Original taken from navy_chf in Forgotten Heroes (part two). Linear icebreaker "Anastas Mikoyan".

Beginning: Forgotten heroes (part one).

The dark night came on November 30th. The windlass quietly started working, and the anchor-chain slowly crawled into the hawse, and the icebreaker began to slowly move forward. As soon as the anchor came off the ground, Sergeev gave a “low speed”. In the night, the Mikoyan glided away from the shore like a silent shadow. Having entered the fairway, the commander gave “full speed”. In order not to run into boats floating without any lights or any floating object in the dark, Sergeev ordered additional observers to be placed on the bow and along the sides. In the darkness, the smoke pouring out of the chimneys was not particularly noticeable. Moreover, the stokers tried their best - not a single spark flew out of the pipes. Fortunately, it soon began to drizzle. Half an hour later Istanbul was left behind.

CM. Sergeev, commander of the icebreaker "A. Mikoyan".

In pitch darkness, without lights, we passed the Sea of ​​Marmara and approached the gorge of the Dardanelles Strait. The strait is winding and narrow, making navigation quite difficult. Experienced pilots navigated ships here even during the day with great care. And the icebreaker sailed without a pilot at all. In the middle of the strait, near Canakkale, navigation conditions are extremely difficult, especially at night - here the strait sharply narrows to 7 cable lengths and makes two sharp turns. In the most dangerous place, captain-mentor I.A. Boev took the helm and successfully navigated the icebreaker. We walked further, sticking to the European coast.
We went out into the Aegean Sea. "Mikoyan" rushed south at full speed. In the morning, almost as close as the depth allowed, we pressed against the rocks of a small, deserted island in the Gulf of Edremit. The boilers were turned off so as not to give themselves away from the smoke from the chimneys. From the icebreaker, the island of Lesbos with the Italian naval base of Mytilene located on it was visible. The day passed in anxious anticipation, but no one appeared nearby, only the flashing silhouettes of ships were noticed several times far on the horizon. Everything went well.
As soon as it got dark, the Mikoyan set off. Ahead lay the islands of the Greek Archipelago. S.M. Sergeev immediately took the icebreaker away from the once “knurled” route, usual in peacetime, and led it along the route developed in Istanbul. We walked without running lights, trying to stay close to the Turkish shores, winding between mountainous islands, every minute risking in the dark, on an unfamiliar fairway, running into an underwater rock or a mine. External surveillance was intensified: “lookouts” kept watch on the forecastle, and signalmen were in the “crow’s nest.” We walked by dead reckoning, although the inclement weather helped us to remain unnoticed, but hid our landmarks. As soon as it began to get light, we hid in a wide crevice of a rocky island. In preparation for battle, craftsmen prepared weapons in the ship's workshop - they forged several dozen pikes and other bladed weapons. The radio operators constantly listened to the airwaves to see if there was any alarm. Another day passed in tense anticipation.
As darkness fell, the icebreaker continued its journey in the darkness of the night. Near the island of Samos, the Mikoyan passed literally under the noses of Italian patrol ships, which illuminated the sea with searchlights. Only fresh weather, slanting rain and poor visibility helped our sailors. We safely passed just two miles from the enemy naval base. We stopped for a day, squeezing ourselves into a gap between the rocks of two deserted islands. There was no doubt that the enemy was looking for the missing icebreaker; the sailors were preparing for the worst.
On previous nights, our sailors were lucky, the weather was inclement, and the Aegean Sea was controlled by the Italians, not the Germans, and there were no locators. Therefore, the icebreaker, not surprisingly, remained undetected. But on the third night in the evening it settled down surprisingly clear weather, full moon shining in the night sky. And ahead was the island of Rhodes, on which the main Italian naval base in this area of ​​the Mediterranean was located. German aircraft were also based here, bombing the Suez Canal and British bases and ports. This was the most dangerous place.
On December 3, the icebreaker carefully left its shelter and rushed at full speed to break through. Hostile Rhodes was approaching. “A. Mikoyan” entered the strait between the Turkish coast and the island of Rhodes and headed towards the small island of Kastellorizo, beyond which the expanses of the Mediterranean Sea opened up.
First a small schooner appeared and sailed nearby for some time, then turned aside and disappeared. Soon a reconnaissance plane appeared, circled the icebreaker several times and flew over it, the pilot apparently looked out and determined whether there were weapons, and flew off towards the island.
It became clear that “Mikoyan” had been discovered and identified. The commander's order was sent from the bridge to all posts: - if the Nazis try to capture the icebreaker and try to climb to the upper deck, beat them with crowbars, pikes, axes, hooks, beat them until at least one of the crew is alive. Open Kingston at the very last moment, when there will be nothing and no one to defend. An anxious expectation was established at Mikoyan. Time seemed to slow down. The sailors peered into the expanses of the sea and the heavenly heights until their eyes hurt. The tense silence was broken by the loud cry of the signalman from the crow's nest.
- I see two dots!
On the bridge and on deck everyone began to look in the indicated direction.
- Two torpedo boats are heading towards us! - the signalman shouted again.
“Italian,” determined senior assistant Kholin.
The combat alarm sounded and everyone ran to their places. A huge, slow-moving and unarmed icebreaker did not have the slightest chance of escaping from two high-speed boats, each of which had two torpedoes.
The boats were approaching. The chief boatswain, midshipman Groysman, hung out the Turkish flag just in case. But it was not possible to outwit. There were no such ships, much less an icebreaker, in Turkey. The boats approached at a distance of less than a cable length and lay down on a parallel course. One of them asked through a megaphone in broken Russian.
-Whose ship?
By order of Sergeev, the boiler mechanic, Crimean Tatar Khamidulin, who knew Turkish, shouted the answer into a megaphone in the direction of the boat.
- Turkish ship, we are heading to Smyrna! What do you need?
In response, a machine gun burst rang out as a warning, but Khamidulin managed to hide. A command sounded from the boat.
- Immediately proceed to Rhodes under our escort!
No one on the Mikoyan even thought about following the enemy’s orders, and he continued to follow his course. Then the boats began to prepare for torpedo attacks. The Italians knew that the icebreaker was completely unarmed and acted fearlessly. The first boat, clearly counting on success, rushed into the attack, as if on a training ground. And this is where the commander came in handy with the icebreaker’s extraordinary maneuverability and the experience gained in battle in evading enemy attacks. As soon as the boat reached the target firing point, a second before the salvo the commander’s command was heard: “Rudder on board!” When the boat fired two torpedoes, the icebreaker was already turning around almost on the spot to meet the deadly cigars, and they passed along the sides. Coming out of the attack, the boat fired at the icebreaker with a machine gun. Then the second boat went on the attack. But he acted differently - he first fired one torpedo. At the moment of the salvo, all three vehicles were working “Full Back”. The icebreaker almost stopped, and the torpedo passed close to the bow. And on the bridge the engine telegraph already rang: “Full speed ahead.” The second torpedo, fired at intervals, missed the ship, almost hitting the stern.
The boats did not lag behind and opened fire with all machine guns and small-caliber cannons. The boats were getting closer and closer to both sides. The commander ordered via on-board broadcast: “Prepare the ship for sinking!” But the boats soon stopped firing and moved aside. The sailors were happy about this, but, as it turned out, prematurely. Three torpedo bombers appeared, called by radio from the failed boats. The first one immediately went on a combat course; a torpedo was visible under its fuselage. The situation seemed hopeless. And then the unexpected happened. Senior bilge officer Mefodiev rushed to the hydraulic monitor and turned it on. A powerful wall of water, shining like silver in the moonlight and resembling an explosion, suddenly splashed out towards the plane. The pilot turned sharply and, gaining altitude, dropped a torpedo, which fell far from the icebreaker. The second torpedo bomber was also knocked off course in the same way. The third dropped a circulating torpedo by parachute, which began to describe a death spiral. But with a quick maneuver Sergeev managed to evade it too. He turned the ship in the opposite direction, and then sharply turned to the side. The torpedo passed by.
Unsuccessful torpedo attacks infuriated the enemy. Now they could not sink the icebreaker, and they did not dare to board it. Firing from all machine guns and small-caliber cannons, boats and planes attacked the icebreaker. But its body was invulnerable to bullets and small-caliber shells. The boats and planes realized this and concentrated fire on the bridge and wheelhouse, trying to disrupt control. The wounded helmsman, senior Red Navy man Ruzakov, was taken to the infirmary, and helmsman Molochinsky took his place. The wounded signalman, Petty Officer 2nd Class Poleshchuk, groaned and fell onto the deck. Senior political instructor M. Novikov was wounded...
Having used up their ammunition, the planes flew away, but the boats continued to fire fiercely. Fires began to break out in different places at Mikoyan. The sailors of the fire-fighting groups, under the leadership of senior assistant commander Lieutenant-Commander Kholin, not paying attention to the shelling, extinguished the fires. But that was not so bad. Due to numerous holes in the pipes, the draft in the boiler furnaces dropped. Despite all the efforts of the stokers, the steam pressure in the boilers began to fall, and the speed gradually began to decrease. A serious danger loomed over the icebreaker.
For several hours, evading continuous attacks, “Mikoyan” stubbornly walked towards its goal. Fortunately, the weather began to deteriorate, clouds hung over the sea, the wind rose, waves appeared (obviously, the weather did not allow the planes to take off again). But the enemy did not let up; his next burst set fire to the rescue boat, the tanks of which contained almost two tons of gasoline, the explosion of which could have had dire consequences. Noticing the high flames and thick smoke covering the icebreaker, the Italians decided that it was all over. But they were wrong. The sailors rushed to the burning boat and cut off the fastenings. They managed to throw the boat overboard before it exploded, sending up a column of fire and debris. And at that moment a downpour of unimaginable force began. Under its veil we managed to break away from the enemy. Mistaking the explosion of the boat for the death of the icebreaker, the Italians picked up several debris, a lifebuoy with the inscription “Mikoyan” and left for Rhodes.
When the danger had passed, they began to put the icebreaker in order and repair the damage received. First of all, they began to seal the holes in the pipes in order to create draft in the boiler furnaces and increase the stroke. They began to hammer hastily made wooden plugs into the holes, whatever they could get their hands on. But all this quickly burned out in the heat of hot gases. We had to start all over again. And at the boilers, exhausted, the stokers worked, throwing coal into the insatiable fireboxes. "Mikoyan" survived, having received about 150 different holes, and continued to move towards its goal.
As soon as the shores of Cyprus appeared on the morning of December 4, British destroyers with guns leveled rushed towards them. First Lieutenant Hanson radioed his ships and soon everything became clear. It turned out that radio stations in Berlin and Rome had already reported to the whole world about the destruction of a large Soviet icebreaker. Believing this message, the British mistook the icebreaker for an enemy ship. The British did not doubt for a minute that the Soviet adventure with a breakthrough would end in the inevitable death of all four ships. Therefore, we never expected to see an icebreaker. Accompanied by destroyers, the Mikoyan, having traveled more than 800 miles, arrived in Famagusta. The icebreaker was scary to look at. Tall pipes They were burned, smoke was streaming from numerous hastily repaired holes. The navigation bridge and superstructures are riddled with holes. The sides are stained with pockmarks from hits. The upper deck, covered with teak wood, covered with smoke and soot, was almost black. The GKO mission to break through to Cyprus was completed. What was reported to Moscow through London.

The British greeted the Mikoyan unfriendly, they were not allowed to enter the port, and they ordered to anchor behind the booms. Captain Sergeev demanded immediate clarification. At any moment the ship could be attacked by an enemy submarine or aircraft. A representative of the English naval command arrived on board. He looked at the resulting holes and informed the commander that the Mikoyan should immediately weigh anchor and move to Beirut under the escort of a corvette. The ship, which had endured an unequal and difficult battle with the enemy, was not given the opportunity to patch up holes and repair damage. We reached Beirut calmly. But even here they received an order: to continue moving to Haifa without delay. This surprised the Mikoyan commander; he knew that Haifa was subject to frequent German air raids. In Haifa they said goodbye to captain-mentor I.A. Boev. Having completed his task, he returned to his homeland.
Here the Mikoyan docked for repairs. But less than two days had passed before the port authorities demanded a change of parking place. A week later I had to move to another place. In 17 days the ship was rearranged 7 times. It became clear to everyone: the British were using the Soviet ship to check for the presence of magnetic mines in the port.
Repairs were in full swing when disaster struck at the port. Many warships, transports and tankers have accumulated in Haifa. On December 20, an unexpected thunderclap thundered in the port powerful explosion and a powerful blow shook Mikoyan. Almost simultaneously, the ship's loud bells rang, announcing an "emergency alarm." The sailors who ran onto the deck of the icebreaker saw a terrible picture - the Phoenix tanker, as was later established, was blown up by a bottom mine. Fire and clouds of thick smoke rose above him. A second explosion was heard, breaking the tanker’s hull in two, and it went into the water, slowly drifting towards the Mikoyan. From the broken hull, thousands of tons of burning oil poured onto the surface of the water, which began to engulf the icebreaker in a ring of fire. The stern of the Phoenix was burning, and on the bow the surviving sailors crowded and screamed, some jumped into the water and swam, trying to escape to the shore or to the Mikoyan.
The icebreaker could not move - of the three vehicles, two onboard were under repair and were dismantled, and the stern vehicle was in a “cold” state. There was only one boiler in operation. The slightest delay threatened inevitable death. The sailors rushed to the hydraulic monitors and with powerful jets of water began to drive away the burning oil and put out the flames. The mooring lines were released. The stokers rushed to the boiler rooms to urgently separate steam in the boilers; machinists - go to the engine room to prepare the machine and set it in motion.
For three days a huge fire raged in Haifa. Our sailors were surprised that neither the British command nor the local authorities even tried to fight the fire. As soon as the fire went out on its own, the senior naval commander in Haifa sent the commander of the Mikoyan, Captain 2nd Rank Sergeev, a Letter of Gratitude, in which he expressed admiration for his courage and daring. Shown by the crew in particular dangerous situation. In newspapers published in Haifa and Port Said, the British government expressed deep gratitude to the Soviet sailors for saving British soldiers. When the consequences of the unprecedented fire were more or less eliminated, repairs continued on the icebreaker.
On January 6, the Mikoyan left Haifa and headed to Port Said, where a caravan of ships was being formed to travel through the Suez Canal. On January 7, the icebreaker, taking a pilot on board, moved further south. We went out into the Red Sea and anchored in the port roadstead. Here, by agreement with the British, guns and machine guns were to be installed on the Mikoyan. But the British did not comply with this important condition treaty, they only installed an old 45-mm cannon, suitable only for fireworks, from which they conducted training firing. Then, in order to give the icebreaker the appearance of a well-armed ship, our sailors resorted to a trick. Logs were obtained from local Arabs. And the boatswain's crew used these logs and tarpaulins to make something like powerful artillery installations on the deck. Of course, these fake guns will not bring any use, but when meeting an enemy ship, they can overwhelm him with fear.
After stopping in Suez, the icebreaker moved on, passed the Red Sea and arrived in Aden. But by this time the situation in the world had changed for the worse. When we left Batumi, there was peace in the Far East. On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on naval bases Great Britain and the USA, the war also affected these areas. The sailors learned that on December 8, the Japanese government declared the La Perouse, Korean and Sangar straits as its “maritime defense zones” and placed the Sea of ​​Japan and all exits from it under its control. Japanese ships sank and captured Soviet merchant ships. Thus, the shortest path to Far East for “A. Mikoyan” became almost impossible. Under these conditions, it was decided to go south, to Cape Town, and further west, to their native shores. And then the allies once again provided a “service” - they refused to include the Mikoyan in their convoy, citing the fact that the icebreaker was slow and smoked too much.
On February 1, 1942, in spite of everything, the Mikoyan left Aden and headed south alone, heading for the Kenyan port of Mombasa. One day ships appeared on the horizon. An anxious half hour passed before the situation became clearer. An English reinforced convoy of thirty pennants was heading on a collision course. It consisted of cruisers, destroyers and other warships escorting transports. Two cruisers separated from the convoy, turned their guns towards the Mikoyan, and asked for call signs. Apparently, the British accepted the mock-ups of the guns as real ones.
“Give me your call sign,” Sergeev ordered.
The cruisers approached a few more cables. One of them settled into the wake. The lead cruiser demanded that the vehicles be stopped.
- Stop the car! - Sergeev ordered.
At that second, the lead cruiser fired a salvo from the bow turret. The shells landed at the Mikoyan's bow. Requests poured in from the cruiser: “Show the name of the ship,” “Give the captain’s last name.” "Who sent you from Aden." Having sorted it out, the British allowed them to follow their course. Further sailing to the port of Mombasa passed without incident. During the stay at the port, supplies were replenished, primarily coal.
We set off further, following the Indian Ocean along the east coast of Africa. The tropical heat exhausted the crew. It was especially difficult to stand watch in boiler rooms and engine rooms, where the heat rose to 65 degrees. The stokers and drivers doused themselves with water, but this did little to help. On March 19 we arrived in Cape Town. We replenished reserves and loaded more than 3,000 tons of coal beyond all norms. Mikoyan was ready to move on. The British command informed S.M. Sergeev of the situation in the Atlantic Ocean. German submarines operate on the Cape Town-New York line. Since the beginning of the year, they have moved their operations from the shores of Europe, first to the east coast of the United States, and then to the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Antilles and Bermuda. The German raiders Michel and Styre are believed to be operating in the South Atlantic. The path to the Panama Canal turned out to be extremely dangerous.
And then Sergeev decided to deceive German intelligence, which he believed was operating here. To this end, he informed local reporters that Mikoyan was heading to New York. This message was published in all local newspapers and broadcast on the radio.
At night, March 26, the icebreaker quietly weighed anchor and left Cape Town. Just in case, we actually went to New York for a while. But in the desert region of the Atlantic they changed course. Sergeev chose another, longer path - to go around South America, and the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean to go to the Far East. The icebreaker went to the shores of South America. We found ourselves in a zone of severe storms. The pitch reached 56 degrees, the ship was thrown like a splinter. Sometimes the ocean calmed down to collapse with new strength. The nasal superstructure was damaged, severe steel doors tore off and carried into the ocean. These were the “Roaring Forties” known to sailors. This went on for seventeen days. In constant violent storms they crossed the Atlantic Ocean and entered the Gulf of La Plata. The sailors breathed a sigh of relief.
We passed by the rusted superstructures of the German heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee, which sank here back in December 1939. We approached the Uruguayan port of Montevideo. Sergeev requested permission to enter the port. But in response, he was informed that the authorities do not allow military ships and armed vessels to visit the port, the fake “guns” of the icebreaker looked so impressive. They had to call a special representative to convince the port authorities that the “weapons” were not real. Only after this we received permission to enter the port.
In Montevideo we replenished supplies, carried out the necessary repairs, and after a rest we set out. And in order to deceive German intelligence, they pointedly headed north. As darkness fell, they turned around and headed south at full speed. At Cape Horn there was a great danger of being attacked by German raiders or submarines. Therefore, we went through the Strait of Magellan, which is quite difficult and dangerous for navigation. In frequent fogs, past Tierra del Fuego, calling at the port of Pointe Arenas, we passed the strait, entered the Pacific Ocean and headed north. In dashes, with short calls to the ports of Coronel and Lota, we arrived at the Chilean port of Valparaiso, replenished supplies, and inspected boilers, machines and mechanisms. After a short rest, we continued our journey north, heading for the Peruvian port of Callao. We replenished supplies and headed to the Panamanian port of Bilbao. We replenished our supplies again and headed to San Francisco.
The icebreaker arrived in San Francisco and then moved to Seattle for repairs and armament. The Americans quickly and efficiently repaired the ship. They dismantled the English cannon and thoroughly armed it: they installed four 76.2 mm guns, ten 20 mm anti-aircraft guns, four 12.7 mm and four 7.62 mm machine guns.
From Seattle, the Mikoyan headed to the port of Kodiak in Alaska. From Kodiak I went to the port of Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. Leaving Dutch Harbor, the Mikoyan circled the Aleutian Islands to the north and headed to its native shores. Finally, the outlines of distant shores appeared in the haze. A deserted coast appeared - Cape Chukotka. On August 9, 1942, the Mikoyan entered the Gulf of Anadyr.
The crew's rest was short. Almost immediately I received a new combat mission. In Providence Bay, 19 (nineteen) were awaiting his arrival! transports with weapons, ammunition and other military cargo, and warships of the Pacific Fleet: leader "Baku", destroyers"Reasonable" and "Infuriated". "A. Mikoyan" was appointed as the regular icebreaker of EON-18. In essence, this was the task for which the ship traveled this route from Batumi.
Back in June 1942, the State Defense Committee decided to transfer several warships from the Far East along the Northern Sea Route in support of the Northern Fleet. On June 8, by order of the People's Commissar of the Navy No. 0192, an expedition was formed special purpose— 18 (EON-18). Captain 1st Rank V.I. Obukhov was appointed commander. On July 22, warships arrived in Providence Bay, where 19 Soviet transports arrived from the United States with military cargo were already located. Ahead was the Northern Sea Route.
On August 13, “A. Mikoyan” and 6 transports left Providence Bay, and the next day warships. The expedition gathered in Emma Bay in Chukotka and continued its journey. The Bering Strait passed through thick fog. We rounded Cape Dezhnev and entered the Chukchi Sea. On August 15 at 16:00 we passed Cape Uelen and entered small ice with a density of 7 points. With each mile the ice conditions became more difficult. There was fog, the ships could hardly continue moving. On August 16, we were forced to stop until the situation improved, among 9-10 point old ice drifting to the southeast. By the morning of August 17, the movement of ice scattered the ships from each other.
The destroyer "Razumny", located next to the leader "Baku", was carried away from it by 50-60 cable lengths. “Enraged” found himself in the most difficult situation. He was caught in the ice and began to drift toward the shore. The expedition's leadership feared that the ship might end up in shallow waters inaccessible to the icebreaker. Attempts by “A. Mikoyan” to rescue “Enraged” from ice captivity were unsuccessful. On the contrary, the operation of the icebreaker increased the pressure of the ice on the hull of the destroyer, which formed dents in the plating of both sides. It became clear that A. Mikoyan alone could not cope with the escort of such a number of warships and transports. We had to fight with 9-10 point ice fields, then rescue the destroyers, then rush to the aid of the transports. The icebreaker L. Kaganovich left Providence Bay to help the A. Mikoyan, which arrived on August 19. Having bypassed the ice massif from the north, the EON-18 ships joined the caravan of transports in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bCape Heart Stone. Further progress took place along the coastline in thin ice. On August 22, beyond Cape Dzhekretlan, the ice became lighter, and on the approach to Kolyuchinskaya Bay there was already clear water. With separately floating ice floes. We approached the Lok Batan tanker, which was at anchor, and began to take on fuel. At the same time, we accepted food from the Volga transport.


