Ice campaign of the Baltic fleet. "Ice Campaign" by Alexei Shchastny. The feat and tragedy of the “red admiral. Operation "Ice Campaign"
100 years ago, on February 19, 1918, an operation began to save the ships of the Baltic Fleet from capture by German and Finnish troops. The ships had to be urgently relocated from Estonia and Finland to Kronstadt, but this was prevented by the ice that bound the Gulf of Finland. In the most difficult weather conditions, the head of the Baltic Sea Naval Forces, Alexei Shchastny, managed to save 236 ships and vessels. But the result of a brilliant operation, which was later dubbed the Ice Campaign, was the execution of the captain. How the ships of the Baltic Fleet were saved and why the main character of the campaign was sentenced to death - in the RT material.
The Real Threat
After the failure of the Brest peace talks on February 18, 1918, Germany launched its offensive in the Baltic states. The Germans planned to form a pro-German government in Russia after they took possession of Petrograd. But in order to achieve their goal, they needed to capture or destroy the ships of the Baltic Fleet, which prevented them from striking at revolutionary Petrograd.
Germany resumed its fighting at an extremely difficult moment for the fleet: at the direction of the revolutionary government, some of the sailors were sent to land to support the Red Army, and some left the ships on their own, going home. Many officers were shot in the first weeks of the revolution, some of them went to fight on the side of the White movement. The Imperial Navy was falling apart before our eyes, and the Socialist Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet had not yet been formed.
“Part of the former imperial fleet was located in the Baltic. Due to the attack on Petrograd by the Germans, who cut off access to the port from land, the fleet was blocked. And for the defense of Petrograd, the Baltic Fleet was of great importance, which is why our enemies sought to destroy it. At the same time, the former allies, in particular the United States and England, had their own plans for Russia: they were going to divide it among themselves and distribute spheres of influence, but not support it in the fight against German troops. So, at the beginning of 1918, the British command ordered its fleet to stop all military operations in the Baltic Sea, which, of course, created very favorable conditions for the German Navy to strike at the Russian fleet, ”the doctor of historical sciences said in an interview with RT Sciences, Professor RUDN University Natalia Georgieva.
By the end of 1917, the part of the Baltic Fleet, located off the coast of Estonia and Finland, consisted of 236 ships. The loss of these ships could significantly weaken the forces of Soviet Russia. Therefore, it was decided to save the fleet at any cost.
The winter of 1917-1918 turned out to be very severe, the thickness of the ice in some places reached 60-70 cm, and the crews of the ships were not fully staffed - there was a severe shortage of people.
Ice and fog significantly complicated the situation, and it was almost impossible to transfer the fleet directly to Kronstadt. Therefore, the government decided to transport ships with the help of icebreakers to the other side of the Gulf of Finland - to Helsingfors (now Helsinki).
Operation "Ice Campaign"
In this difficult historical period The Baltic Fleet was headed by the captain of the 1st rank, a veteran of two wars, Alexei Shchastny. He managed in the shortest possible time to convince the sailors of the need to transport the fleet for the sake of their own salvation. The transition was carried out by several detachments, each of which was accompanied by an icebreaker.
On February 19, 1918, the first detachment moved towards Helsingfors, which included three submarines. The icebreaker "Volynets" helped them to overcome the ice. Two days later, the second detachment moved along the same route. Four days later, on February 25, the last detachment of ships left the port of Revel (now Tallinn), which was attacked by enemy aircraft. By this day, the Germans had already entered the city, but they failed to capture the Soviet ships - the fleet managed to reach the outer roadstead.
Admiral Alexey Mikhailovich Shchastny © Wikimedia
A few days later, on March 3, 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed, according to which Soviet Russia was obliged to release the ports of Finland and the Baltic states or immediately disarm all the ships that are there.
In the conditions of an unstable political situation, rather contradictory orders were received: Lenin considered it necessary to withdraw the fleet, and Trotsky insisted on the opposite - to leave the ships to help the Finnish Red Guard.
Shchastny decided not to give the ships of the Baltic Fleet to the enemy, but to save the fleet and bring the ships to Kronstadt. The captain did not yet know that by this decision he signed his own death warrant.
The transfer of ships to Kronstadt had to be carried out as soon as possible, because due to the outbreak in Finland civil war Soviet ships could be in danger of being captured.
