Destroyer "Steregushchy" The feat of the “guard” in the Russo-Japanese War and pre-revolutionary propaganda
Japanese midshipman Yamazaki, who inspected the Guardian before towing, reported: “Three shells hit the forecastle, the deck was broken, one shell hit the starboard anchor. On both sides outside there are traces of hits from dozens of large and small shells, including holes near the waterline, through which while rolling, water penetrated into the destroyer. On the barrel of the bow gun there is a trace of a hit shell, near the gun there is a corpse of a gunner with his right leg torn off and blood oozing from the wound. The foremast fell on the starboard side. The bridge is broken into pieces. The entire front half of the ship is completely destroyed with scattered fragments of objects. In the space up to the front funnel there were about twenty corpses lying, disfigured, part of the torso without limbs, part of the torn off legs and arms - a terrible picture. The bunks installed for protection were burned in places. In the middle part of the destroyer on the starboard side there was one 47-mm gun thrown from the machine and the deck was distorted.The number of shells that hit the casing and pipes was very large, and, apparently, there were also hits on the briquette folded between the pipes. The stern mine apparatus was turned across, apparently ready to fire. There were few killed in the stern - only one corpse lay at the very stern. The living deck was completely in the water, and it was impossible to enter there.” In conclusion, Yamazaki concluded: “In general, the position of the destroyer was so terrible that it defies description.”
Everyone was killed. Only four crew members were found alive. The Japanese tried to tow the destroyer, but the fire from coastal batteries and Russian ships approaching from Port Arthur forced them to abandon their plans and sink the Guardian.
The courage of the crew of the Russian destroyer so shocked the enemy that in Japan a monument was erected to his team - a stele made of black granite with the words: “To those who more life honored the Motherland."
Soon after these events, the newspaper "Novoe Vremya" published a version of events, which very soon turned into a legend. Its essence boiled down to the fact that, not wanting to fall into the hands of the enemy and give him the Russian ship, the surviving sailors Vasily Novikov and Ivan Bukharev decided to sink the ship and opened the flooding ports. Together with the bodies of the dead and wounded, the destroyer Steregushchy, with the St. Andrew's flag waving, went under water before the eyes of the Japanese. The legend so vividly reflected the spirit of Russian sailors that almost everyone believed in it. But it turned out that there were no Kingstons at all on the Steregushchy, and Vasily Novikov was precisely one of the four sailors who escaped and were captured. For this battle he was awarded two St. George's crosses. After the war, Novikov returned to his native village of Elovka. And in 1919 he was shot by his fellow villagers for helping the Kolchakites. Such is fate.
How did the monument to the "Guardian" appear? There is a version that at the end of the Russo-Japanese War, sculptor Konstantin Izenberg presented Emperor Nicholas II with a souvenir - an inkwell, the design of which reproduced the heroic and tragic moment of the death of the “Guardian”. The king liked it and ordered a monument to the “Guardian” to be erected according to this model. The Naval General Staff presented the Tsar with a report in which they refuted the myth spread through the press. But Nicholas II replied: “Consider that the monument was built in memory of the heroic death in battle of the destroyer Steregushchiy.” The architectural part of the work was carried out by A. I. von Gauguin.
The monument to the destroyer Steregushchy was unveiled in the presence of the emperor Nicholas II, Prime Minister Petra Stolypina and the Chairman of the State Duma Mikhail Rodzianko. Among the guards there was a fireman Alexey Osinin- one of four sailors who survived a battle between a ship and four Japanese cruisers.
The destroyer Steregushchy was laid down in 1900 at the Nevsky Shipyard. But Port Arthur became his home port. The place of death in 1904 was also Port Arthur. the site found out how the chain of fatal events led to a tragic outcome.
The sea was swarming with Japanese
At the end of February 1904, the Russo-Japanese War was already in full swing. Japanese ships often visited the roadstead, bombarded the Russian battery of Port Arthur, and attacked ships. There were rumors about preparations for a Japanese landing on the shore. Fleet Command, Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov, Adjutant General, Viceroy of the Emperor Far East Evgeniy Alekseev passionately wanted to know where the Japanese ships were based, where they were coming from, where they were sending their ships filled with explosives and incendiary mixtures to ram - not from Japan itself!
