Date of publication: 06/28/2017 12:28

Ships, like people, are born loudly. The launching of a ship, like the birth of a person, is agony, joy, pride, flowers and toasts. Ships live like people. It is no coincidence that sailors attribute a soul to each ship.

And each ship has its own unique character and its own destiny. They are greeted with joy from the campaign, rewarded, groomed and cherished, treated and abandoned. Ships can forgive mistakes by the crew and take revenge on the commander. And ships die in different ways. Often, like people. With flags raised in battle. Or forgotten and abandoned, betrayed and sold, leaving in the fate of many crew members not ink lines in their service records, but bright letters that make up only two words: “Duty” and “Honor.” For ships do not live and serve for rewards. On September 11, 1963, at the Black Sea Shipyard named after 61 Communards in Nikolaev, the keel of the lead rescue and recovery vessel was laid down, which, as usual, received the factory construction number - No. 1901. The tactical and technical specifications for its design were issued to the Leningrad Western Design Bureau Navy back in 1958. The chief designer of the ship was A.G. Minaev, and the main supervisor of construction is Captain 1st Rank A.O. Smukul. On December 24, 1964, the ship was launched, solemnly giving it a name - .Karpaty... The first commander of the ship was captain 2nd rank Valery Kuzmich Dragunov. May 19, 1967 in the Carpathians. The naval flag was raised, and on September 30 of the same year, sea trials were completed and the ship was accepted into the Navy. The uniqueness of Carpathian, as the lead rescue and recovery vessel of Project 530, which for some unknown reason never went into production, was that it was the first domestic vessel with a complex of hydrological search stations, underwater television installations, echo trawls, towed metal detectors, allowing search and rescue operations without the help of divers at depths of up to 250 - 300 meters. The main purpose of the vessel was to rescue crews and lift emergency submarines, including completely submerged ones, with a lifting mass of up to 800 tons from a depth of up to 300 m. The main ship-lifting device was designed by engineers V.N. Chesnokov and V.Z. Without teeth. Everyone was amazed by the unusually powerful stern end of the Carpathian, which rose even higher than the bow of the ship, and was, in fact, a crane beam or a crane for attaching two cargo devices with a nominal lifting capacity of 200 ton-force each. In addition, two more devices with the same carrying capacity were located in the middle part of the vessel in through shafts. For rescue operations, a complex of diving stations, rescue and diving bells, diving pavilions, and subsequently the Carpathians was used. could also carry 1 - 2 autonomous underwater vehicles. In 1968, the ship moved from Sevastopol to Severomorsk, where it became part of the special-purpose expedition EON-69, which was engaged in raising the submarine. S-80... This submarine, rebuilt according to Project 644 into a missile submarine, went missing with its entire crew in Barents Sea in 1961. Lifting work. S-80. with direct participation.Karpat. began on June 22, 1969. This was the first ship lifting operation in our country from a depth of 190 meters. Already on July 5, the boat was lifted 5 meters above the ground, and then moved 60 meters towards the shore. July 10.S-80. again raised above the ground. I.Karpaty, moving at low speed, after 38 hours they delivered the boat under its hull to Teriberka Bay. There the boat was placed on the ground at a depth of 51 meters. The divers began work - and on July 24, 1969, the cabin of the submarine S-80 was completed. after 8 long years it appeared above the surface of the water. In June - July 1970. Carpathians. On the White Sea, they carried out a successful test lift of a mock-up submarine from a depth of 270 meters, which fully confirmed its capabilities and purpose. In 1975 - 1977. Carpathians. carried out a complex of works in the Black Sea to lift from a depth of 127 meters individual structures, weapons and weapons with a total weight of more than 100 tons, as well as cutting up the hull of a large anti-submarine ship. Brave underwater, which died in 1974. In the future. Carpathians. In the Black Sea, in the North and in the Baltic, deep-sea divers capable of working at depths of up to 100 meters or more were actively trained. At various maritime theaters, the ship's crew repeatedly practiced organizing assistance to sunken submarines, provided various deep-sea tests, and examined underwater cable routes. Thanks.To the Carpathians. the Severomorsk roadstead was equipped, where today the largest ships of the Russian Navy can be stationed - a heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser. Admiral of the Fleet Soviet Union Kuznetsov. and nuclear-powered heavy missile cruiser. Peter the Great... On account. Carpathians. rise of the rocket boat. R-82. — from a depth of 122 meters, torpedo catcher.TL-993. - from a depth of 150 meters, a Ka-25 helicopter - from a depth of 130 m. In 1988. Carpathians. moved to the Baltic, and after our fleet left the Baltic, Kronstadt became the vessel’s permanent base. In the turbulent 90s, the crew maintained the technical condition of their ship by all available means, thanks to the energy and initiative of the ship’s commander, Captain 2nd Rank Sergei Ivanovich Lyashenko. However, due to lack of fuel until July 1997. Carpathians. did not go to sea. In 1997-2000 in the Carpathians. conducted various exercises to assist an emergency submarine and continued to train divers, although training of deep-sea divers was carried out only sporadically, due to the lack of helium for preparing gas breathing mixtures. After the death of the nuclear submarine. Kursk. They did not immediately pay attention to the rescue ship, but they still paid serious attention - and in 2002 they sent it to the Kronstadt Marine Plant for repairs. Alas! Despite the enormous costs, the repairs were never completed, and after the Marine Plant was declared bankrupt in 2008, the ship was returned to Ust-Rogatka and put up for auction. Work has begun on decommissioning and dismantling it. September 11, 2009 in the Carpathians. The flag of the vessels of the Navy Emergency Rescue Service was lowered. An attempt by the Kronstadt History Museum to draw the attention of the military command to the Carpathians. in order to preserve the ship as a monument to the history of Russian technology, only led to the acceleration of dismantling work. On the eve of the grand naval parade in Kronstadt, on the occasion of the celebration of the 310th anniversary of the birth of the Baltic Fleet on May 18, 2013, Carpathians. removed out of sight: transferred from Ust-Rogatka to Military Harbor, where the ship has been stationary for the last 4 years. On May 27, 2017, three tugs pulled out. Karpaty. from Military Harbor and silently dragged them to St. Petersburg for cutting. And only a few visitors to Petrovsky Park and random tourists could observe this operation without understanding what exactly was happening: how they led away the ship, doomed from now on to eternal glory and death. Ships are like people: they live as long as they can...

