Motor ship Georgia. Car-passenger ships of the "Belorussia" type
In 1975, at the Wartsila shipyard in the Finnish city of Turku, the transfer of a new vehicle-passenger motor ship "Belorussia" to the customer - Sovcomflot of the USSR - took place. This ship was the lead in a series of five ships. Initially, all five ships were transferred to the Black Sea Shipping Company of the USSR Ministry of Marine and Fleet.
The order was given to the Finnish shipyard for a reason - the Wartsila company was already known in the USSR, and Finnish shipbuilders had a lot of experience in building ferries. Despite all the external similarities with the large car-passenger ferries that plied in the Baltic basin, the new ships cannot be called ferries in the usual sense. The ships had only one car deck and were still intended to transport primarily passengers, and then cars between ports Black Sea coast THE USSR.
m/v "Belorussia" leaves the port of Valletta, 1975
"Belorussia" leaves Southampton, 1987
Red stripe on the false pipe with the Soviet coat of arms, home port of Odessa - this was what "Belorussia" was like in the second half of the 80s. Pictured - June 1988, Fremantle
m/v "Belorussia" 1992. being towed through the English Channel under the tow of SMIT ROTTERDAM
In 1993, after repairs in a dry dock in Singapore, the ship was renamed Kazakhstan II, and then, in 1996, DELPHIN
Already under the name Kazastan II, Durban, 1994.
This is how she is these days - DELPHIN:
on the approach to Kiel harbor (Kiel, Germany)
At the same time, in 1975, the motor ship "Georgia" was put into operation. He was also transferred to the ChMP.
"Georgia" in Southampton, 1976
in Sochi, 1983
Southampton, November 1983
Istanbul, 1991
still "Georgia", 1992, Quebec, Canada. The ship was chartered for cruises on the St. Lawrence River.
the coat of arms of the USSR was changed to a Ukrainian trident, the name was changed to Odessa Sky, St. Lawrence River, Canada, August 1995
In 1999, the ship sailed under the name Club I. The photo was taken in the North Sea
Soon the ship was renamed again - Club Cruise I. Presumably, this renaming occurred in the same 1999 - the ship changed owners. Then, in 1999, the ship was renamed again - Van Gogh - after the famous Dutch painter. The ship sailed under this name until 2009. In 2009 it was renamed again - SALAMIS FILOXENIA. The ship still operates under this name.
Port Caen, 2004
off the coast of Norway, 2007
Kiel Canal, 2008
Port of Split, Croatia, 2008
SALAMIS FILOXENIA at anchor off the island of Patmos, July 2010
If we conditionally divide ships into series according to the year of construction, then the motor ship "Azerbaijan" is the last motor ship of the first series - like "Belarus" and "Georgia" it was built in 1975 and became the third ship of the "Belarus" type. In 1996, the ship received a new name - Arcadia (when you look for its pictures on various sites - at least one more ship is referred to as Ardkadia, which has nothing to do with our fleet - New Australia and also Monarch of Bermuda). In 1997, the ship was renamed Island Holyday, and the ship operated under this name until 1998. From 1998 to the present - ENCHANTED CAPRI.
The photo was taken before the collapse of the USSR, but it is not yet possible to determine the exact year
Fremantle port, first half of the 90s
Southampton 1992
"Azerbaijan" in Genoa, late 70s. By the way, there is a photo of the motor ship "Ivan Franko" taken at the same pier. Just from a slightly different angle.
1998, the name is Island Holiday
photo from 1996-1997
In 1976, two more vessels of the series were delivered to the USSR Ministry of Marine and Fleet - Kazakhstan and Karelia.
The motor ship "Kazakhstan" was renamed in 1996 - ROYAL SEAS, and in 1997 - "Ukraine". It was for this reason that “Belarus” was called “Kazakhstan II”. In 1998, the ship changed ownership, flag and name - ISLAND ADVENTURE. The ship still operates under this name today. Although in what capacity is difficult to say. It is known that in 2007 it operated in Miami Beach as a floating casino.
"Kazakhstan" in Greece, Mykonos, May 1983
"Ukraine" leaves Fort Lauderdale, 1998
ISLAND ADVENTURE, photo 1998, location - Fort Lauderdale
Miami Beach, 2007
The last ship in the series was the Karelia. She is currently based in Hong Kong.
