The ship of the immortals in neutral waters. Lost in the ocean

15.01.2024 | Culture

Part 1

Prologue

The bottomless black sky sparkled with myriads of sharp, unblinking stars, mercilessly suppressing with their radiance the faint glow of nebulae and distant galaxies. A cloudy whitish stripe crossed the firmament - this is exactly what the pancake of a spiral galaxy looks like from the inside. A mass of stars, indistinguishable to the eye... And only one celestial body stood out among the others - a dazzling white tiny disk, like a red-hot nail head driven into the vault of heaven. A violet flash flashed briefly, and where a moment before there was nothing, a cyclopean ball appeared, like a giant drop of mercury, shrouded in a ghostly fiery shell with prominences. Another moment, and the phenomenon disappeared again - the camouflage system turned on. Of course, in this wild system, no one is able to detect not only the starship itself, but also the characteristic flash of exit from hyperspace into reality, which for any control system of a highly developed civilization would mean an invasion. However, the quasi-brain of the starship did not know such a term - “maybe”. That is why the ship came out of the hypertransition so far from the local star, beyond the orbit of the last major planet. Reducing risk to an absolute minimum - all points of this instruction were hardwired into memory during the creation of the ship. Deep in the depths of the colossal machine - or, rather, quasi-organism - four creatures rested in capsules that looked like large transparent eggs, tightly curled up in a fetal position. Listening closely, the ship's quasi-brain felt a certain satisfaction - to the extent that the creators had equipped it with quasi-emotions. The crew was alive, did not receive the slightest damage, and the next stage of the expedition could begin. The hibernators' compartment expanded abruptly, turning into a real hall worthy of receiving the ship's owners. The transparent eggs filled with a pink glow, began to stretch, and suddenly burst, freeing the prisoners at once. Remnants of pink radiance were still melting in the air when the outermost figure moved, turned around, groping for solid support with its feet. After a couple of moments, the others began to stir. The figure who stood up first snapped his fingers, and the walls of the hall became transparent. Green letters and symbols ran against the background of a starry panorama. - Get up, lazybones! You are welcome! The crew members of the starship Star of Hope rose to their feet, examining themselves and each other, not at all embarrassed by their nakedness. - What already? Va, I just woke up... The first one to get up, whom the awakened one called Va, made a barely noticeable gesture, and a luminous circle appeared against the background of the starry sky. An image of a blue-white ball appeared inside the circle - powerful optics magnified the image of a target almost invisible to the naked eye. “Here she is, Gromma Three,” the girl who stood up last looked at the image of the planet. - Well, hello, wild world! We have arrived... - Don’t relax, colleagues,” the one they called Va turned around. - The first is the procedure for determining the absence of external control. The second is the collection of preliminary data on the state of the planet. And in general, we have a lot of work. In the meantime, breakfast! Festive, in honor of the completion of the hypertransition.