IN foggy morning On March 12, 1918, the first detachment of ships set out from Helsingfors. And already on March 17 they successfully entered the port of Kronstadt. At the same time, the situation in the Gulf of Finland escalated. The icebreaker that accompanied the first detachment was fired upon on the way back, and the other three were captured by the White Finns. Despite this, on April 5, the next detachment left Helsingfors, led by the battleship "Andrew the First-Called", which, thanks to its armored hull, could break through the ice, thereby providing passage for the rest of the ships. Five days later, the detachment safely reached Kronstadt.
The third and largest detachment, consisting of more than 167 units, was divided into four groups. On April 12, the last ships of the Russian fleet left Finland. The transition of this detachment was the most difficult. The ships were blocked by ice and practically stood still for a whole week, while the icebreakers helped them to enter the fairway pierced in the thickness of the ice. Despite the difficulties, by April 22, all ships and vessels of the third detachment successfully reached their destination. On May 2, 1918, Operation Ice Campaign was fully completed.
Feat as a crime
Thanks to the dedication and heroism of the Soviet sailors, 236 ships were saved during the operation. Despite the undermined discipline and the revolutionary mood that prevailed, not a single ship was lost.
However, the combat capability of the fleet was significantly weakened. Most of the ships were damaged by ice or shelling, and demoralized sailors, exhausted from constant hardships and failures, posed a serious threat to the Bolshevik government.
Meanwhile, German troops, taking advantage of the absence of a conditional border, began to move towards Petrograd. Then the Soviet government decided to destroy the ships of the Baltic and Black Sea fleets. Lenin gave a direct order: “In view of the clear intentions of Germany to seize the ships of the Black Sea Fleet located in Novorossiysk, and the impossibility of securing Novorossiysk from a dry route or transfer to another port, the Council of People's Commissars, on the proposal of the Supreme Military Council, orders you to destroy all ships of the Black Sea Fleet and commercial ships located in Novorossiysk.
On May 25, 1918, under the pretext of presenting an order for the operation to rescue the ships of the Baltic Fleet, Shchastny was summoned to Moscow. In fact, he had a tough conversation with Trotsky, after which the captain was arrested "for a crime in office and counter-revolutionary actions." The news of the arrest of the hero of the Ice Campaign discouraged the highest military circles. Rallies began in defense of Shchastny, the captain's colleagues demanded an open investigation. In the following days, Trotsky personally questioned the witnesses about Shchastny's attitude towards the Soviet regime. According to eyewitnesses, Shchastny regretted that he had to cooperate with Soviet power but he had no other alternative.
Instead of a reward, Shchastny was arrested. During the trial, Trotsky, who was the only witness for the prosecution, stated literally the following: “Shchastny, performing a heroic deed, thereby created popularity for himself, intending to subsequently use it against the Soviet regime.”
In addition, according to Trotsky, “Shchastny persistently and steadily deepened the gulf between the fleet and the Soviet government. Sowing panic, he invariably put forward his candidacy for the role of savior.
Despite the weak evidence base and the lack of evidence, on June 20, 1918, Alexei Shchastny was sentenced to death "on charges of preparing a counter-revolutionary coup and treason." The execution took place on the night of June 22, after ships of the Black Sea Fleet were blown up and flooded in the Tsemess Bay.
In his suicide note Shchastny wrote: “In a revolution, people must die courageously. Before I die, I bless my children Leo and Galina, and when they grow up, I ask you to tell them that I am going to die courageously, as befits a Christian.
It is noteworthy that the authorities did not stint on opening special bank accounts for the executors of the plan to eliminate the Baltic Fleet. Such harsh and sometimes absurd measures allowed Moscow to eliminate differences with Germany, take the remnants of the Baltic Fleet under its wings and give itself a short peaceful respite to prepare for the upcoming battles.
Anastasia Ksenofontova
On February 19, 1918, an operation began to rescue the ships of the Baltic Fleet from capture by German and Finnish troops and transfer them from Reval and Helsingfors to Kronstadt. She entered Russia as the Ice Campaign of the Baltic Fleet.
