Big Tyuters Island in the Gulf of Finland. War Reserve: Journey to Tyuters Island. Travel to the island


In ancient times, Tyuters was a haven for Vikings, then a haven for smugglers. Here, Polish and Swedish privateers robbed merchants going to Narva, and here, it happened, they hid the loot. Northern granites, plowed by an ancient glacier, conceal many secluded places.

All Russian tsars, starting with Peter, attached great importance to protecting the capital of the empire from attack from the sea. The most important and most fortified defense centers were the islands of the Gulf of Finland. And the first to stand in the way of the enemy were two rocks: Gogland and Big Tyuters. During the war, fierce battles were fought for the islands. Our landing forces went on the assault. And the Germans and Finns held the defense.

The only possible channel for heavy ships and submarines is exactly within firing range of their artillery guns from the island. This means whoever owned Tyuters owned the entire Gulf of Finland.

Over the past three centuries the island has been Swedish, Russian, Finnish, Russian again, German and Russian again. But there has never been a large population here. From the 18th century until 1940, it was only a village of Finnish fishermen. After the Winter War, little remained of it. There was also a Lutheran church, but it burned down relatively recently.

Thousands and thousands of ships pass by Tyuters every year. But for recent years 60 almost no human foot has ever stepped on it.

Tyuters is amazingly beautiful. It’s so quiet that your ears are ringing. Mushrooms, fish, berries, rocks, forest, clear water. Here we could build sanatoriums, breathe the healing pine air and watch the sun set in the cool waters of the Baltic. But the war made its own adjustments to this picture.

The only intact structure on Tyuters is the lighthouse. There is no way without it, the fairway in these places is very difficult. So Big Tyuters shines at night: 1 second on, 1 second off, then 3 seconds on, 9 seconds off. Although the lighthouse is the most high building on the island - 21 m, it’s impossible to see anything below from it. There were no people here for 70 years, the roads and buildings were overgrown, nature took its toll. Even traces railway- and here she was - covered by the crowns of silent Karelian pines.

In October-November 1939, more than 2,000 aerial bombs were dropped on Tyuters and 4,500 shells were fired. But it was, so to speak, just a shooting.

In October 1941, under German pressure, the island was abandoned by the Red Army, but the Soviet command quickly realized their mistake. The narrowness of the bay turned it into a trap - passage along the fairway became deadly dangerous for our ships. The fleet was locked in Kronstadt, as if in a mousetrap. IN New Year's Eve In 1942, the Red Army and Marine Corps landed on Tyuters, but did not last long. There was no supply of food and ammunition, the reinforcements sent simply did not arrive: the ice on the Gulf of Finland was not yet strong, there were ice holes under it, and half a meter of icy water above it. The soldiers froze to death on the way, and few managed to return to the mainland.

Subsequently, it became increasingly difficult to take Bolshoi Tyuters. The Germans transferred so many forces and resources here that it became the largest stronghold among the islands of the Gulf of Finland; they installed batteries of large-caliber guns, anti-aircraft guns and naval guns on the island.

The Nazis, preparing for a serious battle in the Baltic, brought a fantastic amount of ammunition to the island. And the remaining part cannot be counted, but how many were fired at our ships? By our landings? After all, there was still a second landing. And the third. And the fourth. No one can say how many of our soldiers lie here.

It is believed that the Germans mined the area before fleeing the island in 1944. This is wrong. Studying German maps and documents, examining former minefields, you see that the most powerful fortifications of Tyuters did not appear suddenly. All three years that the Germans were on the island, they meticulously built up its defense. Others were added to one row of thorns, new mines were placed both between old ones and in new places, until the quantity and density of all this iron amounted to some fantastic value.

When the Germans left the island, it had no longer played the same strategic importance for them for several months - in September 1944, the Red Army was already very far to the west. It seems that this is another example of Hitler’s stubbornness, clinging to such pieces of land even when there was no longer not only a strategic, but even a tactical need for them. And then they themselves and their garrisons turned into a burden that could no longer be taken care of and was not worth evacuating. Tyuters, obviously, also turned into such a burden - the thrifty Germans were unable, as usual, to take the equipment with them and limited themselves to damaging it.

