Through steep cliffs: the feat of Leonov’s detachment. Cape Cross Cape Cross

Landing in Liinakhamari October 12 - 14, 1944- a tactical amphibious assault force landed by the Northern Fleet during the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation of the Great Patriotic War.

The landing operation was carried out at a high level and was a complete success: on October 14, the surroundings of the port and important roads along the coast were cleared of the enemy, and the next day the city of Petsamo (Pechenga) was taken by storm.

Plan and preparation of the operation

The port of Linahamari was the main base for the export of nickel from deposits strategically important for Germany in the area of ​​​​the city of Petsamo, as well as one of the most important naval bases of the Kriegsmarine on the coast of the Barents Sea. This base played a huge role in the fight against the Soviet Northern Fleet and the Allied Arctic convoys in the USSR, and was also at the forefront of the defense of German-occupied Norway from the advancing Soviet army. The port and harbor of Linahamari were turned into a powerful defensive area in the Petsamovuono fjord. The narrow and deep-water entrance to the fjord was surrounded by high rocky shores, at the entrance to which the Germans created a three-layer density of artillery and machine gun fire, and in the depths of the bay - a five-layer density. From the entrance to the fjord to the port the distance was 18 miles, which had to be overcome in such conditions. In general, the defense system of Linahamari and the bay consisted of 4 coastal batteries of 150 and 210 mm guns, 20 batteries of 88 mm anti-aircraft guns equipped for firing at ground and sea targets. The key to the position was a battery of 150 mm guns (4 guns) on Cape Krestovy (Ristiniemi), which kept the entire Petsamovuono Bay and the harbor of the port of Linahamari under fire. A 4-gun battery of 88 guns was placed nearby. In the port, the berths were equipped with reinforced concrete pillboxes with armored caps.

Initially, a landing operation was not planned when planning an offensive in the Arctic, but the fleet carried out a thorough reconnaissance of the area. Therefore, during the ongoing operation, having received a message from the commander of the Karelian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union K. A. Meretskov, about the hasty retreat of the German 20th Mountain Army under the command of Colonel General Lothar von Rendulic and the desirability of the fleet’s participation in disrupting his planned retreat, the fleet commander proposed to carry out landing in the most fortified and important, but at the same time the most explored port of Linahamari. The idea of ​​the operation was to capture 2 batteries at Cape Krestovy, after which an amphibious assault would land in Linahamari at night. Particular attention was paid to the training of landing boat commanders. Thus, the commander of the Northern Fleet, Admiral A.G. Golovko, personally held special meetings with boat commanders. He personally carried out general management of the operation.

Capture of batteries at Cape Krestovy

The operation to capture the batteries at Cape Krestovy was carried out by the reconnaissance detachment of the Northern Defense Region (commander Major I.P. Barchenko-Emelyanov) and the 181st special forces detachment of the Northern Fleet (commander Lieutenant V.N. Leonov) - a total of 195 people. Due to the continuous observation of the sea by the enemy, the detachments were landed by three torpedo boats on October 9, 1944 in Punainen-laht Bay, several tens of kilometers from the target, and, observing careful camouflage, made a covert pedestrian transition to the target.

After a short battle on the day of October 12, the 181st special forces detachment captured the 88-mm battery, and the reconnaissance detachment of the Northern Fleet blocked the 150-mm battery and engaged its gunners. This battle was extremely stubborn and dramatic, but as a result, this battery was unable to open fire during the breakthrough of the landing boats into the port, and then its guns were blown up by the Germans themselves. On the morning of October 13, a reinforced reconnaissance company from the 63rd Marine Rifle Brigade was delivered to the cape, after which the surviving battery garrison (78 people) capitulated. The losses of the sabotage detachment amounted to 53 people killed and wounded.

