The ''Iosif Stalin''-class passenger ship was a two-ship class of large turbo-electric powered
passenger ship
A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...
s, operated by the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
Baltic Sea Shipping Company
The Baltic Sea Shipping Company or B.S.S.C (russian: ОАО Балтийское морское пароходство, БМП) is a Russian sea transport engaged in the business of oil products storage via rail wagons within Russian link-able term ...
(BGMP). The ships were taken over by the
Soviet Navy during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and used as transport vessels. The class was named after
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
.
The two Soviet ships ''Iosif Stalin'' and ''Vyacheslav Molotov'' (after
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov. ; (;. 9 March Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._25_February.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S. 25 February">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dat ...
) were constructed in 1939 by the Dutch company N.V. Nederlandsche Dok & Scheepsbouw Maatschappij (NDSM), in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
. The ships were ready and left Amsterdam on 1 May 1940, only nine days prior to the German invasion of the Netherlands.
The ships were intended for the Soviet Far East waters, but due to war, they were taken over by the BGMP.
Ships of the class
Iosif Stalin
![USSR stamp 1952 CPA 1697](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/USSR_stamp_1952_CPA_1697.jpg)
She was used as a passenger ship before the war and mobilized and renamed VT-521 (
Cyrillic
, bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця
, fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs
, fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic
, fam3 = Phoenician
, fam4 = G ...
: ВТ-521) during World War II. She participated in the
evacuations of Tallinn and
Hanko Hanko may refer to
People
*August Hanko (military personnel), August Hanko, German First World War flying ace
Places
*Hanko, Finland, town and municipality
*Hanko Peninsula, Finland
*Hankø, an island in the Oslo Fjord in Norway
*The asteroid ...
in 1941.
The ''Iosif Stalin'' was heavily damaged and eventually scuttled in early December when she participated in the Soviet evacuation of the
Hanko Peninsula
The Hanko Peninsula ( fi, Hankoniemi; ), also spelled Hango, is the southernmost point of mainland Finland. The soil is a sandy moraine, the last tip of the Salpausselkä ridge, and vegetation consists mainly of pine and low shrubs. The peninsu ...
. On 3 December 1941 she departed Hanko with 5,589 men. However she ran into three
naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...
s, despite being escorted by several minesweepers and being equipped with
paravanes. The ship's stern was severely damaged, and her propulsion system was lost, and there were many casualties. While the crew tried to repair the ship, Finnish
coastal artillery
Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications.
From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of c ...
spotted the convoy and opened fire. Soon the ''Iosif Stalin'' took a hit aft from a 12" (305 mm) shell. The shell hit an ammunition magazine, causing a large explosion and the ship began to sink. The dense minefield made it extremely dangerous to try to save the ship. Several Soviet minesweepers were damaged, and one exploded during the rescue operation. Minesweepers No. 205, 211, 215, and 217, and a further 5 patrol boats from the convoy defense managed to rescue 1,740 men. Panic struck the remaining passengers. The convoy continued its journey, and the ''Iosif Stalin'', which had settled deep in the water (water reaching the main deck) drifted towards the Estonian shore and ran aground. A planned Soviet rescue attempt was aborted because one minesweeper ran into a mine and exploded. German forces captured the survivors of the ''Iosif Stalin''.
The ship was "forgotten" in Soviet history, since its commander ordered a capitulation of the nearly 3,000 strong survivors, although they had weapons and ammunition to put up a fairly good defense. The captain of the liner N. S. Stepanov, who left the ship last, was captured and worked in the Port of Tallinn - sawing wood there. Through messengers, he transmitted to the Soviet side data on the movement of German ships and cargo. He was shot by the NKVD in 1944 after the arrival of Soviet troops in Tallinn. The ship was raised on 11 July 1945 and towed to Tallinn, where it was scrapped, though part of the ship's bow remains aground.
Vyacheslav Molotov
Launched on 17 August 1939. Mobilized as the military transport ship VT-509
«Военная Литература» Военная история ''Jossif Stalin''-Keskarhiiv -
ЦГАНХ, ф. 8045, оп. 3, д. 1110, л. 13; ЦВМА, ф. 9, Д. 6331, л. 33-60; Руге Ф. 8 с. 217; ЭГММ after the outbreak of the war.
The ship participated in the evacuation from Tallinn in the summer of 1941. She was damaged by a mine (which sunk the minesweeper T-201 Zaryad) and aerial bombing and was towed back to Leningrad to be repaired. The ship was later used as a stationary hospital ship during the blockade of Leningrad. It also found other uses: its radio station transmitted news and it also functioned as an ammunition factory. The ''Vyacheslav Molotov'' was damaged by German artillery fire in early 1943.
The ''Vyacheslav Molotov'' was repaired and returned as a passenger ship after the second world war. She was later used for the Leningrad-London route and also for trips to many European countries, Cuba and the United States. In 1957 she was renamed Baltika. She was also used to transport many international delegations, including those for the 20th Olympic Games in Munich in 1972. In September 1971, as ''Baltika'', she repatriated many of the 105 Soviet officials, including 45 diplomats, expelled from the United Kingdom for "activities incompatible with their status". She was refitted in 1984 in Denmark, but broken up in 1987.
References
External links
Google Translation of Russian link
The Soviet Fleet - Iosif Stalin class
The Soviet Fleet -''Baltika''
Adolf Bocki maal 1942
"Möödus 70 aastat NSV Liidu kõige salastatumast laevaõnnetusest"
ERR, 4. December 2011
{{coord, 59, 54, N, 25, 09, E, type:landmark_source:kolossus-ruwiki, display=title
Ships built in Amsterdam
Passenger ships of the Soviet Union
Ship classes
Netherlands–Soviet Union relations