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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

11.You are in Kerch.

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

I. STALIN B. SHAPOSHNIKOV N. KUZNETSOV

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On November 7, 1941, the Soviet motor ship Armenia, with several thousand people on board, perished in the Black Sea. The tragedy of “Armenia” to this day remains one of the “blank spots” of the Great Patriotic War, because many questions in this story are never answered.

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

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

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

floating hospital

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

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

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

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

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

Thousands of refugees and secret cargo

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

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

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

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

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

“The brave climbed onto the ship using the shrouds”

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

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

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

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

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

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

The ship sank in 4 minutes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Could not find

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Armenia" is a passenger and cargo ship of the "Adzharia" type. It was built at the Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad in 1928.

IN last flight departed from Sevastopol, besieged by fascist troops, and on board had a huge number of wounded soldiers from the hospital, the civilian population, the leadership of the Artek camp, part of the party leadership of the Crimea, the staff of the Main Military Hospital of the Black Sea Fleet, as well as important secret cargo.

On November 7, 1941, she was sunk by a German torpedo bomber near the coast of Crimea.
Sank in 4 minutes. Of all those on board, 8 people survived and swam to shore on their own.

According to various estimates, the death toll ranged from 5,000 to 7,000 people. It is possible that the number of victims could be about 10,000 people.
The coordinates of the place were possibly deliberately distorted. the following are known today: 44°15′00″ N. w. 34°17′00″ E. d. / 44.25° n. w. 34.283333° E. d.
The current location on the map was chosen according to the latest research of the 2005 expedition (15 km from Yalta) and numerous mentions in a variety of sources - at the intersection of the Gurzuf traverse and the Yalta-Tuapse sea route, and of course also very approximately.

In the magazine “Neptune XXI Century” No. 1-6/2008, a sensational statement was even made: “Armenia” was found by a unique search complex:

“In 1998, a group of Russian and Ukrainian scientists developed a special set of equipment for sensing the Earth and remote delineation of various objects and minerals underground and underwater to depths of 5,000 meters.

South of Yalta... the search area was limited to a water area of ​​100 square meters. km (10x10 km)...

Work to detect the hulls of sunken ships in this area, determine their coordinates and identify the vessel "Armenia" was completed within two weeks. At the same time, new technologies were used for the integrated use of the results of special processing and interpretation of space photographs using highly sensitive equipment - the stationary geoholographic complex "Poisk" and active microwave equipment, automatically coordinated with the OR8-76 receiver. As a result, three sunken vessels of various sizes were discovered in a search area of ​​100 km2, and their sizes and coordinates were determined.

A vessel with dimensions similar in characteristics to the dimensions of the vessel “Armenia” was identified. The results of remote holographic identification prove that in this place at a depth of 520 m there is a torpedoed ship "Armenia" in the bow. The vessel lies on the bottom under a layer of 6-7 m of bottom silt, its center is located at a distance of 250 meters from the previously assumed point of its death (the accuracy of detecting the coordinates of the vessel’s center is ± (6-10) m).

On board (under the upper deck in the area of ​​the superstructure), signs of a significant amount of items made of precious metals (silver, gold, platinum) were remotely detected. A visual inspection using a manned submersible in June 2005 confirmed the presence of a plateau in the area, which characterizes a vessel of appropriate size lying on the port side, covered with a layer of silt.

Carrying out search operations using traditional technologies over large areas of water is currently difficult due to the impossibility of attracting divers to search (the depths are too great), disabilities hydroacoustic, ultrasonic and television transmitting means for detecting metal objects located under a large layer of soil and at great depth, as well as due to the high cost of underwater work.

The area is located in the Black Sea, 15 km from Yalta. The depths as you move away from the shore are 350-1200 m. According to available information from military archives, at the point where the ship is torpedoed, the depths are about 380 m, but every 100 m they increase by 80-120 m. ...On the second trip to sea, the place The flooding was examined using the autonomous manned underwater vehicle (UA) "Langust".

The guidance of the device to the exact location of the sinking of the vessel "Armenia" was carried out according to the calculations of the operators of the "Poisk" complex installed on the support vessel. The PA crew, while diving to a depth of 500-520 meters, visually discovered a canyon up to 40 meters deep; on the right slope of the canyon (almost in the canyon itself) a smooth platform about 100 meters long with a slope in depth of about 30° can be seen, the depth of the platform is 540 meters. As you approach the site, clouds of silt rise from it, and large volumes of silty soil begin to crumble from the slopes. Due to the danger of the PA being blocked by silty soil, further examination of the bottom was stopped.

