Hanko Defense

On March 12, 1940, the Moscow Peace Treaty was signed between Finland and the USSR, which ended the Soviet-Finnish winter war of 1939-1940 . Under one of the conditions of this agreement, the USSR leased part of the Hanko Peninsula (Gangut), including the city ​​of Hanko and its port, and the sea territory around it, with a radius of 5 miles to the south and east and 3 miles to the north and west, and a number of islands adjacent to it for a period of 30 years to create on it a naval base capable of defending the entrance to the Gulf of Finland, protecting Leningrad . In order to protect the naval base, the Soviet Union was given the right to maintain the necessary number of ground and air forces there at its own expense.

Hanko residents were given 10 days to leave the city.

On April 2, 1940, the first caravan of ships with cargo, material artillery and other property left Leningrad for Hanko . 28,000 Soviet citizens arrived in the city, of which 5,000 were civilians ^[1] .

On June 20, 1940, a resolution of the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR “On approving the organization of the KBF and measures to strengthen the defense of the western regions of the Gulf of Finland” was approved and measures “to create an air defense organization on the Hanko Peninsula and to ensure the construction of coastal defense on the islands of Ezel , Dago and the south coast of the Irbensky Strait . ”

On July 28, the Main Military Council of the Navy of the USSR reviewed and approved the defense plan in the Baltic states and in Hanko, developed by the commission of I. I. Gren ^[2] and approved the plan of military construction work at the Hanko naval base. For its implementation, the third special construction department was created (chief G. S. Dubovsky).

In a short time, the Soviet military reinforced the leased territory of Hankoniemi.

On the other side of the border, outside the village of , Finnish soldiers erected their line of defense ^[3] . The objective of this line Harparskog ^[4] ( Fin. Harparskogin linja ) (along the front - 40 kilometers, in depth 12 kilometers - 4 defensive lines and a number of separate fortified positions) was to prevent the breakthrough of Soviet troops to Turku , Helsinki and Tampere .

In early June 1941, the state of the naval base was checked by the commander of the troops of the Leningrad Military District, Lieutenant General M. M. Popov , chief of staff of the district, Major General D. N. Nikishev , commander of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, Vice Admiral V. F. Tributs and the representative of the military department of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) N.V. Malyshev. Arrivals inspected the construction of bunkers, the coastal battery on the island of Heste-Busset and a number of other objects. ^[five]

USSR

With the outbreak of war, the base of Hanko (the garrison commander of the base, major general (from September 16, 1941, lieutenant general of the coastal service) S. I. Kabanov , commissar brigade commissar A. L. Raskin ) was given the task of defending and repelling enemy attacks to ensure free Baltic Fleet action in the area.

To repel sea and airborne assault, the base territory was divided into two combat sites controlled by maneuvering groups of ground forces. The ground defense of the base consisted of a system of barriers at the border of the leased zone, two equipped defensive lines and two lines of direct defense of the city of Hanko itself , one of which was facing the sea and was actually the frontier of anti-landing defense.

The size of the base territory precluded the possibility of achieving sufficient depth of the entire defensive system, but allowed to create a significant density of defense. The total number of the garrison base was 25,300 people, also at Hanko were about 4,500 Soviet civilians.

On the peninsula, at the beginning of the war, there was the 8th rifle brigade under the command of Colonel N.P. Simonyak: the 270th and 335th rifle regiments of 2700 soldiers each, the 343rd artillery regiment (36 guns), the 297th tank battalion (33 T-26 tanks and 11 tankettes ), 204th anti-aircraft artillery division, combat engineer battalion, communications battalion. The coastal defense sector had 2 railway artillery batteries (3 super-heavy guns ТМ-3-12 caliber 305 mm and 4 heavy guns ТМ-1-180 caliber 180 mm), 10 stationary batteries (after the outbreak of war, their number increased to 15) with guns caliber from 45 to 130 mm, 10 auxiliary boats. The base's air defense was carried out by the air defense sector: 3 anti-aircraft artillery divisions (12 76-mm batteries, which included 48 guns), 2 anti-aircraft machine-gun companies (26 machine guns), 2 searchlight companies.

