History of the Soviet Union ship. Seaside captain Pyotr Poleshchuk: “There was no “Adolf Hitler”

The history of domestic civil shipbuilding is associated more with cargo, auxiliary and small fleet ships. It so happened that serial large passenger ships for the USSR were built abroad. The only exception was a small series of motor ships 860 of the project, which was built at Siberian shipyards. But, this series has become, in fact, the domestic version of the Hungarian motor ship project 305. In shipbuilding it was easier, European shipyards stamped serial motor ships several pieces a year as part of the CMEA, Soviet factories were traditionally sharpened for defense equipment and cargo fleet. But there were two exceptions: “the pride of the domestic shipbuilding industry”, this is how the Soviet press dubbed the diesel-electric ships “Lenin” and “Soviet Union”.

Photo from the archive of A. Gotovtsev.

Project "Country of Soviets".

Long before the war, at the beginning of the 30s of the past century, work began on the design of a new ship - the “express for the big Volga”. Then it was planned to transform the river - the construction of dams, the rise of reservoirs. The task was to create a qualitatively new court for work on a qualitatively new Volga. On the one hand, the filling of the Volga reservoirs made it possible to use ships with greater draft, on the other hand, the planned full-flowing reservoirs required vessels with greater seaworthiness than the pre-revolutionary steamers operating on the river.
In October 1932, the Izvestia newspaper published a message about the start of a competition for best project river vessel for the big Volga. The first place in the competition was taken by the project of engineer V.I. Sergeev. A few years later began project work over the new ship. The project was led by engineer N.F. Makeev, but the author of the motor ship project Sergeev was also a member of the design team. Work on the Express project was completed by 1937. The tasks for the new ship were quite specific: the ship was to be the first with a three-deck superstructure (all steamers were double-deck), it was supposed to be a breakthrough in comfort and functionality, it was supposed to reach speeds of up to 30 km / h. Three variants of the ship were proposed, differing exclusively power plant(diesel, diesel-electric and turbo-electric). In any case, according to the calculations of the engineers of that time, the ship's power should have been 5400 l / c , only in this case the design speed was achieved. The project of a new river vessel was named "Country of the Soviets". This is how it should have looked.

The project failed to be completed. The war made its own adjustments. The country was definitely not up to the "Volga Express". In various sources, there was information that the hulls were nevertheless laid down before the war, and that even during the war years they allegedly stood in Saratov and were even converted into warships, but most likely this is nothing more than a beautiful legend.

Project 20.

Having healed the wounds, the country, having raised production and shipbuilding to the proper level, returned to construction after the war. civil courts. Already built a series of passenger ships for the big Volga in European countries when, in the fifties, Soviet shipbuilding engineers returned to designing the Volga Express. The project "Country of Soviets" was taken as a basis, which, however, was seriously modified at Krasny Sormovo, and, in fact, simply redesigned into a project that received the number 20. Project 20 ships were very different from the "Country of Soviets". The project "Country of Soviets" still looked more like classic Volga steamships, just with a higher superstructure. Project 20 is already a variant of the modern (for that time) project of new river vessels. The propulsion dilemma was resolved in favor of a diesel-electric one. This option added maneuverability to the ship, made it possible not to have extra-long shaft lines, and, as a result, to minimize vibration. Economic aspects in a country with a planned economy faded into the background. According to the approved project 20, the construction of the lead vessel began.

Or here's an option. The vision of the artist.

Diesel-electric ship "Lenin" was solemnly launched in 1958. Almost immediately, this ship became the flagship of the Volga Flotilla. In terms of comfort in accommodating passengers, Lenin was simply a breakthrough. Just one fact - for the first time on the river cruise ship air conditioner was installed. Wide promenade terraces, large cabins, valuable wood veneer and lincrust trim. and diesel-electric ships even had a full-fledged cinema with a stage where events and meetings with tourists were held. At the same time, the construction of the second diesel-electric ship "Soviet Union" began. Here are photos from the construction of diesel-electric ships (The book “Passenger diesel-electric ships “Lenin” and “Soviet Union”, Gorky, 1959):

- Descent of the diesel-electric ship "Lenin" into the water in the "Krasnoye Sormovo".

- Here, "Lenin" is almost completed, and the "Soviet Union" standing in the foreground is still being completed.

- Diesel-electric ship "Lenin".

Let's look inside these ships - in the passenger and service rooms. At the same time, let's not forget that it's 1958 in the yard. Technological breakthrough in the face. Unique two-level restaurant. For the first time, a technology was applied on the river, which later became known as the "atrium". The restaurant occupies two decks and has a second light.

Cinema and concert hall for passengers with 99 seats.