Evgeniy KOBCHIKOV, Kronstadt History Museum
Photo by Anton POTAPOV

Project 530 "Carpathians"

IN ship's composition The flagship of the expedition was the newest ship “Karpaty”. Designed by a group of shipbuilders under the leadership of A.G. Minaev, it was originally conceived as a submarine rescuer. There was nothing similar to the “Karpaty” in terms of power and special capabilities at that time in the world. Our project received the digital designation 530, and according to the Western classification (after the vessel was put into operation) it became known as “Nepa”.

The main technical characteristics of the vessel are as follows: total displacement - about 7,000 tons, length - 129.5, width - 18.9 meters. The maximum draft is 6.4 meters. The power of the diesel-electric installation is up to 8000 hp. (four diesel generators, two electric motors), two propellers, maximum speed - 16.5 knots, economical cruising range (14 knots) - 8,000 miles. The main lifting device when the winches operated in tandem had a lifting capacity of 750 tons. The ship also had a 100-ton crane and 60- and 10-ton cargo booms. The divers had at their disposal a rescue bell and two deep-sea vehicle. The special equipment on board included: a complex of search sonar stations, underwater television installations, echo trawls, and towed metal detectors. The vessel could operate autonomously for 45 days. Its crew consisted of 270 people.

"Karpaty" was laid down on September 11, 1963 in Nikolaev, launched on December 24, 1964. Although the official date of delivery of the vessel is March 29, 1967, the real entry into service of the rescuer took place later: Project 530 was constantly being refined, improved, and tested. On the eve of the operation to raise the S-80, this turned out to be useful.

The fate of the Soviet submarine S-80 is one of the most tragic and mysterious in the history of the Russian fleet. According to official version On January 26, 1961, during a routine raid, the submarine sank in the Barents Sea due to sea water entering it and fatal crew errors. However, there are too many blank spots in the story of the boat's death.

The S-80 submarine was built according to Project 613 in 1950. By type, it belongs to diesel submarines with cruise missiles (“Whiskey Twin Cylinder” according to NATO classification). During the period from 1957 to 1959, modernization work was carried out on it under Project 644. As a result, a new astronavigation system "Lira" and two containers with cruise missiles were added.

The S-80's underwater speed was 10 knots, and the maximum diving depth reached 230 meters. Its length was seventy-six meters, the width of the hull (maximum) was 6.6 meters. The power plant included: two 2000 hp diesel engines, four electric motors (two propellers and two economical propulsion), and batteries. The armament consisted of four torpedo tubes installed in the bow (533 mm) and a pair of P-5 strategic cruise missiles. On board the boat when she set off on her last voyage there were fifteen officers, sixteen petty officers and thirty-seven sailors of the main and reserve crews.

The S-80 missile submarine (the first of Project 644), assigned to the Northern Fleet, sank in the Barents Sea on January 26, 1961 as a result of water entering through the RDP shaft, and the submarine was found thanks to a tip from local fishermen only seven years later - June 23, 1968 year - at a depth of 196 meters at a point with coordinates 70.01'23" north latitude and 36.35'22" east longitude. The boat was examined using an underwater camera and, after the results of the analysis were reviewed by a government commission, it was decided to raise it. The special purpose expedition was formed long and carefully. It was headed by captain of the first rank Sergei Minchenko. He was faced with a very difficult task to lift the submarine from a depth of almost two hundred meters. Especially for this work, the rescue ship “Karpaty”, which had a special device for lifting such ships, arrived at the place where the sunken submarine lay. The water area was guarded by a detachment of minesweepers and a destroyer.

Operation "Depth" was carried out by EON-10 forces Northern Fleet. It began on June 9, 1969 and took place in two stages. First, the boat was torn off the ground and suspended on under-keel devices made from slings, and then the Karpaty vessel lifted the boat to a depth of seventy meters and towed it to the coastal area. Then it was raised with the help of divers and pontoons. On July 12, the S-80 was delivered to Zavalishina Bay, where it was lowered to the ground at a depth of fifty meters. On July 24, 1969, the operation was successfully completed, the S-80 ended up on the surface of the water.
In August, a government commission began its work, headed by Vice Admiral, Hero of the Soviet Union Grigory Ivanovich Shchedrin. As a result of its activities, the events that led to the death of the submarine were reconstructed. On January 26, 1961, the S-80, practicing tasks on solo sailing in the Barents Sea, sailed at periscope depth at a temperature of -5 degrees Celsius and a sea level of about 6 points. At approximately 01:27 the boat began to go below the periscope depth, which led to water entering the RDP shaft. The heating of the float valve was turned off, so it iced up and did not work. When the driver discovered the flow of water into the fifth compartment, he made a mistake and, instead of closing the RDP flap, turned the flywheel of the Lyra complex. The mechanics, who attempted to manually close the second air lock of the RDP shaft, did not have time to do this - the valve stem bent under the water pressure. In the emerging emergency the crew made two mistakes - they did not use the system for blowing the emergency ballast tanks in time and did not start the propeller electric motors. After the speed of the S-80 dropped to zero, the boat went into the depths with its stern down and entered the ground.