The Baltic Fleet at the beginning of 1918. The need to relocate the fleet
The Baltic Fleet was of great importance in the defense of the capital of Russia - Petrograd. Therefore, the enemies of Russia sought to destroy it. England and the USA had plans for the future of Russia: they were going to dismember it, divide it into spheres of influence. In a number of areas, the Anglo-Saxons acted with the hands of the Germans. In particular, there were plans to surrender Petrograd to the Germans and destroy them with the hands of the Baltic Fleet. The British command completely stopped military operations in the Baltic Sea, creating favorable conditions for the German Navy to strike at the Russian fleet.
The German command was not slow to use this opportunity. The Germans had their own calculations: they wanted to destroy or capture the ships of the Baltic Fleet (it prevented them from attacking Petrograd); capture Petrograd; form a pro-German government. Back in September 1917, the Germans developed a plan for the Moonsund operation. It provided for the capture of Riga, the breakthrough of the Moonsund positions, the weakening or destruction of the Baltic Fleet. After that, they wanted to carry out an operation to capture St. Petersburg. The passivity of the British fleet allowed the German command to concentrate more than two-thirds of the entire fleet in the Baltic - more than 300 combat and auxiliary ships, including 10 of the latest battleships, a battlecruiser, 9 cruisers and 56 destroyers. In addition, 25 thousand troops were formed to capture the Moonsund archipelago. landing corps. They were supported from the air by 102 aircraft. It was a huge concentration of forces and resources in one area. However, in the Battle of Moonsund, which took place from September 29 (October 12) to October 6 (19), 1917, the Germans failed to fulfill their strategic plan, losing 17 ships sunk and 18 damaged. But they achieved tactical success - they captured the Moonsund Islands.
In February 1918, the German command returned to the idea of capturing St. Petersburg. They planned to strike from the spirit of operational directions: from the northwest along the Gulf of Finland and from the southwest through Pskov. The German command was going to cover Petrograd with a simultaneous strike from Finland and the Baltic states and take it with a quick onslaught.
By the beginning of the peace talks at Brest-Litovsk, the front line in the Baltics ran east of Riga and then, slightly arching to the southwest, went to Dvinsk, east of Vilna, and then almost in a straight line to the south. By the end of October 1917, German troops occupied all of Lithuania, the southern part of Latvia. After Trotsky disrupted the negotiations, German troops occupied all of Latvia. In Estonia, Soviet power also did not last long.
By the beginning of the German offensive in February 1918, the front in the Baltic States had actually already collapsed. The soldiers abandoned the front and went home. Therefore, the remaining units were much inferior to the German troops in number and combat capability. In Finland, there were units of the 42nd Army Corps, but its numbers were also greatly reduced. The soldiers were demobilized on their own, abandoned units, went home. Thus, in the threatened areas, the young Soviet Russia could not stop the enemy's offensive. The Red Army was only in the initial stage of formation and could not ensure the stability of the front. In these critical conditions, the Baltic Fleet was of exceptional importance for the defense of Petrograd from the sea and on the flanks of the most threatened operational directions along the shores of the Gulf of Finland.
During the First World War, the entrance to the Gulf of Finland was protected by a forward mine and artillery position. The northern flank is the Abo-Aland position, which included 17 coastal batteries (56 guns, including 12-inch guns), and minefields (about 2 thousand mines). The southern flank - the Moonsund Islands, with 21 batteries and minefields, the Germans had already captured, which deprived the position of stability and increased the threat of a breakthrough of the German Navy deep into the Gulf of Finland. On the northern coast of the bay, adjacent to the Abo-Aland position, there was a flank-skerry position, which had 6 batteries (25 guns with a caliber of up to 9.2 inches) and minefields. The central (main) mine and artillery position was located along the Nargen - Porkkaludd line. Its northern flank rested on the Sveaborg coastal front with the main fleet base - Helsingfors and the Sveaborg fortress. The southern flank was based on the Revel coastal front, with the base of the fleet - Revel. This position was the most powerful and had 39 batteries, including six 12-inch batteries, which blocked the entire bay with their fire. In addition, minefields of high density were located here - more than 10 thousand mines. The immediate approaches to the capital from the sea were defended by the not yet completed rear position, which relied on the Kronstadt fortified area with a strong system of artillery forts and the Baltic Fleet base and the Kronstadt fortress. The entire water region of the Gulf of Finland, the Gulf of Bothnia and the Abo-Aland region had 80 communication service posts.
