The second half of the 19th century will forever remain in history as an era of unprecedented technological achievements, which, without undue embarrassment, can be called a civilizational breakthrough. Times of daring romance - it would seem that humanity is now capable of any, the most grandiose accomplishments. Flight from a cannon to the moon, around the world in 80 days, the submarine "Nautilus" - there are no restrictions for the human mind and the latest technology, steam energy and the miracle of electricity will overcome gravity and conquer the ocean depths! Of course, the military departments of industrialized countries did not stay away from the trends of progress - steam engines, Peksan bomb guns, a propeller as a propeller and other incredible achievements were gradually introduced, and such a seemingly conservative structure as a fleet developed much faster than land armies.

Here we will not trace the technical and evolutionary path of warships of the 19th century, which were transformed with unthinkable swiftness - in just a few decades, wooden spars of the battleship disappeared forever, steam frigates appeared, and then heavy frigates, armored floating batteries, monitors, finally the first was built battleship with an all-metal hull - HMS Warrior.

Strange as it may sound, but the appearance of such advanced and high-tech (for their time) ships led to a very significant rollback in the field of tactics, a return almost to the times of antiquity - namely, to the mass distribution of rams, which can be called "ram psychosis". There is only one explanation: the armor for some time “defeated” the artillery, which developed much more slowly, and therefore an original concept was born in the minds of the gentlemen of the admirals - a heavily armored target can be successfully sunk not so much by artillery fire as by a strike of the so-called spy. Dahl's explanatory dictionary explains the term "spy" to us like this - "... Old, sharp, long nose of the galley; now: iron ram, sometimes underwater, near armored ships».

So, let's remember how it all began and how the antique archaism penetrated the fleets of the era of steam and electricity.

Three rams of Admiral Tegetthoff

It is believed that the first ram in combat conditions was carried out by the battleship of the southerners CSS Virginia during the American Civil War - rebuilt from the old steam frigate USS Merrimack and armored "Virginia" during the Battle of the Hampton Raid on March 8/9, 1862, she sank a wooden frigate with a ram " Cumberland, while she almost died herself, because the spy got stuck in the hull of a sinking enemy ship, which could well drag the Virginia to the bottom. Fortunately, the ram end broke off and the Confederate battleship survived to fight the famous Monitor the next day - but that's a completely different story. During the war between the North and the South, rams were repeatedly used later, but since the victims of spyware were mostly unprotected wooden ships, and the war was fought either in calm coastal waters or on rivers, American ramming tactics were not paid much attention in Europe. For the time being, they did not pay attention until an event occurred that caused an unhealthy sensation with far-reaching consequences in the naval environment of the Old World.

The Virginia rams the Cumberland. Drawing from Harpers Weekly Magazine by March 22, 1862

In June 1866, the Austro-Prussian-Italian War broke out, also known as the Third War of Italian Independence - one of the reasons for the conflict between the Austrian Empire on the one hand and Prussia and Italy on the other was the issue of control over the Venetian region and the Adriatic Sea as a whole. It should be noted that the Italian fleet, as of the beginning of hostilities, was very modern - twelve battleships built in the North American States, France and Britain constituted the main force of the squadron, plus armored gunboats and a certain number of auxiliary wooden ships.

The situation of the Austrians was much worse: only seven battleships, and two of the newest ("Archduke Ferdinand Max" and "Habsburg" with a displacement of 5100 tons) were unfinished, and most importantly, they had no weapons - new guns were supposed to be bought in Prussia, but with the beginning war, the Prussians predictably canceled the contract. The commander, Rear Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, had to equip both ships with temporary spars and put on them frankly outdated smooth-bore guns that fired cannonballs. Moreover, the Austrian squadron included a completely archaic wooden Kaiser battleship with nine dozen smoothbore guns, almost incapable of inflicting serious damage on battleships.

Admiral Carlo di Persano

However, as you know, the outcome of the battle is often decided not by superiority in strength, but by the talent and determination of the commander. Admiral von Tegetthof was not interested in either one or the other - he had great experience and energy, commanded the Austrian squadron at the Battle of Heligoland (it is believed that this 1864 battle between Denmark and the Austro-Prussian alliance ended in a draw, but nevertheless Tegetthoff managed to then solve the strategic problem, forcing the Danes to lift the blockade of the mouth of the Elbe, which paralyzed shipping and Prussian trade.For this battle, he received the rank of rear admiral). In turn, the commander of the Italian fleet, Admiral Carlo di Persano, as it turned out during the battle of Lissa, turned out to be fatally incompetent.

The initial alignment of forces in the battle of Lissa

The first battle of armored fleets in history took place on July 20, 1866 in the Adriatic Sea near the island of Lissa - according to the instructions of the Maritime Ministry, the Italian Regia Marina was to attack the Austrian fortress on Lissa, land troops, and then, if possible, give a general battle to the Austrian fleet. The latter, by the way, was seriously inferior to the Italians both in the number and size of warships, and in the total power of an artillery salvo. Historian H. Wilson in the book "Battleships in Battle" gives the following figures:

In terms of the number of ships, the ratio of Italian forces to the Austrian was 1.99:1, in terms of the number of guns - 1.66:1, in terms of displacement - 2.64:1 and in terms of power of steam engines - 2.57:1. Judging by the ships, Austria could not have hope of success.<…>The Italians nominally had almost twice as many battleships and 50% more guns. Their superiority was both in the number and size of the ships. In terms of rifled guns, the only weapons that can effectively operate in the battle of ironclads, they had a significant advantage: 276 guns against 121 of the enemy, and this advantage was increased by the greater power of the Italian guns, which could fire shells four times heavier than the Austrian ones. The total number of successful shots on the account of the broken fleet was 414, i.e. less than one for each firing gun.