On August 25, having passed Cape Vankarem in heavy ice, the EON-18 ships drifted until dawn. At night, a strong wind caused the ice to move, and ships and transports became trapped by hummocks. How difficult the conditions turned out to be can be judged by the fact that even the icebreaker L. Kaganovich had its rudder stock turned 15 degrees.
Only five days later did the icebreakers manage to bring the leader Baku and the destroyer Furious out of the heavy ice into clean water. Both ships were damaged (the propeller fittings were torn off, the sides were dented, and the tanks were damaged). Having broken through the heavy ice, they replenished fuel reserves from the Lok-Batan tanker, without waiting for the Reasonable, the leader Baku and the destroyer Enraged set off under their own power in clear water along the edge of the coastal fast ice. Due to the shallow depths (5-5.6 m), the progress was very slow: a boat sounding of the depths was carried out ahead of the ships.
The icebreaker "L. Kaganovich" got stuck in heavy ice. But the destroyer Razumny found itself in the most difficult situation, sandwiched between two large hummocks of multi-year ice. Ice floes squeezed the hull from the sides, and the propellers jammed. The personnel were exhausted, fighting to free the ship from ice captivity. Day and night special teams They blew up the ice with ammonal and stabbed it with ice picks. They installed a steam line and tried to cut the ice with a stream of steam. It turned out that the propellers were firmly frozen into the ice field. They were freed only with the help of divers: they connected a steam line and cut off the ice around the propellers with steam. When the situation became more difficult, the ship's commander authorized the use of depth charges to destroy the ice. Explosions destroyed the entire thickness of the ice, set ice anchors and pulled up to them. During the day I managed to walk 30-40 meters. The icebreaker "A. Mikoyan" repeatedly approached the ship and took it in tow, but had no success. He could not chip away at the ice around the destroyer. This was dangerous, since ice accumulated between the icebreaker and the ship's hull, and the pressure of the icebreaker could lead to a hole in the hull.
On August 31, the icebreaker I. Stalin, arriving from the west, came to the aid of A. Mikoyan. Two icebreakers crushed the thick ice in short raids, each time moving 2 - 2.5 meters. The work lasted from August 31 to September 8. Two channels were broken through the ice to reach the Razumny, but it was not possible to tow the destroyer, since the icebreakers themselves could not move through these channels due to ice compression.

On September 8, the ice situation in the Razumny drift area changed dramatically. The wind changed direction, the ice began to move, individual leads appeared, and the compression of the ship's hull decreased. "A. Mikoyan" took the destroyer in tow and began to slowly bring it out into the open water. “I. Stalin” walked ahead, breaking the ice fields, clearing the way for “A. Mikoyan” and “Reasonable”. By 14:00 on September 9 we came to clear water. The destroyer took fuel from the Lokk-Batan tanker and, together with everyone else, headed west along the edge of the coastal fast ice. In the area of ​​​​Cape Two pilots met a heavy ice bridge and stopped, waiting for the icebreaker "L. Kaganovich", which led the destroyer to Ambarchik Bay.
On September 17, the EON-18 ships united in Tiksi Bay. Here the expedition was ordered to stay. Into the Kara Sea, rounding from the north New Earth, German ships penetrated - the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer and submarines. Having learned about the expedition from the Japanese, the Germans decided to conduct Operation Wunderland (Wonderland) with the goal of intercepting and destroying transports, warships and all Soviet icebreakers near the Vilkitsky Strait. At the eastern entrance to the strait, EON-18 and a convoy of ships from Arkhangelsk, escorted by the icebreaker Krasin, were supposed to meet.

Epilogue.
Recently there was material about the feat of the icebreaking steamer “Dezhnev”; the heroism of the Dezhnevites made it possible to save the ships and ships of oncoming convoys. It would seem, where is the Black Sea and where is the Arctic Ocean? But the plan of the GKO and the courage, perseverance, and sense of duty of the Soviet sailors brought the heroism of “Dezhnev” and “Mikoyan” to one point on the map great war. The fate of the ships mentioned in the article turned out differently.
Following the A. Mikoyan from Istanbul on December 19, the tanker Varlaam Avanesov left. The time was calculated so that they could cross the Dardanelles before dark and enter the Aegean Sea at night. At 21:30 “Varlaam Avanesov” passed the strait and set off on the main course. On the left side floated the high gloomy Cape Babakale with a fortress on top. Suddenly, a searchlight flashed in the fortress, the beam fell on the black water, slid along it and rested on the tanker. It illuminated it for about five minutes, then went out. But not for long, after a few minutes everything happened again. And then there was an explosion near the shore. Another fifteen minutes passed. Little by little, the uneasy feeling caused first by the light of the searchlights, and then by an unknown explosion, began to pass. Suddenly the tanker was thrown up sharply, and a high column of fire, smoke, and foaming water flew up from under the stern. It became clear to whom the tanker was shown with a spotlight. The German submarine U-652, having missed the first torpedo, sent the second one right on target. The boats with the crew, one after another, departed from the side of the dying tanker, heading towards the nearby Turkish coast. The captain made the last entry in the ship's log: “22.20. The stern sank into the sea along the bridge. Everyone left the ship." One person died. On December 23, 1941, the crew of the tanker arrived in Istanbul, and from there to their homeland.
Continuing the operation now seemed like outright madness, but the State Defense Committee was not going to cancel the order. On January 4, 1942, Tuapse left Istanbul. He, like the Mikoyan, moved in short bursts, walked only at night, and hid among the islands during the day. And a week later he reached Famagusta, neither the Germans nor the Italians discovered him at all!
On January 7, “Sakhalin” set sail. And, astonishingly, it repeated the success of Tuapse. Nobody discovered him at all. On January 21, he also reached Cyprus, spending two weeks on the transition, in normal conditions taking no more than two days.
Such a result could certainly be considered a miracle. All Soviet ships were obviously doomed. They passed through waters belonging to the enemy, having neither weapons nor security, while the enemy was aware of the time of departure and knew the goal to which the ships were heading. However, of the four ships, three reached Cyprus, while two were not detected at all and, accordingly, did not even have losses in people or damage. However, the fate of the Mikoyan, which withstood daily attacks, but survived (and even none of the sailors died), seems to be a real miracle.
When crossing from Haifa to Cape Town. “Sakhalin” and “Tuapse” made an unexpected contribution to the overall victory of the anti-Hitler coalition. They delivered 15 thousand tons of petroleum products to South Africa, which were used to refuel the British ships that participated in the capture of Madagascar.
In Cape Town, the captain of the Tuapse, Shcherbachev, and the captain of the Sakhalin, Pomerantz, had disagreements about the future route. To save time, Shcherbachev decided to lead the Tuapse through the Panama Canal. Savings do not always lead to good result, sometimes it turns into tragedy. On July 4, 1942, when Tuapse reached the Caribbean Sea and was located off Cape San Antonio (Cuba), it was attacked by the German boat U-129. The ship was hit by four torpedoes at short intervals. Ten people from the team died, but most survived.
Pomerantz took his “Sakhalin” along the same route that “A. Mikoyan” took. Having withstood severe storms, the Sakhalin arrived in its native Vladivostok on December 9, 1942.
The leader of the Baku became a Red Banner ship; the destroyer Furious was torpedoed by the German submarine U-293 on January 23, 1945. The stern of the destroyer was torn off and until mid-1946 it was under repair. The destroyer "Razumny" went through the entire war, repeatedly participated in escorting convoys, and took part in the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation.

Quite recently, when posting the article “Siberia, sister of the Arctic” (), I apologized to the community for the somewhat “non-military” topic. Indeed, it is difficult to find a ship that is more peaceful and less adapted to combat operations than an icebreaker! In wartime, simple fishing trawlers and seiners become patrol ships and submarine hunters. Even simple pleasure yachts “found themselves” in the war. Suffice it to recall the “hooligan fleet” (or “hooligan patrol”), which included about 170 sailing and motor yachts, often with a single person on board (!), participated in the search for German submarines in 1942-43 along almost the entire Atlantic coast of the United States. One of them was the yacht “Pilar” and its owner, “someone” Ernest Hemingway...

However, at the time of publication of the article, a thought appeared in the outskirts of my consciousness: “But there was something like that, I read something like that in my youth!” No, of course, the history of the icebreaking steamer Sibiryakov is widely known, as is the participation of Dezhnev in the battle with a German heavy cruiser. But that's not what we're talking about. The reader's attention is offered to information about a much less well-known fact (especially in detail). In the entire history of the Soviet Navy’s combat history, the “longest” (and if anyone disputes this, then the longest!) combat campaign was carried out by the icebreaker. It was the linear icebreaker Anastas Mikoyan,the transition lasted 13 months, from November 25, 1941 to December 29, 1942, crossing four oceans, 17 seas, 16 straits, 30,000 nautical miles, of which about 2,000 miles were in ice.

Linear icebreaker "A. Mikoyan"

Laid down in Nikolaev at the A. Marti plant in November 1935 under the name "O. Yu. Schmidt". Launched in 1938, the following year renamed "A. Mikoyan". Entered service in August 1941.

Total displacement 11,242 tons, maximum length 106.7 m, width 23.2 m, maximum draft 9.0 m bow and 9.15 m stern. The hull has four decks and ten watertight bulkheads; unsinkability is maintained even if any two compartments are flooded. The power plant consists of three triple expansion steam engines with a capacity of 3300 hp each. s., steam is produced by 9 Scottish-type fire-tube boilers. Coal reserves (2900 tons) provide a cruising range of 6000 miles. Maximum speed 15.5 knots. Crew - 138 people (peacetime staff).

"A. Mikoyan" was one of a series of linear icebreakers that were the development of Makarov's idea, which he laid down in the famous icebreaker "Ermak" and developed in the most powerful icebreaker of pre-revolutionary Russia "Svyatogor" (since 1927 - "Krasin").

The series included 4 units:

1. 1. "AND. Stalin" (since 1958 - "Siberia"). Laid down on October 23, 1935, launched on April 29, 1937 (Ordzhonikidze Plant, Leningrad), station. commissioned in 1938. In 1972 it was taken out of service and subsequently cut into metal.
2. 2. "L. Kaganovich" (since 1958 - "Admiral Lazarev"). Laid down in 1935 (building named after Marti, Nikolaev), name when laid "Otto Schmidt", launched 08/14/1937, erection. commissioned on January 11, 1939. In the 1960s it was taken out of service and subsequently handed over for cutting into metal.
3. 3. "IN. Molotov" (since 1958 - "Admiral Makarov").Laid down on December 17, 1938 (plant named after Ordzhonikidze, Leningrad), launched on April 24, 1941. As of June 22, 1941, technical readiness was 79%. Commissioned under a reduced program and on August 8, 1941, she was assigned to the Red Banner Baltic Fleet as an auxiliary cruiser. In 1966 transferred to the GDR. In 1967 it was dismantled for metal.
4. 4. "A. Mikoyan" (until 1939 - "O.Yu. Schmidt").Laid down in November 1935 (Marti plant, Nikolaev), launched in 1938. Mobilized on June 28, 1941 at the stage of acceptance tests, armed and on August 26, 1941, became part of the Black Sea Fleet as an auxiliary cruiser.