Chapter 1

First contacts

A-hyr! - Gee! - Gyr-gyr-gyr! The screams spurred him on, burned like the blows of a burning branch, and Ad-Amm kept increasing the pace. The lowbrows gradually began to fall behind - it is true that the spears hindered them even more than Ad-Ammu himself - but the hunter did not relax. It is difficult to break away from lowbrows. Yes, in short-distance running they are far from Real people, but they can trot for at least half a day... However, here it’s already close to the edge of their hunting grounds, they won’t go any further... If only they could reach their own... trouble , if caught by surprise... seven women and children, and almost no hunters... He missed the moment when the furious screams of his pursuers gave way to screams of horror. But even if he did catch it, what would be the point? The lone lion was old. Apparently, not so long ago this was the leader of the pride, but his time has passed. Some young lion drove away an old man who had lost his former strength and dexterity in battle - recently healed scars left by a more successful opponent flaunt on his face. And now the former leader is forced to wander around the outskirts of the pride’s hunting grounds, feeding on carrion and random prey. Which is what Ad-Amm was at the moment. The lion jumped out of the bushes with a menacing growl, but without much tension. Probably, the cunning cat's brain fully appreciated the situation - both the fact that the hunted hunter has nowhere to go, and the fact that the screaming bipeds will not come to the aid of the victim with their sharp sticks. Dinner is ready... Ad-Amm still managed to put his spear in front of him, but the lion casually knocked it off with his paw. Time seemed to stretch. As in a dream, Ad-Amm looked numbly at the advancing gaping mouth with long yellow fangs... Some terrible invisible force suddenly lifted him into the air, simultaneously throwing the predator away like a bunch of dry grass. Out of the corner of his eye, Ad-Amm only managed to notice a strange creature surrounded by a luminous halo. And darkness came... The walls of the hall looked like an amber honeycomb, in the hexagonal cells of which weightless fog flickered and shimmered with rainbow colors. The floor, on the contrary, was an ideal uniform plane of deep blue color, as if carved from a single aquamarine crystal. A large ball, carelessly painted with strokes of white, through which green, yellow, and an indefinite gray-brown color showed through, rotated in the air, not supported by anything. However, among the colors after white, greenish-blue predominated. “Yeah... Harsh planet.” The owners of the hall exchanged glances. They didn't have to speak out loud; telepathic mental images are much more convenient for communication. One of them, standing closer to the ball, made a short movement with his fingers, and the hologram obediently changed. The randomly scattered white smears of clouds disappeared, the thick white foamy whirlwinds of the cyclones disappeared. But even after this there was plenty of white left - the entire northern hemisphere was white. "Snow cover to such low latitudes... is unthinkable" "The cover is temporary. With such an inclination of the planet's axis to the orbit, there is nothing surprising - rather natural. But look at this, colleagues" A new movement of the fingers, and the globe finally lost its resemblance to original, acquiring a conditionally schematic form. The snow cover has disappeared. However, even after this, white color did not completely lose its position. Colossal white spots occupied a considerable part of the land, and the polar ocean retained the color unchanged. “The cover glaciers... just some kind of horror” “And the non-melting polar ice on the sea” “Not everything is so terrible, colleagues. In low latitudes, the temperature regime is quite suitable for the development of primary civilization” “You are still an incorrigible optimist, Ilu. Unknown , are there any bearers of intelligence here at all" "And pessimists have nothing to do in our service, Maiar. There must be - simply because we are already here. And the Soothsayers are rarely mistaken in identifying promising worlds" "Well, well... Remember Lioka. About I don’t mention the Fourth Enigma at all, so as not to injure our respected boss” “Exceptions exist for this reason, to confirm the rules, May. Attention, Eli is in touch!” The virtual globe disappeared instantly, as befits a hologram. The three creatures turned their heads at once, listening - as if it were not telepathy, but sound transmission. "Well, Elentari?" “Who doubted about the carriers of intelligence? But here they are simply swarming! I literally ran into two different species right away, apparently... however, research is needed” “Don’t talk me down, Eli, I can feel it. Why Are you dragging him to the Star of Hope?" “Wa, well, I couldn’t leave him! They would have eaten him there in an instant.” “You’re like little, honestly. The bearer of a great mission... I would have taken him away and released him, that’s all.” “Well, don’t swear, Va, please. I already in orbit, welcome." Four tall figures stood around a transparent capsule hanging in the air, in which rested a motionless body lying on its back with its arms outstretched. The shaggy head, which clearly did not know about the existence of a comb and scissors, was slightly thrown back, and under the sparse beard the muscles moved every now and then - obviously the savage’s sleep was restless. “This one.” The owners of the hall exchanged glances. Doubt mixed with cautious hope - this was the general emotional background. “Well... Elentari, wake him up.” The named Elentari, standing at the head of the capsule with a guest or captive - or maybe prey? - made a short wave of her hand. The capsule reacted immediately, smoothly lowered the native to the floor and melted away without a trace. The savage lay motionless for a couple more seconds, then he sighed convulsively, swallowed and opened his eyes. He sat down, looking around wildly, and suddenly jumped back with a scream to the nearest wall - since there were no corners in the hall. “He’s excited and scared. It’s unlikely that he’s able to have a normal conversation right now.” “And yet we’ll try.” - Don’t be afraid, Ad-Amm. We won't kill you. “How difficult it is to communicate in a primitive language. Even the phrase “we will not harm you” is impossible to formulate normally.” Ad-Amm looked hauntedly at the owners of this strange cave standing in front of him. He had never seen such creatures before. Tall - Ad-Amm would not have reached the armpits of any of them - very slender bodies, covered in robes made of magical skins, white and shiny. He even doubted for a moment - maybe it’s not clothes, but their skin? However, the exposed hands and head looked completely different. Thin pale pink skin, incredibly soft and smooth, small mouths with neat lips, high open foreheads, narrow graceful noses... here are the ears on the sides of the head of an unusual shape, pointed upward and mobile... Huge eyes with an unusual cut, incredibly deep , completed the picture. The creatures' hair was so long and well-groomed that Ad-Amm was even surprised, despite all the despair of his situation - how did they manage to do this? Even if you dunk your head in a stream all day and comb it with your fingers, you still won’t get such hair... But all this could not be compared with their legs. Because the unusually long, strong legs of the inhabitants of the magic cave ended in intricately decorated cloven hooves. “Don’t be afraid of us,” repeated the creature standing at the edge, in which the high chest betrayed a woman. - Who you are? - Ad-Amm finally croaked, finally finding the gift of speech. “Well, what are you going to answer him, Eli?” “Well, yes... I’m afraid it will be difficult to briefly explain to him the purpose of our mission.” “Nothing, Eli. Your job is to create problems, solving them is the business of your superiors. Don’t bother, I’ll answer.” “It’s a long time to say,” the second of them spoke out loud. figures, also clearly female. The creatures' speech was even, the words came out as if they had lived side by side in a cave with Ad-Amm's relatives all their lives. - After. Rest for now. Now they will give you something to eat. Ad-Amm straightened up and sucked in air through his widened nostrils. It looks like they have a big woman, he determined the status of the second woman who spoke to him. But these two hunters are guarding the cave. - Ad-Amm thanks. May your fire always have plenty of meat. Ad-Amm is hungry, but he won’t eat. You need to run, run very quickly. Give Ad-Amm the spear. If the lowbrows find children and women, there will be trouble. The lowbrows will kill everyone and roast them at the stake. We need it quickly! Waves of anxiety emanated from the savage with such force that the owners looked at each other again. “It seems you were not mistaken, Elentari. Only a creature with a spiritual basis can be so worried about others.” “I would not rush to conclusions, Iluvatar. High emotionality is not spirituality. The usual reaction of an animal to a threat to its own pack is as a threat to its own well-being.” You're a pessimist, Varda" - You didn't have time. The lowbrows found a camp and killed everyone. There was only one left, hidden in the bushes. Ad-Amm stood motionless for a couple more moments until the meaning of what was said dawned on him. - Aiiiiiiiii!!! He lay face down on the floor, kicking his legs, clasping his unkempt, curly head in his hands, and an animal howl burst from his chest. "Perhaps you're right, Eli." The howling finally died down. Ad-Amm sat down, moving slowly, as if in a dream. - You said you're the only one alive. Who? Strange, but Ad-Amm did not even think of doubting that magical creatures knew the names of people from his family. That's why they are magical. - Uh-Uh. The man took a deep breath. His facial features hardened, determination appeared in his eyes. - She's small. Even jackals can kill her. Ad-Ammu must hurry! "Yes, Ilúvatar, you and Elentari are right. This is indeed a being with a spiritual basis" - Okay, Ad-Amm. We will help you,” Varda nodded slightly. ... The water in the pool rippled, reflecting the light of numerous ceiling sources, creating the effect of a starry sky. Ilúvatar chuckled. The holographic setting of the ceiling screens obediently depicted the sky of the native Valara, festively shining with myriads of bright stars, among which stood out a clot of heavenly fire - the core of the Galaxy. Here, on this planet, lost on the outskirts, even the starry sky is dark, as if reflecting the hopeless darkness of this world. Ilúvatar sighed and leaned back, enjoying how the warm water sucked away the fatigue that had accumulated during