Double crew cabin.

Galley.

Walking terrace on the second deck. Pay attention to its width.

Terrace of the third (awning) deck.

In the wheelhouse of a diesel-electric ship.

Reading room.

Passenger deck corridor.

Passenger cabins.

For many years, diesel-electric ships "Lenin" and "Soviet Union" were the flagships of the Volga. Their level of comfort was well known among river passengers. "Lenin" traditionally opened navigation on the Volga, this exit from the backwater always coincided with the birthday of Lenin himself - April 22.
In the 70s, new German motor ships of project 301 came to the Volga. An interesting fact is that, while designing motor ships of project 301, their creator Friedrich Enkel repeatedly turned to Soviet diesel-electric ships as reference ones at that time, but already did all the nuances passenger stay on board, taking into account the achievements of advanced technology. Well, by the beginning of the 80s, the heroes of my story were working with might and main on tourist flights along the Volga.

Photo from the archive of A. Gotovtsev.

Photo from the Alexey_NN87 archive.

Photo from the archive of A. Gotovtsev.

Photo from the Alexey_NN87 archive.

Photo from the archive of A. Gotovtsev.

Photo from the archive of A. Gotovtsev.

Photo from the archive of A. Gotovtsev.

In 1984, while preparing the Lenin diesel-electric ship for navigation in the Oktyabrsky backwater near Nizhny Novgorod, a fire broke out on the ship. The fire almost completely destroyed the superstructure of the diesel-electric ship. For many years, a reminder of this in the Oktyabrsky backwater lay the hull of Lenin, crumpled by fire.

Photo by A. Sosnin (1994).

The Soviet Union continued to work for his twin brother. Until 1991, the diesel-electric ship worked on tourist flights. But in 1991, under the pretext that the ship was obsolete compared to the projects 301-302 that had arrived, the Soviet Union was transferred to the Nizhny Novgorod-Astrakhan transport line. The most dashing for river ships time - the beginning of the 90s, the "Soviet Union" remained in operation. In 1996, the diesel-electric ship worked on the Moscow-Astrakhan line. Performing a flight in August, following from Astrakhan to Moscow, one of the generators failed on the Soviet Union. The voyage was nevertheless completed, the ship arrived in Moscow 12 hours late, but this voyage was destined to be the last in the "biography" of the diesel-electric ship. "Soviet Union" was laid up in the Oktyabrsky backwater near Nizhny Novgorod.

The last shots of the "Soviet Union" in the work. Gorky (1990).

Photo by Alex.

Northern River Station of Moscow (1996).

Photo from the archive of A. Gotovtsev.

In 2001, the Volga Shipping Company was actively selling passenger ships, while the Sovetsky Soyuz, which had been idle for six years, was bought out by representatives of the Kama Shipping Company. The ship was towed to the Perm backwater. Ha reminder of the former "pride of domestic shipbuilding" diesel-electric ship "Soviet Union" and to this day stands in Perm. Since its sale, many of the most daring proposals for its restoration and return to work have been voiced, but the words have remained words. For ten years, the "Soviet Union" has been rusting at a new place of registry.

Photo by A. Tyurin.

At the Blohm & Voss shipyard for transatlantic flights from Germany to America; received building number 403 and the name Albert Ballin in honor of Albert Ballin, former president of Hamburg Amerika Line - HAPAG. It could carry over 1,800 people in first, second and third class cabins.

The ship was the first in a series of ocean liners of the same type, after which the following were launched at the Blohm & Voss shipyard by order of HAPAG: Deutschland (1924), Hamburg(1926) and New York (1927). The series was considered more "modest" than the pre-war series of the same company "Imperial class". All vessels of the series were equipped with passive stabilizers (Fram tanks), which gave them significant stability in waves.

In 1934, the ship's hull, like the rest of the ships of this series, was lengthened by 15 meters.

In 1935, due to the fact that Albert Ballin was a Jew by origin, the Nazi authorities renamed the ship Hansa. During World War II Hansa became part of the German navy and transported military supplies and troops.

At the end of January 1945 Hansa was supposed to participate in the convoy transporting German troops along with the liner Wilhelm Gustloff. However, four hours after leaving Danzig, Hansa there was a breakdown of the main machine. The convoy stopped to reload and distribute the military contingent to other ships.

In March 1945, during the evacuation of East Prussia Hansa hit a mine and sank at a depth of 20 meters, 9 miles from the coast.

In accordance with the decisions of the Potsdam Conference of the Leaders of the Three Allied Powers, Germany's navy and merchant fleets were divided equally among the victorious countries on account of reparations. The Hansa was also among the ships intended for transfer to the USSR.

