3 feats of Soviet sailors in World War II (PHOTOS)
They fought bravely at sea and on land, defended and liberated cities and sacrificed their lives to save their comrades.
1. One against all
Ivan Sivko.
By the end of June 1941, the German corps ‘Norway’ reached the Zapadnaya Litsa Bay and began to develop an offensive in the direction of Murmansk.
To prevent this, the Soviet fleet landed troops in the rear of the enemy on the western shore of the bay. Among them was marine Ivan Sivko.
The Soviet troops fought fiercely for several weeks and were able to disrupt the offensive. On August 2, the evacuation began and Sivko was among those who were covering the retreat.
Unexpectedly, he found himself cut off from his unit. He fought for about two hours, until he ran out of ammunition. When enemy soldiers approached his position, he blew himself up with a grenade, along with them.
2. Olshansky landing
Konstantin Olshansky.
At the end of March 1944, fighting began for the German-occupied Nikolaev in southern Ukrainian SSR. To help the ground forces, the Black Sea Fleet had to land troops in the city's port.
Sixty-seven fighters under the command of Senior Lieutenant Konstantin Olshansky secretly landed in the port early in the morning of March 26, removed the sentries and took up defensive positions in the area of the grain elevator.
For several days, the marines put up fierce resistance, killing up to 700 soldiers. They pinned down the enemy forces and helped the ground forces break through to the city.
By the time Nikolaev was liberated, only 11 wounded fighters remained alive. Most of the landing party members were awarded the title ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ and the minor planet discovered in 1974 was named ‘Olshania’.
3. They saved ships & comrades at the cost of their lives
Ivan Golubets.
In the Spring of 1942, senior sailor Ivan Golubets participated in the defense of Sevastopol. On March 25, he was on the pier in Streletskaya Bay when the artillery shelling began.
A fire broke out on one of the patrol boats, which could have led to the detonation of depth charges on board. But Golubets rushed to the ship to throw the shells overboard. He was helped by two crew members of the burning boat – Viktor Timofeev and Vasily Zhukov.
Timofeev and Zhukov died during the explosion of the gas tank and Golubets when the remaining ammunition detonated. However, thanks to this self-sacrifice by the sailors, a large-scale catastrophe was avoided.
