The guard crew was formed in 1810 from teams of court rowers and yachts, sailors of the Baltic and Black Sea fleets (initially 410 people, in 1910 over 2 thousand people). Stationed in St. Petersburg [until 1820 in the Lithuanian Castle, then in ... ... Encyclopedic reference book "St. Petersburg"

Formed in 1810 from teams of court rowers and yachts, sailors of the Baltic and Black Sea fleets (originally 410 people, in 1910 over 2 thousand people). Stationed in St. Petersburg (until 1820 in the Lithuanian Castle, then in the barracks on ... ... St. Petersburg (encyclopedia)

Guards crew- GUARDS CREW, established in the reign of Alexander I, February 16. 1810; it included teams of the court. rowers and yachts, why G. eq. and considers himself descended from the first Court rowing team, formed under Peter I. ... ... Military Encyclopedia

GUARDS, guards, guards (pre-revolutionary and foreign). adj. to the guard. Guards Regiment. Guards crew (marine). Guards officer. Dictionary Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

1. The coastal part, which serves to replenish ship teams. E. F. receives and gives initial naval training to those drafted into the fleet, and during mobilization serves as a concentration point for incoming replacements. E.F. are located in ... ... Marine vocabulary

Guards series name settlements and other geographical objects on the territory former USSR. The name is derived from Guard. Russia Guards military town in the Novosibirsk region. Guards Island in ... ... Wikipedia

In pre-revolutionary times, the naval crew that manned the royal yachts and specially dedicated warships. In the land formation he was attached to the guards corps. Samoilov K.I. Marine Dictionary. M. L .: State Naval Publishing House of the NKVMF ... ... Marine Dictionary

- (maritime): 1) in a general sense, all ship ranks of the ship: captain, officers, sailors, machinists, servants, etc .; 2) in the navy (naval E.) coastal combatant, administrative and economic unit, which includes all officers and lower ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

Aya, oh. to the Guard and the Guardsman. G th part. Badge badge. G. uniform. Gaya correction. G. mortar (jet mortar of the period of the Great Patriotic War called Katyusha). Oh banner. G. Col. G. crew (mor.). G. officer ... encyclopedic Dictionary

guards- oh, oh. to the guard and the guardsman. G th part. Badge of the guards / th badge. Guards / th uniform. Gaya correction. Guards / th mortar (rocket mortar of the period of the Great Fatherland ... Dictionary of many expressions

Books

• Marine Guard of the Fatherland, Chernyshev Alexander Alekseevich. The prototype of the Guards crew was created by Peter I back in 1710. The court rowing team, which was engaged in servicing the watercraft of the imperial court. From the middle of the 18th century...
• Naval Guard of the Fatherland, Chernyshev A. From the middle of the 18th century...

Guards crew under Emperor Nicholas II and before disbandment. Part 3

L.A. Malyshev

After the Russo-Japanese War, the Guards crew often had the mission to accompany the royal family during sea trips or business trips. Every summer, during the stay of the highest persons in Peterhof, the royal yachts "Tsarevna", "Alexandria" 2nd and "Marevo" were parked at the pier. Emperor Nicholas II constantly made small walks along the Gulf of Finland and visited warships on the Kronstadt roadstead.

Model imperial yacht"Alexandria" 2nd. Catalog Russian imperial yachts. Publishing house "EGO". St. Petersburg, 1997.

In 1906, the legendary crew yacht "Alexandria" 1st was decommissioned from the imperial courts, which faithfully served 55 years (since 1851) in the Guards crew in a row for four Emperors: Nicholas I, Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II.

When the large Imperial yacht "Standard" was enrolled in the Guards crew, since 1896, the August family's trips to the Finnish skerries became regular. Later, on the same comfortable yacht, longer sea voyages and business visits to other countries were made.

So, in the autumn of 1907, the Emperor went on the "Standard" to Germany and on the roadstead of Svinamünde he met with the German Emperor Wilhelm II. The following year, 1908, Nicholas II met on the Reval raid with the King of England and the President of the French Republic.

Photo taken in 1907. Arrival German emperor Wilhelm II and Emperor Nicholas II on the Shtandart yacht.
K.E. von Gann. Raid of the city of Svinamünde. Catalog Russian imperial yachts. Publishing house "EGO".

Photo taken in 1908. The English King Edward VII and Emperor Nicholas II bypass the team on the Shtandart yacht.
K.E. von Gann. Raid of the city of Revel. Catalog Russian imperial yachts. Publishing house "EGO". St. Petersburg, 1997.

In June 1909, the Emperor and his wife visited the Swedish capital of Stockholm, and in July of the same year he paid a visit to England and stopped at the roadstead of Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Later, the Shtandart yacht visited the city of Cherbourg in France with the Russian Emperor. During this great sea voyage, Nicholas II conducted diplomatic negotiations with the Swedish and English kings and the German emperor.

During 1908, in order to replenish the Guards crew with lower ranks, in exchange for those who served their deadlines and were transferred to the reserve, a selection of candidates was made. The highest review of recruits took place in the fall of 1908 on the parade ground near the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo. Emperor Nicholas II with Empress Alexandra Feodorovna personally conducted this review, after which a parade of recruits took place.

Photo. The highest review of recruits in 1908 in Tsarskoye Selo. Detour by the Empress. 1908. From the funds of the TsVMM.

Photo. The highest review of recruits in 1908 in Tsarskoye Selo. 1908. From the funds of the TsVMM.

Photo. Parade in Tsarskoye Selo Guards crew. 1908. From the funds of the TsVMM.

The following year, in the autumn of 1909, the Royal family moved by train to the Crimea, to Livadia, and the Shtandart yacht followed them around Europe to the Black Sea. Boat trips on the Black Sea were mainly to Sevastopol, Yalta and Odessa. Upon the return of the royal family to the capital, the Shtandart went to the Baltic Sea and arrived in Kronstadt only at the beginning of April 1910, when the Gulf of Finland was completely cleared of winter ice.

The yacht "Polyarnaya Zvezda" during these years also made multiple voyages with the August Chief of the Crew, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, to Denmark, Norway and England. As before, this yacht was visited by the royal family. According to the old maritime tradition, sometimes the August persons took samples of the food prepared for the crew of the yacht.

Photo from the 1900s. Emperor Nicholas II at the aft saloon of the yacht "Polyarnaya Zvezda".
K.E. von Gann. Catalog Russian imperial yachts.

Photo from the 1900s. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna at the aft saloon
yacht "Polar Star". K.E.von Gann.Catalogue Russian Imperial Yachts.
Publishing house "EGO". St. Petersburg, 1997.

Photo from the 1900s. A sample of the food of the imperial yacht "Polar Star". K.E. von Gann.
(Emperor Nicholas II gives Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich a taste of food).

Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna every autumn on the yacht "Polar Star", accompanied by the yacht "Tsarevna", departed for Denmark and remained there for almost the entire winter.

Shortly after the Russo-Japanese War, the losses of the Guards crew in the ships were replenished with the latest combat destroyers and cruisers. Since 1905, the Crew were assigned and equipped with teams from its composition, just built on voluntary donations destroyers"Military" and "Ukraine". In 1907, new identical cruisers "Diana" and "Oleg" were enrolled in the crew. Somewhat later, in 1914, the 1st rank cruiser Svetlana joined the crew.

Photo. Destroyer "Voyskoy". From the funds of TsVMM.

Photo. Destroyer "Ukraine" before launching on November 13, 1904. From the funds of TsVMM.

Photo. Cruiser "Diana". 1916. From the funds of the TsVMM.

Photo. Cruiser "Oleg" in Algiers. From the funds of TsVMM.

Photo. Cruiser 1st rank "Svetlana". Revel July 24, 1902 From the funds of the TsVMM.

1910 was a jubilee year for the Naval Guards Crew. The crew at that time was located in their barracks, in which he settled back in 1820. Crew buildings occupied the territory, which was located in a triangle between the Ekaterininsky Canal (now the Griboyedov Canal), Ekateringofsky Prospekt (now the Rimsky-Korsakov Prospect) and buildings located somewhat further from the Kryukov Canal, but parallel to it.

From the side of the Griboyedov Canal (house 133) stands, to this day, a renovated four-story building, which housed the 4th crew company on the floors. On Rimsky-Korsakovy Avenue, house 22, there is a three-story building in which there were: an officer's wardroom, the crew's office, an apartment for the crew commander, apartments for single officers and commanding officers of the crew. In the adjacent building there was a last team, consisting of veterans, retired sailors and non-commissioned officers of the Crew. In the outbuildings of these buildings were located: a storehouse, a bathhouse and a bakery. The infirmary of the crew was in a special small annex on Ekateringofsky Prospekt. All buildings were lit by their own power plant and heated by their own boiler house.

On the anniversary days of 1910, the lists of the Guards crew included: 7 admirals and generals, 26 staff officers, 65 chief officers and doctors, 2080 non-commissioned officers and lower ranks.

Of the highest persons on the Crew were: Emperor Nicholas II, the Empress Empress Maria Feodorovna and the Heir Tsarevich Grand Duke Alexei Nikolaevich. Consisted of: Grand Dukes Mikhail Alexandrovich, Kirill Vladimirovich, Konstantin Konstantinovich, Dmitry Konstantinovich and Alexander Mikhailovich.

From December 6, 1907, Count Rear Admiral N.M. was appointed the crew commander. Tolstoy.

All Imperial yachts were commanded by flag-captain His Imperial Majesty Adjutant General Vice Admiral K.D. Nilov, who had previously been the commander of the Crew from 1903 to 1907 and distinguished himself in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, commanding the Crew's mine boat on the Danube.

Imperial yachts were in charge of:

• "Standard" - His Majesty's retinue, Rear Admiral I.I. Chagin, former commander of the Almaz cruiser, which broke through to Vladivostok in the past Russo-Japanese War;
• "Polar Star" - His Majesty's Retinue Rear Admiral N.A. Vyazemsky;
• "Alexandria" (2nd) - captain 1st rank G.P. Falk;
• "Princess" - captain 1st rank A.F. Sangovich;
• "Marevo" - Captain 2nd rank P.L. Trukhachev, who commanded destroyers in Port Arthur during the war of 1904-1905.

Warships were commanded by:

• "Oleg", who is on a foreign campaign, is Captain 1st Rank Planson;
• "Troops" - captain 2nd rank R.D. Zelenetsky;
• "Ukraine" - Captain 2nd rank Papa-Fedorov.

Under construction with subsequent enrollment in the crew were: the cruiser "Svetlana", the destroyers "Kulm" and "Lieutenant Dubasov".

Naval teams in the imperial country residences were led by Lieutenant General Ahrens, who, even in the rank of midshipman, earned the insignia of the Military Order for the attack on a Turkish battleship on the Danube in 1877.

On the 200th anniversary in 1910, Emperor Nicholas II granted the Guards crew a new St. George banner with jubilee St. Andrew's ribbons, instead of the old one, tested in battles. At the same time, all the previous inscriptions and insignia were preserved on the new banner of the Crew.

Watercolor. St. George banner of the Naval Guards Crew from 1813 to 1910. Captain 2nd rank S.D. Vsevolozhsky. From the funds of TsVMM.

Watercolor. St. George banner of the Naval Guards Crew from 1813 to 1910.
Captain 2nd rank S.D. Vsevolozhsky. Fragment. St. Andrew's Ribbon for the 50th anniversary of the Crew. From the funds of TsVMM.

Watercolor. St. George banner of the Naval Guards Crew from 1813 to 1910. Captain 2nd rank S.D. Vsevolozhsky.
Fragment. St. Andrew's ribbon for Kulm and the establishment of crew seniority since 1710. From the funds of TsVMM.

Anniversary ribbon to the St. George banner of the Guards crew,
granted in 1910. From the funds of TsVMM.

By 1910, more than 200 years had passed since the founding of the founders of the Naval Guards Crew - the Royal Rowers, and February 16, 1910 marked the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Guards Crew under Emperor Alexander I, as an independent naval guard unit.

In honor of the 200th anniversary of the Crew, a special gold medal was issued. On the front side of the medal there are profiles of three Emperors: Peter the Great, Alexander I and Nicholas II under the crown of the Russian Empire, and at the bottom there are three dates: 1710-1810-1910. The reverse side of the medal depicts the profile of the August Chief of the Crew of Empress Maria Feodorovna, also under the crown and signed below: "Bicentennial of the Guards Crew."

All ranks of the Guards crew and those assigned to it, all invited to the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Crew and who had previously served in it, were awarded special Jubilee badges in accordance with the Emperor's decree. This badge of the Crew was a kulm cross with the cypher of Emperor Nicholas II in the center and three dates on the lower and side rays of the cross: 1710-1810-1910. The sign was made: silver for officers and from a special alloy for the lower ranks.

Anniversary sign in honor of the 200th anniversary of the Naval Guards Crew. From the funds of TsVMM.

Portrait of Emperor Nicholas II. Hood. E.K. Lipgart. Beginning of the XX century.
State Museum history of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, 2010.

The uniform of the Guards crew of the late 19th - early 20th centuries was quite diverse, but had not been studied by anyone before and was very rarely depicted.

Our contemporary marine painter, Honored Artist Russian Federation, Andrey Anatolyevich Tron very accurately recreated in his watercolors this diversity of the form of the Guards crew and presented it at the personal exhibition “On the Seas, Ships, Sailors”, held in December 2010 at the TsVMM.

1912 was a special year for Russia. It was the year of preparation and celebration of the 100th anniversary of the war with Napoleon in 1812. All the descendants and relatives of the participants in that war, as well as all the regiments and the Russian people, raised funds in advance for the erection of monuments to their ancestors on the Borodino field.

By the autumn of 1912, the monuments were erected, and representatives from the regiments and relatives of the participants gathered in Borodino. A special guard of honor company was selected from the Guards crew, which at the beginning of August 1912, with banners and musicians, left for the celebrations in Borodino.

On the days of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino, a company of the Guards crew, led by its commander, Rear Admiral N.M. Tolstoy, camped near the village of Maslovo for 2 weeks. The casual uniform of the lower ranks of the Crew was in pea jackets, white caps and white waist belts. All were given army flasks for water.

Then, on August 26, 1912, a company of the Guards crew, along with other regiments of the Russian Imperial Army, honored the memory of their ancestors, participants in the Patriotic War of 1812-1814, with a parade.

The uniform of the officers at the parade was: in white ceremonial tunics with awards, with ceremonial waist belts and naval sabers, in white caps with white gloves, in black trousers and boots. For the lower ranks - white ceremonial rowing shirts with awards, white caps, black trousers with white ceremonial belts, with rifles and flasks, in boots.

At the parade, the Guards crew carried along the Borodino field their new banner, granted by Emperor Nicholas II on the 200th anniversary of the Crew, and a staff with a ribbon and a pommel from the banner received for Kulm from Emperor Alexander I in 1813.

For all participants of the holiday in those days, excursions around the Borodino field were organized and photographs were taken as a keepsake of this celebration.

Photo. 18-31.08.1912. Departure of the Guards crew for the Borodino celebrations. High relief on a monument in the village of Gorki. From the funds of TsVMM.

Photo. A group of a company of the Guards crew at the monument to the ranks of the Life Guards of the Jaeger Regiment and the Guards crew. From the funds of TsVMM.

A group of a company of the Guards crew at the monument to the ranks of the Life Guards of the Jaeger Regiment and the Guards crew.

Photo. Tent of the commander of the Guards crew. 1912. From the funds of the TsVMM.

Photo. Banners and tent of the commander of the Guards crew in the village of Maslovo. 1912. From the funds of the TsVMM.

The lower ranks of the Guards crew are examining the high relief of the monument in the village of Gorki, on the site of the tent of the Commander-in-Chief,
Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov. From the funds of TsVMM.

Photo. Signmen - extra-urgent boatswains. 1912. From the funds of the TsVMM.

Photo. Rota before performing at the parade on August 26. 1912. From the funds of the TsVMM.

Photo. A company of the Guards crew on the Borodino field 08/25/1912. From the funds of the TsVMM.

Author's photo fragment. Officers of the Guards crew and banner group with a new banner from Emperor Nicholas II (1910)
and a historical staff from the banner of Emperor Alexander I (1813) on the Borodino field. 08/25/1912
Third from the left is the commander of the crew, Rear Admiral, Count N.M. Tolstoy. From the funds of TsVMM.

In 1913, Russia widely celebrated the 300th anniversary of the reign of the Romanov dynasty. The Guards crew also participated in these festive events, for which they received medals specially issued for this Anniversary.

Photographs of the stay on these holidays of Emperor Nicholas II with Tsarevich Alexei Nikolayevich on board the Shtandart yacht have been preserved. At the same time, both members of the August family were dressed in the summer dress uniform of the Guards crew and had signs of the 200th anniversary of the Crew.

Photograph by K.E von Gann. Band of the Guards crew on the Shtandart yacht. After 1910.
In the center is Emperor Nicholas II with Tsarevich Alexei. Catalog Russian imperial yachts. Publishing house "EGO". St. Petersburg, 1997.

Band of the Guards crew on the Shtandart yacht. After 1910. Fragment.
Catalog Russian imperial yachts. Publishing house "EGO". St. Petersburg, 1997.

Until the beginning of the Russian-German war of 1914, all the imperial yachts of the Guards crew provided recreation in the Baltic and Black Seas, as well as foreign voyages for members of the August family.

