Soviet evacuation from Tallinn
The Soviet evacuation of Tallinn in August 1941 was a Soviet Navy operation during World War II . It concerned the withdrawal of Soviet units from the Estonian capital Tallinn . In Germany the events were also called the mine battle in front of Reval .
prehistory
After the start of the German attack on June 22, 1941 , Army Group North advanced rapidly into the Baltic states occupied by the Soviet Union the year before. At the end of August, Tallinn, an important base of the Soviet Baltic Fleet , was encircled by German troops and a large part of this fleet was trapped in the port of Tallinn. The German side expected an outbreak and initiated countermeasures: Extensive minefields were laid off Cape Juminda about 50 km northeast of Tallinn , coastal artillery was positioned on the cape, the German 3rd Schnellboot flotilla and the Finnish 3rd torpedo boat flotilla were pulled together and German bomber type Ju 88 (the battle group 806) were provided. The mine barriers were put in place from August 8th to 26th; the German mine ships Cobra , Queen Luise and Kaiser laid 673 EMC mines and 636 explosive buoys with other ships , the Finnish mine- layers Riilahti and Ruotsinsalmi laid 696 mines and 100 explosive buoys.
The outbreak
The German attack on Tallinn began on August 19th. On the night of August 27-28, the Soviet 10th Rifle Corps broke away from the fighting and embarked in the port. Soviet mine sweepers tried to clear a path through the minefields. 1,000 Soviet soldiers are said to have died in the port as a result of shelling and air strikes.
The Soviet ships were divided into four convoys, which consisted of a total of 20 transport ships, a tanker, 8 auxiliary ships and 11 other ships. They were protected by the heavy cruiser Kirov , the flotilla leaders Leningrad and Minsk , 9 destroyers , 3 torpedo boats, 12 submarines and 96 smaller war and auxiliary ships. The command was Admiral Vladimir Tributz .
This fleet cast off on August 27 at 22:00 with destination Kronstadt . Five ships were sunk by Ju 88 bombers on August 28th. On the afternoon of the 28th, the convoys reached the mine barriers off Juminda. Several ships ran into mines, bombers attacked and the coastal guns opened fire. In the evening, German speedboats and Finnish torpedo boats attacked. After nightfall, the Soviet ships anchored in the minefield and continued their voyage the next morning under constant attacks. The faster warships drove ahead, while the slower transport ships near the island of Gogland (German: highlands , Finnish: Suursaari ) were attacked again by fighter planes - 3 ships sank, 3 others were damaged and had to save themselves on the island's beach. A Soviet rescue organization made up of various smaller ships was deployed from Gogland and collected over 12,000 men over the next few days.
Conclusion
At least 52 Soviet ships (including 5 destroyers: Jakow Sverdlov , Kalinin , Volodarsky , Artyom and Skory ) were sunk. Up to 25,000 people were killed. 165 Soviet ships with 28,000 passengers and 66,000 tons of material arrived in Kronstadt .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/41-08.htm
- ↑ According to other reports, a total of 2828 mines and 1487 explosive buoys were deployed. (Poul Grooss: The Naval War in the Baltic, 1939-1945. Seaforth / Pen & Sword, Barnsley, UK, 2017, ISBN 978-1-5267-0000-1 ).
- ↑ http://www.eestigiid.ee/?CatID=89&ItemID=90