The catastrophe of the steamer "Indigirka": a terrible maritime tragedy in the USSR

Place of honor in the Museum navy in Vladivostok, you can see a small model of the monument erected in the Japanese village of Sarufutsu. This exhibit brings us back to the tragedy of the century, which for a long time was hidden from everyone - the story of the death of the steamer "Indigirka".

On December 8, 1939, the steamer Indigirka, owned by Dalstroy, left the Nagaev Bay for Vladivostok under the command of 58-year-old captain N. Lapshin. On board were about one and a half thousand people (the exact figure has not yet been established), 700 field workers and members of their families, 750 released from custody and 60 prisoners under escort. That flight of the Indigirka was the last in the navigation of 1939. There were a lot of people who wanted to get on the ship. An amnesty has just been announced, which unexpectedly brought freedom to more than one and a half thousand Kolyma prisoners. The amnestied were transported to the pier in open lorries. It is cold in Kolyma in late autumn, the criminals, taking advantage of the absence of guards, beat and undressed the "politicians" who were traveling with them, then threw them to the side of the road.

A fierce storm exhausted people for several days. On the approach to the La Perouse Strait, in between the onslaughts of snowstorms from the bridge, they briefly saw the fire of the Aniva lighthouse and, having passed it, laid a course between the Danger Stone reef and the coast of Hokkaido Island. Shortly after the change of watch at midnight on December 12, the second assistant to the captain, V. Peskovsky, who entered the watch, saw the lights through a blizzard and mistook them for lighthouses. It really was the fire of a lighthouse, but a Japanese one, on Cape Soya Misaki of Hokkaido Island. The mistake turned out to be fatal. The steamer at full speed hit Todo Reef at north coast Hokkaido. The vessel received a hole along the entire length of the hull. The blows of waves and wind in an instant threw him over the reef, overturning him on board, and threw him onto the coastal shallows 700 meters from the shore.

An SOS signal went on the air (according to some sources, SOS was not sent, communication was carried out in cipher). Soon the water disabled the radio transmitter, the connection was cut off. Sailors and passengers were left alone in the fight against the elements. Most of them immediately ended up in the water. The rest pulled out blankets and clothes through the portholes, covering women and children from the waves and piercing wind. There were more than a hundred of them on the ship - geoglobus.ru. The mechanisms failed, the lights went out. With each passing hour, the ship sank more and more. Those who could no longer get out on deck on their own were pulled out on a rope through a hole cut by order of the captain. On the unflooded side, a rope was pulled along its entire length, for which people held on. With great difficulty, they managed to lower the boat, on which ten volunteers tried to get to the shore. With great difficulty, she reached the coastline. Five sailors remained in the water forever. The rest, drenched and barely alive, sought out the fishing hut in pitch darkness and, exhausted, collapsed on the threshold.

In the meantime, the captain decided to send another, last, boat ashore. As soon as the boat touched the water, the waves washed away four. The remaining six, having cut off the rope, disappeared into the night. But only two managed to get to the shore.

In the village of Sarufutsu, the first to know about the disaster was the fisherman Jin Ginichiro. There was a loud knock on the door of his house - five barely alive foreigners stood on the threshold. The owner made them sit near the stove and gave them some vodka. By gestures, I realized that there was a big problem in the sea. I went to wake up Jin Ginzo's brother who lived next door. In fright, he began to assure that these were not the victims from the ship at all, but the Soviet troops that had landed on the island, because relations between our countries after the conflict at Khalkhin Gol were quite complicated. Nevertheless, the brothers reported the surviving Russians to the port of Wakkanai. The head of the Wakkanai Township Police Department, Takeshi, who was informed of the shipwreck, was completely confused. On the one hand, it is impossible not to send rescue ships, on the other hand, sending them in such bad weather is sheer madness. I did not want to save the enemy by sacrificing my people. It was decided to send an assistant police inspector and three other people with him to the scene.

Police Inspector Toeishi Isamu ordered the three ships to begin rescue operations. The Japanese crews made every effort to save people for several hours. One ship was chartered by the military, and Major Tanabe Raichi, giving the order to go to sea in a strong storm, took on a lot of responsibility. If something happened to the ship, then the major would have no choice but to make himself hara-kiri. At dawn, the inhabitants of Sarufutsu saw a ship lying on its side, on which people were standing, crying for help. The tree couldn't help. And the storm did not weaken, throwing the bodies of the dead on the coast. Residents tried to lower a small fishing boat, but it immediately capsized. Members of the youth organization, self-defense units of the village pulled the bodies ashore, bandaged those who showed signs of life, fed the rescued.

On December 12, at 4 pm, information about the sinking of the Indigirka steamer was handed over to the USSR Embassy in Tokyo. At this time, the situation on the ship became critical. "Indigirka" heavily tilted. The waves continued to wash over people whose strength was running out.