Mine and artillery positions, in cooperation with the forces of the Baltic Fleet, represented a powerful line of defense, which was supposed to stop the enemy fleet. However, its weak point was the insufficient organization of interaction with ground forces. In addition, mine-artillery positions were vulnerable to land strikes.
By early 1918 combat capabilities The Baltic Fleet was limited due to the lack of teams on ships and in coastal formations. In accordance with the Fleet Order No. 111 of January 31, 1918 and the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars on the dissolution of the old fleet and the creation of the socialist Workers 'and Peasants' Red Fleet, a partial demobilization of the Baltic Fleet began. The fleet at that time included: 7 battleships, 9 cruisers, 17 destroyers, 45 destroyers, 27 submarines, 5 gunboats, 23 mine and net layers, 110 patrol vessels and boats, 89 minesweepers, 70 transports, 16 icebreakers, 5 rescue vessels, 61 auxiliary vessels, 65 pilot and hydrographic ships, floating lighthouses, 6 hospital ships. Organizationally, these ships were consolidated into the 1st and 2nd battleship brigades, the 1st and 2nd cruiser brigades, into the mine, submarine, guard and minesweeper divisions. There were also detachments: minelayers, training-mine, training-artillery skerry and guards of the Gulf of Bothnia.
Most of the ships at the end of 1917 were located at the main fleet base in Helsingfors. Some of the ships were stationed in Abo, Ganges, Revel, Kotka and Kronstadt. The newly begun hostilities with Germany found the Baltic Fleet in crisis: some of the sailors went home; others, at the behest of the Soviet government, were its mainstay on land; the fleet itself was in the process of being demobilized. The Imperial Fleet was dying, and the new one, the Red Fleet, had not yet been formed. In addition, foreigners also wanted to use the Russian fleet. So, the British tried to get ownership of the former auxiliary cruisers"Mitava", "Rus", hospital ships "Diana", "Mercury", "Pallada", military transports "Gagara", "Lucy", the steamer "Russia", etc. The former shipowners wanted to sell them - the ships were transferred to the navy on military service in 1914. However, this attempt failed.
At sea, the German fleet did not show any activity after the Moonsund operation. With the onset of winter, the Russian cruisers and destroyers that were on the raid in Lapvik and Abo returned to Helsingfors and Revel. The protection of the skerry Abo-Aland region in Abo was carried by a gunboat and several guards. In December, when information began to come in that the Germans were preparing an attack on Revel, the most valuable ships were transferred to Helsingfors. Almost the entire fleet was concentrated here, with the exception of a few ships that remained in Revel.
The situation in Finland
However, Helsingfors was no longer a reliable base for the ships of the Baltic Fleet. The situation in Finland was very alarming. Already at the beginning of the First World War, the Germans began to use Finnish nationalists, inciting anti-Russian sentiments in Finland. In Berlin, a Finnish military office was created (“Finland Office”, later “Finland Bureau”), it recruited volunteers for German army. Volunteers were transported to Germany via Sweden. The 27th Jaeger Battalion was formed from Finnish volunteers, its initial strength was about 2 thousand people. The battalion was transferred to the Riga direction, and then to reorganize in Libau. Created here officer school, which became the base for training the main cadres of the Finnish White Guard. In addition, German officers were also sent to Finland.
In the autumn of 1917, the activities of German agents in Finland were intensified. A lot of ammunition was also transferred to Finland. In November, the Finnish government of Svinhufvud formed the White Guard detachments (shutskor), led by Mannerheim. The Germans actively contributed to the military training of the Finns. On December 18 (31), 1917, the Council of People's Commissars decided to grant independence to Finland. At the beginning of 1918, Finnish detachments began to attack individual Russian garrisons in order to disarm them and seize weapons. On the night of January 10, the Finns tried to capture Vyborg, but their attack was repulsed. At the same time, a socialist revolution began in Finland. Finland was split into whites and reds. On January 14 (27), workers seized power in Helsingfors and handed power to the Council of People's Deputies, which included Kuusinen, Taimi and others.