And no matter how saturated Tyuters was with ammunition, there were even more of them in the strait between Tyuters and the island of Gogland. During the war in these waters, the Germans placed a total of several tens of thousands of mines at the Zeigl (Sea Urchin) minefield, almost half of them in the 9 and a half nautical miles between Gogland and Tyuters.

Under enemy fire, our minesweepers made passages in the minefields, and the Germans methodically dumped new mines into the strait - thousand after thousand.

During the war, only a few submarines of the Baltic Fleet crossed this deadly channel. The power of the fleet was not fully used, and the war left here only in 1944. And she didn't go far. How much explosive metal is at the bottom: lost submarines and boats with torpedoes, downed bombers with full ammunition, dozens of sunken transports with ammunition, several artillery ships with full magazines. These waters will remain unsafe for a long time. Such a concentration of combat losses in one place indicates the enormous importance the warring parties attached to the island.

Today the island is the farthest part of Russia in the northwest. On the northern coast is Finland, on the southern coast is Estonia. Special border zone, special access regime. But thanks to the assistance of border guards and a specially organized expedition of the Russian Geographical Society, we had the opportunity to find out what Bolshoy Tyuters, the most mysterious island Gulf of Finland, and answer the question of what exceptional significance it had for German forces in the Baltic. It’s not easy to talk about this, but perhaps it was this small battle for Tyuters, lost by Soviet troops at the very beginning of the war, that made it possible for the Germans not only to maintain a long blockade of Leningrad, but also delayed our victory.

The first shelters and burial places were dug here back in the time of the Varangians. In tsarist times, artillery positions and gun magazines were built. The Finnish army, having received Tyuters from Russia, started a large construction of fortifications. Soviet troops in front big war They also built their own fortifications - aboveground and underground. On German map from the Abwehr archives - there is an interesting inscription. It states that there should be 15 underground structures on the island. The last joint Soviet-Swedish mission to clear mines on the island discovered six bunkers on it. The remaining nine were never found. Maybe they didn’t search carefully, or maybe they hid these bunkers with skill? For how long?

There are many versions about the purpose of the mysterious bunkers. The most interesting thing is, of course, that the valuables looted by the Nazis were kept here. After all, Army Group “North”, to which the Tyuters garrison belonged, marauded in these parts with all the breadth of its Teutonic soul. Pskov and Novgorod, Oranienbaum and Peterhof, Tsarskoe Selo, Gatchina and Strelna - many treasures and art objects were never found after the war either in Germany or anywhere else. Why don't the Germans store them here, under the protection of granite dungeons and the most powerful fortifications of Tyuters?

During the war, the perimeter of the island was braided with several rows of barbed wire. And mines - tens of thousands. And then - guns and machine guns point blank. Our troops landed here. It seems to me that I should step on here open place, under dagger fire, through a minefield - impossible, hopeless. If the cruisers and battleships of the Baltic Fleet had approached and mixed up the German defense with the fire of their twelve-inch guns, the landing would have succeeded. But the tragedy was that the ships of the fleet could navigate these waters only if the island was occupied by ours.

Another version: in these dungeons the Germans had a factory for the production and supply of ammunition. This, of course, is not the Amber Room, although there would be little left of amber in the dampness here.

In general, some kind of shelters or caches are often found here. And almost everywhere there are traces of human presence. But they are clearly not up to anything serious. For weapons production, larger sizes are needed, and for storing valuables - paintings, sculptures - special conditions are needed.

An expedition to Bolshoi Tyuters is a journey in time, not space. Since September 18, 1944, when the Germans surrendered their positions and fled, the island has remained untouched - completely covered with gunpowder, spent cartridges and cocked mines

On September 1, 1943, a German patrol discovered a gap in the wire fence. There was also a rubber boat nearby. It was clear that at night a Soviet reconnaissance group had penetrated onto the island of Bolshoy Tyuters, where the Wehrmacht artillery had settled. The entire garrison was put on alert. 800 people combed a modest 8 square meters. km of the island in search of several saboteurs. Soon their hiding place was found: beds, supplies of food and medicine, ammunition, parts from the radio station.