The Japanese tried to restart the small fishing schooner Tenho Maru. But she, moving away from the pier, eventually turned over. Fortunately, the Japanese rescuers managed to safely reach the shore. At this time, representatives of the police department of the town of Wakkanai, a doctor, translators arrived at the scene - geoglobus.ru. Three steamships Karafuto Maru, Sosui Maru and Sante Maru were only able to leave the Wakkanai port at about 2 am on December 13 at the crash site. Risking their lives, the crews tried to save people. As a result, by 1 p.m. safe place 395 people were delivered. The inhabitants of the village, without closing their eyes, continued all night and morning to remove the corpses, to bring the survivors to their senses. The rescued were warmed by the warmth of the hearts of ordinary Japanese, who shared their clothes with them. When the victims were riding sledges to railway station, in each village they were congratulated on a successful outcome. 402 people were brought to Wakkanai, they were put on the steamer "Karafuto Maru", and on December 14 he left for Otaru.

On December 15, the Consul of Hokkaido Island visited the victims. He was with them until they were sent home on the Ilyich steamer. But the return home turned out to be tragic: the captain of the Indigirka N. Lapshin was sentenced to death, his second assistant V. Peskovsky was more fortunate, who received ten years in prison. And on the coast near the village of Sarufutsu, the waves continued to throw out corpses. All the dead, in agreement with the Soviet government, were cremated, and then sent to the USSR by special train. However, later the Japanese discovered another 30 corpses of Soviet citizens. They were buried in the temple cemetery near the village of Sarufutsu. A wooden tombstone with a corresponding inscription in Japanese was installed on the grave.

According to Japanese newspapers, a total of 430 people were rescued, including 35 women and 22 children. 741 people died.

The death of the steamer "Indigirka" is one of the most tragic disasters in the world history of shipwrecks. However, the presence of prisoners on board made this event little known. They tried to consign him to oblivion. But they did not forget about the death of the unfortunate in the village of Sarufutsu. Every year on December 12, local residents celebrated the day of their memory. In 1969, the local administration had the idea to install tombstones on the site. real monument. In 1970, the "Society for the construction of a monument to those who died in the shipwreck of the ship" Indigirka "" was created. On October 12, 1971, the opening of the monument took place. As conceived by the Japanese architect I. Kenji, the pedestal is made of gray Far Eastern granite. The monument itself is a five-meter metal sculpture in the form of three stylized figures holding hands, protecting human life. A kind of symbol of help in a common misfortune ...

August 18th, 2014 09:45 am

And then I started looking for "Tsinanfu"...
The search led me to the site http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1805476, where the handsome TSINAN is captured on the Sydney roadstead.

"Indigirka" - "Ripon"...

The further history of the Indigirka, and not one, but two, which I found on the site of Vladivostok divers http://vladskuba.rf/tourism/rustourism/93-wreck-indigirka.html, shocked me. I highly recommend reading...

Wrecks of Karamzin Island: history and myths

"Oh, the steamship Indigirka!
This happened in mid-December 1939.
A snowstorm broke out in the North Sea, suddenly huge waves appeared, and big steamer, which ran into an underwater rock, because of the pitching, was flooded with water and in an instant turned over on its side.
The wife is looking for a husband, and the children are looking for their mother. They hug each other.
But in the end, the forces leave them.
Japanese residents, having learned about this catastrophe, risking their lives, do their best to carry out rescue work, despite the fact that people from a foreign country are in trouble. Is it possible to evaluate these deeds coming from all the heart?!
But what a disaster! Still, more than 700 people died at sea.
And only the mournful sound of the waves is heard. The souls of the dead remain here forever.
Ah, the steamship Indigirka! The steamer "Indigirka"!
The clouds float low, low, you can hear the waves on the coast of Onishibetsu, where we remember the past tragedy.
Many years have already passed, now on a coastal hill by the sea, from where their homeland is visible in the distance at sunset, a monument has been erected with the souls of the dead.
The wind blows very sadly on the coast. "
Ishikawa Kikyo

