History 15/02/20 RIA Novosti”Underwater commandos”: how to fight the Soviet frogmen

This division of razvedrota of staff of the Baltic fleet of the Soviet Navy operated from August 1941 to October 1945. It was the first in the history of Soviet underwater forces, which account for a lot of combat operations, which caused serious damage to the Nazis in the great Patriotic war.

it was for a special unit

historians of the submarine fleet of the USSR there is an assumption that “underwater infantry” and “people-frogs” the first “deep” Soviet special forces called due to the fact that under the water, these sailors were to operate as effectively as their land counterparts. Plus, the “people-frogs” basically, themselves made of many components of your scuba equipment and weapons (series of production simply did not exist).
the Historian of the domestic forces in the past have their own experience of service in special forces V. I. Afonchenko tried to reconstruct the chronology of the appearance Ron. According to Vladimir Ivanovich, special forces submarine in the Pacific fleet started his training in 1938, initially as EPRON – expedition of underwater works of special purpose. When the great Patriotic war there was a threat of blockade of Leningrad in August 1941 the people’s Commissar of the Navy of the USSR signed the order on creation of the intelligence Department of headquarters of the Baltic fleet of the special purpose company (RON), composed of 146 people. He commanded a company of castoring I. V. Prokhvatilov, who left about the actions of his unit memories.
the Essence of the actions of the officers Ron was expressed in conducting reconnaissance and sabotage operations behind enemy lines, using skills underwater work. RON was stationed on the island of Decembrists (O. starve), it’s Vasileostrovsky district, the modern St. Petersburg.

the Term “underwater infantry” was invented Prohvatitin

he recalled How Ivan V. Prokhvatilov, the ability to “mimikriroval”, adapt to the given circumstances (a Rona soldiers had, acting in enemy territory, including change in the Nazis), he was a child and learned from the Makhnovists, which, once felt the danger, “was a” peasants burying their rifles and machine guns. It belongs Prokhvatilova the term “underwater infantry”: he didn’t want fighters Rona compared with the marine corps.
First fight in the early fall of 1941, the soldiers of the Ron, as told I. V. Pokatilov, his subordinates were carried out “without noise and a dust”: the Finns just fled from the occupied Islands in the area of Vyborg, after watching how carefully prepared the assault marine commandos. They even threw down their guns and cannons.

What was the important operation U-250

On account of Ron’s history, there were dozens of successful military operations, at that time had no analogues in world practice. However, one of the most important shares of the special purpose company – a study of the sunken German submarine U-250.
Its in the Gulf sank at the end of the summer of 1944. Six German submariners along with the captains of the submarines Werner Schmidt captured. As there was reason to believe that submerged submarine are secret documents Ron Prokhvatilova set the task to find the location of the ship and get out everything of value. Divers companies, according to the memoirs of I. V. Prokhvatilov, when diving and research submarine got oxygen poisoning – their costumes were not designed to work on a 36-meter depth. However, they managed to extract the subs from the documents, allowing to trace Hitler’s secret fairways and minefields laid in the Baltic sea. In addition, the Soviet military and the army of great Britain is extremely interested in the samples of the fuses of the torpedoes of the submarine. It turned out that these torpedoes were destroyed 24 of the English transport on the way to Arkhangelsk.

RON and her damage

In 1941, the submarine scouts, Ron was a big help surrounded by Soviet units on the Karelian isthmus, getting valuable intelligence information and performing sabotage operations by explosion of infrastructure on captured enemy territory. It is the “people-frogs” RON has explored and mapped a route “Road of life” on lake Ladoga, which was carried out transport with the blockade of Leningrad. Divers of special purpose company was engaged in raising the sunken Soviet transport on lake Ladoga.
In 1942 the divers RON mined and exploded restored before that the Germans strategically important Wharf in Petergofe. In 1943, as a result of intelligence-subversive operations Ron had destroyed 4 Italian boats in Chelninskom channel. In 1944, one of the scouts special purpose company through receipt of timely intelligence prevented the shelling of Leningrad shells V-1, having obtained the necessary information in a special operation. Hitler’s factory in Strelna, manufactures these munitions, was eventually bombed and shot by the Soviet artillery.
… RON was disbanded in October 1945 as unnecessary in time of peace. Researchers at the Russian security services claim that the experience of this unit in full and has not been studied.

Nicholas Syromyatnikov

Source:
© Russian Seven

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