Through two oceans and eight seas

From August 5 to October 17, 1940, the crew of the Shch-423 submarine, under the command of Captain 3rd Rank Izmail Zaidulin, for the first time in world history, made the transition along the Northern Sea Route from west to east. In 73 days, the boat traveled 7,227 miles across two oceans and eight seas, through 10-point ice storms.

82 years ago, the Shch-423 submarine was the first in the world to break through the ice of the Arctic Ocean, passing along the entire coast of Russia from Murmansk to Vladivostok. The submarine could be crushed by the ice, it could get into ice captivity, freeze for many months in the frozen waters of the Northern Ocean. Fortunately, this did not happen.

To get from the European north of Russia to Vladivostok, the submarine crossed the Barents and Kara Seas, the Laptev Sea, the East Siberian Sea, the Chukchi, Bering, Okhotsk and Japan Seas.

The Northern Sea Route along the coast of Russia was several times shorter than other routes from the west to the east of the country. And most importantly, it did not depend on the politics and armed forces of other states.

For ordinary ships, such navigation is a mortal danger: most of the year, the ice in these parts is very thick and dense. For the first time, a surface ship was able to pass along the northern coast of Russia in one navigation only in 1932: the icebreaker Alexander Sibiryakov left Arkhangelsk in July and reached Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in October. At that time, it could not have done without an emergency: passing through the Chukchi Sea, the icebreaker broke the propeller, and had to escape with the help of home-made sails.

In 1933, the newly built Chelyuskin, trying to follow the same path, was tightly blocked by ice in the Chukchi Sea. For five months the ship drifted in ice captivity, was crushed by ice and died.

In the late 1930s, a Shch-type submarine, called the Pike by sailors, was chosen for an extreme swim. And this despite the fact that her body was not adapted for swimming in thick ice. Preparing the submarine for the trip, marine engineer Andrey Dubravin decided to “dress” it in a “fur coat” – sheathing made of two layers of wood, 20 cm thick, covered with metal sheets on top. At the same time, the submarine retained the ability to dive and underwater. All the details and possible difficulties of sailing in ice were thought out. Durable in salt water, but fragile bronze propellers were replaced with steel ones with removable blades – they could be replaced in case of breakage on pieces of ice. They changed the design and shape of the submarine’s rudders – they were made shorter and stronger, also providing for the possibility of replacement in case of breakage on ice.

It was assumed that the voyage of the Pike would begin in the summer of 1938. But in 1937, navigation was very difficult, there was too much ice, and more than 20 ships froze and got stuck in the Arctic for the whole winter, and one of them, the Rabochy steamer, was crushed by ice, the ship sank.

In order not to risk the submarine and to prepare for the trip as carefully as possible, the swim was postponed for a year. However, the summer of 1939, on the eve of World War II, turned out to be too alarming. All boats were left in the Baltic and in the Barents Sea in case of possible hostilities.

Only in 1940 did the voyage through the northern seas finally take place. At the end of May, the Special Purpose Expedition was formed. The military engineer Iosif Sendik, who in 1936 and 1937 participated in the passage of warships along the Northern Sea Route, was appointed to supervise its preparation.

For the purpose of secrecy, the site with the submarine was surrounded by a high fence, and reinforced security was put up. For a month, the Pike was dressed up in a “fur coat”, the propellers and rudders were replaced, etc. The submarine conducted the last exercises and dives at the end of July.

The Shch-423 Northern Sea Route was supposed to pass over the water, if necessary, it could dive and even fire from torpedo tubes.

August 5, 1940 the boat went to sea. The submarine was escorted by the entire high command of the Northern Fleet. At first, the “Pike” was accompanied by the transport steamer “Anatoly Serov”, and in the strait connecting the Barents Sea with the Kara Sea, the icebreaker “Lenin” was waiting for her. The ship had not only equipment for repairs, but also supplies in case the submarine freezes into the ice. For all the divers on the Serov, a residential cockpit for 36 people was prudently equipped (for rest during short stays or in case of a forced winter).

The Barents Sea met the submariners unfriendly – it was stormy, at times the submarine fell into thick fog. The difficult situation immediately demanded maximum attention and composure from the crew.

Two weeks later, the submarine reached the Taimyr Peninsula and entered the Laptev Sea. The crew of the boat had to overcome many years of non-melting ice, trying to find passages between the hummocks. Replacing each other, the icebreakers “Lenin”, “Stalin” and “Litke” alternately walked ahead.

The most difficult task was to pass in the area of ​​the so-called Ayon ice massif.

In some areas, the icebreakers literally dragged the boat behind them on the ropes in a crumble of blocks and pieces of ice. Add to this the strongest frost and high humidity. Moisture condensation disabled the electrical wiring, fog was in the compartments.

In conditions of constant ice danger, the command of the submarine had to be almost inseparably on an open bridge blown by polar winds. In order to dry the premises of the “Pike” in the Chukchi Sea, it was necessary to supply a hose fixed on a cable several times from the icebreaker, through which hot steam was let inside the submarine.

On September 9, 1940, after 37 days of the “ice campaign”, the boat arrived at Providence Bay in Chukotka. There, the crew of Captain Zaidulin spent 6 days inspecting and repairing mechanisms before passing through the Bering, Okhotsk and Japan Seas.

On October 17, the Shch-423 boat anchored in the Golden Horn Bay. Vladivostok became the final point of the campaign in the ice.

The command of the Pacific Fleet congratulated the crew on the completion of this historic voyage. The People’s Commissar of the Navy announced gratitude to the entire crew of Shch-423 and awarded the participants of the campaign with the badge “Excellent worker of the RK Navy.”

On November 7, 1940, Izmail Zaidulin was awarded the rank of captain of the 2nd rank. Four years later, after the tragic death of Zaidulin in August 1944, he was awarded the military rank of captain of the 1st rank and presented to the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree posthumously.

Izmail Zaidulin received his first Order of the Red Star for a record set in 1938: the Shch-123 boat under his control spent 75 days in autonomous navigation at a rate of 20. Comrades spoke of him as a competent, decisive and courageous commander.

Submarine “Shch-423” after dock inspection, change of propellers and removal of ice protection in three weeks went to sea for combat training. In 1942, it was renamed Shch-139.

Subsequently, entire caravans of post-war submarines passed along the path laid by Shch-423. And with the advent of nuclear submarines in the 60s. Soviet submariners conquered the North Pole and began to carry out transarctic crossings in a submerged position.

Sergei Ishkov.

Photo from site museummarinesko.rf