The cruiser "Oleg" every summer was usually part of the Detachment Marine Corps, and in the fall went on foreign voyages. The destroyers "Voiskovoy" and "Ukraine" alternately carried guards during the voyages of the imperial family or stood ready on the roadstead in the area of ​​​​the naval royal residences.

In His Majesty's Own Consolidated Regiment, one officer and about half a company of lower ranks were appointed from the crew to guard and guard duty.

By the beginning of the war, by mid-July 1914, according to the list, the Guards crew consisted of: admirals and generals - 7; chief officers: combatants - 52, various corps - 17, doctors - 9, according to the Admiralty - 12, lower ranks - about 2000.

The crew commander from April 1908 to March 1915 was His Majesty's Retinue, Rear Admiral, Count N.M. Tolstoy.

During the war of 1914-1917, the cruiser "Oleg" and the destroyers "Voyskovoy" and "Ukraine", manned by the Guards crew, together with the small Baltic Fleet, solved the main strategic task - to prevent the enemy fleet from reaching Kronstadt and St. Petersburg, and also to ensure protection from the sea of ​​the flanks of our army in the south and north of the Gulf of Finland. They carried out security and patrol service, were engaged in laying mines in their own and enemy waters. The destroyers also participated in the defense of the Gulf of Riga and Moozund.

With the declaration of war, the cruiser "Oleg" under the command of Captain 1st Rank P.L. Trukhachev was a member of the 2nd reserve cruiser brigade and took part in operations:

• August 19, 1914 on a campaign to the island of Gogland, and December 30, 1914 in the installation of a minefield south of the Stolze Bank, after which he returned to Revel for the winter;
• On June 18, 1915, as part of a detachment of cruisers, he went on a campaign to Memel and took part in the battle with the German cruisers Ron and Bremen and in the destruction of the German minelayer Albatross;
• On October 28, for the first time and on November 30, 1915, for the second time, he laid minefields (about 700 mines) south of the tip of about. Gogland, after which he again went to winter parking in Revel.

The destroyers "Voyskovoy" and "Ukraine" throughout the war participated in all operations, first as part of the 2nd division, and then as part of the 6th division of the 1st mine division. At the same time, on May 12, 1915, the captain of the 1st rank of the Guards crew P.L. Trukhachev was appointed Head of this mine division.

In mid-June 1914, an English squadron under the command of Admiral Beatty visited Kronstadt. Emperor Nicholas II at that time was resting with his family in the Finnish skerries, but arrived in Kronstadt on the yacht "Polar Star" and examined the ships of the English squadron. Then the august family went back to the Gulf of Bothnia for another 3 weeks to rest. In Peterhof, a guard of honor was lined up on the pier for the meeting

In early July, the Emperor again returned to Peterhof, where he met the French squadron of Admiral Lebri, which accompanied the President of the French Republic, Poincaré.

In Peterhof, Nicholas II, on the yacht "Alexandria", transported Poincaré from the squadron to the pier, where a guard of honor from the Guards crew was lined up to meet the distinguished guest. The celebrations and celebrations in honor of the President of France continued for several days, but soon after his departure political situation in Europe has changed dramatically. Preparations for war began in almost all European states.

In mid-July, general mobilization also began in Russia, and on July 18, 1914, war was declared on Germany. Therefore, all the imperial yachts, except for the "Alexandria" 2nd, were put on coastal heating, and the officers and crews of the yachts were sent to the crew barracks.

Not wanting to distribute officers and sailors from the imperial yachts to the ships of the fleet, it was decided to form two separate battalions from the Crew, based on the experience of previous wars, which would fight on the land front along with the guards. Each battalion had two companies, as well as machine gun, demolition and searchlight teams, with 37 m / m guns and a convoy. The first battalion was made up of the company "Her Majesty" and the 2nd company, and the second battalion - from the 3rd and 4th companies of the Guards crew. From the army commissariat, protective uniforms were obtained for officers and sailors, and anchors were embroidered on the left sleeve above the elbow to distinguish sailors from land units.

Photo. Junior corporal of the Guards crew.
1914. From the collections of the author. An anchor is embroidered on the left sleeve above the elbow.

In August 1914, both battalions completed a course of field maneuvers and firing practice, and at the end of the month they were ready to march. The Dowager Empress and August Chief of the Crew - Maria Feodorovna blessed everyone for the trip, and presented the officers with an image.

The captain of the 1st rank A.S. Polushkin was appointed commander of the 1st battalion of the Crew, the captain of the 1st rank, Prince S.A. Shirinsky-Shakhmatov was appointed commander of the 2nd battalion.

Photo. 1914 Sailors of the Guards crew on land fronts. Before going to the front. From the funds of TsVMM.

At the end of August, the 2nd battalion of the Crew set out on a land campaign and on September 1, 1914 arrived in Kovno by rail.

Photo. The second battalion of the Guards crew before being sent to the front on 08/28/1914. From the funds of the TsVMM.

As soon as the 2nd battalion was disembarked from the wagons, it was immediately distributed among the river steamers and the sailors were ordered to collect barges on the Neman River, lower them downstream and flood them near the town of Ilgovo. However, the barges had to be flooded a little earlier, defending themselves from the advancing Germans, near the town of Sredniki, where a pontoon bridge was built for the Russian regiments and refugees retreating behind the Neman. At the end of the operation, the sailors took the wounded soldiers to the ships and returned to Kovno.

After that, the 2nd battalion, mainly on steamboats, provided protection for communications along the Neman to the German border at Schmalenniken. In addition, high-explosive barriers were set up near the Kovno fortress by sailors, and mines were launched downstream, on which several German ships were blown up. Then the 2nd battalion was transferred to Novogireevsk, from where part of the battalion under the command of senior lieutenant Butakov was temporarily attached to the 1st battalion of the Crew.

Somewhat earlier, on September 7, 1914, the 1st battalion of the Crew was loaded onto trains and three days later arrived at the Novogeorgievskaya fortress on the Vistula River. There, the sailors of the Crew were armed with the steamship Narevsky Miner, which belonged to the fortress. Four 47 mm were put on it. cannons and four machine guns, and the sides and cabin were covered with steel shields.

Soon, in the fortress of Novogiorgeevsk, two more steamers were armed by the crew for operations on the Vistula. The first, requisitioned from the Germans, "Fürstenberg" and renamed "Vislyanin", under the command of Lieutenant Khvoshchinsky. The second before armament was a small passenger steamer "Plotchanin", the commander of which was appointed midshipman Kern. Additionally, two motor boats were delivered to the Vistula from Petrograd. One was equipped with two 37 mm. guns, the second was intended for communication.

St. Andrew's flags were hoisted on all ships and boats of the Crew.

In November 1914, while carrying out a planned trawling of German mines discovered in the Vlotslavsk region on the Vistula, the Furstenberg steamer was blown up on one of them, and its stern was torn off by an explosion. Lieutenant Khvoshchinsky managed to remove cannons and machine guns from the ship, load them onto carts and join the battalion in Vyshegrod. However, during this blowing up of the ship on a mine, a sailor of the 1st article S. Redko died and a sailor of the 1st article A. Fedorov was wounded.

In early December 1914, some units from the Vyshegrod fortress were attached to the 1st battalion and a Separate Vyshegrod Detachment was formed, under the command of the commander of this battalion, Captain 1st Rank Polushkin.

The composition of the Separate Vyshegrod detachment is interesting:

• 1st Separate Battalion of the Guards Crew;
• 3rd battalion of the border regiment;
• 8th hundred of the 1st border regiment;
• 2nd battery of the 79th artillery brigade;
• 6th fortress howitzer battery;
• 6th light and 11th cavalry militia battery;
• 3rd Squadron of the 6th Klyastitsky Hussar Regiment.

The interest is that a ship officer was appointed commander of this motley detachment, who until that moment and shortly thereafter commanded only the warships of the Crew (destroyer "Ukraine", yacht "Alexandria" and cruiser "Oleg").

The multifaceted task of this Detachment was to guard the right bank of the Vistula, prevent the Germans from crossing the river and support our armies in this area. The battalion of the Crew with a unit carried out this combat mission from November 1914 to March 1915.

On November 7, the Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich visited the Separate Vyshegrod detachment, who on October 27, 1914 was appointed Head of Naval Battalions in the Army, instead of the ill Rear Admiral Count N.M. Tolstoy. A little later, on March 16, 1915, Kirill Vladimirovich was appointed Commander of the Guards crew, after the illness and death of Rear Admiral Count N.M. Tolstoy.

In the winter of 1914-1915, the 2nd separate battalion of the Crew was constantly transferred from subordination to the Vyshegrod fortress, then to the army corps and back.

Finally, on March 7, 1915, the 1st Battalion was called to Odessa to take part in the alleged landing of Russian troops near the Bosphorus in Turkey. Soon, on March 13, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Crew gathered in Warsaw, where they were replenished with two companies of young sailors from the Crew who had completed drill courses in Petrograd. On March 18, the battalions were loaded onto trains and sent to Odessa.

The idea of ​​landing near the Bosporus was born after the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sazonov managed to obtain the consent of the Allied Command that in the event of the victory of the Allies, Constantinople and the straits would be provided to Russia under a peace treaty. Therefore, the Headquarters began preparations for the landing operation in Turkey, and in connection with this, a special Transport Flotilla of 60 steamships was formed on the Black Sea under the command of Rear Admiral A.A. Khomenko. In the areas of Odessa and Sevastopol, troops began to concentrate for this alleged landing.

It was assumed that the Guards crew would be the first to land on the Turkish shores and occupy a bridgehead for the further landing of the main landing forces: the 7th Army under the command of Adjutant General Shcherbachev.

Upon arrival in Odessa, both battalions of the Crew were consolidated into one, which was called the "Separate Battalion of the Guards Crew." The captain of the 1st rank A.S. Polushkin took command of this separate battalion of the Crew, and the commander former second Crew Battalion - Captain 1st Rank, Prince S.A. Shirinsky-Chess, was appointed commander of the detachment in the Transport Flotilla to Rear Admiral A.A. Khomenko. During the preparation of the "Separate Battalion of the Guards Crew" for the landing, midshipman Kern was sent to Petrograd, who brought the banner and the orchestra of the Guards crew to Odessa.

With the onset of a warm period and the beginning of navigation on the Neman and Vistula rivers, the commandants of the Novogeorgievskaya and Kovno fortresses began to ask the Headquarters to send the Separate battalions of the Guards crew back to the theater of operations. The absence of such units could affect the security and protection of these fortresses from the rivers. Partially, these requests of the commandants were granted: the 5th company of the Separate Battalion from Odessa was sent to the Novogeorgievskaya fortress, and the 6th to the Kovno fortress. From Odessa to Brest-Litovsk, both companies followed the same echelon and at the end of May 1915 arrived in the army.

By the end of July 1915, the situation around the fortresses became more complicated, so they decided to use the 5th and 6th companies of the Crew as combatants, sending them to the trenches on the front line.

Photo. The trenches of the Guards crew on the land front during World War I (1914-1916). From the funds of TsVMM.

At the same time, in July 1915, a separate battalion of the Guards crew moved from Odessa to Sevastopol and continued to prepare for the landing on Constantinople. On July 20, the Commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral A. Ebergard, sent a special secret order to the commandant of the Sevastopol fortress: disembarkation and return landings on ships.

To inspect and select a possible landing site on the Anatolian coast of Turkey in the Samsun region, Lieutenant Khvoshchinsky was seconded to the destroyer, who bypassed the entire coast on this ship to Batum, and then returned to Sevastopol.

On July 25, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich arrived in Sevastopol and the next day he fulfilled the order of Emperor Nicholas II. He handed over to the Guards crew a cross made of copper pennies, donated for candles by soldiers of the troops when they passed through Odessa to Sevastopol back in 1854, for hoisting it over the Church of St. Sophia in Tsargrad (Constantinople). A separate battalion accepted this cross at a solemn ceremony in the courtyard of the Belostotsky barracks in Sevastopol, where it was built with the St. George banner and an orchestra, and promised to fulfill this important order of the Emperor.

On July 31, 1915, a separate battalion of the Guards crew landed on the transports "Jerusalem", "Athos" and "Saratov" in the Kherson Bay, went to sea from Sevastopol on August 1 and conducted a training session on landing on an unequipped shore at the mouth of the Kacha River, which the relief was similar to the Turkish coast at Samsun. The landing was observed by the Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, who spent the night from July 31 to August 1 on the Saratov transport and went to sea on it.

On the way to Kacha, the landing party was accompanied by the cruisers "Cahul", "Memory of Mercury", two auxiliary cruisers, destroyers and the test ship "Almaz" with a hydroplane on board.

At 7 o'clock in the morning on August 1, the detachment arrived at the mouth of the Kacha River and landed on a steep high bank "capturing the enemy's fortified heights." From the beginning of August to the end of November 1915, other training sessions were held to improve combat skills. Separate detachment Crew.

However, for reasons that are still unclear, at the end of November, the Headquarters Command refused to land on Constantinople and the Separate Crew Battalion prepared for it was transferred on December 1 to the city of Nikolaev.

On December 4, Captain 2nd Rank N.P. Sablin, who had previously been a senior officer of the imperial yacht Shtandart, took command of the Separate Detachment, and Captain 1st Rank A.S. Polushkin was appointed commander of the cruiser Guards crew "Oleg".

The change of the commander of the Separate Detachment took place in Nikolaev, in the presence of the Retinue of His Imperial Majesty Rear Admiral Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich - Commander of the Guards Crew and Head of Naval Commands in the Army in the Field.

In the first two months of 1916, a significant number of officers and lower ranks were sent from the Separate Battalion, first to Petrograd and then to Vladivostok to form a new crew of the legendary cruiser Varyag, bought by Russia from Japan. By the beginning of March, 5 officers and 300 sailors of various ship specialties left the Separate Battalion. The battalion was reduced by more than half and was transformed from a 6-company to a 4-company.

A separate battalion of the Guards crew was assigned to the 3rd Life Guards Rifle Regiment, which was part of the 2nd Guards Corps, which, together with the 1st Guards Corps, was merged into the Guards Detachment under the command of Adjutant General Bezobrazov.

The battalion of the Guards crew, together with the Guards detachment, was transferred from south to north, placed in reserve in February 1916 and stood near the town of Ryzhitsa, Pskov province in the Adamov estate until the end of May 1916, after which, together with the guard, arrived in the Kovel region.

In the summer of 1916, the Headquarters planned the offensive of the Russian armies on German positions throughout Northwestern Front. According to this plan, in early June, 2 corps of the 8th Army were attached to the Guards Detachment, and the Special Army of General Bezobrazov was formed. This Special Army was to attack Kovel on both sides of the Rovno-Kovel railway from the south, and the 3rd Army from the east and north.

In the Kovel region, the crew battalion was always at the forefront in the trenches under enemy fire and suffered minor losses - 15 people were killed and wounded.

The general offensive of the armies was scheduled for July 15th. After 4 hours of artillery preparation, the Guard went on the offensive. The crew battalion was in the first line of trenches opposite the village of Shchyurino, between the Life Guards Pavlovsky Regiment on the left and the Life Guards 3rd Rifle Regiment on the right.

The crew battalion was assigned a combat mission - to drive the Germans out of the village of Shchyurino and push the enemy back beyond the city of Stokhid.

At about 10 a.m., the 3rd Rifle Regiment launched an offensive and occupied several lines of German trenches to the right of Shchyurino. The Germans, having grouped their reserves, counterattacked the shooters and their attack bogged down. Then Lieutenant of the Guards crew Khvoshchinsky with his 2nd company of sailors attacked the Germans on the flank with bayonets, which they did not expect at all and began to retreat, incurring losses. The riflemen joined the attack of the sailors and, with the support of the guards artillery, captured eight rows of German trenches. The Germans began a retreat that followed along the entire front. Having passed the German trenches, the crew battalion took up new positions by evening and dug in. This victory was not easy, the losses of the Separate Battalion of the Guards Crew amounted to: 50 people killed and 120 wounded. The trophies captured two batteries of artillery, several machine guns, weapons, equipment and about 160 prisoners. A survey of prisoners established that in front of the Crew was one of the Hanoverian regiments.

Lieutenant Khvoshchinsky was awarded the order St. George of the 4th degree for the decisive prevention of the counter-attack of the enemy, which allowed other parts of the Russian army to defeat the enemy and push him back 10 miles.

After the battle on July 15, the Germans twice unsuccessfully tried to attack the positions of the Separate Battalion of the Crew at night, after which they retreated behind Stokhid.

During these days of fighting, known in history as the “battles for Stokhid” or as the “Kovel operation”, the Russian Guard lost about 32,000 people killed, not counting the wounded. The guard suffered irreparable losses, but, dying, did not retreat.

After standing for several days in the Stokhod area, the Guards Corps were replaced by rifle units and withdrawn to the rear for replenishment and rest.

A month later, on the twentieth of August, the Guards Detachment was again returned to the front, where it replaced the 5th Siberian and 25th Army Corps, which suffered very heavy losses during unsuccessful attacks on the enemy. It was the responsibility of the guards to repeat these attacks.

By the end of August 1916, the Guards took up positions. Guards rifle division with the detached battalion of the Guards crew attached to it and howitzer artillery received a plot of vil. Shelvova - Square forest.

In the battles for the Square Forest, which continued on September 3, 7, 19 and 21, 1916, the machine-gun teams of the Separate Crew Battalion especially distinguished themselves. About 30 St. George's crosses and medals were rewards for the courage and stamina of the sailors in these difficult and bloody battles.

At the end of September, the Separate Battalion of the Crew was sent to Odessa for rest, and then at the beginning of December it was transferred to the Danube to the Izmail fortress. The enemy on the other side of the Danube were the Bulgarians, whom in the Turkish war of 1877-1878 the Russian sailors-guards liberated, not sparing their blood, from the Turkish yoke.

On one of the January nights of 1917, about a company of Bulgarians crossed the Danube in the area of ​​​​the city of Tulchi with the aim of reconnaissance of Russian positions. The Bulgarians were given the opportunity to cross and that same night they were surrounded by part of the crew battalion. About a hundred Bulgarians were taken prisoner, the rest were killed during the capture operation.

At the end of January 1917, a separate battalion of the Guards crew was ordered to return urgently, first to Odessa, and then immediately by train to Petrograd. On February 15, the battalion arrived at the station. Alexandrovskaya near Tsarskoye Selo and sent to guard the Royal Family.

A separate battalion of the Guards crew was divided into three detachments.

The first detachment, consisting of the 1st company of Her Majesty and the 3rd company, was stationed in the Alexander Palace, where the Emperor's family lived. There was also the commander of the Separate Battalion, Captain 1st Rank S.V. Myasoedov-Ivanov and most of the officers.

The second detachment under the command of senior lieutenant V.V. Khvoshchinsky consisted of the 2nd company and a machine gun team. It was entrusted with the defense of the main approaches to Tsarskoe Selo from Petrograd along the seven-kilometer road from Pulkovo.

The third detachment under the command of senior lieutenant V.A. Kuzminsky consisted of the 4th company, a subversive team, miners, telegraph operators, minders and other ship specialists, was located 3 kilometers from the station. Aleksandrovka in the village of Redkovo-Kuzmino.

This unit did not have specific missions.

On February 28, the 3rd and 2nd detachments intensively shared information about the events taking place in Petrograd, which they learned about from local residents working in the capital.

On March 1, 1917, both detachments independently left their location near Tsarskoye Selo and arrived at their barracks in Petrograd, passing through the Narva Gate in formation (as in 1814 after the war with Napoleon).

On the same day, the sailors of the 1st company of the Crew, having gathered in the living quarters of the Alexander Palace, summoned 8 of their officers and demanded that they withdraw the detachment from Tsarskoye Selo. Otherwise, the officers were promised to be shot. After the withdrawal from the palace, the sailors of the 1st detachment, as well as other detachments of the Separate Battalion of the Crew, returned independently to their barracks.

On March 2, 1917, the Naval Guards Crew, under the command of their commander, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, in full force of 4 companies, arrived at the Tauride Palace to be presented to the Provisional Committee of the State Duma. In the evening of the same day, the Guards crew elected a new crew commander. Captain 1st Rank Lyalin Mikhail Mikhailovich was elected the crew commander by general vote.

The February Revolution of 1917, which took place in Petrograd, and the subsequent collapse of the front, were subsequently stopped further activities not only of the Separate Battalion, but also of the Naval Guards Crew itself.

The history of the combat activity of the Guards crew at this time includes not only the participation of its Separate Battalion on the land front, but also the voyage of the Varyag cruiser from Vladivostok to Murmansk.

With the outbreak of the war of 1914-1916, a significant part of the cargo from the Allies for Russia was delivered by sea through the ice-free Northern port of Romanovsk on Murman (later Murmansk).

The German command took all measures to destroy the sea caravans coming from America and Europe with cargo for Russia, sending their cruisers and submarines to the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. The losses from the sunken ships were huge, and the German submarines behaved extremely brazenly, knowing that Russia had no cruisers in the Barents Sea.

From the Far East to the North, to protect the coast near Murmansk, only two destroyers Vlastny and Grozny were transferred, and in Italy (in Livorno) the yacht Lizistrata, called Yaroslavnaya, was purchased.

Then the Russian Naval Ministry turned to Japan for the sale of new destroyers, but was refused. At the same time, the Japanese offered to sell several former Russian ships sunk in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. and restored by Japan.
Thus, at the beginning of 1916, the Russian battleships Poltava (renamed Chesma), Peresvet and the cruiser Varyag were bought back.

The cruiser "Varyag", after being sunk in 1904 in Chemulpo, was raised by the Japanese, repaired and served in the Japanese fleet from 1907 to 1916 under the name of the cruiser "Soya" for the sea practice of the cadet detachment of sailors. In 1917, the Japanese planned to scrap it due to dilapidation.

Photo. Japanese cruiser "Soya" (former cruiser "Varyag"). 1907-1916 years. From the funds of TsVMM.

The cruiser "Varyag" was enrolled in the Guards crew at the beginning of 1916. In March of the same year, a train with a new crew of the cruiser, assembled from specialists from the cruiser Oleg, the destroyers Voiskovoy and Ukraina, and also called up from the reserve, a total of about 100 people were sent to Vladivostok under the command of Lieutenant Peshkov.

On March 9, Captain 1st Rank of the Guards Crew K.I. von Den 2nd, appointed commander of the Varyag cruiser, and 5 crew officers left Petrograd to receive the ship in Vladivostok, where they arrived on March 21.

At dawn on March 25, 1916, Chesma, Peresvet and the Varyag cruiser, accompanied by the Japanese cruiser Ibuki, appeared on the horizon and anchored in the Golden Horn Bay. On March 26, the ships were hastily handed over to the Russian teams and the Japanese immediately left Vladivostok on their Ibuki cruiser.

On March 27, 1916, the Andreevsky flag, the guis and the Georgievsky pennant were raised on the Varyag - a sign of belonging to the Guards crew. On March 30, the second echelon of the cruiser team arrived in Vladivostok in the amount of 300 lower ranks, 5 officers and a priest.

Postcard from the beginning of the 20th century. Cruiser 1st rank Varyag. 6500 tons. Edition N. Apistoli

Upon a thorough examination of the cruiser, the commission found that it needed significant repairs to bring it into combat form. These necessary works continued for the next 3 months. From the Siberian Naval Crew, which was stationed in Vladivostok, 70 sailors of the necessary specialties were selected, and they were enlisted in the Guards crew.

In May, the Varyag cruiser underwent sea trials after repairs and carried out artillery firing. On June 18, 1916, the Detachment of Special Purpose Ships, consisting of the Chesma battleship and the Varyag cruiser, under the command of Rear Admiral A.I. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, left Vladivostok on a long voyage.

A.A. Tron. Cruiser "Varyag". Author's photo of the painting from the exhibition at the Central Museum of Music "On the Seas, Ships, Sailors". 2010

The detachment proceeded from June 18 to the end of August along the route: Hong Kong-Singapore-Colombo (Ceylon) - Aden. From Aden, passing through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, the ships of the detachment arrived on September 7 in Port Said.

From Port Said, Chesma was sent to the Greek Soloniki to replace the Askold cruiser, and the Varyag, under the flag of Rear Admiral A.I. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, continued to move to the North alone. The entire rest of the route to Murmansk itself, the Varyag went along the battlefield: the team stood at the guns all the time and the cruiser was in full combat readiness.

The cruiser's calls on this route were in the following Mediterranean ports: Valletta on the island of Malta and Toulon in France. On October 5, the Varyag passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Bay of Biscay. Having received the official course from the British allies, the commander did not adhere to it due to the activity of German submarines in the area and went on his own course. During the following days, on the course given by the English Admiralty, several ships were sunk by submarines.

On October 16, the cruiser arrived in Glasgow, where she was specially prepared for sailing in the cold polar latitudes and ice. On November 7, the Varyag left Glasgow and arrived on November 17, 1916 at the port of Romanovsk (now Polyarny), which is located in the Kola Bay near Murmansk.

Parking in Polyarny was monotonous. Many officers received leave after a 5-month campaign, and the commander of the Varyag, Captain 1st Rank von Den 2nd, left for Petrograd to report on the state of the cruiser after a long transition of 15,864 miles. The ship needed a major overhaul, and it was decided to send the Varyag to England for repairs, since such repairs could not be done in Polyarny. The battleship Chesma, which arrived in Murmansk on January 12, 1917, entered the combat watch of the protection of the North Seas.

On January 12, 1917, the Crew Commander Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich arrived on the cruiser and stayed for three days. On February 24, the Varyag left Polyarny for repairs to England, where it arrived at the port of Liverpool on March 6, 1917.