When all seven compartments of the submarine were drained, the boat was able to float on its own. Most of the entries in the ship's logs were corroded by sea water. There were no traces of fire, and according to the evidence found ship clock it was determined that the accident occurred in a matter of moments. The first, fifth, sixth and seventh compartments were not damaged. The bulkheads of the second, third and fourth compartments were destroyed, and both bulkheads of the third compartment were completely swept away by the force acting in the direction from the stern to the bow. In the fourth (battery) compartment the deck was bent upward. As a result of the explosion, everyone who was in the fourth (including those who managed to move here from the fifth), third, second compartments and the conning tower were killed. The teams of the sixth and seventh compartments gathered together and tried to get out of the boat using the IDA-51 devices. However, they did not have time, the bulkhead in the end compartment cracked, and water quickly flooded it. The people remaining in the first compartment fought the longest. They competently and consistently carried out all the measures established in such cases to combat survivability. Water filled the compartment only after a few days...

All this formed the basis of the official version of the tragedy. Now let's turn to eyewitness accounts. Below is an excerpt from the description of the thirty-six-year-old S-80 commander, captain of the third rank Anatoly Sitarchik, given by his former boss, the legendary Soviet submariner, participant in the Great Patriotic War, who commanded the entire Northern Fleet from 1972 to 1977, Georgy Mikhailovich Egorov: “Cruise missile submarines were new ships, complex to control and design. Therefore, we often went to sea with them and studied the commanders and other personnel. That's when I noticed one. He was often nervous at sea and made mistakes, which is unacceptable for a submariner. More than once I asked the commander of the submarine forces, Rear Admiral G.T. Kudryashov to send him to check his psychological state, but this was never done.”

The vice admiral wrote about the disaster: “I personally went to sea on this boat to check the ship and all its systems. Was held deep sea diving with a depth of up to 170 meters. Tests have shown that the submarine itself and its mechanisms meet all requirements. But serious complaints arose against the ship's commander. That’s why I gave the order to the division chief of staff N.M. Don’t let Baranov’s boat go to sea, start training the personnel and commander at the base.”

However, this order was not carried out. The S-80 submarine was sent to carry out the next scheduled mission. Georgy Mikhailovich was on the Irtysh floating base when he learned that the boat had gone out to sea. From Egorov’s further memoirs: “Many signs showed that a storm was approaching, therefore, referring to the weather forecast, I gave a radiogram: “In connection with the approaching hurricane, I ask you to urgently return the S-80 submarine to the base.” I also gave the command to direct some of the boats from the roadstead into the sea and dive to the depths in the designated areas. Positioned on the bridge of the Irtysh floating base, which was dangling at anchors from a hurricane wind that reached 25-30 meters per second, I observed the condition of the ships in the roadstead by location. The boat commanders reported periodically. A radiogram came from the submarine C-80, but since it was going to the headquarters of the submarine forces, we were not able to decode it. I mistakenly decided that my request had been fulfilled, that the boat was heading to the base and the commander confirmed the order to return. At dawn a report came to me: “The fleet communications center is calling the S-80 submarine. No answer". A hurricane is not to be trifled with, and there have been many speculations about the reasons why the ship became silent. If the C-80 commander did not receive orders to return to base, he had to go on a dive in order to shelter under water from the storm. But unfortunately, my doubts about the commander’s abilities were confirmed.”

However, there are other opinions about this submariner. For example, former lieutenant, and now Hero of the Soviet Union, reserve vice admiral Evgeniy Chernov remembers the S-80 commander as a completely different person: “He was a competent, brave and determined man. His father was a general and aviator who died in the war. And he went out to sea in his flight helmet and gloves. I just don’t know whether Anatoly took them with him on his last campaign...”
The initial search for the boat lasted relatively short. A week later, on February 3, fishermen from the trawler T-38 found an emergency buoy from a submarine in their trawl. But none of them could say where exactly the buoy was caught. The maps showed the area where it could have been cut short by the storm. Until February 16, submarines were actively searching for the S-80. If then the rescuers had gone just a mile and a half further north, they would have been able to find the boat. But no one ever crossed the seventieth parallel. Although, even if they had found her then, they could not have helped her in any way. According to Khrushchev's will, the ship-lifting industry was in disrepair. And the navy's barely developed emergency response service was unable to lift such a boat from such a depth. The Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Navy was able to “prevent an emergency” from extracting money from the state for the development of life-saving equipment. And later, a special vessel was designed and built for lifting sunken submarines.

These are the remains of the S-80 644 series submarine in the Barents Sea.

And here is what Minchenko himself, who led the operation to lift the boat, recalled: “The S-80 was towed to Zavalishina Bay, and there it was installed on pontoons. What was to be done with her next? Experts from the mine and torpedo department have repeatedly stated that torpedoes that have lain under water for many years can explode due to pressure drop when the compartments are drained. They practically managed to convince the management to blow up the boat, not to try to take risks, not to retrieve the bodies of the dead. The whole point of our enormous work was lost - after all, we were raising the boat to find out why the sailors died! In the evening, a miner, a cavalier, came to see me. He asked to let him enter the first compartment and inspect the torpedoes. The risk was huge, but I still allowed it. It was necessary to find out all the circumstances of the disaster. And at night we went to the S-80. The cavorang, dressed in light diving equipment, disappeared into the hatch. I insured him. Then he emerged, looked me in the eyes and said: “They won’t explode.” In the morning I reported that it was possible to work. They asked why. I told my superiors about the raid. Of course, they punished me for my self-will. But the chairman of the commission, Vice Admiral Shchedrin, Hero of the Soviet Union, ordered the compartments to be drained. Then we moved on to the most painful part of the work – extracting the bodies.”

