The Marine Corps of the USSR Navy is a branch of the forces (army branch) of the USSR Navy, designed to conduct combat operations in coastal areas, in the interests of both fleets and coastal ground forces.

In the course of further construction of the navy, Peter the Great realized the need to create special trained marine infantry formations on a permanent basis, which he formulated in the fall of 1704 in the document “Definition of the Beginning Fleet on the Ost See.” Officially, the new branch of the military was called Sea Soldiers.

Russian historians generally consider November 27 (16 old style) 1705 to be the founding date of a separate branch of the forces in the navy of Tsarist Russia. On this day, by decree of Peter the Great, the Naval Regiment(regiment of naval soldiers). The basis of the regiment was made up of several companies of the Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments.

Reforming the Marine Corps

In the course of further reforms, the branch of the military repeatedly changed its organizational structure and name.

In 1714, the branch of service was divided into separate naval battalions, instead of naval regiments.

In 1732, battalions of naval soldiers were united into naval regiments.

In 1754, so-called “soldier teams” were created on sailing and galley ships that performed the functions of the marine corps. These commands were distributed among ships in proportion to their displacement. Thus, the marine corps at that time consisted of two naval regiments and soldier teams, distributed among ships of the Baltic and Black Sea fleets. The Caspian Flotilla was created soldier team in numbers commensurate with a company.

Abolition took place in 1762 soldiers' teams and a return to the battalion scheme. 4 naval battalions were created, each of which consisted of 7 musketeers and 1 grenadier company. Soldier teams were left on galley (rowing) ships.

The battalion scheme was in effect until the beginning of the 19th century.

In 1803, during the next reform, all battalions were united into regiments. As a result of the reorganization, 4 naval regiments were created. Three regiments belonged to the Baltic Sea, two of which were stationed in Kronstadt and one in Reval. The fourth regiment was created as part of the Black Sea Fleet and was stationed in Azov. Each regiment consisted of 3 battalions: 1 grenadier and 2 musketeers. Each battalion consisted of 4 companies. The personnel of each regiment consisted of 2,085 military personnel of various ranks.

As part of the Caspian flotilla in 1805, on the basis of a soldier’s team, the Caspian naval battalion was created, consisting of 4 musketeer companies.

The naval regiments were distributed according to the so-called naval crews to assigned ships. All naval crews also received serial numbering. In addition to a unit of naval soldiers, the naval crew included the ship's crew and coastal support units assigned to the ship. Thus, naval soldiers had dual subordination - to the ship commander and to the battalion commander.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the existence at that historical period of the so-called crew company(numbering 500 people), naval company in Okhotsk (190 people) and naval company in Arkhangelsk (156 people).

Abolition of the Marine Corps

The historical realities of the early 19th century and the actual state of the armed forces in terms of the level of combat training, discipline, as well as different views on the concept of using both naval soldiers and simple infantry units, formed the opinion among the naval leadership that there was a need to maintain specially trained naval there are no infantrymen.

In connection with the above reasons, as well as the need to prepare naval regiments for war with Napoleon’s Army on land, the question of their reassignment arose. On January 17, 1811, the naval regiments were included in the 25th and 28th infantry divisions of the Russian Imperial Army with a transfer from subordination to the Naval Ministry to subordination to the Military Ministry.

In fact, since 1811, the Marine Corps of the Imperial Navy ceased to exist as a branch of the military.

From the second half of the 19th century, the leadership of the Imperial Navy finally leaned towards the concept of applying naval crews to the functions of the Marine Corps

In all subsequent military conflicts in which the Russian Empire participated until the First World War, crews of warships, infantry and Cossack units were involved as marines.

The last attempt to create a marine corps in Tsarist Russia

A century after the liquidation of the Marine Corps by order of Alexander the First in 1811, the naval leadership, summing up the results of recent military conflicts, as well as the experience of the leading world powers in whose armed forces there were Marine Corps formations, concluded that it was necessary to recreate this branch of the military.

The last attempt in the Russian Imperial Navy to re-create the marine corps as a branch of the military was made in 1911 with the development by the Main Naval Headquarters of a project to create permanent marine infantry units. According to the project, it was planned to create a naval regiment in the Baltic Fleet, a battalion in the Black Sea Fleet and a battalion in Vladivostok.

During the implementation of the project in August 1914 in Kronstadt, the 1st and 2nd separate naval battalions and the 3rd battalion from the personnel of the 1st Baltic naval crew were created from the personnel of the Guards naval crew. In the same year, the 4th separate naval battalion was created on the basis of the 2nd Baltic Fleet Crew. All battalions consisted of 2 companies and had a strength of about 550 people.

In March 1915, the 4th Battalion was reorganized into the 1st Naval Regiment.

In 1915, the Ministry of the Navy developed the project “Regulations on the Marine Corps,” which outlined the structure and tasks of the newly created branch of the military.

Due to the fact that the Russian Empire was at that time in a difficult political and economic situation due to its participation in the First World War, plans to recreate the Marine Corps were not fully implemented.

With the overthrow of the Tsarist autocracy in 1917, the Russian Imperial Navy ceased to exist.

History of the Marine Corps of the USSR Navy

Civil War

During the Civil War, from the moment of the creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, the military leadership of the RSFSR did not consider the issue of creating such a separate branch of troops as the Marine Corps from permanent units and formations.

During the war, more than 75,000 naval sailors were sent to land fronts from the fleets, who were used in small tactical landings on the banks of rivers and lakes.

The only precedent for the creation of a temporary consolidated formation that performed the functions of the Marine Corps can be attributed to the events of August-September 1920. It is connected with the active advance of General Wrangel’s troops into Northern Tavria.

Urgently, as part of the South-Eastern Front, to counter Wrangel’s troops, it was formed 1st Marine Expeditionary Division. The division, numbering 5,000 people, included 4 infantry regiments of 2 battalions, a cavalry regiment, an artillery brigade and an engineer battalion. The division's task was to land from ships on the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov and defend it in the Mariupol area.

At the end of hostilities off the coast of the Azov and Black Seas, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Division was disbanded.

Interwar period

After the Civil War, the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces did not attach importance to the need to create a marine corps.

Only in July 1939 was the Baltic Fleet created Separate special brigade, which in 1940 was renamed the 1st Marine Brigade. In addition to this brigade, there were separate companies of marines as part of the Danube and Pinsk military flotillas.

However, despite the fact that such a brigade appeared, there was no marine corps as such, since there was no special landing training, and there were no special landing ships in the USSR Navy.

The Great Patriotic War

With the outbreak of hostilities, the attitude of the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces towards the Marine Corps changed dramatically. A significant number of marine infantry formations were created, totaling from 100,000 to 200,000 people.

In July 1941, the formation of marine brigades from fleet personnel began.

According to the decision of the USSR NCO of October 18, 1941, in November of the same year, the formation of 25 naval rifle brigades began in 5 military districts (SAVO, Ural Military District, PriVO, North Caucasus Military District and Siberian Military District). The command of the USSR Navy allocated 39,052 military sailors to form these brigades.