"Steregushchy" sank during a reconnaissance operation. Photo: Public Domain
On the night of February 25-26, 1904, a reconnaissance mission was assigned to two destroyers - “Steregushchy” and “Resolute”. They were ordered to explore nearby islands and, if possible, to sink the discovered Japanese ships with torpedoes.
At night, the scouts came across a lone fire from a Japanese cruiser. "Resolute" rushed into battle, but full speed ahead Flames began to burst out of its pipes. The Japanese noticed flashes of fire and also decided to break the disguise. One after another, the combat fires began to light up. "Resolute" and "Guardian" have discovered a Japanese base! And just in time they decided to get out of there and try to convey intelligence to the port.At dawn the destroyers managed to break away from their pursuers. The ships were sailing open sea straight to the port, but 20 miles away they encountered another caravan of Japanese cruisers. They hunted Russian ships.
The result of the ensuing battle is sad: the Guardian sank. "Resolute" was able to hide from the Japanese under the protection of a coastal battery.
Death according to documents
"Steregushchy" was unable to escape from the fire because one of the first Japanese shells damaged two of its boilers, another pierced the side, and water flooded the fireboxes. The destroyer stood up and was forced to take the fight. He stood alone against four for about an hour. Four officers and 44 lower-ranking sailors were killed.
Viceroy of Emperor Nicholas II in the Far East, Adjutant General Evgeniy Alekseev telegraphed to St. Petersburg: “The fleet commander, Vice Admiral Makarov, reports: on February 26, 6 destroyers, 4 of them under the general command of Captain 1st Rank Matusevich, met with enemy destroyers, followed by cruisers. A hot battle took place, in which the destroyer Vlastny, under the command of Lieutenant Kartsev, sank the enemy destroyer with a Whitehead mine. Upon returning, the destroyer Steregushchy, under the command of Lieutenant Sergeev, was hit, lost its vehicle and began to sink. At 8 o'clock in the morning, five destroyers returned. When the critical situation of the Steregushchy became clear, I transferred my flag to the Novik and went out with the Novik and Bayan to the rescue, but the destroyer had 5 enemy cruisers, and an armored squadron was approaching. It was not possible to save, the destroyer sank; the surviving part of the crew was captured..."
Evidence from the Japanese side has also been preserved. Midshipman Yamazaki, who led the prize team (a small detachment advancing to the defeated ship for trophies), inspecting the Guardian, reported: “Three shells hit the forecastle, the deck was pierced, one shell hit the starboard anchor. On both sides outside there are traces of hits from dozens of large and small shells, including holes near the waterline through which water penetrated into the destroyer when rolling. On the barrel of the bow gun there is a trace of a hit shell, near the gun there is the corpse of a gunner with his right leg torn off and blood oozing from the wound. The foremast fell to starboard. The bridge is broken into pieces. The entire front half of the ship is completely destroyed with fragments of objects scattered. In the space up to the front pipe there were about twenty corpses lying, disfigured, part of the body without limbs, part of the torn off legs and arms - a terrible picture. The beds installed for protection were burned in places. In the middle part of the destroyer, on the starboard side, one 47-mm gun was thrown from the machine and the deck was mangled. The number of shells that hit the casing and pipes was very large, and apparently there were also hits on the briquette stacked between the pipes. The stern mine apparatus was turned across, apparently ready to fire. There were few killed in the stern - only one corpse lay at the very stern. The living deck was completely in the water, and it was impossible to enter there.”
The Japanese tried to tow the destroyer, but it sank under the weight of the water it had taken on.
Two deaths of fireman Novikov
After some time, the English newspaper The Times published a note about that battle, in which it was reported that the Guardian did not drown, but was sunk by heroic sailors who did not want to surrender their ship to the enemy. They saw that the prize crew was coming on board, so they locked themselves in the hold, opened the kingstons and sank along with the destroyer.
Soon this message found its way into Russian newspapers. Word spread about the feat. And in 1905, even the Maritime Department published an official report on the defense of Port Arthur, which mentioned the death of the Guardian: “Two sailors locked themselves in the hold, resolutely refused to surrender and opened the kingstons... Unknown heroes brought new unfading laurel to their exploits Russian fleet."
Some newspapers attributed the exploits to sailors Vasily Novikov And Ivan Bukharev. They believed in the legend, although they did not fall asleep under the waves.