The Germans never managed to catch our soldiers. We had to quickly change defensive positions and build new fortifications. However, according to logbook The Soviet submarine M-96, from which the troops landed on Tyuters, did not return back on board either. Their fate remained a mystery.


Today Bolshoi Tyuters is crowded and noisy. Sappers, geologists, volunteers and journalists work here, busily gassing up trucks and pickups, and a helicopter takes off and lands. But in the evening, when the work calms down and twilight falls on the island, it seems as if Soviet intelligence officers are still hiding somewhere nearby, in the forest thickets or behind the nearest stone. A German search group will appear from behind the hill, rattling weapons. Time seemed to stand still on Bolshoi Tyuters. The island looks as if the war ended only yesterday.

ISLANDS OF THE GULF OF FINNISH


Bolshoi Tyuters was not always uninhabited. First archaeological finds on the island date back to the 6th century. Since the 16th century, the island was inhabited by peoples of the Finno-Ugric group. The route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” passed past the outer islands of the Gulf of Finland. The waters near Bolshoy Tyuters had a bad reputation: piracy flourished here and ships were lost. Shortly before the start of World War II, the island was home to Finnish village with a population of more than 400 inhabitants.

Brown dunes

Big Tyuters - small desert island, only 2.5 km across. On the western side, sharp rocks bristle in Karelian style. Spread in the east sand dunes. The landscape here is reminiscent of the Curonian Spit, beloved by photographers. The crest of the dune offers a picturesque view, especially at dawn. But then scraps of barbed wire come into view. You begin to notice the pillars along which the fence was stretched. Looking down, you realize: the sand is literally mixed with “straws” of artillery gunpowder and hundreds of cartridges.


On this same dune, until last year, there stood a kind of business card Bolshoi Tyuters - 88 mm anti-aircraft gun FlaK, aimed at the sky. It was covered with a two-meter layer of sand, with one trunk sticking out. Last year, the gun was dug up, transported by tractor to the bay, and from there sent by boat to the mainland.

If not for this anti-aircraft gun and her 15 twin sisters, the war could have ended much faster. The fairway of the Gulf of Finland runs exactly in the middle between Gogland, largest island archipelago, and Bolshoi Tyuters. In March 1942, after almost three months of heroic defense of Gogland, a detachment of Red Army soldiers, not receiving reinforcements from the mainland in time, was forced to retreat. Gogland was occupied by the Finns, Bolshoi Tyuters by the Germans. Attempts to return the islands were unsuccessful, and a sea exit from besieged Leningrad was closed. Coastal artillery prevented surface ships from leaving the bay, and stretched nets and minefields prevented submarines from passing.

In 1944, when Finland signed a peace treaty with the USSR, Bolshoi Tyuters was hastily abandoned by the Germans. When they left, they mined the island and blew up almost everything that could be of any value.

What can I say! Everything that the Nazis managed to get to was ruined,” the volunteers sigh, showing a bullet-ridden bucket, “and you haven’t seen the boilers of the field kitchens yet.” We will take them out along with the garbage. The Germans threw grenades inside. Nothing left.

"Gifts" underfoot

Weapons, ammunition, ammunition parts, household items and personal belongings of soldiers - all this usually becomes the prey of “black diggers”. The islands of the Gulf of Finland are practically inaccessible to amateur searchers. We got to Bolshoi Tyuters by helicopter. Of course, there is no landing pad on the island, but this is not a problem for the military Mi-8: it lands on a cleared spot right next to army tents. A little further away there is a camp. The tents of the Russian Geographical Society are bright, touristy, not as large as those of the military. There is nothing like roads here either. Army trucks transport soldiers and volunteers to their work sites. As a high-speed transport increased comfort- pickups Volkswagen Amarok.

On a sloping sandy shore a pontoon berth for a landing boat is equipped. Not far from it rises a mountain of rusty cylinders. In Germany, each artillery shell was stored and transported in a separate metal tube (Red Army soldiers transported ammunition in wooden boxes). There are several hundred of these tubes here, and there are tens of thousands of them on the island. In the same pile there are curls of barbed wire and fragments of equipment beyond repair.


