Special forces of the armies of the world. Striking sword: how the Soviet infantry learned to fight History of the USSR Marine Corps

Voentorg "Voenpro" continues its series of materials about one of the most legendary branches of the military in Soviet and Russian history.

Our country is the real pride of the Russian people. After all, it was in these troops that a real Russian soldier dreamed and still dreams of serving. It is here that those unforgettable moments of service await him that will remain with him throughout his life.

History of the USSR Marine Corps

Now I would like to go back a little into the past and take a closer look at how the Marine Corps was formed and developed in the USSR.

The history of the Soviet marine corps dates back to the distant 1700s, when Peter the Great ordered the formation of the first regiment of marines. The army was small compared to the elite troops of the time. However, it had its own traditions, which, several centuries later, are observed by soldiers to this day.

Russian troops gained significant experience, which the Soviets took advantage of decades later, after the Napoleonic War, as well as after the Crimean and Japanese battles. We do not rule out the possibility that many infantrymen did not return at that time, but, nevertheless, the Marine Corps is famous and proud of its soldiers. They fought steadfastly for Russia. The USSR Marine Corps adopted the same principle from its predecessors.

But it is worth paying attention to the fact that with the advent of Soviet power, the marine corps completely disappeared. We do not exclude the possibility that the communists decided to completely destroy this type of troops. For what reason they decided to do this, we do not know. However, thanks to their resilience, the Marine Corps did not disappear. And resumed its existence in 1940. Just before the start of World War II.

It was at this time that it already acquired the status of permanence and made its contribution to the course of the war. After all, at that time there were already more than 350,000 people. All of them fought valiantly and proudly in military skirmishes. About five WWII marine brigades carried out their mission clearly and in a timely manner. Now we can say with complete confidence and pride that thanks to the participation of the Marine Corps in the battles of the Great Patriotic War, our troops managed to win more than one battle.

The Marine Corps still exists today. Only real Soldiers who will serve with pride are hired to serve there. Who, despite any difficulties, will glorify the Marine Corps and honestly carry out their service.

In our country, November 27 was dedicated specifically to the Marine Corps. On this day, it is customary to remember the main attributes of the Marine Corps.

We are ready to offer you a wide range of different symbols of this holiday. It's no secret that many USSR and Russian marines take their holiday quite seriously. On this day, they do not bathe in fountains, do not shoot guns, but it is customary for them to bother Russia and walk the streets of their city with honor and be proud of the fact that he is a real infantryman. In this case, a flag with the symbols of the Marine Corps would be an excellent gift for a real Russian soldier. In our store you can find a large collection of various flags depicting the main symbol of this holiday.

There are also other equally memorable gifts at your service. Namely, bright and original, tempting and memorable, keychains with the image, mugs and lighters with the main symbol of the upcoming holiday, as well as a large number of pleasant little things with the image of the main symbol of the Marine Corps.

It doesn’t matter who you are: relatives, friends or just acquaintances, remember that when you give a gift for a Marine Corps holiday to a real infantryman, you will give him a memory of the happy years of service in the Marine Corps of the USSR and Russia in the best army in the country.

And we are ready to help you make the right choice. It is here that you can find something that a Marine is sure to like. A large selection, first-class service, reasonable prices - this is all you need in order not to make a mistake with a gift. And remember that a gift for a Marine soldier is, first of all, memories. This is exactly what we are ready to offer you.

In March 1956, the 14th Marine Brigade stationed in Kamchatka, which was created in January 1946, was disbanded.

Due to the abolition of the Marine Corps, November 15, 1956 The Vyborg Marine Corps School was disbanded, and all cadets were distributed to other military schools.

7 years after the liquidation of the last Marine Corps formations, the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces realized the error of their actions and began to re-create the branch of the military.

According to the directive of the Ministry of Defense from 07 June 1963 No. org/3/50340 The 336th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 120th Guards Motorized Rifle Division was reorganized into the 336th Guards Separate Marine Regiment of the Baltic Fleet (336th Separate Marine Regiment of the Baltic Fleet).

The 336th Regiment became the first military unit in the revived Marine Corps of the USSR Navy.

The same was done in all other fleets of the USSR Navy, where marine regiments were created. New regiments are formed on the basis of motorized rifle regiments, reassigned from military districts to fleet headquarters.

In the same 1963, on the basis of the 390th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 56th Motorized Rifle Division, transferred from the Far Eastern Military District to the Red Banner Pacific Fleet, the 390th Separate Marine Regiment of the Pacific Fleet (390th Marine Corps TF) was created with the deployment in the village Slavyanka, 6 km from Vladivostok.