“The opener of the Kingstons,” Vasily Novikov, received two St. George’s Crosses for that battle. Returned from captivity and settled in his native Elovka Krasnoyarsk Territory. For obvious reasons, the war hero was not at the opening of the monument; he might not even have known that his heroism and the feat of his comrades were immortalized in such a metaphorical way.
But, according to some sources, the sailor nevertheless perpetuated the memory of himself, although without mentioning his “first death.” In Japanese captivity, he allegedly met a captain of 1st rank Seletsky, commander of the Voluntary Fleet steamer "Ekaterinoslav". In the camp, the bilge operator Novikov told the commander his version of the destruction of the destroyer. Seletsky cites it in his memoirs: “Firing from the Steregushchy stops; its engine and boilers were damaged, its crew was killed, and the destroyer could no longer resist. Slightly wounded fireman Alexey Osinin crawls out of the fire compartment onto the deck, as his boiler is damaged and the fireboxes are flooded with water. The Japanese also stop shooting and launch the surviving boats to send them to the Steregushchy to pick up the wounded and take possession of the destroyer itself. At this time, driver Vasily Novikov miraculously remained not only alive, but also uninjured, appears from the car. Seeing that the Japanese are rushing to the destroyer, he, on the advice of the mortally wounded signalman Vasily Kruzhkov, begins to throw signal books overboard, having first wrapped them together with the shells in flags, and then all the ship's flags, having previously wrapped them around the shells so that they would not reach to the Japanese as trophies. Seeing that a boat with armed Japanese was approaching the Guardian, he rushes into the car and closes the hatch behind him, screwing it from the inside; and then begins to open the kingstons and clinkets. Having finished his work and seeing that the water in the engine room is beginning to rise above his knees, he opens the hatch and goes upstairs. He is immediately seized...”According to legend, death overtook Novikov in 1904. But for real - in 1919. He was killed by his fellow villagers for helping the Kolchakites.
It is difficult to blame the sailor for sympathizing with the admiral with whom he fought side by side when he was still a lieutenant and commanded the destroyer "Angry".
Monument to the "Guardian"
Monument to the destroyer. Photo: Public Domain
Of course, a sculptor Konstantin Izenberg and architect Alexandra von Gauguin The creation of the monument was inspired by the legendary part of the feat of the destroyer crew. The monument depicts sailors in the hold, opening the porthole and kingstons. It's pouring on them sea water. The two heroes are captured at the moment shortly before their death, when the fateful decision has already been made. There was some dispute about whether to make a memorial inscription about the feat of two specific people, but it was resolved by the command of Nicholas II - to consider that the monument was built in memory of the feat of all the sailors of the destroyer "Guardian".
Work on the monument began in 1905, at the peak of the glory of the sailors’ feat. It is noteworthy that at first water actually poured onto the monument and flowed into the granite pool at the foot. But in 1935, the water supply was stopped in order to preserve the sculpture. In 1947, the pipes supplying water were restored, but in 1971 the water supply was completely stopped.
The courage of the crew of the Russian destroyer shocked the enemy as well. In Japan, a monument was also erected to his team: on a stele made of black granite, the words are engraved: “To those who honored the Motherland more than their lives.”
At dawn on February 26 (March 10), 1904, the destroyers Steregushchiy and Reshetelny were returning from a night reconnaissance to the Elliot Islands in Port Arthur. Suddenly, in the thick morning fog, they came across four Japanese ships.
These were the destroyers Usugumo, Sinonome, Sazanami and Akebono, which were soon approached by two more Japanese cruisers. An unequal battle ensued. "Resolute", which had a more powerful engine, managed to break through to Port Arthur, and the "Guardian" was hit by the full power of enemy gunfire.
The result was 64 guns versus four! It was real hell: Japanese shells demolished all the masts and pipes on the Russian destroyer, the hull was broken. While the machine was still working, there was still hope of breaking through to Port Arthur, but at 6:40 a.m. a Japanese shell exploded in a coal pit and damaged two adjacent boilers. The destroyer began to quickly lose speed. Soon his guns fell silent.
The mortally wounded commander of the Guardian, Lieutenant Alexander Sergeev, gave the last order: “Fight so that everyone fulfills his duty to the Motherland to the end, without thinking about the shameful surrender of his own ship to the enemy.”
The sailors nailed the riddled St. Andrew's flag to the gaff and continued to fire even with rifles. The entire deck was covered in blood and strewn with the bodies of dead Russian sailors...