"Karelia" was put into operation in 1976, in 1982 the first renaming - the ship received the name of the recently deceased General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee L. I. Brezhnev. In 1989, when perestroika was in full swing in the country, the ship was renamed again - its original name was returned. In 1998, the ship passed under the Liberian flag and changed its name to OLVIA, then a series of resales and renamings followed - 2004 - NEPTUNE, 2005 - CT NEPTUNE, 2006 - NEPTUNE.
December 1983
"Leonid Brezhnev" in the Kiel Canal, 1985
"Leonid Brezhnev" in the port of Tilbury, 1987
Port of Tilbury, 1989
"Karelia" in the first half of the 90s
OLVIA in 2004, the mouth of the Elbe River
Neptun in 2007, Hong Kong
Hong Kong, March 2010
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Photos of ships - www.shipspotting.com, www.faktaomfartyg.se
Information on renaming - www.faktaomfartyg.se
Honored Transport Worker. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Battle (1947), the Red Banner of Labor (1960), the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree (1985), and the Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky (1999); medals “For Courage” and “For Defense of the Soviet Arctic”.
Anatoly Garagulya was born in the village of Kazanskaya Krasnodar region in the family of switchman Grigory Mikhailovich Garaguli. His mother Antonina Alekseevna Garagulya (Nekrasova) was a housewife.
After graduating from school in Stavropol in 1940, he entered the Melitopol Military Aviation School. A year later, the Great Patriotic War began, and in October 1942, after graduating from college, he was sent to the front. Having gone through the entire war as an air gunner and navigator, he was only transferred to the reserve in March 1946 with the rank of lieutenant. In the same year he comes to Odessa and enters the Higher Naval Engineering School at the navigation department, which he graduates in 1952.
From that time on, his work began at the Black Sea Shipping Company - first as an assistant captain, and then as a captain. The crews of the ships “Krasnodar” and “Karl Marx”, “Timiryazev” and “Admiral Ushakov”, “Admiral Nakhimov” and “Fizik Vavilov” worked under his command.
In 1965, Anatoly Garagulya was appointed captain of the passenger ship “Gruzia” (formerly called “Sobieski”) built in 1939. He worked for ten years on the “Georgia”, until the ship was decommissioned, and in 1975 he became the captain of a new ship under the same name, built in the same year.
motor ship “Georgia”
It is with the motor ship “Georgia” and its captain Anatoly Garaguley that a bright page in history is connected cultural life our city. Vladimir Vysotsky and Marina Vladi, Vasily Aksenov and Bulat Okudzhava, Pyotr Todorovsky and Vladimir Ivashov are just some of the names of the most famous writers, actors and directors with whom Anatoly Garagulya was familiar and friends. Many of them traveled on both the old and new “Georgia” on the Crimean-Caucasian cruises that were popular at that time. “Georgia” did not go along this route often; most of the time the ship made round the world travel, in which, naturally, Soviet citizens did not participate. Perhaps that is why in those rare cases when the ship made domestic flights along the Black Sea, sometimes a whole company of the captain’s friends would gather there. Thus, one of the photographs shows Anatoly Garagulya, Konstantin Vanshenkin, Bulat Okudzhava and Vasily Aksenov. Researchers of the work of Vladimir Vysotsky are aware of photographs in which he and Marina Vladi were taken on the captain’s bridge of the “Georgia”. And if you look into the captain’s personal library, you can see many books with autographs of writers who traveled on the Georgian.
Marina Vladi, Anatoly Garagulya and Vladimir Vysotsky
In 1970, Anatoly Garagulya starred in the film “Crown Russian Empire, or the Elusive Ones Again” in the role of the captain of the ship “Gloria”.
still from the film “The Crown of the Russian Empire, or the Elusive Ones Again”
But in addition to cruises, Georgia also made other voyages. So, during the Caribbean conflict, the ship transported Soviet soldiers to the island of Cuba, and Captain Garagul met there with Fidel Castro’s brother, Raul, who was a minister in the Cuban government. There were several such meetings, both in Cuba and here in Odessa, when the reception of a famous political figure took place in the house of Anatoly Garaguli.
As we can see, even these few examples speak of the stunning charm and boundless spiritual breadth of Anatoly Garaguli. Well, his professional qualities were noted by numerous government and departmental awards, which he continued to receive even while retired.