Breakthrough of landing boats into the port

The breakthrough of the landing boats began on the evening of October 12, 1944. The starting point for the landing detachment was the Rybachy Peninsula. The landing force was staffed by the personnel of the 349th separate machine gun battalion, 125th Marine Regiment, volunteers from fleet ships, numbering 660 people (the landing commander was the commander of the machine gun battalion, Major I. A. Timofeev). The advance breakthrough detachment included 2 torpedo boats (detachment commander Hero of the Soviet Union, commander of the boat detachment of the 1st division of torpedo boats of the torpedo boat brigade of the Northern Fleet, captain-lieutenant A. O. Shabalin), the first echelon of the landing force - 5 torpedo boats (commander captain of the 2nd rank S. G. Korshunovich), second echelon - 1 torpedo boat and 6 patrol boats (commander 3rd rank captain S. D. Zyuzin). Each detachment moved at intervals of 7 minutes after the previous one. To ensure a stealth transition, the engines of all boats were equipped with underwater gas exhaust (motor noise was significantly reduced).

The enemy discovered the approach of the boats at a distance of 20-30 cables from the entrance to the bay, immediately turning on the searchlights and opening powerful barrage fire. The boats, at full speed and setting up smoke screens, quickly crossed the barrage zone and burst into the fjord. Without slowing down, the boats crossed the fjord (nicknamed the “corridor of death”) and burst into the harbor. Under heavy machine-gun and mortar fire, the boats approached the piers and landed their groups of paratroopers in the intended places (only two boats, due to loss of orientation, landed away from the intended points, which is why these groups of paratroopers were unable to take part in the battle). In total, 552 people were landed in three echelons from 23:00 to 24:00 on October 12. Heavy enemy artillery fire prevented the landing force from being supported by fire from boats, so after landing they immediately left the harbor. The main landing forces landed on the piers, some on the shores of the fjord to capture coastal batteries.

Landing operations on the shore

In a fierce night battle, often turning into hand-to-hand combat, by dawn on October 13, the port of Linahamari was cleared of the enemy. However, the enemy managed to hold some of the important points in its vicinity and, relying on them, put up stubborn resistance all day on October 13 and even counterattacked several times. The long-range artillery of the fleet from the Sredny Peninsula fired to assist the landing force, and aviation was also involved. During the day of the battle, it was possible to suppress the resistance of a number of enemy defensive points, which made it possible to go on the offensive on the evening of October 13. On the night of October 14 and in the morning, significant reinforcements of units of the Northern Fleet and ground forces were transferred to Linahamari. During this day, the area around the port and important roads along the coast were cleared of the enemy. On October 15, the city of Petsamo (Pechenga) was taken by storm.

The occupation of the port of Linahamari deprived the enemy of the possibility of evacuation by sea and was important for ensuring the further offensive of the front forces and the actions of the fleet. The port was turned into the main supply point for the army, and the fleet received an important base in the Varangerfjord.

The landing operation was carried out at a high level and was a complete success. The key to success was a daring plan, the high skill of the commanders of the boats and their detachments, and the massive heroism of the personnel. During the daring breakthrough, ship losses amounted to 1 torpedo boat and 1 patrol boat damaged by artillery fire, but they were able to land and leave the port safely. The patrol boat SKA-428 ran aground in the port; under enemy fire, the crew, by order of the commander, left the boat and joined the landing force.

Awards

A large number of landing participants were awarded orders and medals. Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Shabalin was awarded the title of twice Hero of the Soviet Union, the commanders of the boat detachments S. G. Korshunovich and S. D. Zyuzin were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Among the participants in the assault on Cape Krestovy, the detachment commander, Major I.P. Barchenko-Emelyanov, Lieutenant V.N. Leonov, and scouts S.M. Agafonov and A.P. Pshenichnykh were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Landing in Liinakhamari October 12 - 14, 1944- tactical amphibious assault landing by the Northern Fleet during the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation of the Great Patriotic War.

The landing operation was carried out at a high level and was crowned with complete success: on October 14, the surroundings of the port and important roads along the coast were cleared of the enemy, and the next day the city of Petsamo (Pechenga) was taken by storm.

Plan and preparation of the operation

The occupation of the port of Linahamari deprived the enemy of the possibility of evacuation by sea and was important for ensuring the further offensive of the front forces and the actions of the fleet. The port was turned into the main supply point for the army, and the navy received an important base in the Varangerfjord.