Features of terminology

The opinions of historians about what should be included in the concept of “marines” in relation to the composition of the Soviet troops during the Great Patriotic War differ significantly.

According to one opinion, during the war there were three types of marines:

1. formations and units of the Marine Corps;
2. naval rifle brigades;
3. formations and military units of the ground forces that did not have the words “marine” or “marine” in their names, but were staffed mainly by sailors and were used in battles as marine infantry.

According to another opinion, only two types of formations should be classified as marines:

1. formations and units of the Marine Corps;
2. naval rifle brigades;

Formations and units of the Marine Corps are understood to mean Marine brigade And separate marine battalions. Difference between Marine brigades And naval rifle brigades was their purpose. Marine brigades were intended for amphibious and anti-landing operations in coastal areas. Naval rifle brigades were intended for use on land fronts in the coastal zone. In this regard, marine brigades were subordinate to the command of the fleets, and naval rifle brigades were subordinate to the command of the fronts. There was also a difference in the staffing of the brigades: Marine brigades were staffed exclusively from sailors who had undergone the necessary training.

Marine Corps Composition

In total, during the war years, at different stages, on various fronts, the following were included in the formations and formations of ground forces, fleets and flotillas, from the formations in whose names “marine corps” was used:

Separate Marine Brigade (obrmp) included:

• Brigade management;
• 3-6 Marine Battalions;
• 1-2 artillery divisions;
• tank battalion (for obrmp Baltic Fleet);
• mortar battalion (until 1942);
• reconnaissance company;
• anti-tank rifle company;
• engineer company;
• communications company;
• air defense platoon;

The number of personnel in marine brigades ranged from 5,000 to 8,000 people.

Marine Rifle Brigade (Morsbr) included:

• Brigade management;
• 3 rifle battalions;
• separate artillery battalion;
• separate anti-tank battalion;
• separate mortar division;
• communications battalion;
• reconnaissance company;
• anti-tank rifle company;
• engineer company;
• air defense platoon;
• logistics support units.

The personnel of the naval rifle brigade is 4,500 people. Of these, from 33 to 80% were sailors.

It should be noted that the only marine division during the war (1st Marine Division) was formed from the 55th Infantry Division after its withdrawal from the Active Army in November 1944.

Post-war period

Abolition of the Marine Corps

After the end of the hostilities of the Great Patriotic War and the Soviet-Japanese War, as well as the subsequent demobilization of the USSR Armed Forces in 1945-1946, the USSR Navy included 6 brigades, 2 regiments and 10 separate battalions of marines.

The only one in the USSR Navy, the 1st Mozyr Red Banner Marine Division in 1948 was reorganized and renamed into the 1st Machine Gun-Artillery Mozyr Red Banner Division ( 1st pool). This division formed the basis of the Porkkala-Udd naval base in Finland. In 1955, the Soviet naval base was liquidated, and in January 1956 the peninsula was returned to Finland ahead of schedule. Due to this 1st pool was disbanded.

In the period until October 1955, all brigades and battalions of the Marine Corps created during the war were disbanded.

In March 1956, the 14th Marine Brigade stationed in Kamchatka, which had been created in January 1946, was disbanded.

Revival of the Marine Corps

see also

Notes

1. Danchenko V.G.“Naval soldiers of the Russian Empire. Essays on the history of the Marine Corps." - M.: "TsentrPoligraf", 2006. - P. 6-48, 141-225. - 256 s. - ISBN 5-9524-2306-X.
2. Kibovsky A.V., Leonov O.G."300 years of the Russian Marine Corps." Volume 1 (1705-1855). - M.: Russian Knights Foundation, 2008. - P. 17-29, 32-42, 48-82, 109-125, 134-224, 226-264. - 384 p. - ISBN 978-5-903389-09-4.
3. Marine infantry in the defense of Donbass in 1920
4. V.P. Kuzin, V.I. Nikolsky "USSR Navy 1945-1991". - St. Petersburg: “Historical Maritime Society”, 1996. - P. 524-533. - 653 s. - ISBN UDC 623.823.1.
5. Abramov E.P."Black Death" Soviet marines in battle. - M.: “Yauza” “EXMO”, 2009. - 576 p. - ISBN 978-5-699-36724-5.
6. renamed a Marine Division after being withdrawn from the Active Army
7. List No. 5: rifle, mountain rifle, motorized rifle and motorized divisions that were part of the Active Army during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Website Soldat.Ru
8. 1st Mozyr Red Banner Marine Division of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet
9. Feskov V.I., Golikov V.I., Kalashnikov K.A., Slugin S.A. “The Armed Forces of the USSR after the Second World War: from the Red Army to the Soviet. Part 1: Ground Forces." - Tomsk: Tomsk University Publishing House, 2013. - P. 143-145, 184-185. - 640 s. - ISBN 978-5-89503-530-6.

Literature

• Danchenko Vladimir Gennadievich. Naval soldiers of the Russian Empire. Essays on the history of the Marine Corps. - M.: TsentrPoligraf, 2006. - 256 p. - 3,000 copies. - ISBN 5-9524-2306-X.
• Alexander Vladimirovich Kibovsky, Oleg Gennadievich Leonov. 300 years of the Russian Marine Corps. - Moscow: Russian Knights Foundation, 2008. - T. 1 (1705-1855). - 256 s. - 1200 copies. - ISBN 978-5-903389-09-4.
• V.P. Kuzin, V.I. Nikolsky. Chapter X. Coastal troops of the USSR Navy// "USSR Navy 1945-1991". - St. Petersburg: “Historical Maritime Society”, 1996. - P. 524-533. - 653 p. - 500 copies. - ISBN UDC 623.823.1.
• Abramov E.P."Black Death" Soviet marines in battle. - M.: Yauza EKSMO, 2009. - 576 p. - 3,000 copies. -

The creation of the Russian regular marine corps was associated with Russia's struggle for access to the Azov and Baltic Seas in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. However, even earlier - in the second half of the 16th century - special teams of streltsy (naval soldiers), who can be considered a prototype of the marines, were formed as part of the crews of the ships of the flotilla created by order of Ivan the Terrible. In 1669, the first Russian military sailing ship "Eagle" had a crew of 35 naval soldiers (Nizhny Novgorod Streltsy) led by commander Ivan Domozhirov, intended for boarding operations and guard duty.

Marines from the destroyer "Shaumyan" near Odessa. August 1941.

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the USSR Navy had only one marine brigade in the Baltic Fleet, but with the beginning of the war the formation and training of detachments, battalions and brigades began. During the war, the number of Marines who took part in the battles was about 100,000 people. The military situation required sending a large number of marines to the land fronts. During the war, infantrymen proved themselves in the defense of Moscow, Leningrad, Odessa, Sevastopol, Murmansk, Stalingrad, Novorossiysk, and Kerch.

The accordion player from the previous photo.

Defense of Odessa.

Marine of the Baltic Fleet. 1941.

1941, defense of Odessa. Marines from different Black Sea Fleet ships communicate with infantry.

1941, defense of Odessa, Dalnik. The Marines look at the trophies.

