While reading a biography of CPO Josip Yurchenko of the 260 Naval Infantry Brigade I came across his account of the evacuation from Tallinn. The account states he was aboard the Kazakhstan before it was sunk by aircraft, then picked up by the Ashgabat until it was sunk by a submarine and then saved by the salvage vessel Neptun until it too was sunk by aircraft. Reading accounts of the evacuation I find Kazakhstan was only damaged and made port. The Ashgabat is not mentioned (a vessel of this name is sunk in 1945 in the Pacific), and the Neptun (also identified as the Saturn) hit a mine and sank on 28.08.1941. Can anyone add more details?
regards
Keith
Ships lost in Tallinn evacuation August 1941
Re: Ships lost in Tallinn evacuation August 1941
KAZAKHSTAN was severly damaged and beached near island Vaindlo. Crew and passangers evacuated on island Hochland, but ship was saved later and towed to Kronstadt. Salvage ship NEPTUN was participated in Tallinn operation and survived. No ship with name even close to ASHHABAD were in Tallinn convoys.
Almost all memoirs i see was very unreliable, so its not surprise, that ship's fates made wrong.
Almost all memoirs i see was very unreliable, so its not surprise, that ship's fates made wrong.
Re: Ships lost in Tallinn evacuation August 1941
Thanks Igorr. I couldn't find a match for Ashgabat either. Saturn sank, but Neptun was not hit, so either the names of the ships are wrong (I cannot find evidence for a submarine attack on the convoys0 or the account is exaggerated. The ships seem to have been lost to aircraft, torpedo boats and mines.
Re: Ships lost in Tallinn evacuation August 1941
All ships sunk by mines and aircraft bombs. S-boot attacks was beaten off. No submarine attacks was made against Tallinn convoys.
SATURN was sunk by mine 8 hours before than KAZAKHSTAN was damaged.
SATURN was sunk by mine 8 hours before than KAZAKHSTAN was damaged.