the hectic day from his body. Wow, he had no idea it was possible to be so tired. Fatigue is generally a rare guest for the Valar - genetically modified bodies allow them to withstand loads that are beyond the strength of most natural creatures. But this is just the beginning. There was a resounding clatter of hooves, and Varda entered the pool hall, having managed to take off her work clothes. Iluvatar involuntarily fell in love. They've been together for a long time now, and they still can't get used to her elastic-dancing and at the same time elusively sliding gait... "Did it?" “I did” “Move over” - Varda dove into the pool with a splash, swam up and settled down on the side, relaxed in the same way, hovering motionless on the surface of the crystal-clear water. “Doubts torment me, Va. How will we work? This world is too wild. There is nothing to grab hold of in it. Even if there were not four of us, but forty...” “Where four cannot cope, even forty cannot cope. You’re right, It's all about the leads. How do you like the current Aborigine?" “One drop is not rain, Va. In order to awaken the desert to life, you need many, many drops.” “Maiar believes that one should not rely only on this species. Those whom he calls low-brow also deserve close attention. In general, this is the first time I see a world populated by so many intelligent races." "Yes, the world is rich... However, it is hardly worth exaggerating their intelligence. Many species are clearly dead-end." "All these are just words for now, Ilu. We need to test everyone without exception." We'll get busy tomorrow morning. And now I intend to rest. With my wife, by the way." For the first time since the beginning of the conversation, Varda's face lit up with a smile. “Well, if together with your wife... By the way, how do you like the fleeting days and nights here?” “It’s no big deal, I’ve already adjusted. After all, on Elend the days and nights are a little longer.” Ilúvatar suddenly hugged his wife. The water in the pool bent into a hump, and a second later it formed a kind of bed. “For what I’m planning to do to you, this night is quite enough.” “And what special thing are you planning to do to me?” - Now the woman smiled mischievously and alluringly. "Oh! This is so brilliant... In short, you will love it!" ... Gy-Khyrr sucked in air through his nostrils and carefully exhaled. Yes, it's a bull. Lonely and old. He was afraid to move the branches - now there was no way to scare off the beast. Today they will have meat. Gy-Khyrr shook his palm from right to left, and immediately the hunters glided like inaudible shadows, bending down to the ground. No one made a sound. Why words? On a hunt, everyone knows their place. Having waited a little to give his hunters the opportunity to surround the victim, Gy-Khyrr still could not resist and slightly moved the branches apart. A seasoned bull with a half-broken horn was lazily chewing grass in the middle of the clearing. Apparently he was driven out of the herd by a younger and more powerful rival. However, the old bull was still very, very strong. The orc chieftain clutched the shaft of his spear in his sweaty palm. It's time. The thickets exploded with a howl, and all the orcs jumped out into the clearing at once, surrounding their prey in a tight ring. The bull roared and rushed forward - an unmistakable instinct told the beast that now delay was like death, and only an immediate breakthrough in the ring of enemies could save him. However, the moment was lost, and sharp spears from all sides were already making holes in his skin. Gy-Khyrr, finding himself in front of the face of the enraged beast, with one precise blow drove his spear under the collarbone, and the bull immediately sank, roaring dully and gutturally. Young Boo-Ga jumped up and, with all his might, hit the victim who had fallen to his knees on the skull with his club. The belly roar stopped, the carcass of the beast fell to one side, twitched and froze. - Boo-Ga well done! - the leader roared approvingly. The young orc grinned joyfully and dealt the bull another blow, just to be sure. - Enough! - Gy-Khyrr stopped the zealous hunter. The hunters were catching their breath, hooting and grinning joyfully. Indeed, the booty is notable. And the ghost of hunger, already groping your throat, will retreat for a while. - Prepare a fire! Let's eat meat! The hunters were already carrying dead wood and dead wood. The bull is big, and it’s very nice to carry some of the meat in your own stomach. The most reliable storage. And at that time a roar was heard from the bushes. Gy-Khyrr turned sharply towards the source of the sound and swallowed convulsively. A whole flock of cave hyenas came out of the bushes into the clearing. - All come here! Ryr-Ga! Fire, quickly! - Gy-Khyrr roared in a strangled, whistling voice. The leader of the pack looked without fear at the orcs surrounding the much-coveted prey. The beast assessed his strength. More than once he had taken away killed bulls, horses and deer from bipeds. Will they give in without a fight this time? Or will a couple of yearlings have to be sacrificed, having received one of the enemies in addition to the bull? - Gee-hyrr! - the leader of the two-legged barked, shaking a spear covered in blood in front of him. In response, the animal leader growled and bared his long yellow fangs. The flock surrounded bipeds huddled in a tight ring, bristling with spears. Yes, there will be losses on both sides. However, hunger is worse. Because it can kill everyone. And at that moment, Ryr-Ga, pounding flint against flint, finally managed to strike a spark and ignite the dry moss, without which no self-respecting hunter would set out. There was a whiff of smoke, just a moment later, and a tongue of flame soared over the fire and danced, devouring small twigs. - Gee! - Gy-Khyrr extended his hand back without looking, and a second later he was already holding a burning branch in front of him. The beast growled in disappointment, his eyes flashing, and the whole flock disappeared into the bushes at once. Sharp sticks are one thing, but fire is another. I'll have to look for other prey, unfortunately. Gy-Khyrr took a breath, but did not have time to wipe the sweat from his forehead. A thin ringing rang across the clearing, and in the place where the leader of a pack of hyenas had just flashed his fangs, a tall figure in white appeared out of nowhere. What is this new attack?! - Gy-Khyrr, I want to talk to you! - the creature said in an even voice, clearly pronouncing the growling words. - This is our meat! - just in case, the orc said gloomily, without lowering his spear. "Colleagues, did you hear?" “Calm down, Maiar. Don’t despise it right away. Now this corpse means life itself for them.” “I won’t touch your prey or yourself,” the alien said evenly from nowhere. - There is a conversation, Gy-Khyrr. The leader thought for another second, then lowered his spear. - Fine. Sit down by the fire, Talking Horse. Don't you eat meat? "How did he guess?" “He called you a talking horse, obviously because of your hooves. And these animals are herbivores” ... - Wow! Wow! Aaaand!!! A herd of chimpanzees galloped along the branches with all the agility available to such large primates. The leader led his men into the thick of the forest, a little more, and the prey would slip away... - Ahrrrr!!! Gryr threw his club, no longer hoping for luck, and sure enough, he hit. The leader of the chimpanzee fell noisily from a high tree, and hitting the ground completed the job. Urura jumped up to the fallen man, grabbed him by the leg, and forcefully grunted his prey against the tree trunk. Brains splashed out. “Urrrr...” leader Grur muttered approvingly, catching his breath after the chase. The ogres gathered around, Grur was the first to tear off the chimpanzee’s hand and began to gnaw it. The remaining limbs were torn off by other hunters and munched deliciously. Ogres actually prefer fried meat, but the cave is far away, and the fire is there, and hunger is tormenting here and now. Grur and his relatives did not know the secret of making fire. A thin ringing sound rang through the air, and a strange figure appeared ten steps from the feasting ogres. She was only a head shorter than Grur in height, but she was extremely thin and weak throughout her appearance. “Elentari,” the creature poked itself in the chest with a finger, and from the bulge of that chest, Grur realized that in front of him was a female of a foreign kind. - I want to talk to Grur. “No, Varda, this is unthinkable. In the language of these creatures it is almost impossible to express even the least complex thought” “Calm down, Elentari” - What do you need? - the leader of the ogres purred, interrupting his meal. - Want to help. Grur becomes strong and well-fed. To live well. All ogres live well. Grur began to sniffle. Individual words were clear, but the overall meaning eluded. What do you want? What to help? “Meat,” he pointed to the mutilated remains of a hefty male chimpanzee. - There is an ogre, don’t give it to someone else. - The ogre will have a lot of meat. Always. Grur rumbled inwardly, irritated. What does she want, this strange creature in shiny skin? Not otherwise, he’s sucking up, he wants meat. Come on! - Leave! - Grur growled, clearly taking the club into his paw. - There is meat! Then it will happen again! The ogre will find it! - It's hard for an ogre to look for meat. It will be easy, no need to search. - Ahrrrr! - Having lost patience, Grur raised his club. There are a lot of them, such helpers when you eat meat. The air hit the ogre leader in the chest, throwing him away and knocking him over. The rest of the relatives jumped up with a roar, grabbing their clubs. The hunting instinct of the Gigantrops clearly dictated that a dangerous and strong enemy should be attacked all at once and immediately. Attack or die. And no one can resist a herd of ogres. And again an invisible tight wave struck, scattering the mighty hunters like little mice. Grur shook his head in shock, but there was no time to think. He grabbed the club. - Agryrrrr! The ogres, who came to their senses, also grabbed their clubs and surrounded the white figure, who was still standing motionless in the same place and, apparently, not even thinking about running away. - Ahrrrr! The concentric attack of four adult Gigantropes is crushing and inevitable. However, the alien figure made only a barely noticeable movement, and again the giants fly to the ground. “Varda, I’m curling up,” Elentari watched the growling hairy creatures with acute disappointment. "Maybe all is not lost?" “So far they are not communicating with me, but with personal security automation” - Why would the ogre attack? Elentari is easy to say. - Ahrrrr! The clubs bounce powerlessly off an invisible barrier, and