Seeing that the Guardian had stopped showing signs of life, the Japanese ceased fire, deciding to take it in tow and capture it as prey. A boat was lowered from the destroyer Sazanami. This is the picture revealed to the Japanese sailors who boarded the Russian ship, described in the report by midshipman Hitara Yamazaki: “Three shells hit the forecastle, the deck was pierced, one shell hit the starboard anchor. On both sides outside there are traces of hits from dozens of large and small shells, including holes near the waterline through which water penetrated into the destroyer when rolling. On the barrel of the bow gun there is a trace of a hit shell, near the gun there is the corpse of a gunner with his right leg torn off and blood oozing from the wound. The foremast fell to starboard. The bridge is broken into pieces. The entire front half of the ship is completely destroyed with fragments of objects scattered. In the space up to the front chimney lay about twenty corpses, disfigured, part of the body without limbs, part of the torn off legs and arms - a terrible picture, including one, apparently an officer, with binoculars on his neck. In the middle part of the destroyer, on the starboard side, one 47-mm gun was thrown from the machine and the deck was mangled. The stern mine apparatus was turned across, apparently ready to fire. There were few killed in the stern - only one corpse lay at the very stern. The living deck was completely in the water, and it was impossible to enter there.” In conclusion, Yamazaki concluded: “In general, the position of the destroyer was so terrible that it defies description.”
In the unequal battle, the commander of the Guardian, three officers and forty-five members of his crew died. The Japanese, having picked up four miraculously surviving Russian sailors, tied a steel cable to the mutilated ship, but had barely begun to drag it behind them when the tug broke. The Guardian began to list on board and soon disappeared under the waves.
Meanwhile, the Resolute reached Port Arthur. Its seriously wounded captain Fyodor Bosei reported to the fleet commander, Admiral Stepan Makarov: “I lost the destroyer, I don’t hear anything.” And fell unconscious. Two Russian cruisers, Bayan and Novik, hurried to the battle site. The sailors saw the sinking Steregushchy and Japanese ships circling around, including their heavy cruisers that arrived in time. When the Russian destroyer sank, Makarov ordered to return to Port Arthur: it was useless for the light cruisers Bayan and Novik to fight the Japanese armada.
The admiration of the Japanese for the feat of the Russian sailors was so great that when the four captured sailors were taken to Sasebo, an enthusiastic letter from the Japanese Minister of Navy Yamamoto was already waiting for them.
It said: “You, gentlemen, fought bravely for your Fatherland, and defended it perfectly. You have done your duty as sailors. I sincerely praise you, you are great!”
The unprecedented battle received wide international resonance. The correspondent of the English newspaper The Times, citing Japanese reports, was the first to tell the whole world the version that, not wanting to surrender to the enemy, two Russian sailors locked themselves in the hold, opened the seacocks and sank their ship themselves. The article was reprinted by the Russian newspaper “Novoye Vremya”, and the English version of the “heroic flooding” went for a walk across Russia. Postcards were printed about the feat, and reproductions of a painting by the artist Samokish-Sudkovsky, depicting the moment when “two unknown sailors” opened the kingstons and the porthole on the sinking Steregushchy, were widely distributed. Poems were also written:
The two sons of the “Guardian” sleep in the depths of the sea,
Their names are unknown, hidden by evil fate.
But glory and bright memory will remain forever,
About those for whom deep water is a grave...
The version seemed to be confirmed later by the surviving sailors themselves. Returning home from Japanese captivity, bilge operator Vasily Novikov stated that it was he who opened the seacocks and sank the destroyer...
In April 1911, a monument was erected in Alexander Park on the Petrograd side heroic deed to the sailors of the Steregushchy. A skillfully composed bronze composition against the backdrop of a cross consists of two sailors: one forcefully opens the porthole, from which water gushes, and the other opens the seacocks. It was designed by the famous sculptor Konstantin Izenberg. The monument, five meters high, is located on a block of gray granite. The base is a mound with three staircases. On its sides rise granite pillars-lanterns, reminiscent of lighthouses. The opening of the monument took place on April 26, 1911 with great solemnity. Present were Nicholas II, dressed in a naval uniform with St. Andrew's ribbon, Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin, grand dukes, including Grand Duke Kirill, who miraculously escaped during the explosion of the cruiser Petropavlovsk, on which the famous admiral Stepan Makarov and the painter Vasily Vereshchagin died. As a contemporary wrote, “the sounds of a prayer service and the singing of the hymn “God Save the Tsar” alternated with the gallant, rolling “Hurray!” Inspired by the success, K. Izenberg later wanted to erect a monument to the sailors of the cruiser “Varyag” nearby, but did not have time; in the same 1911, the talented sculptor died.
In 1930, to give the sculptural composition a greater effect, pipes were installed to it, and real water began to gush from the porthole. However, later the water was turned off, as it turned out that the monument began to quickly rust. In addition, the sculptor’s original plan did not include “living” water at all. In 1954, in connection with the 50th anniversary of the feat, a memorial bronze plaque with a bas-relief image of the battle and a list of the Guardian’s crew was strengthened on the back side of the monument.
The historical paradox is that exactly such an episode, masterfully cast in bronze by the sculptor, never actually happened.
Immediately after the Russo-Japanese War, a special commission investigated the cause of the death of the Guardian. Senior Lieutenant E. Kvashnin-Samarin, who conducted the research, tried to stop the construction of the monument to “two unknown heroes.”
"It's sad to see great Russia that someone is randomly promoting the erection of a monument to non-existent to sea heroes, when our entire fleet is full of real exploits,” he wrote, believing that the Kingstons were discovered by Novikov. However, the version about “two unknown sailors” had already been reported to the emperor. They began to collect information again. Who discovered them: “two unknown sailors” or Novikov? But in the testimony of Novikov, who claimed that it was he who went down to the engine room and opened the seams while the destroyer was being towed by the Japanese, and other surviving sailors, obvious contradictions and “inconsistencies” were revealed. The Naval General Staff considered that the version of “two unknown sailors” is a fiction, and “as a fiction, cannot be immortalized in a monument.” However, in 1910 the monument was already cast and completely ready for opening. Proposals began to be put forward to remake it.
Then the General Staff addressed a report to the “highest name”, asking “whether the monument proposed for opening should be considered built in memory of the heroic self-sacrifice of the two remaining unknown lower ranks of the destroyer Steregushchy crew, or should this monument be opened in memory of the heroic death in battle of the destroyer "Guardian"?
Meanwhile, the debate about the “Guardian” case continued. The version about the discovery of Kingston by Novikov raised increasing doubts. The commission spent a long time sorting out the drawings of the destroyer, and then came to the final conclusion that “there were no flooding kingstones in the engine room.” That’s why neither Novikov nor anyone else could open them. Moreover, the Japanese, as it turned out, before taking the Guardian in tow, carefully checked the holds, and there was no one left there.
But what then to do with the testimony of a “living witness”? Novikov was also interviewed by the commission, and he could not confirm his story. Probably, during Japanese captivity, the sailor heard about the English version of the “open Kingstons” and decided, upon returning to his homeland, to attribute it all to himself. By the way, the fate of Novikov himself was also tragic. After the war, he returned to his native village of Elovka, and in 1921 he was shot by his fellow villagers for helping the Kolchakites.
The story of the mythical Kingstons does not detract from the greatness of the feat of the Russian sailors of the Guardian, which has forever gone down in the history of wars as an example of brilliant valor and heroism. The Japanese never ceased to be amazed at the unprecedented feat of the Russian sailors. Admiral Togo himself reported this in his report to the emperor, noting the courage of the enemies. It was decided to especially honor the memory of the dead: a black granite stele was erected in Japan, dedicated to Russian sailors, with the inscription: “To those who honored the Motherland more than their lives.”
E. Kvashnin-Samarin wrote in 1910: “Anyone who would read and compare all the materials and documents collected on the case of “Guard”, it would be absolutely clear how great the feat of “Guard” was, even without the unspoken myth... Let the legend live and awakens future heroes to new unprecedented feats, but admit that on February 26, 1904, in the fight against the strongest enemy, the destroyer Steregushchy, having lost its commander, all the officers, 45 of 49 sailors, after an hour, until the last shell of the battle, went to to the bottom, astonishing the enemy with the valor of his crew.”
However, the story of the mythical Kingstons still turned out to be tenacious. Even much later, when all the circumstances of the death of the “Guardian” had long been established, they talked about it again, wrote books, the Kingstons are still mentioned in some modern guides to St. Petersburg, and the Leningrad poet Leonid Khaustov wrote:
You ended the battle with Russian sailors.
