushevsky received the order, but at 8.00 on November 7 he took the ship out of Yalta. At sea, the Armenia was accompanied by two patrol boats (a total of four 45-mm cannons), and two I-153 Chaika fighters patrolled in the air at an altitude of 500 m.

At 11:25 a.m., the ship was attacked by a single German torpedo bomber He-111, belonging to the 1st squadron of air group I/KG28. The plane came in from the shore and dropped two torpedoes from a distance of 600 m. One passed by, and the second hit the bow of the ship. The explosion tore apart the space in the middle of the ship. The ship was divided into compartments so the ship could remain afloat. But the hatches between the compartments seemed to have been opened - the ship was overcrowded with wounded, and good ventilation had to be provided for them. Only this can explain the fact that just four minutes after the explosion, the Armenia sank. 7 thousand people died. After dropping the torpedoes, the He-111 went into the clouds and disappeared. The covering fighters did not even have time to react to what was happening.

Only eight were saved - they were picked up by a small patrol boat accompanying the Armenia. There was not a single doctor among the survivors - they died along with their patients. On the "Armenia" there were only seriously wounded soldiers who could not move independently. The walking wounded were then evacuated through the narrow Kerch Strait. The death of the "Armenia" became the largest tragedy at sea during the Second World War on the part of the anti-Hitler coalition.
Perhaps military paramedic Javad Muratkhanov could have been saved, but as a medic, a soldier and just a man, he chose not to abandon the wounded. He probably also thought - what will I tell our guys from Malaya Krepostnaya?

The sinking of the motor ship "Armenia".

Technical data of the passenger ship "Armenia":

Length - 112.1 m;
Width - 15.5 m;
Side height - 7.7 m;
Displacement - 5770 tons;
Power plant - two diesel engines with a capacity of 4000 hp. With.;
Speed ​​- 14.5 knots (about 27 km/h);
Number of passengers - up to 980 people;
Crew - 96 people;

The official information about the sinking of the motor ship "Armenia" is as follows:

"At 11:25 am (November 7, 1941) TR "Armenia", guarding two patrol boats from Yalta to Tuapse with the wounded and passengers, was attacked by an enemy torpedo plane. One of the two torpedoes dropped hit the bow ship and at 11:29 am it sank at w = 44 deg. 15 min. 5 sec., d = 34 deg. 17 min. Eight people were saved, about 5,000 people died."

There is also an approximate schematic map in accordance with the indicated coordinates:

In 2006, at the request of the Ukrainian side, the US Institute of Oceanography and Oceanology, led by Robert Ballard, joined the work. The Americans found many interesting objects in the supposed area of ​​the ship's sinking, but the Armenia was never found. Robert Ballard is a well-known figure in world marine archeology, director of the Institute of Oceanography of the State of Massachusetts, USA. The man who found the Titanic, the battleship Bismarck, and the aircraft carrier Yorktown. Having received information about "Armenia", he suspended the search for Atlantis on the island of Santorini and went to the Black Sea on his research vessel "Endever", equipped with modern sonars and remote-controlled robots. The expedition cost the American side $2.5 million.
So, “Armenia” was not found. Were you looking there? What do we know?

"Only at 08:00 on November 7, 1941, the medical ship was able to leave and head for Tuapse,..."
“Only at 8 o’clock in the morning did the ship stop loading and the commander of the Armenia, Captain 3rd Rank V.Ya. Plaushevsky, ordered the mooring lines to be given up.”

That is, the “Armenia” went to sea at 08:00 on November 7, 1941 from Yalta. What's next? What do eyewitnesses say?
Let us turn to the testimony of the boat from the sea hunter MO-04 M.M. Yakovleva.