I first heard about Indigirka when I was still a primary school student, when my father took me to the FESCO museum. I was shocked by the guide's story about how the guards shot the prisoners who tried to get out of the flooded holds.
History of tragedy.
From the indictment in case No. 156 on charges of N. L. Lapshin under Art. 59-3 p. “c” part II of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, PESKOVSKY V. L., KRISHCHENKO T. M. under Art. 59-3 p. “c” part I of the Criminal Code and KOPICHINSKY I. P. under Art. 193-17 p. “b” of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR.
“Steamboat “Indigirka” ... On December 8, 1939, at 10 o’clock, it left Nagaevo with an appointment to follow to Vladivostok without cargo, with passengers on board 1134 people. and crew - 39 people.
On December 12, 1939, at 02:20 local time, the steamer Indigirka, en route from Nagaevo to Vladivostok, crashed in the La Perouse Strait, running into the Toddo pitfalls (latitude 45o 21" north; longitude 142o 11" east) . As a result of the accident, the ship died, 741 people. passengers and four crew members.
The number of life-saving equipment on the ship was limited to two boats with a capacity of 40 people. each, with life belts according to the number of crew members and 12 life buoys, while there were 1173 people on board. (passengers and crew).
Under unfavorable meteorological conditions for navigation and the possibility of errors in dead reckoning, Captain LAPSHIN and the 2nd officer on duty PESKOVSKY never took measures to determine the location of the ship by sounding the depths. Assuming that the opened fire refers to the “Stone of Danger” lighthouse, Captain LAPSHIN and the captain’s assistant on duty PESKOVSKY at 01:30 lay down on the compass heading 192o (-12o West) and, having covered 3.3 miles in 20 minutes at 1 hour 50 minutes , lay down on the compass course 282o (-12o west). At about 2:15 a.m., the shore opened ahead, along the bow, the ship was moving at full speed, and LAPSHIN, seeing the danger, did not turn back at full speed, but taking a criminal risk, decided to avoid the danger by making a turn to the right, without slowing down, when the turn to the wind failed, LAPSHIN gave the command “port to side”, but the vessel, about five minutes after the signs of the coast opened, received a blow from the underwater part of the port side on the bank, after which the command “stop” was given to the machine. From that moment on, the machine was out of order, because. the propeller from hitting the stones wedged on the rudar-piss.
The death of Indigirka Having received a hole, the ship was afloat for up to 2 hours and 40 minutes, then drifting about one mile to the southwest, received a number of blows on the right side of the pitfalls and began to roll to the starboard side. At 2 hours 50 minutes the ship finally lay down on the ground with its starboard side, deepening into the water by 9 meters, and rising above sea level by 4 meters.
At the time of the first impact on the pitfalls, the “SOS” signal for help was transmitted on the radio, but help from the outside was not immediately provided, due to the absence of any ships nearby.
Panic-stricken passengers, in the absence of any life-saving equipment, rushed from the holds to the deck, rushed around the deck and fell overboard when a list appeared. Among the passengers were 50 people under investigation and 835 people. former prisoners who have served their sentences, who were accompanied by an escort. In a panic, one of the escorts subjected the passengers leaving the hold to gunfire. Eight members of the ship's crew and two passengers got into the starboard boat launched into the water, while four of the crew got into the boat without permission. The phalinas were cut by the indicated persons and the boat moved away from the side. Of the persons who left the ship, four members of the crew and one passenger remained alive in the boat and did not go to the shore.
On December 13, at noon, the steamer Karafuto-Maru, sailing under the Japanese flag, arrived at the scene of the accident, and the surviving passengers and crew members on board the Indigirka ship were removed. There were still passengers in the holds of the deceased p / v “Indigirka”, who could not get upstairs, because. the ship lay on board and the hatches were filled with water. Captain LAPSHIN left the ship and went on board the Karafuto-Maru steamer, despite the fact that there were still living people (up to 200 people) in the holds of the ship he commanded.
The people in the holds were removed by the Japanese authorities only on December 16, 1939, by means of cuts in the sides of the ship, and this was not done in the fourth hold either.
In this way, only 27 people were saved, who were still able to grab onto the ends lowered by the Japanese, and the weak and sick, due to their weakness, were unable to hold on to the ends, were doomed to death. The management, leaving the injured ship, did not even warn the people remaining in the holds that they were aware of their existence above and that they would be provided with any assistance in rescuing, as a result of which the passengers, after sitting in a helpless state for four days, concluded for themselves that nothing is known about their existence upstairs, they committed suicide by cutting their veins and drowning in water. Of the total number of people on board the steamer "Indigirka", 428 people were saved. (including 35 team members) and 745 people died. (including 4 crew members).”
The second time information about the ship caught my eye in the late 90s. I just started scuba diving and searched the internet for a description interesting places for diving in the Sea of ​​Japan. On the site of a diver from the Khasansky district, I found information that there are two sunken ships near Karamzin Island: the Indigirka and the Japanese destroyer Hibiki. And since then, I, and other divers in Vladivostok, called these vessels “Indigirka” and “Khibiki”. On that site, underwater photographs of sunken ships taken by the author were posted, and a drawing (side and top view) of “Hibiki” was taken from another source. I note right away that this drawing has nothing to do with Hibiki. But more on that in the second part of the article.
And for the third time I ran into the Indigirka in February 2013 - when I found an article on the Internet that divers from Tomsk in 2012 found the steamer Indigirka near Karamzin Island near Vladivostok and installed a memorial plaque on the ship's hull in memory of the dead. Here is what is written on the resource tomsk.bezformata.ru about the Siberian expedition: "In 1923, this ship served as a transport on the same trade lines as the Tomsk steamer. It is connected with the Indigirka political history: in 1939, when the ship was transporting about a thousand prisoners, the ship sank off Cape Soya Japanese island Hokkaido. More than 700 people died. In Soviet times, this story was not made public, and the ship was raised and reflooded in Soviet waters. Few people know about this, but it was one of the largest maritime disasters in human history. In official reports, the history of the Indigirka, for obvious reasons, is practically not mentioned, while it is also said there that the steamer was scrapped for metal in the forties. After our examination of the remains of the ship, we can safely say that this is not true - the Indigirka lies, torn in half by an aerial bomb, off the coast of Karamzin Island.