Volunteers collected all this during their day on the island. They have to stay here for a whole month. And this is just one stage of the complex expedition “Gogland”, which has been going on for the fifth year.

Apart from the enclave Kaliningrad, the outer islands of the Gulf of Finland are the westernmost point of our country. One might say, a threshold,” says Major General Valery Kudinsky. - This is our home, and we want to keep it clean. And look at nature. Rusty pieces of iron are superfluous in this landscape.

Island clearing is not mechanical gathering at all. Here you have to work with your head more than with your hands, and you can only make a mistake once.

Quite often, “gifts” of those times come out of the ground, complains one of the sappers, mostly shells. Sometimes mines. You better not go behind this ribbon just yet.

One morning we were informed about a new find, put into pickup trucks and brought to the site. Searchers discovered a surviving armory with mines. We kept a respectful distance while the sappers did their work. A few minutes later we were invited to come closer. Since the mines were in storage, they did not have a fuse. Armed explosive devices are destroyed on the spot, and outsiders are not allowed there.

As it turned out, they were storing in the warehouse S- mines, also known as "frogs". Before exploding, such a mine jumps out of the ground to a height of about a meter, after which 350 metal balls destroy all living things within a radius of tens of meters. Somehow, without saying a word, we all decided not to stray from the fully explored paths.


Field work

EXPEDITION "GOGLAND"

The complex expedition "Gogland" began work in the fall of 2012. The expedition area is 14 outer islands of the Gulf of Finland. The largest of them is Gogland with an area of ​​21 square meters. km, located 180 km west of St. Petersburg. The second largest island is Bolshoi Tyuters, where the main work will be carried out this season. It is also planned to explore the islands of Sescar and Sommers. The team has more than a hundred members. Among them are servicemen of the 90th separate special search battalion and experts Russian Geographical Society: archaeologists, historians, geologists, ecologists. Separately, it is worth mentioning the volunteers, each of whom passed the difficult competition of the Russian Geographical Society. It is they who will have to carry out the work of searching, identifying and restoring military weapons, establishing the identities of the soldiers buried here, as well as clearing the island of debris.

Dissolved names

Arriving at another site cleared of mines, we saw the remains of three German servicemen. They were brought to the surface to be reburied in a more accessible place, in a military cemetery near the village of Sologubovka Leningrad region. As part of a joint program with the People's Union of Germany for the care of war graves, they have already found their last refuge about 55 thousand Wehrmacht soldiers.


Judging by the surviving fragments of the uniform, in front of us were fighters of the Kriegsmarine, Luftwaffe and ground forces. The sailors' buttons have an anchor on them, the pilots' buttons have an abbreviation LW, the infantry has smooth buttons. The discovery of a well-preserved personal dog tag of a serviceman is considered a great success: over 70 years, many of them have sunk too deep into the soil.

Hastily leaving Bolshoi Tyuters, the Germans blew up most of the guns. However, a significant part of the weapons remained in excellent condition. During previous expeditions, restorers removed 88-mm anti-aircraft guns FlaK, 20-mm Swiss Oerlikons, as well as the rare Bofors small-caliber anti-aircraft gun made in Switzerland.

Most of the equipment was taken from the island last year, but some remains. The rusty skeleton of a large-caliber cannon has grown into the very edge of the picturesque rock. Massive and unshakable, but without a barrel, it resembles a huge lock without a key. Castle from besieged Leningrad.

Echoes of War

On paper, the war ends with the signing of a surrender agreement. In reality, everything is much more complicated. It is necessary to bury the dead, collect debris throughout the vast country, and remove the burden from nature. Questions need to be answered.


For example, the head of the Gogland expedition, Artem Khutorskoy, told us about a Red Army plane, which, according to archival sources, was shot down over the island. They have been trying to find him for several years. In 2015, duralumin fragments of the fuselage skin were discovered. Unfortunately, it is impossible to determine from them what kind of plane it was and how it ended up over Bolshoi Tyuters.