While still at school, he met his future wife Valeria Nikolaevna Smelovskaya. At first she waited for him throughout the war, and then for 35 years - for his return to shore. Today, the surname Garagul is borne by his two sons - Boris and Sergei, who live in Odessa. In the family photograph presented here, we see the entire family of Captain Garaguli in the early 1960s.
Liliya Melnichenko, leading scientist
employee of the Odessa Literary Museum
A. Garagulya with his son Sergei and V. Vysotsky on the m/v “Gruzia”. Odessa, 1967
Vladimir Vysotsky dedicated the song “Man Overboard” to Anatoly Garagula.
Fragments from the new book “Vladimir Vysotsky without myths and legends”
Victor BAKIN, Daugavpils (Latvia)
On the set of “Dangerous Tours” in Odessa, Vysotsky was with Marina. She really liked the city. Its beautiful and famous stairs, Opera theatre, port...
The motor ship "Georgia" was in the port. The captain, Anatoly Garagulya, met them at the gangway with a charming, kind smile. The former military pilot became one of the best captains of the Black Sea Shipping Company. Most recently, Vysotsky was introduced to him by L. Kocharyan. Possessing an extraordinary sense of humor, the Ukrainian A. Garagulya, in order to match the name of the ship, jokingly spoke with a Georgian accent and usually introduced himself:
- Captain of the ship "Georgia" Ga-ra-gu-lia.
The motor ship "Georgia" was built in 1939 at the Polish shipyard "Swan Hanter" and was named "Sobeski" in honor of the famous commander and king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth J. Sobieski. In 1950, the ship was sold to the USSR, where it received the name “Georgia”. The cabins and salons are of extraordinary luxury, decorated with carpets, embossing and painting. The cabin in which Vladi and Vysotsky traveled was a real apartment, entirely covered in blue velvet. There are mirrors all around... And this makes the room seem even more spacious. The stunning bath features antique polished copper faucets. The delicious food completed the experience. It was still an old, pre-war “Georgia”, subsequently sold for scrap to Italy and replaced in 1975 by a new ship of Finnish construction, and captain A. Garagulya received a new ship under his command, which had the same name.
At that time, this floating comfortable hotel operated six-day cruises along the route: Odessa - Yalta - Novorossiysk - Sochi - Batumi - Odessa. They travel at night and enter ports during the day...
This time it was only a tour of the ship. Cruises will become Vladimir and Marina’s favorite vacation. The hospitable and generous captains of “Adjara”, “Shota Rustaveli”, “Georgia”, “Belarus” will always be happy to see them on board. According to the code of merchant shipping, the captain has the right to invite guests free of charge, and he usually arranged a luxury cabin for them. On the eve of the flight, the captain wrote a statement: “The luxury cabin needs renovation. Please remove it from sale." “The captain’s guest” - this is how Vysotsky’s position in cruise programs will be determined.
At that time, in Moscow, and indeed in the Union in general, the fact of Vysotsky’s acquaintance with Vladi was treated with distrust. Obviously, that’s why their appearance together caused delight and surprise. Lionella Pyryeva recalls: “... when we were filming with Vysotsky in Odessa on the “Dangerous Tour”, Marina came to see him. I drove up in a Volga. Volodya immediately saw her, flew up to her, then followed by a long, long kiss, as sometimes happens in films. The Odessans who surrounded them were absolutely delighted: “Oh, look here, this is Marina Vladi!”
Studio director V. Kostromenko recalls: “Once they brought “Queen of the Bees” to the studio, a French film for private viewing. Very few foreign films were bought then - firstly, it was very expensive, and secondly, they showed a lot of things that Soviet people did not need to see. In general, we began to look for a translator (the film was not dubbed), and then Marina said: “I was filming there, I’ll translate.” The hall was packed to capacity, Marina was sitting in the last row with a microphone, and we almost broke our necks: Marina was naked on the screen, dressed in the hall...”
Marina made many acquaintances and friends in Odessa...
“Once,” recalls Veronika Khalimonova, “we had lunch together at a small restaurant in Odessa. Volodya with Marina, Zhvanetsky, Kartsev, Ilchenko and Oleg and me. Volodya was calm, and Marina and Zhvanetsky were vigorously discussing how they could make a film.”
M. Zhvanetsky: “At that time, Vysotsky had the idea of making a Russian-French program “Moscow - Paris”. “Misha, I sing and speak in Russian, Marina in French. We are both on stage - hosting a concert. The Moscow Music Hall often plays in Moscow - what could be better?” Great idea!"
The “idea” was on the verge of implementation. A letter from M. Zhvanetsky to Vysotsky has been preserved.
On September 12, 1941, the advanced units of the 11th German Army approached Perekop, the northern border of Crimea. From that moment on, it became possible to escape from the peninsula only by sea.
All land routes were quickly taken under control by German troops. About a million civilians were trapped. German trained troops were confronted by scattered troops of the Red Army, which did not give much chance of victory.
By the beginning of November 1941, residents fled Crimean peninsula has become widespread. With the approach of fascist troops, panic began in the cities. There was a real struggle to board any transport. The evacuation of the civilian population was carried out according to a single scheme from Sevastopol and Yalta to Tuapse in the Caucasus.
Motor ship « Armenia" moored at the beginning of November 1941 in the port of Sevastopol, it could not have been better suited for this purpose.
Motor ship « Armenia"was built at the Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad in November 1928 and belonged to the type passenger ships « Abkhazia " A total of four ships of the same type were built: “ Abkhazia», « Georgia», « Crimea" And " Armenia» for the Black Sea Shipping Company. Motor ship « Armenia"successfully made flights to the Caucasus, transporting more than 10,000 people a year.
motor ship "Armenia" photo
construction of the motor ship "Armenia"
motor ship "Abkhazia"
motor ship "Georgia"
8 August 1941 double deck cargo-passenger ship for the period of hostilities it was converted into. Passenger cabins became medical wards, and special symbols appeared on the sides - the Red Cross.
On the morning of November 6, 1941, landing began on motor ship « Armenia" At first vessel was not moored to the pier, in order to avoid a crush and a possible assault, passengers were brought on board in boats. Suddenly an order was received from the headquarters of the Sevastopol defensive region to evacuate all medical personnel of the Black Sea Fleet from the city. As a result, the best doctors in Crimea ended up on the same ship. To carry out the order, Captain Vladimir Yakovlevich Plaushevsky had to motor ship « Armenia» moored to the Korabelnaya Bay pier and huge crowds of city residents seeking salvation immediately poured here. Everyone wanted to get on the ship. In panic, passengers began to make their way into the technical rooms on the lowest decks. The ship with evacuated people was overfilled. People stood tightly pressed against each other, but this was the only chance for salvation.
Crowded with frightened people at 17:00 on November 6, 1941, the motor ship "Armenia" unmoored from the quay wall and soon disappeared over the horizon and disappeared not only from the sight of those seeing off, but also from Soviet history.
The mourners of Sevastopol began to feel despair because they did not take advantage of their chance. But this would become a reality if it took a course on the established Caucasian route.
From Sevastopol motor ship « Armenia"carried away medical personnel of the Black Sea Fleet, hundreds of seriously wounded soldiers and thousands of civilians. The war at sea had not yet begun, so every minute was precious. The Caucasus was free and nothing stood in the way of saving people. But Captain Plaushevsky received an order from the main command of the Black Sea Fleet to go to Yalta and pick up several more passengers.
At 02:00 November 7 motor ship « Armenia"arrived at the port of Yalta. During this passage, the medical ship was delayed for 3 hours, waiting at the Balaklava roadstead for a transport with some cargo to be delivered on board. Loading several tightly sealed black boxes into the ship " Armenia» weighed anchor and continued its voyage. The accompanying NKVD agents remained on board to ensure the protection of the cargo.
Yalta is overcrowded motor ship « Armenia“Hundreds more frightened people dived in. Only at 08:00 on November 7, 1941, the medical ship was able to leave and head for Tuapse, losing invaluable time. Meanwhile, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Oktyabrsky, gave the order not to leave the port until dark, i.e. 19:00, but Captain Plaushevsky violated it. Just 10 km from Yalta in Gurzuf, Hitler’s troops were already rampaging. The captain made the most important decision in his life, and he gave the order to save the doctors entrusted to him, but it was too late.
Having moved to a distance of about 25 miles from the Crimean Peninsula " Armenia"was attacked by two torpedoes from a German He-111H bomber, which ignored its markings. At 11:29 a ship with 7,000 medical personnel and civilians sank in the Black Sea at a depth of 472 meters. In a terrible tragedy, only 8 passengers on the boat managed to escape.
This huge number of deaths on one ship seems incredible, but even more surprising is the fact that in our time no one knows about one of the most terrible maritime disasters in the history of the Second World War. After all, on board motor ship « Armenia"More people died than on the legendary liners "" and "".
Information about this tragedy was kept in the strictest confidence. Recently, Ukrainian historians managed to discover these details. The cause of the death of the ship was two unplanned stops, which led to loss of time. The command of the Black Sea Fleet gave an order that made a number of mistakes, but the doctors of the lost ship could have saved thousands of lives of soldiers and officers who fought against Nazi Germany.
And only one person, Vladimir Yakovlevich Plaushevsky, took responsibility for the unacceptable mistakes of his leadership. Having violated the order, he took the last opportunity to save people, which was no longer possible to prevent.
On May 9, 2010, several veterans of the Great Patriotic War will lay wreaths in the area where the tragedy supposedly occurred.
Technical data of the passenger ship "Armenia":
Length - 112.1 m;
Width - 15.5 m;
Side height - 7.7 m;
Displacement - 5770 tons;
Power plant - two diesel engines with a capacity of 4000 hp. With.;
Speed - 14.5 knots;
Number of passengers - up to 980 people;
Crew - 96 people;
Crusader Coin Ancient coins are of great value as a source of information about past times. They concentrated the spirit, the aroma of those eras that will never return. Touching an ancient coin, a person is transported back in time. I experienced a similar feeling when I first picked up a medieval crusader coin - a penny for the County of Tripoli. The campaigns of the knights in Palestine, which pursued the goal of liberating Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulcher from Muslims, and their founding of Christian states in the Eastern Mediterranean had a strong influence on the development of the medieval world. In the “Latin East”, in Palestine and Syria, the crusaders in the 11th-13th centuries created four states - the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Edessa and the County of Tripoli. They all minted their own coins, the images and inscriptions of which mixed European, Islamic and Byzantine design elements. Swimming practice on the ship “Malakhov Kurgan” ended at the end of August 1967. The last port of call was Syrian Latakia. This city, like Beirut located to the south, was practically not damaged by the “Six-Day War”; peace and tranquility reigned here, active business and trade activities were carried out. At the request of the first mate, the ship's agent arranged for the crew bus tour By ancient city . The ship's cultural fund had accumulated enough funds for the event, and they should have been spent on the current voyage so as not to be deposited for the future. At the appointed time he arrived on board the ship and the crew members, free from shifts and work, set off on an exciting journey. - The history of Latakia dates back to ancient times. - began the story of the young guide Fatima, a final year student at the Faculty of Humanities at Damascus University. - The city was founded by the Phoenicians and named Ramita. The commander of Alexander the Great, Seleucus I, renamed the polis in honor of his mother, calling it Laodicea. In the Middle Ages, Latakia, as well as the entire Middle East, was ruled alternately by Arabs, crusaders, Egyptian and Ottoman sultans. The guide showed well-preserved Roman buildings - the city arch tetrapylon and the remains of an ancient colonnade, as well as several Christian churches of Byzantine times and medieval ones Muslim mosques. After visiting the historical sights, the bus made a stop at the popular Shatt al-Azraq beach, which translates as “ Cote d'Azur“. At the end of the excursion, the guide gave the sailors an hour of free time so that they could make purchases at the city bazaar - souk. In search of a memorable souvenir about Latakia, I came across an antique shop, where in a pile of old trash I noticed a small round silver object. and the Middle Ages. - That's right, the seller didn't deceive you - this is a Crusader coin. - said Pyotr Osipovich. represent part of the Crusader castle. – the professor answered. Bohemond VII was childless, and after his death in 1287, the new ruler of Tripoli, named Lucia, came into conflict with the city commune. The head of the commune turned to the Mamluk Sultan Kelown for help. The Grand Master of the Templar Order, Guillaume de Beaujeu, warned the residents of Tripoli about the danger, but they did not believe it. The Kelowna army took the city by surprise, the Mamluks broke into the county capital and street fighting broke out. Templar commander Pierre de Moncada had the opportunity to escape on a galley sailing to Cyprus, but chose to remain in Tripoli and died with a sword in his hands, like the rest of the city’s defenders. Thus, in 1289, the history of the County of Tripoli ended tragically. The professor knew Latin well and easily translated the legends on the coin.- On the obverse the name of the issuer is indicated “SEPTIMVS BOEMVNDVS” - Bohemond VII, and on the reverse the place of mintage is “CIVITAS TRIPOLIS SVRIE” - the State of Tripoli in Syria.