The ambulance ship "Armenia" was identified according to the following parameters:
∞ the location of the sunken ship with its bow to the southeast (coincidence with the general course of the ship after leaving the port of Yalta);
∞ coincidence in the length of the sunken ship (about 100 meters), a fragment of the torn off bow (about 10 meters) is located at a distance of about 40 meters from the ship’s hull;
∞ coincidence of the resonant information-energy spectra of samples of copper electrical cables and cables from a sunken ship, a flooded fragment of the severed bow of the ship and the same spectra in a photograph of the ship;
∞ reliable fixation of the resonant information-energy spectra of non-ferrous metal screws (2 screws);
∞ clear recording of coincidences of resonant information-energy spectra from brass letters on the stern of the vessel (by frequency and by letter configuration);
∞ determination of the characteristic dimensions of the wooden superstructure of a given vessel (only from the navigation bridge to the pipes) and the resonant information and energy spectra of the types of wood of the superstructure;
∞ coincidence of characteristic protrusions on the deck of a submerged object with the location of the pipes on the upper deck of the ship and the coincidence of the resonant frequencies of the information-energy spectrum from their material;
∞ coincidence of resonance spectra from the metal of the ship’s hull;
∞ clear recording of characteristic resonance spectra from precious metals located in the following places: platinum and diamonds - under the upper deck in the area of ​​the central part of the ship (where special mail and luggage rooms are located); gold and silver - in many rooms of the superstructure where the cabins are located increased comfort;
∞ fixation large quantity human remains (bones) throughout the ship along a characteristic resonant information-energy spectrum (there is no recording of such a massive accumulation of human remains on two other sunken ships in the area).”
www.blackseanews.net/read/28329

However, the veil of secrecy around the sunken "Armenia" has not yet been dispelled.
Historians have established that file No. 19, concerning this tragedy, was removed from the Central Military Museum and... destroyed back in 1949. By whom, why - questions that still have no answer.

This disaster is one of the largest maritime disasters in history.

On September 12, 1941, the advanced units of the 11th German Army approached Perekop, the northern border of Crimea. From that moment on, it became possible to escape from the peninsula only by sea.

All land routes were quickly taken under control by German troops. About a million civilians were trapped. The German trained troops were opposed by scattered troops of the Red Army, which did not give much chance of victory.

By the beginning of November 1941, residents fled Crimean peninsula has become widespread. With the approach of fascist troops, panic began in the cities. There was a real struggle to board any transport. The evacuation of the civilian population was carried out according to a single scheme from Sevastopol and Yalta to Tuapse in the Caucasus.

Motor ship « Armenia" moored at the beginning of November 1941 in the port of Sevastopol, it could not have been better suited for this purpose.

Motor ship « Armenia"was built at the Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad in November 1928 and belonged to the type passenger ships « Abkhazia " A total of four ships of the same type were built: “ Abkhazia», « Georgia», « Crimea" And " Armenia» for the Black Sea Shipping Company. Motor ship « Armenia"successfully made flights to the Caucasus, transporting more than 10,000 people a year.

motor ship "Armenia" photo

construction of the motor ship "Armenia"

motor ship "Abkhazia"

motor ship "Georgia"

August 8, 1941 double deck cargo-passenger ship for the period of hostilities it was converted into. Passenger cabins became medical wards, and special symbols appeared on the sides - the Red Cross.

On the morning of November 6, 1941, landing began on motor ship « Armenia" At first vessel was not moored to the pier, in order to avoid a crush and a possible assault, passengers were brought on board in boats. Suddenly an order was received from the headquarters of the Sevastopol defensive region to evacuate all medical personnel of the Black Sea Fleet from the city. As a result, the best doctors in Crimea ended up on the same ship. To carry out the order, Captain Vladimir Yakovlevich Plaushevsky had to motor ship « Armenia» moored to the Korabelnaya Bay pier and huge crowds of city residents immediately poured in looking for salvation. Everyone wanted to get on the ship. In panic, passengers began to make their way to the technical rooms on the lowest decks. The ship with evacuated people was overfilled. People stood tightly pressed against each other, but this was the only chance for salvation.

Crowded with frightened people at 17:00 on November 6, 1941, the motor ship "Armenia" unmoored from the quay wall and soon disappeared over the horizon and disappeared not only from the sight of those seeing off, but also from Soviet history.

The mourners of Sevastopol felt a sense of despair for not using their chance. But this would become a reality if it took a course on the established Caucasian route.
From Sevastopol motor ship « Armenia"carried away medical personnel of the Black Sea Fleet, hundreds of seriously wounded soldiers and thousands of civilians. The war at sea had not yet begun, so every minute was precious. The Caucasus was free and nothing stood in the way of saving people. But Captain Plaushevsky received an order from the main command of the Black Sea Fleet to go to Yalta and pick up several more passengers.