“On November 7, at about 10 o’clock in the morning, in the area of ​​​​Cape Sarych, a German reconnaissance aircraft flew over us, and after a short time over the water, at low level, almost touching the crests of the waves (the weather was stormy, and we were thoroughly chattered), they entered our area two enemy torpedo bombers. One of them began to turn for a torpedo attack, and the second went towards Yalta. We could not open fire, since the boat’s roll reached 45 degrees, but missed, and they exploded in the coastal rocks of the cape. Aya. We were amazed by the power of the explosion - we had never seen a more powerful one before, and almost everyone said at once that if the second torpedo bomber hits “Armenia”, then it will be in trouble... And so it happened.”

On the “Tsushima” forum http://wap.tsushima4.borda.ru/?1-9-0-00000001-000-0-0 there is a slightly different quote from M.M. Yakovlev’s memoirs (or its retelling?):

“Further, the recollections of the boat from MO-04 M. M. Yakovlev: “On November 7 at 10 o’clock in the morning, on the way to Tuapse, the ship was attacked by two Heinkel-111s in the area of ​​​​Cape Sarych. The MO could not fire, the sea was very fresh, the list reached 45 degrees. We approached the "Armenia" from two sides: one He-111 from the direction of Yalta, and the other from the sea. The first torpedo bomber missed. The second one hit. In about four minutes the ship sank under water. “Only 8 people survived.”

In both versions Cape Sarych appears. Cape Sarych is located about 40 kilometers from Yalta - if you measure the distance by land, and about 50-55 kilometers if you go by sea. In two hours at full speed (2 hours x 27 km/h = 54 km), “Armenia” could well have reached Cape Sarych. Only Cape Sarych is located WEST of Yalta! And “Armenia should have gone EAST - to Tuapse or Novorossiysk. Or should it not? Following Cape Sarych, M.M. Yakovlev mentions Cape Aya, which is located EVEN WEST of Yalta! It was on its rocks that the torpedoes of the first torpedo bomber exploded. On the torpedo bombers type "He-111" torpedoes of the "F 5w" type with a caliber of 450 mm were used. Their warhead included 170 kilograms of explosives. The range was 3000 meters. In order for such a torpedo to hit the rocks at Cape Aya, "Armenia" had to. be between the torpedo release point and Cape Aya. In this case, the torpedo release point should not be further than 3000 meters from the cape, otherwise the torpedo will sink before reaching it.
That is, “Armenia” should be approximately 2500-2000 meters from Cape Aya.

What's next? If you believe the quote from the Tsushima forum, then the second torpedo bomber attacked almost immediately after the first, or simultaneously with it. If so then
"Armenia" sank in the Laspi area. About 2-3 kilometers from the coast.

What if not?

Commanding Black Sea Fleet Admiral F.S. Oktyabrsky:

“When I learned that the transport was going to leave Yalta during the day, I personally conveyed the order to the commander, under no circumstances should you leave Yalta before 19.00, that is, until dark. We did not have the means to provide good air and sea cover for the transport. The communication worked reliably, the commander received the order and, despite this, left Yalta at 08.00. At 11.00, he was attacked by torpedo bombers and sunk after being hit by a torpedo. "Armenia" was afloat for four minutes.

At 11-00, if we assume that after 10-00 "Armenia" was moving from Yalta at the same speed of 14 knots, it should have been in the area of ​​Cape Fiolent, or somewhat to the north-west.
And finally, 11-25. At the same speed of 14 knots, we get the place of death of the “Armenia” approximately in the area of ​​​​Cape Chersonesus (to the north, west or south).
Thus, we have three possible places for the death of “Armenia”. All of them are located WEST OF YALTA AND CAPE SARYCH. That is, absolutely not where Robert Ballard was looking.
Why did "Armenia" end up on its way to Sevastopol, and not to Tuapse? Most likely, its captain received an order from the series “smoke up, roll out dumplings” - to return the staff of Sevastopol hospitals back. Most likely in compliance with the following directive:

"DIRECTIVE OF THE Supreme High Command Headquarters N 004433 TO THE COMMANDER OF THE CRIMEA TROOPS, THE BLACK SEA FLEET ON MEASURES TO STRENGTHEN THE DEFENSE OF THE CRIMEA

Copy: People's Commissar Navy. November 7, 1941 02 h 00 min
In order to pin down enemy forces in Crimea and prevent them from entering the Caucasus through the Taman Peninsula, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command orders:

1. The main task of the Black Sea Fleet is the active defense of Sevastopol and the Kerch Peninsula with all its forces.
2. Do not surrender Sevastopol under any circumstances and defend it with all your might.
3. Keep all three old cruisers and old destroyers in Sevastopol. From this composition, form a maneuverable detachment for operations in the Gulf of Feodosia to support the troops occupying the Ak-Monai positions.
4.A detachment of the Azov flotilla to support the troops of the Ak-Monai position from the north.
5.Battleships and new cruisers will be based in Novorossiysk, used for operations against the coast occupied by the enemy, and to strengthen a detachment of old ships. Deployment of destroyers at your discretion.
6. Part of the ZA from the abandoned areas will be used to strengthen the air defense of Novorossiysk.
7. Organize and ensure transportation to Sevastopol and Kerch of troops leaving for Yalta, Alushta and Sudak.
8. Leave fighters, attack aircraft and some ICBM aircraft in Sevastopol and Kerch, and use the rest of the aircraft from the airfields of the North Caucasus Military District for night strikes on enemy airfields, bases and troops in Crimea.
9.Evacuate from Sevastopol and Kerch to the Caucasus everything valuable, but not needed for defense.
10. Entrust the leadership of the defense of Sevastopol to the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Comrade Oktyabrsky, subordinating to you. The deputy commander of the Black Sea Fleet will have a naval staff in Tuapse.
11.You are in Kerch.
12. To directly lead the defense of the Kerch Peninsula, appoint Lieutenant General Batov.

I. STALIN B. SHAPOSHNIKOV N. KUZNETSOV"

There are no other logical explanations for the return of “Armenia”. All sorts of versions about “gold in bullion”, “NKVD employees” - for the orphaned and wretched, who were undertreated with haloperidol, or were released from “House-2” for exemplary idiotic behavior.
Since “Armenia” did not reach Sevastopol, the order was “healed.” Or maybe it wasn’t in written form. Quite often, oral orders are given, and in the event of the death of the person receiving the oral order, the one who gave the order may not admit that such an order was given. Especially if there are people who persistently ask questions.

One way or another, Laspi, Fiolent, and Kazachka - three famous beaches of Crimea - can, in fact, be the outskirts of a mass grave for several thousand people. However, both Kazachka and Fiolent are already such - if you remember last days defense of Sevastopol in July 1942. In this regard, much more ethical, although less safe in sanitary terms, are the city beaches located inside the Sevastopol Bay. But the topic of beaches is not the topic of this article; it just so happens that the place of death of the “Armenia” is most likely located not far from the coast.

How can we explain the small number of those saved? Wind from the coast towards the sea and minefields, cold water (November 7) and high seas ("...the roll of the boat reached 45 degrees..."). How to explain the rapid time of sinking of the ship - 4 minutes? Its design. Large quantity passenger cabins along the entire side of the ship, provides for the presence of long corridors along the entire ship. Taking into account the rough seas, as well as the fact that German torpedoes often did not maintain depth and jumped to the surface, the hole from the torpedo could be at or above the waterline, which contributed not only to the flooding of the bow holds, but to the rapid spread of water throughout the ship. The overload of passengers several times higher than normal certainly created difficulties for the crew when fighting for survivability.
Should we continue to search for "Armenia" or should the exact location of her death continue to remain unknown? This is more a matter of politics than ethics. If we still want to turn into ruminant rednecks, eating popcorn and contemplating the next “Superman” in tight blue tights, there is no point in looking for the lost ship. If our history is important to us and we value it, “Armenia” must be found.