after them the owners fly away - the security machine is cold and impassive. “And I’m already wondering. Are they actually able to retreat? Or will they fight until exhaustion?” “You’re interested, Maiar, but I’m tired of looking at these terrible faces. That’s it, I’m curling up.” “Wait. Try to strengthen the blow to the point of injury. Will they understand or not?” - Ahrrrr! Grur put all the strength and fury he had into this blow. The answer was terrible, as if a rhinoceros had struck him from a running start. A very, very large rhinoceros. - Ayyy! Four giant ogres lay haphazardly, knocked down by a terrible blow. Having caught his breath a little, the leader fumbled for the club, staggered, and stood up. Yes, this enemy is the enemy of all enemies. - Rrahrrrr! And again four monstrous primates go on the attack. “That’s it, Elentari. I understand. They do not instinctively have an escape option. This happens with very strong predators that no one except their brothers can resist. Remember that monstrous lizard on the Fourth Enigma? He attacked until the automatic defense beat him to death" "Try the plasma, Eli" A blinding ring of fire appeared around the white figure and quickly rushed towards the ogres, expanding. - Aaaaaaa!!! Grur rolled on the ground, the stench of burnt skin filled his nostrils. What pain... He already understood that he had lost. This creature is incredibly strong and terrible, it is stronger than all the ogres combined. They are defeated and now, without a doubt, they will die. No! Get up! Attack! - Ahrrrr!!! "Enough! , Eli. Leave them." The white figure disappeared the same way it appeared - it didn’t leave, didn’t run away, and didn’t even fall in place. Just once, and it was gone. “Hrrrr!” Grur was breathing heavily, whistling. The singed skin stung unbearably, but the soul was filled with joy. They still stood against the terrible alien. Ogres never retreat! Victory! ... The rabbit jumped out of the bushes, and Bumuba threw a stone at him with all his might. Blow! The animal jumped and fell to the ground, shaking its paws. The next moment, Bumuba caught up with his escaping prey. A couple of blows with a stick, and the rabbit fell silent. A soft glow spread in the air, overpowering the darkness that reigned under the jungle canopy. And right out of the air in front of Bumuba, a creature he had never heard of appeared. twice the height of any of Bumuba's relatives, with white shiny skin and hooves on long, strong legs. Bumuba did not look at the rest of the details, rushing away along with his prey. Anything incomprehensible is dangerous, especially if it is twice as tall as you. Some kind of strength suddenly braked him and lifted him into the air. The hunter fluttered desperately, but an invisible force held him gently and tenaciously. Don't break out. - Why should the hobbat run away? Mine won't make Bumuba feel bad. Bumuba twitched convulsively one last time and fell silent. Talking. But the monstrous kugus don’t talk. As soon as they see the hobbat, they overtake him and beat him with a club. And they eat. Maybe this one won't eat Bumuba? “It won’t,” the strange alien confirmed out loud the hobbat’s unspoken thought. - Mine doesn't eat meat. The hobbat is not afraid. Bumubu finally dared to look at the strange newcomer. Huge eyes, frightening in their depth, attracted. - My want to talk to you. Now the hobbat was completely at a loss. What, oh what should we talk about? If this lanky guy doesn’t eat meat, then why did he catch it? The red huru buru, which lives in trees, also does not eat meat. He eats fruits. But no one had ever seen Huru-Buru become interested in the hobbat. Don't touch him, and he won't touch you. - My desire is to help the hobbats. Despite the complexity and incomprehensibility of the situation, Bumuba could not stand it and laughed. He imagined how a lanky alien catches rabbits and looks for tasty larvae in rotten fallen trunks, and gives everything to Bumuba... no, this is very funny. “Let Bumubu go,” the hobbat asked quietly. For some time the stranger was silent, and only ants seemed to be running around in the hunter’s head. A very unpleasant feeling. “Varda, this is hopeless. The level of thinking... well, this is not thinking at all, to be honest. So, slightly voiced instincts and reflexes” “You’re probably right, Maiar” The force holding Bumuba in the air disappeared, and he plopped down on the ground Prone - All. Leave. The hobbat did not force himself to beg. He jumped up and dived into the bushes with enviable agility. The branches lashed his face and sides, scratched him, but the hobbat did not stop. Away from the strange alien! Having run a considerable distance, Bumuba finally stopped to catch his breath. And then I just remembered the rabbit. What a shame! What a loss... ... Soft music flowed, as if emerging from nowhere and everywhere at the same time, and through the overflow of the melody the barely audible murmur of water made its way. A tiny spring, lined with mossy stones, was hidden in thickets of exotic luminous flowers. Today the crew dined in the greenhouse. Near the table, laden with dishes, vases and tall jugs, Ilúvatar reclined on a transparent elastic bed. The rest of the crew chose to rest in gravitational cradles and hung in the air, not relying on anything. “So, let’s sum up the first results.” A three-dimensional image appeared in the air - a huge, furry hominid, only the face and hands were free of thick fur. "Elentari called him Yeti, for convenience. A large hominid, almost as tall as the Valar. Omnivorous, lives in mountainous regions of low latitudes and in high latitudes throughout the forest zone. Very strong and hardy. Solitary, secretive lifestyle. However, once a year, in the spring, when the local moon is in full phase, they gather together for mating games. There are only a few such places on the entire continent, but yetis easily cover long distances. They generally run quite quickly, despite their apparent clumsiness." "How they run is not important to us. But what about thinking?" “Well, what kind of thinking can a creature leading a solitary life, Varda, have? Reflexes and rudimentary speech, fifty monosyllable words. More like animal signals, even." "Iluvatar?" "My opinion is an absolutely hopeless species. Solitary creatures are practically unable to develop abstract thinking due to the lack of systematic communication with their relatives." For some time, the Valar looked at the image of a yeti slowly rotating in the air on a one-to-one scale. "It's a pity. Such a brain... Elentari?" "I agree with Ilu" "Well, Mayar has already spoken... Okay, colleagues." The image changed - instead of a tall hominid dressed in fur, a small and naked one hung in the air. Only on the head was preserved hairline. "The Hobbat, as one of them mentally called himself. Omnivorous, lives in the tropical zone. The basis of its diet is insects and wild fruits, but it does not disdain hunting small animals. The lifestyle is gregarious, with up to two dozen individuals in a flock. Females belong to all males according to the hierarchy in the pack." For some time, everyone looked at the image of the hobbat. "Ilu?" "I am in doubt. In great doubt, Va. Well, look, is this a brain? This is the cerebellum. It is unlikely that there are resources for development there. Even if instead of the current three hundred or four hundred words they master three thousand... In short, they will never have any giants of spirit and geniuses. All that can be obtained is a herd of trained talking animals, incapable of further independent development." "Eli?" "And again, Ilu and I agree in opinion." "Maiar?" "Also" "Good" A new picture appeared to replace the hobbat. Huge a hominid leaning on a club, fiercely and sullenly peering into the distance. “Creator, what a monster... Eli, you are a desperate woman.” “You’re funny, Ilu, but I still imagine these muzzles.” “So, colleagues, troll. An outright predator, and a very large one at that. They can lead a solitary lifestyle, but prefer a gregarious one. The brain volume is considerable, although the bulk of the neurons are motor, which is natural for such a large creature. Nevertheless, the brain potential is there. What are your opinions? Ilu?" "Perhaps. Although the level is still extremely low. They don't even know how to make fire, only maintain it. And speech is so primitive..." "It's not about speech. Speech can be easily structured, vocabulary can be increased... I am against it, Varda. Categorically. You did not look these creatures in the eyes. Believe me guys, nothing good will come of them. It is impossible to imagine that this planet will belong to such people... It will be horror. Killings for any reason and war to the end. Until the common end." For some time the Valar looked at the ogre in silence. "Eli is right. These are truly creatures" "I support" "Okay. Then here." In the place of the ogre-troll, a new character. Dressed in the skins of a hominid with a spear, the flint tip is tied with sinews. On the belt is a leather pouch with a stone ax. "Goblins, as Ilu dubbed them, or as they call themselves, orcs. A small hominid, omnivorous, but with a bias towards predators. They lead a gregarious lifestyle. The level is relatively high, they know how to make fire, make clothes and composite tools..." "Don't exaggerate. Of all the component weapons, they only have spears." "It's a start, then it's easier." "So shall I continue?" "Sorry, Varda." "Thank you. So, goblins. Brain resources are available, although not very large. What is your opinion, Ilu?" "I would take a closer look." "Eli?" "Their faces are stupid, whatever you want." "Faces, Eli, already faces." "Yes, let them be faces. Still stupid." "Maiar?" "Everything is better than trolls. You can try" "Okay. Well, the last view." A new image hung in the air - a man clutching a girl of about eight years old. "This is the one we saved. Homo, or in their language, “a real person.” Those sitting at the table began to smile. “So, a real one?” And all the others are fake, then?" "You know, Va, but I agree." - Elentari looked at Ad-Amm's face. - "He is the most like a genuine bearer of the High Intelligence, even if it is still latent." "But I don't" - Iluvatar changed his position: “As you wish, friends, but I am for genetic methods. Both orcs and homos do not fully meet the criteria of a carrier of High Intelligence." The orc and the man appeared nearby. The Valar looked at them for some time. "Well, then, so" - Varda stood up on her feet in one movement. - "This is what you will do, Ilu . Based on these” - a nod towards the aborigine with the girl - “you can try to create your ideal carriers of the High Intelligence” “I’ll do it, Va, you’re being ironic in vain” “Okay, okay. Well, for now we’ll work with the original views" ...