In 1947, the rescue service of the Baltic Fleet examined the sunken Hansa, after which it was decided to raise it. The difficulty of lifting was that the ship turned out to be heavily silted, and the shallow depth made it difficult to put it on even keel. Work continued [ by whom?] about two years. December 15 1949 the ship was raised and taken to Warnemünde, where the Warnowwerft (GDR) plant was refurbished. Due to the lack of a dock of sufficient size in Warnemünde, hull work was carried out in Antwerp (Belgium), at the shipyard of the John Cockerill group of companies. During the restoration work, only one of the two chimneys remained, of the four masts with cargo booms, only two remained.

In 1953 the ship received official name"Soviet Union". In 1954, shortly before commissioning, an explosion and fire occurred on the ship for unknown reasons, damaging the premises. After repeated restoration work, the ship was transferred to the Soviet Union in 1955 and became part of the USSR Navy. In March

German passenger liners that plied the oceans in the 1920s and 1930s received a second life in the Soviet Union, where they served until the 1980s. The history of these vessels is told by the collector Yuri Mamonov.

Returning from travel and business trips, many of us bring small souvenirs. Over time, they are forgotten, they are lost, but sometimes, after many years, they remind of themselves. In our family, among old photos, letters and papers for almost 50 years, a small selection of postcards with views of Vladivostok has been kept. My father brought them from the Far East in 1960, in memory of his service in the Pacific Fleet. Two postcards stand out somewhat from the species range. They depict two large ocean-going ships: the snow-white giant liner "Soviet Union" and the black-and-white "Asia".

Thus, part of the German passenger liners came under Soviet jurisdiction. The condition of the trophies received was assessed as terrible. Most of ships were damaged by bombardments, many were laid up in ports throughout the war, a large part was flooded and needed to be raised from great depths. The old passenger ships Der Deutshe (former Sierra Morena), Caribia, Wangoni underwent a large-scale restoration. After the reconstruction, they joined the Far Eastern Flotilla and received new names - "Asia", "Ilyich", "Chukotka". The steamers Patria and Duala, captured by the British fleet, were listed as Empire Welland and Empire Rock military transports while reparations were being prepared. The first even made a couple of flights from the UK to the US. Motor ships transferred to the Morflot of the USSR after reconstruction replenished the Black Sea Shipping Company with new names "Russia" and "Peter the Great". After the reconstruction, Iberia and Rugen arrived there, renamed Pobeda and Ivan Susanin.

The largest number of captured ships went to the Far Eastern Shipping Company (only large passenger ships more than a dozen), but due to their use on ordinary passenger and freight lines (Vladivostok - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky), they did not need advertising for tourists and appeared on postcards much less frequently, and the circulation of regional publishers was many times smaller. An interesting point reflected on the postcards is a significant modernization during the restoration and restructuring of the Far Eastern ships. Both "Soviet Union" (formerly Hansa) and "Asia" (Der Deutsche) had two out-of-fashion chimneys replaced with one more perfect in form (at that time). Apparently, this gave a minimal gain, and all the other captured ships remained in the German twin-pipe version (like the Admiral Nakhimov).

Captured ships were operated in the fleet of the Soviet Union until the end of the 80s, gradually being replaced by new modern ships. All of them were depicted many times on postcards, however, under new Soviet names. It is quite difficult to recognize in them, after many upgrades, liners that plied the expanses of the oceans in the 20s and 30s.

Postcards once again fulfilled their mission - they preserved for posterity the most interesting pages of Russian, German and world history. And these postcards, as a souvenir about swimming or a sea trip, are kept in many families.

In preparing the article, materials were used: K. Ivanov. The end of the aggressor liners. Magazine "Marine Fleet" №3. 1982

So, in the third part, we left our hero - "Ballin" - "Hanza" - submerged in shallow water near the German port of Warnemünde (Rostock). In the final part, we will talk about his Soviet biography, under the name "Soviet Union" and the end of the road, under the name "Tobolsk".
* * *
In accordance with the decisions of the Potsdam Conference of the leaders of the three allied powers (USSR, USA and Great Britain), the German navy and merchant fleets were divided among the victorious countries on account of reparations. After the division of the German fleet by a tripartite commission, the same type of turbo ships Hansa And Hamburg went to the USSR. Other liners of this series - Deutschland And New York- went to the British. The British raised them, towed them to England, but considered the restoration inexpedient and cut them up for scrap.
In 1947, the rescue service of the Baltic Fleet examined the sunken Hansa, after which it was decided to raise it. The difficulty of lifting was that the ship turned out to be heavily silted, and the shallow depth made it difficult to put it on an even keel. The work continued for about two years, and only on December 15, 1949, the ship was raised and taken to Warnemünde, where shipyard Warnow Werft carried out a refurbishment. Due to the lack of a dock of sufficient size in Warnemünde, hull work was carried out in Antwerp (Belgium) at shipyard John Cockerill, from 08/11/1950 to 06/08/1951 Reconstruction of the engine room, superstructures and restoration of the premises at the Warnow Werft in Warnemünde continued for another four years.

1955. The restored "Soviet Union" leaves the port of Warnemünde (GDR).

Since the ship was immediately intended to operate on the coastal line Vladivostok - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky with a traditionally large passenger flow, the restoration project provided for almost the same passenger capacity as it was originally built. At the same time, 4 cargo holds and luggage compartments were saved, and upper deck became continuous. The vessel's tonnage has grown to 23.009 tons.
The vessel was equipped with 10 Lux cabins and 2 Special Lux cabins for a total of 20 passengers, 90 1st class cabins (150 passengers), 85 2nd class cabins (404 passengers) and 85 3rd class cabins (602 passengers). ). In addition, the ship could take 2,280 tons of general cargo. Of the four masts on the liner, only two were left: one in front and one behind the superstructure.
During the reconstruction, two chimneys were replaced by one fashionable then "dome-shaped" form. A similar pipe configuration was applied to English liners type "Saxonia" (later "Leonid Sobinov"), built at the same time. During the repair, due to the lack of highly qualified specialists, it was not possible to completely restore the turbines and center the main gearboxes. For this reason, the power of the main machine was recommended to be reduced to 14,000 hp. with., which provided a speed of 16.5 knots.

The area of ​​the Warnow Werft shipyard near Rostock, where the liner was being restored.
Snapshot 2006

Since this liner was the largest passenger ship in the USSR, there was no doubt about how to name the new ship: "Soviet Union". The official assignment of the new name took place in 1953. In total, the restoration lasted five years. However, shortly before the scheduled commissioning date, for unknown reasons, an explosion and fire occurred on the ship, which severely damaged the premises of the liner (1954). A second restoration followed, and in September 1955 the ship was handed over to the customer.

1955.
The exit of the "Soviet Union" after the delivery to the Ministry of the Navy of the USSR from the port of Warnemünde for control docking in Sevastopol.

And a color photograph from the same period. The future port of registry, Vladivostok, is already marked at the stern, but the liner is still in the Baltic.

* * *
Sistership "Hanza" Hamburg was raised in 1950, underwent refurbishment in Warnemünde and Antwerp. Initially, it was also planned to use it as a passenger ship in the Far East. The ship was named "Yuri Dolgoruky", and an acceptance team from Vladivostok was already sent to Germany. But in 1957, at the level of the USSR government, it was decided to re-equip the ship to the whaling base based in Kaliningrad. Since 1960, the Yury Dolgoruky floating base has been actively used for whale hunting in many areas of the World Ocean: mainly near the coast of Antarctica, in the southern part indian ocean off Kerguelen Island and South Atlantic. In connection with an international convention that sharply limited whale fishing, the Yury Dolgoruky floating base was decommissioned in 1977 and cut into scrap metal.

Former Hamburg, and then the whaling mother ship "Yuri Dolgoruky".

* * *
In 1955, the Soviet Union was put into operation by the Far Eastern branch of Sovtorgflot. But before heading to the Far East, it was necessary to carry out control docking. At that time, the only place in the USSR where such a large vessel could be docked was the dry dock of the Sevmorzavod in Sevastopol.
On October 13, 1955, the Soviet Union turbo ship under the command of Captain Nikolai Borisovich Artyukh arrived in Odessa, and then moved to Sevastopol. In Sevastopol, at the Sevmorzavod, one of the reverse turbines was removed from the vessel and sent for balancing to the Kharkov Turbine Plant, and also docked in the dry dock of the plant. During the stay in Sevastopol, the "Soviet Union" was visited by the first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev, Defense Minister Georgy Zhukov and Politburo member Leonid Brezhnev in company with the leader of the Hungarian communists Matyas Rakosi, who was soon destined to lose all his posts during the Hungarian uprising (1956 ).