The Svinhufvud government and Mannerheim's troops retreated north. On the night of January 15 (28), the White Finns captured Vaza and a number of other cities, the Russian garrisons were destroyed. Having fortified themselves in Vaza, the White Finns, in alliance with the Germans, conceived a campaign to the south. A civil war broke out in Finland. It sharply complicated the conditions for basing the Baltic Fleet. The White Finns organized sabotage, attacks with the aim of capturing warehouses and ships. Measures were taken to strengthen the protection of ships and military property. In December 1917, several ships - the cruisers "Diana", "Russia", "Aurora", the battleship "Grazhdanin" ("Tsesarevich"), moved from Helsingfors to Kronstadt. In fact, this transition was reconnaissance, which showed the possibility of the passage of warships in ice conditions.
By the end of January 1918, the situation in Finland had deteriorated further. The number of the White Finnish army grew to 90 thousand people. The Finnish Red Guards were inferior to the Whites in organization, initiative, and did not have experienced military leaders. The position of the Russian troops and fleet in Finland was becoming critical. Chief of staff supreme commander On January 27, he reported: “... The growing war decisively threatens our position in the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland. Partisan actions of the White Finns, acting contrary to the nodal railways, stations and ports of the Gulf of Bothnia ... put our coastal units and garrisons in coastal points in a hopeless situation and deprive them of the opportunity to take any countermeasures, even to ensure their supply. Communication with Raumo is interrupted. Soon the same fate may befall Abo, which is the base of Holland, which, therefore, is threatened by isolation from the mainland ... ". It was concluded that the ships of the fleet would soon be isolated. The Svinhufvud government turned to Germany and Sweden for military assistance. There was a threat of the appearance of German and Swedish troops in Finland.
The situation was no less threatening in the Baltic states, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland. In February 1918, German troops occupied the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland and threatened Revel. The Soviet government decides to transfer the fleet from Revel, Abo-Aland, and Helsingfors, which were under the threat of capture, to the rear strategic base of Kronstadt - Petrograd. This not only saved the ships from capture or destruction, but also strengthened the defense of Petrograd in difficult times.
ice hike
The ice situation did not allow immediately transferring the ships to Kronstadt, so we decided to try to send them to the other side of the Gulf of Finland to Helsingfors with the help of icebreakers. On February 17, 1918, the Board of the Naval Commissariat sent a directive to the Tsentrobalt (TsKBF, the Central Committee of the Baltic Fleet - an elected body created to coordinate the activities of naval committees). At the same time, several powerful icebreakers led by Yermak were sent from Kronstadt to Revel. On February 19, three submarines entered the Revel road in tow near the Volynets icebreaker. On February 22, a general evacuation began. On this day, "Ermak" led the first group of ships to Helsingfors (2 submarines and 2 transports).
On the night of February 24, a German detachment tried to seize the coastal batteries of the islands of Wulf and Nargen, covering Revel from the sea, with a surprise attack, but they were noticed and driven away by gun fire. On the same day, in the afternoon, a new caravan left for Helsingfors: 2 submarines, 3 minesweepers, a mine layer, transport and auxiliary vessels. On February 25, German aircraft raided Revel. And by 19 o'clock on the same day, the Germans entered Revel. By this time, most of the ships were already in the outer roadstead and began to move towards Helsingfors. In the group of the last ships that left the Revel raid were the cruisers Rurik and Admiral Makarov. They were escorted by the icebreakers Ermak, Volynets and Tarmo. Just before the departure of a group of miners from the mine school, under the command of R. R. Grundman, she undermined all coastal batteries on the coast and on the islands of Wulf and Nargen, including powerful 12-inch turret guns. During the evacuation from Reval, about 60 ships were transferred to Helsingfors, including 5 cruisers and 4 submarines. During the transition, one submarine was lost - the Unicorn. Several more ships were trapped in ice and arrived in Helsingfors in early March. Only 8 old submarines and part of the auxiliary vessels were abandoned in Reval.
However, the transfer of ships to Helsingfors did not remove the threat from the fleet. According to Brest Peace signed on March 3, 1918 (Art. 6), all Russian ships had to leave the ports of Finland, and it was provided that while the ice did not allow the passage, only “insignificant teams” were to be on the ships, which made them easy prey for the Germans or White Finns . The ships had to be urgently transferred to Kronstadt. The organizer of this transition was the captain of the 1st rank, the first assistant to the head of the military department of the Tsentrobalt Alexei Mikhailovich Shchastny (1881 - June 22, 1918), who at that time actually commanded the Baltic Fleet.