It turns out that Wilhelm von Tegetthof had practically no chance of success, but the admiral, without hesitation, took the squadron out to sea and went to the aid of Lissa besieged by the Italians. The Austrian fleet lined up in three wedges following each other (armadillos were the first, followed by a wooden battleship and frigates, gunboats in the rearguard). Von Tegetthof's goal is to try to break through the enemy lines and use the battering rams to complement the much weaker artillery while covering the wooden ships. Admiral Persano orders his squadron to reorganize in wake formation - an archaic characteristic of the "old" battle fleets of the ferocious era.

"Tegetthoff at the Battle of Lissa". Artist Anton Romako

Von Tegetthof's armored fist crashed into the Italian formation like a wild boar through the reeds, quickly causing a riot and confusion. During the first attack, it was not possible to ram a single enemy ship, until the time the battle was fought traditionally - using artillery. The Austrian flagship "Archduke Ferdinand Max" was looking for a meeting with the enemy's flagship - "Re d'Italia".

Here it is necessary to mention that Re d'Italia was no longer the flagship - Admiral Persano, right during the battle, wished to move to the newest Affondatore monitor. He got over without notifying his squadron with signals, which led to the loss of fleet control. Persano himself later argued that the lowering of the flag and the raising of one on another ship in the squadron should, in theory, be noticed without much notice, but ... The transmitter is responsible for transmitting the message.

We add that the admiral's transition to the fastest battleship in the squadron looked extremely unsightly following the battle - although there is an opinion that initially the logic was different: Persano himself expected to use a ram. But it turned out that the Affondatore, a specialized ramming battleship, never rammed anyone. Unlike the Austrians, who butted furiously at the risk of their own lives, the construction of their ships was not strong enough for such a ballet.

Eduard Nezbeda, Die Seeschlacht von Lissa, 1866. Oil on canvas, 1911, private collection in Vienna. An Austrian three-deck wooden battleship rams the Italian battleship Re di Portogallo

Nevertheless, the "Archduke" with von Tegetthoff on the bridge overtook the "Re d'Italia" and went to ram - two hits were unsuccessful, casually, it was not possible to break through the skin. The battleship Kaiser Maximilian helped, which demolished the rudders of the Italian with his spy, as a result of which it was possible to maneuver only with the help of cars. Directly in front of the "Re d'Italia" was an Austrian battleship, but for some reason the captain decided not to go into a collision, but gave the order "Full back", which ruined the ship - Admiral von Tegetthoff transferred "Full speed ahead" to the engine room and "Be ready to back out." Let's give the floor to H. Wilson again:

... "Ferdinand-Max" easily plunged his nose into the Italian ship, rising for a moment when striking, and then lowering again, while his battering ram crashed through the iron armor and wooden plating into the ill-fated ship with a terrible crack. The concussion on the Ferdinand-Max is not strong; several men fell to the deck at the moment of impact, and the concussion was clearly felt in the engine room, where the machines were immediately reversed. The Austrian ship did not receive any damage. "Re d" Italia, having taken a hit, listed heavily to starboard, and then, when the "Ferdinand-Max" moved away from it, it tilted to the left, and a horrified crew was visible on its deck. He was so close that one the Austrian officer exclaimed: “What a wonderful deck.” For a minute or two the battle stopped, and all eyes were fixed on the doomed ship.

It makes no sense to describe here the entire course of the battle of Lissa, it is only necessary to say that from the crew of the Re d'Italia sunk after three (and given the blow of the Kaiser Maximilian on the rudder - all four!) Rams survived and 166 people were saved, about four hundred died. "Ferdinand-Max" made a hole with an area of ​​​​about 15 square meters in the side of the enemy, breaking through both armor and wood paneling.

"Re d "Italia" sinks after a ram. In the center - a damaged "Kaiser"

Bottom line: Admiral Persano retreated, leaving the battlefield behind the Austrians, while losing two battleships and more than six hundred people dead. The losses of Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthof - 38 killed, not a single Austrian ship sank. Then Carlo di Persano was put on trial, stripped of his rank and found guilty of incompetence and cowardice.

And the European Admiralties, having assessed the results of the battle, enthusiastically began to develop "ramming tactics", considering that the battle of armored ships at close range is now determined not by artillery, but by long-forgotten weapons of ancient antiquity ...

Symptoms of "ram psychosis"

Since Great Britain was the leading maritime power in the 19th century, it was there that the mass passion for rams reached its apogee and amazing naval freaks were born, making you think about the mental health of designers. An example of this is HMS Polyphemus built in 1881 and classified as a "ram destroyer".

The idea was as follows: after the invention of the Robert Whitehead torpedo system (again, the latest and very progressive weapon, which by 1875 developed a speed of up to 18 knots with a range of 600 yards!) The fleet needed a high-speed destroyer capable of getting close to a large target unnoticed, launching torpedoes and get away with impunity. The key word here is “high-speed”, and therefore the hydrodynamics of the ship should be close to ideal - hence the unusual cigar-shaped hull, a very low and narrow deck with a minimum of superstructures and five underwater torpedo tubes of 356 mm caliber.

“But what about a ram?! - exclaimed in the Admiralty - It is impossible without a ram! And inside it you can put another torpedo tube! The chief engineer of the fleet, Nathaniel Barnaby, shrugged his shoulders and completed the order, changing the original project - the Polyphemus was equipped with a ram stem a little more than four meters long, at the end of which there was a torpedo tube cover. Application scheme? Yes, very easy! A torpedo destroyer bravo breaks into the enemy harbor, fires ammunition from eighteen torpedoes, if it doesn’t hit, it rams the target! Artillery weapons? Oh, these mossy traditions! But we must pay tribute to the dark past, let's still install six 25-mm Nordenfeld double-barreled guns!

Ram "Polyphemus"

Things did not go further than tests and exercises - the Polyphemus remained the only torpedo-ram destroyer in the entire history of the British Navy. However, the Americans, greedy for various technical innovations, decided to build an analogue, and brought the idea to the absolute and shining perfection - the cigar-shaped ship USS Katahdin (built in 1883), which was almost identical in silhouette, had no weapons at all. At all. At all. No torpedoes or artillery, why are they needed ?! Only a ram!