The landing operation was carried out at a high level and was a complete success. The key to success was a daring plan, the high skill of the commanders of the boats and their detachments, and the massive heroism of the personnel. During the daring breakthrough, ship losses amounted to 1 torpedo boat and 1 patrol boat damaged by artillery fire, but they were able to land and leave the port safely. The patrol boat SKA-428 ran aground in the port; under enemy fire, the crew, by order of the commander, left the boat and joined the landing force.

Awards

A large number of landing participants were awarded orders and medals. Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Shabalin was awarded the title of twice Hero of the Soviet Union, the commanders of the boat detachments S.G. Korshunovich and S.D. Zyuzin were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Among the participants in the assault on Cape Krestovy, the detachment commander, Major I.P. Barchenko-Emelyanov, Lieutenant V.N. Leonov, and scouts S.M. Agafonov and A.P. Pshenichnykh were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

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Notes

Literature

• Golovko A. G. «»
• The Navy of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. M., 2005. Volume 1: "Northern Fleet".
• Weiner B. A."Northern Fleet in the Great Patriotic War." M.: Voenizdat, 1964. Pp. 331-343.
• Fokeev K. F. Landing in Linahamari. M.: Voenizdat, 1968.
• The Great Patriotic War. Day after day. “Sea collection”, 1994, No. 10.
• Babikov M. A.// They were not named in the reports. M.: DOSAAF 1987. 160 p.

An excerpt characterizing the Landing in Liinakhamari

Pierre, as one of the most honored guests, was to sit in Boston with Ilya Andreich, the general and colonel. Pierre had to sit opposite Natasha at the Boston table, and the strange change that had occurred in her since the day of the ball amazed him. Natasha was silent, and not only was she not as good-looking as she was at the ball, but she would have been bad if she had not looked so meek and indifferent to everything.
"What with her?" thought Pierre, looking at her. She sat next to her sister at the tea table and reluctantly, without looking at him, answered something to Boris, who sat down next to her. Having walked away the whole suit and taken five bribes to the satisfaction of his partner, Pierre, who heard the chatter of greetings and the sound of someone’s steps entering the room while collecting bribes, looked at her again.
“What happened to her?” he said to himself even more surprised.
Prince Andrei stood in front of her with a thrifty, tender expression and told her something. She, raising her head, flushed and apparently trying to control her gusty breathing, looked at him. And the bright light of some inner, previously extinguished fire burned in her again. She was completely transformed. From being bad she again became the same as she was at the ball.
Prince Andrey approached Pierre and Pierre noticed a new, youthful expression on his friend’s face.
Pierre changed seats several times during the game, now with his back, now facing Natasha, and throughout the entire 6 Roberts made observations of her and his friend.
“Something very important is happening between them,” thought Pierre, and the joyful and at the same time bitter feeling made him worry and forget about the game.
After 6 Roberts, the general stood up, saying that it was impossible to play like that, and Pierre received his freedom. Natasha was talking to Sonya and Boris on one side, Vera was talking about something with a subtle smile to Prince Andrei. Pierre went up to his friend and, asking if what was being said was a secret, sat down next to them. Vera, noticing Prince Andrei's attention to Natasha, found that at an evening, at a real evening, it was necessary that there be subtle hints of feelings, and seizing the time when Prince Andrei was alone, she began a conversation with him about feelings in general and about her sister . With such an intelligent guest (as she considered Prince Andrei) she needed to apply her diplomatic skills to the matter.
When Pierre approached them, he noticed that Vera was in a smug rapture of conversation, Prince Andrei (which rarely happened to him) seemed embarrassed.
– What do you think? – Vera said with a subtle smile. “You, prince, are so insightful and so immediately understand the character of people.” What do you think about Natalie, can she be constant in her affections, can she, like other women (Vera meant herself), love a person once and remain faithful to him forever? This is what I consider true love. What do you think, prince?
“I know your sister too little,” answered Prince Andrei with a mocking smile, under which he wanted to hide his embarrassment, “to resolve such a delicate question; and then I noticed that the less I like a woman, the more constant she is,” he added and looked at Pierre, who came up to them at that time.
- Yes, it’s true, prince; in our time,” Vera continued (mentioning our time, as narrow-minded people generally like to mention, believing that they have found and appreciated the features of our time and that the properties of people change over time), in our time a girl has so much freedom that le plaisir d"etre courtisee [the pleasure of having admirers] often drowns out the true feeling in her. Et Nathalie, il faut l"avouer, y est tres sensible. [And Natalya, I must admit, is very sensitive to this.] The return to Natalie again made Prince Andrei frown unpleasantly; he wanted to get up, but Vera continued with an even more refined smile.
“I think no one was courtisee [the object of courtship] like her,” Vera said; - but never, until very recently, did she seriously like anyone. “You know, Count,” she turned to Pierre, “even our dear cousin Boris, who was, entre nous [between us], very, very dans le pays du tendre... [in the land of tenderness...]
Prince Andrei frowned and remained silent.
– You’re friends with Boris, aren’t you? – Vera told him.
- Yes, I know him…
– Did he tell you correctly about his childhood love for Natasha?
– Was there childhood love? - Prince Andrei suddenly asked, blushing unexpectedly.
- Yes. Vous savez entre cousin et cousine cette intimate mene quelquefois a l"amour: le cousinage est un dangereux voisinage, N"est ce pas? [You know, between a cousin and sister, this closeness sometimes leads to love. Such kinship is a dangerous neighborhood. Is not it?]
“Oh, without a doubt,” said Prince Andrei, and suddenly, unnaturally animated, he began joking with Pierre about how he should be careful in his treatment of his 50-year-old Moscow cousins, and in the middle of the joking conversation he stood up and, taking under Pierre's arm and took him aside.
- Well? - said Pierre, looking with surprise at the strange animation of his friend and noticing the look that he cast at Natasha as he stood up.
“I need, I need to talk to you,” said Prince Andrei. – You know our women’s gloves (he was talking about those Masonic gloves that were given to a newly elected brother to give to his beloved woman). “I... But no, I’ll talk to you later...” And with a strange sparkle in his eyes and anxiety in his movements, Prince Andrei approached Natasha and sat down next to her. Pierre saw Prince Andrei ask her something, and she flushed and answered him.
But at this time Berg approached Pierre, urgently asking him to take part in the dispute between the general and the colonel about Spanish affairs.
Berg was pleased and happy. The smile of joy did not leave his face. The evening was very good and exactly like other evenings he had seen. Everything was similar. And ladies', delicate conversations, and cards, and a general at cards, raising his voice, and a samovar, and cookies; but one thing was still missing, something that he always saw at the evenings, which he wanted to imitate.
There was a lack of loud conversation between men and an argument about something important and smart. The general began this conversation and Berg attracted Pierre to him.