In addition, there were building parts at Hanko - 4 construction battalions, 1 engineering battalion, 1 road restoration battalion, 1 combat engineer battalion, 1 separate construction company. There were a significant number of small units: 8 border guard detachment of the NKVD of the Baltic border district, marine border detachment (4 small hunter boats), 81st separate seaplane of seaplanes (9 seaplane MBR-2 , 3 towing boats), commandant’s command with a subordinate separate local infantry company, military railway administration with subordinate railway battalions, 2 hospitals.

The 13th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Air Force of the Fleet was based at the base, but in fact, by the beginning of the war, it had only one squadron (11 I-153 and I-15 aircraft) under the command of L. G. Belousov . Directly subordinate to the base were 3 patrol boats " MO-4 " and several small auxiliary boats. Of the naval forces, 1 brigade of torpedo boats of the Baltic Fleet was based on Hanko (in fact, on June 22 there were only 14 torpedo boats) and a division of a submarine brigade (4 units).

Finland and Germany

In accordance with the Barbarossa plan, the capture of Hanko was planned by the German command as a priority special task, which was entrusted to the ground forces of Finland . For its implementation, the Hanko strike group was created. Initially, it consisted of the 13th brigade and the 4th coastal brigade , later the 13th brigade was replaced by the 17th Finnish infantry division with reinforcements (infantry battalion, sapper company, scooter company) and a strong artillery group with guns up to 305 caliber mm (total 268 guns, including anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery). Colonel Aarne Snellman was appointed commander of the group. The strength of the strike group on June 25, 1941 was 18,066 people, and on July 5, 1941 - 22,285 people. ^[6] In addition to the strike group, the 10th Finnish infantry regiment, artillery and air forces, and naval forces (their strength was not established) participated in the siege of Hanko. Initially, the German 163rd Infantry Division , which at the end of June 1941 began to arrive in Finland from Norway, was also intended to storm the base. But in connection with the stubborn defense of the Red Army in Karelia, this division was transferred there.

Finnish aviation, which at the beginning of the war had only 500 aircraft, did not pose a significant threat, but a large number of airfields made it possible to transfer significant Luftwaffe forces to the area. Off the coast, Finnish gunboats and boats were able to operate. In addition, by the beginning of the war, quite considerable forces of Kriegsmarine arrived in Finnish ports - 6 mine-layers , 20 minesweepers , 10 patrol ships , 12 torpedo boats . According to the plan to capture the base, the main emphasis was on the surprise of the attack and a quick assault from land. ^[7]

The early days of the war

On June 22, 1941, Germany attacked the USSR, the implementation of the Barbarossa plan began. On the same day, Italy and Romania declared war on the USSR, June 23 - Slovakia , June 25 - Finland .

In the Baltic, the German command allocated about 100 ships, including 28 torpedo boats , 10 mine loaders , 5 submarines , patrol ships and minesweepers, to support the North Army Group and operations against the Soviet Baltic Fleet . ^[eight]

Events in Hanko began to unfold immediately after the start of the Barbarossa. On the evening of June 21, a signal was received at Hanko by the People's Commissar of the USSR Navy N.G. Kuznetsov , after which all units were immediately withdrawn from the barracks to defensive positions, anti-aircraft units were prepared to repel an air attack, ship patrols were launched into the sea, and complete blackout was performed. From June 22 to 25, before the entry into the war of Finland, Germany led the hostilities against Hanko. Her air force bombarded Hanko already on June 22 at 22:30 in the evening (20 aircraft participated in the raid) and in the afternoon of June 23 (30 aircraft), while the Finns only watched what was happening from the side. Similar activity during the so-called “three-day neutrality” of Finland (June 22–25) was distinguished around Hanko by the German naval forces. Both detachments of German torpedo boats plowed the waters of the Gulf of Finland every night, completely ignoring the diplomatic position of Finland. ^[9]