The last one saluted the Motherland:
Kingstons opened with their own hands
With the same iron will as here,
On this steep granite pedestal...
Almost immediately after the death of the Guardian, in 1905 a destroyer with the same name was launched in Revel.
The third "Steregushchy" was built in the USSR in 1939. He took part in the Great Patriotic War and died in an unequal battle with Nazi aircraft.
The fourth Steregushchy was launched in 1966 and served in the Pacific Fleet. And in 2008, the fifth was built - the Steregushchy corvette.
So glory and bright memory will remain forever...
The monument to the destroyer Steregushchy, which in February 1904 entered into an unequal battle with the ships of the Japanese squadron, is installed in the eastern part of the Alexander Park (do not confuse it with the Alexander Garden, which is near the Admiralty).
How to get there?
How to get to the monument to the destroyer Steregushchaya? It is located in St. Petersburg on the Petrogradskaya side, you need to get to the Gorkovskaya metro station, and when leaving it, walk a little forward along Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt towards Petropavlovka. Less three minutes walk at a leisurely pace and you are there.
History of the monument
The Monument to the Guardian in St. Petersburg is one of the most amazing monuments in the city. Made in the style of northern modernism - this is quite complex engineering structure is one of the most memorable attractions of the Northern Capital.
A little about the history of its creation and the event to which it is dedicated.
On February 9, 1904 (January 27, old style), the Russo-Japanese War begins. It begins with a surprise attack by a Japanese squadron on Russian ships standing on the roadstead of the city of Port Arthur. On February 26, the destroyers “Steregushchy” and “Resolute”, returning from night reconnaissance, met with a detachment of Japanese ships. The commanders of the Russian ships decide to avoid a battle with the ships of the Japanese Navy, but only the Resolute succeeds in breaking through to Port Arthur, and Steregushchy enters into an unequal battle with four Japanese destroyers. Almost the entire crew of the ship dies, and the ship itself is in critical condition, but while afloat the Japanese are trying to take it in tow and at that moment the ship is sinking due to the huge number of holes. According to a household legend, the two surviving sailors opened the seams, sank the ship and died heroically with it. Later, General Staff specialists found out that the ship died as a result of the damage it received, and the open Kingston was nothing more than a legend invented by journalists to maintain patriotic sentiments. This ship simply did not have outboard kingstons... In fact, the author of this “bullet” was not the Russian media, but an English correspondent who observed the progress of the battle and was so admired by the courage of the Russian sailors that he was not too lazy to invent this legend, citing how and in such cases relies on “reliable Japanese sources”. Further, this beautiful fairy tale is replicated by all newspapers in the world.
But, nevertheless, this became clear later, and while the decision was made to erect a monument to the heroic ship, no one denied the courage of the Russian sailors from the destroyer Steregushchy. On the contrary, in Japan, even during the war, a stele was erected in memory of the Russian military, who preferred a heroic death to shameful captivity.
The creation of the monument began in 1905 according to the design of sculptor K.V. Izenberg, October 28, 1908 Nicholas II claims general project. The architect was A.I. von Gauguin. In view of the special complexity of the foundation of the monument, professor of the Institute of Civil Engineers V.N. Sokolovsky. The casting was performed by foundry worker V.Z. Gavrilov, as evidenced by the inscription on back side monument.
Two and a half years later, the monument to the destroyer Steregushchy was inaugurated on May 10, 1911.
On the honor guard was one of the few sailors who survived that battle, fireman of the 1st article Alexey Osinin. The opening ceremony was attended by Emperor Nicholas II and Chairman of the Council of Ministers P.A. Stolypin, Grand Duke Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, who survived the explosion of the battleship Petropavlovsk, widow of Admiral S.O. Makarov, as well as the highest ranks of the navy and army.
The multi-figure composition of the monument was designed as decorative waterfall. Water entered the monument through a hidden pipe system and then flowed into a granite pool at the base. After the revolution, 30s, to back side pipes were installed on the monument to supply water directly to Kingston. After this, the monument began to look even more spectacular, but streams of water began to destroy the surface of the monument and in 1935 the water supply was stopped. But, after the war, the monument was tampered with, the pipes were restored and in 1947 they began to supply water to Kingston again, but in 1971 the water supply was finally stopped and, at the same time, the supply pipe system was dismantled.