The next day, Prince Andrei went to the Rostovs for dinner, as Count Ilya Andreich called him, and spent the whole day with them.
Everyone in the house felt for whom Prince Andrei was traveling, and he, without hiding, tried to be with Natasha all day. Not only in Natasha’s frightened, but happy and enthusiastic soul, but in the whole house one could feel the fear of something important that was about to happen. The Countess looked at Prince Andrei with sad and seriously stern eyes when he spoke to Natasha, and timidly and feignedly began some insignificant conversation as soon as he looked back at her. Sonya was afraid to leave Natasha and was afraid to be a hindrance when she was with them. Natasha turned pale with fear of anticipation when she remained alone with him for minutes. Prince Andrei amazed her with his timidity. She felt that he needed to tell her something, but that he could not bring himself to do so.
When Prince Andrey left in the evening, the Countess came up to Natasha and said in a whisper:
- Well?
“Mom, for God’s sake don’t ask me anything now.” “You can’t say that,” Natasha said.
But despite this, that evening Natasha, sometimes excited, sometimes frightened, with fixed eyes, lay for a long time in her mother’s bed. Either she told her how he praised her, then how he said that he would go abroad, then how he asked where they would live this summer, then how he asked her about Boris.
- But this, this... has never happened to me! - she said. “Only I’m scared in front of him, I’m always scared in front of him, what does that mean?” That means it's real, right? Mom, are you sleeping?
“No, my soul, I’m scared myself,” answered the mother. - Go.
- I won’t sleep anyway. What nonsense is it to sleep? Mom, mom, this has never happened to me! - she said with surprise and fear at the feeling that she recognized in herself. – And could we think!...
It seemed to Natasha that even when she first saw Prince Andrey in Otradnoye, she fell in love with him. She seemed to be frightened by this strange, unexpected happiness, that the one whom she had chosen back then (she was firmly convinced of this), that the same one had now met her again, and, it seemed, was not indifferent to her. “And he had to come to St. Petersburg on purpose now that we are here. And we had to meet at this ball. It's all fate. It is clear that this is fate, that all this was leading to this. Even then, as soon as I saw him, I felt something special.”