In the holds of the ship, you can still find things from that time - for example, clothes and dishes. The propeller and some other non-ferrous metal products were not removed from the vessel before the flood, which suggests that they tried to flood it as soon as possible. The history of the ship is full of mysteries and controversial issues, which are currently being clarified in the SCAT club.
On the remains of the ship, which became the grave for several hundred people, the SCAT team installed a memorial plaque "In memory of maritime disasters"
It turns out that this is the same “Ingrika”, the tragedy of which so impressed me in my childhood! The ship lies, one might say, at your side, but I have never been to it! I often dived on the Hibiki, but somehow I didn’t have to dive on the Indigirka.
While navigation is closed, there is time to brush up on the ship's history.
First of all, I started by looking for information about the ship. And it immediately became clear that at least two Indigirkas were operated in those years in the Far East.
The first "Indigirka". In order not to get confused, I will call it “Indigirka-Tsinanfu”.
From the Register of FESCO "Indigirka"
Type and purpose: Cargo-passenger steamer.
Year built: 1886.
Place of construction: England.
Cargo capacity GT(gross tonnage): 2336.
In Dobroflot: 1914-1924
The ship was purchased in 1914. Worked on the Primorsky coast and Northern lines.
In 1920, it was captured by the Dobroflot émigré board during repairs in Shanghai.
Returned to Vladivostok in 1923.
In 1924 it became part of the FESCO.
In 1933, it was transferred to the Special Purpose Underwater Expedition, then to the Pacific Fleet.
Specifications:
Capacity (GRT): 2336
Length (in meters): 96
Width (in meters): 11.6
Board height (in meters): 6.7
Machine power (in horsepower): 1500
Speed ​​(in knots): 10
This is the last of four steamships of the same type (“Changsha 1”, “Chingtu”, “Taiyuan 1”, “Tsinan 1”) built by Scott & Co., CD, Greenock, Scotland in the late 19th century. The first name was "Tsinan", in 1909 it was renamed "Tsinanfu", on 17.4.1914 it was acquired by Dobroflot and renamed "Indigirka". The ship had a steel hull, two decks, two masts, one chimney. The Indigirka-Tsinanfu could carry 15 first class passengers, 28 second class passengers, 28 third class passengers plus 150 deck passengers (in Chinese waters).
06/23/1941 "Indigirka-Tsinanfu" was included in the Pacific Fleet as an artillery unit. In the late 1940s disassembled into metal.
The second "Indigirka". I will call it “Indigirka-Ripon”.
Steamship “Indigirka”, type “Lake”, was built by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, USA. Launched on December 29, 1919 under the name "Lake Galva" and delivered in May 1920 under the name "Ripon". In 1926, the ship was renamed "Malsah", in 1928 "Commercial Quaker", in 1938 the ship was purchased by the USSR, renamed "Indigirka" and transferred to Dalstroy.
"Indigirka"
Type and purpose: Cargo steamer.
Specifications:
Capacity (GRT): 2336
Dlian (in meters): 77.24
Width (in meters): 13.38
Depth (in meters): 7.89
Machine power (in horsepower): 1500
Speed ​​(in knots): 10
Capacity (GRT): 2869
Team: 41 people
Steel hull.
Which of these two "Indigirok" died in 1939? The FESCO museum has a stand dedicated to the tragedy, but there is no information to help identify the ship. In the Museum of Moscow State University. adm. GI Nevelskoy the same picture. I would also like to thank the museum staff for their attentive and friendly attitude!
Continued searching on the internet. As you know, the Internet knows everything. The main thing is to ask the right question - and then with a high degree of probability you can get the right answer. And I got this answer. More precisely, two correct answers:
1. Died "Indigirka-Tsinanfu" 2. Died "Indigirka-Ripon"
Steamer "Indigirka" (formerly "Tsinan" / "Tsinanfu").
This photo is cited by P. Osadchiy and V. Shcherbak in their books, as well as by many other authors on English and Russian sites - even if the article describes a completely different vessel.
Steamboat "Indigirka" (former "Lake Galva"/ "Ripon"/ "Malsah"/ "Commercial Quaker").
And both answers were justified.
Below is a partial list of arguments.
We are sure that in 1939 the cargo-passenger steamer “Indigrka-Tsinanfu” was transporting prisoners and fishermen and died:
1. Peter Osadchy. In the book “Save us on land” in the chapter about “Indigirka” he cited a photograph of “Indigirka-Tsinanfu”.
2. Vladimir Shcherbak. In the book “Famous Ships of Vladivostok” he gives the same photograph of “Indigrka-Tsinanfu”, cites it specifications and writes that "Indigirka" was acquired at the beginning of the 20th century by the Volunteer Fleet.
3. In the Lloyd's Register list, the Indigirka-Ripon is listed as active both in 1939 and 1940, and at least until 1946 (that is, seven years after the crash off the coast of Japan).
4. Lloyd also believes that the Indigrka-Tsinanfu sank off the coast of Hokkaido in 1939.
Lloyd Lloyd Lloyd
5. Museum. V. Arsenyev in 1998 acquired the model of "Indigirka". Here is what the Vladivostok newspaper wrote in its issue dated 12/18/1998: "The V. Arsenyev Museum has replenished with a unique exhibit - a model of the Indigirka with stunning interior detailing. The fate of this bowsprit ship, one of the first representatives Volunteer Fleet, is truly legendary in its tragedy. It is called the second "Titanic". On the night of December 12-13, 1939, the Indigirka ran aground off the island of Hokkaido. 745 people died."
6. The fact that the Indigirka-Ripon was afloat and operated until 1942 was also assured in the US naval intelligence. In "Naval Intelligence Reports (ONI-208R), 1942" "Indigirka-Ripon" is listed as a ship belonging to the Soviet fleet. Although in subsequent editions of the report this information is no longer available.
We are sure that the Indigirka-Ripon died:
1. Captain Yuri Alexandrovich Pudovkin. In an interview, he said the following: “As for the Indigirka, we had at least four of them in the Far East.
The first one, built in the early 20th century, had a bowsprit. My father worked on it.
The second “Indigirka” is a watering can. These are two-cargo cargo ships built in the 1920s in the United States for the Great Lakes. Their length was 76.5 meters, width - 13.5 meters, capacity - 2700 register tons, power steam engine, which worked on coal - 1500 horsepower, speed - 10 knots. Soviet Union Bought about 20 of them. They went north, although they had no ice reinforcements. In December 1939, on the way from Magadan to Primorye, during a storm and heavy snowfall, the Lake-type Indigirka ran aground on the northern tip of Hokkaido, at Cape Soya, and sank. About 700 people died. This tragedy formed the basis of L. Knyazev's story "At the Gates of Bliss".
