Armored cruisers of the "Waldeck-Russo" class. Armored cruiser "Waldeck Russo" Excerpt characterizing Armored cruisers of the "Waldeck-Russo" class

Armored cruisers of the "Waldeck-Russo" class
Classe edgar quinet
"Edgar Quinet"
Project
The country
Main characteristics
Displacement	13 847-13 995
Length	158.9 m
Width	21.51 m
Draft	8.41 m
Reservation	belt - 40 - 150 mm deck - 33 + 65 casemates - 120 ... 193 main caliber towers - 150 ... 200 mm barbets - up to 200 mm conning tower - 150 ... 200 mm
Engines	3 triple expansion steam engines, 42 steam boilers
Power	36,000 - 39,821 HP With.
Mover	3 screws
Travel speed	23.1 - 23.9 knots
Crew	859-892 people
Armament
Artillery	2 × 2 and 10 × 1 - 194 mm, 20 × 1 - 65 mm
Mine torpedo armament	2 × 1 - 450 mm torpedo tubes

The Waldeck-Russo-class armored cruiser is the last and most advanced armored cruiser of the French navy. They were a development of the Ernest Renan project. Built 2 units: "Waldeck-Russo" ( Waldeck-Rousseau), "Edgar Quinet" ( Edgar quinet). By the time they were put into operation, they were outdated.

Story

In the mid-1900s, the French naval shipbuilding entered a period of a protracted crisis, associated primarily with inadequate organization of design and construction work. The gradual improvement in relations with Great Britain - which ended in 1905 with the signing of the British-French treaty - and the consistent strengthening of the German fleet, disorientated the French naval command, which was previously mainly focused on confrontation with Great Britain. Permanent personnel changes in the admiralty, the frequent change of naval ministers, funding delays due to government crises led to the fact that ships were laid with a strong delay, built slowly, and were already outdated.

In 1905, the French admirals, still operating within the framework of the traditional doctrine of cruising war against Great Britain, decided to lay down two more large armored cruisers, developing the successful project of the cruiser Ernest Renan. However, as the design progressed, the engineers had doubts about the adequacy of the standard armament for French armored cruisers - four 194-mm heavy and twelve 163-mm rapid-fire guns - against the new British armored cruisers. By this time, based on the experience of the Russo-Japanese War, the advantages of uniform artillery in long-range combat were already evident. To realize these advantages, French engineers decided to arm their new cruisers with uniform armament, replacing the 163-mm guns with an equal number of heavy 194-mm guns.

Design and construction

"Waldeck-Russo" - laid down in June 1906, launched on March 4, 1908, entered service in August 1911.

"Edgar Quinet" - laid down in November 1905, launched on September 21, 1907, entered service in January 1911.

Design

Basically, the Waldeck-Russo-class armored cruisers were a development of the Ernest Renan project. Their hulls had similar dimensions - 158.9 meters long, 21.51 meters wide and a draft of 8.41 meters. Their total displacement was 13,850 tons.

Like all French armored cruisers descended from the Leon Gambetta project, they had an almost straight stem, a high side with a long forecastle to improve seaworthiness. Their superstructures and masts were identical to the prototype. Like Ernest Renan, they were six-pipe, their pipes were grouped in two blocks of three. Also on their deck were eight fan pipes.

Armament

The armament of the Waldeck-Russo-class cruisers was unified and consisted exclusively of 194-mm 50-caliber guns of the 1902 model. Four such guns were located in two-gun turrets on the bow (on the forecastle) and aft (on the upper deck); six more guns stood side by side in single-gun towers (on the forecastle) and four guns stood in casemates (bow on the upper deck, aft on the main). All turrets were of a new type, with guns reloadable at any elevation angle.

Thus, cruisers of the "Waldeck-Russo" class became the first French "dreadnoughts" - armored ships with unified main caliber artillery. Their side salvo consisted of nine 194-mm guns - more than any other armored cruiser of the time - and they could fire eight guns each as a track and a retard. The unification of heavy artillery gave them significant advantages in long-range combat with any other armored cruiser.

Anti-mine armament consisted of twenty 65-mm guns of the 1902 model of the year in casemates on the upper deck. By the time of the laying, these weapons were already somewhat outdated, and at the time the ships entered service, they did not meet the requirements for protection from modern destroyers. As a tribute to tradition, the Waldeck-Russo-class cruisers still carried two 450mm underwater torpedo tubes in the center of the hull, firing perpendicular to the course.

Armor protection

Reservation of ships of the "Waldeck-Rousseau" type developed a standard scheme for French armored cruisers with a full armor belt along the waterline; the belt was made of cemented Krupp steel and was 2.6 meters high, of which 1.3 were below the waterline. The thickness of the belt in the center of the hull - between the masts - was equal to 150 millimeters, decreasing to 94 millimeters towards the top edge. At the nasal end, the belt thinned to 70 millimeters at the bottom and 38 millimeters at the top. At the aft end - up to 84 and 38 millimeters, respectively.

The lower armored deck had a convex shape; its thickness in the flat part was 45 millimeters, and on the bevels connected to the lower edge of the main belt - 65 millimeters. Above it was a flat upper armored deck, leaning on the upper edge of the armored belt and having a thickness of 35 millimeters. The space between the decks was divided into small sealed compartments designed to contain damage.

The cruiser's armored turrets were protected by 200 mm plates, as were their bases and barbets. The casemates of the main caliber guns were protected by 190 mm armor.

Power point

The power plant of cruisers of the "Waldeck-Russo" type was three-shaft. Three vertical triple expansion steam engines received steam from forty Belleville boilers on the Edgar Keene and forty-two Niklsson boilers on the Waldeck-Russo, for a total power of 36,000 horsepower. Due to the displacement of 2,000 tons, the cruisers did not reach the speed of the Ernest Renan, showing only 23 knots per measured mile. The coal reserve was enough for 12,500 kilometers of an economical 10-knot course.

Service

Before the war

World War I

After the war

Project evaluation

Armored cruisers of the "Waldeck-Russo" class became the completion of the evolution of the classic type of the French armored cruiser - an ocean-going high-board raider with a full armor belt along the waterline and numerous lightweight weapons. Created in order to disrupt enemy trade, they were built on the basis of the requirements to individually surpass the cruiser of the main potential enemy - Great Britain - and have sufficient speed and seaworthiness to evade combat with superior enemy forces.

For the first time, the unified main battery artillery used in the French navy provided the Waldeck-Russo-class cruisers with superiority in artillery combat over any other armored cruisers, even those as powerful as the British Minotaur-class. Some drawback (not too significant) was the anachronistic placement of some of the main battery guns in the casemates, but it was caused by the desire to use the ready-made hull design from the Ernst Renan cruiser, replacing 163-mm guns with 194-mm guns. The armor of cruisers reliably protected their waterline, and ensured the ability to maintain high speed even under enemy fire, without fear of flooding and breaking the skin near the waterline.