Shchastny had to solve the problem of saving the Baltic Fleet in very difficult political conditions. Contradictory instructions came from Moscow: V. I. Lenin ordered the ships to be withdrawn to Kronstadt, and L. D. Trotsky - to leave them to help the Finnish Red Guard. Considering Trotsky's "special" role in the Russian Revolution and the Civil War, his connections with the "financial international", it can be assumed that he wanted to achieve the destruction of the Baltic Fleet or its capture by Russia's enemies. The British also behaved very persistently, who advised destroying the ships so that they would not go to the enemy (the task of depriving Russia of the fleet in the Baltic was solved).
Shchastny did not lose his presence of mind and decided to lead the ships to Kronstadt. He divided the ships into three divisions. From March 12 to March 17, the icebreakers Yermak and Volynets, breaking solid ice, conducted the first detachment: the battleships Gangut, Poltava, Sevastopol, Petropavlovsk and the cruisers Admiral Makarov, Rurik and Bogatyr ".
The following facts testify to the possible fate of Russian ships: on April 3, a German landing party from the "Baltic Division" of von der Goltz landed near the Ganges (Hanko), the day before, Russian sailors destroyed 4 submarines, their floating base "Oland" and the guard "Hawk" . Due to the lack of icebreakers, these ships could not be taken away from the base. The British had to destroy on the outer Sveaborg raid 7 of their submarines, which fought as part of the Baltic Fleet, their mother ship "Amsterdam" and 3 British ships.
With the fall of the Ganges, there was a real threat and the capture of Helsingfors by the Germans. On April 5, the second detachment was poisoned in a hurry, it included the battleships "Andrew the First-Called", "Republic", the cruisers "Oleg", "Bayan", 3 submarines. The transition was difficult, because the Finns captured the Volynets and Tarmo icebreakers. The battleship "Andrew the First-Called" himself had to make his way. On the third day of the campaign near the island of Rodsher, the detachment met the icebreaker "Ermak" and the cruiser "Rurik". On April 10, the ships of the second detachment arrived safely in Kronstadt.
There was no time at all, so on April 7 - 11, the third detachment (172 ships) also went to sea. The ships left as soon as they were ready and followed different routes. Later, these vessels joined into one group with the support of four icebreakers. Along the way, they were joined by the fourth detachment, formed in Kotka. The transition was accompanied by great difficulties, but nevertheless, on April 20-22, all ships safely arrived in Kronstadt and Petrograd. Not a single ship was lost. Shchastny himself, appointed head of the Naval Forces (Namorsi) on April 5, left Helsingfors on the Krechet headquarters ship on April 11, when battles were already underway on the outskirts of the city with the advancing German troops. On April 12-14, German troops occupied Helsingfors, 38 Russian ships and 48 merchant ships still remained in it and other ports. During the negotiations, during May, 24 ships and vessels were returned.
In total, during the Ice Campaign, 226 ships and vessels were saved, including 6 battleships, 5 cruisers, 59 destroyers and destroyers, 12 submarines, 5 minzags, 10 minesweepers, 15 patrol boats, 7 icebreakers. They also took out two brigades of the air fleet, equipment and weapons of the fortress and forts, and other equipment. The salvaged ships formed the core of the Baltic Fleet. Alexey Shchastny, the organizer of the Ice Campaign, was awarded the Order of the Red Banner in May 1918.
Trotsky continued to liquidate the Russian fleet. On May 3, 1918, the People's Commissar of Military and Naval Affairs Trotsky sent a secret order to prepare the ships of the Baltic and Black Sea fleets for destruction. The sailors knew about it. The order to destroy the rescued ships with such labor and sacrifice caused an uproar. On May 11, on the ships of the mine division, which were stationed on the Neva in Petrograd, a resolution was adopted: "The Petrograd commune, in view of its complete inability and insolvency to do anything to save the motherland and Petrograd, dissolve and hand over all power to the naval dictatorship of the Baltic Fleet." On May 22, at the 3rd Congress of the delegates of the Baltic Fleet, they announced that the fleet would be destroyed only after the battle. Sailors in Novorossiysk responded in a similar way.