These days, almost the entire civilian population was evacuated to Leningrad (the turbo-electric ship Joseph Stalin took out 2,500 people, a detachment from the floating workshop, 3 transports, a hydrographic ship and two tugboats - about 2,000 more people). All the fleet’s striking forces — submarines and torpedo boats — were also recalled to Kronstadt , which immediately deprived Hanko of combat value as a naval base. A number of small construction units were also withdrawn from the base, instead of them the garrison was reinforced with a separate machine-gun company and a building battalion from Estonia , 500 replenishment men arrived, 300 people were drafted from the civilian population of Hanko. To strengthen the defense of the base, two combat sites were created and mine operations were carried out. In total, 367 minutes were set by boats and auxiliary vessels of the base. At the same time, the boats “small hunters”, which carried a patrol, carried out anti-submarine defense on approach fairways to Hanko. ^[10] All heterogeneous military units with different subordination were subordinate to the naval commander, and border units were included directly in the naval forces.

The day of June 25 began with air raids by Soviet aviation at Finnish airfields, an artillery duel broke out in the Hanko area. This testified to the spread of hostilities in Finland. At 22 hours 45 minutes, Lieutenant General Erik Heinrichs gave Colonel General verbal order over the phone: “The Commander-in-Chief permits to respond to fire and destruction of artillery positions, but not to cross the border.” The war in Finland has begun. In the evening, Hanko artillery dealt a pre-emptive strike on previously identified Finnish observation towers and well-known military targets, and a Finnish warehouse of sea mines was destroyed by a direct hit. In response, a massive artillery bombardment of the naval territory and the city of Hanko began.

The naval command gave the order for the massive construction of shelters and shelters. All defenses were built only full profile, with deep and well-protected dugouts . All positions were connected by communication routes, reinforced with wire fences, anti-tank ditches and hollows, and massive mining was carried out. A new underground command post of the headquarters of the naval base with a communications center was built, reinforced concrete and wood-stone shelters for all military units with ventilation and autonomous lighting, 227 bunkers, 129 closed artillery positions, 74 command and observation posts, 327 shelters for personnel , 245 shelters for cars and military equipment, 41 shelters for aircraft, 51 underground storage, underground hospital. As a result of these titanic efforts, the garrison did not have significant losses from Finnish artillery fire, although the naval territory was completely visible from the Finnish territory and was subjected to daily shelling from three directions.

Defense Features

On the eve of the war, the Finnish defense was significantly strengthened, the Soviet forces remained almost at the same level. The largest number of Finnish troops was in early July 1941. Then the defense zone was divided into six sectors. When the expected Soviet invasion did not happen, troops from Hanko began to be transferred to other areas. The 17th division was transferred on July 17, 1941 to the Northern Ladoga area , after which only the 55th division remained. The new commander was . By early fall, the number of Finnish troops besieging Hanko had dropped to 12,500.

A feature of the Finnish group of forces in Hanko were Swedish volunteers . There were so many of them that on August 10 they formed their own battalion. He received the name Svenska Frivilligbataljonen (SFB), his commander was Hans Bergen (Hans Bergen).

Almost the entire time of the hostilities, the “Hanko Group” planned to capture the Hanko Peninsula, but Mannerheim did not give an order. In Finns still attacked Soviet positions (according to the Finnish side, they carried out reconnaissance in battle). Both sides switched to a positional war. It came down mainly to artillery dueling. But on the islands adjacent to Hanko, there were bloody battles. Especially Soviet soldiers specialized in military operations on the archipelago (landings), usually by the forces of one company . The largest battle was at the lighthouse, other battles at Horsho, , and Hästö. ^[eleven]

The defense of the base forced Finland’s already small naval forces to split into two parts, hindering the through communications of the Finns in the Gulf of Finland.

Navy Hanko was subjected to daily artillery shelling of the enemy (from 2,000 to 6,000 shells were burst on its territory per day). The largest ships of the Finnish fleet, armadillos of the coastal defense Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen, were also involved in shelling the base. Periodically, the base was bombed by Finnish aircraft.

From the first moment the base existed, it was built with significant land fortifications because of its location on the territory of a potential enemy. The geographic and navigational-hydrographic features of the area of ​​the Hanko naval base also determined the forms of its defense typical of the skerry-island position. To the extent possible, by setting minefields, the maneuver of enemy ships on skerry fairways was constrained. The capture of 18 islands significantly strengthened the defense of the peninsula. Unsuccessful attempts of direct assaults from land forced the enemy to switch to a long-term siege of the base and to lose the ability to attack from the flanks (occupied by the Soviet marines at that time). The bombing and death of the Finnish coastal battleship Ilmarinen at the Soviet minefield on September 13 forced Finns to abandon shelling of the base from the sea.

The defense of Hanko was favored by the preservation of the airfield on the peninsula. Even a relatively small number of fighter and reconnaissance aircraft, which the command of the naval base had at their disposal, greatly contributed to the success of coastal artillery firing, landing on islands and repelling enemy aircraft raids. An important role in the defense of Hanko was played by the aviation base. In extremely difficult conditions, she supported the actions of troops and the landing, conducted reconnaissance, and struck at enemy ships, batteries and airfields. In the period from June 22 to August 28, the aviation base destroyed 24 enemy aircraft without loss from the enemy in the air. One plane (I-153) and two pilots were lost in accidents. Fighter pilots A.K. Antonenko (11 victories, including 5 personal ones), P.A. Brinko (over Hanko - 10 victories, including 4 personal ones), G.D. Tsokolayev (during the period of battles for Hanko - 2 personal and 4 group victories), A. Yu. Baysultanov (during the battles for Hanko - 1 personal and 2 group victories). All of them were awarded the title Heroes of the Soviet Union .

Battles on the land front in July

July 1, the base was the first attack from the land front line. After powerful artillery preparation , an enhanced reconnaissance squad (2 companies of the Shyutkor troops, a Swedish volunteer battalion ) went on the attack and attacked the joint defense of Soviet battalions at Lappvik station in order to clear the way for the Finnish strike force. They managed to break into the Soviet defense, but after a 6-hour battle and Soviet artillery strike, the attackers were thrown back to their original position with losses ^[12] . On the same day, the Finnish half-company tried to capture the island of Krokan (garrison - 22 soldiers), but was repulsed, losing 9 killed.

On the night of July 7 and July 8, two more strong Finnish attacks on the land front were launched. A strong Soviet artillery played a decisive role in their reflection. According to Soviet data, in the July 7 battle, Finnish casualties amounted to two infantry companies. After that, active hostilities on the land front ceased. Instead of large-scale battles, daily artillery duels and sniper wrestling were conducted (the best Soviet sniper Red Navy Grigory Mikhailovich Isakov destroyed 118 enemy soldiers).

Fight for the islands

Since mid-July, the main burden of the struggle has shifted to the numerous islands adjacent to the base. To expand the Hanko defense zone and worsen the conditions for shelling, it was decided to seize the most important islands by landing amphibious assaults. For amphibious operations, a battalion was appointed under the command of Captain Granin B. M. Landings were usually landed by forces of the same company using boats, less often - boats. After the capture of the island immediately strengthened, they were appointed garrisons from among the personnel of the base. In total, by landing, 18 islands were captured, including:

• on the night of July 10, a landing was landed on the islands of Horsten (where the Finns installed a mortar battery), Kuholm, Sterkern. Five platoons (about 600 fighters), over 10 boats, and almost the entire aviation base were involved in this landing. By morning, all the islands were cleared of the enemy, the Finns lost 21 people killed and 23 captured, 2 mortars, 3 machine guns were captured.
• from July 11 to July 14, the island of Bogholm, Gunnholm was captured.
• On July 15, the island of Morgonladn was captured, a rangefinder post and communication center were destroyed, 6 prisoners were captured.
• July 18, a landing of 160 people from 7 boats to the islands of Heste, Longholm, Grislom, Vrakholm was landed. In the battle, 90 Finns were destroyed, 6 prisoners were taken, 2 mortars, 1 machine gun, and many small arms were captured. Loss of landing - 5 killed, 38 wounded.
• On July 26, an operation was carried out to occupy the island of Bengtsher with the lighthouse . A landing of 30 fighters was landed. However, urgently called for reinforcements of the Finns arrived at the battlefield, as well as 2 gunboats, boats, and fighters. In the ensuing sea battle, the Finns sunk 1 boat and damaged the second. Only with the support of aviation and the concentrated fire of several batteries was it possible to damage 1 gunboat and land the scouts on the island. But by their arrival, the entire Soviet landing had already perished. The operation was discontinued. In the area of ​​the island, 2 Finnish aircraft were shot down during the battle.
• on the night of July 30, a landing of 150 people was landed on the island of Gunnholm, its garrison of 140 people was destroyed. Loss of landing - 5 killed, 14 wounded.
• On August 4 and 5, the islands of Elholm and Furusher were occupied without a fight. The Finnish garrisons fled, noticing the approach of landing craft.
• On August 16, the Finns landed on the island of Elholm (Soviet garrison of 11 people). During the battle, both sides attracted large forces of boats, aircraft and artillery batteries. 55 people were landed on the island with a battle. The battle went on with varying success until the evening of August 17, when up to 200 reinforcements were landed on the island. The Finnish landing took flight and suffered heavy losses during the evacuation of Soviet aircraft attacks on boats and boats with soldiers removed from the island. In total, up to 200 Finnish soldiers were killed and died at sea. Soviet losses - 36 killed, 82 wounded.
• On the night of September 3, the Finns landed on the island of Gunnholm (a garrison of 63 people). When trying to land a rifle platoon on two boats for reinforcement, both boats were sunk by Finnish artillery fire, all the soldiers and crew of the boats were killed. New reinforcements knocked out the Finns from the island. The losses of the Finns amounted to 60 people killed, the Soviet losses - 57 killed, 56 wounded.
• On September 5, the Finns again tried to capture the island of Gunnholm and landed on it, but were soon knocked out. Losses of parties in this battle are unknown.
• according to Finnish data, stubborn battles were also fought for the Horso Islands, on , in Hästö ^[11] .

Back at the beginning of August 1941, the naval commander S. I. Kabanov put before the command of the Baltic Fleet the question of the expediency of Hanko defense. He motivated his opinion by the fact that Hanko since the beginning of the war has not actually been a naval base, but a garrison of the encircled port. In addition, the task of holding down Hanko’s large enemy forces was not solved - by land, the garrison at that time was opposed by one infantry regiment and several Finnish battalions. He proposed the evacuation of personnel and weapons to Tallinn to strengthen his defense. But then his offer was rejected.

At the end of August, when the Germans broke through to Tallinn, the Supreme High Command decided to evacuate Tallinn, the garrison of the Moonsund Islands and Hanko. But this decision was implemented only in part of the Soviet troops in Tallinn. On August 28, 1941, Soviet troops left Tallinn. After heavy losses during the Tallinn crossing and the breakthrough of German troops on the outskirts of Leningrad, there were no funds to continue the evacuation. By the end of October 1941, the Germans captured the entire Moonsund Archipelago during the Moonsud operation , almost all Soviet troops on the islands were killed.

This, as well as the approaching winter, greatly changed the situation at Hanko. Firstly, the Central mine-artillery position, which closed the entrance to the Gulf of Finland , was losing importance. Secondly, due to freezing up, the ground defense of the base could become circular, but there were no sufficient forces for such a defense. Thirdly, there was a real danger of losing interaction between Hanko and the Baltic Fleet, which threatened the death of the garrison. Fourth, although the garrison firmly held the defense, but the lack of ammunition was already significantly affecting, there was a lack of food. The supply of the Hanko garrison was becoming an almost impossible task. Due to these reasons, as well as the inexpediency of defending the Gulf of Finland in the current situation, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command decided on October 23 to evacuate the Hanko garrison. The evacuation of the base was carried out from October 26 to December 2, 1941, by the ships of the Baltic Fleet in the conditions of storms, ice cover and a great mine danger with the active opposition of the enemy.

From the 8th Rifle Brigade evacuated to Leningrad and Kronstadt , the 136th Rifle Division was formed.

During the evacuation, one of the most terrible tragedies at sea during the Great Patriotic War occurred - the bombing of mines on the Soviet turbine electric ship Joseph Stalin , which was used as a military transport VT-521. On board the ship, despite the estimated 512 passengers, there were 5589 soldiers of the Red Army. In addition to Joseph Stalin, the cargo and passenger refrigerator ship Andrei Zhdanov, as well as several smaller vessels (a total of 20 warships, transports and boats) were killed during the evacuation of the Hanko naval base.

Over 5 months, an isolated Soviet garrison successfully defended the city and the Hanko naval base. This was made possible thanks to the initiative command of the base, close cooperation between the ground, naval and air forces, careful engineering training of the defense, and the active conduct of hostilities by the defenders. The personnel showed high fortitude, stamina and heroism in a difficult situation.

The losses of the Hanko garrison during the defense period (not taking into account losses during the evacuation) amounted to 797 people killed and 1,476 wounded ^[13] . 22,822 people from the garrisons of the Hanko Peninsula and Osmussar Island were evacuated and delivered to Leningrad. Killed at sea during the evacuation of 4,987 people.

During the defense of Hanko, the air squadron shot down 54 Finnish and German aircraft, without losing a single one. Non-combat losses amounted to 3 aircraft (1 was destroyed by artillery fire at the airfield, 1 died during landing at the damaged airfield, 1 died during the flight to Kronstadt due to the development of fuel).

The artillery base carried out about 2,700 firing, firing about 44,000 shells. 2 batteries and 6 enemy guns, 3 warehouses, 2 barracks, a train were destroyed, 2 barges and 15 boats were sunk. Anti-aircraft artillery shot down 2 aircraft.

Losses of the Finnish side (and the Swedish battalion acting on their side) were, according to incomplete data, 486 people killed and missing, sanitary losses - 781 people. ^[14]

Hanko defenders reply to Baron Mannerheim

Joseph Stalin (turboelectric ship)

True (submarine)

• В. Ф. Трибуц. Эвакуация гарнизона Ханко // «Вопросы истории», № 11, 1966.
• Ханко // Советская историческая энциклопедия / редколл., гл. ed. Е. М. Жуков. том 15. М., государственное научное издательство «Советская энциклопедия», 1971. стр.512-513
• Чернышев А. А. Оборона полуострова Ханко . — Вече, 2011. — 320 с. — (1418 дней Великой войны). - 3000 copies. — ISBN 978-5-9533-4834-8 .
• Аллилуев А.А.; Слесаревский Н.И. 164 боевых дня (оборона Ханко. 1941 год). — СПб: Леонов М.А., 2003. — 80 с. — ISBN 5-902236-06-1 .
• Гангут. 1941. Сборник воспоминаний о героической обороне полуострова Ханко в первые дни и месяцы Великой Отечественной войны — Л.:Лениздат, 1974.
• Григуцкий, В. Л. 164 дня в окружении : бои гарнизона военно-морской базы КБФ на полуострове Ханко в период с 22 июня по 2 декабря 1941 года. – СПб.: Гангут, 2012. – 200 с.

• Героическая оборона ВМБ Ханко (1941 г. 22.6-2.12) (История Советского Флота)
• Военный музей Ханко-Лаппохья (фин.) , (швед.) , (англ.) , (нем.)
• Фронт Ханко / Hangon rintama (13.03.1940—4.12.1941) (фин.) , (англ.)
• В. И. Брагин, «Пушки на рельсах», «Красный Гангут» сражается