The third Indigirka was a reinforced ice ship built in Europe.
The fourth “Indigirka” is a refrigerator; she worked at Vostokrybkholodflot”.
2. The FESCO is sure that the Indigirka-Ripon died. In the book “FESCO: A Voyage of 125 Years” in the chapter devoted to the death of the “Indigirka”, there is a photograph of the steamer “Buryat” indicating that this is the same type of vessel as the “Indigirka-Ripon” (i.e. type “Lake”).
3. Martin J. Bollinger, author of Stalin's Slave Ships. Kolyma, the Gulag Fleet, and the Role of the West.”
The list of ships that have ever been operated by Dobroflot-FESCO is given in the Register of the Shipping Company. In Dobroflot-FESCO worked: "Indigrka-Tsinanfu", "Buryat" (formerly "Lake Farley"), as well as six more vessels of the "Lake" type: "Kamchatneft" (formerly "Commercial Alabama"), "Kamchadal" ( ex. “Lake Fensdel”), “Moskalvo” (ex. “Commercial Orlinian”), “Mongol” (ex. “Lake Fablus”), “Turkmen” (ex. “Lake Ferron”) and “Chukcha” (ex. "Lake Fandom"). The shipping company never owned Indigirka-Ripon.
What department (shipowner) did Indigirka-Ripon belong to? And is the information that the “Indigirka” sunken off the coast of Japan belongs to the “Lake” type?
The answer is on the website of the professor of Moscow State University. adm. G.I.Nevelsky Bolotov Valery Pavlovich, organizer and inspirer of conferences dedicated to maritime disasters.
“INCUDICATION in case No. 156 on charges of N. L. Lapshin under Art. 59-3 p. “c” part II of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, PESKOVSKY V. L., KRISHCHENKO T. M. under Art. 59-3 p. “c” part I of the Criminal Code and KOPICHINSKY I. P. under Art. 193-17 p. “b” of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR.
The steamer “Indigirka”, owned by Dalstroy of the GUSDS of the NKVD of the USSR, left Nagaevo on December 8, 1939 at 10 o’clock with an appointment to follow to Vladivostok without cargo, with passengers on board 1134 people. and crew - 39 people….”
So, based on the information collected, the following conclusions can be drawn:
1. In Dobroflot / Sovtorgflot / FESCO, from 1914 to 1933, the Indigirka-Tsinanfu was operated. At that time, FESCO did not have other Indigirok.
2. The lost Indigirka was a Lake-type steamer.
3. The lost Indigirka belonged to Dalstroy.
4. Dalstroy owned Indigirka-Ripon.
With a greater degree of probability, we can assume that the Indigirka-Ripon died.
Why has there been such confusion? Perhaps the answer to this question was given by Martin J. Bollinger in the book “Stalin’s slave ship. Kolyma, the Gulag Fleet, and rhe Role of the West.”
We figured out the first question: off the coast of Hokkaido, the Indigirka-Ripon was shipwrecked. The second question remains: was that “Ingrika” flooded off the coast of Karamzin Island?
Oleg Matveev in the article “Unknown Tragedy in the La Perouse Strait” writes:
“To decide the fate of the sunken Indigirka on the ship Sverdlovsk, a special government commission of 7 people went to Japan, which arrived in the port of Otaru on January 5, 1940. With the help of EPRON divers (Expedition of underwater ships, the vessel was carefully examined, and the corpses of passengers remaining there were removed from the holds. And for all the services rendered Japanese side Soviet commission in the form of transport, diving equipment and other equipment, the Japanese charged a fairly high fee in cash. According to the results of the work of the commission, taking into account the damage received by Indigirka, it was recognized as economically inexpedient to raise and restore it.
And at the very beginning of February, the same “Sverdlovsk” delivered its terrible cargo to Vladivostok - urns with the ashes of 396 dead. Approximately the same number of bodies have not been found.”
Employees of the Museum of Moscow State University. adm. G.I. Nevelskoy and Professor Bolotov V.P. they are also sure that the Indigirka-Ripon is still resting off the coast of Hokkaido.
It should be noted that not only Japanese rescuers, but also ordinary fishermen from the village of Sarufutsu, off the coast of which the ship was in distress, took part in rescuing the passengers of the Indigirka. On December 19, 1939, Jin Genzo, Sato Koichiro and others rescued several passengers. Having tied a bundle of towels (hachimaki) around their heads and in only loincloths (fundoshi), they reached the Indigirka in boats across the icy and stormy sea. They smashed the porthole of the steamer and, penetrating through it, rescued three people. They were nursed by Hosoi Jinshiro, who was the chairman of the fishing cooperative.
The tragedy of 1939 is still remembered in the village today. On October 12, 1971, a monument was erected on a hill near the village of Sarufutsu, at the burial place of those who died on the steamer Indigirka. The sculptor from Otaru I. Kenji created a five-meter sculptural group in the form of three oval figures holding hands, symbolizing the protection of human life, figuratively made in the form of a ball located inside the group.
On the day of commemoration of those who died at sea, a boat leaves the port of Sarufutsu, goes around the remains of the ship, visible from the shore, people throw flowers into the sea, commemorate those who have a monument erected on a high hill.
Let's return to the interview of Captain Yu.A. Pudovkin: “The third Indigirka was a reinforced ice ship built in Europe.” Most likely it is a dry cargo ship, diesel-electric ship "Indigirka", type "Lena" reinforced ice class, built in Holland. The ship was launched on 8 September 1956 and put into service in March 1957.
Specifications:
Maximum length: 130.19 m.
Maximum width: 18.88 m.
Board height: 11.2 m.
Draft: 8.07 m.
Speed: 13.2 knots
Number of holds: 6
Gross tonnage: 7761 reg.t.
Net tonnage: 4285 reg.t.
Deadweight: 6450 tons
The ship was decommissioned in 1982.
Could this “Indigirka” be flooded near Karamzin Island? Given that the ship's home port was Murmansk, and the ship belonged to MMP, I think this is unlikely.
And “the fourth Indigirka is a refrigerator; she worked at Vostokrybkholodflot.” This is a receiving-transport refrigerator motor ship "Indigirka", type "Yana". The ship was built in Germany in 1956. Port of registry Vladivostok.
Specifications:
Maximum length: 111.37 m.
Maximum width: 14.54 m.
Board height: 8.30 m.
Draft: 6.24 m.
Speed: 14.0 knots
Gross tonnage: 3782 reg.t.
Net tonnage: 1800 reg.t.
Deadweight: 3616 tons
The ship was decommissioned in 1985.
So what kind of ship lies near about. Karamzin? In order to identify the vessel and get an answer to this question, the Vladskuba Diving Center, together with the Scqualus Diving Center and the regional branch of the Russian Geographic Society in the summer of 2013 he plans to conduct an expedition to Karamzin Island ... "(c)

The death of the motor ship "Indigirka" in December 1939 became one of the most major disasters the Soviet fleet. The technical details of the shipwreck are well described, but something else is striking in this story: the behavior of people, most of whom were prisoners from the Kolyma Gulag camps, as well as bosses and NKVD officers.

Motor ship for the transportation of "cargo"

The Indigirka left the Kolyma port of Nagaevo on December 8, 1939. Were last days navigation, sea ​​route at that time it was the only way to communicate with the "mainland", and the Magadan authorities - and the actual ruler there was the NKVD - was in a hurry to deliver hundreds of prisoners to Vladivostok for a gossip. Navigation would be closed, and they had to be kept in Kolyma until May 1940. This is precisely what explains why cargo ship, not intended for the transport of people, was crammed with them to the eyeballs.

The Indigirka was the smallest ship in Dalstroy, a camp trust that operated Far East. Its displacement was 2.7 thousand tons, length - 77 meters, cargo compartment- 4.7 thousand cubic meters. Cabins were designed for only 12 passengers. The ship was considered relatively new and fully serviceable; it was built in the USA in 1919, underwent a major overhaul in 1937, and a year later was sold by the Americans to the USSR.

On board were 39 crew members and 1134 passengers. From total number 820 passengers were sent to Vladivostok for a gossip. In fact, this meant that those who served time in Kolyma were added a new one - usually from 5 years and more (for political people on a standard charge under the 58th, anti-Soviet article). However, political, according to eyewitnesses, accounted for only about 20% of the prisoners transported by the Indigirka. The rest were inveterate criminals - the fact that they were taken to Vladivostok for judgment, and not tried on the spot, in Magadan, meant that they had committed serious crimes (from banditry and murders in the camp to theft of gold from the mines).

About 50 people were already former convicts- released under the first Beria amnesty. Another 60 passengers went to "sharashki" on European part USSR: Beria, heading the NKVD at the end of 1938, created a system of closed institutes in which scientists and engineers from among the prisoners worked for the military-industrial complex. Looking ahead, let's say that the inventor and future creator of the Soviet space program Sergei Korolev was supposed to get on this Indigirka flight, but he stayed in the Kolyma hospital and left for the mainland on another ship. About 200 passengers were civilians, that is, free people. All the passengers were stuffed into the holds of the ship (one compartment for the convicts, another for the amnestied and free). Zekov accompanied an armed NKVD convoy of 28 men led by Kopichinskiy, who had a reputation as a sadist in Kolyma.

Since the ship was considered a cargo ship, there were only two lifeboats with a capacity of 40 people each and 55 lifebuoys. The floating craft complied with the instructions and documents of the ship, according to which the crew members and passengers on the Indigirka cannot be more than 50 people. Everything that was in the hold was officially considered "cargo".

