Military historian Miroslav Morozov — on the importance of Lake Ladoga for the security of Russia
The Russian Navy can deploy small rocket ships in Lake Ladoga. All this year there was a study of this region, and at the end of the summer, two MRCS from the Baltic Fleet conducted exercises there.
Each of the Russian regions is famous for its military chronicle. We recall the military role of some of them only in relation to the Middle Ages, others — in connection with the development of this region in later times. Still others will forever remain in our memory as outposts on the borders of Russia, the mention of which we will meet in the history of all more or less significant wars.
But there are also those who, by the will of fate, alternately became the rear regions, then the advanced ones, which led to the revival of military formations on their territory, which, it would seem, have long become part of history. This is exactly what can be said about Lake Ladoga and the military flotilla that existed on it.
However, initially Ladoga became the cradle not of the flotilla, but of the entire Baltic Fleet. The decree of Peter I of February 2, 1702 read: to build six warships of 18 guns each. Shipyards were used for this purpose on the rivers flowing into Lake Ladoga — Syasi and on the tributary Sviri — Pasha.
Why weren't the ships built on the lake itself? The conditions of the "near sea", as the Novgorodians called it, were to blame for this: storms with wave heights up to six meters, the famous Ladoga "standing waves", as well as surging phenomena that from time to time raise the water level in the rivers flowing into Ladoga by several meters.
Therefore, Peter decided to build his Ladoga fleet far enough away from the lake itself — where the surge phenomena did not threaten the construction, and there was also a forest necessary for it. However, the shipyards founded by this decree were able to build only four "Ladoga frigates" and did not receive further development.
Interestingly, Peter prudently ordered to establish another shipyard nearby — Olonetsky (Svirskaya). It was also laid in 1702. There, under the leadership of bombardier Ivan Yakovlev, in 1703, a vessel was built that really became the first rank ship of the Baltic Fleet — the 28-gun frigate "Standard". Almost simultaneously, nine small vessels were launched there.
From the late autumn of 1703 and during 1704, 14 frigates, 12 brigantines and a scampaway were built at the Olonets shipyard. They became the basis of the fleet in the Baltic.
The fleet could, depending on the circumstances, operate both in the Gulf of Finland and on Ladoga. In the campaigns of 1707 and 1708, Russian troops ravaged the Swedish lands along the northern shore of the lake, which became one of the prerequisites for the capture of the fortresses of Vyborg and Kexholm (now Priozersk) in 1710. After that, all the shores of Ladoga began to belong to Russia de facto, and with the conclusion of the Peace of Nishtad in 1721 - and de jure. The lake for a long time turned into an internal reservoir, devoid of any military fleet.
Ladoga became a frontline zone again during the Civil War. On December 30, 1917, the government of Soviet Russia granted independence to Finland, but a lot of unresolved contradictions almost immediately led to a war between the two young states. The forces of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet actively supported their troops on the shores of the lake, and also landed a number of tactical landings, which helped to repel the Finnish offensive.
Despite this, under the terms of the Yuriev Peace Treaty of 1921, Soviet Russia undertook not to maintain military vessels with a displacement of more than 100 tons and with guns with a caliber of more than 45 mm on Ladoga.
This situation changed on the eve of the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940, when several warships were transferred from the Baltic along the Neva River, reinforced on the spot by river and lake vessels mobilized into the Red Army before the outbreak of hostilities.
However, the flotilla did not achieve much success then — the rapid onset of ice formation affected. Even before the ice came down, the war was over. According to the terms of the peace treaty, the Northern Ladoga region has again become our territory, and the need for a lake flotilla seems to have disappeared. On May 20, 1941, the People's Commissar of the Navy N.G. Kuznetsov ordered the reformation of the Ladoga Flotilla into a naval training base, but on June 25 - on the third day of the Great Patriotic War — they were canceled. Thus began the fourth and most illustrious stage in the history of the Ladoga Military Flotilla.
In the first months of the war, the main task of her ships was to support the ground forces on the northern, and then — the western and eastern shores of the lake. But at the beginning of September 1941, the situation changed. With the capture of Shlisselburg on September 8, Leningrad's connection with the rest of the country was possible only through the water space of Ladoga.
On September 1, the Military Council of the Leningrad Front ordered to urgently organize railway transshipment bases and berths in the bays of Osinovets and Morye on the western shore of the lake. Their construction was ordered to be completed by the end of September, but due to weather conditions, shelling, etc., it was not possible to meet the deadlines.
On September 14, the first vessels sailed on the Gostinopolye – Novaya Ladoga – Osinovets route. The latter city became the only receiving point of all ground cargo for Leningrad. Due to the shortage of workers and bombing, the turnover of barges was delayed up to 6-12 days. At the same time, there was an acute shortage of vessels of large capacity and strength for sailing in an open lake. As a result, by the beginning of cargo transportation on Ladoga and the Volkhov River, there were only 5 lake and 72 river tugs, 29 lake and about 100 river non-self-propelled barges.
Due to the weather and air strikes, the transport fleet suffered heavy losses. By November, out of more than fifty barges, only seven remained in service. A sharp decline in cargo turnover in November 1941 was caused by the German breakthrough towards Tikhvin and abnormal frosts. The Gostinopolye – Osinovets highway, which we now call the first Road of Life, operated for 52 days, until November 10. It managed to transport 65 thousand tons of cargo. If we recall that during this period the bread distribution rate in Leningrad was reduced to 250 grams, it is easy to imagine how many Leningraders it saved their lives.
On May 24, 1942, the second military navigation was opened. Enemy aircraft wanted to prevent her, but the defense of the coast was strengthened. By spring, a new pier was completely built on the west bank, and a transshipment base in Gostinopolye was restored. In July, seven times more cargo was transported along Ladoga than in May.
The Ladoga Fleet was also significantly replenished. The number of barges in it has increased more than 16 times. Everything possible was done to facilitate the export of Leningraders. Transportation continued on a large scale and organized. During 1942, more than 528 thousand residents of Leningrad were taken out. Cargo transportation for navigation in both directions exceeded one million tons. The Road of Life contributed to the heroic defense of Leningrad. In addition, our ships provided reliable protection of ships from the raids of the enemy's lake flotilla, on October 22 they repelled the enemy landing on Sukho Island.
In 1943-1944, the sailors assisted the troops of the Leningrad and Karelian fronts, which by the end of August 1944 inflicted a military defeat on Finland and forced it to withdraw from the war. For many decades, the military defeat was a good lesson for the Finnish political elites. Ladoga once again became a rear area.
But, unfortunately, generations are changing, and historical lessons are forgotten. Today, Russia is once again forced to react to hostile steps from its northern neighbor. Time will tell what this will result in, but there is no doubt that the Russian sailors, who are now forced to return to Ladoga, are always ready to fulfill their duty to the Motherland.