In 1872, a ship traveling from New York to Genoa with a cargo of alcohol on board was discovered by the Dei Grazia without a single person on board. All the personal belongings of the crew were in their places; in the captain’s cabin there was a box with his wife’s jewelry and her own sewing machine with unfinished sewing. True, the sextant and one of the boats disappeared, which suggests that the crew abandoned the ship.

"Lady Lovibond"

According to legend, the ship's captain, Simon Reed, contrary to naval beliefs, took a woman, his young wife, on board the ship. According to one version, his assistant was secretly in love with the young Mrs. Reed and at night steered the ship onto a sandbank. According to another, the crew members coveted the charms of the captain’s wife and, having hanged him, raped the woman and drank for three days. As a result, the ship crashed. One way or another, the woman was to blame.

Exactly fifty years after the sinking of the Lady Lovibond, several crews of merchant ships claimed to have seen the Lady at the wreck site. Boats were sent there, but rescuers were unable to find anyone.

"Octavius"

One of the first ghost ships. The Octavius became such because its crew froze to death in 1762 (at least the last entry in the logbook is dated that year), and the ship drifted for another 13 years and ended its voyage with the dead on board. The captain tried to find a shortcut from China to England through the Northwest Passage (a sea route through the Arctic Ocean), but the ship was covered in ice.

"Beichimo"

The cargo ship was built in 1911 and transported hides to northwest Canada. In 1931, the ship got stuck in ice during its next voyage. Only a week later the ice broke under the weight of the ship, and the voyage continued. However, 8 days later, history repeated itself. The crew went ashore, planning to wait for the thaw. But the next day the ship disappeared. The crew decided that the ship had sunk, but the coast guard reported that they saw the “Baichimo” 60 kilometers from the coast in the ice. The owner company decided to abandon the ship, as it was badly damaged, but it again escaped from captivity in the ice and plied the Bering Strait for another 38 years. In 2006, the Alaska government launched a campaign to capture "Baychimo", but the search was unsuccessful.

"Carroll A. Dearing"

An American five-masted cargo schooner was abandoned by its crew under unknown circumstances off Cape Hatteras in North Carolina (USA). The ship was returning from Rio de Janeiro, where it was transporting coal.

On January 9, 1921, the schooner left Barbados, where it made an intermediate stop. After that, a few days later she was seen in the area of the Bahamas, then in Cape Canaveral, and on January 31 she was found stranded off Cape Hatteral. There was not a single person on the ship. There were no rescue boats, but food was prepared in the galley. Rescuers also found a gray cat on the deck, which they took with them.

"Urang Medan"

In June 1947, the Silver Star received a distress signal from the Dutch ship Ourang Medan, which was in the Gulf of Malacca. Along with the signal, the message “Everyone is dead” was received. It will come for me soon." Inspired by this life-affirming message, Silver Star set out on a quest. The ship was found, but the entire crew, including the ship's dog, was dead. Despite the fact that death occurred about 8 hours ago, the corpses were still warm. There were no signs of violence on the bodies, but the arms of all the dead were extended forward, as if they were defending themselves.

It was decided to tow the ship to the port, but a fire started on it and then it exploded. As it later turned out, Ourang Medan was not assigned to any port. According to one version, the cause of death of the crew and the ship itself was the smuggling of nitroglycerin or nerve gas left over from the Second World War.

"Valencia"

The passenger liner Valencia sank off the coast of Vancouver in 1906. There were not enough rescue boats for everyone (it feels like we not only heard something similar, but even watched a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio...), and most of the passengers died. This, of course, led to the tragic story becoming overgrown with myths, and the Valencia is regularly seen by local sailors before a storm. And in 1970, a completely empty lifeboat from the Valencia washed ashore in excellent condition.

The story of the Flying Dutchman, a ghost ship that brings misfortune to sailors who meet it on its way, did not arise out of nowhere. Stumbling upon a half-submerged ship at sea, abandoned by its crew, but never sunk, is mortally dangerous.

Many people believe that ghost ships are something from centuries past. In fact, even today ships abandoned by their crews are still drifting in the oceans, causing a lot of trouble for both cargo ships and passenger liners.

“Baichimo” Photo: Frame youtube.com

"Baichimo": "Flying Dutchman" in the Arctic ice

The merchant ship "Baichimo" was built in 1911 in Sweden by order of Germany. The ship was intended to transport the skins of game animals. After World War I, the ship came under the British flag and sailed along the polar coasts of Canada and the USA.

In the fall of 1931, "Baychimo" with a cargo of furs fell into an ice trap off the coast of Alaska. In anticipation of a thaw and the release of the ship from captivity, the crew went ashore. Then a snowstorm broke out, and the sailors, who returned to the place where they left the Baichimo, discovered that it was gone. The crew believed that the ship sank.

However, after some time, information arrived that the ship was again trapped in ice and was located about 45 miles from the team’s camp.

They reached the Baychimo, but the ship's owners believed that its damage was so serious that it would inevitably sink. The ship was left in place, but, freed from ice captivity, it set off for free navigation.

Over the next 40 years, information regularly came in that the Baichimo continued its endless journey through the ice.

The last such information is dated 1969. In 2006, the Alaska government launched an operation to search for Baychimo, but it was unsuccessful. Most likely, the ship sank, but there is no reliable information about this. So it is possible that the northern “Flying Dutchman” will remind of itself.

"Reuun Maru": the trawler that did not want to die

The Japanese fishing trawler Reuun Maru was assigned to the port of Hachinohe in Aomori Prefecture. The ship's normal history ended on March 11, 2011, when the ship was swept out to sea during a powerful tsunami.

The owners believed that the ship had sunk. However, a year later, in March 2012, the trawler was spotted off the coast of British Columbia in Canada. "Reuun Maru" was rusty, but stayed quite confident on the water.

On April 1, 2012, the ship crossed the US waters. The Coast Guard concluded that the trawler posed a potential threat to shipping. Since the Japanese owners showed no interest in its fate, it was decided to destroy the Reuun Maru.

On April 5, a coast guard ship shot at a trawler. The Reuun Maru showed great survivability: despite the large amount of damage, the ghost ship sank to the bottom only after four hours. The trawler rests at a depth of 305 meters, 240 kilometers off the coast of Alaska.

Kaz-II: the mystery of the Australian catamaran

Yacht Kaz-II. Photo: Frame youtube.com

The Australian catamaran yacht Kaz-II was in the status of a ghost ship for only a few days, but that doesn’t make its story any less interesting.

On April 18, 2007, the yacht was accidentally spotted from a helicopter floating freely in the Great Barrier Reef area. Two days later, a maritime patrol boarded the yacht and found the vessel in perfect working order: the engine was running, there was no damage, untouched food and a laptop were found on the table. But there were no people on board.

It is known that on April 15, Kaz-II left Airlie Beach for Townsville. There were 3 people on board: a 56-year-old yacht owner Derek Batten and brothers Peter And James Tunstead, 69 and 63 years old, respectively. There were no signs indicating an accident or murder.

The vessel was towed to the Port of Townsville for further investigation. It was not possible to find the missing people or establish reliably what exactly happened.

The most likely version is that one of the brothers jumped into the water, trying to free a stuck fishing line, the second brother rushed to help a relative, and the owner of the yacht, trying to turn the catamaran closer to his friends, was hit by a sail into the ocean. As a result, all three drowned, and Kaz-II continued its voyage without people.

High Aim 6: Mutiny on a Ship

High Aim 6. Photo: Flickr.com / Ben Jensz

On January 8, 2003, the Taiwanese ship High Aim 6 was discovered off the northwestern coast of Australia.

The fishing ship left a Taiwanese port on October 31, 2002 under the flag of Indonesia. The last communication between the owner and the captain took place in December 2002.

By the time it was discovered, High Aim 6 was drifting in calm waters. The ship had no serious damage, the crew's belongings remained on board, the holds were filled with tuna, which had already begun to spoil, but there were no people on board.

The idea that people could have been washed overboard was rejected by meteorologists: there were almost ideal weather conditions in the High Aim 6 sailing area. The version about the seizure of the ship by pirates also did not look convincing, due to the fact that both the cargo and the valuables of the crew members remained untouched.

The 14 people on board disappeared without a trace. During the investigation, testimony was obtained from an Indonesian who claimed that a crew mutiny broke out on board High Aim 6, during which the captain and his assistant were killed. After this, the Indonesians who made up the crew boarded the boat and left the ship, and then returned home.

However, no reliable confirmation of this version was received.

The double-deck cruise ship, built in 1976 in Yugoslavia by order of the USSR, faithfully served as part of the Far Eastern Shipping Company for more than 20 years.

After this, Lyubov Orlova was sold to a company registered in Malta, seriously rebuilt, and used on Arctic sea cruises.

However, the new owners ultimately failed, and in 2010 the ship was seized for debt in a Canadian port.

The Lyubov Orlova remained there for two years, after which the ship was sold for scrap.

The ship was towed for disposal in the Dominican Republic, but a storm began, the ropes broke, and the Lyubov Orlova went free to sail in international waters.

They did not search for the ship, believing that it would soon sink.

The Lyubov Orlova was considered sunk until the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency satellite detected the ship 1,700 km off the coast of Ireland in February 2013.

In January 2014, The Mirror reported that the coast services of Great Britain and Ireland were on high alert due to the fact that the former Soviet cruise ship Lyubov Orlova was approaching the territorial waters of these countries from the depths of the Atlantic. The information, however, was not confirmed.

Experts believe that the Lyubov Orlova should have sunk back in 2013 due to strong storms. However, there is still no confirmation of the death of the ghost ship.

According to sailors, ghost ships or phantoms that appear on the horizon and disappear, portend trouble. The same goes for ships abandoned by their crews. Mysterious circumstances and an unusual flair of eerie romance accompany these stories. The ocean hides its secrets, and we decided to remember all these legends - from the Flying Dutchman and the Mary Celeste, to lesser-known ghost ships. You may not have known about many of them.

The ocean is one of the largest and most unexplored areas of the Earth. In fact, the ocean covers up to 70% of the globe's surface. The ocean is so little explored that, according to Scientific American, humans have mapped less than 0.05% of the ocean floor.

In this situation, all these stories do not seem so incredible. And there are a great many of them - stories about ships that are lost in the seas, and all these empty ships, drifting without a purpose and a crew on board... They are called ghost ships. The entire crew died, or disappeared for unknown reasons...there were many such finds. The mysterious circumstances surrounding the death or disappearance of these teams, even today, with all the technological advances and research methods, remain mysterious. And no one can still explain the disappearance of people on board. Why did the entire crew leave the ship, which is left to drift, and where did they all go? Storms, pirates, disease...maybe they sailed away on boats...one way or another, many crews mysteriously disappeared without explanation. The sea knows how to keep secrets, and is reluctant to part with them. Many disasters that occurred in the sea will remain a mystery to everyone.

15. "Ourang Medan" (Orang Medan, or Orange Medan)

This Dutch merchant ship became known as a ghost ship in the late 1940s. In 1947, the Orang Medan was shipwrecked in the Dutch East Indies, and an SOS signal was received by two American ships, the City of Baltimore and the Silver Star, sailing through the Strait of Malacca.
And the sailors of two American ships received an SOS signal from the cargo ship Orang Medan. The signal was transmitted by a crew member who was extremely frightened and reported that the rest of his crew were dead. After this the connection was interrupted. Arriving on the ship, the entire crew was found dead - the bodies of the sailors froze, as if in an attempt to defend themselves, but the source of the threat was never discovered.

An article written in the late 1960s by the US Coast Guard said the bodies showed no visible signs of damage. The cargo ship was reportedly transporting sulfuric acid that was improperly packaged. After the Silver Star's crew quickly evacuated and the Americans abandoned the ship, they hoped to tow it to shore. But a fire suddenly broke out on the ship, followed by an explosion and the ship sank, which led to the final death of the merchant ship. The widow of one of the sailors who died on Ourang Medan has a photograph of the ship and crew.

14. "Copenhagen"

One of the maritime mysteries is the disappearance without a trace of one of the newest and most reliable ships of the 20th century, the five-masted Copenhagen. In the entire history of the sailing fleet, only six ships similar to the Copenhagen were built, and she was the third largest in the world in the year of construction - in 1921. She was built for the Danish East Asia Company in Scotland - at the shipyard of Romeage and Fergusson in the small town of Leith near Aberdeen. The hull was made of high-quality steel, there was a ship's own power plant on board, all deck winches were equipped with electric drives, which significantly saved time on sailing operations, and even a ship's radio station. The double-deck steel Copenhagen was a training and production vessel that made regular voyages and carried cargo. The last radio communication session with Copenhagen took place on December 21, 1928. There was no reliable information about the fate of the huge sailing ship and the 61 people on board.

A reward was offered to anyone who could indicate the location of the missing ship. Requests were sent to all ports: to report possible contacts with Copenhagen. But the captains of only two ships responded to this call - the Norwegian and English ships. Both stated that, while passing through the southern part of the Atlantic, they contacted the Danes, and they were all right. The East Asian Company first sent the Ducalien ship to search for the missing ship (but it returned empty-handed), and then the Mexico, which also found nothing. In 1929 in Copenhagen, a commission to investigate the disappearance of the ship concluded that “a training sailing ship, the five-masted barque “Copenhagen”, with 61 people on board, died due to the action of irresistible forces of nature... the ship suffered a disaster so quickly that its crew was unable to broadcast an SOS distress signal or launch lifeboats or rafts.”

At the end of 1932, in southwest Africa, in the Namib Desert, one of the British expeditions discovered seven withered skeletons dressed in tattered sea jackets. Based on the structure of the skulls, researchers determined that they were Europeans. Based on the pattern on the copper buttons of the peacoats, experts determined that they belonged to the uniform of the Danish Merchant Navy cadets. However, this time the owners of the East Asian Company no longer had any doubts, because before 1932, only one Danish training ship, the Copenhagen, suffered a disaster. And 25 years later, on October 8, 1959, the captain of the cargo ship from the Netherlands “Straat Magelhes” Piet Agler, while near the southern coast of Africa, saw a sailboat with five masts. It appeared out of nowhere, as if it had emerged from the depths of the ocean, and with all sails was heading straight towards the Dutch... The crew managed to prevent a collision, after which the sailing ship disappeared, but the crew managed to read the inscription on board the ghost ship - “København”.

13. "Baychimo"

The Baychimo was built in Sweden in 1911 by order of a German trading company. After World War I it was taken over by Great Britain and transported furs for the next fourteen years. In early October 1931, the weather deteriorated sharply, and a few miles off the coast near the town of Barrow, the ship became stuck in the ice. The team temporarily abandoned the ship and found shelter on the mainland. A week later the weather cleared, the sailors returned on board and continued sailing, but already on October 15, Baychimo again fell into an ice trap.
This time it was impossible to get to the nearest city - the crew had to arrange a temporary shelter on the shore, far from the ship, and here they were forced to spend a whole month. In mid-November there was a snowstorm that lasted for several days. And when the weather cleared on November 24, Baychimo was no longer in its original place. The sailors believed that the ship had been lost in a storm, but a few days later a local seal hunter reported seeing Baychimo about 45 miles from their camp. The team found the ship, removed its precious cargo and left it forever.
This is not the end of the Baychimo story. For the next 40 years, it was occasionally seen drifting along the northern coast of Canada. Attempts were made to get on board the ship, some were quite successful, but due to weather conditions and the poor condition of the hull, the ship was abandoned again. The last time Baychimo was seen was in 1969, that is, 38 years after its crew abandoned it - at that time the frozen ship was part of an ice massif. In 2006, the Alaska government made an attempt to determine the location of the "Ghost Ship of the Arctic", but in vain. Where Baychimo is now - whether it lies at the bottom or is covered with ice beyond recognition - is a mystery.

12. Valencia

The Valencia was built in 1882 by William Cramp and Sons. The steamboat was most often used on the California-Alaska route. In 1906, the Valencia sailed from San Francisco to Seattle. A terrible disaster occurred on the night of January 21-22, 1906, when Valencia was near Vancouver. The steamer ran into reefs and received large holes through which water began to flow. The captain decided to run the ship aground. 6 out of 7 boats were launched, but they became victims of a powerful storm; only a few people managed to get to the shore and report the disaster. The rescue operation was unsuccessful and most of the crew and passengers died. According to official information, 136 people became victims of the shipwreck; according to unofficial information, even more - 181. 37 people survived.

In 1933, lifeboat No. 5 was found near Barclay. Its condition was good, the boat retained most of its original paint. The lifeboat was found 27 years after the disaster! After this, local fishermen began to talk about the appearance of a ghost ship, which in outline resembled the Valencia.

11. Yacht SAYO; Manfred Fritz Bayorath

The 12-meter yacht SAYO, which disappeared seven years ago, was found drifting 40 miles from Barobo by Filipino fishermen. The boat's mast was broken and most of the interior was filled with water. When they got on board, they saw a mummified body near the radiotelephone. Based on photographs and documents found on board, it was quickly possible to identify the deceased. It turned out to be the owner of the yacht, yachtsman from Germany Manfred Fritz Bayorat. Bayorat's body was mummified under the influence of salt and high temperatures.

A drifting ship with the captain's mummy discovered off the coast of the Philippines surprised many. German traveler Manfred Fritz Bayorath was an experienced sailor who traveled on this yacht for 20 years. Judging by the pose in which the captain's mummy froze, in the last hours of his life he tried to contact rescuers. The cause of his death still remains a mystery.

10. "Lunatic"

In 2007, 70-year-old Jure Sterk from Slovenia set off on a trip around the world on his “Lunatic”. To communicate with the shore, he used a radio he assembled with his own hands, but on January 1, 2009, he stopped communicating. A month later, his boat washed up on the coast of Australia, but there was no one on board.
Those who saw the ship believe it was approximately 1,000 nautical miles off the coast.
The sailboat was in excellent shape and appeared undamaged. There was no sign of Sterk there. No note or journal entry about the reasons for his disappearance. Although the last entry in the journal dates back to January 2, 2009. And at the end of April 2019, “Lunatic” was spotted at sea by the crew of the research vessel “Roger Revelle”. It was drifting about 500 miles off the coast of Australia. His exact coordinates at that time were Latitude 32-18.0S, Longitude 091-07.0E.

9. "The Flying Dutchman"

The "Flying Dutchman" refers to several different ghost ships from different centuries. One of them is the real owner of the brand. The one with whom the trouble happened at the Cape of Good Hope.
This is a legendary ghost sailing ship that cannot land on the shore and is doomed to forever roam the seas. Usually people observe such a ship from afar, sometimes surrounded by a luminous halo. According to legend, when the Flying Dutchman encounters another ship, its crew tries to send messages ashore to people who have long been dead. In maritime beliefs, an encounter with the Flying Dutchman was considered a bad omen.
Legend has it that in the 1700s, Dutch captain Philip Van Straaten was returning from the East Indies with a young couple on board. The captain liked the girl; he killed her betrothed, and proposed to her to become his wife, but the girl threw herself overboard. While trying to round the Cape of Good Hope, the ship encountered a severe storm. The navigator offered to wait out the bad weather in some bay, but the captain shot him and several dissatisfied people, and then swore by his mother that none of the crew would go ashore until they rounded the cape, even if it took forever. The captain, a foul-mouthed and blasphemous man, brought a curse upon his ship. Now he, immortal, invulnerable, but unable to go ashore, is doomed to plow the waves of the world's oceans until the second coming.
The first printed mention of the Flying Dutchman appeared in 1795 in the book A Voyage to Botany Bay.

8. “High Em 6”

This ghost ship was reported to have left a port in southern Taiwan on October 31, 2002. Subsequently, on January 8, 2003, the Indonesian fishing schooner Hi Em 6 was found adrift without a crew near New Zealand. Despite a thorough search, no trace of the 14 team members could be found. The captain reportedly last contacted the ship's owner, Tsai Huan Chue-er, in late 2002.

Oddly enough, the only crew member who showed up later reported that the captain had been killed. Whether there was a rebellion and its reasons are unclear. Initially, the entire crew was missing, and when the ship was discovered, no one was found. According to the results of the investigation, there were no signs of distress or fire on the ship. However, it was said that the ship could be carrying illegal immigrants. Which also doesn't explain anything...

7. Phantom Galleon

Legends about this ship began in the late 1800s when it was built. The ship was going to be built from wood. Once at sea, among the ice, the wooden ship froze into part of the iceberg. Eventually, the water began to warm up, the weather changed, it became warmer, and the iceberg sank the ship. The White Fleet searched for its ship throughout the winter, each time returning to port empty-handed, under cover of fog. At some point, it became so warm that the ship thawed and separated from the iceberg, and rose to the surface, where it was discovered by the crew of the White Fleet. Unfortunately, the crew of the galleon was killed; the remains of the ship were towed to the port.