Artem told us this story before leaving. And a couple of weeks later, news agencies reported: wreckage of the Soviet Pe-2 bomber was found on Bolshoy Tyuters Island and the names of the crew members were established. Commander Mikhail Kazakov, gunner-radio operator Arseny Tyshchuk and navigator Mikhail Tkachenko flew to the island on the night of September 8-9, 1943. Eight days after the landing of a secret reconnaissance group from the submarine M-96.


The big find will give historians new data to work with the archive. Perhaps they will help shed light on the fate of Soviet intelligence officers. Then the answer to this question will appear.

Technique

Pe-2


The most massive dive bomber produced in the USSR. According to Soviet tradition, it was named after the designer Vladimir Petlyakov, but in the army it received the playful nickname “Pawn”. In Finland it was called “Pekka-Emelya”, and according to NATO classification the aircraft is called a “deer” - Buck.

FlaK


88 mm anti-aircraft gun, also known as "eight-eight". Due to the high initial velocity of the projectile, it was used not only to combat aircraft, but also as an anti-tank and anti-ship weapon. Considered the most famous weapon of World War II.

"Oerlikon"


20 mm anti-aircraft gun with a rate of fire of 450 rounds per minute(for comparison: FlaK- up to 20 rounds per minute). It was designed by the German engineer Reinhold Becker, but was produced in Switzerland: in Germany, the production of many types of weapons was prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles.

S- mine


Bouncing anti-personnel mine was developed based on Schrapnell-Mine during the First World War, hence the name - S-mine. If the old model jumped out of the ground on command from the remote control, then the new one worked automatically. The Americans nicknamed her “Bouncing Betty”, and the Russians called her “frog”.

Photo: Alamy / Legion-media, Grigory Polyakovsky (x4), RIA Novosti, Legion-media (x2), MKFI, Evgeny Odinokov / RIA Novosti

The editors thank the Volkswagen company for organizing the trip. Amarok is an iron car that can handle Big Tyuters.

Bolshoi Tyuters Island in post-war times, especially in the seventies, was called nothing more than “the island of death.” He received such a terrible nickname thanks to the active work of the Germans - they completely mined his territory. A lot of time has passed since the end of the war, but peaceful sappers and researchers are dying due to the diligent work of the Nazis. The island has such conditions and nature that it is time to build sanatoriums and recreation centers, but the war still throws up its terrible “gifts.”

Role

Islands around the world are numerous. Everyone has their own purpose. One of them - paradises for recreation, others are trading harbors or pirate havens. Likewise, the island of Bolshoy Tyuters has its own destiny. His destiny was defense against enemies from the sea. The war sprinkled the island with blood - fierce battles were fought here. Over the course of several centuries, it passed from one hand to another every now and then. Most often they were Russians. Everything passes by it - ships, people, it seems that time stopped here 60 years ago. Very few people visited it during this period - mostly these were expeditions.

Characteristics of the island

Bolshoy Tyuters Island in Gulf of Finland- this is a granite rock, the area of ​​which is a little more than 8 square meters. km. There are two capes on it - Tuomarinem and Teiloniemi, an indicator highest point- 56 meters. The soil on it is diverse, this is due to many geological and morphological conditions. In addition to bare granite rocks, here you can find places with Unique glacial wells were also discovered on the island - they are also called boilers.

The east coast is characterized by dunes and sparse groups of plants. Also here you can find a place where about 300 species of flora exist on just one square meter. The central part is occupied by forests; 10% are swamps. Among them are very interesting phenomenon are considered small hanging swamps; they are most often located in rock cracks. On the island you can see forests, rocks, swamps, coastal shallows, meadows, beaches, and dune fauna. In places of villages that were once inhabited, individual vegetation is also present.

Island inhabitants. Lighthouse

The island of Bolshoi Tyuters in the Gulf of Finland has, in addition to interesting landscapes and vegetation, an equally fascinating fauna. A rare species of mollusk - the predatory black slug - has found its habitat here. Particularly many of them can be found at the foot of the cliffs. Among the inhabitants of the island there are raccoon dogs, at least their traces have been discovered many times. In addition, a wild ram runs around the island; it escaped from the previous lighthouse several years ago.