At 02:00 November 7 motor ship « Armenia"arrived at the port of Yalta. During this passage, the medical ship was delayed for 3 hours, waiting at the Balaklava roadstead for a transport with some cargo to be delivered on board. Loading several tightly sealed black boxes into the ship " Armenia» weighed anchor and continued its voyage. The accompanying NKVD agents remained on board to ensure the protection of the cargo.

Yalta is overcrowded motor ship « Armenia“Hundreds more frightened people dived in. Only at 08:00 on November 7, 1941, the medical ship was able to leave and head for Tuapse, losing invaluable time. Meanwhile, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Oktyabrsky, gave the order not to leave the port until dark, i.e. 19:00, but Captain Plaushevsky violated it. Just 10 km from Yalta in Gurzuf, Hitler’s troops were already rampaging. The captain made the most important decision in his life, and he gave the order to save the doctors entrusted to him, but it was too late.

Having moved to a distance of about 25 miles from the Crimean Peninsula " Armenia"was attacked by two torpedoes from a German He-111H bomber, which ignored its markings. At 11:29, the ship with 7,000 medical personnel and civilians sank in the Black Sea at a depth of 472 meters. In a terrible tragedy, only 8 passengers on the boat managed to escape.

This huge number of deaths on one ship seems incredible, but even more surprising is the fact that in our time no one knows about one of the most terrible maritime disasters in the history of the Second World War. After all, on board motor ship « Armenia"More people died than on the legendary liners "" and "".

Information about this tragedy was kept in the strictest confidence. Recently, Ukrainian historians managed to discover these details. The cause of the death of the ship was two unplanned stops, which led to loss of time. The command of the Black Sea Fleet gave an order that made a number of mistakes, but the doctors of the lost ship could have saved thousands of lives of soldiers and officers who fought against Nazi Germany.

And only one person, Vladimir Yakovlevich Plaushevsky, took responsibility for the unacceptable mistakes of his leadership. Having violated the order, he took the last opportunity to save people, which was no longer possible to prevent.

On May 9, 2010, several veterans of the Great Patriotic War will lay wreaths in the area where the tragedy supposedly occurred.

Technical data of the passenger ship "Armenia":
Length - 112.1 m;
Width - 15.5 m;
Side height - 7.7 m;
Displacement - 5770 tons;
Power plant - two diesel engines with a capacity of 4000 hp. With.;
Speed ​​- 14.5 knots;
Number of passengers - up to 980 people;
Crew - 96 people;

YEREVAN, November 7 – Sputnik, David Galstyan. Exactly 77 years ago, one of the largest maritime tragedies of the Second World War occurred - the Germans sank the Soviet ambulance ship "Armenia".

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

The ship had a cruising range of 4,600 miles, could carry 518 passengers in cabins, as well as up to 1,000 tons of cargo, while developing a maximum speed of 14.5 knots (about 27 km/h). All these ships began to serve the “express line” Odessa - Batumi - Odessa, regularly transporting thousands of passengers until 1941.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the ship was redirected to military service. At the Odessa Shipyard, it was converted into a floating hospital, designed to transport and provide emergency care to 400 wounded. A large white flag with the image of the International Red Cross was raised on the mainmast.

By the end of October 1941, a catastrophic situation had developed in Crimea. Not only the wounded were evacuated on the ship, but also the civilian population. Manstein's Eleventh Army, sweeping away Soviet defense lines, occupied one city after another. The threat of the fall of Sevastopol within a few days was more than real.

“Armenia” set off on its last voyage with a huge number of wounded soldiers, as well as civilians. On board, in addition, were the party leadership of Crimea, personnel of the Main Military Hospital of the Black Sea Fleet, as well as important secret cargo (accompanied by NKVD officers).

Captain Plaushevsky knew that only a dark night could ensure secrecy of navigation and would not allow enemy aircraft to attack the Armenia.

However, the ship went to sea not at night, but during the day. It is unknown whether the captain made the decision himself, or whether he was given an order from above. Such an order promised death, and some historians are inclined to believe that the captain was misinformed by the intelligence services of the German Abwehr. Other sources say that NKVD officers put pressure on him.

In his notes, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Filipp Oktyabrsky, writes: “When I learned that the transport “Armenia” was going to leave Yalta during the day, I personally conveyed the order to the commander under no circumstances to leave until 19.00, that is, until darkness. it was not possible to provide cover for transport from the air and sea. Communications worked reliably, the commander received the order and, despite this, left Yalta. At 11.00 he was attacked by torpedo bombers and sunk. After the torpedo hit, the "Armenia" was afloat for four minutes ".

According to official figures, 5 thousand people died, and only eight were saved. The fact that documents on the tragic incident were destroyed in 1949 raises many questions.

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

The tragedy of “Armenia” still remains one of the “blank spots” of the Great Patriotic War, since many questions in this story have not been answered.