When creating icebreakers, Soviet designers made maximum use of their existing experience in Arctic navigation. To ensure the required strength, the housings are made of high-quality steel. Twice as many frames were supplied as were usually used. The sides were made of 13 parallel belts, with the 9 lower ones consisting of double skin with a total thickness of up to 42 mm (in the bow). The hulls of icebreakers of the Ermak type were given an ovoid shape to protect them from damage during compression in the ice. Along its entire length there was a double bottom and 12 watertight emergency bulkheads. The individual compartments were connected to each other by clinker doors controlled from the wheelhouse. Each ship was equipped with three steam engines with a capacity of 3,300 hp. s„ powered by three aft four-blade propellers with removable blades. The icebreakers each had nine steam fire-tube boilers with coal heating and several power plants. Rescue equipment included eight lifeboats and motor boats. Ship workshops had milling, turning, drilling and other machines, workbenches and tools that made it possible to carry out complex repair work. Three powerful radio stations (long-wave, short-wave and emergency) had an enormous range. So, “I. During testing in the Gulf of Finland, Stalin maintained contact with the Ermak, which was operating in the Arctic, and with the icebreaker L. Kaganovich", located on the Black Sea.

"A. Mikoyan took longer to build than other icebreakers. In June 1941, the icebreaker was tested by the plant's commissioning team. After which there should have been State tests and acceptance by the State Commission. The A. Mikoyan was planned to enter service in the fourth quarter of 1941, after which it was supposed to move to the Far East.

The war that began on June 22 confused all peace plans. By decision of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, mobilization began in the country at 00.00. On June 28, “A. Mikoyan” was also mobilized. Outside of any plans, the plant began converting it into an auxiliary cruiser. It was planned to use it for operations on communications and coastal defense from enemy landings. At the same time continued adjustment work and tests. We had to forget about pre-war plans. Captain 2nd rank Sergei Mikhailovich Sergeev was appointed commander of the ship. The crew, formed from Red Navy men and foremen, voluntarily included workers from the factory commissioning team who wished to defeat the enemy “on their ship.”

It was equipped with seven 130 mm, four 76 mm and six 45 mm guns, as well as four 12.7 mm DShK anti-aircraft machine guns.
In terms of artillery power, the icebreaker was not inferior to domestic destroyers. Its 130 mm guns could fire their almost 34 kg shells to a range of 25.5 km. The rate of fire was 7 - 10 rounds per minute.

"A. Mikoyan" in the guise of an auxiliary cruiser

At the beginning of September 1941, the re-equipment of the icebreaker was completed, and “A. Mikoyan, by order of the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, was included in a detachment of ships in the northwestern region of the Chernov Sea, which, consisting of the cruiser Comintern, the destroyers Nezamozhnik and Shaumyan, a division of gunboats and other ships, was intended to provide fire support to the defenders of Odessa.

On September 13 at 11.40 "Mikoyan" weighed anchor and in storage of two small hunters and two MBR-2 aircraft and headed for Odessa, where it safely arrived early in the morning of September 14. Having prepared for battle, the Mikoyan weighed anchor. At 12:40 a.m. the ship set its combat course. The artillerymen wrote on the shells: “To Hitler personally.” At 12:45 a.m. the first sighting shot was fired. Having received the data from the spotters, we switched to defeat. The enemy noticed the Mikoyan appearing in the sea, and was successively attacked by three torpedo bombers. But observers noticed them in time. With a skillful maneuver, the commander dodged the torpedoes. The artillerymen continued firing at the enemy. Operating near Odessa, the artillerymen suppressed firing points and helped the defenders repel attacks by enemy tanks and infantry. Several firing sessions were carried out per day, firing up to 100 shells at the enemy. In the first five firings alone, 466 main-caliber shells were fired at the enemy. Anti-aircraft gunners repelled numerous attacks by enemy aircraft.

When the situation near Odessa became especially difficult, the cruisers “Red Caucasus” and “Red Crimea” “Chervona Ukraine and the auxiliary cruiser Mikoyan carried out 66 firing sessions and fired 8,500 shells at the enemy. The ships fired mainly at invisible targets at a distance of 10 to 14 cables.

The commander of the Mikoyan and the crew were able to fully master the new, extraordinary maneuvering capabilities of the ship. All the days of operation near Odessa, the ship was constantly exposed to enemy aircraft attacks. Special maneuverability helped to quickly get out from under fire and evade the bombs of enemy aircraft attacking a heavy, wide ship, clearly visible to the pilots, which seemed to them an easy prey. In one of the Mikoyan raids, three Junkers attacked at once. One of them was hit by anti-aircraft fire, caught fire and began to fall onto the ship. "Mikoyan" maneuvered, the enemy plane crashed into the water.

Operating near Odessa, the Mikoyan, with its low speed of 12 knots, unlike cruisers, leaders and destroyers, did not receive direct hits from bombs and shells, and did not lose a single person. But from frequent forcing and changing strokes, and the shock of close explosions, six of the nine boilers received damage to their water heating tubes. This is where the high skill of the sailors - former factory specialists - came in handy. They suggested, without leaving the combat position, one by one taking the damaged boilers out of action, to eliminate the malfunctions. The first, in an asbestos suit, to enter the firebox of the first boiler at a temperature of 270 degrees was engineer-captain F.Kh. Khamidulin. In a short time, working at night, wearing asbestos suits and kapok vests soaked in water, the boiler operators (stokers) eliminated the problem - they checked all the pipes.

During these hot days, a front-line correspondent for the newspaper Pravda, a writer and marine painter, Captain 2nd Rank Leonid Sobolev, was on the Mikoyan. On the pages of the newspapers “Pravda” and “Red Fleet” he talked about the military affairs of the Black Sea people.

Supporting the Primorsky Army with fire, the auxiliary cruiser Mikoyan received gratitude from the command of the Odessa defensive region. And only after using up all the ammunition, on the night of September 19, he left for Sevastopol.

On September 22, Mikoyan took part in the landing at Grigoryevka. "Mikoyan" had a deep draft and a lower full speed than warships. Therefore, he was included in the artillery support detachment. Together with the gunboats "Dniester" and "Red Georgia" he supported the paratroopers of the 3rd Marine Regiment. Later the crew found out: with their fire they suppressed 2 enemy batteries. In the area of ​​the village of Dofinovka, anti-aircraft gunners shot down two enemy Yu-88 aircraft. Before dawn, the Mikoyan, which had a low speed, headed for Sevastopol.By the way, gunners “A. Mikoyan”, for the first time in the fleet, they began to repel enemy air raids with their main caliber fire. At the suggestion of the commander of the BC-5, senior engineer-Lieutenant Józef Zlotnik, the embrasures in the gun shields were increased, and the elevation angle of the guns became larger. Autogenes, however, did not take armor steel. Then former shipbuilder Nikolai Nazaratiy cut the embrasures using an electric welding unit.

Before receiving the order to evacuate the Odessa defensive region, the Mikoyan, continuously under attack from aircraft and fire from coastal batteries, together with the ships of the fleet continued to fire at enemy positions. Then he moved to Sevastopol, where damaged boilers and mechanisms were qualitatively repaired at plant No. 201.

In October, Mikoyan received an order to move to Novorossiysk. In Sevastopol, a military unit, 36 barrels of long-range naval guns and ammunition were loaded onto it. The guns were very heavy, and only the Mikoyan could transport them. Having repelled an attack by enemy aircraft during the crossing, the ship arrived in Novorossiysk on October 15.

The auxiliary cruiser also took part in the defense of Sevastopol, systematically making flights from Novorossiysk. Delivering reinforcements and military supplies to the besieged city, he took out the wounded and civilians. On it, the personnel and weapons of the 2nd brigade of torpedo boats were evacuated, and they began to remove the dismantled artistic and historical value - “Panorama of the Defense of Sevastopol. In October, more than 1,000 wounded were evacuated on it. At the beginning of November, the fleet headquarters moved to Novorossiysk on the Mikoyan. The ship also fired at enemy positions near Sevastopol.

Then Mikoyan moved to Poti. On November 5, we received an unexpected order to completely remove weapons. The Red Navy men, foremen, and officers, helping the local factory workers disarm the ship, were dissatisfied with this and openly spoke out against sitting in the rear while their comrades were fighting the enemy to the death during this difficult time. They did not know, and should not have known, that preparations had begun for a secret operation. In five days, all the guns were dismantled.Auxiliary cruiser “A. Mikoyan" again became a linear icebreaker.The personnel of the artillery combat unit were written off to the shore. Part of the command staff was also written off ashore. Soon they demanded to hand over machine guns, rifles and pistols. With great difficulty, Captain 2nd Rank S.M. Sergeev managed to leave 9 pistols for the officers. The weapon on board was also a hunting rifle.

A special naval counterintelligence department began working on the ship. Each sailor was checked most thoroughly. After such a check, someone was missing from the crew quarters. New, tested ones arrived to replace them. Documents, letters and photographs of relatives and friends were taken from everyone.

The crew was ordered to destroy, burn military uniform. In exchange, they gave out a variety of civilian clothing from warehouses. Everyone was photographed and soon issued nautical books (passports) for civilian sailors. The naval flag was lowered and the State flag was raised. The team was at a loss about all these actions. But no one gave an explanation.

These oddities were related to the fact thatIn the fall of 1941, the USSR State Defense Committee made a very peculiar decision - to transport three large tankers (Sakhalin, Varlaam Avanesov, Tuapse) and the linear icebreaker A. Mikoyan." This was due to an acute shortage of tonnage for transporting goods (domestic and Lend-Lease). These ships had nothing to do in the Black Sea, but in the North and Far East they were desperately needed. That is, the decision in itself would be quite correct, if not for one geographical circumstance.

The ships were too large to be transported through inland waterways(Volgo-Don and Volgo-Balt), in addition, the Germans had already put Volgo-Balt out of action. Consequently, it was necessary to go through the Sea of ​​Marmara to the Mediterranean, then not around Europe (this was a guaranteed death either from German submarines or from their own bombers), but through the Suez Canal to the Indian Ocean, then across the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean to the Soviet Far East East (from there the Mikoyan was supposed to continue sailing along the Northern Sea Route to Murmansk). Thus, almost a circumnavigation of the world lay ahead, and it had to be carried out in war conditions. The most interesting thing awaited the Soviet ships at the beginning of the journey.

During the war, almost all merchant ships of all warring countries received at least some kind of weapons (1-2 cannons, several machine guns). Of course, it was purely symbolic, but in some situations (against single aircraft, boats, auxiliary cruisers) it could help. In addition, whenever possible, merchant ships were accompanied by warships. Alas, for the Soviet four all these options were excluded.

The fact is that from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean the route lay through the Bosphorus, the Sea of ​​Marmara and the Dardanelles, which belong to Turkey. And she, observing neutrality, did not allow warships of warring countries to pass through the straits. Moreover, she also did not allow armed transports to pass through. Accordingly, our ships could not even have a symbolic pair of guns. But that was not so bad. The trouble was that the Aegean Sea beyond the Dardanelles was completely controlled by the Germans and Italians, who had captured both continental Greece and all the islands of the Greek archipelago, through which Soviet ships had to go south.

The icebreaker arrived in Batumi. Following him, three tankers came here: “Sakhalin”, “Tuapse” and “Varlaam Avanesov”. All three are the same in displacement, carrying capacity and with approximately the same full speed.

On November 25, 1941, at 3:45 a.m., a convoy consisting of an icebreaker, three tankers and escort ships set out to sea under cover of darkness. For some time they walked towards Sevastopol, and then headed for the Bosphorus. The leader was the Tashkent, flying the flag of Rear Admiral Vladimirsky. Behind him, in the wake were the Mikoyan and tankers. To the right of the icebreaker was the destroyer Sposobny, to the left was the destroyer Soobrazitelny. But warships could accompany the caravan only to Turkish territorial waters.

The trip to the Bosphorus, 575 miles long, was planned to be completed in three days. The day was calm, the sky was overcast. By evening it began to rain with sleet, the wind rose and became a force nine storm. The sea became covered with dark, foamy swells, and rocking began. The wind grew stronger, pitch darkness swallowed up the ships and guard ships. At night the storm reached 10 points. They were moving at a speed of about 10 knots - the tankers could no longer do it, and especially the Mikoyan with its coal boilers, it was already lagging behind all the time. The tankers, loaded to the neck, held up well, only sometimes the waves covered them up to the navigation bridges. On the Mikoyan, with its egg-shaped hull, the pitching range reached 56 degrees. But his powerful body was not afraid of the blows of the waves. Sometimes he buried his nose in the wave, then, crossing over another huge shaft, exposed the propellers. The warships had a hard time. "Tashkent" heeled up to 47 degrees with a maximum heel of 52 degrees. Due to the impact of the waves, the deck in the bow sank and cracked on both sides in the midship area. Destroyers with a list of up to 50 degrees almost lay on board. Correcting the damage received, we moved forward. At times, ships and vessels were hidden from view behind a curtain of rain and thick snow squalls.

At night the storm sometimes subsided. Suddenly, the commander of the Soobrazitelny reported that silhouettes of unknown ships had been discovered. The guard ships prepared for battle. "Savvy", by order of Vladimirsky, approached unknown ships. It turned out that these were three Turkish transports. To avoid a tragic mistake, they stopped the move and illuminated the large images of the national flag painted on the sides with spotlights. Having dispersed, the convoy continued on its way.

Three days later, the storm began to subside, delaying the arrival of ships in Istanbul for a day. On the morning of November 29, the Turkish coast appeared. 10 miles from the Bosphorus, the escort ships raised the flag signal “We wish you a happy voyage” and turned back on course. In Turkish territorial waters we met patrol ships that sailed nearby for some time, looking for weapons on the decks of the ships.

Soon the caravan anchored in the roadstead of Istanbul. Representatives of the Turkish port authorities who arrived at the Mikoyan were not too interested in the cargo and did not look into the holds. We walked along the upper deck, in the cabin of captain 2nd rank Sergeev, we filled out the necessary documents in such cases, drank a glass of Russian vodka and left the ship.

The Soviet naval attaché in Turkey, Captain 2nd Rank Rodionov, boarded the Mikoyan, and with him the assistant to the English naval attache, Lieutenant Commander Rogers. A meeting of ship captains took place in Sergeev’s cabin. Rodionov reported on the decision of the State Defense Committee, in which the captains were given the task of breaking through to the port of Famagusta on the island of Cyprus, to the allies. The tankers were ordered to temporarily place themselves at the disposal of the allied command, and the icebreaker to proceed to the Far East.

According to an agreement between the Soviet government and the British government, the ships were to be escorted by British warships from the Dardanelles Strait to Cyprus. But, although they promised, they could not provide any security. The English Mediterranean Fleet suffered heavy losses in the battles. The British did not consider it possible to risk their ships to protect the Soviet icebreaker and tankers. This is what the British representative informed the captain of the Mikoyan. The situation was further complicated by the fact that Turkey, which declared its neutrality in the war between Germany and the USSR on June 25, had a pro-German orientation. Istanbul was the most spy city of all time. Intelligence agencies of many countries operated here, including German and Soviet. Abwehr agents reported to Berlin information about who crossed the Bosporus and when. As soon as our ships anchored, many different boats, boats and steamships with curious people surrounded the tankers and especially the icebreaker, examining the unusual vessel. Among them were dozens of hostile eyes. The German naval attaché defiantly walked around the ships in his boat.

In such conditions, crossing through hostile waters, without any weapons or security, was possible only individually, and even then purely theoretically. This is precisely the option proposed by the Soviet and British attaches. The Mikoyan was supposed to go first, and the tankers were set to unload oil products (obviously it was Soviet oil that became the most serious argument for the Turks). Lieutenant Commander Rogers said that Lieutenant Sir Edward Hanson, a radio operator and two signalmen were sent to the icebreaker to communicate with the British naval command. The allies could not help in any other way.

In a special instruction given by Rodionov to Captain 2nd Rank Sergeev, it was categorically ordered: “... Do not surrender the ship under any circumstances, sink it in an explosion, and do not surrender the crew into captivity.”

The dark night came on November 30th. The windlass quietly started working, and the anchor-chain slowly crawled into the hawse, and the icebreaker began to slowly move forward. As soon as the anchor came off the ground, Sergeev gave a “low speed”. In the night, the Mikoyan glided away from the shore like a silent shadow. Having entered the fairway, the commander gave “full speed”. In order not to run into boats or any floating object floating without any lights in the dark, Sergeev ordered additional observers to be placed on the bow and along the sides. In the darkness, the smoke pouring out of the chimneys was not particularly noticeable. Moreover, the stokers tried their best - not a single spark flew out of the pipes. Fortunately, it soon began to drizzle. Half an hour later Istanbul was left behind.

In pitch darkness, without lights, we passed the Sea of ​​Marmara and approached the gorge of the Dardanelles Strait. The strait is winding and narrow, making navigation quite difficult. Experienced pilots navigated ships here even during the day with great care. And the icebreaker sailed without a pilot at all. In the middle of the strait, near Çanakkale, navigation conditions are extremely difficult, especially at night - here the strait sharply narrows to 7 cable lengths and makes two sharp turns. In the most dangerous place, captain-mentor I.A. Boev took the helm and successfully navigated the icebreaker. We walked further, sticking to the European coast.

We went out into the Aegean Sea. "Mikoyan" rushed south at full speed. In the morning, almost as close as the depth allowed, we pressed against the rocks of a small, deserted island in the Gulf of Edremit. The boilers were turned off so as not to give themselves away from the smoke from the chimneys. From the icebreaker, the island of Lesbos with the Italian naval base of Mytilene located on it was visible. The day passed in anxious anticipation, but no one appeared nearby, only the flashing silhouettes of ships were noticed several times far on the horizon. Everything went well.

As soon as it got dark, the Mikoyan set off. Ahead lay the islands of the Greek Archipelago. S.M. Sergeev immediately took the icebreaker away from the once “knurled” route, usual in peacetime, and led it along the route developed in Istanbul. We walked without running lights, trying to stay close to the Turkish shores, winding between mountainous islands, every minute risking in the dark, on an unfamiliar fairway, running into an underwater rock or a mine. External surveillance was intensified: “lookouts” kept watch on the forecastle, and signalmen were in the “crow’s nest.” We walked by dead reckoning, although the inclement weather helped us to remain unnoticed, but hid our landmarks. As soon as it began to get light, we hid in a wide crevice of a rocky island. In preparation for battle, craftsmen prepared weapons in the ship's workshop - they forged several dozen pikes and other bladed weapons. The radio operators constantly listened to the airwaves to see if there was any alarm. Another day passed in tense anticipation.

As darkness fell, the icebreaker continued its journey in the darkness of the night. Near the island of Samos, the Mikoyan passed literally under the noses of Italian patrol ships, which illuminated the sea with searchlights. Only fresh weather, slanting rain and poor visibility helped our sailors. We safely passed just two miles from the enemy naval base. We stopped for a day, squeezing ourselves into a gap between the rocks of two deserted islands. There was no doubt that the enemy was looking for the missing icebreaker. The sailors prepared for the worst.

On previous nights, our sailors were lucky, the weather was inclement, and the Aegean Sea was controlled by the Italians, not the Germans, and there were no locators. Therefore, the icebreaker, not surprisingly, remained undetected. But on the third night, the weather became surprisingly clear and the full moon was shining in the night sky. And ahead was the island of Rhodes, on which the main Italian naval base in this area of ​​the Mediterranean was located. German aircraft were also based here, bombing the Suez Canal and British bases and ports. This was the most dangerous place.

On December 3, the icebreaker carefully left its shelter and rushed at full speed to break through. Hostile Rhodes was approaching. “A. Mikoyan” entered the strait between the Turkish coast and the island of Rhodes and headed towards the small island of Kastellorizo, beyond which the expanses of the Mediterranean Sea opened up.

First a small schooner appeared and sailed nearby for some time, then turned aside and disappeared. Soon a reconnaissance plane appeared, circled the icebreaker several times and flew over it, the pilot apparently looked out and determined whether there were weapons, and flew off towards the island.

It became clear that “Mikoyan” had been discovered and identified. The commander's order was sent from the bridge to all posts: - if the Nazis try to capture the icebreaker and try to climb to the upper deck, beat them with crowbars, pikes, axes, hooks, beat them until at least one of the crew is alive. Open Kingston at the very last moment, when there will be nothing and no one to defend. An anxious expectation was established at Mikoyan. Time seemed to slow down. The sailors peered into the expanses of the sea and the heavenly heights until their eyes hurt. The tense silence was broken by the loud cry of the signalman from the crow's nest.

I see two dots!

On the bridge and on deck everyone began to look in the indicated direction.

Two torpedo boats are heading towards us! – The signalman shouted again.

Italian. – Determined by senior assistant Kholin.

The combat alarm sounded and everyone ran to their places. A huge, slow-moving and unarmed icebreaker did not have the slightest chance of escaping from two high-speed boats, each of which had two torpedoes.

The boats were approaching. The chief boatswain, midshipman Groysman, hung out the Turkish flag just in case. But it was not possible to outwit. There were no such ships, much less an icebreaker, in Turkey. The boats approached at a distance of less than a cable length and lay down on a parallel course. One of them asked through a megaphone in broken Russian.

Whose ship?

By order of Sergeev, the boiler mechanic, Crimean Tatar Khamidulin, who knew Turkish, shouted the answer into a megaphone in the direction of the boat.

The ship is Turkish, we are heading to Smyrna! What do you need?

In response, as a warning, a machine gun burst rang out, but Khamidulin managed to hide. A command sounded from the boat.

Immediately proceed to Rhodes under our escort!

No one on the Mikoyan even thought about following the enemy’s orders, and he continued to follow his course. Then the boats began to prepare for torpedo attacks. The Italians knew that the icebreaker was completely unarmed and acted fearlessly. The first boat, clearly counting on success, rushed into the attack, as if on a training ground. And this is where the commander came in handy with the icebreaker’s extraordinary maneuverability and the experience gained in battle in evading enemy attacks. As soon as the boat reached the estimated firing point, a second before the salvo the commander’s command was heard: “Rudder on board!” When the boat fired two torpedoes, the icebreaker was already turning around almost on the spot to meet the deadly cigars, and they passed along the sides. Coming out of the attack, the boat fired at the icebreaker with a machine gun. Then the second boat went on the attack. But he acted differently - he first fired one torpedo. At the moment of the salvo, all three vehicles were working “Full Back”. The icebreaker almost stopped, and the torpedo passed close to the bow. And on the bridge the engine telegraph already rang: “Full speed ahead.” The second torpedo, fired at intervals, passed by, almost hitting the stern.

The boats did not lag behind and opened fire with all machine guns and small-caliber cannons. The boats were getting closer and closer to both sides. The commander ordered via on-board broadcast: “Prepare the ship for sinking!” But the boats soon stopped firing and moved aside. The sailors were happy about this, but, as it turned out, prematurely. Three torpedo bombers appeared, called by radio from the failed boats. The first one immediately went on a combat course; a torpedo was visible under its fuselage. The situation seemed hopeless. And then the unexpected happened. Senior bilge officer Mefodiev rushed to the hydraulic monitor and turned it on. A powerful wall of water, shining in the sun like silver and resembling an explosion, suddenly splashed out towards the plane. The pilot turned sharply, and, gaining altitude, dropped a torpedo, which fell far from the icebreaker. In the same way, the second torpedo bomber was knocked off course. The third dropped a circulating torpedo by parachute, which began to describe a death spiral. But with a quick maneuver Sergeev managed to evade it too. He turned the ship in the opposite direction, and then sharply turned to the side. The torpedo passed by.

Unsuccessful torpedo attacks infuriated the enemy. Now they could not sink the icebreaker, and they did not dare to board it. Firing from all machine guns and small-caliber cannons, boats and planes attacked the icebreaker. But its body was invulnerable to bullets and small-caliber shells. The boats and planes realized this and concentrated fire on the bridge and wheelhouse, trying to disrupt control. The wounded helmsman, senior Red Navy man Ruzakov, was taken to the infirmary, and helmsman Molochinsky took his place. The wounded signalman, Petty Officer 2nd Class Poleshchuk, groaned and fell onto the deck. Senior political instructor M. Novikov was wounded...

Having used up their ammunition, the planes flew away, but the boats continued to fire fiercely. Fires began to break out in different places at Mikoyan. The sailors of the fire-fighting groups, under the leadership of senior assistant commander Lieutenant-Commander Kholin, not paying attention to the shelling, extinguished the fires. But that was not so bad. Due to numerous holes in the pipes, the draft in the boiler furnaces dropped. Despite all the efforts of the stokers, the steam pressure in the boilers began to fall, and the speed gradually began to decrease. A serious danger loomed over the icebreaker.

For several hours, evading continuous attacks, “Mikoyan” stubbornly walked towards its goal. Fortunately, the weather began to deteriorate, clouds hung over the sea, the wind rose, waves appeared (obviously, the weather did not allow the planes to take off again). But the enemy did not let up; his next burst set fire to the rescue boat, the tanks of which contained almost two tons of gasoline, the explosion of which could have had dire consequences. Noticing the high flames and thick smoke covering the icebreaker, the Italians decided that it was all over. But they were wrong. The sailors rushed to the burning boat and cut off the fastenings. They managed to throw the boat overboard before it exploded, sending up a column of fire and debris. And at that moment a downpour of unimaginable force began. Under its veil we managed to break away from the enemy. Mistaking the explosion of the boat for the death of the icebreaker, the Italians picked up several debris, a lifebuoy with the inscription “Mikoyan” and left for Rhodes.

When the danger had passed, they began to put the icebreaker in order and repair the damage received. First of all, they began to seal the holes in the pipes in order to create draft in the boiler furnaces and increase the stroke. They began to hammer hastily made wooden plugs into the holes, whatever they could get their hands on. But all this quickly burned out in the heat of hot gases. We had to start all over again. And at the boilers, exhausted, the stokers worked, throwing coal into the insatiable fireboxes. "Mikoyan" survived, having received about 150 different holes, and continued to move towards its goal.

As soon as the shores of Cyprus appeared on the morning of December 4, British destroyers with guns leveled rushed towards them. First Lieutenant Hanson radioed his ships and soon everything became clear. It turned out that radio stations in Berlin and Rome had already reported to the whole world about the destruction of a large Soviet icebreaker. Believing this message, the British mistook the icebreaker for an enemy ship. The British did not doubt for a minute that the Soviet adventure with a breakthrough would end in the inevitable death of all four ships. Therefore, we never expected to see an icebreaker. Accompanied by destroyers, the Mikoyan, having traveled more than 800 miles, arrived in Famagusta. The icebreaker was scary to look at. The tall chimneys were charred, and smoke was streaming from numerous hastily repaired holes. The navigation bridge and superstructures are riddled with holes. The sides are stained with pockmarks from hits. The upper deck, covered with teak wood, covered with smoke and soot, was almost black. The GKO mission to break through to Cyprus was completed. What was reported to Moscow through London.

The British greeted the Mikoyan unfriendly, they were not allowed to enter the port, and they ordered to anchor behind the booms. Captain Sergeev demanded immediate clarification. At any moment the ship could be attacked by an enemy submarine or aircraft. A representative of the English naval command arrived on board. He looked at the resulting holes and informed the commander that the Mikoyan should immediately weigh anchor and move to Beirut under the escort of a corvette. The ship, which had endured an unequal and difficult battle with the enemy, was not given the opportunity to patch up holes and repair damage. We reached Beirut calmly. But even here they received an order: to continue moving to Haifa without delay. This surprised the Mikoyan commander; he knew that Haifa was subject to frequent German air raids. In Haifa they said goodbye to captain-mentor I.A. Boev. Having completed his task, he returned to his homeland.

Here the Mikoyan docked for repairs. But less than two days had passed before the port authorities demanded a change of parking place. A week later I had to move to another place. In 17 days the ship was rearranged 7 times. It became clear to everyone: the British were using the Soviet ship to check for the presence of magnetic mines in the port.

Repairs were in full swing when disaster struck at the port. Many warships, transports and tankers have accumulated in Haifa. On December 20, a powerful explosion suddenly occurred in the port and a powerful blow shook the Mikoyan. Almost simultaneously, the ship's loud bells rang, announcing an "emergency alarm." The sailors who ran onto the deck of the icebreaker saw a terrible picture - the Phoenix tanker, as was later established, was blown up by a bottom mine. Fire and clouds of thick smoke rose above him. A second explosion was heard, breaking the tanker’s hull in two, and it went into the water, slowly drifting towards the Mikoyan. From the broken hull, thousands of tons of burning oil poured onto the surface of the water, which began to engulf the icebreaker in a ring of fire. The stern of the Phoenix was burning, and on the bow the surviving sailors crowded and screamed, some jumped into the water, swam, trying to escape to the shore or to the Mikoyan.

The icebreaker could not move - of the three vehicles, two onboard were under repair and were dismantled, and the stern vehicle was in a “cold” state. There was only one boiler in operation. Both anchors were released. The slightest delay threatened inevitable death. The sailors rushed to the hydraulic monitors and with powerful jets of water began to drive away the burning oil and put out the flames. The mooring lines were released. The stokers rushed to the boiler rooms to urgently separate steam in the boilers; Drivers - go to the engine room to prepare the machine and set it in motion.

For three days a huge fire raged in Haifa. Our sailors were surprised that neither the British command nor the local authorities even tried to fight the fire. As soon as the fire went out on its own, the senior naval commander in Haifa sent the commander of the Mikoyan, Captain 2nd Rank Sergeev, a Letter of Gratitude, in which he expressed admiration for his courage and daring. demonstrated by the crew in a particularly dangerous situation. In newspapers published in Haifa and Port Said, the British government expressed deep gratitude to the Soviet sailors for saving British soldiers. When the consequences of the unprecedented fire were more or less eliminated, repairs continued on the icebreaker.

On January 6, the Mikoyan left Haifa and headed to Port Said, where a caravan of ships was being formed to travel through the Suez Canal. On January 7, the icebreaker, taking a pilot on board, moved further south. We went out into the Red Sea and anchored in the port roadstead.Here, by agreement with the British, guns and machine guns were to be installed on the Mikoyan. But the British did not fulfill this important condition of the agreement; they only installed an old 45-mm cannon, suitable only for fireworks, from which they conducted practice firing. Then, in order to give the icebreaker the appearance of a well-armed ship, our sailors resorted to a trick. Logs were obtained from the local natives. And the boatswain's crew used these logs and tarpaulins to make something like powerful artillery installations on the deck. Of course, these fake guns will not bring any use, but when meeting an enemy ship, they can overwhelm him with fear.

After stopping in Suez, the icebreaker moved on, passed the Red Sea and arrived in Aden. But by this time the situation in the world had changed for the worse. When we left Batumi, there was peace in the Far East. On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on British and American naval bases, and the war spread to these areas as well. The sailors learned that on December 8, the Japanese government declared the La Perouse, Korean and Sangar straits as its “maritime defense zones” and placed the Sea of ​​Japan and all exits from it under its control. Japanese ships sank and captured Soviet merchant ships. Thus, the shortest route to the Far East for “A. Mikoyan” became almost impossible. Under these conditions, it was decided to go south, to Cape Town, and further west, to their native shores.And then the allies once again provided a “service” - they refused to include the Mikoyan in their convoy, citing the fact that the icebreaker was slow and smoked too much.

On February 1, 1942, in spite of everything, the Mikoyan left Aden and headed south alone, heading for the Kenyan port of Mombasa. One day ships appeared on the horizon. An anxious half hour passed before the situation became clearer. An English reinforced convoy of thirty pennants was heading on a collision course. It consisted of cruisers, destroyers and other warships escorting transports. Two cruisers separated from the convoy, turned their guns towards the Mikoyan, and asked for call signs. Apparently, the British accepted the mock-ups of the guns as real ones.

Give call signs. - Sergeev ordered.

The cruisers approached a few more cables. One of them settled into the wake. The lead cruiser demanded that the vehicles be stopped.

Stop the cars! - Sergeev ordered.

At that second, the lead cruiser fired a salvo from the bow turret. The shells landed at the Mikoyan's bow. Requests poured in from the cruiser: “Show the name of the ship,” “Give the captain’s last name.” "Who sent you from Aden." Having sorted it out, the British allowed them to follow their course. Further sailing to the port of Mombasa passed without incident. During the stay at the port, supplies were replenished, primarily coal.

We set off further, following the Indian Ocean along the east coast of Africa. The tropical heat exhausted the crew. It was especially difficult to stand watch in boiler rooms and engine rooms, where the heat rose to 65 degrees. The stokers and drivers doused themselves with water, but this did little to help. On March 19, we arrived in Cape Town. We replenished supplies and loaded more than 3,000 tons of coal beyond all norms.Mikoyan was ready to move on. The British command informed S.M. Sergeev of the situation in the Atlantic Ocean. German submarines operate on the Cape Town-New York line. Since the beginning of the year, they have moved their operations from the shores of Europe, first to the east coast of the United States, and then to the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Antilles and Bermuda. The German raiders Michel and Stir are believed to be operating in the South Atlantic. The path to the Panama Canal turned out to be extremely dangerous.

And then Sergeev decided to deceive German intelligence, which he believed was operating here. To this end, he informed local reporters that Mikoyan was heading to New York. This message was published in all local newspapers and broadcast on the radio.

At night, March 26, the icebreaker quietly weighed anchor and left Cape Town. Just in case, we actually went to New York for a while. But in the desert region of the Atlantic they changed course. Sergeev chose another, longer route - to go around South America, and go through the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean to the Far East. The icebreaker went to the shores of South America. We found ourselves in a zone of severe storms. The pitch reached 56 degrees, the ship was thrown like a splinter. Sometimes the ocean calmed down only to collapse with renewed force. The bow superstructure was damaged, the heavy steel doors were torn off and carried into the ocean. These were the “Roaring Forties” known to sailors. This went on for seventeen days. In constant violent storms they crossed the Atlantic Ocean and entered the Gulf of La Plata. The sailors breathed a sigh of relief.

We passed by the rusted superstructures of the German heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee, which sank here back in December 1939. We approached the Uruguayan port of Montevideo. Sergeev requested permission to enter the port. But in response, he was informed that the authorities do not allow military ships and armed vessels to visit the port, the fake “guns” of the icebreaker looked so impressive. They had to call a special representative to convince the port authorities that the “weapons” were not real. Only after this we received permission to enter the port.

In Montevideo we replenished supplies, carried out the necessary repairs, and after a rest we set out. And in order to deceive German intelligence, they pointedly headed north. As darkness fell, they turned around and headed south at full speed. At Cape Horn there was a great danger of being attacked by German raiders or submarines. Therefore, we went through the Strait of Magellan, which is quite difficult and dangerous for navigation. In frequent fogs, past Tierra del Fuego, calling at the port of Pointe Arenas, we passed the strait, entered the Pacific Ocean and headed north. In dashes, with short calls to the ports of Coronel and Lota, we arrived at the Chilean port of Valparaiso, replenished supplies, and inspected boilers, machines and mechanisms. After a short rest, we continued our journey north, heading for the Peruvian port of Callao. We replenished supplies and headed to the Panamanian port of Bilbao. We replenished our supplies again and headed to San Francisco.

The icebreaker arrived in San Francisco and then moved to Seattle for repairs and armament. The Americans quickly and efficiently repaired the ship. They dismantled the English cannon and thoroughly armed it: they installed four 76.2 mm guns, ten 20 mm anti-aircraft guns, four 12.7 mm and four 7.62 mm machine guns.

Icebreaker "A. Mikoyan" in 1942.

From Seattle, the Mikoyan headed to the port of Kodiak in Alaska. From Kodiak I went to the port of Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. Leaving Dutch Harbor, the Mikoyan circled the Aleutian Islands to the north and headed to its native shores. Finally, the outlines of distant shores appeared in the haze. A deserted coast appeared - Cape Chukotka. On August 9, 1942, the Mikoyan entered the Gulf of Anadyr.

This campaign lasted eight and a half months. Behind the stern there were three oceans and twelve seas, engulfed in war. Traveled 24,759 miles.

Of the four ships that left Batumi on this deadly voyage, the Mikoyan, under the command of Captain 2nd Rank Sergeev, and the tanker Sakhalin, commanded by Prido Adovich Pomeranets, managed to reach their native shores, arriving in Vladivostok on December 9, 1942.

Tanker of the "Moscow" type, which included the "Sakhalin"

On December 19, 1941, the tanker “Varlaam Avanesov” was attacked by the German submarine “U-652” when leaving the Dardanelles Strait into the Aegean Sea. The torpedo hit the stern and the ship began to sink quickly. The 3 surviving boats were launched, first of all the wounded were put into them, then the rest boarded, including an English officer and two Turkish pilots. Having made sure that no one was left on the ship, captain Boris Pimenovich Ostashevsky was the last to leave the ship. The crew reached the Turkish coast and were soon returned to their homeland.

Tanker "Varlaam Avanesov"

The Tuapse tanker left Istanbul on January 4, 1942. A week later, undetected by anyone,” he arrived at the port of Famagusta on the island of Cyprus. Then he followed the path of “Mikoyan” and arrived safely in Cape Town. Captain V.I. Shcherbachev decided to go to the Far East by the shortest route - through the Panama Canal. On July 4, 1942, off the coast of the island of Cuba, the tanker was attacked by the German submarine U-129. It was hit by 4 torpedoes and quickly sank. Ten sailors died, the rest, including the captain, were saved.

Tanker "Tuapse", although there may be an inaccuracy. Several ships bore this name.

The auxiliary cruiser of the Black Sea Fleet "Mikoyan" was transferred to the Pacific Fleet. The crew said goodbye to their brave commander - captain 2nd rank S.M. Sergeev left for Vladivostok. Captain 3rd rank Yuri Konstantinovich Khlebnikov took command of the Mikoyan.

The crew's rest was short. Almost immediately I received a new combat mission. In Providence Bay, 19 (nineteen) were awaiting his arrival! transports with weapons, ammunition and other military cargo, and warships of the Pacific Fleet: the leader "Baku", destroyers "Razumny" and "Infuriated". "A. Mikoyan" was appointed as the regular icebreaker of EON-18. In essence, this was the task for which the ship traveled this route from Batumi.

Back in June 1942, the State Defense Committee decided to transfer several warships from the Far East along the Northern Sea Route in support of the Northern Fleet. On June 8, by order of the People's Commissar of the Navy No. 0192, special purpose expedition 18 (EON-18) was formed. Captain 1st Rank V.I. Obukhov was appointed commander. On July 22, warships arrived in Providence Bay, where 20 Soviet transports arrived from the United States with military cargo were already located. Ahead was the Northern Sea Route.

On August 13, “A. Mikoyan” and 6 transports left Providence Bay, and the next day warships. The expedition gathered in Emma Bay in Chukotka and continued its journey. The Bering Strait passed through thick fog. We rounded Cape Dezhnev and entered the Chukchi Sea. On August 15 at 16:00 we passed Cape Uelen and entered small ice with a density of 7 points. With each mile the ice conditions became more difficult. There was fog, the ships could hardly continue moving. On August 16, we were forced to stop until the situation improved, among 9-10 point old ice drifting to the southeast. By the morning of August 17, the movement of ice scattered the ships from each other.

The destroyer "Razumny", located next to the leader "Baku", was carried away from it by 50-60 cable lengths. “Enraged” found himself in the most difficult situation. He was caught in the ice and began to drift toward the shore. The expedition's leadership feared that the ship might end up in shallow waters inaccessible to the icebreaker. Attempts by “A. Mikoyan” to rescue “Enraged” from ice captivity were unsuccessful. On the contrary, the operation of the icebreaker increased the pressure of the ice on the hull of the destroyer, which formed dents in the plating of both sides. It became clear that A. Mikoyan alone could not cope with the escort of such a number of warships and transports. We had to fight with 9-10 point ice fields, then rescue the destroyers, then rush to the aid of the transports. The icebreaker L. Kaganovich left Providence Bay to help the A. Mikoyan, which arrived on August 19. Having bypassed the ice massif from the north, the EON-18 ships joined the caravan of transports in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bCape Heart Stone. Further progress took place along the coastline in thin ice. On August 22, beyond Cape Dzhekretlan, the ice became lighter, and on the approach to Kolyuchinskaya Bay there was already clear water. With separately floating ice floes. We approached the Lok Batan tanker, which was at anchor, and began to take on fuel. At the same time, we accepted food from the Volga transport.

On August 25, having passed Cape Vankarem in heavy ice, the EON-18 ships drifted until dawn. At night, a strong wind caused the ice to move, and ships and transports became trapped by hummocks. How difficult the conditions turned out to be can be judged by the fact that even the icebreaker L. Kaganovich had its rudder stock turned 15 degrees.

Only five days later did the icebreakers manage to bring the leader Baku and the destroyer Furious out of the heavy ice into clean water. Both ships were damaged (the propeller fittings were torn off, the sides were dented, and the tanks were damaged). Having broken through the heavy ice, they replenished fuel reserves from the Lok-Batan tanker, without waiting for the Reasonable, the leader Baku and the destroyer Enraged set off under their own power in clear water along the edge of the coastal fast ice. Due to the shallow depths (5-5.6 m), the progress was very slow: a boat sounding of the depths was carried out ahead of the ships.

The icebreaker "L. Kaganovich" got stuck in heavy ice. But the destroyer Razumny found itself in the most difficult situation, sandwiched between two large hummocks of multi-year ice. Ice floes squeezed the hull from the sides, and the propellers jammed. The personnel were exhausted, fighting to free the ship from ice captivity. Day and night, special teams blasted the ice with ammonal and pricked it with ice picks. They installed a steam line and tried to cut the ice with a stream of steam. It turned out that the propellers were firmly frozen into the ice field. They were freed only with the help of divers: they connected a steam line and cut off the ice around the propellers with steam. When the situation became more difficult, the ship's commander authorized the use of depth charges to destroy the ice. Explosions destroyed the entire thickness of the ice, set ice anchors and pulled up to them. During the day I managed to walk 30-40 meters. The icebreaker "A. Mikoyan" repeatedly approached the ship and took it in tow, but had no success. He could not chip away at the ice around the destroyer. This was dangerous, since ice accumulated between the icebreaker and the ship's hull, and the pressure of the icebreaker could lead to a hole in the hull.

On August 31, the icebreaker I. Stalin, arriving from the west, came to the aid of A. Mikoyan. Two icebreakers crushed the thick ice in short raids, each time moving 2 - 2.5 meters. The work lasted from August 31 to September 8. Two channels were broken through the ice to reach the Razumny, but it was not possible to tow the destroyer, since the icebreakers themselves could not move through these channels due to ice compression.

On September 8, the ice situation in the area of ​​the Razumny cutting's drift changed. The wind changed direction, the ice began to move, individual leads appeared, and the compression of the ship's hull decreased. "A. Mikoyan" took the destroyer in tow and began to slowly bring it out into the open water. “I. Stalin” walked ahead, breaking the ice fields, clearing the way for “A. Mikoyan” and “Reasonable”. By 14:00 on September 9 we came to clear water. The destroyer took fuel from the Lokk-Batan tanker and, together with everyone else, headed west along the edge of the coastal fast ice. In the area of ​​​​Cape Two pilots met a heavy ice bridge and stopped, waiting for the icebreaker "L. Kaganovich", which led the destroyer to Ambarchik Bay.

On September 17, the EON-18 ships united in Tiksi Bay. Here the expedition was ordered to stay. German ships, the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer and submarines, entered the Kara Sea, rounding Novaya Zemlya from the north. Having learned about the expedition from the Japanese, the Germans decided to conduct Operation Wunderland (Wonderland) with the goal of intercepting and destroying transports, warships and all Soviet icebreakers near the Vilkitsky Strait. At the eastern entrance to the strait, EON-18 and a convoy of ships from Arkhangelsk, escorted by the icebreaker Krasin, were supposed to meet. But the Sheer met with the icebreaking steamship Sibiryakov, and it, shot at by the raider’s artillery, managed to report the appearance of an enemy ship in the Soviet Arctic. The Germans tried to pass through the Vilkitsky Strait, overtake the Krasin caravan, and during its meeting with EON-18, destroy the transports and all the icebreakers at once. But due to difficult ice conditions, they abandoned this and headed to the port of Dikson. Having received a rebuff there, the raider hastened to retreat to his base in Norway.

On September 19, having taken all measures of combat readiness, the expedition, under the guidance of the icebreaker Krasin, left Tiksi. Having passed the Vilkitsky Strait, she entered the Kara Sea. On September 24, the expedition arrived in Dikson, where they prepared for further voyages. On October 10, having passed the Yugorsky Shar Strait, EON-18 was brought to clean water and on October 14, 1942, she arrived safely in the Kola Bay.

Having spent EON-18 in the ice, the A. Mikoyan, together with the icebreakers I. Stalin, L. Kaganovich and Lenin, which approached from the west, turned east and headed for the transports coming from the USA with cargo along the land -Liza. The icebreakers made several more voyages from Providence Bay to the Kara Sea, leading transports with military cargo. Before the end of navigation along the Northern Sea Route, they sent 4 convoys of 36 ships to Arkhangelsk and Molotovsk.

Meanwhile, the Germans began to expand their minefields at the main junctions of Soviet Arctic communications. The heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, destroyers, a minelayer, submarines and aircraft took part in mine laying. Between Kolguev Island and the Kanin Peninsula, four German destroyers laid 180 mines.

November 20, 1942 At the end of navigation along the Northern Sea Route, the Mikoyan, having led a caravan of ships from the Kara Sea to the Barents Sea, headed to Molotovsk (now Severodvinsk). At Vaygach Island it was joined by the icebreaker "Lenin", in the winter these ships had to guide domestic and allied transports through the ice White Sea. On November 24, they approached the island of Kolguev, where they were joined by two English convoy ships “TJ-71” and “TJ-83”, which were supposed to escort to Molotovsk. The convoy headed for the White Sea, the Mikoyan approached the 42nd meridian. At this polar geographical point, his circumnavigation essentially ended. At this longitude, far to the south, was Batumi, from which he left a year ago.

The convoy was under anti-submarine protection and headed for the White Sea. The Mikoyan was in the lead, the Lenin was in its wake, the English ships were walking along the sides. The sea was stormy and sometimes there was a snowstorm. On November 26 at 21:55 a strong explosion occurred under the stern of the Mikoyan. Having lost control, he rolled to the right. The blast wave washed overboard two gunners on duty at the stern gun. On the Lenin we heard human screams from the starboard side. The ships could not stop and maneuver to search for people, since it was not clear whether they were in a minefield or the Mikoyan was torpedoed by a submarine.

The powerful hull of the icebreaker withstood the explosion of an enemy mine, and it remained afloat, but received serious damage. The explosion distorted the aft part, the upper deck swelled into a mound, and it began to flood the stern engine, artillery magazine No. 7, and the wintering quarters. The steering gear, gyrocompass, and radio station were out of order, and the direction finder antenna was torn off. But the shafting and propellers survived. Switched to manual drive steering, water began to be pumped out of the engine room. We found out that there were no holes in the body, but there were cracks. Despite the damage received, poorly controlled, following the TJ-71, A. Mikoyan continued on its way. The icebreaker "Lenin" was following him and was ready to take him in tow. From the sea, the ships were covered by the TJ-83, which soon disappeared from sight. On the morning of November 28, the tugboat Shkval approached and was instructed to follow the A. Mikoyan in its wake. In the middle of the day, the destroyer Uritsky approached and became part of the guard. Later, a patrol ship approached. On the morning of November 29, the convoy arrived at Iokanga Bay. After a diving inspection of the Mikoyan, we weighed anchor and went to the White Sea. Having brought the icebreakers to the young ice, the escort ships turned back. On November 30, 1942, “Mikoyan” arrived in Molotovsk and stood at the wall of plant No. 402 for repairs. 28,560 miles were covered, over 2,000 of which were in ice.

Thus ended this unprecedented campaign, unique in its audacity. There is no such case in the history of navigation when an unarmed icebreaker, not suitable for ocean voyages, much less circumnavigation, without any security, passed through all combat zones, four oceans and twelve seas, practically completing a trip around the globe.

This only circumnavigation in the history of the Soviet fleet (not counting nuclear submarines), amazing even by the standards of our time, turned out to be forgotten and was classified until the end of the fifties. For many years, few people knew about this campaign except its participants. But most of the brave sailors DID NOT RECEIVE the merit. Among the few awarded were Petty Officer 2nd Article Emelyan Gavrilovich Polishchuk and Senior Red Navyman Semyon Petrovich Ruzakov.

At the plant, the icebreaker was repaired as best they could. But serious repairs were needed. There was no dock capable of accommodating a vessel of that size. With the opening of navigation in 1943, "A. Mikoyan", by agreement with the allies, went for repairs to the USA, to the port of Seattle. The icebreaker passed the Northern Sea Route under its own power, and even led a caravan of ships. Then, now from north to south, a significant part of the Pacific Ocean passed. Upon returning from repairs, "A. Mikoyan" was transferred to the Vladivostok Arctic Shipping Company, and included in the militarized vessels of the Northern Basin. Provided ice support for allied and domestic convoys in the Barents, White, Kara Seas, along the Northern Sea Route, in the ice of the eastern part of the Arctic and the Far East. After the war, “A. Mikoyan” was disarmed. For many years he drove ships in the ice of the Arctic and Far East. In 1966, it was decommissioned and turned into a bunkering base for the Far Eastern Shipping Company. In 1968 it was dismantled for metal.

Icebreaker "A. Mikoyan." Photo from 1956.

The combat history of this icebreaker is still shrouded in secrets and mysteries; historians have ignored the feat accomplished by the crew members of this icebreaker. There are several versions that differ in details, but these differences do not in any way affect the main thing: “Mikoyan” did the impossible and emerged from all troubles as a true hero!

Icebreaker "A. Mikoyan" was the fourth in a series of linear icebreakers of the "I. Stalin" and was built longer than its brothers. In June 1941, the icebreaker was tested by the plant's commissioning team. After which there should have been State tests and acceptance by the State Commission. Introduction "A. Mikoyan" was planned to go into operation in the fourth quarter of 1941, after which it was supposed to move to the Far East.

The war that began on June 22 confused all peace plans. By decision of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, mobilization began in the country at 00.00. On June 28, “A.” was also mobilized. Mikoyan." Outside of any plans, the plant began converting it into an auxiliary cruiser. It was planned to use it for operations on communications and coastal defense from enemy landings. At the same time, adjustment work and testing continued. We had to forget about pre-war plans. Captain 2nd rank Sergei Mikhailovich Sergeev was appointed commander of the ship. The crew, formed from Red Navy men and foremen, voluntarily included workers from the factory commissioning team who wished to defeat the enemy “on their ship.”

Let's remember the battle path of this ship...

It was equipped with seven 130 mm, four 76 mm and six 45 mm guns, as well as four 12.7 mm DShK anti-aircraft machine guns.

In terms of artillery power, the icebreaker was not inferior to domestic destroyers. Its 130 mm guns could fire their almost 34 kg shells to a range of 25.5 km. The rate of fire was 7 - 10 rounds per minute.

At the beginning of September 1941, the re-equipment of the icebreaker was completed, and “A. Mikoyan”, by order of the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, was included in a detachment of ships in the northwestern region of the Black Sea, which, consisting of the cruiser “Comintern”, destroyers “Nezamozhnik” and “Shaumyan”, a division of gunboats and other ships, was intended to provide fire support to the defenders of Odessa.

On September 13, at 11.40, the Mikoyan weighed anchor and, guarded by two small hunters and two MBR-2 aircraft, headed for Odessa, where it safely arrived early in the morning of September 14. Having prepared for battle, the Mikoyan weighed anchor. At 12:40 a.m. the ship set its combat course. The artillerymen wrote on the shells: “To Hitler personally.” At 12:45 a.m. the first sighting shot was fired. Having received the data from the spotters, we switched to defeat. The enemy noticed the Mikoyan appearing in the sea, and was successively attacked by three torpedo bombers. But observers noticed them in time. With a skillful maneuver, the commander dodged the torpedoes. The artillerymen continued firing at the enemy. Operating near Odessa, the artillerymen suppressed firing points and helped the defenders repel attacks by enemy tanks and infantry. Several firing sessions were carried out per day, firing up to 100 shells at the enemy. In the first five firings alone, 466 main-caliber shells were fired at the enemy. Anti-aircraft gunners repelled numerous attacks by enemy aircraft.

When the situation near Odessa became especially difficult, the cruisers "Red Caucasus" and "Red Crimea" "Chervona Ukraine" and the auxiliary cruiser "Mikoyan" carried out 66 firings and rained down 8,500 shells on the enemy. The ships fired mainly at invisible targets at a distance of 10 to 14 cables.

The commander of the Mikoyan and the crew were able to fully master the new, extraordinary maneuvering capabilities of the ship. All the days of operation near Odessa, the ship was constantly exposed to enemy aircraft attacks. Special maneuverability helped to quickly get out from under fire and evade the bombs of enemy aircraft attacking a heavy, wide ship, clearly visible to the pilots, which seemed to them an easy prey. In one of the Mikoyan raids, three Junkers attacked at once. One of them was hit by anti-aircraft fire, caught fire and began to fall onto the ship. "Mikoyan" maneuvered, the enemy plane crashed into the water.

Operating near Odessa, the Mikoyan, with its low speed of 12 knots (unlike cruisers, leaders and destroyers), did not receive direct hits from bombs and shells and did not lose a single person. But from frequent forcing and changing strokes, and the shock of close explosions, six of the nine boilers received damage to their water heating tubes. This is where the high skill of the sailors - former factory specialists - came in handy. They suggested, without leaving the combat position, one by one taking the damaged boilers out of action, to eliminate the malfunctions. The first, in an asbestos suit, to enter the firebox of the first boiler at a temperature of 270 degrees was engineer-captain F.Kh. Khamidulin. In a short time, working at night, wearing asbestos suits and kapok vests soaked in water, boiler operators (stokers) eliminated the problem - they hammered all the pipes.

Supporting the Primorsky Army with fire, the auxiliary cruiser Mikoyan received gratitude from the command of the Odessa defensive region. And only after using up all the ammunition, on the night of September 19, he left for Sevastopol.

On September 22, Mikoyan took part in the landing at Grigoryevka. The Mikoyan had a deep draft and a lower full speed than warships. Therefore, he was included in the artillery support detachment. Together with the gunboats "Dniester" and "Red Georgia" he supported the paratroopers of the 3rd Marine Regiment. Later the crew found out: with their fire they suppressed 2 enemy batteries. In the area of ​​the village of Dofinovka, anti-aircraft gunners shot down two enemy Yu-88 aircraft. Before dawn, the Mikoyan, which had a low speed, headed for Sevastopol. By the way, gunners “A. Mikoyan”, for the first time in the fleet, they began to repel enemy air raids with their main caliber fire. At the suggestion of the commander of the BC-5, senior engineer-Lieutenant Józef Zlotnik, the embrasures in the gun shields were increased, and the elevation angle of the guns became larger. Autogenes, however, did not take armor steel. Then former shipbuilder Nikolai Nazaratiy cut the embrasures using an electric welding unit.

Before receiving the order to evacuate the Odessa defensive region, the Mikoyan, continuously under attack from aircraft and fire from coastal batteries, together with the ships of the fleet continued to fire at enemy positions. Then he moved to Sevastopol, where damaged boilers and mechanisms were qualitatively repaired at plant No. 201.

In October, Mikoyan received an order to move to Novorossiysk. In Sevastopol, a military unit, 36 barrels of long-range naval guns and ammunition were loaded onto it. The guns were very heavy, and only the Mikoyan could transport them. Having repelled an attack by enemy aircraft during the crossing, the ship arrived in Novorossiysk on October 15.

The auxiliary cruiser also took part in the defense of Sevastopol, systematically making flights from Novorossiysk. Delivering reinforcements and military supplies to the besieged city, he took out the wounded and civilians. On it, the personnel and weapons of the 2nd brigade of torpedo boats were evacuated, and they began to remove the dismantled artistic and historical value - “Panorama of the Defense of Sevastopol. In October, more than 1,000 wounded were evacuated on it. At the beginning of November, the fleet headquarters moved to Novorossiysk on the Mikoyan. The ship also fired at enemy positions near Sevastopol.

Then Mikoyan moved to Poti. On November 5, we received an unexpected order - to completely remove weapons. The Red Navy men, foremen, and officers, helping the local factory workers disarm the ship, were dissatisfied with this and openly spoke out against sitting in the rear while their comrades were fighting the enemy to the death during this difficult time. They did not know, and should not have known, that preparations had begun for a secret operation. In five days, all the guns were dismantled. Auxiliary cruiser “A. Mikoyan" again became a linear icebreaker. The personnel of the artillery combat unit were written off to the shore. Part of the command staff was also written off ashore. Soon they demanded to hand over machine guns, rifles and pistols. Captain 2nd rank S.M. Sergeev managed with great difficulty to leave 9 pistols for the officers. The weapon on board was also a hunting rifle.

A special naval counterintelligence department began working on the ship. Each sailor was checked most thoroughly. After such a check, someone was missing from the crew quarters. New, tested ones arrived to replace them. Documents, letters and photographs of relatives and friends were taken from everyone.

The crew was ordered to destroy and burn their military uniforms. In exchange, they gave out a variety of civilian clothing from warehouses. Everyone was photographed and soon issued nautical books (passports) for civilian sailors. The naval flag was lowered and the state flag was raised. The team was at a loss about all these actions. But no one gave an explanation.

These oddities were connected with the fact that in the fall of 1941 the State Defense Committee of the USSR made a very peculiar decision - to transport three large tankers (Sakhalin, Varlaam Avanesov, Tuapse) and a linear icebreaker from the Black Sea to the North and Far East "A. Mikoyan." This was due to an acute shortage of tonnage for transporting goods (domestic and Lend-Lease). These ships had nothing to do in the Black Sea, but in the North and Far East they were desperately needed. That is, the decision in itself would be quite correct, if not for one geographical circumstance. It was necessary to go through the Sea of ​​Marmara to the Mediterranean, then not around Europe (this was a guaranteed death either from German submarines or from their own bombers), but through the Suez Canal to the Indian Ocean, then across the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean to the Soviet Far East ( from there the Mikoyan was supposed to continue sailing along the Northern Sea Route to Murmansk). Thus, almost a circumnavigation of the world lay ahead, and it had to be carried out in war conditions. The most interesting thing awaited the Soviet ships at the beginning of the journey. During the war, almost all merchant ships of all warring countries received at least some kind of weapons (1-2 cannons, several machine guns). Of course, it was purely symbolic, but in some situations (against single aircraft, boats, auxiliary cruisers) it could help. In addition, whenever possible, merchant ships were accompanied by warships. Alas, for the Soviet four all these options were excluded.

The fact is that from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean the route lay through the Bosphorus, the Sea of ​​Marmara and the Dardanelles, which belong to Turkey. And she, observing neutrality, did not allow warships of warring countries to pass through the straits. Moreover, she also did not allow armed transports to pass through. Accordingly, our ships could not even have a symbolic pair of guns. But that was not so bad. The trouble was that the Aegean Sea beyond the Dardanelles was completely controlled by the Germans and Italians, who had captured both continental Greece and all the islands of the Greek archipelago, through which Soviet ships had to go south.

The icebreaker arrived in Batumi. Following him, three tankers came here: “Sakhalin”, “Tuapse” and “Varlaam Avanesov”. All three are the same in displacement, carrying capacity and with approximately the same full speed.

On November 25, 1941, at 3:45 a.m., a convoy consisting of an icebreaker, three tankers and escort ships set out to sea under cover of darkness. For some time they walked towards Sevastopol, and then headed for the Bosphorus. The Tashkent leader walked at the head under the flag of Rear Admiral Vladimirsky. Behind him, in the wake were the Mikoyan and tankers. To the right of the icebreaker was the destroyer Sposobny, to the left was the destroyer Soobrazitelny. But warships could accompany the caravan only to Turkish territorial waters.

The trip to the Bosphorus, 575 miles long, was planned to be completed in three days. The day was calm, the sky was overcast. By evening it began to rain with sleet, the wind rose and became a force nine storm. The sea became covered with dark, foamy swells, and rocking began. The wind grew stronger, pitch darkness swallowed up the ships and guard ships. At night the storm reached 10 points. They were moving at a speed of about 10 knots - the tankers could no longer do it, and especially the Mikoyan with its coal boilers, it was already lagging behind all the time. The tankers, loaded to the neck, held up well, only sometimes the waves covered them up to the navigation bridges. On the Mikoyan, with its egg-shaped hull, the pitching range reached 56 degrees. But his powerful body was not afraid of the blows of the waves. Sometimes he would bury his nose in the wave, then, going over another huge shaft, he would expose his propellers. The warships had a hard time. "Tashkent" heeled up to 47 degrees with a maximum heel of 52 degrees. Due to the impact of the waves, the deck in the bow sank and cracked on both sides in the midship area. Destroyers with a list of up to 50 degrees almost lay on board. Correcting the damage received, we moved forward. At times, ships and vessels were hidden from view behind a curtain of rain and thick snow squalls.

At night the storm sometimes subsided. Suddenly, the commander of the Soobrazitelny reported that silhouettes of unknown ships had been discovered. The guard ships prepared for battle. "Savvy", by order of Vladimirsky, approached unknown ships. It turned out that these were three Turkish transports. To avoid a tragic mistake, they stopped the move and illuminated the large images of the national flag painted on the sides with spotlights. Having dispersed, the convoy continued on its way.

Three days later, the storm began to subside, delaying the arrival of ships in Istanbul for a day. On the morning of November 29, the Turkish coast appeared. 10 miles from the Bosphorus, the escort ships raised the flag signal “We wish you a happy voyage” and turned back on course. In Turkish territorial waters we met patrol ships that sailed nearby for some time, looking for weapons on the decks of the ships.

Soon the caravan anchored in the roadstead of Istanbul. Representatives of the Turkish port authorities who arrived at the Mikoyan were not too interested in the cargo and did not look into the holds. We walked along the upper deck, in the cabin of captain 2nd rank Sergeev, we filled out the necessary documents in such cases, drank a glass of Russian vodka and left the ship.

The Soviet naval attaché in Turkey, Captain 2nd Rank Rodionov, boarded the Mikoyan, and with him the assistant to the English naval attache, Lieutenant Commander Rogers. A meeting of ship captains took place in Sergeev’s cabin. Rodionov reported on the decision of the State Defense Committee, in which the captains were given the task of breaking through to the port of Famagusta on the island of Cyprus, to the allies. The tankers were ordered to temporarily place themselves at the disposal of the allied command, and the icebreaker to proceed to the Far East.

According to an agreement between the Soviet government and the British government, the ships were to be escorted by British warships from the Dardanelles Strait to Cyprus. But, although they promised, they could not provide any security. The English Mediterranean Fleet suffered heavy losses in the battles. The British did not consider it possible to risk their ships to protect the Soviet icebreaker and tankers. This is what the British representative informed the captain of the Mikoyan. After a short exchange of views, they decided that it was time to carry out the planned plan: each ship should proceed to the Far East separately, at indefinite intervals, with different coordinates of the routes laid out on the navigator’s maps...

In a special instruction handed to Captain 2nd Rank Sergeev by Rodionov, it was categorically ordered: “Under no circumstances should the ship be surrendered, should it be sunk by explosion, and the crew should not be taken prisoner.”

The dark night came on November 30th. The windlass quietly started working, and the anchor-chain slowly crawled into the hawse, and the icebreaker began to slowly move forward. As soon as the anchor came off the ground, Sergeev gave a “low speed”. In the night, the Mikoyan glided away from the shore like a silent shadow. Having entered the fairway, the commander gave “full speed”. In order not to run into boats floating without any lights or any floating object in the dark, Sergeev ordered additional observers to be placed on the bow and along the sides. In the darkness, the smoke pouring out of the chimneys was not particularly noticeable. Moreover, the stokers tried their best - not a single spark flew out of the pipes. Fortunately, it soon began to drizzle. Half an hour later Istanbul was left behind.

In pitch darkness, without lights, we passed the Sea of ​​Marmara and approached the gorge of the Dardanelles Strait. The strait is winding and narrow, making navigation quite difficult. Experienced pilots navigated ships here even during the day with great care. And the icebreaker sailed without a pilot at all. In the middle of the strait, near Çanakkale, navigation conditions are extremely difficult, especially at night - here the strait sharply narrows to 7 cable lengths and makes two sharp turns. In the most dangerous place, captain-mentor I.A. Boev took the helm and successfully navigated the icebreaker. We walked further, sticking to the European coast.

We went out into the Aegean Sea. "Mikoyan" rushed south at full speed. In the morning, almost as close as the depth allowed, we pressed against the rocks of a small, deserted island in the Gulf of Edremit. The boilers were turned off so as not to give themselves away from the smoke from the chimneys. From the icebreaker, the island of Lesbos with the Italian naval base of Mytilene located on it was visible. The day passed in anxious anticipation, but no one appeared nearby, only the flashing silhouettes of ships were noticed several times far on the horizon. Everything went well.

As soon as it got dark, the Mikoyan set off. Ahead lay the islands of the Greek Archipelago. S.M. Sergeev immediately took the icebreaker away from the once “knurled” route, usual in peacetime, and led it along the route developed in Istanbul. We walked without running lights, trying to stay close to the Turkish shores, winding between mountainous islands, every minute risking in the dark, on an unfamiliar fairway, running into an underwater rock or a mine. External surveillance was intensified: “lookouts” kept watch on the forecastle, and signalmen were in the “crow’s nest.” We walked by dead reckoning, although the inclement weather helped us to remain unnoticed, but hid our landmarks. As soon as it began to get light, we hid in a wide crevice of a rocky island. In preparation for battle, craftsmen prepared weapons in the ship's workshop - they forged several dozen pikes and other bladed weapons. The radio operators constantly listened to the airwaves to see if there was any alarm. Another day passed in tense anticipation.

As darkness fell, the icebreaker continued its journey in the darkness of the night. Near the island of Samos, the Mikoyan passed literally under the noses of Italian patrol ships, which illuminated the sea with searchlights. Only fresh weather, slanting rain and poor visibility helped our sailors. We safely passed just two miles from the enemy naval base. We stopped for a day, squeezing ourselves into a gap between the rocks of two deserted islands. There was no doubt that the enemy was looking for the missing icebreaker; the sailors were preparing for the worst.

On previous nights, our sailors were lucky, the weather was inclement, and the Aegean Sea was controlled by the Italians, not the Germans, and there were no locators. Therefore, the icebreaker, not surprisingly, remained undetected. But on the third night, the weather became surprisingly clear and the full moon was shining in the night sky. And ahead was the island of Rhodes, on which the main Italian naval base in this area of ​​the Mediterranean was located. German aircraft were also based here, bombing the Suez Canal and British bases and ports. This was the most dangerous place.

On December 3, the icebreaker carefully left its shelter and rushed at full speed to break through. Hostile Rhodes was approaching. “A. Mikoyan” entered the strait between the Turkish coast and the island of Rhodes and headed towards the small island of Kastellorizo, beyond which the expanses of the Mediterranean Sea opened up.

First a small schooner appeared and sailed nearby for some time, then turned aside and disappeared. Soon a reconnaissance plane appeared, circled the icebreaker several times and flew over it, the pilot apparently looked out and determined whether there were weapons, and flew off towards the island.

It became clear that “Mikoyan” had been discovered and identified. The commander's order was sent from the bridge to all posts: - if the Nazis try to capture the icebreaker and try to climb to the upper deck, beat them with crowbars, pikes, axes, hooks, beat them until at least one of the crew is alive. Open Kingston at the very last moment, when there will be nothing and no one to defend. An anxious expectation was established at Mikoyan. Time seemed to slow down. The sailors peered into the expanses of the sea and the heavenly heights until their eyes hurt. The tense silence was broken by the loud cry of the signalman from the crow's nest.

I see two dots!

On the bridge and on deck everyone began to look in the indicated direction.

Two torpedo boats are heading towards us! - the signalman shouted again.

“Italian,” senior assistant Kholin determined.

The combat alarm sounded and everyone ran to their places. A huge, slow-moving and unarmed icebreaker did not have the slightest chance of escaping from two high-speed boats, each of which had two torpedoes.

The boats were approaching. The chief boatswain, midshipman Groysman, hung out the Turkish flag just in case. But it was not possible to outwit. There were no such ships, much less an icebreaker, in Turkey. The boats approached at a distance of less than a cable length and lay down on a parallel course. One of them asked through a megaphone in broken Russian.

Whose ship?

By order of Sergeev, the boiler mechanic, Crimean Tatar Khamidulin, who knew Turkish, shouted the answer into a megaphone in the direction of the boat.

The ship is Turkish, we are heading to Smyrna! What do you need?

In response, a machine gun burst rang out as a warning, but Khamidulin managed to hide. A command sounded from the boat.

Immediately proceed to Rhodes under our escort!

No one on the Mikoyan even thought about following the enemy’s orders, and he continued to follow his course. Then the boats began to prepare for torpedo attacks. The Italians knew that the icebreaker was completely unarmed and acted fearlessly. The first boat, clearly counting on success, rushed into the attack, as if on a training ground. And this is where the commander came in handy with the icebreaker’s extraordinary maneuverability and the experience gained in battle in evading enemy attacks. As soon as the boat reached the target firing point, a second before the salvo the commander’s command was heard: “Rudder on board!” When the boat fired two torpedoes, the icebreaker was already turning around almost on the spot to meet the deadly cigars, and they passed along the sides. Coming out of the attack, the boat fired at the icebreaker with a machine gun. Then the second boat went on the attack. But he acted differently - he first fired one torpedo. At the moment of the salvo, all three vehicles were working “Full Back”. The icebreaker almost stopped, and the torpedo passed close to the bow. And on the bridge the engine telegraph already rang: “Full speed ahead.” The second torpedo, fired at intervals, missed the ship, almost hitting the stern.

The boats did not lag behind and opened fire with all machine guns and small-caliber cannons. The boats were getting closer and closer to both sides. The commander ordered via on-board broadcast: “Prepare the ship for sinking!” But the boats soon stopped firing and moved aside. The sailors were happy about this, but, as it turned out, prematurely. Three torpedo bombers appeared, called by radio from the failed boats. The first one immediately went on a combat course; a torpedo was visible under its fuselage. The situation seemed hopeless. And then the unexpected happened. Senior bilge officer Mefodiev rushed to the hydraulic monitor and turned it on. A powerful wall of water, shining like silver in the moonlight and resembling an explosion, suddenly splashed out towards the plane. The pilot turned sharply and, gaining altitude, dropped a torpedo, which fell far from the icebreaker. The second torpedo bomber was also knocked off course in the same way. The third dropped a circulating torpedo by parachute, which began to describe a death spiral. But with a quick maneuver Sergeev managed to evade it too. He turned the ship in the opposite direction, and then sharply turned to the side. The torpedo passed by.

Unsuccessful torpedo attacks infuriated the enemy. Now they could not sink the icebreaker, and they did not dare to board it. Firing from all machine guns and small-caliber cannons, boats and planes attacked the icebreaker. But its body was invulnerable to bullets and small-caliber shells. The boats and planes realized this and concentrated fire on the bridge and wheelhouse, trying to disrupt control. The wounded helmsman, senior Red Navy man Ruzakov, was taken to the infirmary, and helmsman Molochinsky took his place. The wounded signalman, Petty Officer 2nd Class Poleshchuk, groaned and fell onto the deck. Senior political instructor M. Novikov was wounded...

Having used up their ammunition, the planes flew away, but the boats continued to fire fiercely. Fires began to break out in different places at Mikoyan. The sailors of the fire-fighting groups, under the leadership of senior assistant commander Lieutenant-Commander Kholin, not paying attention to the shelling, extinguished the fires. But that was not so bad. Due to numerous holes in the pipes, the draft in the boiler furnaces dropped. Despite all the efforts of the stokers, the steam pressure in the boilers began to fall, and the speed gradually began to decrease. A serious danger loomed over the icebreaker.

For several hours, evading continuous attacks, “Mikoyan” stubbornly walked towards its goal. Fortunately, the weather began to deteriorate, clouds hung over the sea, the wind rose, waves appeared (obviously, the weather did not allow the planes to take off again). But the enemy did not let up; his next burst set fire to the rescue boat, the tanks of which contained almost two tons of gasoline, the explosion of which could have had dire consequences. Noticing the high flames and thick smoke covering the icebreaker, the Italians decided that it was all over. But they were wrong. The sailors rushed to the burning boat and cut off the fastenings. They managed to throw the boat overboard before it exploded, sending up a column of fire and debris. And at that moment a downpour of unimaginable force began. Under its veil we managed to break away from the enemy. Mistaking the explosion of the boat for the death of the icebreaker, the Italians picked up several debris, a lifebuoy with the inscription “Mikoyan” and left for Rhodes.

When the danger had passed, they began to put the icebreaker in order and repair the damage received. First of all, they began to seal the holes in the pipes in order to create draft in the boiler furnaces and increase the stroke. They began to hammer hastily made wooden plugs into the holes, whatever they could get their hands on. But all this quickly burned out in the heat of hot gases. We had to start all over again. And at the boilers, exhausted, the stokers worked, throwing coal into the insatiable fireboxes. "Mikoyan" survived, having received about 150 different holes, and continued to move towards its goal.

As soon as the shores of Cyprus appeared on the morning of December 4, British destroyers with guns leveled rushed towards them. First Lieutenant Hanson radioed his ships and soon everything became clear. It turned out that radio stations in Berlin and Rome had already reported to the whole world about the destruction of a large Soviet icebreaker. Believing this message, the British mistook the icebreaker for an enemy ship. The British did not doubt for a minute that the Soviet adventure with a breakthrough would end in the inevitable death of all four ships. Therefore, we never expected to see an icebreaker. Accompanied by destroyers, the Mikoyan, having traveled more than 800 miles, arrived in Famagusta. The icebreaker was scary to look at. The tall chimneys were charred, and smoke was streaming from numerous hastily repaired holes. The navigation bridge and superstructures are riddled with holes. The sides are stained with pockmarks from hits. The upper deck, covered with teak wood, covered with smoke and soot, was almost black. The GKO mission to break through to Cyprus was completed. What was reported to Moscow through London.

The British greeted the Mikoyan unfriendly, they were not allowed to enter the port, and they ordered to anchor behind the booms. Captain Sergeev demanded immediate clarification. At any moment the ship could be attacked by an enemy submarine or aircraft. A representative of the English naval command arrived on board. He looked at the resulting holes and informed the commander that the Mikoyan should immediately weigh anchor and move to Beirut under the escort of a corvette. The ship, which had endured an unequal and difficult battle with the enemy, was not given the opportunity to patch up holes and repair damage. We reached Beirut calmly. But even here they received an order: to continue moving to Haifa without delay. This surprised the Mikoyan commander; he knew that Haifa was subject to frequent German air raids. In Haifa they said goodbye to captain-mentor I.A. Boev. Having completed his task, he returned to his homeland.

Here the Mikoyan docked for repairs. But less than two days had passed before the port authorities demanded a change of parking place. A week later I had to move to another place. In 17 days the ship was rearranged 7 times. It became clear to everyone: the British were using the Soviet ship to check for the presence of magnetic mines in the port.

Repairs were in full swing when disaster struck at the port. Many warships, transports and tankers have accumulated in Haifa. On December 20, a powerful explosion suddenly occurred in the port and a powerful blow shook the Mikoyan. Almost simultaneously, the ship's loud bells rang, announcing an "emergency alarm." The sailors who ran onto the deck of the icebreaker saw a terrible picture - the Phoenix tanker, as was later established, was blown up by a bottom mine. Fire and clouds of thick smoke rose above him. A second explosion was heard, breaking the tanker’s hull in two, and it went into the water, slowly drifting towards the Mikoyan. From the broken hull, thousands of tons of burning oil poured onto the surface of the water, which began to engulf the icebreaker in a ring of fire. The stern of the Phoenix was burning, and on the bow the surviving sailors crowded and screamed, some jumped into the water, swam, trying to escape to the shore or to the Mikoyan.

The icebreaker could not move - of the three vehicles, two onboard were under repair and were dismantled, and the stern vehicle was in a “cold” state. There was only one boiler in operation. The slightest delay threatened inevitable death. The sailors rushed to the hydraulic monitors and with powerful jets of water began to drive away the burning oil and put out the flames. The mooring lines were released. The stokers rushed to the boiler rooms to urgently separate steam in the boilers; machinists - go to the engine room to prepare the machine and set it in motion.

For three days a huge fire raged in Haifa. Our sailors were surprised that neither the British command nor the local authorities even tried to fight the fire. As soon as the fire went out on its own, the senior naval commander in Haifa sent the commander of the Mikoyan, Captain 2nd Rank Sergeev, a Letter of Gratitude, in which he expressed admiration for his courage and daring. Demonstrated by the crew in a particularly dangerous situation. In newspapers published in Haifa and Port Said, the British government expressed deep gratitude to the Soviet sailors for saving British soldiers. When the consequences of the unprecedented fire were more or less eliminated, repairs continued on the icebreaker.

On January 6, the Mikoyan left Haifa and headed to Port Said, where a caravan of ships was being formed to travel through the Suez Canal. On January 7, the icebreaker, taking a pilot on board, moved further south. We went out into the Red Sea and anchored in the port roadstead. Here, by agreement with the British, guns and machine guns were to be installed on the Mikoyan. But the British did not fulfill this important condition of the agreement; they only installed an old 45-mm cannon, suitable only for fireworks, from which they conducted practice firing. Then, in order to give the icebreaker the appearance of a well-armed ship, our sailors resorted to a trick. Logs were obtained from local Arabs. And the boatswain's crew used these logs and tarpaulins to make something like powerful artillery installations on the deck. Of course, these fake guns will not bring any use, but when meeting an enemy ship, they can overwhelm him with fear.

After stopping in Suez, the icebreaker moved on, passed the Red Sea and arrived in Aden. But by this time the situation in the world had changed for the worse. When we left Batumi, there was peace in the Far East. On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on British and American naval bases, and the war spread to these areas as well. The sailors learned that on December 8, the Japanese government declared the La Perouse, Korean and Sangar straits as its “maritime defense zones” and placed the Sea of ​​Japan and all exits from it under its control. Japanese ships sank and captured Soviet merchant ships. Thus, the shortest route to the Far East for “A. Mikoyan” became almost impossible. Under these conditions, it was decided to go south, to Cape Town, and further west, to their native shores. And then the allies once again provided a “service” - they refused to include the Mikoyan in their convoy, citing the fact that the icebreaker was slow and smoked too much.

On February 1, 1942, in spite of everything, the Mikoyan left Aden and headed south alone, heading for the Kenyan port of Mombasa. One day ships appeared on the horizon. An anxious half hour passed before the situation became clearer. An English reinforced convoy of thirty pennants was heading on a collision course. It consisted of cruisers, destroyers and other warships escorting transports. Two cruisers separated from the convoy, turned their guns towards the Mikoyan, and asked for call signs. Apparently, the British accepted the mock-ups of the guns as real ones.

Give your call sign,” Sergeev ordered.

The cruisers approached a few more cables. One of them settled into the wake. The lead cruiser demanded that the vehicles be stopped.

Stop the cars! - Sergeev ordered.

At that second, the lead cruiser fired a salvo from the bow turret. The shells landed at the Mikoyan's bow. Requests poured in from the cruiser: “Show the name of the ship,” “Give the captain’s last name.” "Who sent you from Aden." Having sorted it out, the British allowed them to follow their course. Further sailing to the port of Mombasa passed without incident. During the stay at the port, supplies were replenished, primarily coal.

We set off further, following the Indian Ocean along the east coast of Africa. The tropical heat exhausted the crew. It was especially difficult to stand watch in boiler rooms and engine rooms, where the heat rose to 65 degrees. The stokers and drivers doused themselves with water, but this did little to help. On March 19 we arrived in Cape Town. We replenished reserves and loaded more than 3,000 tons of coal beyond all norms. Mikoyan was ready to move on. The British command informed S.M. Sergeev of the situation in the Atlantic Ocean. German submarines operate on the Cape Town - New York line. Since the beginning of the year, they have moved their operations from the shores of Europe, first to the east coast of the United States, and then to the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Antilles and Bermuda. The German raiders Michel and Styre are believed to be operating in the South Atlantic. The path to the Panama Canal turned out to be extremely dangerous.

And then Sergeev decided to deceive German intelligence, which he believed was operating here. To this end, he informed local reporters that Mikoyan was heading to New York. This message was published in all local newspapers and broadcast on the radio.

At night, March 26, the icebreaker quietly weighed anchor and left Cape Town. Just in case, we actually went to New York for a while. But in the desert region of the Atlantic they changed course. Sergeev chose another, longer route - to go around South America, and go through the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean to the Far East. The icebreaker went to the shores of South America. We found ourselves in a zone of severe storms. The pitch reached 56 degrees, the ship was thrown like a splinter. Sometimes the ocean calmed down only to collapse with renewed force. The bow superstructure was damaged, the heavy steel doors were torn off and carried into the ocean. These were the “Roaring Forties” known to sailors. This went on for seventeen days. In constant violent storms they crossed the Atlantic Ocean and entered the Gulf of La Plata. The sailors breathed a sigh of relief.

We passed by the rusted superstructures of the German heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee, which sank here back in December 1939. We approached the Uruguayan port of Montevideo. Sergeev requested permission to enter the port. But in response, he was informed that the authorities do not allow military ships and armed vessels to visit the port, the fake “guns” of the icebreaker looked so impressive. They had to call a special representative to convince the port authorities that the “weapons” were not real. Only after this we received permission to enter the port.

In Montevideo we replenished supplies, carried out the necessary repairs, and after a rest we set out. And in order to deceive German intelligence, they pointedly headed north. As darkness fell, they turned around and headed south at full speed. At Cape Horn there was a great danger of being attacked by German raiders or submarines. Therefore, we went through the Strait of Magellan, which is quite difficult and dangerous for navigation. In frequent fogs, past Tierra del Fuego, calling at the port of Pointe Arenas, we passed the strait, entered the Pacific Ocean and headed north. In dashes, with short calls to the ports of Coronel and Lota, we arrived at the Chilean port of Valparaiso, replenished supplies, and inspected boilers, machines and mechanisms. After a short rest, we continued our journey north, heading for the Peruvian port of Callao. We replenished supplies and headed to the Panamanian port of Bilbao. We replenished our supplies again and headed to San Francisco.

The icebreaker arrived in San Francisco and then moved to Seattle for repairs and armament. The Americans quickly and efficiently repaired the ship. They dismantled the English cannon and thoroughly armed it: they installed four 76.2 mm guns, ten 20 mm anti-aircraft guns, four 12.7 mm and four 7.62 mm machine guns.

From Seattle, the Mikoyan headed to the port of Kodiak in Alaska. From Kodiak I went to the port of Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. Leaving Dutch Harbor, the Mikoyan circled the Aleutian Islands to the north and headed to its native shores. Finally, the outlines of distant shores appeared in the haze. A deserted coast appeared - Cape Chukotka. On August 9, 1942, the Mikoyan entered the Gulf of Anadyr.

The crew's rest was short. Almost immediately I received a new combat mission. In Providence Bay, 19 (nineteen) were awaiting his arrival! transports with weapons, ammunition and other military cargo, and warships of the Pacific Fleet: the leader "Baku", destroyers "Razumny" and "Infuriated". "A. Mikoyan" was appointed as the regular icebreaker of EON-18. In essence, this was the task for which the ship traveled this route from Batumi.

Below we use material from the Internet. MILITARY LITERATURE -[Prose]-Khorkov Geliy Ivanovich, “They were at sea” with some abbreviation.
August 26, 1941 after long construction without acceptance tests, a brand new, but coal-fired icebreaker “A. Mikoyan”, moved away from the outfitting wall of the Marti plant in Nikolaev to Sevastopol under the volleys of artillery guns from the anti-aircraft batteries of the shipyard, which repelled the furious attacks of fascist bombers. The captain of the icebreaker was an experienced naval sailor, captain 2nd rank S. M. Sergeev. The risk turned out to be justified: the valuable icebreaker “A. Mikoyan”, thanks to skillful maneuvering in the Bug estuary in the Nikolaev area, was saved from being hit by bombs.

In Sevastopol, five 130 mm caliber guns, four 76 mm anti-aircraft guns and four machine guns were installed on the icebreaker. Upon completion of the re-equipment, the icebreaker “A. Mikoyan" was enlisted in the Navy with the rank of auxiliary cruiser and equipped with the appropriate staff of military specialists. An equally valuable addition to the personnel of the auxiliary cruiser was some of the workers from the commissioning teams of the A. Marti plant, who wished to serve on “their” ship as mobilized from the reserves.
At the beginning of September 1941 auxiliary cruiser "A. Mikoyan”, by order of the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, was included in the detachment of a ship in the northwestern region of the Black Sea, which, consisting of a cruiser, a division and other ships, was intended to provide fire support to the defenders of Odessa. The auxiliary cruiser immediately began combat work. For several days the ship supported the heroic Primorsky Army with the fire of its guns, and received gratitude from the command of the Odessa defensive region. He took part in the famous landing near Grigoryevka on September 22, 1941. He was entrusted with the task of providing artillery support for the landing. The crew later learned that their fire had suppressed two enemy long-range artillery batteries.
By the way, the gunners of the auxiliary cruiser “A. Mikoyan" for the first time in the fleet, they began to repel enemy air raids with their main caliber fire. At the suggestion of the commander of the BC-5, senior engineer-lieutenant Józef Zlotnik, the embrasures in the gun shields were increased, and the elevation angle of the guns became larger. Autogenes, however, did not take armor steel. Then former shipbuilder Nikolai Nazaratiy cut the embrasures using an electric welding unit.
Before the order to evacuate the Odessa defensive region, the auxiliary cruiser "A. Mikoyan", constantly being under enemy fire, together with other ships of the Black Sea Fleet fired at enemy positions, and then took an active part in the defense of Sevastopol, transporting the wounded and civilians.
In November 1941 The icebreaker "A. Mikoyan" receives the task of making the most difficult transition in wartime conditions to the Far East to work along the Northern Sea Route. The first difficulty was that neutral Turkey refused to allow an armed ship from a warring country to pass through the Bosporus. Therefore, the icebreaker first had to go to Poti, where in 5 days they removed all the weapons that were installed on it in August during mobilization.

November 25, 1941 After receiving a full supply of fuel, water and provisions in Batumi, the icebreaker with a crew of 140 people set out for the Tuapse roadstead. Following him, three tankers came here: Sakhalin, Tuapse and Varlaam Avanesov. Early in the morning of November 25, the ships began to leave for the outer roadstead, where the leader Tashkent and the destroyers Sposobny and Soobrazitelny were already waiting for them. Soon the caravan (flagship Vice Admiral L.A. Vladimirsky) entered the open sea, heading for the Bosphorus.


November 30th Having withstood a severe storm on the way, they approached the Turkish coast.


Here the warships wished the tankers and icebreaker “happy sailing” and turned back.
Having entered the Bosphorus, the ships anchored. Soon on "A. Mikoyan”, the Soviet naval attaché in Turkey, Captain 1st Rank Rodionov, arrived, and with him an English officer, Lieutenant Commander Rogers. A meeting took place in the cabin of Captain 2nd Rank Sergeev. Rodionov informed the audience about the decision of the State Defense Committee, in which the icebreaker and tankers were tasked with breaking through to the port of Famagusta in Cyprus, where the tankers were ordered to go to the disposal of the allied command, and the icebreaker to proceed to the Far East.
The task was not easy. The Aegean Sea was completely controlled by Italian and German armed fast patrol boats based on numerous islands, including Lesvos, Rhodes and Crete and other smaller islands. Fortunately, in addition to enemy patrol boats armed with 20 mm cannons, there were other warships in the path of the icebreaker A. Mikoyan" was not found.
On the night of November 30 to December 1, 1941 icebreaker "A. Mikoyan” began the maneuver of a secretive breakthrough to Cyprus by standing in small bays during the day, or touching the islands, or squeezing into some gap between the rocks, and when it got dark, he set off again, clinging closely to the shores.


Two nights were favorable for the brave sailors - they were dark and cloudy. On board the icebreaker, just in case, everyone was preparing for boarding. In the ship's workshop, several dozen pikes and other bladed weapons were forged - a good addition to the standard six pistols and an automatic rifle. But on the third night the full moon appeared. The icebreaker was already approaching the island. Rodas. Two enemy patrol boats on high speed approached the icebreaker and offered to surrender and follow a course to Rhodes Island. Sergeev used a trick - following for some time the course indicated by the boats - it was “on the way”. At the right moment, the icebreaker changed course and increased its speed to the maximum possible (15 knots). The enemy boats (two more boats approached) began to shoot at the icebreaker with cannons and machine guns. Due to strong artillery fire from enemy boats, fires broke out on the icebreaker and holes formed in the settings and chimneys, the latter sharply reduced the speed of movement. One thing helped. A lot of fire and smoke was generated from the burning on board the motor boat and gasoline supplies for its engine. Bright fire and smoke began to cover the hull of the ship. The Italians decided that the ship was badly damaged and would not go anywhere. Apparently, all the ammunition on the boats was used up, but they did not dare to board them and left the icebreaker for Rhodes for help. The icebreaker's crew threw the burning boat overboard and extinguished the fires. The rapidly gathering twilight prevented enemy observation. Apparently, there was no radar on the boats or shore posts. By this time the wind had picked up and it was raining. Darkness covered the icebreaker. "A. Mikoyan,” having more than 500 bullet and shrapnel holes, continued on his way. The sailors quickly put their ship in order, repaired the holes in the chimneys, provided the necessary thrust, and increased the speed. The next day, the icebreaker arrived on the island of Cyprus at the port of Famagusta.


As soon as Famagusta appeared, British destroyers with guns aimed rushed towards the icebreaker, initially mistaking the icebreaker for an enemy ship, because Italians. Having discovered some objects floating at the site of the shelling, the icebreaker hastened to announce the death of the Soviet ship "A. Mikoyan."
By the way, three of our tankers used similar single tactics of breaking through to the island of Cyprus through the Aegean Sea from armed boats. The tankers Sakhalin and Tuapse arrived safely in Famagusta. The tanker Varlam Avanesov was unlucky. It was torpedoed by an enemy submarine while leaving the Dardanelles Strait.
Having repaired the damage received from fires and enemy shells, and replenished supplies, the icebreaker left for Haifa for repairs.
Before leaving Haifa, the icebreaker "A. Mikoyan" managed to evade dangerously burning oil on the water from a damaged tanker and save British soldiers on the pier, who were threatened by the same burning oil on the water, from imminent death. Many British soldiers had to receive immediate medical attention. The next day, in newspapers published in Haifa and Port Said, the British government expressed its deep gratitude to the Soviet sailors for saving British soldiers.
December 14, 1941, having safely passed the Suez Canal A. Mikoyan" successfully completed next stage transition and arrived at the port of Suez,


where, by prior agreement with the British, several guns and machine guns were to be installed on the icebreaker. In fact, only one small-bore cannon, manufactured in 1905, was supplied to produce the salute of nations upon entering foreign ports.
February 1, 1942 The icebreaker left Aden.
In the beginning of March The icebreaker arrived in Cape Town, where it took on supplies and loaded itself with coal in excess of all prescribed norms.
On the night of March 26, 1942 The icebreaker left Cape Town. A few days earlier, a convoy guarded by British warships had sailed to the shores of South America. The commander of this convoy refused to include the Soviet icebreaker in its composition, citing the fact that it smoked too much when the vehicles were operating on full speed ahead, and this, they say, can unmask the convoy.


In June 1942 after calling at the ports of Montovideo and San Francisco, the icebreaker “A. Mikoyan entered the Golden Horn Bay of Vladivostok for routine repairs. Here the icebreaker was armed with 3 76-mm cannons, 10 anti-aircraft guns and 8 machine guns.

August 9, 1942, nine months after leaving Tuapse, the icebreaker A. Mikoyan, having traveled 25,000 miles, entered the Gulf of Anadyr. Behind the Chukotka Cape, Providence Bay opened (the purpose of the transition from the Black Sea), where there were 19 cargo transports and three warships - the leader "Baku" and the destroyers "Razumny" and "Infuriated". From these ships and vessels the special purpose expedition EON-18 was formed. Its participants were given the most difficult task: in one navigation to pass the Northern Sea Route and deliver much-needed cargo to the front, as well as replenish the Northern Fleet with large warships.
August 14, 1942 EON-18 left Providence Bay. By this time, an experienced polar explorer, former captain of the ice cutter “F. Litke" captain of the 3rd rank Yu. V. Khlebnikov, and S. M. Sergeev left for Vladivostok, where he received the warship. Unfortunately, the trace of captain 2nd rank S.M. Sergeev is lost. It is known that he became captain of the 1st rank.


August 15, 1942 in the afternoon in the Bering Sea near Cape Uelen (the easternmost populated area of ​​Russia, 66°09 N, 169°44 W). the first ice met. We fought our way through them for more than two days, mastering the new “tactics” of ice navigation for warships. It was especially difficult for the personnel of the turbine operators, when those on watch at the shunting valves had to carry out commands to change the ship’s progress 300-400 times per watch. The icebreaker "A. Mikoyan" had to either rescue the EM or go to the aid of the transports. It became clear that he could not cope with the wiring alone. The icebreaker “Admiral Lazarev” arrived to help, with the crew chief M. Belousov on board. However, despite the work of two icebreakers, the expedition progressed very slowly.
Having broken through the heavy ice, “Baku” and “Enraged” sailed in shallow depths off the coast. "Reasonable" was trapped by heavy ice.


Day and night, special teams of sailors went onto the ice, undermined it, and chipped it with picks. Sometimes the EM was able to travel only 30–40 m in a day. A moment arose when the ship’s propellers were firmly frozen into the ice field, and they were freed only with the help of divers who cut off the ice around the propellers with steam.
August 31 Another icebreaker arrived to help the expedition - the flagship of the Soviet Arctic fleet "I. Stalin". Already 3 icebreakers took the Razumny out of the ice.
Only September 11 The EM managed to break into the East Siberian Sea. The ice captivity of the Razumny, which lasted from August 26 to September 8, did not pass without a trace - the ship’s hull received serious damage. But the sailors stubbornly continued their journey and arrived at Ambarchik Bay (at the mouth of the Kolyma River), where they managed to replenish their supplies of fuel, water and food.
September 14 a month after leaving Providence Bay, having overcome a force 8 storm in the Laptev Sea, the EON-18 ships arrived in Tiksi Bay (at the mouth of the Lena River, Byovskaya Channel), where another icebreaker, the Krasin, was waiting for them.
In Tiksi, the expedition was ordered to delay due to the possible presence of the fascist heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer and five submarines in the Kara Sea - the Germans were conducting their Operation Wunderland (Wonderland) to search for and destroy EON-18.
September 19, 1942 EON-18 left Tiksi, having taken all combat readiness measures in the Vilkitsky Strait on the approach to the Kara Sea: By this time, it was already known about the battle at Dikson and the heroic death of the icebreaking steamer “A. Sibiryakov" (see points and).
September 24 The expedition arrived in Dikson, where preparations for the further transition took place.
October 10 Having passed the Yugorsky Shar EON-18 was brought to clean water, the icebreaker “A. Mikoyan" returned to the east again, behind other ships that left the mouth of the Yenisei. Then the icebreaker made several more voyages to the Kara Sea, and only in mid-December 1942, when navigation stopped, did it head to Severodvinsk.
December 21, 1942 The icebreaker rounded Cape Kanin Nos and approached the 42nd meridian. At this geographical point, the ship’s circumnavigation of the world essentially ended, since at the same longitude it was in Tuapse, from where it had set out a year ago to carry out an unusual mission. And then there was an explosion!


In September 1942, the Kriegsmarine, frustrated by the failures of the Admiral Scheer, sent the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper to the area with four destroyers, which laid several minefields. “A” was blown up on one of them. Mikoyan."
The icebreaker remained afloat, although the explosion distorted the entire stern part of the ship, severely damaged the engine room, and disabled the steering gear. Even the upper deck on the poop bulged. But the shafting and propellers remained intact. A repair team was immediately created from the most experienced shipwrights; A. Kolbanov, F. Khalko, M. Ulich, N. Nazarati and others. The repairs took place right in the sea, among the ice: there was not a single bay nearby. Thanks to the truly heroic efforts of the crew, the icebreaker was saved, and on the eve of 1943, “A. Mikoyan" arrived in Severodvinsk, where he was left at the disposal of the leadership of the Main Northern Sea Route. But the ship required serious repairs, and in the North at that time we did not have a dock capable of accommodating a ship of this size. With the opening of navigation by agreement with the allies, “A. Mikoyan" went to America, to Seattle for repairs. The icebreaker followed the Northern Sea Route under its own power, and even led a caravan of ships to the east.
After returning to the USSR “A. Mikoyan" more for a long time conducted ships in the Arctic Ocean, and then was transferred to Vladivostok. The ship plied the harsh Arctic and Far Eastern waters for more than 25 years.

“AiF” found the relatives of a direct participant in those events - Leningrader Alexei Golubkov, who helped us restore the picture of those harsh days.

Why was this necessary?

The legendary sea voyage of the icebreaker Anastas Mikoyan began on August 26, 1941 from the Black Sea city of Nikolaev. It was there that this ship, unique at that time, was built. The Nazis were advancing with all their might, and the Soviet leadership understood the strategic importance of the Northern Sea Route. At the beginning of the war, Stalin decided to withdraw the Mikoyan from the Black Sea and send it to Chukotka - the country needed icebreakers in the Arctic to deliver military cargo.

In a year and a half, the sailors had to cross four oceans, evade German submarines, survive storms and ultimately arrive at the port of Severodvinsk. The task before the crew was almost impossible.

Alexey Ionovich Golubkov served on the legendary ship as a simple sailor. The crew for the dangerous voyage was personally selected by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief based on documents and photographs, approving only the most proven sailors for the crew. When recruitment was announced for Mikoyan, Golubkov volunteered. Today his daughter Elena keeps the unique records that he kept. They help to better understand how the dangerous
journey.

Who saved from the reefs?

So, the Turkish military was waiting for the ship near the island of Rhodes. The ship's commander, Sergei Sergeev, received clear instructions: “The icebreaker must not fall into the clutches of the enemy, and must not surrender.”

Dad said that throughout the year and a half of the voyage, the crew understood that they could die at any moment,” recalls Elena Golubkova. “Their ship was hunted by the entire German naval and submarine fleet. There was a personal order from Hitler - to capture or sink the Anastas Mikoyan. Encrypted messages from Admiral Canaris and General von Papen were later discovered in the archives of fascist intelligence: “The Fuhrer ordered the capture of the cruiser and crew. If capture is impossible -
drown."

In fact, this order was a sentence for brave sailors. Soon, Hitler received a report from Canaris: “The cruiser was destroyed off the island of Rhodes by torpedo-carrying aircraft and warships of Great Germany.”

Imagine the surprise of the English sailors when the unharmed Mikoyan entered the port of Famagusta in Cyprus! Further, the icebreaker's path lay through the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean. To give the ship a menacing appearance, the sailors built mock guns from logs and tarpaulin on its decks.

My father often recalled that a real miracle happened near the island of Madagascar! - recalls the daughter. - In the next port, Mikoyan was denied the provision of a local pilot. And those waters were full of small islands and shoals. The captain decided to continue the journey at his own risk. And suddenly a dolphin, swimming ahead and maneuvering between the reefs, nailed to the ship. In fact, he saved the team!

The crew of 132 sailors starved almost the entire time on the voyage. In most cities in Africa, Asia, and South America, the Soviet ship was prohibited from entering ports. Only in Cape Town, South Africa, was the icebreaker eagerly awaited. Local journalists were eager to find out details about the heroic, dangerous flight.

The most difficult trials occurred during the passage across the Atlantic Ocean, Elena continues the story. - The fact is that “Mikoyan” was designed in the shape of an egg in order to crush ice using its own weight. It was simply not intended to be in the open ocean. The icebreaker was caught in a 17-day storm. The waves were so powerful, and the pitching was so strong that the multi-ton metal doors were torn off by the roots! Dad said that almost everyone couldn’t even stand up. And only a few continued to steer the ship.

I also remember a short stop in Montevideo, Uruguayan, and a new crossing through Cape Horn. On the way, they had to confuse their tracks in order to deceive the German submarines prowling the region. The captain even sent several unencrypted radio messages that the ship was heading for New York, but in fact went south, skirting South America. In the summer of 1942, the Mikoyan arrived at the port of Seattle.

The Soviet crew was greeted as national heroes! A crowd of thousands gathered at the port, and dad spoke at a rally on behalf of Soviet sailors. After a fiery speech, he was rocked for a long time and thrown into the sky.

The banners of American workers read: “Death to fascism,” “Long live world revolution"," "You - Russians - are our liberators. Glory to the Soviet country!” The Americans helped repair the ship, installed guns and anti-aircraft guns, fed the hungry sailors and provided plenty of food.

Why weren't they given "heroes"?

In August 1942, the Mikoyan arrived at Providence Bay in the Bering Sea. Without giving the sailors a proper rest, an order came: to escort 19 merchant ships along the Northern Sea Route. In a short period of time, the Mikoyan made several voyages across the Arctic Ocean, clearing the way for caravans and single ships.

In December 1942, the icebreaker fell into minefields placed by the Germans and was blown up by a mine. The ship received several holes, the steering gear and engine room were damaged. The crew repaired the ship right in the ice. On December 21 of the same year, the Mikoyan entered the port of Molotovsk, now Severodvinsk. And in the ship’s log there was an entry: “We crossed the 42nd degree of east longitude.” This meant that the ship had completed a complete trip around the world!

The entire crew received a month's leave and a strict order - not to talk about the circumnavigation under penalty of death. Until the end of the 50s, the operation was classified; even Alexei Golubkov’s relatives did not know about it. heroic feat. Later he said that he saw the lists of the team nominated in full for the title of Heroes Soviet Union. But due to the underhand games of the naval command, the order was canceled.

Alexey Ionovich worked after the war at a Leningrad plant, building ships and marine equipment. In 1966 he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. They remembered him. In the 60s, his photograph was shown on Central Television in the program “About Heroes and Feats.” The announcer said: “Take a closer look, remember this man - Alexey Ionovich Golubkov. How many times will you see him on the streets of cities, so many times will you bow to him for his military and labor exploits for the benefit of the Motherland and the Soviet people!”

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