Cruise of death. The crash of "Admiral Nakhimov" became "the Soviet Titanic. Why "Nakhimov" went to the bottom? Admiral Nakhimov ship wreck

30 years ago, on August 31, 1986, the passenger liner Admiral Nakhimov sank in the Novorossiysk Bay. At 23:12, the bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev collided with the Admiral Nakhimov. The liner received heavy damage to the hull, water poured into the open windows, and within 7-8 minutes it sank. As a result of the disaster, 423 people died, including 359 tourists and 64 crew members. According to experts, the cause of the tragedy was the wrong actions of the captains of both ships.

The passenger liner "Admiral Nakhimov" was built in Bremen (Germany) in 1925 and was originally called "Berlin". At that time, German engineers did not use welding, and the entire hull was riveted. Displacement - 9000 tons; length - 174.3 m; width - 21.1 m; height - 11.8 m; mechanisms power - 12000 l. With.; speed - 16 knots. Crew - about 270 people, passenger capacity - 1500 people. The ship made transatlantic crossings until 1938, then it was used as a cruise ship on voyages to Svalbard or the Mediterranean.

With the outbreak of World War II, it was used as a hospital ship and transport for the transport of troops. In January 1945, the Berlin steamer, under heavy guard, approached Libau to evacuate part of the troops from the encircled German Courland group. On January 31, 1945, in the "Pomor Bay", on the roadstead of Swinemünde, the "Berlin" hit a mine, and the ship was sunk. At the beginning of 1947, when trying to raise a ship, an explosion occurred again, and the ship again sank to the bottom. The second salvage was carried out on September 17, 1947. Then the ship received a new name - "Admiral Nakhimov", and was later taken to the dock of the Kronstadt plant for partial repairs. From 1949 to 1957 "Admiral Nakhimov" was undergoing a major overhaul in the GDR.

Since 1957 - as part of the passenger fleet of the USSR, the shipowner is the Black Sea Shipping Company. The first captain under the Soviet flag is Nikolai Antonovich Sobolev (he was a permanent captain until 1978). The ship was very popular with passengers. "Admiral Nakhimov" carried out several secret missions. So, in 1962, during the Caribbean crisis, "Admiral Nakhimov" was recruited to transport soldiers to Cuba. In 1979, two secret flights Odessa - Cuba (Matanzas) - Ethiopia (Assab) took place with a total duration of about six months to deliver Cuban soldiers to participate in hostilities in Africa. Also, the vessel was used for the practice of students of higher and secondary specialized maritime educational institutions.

Its last scheduled repair and classification "Admiral Nakhimov" took place in January-April 1985 in Varna. In accordance with the cruise plan, the liner spent the whole day on August 31 in the port of Novorossiysk. It was a hot day. Numerous excursions tired the cruise participants. The ship was very hot in the sun. Upon returning to their cabins, passengers opened the windows, including those on the lower decks, to ventilate and cool the premises. With the onset of the evening coolness, cultural and entertainment programs began, and the crew prepared the ship for departure.

At 10 p.m. on August 31, 1986, the ship under the command of Captain V. G. Markov left the berth. The next port of call was Sochi. The weather was perfect: calm sea, light breeze and good visibility. Yes, and swimming along the Caucasian coast was a common thing for the crew. And at that time, on a course of 58 degrees at a speed of 11.5 knots, the bulk carrier "Pyotr Vasev" was heading from Canada to Novorossiysk with a cargo of about 30,000 tons of grain. Captain V.I. Tkachenko commanded the bulk carrier. At 23:00 "Admiral Nakhimov" lay down on a course of 160 degrees. Captain Markov instructed the officer on duty and went down from the bridge to the cabin. On the ship "Pyotr Vasev" the officer on duty received information about the course of the "Admiral Nakhimov" and a request to skip it. At that moment, Tkachenko climbed onto the bridge and, after listening to the information, confirmed that he was ready to let the cruise ship through.

And at 11:12 p.m., a tragedy occurred - a strange collision of ships at an angle close to a right one. The blow was delivered to the starboard side of the Admiral Nakhimov by the upper part of the stem of the Pyotr Vasev motor ship above the waterline and the bulb (the part of the bow of the ship protruding just below the waterline) below the waterline in two compartments: diesel generator and engine room. Having received large damage to the hull on the starboard side, the Admiral Nakhimov sank a few minutes after the impact. Open portholes near the waterline, not closed clinket watertight doors in the main transverse watertight bulkheads, which had to be closed before leaving the port, contributed to the fact that the ship quickly went under water. At the crash site, about 1,000 people were on the surface of the water at the same time.

"Pyotr Vasev" survived and participated in saving people. At that time, a pilot boat LK-90 was sailing from the port towards "Peter Vasyov" to escort the dry cargo ship to the berth. Seeing the steamer tilted to starboard, the captain of the boat O. Lyakh immediately shouted on the air: "Nakhimov" went on board! At 11:35 p.m., LK-90 approached the crash site and set about rescuing people, while radioing that tugboats and rescue boats would be needed. The captain of the port of Novorossiysk, G. L. Popov, immediately instructed all watercraft to proceed to the accident area to save people. Tugs, road boats, small passenger boats of the Raduga type, passenger hydrofoils Kometa were the first to take off at the crash site. At the same time, the command to withdraw and follow to the disaster area was received by border boats.

As a result of the disaster, 423 people died, including 359 tourists and 64 crew members. Not everyone was able to find and raise to the surface. 64 dead remained forever under water. Working in the premises of the sunken ship, two divers died. The area, bounded by a circle with a radius of 500 meters, the center of which is the site of the sunken ship "Admiral Nakhimov", is officially the burial place of the victims of the disaster.

According to experts, the cause of the tragedy was the wrong actions of the captains of both ships. In March 1987, in Odessa, after almost a six-month investigation, the trial of captains V. Markov and V. Tkachenko took place. Both were found guilty under Art. 85 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR. The captains received 15 years in prison. In November 1992, by decrees of the presidents of Ukraine and Russia, both captains, one of whom was serving a sentence in Russia, the other in Ukraine, were pardoned and released.

On the high slope of Cape Doob of the Tsemess Bay, near the lighthouse, in 1987 a memorial was erected in memory of the tragic death of the steamer Admiral Nakhimov. It contains a clock raised from a sunken ship and stopped at the moment of the tragedy. On the cast-iron stele there is an inscription: “To those who died in the shipwreck of the steamer Admiral Nakhimov on August 31, 1986.” On the cast mourning slabs are the names of the dead passengers and crew members.

The official version of the disaster caused many doubts, so several alternative versions of the cause of the death of the Admiral Nakhimov appeared. So, the investigation made the captains "switchmen", but the government commission and the investigation did not consider that the higher authorities could be guilty. The ship was 60 years old and obsolete. In accordance with international conventions, the design of a passenger ship must ensure its buoyancy, even if at least two compartments are flooded. "Nakhimov" could no longer be sent to sea. On July 8, 1986 (almost two months before the disaster), the shipping company drew up an act: the ship was not suitable for further use. However, on this old ship, at the direction of the head of the Black Sea Shipping Company S. Lukyanchenko, who signed the same act, 1200 passengers were put on board and sent to sea. Thus, the managerial mistakes of the higher authorities did not lead to new criminal cases or at least resignations.

It was also noted that until the very moment of the collision, Tkachenko practically did not depart from the SARP (automated radar plotting system). And the device showed a discrepancy with the vessel, which Tkachenko considered the Nakhimov, at 2 miles. In addition, according to the data received, the bearing also increased. The position of the unknown ship, judging by the instruments, created the illusion of an absolutely safe situation. Researcher Vladimir Chuev has put forward the application of microwave.

The collision took place at the end of the summer. Often this time coincides with an increase in solar activity. It happens that it was on such days and nights that phantom targets suddenly appeared on the radar screens and, conversely, real targets disappeared. Chuev carefully studied the collection "Solar data" of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. And then it turned out: since August 17, 1986, a sharp jump in electromagnetic radiation from space, equal to twenty percent, was found in the testimony of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory. However, it was not recorded by reference observatories in Japan and Canada. This discrepancy in the data of the reference observatories and the Krymskaya observatory lasted until September 1. And then everything returned to normal. After analyzing these facts, Chuev came to the conclusion that the region of Crimea and the North Caucasus (including the Tsemess Bay and Novorossiysk) was affected not by solar, but by unknown directional electromagnetic radiation. It was fed from afar, perhaps through an artificial satellite of the Earth. Perhaps through intelligence systems like AWACS. There is also indirect evidence. Prior to the tragedy in the Tsemess Bay, on the ships “Geroi Sevastopol”, “Burgas” and on other ships, navigators registered false targets on radar several times. In some cases, a situation was created when a collision was miraculously avoided.

Thus, there is a version that the shipwreck near Novorossiysk is the result of the use of microwave weapons. This version is superimposed on a chain of strange catastrophes in the late USSR (for example, the Chernobyl disaster), which generally led to the destabilization of society and the destruction of Soviet civilization. And this was beneficial to the external and internal enemies of the Soviet Union.

There are other versions of the tragedy. Thus, Alexei Sinyakov, a professor from St. Petersburg, put forward the hypothesis of the so-called local geophysical resonance (LGR). Being a flight safety specialist, he believes that LGR has caused many disasters: in the air, on the ground, under water (in particular, a fire on the Komsomolets nuclear submarine). On the evening of August 31, 1986, a geophysical resonance could manifest itself in the Black Sea: an unusual glow of the atmosphere was observed, and two hours after the death of the Nakhimov, a strong earthquake occurred in the western part of the sea. During geophysical resonance, a person managing a complex technical object loses the opportunity to accurately assess the situation and make the right decision. This can explain the inadequate behavior of Captain Tkachenko.

In September 1986, the Soviet Union was shocked by the catastrophe that happened on the Black Sea. On the night of August 31, 1986, the large cruise passenger ship Admiral Nakhimov, once owned by Germany and transferred to the USSR after the Great Patriotic War in the form of a huge pile of metal, crashed near the port city of Novorossiysk.

The Admiral Nakhimov, repaired and delivered for passenger and lightning transportation to the Black Sea Fleet, had 12 watertight partitions, huge tanks for filling with water in such a way that the ship remained afloat for the maximum amount of time, hundreds of boats and life jackets.

Steamboat "Admiral Nakhimov" at the Batumi pier

Relying on the reliability and strength of the ship, its captain and crew eventually stopped paying attention to safety, paying minimum attention to it, devoting all their time to the convenience of passengers accommodated in beautiful, comfortable cabins.

On the evening of August 31, the ship unmoored from the berth in Novorossiysk and headed, with more than 1,000 passengers on board, towards Sochi. As soon as the ship approached the exit from the Tsemes Bay, an icon appeared on its radar about an approaching ship, following in relation to « Admiral Nakhimov » what is called nose to nose.

The captain of the "Nakhimov" immediately contacted by radio the captain of the oncoming ship, which turned out to be the bulk carrier "Pyotr Vasev" - en route with a cargo of grain to the port of arrival. According to the rules of navigation, the oncoming ship in this situation had the right of primacy when passing into the bay, while the Admiral Nakhimov was obliged, without slowing down, to pass in relation to it on the port side, while turning to the right. But the captain of the Nakhimov for some reason decided not to follow the rules of navigation and entered into negotiations with the captain of the Pyotr Vasev about changing the maneuver, suggesting that he give up the palm to him and let the passenger ship pass. The Coast Guard officer entered the discussion, and actually allowed the dangerous maneuver.

The negotiations were long, the second officer on the Nakhimov, trying to understand whether the cargo bulk carrier was really ready to give way, asked the captain of the Pyotr Vasev several times over the radio about his confidence in the decision, and only having received repeated confirmation began the maneuver.

At 5 minutes of the 12th evening, the courts began to implement their plans, but for unknown reasons, « Petre Vasev » there was a hitch, watching which the second assistant captain on the Admiral Nakhimov decided to change the course slightly, first by 5, and after a few minutes by 10 degrees. As a result of this maneuver, the danger to the passenger liner not only did not decrease, but became practically obvious, these actions were strictly prohibited by the maritime charter, which states that any change in the course of the vessel must be clearly visible to the vessel approaching. Wanting to avoid a possible collision, the second assistant should have sharply put the rudder to the left, and by this action to avoid a powerful blow that followed the collision of ships.

"Pyotr Vasev", which had huge metal bulbs on its nose, crashed into a passenger steamer at a speed of 23 knots. His captain believed until the last moment that the oncoming vessel would take some kind of maneuver and did not follow the real situation, as he believed that it would be quite sufficient to observe the automatic radar plotting system, on the screen of which the ships appeared as small dots. It should be noted that this system was not perfect, since quite often it misled the captains into the so-called radar hypnosis, due to which the real proximity of the ship is distorted, which happened to the dot that denoted Admiral Nakhimov on the radar.

Only at the last moment before the collision, the captain of the "Peter Vasev" ordered to reduce the speed to medium, again making a mistake, due to which he became the culprit in the death of hundreds of children, women and men - passengers of the ill-fated ship.

From the strongest blow, the Nakhimov received damage incompatible with its being afloat, the skin cracked in several places, water flooded three compartments at once, including the engine compartment, the light went out on the entire ship and it began to roll sharply to the right.

The Nakhimov team did not have time to evacuate, many passengers ended up in the water without life belts and vests, while others were unable to leave the rapidly flooded lower decks. After 7 minutes it was all over, and the ship and the passengers, who could not swim, or who did not have time to get out of the cabins, went to the bottom.

The approaching rescue boats and helicopters managed to save a little more than 800 people, almost 6 hundred passengers and crew members died. The lawsuit that began recognized the actions of the captains of the ships and their assistants as unlawful. Captains V.I. Tkachenko and V.G. Markov were stripped of their ranks and ranks and sentenced to 15 years each.

On August 31, 1986, two miles from Cape Doob, almost in the waters of the Novorossiysk Bay, the passenger ship "Admiral Nakhimov" sank. On board were 1234 people, 423 of whom are considered dead. The bodies of many of them have never been found. The cause of the disaster remains a mystery.

"Admiral Nakhimov" rightfully took the place of the leader, and not only because it was the largest passenger liner on the Black Sea. "Admiral Nakhimov" is the famous steamer "Berlin", one of the first extra-class passenger liners, launched from the stocks in Germany in 1925.

The ship served the passenger line Bremen - New York, was torpedoed during the Second World War by an English submarine and sank at the mouth of the Svine River. In this state - lying on the bottom - the ship was received in 1948 by the Soviet Union after the defeat of Germany. Despite this, the Register of the USSR confirmed its good preservation.

Ten years before the Berlin was born, an icy mountain had torn through the starboard side of the infamous Titanic. The lesson of the Titanic, deeply comprehended by shipbuilding science, led to a clear constructive solution: to separate the hulls of ships by a certain number of transverse watertight bulkheads so that the ship must remain afloat when any two adjacent compartments are flooded. There were twelve such bulkheads on the Nakhimov.

A few words about the crash site - the Tsemes Bay. The bay itself is shaped like a giant horseshoe. The courses of passenger ships sailing on the Crimean-Caucasian line are impeccably debugged. Departing from the Novorossiysk pier, the "passengers" turn to the right, pass the bay and then go along the coast at a relatively small (several miles) distance from it. Vessels coming from the sea cross this "passenger" course. Thus, the intersection of courses (but not a collision!) "Nakhimov" and "Vaseva" was predetermined.

"Pyotr Vasev" was a specialized vessel for the transport of grain. It was built in Japan in 1981 and is equipped with the most modern navigational instruments, including equipment for automatic processing of information related to the divergence of ships. We add that such vessels - bulk carriers - differ markedly from conventional bulk carriers in their higher strength.

Much of the Novorossiysk disaster is explained by the design of the Vaseva grain carrier. It was equipped with the so-called nasal bulb - a special cylindrical nozzle to overcome the resistance of the water mass when the vessel was moving. It was the bow bulb - a powerful multi-meter ram in the underwater part of the vessel - that played a fatal role in the death of the Nakhimov.

It is known for sure that at the time of the collision, the Nakhimov was moving at full speed at a speed of at least ten knots (about 5 meters per second). Bulb "Vaseva" began to cut the side of the "Nakhimov" like a can opener into a metal can. In a matter of seconds, a hole with an area of ​​​​several tens of square meters was formed. Probably three compartments were filled with water. This "Nakhimov" could not stand it and began to quickly sink to the right side. The open portholes on the lower decks also played a fatal role, as well as, possibly, an additional heeling moment from the impact of the bulb in the lower part of the side.

One more technical detail should be mentioned, which played an important role in the tragedy. In the transverse watertight bulkheads that ensure the buoyancy of the vessel, openings are made to move people from compartment to compartment. In safe navigation conditions, these openings remain open, however, at the slightest threat to safety, in particular, the entry and exit of the ship from the port, the openings are closed by the so-called clinket door - a special waterproof shield. And on the Nakhimov, according to some experts, the clinket doors in the transverse bulkheads were open, and the water that rushed into the hole could quickly spread from compartment to compartment.

August 31, 1986, 22.00. Warm southern evening, the sky in the stars, the sea is calm. The steamer "Admiral Nakhimov" with passengers on board departed from the berth of the port of Novorossiysk and followed to the exit from the Tsemess Bay, heading to Sochi. Having passed the Penai banks, the ship lay down on a course of 160 degrees, following a 12-knot course. There were 1234 people on board: 888 passengers and 346 crew members.

At this time, the cargo ship-dry cargo ship "Pyotr Vasev" (larger displacement, heavily loaded) entered the Tsemess Bay, following at a speed of 11.5 knots on a course of 36 degrees. There were about 30,000 tons of barley from Canada on board. The ships approached on intersecting courses. The total speed of their movement was over 23 knots, or 43 kilometers per hour.

In accordance with Rule No. 15 of COLREG-72, the steamer "Admiral Nakhimov", which discovered the oncoming motor ship "Pyotr Vasev", had to give way to it (stop or turn aside). The rule is the same as for the movement of cars at an unregulated intersection, elementary not only for the captain of the vessel, but also for the bus driver. At the same time, "Pyotr Vasev" in this situation had to go at the same speed without changing course (Rule No. 17 COLREG-72). In addition, ships leaving the Tsemes Bay, in accordance with the rules in force here, must keep to the right (western) part of the bay, and ships entering it, to the left (eastern) side, when viewed from the shore.

However, the steamer "Admiral Nakhimov" did not go directly to the sea, in order to then turn towards the Caucasian coast (to the east), but immediately laid a course near Cape Doob and further - along the coast towards Sochi in an easterly direction, that is, it did not go out on its own side bay waters. Since the Pyotr Vasev did not violate the rules in this sense and entered the bay, correctly adhering to its eastern side, the ships began to approach on intersecting courses.

In this situation, it was enough for the Admiral Nakhimov steamer to turn 25-30 degrees to the right, as required by Rule 15, and the ships would freely disperse to port. But the captain of the Admiral Nakhimov did not want to act according to these rules. He did not change course and preferred to enter into radiotelephone conversations with the captain of the ship "Pyotr Vasev". Through the mediation of a coastal ship traffic control post, he agreed that, contrary to the requirements of COLREGs-72, the steamer Admiral Nakhimov would follow the same course at the same speed, and Pyotr Vasev would give way to him. In other words, one captain suggested violating the maneuvering rules, and the other captain and the coastal post agreed to this.

But the captain of the Admiral Nakhimov did not limit himself to agreeing to commit an offense. He instructed his officer on duty, the second officer, to perform an unlawful maneuver, and he himself left the bridge for the cabin and remained there until the collision.

The second assistant, apparently realizing the illegality of this agreement, repeatedly called the motor ship Pyotr Vasev by radiotelephone and again asked to confirm that the Pyotr Vasev would give way to the Admiral Nakhimov. He received the last confirmation at 2305 hours, that is, 7 minutes before the collision. At the same time, seeing that Pyotr Vasev had not yet taken any action, the second officer changed the course of the Admiral Nakhimov 5 degrees to the left. After 2 minutes, he again changed course 5 degrees to the left, and after 2 minutes - another 10 degrees, instinctively trying to get away from danger.

In other words, he was doing exactly what COLREGs 72 and maritime practice warn against: “A series of successive small changes in course and/or speed should be avoided” (Regulation No. 8). The change in course and speed must be significant and noticeable. It would be more correct not to turn a little to the left, as if deliberately exposing the right side to the blow, but to put the rudder to the left on the side. A sharp turn of the ship to the right would be more correct. In this case, the collision, if it had occurred, would have happened at sharp opposite corners and would not have led to such grave consequences.

A significant share in creating a dangerous situation was also made by the captain of the ship "Peter Vasev". He agreed to violate COLREGs-72 without hesitation, when at 22:47 a radiotelephone conversation took place with the coastal post and the Admiral Nakhimov. Moreover, he gave his consent in conditions when he had not yet visually seen the Admiral Nakhimov, because the navigation lights of the steamer were lost against the background of coastal lights and it was difficult to notice them. They were discovered only at 23:00, that is, 12 minutes before the collision.

If the captain of the ship "Pyotr Vasev" observed the situation of the rapid approach of two large vessels visually, he would inevitably feel threatened. But he did not observe the surrounding situation, but was constantly looking at the screen of the SDRP (automatic radar plotting system), where real ships are presented in the form of luminous dots moving relative to each other. This phenomenon, known as "radar hypnosis," played an insidious role with more than one hundred captains. Being in such "hypnosis", the captain loses the ability to link together the picture on the radar screen with reality. Only at 11:05 p.m., the captain of the ship "Pyotr Vasev", under the influence of the insistent requests of the second mate from the ship "Admiral Nakhimov", broke away from the SARN screen and ordered to reduce the speed to the average, although the distance between the ships did not exceed two miles.

In the meantime, the ship "Petr Vasev" continued to follow the same course, although both on the ARPA screen and visually it was clear that the bearing on the ship "Admiral Nakhimov" practically did not change. This meant that the ships had to converge at one point, where a collision would occur. It was necessary to act immediately, because, firstly, the captain undertook the obligation to let the Admiral Nakhimov through, although he did not actually fulfill it, and secondly, the captain was obliged to take a "last moment maneuver", which means that each ship must take some action to avoid a collision if the collision cannot be avoided by the actions of one vessel.

The best maneuver in this situation would be to put the steering wheel "right on board" and get out of the way of the "Admiral Nakhimov". Less effective, but useful, could be an immediate "full speed back" at the moment when at 2305 hours the captain of the ship "Pyotr Vasev" saw the real state of affairs. However, instead of full astern, he reduced it from full to medium forward, although with such a large mass of the vessel and cargo, it is impossible to reduce speed within a few minutes. In other words, a gigantic ship was moving at high speed towards the steamer, where there were hundreds of people.

At 2307 hours, 5 minutes before the collision, the captain reduced the speed to a small one, and after another half a minute he gave a “stop”. Only at 2309 hours did he give “small back”, and a minute later, when the desperate cry of the second assistant captain of the steamer “Admiral Nakhimov” was heard over the radiotelephone: “Work back immediately!”, He gave “medium” and then “full back” .

But it was too late. It takes much more time to start the car from full forward to full reverse than it was in the real situation. The propeller of the ship "Pyotr Vasev" barely gained momentum in reverse when the collision occurred. The bow of the ship almost at a right angle crashed into the starboard side of the steamer "Admiral Nakhimov".

The powerful bulb of "Peter Vasev" punched a huge hole in the hull of the "Admiral Nakhimov", which increased even more due to the fact that the steamer rushed forward under the action of the machines, and the bulb that entered its hull tore the skin, spreading the hole to neighboring compartments. In a matter of seconds, water flooded two compartments of the ship, including the engine room. The lights on the boat went out. The ship began to list rapidly to starboard.

The command was given to launch life-saving equipment (rafts and boats), but everything happened so quickly that most of them were never launched and went to the bottom along with the ship, which sank 8 minutes after the collision. The situation of the people who were in the interior of the ship was especially difficult. In absolute darkness, with a growing list, not knowing the ways of evacuation, many of them were doomed to death. In the best position were those who at the time of the disaster were on the open deck. But those of them who did not know how to swim, and most of them ended up in the water without life belts, also died.

When the collision occurred, the ship was 1,515 kilometers from the port of Novorossiysk and 3.5 kilometers from the coast. The excitement at sea was 3-3.5 points. The ship "Admiral Nakhimov" sank in 7-8 minutes. Managed to save 836 people. For rescue work, 60 watercraft, 20 helicopters and 80 divers were involved. On September 4, the bodies of 116 dead were raised.

The first rescue boat arrived at the crash site 25 minutes after the Admiral Nakhimov sank. It was a pilot boat LK-90, commanded by a shift assistant to the captain, mechanic V. Belovol. The motorist of the boat V. Voloshin saw a woman with a child in the water. "Save him!" she screamed. The sailor took off his life jacket, handed it to the woman, picked up the child and carried him on board the boat, and then pulled the woman out. In total, that terrible night, the crew of the boat rescued 84 people.

146 passengers from the deceased Admiral Nakhimov were rescued by a military boat with 8 sailors on board under the command of midshipman A. Gusev. The midshipman, who was on duty at the pier, took the call as a combat alarm: “The steamer Admiral Nakhimov is in distress 15 kilometers from the port. Help is needed...” After 6 minutes, the border boat was already flying along the waves of the Tsemess Bay. After another 11 minutes, the sailors were in place. However, the ship, illuminated by bright lights, was not there. He sank. At 800 meters loomed the black shadow of the cargo ship Pyotr Vasev, which had rammed a passenger ship.

What the guards saw confused them. Hundreds of people floated among the boards, barrels and other rubbish on the waves. Some were kept on the water by life belts, others by rafts with beacons flashing in the night, and others were swimming themselves.

Caught in the water people behaved differently. There were also those who pushed others, trying to be the first to get on the watercraft. But really courageous people did not lose confidence in their abilities.

Edmundas Priven, a tall, strong guy from the Lithuanian city of Kapsukas, went on a trip to the Black Sea with his fiancee Egli Aglinishite. The guy was dancing with his girlfriend at the bar when the collision happened. A few minutes later the ship went under water. Edmundas, however, did not lose his head - he is an excellent swimmer, he dives well. First, he pulled the unconscious Egli out of the water, laid her on a life raft. And then, as eyewitnesses say, he helped many women and children. For three hours he remained in the water, helping to save people. “My Egli,” the guy said, “I found in the intensive care unit of the city hospital. I had to get excited. But now everything is over, another 3-4 days - and we will go home.

The passenger of the ship A. Strelnikova from the Donetsk region recalled: “In the water, I realized that I was losing strength. And suddenly someone pulled me up. I look - a young boy in a white shirt: "Mom, - shouts to me, - hold on, I will help you." He saved me."

By 9 am on September 1, everyone who could still be saved was saved (836 people in total). Then the bodies of the dead were taken out. The hope that an air cushion had formed on the ship and that living people remained there did not materialize.

Divers began to work at the crash site. They penetrated the inside of the ship's hull through holes cut into the side. Working inside the ship was difficult and scary. The ship lay on the ground almost completely on the starboard side. Longitudinal corridors turned into narrow manholes, transverse - into mines. Furniture was scattered everywhere, and the corridors were littered with carpets, furniture, and corpses. Most of the cabin doors jammed and the diver had to remove the bodies of people from the cabins by breaking the door prematurely with a crowbar.

He locked himself in his cabin and the second assistant to the captain A. Chudnovsky died. The first mate Maglysh and the second mechanic V. Belan died. General Krikunov and his family could not get out of their cabin. Sailor Fakhretdinov, who was standing on the bridge at the time of the collision, died. 36 female flight attendants died, who were doing their duty to the end and helping to take passengers out of the lower decks. In front of the electrician A. Dolinsky, his wife and little son died. The head of the floating practice M. Brown and several trainee sailors died. The newlyweds Kot, who went on a steamer on their honeymoon trip, died ...

The commotion continued to be moderate. According to all the rules, divers should not work in such conditions. Nevertheless, diving work continued. The steamer fell with a hole on the seabed, access to it was limited. To inspect the ship, divers had to use hatches to cut through the hull.

Search work was carried out by about two dozen special ships. Rescue vessels "Amethyst", "Gepard", "Antares" worked at the scene of the accident. They had at their disposal a full range of diving equipment, a pressure chamber, and a television installation.

On the same days, relatives and friends of the victims arrived in Novorossiysk from Odessa, the home port of the Admiral Nakhimov steamship and the Petr Vasev dry cargo ship.

How to explain such a number of victims? Many circumstances played a fatal role here. The collision happened at night. The blow to the side of the Admiral Nakhimov was unexpected and so strong that a hole about 90 meters in size was formed. Hence the rapid sinking of the ship. However, if the disaster had not happened at 11:12 pm, but, for example, at 2-3 am, when the bulk of the passengers were in their cabins, there would have been even more victims.