Fleet commanders A.M. Shchastny and M.P. Sablin were summoned to Moscow. On May 27, on the personal instructions of Trotsky, Shchastny was arrested on false charges of counter-revolutionary activities, in an attempt to establish a "dictatorship of the fleet." The Revolutionary Tribunal, held on June 20-21, sentenced him to death - this was the first judicial death sentence in Soviet Russia. The decree on the restoration in Russia of the death penalty previously abolished by the Bolsheviks was adopted on June 13, 1918. On the night of June 21-22, Alexei Shchastny was shot in the courtyard of the Alexander Military School (according to other sources, he was killed in Trotsky's office).
Anastasia Ksenofontova
100 years ago, on February 19, 1918, an operation began to save the ships of the Baltic Fleet from capture by German and Finnish troops. The ships had to be urgently relocated from Estonia and Finland to Kronstadt, but this was prevented by the ice that bound the Gulf of Finland. In the most difficult weather conditions, the head of the Baltic Sea Naval Forces, Alexei Shchastny, managed to save 236 ships and vessels. But the result of a brilliant operation, which was later dubbed the Ice Campaign, was the execution of the captain. How the ships of the Baltic Fleet were saved and why the main character of the campaign was sentenced to death - in the RT material.
- Painting by artist S.A. Nikitin "Ice campaign of the ships of the Baltic Fleet from Helsingfors to Kronstadt"
The Real Threat
After the failure of the Brest peace talks on February 18, 1918, Germany launched its offensive in the Baltic states. The Germans planned to form a pro-German government in Russia after they took possession of Petrograd. But in order to achieve their goal, they needed to capture or destroy the ships of the Baltic Fleet, which prevented them from striking at revolutionary Petrograd.
Germany resumed its hostilities at an extremely difficult moment for the fleet: at the direction of the revolutionary government, some of the sailors were sent to land to support the Red Army, and some left the ships on their own, going home. Many officers were shot in the first weeks of the revolution, some of them went to fight on the side of the White movement. The Imperial Navy was falling apart before our eyes, and the Socialist Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet had not yet been formed.
- Baltic Fleet
- Wikimedia
“Part of the former imperial fleet was located in the Baltic. Due to the attack on Petrograd by the Germans, who cut off access to the port from land, the fleet was blocked. And for the defense of Petrograd, the Baltic Fleet was of great importance, which is why our enemies sought to destroy it. At the same time, the former allies, in particular the United States and England, had their own plans for Russia: they were going to divide it among themselves and distribute spheres of influence, but not support it in the fight against German troops. So, at the beginning of 1918, the British command ordered its fleet to stop all military operations in the Baltic Sea, which, of course, created very favorable conditions for the German Naval Forces to strike at the Russian fleet, ”said Doctor of History in an interview with RT Sciences, Professor RUDN University Natalia Georgieva.
By the end of 1917, the part of the Baltic Fleet, located off the coast of Estonia and Finland, consisted of 236 ships. The loss of these ships could significantly weaken the forces of Soviet Russia. Therefore, it was decided to save the fleet at any cost.
The winter of 1917-1918 turned out to be very severe, the thickness of the ice in some places reached 60-70 cm, and the crews of the ships were not fully staffed - there was a severe shortage of people.
Ice and fog significantly complicated the situation, and it was almost impossible to transfer the fleet directly to Kronstadt. Therefore, the government decided to transport ships with the help of icebreakers to the other side of the Gulf of Finland - to Helsingfors (now Helsinki).
Operation "Ice Campaign"
During this difficult historical period, the Baltic Fleet was headed by a captain of the 1st rank, a veteran of two wars, Alexei Shchastny. He managed in the shortest possible time to convince the sailors of the need to transport the fleet for the sake of their own salvation. The transition was carried out by several detachments, each of which was accompanied by an icebreaker.
On February 19, 1918, the first detachment moved towards Helsingfors, which included three submarines. The icebreaker "Volynets" helped them to overcome the ice. Two days later, the second detachment moved along the same route. Four days later, on February 25, the last detachment of ships left the port of Revel (now Tallinn), which was attacked by enemy aircraft. By this day, the Germans had already entered the city, but they failed to capture the Soviet ships - the fleet managed to reach the outer roadstead.
- Admiral Alexey Mikhailovich Shchastny
- Wikimedia
A few days later, on March 3, 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed, according to which Soviet Russia was obliged to vacate the ports of Finland and the Baltic States or immediately disarm all the ships located there.
In the conditions of an unstable political situation, rather contradictory orders were received: Lenin considered it necessary to withdraw the fleet, and Trotsky insisted on the opposite - to leave the ships to help the Finnish Red Guard.