A serious signalman. Most likely - also the defense of Odessa.

Odessa port. Evacuation of the Marine Corps from Odessa to Sevastopol. October 41st.

On guard of the Motherland. October 41st.

Marines of the Baltic Fleet against the backdrop of the Hermitage.

Kislyakov, Vasily Pavlovich. The first Hero of the Soviet Union in the Northern Fleet.

Chief Petty Officer M.P. Anikin, who distinguished himself in the landing operation.

Many of the fighters believed that they would look better in the photo if they equipped themselves with all the weapons of the squad, or even the platoon))

Similar situation))

Marines at rest. Crimea, autumn 1941.

Marines of the Northern Fleet on the Kola Peninsula pose with Lenl-Lease Tommy guns.

Marine Corps nurses.

Marine signalmen at work.

Rubakho Philipp Yakovlevich, sniper. He destroyed 346 enemy soldiers and officers (according to other sources - 323), blew up 8 bunkers, a tank, a mortar, and trained 72 snipers. GSS posthumously.

Marines of the Baltic Fleet with the little girl Lyusya, whose parents died during the siege.

Marine landing.

Soviet marines install a ship's jack on the highest point of Kerch - Mount Mithridates. Crimea.

Performance by a song and dance ensemble in front of the defenders of Sevastopol. Early 1942

Marines go ashore in Sevastopol.

Sevastopol, 1942.

Sevastopol, 1942.

Sevastopol, 1942.

Apparently Crimea, 1942.

Crimea, 1942.

Soldiers of the 7th Marine Brigade in battle. Crimea, 1942.

A reconnaissance group from the 7th Marine Brigade returns from a mission. Crimea, April 1942.

Soldiers of the 7th Brmp. Sevastopol, May 1942.

Red Navy men P.P. Strepetkov and P.I. Rudenko destroyed 17 German soldiers in hand-to-hand combat.
Sevastopol, May 1942

Armored train of the Azov flotilla “For the Motherland” with 76-mm universal naval guns. North Caucasus Front, August 1942.

Landing forces of the Northern Fleet.

Radna Ayusheev, sniper of the 63rd BRMP. The photo was taken during the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation. During this operation alone, Radna Ayusheev destroyed 25 Nazis. Missing.

Soviet marine with captured SMG.

Landing on vehicles of paratroopers of the 254th Marine Brigade, 1942. If you look closely, it is noticeable that the majority are armed with captured weapons.

Soviet patrol in Stalingrad.

Training of fighters of the assault battalion Ts. Kunikov. Northern Caucasus, winter 1943.

A Soviet marine fishes German prisoners out of the water.

A Soviet marine guards captured German naval gunners. Crimea, early 1944.

Marines of the landing detachment of Caesar Kunnikov in Gelendzhik after the award ceremony.

181st special reconnaissance detachment of the Northern Fleet. Autumn 1944, after the capture of Cape Krestovoy.

Leonov Viktor Nikolaevich, commander of the 181st special reconnaissance detachment of the Northern Fleet. The only twice Hero of the Soviet Union in the Marine Corps.

Agafonov Semyon Mikhailovich, squad commander of the 181st special reconnaissance detachment of the Northern Fleet, petty officer of the 1st article. Hero of the Soviet Union.

Petty Officer Grigory Pashkov, 1944

In liberated Bucharest.

Combined Navy Regiment at the Victory Parade on Red Square. June '45.

The same ones, in the same place, but in color.

Paratroopers of the Pacific Fleet hoist the Naval flag over Port Arthur Bay. August 25, 1945.

Sailors of the Pacific Fleet after the liberation of the Far East.

And in a separate section, not chronologically:

Evdokia Zavaliy. Reconnaissance platoon commander of the 83rd Marine Brigade. "Frau Black Commissar". 4 wounds, 2 contusions.

Ekaterina Demina, GSS. She went to the front at the age of 15.

Medical instructor of the 369th separate marine battalion of the Danube military flotilla, chief petty officer Mikhailova E.I. On August 22, 1944, when crossing the Dniester estuary, she was one of the first to reach the shore as part of the landing force, provided first aid to seventeen seriously wounded sailors, suppressed the fire of a heavy machine gun, threw grenades at the bunker and destroyed over 10 Nazis.

Jung from the sunken leader "Tashkent".

Nakhimovets Petya Parov, born in 1928. guard sergeant In the battles at the front, he was one of the first to break into Novgorod occupied by the Nazis.

Nakhimovites - participants in the war, from left to right: Grisha Mikhailov - captured a fascist staff officer during the liberation of Kharkov, Kostya Gavrishin - a cabin boy on a minesweeper, wounded in the head, drowned, saved the flag of the ship, Vova Fedorov - partisan near Smolensk from the age of 12, Petya Parov, Sasha Starichkov - fought on three fronts, was a liaison officer for the regiment commander, Kolya Senchugov - cleared a minefield.

Photos from websites are used in this post.

"USSR MARINE CORPS"... The Marine Corps did not participate in the fighting in Afghanistan in 1979-1989 as a separate combat unit, although voluntary recruitment was carried out among the Marines to form infantry units. So, for example, in November 1984, the 12th Motorized Rifle Regiment was formed in Kaliningrad, which included a lot of Marines from Baltiysk and the training camps of the Baltic Military District, because they met all the criteria. Naturally, everyone was dressed in infantry uniform, their vests were taken away, leaving short boots, because... The time for issuing uniforms has passed. At the end of the war, this regiment was disbanded. HISTORY.... In January 1918, the directive of the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs stated: “It is necessary to outfit each formed echelon of volunteers (consisting of 1000 people) with a platoon of fellow sailors for the purpose of soldering.” During the Civil War, about 75 thousand sailors fought on land fronts. The largest land formation of military sailors was created in 1920. in Mariupol for the defense of the coast of the Azov Sea and combat operations in landings, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Division, which was essentially a marine division. It consisted of four regiments of two battalions each, a cavalry regiment, an artillery brigade, an engineer battalion and numbered about 5 thousand people. The creation of the first Soviet generation of naval infantry began in the late 1930s, on the eve of the Second World War. The order of the commander of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet dated June 17, 1939 stated: “...In accordance with the instructions of the People's Commissar of the Navy, begin the formation of a separate special unit for temporary peacetime staff! rifle brigade stationed in Kronstadt..." On December 11, 1939, the order of the People's Commissar of the Navy prescribed: "... The special rifle brigade of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet should be considered a coastal defense unit with its subordination to the Military Council of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet." This was the first step towards the creation of the Marine Corps as regular special forces within the fleet. The year of the creation of the Soviet Marine Corps is 1940, when the order of the People's Commissar of the Navy on April 25, 1940 prescribed: “... By May 15, 1940, to reorganize a separate special rifle brigade into the 1st special marine brigade.” Unfortunately, in the pre-war years, the experience of land naval detachments was not sufficiently generalized and used. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the USSR Navy had only one marine brigade, and the need for it arose literally from the first hours and days of the war. We had to make up for lost time in the most difficult conditions of the initial period of the war. After the end of the Great Patriotic War, most of the formations and units of the USSR Marine Corps were disbanded. Not a single battalion or brigade of the Marine Corps that participated in the Great Patriotic War was preserved. The newly formed units had exclusively “land” roots in rifle divisions. The reasons for this are unknown, especially since the “dismounted” sailors showed unquestionable valor and rightly received the nickname “Black Death” from the Germans. The presence of only one unit is known - the 1st Marine Division of the Baltic Fleet. She was stationed on the Porkkala-Udd peninsula, leased from Finland. It was formed on the basis of the 55th Mozyr Red Banner Rifle Division in November 1944 after the transfer of the last of the Ground Forces to the Navy. It included: 1st infantry battalion (formerly 107th Luninetsky Red Banner joint venture), 2nd infantry infantry regiment (formerly 111th Luninetsky Red Banner joint venture), 3rd infantry infantry regiment (formerly 228th Pinsky joint venture), 1 1st AP MP (formerly 84th AP), 1st TP MP (formerly 185th Leningrad horde. Kutuzov detachment). The formation existed until January 1956, when it and its units were withdrawn from Finland and disbanded. However, attempts to use even specially trained units of the Ground Forces in amphibious operations did not lead to positive results. In connection with this, at the end of the 1950s the question arose about the creation of specialized amphibious assault forces. And then, under the patronage of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral of the Fleet S.G. Gorshkov, according to the directive of the Ministry of Defense No. ORG/3/50340 dated June 7, 1963, on the basis of the 336th Guards Fleet that hosted the exercises. MSP from the BVI, in July of the same year, the 336th Bialystok Order of Suvorov and Alexander Nevsky Guards Separate Marine Regiment (OPMP) was formed. The regiment's location is Baltiysk (Kaliningrad region). The first commander is Guards. Colonel Shapranov P.T. In December 1963, the 390th detachment was created at the Pacific Fleet (base in Slavyansk, 6 km from Vladivostok). In July 1966, on the basis of the 61st motorized rifle regiment of the 131st motorized rifle division of the Leningrad Military District, the 61st separate Red Banner Kirkenes Marine Regiment was formed in the Northern Fleet. Then, after joint exercises of the newly created Baltic infantry regiment together with the Romanian and Bulgarian armies on the territory of Bulgaria, in November 1966, one of the battalions of the regiment remained in the Black Sea Fleet as the 309th infantry infantry regiment and the following year served as the basis for the formation of the 810th OMP of the Black Sea Fleet (formed in November 1967). In 1967-68, in the Pacific Fleet, on the basis of the existing 390th Marine Corps, the 55th Marine Division was deployed. To preserve historical continuity, the regalia of the former division of the MP Baltic Fleet, disbanded in 1956, but with a different numbering of regiments, was transferred to it. Later, a separate battalion of marines was additionally formed as part of the Caspian Flotilla. Thus, by the beginning of the 1970s, the Soviet Marine Corps had one division, three departments. shelf and one compartment battalion. Name Dislocation and composition of 55 dmp Pacific Fleet. Snegovaya (on the eastern outskirts of Vladivostok). Composition: 85, 106 and 165 infantry infantry regiments, 26 TP, 84 ap, 417 airborne infantry regiments, etc. 61 SOF opmp. Pechenga (Murmansk region) 336 guards. opmp bf. village Mechnikovo (Baltiysk district, Kaliningrad region) 810 Black Sea Fleet detachment. in Cossack Bay (Sevastopol region)? OMP KFL. Astrakhan. ? omib Northern Fleet, Severomorsk 127 omib Baltic Fleet, Primorsk (Kalingrad region) 160 omib Black Sea Fleet, Sevastopol? omib Pacific Fleet The Cold War was such only on paper; in fact, the intensity of its battles was slightly less than the “hot” war. The Marine Corps took an active part in long-distance campaigns and was often involved in performing specific tasks. Our Marines had to visit many corners of the globe: Egypt, Syria, Ethiopia, Malta, Greece, Angola, Vietnam, India, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Madagascar, Somalia, Pakistan, Benin, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome - you can’t list everything. The Soviet “black berets” had to pacify both separatists and terrorists. As was the case in Ethiopia, where a company of marines, reinforced by a tank platoon, landed in the port of Massau and came into combat contact with the separatists who ruled the city. In the Seychelles in November 1981, a landing of marines under the command of Captain V. Oblogi prevented a coup attempt. Our marines also made their contribution to ensuring the independence of Egypt, although few people remember this. But in Port Said, for several days in the morning, a battalion of marines occupied positions in the second echelon of defense of the Egyptian army, covering its rear, and in the evening returned back to the ships. However, our Marines did not have to participate in hostilities. As the former head of the Navy coastal forces, Lieutenant General Pavel Shilov, recalled, “with the appearance of the first Soviet landing ships at Port Said, the Israelis stopped taking any active actions in the immediate border zone, although before that the city and the positions of the Arab troops around it were repeatedly subjected to raids enemy aircraft and artillery shelling." In fact, since 1967, combat service for the Soviet Marine Corps in the World Ocean has become regular. Marine Marine units of the Navy carried it mainly on board medium landing ships of Project 771 - a reinforced platoon of marines with weapons and military equipment, as well as large landing ships of Project 775 - as part of a reinforced company of Marines (the capacity of such ships is up to 12 units of armored vehicles), or projects 1171 and 1174 - as part of a reinforced marine battalion (the capacity of the ships, respectively, is up to 40 and up to 80 units of various armored vehicles, including main battle tanks). Sometimes such combat services lasted for six months or more, and in March 1979, for example, the 1st Marine Battalion of the 61st Marine Regiment of the Red Banner Northern Fleet (landing commander Major A. Noskov) was sent to combat service for a record duration - 11 months. Which is superior to most autonomous navigation of nuclear submarines. A fundamentally new stage in the history of the Soviet Marine Corps began in November 1979, when, on the basis of Directive of the General Staff of the Navy No. 730/1/00741 dated September 3, 1979, individual regiments were reorganized into separate brigades. It should be noted that the transfer of a regiment to a brigade is not just a renaming, as it may seem from the outside, but, in this case, a change in the status of a military formation from a tactical unit to a tactical formation, in other words, it receives a status equivalent to a division. At the same time, the battalions included in the brigade become tactical units and are called “separate”. In the early 1980s, in addition to the existing formations, the 175th department was additionally formed in the Northern Fleet. Marine brigade. During this period, the Marines took an active part in various exercises. For example, in the summer of 1981, the battalion tactical group of the Marine Marine of the USSR Navy under the command of Lieutenant Colonel V. Abashkin, during joint Soviet-Syrian exercises, successfully carried out a landing amphibious in an unfamiliar area - in the area of ​​​​the city and the base of the Syrian Navy Latakia. And then our Marines advanced deep into the territory, into the desert and suppressed the resistance of the mock enemy. In 1982, the Pacific Fleet conducted the “Beam” exercise, during which, in conditions as close as possible to combat, a large amphibious landing was carried out from ships onto a coast fortified by the enemy. The uniqueness of the exercise was that it took place at night without the use of any lighting devices. Control was carried out only using infrared equipment. And this is more than thirty years ago! According to the recollections of Rear Admiral Kirill Tulin, who served in those years in the KTOF naval landing forces division, landing troops also took place at night. The ships landed with their lights turned off, using only infrared equipment. The crews were strictly forbidden to use communications equipment, as were those performing the march. Commanders could only use protected lights. The landing forces and attached fire support ships numbered more than fifty units of various classes and types (projects). They were divided into two landing detachments and a support detachment. The transition to the landing site in Vladimirskaya Bay of the Ussuri Bay was completed in three days. At the appointed time, at night, the troops approached the landing site. Of all the lights, there were only “luminous” aerial bombs hanging in the air, with the help of which assigned naval aviation aircraft illuminated the “processed” targets. Before the ground had time to settle from the explosions of the last bombs, fire support ships moved forward. And the earth reared up again. Then the landing ships quickly passed through the formation of support ships, and the actual landing began. Marine airborne assault units entered the bridgehead on Project 1206 hovercraft landing craft (Kalmar type), which were launched from the large-capacity landing craft Ivan Rogov and Alexander Nikolaev. Moreover, for better orientation, the paratroopers were given hydrofoil torpedo boats. Hundreds of fighters quickly abandoned landing boats and ships, taking turns capturing the defense lines of the mock enemy. And all this in complete darkness! As far as the author knows, such an event has not been held in any country in the world. Even in the United States, where the size of the Marine Corps is tens of times greater than the Russian one. But a year later, in June 1983, an even larger exercise was held in the Black Sea. For the first time, a full-strength marine brigade landed afloat at night with a simultaneous parachute landing. According to the recollections of the participants in that exercise, about two thousand marines (including reservists called up from the reserve), having at their disposal up to four hundred units of various equipment, went to the bridgehead from the sea and from the skies. In 1985, a battalion of marines from the Baltic Fleet was embarked on landing ships, which made the transition from Baltiysk to the Rybachy Peninsula in the North. There they immediately landed afloat on an unfamiliar training ground, completed the assigned task, and then made a return landing on landing ships located at a distance from the shore and returned by sea to their place of permanent deployment. In 1989, during the period of preparation for the Treaty on the Limitation of Armed Forces in Europe (hereinafter referred to as the CFE Treaty), four motorized rifle divisions were transferred to the Coastal Forces. On November 29, 1989, during the preparation for the Treaty on the Limitation of Armed Forces in Europe (hereinafter referred to as the CFE Treaty), instead of 2 branches of the naval forces (MP and BRAV), a single branch of the forces was created - the Coastal Forces (BV), while being part of the BF, December 1 1989, four motorized rifle divisions were transferred (during the transfer they received the names of coastal defense divisions), one artillery brigade and two artillery regiments, as well as a department. machine gun and artillery battalion. Organizationally, the Marine Corps was part of the Coastal Forces - a branch of the forces (troops) of the Navy, which, in addition to the Marine Corps, also included formations of the coastal defense troops themselves - units of coastal artillery and coastal anti-ship missile installations, security and defense units of the naval base (objects), anti-sabotage units (including . and PDSS), etc. In 1989, to these forces were added troops capable of conducting combined arms combat with an enemy landing party that had captured a bridgehead and throwing it into the sea. In addition to the indicated motorized rifle divisions, some artillery units were also transferred to the BV. A natural question arises: why were they transferred only in 1989, and not earlier? The fact is that these forces had a similar purpose before, but a similar task (destruction of the landing force) was assigned not to the fleet, but to the Ground Forces. In 1989, preparations were underway for the signing of the Treaty on the Limitation of Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty). Since the naval forces were not subject to reduction, four motorized rifle divisions (they became known as coastal defense divisions), one artillery brigade, two artillery regiments, and a separate machine-gun and artillery battalion were transferred to the subordination of the Navy. The fleet previously had coastal defense units. They were called Coastal Missile and Artillery Forces (BRAV), just like the Marine Corps, they were a separate branch of the naval forces that had their own tasks. These are artillery units and divisions of coastal missile systems, security and defense units of naval bases and facilities, and anti-sabotage units. After December 1989, BRAV was formally combined with the Marine Corps, creating a single Coastal Forces. Former ground formations and units were also added to them. They had heavy weapons and could conduct combined arms combat on the coast and fight enemy amphibious assaults. It must be said that the fight against landing forces has always been assigned to the Ground Forces, and, at first glance, little has changed since the divisions were transferred to the fleet. But in this way they preserved the defense potential from reduction. And besides, the former ground divisions strengthened the overall potential of the naval forces, including the marines - one of the most trained components of the armed forces. Motorized rifle divisions and artillery, subordinate to the fleet, could participate in landing operations in the second echelon, gaining a foothold on bridgeheads captured by assault units. Having heavy weapons, they could lead an offensive and build on the success of naval operations. All these forces did not change their permanent location and were based in coastal areas. Such a reorganization could give a new impetus to the development of naval forces. If this had not been prevented by an unforeseen circumstance... On June 14, 1991, at the CFE Conference in Vienna, on the initiative of M.S. Gorbachev, the Soviet delegation decided to accept additional standards for the reduction of conventional weapons. The last president of the USSR, just before the destruction of the country, decided to give NATO a gift - he included the weapons of the Coastal Forces (including the Marine Corps) in the overall reduction count. Thus, all the benefits from the transfer of ground formations and units to the fleet were destroyed and the development of one of the most successful branches of the military in our history was suppressed. In addition to DBO, MP and other things, the coastal and ground forces of the Navy included: the 1st security battalion of the Main Headquarters of the Navy (Moscow), the Nth battalion of security and cargo escort of the Navy (Moscow), four separate security battalions of fleet headquarters (for example, 300- y - in the Black Sea Fleet) and in each fleet - a separate company for guarding and escorting cargo. The total strength of the Soviet MP in 1990, according to peacetime states, was: in the European part - 7.6 thousand people, and with the 5 thousandth division of the Pacific Fleet - approx. 12.6 thousand hours (according to other sources, the total number of Soviet marines in peacetime was about 15,000 people.) In wartime, the number of MP formations increased significantly - approximately three times at least and, in addition, additional units were formed (for example, the 8th Reserve Marine Regiment in the Northern Fleet). General information on the composition and deployment of formations and units of the Soviet marine corps and coastal defense at the beginning of 1991 is presented in the following table: Name Deployment Notes. Additions. Main armament Marine Corps 55 dmp Mozyr Red Banner Pacific Fleet. district of Vladivostok. T-55A, BTR-60PB and BTR-80, 2S1 "Gvozdika", 2S3 "Akatsia", 2S9 "Nona-S", 2S23 "Nona-SVK", BM-21 "Grad", SAM "Osa-AKM" and etc. 61st Brigade Kirkenes Red Banner Northern Fleet. transferred to Sputnik (northern Murmansk) 40 T-55A, 26 PT-76, 132 BTR-80, 5 BTR-60PB, 113 MT-LBV and MT-LB, 18 2S1 "Gvozdika", 24 2S9 "Nona- S", 18 9P138 "Grad-1", ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", "Strela-10" and others. 175 Northern Fleet Brigade. Serebryanskoye or Tumanny (Murmansk district) 40 T-55A, 26 PT-76, 73 BTR-80, 40 BTR-60PB, 91 MT-LBV and MT-LB, 18 2S1 "Gvozdika", 18 2S9 "Nona" -S", 18 9P138 "Grad-1", ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", "Strela-10" and others. 336 Guards. brigade Bialystok horde. Suvorov and Alexander Nevsky BF. Baltiysk (Kaliningrad region) 40 T-55A, 26 PT-76, 96 BTR-80, 64 BTR-60PB, 91 MT-LBV and MT-LB, 18 2S1 "Gvozdika", 24 2S9 "Nona-S" , 18 9P138 "Grad-1", ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", "Strela-10" and others. 810 infantry brigade of the Black Sea Fleet. Kazachye village (Sevastopol district) 169 BTR-80, 96 BTR-60PB, 15 MT-LB, 18 2S1 "Gvozdika", 24 2S9 "Nona-S", 18 9P138 "Grad-1", etc. ? OMP KFL, Astrakhan no information. Coastal defense of the 77th Guards. dbo Red Banner Moscow-Chernigov horde. Lenin and Suvorov SF, Arkhangelsk and Kem district 271 T-80B, 787 MT-LB and MT-LBV, 62 2A65 "Msta-B", 72 D-30, 18 BM-21, ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", "Strela-10" and others. 3rd Guards. dbo Volnovakha Red Banner horde. Suvorov BF, Klaipeda and Telshai district 271 T-72A, 320 BMP-1/-2 and BRM-1K, 153 BTR-70/-60PB, 66 2A65 "Msta-B", 72 D-30, 18 BM-21, ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", "Strela-10" and others. 40 dbo Pacific Fleet, village. Shkotovo (district of north-west Vladivostok) no information. 126 dbo Gorlovskaya Red Banner horde. Suvorov Black Sea Fleet, Simferopol and Evpatoria region. 271 T-64A/B, 321 BMP-1/-2 and BRM-1K, 163 BTR-70/-60PB, 70 2A65 "Msta-B", 72 D-30, 18 BM-21, ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", "Strela-10" and others. 301st Black Sea Fleet, Simferopol 48 2A36 "Gyacinth-B", 72 D-30 8th Guards. OAP BF, Vyborg 48 2A65 "Msta-B", 48 2A36 "Gyacinth-B", 24 D-20 710 OAP BF, Kaliningrad 48 2S5 "Gyacinth-S", 24 2A65 "Msta-B", 48 D-20 181 opulab Baltic Fleet, fort "Krasnaya Gorka" 12 BS-3 205 oob PDSS Baltic Fleet no information. ? oob PDSS Pacific Fleet no information. 102 oob PDSS Black Sea Fleet no information. 313 oob PDSS SF no information. Unlike all other types and branches of the military, the division of the military heritage of the Soviet Union between the newly formed state entities almost did not affect the Marine Corps. The only one who could lay claim to the formation of an MP on its territory was Ukraine. But, oddly enough, being very sensitive to everything that remained from the USSR Armed Forces, it did not show these feelings towards the 810th Black Sea Brigade (it received only the 50% share of its weapons and equipment due under the Black Sea Fleet Division Treaty). For some reason, Kyiv decided to form its own marine corps from scratch. The first battalion appeared at the beginning. 1993, and by the end of 1994 the entire brigade was deployed /

In December 1976, I was sent to combat service as a landing commander from the 61st separate marine regiment of the Northern Fleet on the large landing ship "Krasnaya Presnya" of the Baltic Fleet. On December 31, we replaced the Black Sea landing force with a large landing craft in the port of Conakry (Republic of Guinea) and began planned combat training. On February 18, 1977, the ship's commander received an encrypted message from Moscow with an order to proceed to the Republic of Benin and assist its government in eliminating the coup attempt. Later we learned that the famous “king of mercenaries” Bob Denard tried to carry out the coup. I brought the landing party, equipment and weapons into combat readiness, and we prepared for combat on the shore. But by the time we arrived, the mercenaries had already left the country, the coup failed, and we did not have to engage in battle. In accordance with instructions from Moscow, on March 2, 1977, in the evening they went to sea and headed for Angola. Along the way, we crossed the equator and, according to an ancient maritime tradition, celebrated Neptune's Day.

On March 7, 1977 we arrived in Luanda. We moored in the military harbor. Our commander turned out to be a master of mooring, he dashingly turned the ship with its stern to the wall, ordered the bow anchor to be released and gently grounded itself to the pier. There are a lot of Cubans at the Navy base, almost everyone speaks Russian. Cuban naval commandos constantly “flyed” around the port waters on high-speed boats and threw explosives into the water - they fought with underwater saboteurs. The fact is that when a saboteur falls into the zone of action of the shock wave from the explosion, he feels the same as a stunned fish and floats up, losing consciousness. During our entire stay in Luanda, there was not a single case of bombing of ships in the port. And a few years later, in the port of Luanda and Namib, saboteurs blew up several ships: Soviet, Cuban and Angolan, which means they lost their vigilance. Subsequently, while in Cuba on a business trip, I was in close contact with a detachment of Cuban naval special forces and met with the participants in these events. But that is another topic.

I liked the port of Luanda - it is very convenient and fits well into the landscape. I did not find information on how it was built, but the harbor, in my opinion, is very reminiscent of a fish hook, pressed with a sting to the shore, and the rest of it in the form of a spit (Ilha de Luanda) separates the water area from the Atlantic Ocean, forming a natural, protected bay from the waves. The port was divided into two parts: military and civilian. The military base - the Navy base - was located on the inner side of the spit. Several Soviet and Angolan ships were stationed there. We were allocated a place between our floating workshop of the Black Sea Fleet and two patrol boats of the Angolan Navy. In addition to military-political significance, the leadership of Angola, while not yet feeling entirely confident, sees the arrival of a powerful large landing ship from the Union as real support for its line and is counting on us. South African troops, who occupied the southern regions of Angola for six months, concentrated in Namibia on the border of the province of Cunene. The war could resume at any moment. Our tasks set by Moscow: ensuring the military presence of the USSR Navy in the region as a demonstration of support for the people of Angola and its government, he supplemented with the following: support for the FAPLA formations in Luanda if necessary and the evacuation (in case of extreme development of the situation) of employees of the Soviet embassy and our military mission. The ship's commander and I assured that if necessary, we would complete any task assigned to us, including the use of weapons. But they noted that to open fire and real hostilities, an order from Moscow is needed. We were assured that if such a situation arises, there will be an order.

Separately, the representative of the military mission drew the attention of the ship’s commander and mine to ensure that the crew and landing force did not lose their vigilance. He noted that opponents of the people's government have very smart naval commandos capable of performing any task. Therefore, we immediately organized a service on the shore, setting up a post near the stern ramp lowered onto the pier, placing searchlights along the sides, accordingly organizing the PDSS watch. They also organized regular descents of sapper divers from the landing force to inspect the underwater part of the ship and the adjacent water area.

The BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers and Strela-1 anti-aircraft systems of the landing force, which were placed on the upper deck, were put on constant combat readiness. In a word, if our intervention in the situation in Luanda had been required, and there had been an order, they could have easily “placed” a couple of city blocks. But, thank God, this was not required. For now, they got busy with everyday life: since the tension with fresh water (every drop counts in the sea) was over, the sailors started washing clothes and putting their clothes in order. So that the people’s muscles do not become decrepit, as in previous ports, they organized physical exercises on the shore, naturally in compliance with all combat readiness measures, that is, part of the crew and landing party did exercises on the shore, and some on the ship. In the morning, after exercise, the sailors took turns running to swim in the ocean every day (one day infantry, the second tank crews, the third artillery).

Visits to Luanda turned out to be more eventful in all respects (we went there twice) than to other African ports. I constantly communicated with our sailors - military advisers who worked at the Navy base, visited them every day and they visited us. Almost every day we received delegations on the ship, ours and foreign ones. Thus, on the first visit on March 12, 1977, they also received the President of Angola, Antonio Agostinho Neto, who was accompanied by the Soviet and Cuban ambassadors. The President was greeted on board with the honors due to him, that is, an honor guard, which consisted of Marines. Top FAPLA commanders also arrived with the president. The honor guard was commanded by a tall and muscular officer, senior lieutenant Vladimir Klokov. But the President of Angola especially liked the right-flank honor guard, paratrooper Tiesnesis, he was about two meters tall, and the rest of the Marines, by the way, were a match for him! Looking at him and V. Klokov, the Angolan president said, as if as a joke, the phrase that “he is ready to exchange any of his regiments for our gallant landing.” This was the highest rating for us! The distinguished guests were shown the ship and equipment, and the fighters demonstrated a master class in hand-to-hand combat. All this culminated in a real landing with live fire. The president refused the sea lunch, citing being busy.

During the demonstration of the landing, an incident occurred that almost tarnished our reputation. When the equipment (amphibious tank, armored personnel carrier and transporter) afloated through the bow ramp of the BDK, I radioed our BDK; there were no Soviet warships in Luanda at that moment. The head of the Soviet military mission in Angola arrived on the ship. We discussed the issues of staying in Luanda with him. He directly said that our arrival in Luanda gave huge orders to the crews to maneuver on the water. At the same time, I, as the commander of the landing, commented on the actions of the landing through a megaphone for all those gathered. Everything was going well, but suddenly senior lieutenant A. Sudnikov, commander of the PT-76 tank, reported to me on the radio that the engine of the vehicle had overheated and had to be turned off.

Scandal! We advertise our equipment (this was also part of the tasks of the combat service), but here we have such anti-advertising! I frantically figure out what to do. The only correct solution comes to mind. When I told distinguished guests about the combat characteristics and purpose of landing equipment, I mentioned that amphibious tanks and armored personnel carriers are intended not only for attack, but also for rescuing people and towing damaged equipment. So I announced through a megaphone to everyone present that the tank was conditionally damaged and would now be towed to the ship by the crew of a floating transporter (PTS). The tank did not lose its buoyancy; the divers practiced the steps of attaching towing ropes to the damaged equipment to the point of automaticity, so this process did not take much time. The personnel did not disappoint, the constant training took its toll - it even turned out very spectacular. The allegedly damaged tank was towed to the ship.

The cause of the breakdown was subsequently revealed. In conditions of tropical heat, the coolant, poured in the North at a temperature of -30 degrees during the voyage, warmed up, expanded greatly and leaked through the seals, as a result of which its level decreased, which almost led to the engine jamming. A little later, after the engine had cooled down and we had added antifreeze to the cooling system, the tank was started, and the crew demonstrated its movement afloat and performing various maneuvers, convincing those present of the tank’s combat capability. This incident forced us to draw appropriate conclusions and be more careful in preparing equipment for landing and combat on the shore in tropical conditions. And I rewarded the driver-mechanic, who turned off the engine in time and saved him, for his vigilance.

By the way, during these maneuvers, a tank and an armored personnel carrier entered the bay and fired a little blank ammunition from a cannon and machine guns, which caused a commotion among the port authorities and the crews of civilian ships. And the surrounding residents of Luanda thought that the Unites had landed troops and wanted to seize the port. What can I say: the country is at war! At night, shots were often heard in the city - perhaps there were shootouts.

The crew and Marines were able to go on excursions to the city several times. We visited the fortress of San Miguel, the city

cemetery, museums. The people treated us great. Many Angolans enjoyed taking pictures with us. But in the city there were traces of the recent armed confrontation between the MPLA and UNITA and the FNLA: during excursions around the city, one could see holes in the walls of houses, traces of bullets and grenades.

Life is life, and funny moments often happened. So, during a stop in Angola, we received news that our tank platoon commander Vasya Zamaraev had a son. What happened here!!! Our ship's radio operators accepted the message, we congratulated Vasya (for some reason he was jokingly called Vasily Alibabaevich), and in the evening I saw my lieutenants sitting in their cabin so cheerfully, celebrating. They brought it to me too. It seems inconvenient to ask where the potion came from, although there is no law on the ship! Therefore, for the health of Vasya’s wife and son, and for him too, I gladly accepted it on my chest. A few years later, the participants in this event told me that “NZ” was stored right in their cabin in oxygen cylinders for breathing apparatus. And no one knows that there is no oxygen in the cylinders at all. Sailors are cunning!

The life of a military man, and especially a sailor, and even on a solo voyage, is unpredictable. On May 4 we received orders to proceed to the Republic of Benin. Two weeks later they arrived in Cotonou, and from there they headed to Guinea. None of us knew then that there would be some benefits and preferences in the future. For us it was ordinary work. Men's work to protect the interests of our Motherland!

Retired colonel. Born on February 3, 1945 in the town of Bor, Nizhny Novgorod region. In 1966 he graduated with honors from the Moscow Higher Combined Arms Command School named after. Supreme Council of the RSFSR. At his own request he went to serve in the Marine Corps. He began his service in the 336th Separate Guards Marine Regiment of the Baltic Fleet, then participated in the formation of the 55th Marine Division in the Far East. In 1974 he graduated from the Military Academy. Frunze. In 1977 He was repeatedly in Angola as the commander of the BDK Krasnaya Presnya landing force. From 1979 to 1980 and 1985 to 1989 was in Cuba as an adviser to the commander of a marine regiment in the RVS of Cuba. From 1989 to 1992 served as a senior teacher at the Sevastopol VVMIU. In 1992, due to his refusal to take the Ukrainian oath, he retired to the reserve. Member of the Council of the Union of Veterans of Angola, head of the Union Navy section.

One of the pages of the "unknown wars" of the USSR

In 1977, on the Arabian Peninsula and in Africa, the situation worsened sharply, as the political officer simply explained to us, “Somali separatists rolled a barrel at the socialist Ethiopians,” they also laid claim to Yemeni territories.

So our trip began from the port of Mogadishu, but the Somalis did not let us into the port. Then the escort ship Chapaev approached, made a turn in the harbor, and the port was open for us.

The families of diplomats and specialists took other ships, and our ship (BDK “50 Years of Komsomol Patronage”) was loaded with airfield equipment and aircraft tankers. On the high seas, we transferred all this to dry cargo ships. The task was not easy, but it was carried out carefully; only one KrAZ truck had a broken frame.

And after that we went to Socotra to explain to the Somalis whose island it was. By that time, Yemen had already sent troops there; we transferred their tank brigade (T-34), specialists, and food to the island.

The command of the Somali army knew firsthand what Soviet marines were capable of.

Back in September-October 1972. During joint exercises in the area of ​​the port of Buljahar (west of Berbera), the Soviet marines of the Pacific Fleet immediately broke through the prepared anti-landing defense of the Somali troops after landing and, having completed an 80-kilometer march in desert conditions, reached the port of Berbera.

Somalia's Minister of Defense, General M.A. Samantar, was also present at the exercises.

Therefore, in November 1977 after landing in Mogadishu with one PT-76 amphibious tank and two BTR-60 armored personnel carriers, the Somalis did not try to counteract the actions of our sailors and did not interfere in anything.

Moreover, this was fraught with danger for the Somalis themselves, because what appeared before the eyes of our Marines greatly outraged them.

This is what one of the landing participants recalled: “On the shore there were stacks of boxes with the very property that the Somali leadership decided to appropriate for itself. Behind these stacks on the high-rise were armed people. And in front of the stacks, on a narrow strip along the pier, there were Soviet specialists with their families, or rather, some of them. The rest were at Mogadishu airport.

On this narrow strip of land they spent either two or three days under the scorching sun. It was scary to leave there because they were shooting at the stacks from time to time. People were desperate.

When landing boats came to their rescue, the women cried, and one of them could not stand it and jumped into the water from a high pier along with the child. The sailors immediately picked her up, and then fired several bursts over that barricade of boxes. The situation returned to normal, everything went like clockwork.”

When our ships from the Gulf of Aden approached Berbera, it was already known that the Somalis had announced the confiscation of all Soviet property and provocations from the Somalis were possible, including the seizure of ships in the port.

The Soviet colony was surrounded by internal troops, searches are underway, and nothing is allowed to be taken or carried outside the Soviet colony.

The sailors heard rumors that atrocities were being committed against our people at the airports. The leadership of Somalia issued a decree prohibiting our ships from approaching Somali ports. There was no time to wait for detailed instructions from the center to the command of the 8th operational squadron of the Navy: it was urgent to save their compatriots.

So they had to resort to a little psychic demonstration. The ships' guns and missiles were brought into combat mode, and the paratroopers openly prepared for landing. Our amphibious assault with tanks and artillery looked so impressive that the detachments of the Somali internal troops did not dare to interfere in anything. People were evacuated, then our sailors dismantled all Soviet property and loaded it onto the ship.

Everything went without shots or incidents and was done in the shortest possible time.

Vladimir Nikolaevich Chichev recalls: “On the last day of loading (and we were given 72 hours to evacuate), our warships were stationed in the Berbera roadstead, beyond the 12-mile zone of territorial waters. This gave us confidence that we would not be left in trouble.

Nevertheless, our main ship's engine was running at low idle speed, on the poop deck, by order of the commander, there was a sailor on duty with a huge sharp ax in his hands (to cut the mooring ropes connecting the ship to the pier on command), on the navigation bridge and along the waists there was Additional security with military weapons was posted.

Somali torpedo and missile boats undertook provocative maneuvers - they either left the harbor towards our ships, or returned to the harbor at full speed, turning on the signal sirens and opening the hatches of the vehicles.

During the evacuation of the PMTO, special equipment was loaded onto the cargo ship into the hold using ship cranes, and, as it seems to me, the vehicles got to the port under their own power.

I did not observe the loading of equipment. I remember there was a lot of property from the PMTO, it was brought to the port, brought onto the ship and secured in different corners and rooms. They worked almost without rest, as everyone was overwhelmed by the alarming tension of what was happening.

In the end, families of our mission employees and specialists were brought from the town. To accommodate them, part of the cabins on the midshipman and officer decks were allocated. People complained about the Somali lawlessness, since everything they had in their town of personal property, more or less valuable, was requisitioned.

I don’t remember how the PD was torn off. It seems that first a cargo ship left the port (I don’t understand anything about the purpose of ships, so I called this ship that way), then the dock was pulled out, and the last to leave was PM-156. At a roadstead outside Somali territory, civilians were transferred to another ship. They took the dock in tow and dragged it to Aden.”

To organize the evacuation of equipment and equipment located in Somalia, some of the auxiliary ships of the Black Sea Fleet that were on combat service in the Mediterranean Sea were sent through the Suez Canal to the Indian Ocean.

The detachment of ships commanded by the commander of the 162nd division of rescue ships, captain 2nd rank V. Vasiliev, included the rescue ship of project 527M "SS-21" (captain 3rd rank V. Aslamov), the kill ship "KIL-33" and two tugboats of project 733 ( one of them "MB-19") from the auxiliary fleet.

The main task of the support vessels was to remove the large floating dock “PD-66” and the equipment loaded onto its deck from the port. The floating dock "PD-66" was torn from the pier and, together with the floating workshop "PM-156", was sent to Aden.

“There was a moment in the history of our fleet when we were “kicked out” from Somalia. The command decided to remove the Soviet dock from there, which provided docking for ships and vessels during the period our ships were based in the country. When events regarding our Navy began to develop hostilely, it was necessary to urgently evacuate the property.

The group with the SS-21 landed on the shore, planted demolition charges under the anchor chains, and tore the dock from its place. "SS-21" took it in tow and pulled it out of territorial waters. Here they were met by the Vladivostok RKR and escorted to Aden, then the dock was dragged to Dahlak Island in the Red Sea.”

For this, V. Aslamov was awarded the Order of the Red Star.

The history of Soviet basing in the ports of Somalia is over.

Left without Soviet support, Somalia began to actively look for new sources to replenish the arsenals that were dwindling in the war with Ethiopia. Western countries refused to supply weapons to the Somalis while the conflict was going on, but support was provided by Muslim countries, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, and Egypt alone donated 30 million worth of military equipment to Somalia during the war. dollars. However, the Somali army, faced with Ethiopian troops armed with Soviet equipment, supported by Cuban units and Soviet advisers, was defeated in March 1978. announced her resignation from the Ogaden.

S. Barre's regime became closer to the Americans. In August 1980 The United States and Somalia signed an agreement granting the right to American warships to use Somali ports, and the American Air Force to use air bases in Berbera, Mogadishu and Kisimayo. In return, the Americans supplied weapons to the Somali regime. There was an armed struggle between various factions in the country.

In 1991, as a result of armed clashes between government troops and opposition groups, the United Somali Congress came to power. President M. S. Barre was overthrown.

The country plunged into chaos in which it actually remains to this day.