Soviet evacuation of Tallinn
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Naval evacuation of Tallinn 1941 | |||||||
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Part of World War II and the Continuation War | |||||||
Soviet cruiser Kirov protected by smoke during evacuation of Tallinn in August 1941 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Finland Germany | Soviet Union | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
1 Kirov-class cruiser 190 smaller vessels 30,000 men | |||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown |
12,000+ dead (civilian and military) 28 large transports and auxiliary ships 16 warships[1] 6 small transports 34 merchant vessels sunk |
The Soviet evacuation of Tallinn, also called Juminda mine battle, Tallinn disaster or Russian Dunkirk, was a Soviet operation to evacuate the 190 ships of the Baltic Fleet, units of the Red Army, and pro-Soviet civilians from the fleet's encircled main base of Tallinn in Soviet-occupied Estonia during August 1941.[1] Near Juminda peninsula Soviet fleet ran into minefield that had been laid by the Finnish and German navies, and were repeatedly attacked by aircraft and torpedo boats, incurring major losses.
Background
Soviet forces had occupied Estonia in June 1940. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union began on 22 June 1941, German forces advanced rapidly through Baltic countries and by the end of August, the Estonian capital of Tallinn was surrounded by German forces, while a large part of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet was bottled up in Tallinn harbour.
In expectation of a Soviet breakout, the
During the night of 27/28 August 1941 the Soviet 10th Rifle Corps disengaged from the enemy and boarded transports in Tallinn.
The embarkation was protected by smoke screens. However, the mine-sweeping in the days before the evacuation began was ineffective due to bad weather, and there were no Soviet aircraft available for protecting the embarkation. This, together with heavy German shelling and aerial bombardment killed at least 1,000 of the evacuees in the harbour.
Gauntlet in the Gulf of Finland
Twenty large transports, eight auxiliary ships, nine small transports, a tanker, a tug, and a tender were organized into four convoys, protected by the Soviet cruiser Kirov, with Admiral Vladimir Tributs on board, two flotilla leaders, nine destroyers, three torpedo boats, twelve submarines, ten modern and fifteen obsolete minehunters, 22 minesweepers, 21 submarine chasers, three gun boats, a minelayer, thirteen patrol vessels and eleven torpedo boats.[2]
On 28 August Luftwaffe bomber wing
Early on 29 August Ju 88 bombers attacked the remains of the convoys off
The Soviet evacuation of Tallinn succeeded in evacuating 165 ships, 28,000 passengers and 66,000 tons of equipment.
On 25 August 2001, a memorial was unveiled at Juminda.[8]
Partial list of sunk ships
- Passenger ship SS Vironia - hit a mine off Cape Juminda and sank in 5 minutes. 1300 people lost their lives.[9]
- Cargo ship SS Eestirand /VT-532 - attacked and damaged by German bombers and was beached in Prangli island. At least 44 people died in the initial attack.[10]
- Submarine S-5 - 28 August 1941, Gulf of Finland[11]
- Submarine Shch-301 - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda[11]
- Destroyer Yakov Sverdlov - 28 August 1941, off Mohni island[11]
- Destroyer Kalinin - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda[11]
- Destroyer Artem - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda[11]
- Destroyer Volodarski - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda[11]
- Destroyer Skory - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda[11]
- Patrol vessel Sneg - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda[11]
- Patrol vessel Tsiklon - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda[11]
- Gunboat I-8 - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda[11]
- Minesweeper No. 71 (Crab) - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda[11]
- Minesweeper No. 42 (Lenvodput-13) - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda[11]
- Everita (3251grt) - Transport with around 1,570 soldiers on board, sank a minute after the explosion. No more than ten people rescued.[12]
- VT-530/Ella (1522grt) - Soviet passenger ship struck a mine and sank in the Baltic Sea off Cape Juminda. Her captain and 643 crew and passengers killed.[13]
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 9780306812989.
- ^ ISBN 3-88199-082-8.
- ^ Bergström 2007a, p. 60.
- ^ "Finnish navy in Continuation War, year 1941". Archived from the original on 20 September 2008.
- ^ "The Naval War in the Baltic Sea 1941-1945". www.feldgrau.com. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
- ^ Johannes Käbin: Suuri lokakuu ja Eesti. Perioodika, Tallinna 1975. s. 88.
- ^ ""Juminda, 28.8.1941: To the memory of the drowned - all 12,000 of them" Helsingin Sanomat 5 September 2010". Retrieved 5 January 2019.
- ^ "The President of the Republic will send a wreath to the memorial of the victims of Juminda mine battle". vp1992-2001.president.ee. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
- ^ Wrecksite
- ^ "Eestirand Cargo Ship 1910-1941". Wrecksite. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
- ^ ISBN 1-85367-280-7.
- ^ Wrecksite
- ^ Wrecksite
Literature
- Bergstrom, Christer (2007a). Barbarossa - The Air Battle: July–December 1941. London: Chevron/Ian Allan. ISBN 978-1-85780-270-2.
- Mati Õun: Juminda miinilahing 1941 – maailmasündmus meie koduvetes (Juminda sea battle 1941 – an event of the world in our seas), Juminda Sentinel, Juminda, 2006, ISBN 978-9-9859-6093-6. (Estonian)