Externally, the monument is made in the form of a fragment of a compartment carved in the form of a grave cross and the figure of two sailors - one opens the porthole through which a stream of water rushes in, and the other turns the seacock valve. There are no Kingstons in compartments with portholes. Just as there were no outboard seacocks on this ship - the figure at the porthole was required solely to effectively show the flow of sea water into the hull.
The inscription on the back side of the monument to Steregushchy
« On the night of February 26, 1904, a detachment of destroyers was sent out to sea from Port Arthur for reconnaissance. During the night the destroyers separated and at dawn the destroyer STEREGUSCHY found itself close to four Japanese destroyers. And in the distance other enemy ships were visible.
The GUARD turned towards Port Arthur, and the Japanese, firing, pursued him. Soon one of the enemy shells hit the GUARD'S car. And the destroyer remained motionless, among the enemies, showered with a hail of shells. The GUARD fired from his cannons until the last opportunity.
One of the first to be mortally wounded was commander Lieutenant Sergeev. Dying, he reminded the remaining sailors what great glory it would be for them if they died, but did not allow the enemy to take possession of the destroyer. These words of the dying commander were deeply etched in the hearts of the sailors: their consequence was the immortal feat that the destroyer GUARDING accomplished. Soon all the officers were killed: lieutenant Goloviznin, midshipman Kudrevich and mechanical engineer Anastasov; the entire deck of the destroyer was covered with dead and wounded, who rolled helplessly overboard as they rolled.
Then the Japanese lowered boats to approach the GUARDING tug and take it away. Along the way, they picked up four wounded from the water who were holding on to the wreckage: mine-machine quartermaster Fyodor Yuryev, driver of the 2nd article Vasily Novikov, fireman of the 1st article Alexey Osinin and fireman of the 2nd article Ivan Khirinsky. At the end of the war they returned to Russia.
At the very GUARD, of the entire team, only two people remained alive. Seeing the approach of the Japanese, these two sailors went down and, battening down their necks behind them, opened the seams to sink the destroyer.
They preferred a heroic death to Japanese captivity.
THE GUARD, already in tow by the Japanese, began to sink and soon sank to the bottom of the sea, along with two heroes...”
On this day (February 26, old style) in 1904, the sailors of the destroyer Steregushchy accomplished their feat.
..
The Russo-Japanese War was going on. Admiral S.O. Makarov, having arrived in Port Arthur, organized almost daily reconnaissance raids of destroyers. On February 25, the destroyers “Resolute” (commander - captain 2nd rank F.E. Bosse) and “Steregushchiy” (lieutenant A.S. Sergeev) went on such a raid.
At dawn on February 26, in the Laoteshan Strait, the destroyers were discovered and attacked by four Japanese destroyers, which were later joined by two light cruisers. Our ships decided to break through to Port Arthur.
.
"Resolute", which was slightly ahead of the Japanese, successfully fought back and broke away from the pursuit, and the second "Steregushchy" found itself abeam of two destroyers - "Akebono" and "Sazanami" - and received significant damage from the first minutes of the battle. Seeing that the Resolute was leaving, the Japanese concentrated all their fire on the Guardian.
Left alone against six Japanese ships, the Guardian continued the battle, inflicting damage on the enemy. Having pierced the side of the Akebono, a Russian shell exploded in the commander's cabin, dangerously close to the aft cartridge magazine. While clarifying the nature of the damage, the Japanese destroyer left the battle for some time.
One by one, the Guardian's guns fell silent. Destroyer commander Lieutenant died
Alexander Semenovich Sergeev. During the battle, the halyard on which St. Andrew's flag was held was broken by shrapnel. The sailors nailed the flag to the mast. At 7:10 a.m. the Guardian's guns fell silent. Only the destroyed shell of a destroyer swayed on the water, without pipes and mast, with twisted sides and a deck strewn with its bodies heroic defenders. The Japanese lowered the whaleboat and landed on the destroyer.