Artillery batteries, powerful barrage systems and large enemy forces. The rocky Cape Krestovy seemed impregnable. But he was needed to capture the port of Liinakhamari. To do this, in October 1944, Viktor Leonov’s scouts landed on the bristling coast of the bay...

Key to Liinahamari Port

In October 1944, the Soviet army was preparing to strike a Nazi group near the port of Liinanahamari. For Germany it was of strategic importance - during the war years there was not only one of the most important German naval bases on the coast of the Barents Sea, but also the main base for the export of nickel from deposits in the area of ​​​​the village of Petsamo.

The port and harbor represented a powerful fortified area: the defense consisted of four coastal batteries of 150- and 210-mm guns, 20 batteries of 88-mm anti-aircraft defense guns, adapted for firing at ground and sea targets.

Cape Krestovy played a special role in the defense of the port. Protruding as a large extension from the eastern shore of Liinakhamari, it closed the narrow entrance to Petsamo Bay. Any enemy ships that wanted to enter the harbor became easy targets for coastal batteries. “During the war years, the entire tip of Cape Krestovoy resembled a bristling hedgehog,” reconnaissance sailor Makar Babikov, Hero of the USSR, wrote in his memoirs. “There was a coastal long-range battery at the very edge of the water. Halfway from the shore to the top of the cape, on a spacious, flat area, there was an anti-aircraft battery. In addition, small-caliber cannons and machine guns were installed here and there in stone niches.”

It was not for nothing that Cape Krestovy was called the key to the port of Liinakhamari and Petsamo: it was simply impossible to land troops in the port without breaking the defenses of Krestovy.

The operation to capture the batteries was entrusted to the reconnaissance detachment of the Northern Defense Region and the 181st special forces detachment of the Northern Fleet under the command of Lieutenant Viktor Leonov.

From submariners to scouts

Viktor Leonov was born in 1916 in Zaraysk, near Moscow. In 1937 he was drafted into the Northern Fleet and served on the submarine Shch-402. At the beginning of the war, he submitted a report on enlistment in the 181st Special Forces Detachment.

Then just formed, and by the end of the war, the detachment terrified the enemy and smashed the Nazi rear in Norway. The scouts spent months behind the front line, committing sabotage after sabotage.

From the very first operations, Viktor Leonov stood out among all the brave men of the detachment. He was perfectly prepared for any difficulties not only physically and tactically, but also mentally. Inner calm and the ability to think sensibly in the most critical situations more than once saved the lives of both him and his colleagues.

“He was among the first to break into the enemy’s defenses and captured an anti-aircraft machine gun,” “the wounded man in the leg did not leave his post, (.) went to be bandaged only after a categorical order from the commander,” “led a group of 11 people out of encirclement,” “pulled out all the wounded and evacuated to the mountains,” “took three soldiers prisoner and took them to headquarters,” they wrote in Leonov’s nominations for awards.

In '42 he became assistant commander, and in December '43 he took command of the detachment.

The leadership of the Northern Fleet outlined targets that were so deep behind enemy lines and were so strongly fortified that an attack on them was out of the question, but Leonov’s soldiers received the order, and the targets - warehouses, headquarters, airfields - were always destroyed. Therefore, it was the 181st Special Purpose Detachment in the fall of 1944 that was assigned the extremely difficult task of capturing batteries on Cape Krestovy, together with scouts from the Northern Defense Region.

From Cape Krestovy to Petsamo

On the night of October 9, 1944, a reconnaissance detachment landed on the coast of Malaya Volokovaya Bay between Petsamo Bay and the Musta-Tunturi ridge. The fighters had a long and difficult journey ahead in the rain and snow - through the hills, along granite impassability, so that, approaching Cape Krestovy from the rear, they would suddenly strike the enemy positions.

“We’re storming a steep hill,” Leonov described that October march after the war. — We cut steps in the granite rock, climb to the top of the hill and see new, even steeper mountains. We cross the snow-covered plain at the top of the mountain. It's dangerous here! Every minute you can fall into a crevice invisible under the snow.”

From the memoirs of scout Makar Babikov: “The western slope of the ridge turned out to be no easier and no worse than the one we had just climbed. We went down on ropes, but there weren’t enough for everyone. Therefore, I had to use this method. The sailor, grabbing some ledge with his hands, hung over the cliff. The other slid down his back and, finding support with his feet, took his comrade into his arms.”

Once at the target on the third day, in pitch darkness the detachment literally groped its way to enemy positions. A flare flew up and the scouts were discovered. The Nazi battery opened fire. Leonov's troops were separated from enemy positions by several rows of barbed wire.

From the memoirs of Viktor Leonov: “Tomorrow at this time our landing boats will begin their raid in Liinhamari past Cape Krestovoy. By this time it should be ours, even if we all have to lie down here.”

The detachment commander ordered to “act independently,” and the North Sea men, throwing pea coats and tents onto the wire, went on the attack under hurricane fire. The first to reach the enemy guns were Andrei Pshenichnykh and Semyon Agafonov, who, having destroyed the artillery crew, captured the cannon. They largely ensured the success of the offensive: soon, with minimal losses, the scouts captured all the guns, as well as 20 prisoners led by the battery commander. The rest were forced to retreat.

From the memoirs of intelligence officer Makar Babikov: “Ten people from our platoon slipped into a non-firing sector, where the shells did not hit, they also broke through into communication passages, and along them, spraying the path in front of them with machine-gun bursts, to the gun. The artillerymen couldn’t stand it and ran away.”

Over the next 24 hours, Leonov’s scouts not only repelled several fierce counterattacks—reinforcements were constantly arriving at the Germans from the opposite bank—but also, together with the detachment of Captain Ivan Barchenko, captured the second battery.

The combined detachment, consisting of less than 200 people, as Leonov recalled, fought so clearly and harmoniously that it seemed like a whole regiment was fighting the Nazis.

“The battle on Krestovoy is described in literature, even in V. Pikul’s novel “Ocean Patrol,” Viktor Leonov recalled after the war. - Here is a description of this battle: “Leonov’s detachment, taking advantage of the darkness, penetrated the first battery and cut out all the German rangers.” Everything looks easy and simple. We, of course, had knives, but what could knives do with an enemy protected by concrete, conducting a fierce crossfire with all fire weapons?

The success of the reconnaissance detachment facilitated the landing of troops in the port of Linahamari: German forces could no longer fire from Cape Krestovy. The operation to capture the port began on the evening of October 12, and already on October 15, Linahamari and the city of Petsamo were cleared of the enemy. Lieutenant Viktor Leonov was also a participant in these events.

“Only with the liquidation of the enemy battery at Cape Krestovy did the operation to break through landing boats in Petsamo-Vuono and capture the port of Liinakhamari become possible,” the intelligence officer’s submission for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union is written.

In addition to him, the country's main award for the operation at Cape Krestovy was awarded to Ivan Barchenko, Andrey Pshenichnykh and Semyon Agafonov.

The Great Patriotic War in the Arctic became a surprisingly “intimate” war. At Stalingrad and Kursk, millions of armies went into battle. At the same time, in the icy cliffs near Murmansk, a few detachments waged their war over a vast area. Meanwhile, these operations were not at all insignificant.

The capture of Murmansk was planned by the Germans within the general framework of the Barbarossa plan. The port city was an important window to the world for the Soviet Union; in particular, it was the final destination of the shortest supply route under the Lend-Lease program. The German-Finnish offensive led to a difficult battle along the border. The attackers encountered fierce resistance. All attacks died out fifty kilometers from Murmansk. In one of the sections, the Wehrmacht - a unique case - was not even able to cross the border of the USSR. The Wehrmacht failed to break through to Murmansk.

However, there was no talk of any calm. The sides constantly sent sabotage groups to the enemy rear, fortunately very small groups of soldiers tried to control many kilometers of the front. Aviation was constantly in the air; at sea, German submarines were hunting for polar convoys. Murmansk was constantly bombed, and the city became one of the hardest hit during the war.

In 1944, the Reich and its allies suffered disaster on all fronts. Finland left the war after the attacks of the Red Army. However, the fighting in the Arctic did not stop. German and Soviet forces continued to fight on the border with German-occupied Norway. Here they planned the next offensive of 1944 - the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation.

On the one hand, this offensive made it possible to begin the liberation of Norway, on the other, the Petsamo area is a deposit of scarce nickel, and for economic reasons it also needed to be recaptured. Finally, German troops in this sector were supplied through the port of Petsamo. The offensive was planned for October.

Of course, it was not expected to be an easy walk: the Germans had been building fortifications here for years and were not going to just give up their base. A completely logical idea arose at the Soviet headquarters: to attack Petsamo not only from land, but also from the sea. The problem was that it was not only Soviet commanders who thought about this. Petsamo is located deep in a long fjord full of rugged beauty. Closer to the sea, this fjord turns into the Liinahamari harbor. The fairway is perfectly clear from the surrounding rocks. The rocks themselves are an insurmountable obstacle. Liinakhamari was covered by dozens of guns of various calibers.

Twenty batteries of large-caliber anti-aircraft guns made an air attack extremely difficult. At the same time, the anti-aircraft “aht-ahts” could easily turn against ships. However, the main threat to the fleet was not they, but heavy 150-mm cannons and, finally, a battery of deadly 210-mm coastal guns, capable of riddling even a cruiser if necessary. The most powerful fortification was located on Cape Krestovy, which jutted deep into the waters of the bay. For protection in close combat, the Arctic fortress had small-caliber automatic cannons and machine-gun nests. All this splendor was captured in stone and concrete. Without suppressing the batteries in the rocks, there was no point in thinking about a breakthrough to Petsamo from the water. All that was left was to figure out how to deal with them.

It was not possible to solve the Liinakhamari problem with brute force. However, a solution was found: a sabotage operation. Where large ships could not pass, a small landing force had to operate. The Russians had specialists for such a case in the Arctic.

Lieutenant Viktor Leonov, a native of Zaraysk, twenty-eight years old, despite his modest rank, was one of the most experienced saboteurs. Before the war, he did not prepare for a career as a commando and served on a submarine. However, with the outbreak of hostilities, he immediately submitted a report on enlistment in the 181st special-purpose detachment of the Northern Fleet, and from December 1943 he already commanded this special-purpose detachment. On his account there were fifty exits to the rear of the Wehrmacht. Leonov's marines disembarked from torpedo boats, struck and returned to base.

Another hero of the future operation was to be Captain Ivan Barchenko-Emelyanov, who headed the reconnaissance detachment of the Northern defensive region. Just a year older than Leonov, this Novgorodian also managed to make a reputation for himself as a desperate and successful commander. Reconnaissance platoon, then company, "Red Star" for constant seizures of languages. During the winter of 1943/44 alone, he managed to successfully go behind the front line six times - in the bitter polar frost. Separately, one line in Barchenko’s award documents attracts attention: he carried out operations on the edge of human capabilities “with minor losses of his own.”

Before the operation, the commanders puzzled over the landing plan for a long time. It is interesting that among the operations, materials about which were studied by Soviet officers, there was a sample of foreign experience - the raid of British saboteurs on the docks of Saint-Nazaire in 1942. This operation was successful for the British, but it turned out to be very bloody: almost 400 paratroopers were killed or captured. This example, of course, did not inspire much optimism.

All the more carefully it was necessary to prepare for the assault. First, a group of paratroopers was supposed to land from the torpedo boats in the rear of the German redoubts. Then came the risky part: after the vanguard had destroyed or tied up the batteries, the main wave of landing troops would move into the harbor. If necessary, it was planned to punch through passages in the nets with torpedoes, and then unload the paratroopers on the piers.

Before the operation, reconnaissance planes filmed the bay length and breadth. Captain 1st Rank Kuzmin, who led the torpedo boat brigade, personally practiced the landing on maps with the commanders of each boat. The mooring sequence was calculated in minutes. During the landing, bad weather was expected and, accordingly, poor visibility, but this was only to the advantage of the paratroopers.

On the dark dead night of October 9, 1944, to the west of the Musta-Tunturi ridge, Soviet torpedo boats with a detachment of Barchenko and Leonov of 195 soldiers appeared from a snowstorm. The goal was Cape Krestovy with its cannons. The engines were switched to underwater exhaust, the lights were extinguished, and there was complete silence on the air. The boatmen did not dare to approach the shore itself, and the Marines made it to the shore in waders in the icy water. This detachment went behind the German batteries.

The paratroopers cut out a ladder for themselves in the coastal granite rock, crossed it and climbed again, this time to the next mountain. In two days the saboteurs covered 30 kilometers. Don't talk. Don't light a fire. A short rest in the snow - and again forward. Ascent and descent - on ropes over the abyss.

In the darkness, the Marines crept almost close to the batteries from the rear. Everything went according to plan until they reached the barbed wire bordering the German positions. At that moment, some vigilant sentry noticed the paratroopers. There was no point in hiding.

Pea coats are thrown onto the wire, the first scout jumps over them, and immediately begins to water the barracks doors in long bursts. The Germans noticed the Osnaz troops too late: the guns did not have time to open fire, and grenades were flying into the animated machine-gun nests. The surprise has a stunning effect: panic arises in the positions. The artillerymen who managed to get up were shot at point-blank range.

After a short fight, Barchenko, Emelyanov and Leonov discover that they have hit the jackpot: they have a fully operational four-gun anti-aircraft battery and a battery of 150 mm guns, dominating the area. Now we had to dispose of the captured battery. There are scouts in the detachment who know how to handle captured guns. Shells immediately begin to fall from Cape Krestovy. The capture of Krestovoy immediately tore out the most important link from the entire chain of German defense.

They, however, were not going to give up: Krestovy began to fire from all guns, and boats and boats with infantry moved from the piers to Krestovy. There is a battle on the slopes. The scouts found themselves in a very dangerous situation: ammunition was running out. Leonov called the air force and radioed for help with ammunition. The Germans on the slope found themselves under destructive fire: six “silts” processed them, replacing each other, and two transport workers entered the height, dropping ammunition and provisions by parachute. This blow decided the fate of the battle. The next step of the scouts was the capture of a long-range battery on the same cape. This time the resistance turned out to be much weaker: the failures of the day broke the will of the enemy. The winners captured 60 prisoners and the battery itself.

By the end of the short day of October 12, the defense center at Cape Krestovy was neutralized. Now all that remained was to deliver the final killing blow.

While the scouts Barchenko and Leonov were settling down on the captured cape, torpedo boats with the main landing forces - 658 soldiers under the command of Major Timofeev - burst into Liinakhamari Bay. Night, smoke screens, silence of the Krestovoy batteries - losses during the landing were minimal.

The Germans were not whipping boys and did not want to give up; they stormed every pillbox, smoking out the garrisons with grenades and explosives. The paratroopers approached through the dead zones to the firing points that continued to resist, and destroyed one after another.

By the end of October 13, there was nothing left to take in Liinakhamari, and an entire brigade of marines had already landed in the harbor. Now Petsamo was covered both from land and sea. On October 15, the city was taken by storm. The Karelian front went further to Northern Norway.

At Cape Krestovy and in the port of Liinakhamari, the landing party lost 53 people killed and wounded. There is less accurate information about German losses. Barchenko reported the capture of 78 people on Krestovoy and the burial of more than a hundred corpses of German soldiers there. The total losses of the Wehrmacht, apparently, amounted to several hundred people killed and captured.

The operation against Liinakhamari became one of the remarkable episodes of the Great Patriotic War. Although the greatest strength of the Red Army was its grandiose ground operations, here the Soviet troops showed themselves in an unexpected way. The assault on Liinakhamari made it possible to obtain the port facilities in their entirety, and finally, accelerated the fall of the city itself.