Destroyer guarding the Russian-Japanese war drawings. Destroyer "Steregushchy": main characteristics, commanders, history of death, memory. The last battle of "Guardian"

At dawn on February 26 (March 10), 1904, the destroyers Steregushchiy and Resolute 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 unequal battle The commander of the Guardian, three officers and forty-five members of his crew were killed. 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 those that arrived in time heavy cruisers. 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. A correspondent for 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 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, the bilge operator Vasily Novikov stated that it was he who opened the seacocks and sank the destroyer...

In April 1911, a monument to the heroic feat of the sailors of the Steregushchy was erected in Aleksandrovsky Park on the Petrogradskaya side. A skillfully composed bronze composition against the backdrop of a cross consists of two sailors: one forcefully opens the porthole from which water is gushing, 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 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.

Right after Russian- Japanese war The cause of the death of "Guardian" was determined by a special commission. 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 naval 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 lower ranks of the destroyer Steregushchy, who remained unknown, 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 studying the drawings of the destroyer, and then came to the final conclusion that “there were no flooding hazards 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 English version“open Kingston” and decided, upon returning to his homeland, to attribute all this 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 forever entered 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 those who died: a black granite stele dedicated to Russian sailors was erected in Japan, with the inscription: “To those who more life honored the Motherland."

E. Kvashnin-Samarin wrote in 1910: “Anyone who would read and compare all the materials and documents collected on the case of “Guardian” would be absolutely clear how great the feat of “Guardian” 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...

Platonov Artem

The Japanese still hoped to capture the Russian destroyer. Midshipman Yamazaki later reported that two Russian sailors, seeing that the Japanese were attaching a tug to the Steregushchy, ran across the broken deck and disappeared into the engine room, battening down the hatch behind them. Yamazaki suggested they surrender, but at this time the Guardian began to quickly list and sink. The sailors, who remained unknown, opened the seams and died along with their ship...

Official version

Birth of "Guardian"

1895 In UK for Russian Imperial Navy The destroyer Falcon was built, becoming the first ship in history made of nickel steel. In terms of armament, speed (29.7 knots) and seaworthiness, the Falcon became one of the best destroyers in the world. After testing the ship, it was decided to slightly modify the design (strengthen the hull, increase the thickness of the plating, equip the ships with boilers of an improved design) and launch the improved Falcons into production.

1898 By order of the Russian Main Directorate of Shipbuilding, 26 improved Sokol-class destroyers were laid down at the Okhtinsky, Nevsky, Izhora factories and the shipyard in Abo. 12 of the 26 destroyers were made collapsible - they were transported from the Nevsky plant to Port Arthur, where a closed boathouse was built on the Tiger Tail Peninsula, designed for the simultaneous assembly of three destroyers. And so, on April 11, 1900, the official laying of the first ship on this boathouse took place - the Cormorant, soon renamed the Condor, and then the Resolute. In the same year, construction began on Kulik, which two years later received a new name - Steregushchy. In May 1903, he was enlisted in the 2nd detachment of destroyers of the Pacific squadron, intended “to protect skerries and distant bays.”

1904 Japanese-Russian relations are rapidly deteriorating. On February 9, the Japanese, without declaring war, attacked Russian ships in the roadstead of Chemulpo and Port Arthur. The Russo-Japanese War begins...

On the same day, “Guardian” began its combat watch in the morning. At first sent on patrol, during the day he twice participated in the squadron’s attack on the Japanese, and in the evening he went out in search of enemy ships. On February 14, Steregushchiy and Skory fighters escort the mine cruiser Vsadnik. On February 24, together with the Storozhevoy fighter, Japanese destroyers were driven away from the damaged battleship Retvizan. But the battle that glorified “Guarding” would take place later – on March 10, 1904...

But first, let's look at what preceded this battle.

Previous Events

On March 9, at 6 pm, the destroyers Steregushchiy and Reshetelny, under the overall command of Captain 2nd Rank Bosse, go on night watch off Cape Liaotenshan. At about one in the morning on March 10, observers from Port Arthur noticed some lights on the horizon moving towards the coast. Fleet Commander Pacific Ocean Vice Admiral S.O. Makarov ordered the head of the 1st destroyer detachment to immediately go to sea, as he feared that the enemy might intercept the Guardian and the Resolute.

At the beginning of the fourth night, four ships of the 1st detachment (Endurable, Imperious, Attentive and Fearless) left the harbor and headed towards the lights. It was soon discovered that the lights were lit on four Japanese destroyers - Shirakumo, Asashiwo, Kasumi and Akatsuki. The head of the detachment, N.A. Matusevich, decides to attack the enemy...

Russian ships, taking advantage of the fact that they were in the shadow of the Liaotenshan mountain range, approached enemy ships almost unnoticed. Finally, at 3:30, from a distance of 8 cables, the "Hardy" and then the rest of the Russian destroyers open fire. Bright flashes of gunfire momentarily highlight the olive-gray sides of the ships, and then everything plunges into darkness again...

Although the attack was completely unexpected for the Japanese, they very quickly came to their senses, gave full speed and returned fire. "Kasumi" and "Asashiwo" focus their fire on the "Endurance" that has rushed forward. Soon one of the shells hits the engine room, and the destroyer loses its speed. The Japanese approach the frozen ship from three sides and begin to bombard it with shells. And although the Russian artillerymen inflict significant retaliatory damage with their accurate shooting, the situation on the Endurance is quickly deteriorating. Soon a fire breaks out in the stern, and an explosion in the conning tower injures the detachment chief, N.A. Matusevich. The stern part of the destroyer is shrouded in a cloud that dimly whitens in the darkness - a powerful jet emerges from the broken exhaust steam pipes of both machines...

But then “Vlastny” arrived in time to help his comrade. Firing from all guns, he approaches the Japanese ships closely, and commander V.A. Kartsev decides to ram the closest destroyer, Asasivo. But the Japanese figure out this maneuver and stop the cars, intending to let the ship pass by and ram it in response. Kartsev commands a sharp turn, "Vlastny" fires two torpedoes at the side of "Asasivo" and slips past. After two explosions, the Japanese destroyer begins to list and sink...

A few minutes later, “Kasumi” approaches “Vlastny” and, having illuminated him with a searchlight, begins shelling. “Powerful” answers, and the Japanese, unable to withstand the fire, turns off the searchlight and abruptly changes course...

“Attentive” and “Fearless”, meanwhile, together they are fighting Akatsuki. Soon after the explosion in the engine room, the Japanese steam line fails, and the destroyer turns into a stationary target. The Russian sailors fail to consolidate their success - the Japanese disappears into the darkness, and the Russian destroyers enter into a firefight with the Katsumi, which happens to be nearby.

Soon the opponents lose each other in the darkness, and the Russians begin to retreat to the shore of Laotenshan - here, according to the instructions, is the rendezvous point. "Attentive" takes the most seriously damaged "Vlastny" in tow, and at 7:00 the detachment successfully arrives at the base...

Last Stand"Guarding"

God almighty have mercy on us

And listen to our prayer!

This is how the fighter "Guardian" died

Far from my native land...

The onset of morning was marked by thick fog that shrouded the coastal waters. "Guarding" and "Resolute", returning to base after a night patrol, suddenly discover an extremely unpleasant neighborhood in the Liaoteshan Strait. Four Japanese destroyers are crossing their course - Akebono, Sazanami, Sinonome and Usugumo. The sudden meeting came as a complete surprise to the sailors. However, a combat alert was immediately sounded on Steregushchy and Reshetlny, and the Russian artillerymen were the first to open fire on the Japanese from two 75 mm and four 47 mm guns.

Using the only chance to return to Port Arthur and not accept an unfavorable battle (the Japanese ships were faster - 31 knots versus 27, and also better armed - 6 guns on each Japanese destroyer versus 3 on each Russian), both ships made a breakthrough. “Resolute”, walking in the lead, exchanged point-blank shots with “Akebono” and “Sazanami”, managed to slip through. "Guardian" was less fortunate - one of the very first Japanese shells hits the boiler room and damages both boilers with the main steam line. The destroyer begins to rapidly lose speed... The commander of the "Resolute" Bosse decides to continue the withdrawal to Port Arthur, otherwise, as squadron commander Makarov later wrote in his report, "turning the "Guardian" to the rescue would mean losing two instead of one destroyer." ..

Meanwhile, the Japanese ships began to approach the lost speed of the Swift. The Russian artillerymen fired courageously and accurately, but the forces were clearly unequal. One after another, three shells hit the destroyer's forecastle, wrenching and breaking the wheelhouse. The foremast lists and falls to starboard. One of the shells hits the bow 75-mm gun, destroying half the barrel and destroying the entire crew. A fire breaks out in the stoker, but stokers P. Khasanov, A. Osinin and bilge operator V. Novikov manage to put it out...

An hour after the start of the battle, the last 47-mm gun fell silent, and the brutally crippled Swift, enveloped in smoke from fires and steam from broken boilers, rocked on the waves. The entire space from the nose to the first pipe is littered with body parts and corpses - half the team died here. Not a single sound can be heard from the sides, which were pierced in more than 10 places - 45 out of 49 sailors and all 4 officers, including the ship’s commander, Lieutenant Sergeev, were dead...

But the victory was not easy for the Japanese - all four destroyers got it. Particularly affected were “Akebono”, which received 27 hits and was forced to leave the battle early, and “Sazanami”, which received 10 hits.

Seeing that the Russian destroyer showed no signs of life, the Japanese stopped shelling and lowered the boat. Midshipman of the inspection party Hitara Yamazaki, having found no survivors on board (all four survivors - V. Novikov, A. Osinin, F. Yuryev and I. Khirinsky, apparently were unconscious from wounds at that moment), attaches the "Guardian" to the bow » towing rope, and “Sazanami” begins towing. However, water, freely flowing into the hold through several holes below the waterline, makes towing difficult - after 20 minutes, the Steregushchy sags and breaks the towing rope...

Meanwhile, smoke appears from behind the horizon - Vice Admiral Makarov, having learned from the returning "Resolute" about the trouble of the "Guardian", goes out to meet the enemy on the cruisers (?) "Novik" and "Bayan". But 5 cruisers had already joined the Japanese destroyers, and an armored squadron was also approaching, so Makarov was forced to return.

Meanwhile, “Guardian” is slowly sinking under the water before everyone’s eyes. The four surviving sailors are picked up by the Japanese...

So how did the “Guardian” die?

I'm dying, but I'm not giving up!

Motto of the sailors of the Imperial Navy

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 the destroyer swayed on the water, without pipes and mast, with twisted sides and a deck strewn with the bodies of its 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 legs and arms torn off - 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 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.”
On board, the Japanese found two living defenders of the Guardian - the slightly wounded fireman A Osinin and the bilge engineer 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.
.

.
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 am the waves Yellow Sea did not close over him.
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 "Steregushchy", or should this monument be opened in memory of the heroic death in battle of the destroyer "Steregushchy"?
“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.

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During the Russian-Japanese War, Vice Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov, who took command of the fleet, decided to strengthen reconnaissance. To do this, he organized almost daily trips to the sea for destroyers. The day after his arrival in Port Arthur, he summoned the commanders of the Resolute and Steregushchy and instructed them to conduct a detailed inspection of the coast.

On the evening of February 25, 1904, both destroyers went to sea. They were supposed to avoid collisions with enemy destroyers, and when meeting cruisers or transports, attack them. Two hours later, it was decided to increase speed in order to attack the ship spotted from the Resolute. From chimneys flames erupted; they were spotted on Japanese destroyers standing nearby. The Japanese tried to surround the Russian ships, but they, taking advantage of the darkness, managed to hide in the shadow of the island of South Sanshantao.

Returning at dawn, Resolute and Steregushchiy encountered four Japanese fighters approaching Port Arthur. They carried out several maneuvers, but all of them were guessed by the Japanese and were unsuccessful. "Resolute" pulled ahead, and "Steregushchy" found itself sandwiched between two Japanese ships, which showered it with shells.

Firing furiously, the Russian ships hurried to Port Arthur, but the forces were too unequal. Having hit the starboard side of the Resolute, the enemy shell exploded in an empty coal pit and damaged the steam pipeline. The destroyer was enveloped in steam, but, fortunately, did not lose speed, and the engine crew, although with difficulty, managed to repair the damage. At that moment, the coastal batteries opened fire, but, having fired three shots, suddenly fell silent.

Seeing that the "Resolute" was leaving and out of their reach, the Japanese concentrated their fire on the "Guardian". One can only guess what kind of hell was going on on the deck of the Russian destroyer, showered with enemy shells. But even when he was left alone against four, he continued the fight.

While the machine was working, there was still hope of breaking through to Port Arthur, but at 6:40 a Japanese shell exploded in a coal pit and damaged two adjacent boilers. The destroyer began to quickly lose speed. Fireman Ivan Khirinsky jumped out onto the upper deck with a report. Following him, driver Vasily Novikov went upstairs. The stoker's quartermaster Pyotr Khasanov and fireman Alexey Osinin who remained below tried to repair the damage, but another shell that exploded in the stoker's room wounded Osinin. The water gushing through the hole flooded the fireboxes. Having battened down their necks behind them, the stokers climbed to the upper deck, where they witnessed last minutes unequal battle.

One by one, the Guardian's guns fell silent. The destroyer commander, Lieutenant A.S. Sergeev and midshipman K.V. Kudrevich, died at their posts; Lieutenant N.S. Goloviznin, who was in charge of the launching of the whaleboat, was killed. Mechanical engineer V.S. Anastasov was thrown overboard by a shell explosion.

At 7:10 a.m. the Guardian's guns fell silent. Only the destroyed shell of the destroyer swayed on the water, without pipes and mast, with twisted sides and a deck strewn with the bodies of its heroic defenders.

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 was a trace of a hit shell, near the gun the corpse of the gunner with his right leg torn off and blood oozing from the wound. The bridge was broken into pieces. The entire front half of the ship was completely destroyed. scattered fragments of objects. In the space up to the front pipe there were about twenty corpses, disfigured, part of the body without limbs, part of the legs and arms torn off - a terrible picture. The bunks installed for protection were burned in places in the middle part of the destroyer on the starboard side. 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 shocked the enemy so much that in Japan a monument was erected to his team - a stele made of black granite with the words: “To those who honored the Motherland more than their lives.”

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 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 grand opening of the monument took place on May 10, 1911 in Alexander Park. The guard of honor was fireman Alexei Osinin, one of the few sailors who survived those events. The ceremony was attended by Emperor Nicholas II, Chairman of the Council of Ministers P.A. Stolypin, and senior officials of the army and navy. The Emperor was dressed in a naval uniform with St. Andrew's ribbon. Grand Dukes Kirill Vladimirovich, Konstantin Konstantinovich, Dmitry Konstantinovich, Sergei Mikhailovich and the wife of Kirill Vladimirovich also arrived Grand Duchess Victoria Fedorovna. Grand Duke Kirill himself miraculously escaped during the explosion of the cruiser Petropavlovsk, on which the famous naval commander Admiral S.O. Makarov and the famous battle painter V.V. Vereshchagin died. The creator of the monument, Konstantin Izenberg, was personally presented to the emperor and awarded the Order of Vladimir, IV degree.

The monument represents the most dramatic moment of the feat. Two sailors rotate the flywheel and open the seacocks. Bronze water rushes into the car and begins to flood the heroes. The fragment of the ship is shaped like a cross, rising on a block of gray granite. On the side facing Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt, on both sides of the monument there are lanterns made in the form of lighthouses. WITH reverse side monument, on a metal board, the feat of Russian sailors is described in detail.

Interestingly, this monument was once also a fountain. Initially, a small decorative fountain was installed in front of the monument, and in the 1930s, additional pipes were installed on the back side of the monument, and real water flowed from the kingstons. In the 1970s, they decided to turn off the water because, while making the events depicted realistic, it was destroying the monument itself.

Subsequently, the name "Guardian" was repeatedly assigned to ships of the Russian and Soviet fleets.

Used materials:

N.N. Afonin. Steregushchiy
Novikov Vasily Nikolaevich
Memorable places of Nakhimov residents
Monument to the destroyer "Guarding"

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