“Three shells hit the forecastle, the deck was broken, one shell hit the starboard anchor. On both sides outside there are traces of hits from dozens of large and small shells, including holes near the waterline through which water penetrated into the destroyer when rolling. On the barrel of the bow gun there is a trace of a hit shell, near the gun there is the corpse of a gunner with his right leg torn off and blood oozing from the wound. The foremast fell to starboard. The bridge is broken into pieces. The entire front half of the ship is completely destroyed with fragments of objects scattered. In the space up to the front chimney lay about twenty corpses, disfigured, part of the torso without limbs, part of the torn off legs and arms - a terrible picture, - the commander of the landing group, Yamazaki, wrote in his report, - including one, apparently an officer, who had a Binoculars are on. The beds installed for protection were burned in places. In the middle part of the destroyer, on the starboard side, one 47-mm gun was thrown from the machine and the deck was mangled. The number of shells that hit the casing and pipes was very large, and apparently there were also hits on the briquette stacked between the pipes. The stern mine apparatus was turned across, apparently ready to fire. There were few killed in the stern - only one corpse lay at the very stern.
The living deck was completely in the water, and it was impossible to enter there.” In conclusion, Yamazaki concluded: “In general, the position of the destroyer was so terrible that it defies description.”
On board, the Japanese found two living defenders of the Guardian - the slightly wounded fireman A Osinin and the bilge driver V. Novikov. Together with F. Yuryev and I. Khirinsky, who were previously picked up from the water (thrown into the sea by an explosion), only they survived. The commander, three officers and forty-five crew members of the Guardian were killed in battle.
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The Japanese installed a tow rope to tow the damaged ship as a trophy. However, at that moment, “Novik” and “Bayan” approached from Port Arthur and, from a maximum distance, opened fire on the Japanese ships lying adrift.
This forced the Japanese to abandon towing. The abandoned "Guardian" stayed on the water for about half an hour, until at 9:20 a.m. the waves of the Yellow Sea closed over it.
Four captured Russian sailors were transported to a Japanese cruiser. On it they were taken to Sasebo, where a letter awaited them on behalf of the Japanese Minister of the Navy, Admiral Yamamoto: “You, gentlemen, fought bravely for your Fatherland and defended it perfectly. You have fulfilled your difficult duty as sailors. I sincerely praise you, you are great.”
N.P. Sergeeva, the widow of the commander of the Steregushchy, in response to a request about the fate of her husband (which she sent to the Naval Ministry in Tokyo a month after the death of the destroyer) received the answer from Admiral Yamamoto: “I express deep sympathy to the entire crew of the Russian destroyer Steregushchy, which showed courage and determination in battle against our stronger detachment.”
Later she wrote regarding “Resolute”: “... it turns out that it is more profitable to save yourself than to honor the Motherland and the flag.” Admiral S. O. Makarov had a different opinion, stated in a report addressed to Admiral E. I. Alekseev: “To turn him (“Resolute”) to the rescue would mean destroying two destroyers instead of one. Under these conditions, it was impossible to rescue Steregushchiy.”
All officers and crew of the Resolute were awarded awards “for breaking through the enemy to their port.”
One of the first reports about the battle and death of “Guardian” appeared in the newspaper “Novoye Vremya” (No. 10,065) dated March 12, 1904 and then, with various changes, migrated to other publications. The gist of the publication boiled down to the following: when the Japanese took a Russian destroyer in tow, the two sailors remaining on the Steregushchy locked themselves in the hold and, despite all the persuasion of the Japanese, not only “did not surrender to the enemy, but snatched the booty from him”; Having opened the kingstons, they “filled their native destroyer with water and buried themselves with it in the depths of the sea.”
It was decided to erect a monument to the "Guardian". Sculptor K. Izenberg created a model of the monument to “Two Unknown Sailor Heroes” and in August 1908 it received the “highest approval” from the Tsar.
However, as it turned out later, there were no flooding kingstones on the Steregushchy. Considering that the death of two unknown sailors who discovered the kingstons “is a fiction” and “as a fiction it cannot be immortalized in a monument,” the Naval General Staff on April 2, 1910 reported to the “highest name” the situation, posing the question: “should it be considered "The monument that was supposed to be opened was built in memory of the heroic self-sacrifice of the two remaining unknown lower ranks of the crew of the destroyer "Steregushchiy", or should this monument be opened in memory of the heroic death in battle of the destroyer "Steregushchiy"?
“To consider that the monument was erected in memory of the heroic death in battle of the destroyer Steregushchiy,” was the resolution of Emperor Nicholas II...
On April 26, 1911, in a solemn ceremony, the monument to the “Guardian” was unveiled on Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg.