Schors (gunboat)

"N. Schors "refers to wheeled tugs with a steel hull. Length 56.4 meters, estimated width 8.1 m, overall - 17 m, draft 1 m ^[1] , displacement - 400 tons. The maximum speed (without cart) is 18.5 knots , the cruising range with an economic speed of 16.5 knots is 2450 km ^[2] . The tug crew consisted of 28 people. Cabins were made for the crew in the hull, and four cabins for the captain, first assistant, and mechanic were placed above the wheels ^[1] . Elements of the steel casing were connected by welding, the superstructure is made of wood. Power plant - one steam engine with a capacity of 480 liters. from. working on coal ^[2] . The fuel supply is 80 tons, placed in two coal bunkers ^[1] . The ship provided electricity to the ship. The vessel was propelled by two paddle wheels located on the sides. To control and transmit information, a machine telegraph and telephone pipes were used. The internal systems and pipelines consisted of a steam pipeline, a feedwater pipeline, a gas exhaust pipe with a chimney, a fire and drainage system, water supply systems, waste, heating, ventilation of the engine room and rooms in the building and superstructure ^[3] . The steering device consisted of one semi-balanced steering wheel with a sector steering machine. The anchor system consisted of two bow and one stern Hall anchors , located in the nodules. The mechanism for lifting the nasal anchors consisted of a steam windlass , stern - of the spire . The towing mechanism included one rotary towing hook and three arches ^[3] . Mooring devices included eight bollards and four bale strips ; mooring was carried out with a steel cable. In tow were installed foremast and mainmast , as well as the bow flagpole . Four top lights , two circular, green and red onboard and three stern lights were used as signal devices. For the sound alarm a steam whistle was used . In tow, there was one wooden oar boat, which fell overboard on a rotary davit driven by manual hoists . Navigational aids consisted of one manual lot. Traditional fire-fighting means: a hook, a nightmare, a box of sand, fire scrap, buckets, an ax ^[4] .

Towing ship "N. Shchors ”was laid in 1934 and launched in 1935 from the stocks of the Zelenodolsky shipyard“ Red Metalist ” (Shipbuilding Plant No. 340 (Shipyard No. 340)). The ship was part of the People’s Commodity System (from April 9, 1939 - the People’s Commissariat of the USSR River Fleet ), and the operator was the Middle Volga River Shipping Company ^[5] . Registration number 099859 ^[6] .

Mobilization

One of the features of the pre-war mobilization plans was the lack of measures to mobilize the ships of the Volga River Basin - the geographical position of the Volga was considered quite remote from the proposed theaters of war. This led to the lack of pre-prepared technical documentation, and the vessels themselves in the design and construction did not adapt to the needs of mobilization. Another factor influencing the redesign of ships according to the requirements of the Navy was the switching of shipyards to the production of land military products ^[1] .

The general course of hostilities in 1941 required a significant revision of the pre-war plans. On October 27, 1941, a decision was made to create the Volga Military Flotilla on the basis of the Training Squad of Ships. "N. Shchors ”was mobilized on July 16, 1941 and reconstructed into a gunboat with simultaneous reassignment to the Navy. At the same time, the name of the ship was changed to an abbreviated version of "Shchors". The perestroika was spent 20 days, all technical documentation was limited to a tactical and technical task of several pages, and the plants that carried out the work were located at a distance of 300 km from each other ^[1] . In accordance with the order, the gunboat was supposed to go into operation on August 15, 1941, but due to lack of materials and weapons, as well as due to poor preparation of the newly formed crew, the ship was ready only at the end of September ^[7] . The restructuring of the tugboat into a gunboat was carried out in Kuibyshev ^[8] .

The reconstruction involved a large number of works. Weapons were installed on the gunboat: two 100-mm B-24-BM guns, two 45-mm 21-K guns, three 7.62-mm machine guns and a range finder. They needed to make reinforcements to ensure the safety of ship structures when firing. During the reconstruction, an insufficient longitudinal strength of the tug was revealed (the hull bent during excitement), which required the hull to be strengthened. To reduce the work, the bow gun was placed over the transverse bulkhead. A stern gun was installed over the newly created bulkhead enclosing an artillery cellar ^[1] .

To store ammunition, artillery cellars were created. For this, one of the two coal bins was used. Racks for ammunition, irrigation, drainage, ventilation and lighting systems were installed in it. The drainage system was based on individual steam ejectors. The wiring for lighting was mounted in metal pipes and led to sealed shades. The switches were mounted in the vestibule, where there was a lamp signaling that the lighting was on. The bulkheads and the ceiling were sheathed with waterproofing, for which instead of cork improvised materials were used: plywood, roofing , nightmare . Instead of a wooden deck, a metal one was installed above the cellar ^[1] .

The living quarters for accommodating the crew were completely refitted and allowed accommodating up to 72 people. For this, the crew cabins, which were located in the hull, were re-planned in two cockpits , which accommodated 28 and 38 people. Kubriks were equipped with bunk bunks, lockers and bedside tables, hangers for outerwear and pyramids for personal weapons. In the intercourse passages, tables were established for eating. The captain’s and mechanic’s cabins were rebuilt into four, which were occupied by the commander, commissar, commanders of the warheads-2 (artillery) and warheads-5 (electromechanical). The third cabin was assigned to the company cabin , and the fourth - under the radio room. The galley, laundry and latrine were not redone, and in the wash basin the number of taps was increased from three to six ^[1] .

Interphone pipes were made to the guns, cellars and rangefinder. The masts were equipped with means for raising signal flags, and a special box was made to store the flags themselves. On the ship mounted dimming tools. The lack of prepared technical documentation required the production of drawings and diagrams in place, which was complicated by the lack of qualified engineering and working personnel. In addition, there was an acute shortage of metal, including armored steel. But shipbuilders had 8 mm armor, which the tank builders refused, - this armor, contrary to the specifications, was sheathed the cabin of the gunboat ^[1] .

The gunboat crew was manned from the sailors of the Baltic and Black Sea Fleets and civilian rivermen who were called up for military service. Thus, for example, the commander of a group of engine drivers, the foreman of the first article, Pavel Andreevich Odintsov, was mobilized ^[8] .

The naval flag was hoisted on August 28, 1941 ^[9] .

Shchors spent the winter of 1941-1942 in the Podvalsky tide near the village of Novodevichye . For about a month, families of evacuated employees of the Navy Commissariat lived on board the ship ^[10] .

Participation in the Battle of Stalingrad

By the summer of 1942, the Shchors gunboat was part of the gunboats division of the 2nd river ship brigade (2nd DBK). The 2nd DBK also included the gunboats Kirov, Fedoseenko, Chapaev (as part of the division), a division of 152-mm floating batteries No. 97 and 98, a squad of armored boats (four units), a squad of half-gliders and a battalion of marines ^{[ 11]} . The gunboat took part in the fighting from July 25, 1942 to February 2, 1943 ^[12] . The gunboat commander was Captain-Lieutenant N. A. Klimovich. The future famous Volga captain, and then senior lieutenant N. M. Sarbaev, served as a pilot on the ship ^[13] . On August 5, the Military Council of the Stalingrad Front approved a plan for the interaction of flotilla forces and ground forces of the front. In accordance with this plan, Shchors took an artillery position below Krasnoarmeysk ^[14] . On August 25, the Shchors gunboat, together with the Gromov and Rudnev sisterships, artillery fire supported the 15th Guards Rifle Division in defensive operations in the area of Dubovy Ovrag - Peschanaya beam ^{[1] [15]} . During the September assault on Stalingrad, the Shchors (along with the Kirov and Fedoseenko cannons) fired artillery fire in the interests of the 57th Army and covered the crossings at Svetly Yar ^[16] . By September 25, the area of ​​action of the cannon was stretched from Krasnoarmeysk to Raygorod . 25 - 26 Shchors (as part of the 2nd DBK) supported the counterattack of the 15th Guards Rifle Division. Artillery support was at its best, and the command of the 57th Army declared thanks to river artillerymen ^[17] . To increase the level of coordination of forces, Shchors was included in the artillery group of the 57th Army ^[18] . At the end of October, the 64th and 57th armies carried out a counterattack. From October 25 to 31 the cannon boat Schors supported the 57th Army units operating in the Tundutovo and Oak Ravine areas with fire. On October 31, an order was received to transfer gunboats (except for “Usyskin” and “Chapaev”, remaining for the winter in the Akhtuba River) for wintering in the Astrakhan and Guryev regions ^[19] . July 10, 1943 64 crew members who participated in the defensive phase of the Battle of Stalingrad were awarded the medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad" ^[20] .

In 1943, at a shipyard in the village of Alekseyevka, the steam engine was converted to liquid fuel. Since June 18, the cannabis remaining in the Navy was promptly subordinate to the Volgotanker shipping company. Until the end of navigation in 1943, the gunboat was posting oil barges ^[8] . On November 6, Schors was expelled from the Navy and returned (at the same time as disarmament) to the Middle Volga River Shipping Company. With the return to civil service, the tugboat was again called "N. Schors ” ^[21] .

After the war

March 23, 1946 the ship came under the Ministry of the River Fleet of the USSR. On March 22, 1947, the Ministry of the River Fleet, together with the General Staff of the Navy, awarded the N. Shchors "memorial plaque in memory of the special merits of the crew during the war. March 23, 1959, the honored veteran was decommissioned, excluded from the lists of ships and transferred to the Glavvtorchermetu for scrap ^[21] .

• Platonov A.V. In wartime // Soviet monitors, gunboats and armored boats. Part I. - Galea Print, 2004 .-- 120 p. - 500 copies. - ISBN 5-8172-0090-2 .
• Achkasov V.I., Basov A.V., Sumin A.I. et al. Chapter Nine. Military Flotillas in the Great Patriotic War // Combat Path of the Soviet Navy / Edited by Doctor of Historical Sciences A. V. Basov. - 4th. - M .: Military Publishing, 1988 .-- S. 390-399. - 607 p. - 90,000 copies. - ISBN 5–203–00527–3.
• Berezhnoy S. S., Ammon G. A. Red Banner Gunboat "Usyskin" // Heroic ships of the Russian and Soviet Navy. - 2nd ed. - M .: Military Publishing House, 1990 .-- S. 142. - 240 p. - 65,000 copies. - ISBN 5-203-00844-2 .
• Loktionov I.I. Fire from the Volga // Volga Flotilla in the Great Patriotic War. - M .: Military Publishing, 1974.

• Smirnov E.L. 1934. Wheel tug N = 480 hp type Usyskin Zelenodolsk plant (neopr.) . Towing vessels and pushers . River reference book. Date of treatment August 18, 2017.