In England, among the sailors of the Varyag, unrest began, caused by various conflicting rumors about the revolution in Russia. Finally, an order came from the General Naval Staff from Petrograd to return all the sailors called up from the reserve to Murmansk, and to send the rest and part of the officers to America to complete the yachts bought there. Dispatches were carried out throughout the spring and summer of 1917.

Due to the lack of funding for the repair of the cruiser from Russia, the British decided to release the cruiser from the Russian team.

On August 28, 1917, about 30 remaining sailors of the cruiser team, led by Lieutenant for Admiralty Istomin, were sent to their homeland, and by mid-December 1917, the remaining 10 sailors of the protection of the Varyag cruiser were decommissioned ashore and replaced by the 1st English conductor and 5 English sailors.

The cruiser "Varyag" after the end of the war was towed to Scotland and then sold for scrap.

At the end of 1917 - the beginning of 1918, the demobilization of older sailors - the call of 1907-1910 - was going on in the Guards crew.

By order No. 105 of March 3, 1918, the Commander of the Baltic Fleet, the Naval Guards Crew was abolished "as unnecessary." Emperor Nicholas II signed a voluntary renunciation of power, and therefore there was no need for such a specific division of the navy.

On October 25 (November 7), 1917, Soviet power was established in Russia. Soviet Russia withdrew from the war.

In the summer of 1918, the Civil War began in Russia, and two main opposing sides were formed: white and red. The royal family, as you know, was shot by the Bolsheviks in July 1918. And all those who faithfully at one time served in the Guards crew also divided into these different parties.

What are the main results of this last war, in which the Guards crew was a participant right up to its disbandment?

In September 1918, on the Western Front, the allied troops (England, France, USA) went on the offensive on a broad front and broke through the front. German troops began a mass retreat.

On November 11, 1918, an agreement was signed in Compiègne to end the war between the countries of the Entente and the Triple Alliance. Soon there was a revolution in Germany, and Kaiser Wilhelm II fled to Belgium.

Turkey, having been defeated in this war, on October 30, 1918, signed an agreement with the Entente (Truce of Mudros) on board the English cruiser Agamemnon in the port of Mudros on the island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea.

Under the terms of the armistice, a significant part of the Turkish possessions was occupied by the troops of the victorious powers of England, France, and Greece. The European part of Turkey and Constantinople were occupied by the troops of France and England. The occupying forces were led by the commissioners of France and England, the chief commissioner was French.

The last Turkish sultan Mehmed VI was also in Constantinople. On November 17, 1922, on board an English cruiser, he was sent into exile on the island of Malta.

At the end of 1920, the white movement in the Crimea was defeated. Wrangel's troops evacuated from the Crimea and a significant part of the civilian population, a total of about 250 thousand people, by decision of the French commissar in Constantinople (with the permission of the French government) were taken to the territory of European Turkey. Subsequently, most of them dispersed to other countries. Many officers and sailors of the Guards crew also scattered around different countries, and an unenviable fate awaited all those who remained in Russia.

Wrangel's fleet was transferred to the French port in Tunisia - Bizerte (never equipped by the French for basing the Russian fleet under the 1912 agreement). In 1924, after France recognized Soviet Russia, the Russian fleet in Bizerte was liquidated.

An elderly woman with a huge black cat has already settled down in her place. The rest of the seats were taken by sailors. Coming from N.N. to St. Petersburg on a ship to replace the ship's crew. According to unspoken statistics, the most talkative people are sailors. This means that the neighbor will not be bored. Guests came from the neighboring car.
And here they sit, discussing their gloomy affairs with the names and surnames of the offenders.
How, to whom and how much they paid for the medical examination:
- Tanya takes in a divine way ... rubles for the design of the entire medical book.
- Manka so much for the signature of specialist Ivanov I.I.
- Mishka tore off for being sent to the ship by an electrician is also good.
- Grishka unmeasuredly gave for the direction of this particular vessel.
The sea wolves come out into the vestibule of the car, they return, inspired to righteous anger.
- Captain F is an old senile, XO T is a moron, he doesn’t understand anything at all, Chief Mechanic B is an alcoholic, he will flood his eyes, so in general.
- On the last voyage, he worked for Captain E, - the third assistant to the captain Petrov P.P. is already loudly announcing.
By morning they were quiet. They scattered to their places. A neighbor with a smart cat listened to all this nonsense. She knows Tanya, Manya, Misha, Grisha, not to mention Captain E (after all, her husband) by sight, and knows some of them.
At 9 am, the train arrives at St. Petersburg's Moscow Station. The conquerors of the elements of the sea also stood up, rumpled from mild to severe.
To quickly smooth out their hangover wrinkles, a neighbor tells them:
- Gentlemen officers! Sometimes look back at older ladies with cats, and suddenly she is familiar with Manya, Tanya and others.
The rest of the time before disembarking, the whole team rode in the vestibule until the elder got tired of apologizing, and they got off the platform until the old aunt with her stupid cat had moved far from the car.

Short

Families were friends. Husbands went to sea, and his wife and I met at gatherings quite often. Valera is a tall man with an incredibly explosive temperament. His environment must be calm.
Otherwise…
In the personnel department, Valera announced that it was necessary to have a certificate of secondary education. Once - ordered, he went to study at night school. Finished with ease and fun. I thought: “A friend graduated from the Higher Engineering Maritime School, and he?". The average sailor is easy!
In a math exam they ask:
What is the difference between sine and cosine.
Answer: (eyes glow)
- Sinus - what is not clear? But this is (waving his hands in one direction), and the cosine - Valera is already starting to get angry - here! - wave your hands to the other side.
To the second question: "What is a triangle" (insanity grew stronger). Valera drew a triangle in the air, offended by the lack of understanding of the teachers.
I love when people learn and have offered to help.
Two friends are sitting remembering their difficult trips for a glass of vodka, and I am sitting at this table and writing on the edge test Valera.
Thank God, Valera's natural laziness won out and, with a clear conscience, I stopped helping him.
Valera did not become a navigator, but he became a good, respected boatswain.

Guards crew- a naval formation as part of the Russian Imperial Guard. The prototype of the Guards crew was the “Court rowing team” created by Peter I back in 1710, which was engaged in servicing the floating. means of the imperial court. From the middle of the eighteenth century there was a team of court rowers of the palace department and crews of court yachts, which in 1797 were united and transferred to the jurisdiction of the Admiralty College. From these parts, on February 16, 1810, the “Naval Guards Crew” was formed from four (later eight) companies, an artillery squad with two field guns, a non-combatant flipper company and a musical choir (orchestra). The crew was assigned special shape clothing, somewhat different from the general fleet, with elements of the uniform of the guards infantry, and according to the state, military equipment and property of a land-based model were put in place with the inclusion of a entrenching tool and convoy. The personnel served on the imperial yachts and floating. means of country palaces, was involved along with the entire guard to the guards, reviews, parades, celebrations.

The crew received its baptism of fire in the Patriotic War of 1812. On March 2, sailors under the command of Captain 2nd Rank I. Kartsev, as part of the 1st Division of the Guards Corps, set out on a campaign from St. Petersburg to Vilna. Together with the troops of the 1st Western Army, General M.B. Barclay de Tolly, the sailors-guards retreated into the interior of the country under the onslaught of Napoleon's superior forces. The crew followed in the rearguard, was used mainly together with engineering units in building crossings, building bridges and fortifications, setting up camps; often sailors had to destroy buildings and property so that they would not go to the enemy. For masterful actions in building bridges in the Drissa area in the presence of Alexander I, the sailors were granted cash prizes from the emperor. The crew fought the first battle on August 4 during the defense of Smolensk, repulsing the attacks of the French cavalry on the Royal Bastion and the bridge across the Dnieper. When forced to leave the city, sailors and pontooners destroyed this bridge.

The guardsmen became famous in the battle on May 9, 1813 near Bautzen in Saxony, where, together with two battalions, the grenadier acted in the first line and held the position under the crossfire of enemy artillery. A brilliant feat of the crew was participation in the bloody battle near Kulm in Bohemia on August 16-18, 1813. Under the command of General A.P. Yermolov, the sailors successfully repelled the attacks of the French corps of Vandam, who tried to cut off the path of the Russian army from the mountains to the road to Teplitz. For courage, the crew earned the highest military award - the St. George banner. In the bloody battles of the Foreign Campaign, the crew suffered heavy losses: out of fourteen officers, three were killed and six were wounded, one hundred non-commissioned officers and sailors were out of action killed, wounded and missing.

On March 19, 1814, together with the Russian guards, the crew entered the capital of the defeated Napoleonic Empire, Paris. Returning from Le Havre to Kronstadt on the frigate "Archipelago", the sailors as part of the guard on July 30 solemnly entered St. Petersburg through the triumphal gates installed at the Narva outpost. A year later, the first warship appeared in the crew - the 24-gun yacht Rossiya. On June 5, 1819, in memory of the Battle of Kulm, the ships of the Guards crew (the frigate "Mercurius" and 5 court yachts) were given banners and pennants with the image of St. George.

Along with serving in the capital and suburban residences, sailors participated in long-distance voyages of Russian ships. Almost every sailboat that went to circumnavigation, was an officer-guards. They made foreign voyages and individual ships, manned by guardsmen. The frigate "Hector" and the brig "Olympus" went to France, England and Prussia in 1819. In 1823 the frigate Provorny approached the Faroe Islands and Iceland, bypassed Great Britain and returned through the English Channel and the North Sea to the Baltic; a year later he went to Gibraltar, Brest and Plymouth. The battleship "Emgeiten" sailed to the Rostock area.

In 1857, the first engine crew of the Guards crew was formed.

During Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878 sailors under the command of Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich fought in the Balkans. The guardsmen participated in mining on the Danube, laying crossings. They were equipped with steam boats with pole mines. The boat "Tsesarevich" (commander Lieutenant F.V. Dubasov) blew up the Turkish monitor, and the boat "Joke" (commander Lieutenant N.I. Skrydlov) successfully attacked the ship. For heroism and valor in this war, the crew was awarded silver St. George's horns, and the lower ranks were awarded St. George ribbons on peakless. At the end of the XIX century. guards frigates "Svetlana", "Duke of Edinburgh", clipper "Shooter", corvette "Rynda" made long voyages.

The guardsmen became famous in Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 Heroically fought in the battle of Tsushima battleship "Emperor Alexander III"(Commander Captain 1st Rank N.M. Bukhvostov). Not a single sailor escaped from the ship that died, but did not lower the flag. In St. Petersburg, in the square near the St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral, a memorial obelisk was erected in honor of the sailors of the battleship. Guardsmen were completed in Vladivostok and one of the first Russian submarines "Field Marshal Count Sheremetyev".

In peacetime personnel The crew served along with other parts of the Guards Corps. In the summer, sailors sailed on the ships of the Baltic Fleet and imperial yachts, and served court ships. funds. By 1910, the crew included 4 combat and 2 engine companies, the cruiser Oleg, the destroyers Voiskovoy and Ukraine, the imperial yachts Shtandart, Polar Star, Alexandria, Tsarevna were equipped with guardsmen , "Marevo", messenger ships "Scout" and "Patrol". The crew lists included 5 admirals, 21 headquarters and 24 chief officers of the fleet, 20 mechanical engineers, 8 doctors, 10 admiralty officers, 2 class officials, 38 conductors, 2,060 non-commissioned officers and sailors. Assigned to the Guards crew were Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Maria Feodorovna, heir Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, Grand Dukes Mikhail Alexandrovich, Kirill Vladimirovich, Konstantin Konstantinovich, Dmitry Konstantinovich, Alexander Mikhailovich.

Company commanders of the Guards crew. 1890s

Brass band on the upper deck of the imperial yacht "Polar Star". 1893


Emperor Nicholas II and flag-captain K.D. Nilov in front of the formation of officers on the yacht "Polar Star".


Emperor Nicholas II at the aft saloon of the yacht "Polyarnaya Zvezda"

Imperial yacht "Polar Star" (on board the lower ranks of the Guards crew).


Empress Alexandra Feodorovna at the aft saloon of the yacht "Polar Star"

Food sample of the imperial yacht "Polar Star". 1900s


Nicholas II among the sergeants of the regiment. 1900


Sailors and non-commissioned officers of the Guards crew (72 people). Early 1900s


Carrying the banner to the Winter Palace in 1902.


A group of sergeants who attended the 200th anniversary of the city of Shlisselburg. October 1902

The sailor of the Guards crew from the Shtandart yacht Derevenko holds the 2-year-old heir Alexei Nikolaevich in his arms. 1906

Boatswain (chief foreman) of the Guards crew K.I. Ryzhov


A group of a company of the Guards crew at the monument to the ranks of the Life Guards of the Jaeger Regiment and the Guards crew.


Quartermaster (foreman) of the Guards crew


Quartermaster of the Guards crew V.D. Glotov.

Sailor of the Guards crew from the Kursk province.

Junior Quartermaster of the Guards.

The lower ranks of the Guards crew are examining the high relief of the monument in the village of Gorki, on the site of the tent of the Commander-in-Chief,


The highest review of recruits in 1908 in Tsarskoye Selo. 1908.


The highest review of recruits in 1908 in Tsarskoye Selo. Detour by the Empress. 1908.


Parade in Tsarskoye Selo Guards crew. 1908.


Opening of the monument to the battleship "Alexander III" in the Highest Presence on May 15, 1908

Band of the Guards crew on the Shtandart yacht. After 1910.


Tent of the commander of the Guards crew. 1912.


Paired sentries at the tent at the Baltic Shipyard - along with the convoys. 1903


Guard of honor during the descent of the imperial yacht "Alexandria". August 16, 1903


Guard of honor during the descent of the cruiser "Almaz". 1900s


Departure of the Guards crew for the Borodino celebrations. High relief on a monument in the village of Gorki. 18-31.08.1912.


Company of the Guards crew on the Borodino field 08/25/1912


Officers of the Guards crew and banner group with a new banner from Emperor Nicholas II and a historical staff from the banner of Emperor Alexander I on the Borodino field. 08/25/1912


Rota before performing at the parade on August 26. 1912.


Signmen - extra urgent boatswains. 1912.


Banners and tent of the commander of the Guards crew in the village of Maslovo. 1912.


The second battalion of the Guards crew before being sent to the front 08/28/1914


The trenches of the Guards crew on the land front during World War I (1914-1916).

In wars with Napoleonic France the Naval Guards Crew took an active part. This is an elite unit. Russian fleet originates from the royal rowers of the era of Peter the Great. Under Emperor Paul I, it was called the Court rowing team, and in 1810, Emperor Alexander I ordered the team to be reorganized ... into a special crew, classifying it as a guard and calling it the Naval Guards Crew. Thus, a new military unit of the Imperial Guard appeared in Russia, which gained glory in the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Foreign Campaign of the Russian Army in 1813-1814.

The sailors of the Guards crew entered into battle with the enemy during the offensive of the Napoleonic troops on Moscow. The crew took part in the Battle of Borodino, where naval gunners distinguished themselves, showing miracles of courage and heroism. In pursuit of the retreating enemy, the sailors-guards, with heavy battles, went along with the army on a difficult and glorious path from Moscow to Paris.

In the battles on the territory of the modern Czech Republic, the sailors of the Guards crew, fighting as part of the 1st Guards Division under the command of the famous General A.P. For distinction in the battle near Kulm (Germany), the Guards crew, among the best regiments of the Russian guards, received the highest military award of that time - the guards banner. In addition to direct participation in the battles, the sailors-guards as part of the pontoon and sapper units performed a huge amount of work, laying roads, establishing crossings and building bridges.

In addition to the Naval Guards crew, the 75th naval crew, formed on Black Sea Fleet by personal order of Admiral P.V. Chichagov, who commanded the Danube Army during World War II. The sailors of this naval unit participated in numerous battles, performed complex engineering work and triumphantly reached Paris.

Thus, the sailors of the Russian fleet during the war of 1812 not only defended and preserved their Fatherland, but also helped, together with the Russian army, the peoples of Europe to free themselves from the oppression of Napoleonic France.

PARTICIPATION OF THE GUARD CREW IN THE WAR OF 1812
AND FOREIGN CAMPAIGN OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY (1813–1814)

INFORMATION ON THE PARTICIPATION OF THE GUARDS CREW IN THE WAR OF 1812

The guards crew, consisting of 4 companies and an artillery team with two guns, set out from St. Petersburg, in the detachment of Major General Bistrom from the Life Guards Jaeger and Finnish regiments; during the entire duration of the campaign, the Guards crew was in the part of the troops closest to the enemy, and the difficult task of arranging crossings, correcting and rebuilding bridges, as well as destroying those passed quickly to hold the advancing enemy at the beginning fell to their lot.

August 4, 1812
During the battle near Smolensk, the Guards Crew contributed to the continuous passage of troops through the bridges, and after the retreat of our army to the right side of the Dnieper, they mined and destroyed the guarded crossings with explosions.

August 8, 1812
After the army crossed the Dnieper at the village of Solovyevo. The 3rd company of the Guards Crew with lieutenants Chikhachev, Dubrovin and Khmelev was sent to destroy permanent bridges. This order was successfully executed under the fire of enemy patrols. The company in this case lost 5 people killed and seriously wounded.

August 26, 1812
In anticipation of the battle near the village of Borodino, midshipman Lermontov and 30 lower ranks of the Guards crew were at the bridge on the Kalochka River in order to destroy the bridge at the first need.
At 4.30 in the morning, the division of the French troops of General Delson, approaching the village of Borodino, attacked the 2nd battalion of the Life Guards of the Jaeger Regiment stationed in it. Having suffered heavy losses, the rangers retreated across the bridge, which was subsequently set on fire and destroyed by the sailors of the Guards crew with the help of rangers under heavy enemy fire. In this case, four sailors were killed and seven seriously wounded, of which two were mortally wounded.
By the timely destruction of the bridge, the right flank of our position was protected from the French advance.
In the Battle of Borodino, the rapid attacks of the French cuirassiers on the left flank were repulsed by well-aimed fire from our artillery, which included two guns of the Guards crew. The 1st artillery light foot company, which included the guns of the Guards crew, spent more than four hours under fire from a 30-gun battery of the French. At the guns of the Guards crew, four lower ranks were killed, Lieutenant List and Non-Commissioned Lieutenant Kiselev were shell-shocked; 7 lower ranks were wounded.

September 4, 1812
During the retreat of our troops from Moscow, the Guards crew was part of the rearguard (under the command of General Miloradovich), which was supposed to hold back the vanguard of the French.
On the evening of September 4, the sailors, being under fire from the French cavalry, destroyed the bridge on the Moskva River through which our army had passed; while 3 sailors were mortally wounded.

November 4-5, 1812
Two guns of the Guards crew took part in the battle of Krasnoy, being on our right flank (as part of the 1st light foot company of the Life Guards of the 1st Artillery Brigade) during the destruction of the corps of Marshal Davout.

The highest awards for military exploits of the ranks of the Guards crew in the campaign of 1812:
Crew commander, captain of the 2nd rank Ivan Petrovich Kartsev- Order of St. Anna 2nd degree;
Lieutenant Commander Grigory Kononovich Goremykin
Lieutenant Commander Konstantin Kornilovich von Prince- Order of St. Anna 2nd degree;
Lieutenant Commander Pavel Andreevich Kolzakov- the rank of captain of the 2nd rank and the Order of St. Vladimir of the 4th degree;
Lieutenant Alexander Egorovich Titov- Order of St. Vladimir 4th degree;
Lieutenant Matvei Nikolaevich Chikhachev- Order of St. Anna 3rd degree;
Lieutenant Afanasy Ivanovich Dubrovin- Order of St. Anna 3rd degree;
Lieutenant Alexander Andreevich Kolzakov- Order of St. Anna 3rd degree;
Lieutenant Sergei Alexandrovich Naumov- Order of St. Vladimir 4th degree;
Lieutenant Nikolai Petrovich Rimsky-Korsakov- Order of St. Anna 3rd degree;
Lieutenant Nikolai Petrovich Khmelev- Order of St. Anna 3rd degree;
Lieutenant N Ikolay Ivanovich Ushakov- Order of St. Anna 3rd degree;
Lieutenant Konstantin Konstantinovich Konstantinov- Order of St. Anna 3rd degree;
Midshipman Mikhail Nikolaevich Lermontov- Order of St. Anne, 3rd class and insignia of the Military Order;
Doctor Bogdan Kerner- Order of St. Vladimir 4th degree;
Artillery Lieutenant Adam Ivanovich List- Order of St. Anna 3rd degree;
Artillery Lieutenant Ivan Pavlovich Kiselev- Order of St. Anna 3rd degree;
Skipper Evlampy Romanov- Order of St. Anna 3rd degree;
Commissioners Vasily Bykov and Ivan Ivanov- the following ranks.

Of the combatant lower ranks - 10 people, and from the artillery team - 6 people, received the insignia of the Military Order.

INFORMATION ON THE PARTICIPATION OF THE GUARDS CREW IN THE WAR OF 1813

The Guards crew began the campaign of 1813 in January by correcting the position of pontooners during the crossing of troops across the Vistula near Plock, which they did quite successfully, despite the heavy ice drift.

April 25, 1813
On April 10, the 3rd company of the Guards crew, which joined the main army, destroyed under enemy fire the bridge on the Oder River near Dresden, when the rearguard troops of Count Miloradovich passed through this city.

May 8th, 9th and 10th at Bautzen: the fleches at Baschutz were occupied by the 1st and 2nd light guard batteries, among which were 2 guns of the Guards crew, which operated during the battle on May 8th.

May 9th near Bautzen, the Guards crew on the day of their crew holiday, by special personal order of the Sovereign, was used to reinforce the flank of our position and here, with two battalions of grenadiers, on the command of Lieutenant General Choglokov, holding on with special stamina for 11 hours, was honored to receive the highest approval of the Sovereign who was watching the action from above.
In this case, captain-lieutenant Goremykin and lieutenant Kolzakov, who commanded the crew, were killed; midshipman Khmelev was seriously wounded; lower ranks killed 6 people; 19 people were injured, of which 10 people were seriously injured.

May 10, being part of the detachment of Major General Yermolov, the Guards crew defended a position near the village of Ketitsa, under fire from French artillery.

June 14, 1813 was followed by the highest awards for the work done and participation in the battles:
Crew commander captain 1st rank I.P. Kartsev- diamond badges for the Order of St. Anna, 2nd degree.
Lieutenant A.E.Titov- rank of captain-lieutenant, lieutenants M.N. Chikhachev, A.D. Valuev, A.I. Dubrovin, A.A. Kolzakov (deceased) - to the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th degree.
Midshipmen N.P. Rimsky-Korsakov, M.N. Lermontov, N.P. Khmelev, N.I. Ushakov, K.K. Konstantinov - promoted to lieutenant.
Commissar 12th class V.Bykov, Clerk 13th Class I. Ivanov; 14th class skipper E. Romanov- the following ranks. boatswains Pospelov; Kononov, Dolin- the same with the transfer of the grenadier regiment to St. Petersburg.
healer Manelli- Order of St. Vladimir 4th degree.
Head physician B.Kerner- to be with the person of the Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich.

40 lower ranks received the insignia of the Military Order.

August 15, 1813
The guards crew was part of the Osterman-Tolstoy detachment (1st Guards Division, regiments: Preobrazhensky, Semenovsky, Izmailovsky, Jaegersky), which, being sent to help the 2nd Corps of the Prince of Württemberg, in a position between Donau and Königstein, held back all day brutal attacks by the French.

August 16, 1813
The guards crew, together with the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments, had several skirmishes with the French at Gigsgubel.

August 17, 1813
The guards crew as part of the detachment of General A.P. Yermolov distinguished themselves at Kulm, losing 75 percent of the officers and 38 percent of the lower ranks killed and wounded that day. Killed: Lieutenant Konstantinov and 13th grade sub-skipper Pospelov; wounded: captain-lieutenant Titov, lieutenants: Dubrovin, Khmelev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Lermontov 2nd, Ushakov, skipper Romanov; lower ranks killed 16, wounded 57, missing 4 people.

By order of the sovereign emperor Alexander I, dated August 26, 1813 in Teplice, Guards sea ​​crew St. George's banner was granted.
Crew officers were awarded awards for combat distinction.
The lower ranks were granted 42 insignia of the Military Order.

Subsequently, in 1819, the ships of the Guards crew were granted the Highest St. George pennant.
Highly granted to the Guards crew for the destruction of the bridge at Kenigshtein 31 insignia of the Military Order.

September 7, 1813
The guards crew, together with Prussian volunteers, destroyed under the fire of French artillery the bridge built by the French on the Elbe River near Königstein.

October 5 and 6, 1813
In the battle of Leipzig, the Guards crew was busy arranging the crossing of the allied troops across the river Pleisa; work at the same time happened to be carried out under enemy fire. The artillery of the Guards crew took an active part in the battle, being part of the Guards artillery.

To act against the coast to help our ground forces in the campaign of 1813, the squadron of Admiral Greig was sent, which connected with the squadron of the English Admiral Martyn; among the ship crews of Admiral Greig's squadron were the sailors of the Guards crew, taken from the crew crew remaining in St. Petersburg - a total of 93 people. Some of these sailors showed outstanding courage and resourcefulness and received the insignia of the Military Order.

INFORMATION ON THE PARTICIPATION OF THE GUARDS CREW IN THE WAR OF 1814

January 1st, 1814 The guards crew, together with the entire guard, under the personal command of the sovereign, entered France through the Basel bridge, which marked the beginning of the 1814 campaign of the year.

Participating in all offensive movements of the army, the Guards crew February 6 built a bridge across the Seine River at Nogent, along which Wittgenstein's corps crossed.

February 8 the same at St. Louis, for the passage of the corps of Field Marshal Wrede; On March 19, he solemnly entered Paris and occupied apartments in the Babylonian barracks.

July 18 returned to the Kronstadt raid and July 30 solemnly entered St. Petersburg.

RGAVMF. F.935. Op.2. D.190. L.2-5.