Next, it’s worth turning to the story of veteran submariner Vice Admiral Rostislav Filonovich Dmitrievich: “I was the first to enter the S-80 compartments. Political workers and special officers claimed this right, but it was decided that the submarine should first be inspected by a shipbuilder. I entered the boat from the stern - through the emergency hatch in the seventh compartment. The submariners were face down. Everything is in diesel fuel, squeezed out of the fuel tanks into the body. There were air cushions in the first, third, second and seventh compartments. Most of the bodies were recovered from the compartments in the bow of the submarine.

Surprisingly, the bodies were well preserved, I recognized many of them by sight... The blow seemed to come from the fifth compartment with diesel engines; almost everyone who was removed from the third and fourth compartments had their heads smashed. Those whom the steel saved from instant death died from suffocation. A terrible end. All oxygen tanks of the breathing apparatus were empty. But first, the sailors vented all the compressed air of the steam-gas torpedoes into the bow compartment. Not everyone survived the severe torture. In the second compartment, a midshipman was found who had closed the bus with his hands, through which a high-ampere current flowed. One sailor tightened the noose around his neck while lying in his bunk. So he lay there for all seven years. Others held out until the last. First mate V. Osipov and commander of the missile warhead V. Chernichko were found on the cover of the lower hatch in the conning tower. At the time of the accident, one of them was on command watch, the other was standing on the periscope as a watch officer. The S-80 commander and his backup V. Nikolaev were found in the officer's quarters. Apparently they went down to the wardroom for a late-night breakfast. The irreparable happened very quickly - they barely had time to run out into the passage of the compartment...”

Funeral of the S-80 crew.

Yuri Senatsky, the former chief engineer of a special purpose expedition, spoke about what he saw: “A medium landing ship was brought to Zavalishin Bay. Pathologists' tables were installed in the hold. The doctors wiped the faces of the dead with alcohol and were amazed: the cheeks of the dead were pink. The blood in their veins did not even have time to clot. Doctors assured that the submariners could survive for a week on shut-off air supplies. They waited for help for a week... The bodies of the victims were interred in a common grave near the village of Olenya Guba in the Murmansk region. Personnel officers carried out their ritual - they burned the certificates of the dead midshipmen and officers. And captain first rank Babashin had to do one more difficult thing - send out personal belongings to the relatives of the deceased. To do this, we bought several dozen suitcases, put vests, caps, books, letters in them... And they sent it around the Union.”

The patriarch of the domestic judicial movement, Yuri Konstantinovich Senatsky, was born in 1924 in Arkhangelsk. In 1944, for his courage in battles during the amphibious landing on the islands Baltic Sea Dago and Ezel were awarded the Order of the Red Star. From 1974 to 1987 he worked as deputy chief and chief engineer of the emergency rescue service. navy our country. He directly participated in the recovery of more than fifty ships from the bottom of the sea, including four submarines. It was Senatsky who, in 1969, developed an original method for raising the S-80 missile submarine, which sank in the Barents Sea. In October 1981, Yuri Konstantinovich supervised the rescue of the crew and the recovery of the S-178 from a thirty-meter depth. In 1983, in Kamchatka, he led an operation to rescue personnel and lift the K-429 nuclear submarine from a forty-meter depth.

But actually, what Babashin himself, a colleague of Lieutenant-Commander Viktor Chernichko, said: “Vitya remained in our memory as a guitarist, a merry fellow, an athlete. His nose was slightly crooked, but it even suited him. At the same time, he was a kind family man, the father of two children. An avid boxer and skier. Sometimes he resorted to raising the flag directly on skis... High-class rocket scientist, graduate of the Sevastopol Naval School named after Nakhimov. Managed to receive an assignment to the Project 651 missile boat. He didn't have to go to sea. But he decided to prepare a successor - Kolya Bonadykov, commander of the missile group. I told everyone: “This is the last time I’ll go…”

Special rescue ship "Karpaty".

Why did the S-80 sink? And there are several versions of this account. A diesel torpedo submarine that could carry cruise missiles was a test platform for powerful Soviet weapons. Sergei Minchenko says the following: “The vertical rudder of the S-80 - twenty degrees to the left side - is evidence that the submarine was forced to turn sharply so as not to collide with something or someone. There were no reefs or rocks there. Maybe the boat tried to separate from an unknown vessel...”

What kind of ship could it be that suddenly found itself at a combat training ground? Neither fishing trawlers nor Soviet ships could have been there, this is confirmed by all operational services. If we remember how often alien submarines appeared and continue to appear near the Kola Peninsula, we can assume that the submariners spotted an alien reconnaissance ship. Maybe that's why the sailors decided to make the fatal maneuver.

Evgeny Chernov, vice admiral of the reserve, the former first officer of this submarine, who shortly before its death was transferred to another ship, also shared information on this matter: “Submarines should not sink during an emergency dive, even if the float valve is frozen. The air supply to diesel engines is blocked by a powerful flap. As soon as the S-80 began to go deeper, the mechanic began to block the air line from which water was gushing. The sailor pressed the lever to the right, but he should have pushed it to the left. It stung with such force that it bent the rod. I thought it was blocking, but I opened it to the maximum. Why did it happen? This sailor was seconded from another boat. There, the air line was blocked by turning the handle to the right. But he didn’t know about this feature. Consequently, the one who did not warn the sailor about it is guilty that the boat sank. Whoever it was, there is no point in blaming him now, especially since there were seven more people of the same “strangers” on the submarine.

I was called up on October 24, 1981. A couple of days later I arrived in the village of Drovyanoe for a young fighter’s course. In Drovyanoye there was a brigade of the emergency rescue service (ARS) of the Northern Fleet. There was a brigade headquarters, berths for ships and boats, warehouses with pontoons and rigging, diving equipment, clothing and food warehouses, a club, a farmstead with a pigsty, an emergency rescue party, and a canteen. The guys who served in the TSA were engaged in ship lifting, but not on ships, but at the berbaz (shore base). They serviced pontoons and other ship-lifting equipment, went out on boats for divers and others minor works for ship lifting in the Kola Bay. In general, a real brigade was stationed in Drovyanoye, and some of the ships were stationed in Severomorsk on the 15th berth.

