328th Expeditionary Rescue Team

The detachment was formed on December 24, 1992 in accordance with the directive of the General Staff of the Navy No. 730/1/01059 as part of the Office of Search and Rescue Operations of the Russian Navy ^{[1] [2]} .

The creation of the formation was entrusted to the diving specialist of the Black Sea Fleet Vasily Velichko , who had been engaged in diving operations since 1972 and specialized in deep-sea diving. Cavalier of the Order of the Red Star for the rescue operation on the Admiral Nakhimov passenger ship, wrecked in August 1986. Diving specialists, officers and midshipmen , special physiologists and divers instructors from all fleets were sent to the detachment, the backbone of the detachment was Black Sea divers ^[1] .

It is deployed on the outskirts of the city of Lomonosov, Leningrad Region ^[1] .

In 2000-2001, along with Norwegian divers, the detachment took part in an attempt to rescue the crew of the sunken nuclear missile submarine K-141 Kursk in the Barents Sea, as well as in raising the Kursk. This operation was the first serious test of the professionalism of the squad members ^[3] .

To prepare for the operation, the aquanauts practiced underwater welding and cutting in their own pool, built in the unit. In addition, Vice Admiral Yuri Sukhachev , head of the 40th Research Institute for Emergency Rescue, Diving and Deep-Water Operations, provided the detachment with the opportunity to train in the pool using hydrotanks to simulate 120 meter diving ^[1] .

According to the results of the first inspection of the sunken APRK, it was found that the chances of saving the crew no longer exist ^{[1] [4]} . The operation to lift the bodies of submariners and classified documents from the sunken Kursk nuclear submarine involved 6 Russian and 6 Norwegian divers. Norwegian divers made technological cutouts in a light and durable case in the area of ​​the 8th, 3rd and 4th compartments. Then, inside the Kursk APRC, Russian divers worked for lifting the bodies of dead and secret documents, trained as part of the 328th expeditionary rescue unit of the Navy on the Kursk K-266 Orel of the same type ^[5] . Michman Sergey Shmygin was the first to find the body of captain-lieutenant Dmitry Kolesnikov , whose note indicated that the search should continue in the 9th compartment. Later, the bodies of other submariners were extracted from there ^[6] .

In total, divers spent about 730 hours underwater. According to the assessment of the general director of the Rubin Central Design Bureau, Academician Igor Spassky , “we saw firsthand such operations that we had never imagined that they could be performed under water and under such difficult conditions. Everything that these guys have done can significantly simplify the operation to raise the Kursk nuclear submarine ^[6] .

A year later, on August 4, 2001, during the operation to prepare and lift the Kursk nuclear submarine, the senior diving specialist, captain of the 2nd rank A.N. Zvyagintsev , distinguished himself, who discovered his partner unconscious and saved him. And soon he himself was in a critical situation, when his oxygen hose was blocked, he managed to independently go to the bell without oxygen. For this episode he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (March 13, 2002) ^[4] .

Due to the difficult financial situation (the average salary in a detachment of divers was about 1 thousand rubles a month), several members of the detachment served in the Navy to work as deep-sea repairmen. However, shortly after the end of the expedition to the Kursk nuclear submarine, a young recruiting team arrived: about a dozen graduates of the school of technicians decided to become deep-seaers too ^[3] . In 2006, the Naval Engineering Institute managed to recruit two classes of divers, so the number of trained deep-sea divers increased from 18–20 to 40–45 annually ^[7] .

In addition, after the international rescue operation at the Kursk nuclear submarine, it became possible for Russian diving specialists to participate in the NATO exercises “ Bold monarch ” - exercises to search, rescue and provide assistance to emergency submarines that take place every three years. Here, the participating countries demonstrate not only the level of their training, but also the latest achievements of technology and methods of its application in assisting an emergency submarine lying on the ground. The compatibility of rescue systems with emergency rescue devices of submarines of various projects and countries is checked, experience is gained in working together and conducting international rescue operations. In almost all the navies of the participating countries there are formations similar to the 328th Navy EASO with similar tasks ^[8] .

For the first time, the Russian Navy was represented at these exercises in 2005 ( Sorbet Royal 2005 , Italy ) by the forces of the Black Sea Fleet and the 328th Navy EASO. In 2008, the Bold monarch-2008 exercises ( Norway ) involved the rescuers of the Northern Fleet and the 328th Navy EASO ^[8] .

According to the assessment of the head of the 40th State Research Institute, A. N. Zvyagintsev, in August 2010 ^[9] , the “Kursk” operation showed poor equipment in the technical plan of our rescue service. Our professionals were then some of the best in the world, but there was a lot of tension with special equipment. Immediately after the completion of the operation to lift the nuclear powered ship, the country's leadership allocated financial resources from the state budget for the modernization of existing rescue ships, the construction of new ones, as well as the purchase of foreign deep-sea equipment. Today, much of what was planned has already been done. ”

In 2011, the forces of the Black Sea Fleet and the 328th Navy EASO again went to the Bold monarch-2011 exercises ( Spain ). Divers of the 328th EASO of the Navy took part in diving trips from foreign vessels three times: twice on the Italian Navy rescue boat “Anteo” and then on the Turkish Navy Inebolu rescue towing vessel. Five days work was carried out on board the Epron rescue ship of the Black Sea Fleet. According to experts of the 328th Navy EASO, the diving equipment and equipment of the Russian group, in general, corresponded to the equipment of foreign mobile diving teams, and in some positions surpassed it. The level of training is much higher and comparable with the group of the Turkish Navy, which also purposefully prepared for the exercises, and did not send their young specialists to train them ^[8] . According to the assessment of the NATO command, the participation of the Russian Navy group was fully integrated into the general course of the exercises, and the Russian sailors provided significant assistance in ensuring that the exercises were completed successfully ^[10] .

Immediately after returning to St. Petersburg, a group of divers of the 328th EASO left for the Kuibyshev Reservoir to the site of the death of the Bulgaria cruise ship, where it took part in the survey and recovery of the sunken ship ^[11] .

In May 2012, the team’s divers took part in the competition of the best rescue divers in the Voronezh reservoir . For five days, divers showed their skills, being guided in conditions of zero visibility, patching holes in disaster-prone ships and literally saving “drowning” with their own hands ^[12] . In the standings of teams that are not part of the EMERCOM of Russia system, the 328th expeditionary rescue squad of the Navy won ^[13] . Since November 2017, the detachment’s specialists have been assisting in the search for the Argentinean San Juan submarine missing in the Atlantic Ocean ^[14] .

At the end of 2006, the squad received the Panther Plus mobile auto-air transport kit ^[15] .

The squad is equipped with Rapan television installations for underwater shooting operations ^[1] .

To prepare for operations, divers use a pool built in the unit. According to the commander of the detachment of Captain 1st Rank Vasily Velichko in 2001, divers regularly train four days a week at any time of the year "in full" ^[1] . In addition, practical classes are held in the Gulf of Finland ^[3] .

• 1st rank captain V.V. Velichko (since December 24, 1992)
•   Captain 1st rank A. N. Zvyagintsev ^[4] (2004—2010?)
• Captain 2nd rank A.V. Novozhilov

Head of the 40th Research Institute A. N. Zvyagintsev ^[16] :

Features of military numbering. At one time, I commanded the 328th expeditionary rescue squad, although he was the only one in the fleet . Foreigners were wondering: did your superprofessionals have 328 troops?

The most difficult thing, which is impossible to get used to, divers consider the search and the ascent of the dead:

You walk in the dark and are afraid to stumble on a body.

- Senior Diving Specialist Captain 2nd Rank Andrei Zvyagintsev ^[1]

It’s hard, but each has its own psychological burden. In this regard, divers have minimal disruptions, they are armor-piercing people.

- Ivan Chutchev, diver specialist 328 of the EASO, participant in the competition in Voronezh in 2012 ^[12]

• Special Purpose Underwater Expedition (EPRON)

• Spassky I. D. "Kursk". After August 12, 2000: [On the history of the preparation and conduct of the operation to lift the agro-industrial complex Kursk]. - M: Russia, 2003. - 285 pp. - ISBN 5-8090-0024-X .
• Shigin V.V. Kursk APRK: Afterword to the tragedy. - M: OLMA — PRESS, 2002 .-- 447 p. - ISBN 5-224-03308-X .

• Marina Romanova. Aquanauts live on earth, or a special mission from St. Petersburg (Neopr.) . Pravda.Ru (07/31/2001). Date of treatment March 23, 2013.