Guardian (destroyer)

At dawn on February 26 ( March 10 ), the destroyers "Stereguschiy" and " Resolute ", returning to Port Arthur after night reconnaissance, stumbled upon four Japanese destroyers Akebono, Sadzanami, Sinonome and Usugumo. Subsequently, they joined the two cruisers Tokiva and Chitose. The commanders of the Russian destroyers decided to avoid the battle, but the breakthrough to Port Arthur was a success only for the "Decisive". The guardian, surrounded by superior enemy forces, accepted the battle.

While the machine was working, there was still hope to break into Port Arthur, but at 6 hours and 40 minutes a Japanese shell, bursting in a coal pit, damaged two adjacent boilers. The destroyer began to quickly lose speed. Stoker Ivan Khirinsky jumped out to the upper deck with a report. Following him, the engineer of the 2nd article, Vasily Novikov, went upstairs. The fireman quartermaster Peter Khasanov and fireman Alexei Osinin, who remained below, tried to repair the damage, but another shell that exploded in fireman number 2 wounded Osinin. Water gushing through the hole flooded the furnaces. Having lifted their necks behind them, the stokers climbed to the upper deck, where they witnessed the last minutes of an unequal battle.

One by one the silencers of the Guardian fell silent. The destroyer commander Lieutenant A. S. Sergeev and the midshipman K. V. Kudrevich were killed at their posts, and Lieutenant N. S. Goloviznin, who ordered the launch of the whaleboat, was killed. The mechanical engineer V. S. Anastasov was thrown overboard by a shell explosion.

At 7 hours 10 minutes, the guards of the “Guardian” were silent. Only the destroyed skeleton of the destroyer swayed on the water, without pipes and a mast, with distorted sides and a deck dotted with the bodies of his heroic defenders.

Japanese ships, ceasing fire, gathered around the flagship destroyer Usugumo. The reports received by the squad leader added to the picture of the battle. While Usugumo and Sinonome themselves escaped with minor injuries, eight shells hit the Sazans, and about thirty hit the Akebono, and destroyers were killed and wounded. At 8.10 a.m., the Japanese started towing, and the Sazanami began towing. At this time, reinforcements arrived - the cruiser “ Bayan ” and “ Novik ” under the command of Admiral S. O. Makarov , but the Japanese ships, not accepting the battle, departed, picking up four surviving crew members of the dead destroyer.

At 9h 07min the “Stereguschiy” sank. In the "Description of the military operations of the Japanese fleet at sea in 37-38 years, compiled by the Naval General Headquarters in Tokyo. Meiji ”it is said that he sank 7 miles east of Liaoteshan Lighthouse.

Of the crew of the "Guardian", only F. Yuryev, And Khirinsky, A. Osinin and V. Novikov survived. Upon their return to their homeland, all of them were awarded the insignia of the military order of the fourth degree (usually it was called the St. George Cross).

• Until 1904 - Lieutenant B.L. Kuzmin-Karavaev 2nd
• 02.17.1904-26.02.1904 - Lieutenant A. S. Sergeev

• Commander: Lieutenant Alexander Sergeev .
• Senior officer: Lieutenant Nikolai Goloviznin 2nd .
• Artillery officer: midshipman Konstantin Kudrevich
• Mechanical Engineer: Vladimir Anastasov

Salvaged lower ranks:

• hold operator Vasily Novikov
• stoker of the 1st article Alexey Osinin
• mine machine quartermaster (acting boatswain) Fedor Yuryev
• fireman Ivan Khirinsky

On May 10 ( 23 ), 1911 ^[2] , in the presence of Emperor Nicholas II , in the Alexander Park on Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg , a monument was unveiled dedicated to the heroic death in the battle of the destroyer “The Guardian” according to the project of the sculptor K. V. Isenberg ^[3] and architect A.I. von Gauguin (foundation calculations were performed by Prof. V.N. Sokolovsky, a talented caster V.Z. Gavrilov cast the sculpture). ^[4] The monument depicts two sailors discovering the kingstones , since, according to information, it was V. Novikov and I. Bukharev who flooded the ship so that it would not go to the enemy.

Iskra magazine in May 1911 published photographs from the opening ceremony of the monument. The signature under one of them reads: “A monument to the heroes of the destroyer“ Stereguschiy ”opened on May 10 in St. Petersburg in the Highest Presence with a stream of water pouring from an open porthole.” ^[5]

In 1962, a small island in the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago was named after him ^[6] .

• The heroic death of the destroyer made his name legendary and widely known. Subsequently, it was repeatedly assigned to the ships of the Soviet and Russian fleet.
• In the homeland of A. S. Sergeyev , in Kursk , school No. 18 was named after him. The anthem of the school is “Song of the Guardian,” written by Kursk authors: composer Viktor Mezentsev and poet Vasily Zolotoryov. First performed March 10, 2004. ^[7]
• Also known is the song “Death of the Guardian,” performed by the popular singer Zhanna Bichevskaya .
• The feat of the "Guardian" is mentioned in the book of Valentin Pikul " Cruiser ".
• Alexander Kharitanovsky took the fate of A. S. Sergeyev and the destroyer "The Guardian" as the basis of his novel "Lord Officers!"

The following ships were named after the death of the famous destroyer:

• “Steregushchiy” (destroyer of the “Ukrayna” type, 1905-1924)
• “The Guardian” ( destroyer of project 7 , 1939-1959)
• "Steregushchiy" ( large anti-submarine ship of project 61 , 1966-1993)
• “Steregushchiy” (project 20380 corvette) - the current bearer of the illustrious name has been serving since 2007 as part of the formation of surface ships of the Leningrad Naval Base of the Baltic Fleet.

The names of the Sentinels sailors are also immortalized in the lists of domestic ships:

• " Lieutenant Sergeev " - destroyer, named after the commander of the "Guardian".
• “ Mechanical Engineer Anastasov ” is a destroyer named after the ship’s mechanic “The Guardian”.

• Kharitanovsky A.A. Sergeev Alexander Semenovich // Kursk. Local history dictionary. - Kursk: UMEX, 1997. - S. 353. - 10,000 copies. - ISBN 5-89365-005-0 .