In November 1956, Serafim Porfiryevich Myshevsky was appointed captain-mentor to the Soviet Union, and in March 1957, the Soviet Union, under the command of Captain Artyukh and captain-mentor Myshevsky, went to the Far East. They went around Africa, and on May 29, 1957, the Soviet Union arrived in Vladivostok and began its first flight on the express line Vladivostok - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Organizationally, it became part of the Far Eastern branch of Sovtorgflot with the home port of Vladivostok, and later, after the reorganization, of the Far Eastern shipping company(FESCO) .. Dalzavod was identified as a repair base in the Far East for the "Soviet Union", where there was (and is) a dry dock of the appropriate size.
After arriving in Vladivostok, in May 1957, Myshevsky was appointed captain of the ship, who worked on the Soviet Union until 1962. From 1965 to 1977, the captain of the Soviet Union was Hero of Socialist Labor Boris Andreevich Grishin.

Captain of the "Soviet Union" in 1965-1977.
Hero of Socialist Labor Grishin B.A.

"Soviet Union" was put on an express coastal line: Vladivostok - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. After the defeat of Japan, the USSR again withdrew southern Sakhalin And Kurile Islands. It was necessary to transport people with their property, food, production equipment and other goods. Normal life began to be restored in all other regions of the Far East. A large flow of goods and passengers was also sent there, mainly going to fisheries through an organized recruitment. The ship worked on this line almost until the end of its existence.

1959. "Soviet Union" in the port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Periskop archive.

From January 11 to March 29, 1971, the ship underwent repairs in Hong Kong, during which, among other works, the main gearboxes were finally centered, and the ship was able to reach speeds of up to 19 knots.

Fragments from the Passenger's Handbook for 1962(has provided dennism )

1. Scheme of the Far Eastern Basin of the Ministry of the Navy of the USSR with the designation of the route from Vladivostok to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. In blue, I completed the winter route of the turbo ship through the Sangar Strait. In the season from about January to April, the liners of the Kamchatka line went exactly this way.

2. Tariffs for the transportation of passengers, by different classes of cabins (luxury not shown).

3. Timetable for the movement of liners.

By the way, during my tenure (1976-1980), the arrival of liners to the port of Petropavlovsk often happened not in the morning at 8.00, as in this schedule, but around 10-12 noon. And, say, on the "Maria Ulyanova" in 1987, I arrived at the port opposite, earlier - at 6.30 in the morning. That is, the time of arrival is an extensible value, it was necessary to call the Seaport on the evening of the day before arrival and they spoke more precisely.

1970s, Vladivostok, Golden Horn Bay. "Soviet Union" runs along the Egersheld Peninsula

t.h. Soviet Union "about 75-77 years, I don't remember exactly. There was a flight to Petropavlovsk from Vladivostok, in the photo I am that happy kid who happened to steer this ship, on that flight I was the grandson of the ship's doctor, so they let me in everywhere, and showed everything. time:)

Short video "Soyuz", 1957 (in the credits erroneously indicated 1956):

End of career.

The turboship "Soviet Union" completed work on the Kamchatka passenger line on November 30, 1980 and, in accordance with the order of the head of the Far Eastern Shipping Company No. 1037 of December 2, 1980, was laid up to dismantle equipment, remove materials, scrap metal

By order of the Minister of the Marine Fleet of the USSR No. 256 dated December 5, 1980, the Sovetsky Soyuz liner was decommissioned from the balance of the transport fleet, after which, by order of the head of the FESCO, it was renamed into "Tobolsk"; it is clear that with the name "Soviet Union" he simply could not be subject to cutting into scrap metal. Throughout 1981, "Tobolsk" was laid up at the Vladivostok Commercial Sea Port (there is evidence that during this period it was a training center for cadets of the Nevelsky School).

March 5, 1982 "Tobolsk" independently went to last flight for cutting with a crew of 60 people under the command of Captain Gennady Aleksandrovich Kobtsev, and on March 17 of the same year, the ship was officially handed over for cutting into metal by one of the Hong Kong companies.

A few words about the article on "Ballin" in the English Wikipedia.

Unfortunately, the article about the liner sins there with many errors. Here, offhand, if we consider the data presented about his career:
1) The first flight - not July 5, but July 4, 1923. On July 5, the liner entered the Atlantic already from the British Southampton;
2) The renaming to "Hansa" followed not on October 31, but on October 1, 1935;
3) The turbo ship bore the name "Soviet Union" in 1953-1980;
4) The last name of the liner after decommissioning and before cutting was not Soyuz, but "Tobolsk";
5) The ship was sent for dismantling not in 1981, but in March 1982.
That is, in this case, Wikipedia as a source is weak. And if someone will make a Russian-language article, please consider these errors.

Another addition about mythology, tightly enveloping the liner all the time of his Soviet biography, after 1957; a few curious examples and explanations of them.

From an article by A. Borisenko Legends and truth of the "Soviet Union"
Some "experts" said that the ship was originally so huge that it could not turn around in the Golden Horn Bay and had to be cut almost by half, others claimed that the ship was originally called "Adolf Hitler" (according to another version - "Great Germany" ) and allegedly for this reason the Germans vowed to drown him at the first opportunity. The mechanism for the appearance of the last legend is clear in principle. In October 1955 (a year and a half before the appearance of the “Soviet Union” in Vladivostok), the battleship Novorossiysk exploded and sank in the roadstead of Sevastopol, taking with it more than 600 people into the abyss. He also received reparations, was formerly part of the Italian Navy and was called "Giulio Cesare".
Rumors immediately spread across the country (by the way, they are still circulating) that Novorossiysk had been blown up by vengeful Italian combat swimmers, who, by the way, were rightfully considered the best in the world. That is why many Far Easterners were convinced that the "Soviet Union" was specially "shoved" to the farthest pool - away from the vindictive "Khruts".

The mythology of the piano of the music salon.

1. [from here]
But perhaps the oldest piano in Vladivostok is on the stage of the Pushkin Theatre. This is a tool of the famous German company Blutner. According to some reports, he is over a hundred years old. During the Second World War, this chic instrument "under the light walnut" adorned the music salon turboship "Adolf Hitler", which was part of the passenger fleet of Nazi Germany. Rumor has it that the Fuhrer himself allegedly sat at this piano! No wonder the local musicians call him "Hitler Kaput!" After the war, the ship went to the USSR on indemnity, where it was renamed the "Soviet Union" and for a long time plowed the Far Eastern waters of the new homeland, since it did not have the right to cross the border. When the ship was written off for scrap, the "Hitler" piano stood for a long time on the pier under a tarpaulin, until it was attached to the Seamen's Rest House. In 1999, it was repaired, along the way, painted with automotive varnish. And in 2000, the Pushkin Theater bought the instrument for 12 thousand rubles. According to the apt remark of Viktor Baranov, director of the creative studio "Kamerton", based in the building of the Pushkin Theater, "no self-respecting musician will sit down for him".

2. [from here]
The second grand piano installed on the main stage of the Pushkin Theater is not connected with the events of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. And its age does not even allow to hint at any connection with the history of the early twentieth century: the piano was made in Germany in 1934 at the Blutner company. And yet this musical instrument is directly connected with the events of another war - the Second World War, which ended, as you know, with the atomic tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the defeat of Japan.
At one time the piano stood in the fashionable salon of "Grossdeutschland"- the largest passenger ship of the Nazi Reich. According to rumors, Adolf Hitler often visited this ship and either played it himself (which is hard to believe), or enjoyed playing the best German pianists on this piano. In 1943 steamship "Grossdeutschland" was torpedoed and sunk, and soon after the war was raised and handed over as a trophy to the Soviet Union. [...]
In the 80s of the twentieth century, when, due to a sharp drop in the profitability of marine passenger traffic before the leadership of the Far Eastern Shipping Company, the need for a decisive reduction in the planned losses of the enterprise rose to its full height, the fate of the ship "Soviet Union" was decided. The age factor also played a role in this. The snow-white ocean liner was renamed "Tobolsk" and sold for scrap to Japan. And Hitler's favorite piano ended up in the suburbs of Vladivostok, in the backyard of the Sailors' Rest House. There the instrument was discovered by the first director of the Pushkin Theater B.G. Kosyakov. It was he who offered us in 1999 to purchase these "musical firewood".
Bought. Refurbished. Restored. Set up. And so, when this musical instrument sounded at my first concert at the Pushkin Theater, I remembered ...

In the early sixties of the twentieth century, when, at the behest of the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, N.S. Khrushchev, thousands of first-year students had to divide their day between work at enterprises and evening studies in institute classrooms, I worked as a ship assembler (according to the profile of the chosen faculty) at Dalzavod. And somehow the white-hulled "Soviet Union" was docked for repairs. The foreman grabbed me, and we boarded the handsome ship to perform some hull work in one of the salons of this liner. Entering the room, I was stunned to see the luxury and volume of the huge space of the hall: high and wide ladders, covered with no less wide carpet paths, elegant tables and chairs, magnificent paintings on the bulkheads, and somewhere far away from this luxury, on a small elevation, stood an elegant dark cherry piano.
The same grand piano, which in forty years will be found in the suburban backyards of the Sailors' Rest House and, amazingly restored, will decorate the stage of the Pushkin Theater of the Far Eastern State Technical University ...

Our university is often visited by foreign guests. They happen not only in classrooms, but also at concerts at the Pushkin Theater. Having learned the history of the cherry piano, many of them offer a lot of money for this instrument, wishing to acquire a unique relic in their ownership.
Now the piano no longer meets modern requirements. Concert organizers contact me with a request to get a new piano. But, firstly, for this it is necessary to get funds somewhere, and secondly, for some reason I feel sorry for parting with the legend. Therefore, today the piano is tuned the best specialists, and it continues to sound fresh and clean, accompanying even the stars from the Bolshoi Theater of Russia.
Once, during a performance at the Pushkin Theater by the People's Artist of the USSR, Hero of Socialist Labor Elena Obraztsova, I went to the forefront with a large bouquet of flowers. After words of gratitude for her rare talent, I briefly spoke about the piano, to the accompaniment of which she sang. Hearing about Hitler, the singer opened her already huge eyes even wider and said: “Oh, God, this has never happened to me before!” The hall literally exploded with applause.

As you can see, the liner has been gone for 27 years, and the mythology associated with it is multiplying and reproducing :)

Poetry.

Oleg Kabalik, 1995
I am the Soviet Union

I am the Soviet Union. I'm going into meltdown.
I departed mine, forgive my sins.
I am the Soviet Union. I'm going to hell.
By last time let's go sailors.

Let's say a toast, keep quiet over the lives we have lived
To ourselves, to ourselves - neither forgive nor lie ...
Rats in my holds, if they were not rats,
Lots of things that could be said.

But they will run - the rat has no right to die,
So that, having reached a beautiful, fashionable port,
Digging in some gutter,
Rat that lousy I was a steamer:

All in patches and holes, rotten and bulky
Polluted oceans, straits, seas...
Hey volcano Alaid! Borrow a cigarette!
We know with you that we smoked not in vain.

And also to you guys, I'll say goodbye,
Going into old age for scrap,
That fifteen vessels, soldered from me,
Will melt any storm that breaks out.

I am the "Soviet Union", going to the last ...
Remember, guys, the old man sometimes.
I'll be back even if through the centuries -
I'll come back! But now - forever!

Stamp with "Soviet Union".

* * *
This part of the cycle uses texts and facts from

1970s, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Avacha Bay.
"Soviet Union" passes the traverse of Krasnaya Sopka and approaches seaport; it is already escorted by two tugboats.

* * *
... I open the window, and fresh sea air rushes into the room with Avacha bay. I take binoculars hanging nearby and look towards the exit to the ocean. There, far away, at the Gate, a white dot is visible on a bright blue background. It is gradually approaching - and now the outlines of an elongated snow-white liner with a large red stripe on the pipe are already visible, gracefully cutting through the waves.
This is it, the handsome "Soviet Union"! It is impossible not to recognize him.
But he is not striving for the berths of the Seaport.
And he has nowhere to hurry: you can keep 16 knots of cruising without straining the car.
Because he goes to Eternity, cutting with the bow the Waves of our memory ...

© Sergey Sigachev aka Periskop

Four lives of the "Soviet Union":
1. , 2. , 3. (1923-1947), 4. (1947-1982)

Courts, like people, have their own destiny. They are born, live and die, with the only difference being that some are forgotten, while others fall into history and become legends.

90 years ago, a steamship set off on its first voyage under its first name "Albert Ballin", which later became the ship "Soviet Union". 30 years after its birth, the ship received the name of the country of the Soviets, and after another 30 it was decommissioned. WITH last captain the most famous ship of the country, Peter POLESHCHUK, was interviewed by the correspondent of AiF - Primorye.

Trophy of the Third Reich

P.P.:- We got the ship under reparations. Not in at its best. In 1945, the Nazis blew it up on the roadstead of Warnemünde, and it was flooded, only 8 meters rose above the surface of the water. In 1949, it was raised, and then restored there, in Germany, according to the drawings of the Leningrad Central design office Marine fleet. Few people know, but the project manager received the Stalin Prize for his work. The revived liner became the largest passenger ship in the USSR, which is why it was named "Soviet Union" in 1953. Two years later, I was appointed second mate on this ship, while it was still in the German port of Sassnitz. In January 1956 we left Sassnitz and headed for Sevastopol. Even at the entrance to the bay, we saw the inverted battleship "Novorossiysk" (the former "Giulio Cesare", which our country also inherited as a reparation). As you know, he sank on October 29, 1955 after an explosion in the bow. There were a lot of rumors, it was said that it was a bottom mine ... We were put to the northern mooring wall, next to which about 600 people were buried. You can imagine how we felt then. ( It is said that the fate of "Novorossiysk" indirectly gave rise to the legend that the "Soviet Union" was supposedly called "Adolf Hitler". “Knowing” people claimed that the German captured steamship with a seditious name was specially driven to the Far East so that it would not suffer the fate of Novorossiysk - they would not forgive, they say, the Germans mockery of the name of the leader, they would blow it up.Note. ed. )

"AiF-Primorye": - Why did the "Soviet Union" not immediately leave Germany for Vladivostok, but first he went to Sevastopol? After all, this is such a hook.

P.P.:- For some reason, the Germans could not balance the reverse turbine. In Sevastopol, she was removed and sent to a factory in Kharkov. The crew was waiting for her to be repaired. The work took about a year, so even sailors' families came to Sevastopol.

VIP guests

"AiF-Primorye": - I heard that on board the "Soviet Union" in different time important visitors rose ...

P.P.:- During sea trials, which took place along Black Sea coast, while parking opposite Livadia, the ship was seen by Nikita Khrushchev. Wanted to get on deck.

"AiF-Primorye": - Did Nikita Sergeevich like it?

P.P.: - I think yes. There is one associated with that visit. interesting story. The guests arrived at torpedo boat. They all got on board, walked around the ship, and when Khrushchev said goodbye and began to go down the ladder, one of the crew members - the young sailor ANOSHKIN - called out to the General Secretary and handed him a letter. Nikita Sergeevich mechanically put it in his pocket. As it turned out later, in it the sailor asked to pay attention to the low salaries and lack of housing for sailors.

After their departure, the ship's management began to find out who the secret message was intended for. The commandant of the Kremlin, the KGB officers arrived ... We thought that Anoshkin would be "torn off his head" for such a message, but nothing happened.

There was another such case. Voroshilov, during a visit to the ship, assured that he would come home and be sure to tell about the miracles of our shipbuilders. And I tell him that the ship was built by the Germans. “But I thought it was ours,” he said in confusion.

The very first captain of the Soviet Union was Nikolai ARTYUKH (an honorary citizen of Vladivostok, an old partisan). Then it was rumored that it was from him that the sculptor sculpted the main figure of the monument to the Fighters for the Power of the Soviets in the Far East. By the way, he lit the first Eternal Flame in Vladivostok in 1975.

Through Nakhodka to Vladivostok

"AiF-Primorye": - When did you go to the seaside shores?

P.P.:- At the end of December, we moved to Odessa. The ship was loaded with canned vegetables and in January 1957 it set off for the Far East. We rounded Africa and on March 8, without calling at ports, we arrived not in Vladivostok, but in Nakhodka, since the canned food had to be delivered there. They arrived in Vladivostok on May 29. "Soviet Union" was put on the express coastal line Vladivostok - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Because of the Iron Curtain, he could not go on cruises, so he mainly transported people arriving in the Far East for organizational recruitment and fishing. Of course, they transported both food and industrial goods. On this line, the turboship worked to the end.

"AiF-Primorye": - It was about the "Soviet Union" that legends were made. Why do you think they appeared?

P.P.:- Maybe because it was the largest and, in my opinion, the most beautiful ship in the country. Or maybe because its "living" history is like a legend - the "sea wolf" traveled all the continents, conquered dozens of seas. But not everyone knew his true story, which is why a legend appeared that he used to be called "Adolf Hitler". But this is a myth, and not the only one.

"AiF-Primorye": - How many years have you been a captain on the "Soviet Union"?

P.P.:- From 1976 to 1981. Of course, when I went on vacation, they replaced me, most often it was Captain VEDENSKY.

"AiF-Primorye": - And they worked exclusively on the coastal line?

P.P.:- Yes. The turboship "Soviet Union" completed its work on the coastal line on November 30, 1980, and on December 2 it was laid up to dismantle equipment and prepare the vessel for scrapping. At that time he was already 57 years old! In January 1982, I was appointed captain of the Vladivostok commercial port, and captain Gennady KOBTSEV led him to the cutting to Hong Kong under the new name "Tobolsk".

"AiF-Primorye": - It is now customary to preserve ships as surface museums. Do you think it was possible to revive the "Soviet Union"?

P.P.:- For that time, it was certainly good (there were, for example, three restaurants, a gym), but time did not spare the "Soviet Union". His wooden deck was rotten, the metal was corroded. And the premises would not have passed the fire safety class. There were such labyrinths in which it was easy to get lost. You could only find it by smell.

"AiF-Primorye": - And if you had not been appointed the captain of the port, would you have taken the "Tobolsk" for cutting? Was it sad to say goodbye to him?

P.P.:- When the "Soviet Union" began to be issued for "nails", I jokingly told one of the party secretaries of the FESCO: "It is impossible to hand over the "Soviet Union" for scrap. This is a bad omen." He grunted in response to me “be silent more loudly”, otherwise they would put me in jail. And 8 years after the decommissioning of the ship, the Soviet Union itself was gone.