At the Istanbul Naval Museum, about a third of the exposition is devoted to the history of battles with the Russian fleet. This is understandable: Turkish sailors fought with the Russians from the end of the 17th century to November 1917. The Turks are especially proud of the captured Andreevskie flags, taken from captured Russian ships.
I did not obey the order
It is generally accepted that the only ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet that surrendered to the enemy was the frigate Raphael, which alone met with the whole Turkish squadron on May 11, 1829. Surrounded by a ring of Turkish battleships, the frigate commander - Captain 2nd Rank Semyon Stroynikov ordered to lower the Andreevsky flag. For this, by decree of Nicholas I, he was demoted to sailors, transferred to service in Arkhangelsk, deprived of the nobility with a lifelong ban on marrying, "so that he would no longer produce cowards."
So, the morally weak cavtorang Stroinikov was not alone in his shame. There is no information about whether any Russian ship surrendered to the Turks in the wars of the 18th century … But on the night of October 3 to 4, 1809, the Black Sea frigate with the biblical name "Nazareth" under the command of Lieutenant Pavel Lange lagged behind his squadron, and they began to catch up … No, not a Turkish squadron, but only two Turkish frigates. What business was it to the Protestant German, who served the Russian Tsar for a salary, before the wars of his Orthodox employers with Muslim claimants to the Black Sea? To risk life for the sake of other people's interests? And he ordered to stop, lower the St. Andrew's flag and raise the white canvas of surrender. Yes, only midshipman Ivan Ilyin not only did not comply with this order, but ordered the sailors to disarm the ship's commander, tie him up and lock him in the cabin. After that the crew raised all sails and prepared for the boarding battle. The Turks did not board and later lagged behind the Russian frigate.
The naval archive "The case of Lieutenant P. Lange's attempt to surrender the frigate Nazareth to Turkish captivity" contains more than 100 sheets. The investigation dragged on from November 13, 1809 to February 9, 1810. The judges could not decide who exactly to punish? Lieutenant Lange for trying to surrender his ship to the enemy or warrant officer Ilyin for rebellion and disobeying the command of the commander during the conduct of hostilities? The liberal emperor Alexander I put an end to the dispute, ordering: to dismiss the cowardly lieutenant, transfer the daring midshipman to the Baltic Fleet without demotion.
That time the Andreevskiy flag of the frigate, of course, did not get into the Turkish Naval Museum. But on the other hand, there are kept the ship flags of the Black Sea brig "Sphinx", captured by the Turks in 1806.
On February 5, 1807, the Black Sea brig "Phoenix" was captured with the whole crew - here the Turks won by cunning: they came close under the guise of a peaceful merchant ship and caught the crew by surprise. The naval court of the Black Sea Fleet took a long time to decide: should this crew be considered to have surrendered voluntarily or taken prisoner in battle?
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So the Andreevsky flag from the frigate "Raphael" was not an unprecedented trophy for the Turks.
35 ducats for a fleet lieutenant
On September 1, 1841, Rear Admiral Mikhail Lermontov reported to the Minister of the Navy that British diplomats had brought him Lieutenant of the 45th naval crew of the Black Sea Fleet Yevgeny Gusev and NCO Vasily Vasilyev, who were ransomed by the British consul from the slave traders of Khiva. What happened? How did Russian sailors become slaves?
In June 1841, a team of seven sailors and a lieutenant with a non-commissioned officer carried out depth measurements on the longboat off the Caucasian coast. Suddenly, the oncoming storm smashed the ship on stones, and the sailors who had sailed out were captured by the Abkhazians. The Russians were required to convert to Islam and renounce the Orthodox faith. And when everyone refused, they sold the captives to slave traders from Khiva. The lieutenant did not know to whom his sailors were sold.
With a column of "live goods", consisting of 18 Russian women and 400 Lezghins, the captive sailors were driven to Khiva. There, the English consul, out of a sense of solidarity for the "white gentleman", bought the lieutenant from the Khivans and handed over to the Russian naval command. At first, the Briton wanted to release only the Officer, but Gusev resolutely opposed: I will not abandon my sergeant! The diplomat sighed and laid out 35 ducats for the lieutenant, and 28 for the 48-year-old non-commissioned officer. But the Andreevsky flag from the launch did not interest the mountaineers at all, even as a commodity.
In the admiral's reception
For more than two centuries, the Russian fleet fought with the Turkish, and about the prisoners of war on both sides in history - silence. As if they never existed. Few of the local historians of Kronstadt will name the place where the camp of Turkish prisoners of war was located in 1877-1878. Although the Minister of the Navy signed a circular regulating the process of their protection - the convoy service was then carried out by the ranks of the fleet. And, by the way, it is not known whether the Turkish officers fled from Russian captivity to their homeland? And the Russians still fled from Turkish captivity!
On March 18, 1878, a ragged man entered the reception room of Admiral Nikolai Chikhachev in Odessa, reeling from weakness. The adjutant wanted to throw out the beggar with the help of the guard, but he collapsed into a chair and said in a weak voice: “I am a lieutenant of the Pushchin fleet. He escaped from Turkish captivity. Report me to the admiral. What has emerged?
Awarded posthumously?
The steamer of active defense "Grand Duke Constantine" on the night of May 29-30, 1877, launched mine boats to attack Turkish ships in the Sulino roadstead. There were three mine boats (predecessors of the torpedo boats of the 20th century) in total. Led by Lieutenants Stepan Makarov (later the famous admiral) and Lieutenant Izmail Zatsarenniy, they successfully attacked Turkish ships and returned to the steamer. But mine boat No. 1 under the command of Lieutenant Leonid Pushchin did not return. Day began to dawn, and the steamer went into the open sea. The lucky lieutenants were awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree, and Lieutenant Pushchin became the Knight of St. George posthumously. It was believed that he and his team were either destroyed by the return fire of the Turks or drowned. Almost guessed right. Turkish shells crippled the engine and perforated the boat like a sieve. At dawn, a Turkish patrol boat picked up Lieutenant Pushchin, who was floundering in the water, the miner of the 1st naval crew of the volunteer Yakov Gostevsky, the fireman Yakov Nepomniachtchi, and the sailor Dmitry Samozvantsev.
Escape and rewards
It must be said that the Turks not only did not torture the captive sailors, but, given their scarce naval specialties, lured them into a highly paid service in the Sultan's fleet. They didn't even insist on converting to Islam. Lieutenant of the 2nd naval crew Leonid Pushchin was generally offered the rank of captain of the 1st rank, a house, a harem and all kinds of honor. The lieutenant promised to think about it. The hopeful Turks allowed him to walk freely around the city and port. And he, dressed in rags, hired a sailor on a smugglers' schooner, which ply between Istanbul and Odessa.
Admiral Chikhachev, seeing the state of the officer, immediately ordered him to be sent to the hospital and gave him 200 rubles from his personal funds - to sew a new uniform and generally put himself in order. The naval court found that "the capture took place under completely exceptional conditions." Emperor Alexander II promoted the hero to the rank of lieutenant-captain with enrollment in the Guards naval crew and ordered to issue a monetary reward in the amount of an annual salary. And the monthly salary of the lieutenant commander was then 400 rubles. Having received 4800 rubles, the officer immediately returned the debt to Admiral Chikhachev. Among other things, the newly-made drop was sent on a three-month paid vacation - "to improve his health."
And most importantly - on April 6, 1878, in the Winter Palace, the autocrat personally presented Leonid Pushchin with the Order of St. George, 4th degree. True, the good spirits of the St. George Knight were spoiled by the "office rats" of the Naval Ministry: they refused to count the time spent by Pushchin in captivity from May 29, 1877 to March 18, 1878, for the service life, based on the calculation of one day for two. The fact is that the officers of that war were counted in their service life for one day in the war, as for two in the rear. So the capital's rear officials decided - you, Mr. Pushchin, were there, in captivity, thinking about the harem, while your comrades stormed Plevna. You will not have such a privilege.
Who have not changed the oath
But they did not see Leonid Pushchin's comrades in captivity at home soon. After the disappearance of their commander, the angry Turks put the sailors in the fortress, from which they left only after the conclusion of peace.
In imperial Russia, the soldiers who escaped from captivity were treated like heroes. And Alexander II was not at all surprised that the Russian officer did not betray his oath, did not sell himself for the promised benefits. Another thing is surprising in this story.
For 200 years of war with Turkey, not a single memory of Russian prisoners of their stay in Turkish captivity has survived. In any case, they are unknown to the general mass of readers. And the story of Lieutenant Pushchin's escape is just a glimpse in the darkness of oblivion about the past.
Alexander SMIRNOV