SPS "Karpaty"

On December 23, 1981, I took the oath. After it I got on the SPS (rescue and recovery vessel) "Karpaty". The ship was being repaired at that time; it was stationed at a plant in Rost. Me and Ryzhiy (that’s our last name) were included in the rigging team. At first there were four of us: us and two old-timers, then we were left alone, and even later Ryzhy was sent to senior officer training, and I was left alone. I took part in the repair of the GSPU (main ship-lifting device) and the port and starboard ship-lifting devices, since they were in my charge, and the crew was understaffed. I was also responsible for the cabins of the rescued, KShB (devices for placing the ship on the roadstead on barrels) and a lot of other equipment. I also had to take part in the installation of arrays of raid equipment for the cruiser "Kyiv": I landed on the mooring barrel to dismantle the rigging shackle, and then, as if after a shot from a slingshot, I spun on it, clutching the eye.

No diving descents from the board were carried out on the "Karpaty", although there was a lot of special diving equipment: a bathyscaphe, working diving bells, a rescue bell, a diving platform on the tween-deck cover, the KATRAN robotic system, a pressure chamber system, etc. Our divers, in order not to “lose depth,” went on descents on humpbacks (“Altai”, “Trefolev” and “Beshtau”, as they were called for their configuration).

Preparing for a trip to Cuba

While I was serving on the "Karpaty", the ship was not underway, and the main ship components could not be completed. We were constantly repairing something: we were in Rost, then in Severomorsk, then in Drovyanoy. And I was not interested in serving on a ship that could not move under its own power. Therefore, when one day a drop appeared, recruiting a crew for a trip to Cuba, I immediately asked to go there. Without any hope, however. I almost forgot about it, but on August 30, 1982, the commander called me and informed me about my transfer to another ship.

So I ended up on the SS (rescue ship) "Agatan", but no longer as a rigger, but as the commander of the boatswain's crew section. On the "Agatan" we were supposed to go to Cuba. They put him in order and began to wait. And then the carousel started spinning: sometimes we go, sometimes we don’t, sometimes we wanted to change crews without resorting to long trips, but using the services of the valiant Aeroflot. The introductory notes changed almost every week. It all ended with the SS "Aldan" coming from Cuba under its own power, and a week later we, "Agatan", swapped crews. This happened at the end of 1982. We had to bring the ship into divine shape, since the outside of the Aldan was all rusty, but the inside was absolutely terrible. For example, it was impossible to enter the hold; there were some ends, buoys and all sorts of rubbish piled up: a pile of garbage above the deck rose no less than a meter. We scraped, painted, put everything in its place: we created an exemplary order. We celebrated New Year 1983. And only in January they received the command to go to BS (combat service).

Across the Atlantic

It took a long time to get to Cuba, at least a month. We loaded oil into the hold in barrels, which were to be transferred to our mother ship in the English Channel. This mother ship was anchored in the strait - a huge rusty “trough”. And the sea was stormy that day. And so, when we were approaching the base, the commander of the ship said that if I gave the throwing end the first time, then upon arrival in Cuba he would give me an emergency dismissal. It was far from the base, barely enough for the throwing length, and getting close to the board in a storm was also risky. In short, I coped with the task.

Then we went out into the Atlantic. They were doing reconnaissance there. The ship was painted in civilian colors: white top - dark bottom. As soon as we met the NATO squadron, we immediately set off on a parallel course. They sent a radiogram to Moscow, the answer was: “Follow the squadron until you receive new instructions.” We went on like this for several days until we were given the all clear. We had no listeners on board, only bolt-on radio operators.

When the Americans realized that we were following them, they took helicopters into the air. The helicopters hovered a short distance from us and lowered some things like microphones on cords into the water and listened to the entire space around us. Along the way, our captain Pokareev E.V. I also turned on different devices: either an echo sounder or some other crap.

After about a day, they calmed down and even began to conduct some exercises... And then, to their surprise, a Soviet nuclear submarine (NPS) surfaced next to our ship. Our surprise also knew no bounds; at first I decided that it was an American boat.

Later it turned out that the brother of the captain of “Aldan” served on this submarine, but we swapped crews: “Agatanovites” became “Aldanovites” and vice versa, so the historical meeting of the brothers did not take place. After our nuclear submarine sank, the Americans rushed with redoubled force to listen to the entire space around our ship, but the miracle did not happen again.

What else did our reconnaissance consist of: we collected radio beacons supplied by the Americans, monitored warships, even caught garbage, which they threw overboard in large plastic bags. As they explained to us, one can determine from the garbage where the ship came from. They said that newspapers were especially important.

So, we were in no hurry to go to Cuba; Moreover, it was very stormy all the way to the Azores, and there was no talk of any speed. All this happened in January-February 1983.

Sailor everyday life

We arrived in Cuba and stopped at the boat piers in Cienfuegos.

Our ship was battered in the storms, covered in places with rust due to the fact that it was heavily beaten by the waves, and the water in the tropics is very salty. But the captain did not want to go to Havana in an unattractive state. Therefore, we started painting the ship and removed the rust, and a week later we appeared in the Cuban capital in all its glory.

We stood at the pier of the military ship repair plant "Granma"; opposite the center of Havana: from the ship there was a view of the headquarters of the Cuban Navy and the Malecon embankment. We went to the city by bus through a tunnel or by barge for 20 centavos. The area where we were standing was called Casablanca. We also went on layoffs, especially during the carnival. We were even allowed to drink some Serbeso.

And I was the very first to be fired, as the captain promised. Although it wasn't exactly a dismissal. We were going fishing, and I, along with Chief Petty Officer Klaptem, went on a bus to dig for worms to the house of Soviet specialists, although it would also be possible to dig at the Granma plant.

One day two Muscovite sailors piled into a self-propelled gun. After all, we stood opposite the Malecon, and the city beckoned with evening lights. So the kids couldn’t stand it: after lights out, they swam to the other side in search of adventure. According to the law of meanness, their absence was discovered and a search party was sent out. The next morning they returned tattered and beaten. In Casablanca, one of them had a bottle smashed over his head. The self-propelled gunners were sent to the bay to cut reeds, and we were declared an organizational period, instead of the admiral's hour (a two-hour afternoon rest) - drill exercises on the shore. Well, all going ashore was immediately banned.

And so, when they were laid up, they helped Leadoro, the chief engineer of the Granma plant, decorate his house: plaster, pour the floors. Leadoro had a small cottage-type house, so we helped with the finishing work. Leadoro has a Russian wife, before her marriage she lived in St. Petersburg on Narodnaya Street: the children are more likely Russian than Cuban and they studied, it seems, in a Russian school. Leadoro was friends with our captain. He and Pronzo, the supply officer at the Granma plant, hung around on our ship almost every day.

We stayed not only in Havana: we were in Santiago de Cuba and three times in Cienfuegos. In Cienfuegos we stood at the boat dock. The second time we came there was when we were dragging a Cuban Navy submarine from Havana, our former diesel engine, which almost sank along the way. In Santiago we were taken around the city by bus, and we were given an excursion. And we communicated with the Cubans. Mainly with those who were on neighboring ships. And so they were engaged in various rescue work, but I only remember the bulk carrier "Metallurg Kurako", although there were other ships.

To the aid of the "Black Prince"

But it was believed that we were in Cuba to provide submarines. I had to work with one of them, I mean the “Black Prince”, the K-324 submarine. We had a concert planned at the Soviet embassy, ​​since I played guitar in the ensemble, and we were rehearsing patriotic songs. This was on the eve of November 7 (two or three days before). They played the alarm and the hourly readiness. We quickly stocked up on provisions, bunkered water and loaded oxygen and acetylene cylinders. We went out to sea. There they announced to us that our submarine had suffered a disaster and was either not moving at all, or was moving at a slow speed. In general, he needs help.

There was a storm at that time. We walked for several days, maybe two days. When we arrived at the boat, the storm had subsided a little - down to force three, but still in such weather it was very difficult to tow the boat. It seems to me that this work took more than a day. It was necessary to deliver special towing grips SHU-200 to the boat. To do this, they lowered the boat, loaded the grips and went to the boat; and in such weather, launching, much less taking, the boat on board was tantamount to suicide, but we somehow managed. It was also unrealistic to get close to the boat on a boat: and so I threw grapples from the boat, having first tied a safety rope, because we didn’t have spare grapples, and the guys from the boat caught them. It wasn't easy either. In addition, when launching the boat, the fastening of the cable on which the boat is lowered and raised was torn out. By what miracle did we then manage to lift the boat on board?

From Sergei Blazhkov's book "The Fate of a Submariner"

"Soviet sailors never abandon their comrades in trouble. As soon as" mainland"learned about our plight, the Soviet reconnaissance ship "Nakhodka" (aka SSV-506 pr. 861) was urgently sent to our aid. ... At the same time, another rescue ship received an order to go to sea to help us "Aldan", which at that time was in Cuba and based in Havana...

On November 8, the rescuer "Aldan" arrived. The fact that the rescuer arrived only a few days later is due to the fact that halfway through the journey one of his two machines broke down. Therefore, the Aldan's speed dropped by half from 17 knots. Our commanders agreed on the methods and methods of the towing operation. We had to hurry; the time factor depended entirely on weather conditions. In order not to waste time, the towing line from the Aldana was supplied using a boat along with their mooring crew. But no matter how hard we tried, preparing for towing took a considerable amount of time..."

How the nuclear submarine was towed

Braga is a cable that, like a loop, should encircle the boat along the entire hull. Somehow we transferred the mash to the submarine. Then the main towing cable had to be delivered. To do this, they used a line thrower - a device that shoots a float weight to which a line is attached, much like a parachute lanyard. A conductor is tied to it (a thicker cable), then an even thicker one, and then the towing cable itself. Then, when this entire chain is supplied, the extra length is taken on board, which is recorded in the photographs where we work with the nuclear submarine.

At first, as long as it was possible, we chose it manually, and then we started working with the screws, maneuvering and almost wound the conductor around the screw, got caught in the screw, but miraculously managed to free the screw.

The Americans fired at the buoys that we lashed to the towing rope so that it would not sink. They tied up the second set... In general, the tug finally came to the boat. The main problem has been solved...

How to remove the screw from the cable antenna

For some reason they didn’t want to take the boat to Cuba, and we did all the work on the way to the Cuban shores. By that time the sea had already calmed down, and we got up to free the screw from the cable antenna on the Hagua bank. They stood there for a day or two, but nothing worked.

Work progressed slowly. The cable was wound so that even the propeller hub was not visible. Everything was soldered into one ball, both the metal and the partially melted cable winding (insulation). And the cable was armored. In addition, we lacked the necessary tools and equipment. Although the hull of the boat was tilted to the bow, Bottom part the propeller and, of course, the cable antenna were still under water, and they also had to do diving work (they tried to cut the cable with special underwater electrodes). Having suffered so much, it was decided to put the boat in a roadstead in Nipe Bay. There, Cuban specialists got involved in the work, delivered the necessary equipment, and things moved faster. It took about two more days to free the boat from cable captivity. And a day later, the nuclear submarine, having checked how everything was functioning after the accident, left for combat service.

For this work, several officers were nominated for awards and extraordinary ranks, even I was nominated for a medal, but no one was awarded: maybe the Northern Fleet headquarters “cut it down,” but, most likely, Moscow.

Everyday moments of service

Almost every time we went out to sea was accompanied by the extraction of souvenirs: we stood on the bank, launched a landing party on a boat for about five hours, dived, getting from the bottom: rapans, zubans - that is, various shells, lobsters, crabs, shot fish from underwater guns, looked for corals and stars.

When they were laid up, they often went out in groups to the beach or into the city, accompanied by a senior officer (officer or midshipman). We have been to the beaches of Santa Maria many times. In recent months, no one was eager to go there (because it was necessary to wear a uniform, and I didn’t really want to walk around the tropics in woolen pants). As a result, they were caught on the ship and forced to do so; the bus had been ordered. We started from the first beach from the city, but then we began to climb further and further: it was cleaner there, and Cubans did not make love in the water so often.

We went to the beach a couple of times with the crew of the cruiser "Moscow". It was good, they gave us beer and sandwiches (otherwise we had to buy beer with our own money, and only if no one was looking).

The way home

We went to Cuba for six months, but stayed for one and a half months. Our uniform was already worn out (shorts and a jacket with short sleeves and tropical slippers), so they gave us a Cuban uniform, and we wore it... But the time had come to return to the Union. This happened in May-June 1984.

Arrived from Cuba very quickly. There was almost no chatter. We were on a straight course and at full speed, about 12 knots. Two weeks later we were already at the base in Drovyanoy, where we were greeted with the traditional suckling pig.

We were replaced by a new tugboat, for which the guys went to Vyborg. When he arrived, we were lined up at the stern. We stood for a long time, waiting for it to dock, but it never came. There was a fresh wind, and the ship was blown away by the wind. They tried to approach with the anchor back, both bow and stern forward, but in the end they left and anchored, and then, when the weather improved, they approached the pier. Probably due to the fact that the ship was single-rotor, it lacked maneuverability in cramped conditions.

Double vacation

When they arrived at the brigade, people began to leave on vacation: conscripts, midshipmen and officers. Moreover, some had two BS (combat service) in a row. I didn’t want to go on vacation, all that was left was to serve, but they were waiting for the Minister of Defense and endless training began: formations and other leapfrogs. Then I quickly went on vacation. I didn’t tell anyone that I was coming, I wanted to surprise my girlfriend, but she wasn’t at home, she went south with her mother. This is how it turned out. And when I returned to Drovyanoe, my girlfriend came there too! I was confused and didn’t know what to do. Luckily for me, there was a political officer on board. He gave me another vacation and the keys to his apartment in Fadeev Ruchey. There are such people in the world!

Descent on the verge of breakdown

And when my DMB came, an organizational period began in the brigade regarding hazing: on our ship someone was offending young people. Five of us, the very first of the brigade, left the Aldan. The gathering was on the verge of collapse. At the last moment, the special officer summoned the young man and asked him point-blank: “Did this one offend you?” The young man looked at me and replied that no (I really didn’t touch anyone). The same happened with the others. And within a day we had issued a bypass, received travel cards and everything that was required.

After lights out I was ironing my uniform, I didn’t want to sleep, I was getting ready to meet home. Then the duty officer at the headquarters came and got to the bottom of it: why aren’t you sleeping? If instead of sleeping you mock the young people or drink vodka, then instead of DMB you will rattle your lip and get off the ship under the Christmas tree! I hated this attitude. After all, I was in good standing, and I joined the party as a candidate in the service, and was nominated for a government award for the events that happened with the boat. Well, okay, we don’t serve for medals, sometimes a simple human thank you is much more important. But this duty officer was terrible, ruining my last hours on the ship.

Project 530 "Carpathians" - rescue and recovery vessel

Simultaneously with the design of rescue vessels, the Western Design Bureau also had to engage in work on the creation of ship-lifting vessels.
Thus, in 1955, the Bureau, on the basis of a letter from the 5th Main Directorate of SMEs dated June 22, 1955, completed the development of tactical and technical specifications for the development of a rescue and recovery vessel. The TTZ project proposed combining the functions of a Project 527 rescue vessel with the tasks of a powerful killer.
In 1957, a preliminary design was developed, and in 1959, a technical design of the vessel. The basis for the development of the project was the order of the State Committee of the USSR Council of Ministers for Shipbuilding dated March 13, 1958, in development of the resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers “On ensuring the emergency rescue service of the Military Navy rescue ships and rescue equipment”, adopted in February of the same year.
The vessel was intended for rescuing personnel and lifting emergency submarines from depths of up to 300 m in the open sea, in roadsteads and in bases, as well as for lifting completely flooded submarines, surface ships and underwater structures within the depths and carrying capacity, lifting the ends of submarines at shallow depths to ensure their inspection and short-term dockless repairs and, in addition, the inspection of sunken ships and the lifting of valuable cargo from them from depths provided by the work of divers and the capabilities of the working chamber.
The chief designer of this project, which received No. 530, A.G. Minaev (deputy - A.S. Kriksunov) personally participated in the development of requirements for all systems of weapons and equipment of the vessel, and also monitored their implementation during the development of technical documentation, construction and modification . It was he who proposed and drilled a new architectural type of vessel with shafts for lifting devices in the hull and cranes at the stern, which made it possible to create a single-hull ship-lifting vessel that ensures rescue and ship-lifting operations on the high seas. For this purpose, it had a main ship-lifting device (GSPU) with a total lifting capacity of 800 tons, providing continuous lifting from depths up to 300 m. It was made in the form of four similar cargo devices (each 200 tons), located: two in the stern of the vessel on special crambolas and two in the middle part of the vessel in through shafts. It was developed by V.N. Chesnokov and V.Z. Bezzubov, specialists from the devices department.
As flexible connections, 8-strand gynes with a steel cable with a diameter of 65.5 mm with a breaking force of the cable of 170.5 tf were used with a total safety factor of guineas relative to the minimum load of about 4.5.
At the design stage with the participation of the Central Research Institute named after. acad. A.N. Krylov carried out studies on the stability of the vessel when the cables break during ship lifting, and also carried out an analysis of various hull framing systems and calculations of its strength under various cases of load on the crane and cargo devices in the mines. Based on the results of these studies, it was decided to maintain the strength of the hull, as well as the stability of the vessel under emergency loads, to provide a “weak link” with a breaking force of 470-480 tf in each of the four lifting devices.
Research into ensuring the safety of lifting and towing an emergency object under the ship’s hull has become no less important. Theoretical calculations carried out by the Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute showed that at certain sea conditions, jerks occur in the gyines of the ship-lifting device, during which the load on the gyines reaches five times the nominal value.
This assumption was confirmed by model tests at the Central Research Institute. acad. A.N. Krylova. At the same time, it turned out that the indicated overloads arise depending on the volumetric displacement, negative buoyancy and towing speed of the lifted object during sea conditions exceeding 4 points. In this regard, when developing the project, the issues of technology for lifting and towing a raised damaged submarine were first considered. The following sequence of work was adopted:
The emergency submarine raised under the ship's hull is towed by the ship to a base or shallow water, where it is lifted by ship-lifting pontoons, which ensure that the boat is docked or floated by pumping out the compartments. When towing an emergency submarine, the drums of the transit winches are secured to the stoppers;
when the load increases when lifting or towing up to 470 tons on the hook, the sling is destroyed - the “weak link” connecting the hook with the grip. The force in the cable is determined by the dynamometer device of the winches of the main control station according to the indicators located in the control station;
the main SPU ensures towing of the emergency submarine in sea conditions up to 4 points.
When the sea was more rough, it was necessary to take measures to mitigate the jerks (deepening the emergency submarine, changing the course of the ship in relation to the wave).
Novelty of the project and availability large quantity issues requiring testing in marine conditions led to the need to carry out a number of experimental works, in particular, testing of mechanisms, individual components of the main hoisting device, hoisting devices of the diving and rescue bells, testing of hydraulic drives, a grab device for underwater works at a depth of 60 m and others.
The acceptance certificate for the Project 530 rescue and recovery vessel, named “Karpaty,” was signed in September 1967, after which the vessel was in trial operation as part of the Black Sea Fleet.
In July 1969, “Karpaty”, in the difficult conditions of the open Barents Sea, lifted the sunken S-80 submarine from a depth of 196 m.
With the joint effort of all four guineas, the submarine was lifted from the ground, with a draft of 110 m, towed 70 miles to the coastal area, entered into a closed bay, where, with the combined use of guineas of the Karpaty vessel and steel ship-lifting pontoons, it was raised to the surface.

At the end of the 1960s, work began on the “Depth” project, which was a special gripping device of an original design designed to lift sunken submarines. The impetus for its creation was the preparation of the lifting of the Project 644 submarine S-80 with a displacement of 1150 tons, which was lost in 1961 and discovered in the fall of 1968.
To use the device, it was necessary to retrofit the rescue and recovery vessel according to Project 530A, developed by the Western Design Bureau by decision of the Navy and SMEs dated December 24, 1968. The gripping device was manufactured by the Krasnoe Sormovo plant. Additional equipment for project 530A was entrusted to the plant named after. 61 Communard and resulted in the installation of additional equipment, devices and systems on the vessel. These included television equipment, a working chamber, a hoisting installation for television cameras and a working chamber, a device for parking at the site, a compressed air system for blowing pontoons and supplying air to the pneumatic cylinders of the gripping device, communication systems with the working chamber and posts of the television installation and much more.
The chief designer of the retrofitting of the rescue-lifting vessel and the gripping device was M.K. Gorshkov, and his deputy was G.A. Mangaev.
During the design, the problems of providing the gripping device with means of guidance and landing on the submarine hull, supplying air to the gripping cylinders, and water to the soil-washing device were solved. Systems have been introduced for reeving the device to the hulls of the ship-lifting vessel, which ensures the lifting and transportation of the boat in rough seas. A control system for the “ship-grabbing device” complex was developed and implemented during pointing of the device at the submarine’s hull, lifting it off the ground and transporting it afloat and under the keel of the vessel.
In 1970, the rescue and ship-lifting vessel "Karpaty", converted according to project 530A, lifted a training submarine from a depth of 200 m using a gripping device, and a year later lifted a mock-up submarine from a depth of 270 m using rod devices. Work on inserting the guide cables of the rod devices at these depths was carried out in a working chamber using manipulators without the participation of divers.

SAFETY EQUIPMENT
Working chamber 1
Diving bell 2
Diving gazebo 4
Rescue bell 1
Observation camera 1
Television equipment set 1
SPU of working and television cameras 1
Lifting device, set 4
WEAPONS
Radio engineering:
Radar "Don" 2
GAS MG-16 1
GAS MG-26 1
GAS MGA-1 1
SHIPBUILDING ELEMENTS
Total displacement, t 5600
Main dimensions, m:
longest length 1 12.8
maximum width 18.0
draft 5.3
Main power plant:
installation type diesel-electric
number of engines………………4 DGR type ZD100M, 1375 kW each
rowing electric motors direct current 2 x 2500 kW
Depth of rescue operations, m 300
Full speed, knots 16.5
Cruising range at full speed, 1500 miles
Autonomy, days 45
Crew, people 175

Source
Central Marine Design Bureau "ALMAZ". 2005