However, the Waldeck-Russo-class cruisers were a classic example of perfect ships late for their tactical niche. By the time they were laid, British-French relations had improved to such an extent that a war between Britain and France was almost impossible - and accordingly, the French fleet no longer needed numerous armored cruisers to act against British trade. Technological progress has led to the fact that the "ideal armored cruisers" of the "Waldeck-Russo" type are rapidly outdated against the background of new battle cruisers with turbine power plants and large-caliber artillery.

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Literature

• Nenakhov Yu. Encyclopedia of Cruisers 1860-1910. - M: AST, 2006 .-- ISBN 5-17-030194-4.
• Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905. - London: Conway Maritime Press, 1979. - ISBN 0-85177-133-5.

class "Amiral Charnay" type "Montcalm" type "Duplet" type "Gloire" type "Leon Gambetta" a type " Waldeck-Russo» Individual projects

An excerpt characterizing the Waldeck-Russo-class armored cruisers

- Why are you going? I know you think it is your duty to ride into the army now that the army is in danger. I understand that, mon cher, c "est de l" heroisme. [my dear, this is heroism.]
“Not at all,” said Prince Andrew.
- But you un philoSophiee, [philosopher], be him completely, look at things from the other side, and you will see that your duty, on the contrary, is to take care of yourself. Leave it to others who are no longer good for anything ... You were not ordered to come back, and from here you were not released; therefore, you can stay and go with us wherever our unfortunate fate takes us. They say they are going to Olmutz. And Olmutz is a very nice city. And we will safely ride together in my carriage.
“Stop joking, Bilibin,” said Bolkonsky.
“I’m telling you sincerely and in a friendly way. Judge. Where and why are you going now that you can stay here? One of two things awaits you (he gathered the skin over his left temple): either you will not reach the army and peace will be concluded, or defeat and disgrace with the entire Kutuzov army.
And Bilibin loosened his skin, feeling that his dilemma was irrefutable.
“I cannot judge that,” said Prince Andrey coldly, and thought: “I am going to save the army.”
“Mon cher, vous etes un heros, [My dear, you are a hero,]” said Bilibin.

On the same night, bowing to the Minister of War, Bolkonsky went to the army, not knowing where he would find it, and fearing to be intercepted by the French on the way to Krems.
In Brunn, the entire court population was packed, and the burdens were already sent to Olmütz. Near Etzelsdorf, Prince Andrey drove onto the road along which the Russian army was moving with the greatest haste and in the greatest disorder. The road was so crowded with carts that it was impossible to ride in a carriage. Taking a horse and a Cossack from the Cossack commander, Prince Andrew, hungry and tired, overtaking the carts, went to find the commander-in-chief and his cart. The most ominous rumors about the position of the army reached him by road, and the sight of the disorganized running army confirmed these rumors.
"Cette armee russe que l" or de l "Angleterre a transportee, des extremites de l" univers, nous allons lui faire eprouver le meme sort (le sort de l "armee d" Ulm) ", [" This Russian army, which English gold brought here from the end of the world, will experience the same fate (the fate of the Ulm army). ”] he recalled the words of Bonaparte's order to his army before the start of the campaign, and these words equally aroused in him surprise at the genius hero, a feeling of offended pride and the hope of glory. "And if there is nothing left but to die? He thought. Well, if it is necessary! I will do it no worse than others."
Prince Andrey looked with contempt at these endless, interfering teams, carts, parks, artillery and again carts, carts and carts of all kinds, overtaking one another and in three, in four rows dammed the muddy road. From all sides, back and forth, as long as the ear could be heard, the sounds of wheels, the rumble of bodies, carts and gun carriages, horse trampling, whip blows, prodding cries, cursing soldiers, orderlies and officers were heard. Along the edges of the road, there were incessantly skinned and unkempt horses that had fallen, now broken carts with lonely soldiers waiting for something, now soldiers who had separated from their teams, who in droves went to neighboring villages or dragged chickens, rams, hay or hay from the villages. bags filled with something.
On the ascents and descents, the crowds grew thicker, and there was a continuous groan of screams. The soldiers, sinking knee-deep in mud, grabbed guns and wagons in their arms; whips thrashed, hooves slid, strings burst and shrieks tore from their breasts. The officers who were in charge of the movement, now forward, now backward, drove between the carts. Their voices were faintly audible in the midst of the general hum, and it was evident from their faces that they were desperate for the possibility of stopping this disorder. "Voila le cher ['Here is a dear] Orthodox army," thought Bolkonsky, recalling Bilibin's words.
Wanting to ask one of these people where the commander-in-chief was, he drove up to the wagon train. Directly opposite him rode a strange one-horse carriage, apparently arranged by the soldiers' domestic means, representing the middle between a cart, a convertible and a sidecar. A soldier was driving in the carriage, and a woman was sitting under a leather top behind an apron, all tied with scarves. Prince Andrew drove up and had already turned to the soldier with a question, when his attention was drawn to the desperate cries of a woman sitting in a wagon. The officer in charge of the wagon train beat the soldier, who was sitting as a coachman in this carriage, because he wanted to bypass the others, and the whip fell on the apron of the carriage. The woman screamed shrilly. Seeing Prince Andrey, she leaned out from under the apron and, waving her thin hands that had jumped out from under the carpet shawl, shouted:
- Adjutant! Mister adjutant! ... For God's sake ... protect ... What will it be? ... I am the medicinal wife of the 7th Jaeger ... they are not allowed; we lagged behind, lost ours ...
- I'll break it into a cake, wrap it up! - shouted the angry officer at the soldier, - turn back with your whore.
- Mr. Adjutant, protect me. What is this? - shouted the medic.
“If you please let this carriage go by. Can't you see that this is a woman? - said Prince Andrey, driving up to the officer.
The officer glanced at him and, without answering, turned back to the soldier: - I'll go round those ... Back! ...
“Pass it on, I’m telling you,” Prince Andrey repeated again, pursing his lips.
- And who are you? The officer suddenly turned to him with drunken fury. - Who are you? You (he especially pressed on you) the boss, eh? Here I am the boss, not you. You, back, - he repeated, - I'll smash it into a cake.
The officer apparently liked this expression.
- Importantly shaved off the adjutant, - came a voice from behind.
Prince Andrew saw that the officer was in that drunken fit of gratuitous fury, in which people did not remember what they were saying. He saw that his intercession for the medicinal wife in the wagon was full of what he feared most in the world, what is called ridicule [ridiculous], but his instinct said otherwise. Before the officer had time to finish his last words, Prince Andrei, with a face disfigured with rage, rode up to him and picked up the whip:
- From the wills about let it go!
The officer waved his hand and hastily rode away.
“It's all from these, from the staff, it's all a mess,” he grumbled. - Do as you know.
Prince Andrey hurriedly, without raising his eyes, drove away from the medicinal wife, who called him a savior, and, recalling with disgust the smallest details of this humiliating scene, galloped on to the village where, as he was told, the commander-in-chief was.
Having entered the village, he got off his horse and went to the first house with the intention of resting even for a minute, eating something and bringing all these offensive thoughts that tormented him to clarity. “This is a crowd of scoundrels, not an army,” he thought, going up to the window of the first house, when a familiar voice called him by name.
He looked around. Nesvitsky's handsome face was protruding from a small window. Nesvitsky, chewing something with his juicy mouth and waving his hands, called him to him.
- Bolkonsky, Bolkonsky! Can't you hear it? Go quickly, ”he shouted.
Entering the house, Prince Andrey saw Nesvitsky and another adjutant, eating something. They hastily asked Bolkonsky if he knew anything new. On their faces so familiar to him, Prince Andrew read an expression of alarm and concern. This expression was especially noticeable on the always laughing face of Nesvitsky.
- Where is the commander-in-chief? Bolkonsky asked.
“Here, in that house,” answered the adjutant.
- Well, well, is it true that peace and surrender? - asked Nesvitsky.
- I'm asking you. I don't know anything, except that I got to you forcibly.
- And we, brother, what! Horror! I blame, brother, they laughed at Poppy, but they themselves have it even worse, - said Nesvitsky. - Yes, sit down, eat something.
“Now, prince, you won't find anything, Prince, and your Peter, God knows where,” said another adjutant.
- Where is the main apartment?
- We will spend the night in Znaim.
“And so I loaded myself everything I needed for two horses,” said Nesvitsky, “and they made excellent packs for me. At least get away through the Bohemian mountains. Bad, brother. What are you, really unwell, why are you so startled? - asked Nesvitsky, noticing how prince Andrey jerked, as if from touching the Leyden bank.
“Nothing,” answered Prince Andrew.
He recalled at that moment about the recent confrontation with the medicinal wife and the Furshtat officer.
- What is the commander-in-chief doing here? - he asked.
“I don’t understand,” said Nesvitsky.
“I only understand that everything is disgusting, disgusting and disgusting,” said Prince Andrey and went into the house where the commander-in-chief was standing.
Passing by Kutuzov's carriage, the tortured riding horses of the retinue, and the Cossacks, who were talking loudly among themselves, Prince Andrey entered the vestibule. Kutuzov himself, as they told Prince Andrei, was in the hut with Prince Bagration and Weyrother. Weyrother was the Austrian general who replaced the slain Schmit. In the hallway, little Kozlovsky was squatting in front of a clerk. A clerk on an inverted tub, twisting the cuffs of his uniform, hurriedly wrote. Kozlovsky's face was exhausted - he, apparently, also did not sleep at night. He glanced at Prince Andrew and did not even nod his head to him.

On November 8, 1920, the red units began the assault on Perekop and the forcing of the Sivash. Baron Wrangel was not going to seriously fight for the Crimea. As early as April 4, 1920, by order No. 002450, he ordered, “observing complete secrecy, to prepare in the shortest possible time the appropriate tonnage for transporting, if necessary, 60 thousand people to Constantinople. For this, it was proposed to distribute the required tonnage among the proposed ports of embarkation in such a way that it would be possible to start boarding ships four to five days after the start of the departure from the isthmuses. At the same time, the following data were given on ports: from Kerch - 12 thousand people, from Feodosia - 15 thousand, from Yalta and Sevastopol - 20 thousand, from Evpatoria - 13 thousand people. "

On November 11, the French heavy cruiser Waldeck Russo arrived in Sevastopol from Constantinople, accompanied by the destroyer Algerian. On board was the temporary commander of the French Mediterranean squadron, Admiral Dumenil. During negotiations with the French admiral, Wrangel offered to transfer the entire military and commercial fleet of the Black Sea to France in exchange for assistance in the evacuation of the White Army. The baron himself later wrote: “We talked for about two hours, the results of our conversation were set out in the admiral's letter to me dated October 29 (November 11):“ ... -polish front, in which case the army would be ready to continue the fight in this theater, you believe that your troops will stop playing the role of a military force. You ask for them, as for all civilian refugees, help from France, since the food taken with them from Crimea, enough for only a dozen days, while the vast majority of refugees will find themselves without any means of subsistence.

The assets of the Crimean government, which can be used for the costs of evacuating refugees, their maintenance and subsequent arrangement, are a combat squadron and a commercial fleet.

They have no obligations of a financial nature, and Your Excellency propose that they be immediately pledged to France. "

May the reader forgive me for such a long quote, but, alas, our "democrats" in every possible way keep silent about the sale of the Russian military and transport fleet to France. Here is an amusing incident: at a school in the town of Korolyov, near Moscow, a high school student in a history lesson blurted out about the sale of the fleet. The young teacher was indignant: "Wrangel could not do this!" - "Why?" There was a short pause, and then the "historian" said less confidently: "Wrangel was a national hero."

The French destroyer Senegal fired at Feodosia, occupied by the Reds.

November 14 at 14 h. 50 min. Baron Wrangel boarded the cruiser General Kornilov. The cruiser raised anchors and left the Sevastopol Bay. On board the cruiser were the headquarters of the commander-in-chief, the headquarters of the commander of the fleet, a special part of the headquarters of the fleet, the State Bank, the families of officers and the crew of the cruiser and passengers, a total of 500 people.

A whole armada of ships left the ports of Crimea: one dreadnought, one old battleship, two cruisers, ten destroyers, four submarines, twelve minesweepers, 119 transports and auxiliary vessels. They carried 145,693 people (not counting the ship's crews), of which 116,758 were military and 28,935 were civilians.

According to a special secret report of the intelligence department of the headquarters of the French Eastern Mediterranean squadron on November 20, 1920, “111,500 evacuees arrived, of which 25,200 were civilians and 86,300 - military personnel, including 5,500 - wounded; only the arrival of ships from Kerch is expected, which is said to deliver 40,000 more refugees. "

During the evacuation, the destroyer Zhivoi disappeared without a trace, on which 257 people died, mainly officers of the Don Regiment.

The crew of the minesweeper "Yazon", towing the transport "Elpidifor", cut off the towing rope at night and took the ship to the Reds in Sevastopol.

It is curious that the civilian population was evacuated even by submarines. So, 12 sailors left the submarine "Duck" in Sevastopol before leaving for Constantinople, but 17 women and two children were accepted.

The Bolsheviks did not have seagoing ships capable of intercepting the Wrangel armada. Nevertheless, on October 21, 1920, the AG-23 submarine was commissioned in Nikolaev on an emergency basis. She was ordered to attack the white ships. But due to a malfunction of the torpedo tube, the boat was delayed with the exit and missed the enemy.

Upon arrival in Constantinople, Wrangel decided not to disband his army, but to deploy it abroad, maintaining its combat readiness whenever possible. The most combat-ready units of the 1st Army Corps (25,596 men) were deployed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, 50 kilometers west of Constantinople, in the Chatalji region. Other units were stationed on the island of Lemnos, in Serbia and Bulgaria.

On November 21, 1920, the Black Sea Fleet was reorganized into the Russian squadron. True, French flags fluttered over the ships of this squadron.

As already mentioned, even in Sevastopol, Wrangel sold (pledged) the entire Black Sea Fleet to France. But this agreement with Admiral Dumenil was secret. Now, when the "invincible armada" arrived in Istanbul, the French were in no hurry to officially announce the deal and did not know how to technically implement it.

A one-off transfer of 130-140 pennants to France would have caused an extremely negative international resonance and a storm of indignation in France itself. And where to get the commands to go to the Mediterranean ports of the Republic?

But the French admirals and our baron were not stupid people and quickly came to an unspoken agreement - to sell ships and vessels of the Black Sea Fleet privately and at retail. It is clear that the financial interests of not only the RSFSR, but also France suffered here, but a fantastic opportunity to earn money appeared.

Trade in ships in Constantinople began as early as December 1920. It should be noted that by 1921 a unique situation had developed in almost all the fleets of the world. On the one hand, there was a general reduction in the combat strength of the fleet, and on the other, there was an acute shortage in merchant ships associated with large losses during the World War. So the French were absolutely not interested in Russian battleships, cruisers, destroyers and submarines, and transports, icebreakers, tankers - how! Therefore, the French allowed Wrangel to keep the warships and even allocated a parking lot for the Russian squadron - a naval base in Bizerte (modern Tunisia).

And from Constantinople to Bizerte, 1200 miles distant, on December 8, 1920, the battleship General Alekseev departed (until April 16, 1917, "Emperor Alexander III", until October 1919 - "Volya"), transport-floating workshop "Kronstadt "And transport" Dalland "with coal for the squadron.

On December 10, the cruiser Almaz set off in the tug of Chernomora, the destroyer Kapitan Saken in the tug of the armed icebreaker Gaydamak, the destroyer Zharkiy in the tug of Hollanda, the destroyer Zvonky in tow of the armed icebreaker Rider, the destroyer Zorky "in tow of the icebreaker" Dzhigit ", transport" Dobycha ", submarines AG-22 and" Utka ", icebreaker" Ilya Muromets ", having submarines" Tyulen "and" Burevestnik "in tow, minesweeper" Kitoboy ", a messenger ship "Yakut", gunboats "Grozny" and "Strizh", with the training ship "Svoboda" in tow.

On December 12, the destroyers "Restless", "Daring" and "Ardent" left Constantinople. December 14 - the cruiser General Kornilov and the steamer Konstantin.

For lack of time, the ships that left Constantinople were not able to fix all their damages there, so many of them handed over any mechanisms and parts to the workshops of "Kronstadt" to be repaired. On the way, a part of the steering gear broke down at Kornilov's, and a new one was ordered from the Kronstadt workshops over the radio. The workshops of "Kronstadt" worked at full capacity during the entire transition, there were even casting of metal parts.

Part of the squadron, mainly large ships with the transport "Kronstadt", on the way entered the Navarino Bay, where some repairs were made, as well as the supply of water and coal to the ships from the "Kronstadt" and "Dalland". From Navarin the ships left for the port of Argostoli on the island of Kefalonia, where they connected with the entire squadron. The second part of the squadron, mainly small ships, went to Kefalonia by the Corinth Canal. Having united, the squadron left for Bizerte, with the exception of the steamer "Constantine", the cruiser "General Kornilov", the destroyers "Restless" and "Daring" and the transport "Dalland", which went from Navarin to Bizerte without calling on Kefalonia.

The destroyer Zharkiy, which had assembled its vehicles with the help of the Kronstadt workshops, could now go independently.

The weather was favorable for the transition, and only a few ships were caught in a small storm in the Aegean Sea. At "Yakut" the stokers were flooded, and on the "Guard" they burned down the boiler and now they were towing the transport "Inkerman". When approaching Kefalonia at Cape St. Anastasia in the fog, the tugboat "Chernomor" ran aground, but on the same day it was removed by the cruiser "General Kornilov" without being damaged.

One of the French ships accompanying the Wrangel squadron - the sloop "Bar le Duc", ran aground near the Dora Strait, he himself withdrew from it, but immediately sank. One officer and 70 sailors escaped from the team, and the rest, including the commander, were killed.

The ships of the white squadron began to arrive in Bizerte on December 22, 1920. The last, on January 2, 1921, arrived the destroyer Zharkiy, which, due to lack of water, entered one of the ports on the Italian coast, and then received coal in Malta.

The icebreakers "Ilya Muromets", "Gaydamak" and "Dzhigit" were sent to Constantinople for the ships of the squadron that remained there. At the end of January they brought the destroyers Gnevny and Tserigo in tow.

The old battleship "George the Victorious", which since 1914 played the role of the command ship, according to one version, on February 14, 1921, came under its own power (its maximum speed was 6 knots), and according to the other, it was brought in tow. On February 12, a superstructure collapsed on the battleship, as a result of which naval lieutenant A.P. Stavitsky and army captain A. Nesterov, who performed the duties of a boatswain on the ship.

On February 4, the tanker "Baku" came to Bizerte. In total, the ships that arrived in Bizerte carried about 5,600 people, including women and children.

Now it has become fashionable to describe the heroism of the sailors of the "Bizerte squadron", who allegedly remained faithful to the St. Andrew's flag. In fact, they either raised or lowered the aforementioned flag, replacing it with the French tricolor.

But for some reason no one asks the question, what was the meaning of the stay of the white squadron in Bizerte. The civil war ended, and almost all of the squadron's warships could not go to sea without major repairs.

The main concern of the "fathers-commanders" and the French admirals who took care of them was the sale of more than a hundred merchant and auxiliary ships.

The most tasty morsel for the French in Bizerte was the floating workshop "Kronstadt". It was a huge vessel with a displacement of about 17 thousand tons, which, without exaggeration, can be called the world's only floating repair plant. Taking advantage of the plague disease of several sailors of the "Kronstadt", the French authorities sent the crew of the workshop to quarantine, and the ship itself was sent to ... Toulon. So he was given a new name - "Volcano" and commissioned the French Navy.

And here is the data collected by me on the basis of the summary of the Foreign Department of the GPU on the state of Wrangel's naval and ground forces on April 13, 1922.

Two large vehicles, "Rion" (14614t) and "Don" (about 10 thousand tons) - are put up for auction in Toulon.

Russian transports in Marseille:

Poti (former Irina, 3400 t) - sold to a French company.

"Dolland" (about 12 thousand tons) - sold to an unknown owner.

"Yekaterinodar" (until 1919 - transport number 132, 2570 tons) - sold to an unknown owner.

"Sarych" (until 1919 - "Margarita", 7500 t) - for sale.

"Yalta" (until 1919 - "Violetta", 7175 tons) - for sale.

"Crimea" (until 1919 - transport number 119, until 1916 - "Cola", about 3000 tons) - for sale.

"Inkerman" (until 1919 - transport number 136, until 1916 - "Rize") - sold to an unknown owner.

The fate of this ship is curious. In the end, he found himself under the Egyptian flag and in 1927 arrived in Odessa with a load. It was then that people in leather jackets and with Mausers showed up on board. The most interesting thing is that the International Maritime Court recognized the ship as stolen and subject to return to its rightful owner - the USSR. Of course, the thieves were not the Egyptians, but the "Bizerte heroes."

"Sailor" - for sale.

Shilka (former Erika, 3500 t) - for sale.

Note that in Marseilles and Toulon, the same private company "Pquet" operated, which bought ships from white officers and then resold them.

A similar picture developed in Constantinople. There, the resale was supervised by a certain Ribbull, the head of the department of the Pake company.

The Samara transport (former transport No. 114) sold to the Turks in Constantinople was named Fatetie Bosphorus. The ship was sold by Rear Admiral A.N. Zaev.

Transport number 410 (former "Vera") - for sale.

Transport number 411 - sold to the Greeks, named "France".

Transport number 412 - sold to the Greeks, is being repaired in Piraeus.

Tug "Cautious" - sold, but sank in the Bosphorus.

Tug "Typhoon" - sold to the French, named "Bore".

Volunteer Fleet Passenger Steamers:

"Vladimir" (11,065 tons, 12 knots) - sold to the Georgian Jiokelia for 72,000 Turkish lira.

"Saratov" (9660 tons, 12 knots) was sold to a Greek for 170,000 Turkish lira.

Steamers of the Russian Society:

"Russia" - sold, named "Hedwig".

"Maria" - sold, named "Georg".

Both fly the Austrian flag.

According to other documents, the minesweeper Kitoboy was sold to the Italians and named Italo. The messenger ship Yakut was sold to Malta and named La Valetto. The Ilya Muromets icebreaker was sold to France and converted into a Pollux minelayer. The icebreaker "Horseman" was sold to the Italians and named "Manin-2". The tanker "Baku" was sold to the French and named "Loire". The Dobycha transport was sold to the Italians and named Ambro. Transport "Foros" was sold to Greece and became "Ewange-list". The rescue vessel "Chernomor" was sold to the French and named "Iroise". The tug "Holland" was sold to Italy and named "Salvatore".

As can be seen from the list of ships, the French were sold for a pittance not only warships, but also the steamers of the Volunteer Fleet. How cheaply the ships were sold can be judged at least by the fact that the minesweeper "411" was sold to a Greek for 22,000 Turkish liras, having previously sold rebar and equipment from it for 15,000 Turkish liras.

Perhaps someone is tired of the list of ships, but what to do. It is time for the country to recognize its "heroes who did not lower the St. Andrew's flag." It is worth noting here that a significant part of the ships sold were state-owned. This also applies to icebreakers, and various port, pilot and other ships. Almost all transports on the Black Sea were mobilized into the Black Sea Fleet, and, again, their previous owners received substantial compensation. As for the Volunteer Fleet, it was a controlled the Russian government paramilitary organization. The ships for the Volunteer Fleet were built with money collected by subscription throughout Russia for the war with England and France, and later, as we see, they were given away completely for nothing.

I do not want to create the impression that the thieves were only in the Black Sea Fleet. On the Pacific Ocean, a squadron from Pacific ships was hijacked to Manila and sold there by Admiral Stark. In the North, General Miller hijacked several ships to England. Dozens of transport ships were captured in the Baltic by the Finns and Balts.

As a result, Soviet Russia was left practically without a merchant fleet. And already in the early 1920s, the Bolsheviks began buying merchant ships abroad in order to bring bread, medicines, machine tools and steam locomotives to Russia.

It should be noted that among the officers in the Bizerte squadron there were honest people who did not like the sale of our fleet. So, at the beginning of April 1921, the senior officer of the battleship General Alekseev Pavlov and the commander of the icebreaker "Horseman" Vikberg secretly assembled the mechanisms of the icebreaker brought into a state of long-term storage and, under the guise of leaching the boilers, lit vapors on it and had to leave with the conspiracy from other ships by the crew to the island of Sicily. Two hours before the departure, scheduled for 23:00, on a denunciation of counterintelligence, this whole operation was stopped, and the spools were removed from the icebreaker machines. The French sent their patrol boats and drove the couples on the gunboats. The squadron command tried to hush up this story, and Pavlov and Vikberg were sent to Germany.

There were attempts to withdraw the icebreakers "Dzhigit" and "Ilya Muromets" from Bizerta.

In February 1923, Admiral Behrens decided to sell two gunboats - Sentinel and Grozny (before mobilization, it was a merchant ship). On the night of February 26-27, 1923, two warrant officers opened the kingstones and scuttled the gunboats. The French police arrested the warrant officers as Bolshevik agents. They were taken to the Marseilles prison, where the midshipmen tried to commit suicide. Eventually the French sent them to Serbia.

From the end of 1918 Constantinople was occupied by the troops of the Entente. But at the end of 1922, at an international conference in London, the question arose of returning the city to the Turkish government of Ataturk. This caused serious concern among French admirals and ship merchants. Indeed, in the Golden Horn Bay there were as many as 12 unsold ships of the Wrangel fleet. Everyone knew that Turkish nationalists were on good terms with the Soviet government, and it was obvious that after the transfer of Istanbul, the Turks would return the ships to their rightful owner.

In this regard, the French found several dozen Russian sailors to ferry ships from Constantinople to Marseille.

Captain 1st Rank Vasily Aleksandrovich Merkushev later wrote that he lived in Istanbul in poverty, receiving 15 Turkish lira a month. And then he was offered 100 lire a month and the opportunity to move to France for free. It was difficult to refuse. And now 12 ships, led by Russian sailors, successfully covered the distance of 2000 miles and on April 11, 1923 arrived safely in Marseille.

So, by May 1923, everything that could be sold from the ships hijacked by Wrangel was sold. The French government was not going to fight the USSR. On the contrary, a number of influential politicians and businessmen were in favor of establishing diplomatic relations with the Bolsheviks. In the USSR, they saw a trading partner and hoped to get concessions there, and possibly return the debts of tsarist Russia. In France and even in Bizerte itself, the left-wing forces periodically organized rallies of protest against the presence of the "Russian squadron" and especially against its financing at the expense of taxpayers.

In 1923, the Polish government undertook a series of demarches to Paris, wishing to receive several destroyers and submarines from the Bizerte squadron. The French government flatly refused. The transfer of ships to Poland would lead to unwanted confrontation with the USSR and demonstrations in France itself. Let's not forget that the white officers hated the Poles no less than the Bolsheviks. Well, and most importantly, the Poles wanted to have ships ... for nothing.

On October 28, 1924, France finally established diplomatic relations with the USSR. Paris offered Moscow to return the Bizerte squadron, believing that this would be one of the arguments for the Soviets to recognize the tsarist debts.

Two days later, Bizerte's naval prefect, Admiral Excelmans, ordered all of the squadron's officers and midshipmen to assemble aboard the destroyer Daring. His order was short: to lower the Andreevskie flags, hand over the ships to the French commissioners, and go ashore themselves.

On December 29, a Soviet commission for the acceptance of Russian ships arrived in Bizerte from Marseilles on the Uje ship. The commission was headed by Evgeny Andreevich Berens. The main shipbuilding consultant was Academician A.N. Krylov.

Evgeny Behrens came to Bizerte to receive the squadron from his brother, Rear Admiral Mikhail Andreevich Behrens. The situation turned out to be more than delicate for the Soviet delegation, for the whites, and for the French. The latter recommended that Mikhail Andreevich leave somewhere, and he prudently went to the city of Tunisia for a week.

The Soviet commission stated that the ships of the squadron were in an incompetent state, for many months no one was involved in their repair. A significant part of the mechanisms containing non-ferrous metals have been stolen. Krylov said that it would be advisable to take only the battleship General Alekseev. He could not walk on his own. Due to "diplomatic problems", towing it by a Soviet ship, for example, the icebreaker "Ermak", was impossible, private firms would have taken it very dearly. Finally, it was extremely difficult to insure the battleship during the passage. It is unprofitable to insure it at the price of scrap metal. To insure at a real price of about 40 million pounds sterling means paying a lot of money, and Insurance Company in the event of the loss of the ship, he will not pay a single penny, they say, the Bolsheviks brought an old trough out to sea in order to flood it and get insurance.

And then it turned out that the French delegation associates the return of the ships with the recognition of the tsar's debts. As a result, on January 6, 1925, the Soviet delegation left Bizerte, and the question of returning the squadron remained unresolved.

The ships of the squadron were left to rust in Bizerte. It was only in the early 1930s that they began to be slowly dismantled for scrap right at parking lots. The work was carried out by the firm "Sosiete anonyme exploitasion de minision". And the work was directly supervised by the engineer-colonel of the tsarist army A.P. Klyagin. Somewhere in 1934-1935. artillery of the battleship "General Alekseev" was removed and stored in the arsenal of Sidi-Abdalah. Later, these cannons ended up in the hands of the Finns near Leningrad and the Germans on the Mirus coastal battery in the English Channel, but, alas, this almost detective story goes beyond the scope of our narrative.

April 15th, 2012

France and Georgia are connected much more than the memories of the terrible days and nights of August 2008. Blood ties between Georgia and France were also created on the battlefields. At the beginning of the last century, just as in August 2008, France and Georgia met each other in a time of disaster and misfortune.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Tbilisi, 07-10-2011

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The Georgian Mensheviks, preparing for the war with Soviet Russia, had high hopes for the support of France.

Rear Admiral Charles Henri Dumesnil (1868-1946), who led the evacuation from Crimea
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According to the documents, the squadron based in occupied Constantinople and operating in the Black Sea in November 1920, during the evacuation of Sevastopol, included, in particular, 1 battleship, 1 cruiser, 3 destroyers, 4 advice notes, 3 patrol ships, 2 packet boats and other vessels:

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"The French ships that took part in the evacuation, under the command of Rear Admiral Dumenil, commander of the light battalion":

Cuirassé:

Provence

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Croiseur-cuirassé:

Waldeck-Rousseau

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Torpilleurs:

Sénégalais

Algérien

Sakalave

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Avisos et canonnières:

Bar-le-Duc

Toul

Duchaffault

Dunkerque

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Remorqueurs / Patrouilleurs:

Vigoureux

Coquelicot

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Bâtiments de commerce français:

Phrygie

Siam

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Bâtiments sous pavillon interallié:

Thekla bolhem

Szeged (ex-autrichien)

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P.N. Wrangel and Admiral Dumenil in Constantinople
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Admiral Dyuminel reads a farewell letter to General P.N. Wrangel to the French sailors
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It is known that some of the ships listed above also took part in the events in Georgia - the cruiser Waldeck-Russo, the destroyer Sakalav, the advice letter Dunkirk and Dushafo.
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Also, according to the documents, the cruiser Ernest Renan and the advice letter Ysere and Suip were there at that time.
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There is reason to believe that there was also one French battleship - probably "Lorrain" or "Provence".
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It is possible that other French ships also took part in the operation.
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Precisely the advice note "Bar le Duc" could not take part in them - he died on 12/13/1920, having crashed near the island of Lesbos, when he accompanied the Wrangel fleet on the way from Istanbul to Bizerte.
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Rear Admiral Karl Dumenil January 1, 1921 was appointed commander of the 1st light (cruising) division of the Mediterranean squadron consisting of the armored cruisers "Ernest Renan", "Waldeck-Rousseau" and "Edgar Keene". The flagship of Admiral Dyumenil in 1920 was the armored cruiser Waldeck-Russo, which took part in the battles for Abkhazia (in another source, Edgar Keene was named its flagship in 1921). It can be assumed that Dumenil himself was there. Chicherin later wrote that "it became known that Admiral Dyumenil was preparing a landing. ... We from Moscow watched from our radio station how Admiral Dyumenil, the Tiflis radio station and the Dashnaks of Erivan were talking to each other on the radio."
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His chief Ferdinand Jean Jacques de Bon (1861-1923), vice admiral, commander-in-chief of the French squadron in the Eastern Mediterranean (04.1919-07.1923), also took part in these events.
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Admiral de Beaune, Paris, 25.07.1917
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The flagship of Admiral de Beaune in 1920 was the battleship Provence, but in December 1920 it left for Toulon and the admiral's telegrams for February-March 1921 were marked as sent from the battleship Lorrain.
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against the Georgian invaders. On February 16, Armenia's allied Russia intervened in the conflict and the Georgian troops were defeated on the Khrami River. On February 17, 1921, Admiral de Bon received a telegram informing that the situation in Georgia had deteriorated. He took measures to concentrate French ships in the Batum area. In addition to the Dunkirk advice note, which was already there, the Waldeck-Russo cruiser and the Sakalav destroyer were recalled from the exercises in the Sea of ​​Marmara, and the Syuip advice note was withdrawn from Zonguldak. For the same reason, the advice letter "Dushafo", escorting the Turkish steamer "Reshid Pasha", en route from Constantinople to Novorossiysk with 3300 voluntarily repatriated Wrangel Cossacks, was ordered to leave this ship and join the "Dunkirk" in Batumi.
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There is a letter from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France (and at the same time the Prime Minister) A. Briand to the Minister of the Navy dated February 26, 1921, which mentions that Vice-Admiral de Beaune led the French naval forces during the operation to support the Georgian troops, repelling the attacks of the Red Army in the Gagra region.

Aristide Briand - the one - "this is the head!"
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Armored cruiser "Waldeck-Russo"
The cruiser also took part in the evacuation of Odessa and Novorossiysk in 1920.

December 16, 1922: "Waldeck-Rousseau" in Constantinople
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Sailors dry linen on the deck of the cruiser
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A rugby match between the teams of the cruiser Valdeck-Russo and the battleship Paris (Corfu)
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Battleship "Provence"
In January 1921, the battleship returned to Toulon. Whether he returned to Constantinople in February is unknown to me.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provence_(cuirassé)

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HALLIER Jules Émile (1868 - 1945) - Captain of the "Provence" 01.1921-03.1922

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Battleship "Lorrain"
In February-March 1921 he was in Constantinople.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorraine_(cuirassé)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_battleship_Lorraine

1917, Toulon
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VIOLETTE Louis Hyppolite (1869-1950) - Commander of the 2nd Division of the Mediterranean Squadron, flagship Lorrain 1919-1921
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One of the sources says that the French battleship Jean Bar took part in the battles for Abkhazia. This is apparently a mistake. Jean Bar took part in the intervention in 1919 as the flagship of the commander of the French fleet, Admiral Amet, but in 1920 it was included in the Toulon squadron.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_battleship_Jean_Bart_(1911)

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Destroyer "Algerien" of the "Arab" type ("Senegal" and "Sakalav" are of the same type)
Algerien also took part in the evacuation of Odessa and Novorossiysk in 1920.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classe_Arabe

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Destroyer "Arab"
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Aviso "Isere" of the "Marne" type on March 10, 1921 was still in Batumi - in the photo there is a ship of the same type.

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"Suip" - advice type "Scarp"

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Aviso type "Amiens" ("Bar le Duc" (died 12/13/1920), "Dunkirk", "Tul")

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"Dyushafo" is an advice note of the "Dubourdier" type.

Reduced version of the advice note "Amiens".
Dushafo also took part in the evacuation of Novorossiysk in 1920.

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The patrol boats looked something like this

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Packageboat "Phrygia"

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Even after the evacuation of Crimea, the French fleet continued to remain in the Black Sea. On January 9, 1921, returning from laying minefields, the Soviet gunboat Elpidifor-415 was attacked in the Anapa area by a French naval unit consisting of two destroyers and one minesweeper. The ship's crew tried to repel the attack using onboard guns, and then Captain Butakov, who commanded gunboat, having received heavy damage, decided to be washed ashore in the Anapa region. About 70 Soviet sailors were killed and wounded in the battle.

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Elpidifor-class gunboat

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"Elpidifor-415"
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The hopes of the Georgian Mensheviks were based on the statements of the French representatives. In early December 1920, the French "High Commissioner" A. Chevalier arrived in Tiflis, and the French Admiral Dyumenil, commander of the Black Sea squadron, arrived in Batum. Chevalier promised the Mensheviks armed assistance in case a revolution took place inside Georgia or if it was attacked by an "external enemy". Admiral Dumenil also said in an interview with an employee of the Echo Batum newspaper that he had been sent to clarify the situation in the Caucasus, and if the Menshevik government turned to him for help, he would, of course, provide it.

L. Trotsky. "Problems of the International Proletarian Revolution":

Around the same time, the famous patroness of the weak, France, Millerand, became closely interested in the fate of independent Georgia. The "High Commissioner of Transcaucasia" who arrived in Georgia, Mr. Abel Chevalier, wasted no time saying through the Georgian telegraph agency: "The French love Georgia fraternally, and I am happy that I can publicly declare this. France's interests absolutely coincide with the interests of Georgia." .. The interests of that France, which surrounded Russia with a hunger blockade and admitted a number of tsarist generals, "absolutely coincided" with the interests of democratic Georgia. True, after lyrical and somewhat stupid speeches about the fiery love of the French for the Georgians, Mr. Chevalier, as befits a representative of the Third Republic, explained that “the states of the whole world are hungry and thirsty at the present time for raw materials and manufactured goods: Georgia is a great and natural way between East and West ". In other words, along with the love for the Georgians, the sentimental friends of Mr. Millerand were also attracted by the smell of Baku oil.
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Almost after Chevalier, the French admiral Dumenil arrived in Georgia. In the sense of ardent love for the fellow tribesmen of Noah Jordania, the sailor was in no way inferior to the land diplomat. At the same time, the admiral immediately stated that since France "does not recognize the seizure of someone else's property" (who would have thought!), Then he, Dumenil, being on the territory of "independent" Georgia, will not allow the Soviet government to take possession of the Russian ships located in Georgian port and scheduled for transfer to Wrangel or his possible heirs.
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The cooperation of the representatives of French democracy with the democrats of Georgia has developed in full. The French destroyer Sakiyar fired at and burned the Russian schooner Zeynab. French counterintelligence agents, with the participation of agents of the Georgian Special Detachment, attacked and robbed the Soviet diplomatic courier. French destroyers covered the withdrawal to Constantinople of the Russian steamer Princip, which was stationed in the Georgian port. Work to organize an uprising in the neighboring Soviet republics and regions of Russia went hard. The number of weapons delivered there from Georgia immediately increased. The hungry blockade of Armenia, which had already become Soviet by that time, continued. But Batum was not occupied. It is possible that Lloyd George had by then abandoned the idea of ​​a new front. It is also possible that the extreme love of the French for Georgia prevented the active manifestation of the same feeling on the part of the British. Our statement regarding Batum also did not remain, of course, without consequences. Having paid at the last moment for past services with a metaphysical bill of de jure recognition, the Entente decided not to build anything on the hopeless foundation of Menshevik Georgia.
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In the border area, under the supervision of foreign specialists, the Mensheviks created their own "Mannerheim Line" - a heavily fortified concrete position, the so-called "Shield of the Democratic Republic". The French fleet provided fire support from the sea.
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The year before, plans to defend this position
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Admiral de Robeck to Lord Curzon
Constantinople, April 27, 1920
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The coastal road in the vicinity of Gagra could be made impassable by His Majesty's ships and seaplanes, supported by Georgian forces now in positions there.
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The Georgian General Staff is fully aware of the importance of this defensive position and is confident that it will be able to hold this line against any Bolshevik forces if the British Navy will assist them.
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But then the matter did not come to a war with Russia, and on November 12, 1920, Admiral de Robeck, commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, received an order from the Admiralty not to interfere in the events in Georgia until further orders. Therefore, at the end of February 1921, when there were battles around Tbilisi, the British, whom Admiral de Beaune informed on on February 18 of the Bolsheviks' offensive against Georgia, calmly conducted nearby, in the Sea of ​​Marmara, "tactical exercises with four battleships and all available destroyers." ...
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"Essays on the history of Abkhazia 1910-1921"

G. A. Dzidzaria

State publishing house "Sabchota Sakartvelo", Tbilisi, 1963

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"The Entente ships (destroyer and transport) on February 20, at about 5 pm, began shelling the coast 4 kilometers southeast of the village of Vesely, firing up to 80 shells. The report of the Menshevik General Staff on February 20 reported:" The French squadron is supporting us in defending our territory , shelling the Bolsheviks from the flank. "The head of the Menshevik government N. Zhordania on February 21 at a meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Georgia also admitted:" We were actively assisted by France ... "," The French squadron approached Gagra and yesterday, together with our troops, fought the enemy ... ". The Revolutionary Committee of Abkhazia, in a telegram addressed to V. I. Lenin dated March 10, 1921, emphasized that the Mensheviks" lackeys received help from their masters: the Entente fleet bombarded the coast, set the peasants' huts on fire. " According to information, the Mensheviks promised the invaders almost 40 poods of tobacco for each cannon shot. February is even more intense. At 020 hours on February 22, three ships from long-range guns fired at the village occupied by Soviet troops. Merry; at 1 o'clock these ships approached the coast near the village. Pilenkovo ​​and fired several shells at the location of the 273rd regiment, also firing at it with machine-gun fire. At 9 pm, three ships again appeared near Pilenkovo, including two destroyers, and began firing long-range guns at the field headquarters of the 91st brigade and the location of the 273rd regiment. "

"The invaders tried to strike in the rear of the advancing troops. To this end, the enemy destroyer again fired at the village of Pilenkovo ​​with machine guns on 23 February. The shelling of the coast in the Veseloe-Pilenkovo ​​area was carried out, according to some reports, by the ships of the French flotilla of Admiral Dumenil, whose parking was previously noted in Poti and Batum. "

“The Mensheviks pinned great hopes on their pre-built Bzyb fortifications, especially since the interventionist ships were stationed at the mouth of the Bzyb River. However, on February 23, Soviet troops crossed a stormy mountain river and defeated the enemy. which, having confused the location of the fighting troops, destroyed the Menshevik fortifications with her fire, shelling them for almost two hours. The captured soldiers, believing that they had been bombed by the Soviet squadron, said: could not think of resistance either. "

"In the city of Gudauty, which was directly approached by the Red Army, the Mensheviks also hastily assembled counter-revolutionary detachments of merchant sons, white officers and dukhan men to" protect "the city from the Bolsheviks. Fortifications were created on the outskirts of Gudauta. The French battleship Jean Bar was stationed in the roadstead, aiming their cannons at the city. "

"The ships of the Entente approached the coast on February 27 and fired at Gudauta, firing about 15 shells. On board one of the ships was a fleeing Menshevik chief of militia, begging the interventionists to turn the city into a heap of ruins. This was prevented by the 274th regiment, whose battery opened fire on the interventionists and forced them hide. "

“The Menshevik troops were still assiduously assisted by the Entente warships, which continued to methodically bombard the coastal strip of Abkhazia and destroy its coastal cities and other settlements. they no longer have enough to keep Abkhazia. "

"In connection with this, the Revolutionary Committee of Abkhazia declared the following protest:
"The peasants and workers of Abkhazia, unable to withstand the oppression and violence of the Menshevik government, took up arms and entered into a mortal struggle with the hated Menshevik government. French military courts, at the invitation of the Jordania-Ramishvili government, are bombarding the cities of Abkhazia liberated by the rebels. The town of Pilenkovo ​​has also been destroyed to the ground. several dozen houses in the cities of Gagra and Gudauta. There are casualties among the civilian population. Among the killed there are women and children.

The Military Revolutionary Committee of Abkhazia expresses its protest against the vile intervention of the French government in the affairs of Abkhazia and its dirty desire to drown the laboring masses of Abkhazia in blood, fighting for the final liberation of Abkhazia from the yoke of the counter-revolutionary Menshevik government. "

"At 1055 hours the 274th regiment, after a short blow with an energetic onslaught, knocked the enemy out of the first line of fortifications and, pursuing units retreating to Novy Afon, at 16:00 reached the road leading from Novy Afon to the northeast. The enemy, who had up to 900 bayonets. supported by active artillery fire from French ships consisting of 1 battleship, 1 cruiser and 2 transports, put up stubborn resistance. "

"On March 3, the battle began at 0930 hours. The enemy, supported by hurricane artillery fire and chemical shells from two ships of the invaders, went on the offensive."

The French armored cruiser Waldeck-Rousseau, which provided artillery
support for Georgian troops in Abkhazia in early March 1921
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“The enemy, vigorously pursued, retreated to Sukhum in panic, blowing up bridges and robbing residents on its way. within 5 hours. "

"On March 3, Soviet units reached the Gumista river and took up a position on the outskirts of Sukhum. The Menshevik authorities on March 3, secretly from the population and their own troops, fled to Batum on a French steamer."

"In a telegram from the headquarters of the 31st division to V. I. Lenin and M. I. Kalinin it was reported:
"After a continuous two-day battle, accompanied by three repeated enemy attacks with the help of the Entente's ship artillery, using shells with asphyxiant gases, the valiant soldiers of the 31st Infantry Division, having overcome all difficulties, at 16:00 on March 3, utterly defeated the enemy at Novy Afon ... huge, uncountable trophies, prisoners, guns, machine guns, cartridges and shells. Developing a further offensive, units of the division at 6 o'clock on March 4 occupied the city of Sukhum-Kale and are pursuing the defeated enemy. "

Revolutionary committee of Abkhazia:

"The Entente fleet tried to save its lackeys by bombarding the coasts and destroying peasant huts, but in vain."

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During the fighting from Batumi to the Gagra front, an additional 3 thousand Georgian soldiers were transferred from Batumi, but this had little effect on the course of events.
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General Kvinitadze, Commander-in-Chief of the Georgian Army:
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“Our fortified position, which was all the time fortified and which was considered even impregnable, was taken quickly; as always, it was bypassed.
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... people just didn't want to fight; at the first approach of the enemy, they abandoned their positions and no forces could hold them; this waste was not plan-consistent, but completely random. "
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At this very time, the Turks were negotiating with the Entente countries in London and on March 9, 1921, a Franco-Turkish agreement was signed there.

France's desire for a separate agreement with Turkey in violation of its allied obligations was prompted by the following main considerations:
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a) maximum restoration of their pre-war financial, economic, political and cultural positions in Turkey;
b) restoration of his somewhat shaken authority in the Muslim colonial possessions;
c) concentration of all their efforts and military potential in Syria, which the Kemalists incited against France;
d) the use of Turkey for anti-Soviet purposes in the Caucasus;
e) the weakening of the ever-growing influence of its Middle East rival - England.

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On March 9, 1921, an order was received for the navy not to act against the Turks and to refrain from any intervention in their regard, except to protect the French citizens, if any.

The Georgian government, hoping to seize the opportunity for a military clash between the Turkish and Red armies, reached an agreement on March 7 with the commander of the Turkish forces of the northeastern direction Kazim Karabekir - Turkish troops could enter Batumi, while retaining control over the civil administration for the Georgian authorities. The Turks were even allowed into the Batumi fortress.