By the way, about the lighthouse. It is the only habitat on the island. Its height is 21 meters, the focal plane is located at 75 meters. Two people live on the island - the caretaker and his wife.

Bolshoy Tyuters in the Gulf of Finland has never had a significant population. For some time there was a village of Finnish fishermen on it. However, the war swept her away from the face of the island.

Island today

Bolshoi Tyuters Island in the Gulf of Finland is one of those places where time has stood still. The buildings and structures are overgrown, even the lighthouse keeper does not risk straying far from his workplace, since the island can present an unpleasant surprise, which the Germans generously bestowed upon him. Since the latter left it in a hurry, they left behind not only but also a lot of equipment, ammunition, and heavy weapons. But at the same time, the nature here is simply indescribably beautiful, which, unfortunately, only a few can see. For neutralization dangerous island Sapper landings are regularly sent to it. In addition, they are often joint; for example, the work of Russian and Swedish sappers in 2005 made it possible to detect and neutralize more than 30 thousand objects that could explode at any moment. There were seven similar landings in the post-war years. However, even half of the island cannot be called safe.

Forgotten technology

The island of Bolshoy Tyuters in the Gulf of Finland, a photo of which can be seen in the review, is real. Considering that its specimens are present in abundance on the island, among them there are unique ones. Such as, say, the 40-caliber Boforos automatic anti-aircraft gun. The amount of equipment that the Germans left behind could fill a large museum. Expeditions that explore its territory discover many specimens, some of which can be restored. To date, the units of equipment that have been moved to mainland, about two hundred. There are also 6 in-depth fortifications on the island.

Expeditions

The expedition is sent to Bolshoi Tyuters Island to explore the “white spots” on the map of Europe. Due to dense mining, even decades after the end of the war, military personnel died there. It is to neutralize the territory that such studies are carried out. One of the latest was the Gogland expedition, which, in addition to Bolshoi Tyuters, covered some of the outer islands of the Gulf of Finland. Before the landing of the main landing force, piers and platforms for helicopters were arranged. Among its achievements, one can note the discovery of about 200 units of military equipment and weapons. Most of them are unique. After examining it for the presence of equipment, representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the Russian Geographical Society followed the searchers. On this moment a search is underway for the remains of soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War.

Travel to the island

Going to the island on your own is very dangerous. Of course it is historical place, where unique examples of equipment and weapons are located, but there are significantly more mines on it. Its nature is amazing; it is very quiet and peaceful here. The only thing that gives the island is that it works to avoid shipwrecks. Ships have been passing by for over 60 years. This is the peculiarity that Bolshoi Tyuters Island has. How to get to it is immediately visible on the map. The main routes are by water or by helicopter. If you still have a great desire to touch this part of history, you can go to the neighboring one, and from there you can also explore Bolshoy Tyuters from afar by water.

Ghosts of the Island

This is what they call the equipment that “rests” on the territory. Big Tyuters in the Gulf of Finland, if it had not been mined, could be called a museum of military equipment under open air. It seems that anti-aircraft guns have become part of nature; sometimes it is difficult to distinguish them from tree trunks or a fallen branch. It can bury itself in the dunes and reveal only a third of itself from under the sands. On the coastal slopes in the trees you can see defensive weapons of 37 caliber. There are pieces of equipment scattered everywhere, including engines. In the forests you can even find a gas generator station and a cable laying machine. Fuel barrels are scattered here and there. You can also find personal flasks of the Germans. All the equipment simply merged with nature, trees sprouted in the car bodies, some tools were covered with moss and grass. If it were not for the danger that lurks around every corner, fascinating excursions could be held here.

conclusions

The island has long been considered a restricted area. There have been successful attempts to clear it, but it is not yet possible to completely ensure safety. Far-reaching plans include making an open-air museum on the territory of Bolshoi Tyuters. But it all comes down to the financial part of the issue. It takes a lot of money to create minimal infrastructure. In addition, the path to the island is very difficult and expensive. That is why it remains completely unexplored and almost deserted.

 

It might be useful to read: