Osipenko’s landing on September 17, 1943 is a tactical amphibious assault landing by the forces of the Soviet Azov military flotilla during the Donbass offensive operation of the Great Patriotic War .
| Landing at Osipenko 1943 | |||
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| Main Conflict: World War II | |||
| date of | September 17, 1943 | ||
| A place | Osipenko (now Berdyansk) , Zaporizhzhya region , Ukrainian SSR | ||
| Total | The enemy was not detected | ||
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During the Soviet offensive of the Southern Front along the coast of the Sea of Azov, the forces of the Azov Flotilla assisted the coastal flank of the advancing troops by landing amphibious assault forces, disrupting the enemy’s withdrawal routes and thwarting attempts to provide stubborn defense at points along the coast. By decision of the front commander, Rear Fleet Commander Rear Admiral S. G. Gorshkov ordered a landing in the area of Osipenko (now Berdyansk) in order to prevent the enemy from escaping along the Osipenko- Nogaysk road (now Primorsk) , to seize the port of Osipenko and hold it until the units approach 28th Army Front.
September 17, 1943 from 03:10 to 04:20 local time in the area of the city the landing was carried out:
the main detachment is the 384th separate battalion of the marine corps of the Azov military flotilla (660 people, the commander of the detachment is captain A. M. Samarin),
second tier - part of the 2nd and 10th guards machine-gun and artillery battalions of the 1st guards fortified area of the 28th army (300 people, commander - guards major G. G. Zhemartsev),
auxiliary unit - part of the 369th separate battalion of the marine corps (40 people).
For landing, 10 armored boats, 3 minesweeper boats, 2 “sea hunter” boats, 2 half-gliders and a seiner were involved.
The enemy was not detected, and by reconnaissance it was established that German troops had already left the city of Osipenko. At 07:00 on September 17, intelligence units of the 28th army approached the city. According to other sources, the troops fired on German units in the city, covering the evacuation of their troops and setting fire to houses. These units immediately left the city. When combing the city, three enemy soldiers were detained, lagging behind (possibly deserting) from their units - one Czech and 2 Romanians. During the landing of the main detachment, part of it was in the minefield, 1 fighter was killed and 7 were injured. Another fighter died in an accident while landing from a boat.
The landing in a city where the enemy was no longer a consequence of the poor organization of intelligence by the command of the 28th army. In this case, the German command conducted a good evacuation of its troops, which, thanks to operational camouflage, took place in an organized and lossless manner. From this point of view, the landing operation was inconclusive.
Sources and Literature
- Sverdlov A.V. The embodiment of design . / Lit. ed. V.I. Milyutin. - M .: Military Publishing House, 1987 .-- 160 p., Ill. - (War memoirs). - Circulation 30,000 copies.
- The Great Patriotic War: day after day. // “ Marine collection ”. - 1993. - No. 9.
- Tsyganov V. I. From the “Sword” and die! The combat path of the 384th Nikolaev Red Banner Separate Marine Battalion. Nikolaev, 2011.