Lost the course

On the afternoon of December 11, when the Indigirka approached the La Perouse Strait, a storm and heavy snow began to fall. In the evening, the ship passed Cape Aniva in the very south of Sakhalin ( southern half The islands then belonged to the Japanese). A lighthouse was erected on this cape. Since there was no cargo on the ship, it had a large windage, and therefore at night it began to be demolished to the south, to the island of Hokkaido.

At midnight on December 12, Peskovsky, the second assistant to the captain, took over the watch, but Captain Lapshin remained on the bridge with him. For Lapshin, this was the thirteenth hour of work in a day, but, as he later explained during the investigation, he could not leave his assistant alone, since he was still an inexperienced navigator. At 01:30 at night, they noticed two lights in the sea, mistaking them for the lights of an oncoming ship. The captain ordered to deviate from the course. Since the weather was bad and the ship rocked heavily, the captain refused to measure the depths. At about 02:15 "Indigirka" flew into the underwater rocks.

The propeller jammed from hitting the stones, and the machine was out of order. A terrible roar was heard in the bottom of the ship, the lights on board went out. "Indigirka" strongly heeled.

The ship ran into the Sea Lion rock, located 1400 meters from the coast near the village of Sarufutsu in the Soya district on the island of Hokkaido. As it turned out, Captain Lapshin not only did not order to measure the depths, but also did not pay attention to navigational instruments - he passed this route dozens of times and was sure that he would pass it even with his eyes closed.

Twenty minutes after the accident, "Indigirka" had a roll of 70 degrees. The steering, navigational and radio room fell off and went to sea. The waves washed away a group of passengers who were on the upper deck.

The largest hole was formed in the bow of the ship, just where the convicts were. Captain Lapshin gave the order to withdraw all the people from the holds, but the guards from the NKVD at the hold opened fire from revolvers and rifles at the people leaving. According to various sources, they killed from 10 to 30 prisoners.

However, the convicts, or rather, those same inveterate criminals, simply crushed the chain of NKVD officers and rushed to freedom - no, not to escape from the ship, but to rob and rape passengers from the free. As eyewitnesses later recalled, about a dozen amnestied people were stabbed to death - the criminals felt the greatest hatred towards them.

During this maritime disaster, which happened in the La Perouse Strait in December 1939, according to official figures, 745 people were killed, including 4 crew members. Belonging to "Dalstroy" cargo steamer The Indigirka was sailing from Nagaev to Vladivostok, and had over a thousand passengers on board (although the Indigirka was exclusively a cargo ship).
The disaster occurred due to the fact that the "Indigirka" stumbled at night on pitfalls. Having received three strong blows the ship turned over on its side.

The passengers were mostly convicts

According to the indictment and the testimony of the captain of the ship N. L. Lapshin, the Indigirka was carrying a large number of prisoners - it was the convicts (over 800 people) and their escorts who were mostly passengers on the ship. As stated in the indictment, the transportation of passengers on a cargo ship was a flagrant violation.
Based official version, the captain showed criminal negligence and disoriented the steamer's course, as a result of which, under the conditions of a 9-point storm and snowstorm, a catastrophe occurred - the steamer received several hits on the starboard side of the pitfalls, the ship tilted and went under water by 9 meters. Storm waves washed dozens of people overboard. All this happened in the La Perouse Strait near Cape Soya.
According to the testimony of the captain of the Indigirka, N. L. Lapshin, who was subsequently arrested, a panic began on the ship - from life-saving appliances just a few boats. The convicts slaughtered the guards (several people were killed), in turn, the NKVD riflemen opened fire on the rebellious convicts (according to various sources, about 20 people were shot dead).
One of the boats was launched and 8 people (mostly crew members) got into it, of which 4 were unauthorized. Only five made it to the shore, the rest perished.

How they were rescued

Only on December 13, closer to noon, did the Japanese steamer Karafuto-Maru approach the accident site. Some of the passengers and crew members of the Indigirka were removed from wrecked steamer. But there were still about 200 people in the holds, including women and children. Help came to them from the Japanese only after 3 days. The sides of the ship were cut with autogenous, but not all the holds were opened, as a result of which only 27 people were saved.
Many of the passengers, without waiting for rescue, committed suicide - drowned themselves or opened their veins. According to some survivors, all the rescued children (their exact number is unknown) subsequently died.

On Japanese territory

The Japanese were formally at war with the USSR (relatively recently, the life at Khalkhin Gol died down). The NKVD officers ordered the passengers who escaped and delivered to the port of Wakkanai to destroy all documents, and the convicts were ordered to call themselves workers of Dalstroy. 428 passengers and crew members of the ship were saved. As one of the surviving passengers, a fish factory worker Nikolai Tarabanko, recalled, the Japanese treated them well and provided the necessary medical assistance. However, the Chekists and the Soviet consul Tikhonov kept a close eye on the fact that passengers did not come into contact with their rescuers and did not take anything from them.

Homecoming

At the end of December, the rescued passengers and crew members were taken to the USSR on the Ilyich steamer. Even on the way, the guards began to beat the convicts, who, in their opinion, "gave up weakness" in communicating with the Japanese. Two prisoners who allegedly participated in the murder of Chekists on the Indigirka were shot and the corpses were thrown overboard.
For a long time former passengers of the sunken ship from among the freemen, upon arrival at home, they could not restore the documents destroyed in Japan, many of them were suspected of spying for the Japanese.
For criminal negligence, which caused mass death of people, four officials were tried - the captain of the ship N. L. Lapshin (he was shot as a saboteur and a Japanese spy), two of his assistants, V. L. Peskovsky and T. M. Krishchenko (they received 5 to 8 year camps). In addition, P. I. Kopichinsky, the head of the convoy convoy, served 4 years out of the measured 10 years. Kopichinskiy then even continued to serve in the Gulag system.
... "Indigirka" lies on seabed off the coast of Japan. In the village of Sarafutsu (Japanese village of the governorate of Hokkaido) a monument to the victims of the disaster was erected. Full list The dead are still unknown.

The whole world was shocked by the tragic death of the Titanic, which sank in the cold waters of the ocean in 1912. But few people know that the Russian steamer Indigirka, en route to the port of Vladivostok, after only 27 years, repeated the fate of the Titanic.

Early in the morning of December 8, 1939, the steamer Indigirka, the property of Dalnostroy, left the port of Nagaevo heading for Vladivostok. According to the plan, the transport had to make its way with stops and pick up workers who had finished unloading the timber and were returning home with their families. Captain was appointed captain of the ship long-distance navigation N.L. Lapshin, as his assistants were the captain of small navigation T.M. Krishchenko and navigator of small navigation V.L. Peskovsky. Passengers were picked up up to the exit to the open sea, in total by this moment there were 1173 people on the ship along with the crew.

The story of the journey of the steamer Indigirka with prisoners on board

Travel at this time of the year, already dangerous due to strong storm winds, freezing water and poor visibility, was further complicated by the number of people, among whom were women and children in the amount of at least 120 people. In addition, just before leaving, a group of prisoners under escort of NKVD officers was brought on board the ship. The criminals were taken to Vladivostok for a review of the case, on the ship they were placed in a separate hold under heavy guard, forbidding the workers to even look in their direction.

Indigirka went well without failures at full speed, having already overcome most distance, when the weather at sea began to deteriorate badly, thick fluffy snow began to fall, through which nothing could be seen, all the holds were packed with people, but there was not enough space for everyone, so many remained on deck.

The property of Dalnostroy is the steamer Indigirka

Late at night on December 11, the ship entered the La Perouse Strait and continued to move on calmly, but suddenly there was a strong push, the people who were in the holds fell to the floor, and those who were on deck fell overboard, right into the icy water. "Indigirka" ran into the pitfalls of "Toddo". The sides of the ship began to flood with water, people who were in the holds and found themselves in complete darkness raised a panic, many trying to get out, grabbed their neighbors, pulling them to the bottom.

There were only two lifeboats in transport, but each of them was designed only for 40 people with a maximum load, which was quite consistent with the number of crew. There were also several life jackets and 12 life buoys, of course, that this number was by no means enough for more than 1000 people.

The captain of the ship gave the order to lie on the port side and reverse, but the machines were no longer working, the team barely managed to put the valves on the steam boilers in time so that they, being completely flooded with water, would not explode. The ship turned around several times, and its starboard side got stuck in the ground, plunging to a depth of 9 meters, while most of it lifted up 4 meters above the surface of the water.

Panic on the ship

In a panic, few remembered the existing boats, only 8-10 people guessed to launch one of them into the water and try to sail away from the ship, but not all of them managed to survive, because the idea itself was dangerous in conditions of raging waves and proximity pitfalls.

The next day, on the 12th, towards evening it cleared up, and the surviving passengers saw the shore of the island of Hokkaido, from where people waved their hands vigorously. Early the next morning, rescue came in the form of two Japanese schooners, whose crew began to evacuate passengers who were on the deck of the ship. Some of the passengers were badly frostbitten, others had gunshot wounds, as they were former prisoners, on whom panic-stricken guards opened fire.

After Japanese evacuated most of the passengers, and transported to the nearest port of Otaru, it turned out that there could be more people in the holds of the sinking ship. And indeed, the Japanese ship that returned from a return voyage brought about 30 more people alive, many of them children.

TO saved arrived soviet ambassador in Japan, as well as employees of the Red Cross mission, they were given a separate room, heated and fed, provided with clothes, and in the meantime, an investigation into the death of the ship had already begun in the Soviet Union, in which the surviving captain and his assistants were accused. It has been proven that it tragic mistake The team cost the lives of 744 people, but only 433 people were saved, many of whom subsequently became seriously ill and could no longer get a job in their homeland, as they were suspected of sympathy for the Japanese.

Homecoming

The fatherland met the passengers and the crew of the Indigirka not at all joyfully, the crew members were expected by the court and the tribunal, and the passengers were dragged for a long time through the interrogation rooms, wanting to make sure that they did not go over to the side of the enemy and did not become spies.

In the end it's about death "Indigirki" closed only by the end of 1940, the captain, his assistants, as well as the head of the port, who gave the order to load such a number of passengers on a cargo ship, where there were no beds or cabins, were punished.

The bodies of the dead, also found the Japanese, were transported ashore and buried near the village of Sarufutsu, where on October 12, 1971 a monument was erected in the form of three sculptures holding hands surrounding round ball symbolizing life. locals they sacredly honor the memory of the dead, annually commemorating them with mourning wreaths launched into the water.