Cruise ship Georgia. White ship. motor ship "Armenia" photo

In 1975, at the Wartsila shipyard in the Finnish city of Turku, the transfer of a new vehicle-passenger motor ship "Belorussia" to the customer - Sovcomflot of the USSR - took place. This ship was the lead in a series of five ships. Initially, all five ships were transferred to the Black Sea Shipping Company of the USSR Ministry of Marine and Fleet.


The order was given to the Finnish shipyard for a reason - the Wartsila company was already known in the USSR, and Finnish shipbuilders had a lot of experience in building ferries. Despite all the external similarities with the large car-passenger ferries that plied in the Baltic basin, the new ships cannot be called ferries in the usual sense. The ships had only one car deck and were nevertheless intended to transport primarily passengers, and then cars between the ports of the Black Sea coast of the USSR.



m/v "Belorussia" leaves the port of Valletta, 1975




"Belorussia" leaves Southampton, 1987



Red stripe on the false pipe with the Soviet coat of arms, home port of Odessa - this is what "Belorussia" was like in the second half of the 80s. Pictured - June 1988, Fremantle



m/v "Belorussia" 1992. being towed through the English Channel under the tow of SMIT ROTTERDAM


In 1993, after repairs in a dry dock in Singapore, the ship was renamed Kazakhstan II, and then, in 1996, DELPHIN



Already under the name Kazastan II, Durban, 1994.


This is how she is these days - DELPHIN:



on the approach to Kiel harbor (Kiel, Germany)




At the same time, in 1975, the motor ship Georgia was put into operation. He was also transferred to the ChMP.



"Georgia" in Southampton, 1976



in Sochi, 1983



Southampton, November 1983



Istanbul, 1991



still "Georgia", 1992, Quebec, Canada. The ship was chartered for cruises on the St. Lawrence River.



the coat of arms of the USSR was changed to a Ukrainian trident, the name was changed to Odessa Sky, St. Lawrence River, Canada, August 1995



In 1999, the ship sailed under the name Club I. Photo taken in the North Sea


Soon the ship was renamed again - Club Cruise I. Presumably, this renaming occurred in the same 1999 - the ship changed owners. Then, in 1999, the ship was renamed again - Van Gogh - after the famous Dutch painter. The ship sailed under this name until 2009. In 2009 it was renamed again - SALAMIS FILOXENIA. The ship still operates under this name.



Port Caen, 2004



off the coast of Norway, 2007



Kiel Canal, 2008



Port of Split, Croatia, 2008





SALAMIS FILOXENIA at anchor off the island of Patmos, July 2010


If we conditionally divide ships into series according to the year of construction, then the motor ship "Azerbaijan" is the last motor ship of the first series - like "Belarus" and "Georgia" it was built in 1975 and became the third ship of the "Belarus" type. In 1996, the ship received a new name - Arcadia (when you look for its pictures on various sites - at least one more ship is referred to as Ardkadia, which has nothing to do with our fleet - New Australia and also Monarch of Bermuda). In 1997, the ship was renamed Island Holyday, and the ship operated under this name until 1998. From 1998 to the present - ENCHANTED CAPRI.



The photo was taken before the collapse of the USSR, but it is not yet possible to determine the exact year



Fremantle port, first half of the 90s



Southampton 1992



"Azerbaijan" in Genoa, late 70s. By the way, there is a photo of the motor ship "Ivan Franko" taken at the same pier. Just from a slightly different angle.



1998, the name is Island Holiday



photo from 1996-1997


In 1976, two more vessels of the series were delivered to the USSR Ministry of Marine and Fleet - Kazakhstan and Karelia.


The motor ship "Kazakhstan" was renamed in 1996 - ROYAL SEAS, and in 1997 - "Ukraine". It was for this reason that “Belarus” was called “Kazakhstan II”. In 1998, the ship changed ownership, flag and name - ISLAND ADVENTURE. The ship still operates under this name today. Although in what capacity is difficult to say. It is known that in 2007 it operated in Miami Beach as a floating casino.