In 1966, on the basis of the 1st battalion of the 336th Marine Regiment, as well as the personnel of the 135th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 295th Motorized Rifle Division of the Transcaucasian Military District, the 309th Separate Marine Corps Battalion of the Black Sea Fleet was formed (309th Separate Marine Corps Black Sea Fleet) with a deployment in Sevastopol.

Also in July 1966, from the 131st Motorized Rifle Division of the Leningrad Military District, the 61st Motorized Rifle Regiment was transferred to the Northern Fleet and was reorganized into the 61st Separate Guards Marine Regiment of the Northern Fleet (61st Separate Marine Corps of the Northern Fleet) with a deployment in .P. Satellite of the Murmansk region of the RSFSR.

In connection with the re-creation of the Marine Corps, the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces raised the issue of training junior officers for the new type of troops.

Unlike the period of the Great Patriotic War, the training of lieutenants for the Marine Corps was given not to naval schools, but to schools preparing personnel for the ground forces.

In view of the relative small number of units and formations of the Marine Corps, for the training of the main officer military specialty in the Marine Corps (Marine Corps platoon commander), in 1966, as part of the Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School, a Faculty of Marine Corps was created (the only one for all schools of this type ), stationed in Blagoveshchensk, Amur Region. One platoon in each cadet company of this school was a platoon of marines. The first release of lieutenants for the Marine Corps was carried out in 1968.

December 15, 1967 On the basis of the 309th Marine Corps, the 1st Marine Battalion of the 336th Marine Corps of the Baltic Fleet and a company of amphibious tanks of the 61st Marine Corps of the Northern Fleet, the 810th Separate Marine Regiment of the Black Sea Fleet (810th Marine Corps of the Black Sea Fleet) was formed.

In 1967, the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces began to attract marines to combat service as part of operational squadrons, which was carried out in all oceans. For Marine Corps units, combat service meant being part of an operational squadron with standard military equipment and in full combat readiness to begin combat operations on land and at sea if necessary.

Initially, the squadrons included one company of marines, reinforced by a tank platoon on the PT-76, located on several medium landing ships. With the advent of large landing ships of Project 1171 in operational squadrons, two ships of this class transported a reinforced marine battalion. The reinforcement consisted mainly of a tank company with T-55s.

The combat service of the Marine Corps began with the aggravation of the situation in the Middle East, where the USSR traditionally supported some Arab states in their confrontation with Israel and its Western allies. The reason for attracting the Marine Corps to combat service was the situation that created in April-May 1967, which eventually broke out in the Six-Day War.

The first military unit of the Marine Corps involved in combat service was the 309th Separate Marine Battalion of the Black Sea Fleet, stationed in Sevastopol. At the beginning of June, this battalion, as part of the Mediterranean squadron of the USSR Navy, was urgently transferred to the shores of Syria on 2 large landing ships and 2 medium landing ships. The battalion's initial task was to land at ports to support government troops in the event of further advance of Israeli troops on the Golan Heights. In connection with the cessation of hostilities, a group of landing ships departed for the shores of Egypt to the strategically important port of Port Said for its defense.

In June 1967, units of the 336th and 61st separate Marine Regiments were also involved in combat service in the Mediterranean.

In wartime, all naval reconnaissance points were deployed into separate special-purpose brigades. In 1968, the maritime reconnaissance point of the Black Sea Fleet was renamed into a separate special-purpose brigade. Despite the renaming, in fact this brigade was an incomplete battalion (personnel - 148 people).

The tasks of the special intelligence servicemen were:

reconnaissance of enemy bases, ports and other facilities;
destruction or disabling of warships, transport support ships, hydraulic structures, radio equipment on the coast and other objects;
targeting naval aircraft and missiles at enemy targets;
conducting reconnaissance in the interests of naval forces during the landing of marines;
capture of documentary data of the enemy and prisoners.
It was planned to use submarines, military transport aircraft and helicopters to transport reconnaissance officers. In connection with ensuring the secrecy of the advance, special reconnaissance personnel were trained in diving and parachute jumping. Officially, the military registration specialty of the personnel of naval reconnaissance points was called “reconnaissance diver.”

To train conscripts, the 316th separate special-purpose training detachment was created in 1967, based in Kyiv.

Between August 1968 and 01 December 1968 On the basis of the 390th separate marine regiment (390th separate infantry regiment) KTOF, the 55th Marine Division was formed.

Combat service in the World Ocean by units of the USSR Navy Marine Corps since the late 60s has been distributed as follows:

Despite the repeated presence of the Marine Corps of the USSR Navy during combat service in close proximity to military conflict zones in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa.

Since August 1969, units of the 390th Regiment of the 55th Marine Division of the Pacific Fleet began combat service.

Since May 1969, in connection with the further escalation of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces created a consolidated reinforced battalion of marines, whose task was to guard the port of Port Said, which was provided by the Egyptian authorities as one of the points for the deployment of the Mediterranean squadron of the Navy THE USSR. Also, units of the reinforced battalion were on duty near oil terminals in the Suez Canal. To staff the battalion, companies were selected from marine units from all four fleets. The battalion's personnel were variable on the basis of constant rotation. Units seconded from military units changed every 4 months.

By the end of the 70s, due to the aggravation of the situation in the world and the emergence of new threats, the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces, assessing the number of Marine Corps formations as insufficient, set the task of increasing its number and reforming military units.

The reform affected the military units of the marine corps of the Baltic, Black Sea and Northern fleets. It consisted in the fact that on the basis of the Marine Corps regiments, Marine Brigades were created, consisting of several military units.

November 20, 1979 The 336th and 810th Marine Regiments were reorganized into Marine Brigades, maintaining their serial numbers.

On May 15, 1980, the 61st Marine Regiment was reorganized into the 61st Marine Brigade.

Marine Corps Missions
The leadership of the USSR Armed Forces assigned the following tasks to the recreated Marine Corps:

landing of amphibious assault forces on a tactical scale to solve independent problems and to assist formations of ground forces;
use as the first echelon of troops during the landing of operational troops;
defense of bases and other facilities from air and sea landings, participation together with ground units in anti-landing defense.

At the end of 1981 in the settlement. The 175th separate marine brigade of the Northern Fleet was formed in Tumanny, Murmansk region. Initially, the brigade was created as a cadre formation deployed in wartime. The brigade's personnel did not exceed 200 people. At the same time, the brigade was almost completely provided with military equipment.

For example, in the summer of 1981, a battalion tactical group of the Marine Marine of the USSR Navy under the command of Lieutenant Colonel V. Abashkin, during joint Soviet-Syrian exercises, successfully carried out a landing amphibious in an unfamiliar area - in the area of ​​​​the city and the base of the Syrian Navy Latakia. And then our Marines advanced deep into the territory, into the desert and suppressed the resistance of the mock enemy.

In 1982, the Pacific Fleet conducted the “Beam” exercise, during which, in conditions as close as possible to combat, a large amphibious landing was carried out from ships onto a coast fortified by the enemy. The uniqueness of the exercise was that it took place at night without the use of any lighting devices. Control was carried out only using infrared equipment. And this is more than thirty years ago!

In June 1983, an even larger exercise was held in the Black Sea. For the first time, a full-strength marine brigade landed afloat at night with a simultaneous parachute landing. According to the recollections of the participants in that exercise, about two thousand marines (including reservists called up from the reserve), having at their disposal up to four hundred units of various equipment, went to the bridgehead from the sea and from the skies.

In 1985, a battalion of marines from the Baltic Fleet was embarked on landing ships, which made the transition from Baltiysk to the Rybachy Peninsula in the North. There they immediately landed afloat on an unfamiliar training ground, completed the assigned task, and then made a return landing on landing ships located at a distance from the shore and returned by sea to their place of permanent deployment.

Strengthening the Marine Corps

According to estimates by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, the number of Soviet marines in 1988 reached 17,000 people. According to foreign researchers, this indicator reflected the total number of personnel of the 55th Marine Division, 3 Marine Brigades (336th, 61st and 810th), 17th Special Purpose Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet and 4 naval reconnaissance points.

October 12, 1989 By decision of the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces, the Coastal Forces of the USSR Navy were created, which included both marine infantry and coastal artillery units and formations subordinate to the fleets. According to this decision, four motorized rifle divisions were also transferred to the Coastal Forces from the Ground Forces, renamed into coastal defense divisions and reassigned to the command of the fleets.

In these divisions, while fully equipped with standard military equipment, the personnel were partially staffed - from 2,200 to 3,400 people. The total strength of the 4 coastal defense divisions was 12,000 people. According to some historians, these motorized rifle divisions should be considered as reserve divisions of the Marine Corps (RDMP - in the source).

In addition to motorized rifle divisions, 2 artillery brigades, 3 artillery regiments and 1 separate machine-gun artillery battalion were transferred to the coastal forces. In total, 16,000 personnel, 950 tanks, about 1,100 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers and the same number of artillery pieces and MLRS were transferred to the Navy from the Ground Forces.

According to one source, the total number of reinforced marines reached 27,000 people, according to another - 32,000 people.

This section lists military units and formations, which, in the opinion of Russian historians, should be classified as both units and formations of the Marine Corps and units and formations of reinforcement of the Marine Corps (reserve formations of the Marine Corps).

To train commanders of fire platoons of artillery units of the Marine Corps, the Faculty of Marine Corps was opened at the Kolomna Artillery School.

In 1989, a Marine Corps Faculty was created at the Leningrad Higher Combined Arms Command School, which trained Marine platoon commanders.

TO 01 January 1990 The units of special reconnaissance formations included 1 separate special-purpose brigade (personnel - 148 people) and 4 naval reconnaissance points.

Formations of special reconnaissance of the USSR Navy

01 January 1990 The 17th separate special forces brigade was reorganized into the 1464th naval reconnaissance point.

Personnel of maritime reconnaissance points (MRP) at January 01, 1990 but differed noticeably:

★ 17th Regiment of the Black Sea Fleet - 148 people;
★ 42nd infantry regiment of the Pacific Fleet - 91;
★ 561st infantry regiment of the Baltic Fleet - 91;
★ 137th infantry regiment of the Caspian flotilla - 42;
★ 420th infantry regiment of the Northern Fleet - about 300.

Formations and reinforcement units of the Marine Corps

These include motorized rifle divisions renamed coastal defense divisions and artillery units transferred in 1989-1990 from the ground forces to the USSR Navy:

At the end of 1991, the special reconnaissance combat formations of the USSR Navy included:

Due to the fact that almost all formations and military units of the Soviet Marine Corps were stationed on the territory of the RSFSR (except for the 810th Brigade), after the collapse of the USSR they all became part of the Russian Navy.

Formations and units of the Marine Corps 1991.
As of 1991, the following formations and military units were directly included in the Marine Corps of the USSR Navy:

General information on the composition and deployment of formations and units of the Soviet marine corps and coastal defense at the beginning of 1991 is presented in the following table:

In addition to the indicated formations within the USSR Navy, at each fleet and at the Main Headquarters of the Navy in Moscow, there were 5 separate guard battalions, the military personnel for which were selected from the Marine Corps formations:

★ 1643rd separate security battalion at the Main Headquarters of the USSR Navy (military unit 78328) - Moscow;
★ separate security battalion of the Cam Ranh naval base of the Pacific Fleet (military unit 15310) - Cam Ranh, Vietnam.
211th separate guard battalion of the Northern Fleet (military unit 42621) - ZATO Olenegorsk-2 (Bolshoye Ramozero settlement) Murmansk region; ]

In terms of numbers, the Soviet Marine Corps was significantly inferior to the Airborne Forces, but the Marine Corps has a much richer tradition, dating back to the landing parties of the Russian Imperial Navy during the time of Peter the Great. The Marine Corps reached its peak in terms of numbers during World War II, when there were 350,000 soldiers in 40 brigades, six separate regiments, and a number of smaller units. Five brigades of the Marine Corps received the designation of Guards during the war. During the war, according to official data, 114 amphibious landing operations were carried out. For the most part these were small tactical landings. Only four operations can be considered major, three of which were carried out in the Black Sea (two on the Kerch Peninsula and one near Novorossiysk) and one in the Baltic (landing in Moonsund). A significant number of marines was the flip side of the inaction of the main forces of the secular Navy. The naval personnel who joined the Marine Corps were commanders and sailors who did not have proper landing training and did not have land combat skills. The sailors everywhere demonstrated desperate courage, but suffered very heavy losses.

In 1947, the Marine Corps was virtually liquidated, leaving only small units in the coastal defense forces. The Marine Corps was revived again in 1961. Now these were specialized units designed for amphibious landing operations. In light of the new military policy, the construction of specialized landing ships of various carrying capacities began.

Since 1961, the Black Sea, Northern and Baltic fleets have one marine regiment each, and a marine brigade is deployed in the Pacific Ocean. These Western assessments do not entirely correspond to the truth; according to American intelligence, in the 80s the deployment of Marine Corps units was as follows:

– 63rd Guards Kirkenes Marine Regiment – ​​Pechenga, Northern Fleet
– 36th Guards Marine Regiment – ​​Baltiysk, Baltic Fleet
– ? Guards Marine Regiment – ​​Sevastopol, Black Sea Fleet
– ? Guards Marine Brigade, Vladivostok, Pacific Fleet

The Marine Regiment included three Marine battalions and a tank battalion. Each battalion had 33 BTR-60 armored personnel carriers, the tank battalion was armed with 34 PT-76 light amphibious tanks and ten T-55 or T-72 main battle tanks. In a battalion armed with the T-55, often three out of ten tanks were flamethrower OT-55s. The Marine brigade had two tank battalions and five marine battalions. The brigade was approximately twice the size of the regiment; the strength of the Marine regiment was 2,500 people.

Just like in the Airborne Forces, the best were selected for the Marine Corps, and the level of combat training of the Marines far exceeded the level of “boots”, and maybe even the average level of “blue berets”. In addition to training in landing from ships on an unprepared shore, the Soviet marines practiced airborne landings with parachutes and landing from helicopters. Special units within Marine regiments were preparing to use nuclear explosive devices with a yield of 0.1 to 5 kilotons.

The strength of the Soviet Marine Corps, 18,000, was only a tenth the size of the US Marine Corps. Unlike the American Marine Corps, the Soviet Marine Corps was intended to solve tactical and operational-tactical tasks. The task of the Soviet marines is to seize a bridgehead on the coast, to which units of ground forces could be transferred. The technical equipment of the Soviet Marine Corps also cannot be compared with the American one. The Marine Corps is a customer of specialized military equipment, from aircraft to landing dock ships. All equipment of the Soviet Marine Corps was actually similar to that of the ground forces.

At the same time, the Soviet Marine Corps adopted air-cushion landing craft earlier and in greater numbers than the USMC. The USSR Navy had about 60 such ships of three types, the largest could carry four PT-76 tanks or two T-72 tanks, or 220 marines. The Americans were armed with only small hovercraft landing craft. Hovercraft can dramatically speed up a landing, and in the case of a landing on a weakly defended coast, even deliver people and equipment behind enemy lines, quickly overcoming the first line of defense.

A qualitative leap in the development of the Soviet marine corps came with the commissioning of large landing dock ships of the Ivan Rogov class. Previously, the area of ​​possible actions of the Soviet marines was limited to the seas adjacent to the Soviet Union. Now the Marines have entered the ocean. The Ivan Rogov class ships have significant autonomy, their own landing craft and provide acceptable comfort to marines staying on board for a long time. The ship's capabilities were demonstrated during a training landing of Soviet marines on the Syrian coast in the first half of the 1980s.

1. Captain 2nd rank of the Marine Corps in summer field uniform, 1985.

The cut of the Marine uniform is close to the cut of the Army officer's uniform, but the color of the cloth is black. The vest is a traditional item of clothing for Russian sailors, both military and civilian. Unlike the vests adopted by the Airborne Forces, on the sailors’ vests the stripes have darker colors. The gaps on the shoulder straps of the kavtorang are crimson - the color of the Marine Corps. The officer holds in his hand a Stechkin automatic pistol with a wooden holster attached to the handle, which serves as a butt.

2. Soviet marine in winter casual uniform, 1985

Again - a copy of the ground forces uniform, but black. On the shoulder straps there are metal letters “BF”, Baltic Fleet. One badge is a land corporal or a senior sailor, as is customary in the Marine Corps. In addition to the star, the helmet features a version of the Marine Corps emblem. The fighter is armed with an RPKS light machine gun.

3. Tanker of the Marine Corps unit, 1985

The Marine Corps tank crews wore blue overalls; the cut of the Marine Corps overalls did not differ from the overalls of the tank crews of the ground forces. Under the overalls he wears a traditional vest. The headdress is a black beret of an Orsk infantryman. The overalls are marked with the code “532-1”. “532” is the side number of the tank, “1” is the tank commander. Sling over the shoulder is a pouch with a gas mask and a bag with signal flags, which were used to give orders in conditions of radio silence.

Defense of Odessa.

Marine of the Baltic Fleet. 1941.

1941, defense of Odessa. Marines from different Black Sea Fleet ships communicate with infantry.

1941, defense of Odessa, Dalnik. The Marines look at the trophies.

A serious signalman. Most likely - also the defense of Odessa.

Odessa port. Evacuation of the Marine Corps from Odessa to Sevastopol. October 41st.

On guard of the Motherland. October 41st.

Marines of the Baltic Fleet against the backdrop of the Hermitage.

Kislyakov, Vasily Pavlovich. The first Hero of the Soviet Union in the Northern Fleet.

Chief Petty Officer M.P. Anikin, who distinguished himself in the landing operation.

Many of the fighters believed that they would look better in the photo if they equipped themselves with all the weapons of the squad, or even the platoon))

Similar situation))

Marines at rest. Crimea, autumn 1941.

Marines of the Northern Fleet on the Kola Peninsula pose with Lenl-Lease Tommy guns.

Marine Corps nurses.

Marine signalmen at work.

Rubakho Philipp Yakovlevich, sniper. He destroyed 346 enemy soldiers and officers (according to other sources - 323), blew up 8 bunkers, a tank, a mortar, and trained 72 snipers. GSS posthumously.

Marines of the Baltic Fleet with the little girl Lyusya, whose parents died during the siege.

Marine landing.

Marines go ashore in Sevastopol.

Performance by a song and dance ensemble in front of the defenders of Sevastopol. Early 1942

Most likely - an airborne assault on the Arabat Spit before the landing. Kerch-Feodosia operation.

On the left is the political instructor of the assault detachment of the Feodosia landing Ponomarev, on the right is the commander of the machine gun platoon, Chief Sergeant Semichev, who shielded him from the bullet.

Soviet marines install a ship's jack on the highest point of Kerch - Mount Mithridates. Crimea.

Bayonet attack.

Sevastopol, 1942.

Sevastopol, 1942.

Apparently Crimea, 1942.

Crimea, 1942.

Soldiers of the 7th Marine Brigade in battle. Crimea, 1942.

A reconnaissance group from the 7th Marine Brigade returns from a mission. Crimea, April 1942.

Soldiers of the 7th Brmp. Sevastopol, May 1942.

Red Navy men P.P. Strepetkov and P.I. Rudenko destroyed 17 German soldiers in hand-to-hand combat.
Sevastopol, May 1942

Armored train of the Azov flotilla “For the Motherland” with 76-mm universal naval guns. North Caucasus Front, August 1942.

Landing forces of the Northern Fleet.

Radna Ayusheev, sniper of the 63rd BRMP. The photo was taken during the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation. During this operation alone, Radna Ayusheev destroyed 25 Nazis. Missing.

Soviet marine with captured SMG.

Landing on vehicles of paratroopers of the 254th Marine Brigade, 1942. If you look closely, it is noticeable that the majority are armed with captured weapons.

Stalingrad, autumn 1942.
A North Sea soldier of the 92nd Rifle Brigade receives a party card before the battle.

Signalman in Stalingrad.

Soviet patrol in Stalingrad.

Probably Malaya Zemlya.

Sniper of the 255th Marine Brigade Elizaveta Mironova. On September 10, 1943, she was seriously wounded in the battles for Novorossiysk and died in hospital on September 29 at the age of 19. Personal count - about 100 Nazis. The photo was taken in Novorossiysk shortly before his death.

Training of fighters of the assault battalion Ts. Kunikov. Northern Caucasus, winter 1943.

A Soviet marine fishes German prisoners out of the water.

A Soviet marine guards captured German naval gunners. Crimea, early 1944.

Marines of the landing detachment of Caesar Kunnikov in Gelendzhik after the award ceremony.

181st special reconnaissance detachment of the Northern Fleet. Autumn 1944, after the capture of Cape Krestovoy.

Leonov Viktor Nikolaevich, commander of the 181st special reconnaissance detachment of the Northern Fleet. The only twice Hero of the Soviet Union in the Marine Corps.

Agafonov Semyon Mikhailovich, squad commander of the 181st special reconnaissance detachment of the Northern Fleet, petty officer of the 1st article. Hero of the Soviet Union.

Sergeant Major Grigory Pashkov, 1944

In liberated Bucharest.

Combined Navy Regiment at the Victory Parade on Red Square. June '45.

The same ones, in the same place, but in color.

Amur military flotilla. Foreman of the 1st article of the monitor "Red East" V.P. Pilipenko. 1945.

Paratroopers of the Pacific Fleet hoist the Naval flag over Port Arthur Bay. August 25, 1945.

Sailors of the Pacific Fleet after the liberation of the Far East.

And in a separate section, not chronologically:

Evdokia Zavaliy. Reconnaissance platoon commander of the 83rd Marine Brigade. "Frau Black Commissar". 4 wounds, 2 contusions.

Ekaterina Demina, GSS. She went to the front at the age of 15.

Medical instructor of the 369th separate marine battalion of the Danube military flotilla, chief petty officer Mikhailova E.I. On August 22, 1944, when crossing the Dniester estuary, she was one of the first to reach the shore as part of the landing force, provided first aid to seventeen seriously wounded sailors, suppressed the fire of a heavy machine gun, threw grenades at the bunker and destroyed over 10 Nazis.

Jung from the sunken leader "Tashkent".

Nakhimovets Petya Parov, born in 1928. guard sergeant In the battles at the front, he was one of the first to break into Novgorod occupied by the Nazis.

Nakhimovites - participants in the war, from left to right: Grisha Mikhailov - captured a fascist staff officer during the liberation of Kharkov, Kostya Gavrishin - a cabin boy on a minesweeper, wounded in the head, drowned, saved the flag of the ship, Vova Fedorov - partisan near Smolensk from the age of 12, Petya Parov, Sasha Starichkov - fought on three fronts, was a liaison officer for the regiment commander, Kolya Senchugov - cleared a minefield.

The huge losses of Soviet infantry in the first years of the war were the result of fatal errors in the tactics of using this type of troops. However, bitter lessons were learned, and by 1944 the Red Army had reached a new level, which allowed it to end the war in the most convincing way - on the streets of Berlin, Vienna and Prague.

In September 1942, in the steppe near Kotluban station, Soviet troops tried to cut a corridor to besieged Stalingrad. However, the offensive quickly ended: the rifle units were unable not only to break into the front, but even to significantly push back the enemy. The disgruntled staff officers of the Don Front stated: “The artillery is doing its job, pinning the enemy to the ground, but at this time the infantry does not rise and does not go on the offensive.”

They didn't bow to bullets

It cannot be said that this problem became a revelation for the Soviet commanders. Even before the war, during maneuvers, the head of the Combat Training Directorate of the Red Army, Alexander Sedyakin, wrote with alarm that squads, platoons, and individual soldiers were undertrained, attacked in tight formation and would quickly die in a real battle. However, the rapid growth of the army, the general poverty of the country and the fever of reforms of the pre-war Red Army did not allow the infantryman’s training to be brought to the required level. Then the 1941 campaign took the question of the quality of training off the agenda for some time: any divisions were welcome at the fronts. Many offensives of the Red Army in 1942 stalled precisely because of the inability of the troops to solve quite standard tactical tasks.

But Headquarters was not going to silently watch what was happening. In the summer of 1942, the first collection of materials summarizing the experience of the war was published, and in the fall a new combat manual for the Red Army infantry was published. Great importance was attached to correcting mistakes, to the point of creating a separate department of the General Staff, exclusively engaged in learning lessons from the experience of battles and reworking military theory to meet the real needs of the troops. The efforts were not in vain: during the last 12 months of the war, a completely different army with completely different infantry went into battle.

Reconnaissance in German trenches

Although the Nazis went on the defensive on all fronts, this did not mean that the end of the battle would be easy. By the end of the war, the enemy had extensive experience in repelling attacks. Therefore, preliminary training on the ground became fashionable in the Red Army. In the rear, mock-ups of German positions were erected, followed by a mock assault. The training took place in conditions extremely close to combat conditions, with real shooting. In December 1944, in Poland, near the town of Kikow, a training ground with an area of ​​1 x 3 km was built, on which a “German” defense center was built. Half of the classes were held at night. The attacks were practiced as many times as necessary for each soldier to master his task, his maneuver. Particular attention was paid to interaction with artillery and tanks.

The calling card of the late Red Army was reconnaissance in force. This technique had an obvious advantage: the positions of the Wehrmacht and its fire system were revealed most accurately. The losses of the scouts were quite high, but if successful, they could capture the enemy’s advanced positions even before the start of the offensive. For the Wehrmacht, the standard technique was to withdraw the main forces immediately to the second line of defense in order to eliminate losses from artillery bombardment, so the capture of forward positions by Soviet intelligence officers often happened. So the Wehrmacht commanders were faced with a choice: fight the reconnaissance group and declassify their real positions or accept the loss of the front line. Intensive artillery support from reconnaissance groups added spice. As soon as the Germans discovered themselves, the gunners began to actively work on the identified targets.

Master key to "festung"

In the summer of 1944, the Red Army entered Poland, and in the winter of the following year it broke into Germany. For the Wehrmacht, one of the typical techniques of that time was the organization of “festungs” - fortresses. Such a fortress was created in advance in some important area, and during the collapse of the front, the remnants of the defeated units were pulled up to it. Inside, everything they needed for a long resistance was already waiting for them.

The barrage of fire, sweeping away everything in its path, was already the hallmark of the Soviet troops, but in old European cities with solid capital buildings it did not give the same effect as in an open field. In these conditions, well-honed tactics became salvation. Street fighting became the crowning glory of the late Red Army.

The core of the attacking units were assault groups. This phrase brings to mind for many images of soldiers wearing recognizable steel breastplates. This is what the soldiers of specialized assault engineering brigades looked like, which really played an important role in the war. But the small forces, of course, could not fight along the entire front or single-handedly storm large cities like Poznan, Danzig or Koenigsberg. Therefore, most often shock troops were equipped with ordinary riflemen, but there were also important additions. As necessary, the infantrymen were reinforced with sappers and flamethrowers, and the group included individual guns, tanks and self-propelled guns. The soldiers carried entrenching tools, smoke bombs, ropes, and captured Faust cartridges, which were used as engineering ammunition. The collection of captured grenade launchers and training in their use was put on a grand scale. The point of creating such groups was so that the commander would not waste time asking for help from the command: he already had all the necessary forces and means to perform a standard task. In the event of sudden changes in the situation, he could immediately react to what was happening, using all the capabilities of his diverse arsenal.

Assault and fire technology

Before the attack, the attack aircraft devoted several days to observing the enemy. The search and capture of enemy “tongues” was constantly carried out, so that by the beginning of the operation, the commanders of the assault groups already had a decent idea of ​​​​the Wehrmacht forces and the defense system.

On the eve of the assault on Koenigsberg, they even prepared a miniature model of the city with an area of ​​26 m², where all the enemy positions identified by reconnaissance were plotted.

The capture of the object began with a search for an abnormal passage. If it was not found, a breach in the fortification was made with the help of armored vehicles or by detonating a charge. A separate support subgroup crushed the enemy with fire, not allowing them to shoot at the attackers. Then the capture group burst into the building - it could include, for example, a dozen machine gunners, sappers, chemists and a flamethrower. First of all, the attackers tried to capture the attics and upper floors in order to isolate the house. Doors were knocked down with overhead explosive charges, and a grenade was thrown into every suspicious opening. Experience told the infantrymen to stock up on grenades in abundance - sometimes up to a dozen. The capture group was immediately followed by a reinforcement group with heavy machine guns and mortars. Meanwhile, the attackers began cleaning up. Excellent interaction between the attack aircraft and the assigned reinforcement units was required. For example, a small-caliber gun could fire at the windows of the second floor while the arrows were fighting on the first. In order not to shoot each other in the turmoil of the battle, they agreed on signals in advance and stocked up on missiles.

If it was not possible to clear the building without heavy losses, the sappers carried hundreds of kilograms of explosives in several stages and collapsed the house along with its defenders. One of the forts in Poznan was opened brutally but effectively: under the cover of shelling, the soldiers made their way onto the roof of the fort, blew up the caps of the ventilation shafts, then shot through the internal partition of the shaft with a faust cartridge and began pouring gasoline inside. After pumping 150 liters of fuel, the sappers threw a Molotov cocktail into the mine. The fort's garrison was lost in its entirety.

Sometimes unique technical solutions were used. For example, the practice of launching individual rockets has become widespread. The guides for the rocket were mounted on captured tripods of German machine guns. The shooting accuracy was, of course, low, but the PC could be dragged, for example, onto the roof and launched from a short distance into a specific attic. True, after the shot they had to quickly leave: the buildings from which the charges were launched also often caught fire. Another non-standard idea was homemade bombs for blinding embrasures, which were made from metal barrels and pyrotechnic charges.

Tank Saviors

It was the active actions of the infantry that became the key to the survival of tank corps in cities. Armored vehicles, contrary to the stereotype, can fight in dense buildings, but under the cover of infantrymen. A fruitful symbiosis was created: tanks and self-propelled guns supported the soldiers with fire and armor, and they cut off enemy infantry. Young men from the Volkssturm with Faustpatrons in their hands are a vivid image, but in reality, for every one who managed to lean out of the window and set fire to a tank, there were several more who received a bullet from the accompanying infantry. Snipers were often included in the attacking battle formations, including to fight grenade launchers. As a result, even an assault on such a metropolis as Berlin did not lead to the beating of tank armies with Faust cartridges: manual losses remained rare.