"Katadin", for all its uniqueness (the only warship in the world without weapons!) Turned out to be an unsuccessful project - and not just because the conceived scheme of application was initially absurd. A deep landing (90% of the hull was under water) sharply reduced speed and maneuverability, the circulation radius turned out to be unacceptably large - this despite the fact that the Katadin had to attack with a ram. In fairness, we note that during the American-Spanish war of 1898, he was still equipped with four 6-pounder guns, but that's all. The main mystery remains what 97 (in words - ninety-seven!) Team members did on this ship - if weapons were not originally provided for ?!

"Ceremonial" image of "Katadina"

In general, rams inflicted much more damage to the ships of their squadrons than to a real enemy - the consequences of repeated collisions often turned out to be deplorable. Judge for yourself:

1869, Russian Empire. The battleship "Kremlin" sinks the frigate "Oleg" with a blow from the stem. In 1871, in the harbor of Kronstadt, the two-towered armored frigate "Admiral Spiridov" rammed the three-towered "Admiral Lazarev" - water through a hole with an area of ​​0.65 sq.m. hit the adjacent compartments, the roll reached eight degrees.

1875, Britain. The battleship Iron Duke rammed and sank the sistership Vanguard.

1878, Germany. The battleship "Koenig Wilhelm" collided with another battleship "Grosser Kurfürst", the latter soon sank.

1891, Britain again. The battleship Camperdown sank the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet, the newest battleship of the 1st class Victoria, built just a year ago, with a ramming strike. 321 crew members were killed, including the squadron commander, Admiral George Triton. The Victoria sank in just ten minutes.

Despite many such cases, "ram tactics" remained in demand until the advent of the "Dreadnought" and the concept of "only big guns" - fleets returned to the theory of linear artillery combat at long distances. However, rams began to disappear only after the First World War ...

On February 12, 1988, events took place in the Black Sea Fleet that received a "resonant" response in the political, military and naval circles of various countries. On this day, a serious incident occurred with the participation of warships of the 6th US Fleet, the cruiser URO "Yorktown" and the destroyer URO "Caron", which came to the Black Sea and violated the state border of the USSR. The leaders and main "actors" of the operation to oust the Americans from our territorial waters were: Admiral Valentin Egorovich SELIVANOV (former commander of the 5th Mediterranean squadron of the Navy, at that time vice admiral, chief of staff of the Black Sea Fleet, later chief of the Main Staff of the Navy), Vice Admiral Nikolai Petrovich MIKHEEV (at that time Captain 2nd Rank, Chief of Staff of the 70th Brigade of the 30th Division of Anti-Submarine Ships of the Black Sea Fleet), Rear Admiral BOGDASHIN Vladimir Ivanovich (at that time Captain 2nd Rank, Commander of the TFR "Bezzavetny"), Captain 2nd rank PETROV Anatoly Ivanovich (at that time captain 3rd rank, commander of "SKR-6").
Valentin Selivanov. The operation of the ships of the Black Sea Fleet, which will be discussed below, was preceded by events in the country and their consequences related to the violation of the state border and the flight from the Baltic Sea through the entire western space of the Union (05.28.1987) of the German air adventurer Rust, who landed his sports airplane of the type " Sesna" right on Red Square in Moscow. After the destruction of a Korean reconnaissance Boeing disguised as a civilian aircraft in the Far East, the order of the Minister of Defense was in effect: do not shoot down civilian aircraft! But in vain, there was no need to regret - after all, the consequences of this trick of Rust had an extremely negative impact on the entire military department.
The command of the Black Sea Fleet learned in advance about the new voyage of the American ships URO "Yorktown" (type "Ticonderoga") and the destroyer URO "Karon" (type "Spruence") being prepared in February 1988 in the Black Sea in advance (the reconnaissance of the fleet tracked all the actions of the 6th US Navy Fleet ). Considering, as I explained above, the situation in the Armed Forces after Rust's "trick", we, naturally, could not allow a new provocation by the Americans to violate our maritime borders, if they again decide to repeat their past demarche, would go unpunished for them. Therefore, before the arrival of American ships in the Black Sea, the headquarters of the fleet planned an operation to track and counter them: the patrol ships "Bezzavetny" (project 1135) and "SKR-6" (project 35) were allocated, the commander of this ship group was appointed - the chief of staff 70th brigade of the 30th division of anti-submarine ships of the Black Sea Fleet, Captain 2nd Rank Mikheev Nikolai Petrovich. The commanders of the ships and the ship's group were thoroughly briefed on the plan of operation with the loss of all actions on maps and maneuverable tablets. The ships in the operation were distributed as follows: SKR "Selfless", as a larger ship in terms of displacement, was supposed to accompany and counteract the cruiser "Yorktown", and "SKR-6" (small in displacement and dimensions) - the destroyer "Caron". All commanders were given specific instructions: as soon as it was discovered that the Americans intended to proceed to our waterways, to take a position relative to the side of the American ships from our coast, to warn them that the course of their ships was leading to the waterways, then, if the Americans did not heed this warning, with their entry into the waterways, to make a "bulk" on American ships with each of our ships. The commanders understood their tasks, and I was sure that they would fulfill their tasks. The plan of operation was approved by the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral of the Fleet V.N. Chernavin.
It was envisaged that with the entry of American ships into the Black Sea, our ships would meet them in the Bosphorus area and begin tracking them. After meeting with the Americans, I instructed the group commander to welcome their arrival in our Black Sea (namely, do not forget our word in the greeting) and convey that we will sail with them together. It was expected that American ships would first proceed along the western coast of the Black Sea, "run" into the thermal waters of Bulgaria, Romania (they used to do this), and then they would move to the eastern part to our shores. Well, they will apparently try to invade our territorial waters, as they did last time, in the area of ​​​​the southern tip of the Crimean peninsula (Cape Sarych), where the borders of the territorial waters in configuration represent a triangle with a peak extended to the south. Most likely, the Americans will not bypass this triangle again, but will go through the waterways. There are no more places for such a "demonstration" violation of the tervods at the Black Sea theater. And it was here that the main phase of the entire operation was to take place, namely, the prevention or exclusion of American ships with "bulk" on them from our tervods, if warnings about violations of tervods did not affect them. What is a "bulk"? This is not a ram in the full sense of the term, but an approach at a speed at a slight angle, as it were, tangential to the side of the displaced object and its "polite" "repulsion", with a turn away from the course it maintains. Well, "politeness" - how it goes.
Our ships took American ships for escort immediately after leaving the Bosphorus. They greeted them, warned that they would sail with them together, would keep them "company" in the Black Sea. The Americans replied that they did not need help. When I received these first reports, I conveyed to Mikheev: “Inform the Americans: you still have to swim together. They are our guests, and according to the laws of Russian hospitality, it is not customary to leave guests without attention, but how will something happen to them?” ". Mikheev conveyed all this.
The Americans passed the thermal waters of Bulgaria, then the thermal waters of Romania. But there were no Romanian ships there (the command of the Romanian fleet even then ignored all our instructions and proposals). Further, the American ships turned east, moved to the area 40-45 miles south-south-east of Sevastopol and began some strange maneuvers there. Most likely, they carried out a change or a bookmark on our connected cable routes of special equipment for retrieving information. American ships were spinning in this area for more than two days. Then they crossed and maneuvered directly in the sea zone adjacent to Sevastopol outside the territorial waters.
On February 12, I was at the fleet command post (the commander of the fleet, Admiral M.N. Khronopulo, flew somewhere on business). At about 10 o'clock I received Mikheev's report: "The American ships lay down on a course of 90 °, which leads to our waterways, a speed of 14 knots. 14 miles to the waterways" (about 26 km.). Okay, I think - it’s still an hour’s walk to the tervod, let them go. I order Mikheev: "Continue tracking." Half an hour later, the next report: "The ships are moving along the same course and speed. 7 miles to the waterways." Again I think what they will do next: will they enter the tervody or turn away at the last moment, "scaring" us? I remember that I myself in the Mediterranean "hid" the ships of the squadron from the wind and storm waves in a half-cable from the border of the tervods (6 miles wide) of the Greek island of Crete (its mountains weakened the force of the wind). I didn't think we were doing anything wrong. And the Americans could also approach the tervods and then turn away without violating anything. The next report comes in: "To the border of the Tervod 2 miles." I convey to Mikheev: "Warn the Americans: your course leads to the Soviet Union's tervods, the violation of which is unacceptable." Mikheev reports: "I passed it on. They answer that they are not violating anything. They are following the same course and speed." Again I give the order to Mikheev: “Warn the Americans once again: violation of the Soviet Union’s tervods is unacceptable. Mikheev again reports: "I passed. They repeat that they are not violating anything. The course and speed are the same." Then I order Mikheev: "Take positions for displacement." During the briefing, we provided for the bulk to be more rigid and cause more significant damage to the ships, to etch the starboard anchors and keep them suspended on anchor chains under the starboard fairways. So the high forecastle of the Selfless TFR, and even the anchor dangling to the right, could thoroughly break the side and everything that falls under the bulk on board the ship being forced out of its course. Mikheev continues to report: "There are 5,..3,..1 cables before the tervod. The ships have taken positions for bulk." Further report: "American ships entered the waterways." To clarify the situation, I request the Combat Information Post (BIP) of the fleet: "Report the exact location of all ships." I receive a BIP report: "11 miles, 9 cables from the coastline." So, indeed, the Americans nevertheless got into our tervods. I order Mikheev: "Act according to the plan of operation." He replies, "Understood." Both of our ships began maneuvering for a "bulk" on American ships.

Further, I received reports only on the maneuvering of the Selfless SKR. Maneuvering "SKR-6" controlled and received reports from its commander Mikheev. I remember that it was almost exactly at 11.00 o'clock, Mikheev reported: "Closed with the cruiser up to 40 meters" ... and then the report every 10 meters. The sailors imagine how difficult and dangerous it is to carry out such maneuvers: a huge cruiser with a displacement of 9200 tons and a patrol boat with a displacement of 3000 tons is “moored” to it on the move, and on the other “flank” against a destroyer with a displacement of 7800 tons there is a very small watchdog with a displacement of only 1300 tons. Imagine: at the moment of approaching closely with this little watchdog, put the destroyer sharply on the rudder "to the port side" - and what will happen to our ship? Would not roll over - and this can be! Moreover, the American will still be formally right in such a collision. So the commanders of our ships had to perform a difficult and dangerous task.
Mikheev reports: "10 meters." And immediately: "I ask" good "to act!". Although he had already received all the orders, but, apparently, he decided to play it safe - all of a sudden the situation changed, besides, all negotiations on the air were recorded both by us and by the Americans. I tell him again: "Act according to the plan of operation!". And then there was silence. The situation at the fleet command post is tense: I am directly in touch with Mikheev, the OD of the fleet with the receiver of the ZAS apparatus in my hands simultaneously transfers all actions, orders, reports to the Central Command of the Navy, from there all this is transmitted to the Central Command of the Armed Forces. The entire calculation of the KP in the work.
I follow the stopwatch - I spotted it with my last order: the arrow ran for a minute, two, three ... Silence. I don’t ask, I understand what is happening on the ships now: briefing and losing on maneuverable tablets is one thing, and how everything will turn out in reality is another matter. I can clearly imagine how the high forecastle of the Bezvevetny, together with the hanging anchor, tears the side and the massive bow superstructure of the American cruiser Yorktown (its superstructure is designed integrally with the side of the ship). But what will happen to our ship from such mutual "kisses"? And what happens in the second pair of this naval "corrida" between the "SKR-6" and the destroyer "Caron"? Doubts, uncertainty... I thought that with this kind of "mooring" on the move, mutual suction ("sticking") of ships to each other is possible. Well, how will the Americans rush to the "boarding"? We have foreseen such a possibility - special landing platoons have been formed on the ships and are constantly being trained. But there are a lot more Americans… All this is rushing through my mind until there are no reports. And suddenly I hear Mikheev’s completely calm voice, as if during the drawing of such episodes on the cards: “We walked along the port side of the cruiser. They broke the launcher of the Harpoon missiles. Two broken missiles hang from the launch containers. boat. In some places, the side and side plating of the bow superstructure were torn. Our anchor broke off and sank." I ask: "What are the Americans doing?" Answers: "They played an emergency alarm. Emergency workers in protective suits water the Harpoon launcher with hoses and drag the hoses inside the ship." "Rockets on fire?" - I ask. "It seems not, fire and smoke are not visible." After that, Mikheev reports for "SKR-6": "He passed along the port side of the destroyer, the rails were cut down, the boat was broken. Breaks in the side plating. The ship's anchor survived. But the American ships continue the transition at the same course and speed." I give the command to Mikheev: "Perform a second bulk." Our ships began maneuvering to carry it out.
How everything really happened in the "bulk" area, they say Nikolai Mikheev And Vladimir Bogdashin.
By the time they approached the waterways, the American ships followed, as it were, in a bearing formation with a distance between them of approximately 15-20 cable lengths (2700-3600 m), while the cruiser was ahead and seaward, the destroyer was closer to the coastline at the heading angle of the cruiser 140-150 deg. left side. SKR "Bezzavetny" and "SKR-6" in the positions of tracking the cruiser and destroyer, respectively, at their heading angles of the port sides 100-110 degrees. at a distance of 90-100 m. Two of our border ships maneuvered behind this group.
Upon receipt of the order to "Take positions for displacement", a combat alarm was declared on the ships, the bow compartments were sealed, the personnel were withdrawn from them, the torpedoes in the vehicles were in combat readiness, cartridges were fed to the gun mounts up to the loading line in the breech, emergency parties were deployed, landing platoons were in readiness according to the places of the schedule, the rest of the personnel at combat posts. The right anchors are hung on anchor chains made of hawse. On the navigation bridge of the TFR "Selfless" Mikheev keeps in touch with the command post of the fleet and controls the ships of the group, Bogdashin controls the maneuvers of the ship, here the translator officer maintains constant radio contact with the American ships. We approached the cruiser at a distance of 40 meters, then at 10 meters ("SKR-6" the same with the destroyer). Sailors and officers with cameras and video cameras poured out on the deck of the cruiser, superstructure platforms - they laugh, wave their hands, make obscene gestures, as is customary among American sailors, etc. The cruiser commander stepped out onto the left open wing of the navigation bridge.
With the confirmation of the order "Act according to the plan of operation", they went to the "bulk" of the cruiser ("SKR-6" - the destroyer). Bogdashin maneuvered in such a way that the first blow fell on a tangent at an angle of 30 degrees. to the port side of the cruiser. From the impact and friction of the sides, sparks fell and the side paint caught fire. As the border guards later said, for a moment the ships appeared to be in a fiery cloud, after which a thick plume of smoke trailed behind them for some time. Upon impact, our anchor tore apart the plating of the side of the cruiser with one paw, and the other made a hole in the bow of the side of our ship. From the impact, the TFR was thrown away from the cruiser, the stem of our ship went to the left, and the stern began to dangerously approach the side of the cruiser.
An emergency alarm was played on the cruiser, the personnel rushed down from the decks and platforms, the cruiser commander rushed inside the navigation bridge. At this time, he apparently lost control of the cruiser for some time, and the cruiser turned somewhat to the right from the impact, which further increased the danger of its bulk on the stern of the Selfless TFR. After that, Bogdashin, having commanded "right to board", increased the speed to 16 knots, which allowed the stern to be somewhat diverted from the side of the cruiser, but at the same time the cruiser turned left to the previous course - after that, the next most powerful and effective bulk occurred, rather ramming a cruiser. The blow fell on the area of ​​​​the helipad - a tall sharp stem with a forecastle of the TFR, figuratively speaking, climbed onto the cruising helipad and, with a roll of 15-20 degrees to the port side, began to destroy with its mass, as well as everything that came across from the hawse anchor, gradually sliding towards the cruising stern: tore the skin of the side of the superstructure, cut down all the rails of the helipad, broke the commander's boat, then slid down to the poop deck (stern) and also demolished all the rails with racks. Then he hooked the Harpoon anti-ship missile launcher - it seemed that a little more and the launcher would be pulled off its fasteners to the deck. But at that moment, having caught on something, the anchor broke away from the anchor chain and, like a ball (3.5 tons in weight!), Having flown over the aft deck of the cruiser from the port side, collapsed into the water already behind its starboard side, miraculously not hooking any of the sailors on the deck of the cruiser's emergency party. Of the four containers of the Harpoon anti-ship missile launcher, two were broken in half along with missiles, their torn off warheads hanging from internal cables. Another container was bent.
Finally, the forecastle of the TFR slid from the stern of the cruiser into the water, we moved away from the cruiser and took up a position on its beam at a distance of 50-60 meters, warning that we would repeat the bulk if the Americans did not leave the water. At that time, on the deck of the cruiser, a strange fuss was observed among the personnel of the emergency parties (all Negroes): stretching fire hoses and lightly spraying water on broken rockets that did not burn, the sailors suddenly began to hastily drag these hoses and other fire fighting equipment into the interior of the ship. As it turned out later, a fire started there in the area of ​​​​the cellars of the Harpoon anti-ship missiles and Asrok anti-submarine missiles.
Valentin Selivanov. After some time, I receive a report from Mikheev: "The destroyer Caron has turned off course and is heading straight for me, the bearing does not change." Sailors understand what it means "bearing does not change" - that is, it goes to a collision. I tell Mikheev: "Go to the starboard side of the cruiser and hide behind it. Let the Caron ram it."
Nikolai Mikheev. But "Caron" approached us at a distance of 50-60 meters from the port side and lay down on a parallel course. On the right, at the same distance and also in a parallel course, the cruiser followed. Further, the Americans began on converging courses, as it were, to clamp the TFR "Selfless" into pincers. He ordered to charge the RBU-6000 rocket launchers with depth charges (the Americans saw this) and deploy them abeam to the starboard and port sides, respectively, against the cruiser and destroyer (although both RBU installations operate in combat mode only synchronously, but the Americans did not know this). It seems to have worked - the American ships turned away.
At this time, the cruiser began to prepare a couple of helicopters for departure. I reported to the fleet command post that the Americans were preparing some kind of dirty trick for us with helicopters.
Valentin Selivanov. In response to Mikheev’s report, I convey to him: “Inform the Americans - if they take off into the air, helicopters will be shot down as violating the airspace of the Soviet Union” (the ships were in our waterways). At the same time, he sent an order to the naval aviation command post: "Raise an on-duty pair of attack aircraft into the air! Task: loitering over American ships that invaded the waterways in order to prevent their carrier-based helicopters from rising into the air." But the aviation OD reports: "In the area adjacent to Cape Sarych, a group of landing helicopters is working out tasks. I propose to send a couple of helicopters instead of attack aircraft - this is much faster, besides, they will perform the task of "countering takeoff" more efficiently and clearly. " I approve this proposal and inform Mikheev about the dispatch of our helicopters to the area. Soon I receive a report from the aviation OD: "A couple of Mi-26 helicopters are in the air, they are moving to the area."
Nikolai Mikheev. He told the Americans what would happen to the helicopters if they were lifted into the air. It did not work - I see the propeller blades are already spinning. But at that time, a pair of our Mi-26 helicopters with a full combat suspension of airborne weapons passed over us and the Americans at an altitude of 50-70 meters, making several circles above the American ships and defiantly hovering somewhat away from them - an impressive sight. This apparently had an effect - the Americans drowned out their helicopters and rolled them into the hangar.
Valentin Selivanov. Further, an order was received from the Central Command of the Navy: "The Minister of Defense demanded to investigate and report on this incident" (our naval wits then refined themselves: to report with a list of persons to be removed from their posts and demoted). We submitted a detailed report on how everything happened. Literally a couple of hours later, another order comes from the Central Control Center of the Navy: "The Minister of Defense demands that those who distinguished themselves be presented for promotion" (our wits were found here too: replace the list of persons for demotion with a register of persons involved in the award). Well, everyone seemed to feel relieved from the heart, the tension subsided, we all seemed to calm down with the calculation of the command post of the fleet.
The next day, the Americans, not reaching our Caucasian sea areas, moved to the exit from the Black Sea. Again, under the vigilant control of the new ship group of our ships. A day later, the "beaten" ships of the valiant 6th Fleet of the US Navy left the Black Sea, which was inhospitable for them on this voyage.
Vladimir Bogdashin the next day, by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, flew to Moscow with all the documents to report to the command of the Navy and the leadership of the General Staff of all the details of the incident.
Vladimir Bogdashin. In Moscow, I was met by officers of the OU General Staff of the Navy and taken directly to the General Staff. In the elevator they went upstairs together with Colonel General V.N. Lobov. He, having learned who I was, said: "Well done, son! The sailors did not let us down after this Rust. They did everything right!" Then I reported everything to the officers of the General Staff, explained the maneuvering schemes and photographic documents. Then I had to tell and explain everything again to a group of assembled journalists. Then the correspondent of the military department of the newspaper Pravda, Captain 1st Rank Alexander Gorokhov, "took" me and took me to the editorial office, where I had to repeat everything. In the issue of the newspaper on February 14, 1988, his article "What do they want off our coasts? Inadmissible actions of the US Navy" with a brief description of our "exploits" was published.
The material was prepared by Vladimir Zaborsky, captain 1st rank

The case, which will be discussed in the article, although rare, is very indicative of the Soviet-American confrontation during the Cold War. We are talking about the so-called "bulk", that is, the collision of warships without the use of weapons. According to the definition of the marine explanatory dictionary, bulk is the contact of ships due to errors in the calculations of movement. Unlike a collision, damage during a bulk is practically minimal.

It was such a bulk that took place in the Black Sea between Yalta and Foros, when Soviet ships forced American ships out of the territorial waters of the USSR.

In general, in the 1980s, American ships were too frequent guests in the Black Sea, especially in the part that bordered on the territorial waters of the USSR. But the most famous incident occurred on February 12, 1988, when 6 warships of the US Navy violated the state border of the USSR.

The head of the operation to oust the offending ships was Admiral V.E. Selivanov.

The command of the Black Sea Fleet knew in advance about the upcoming voyage of American ships: fleet intelligence monitored all the actions of the 6th US fleet (it was the ships of this fleet that became participants in the incident) and had already decided that in case of violation of the border of the USSR, they would take the most severe measures to punish violators.

The ships of the USSR Black Sea Fleet took American ships for escort immediately after the latter left the Bosphorus. As expected, they greeted us and said that they would continue on the same course. Despite the fact that everything was said with humor, they say, “You are our guest, and according to the laws of Russian hospitality, it is not customary to leave guests unattended,” the situation was already aggravated almost from the first minutes of the meeting.

So, with escort, American ships approached the area south-southeast of Sevastopol (about 40-45 miles) and began completely incomprehensible maneuvers there. After staying there for about 2 days, they crossed to the area near Sevastopol and, not paying attention to numerous warnings, violated the state border.

After some time, the ships of the Black Sea Fleet were ordered to "Take positions to force out the violating ships." A combat alert was immediately announced, hatches were sealed, torpedoes were put on alert, etc.

Almost exactly at 11.00 o'clock, Mikheev reports: "Closed with the cruiser up to 40 meters" ... and then a report every 10 meters. The sailors imagine how difficult and dangerous it is to carry out such maneuvers: a huge cruiser with a displacement of 9200 tons and a patrol boat with a displacement of 3000 tons is “moored” to it on the move, and on the other “flank” against a destroyer with a displacement of 7800 tons there is a very small watchdog with a displacement of only 1300 tons. Imagine: at the moment of approaching closely with this little guard, put the destroyer sharply on the rudder "to the port side" - and what will happen to our ship? Would not roll over - and this can be! Moreover, the American will still be formally right in such a collision. So the commanders of our ships had to perform a difficult and dangerous task.

Mikheev reports:"10 meters". And immediately: "I ask" good "to act!". Although he had already received all the orders, but, apparently, he decided to play it safe - all of a sudden the situation changed, besides, all negotiations on the air were recorded both by us and by the Americans. I tell him again: "Act according to the plan of operation!". And then there was silence...

I follow the stopwatch - I spotted it with my last order: the arrow ran for a minute, two, three ... Silence. I don’t ask, I understand what is happening on the ships now: briefing and losing on maneuverable tablets is one thing, and how everything will turn out in reality is another matter. I can clearly imagine how the high forecastle of the Bezvevetny, together with the hanging anchor, tears the side and the massive bow superstructure of the American cruiser Yorktown (its superstructure is designed integrally with the side of the ship). But what will happen to our ship from such mutual "kisses"? And what happens in the second pair of this naval "corrida" between the "SKR-6" and the destroyer "Caron"? Doubts, uncertainty... It was thought that with this kind of "mooring" on the move, mutual suction ("sticking") of ships to each other is possible.

Well, how will the Americans rush to the "boarding"? We have foreseen such a possibility - special landing platoons have been formed on the ships and are constantly being trained. But there are a lot more Americans… All this is rushing through my mind until there are no reports. And suddenly I hear Mikheev’s completely calm voice, as if during the drawing of such episodes on the cards: “We walked along the port side of the cruiser. They broke the launcher of the Harpoon missiles. Two broken missiles hang from the launch containers. boat. In some places, the side and side plating of the bow superstructure were torn. Our anchor broke off and sank." I ask: "What are the Americans doing?" Answers: "They played an emergency alarm. Emergency workers in protective suits water the Harpoon launcher with hoses and drag the hoses inside the ship." "Rockets on fire?" - I ask. "It seems not, fire and smoke are not visible." After that, Mikheev reports for "SKR-6": "He passed along the port side of the destroyer, the rails were cut down, the boat was broken. Breaks in the side plating. The ship's anchor survived. But the American ships continue the transition at the same course and speed." I give the command to Mikheev: "Perform a second bulk." Our ships have begun maneuvering to carry it out."

Nikolai Mikheev and Vladimir Bogdashin tell how everything really happened in the "bulk" area: In this case, the cruiser is ahead and seaward, the destroyer is closer to the coastline at the cruiser's heading angle of 140-150 degrees. left side. SKR "Bezzavetny" and "SKR-6" in the positions of tracking the cruiser and destroyer, respectively, at their heading angles of the left sides 100-110 degrees. at a distance of 90-100 m. Two of our border ships maneuvered behind this group.

Upon receipt of the order to "Take positions for displacement", a combat alarm was declared on the ships, the bow compartments were sealed, the personnel were withdrawn from them, the torpedoes in the vehicles were in combat readiness, cartridges were fed to the gun mounts up to the loading line in the breech, emergency parties were deployed, landing platoons were in readiness according to the places of the schedule, the rest of the personnel at combat posts. The right anchors are hung on anchor chains made of hawse. On the navigation bridge of the TFR "Selfless" Mikheev keeps in touch with the command post of the fleet and controls the ships of the group, Bogdashin controls the maneuvers of the ship, here the translator officer maintains constant radio contact with the American ships. We approached the cruiser at a distance of 40 meters, then at 10 meters ("SKR-6" the same with the destroyer). On the deck of the cruiser, on the platforms of the superstructure, sailors and officers poured out with cameras, video cameras, laughing, waving their hands, making obscene gestures, as is customary among American sailors, etc. The cruiser commander stepped out onto the left open wing of the navigation bridge.

With the confirmation of the order "Act according to the plan of operation", they went to the "bulk" of the cruiser ("SKR-6" - the destroyer). Bogdashin maneuvered in such a way that the first blow fell on a tangent at an angle of 30 degrees. to the port side of the cruiser. From the impact and friction of the sides, sparks fell and the side paint caught fire. As the border guards later said, for a moment the ships appeared to be in a fiery cloud, after which a thick plume of smoke trailed behind them for some time. Upon impact, our anchor tore apart the plating of the side of the cruiser with one paw, and the other made a hole in the bow of the side of our ship. From the impact, the TFR was thrown away from the cruiser, the stem of our ship went to the left, and the stern began to dangerously approach the side of the cruiser.

An emergency alarm was played on the cruiser, the personnel rushed down from the decks and platforms, the cruiser commander rushed inside the navigation bridge. At this time, he apparently lost control of the cruiser for some time, and the cruiser turned somewhat to the right from the impact, which further increased the danger of its bulk on the stern of the Selfless TFR. After that, Bogdashin, having commanded "right to board", increased the speed to 16 knots, which allowed the stern to be somewhat diverted from the side of the cruiser, but at the same time the cruiser turned left to the previous course - after that, the next most powerful and effective bulk occurred, rather ramming a cruiser. The blow fell on the area of ​​​​the helipad - a tall sharp stem with a forecastle of the TFR, figuratively speaking, climbed onto the cruising helipad and, with a roll of 15-20 degrees to the port side, began to destroy with its mass, as well as everything that came across from the hawse anchor, gradually sliding towards the cruising stern: tore the skin of the side of the superstructure, cut down all the rails of the helipad, broke the commander's boat, then slid down to the poop deck (stern) and also demolished all the rails with racks. Then he hooked the Harpoon anti-ship missile launcher - it seemed that a little more and the launcher would be pulled off its fasteners to the deck. But at that moment, having caught on something, the anchor broke away from the anchor chain and, like a ball (3.5 tons in weight!), Having flown over the aft deck of the cruiser from the port side, collapsed into the water already behind its starboard side, miraculously not hooking any of the sailors on the deck of the cruiser's emergency party. Of the four containers of the Harpoon anti-ship missile launcher, two were broken in half along with missiles, their torn off warheads hanging from internal cables. Another container was bent.

Finally, the forecastle of the TFR slid from the stern of the cruiser into the water, we moved away from the cruiser and took up a position on its beam at a distance of 50-60 meters, warning that we would repeat the bulk if the Americans did not leave the water. At that time, on the deck of the cruiser, a strange fuss was observed among the personnel of the emergency parties (all Negroes): stretching fire hoses and lightly spraying water on broken rockets that did not burn, the sailors suddenly began to hastily drag these hoses and other fire fighting equipment into the interior of the ship. As it turned out later, a fire started there in the area of ​​​​the cellars of the Harpoon anti-ship missiles and Asrok anti-submarine missiles.

With the confirmation of the order to "act according to the plan of operation", the Soviet ships went to the "bulk". From impact and friction, the paint that covered the side caught fire. Upon impact, the anchor of one of our ships tore the skin of the American cruiser, but damaged its bow in the process.

A few minutes later, the next, even stronger bulk occurred, which, rather, became a ram: the blow fell on the helipad area - our ship simply began to destroy the enemy ship, tore the skin, cut down part of the helipad and hooked the Harpoon anti-ship missile installation.

Some time later, the Americans began to prepare helicopters for takeoff from the wrecked ship. Almost immediately, a warning was sounded from the Soviet side that if the helicopters left the ship, this would be considered a violation of the airspace, and every helicopter that took off would be shot down. In order for the Americans to understand that no one would joke anymore, Mi-26 helicopters were raised into the air, which, only by demonstrating a combat suspension, forced the Americans to abandon the idea of ​​​​lifting helicopters into the air.

Valentin Selivanov: After some time, I receive a report from Mikheev: "The destroyer Caron has turned off course and is heading straight for me, the bearing does not change." Sailors understand what it means "bearing does not change" - that is, it goes to a collision. I tell Mikheev: "Go to the starboard side of the cruiser and hide behind it. Let the Caron ram it."

Nikolai Mikheev: But "Caron" approached us at a distance of 50-60 meters from the port side and lay down on a parallel course. On the right, at the same distance and also in a parallel course, the cruiser followed. Further, the Americans began on converging courses, as it were, to clamp the TFR "Selfless" into pincers. He ordered to charge the RBU-6000 rocket launchers with depth charges (the Americans saw this) and deploy them abeam to the starboard and port sides, respectively, against the cruiser and destroyer (although both RBU installations operate in combat mode only synchronously, but the Americans did not know this). It seems to have worked - the American ships were turned away. At this time, the cruiser began to prepare a couple of helicopters for departure. I reported to the fleet command post that the Americans were preparing some kind of dirty trick for us with helicopters.

Valentin Selivanov: In response to Mikheev's report, I tell him: "Inform the Americans - if they take off, the helicopters will be shot down as if they had violated the airspace of the Soviet Union." At the same time, he sent an order to the naval aviation command post: "Raise an on-duty pair of attack aircraft into the air! Task: loitering over American ships that invaded the waterways in order to prevent their carrier-based helicopters from rising into the air." But the aviation OD reports: "In the area adjacent to Cape Sarych, a group of landing helicopters is working out tasks. I suggest sending a couple of helicopters instead of attack aircraft - this is much faster, besides, they will perform the task of" countering takeoff "more efficiently and clearly." I approve this proposal and inform Mikheev about the dispatch of our helicopters to the area. Soon I receive a report from the aviation OD: "A couple of Mi-26 helicopters are in the air, they are moving to the area."

Nikolai Mikheev: He told the Americans what would happen to the helicopters if they were lifted into the air. It did not work - I see the propeller blades are already spinning. But at that time, a pair of our Mi-26 helicopters with a full combat suspension of airborne weapons passed over us and the Americans at an altitude of 50-70 meters, making several circles above the American ships and defiantly hovering somewhat away from them - an impressive sight. This apparently worked - the Americans drowned out their helicopters and rolled them into the hangar.

Valentin Selivanov: Further, an order was received from the Central Command of the Navy: "The Minister of Defense demanded to investigate and report on this incident" (our naval wits then refined themselves: to report with a list of persons to be removed from their posts and demoted). We submitted a report to the authorities on how everything happened. Literally a couple of hours later, another order comes from the Central Control Center of the Navy: "The Minister of Defense demands that those who distinguished themselves be presented for promotion" (our wits were found here too: replace the list of persons for demotion with a register of persons involved in the award). Well, everyone seemed to feel relieved from the heart, the tension subsided, we all seemed to calm down with the calculation of the command post of the fleet.

The next day, the Americans, not reaching the territorial waters of the USSR in the Caucasus region, advanced to the exit from the Black Sea. Again, accompanied by a new group of Soviet ships. A day later, a fairly battered group of ships of the 6 "valiant" US fleet left the Black Sea.

That very moment:

P.S. In 1997, the Bezzavetny was transferred to Ukraine, proudly called the Dnipropetrovsk frigate, but did not go to sea, then it was disarmed and sold to Turkey. In March 2006, she was sunk while being towed, probably in order to obtain insurance. And "SKR-6" back in 1990 was cut up for scrap.