"Kazakhstan" in Greece, Mykonos, May 1983



"Ukraine" leaves Fort Lauderdale, 1998



ISLAND ADVENTURE, photo 1998, location - Fort Lauderdale



Miami Beach, 2007


The last ship in the series was the Karelia. She is currently based in Hong Kong.


"Karelia" was put into operation in 1976, in 1982 the first renaming - the ship received the name of the recently deceased General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee L. I. Brezhnev. In 1989, when perestroika was in full swing in the country, the ship was renamed again - its original name was returned. In 1998, the ship passed under the Liberian flag and changed its name to OLVIA, then a series of resales and renamings followed - 2004 - NEPTUNE, 2005 - CT NEPTUNE, 2006 - NEPTUNE.



December 1983



"Leonid Brezhnev" in the Kiel Canal, 1985



"Leonid Brezhnev" in the port of Tilbury, 1987



Port of Tilbury, 1989



"Karelia" in the first half of the 90s



OLVIA in 2004, the mouth of the Elbe River



Neptun in 2007, Hong Kong



Hong Kong, March 2010


________________________________________ ___________________


Photos of ships - www.shipspotting.com, www.faktaomfartyg.se


Information on renaming - www.faktaomfartyg.se

50 years ago the XVI Olympic Games took place in Melbourne. Interestingly, 10 cities applied to host them, and 9 of them represented the American continent, but the IOC gave preference to Melbourne. For athletes from the Northern Hemisphere, participation in the Olympic Games-56 was associated with significant difficulties: unusual timing of the competition (November-December), high transportation costs. Nevertheless, USSR athletes performed brilliantly at the Games, winning 37 gold, 29 silver and 32 bronze medals. Odessa shooter Yuri Nikandrov showed a worthy result: speaking on the trench stand, he took a high, 5th place.

But not only Yu. Nikandrov represented our city in Australia. The task of delivering athletes to Melbourne and back (both Soviet and other socialist countries) was entrusted to the crew of the Georgia ship. Among those who made this historic flight half a century ago was Nikolai Nikolaevich Yanchev. We offer readers his memoirs.

IN 1956, the Black Sea Shipping Company had only four diesel-electric ships: Rossiya (capacity 500 people), Pobeda (400), Ukraine (412) and Georgia, which could carry 800 passengers. This circumstance turned out to be decisive when choosing a vessel. However, "Georgia" left the stocks back in 1939. The double-acting engines of the Burmeister and Wein system were unique, and the ChMP did not have the spare parts necessary for repairs. The crew had to do the incredible: repair the power plant in the shortest possible time and ensure its reliable, trouble-free operation. I joined the ship in 1954 and held the position of second engineer. It was me who was appointed by the senior mechanic Grigory Vasilyevich Ostrovidov as the head of the repair team. The issue of ensuring reliable operation of ship machinery was resolved at an extended meeting with the participation of the ship management service. The shipping company's mechanic-mentor S.F. Bezruchenko was pessimistic. His main argument was based on the fact that the refrigerated installation of provisioning chambers and air conditioning systems would not be able to operate at seawater temperatures above 32 degrees. And in the Red Sea it reaches 34 and higher. But we also dealt with this problem. And the captain of the ship, Alizar Shabanovich Gogitidze, personally reported to A.I. Mikoyan: “Georgia” is ready to fulfill the government’s task. Anastas Ivanovich then held the post of First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers - that’s the importance attached to our mission.

Of course, our ship was inferior in comfort to today's modern liners, but for the mid-50s it looked quite decent. And the passengers were not overly spoiled. Soon the first delegations began to arrive. It was necessary not only to accommodate people, but also to load up with sports equipment - yachts, canoes, kayaks, bicycles and so on. A number of teams - football players, water polo players, boxers, volleyball players and others - traveled to Melbourne by air, and we all walked back to Vladivostok together.

Finally, the ship moored from the Odessa pier and headed for the Australian shores. I won’t describe the beauty of the journey: we, the sailors, and the athletes too, had no time for them then. Everyone did their job. The situation on the ship was difficult. It was 1956, and famous events were taking place in Hungary. But the Hungarian athletes were next to the Soviet ones. They asked our radio operators every hour: what was happening at home?

A. Sh. Gogitidze decided to dock the next day in order to avoid provocations in connection with the anniversary of the October Revolution and the uprising in Hungary. However, everything went smoothly. Thousands of people greeted us. Australia was home to many immigrants from Russia and Ukraine, especially Western Ukraine. Everyone wanted to talk to their fellow countrymen, ask about life, find out how their hometown, village, village had changed. At the same time, we were enlightened regarding individual freedom, working conditions and wages.

The athletes left the ship and settled in the Olympic Village. Well, we became their ardent fans. I had an amazing meeting - with a friend of my youth, Petya Breus. In 1948, we graduated from the naval school together. Peter was already distinguished by high results in swimming, but soon switched to water polo. At the same time, he achieved such success that he was included in the USSR national team. In Melbourne, he, together with aces B. Goikhman, M. Rykhak, P. Mshvenieradze and other athletes, won a bronze medal. And the Hungarian team blocked their path to gold. This duel turned into a real battlefield. Sports faded into the background. Illegal methods were used. The referee did not hide his bias. For the first time I witnessed how politics interferes with such a peaceful phenomenon as sports. In order not to return to this topic again, I’ll tell you about one more case. One of the leaders of the Hungarian delegation unexpectedly returned to the ship and asked the captain to provide him with a cabin, as he feared for his life. And he had the most serious reasons: upon returning to his room, he smelled household gas.

However, no political events could overshadow the main thing - the start of the Olympics. The crew of “Georgia” was “sick” with all their might. I was among the most avid fans and tried to attend as many competitions as possible. Until now, the magnificent victories of the indomitable Vladimir Kuts, the charming Larisa Latynina, the elegant Vladimir Yengibaryan, and his boxing colleagues Shatkov, Safronov, Mukhin are still unforgettable “frames”. But football, of course, occupied a special place. How we screamed during the semi-final match with the Bulgarians! We could be heard even in Moscow. Yes, yes, this is not an exaggeration, since our group was located literally next to the commentary booth from which Nikolai Ozerov was reporting. 12 minutes before the end of the game they scored a goal. Everything was decided by the amazing skill of Eduard Streltsov - he first equalized the score and then scored the winning goal. How can one not admire the courage of Nikolai Tishchenko! He didn't leave the field despite playing with a broken collarbone! After this match, I was not only hoarse, but even sick, for real.

We returned through Vladivostok. The calculation was this: to arrive home by December 30 so that the Olympic heroes could celebrate the New Year at home. The mood was wonderful. Petya Breus introduced me to football players who became Olympic champions. Lev Yashin gave me a book by another legendary goalkeeper, Alexei Khomich, on which all members of the team left their autographs. And, just imagine, I gave this unique specimen to the ship’s plant manager. I will give two reasons in my defense. Firstly, my colleague was a more serious fan than me - he regularly went to Soborka and knew the results of all the matches of the national championship. Secondly... The fact is that the football players were on their winter break, and winning the Olympic Games put not only the players, but also the coaches in a good mood. And the “birthdays” began - one after another. And here you can’t do without the help of the food manager - he was responsible for distributing champagne.

Much more could be said about this amazing flight, but it’s time to wrap it up. Just think, 50 years have passed! But my memory will always remain in my memory of the Olympic everyday life in Melbourne, which brought us so much joy.

Nikolay Yanchev.

Member of the Council of Fleet Veterans of the GSK ChMP, 2nd mechanic of the m/v “Gruzia” in 1956.

The motor ship "Georgia" is the flagship of the Black Sea passenger fleet.

On deck are Olympic football champions. Do you recognize? First on the left is Igor Netto, third is Eduard Streltsov. First on the right is Nikita Simonyan, who later worked in Odessa as the head coach of Chernomorets; fifth - Lev Yashin.

Poem by Vladimir Vysotsky to Anatoly Garagula. We bring to your attention another poem by Vladimir Vysotsky - “Well, that’s all! The deep sleep is over!

OK it's all over Now! Deep sleep over!
Nobody allows anything!
I'm leaving, separate, lonely
Along the airfield from which they take off!

I will visit the above-water monastery,
That other people call the ship.
My captain, my friend and my savior!
Let's at least forget something!

Let's forget something - I need it, it's possible!
That's it - a woman you know!
Remembering everything is simply impossible.
Yes, it’s simple and unnecessary - what are we?

1969

Interesting Facts:

Garagulya Anatoly Grigorievich (1922-2004) - sea captain, participant in the Great Patriotic War. It is interesting that Anatoly Grigorievich fought in the sky - he was a pilot, and after the war he decided to conquer the water element - he entered and graduated from the Odessa Higher Naval School. Since 1965, he has been the captain of the Georgia ship, and after its decommissioning, since 1975, he has been the captain of a new ship with the same name (however, the new ship did not have the individuality and luxury of its predecessor, which caused the captain’s dissatisfaction).

Anatoly Garagulya was friends with famous cultural figures who traveled on the Georgia ship, which cruised the Black Sea. Among them are Vladimir Vysotsky, Marina Vladi, Vasily Aksenov, Konstantin Vanshenkin, Bulat Okudzhava, Pyotr Todorovsky and others.

Vysotsky and Vladi rested their souls on the ship, hiding from prying eyes. The couple stayed in a spacious cabin and ate in the captain's personal dining room. This is how the ship is described in the memoirs of Marina Vladi: “The cabins and salons are of extraordinary luxury. “Georgia” is richly decorated with carpets, embossing and painting... Tolya arranged everything wonderfully: the cabin is filled with flowers, on the table there are fruits, pies and a bottle of Georgian wine. We don’t know where to start...” There are many photographs in which Vysotsky and Vladi are captured together with Anatoly Garagulya on the captain’s bridge of the ship. During the cruise on the Georgia, Vysotsky wrote many wonderful poems.

Anatoly Garagulya starred in films - he played the captain of the ship "Gloria" in the film "The Crown of the Russian Empire, or the Elusive Ones Again" in 1970. Vladimir Vysotsky dedicated poems to Anatoly Garagula, the most famous of which is “Man Overboard.”

On September 12, 1941, the advanced units of the 11th German Army approached Perekop, the northern border of Crimea. From that moment on, it became possible to escape from the peninsula only by sea.

All land routes were quickly taken under control by German troops. About a million civilians were trapped. German trained troops were confronted by scattered troops of the Red Army, which did not give much chance of victory.

By the beginning of November 1941, the flight of residents of the Crimean Peninsula had become widespread. With the approach of fascist troops, panic began in the cities. There was a real struggle to board any transport. The evacuation of the civilian population was carried out according to a single scheme from Sevastopol and Yalta to Tuapse in the Caucasus.

Motor ship « Armenia" moored at the beginning of November 1941 in the port of Sevastopol, it could not have been better suited for this purpose.

Motor ship « Armenia"was built at the Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad in November 1928 and belonged to the type of passenger ships" Abkhazia " A total of four ships of the same type were built: “ Abkhazia», « Georgia», « Crimea" And " Armenia» for the Black Sea Shipping Company. Motor ship « Armenia"successfully made flights to the Caucasus, transporting more than 10,000 people a year.

motor ship "Armenia" photo

construction of the motor ship "Armenia"

motor ship "Abkhazia"

motor ship "Georgia"

August 8, 1941 double deck cargo-passenger ship for the period of hostilities it was converted into. Passenger cabins became medical wards, and special symbols appeared on the sides - the Red Cross.

On the morning of November 6, 1941, landing began on motor ship « Armenia" At first vessel was not moored to the pier, in order to avoid a crush and a possible assault, passengers were brought on board in boats. Suddenly an order was received from the headquarters of the Sevastopol defensive region to evacuate all medical personnel of the Black Sea Fleet from the city. As a result, the best doctors in Crimea ended up on the same ship. To carry out the order, Captain Vladimir Yakovlevich Plaushevsky had to motor ship « Armenia» moored to the Korabelnaya Bay pier and huge crowds of city residents immediately poured in looking for salvation. Everyone wanted to get on the ship. In panic, passengers began to make their way to the technical rooms on the lowest decks. The ship with evacuated people was overfilled. People stood tightly pressed against each other, but this was the only chance for salvation.