The court, which took place in Odessa 7 months after the tragedy, found the captains equally guilty of the collision and sentenced V.I. Tkachenko and the captain of the steamer "Admiral Nakhimov" V.G. Markov to 15 years in prison. But in 1992 they were pardoned.

Separately, materials were highlighted on the shortcomings in the activities of the Novorossiysk Emergency Rescue Service (ASPTR) of the Black Sea Shipping Company, whose ships arrived late in the disaster area.

Microwave weapons were used against ships

Until the very moment of the collision, Tkachenko practically did not depart from the SARP (automated radar plotting system). Oddly enough, but the device showed a discrepancy with the vessel, which Tkachenko considered the Nakhimov, at 2 miles. In addition, according to the data received, the bearing also increased. The position of the unknown ship, judging by the instruments, created the illusion of an absolutely safe situation.

Tkachenko's testimony did not interest lawyers, but still gives some scientists and practitioners a pretext for investigative work. Associate Professor of the Krasnodar Polytechnic Institute Vladimir Chuev put forward such a hypothesis. The collision, as is known, occurred at the end of the summer. Often this time coincides with an increase in solar activity. It happened that it was on such days and nights that phantom targets suddenly appeared on the radar screens and, conversely, real targets disappeared.

Chuev carefully studied the collection "Solar data" of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. And then it turned out: since August 17, 1986, a sharp jump in electromagnetic radiation from space, equal to twenty percent, was found in the testimony of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory. However, it was not recorded by reference observatories in Japan and Canada. This discrepancy in the data of the reference observatories and the Krymskaya observatory lasted until September 1. And then everything returned to normal.

After analyzing these facts, Chuev came to the conclusion that the region of Crimea and the North Caucasus (including the Tsemess Bay and Novorossiysk) was affected not by solar, but by unknown directional electromagnetic radiation. It was fed from afar, perhaps hundreds and thousands of miles through an artificial satellite of the Earth. Or maybe through reconnaissance systems like AWACS, which are equipped with special microprocessors and can work with any radar so that false targets appear on its screen and true ones disappear.

By the way, before the tragedy in the Tsemess Bay on the motor ships "Geroi Sevastopol", "Burgas" and on other ships, navigators registered false targets on radar several times. In four cases, a situation was created when a collision was miraculously avoided.

Chuev does not undertake to judge whose hands this is. But, in his opinion, the shipwreck near Novorossiysk is the result of the use of microwave weapons via satellite.

Alexander Trusov, who then served in the KGB border troops, suggests that microwave weapons were used to eliminate a high-ranking KGB rank by his own associates. That night, the head of the KGB department for the Odessa region, Major General Krikunov, and his family really died, who, after the departure of the Nakhimov from the pier, was taken aboard the ship by boat. However, the circumstances of his death remain unknown. And the appearance of Krikunov on board was quite unexpected. He made a decision about this in Moscow, in the Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, on the day the Nakhimov sailed from Odessa. With what only did not connect the fact of his death. They wrote about the revenge of the corrupt party nomenklatura, and about the attempt to transfer a large consignment of contraband, and about the investigation of the facts of the export of military equipment through the port of Novorossiysk.

Alexei Sinyakov, a professor from St. Petersburg, put the participation of any special services in the tragedy out of the equation. He put forward the hypothesis of the so-called local geophysical resonance (LGR). A flight safety specialist, he believes that LGR has caused many disasters - in the air, on land, under water (in particular, a fire on the Komsomolets nuclear submarine). On the evening of August 31, 1986, a geophysical resonance could manifest itself in the Black Sea: an unusual glow of the atmosphere was observed, and two hours after the death of the Nakhimov, a strong earthquake occurred in the western part of the sea. During geophysical resonance, a person managing a complex technical object loses the opportunity to accurately assess the situation and make the right decision. Isn’t this the reason for Captain Tkachenko’s inadequate behavior: after all, it took only a minute and a half to complete the “last moment” maneuver (for example, the Vasev’s lapel to the right of the accepted course).

Steamboat "Berlin" (future "Admiral Nakhimov") 1930

In 1938, she was transferred to the German Navy and turned into a hospital ship. On January 31, 1945, she was blown up by two mines and on February 1 by another one, after which she sank off Swinemünde.

In 1946-1947, it was raised by Soviet divers and became the property of the USSR at the expense of reparations from Germany. In 1951-1957, it was restored and renamed "Admiral Nakhimov". In 1957, she was transferred from the Baltic to the Black Sea, becoming the largest Black Sea liner.

Displacement: 9000 tons
Length: 174.3 m
Width: 21.1 m
Mechanism power: 12000 hp
Speed: 16 knots

The sinking of the Titanic after a collision with an iceberg in 1912 became a symbol of all major maritime disasters that occurred in peacetime for decades to come. By the end of the 20th century, people again began to have the illusion that tragedies of this kind had gone down in history. The retribution for such delusions always turns out to be cruel.

On August 31, 1986, a catastrophe occurred in the Tsemess Bay near Novorossiysk, which later became known as the "Soviet Titanic". But, unlike the story of 1912, in this case there was no iceberg - the crash was exclusively the work of human hands.

Trophy "Berlin"

The Soviet cruise ship "Admiral Nakhimov" was launched in March 1925 in Lobbendorf, Germany, and received the name "Berlin". In the early years of its existence, Berlin operated flights from Germany to New York. By the end of the 1930s, transatlantic voyages became unprofitable, and the ship was transferred to Mediterranean cruises.

"Berlin", 1920s. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Prestigious holidays and special operations

"Admiral Nakhimov" became in the USSR a symbol of a prestigious cruise vacation, hitherto unfamiliar to Soviet citizens. However, sometimes it was used for other purposes. So, during the Caribbean crisis, Soviet military personnel were transferred to Cuba on board, and in 1979, Cuban military personnel were transferred to carry out a secret mission in Africa.