Shchastny decided not to give the ships of the Baltic Fleet to the enemy, but to save the fleet and bring the ships to Kronstadt. The captain did not yet know that by this decision he signed his own death warrant.
The transfer of ships to Kronstadt had to be carried out as soon as possible, because due to the civil war flaring up in Finland, Soviet ships could be in danger of being captured.
On a foggy morning on March 12, 1918, the first detachment of ships set out from Helsingfors. And already on March 17 they successfully entered the port of Kronstadt. At the same time, the situation in the Gulf of Finland escalated. The icebreaker that accompanied the first detachment was fired upon on the way back, and the other three were captured by the White Finns. Despite this, on April 5, the next detachment left Helsingfors, led by the battleship "Andrew the First-Called", which, thanks to its armored hull, could break through the ice, thereby providing passage for the rest of the ships. Five days later, the detachment safely reached Kronstadt.
- Ice voyage of the ships of the Baltic Fleet
- Wikimedia
The third and largest detachment, consisting of more than 167 units, was divided into four groups. On April 12, the last ships of the Russian fleet left Finland. The transition of this detachment was the most difficult. The ships were blocked by ice and practically stood still for a whole week, while the icebreakers helped them to enter the fairway pierced in the thickness of the ice. Despite the difficulties, by April 22, all ships and vessels of the third detachment successfully reached their destination. On May 2, 1918, Operation Ice Campaign was fully completed.
Feat as a crime
Thanks to the dedication and heroism of the Soviet sailors, 236 ships were saved during the operation. Despite the undermined discipline and the revolutionary mood that prevailed, not a single ship was lost.
However, the combat capability of the fleet was significantly weakened. Most of the ships were damaged by ice or shelling, and demoralized sailors, exhausted from constant hardships and failures, posed a serious threat to the Bolshevik government.
Meanwhile, German troops, taking advantage of the absence of a conditional border, began to move towards Petrograd. Then the Soviet government decided to destroy the ships of the Baltic and Black Sea fleets. Lenin gave a direct order: “In view of the clear intentions of Germany to seize the ships of the Black Sea Fleet located in Novorossiysk, and the impossibility of securing Novorossiysk from a dry route or transfer to another port, the Council of People's Commissars, on the proposal of the Supreme Military Council, orders you to destroy all ships of the Black Sea Fleet and commercial ships located in Novorossiysk.
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On May 25, 1918, under the pretext of presenting an order for the operation to rescue the ships of the Baltic Fleet, Shchastny was summoned to Moscow. In fact, he had a tough conversation with Trotsky, after which the captain was arrested "for a crime in office and counter-revolutionary actions." The news of the arrest of the hero of the Ice Campaign discouraged the highest military circles. Rallies began in defense of Shchastny, the captain's colleagues demanded an open investigation. In the following days, Trotsky personally questioned the witnesses about Shchastny's attitude towards the Soviet regime. According to eyewitnesses, Shchastny regretted that he was forced to cooperate with the Soviet authorities, but he had no other alternative.
Instead of a reward, Shchastny was arrested. During the trial, Trotsky, who was the only witness for the prosecution, stated literally the following: “Shchastny, performing a heroic deed, thereby created popularity for himself, intending to subsequently use it against the Soviet regime.”
In addition, according to Trotsky, “Shchastny persistently and steadily deepened the gulf between the fleet and the Soviet government. Sowing panic, he invariably put forward his candidacy for the role of savior.
Despite the weak evidence base and the lack of evidence, on June 20, 1918, Alexei Shchastny was sentenced to death "on charges of preparing a counter-revolutionary coup and treason." The execution took place on the night of June 22, after ships of the Black Sea Fleet were blown up and flooded in the Tsemess Bay.
In his suicide note, Shchastny wrote: “In a revolution, people must die courageously. Before I die, I bless my children Leo and Galina, and when they grow up, I ask you to tell them that I am going to die courageously, as befits a Christian.
It is noteworthy that the authorities did not stint on opening special bank accounts for the executors of the plan to eliminate the Baltic Fleet. Such harsh and sometimes absurd measures allowed Moscow to eliminate differences with Germany, take the remnants of the Baltic Fleet under its wings and give itself a short peaceful respite to prepare for the upcoming battles.