Crowded with frightened people at 17:00 on November 6, 1941, the motor ship "Armenia" unmoored from the quay wall and soon disappeared over the horizon and disappeared not only from the sight of those seeing off, but also from Soviet history.

The mourners of Sevastopol began to feel despair for not using their chance. But this would become a reality if it took a course on the established Caucasian route.
From Sevastopol motor ship « Armenia"carried away medical personnel of the Black Sea Fleet, hundreds of seriously wounded soldiers and thousands of civilians. The war at sea had not yet begun, so every minute was precious. The Caucasus was free and nothing stood in the way of saving people. But Captain Plaushevsky received an order from the main command of the Black Sea Fleet to go to Yalta and pick up several more passengers.

At 02:00 November 7 motor ship « Armenia"arrived at the port of Yalta. During this passage, the medical ship was delayed for 3 hours, waiting at the Balaklava roadstead for a transport with some cargo to be delivered on board. Loading several tightly sealed black boxes into the ship " Armenia» weighed anchor and continued its voyage. The accompanying NKVD agents remained on board to ensure the protection of the cargo.

Yalta is overcrowded motor ship « Armenia“Hundreds more frightened people dived in. Only at 08:00 on November 7, 1941, the medical ship was able to leave and head for Tuapse, losing invaluable time. Meanwhile, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Oktyabrsky, gave the order not to leave the port until dark, i.e. 19:00, but Captain Plaushevsky violated it. Just 10 km from Yalta in Gurzuf, Hitler’s troops were already rampaging. The captain made the most important decision in his life, and he gave the order to save the doctors entrusted to him, but it was too late.

Having moved to a distance of about 25 miles from the Crimean Peninsula " Armenia"was attacked by two torpedoes from a German He-111H bomber, which ignored its markings. At 11:29, the ship with 7,000 medical personnel and civilians sank in the Black Sea at a depth of 472 meters. In a terrible tragedy, only 8 passengers on the boat managed to escape.

This huge number of deaths on one ship seems incredible, but even more surprising is the fact that in our time no one knows about one of the most terrible maritime disasters in the history of the Second World War. After all, on board motor ship « Armenia"More people died than on the legendary liners "" and "".

Information about this tragedy was kept in the strictest confidence. Recently, Ukrainian historians managed to discover these details. The cause of the death of the ship was two unplanned stops, which led to loss of time. The command of the Black Sea Fleet gave an order that made a number of mistakes, but the doctors of the lost ship could have saved thousands of lives of soldiers and officers who fought against Nazi Germany.

And only one person, Vladimir Yakovlevich Plaushevsky, took responsibility for the unacceptable mistakes of his leadership. Having violated the order, he took the last opportunity to save people, which was no longer possible to prevent.

On May 9, 2010, several veterans of the Great Patriotic War will lay wreaths in the area where the tragedy supposedly occurred.

Technical data of the passenger ship "Armenia":
Length - 112.1 m;
Width - 15.5 m;
Side height - 7.7 m;
Displacement - 5770 tons;
Power plant - two diesel engines with a capacity of 4000 hp. With.;
Speed ​​- 14.5 knots;
Number of passengers - up to 980 people;
Crew - 96 people;

Crusader Coin Ancient coins are of great value as a source of information about past times. They concentrated the spirit, the aroma of those eras that will never return. Touching an ancient coin, a person is transported back in time. I experienced a similar feeling when I first picked up a medieval crusader coin - a penny for the County of Tripoli. The campaigns of the knights in Palestine, which pursued the goal of liberating Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulcher from Muslims, and their founding of Christian states in the Eastern Mediterranean had a strong influence on the development of the medieval world. In the “Latin East”, in Palestine and Syria, the crusaders in the 11th-13th centuries created four states - the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Edessa and the County of Tripoli. They all minted their own coins, the images and inscriptions of which mixed European, Islamic and Byzantine design elements. In search of a memorable souvenir about Latakia, I came across an antique shop, where in a pile of old trash I noticed a small round silver object. This castle was named after Count Raymond of Saint-Gilles, leader of the First Crusade and founder of the fortress. By the way, this fortress has been well preserved to this day. - said Pyotr Osipovich. Thus, in 1289, the history of the County of Tripoli ended tragically.

 

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