Time, however, made itself felt - in the 1980s, the Admiral Nakhimov changed long-distance flights to cruises on the Black Sea. These cruises were wildly successful among the unspoiled residents of the USSR.

The promenade deck of the Admiral Nakhimov in 1957. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Flight Odessa - Batumi - Odessa

August 29, 1986 "Admiral Nakhimov" went on a regular flight on the route Odessa - Batumi - Odessa with calls to Yalta, Novorossiysk and Sochi. The cruise was supposed to end on September 5th. After leaving Odessa, the ship safely reached Yalta, and then at 14:00 on August 31 arrived in Novorossiysk. At 22:00, the liner was to leave the port and head for Sochi. There were 1243 people on board: 346 crew members and 897 passengers.

Since 1984, he has been the captain of the Admiral Nakhimov Vadim Markov, an experienced sailor who had a job on the lines of foreign navigation. Captain Markov knew his ship very well, and the exit from the port did not promise any dangers.

"Pyotr Vasyov" goes towards

With a delay of 10 minutes from the schedule, "Admiral Nakhimov" unmoored and rushed to the port exit. The steamer passed the gates of the port, entered the course 154.2 and began to follow the direction of the buoys of the Penai banks, which were located at the exit from the bay.

Peace reigned on board. Some of the passengers went to bed, some were going to a movie show, the youth were at a disco in the music room, some of the people were in bars.

At this time, Captain Tkachenko once again confirmed that Pyotr Vasyov would let Admiral Nakhimov through. Tkachenko transmitted the same information via radio communication to the second assistant to the captain of the Admiral Nakhimov. Alexander Chudnovsky, who at 23:00 took over the watch from Captain Markov. Tkachenko and Chudnovsky agreed that the ships would part on their starboard sides. Captain Tkachenko was guided by the indications of ARPA - an automated radar plotting system. The data of this device indicated that the ships would safely disperse.

But Chudnovsky, who was on the Admiral Nakhimov, who was observing the situation visually, already at about 23:05 discovered that the ships were heading for a dangerous approach. The officer on duty contacted Tkachenko again, clarifying: “Pyotr Vasyov” definitely misses the steamer? Captain Tkachenko confirmed: yes, everything is in order.

"Pyotr Vasyov". Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

"Work back immediately!"

In the meantime, there were those on the Pyotr Vasyov who saw that the situation was developing in a dangerous direction. Mate Zubuk drew Tkachenko's attention to the fact that the bearing on the "Admiral Nakhimov" practically does not change, which indicates the threat of a collision. At the same time, Zubuk pointed to the lights of the ship, which indicated that the ships were approaching a collision.

Captain Tkachenko began to give commands to the engine room - "medium forward", "small forward". These half-measures no longer helped, and Tkachenko's last command was: "Stop, full back!" However, a heavy cargo ship cannot change direction instantly. "Pyotr Vasev" continued to go to the "Admiral Nakhimov". On the ship, the officer on duty to the captain Alexander Chudnovsky radioed to the dry cargo ship: “Work back immediately!”. The helmsman of the "Admiral Nakhimov" was given the command: "Left aboard!".

"Nakhimov" went to the bottom in 8 minutes

This did not help - at 23:12 there was a collision. "Pyotr Vasev" at a speed of 5 knots entered at an angle of 110 ° in the middle of the starboard side of the ship. In the underwater part, the bulk carrier entered with its protruding part, the bulb, into the hull of the Admiral Nakhimov for several meters in the bulkhead area between the engine room and the boiler room. "Admiral Nakhimov" continued to move forward by inertia, turning the cargo ship and thereby increasing the size of the hole in the starboard side, which eventually amounted to about 80 square meters.

A huge hole led to the rapid flooding of the ship. In just 30 seconds, the engine room was filled with water. The ship began to roll to starboard. Emergency lighting, which switched on instead of the main one, worked for only two minutes. Many people were locked in cabins inside the sinking ship. All that the team members managed to do was launch inflatable rafts. 8 minutes after the collision, at 23:20, "Admiral Nakhimov" went under water, leaving hundreds of people fighting for their lives on the surface. Among them was not the assistant captain Alexander Chudnovsky. The sailor, realizing that the ship was dying, pronounced a death sentence on himself - having gone down to his cabin, he locked himself in it and, together with the Admiral Nakhimov, went to the bottom.

More than 60 ships rescued dying people

The first to approach the crash site was a small pilot boat LK-90, heading for the "Pyotr Vasyov" to escort it to the pier. "Admiral Nakhimov" sank in front of the crew members of the boat.

At 23:35 LK-90 proceeded to rescue people. 118 people were lifted on board a small boat, which is much more than the allowable load. Then the rescued began to be transferred to other approaching ships. At this time, the captain of the port of Novorossiysk Popov ordered all watercraft to go to the disaster area to save people. Tugs, small and raid boats, boats of border troops, "comets" on hydrofoils - a total of 64 vessels took part in the rescue operation.

I had to work in difficult conditions - strong wind, waves up to two meters. But the sailors did everything possible and impossible. The cadets of the Novorossiysk Higher Naval Engineering School, alerted, went out to sea on skiffs, risking their own death.

The crew of the dry-cargo ship Pyotr Vasyov also took part in the rescue operation, raising 36 people on board. Of the 1243 people on board, 423 were killed: 359 passengers and 64 crew members. Among the dead were 23 children.

Who is guilty?

A large government commission arrived from Moscow, headed by the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Heydar Aliyev, and with it a large investigation team.

As a result, both captains went to court - Viktor Tkachenko and Vadim Markov received 15 years in prison. Markov, who miraculously survived the crash, was blamed for his absence from the bridge. At the time of the disaster, the captain was in the cabin of the head of the KGB department for the Odessa region, Major General Krikunova where he was invited to dinner. Unlike Markov, General Krikunov died with his family.

For thirty years, in the crash of the Admiral Nakhimov, no one was accused of anything - the anomalous zone, the Soviet system, the dilapidation of the ship, and saboteurs ... The story about the usual "human factor" cut the ear for many. "Admiral Nakhimov" took two more human lives after the crash - two divers died, raising the bodies of the victims to the surface. After that, work on the ship was stopped, and the bodies of 64 people remained inside the Admiral Nakhimov hull.

In 1992, after the collapse of the USSR, the presidents of Russia and Ukraine pardoned the convicted captains.

Vadim Markov, after his release, returned to Odessa, worked in the Black Sea Shipping Company as a captain-mentor. Due to persecution by the relatives of the deceased, his family had to change their place of residence several times. In 2007, the captain of the Admiral Nakhimov died of cancer.

The captain of "Peter Vasyov" Viktor Tkachenko, having taken his wife's surname - Tallor, moved to permanent residence in Israel, hoping that there the story of the death of "Admiral Nakhimov" would cease to interfere with his life. In 2003, the yacht, driven by Victor Tallor, was wrecked off the coast of Newfoundland. The wreckage of the yacht and the remains of people found on the coast of Canada.

The area of ​​the Tsemesskaya Bay, where the Admiral Nakhimov lies at a depth of 47 meters, is officially the burial place of the victims of the disaster. Anchoring, dives of divers and underwater vehicles, as well as any actions that disturb the peace of the burial place, are prohibited in the specified area.

The year 1986 was rich in disasters and added several tragic pages to the history of the USSR. It's not just about Chernobyl. On February 16, 1986, the Soviet cruise ship Mikhail Lermontov crashed. Then one person died, but six months later another tragedy occurred that claimed the lives of 423 people. On August 31, 1986, the ship "Admiral Nakhimov" as a result of a collision with the dry cargo ship "Pyotr Vasev" received a hole and sank within 7 minutes. The mysterious causes of this disaster are still being debated, because many are sure that the tragedy could have been avoided.

On August 29, 1986, the liner went on a regular flight along the route Odessa - Batumi - Odessa with calls at Yalta, Novorossiysk and Sochi. The cruise lasted only a week, passengers were supposed to return on September 5th. Having safely overcome part of the route, the Admiral Nakhimov arrived in Novorossiysk on August 31 at 14:00. Departure was scheduled for 22:00. However, after the ship left the port, it was unexpectedly stopped and detained for 10 minutes due to Major General Krikunov and his family being late. Those 10 minutes were fatal.

*Admiral Nakhimov* in Novorossiysk, 1981

The ship headed for the exit from the Tsemess Bay, at the same time, the cargo ship Pyotr Vasev, carrying grain, was heading towards the liner into the bay. Since the ships were approaching on intersecting courses, the one on the left, that is, the Admiral Nakhimov, had to give way. But the captain of the cargo ship was offered to let the ship pass, to which he agreed. Both ships got in touch with each other and confirmed the maneuver.

Restaurant on the ship *Admiral Nakhimov*

Bar on the ship *Admiral Nakhimov*

The captain of the cargo ship, Viktor Tkachenko, saw no reason to worry - he relied on the ARPA (Automatic Radar Plotting System). These devices did not show a dangerous approach, while it was already visible to the naked eye (as it turned out later, the locator could distort the distance up to hundreds of meters). The command to reduce the speed, and then "full back" captain Tkachenko gave too late.

The last hours * of Admiral Nakhimov * before the disaster, August 31, 1986

At 23:12 the ships collided almost at a right angle. The dry cargo ship rammed the starboard side of the ship, forming a hole about 10 meters in size. At the same time, the liner continued to move by inertia, due to which the hole increased in size. Water filled the engine room in a few seconds, and the ship sank. All that the team members managed during these 7 minutes was to launch several inflatable rafts. Many in the water fell under the propellers of the bulk carrier, which continued to work. Of the 897 passengers and 346 crew members, 423 people died.

The liner that repeated the fate of all ships with the same name

Later, experts came to the conclusion that in order for the two ships to disperse, only 6 seconds were not enough. There were many strange circumstances in this catastrophe. Visibility was 100%. Both captains were considered experienced sailors. But Markov did not announce the alarm, and Tkachenko reported the collision to the port chief only at 24:31, and help came 2 hours after the disaster. In addition, due to the heat, portholes were opened in the cabins near the waterline, and before leaving the port, contrary to the rules, they left open the clinket doors in the transverse bulkheads, and the water that rushed into the hole flooded one compartment after another. All this accelerated the sinking of the ship.

Cruise liner *Admiral Nakhimov*

Model of the ship *Admiral Nakhimov*
Those who did not believe in rational explanations looked for mystical reasons. The fact is that this was not the first ship with that name. In 1897, the cargo ship "Admiral Nakhimov" sank off the coast of Turkey during a storm. The name passed to one of the armored cruisers, which was sunk during hostilities in 1905. In 1925, the Berlin steamer was built in Germany, first carrying passengers and cargo, and during World War II serving as a hospital ship. In 1945, he hit a mine and sank, in 1946 he was raised to the surface and restored, he went over to the USSR due to reparations. In 1957, the liner set sail under the name "Admiral Nakhimov". It was said that he was doomed - all the ships that bore the name of the deceased admiral went to the bottom.

Trophy * Berlin *, which later became * Admiral Nakhimov *
Both captains went on trial. Vadim Markov was accused of not being on the bridge of the Admiral Nakhimov, but in the cabin, contrary to the rules, while passing control to second assistant Chudnovsky. And the captain of the dry cargo ship Tkachenko was found guilty of relying on the readings of the instruments, he did not visually assess the situation and ignored the danger. Both were sentenced to 15 years in prison, but after 6 years both were pardoned. Tkachenko took his wife's surname and moved with his family to Israel. In 2003, he died, ironically, in a yacht crash. In 2007, Captain Markov died of cancer.

The liner that repeated the fate of all ships with the same name

Monument to those who died on the ship *Admiral Nakhimov*, Cape Doob

Since then, the liner has been called the Soviet Titanic: little-known facts of the most famous shipwreck