6. "Octavius"

One of the first ghost ships, the Octavius became one because its crew froze to death in 1762, and the ship drifted for another 13 years with the dead on board. The captain tried to find a short route from China to England through the Northwest Passage (a sea route through the Arctic Ocean), but the ship was covered in ice. Octavius left England and headed for America in 1761. Trying to save time, the captain decided to follow the then-unexplored Northwest Passage, which was first successfully completed only in 1906. The ship got stuck in the Arctic ice, the unprepared crew froze to death - the discovered remains indicate that this happened quite quickly. It is assumed that some time later Octavius was freed from the ice and, with its dead crew, drifted on the open sea. After an encounter with whalers in 1775, the ship was never seen again.
The English merchant ship Octavius was discovered drifting west of Greenland on October 11, 1775. A crew from the whaler Whaler Herald boarded and found the entire crew frozen. The captain's body was in his cabin; he died while writing in the logbook; he remained sitting at the table with a pen in his hand. There were three more frozen bodies in the cabin: a woman, a child wrapped in a blanket, and a sailor. The whaler's boarding crew left Octavius in a hurry, taking with them only the logbook. Unfortunately, the document was so damaged by cold and water that only the first and last pages could be read. The journal ended with an entry from 1762. This meant that the ship had been drifting with the dead on board for 13 years.

5. Corsair "Duc de Dantzig"

This ship was launched in the early 1800s in Nantes, France, and soon became a corsair. Corsairs are private individuals who, with the permission of the supreme power of a warring state, used an armed vessel to capture merchant ships of the enemy, and sometimes even neutral powers. The same title applies to their team members. The concept of “corsair” in the narrow sense is used to characterize specifically French and Ottoman captains and ships.

The corsair captured several ships, some were plundered, and some were set free. After capturing small ships, most often the corsair abandoned the captured ships, sometimes setting them on fire. Mysteriously, this ship disappeared in 1812. Since then he has become a legend. It is believed that shortly after her mysterious disappearance, this corsair may have been a cruiser in the Atlantic Ocean or perhaps in the Caribbean. There are rumors that it may have been captured by a British frigate. Napoleonic Gallego reported the discovery of this ship, drifting at sea completely aimlessly, with the deck covered in blood and covered with the corpses of the crew. However, there were no visible signs of damage to the vessel. The frigate's crew allegedly found and took the logbook, covered in the captain's blood, and then set the ship on fire.

4. Schooner "Jenny"

It is stated that the schooner Jenny, originally English, left port on the Isle of Wight in 1822 for the Antarctic regatta. The voyage was supposed to take place along the ice barrier in 1823, then it was planned to enter the ice in southern waters, and reach Drake Passage.
But a British schooner got stuck in the ice of the Drake Passage in 1823. But it was discovered only 17 years later: in 1840, a whaling ship called Nadezhda stumbled upon it. The bodies of the Jenny crew members were well preserved due to the low temperatures. The ship took its place in the history of ghost ships, and in 1862 it was included in the list of Globus, a popular German geographical magazine of those times.

3. Sea Bird

Most “encounters” with ghost ships are pure fiction, but there were also very real stories. Losing a vessel or ship in the infinity of the world's oceans is not so difficult. And it's even easier to lose people.
In the 1750s, Sea Bird was a trading brig under the command of John Huxham. A merchant ship ran aground off Easton Beach, Rhode Island. The crew disappeared to an unknown location - the ship was abandoned by them without any explanation, and the lifeboats were missing. It was reported that the ship was returning from a voyage from Honduras, carrying goods from the southern to the northern hemisphere, and was expected to arrive in the city of Newport. Upon further investigation, coffee was found boiling on the stove on the abandoned ship... The only living creatures that were found on board were a cat and a dog. The crew mysteriously disappeared. An account of the ship's history was recorded in Wilmington, Delaware and made news in the Sunday Morning Star in 1885.

2. "Mary Celeste" (or Celeste)

The second most popular ghost ship after the Flying Dutchman - however, unlike it, it really existed. “Amazon” (as the ship was originally called) was notorious. The ship changed owners many times, the first captain died during the first voyage, then the ship ran aground during a storm, and finally it was bought by an enterprising American. He renamed the Amazon the Mary Celeste, believing that the new name would save the ship from trouble.
When the ship left the port of New York on November 7, 1872, there were 13 people on board: Captain Briggs, his wife, their daughter and 10 sailors. In 1872, a ship traveling from New York to Genoa with a cargo of alcohol on board was discovered by the Dei Grazia without a single person on board. All the personal belongings of the crew were in their places; in the captain’s cabin there was a box with his wife’s jewelry and her own sewing machine with unfinished sewing. True, the sextant and one of the boats disappeared, which suggests that the crew abandoned the ship. The ship was in good condition, the holds were filled with food, the cargo (the ship was carrying alcohol) was intact, but no traces of the crew were found. The fate of all crew members and passengers is completely shrouded in darkness. Subsequently, several impostors appeared and were exposed, posing as crew members and trying to profit from the tragedy. Most often, the impostor posed as the ship's cook.

The British Admiralty conducted a thorough investigation with a detailed examination of the ship (including below the waterline, by divers) and a thorough interview with eyewitnesses. It is the materials of this investigation that are the main and most reliable source of information. Plausible explanations of what happened boil down to the fact that the crew and passengers left the ship of their own free will, differing only in the interpretation of the reasons that prompted them to such a decision. There are many hypotheses, but they are all just assumptions.

1. Cruiser USS Salem (CA-139)

The cruiser USS Salem was laid down in July 1945 at Bethlehem Steel Company's Quincy Yard, launched in March 1947, and entered service on May 14, 1949. For ten years, the ship served as the flagship of the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean, and the Second Fleet in Atlantic.The ship was placed in reserve in 1959. She was removed from the fleet in 1990, and opened to the public as a museum in 1995. USS Salem is now docked in Boston, Massachusetts in Quincy Harbor.

Boston, one of the oldest cities in the United States, has several spooky historic ships and buildings on display. This ship, being an old warship, is a bundle of stories - from the dark sights of war to the loss of life, if you get a chance to take a tour there, you will be able to experience the thrill and chills of all the ghosts of this ship. He's been nicknamed the "Sea Witch" and is rumored to be so creepy that you can feel the chill just by looking at his photo online.

Made and sent by Anatoly Kaidalov.
_____________________

"Aurora" 5
Great initiative 8
Conversation in Smolny 28
The case with armored cars 37
Exit to fairway 51
At Nikolaevsky Bridge 60
Shot from Aurora 67
Commissioner's report 84
Biography of ship 93

Every year, in the haze of a festive November evening, a tall silhouette of a ship appears over the Neva. Its hull, masts, forecastle gun and three thin long pipes are bordered by garlands of electric lights. On the facade of the bridge, as if on the chest of a warrior, the illuminated Order of the Red Banner glows with ruby.
This is the cruiser "Aurora", the immortal ship of the revolution, the name of which is beautiful, like the original meaning of the word that has come to us from ancient times: "Aurora" means "morning dawn" - scarlet and golden light along the horizon before sunrise.

"Aurora"

On a sunny November morning, so rare in the autumn season in the Baltic regions, on the eve of the holiday dedicated to the anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, a short elderly man stopped at the pier at the mouth of the Bolshaya Nevka, near which the red banner cruiser Aurora was moored. Nothing made him stand out from the multitude of people who visited the pier every day.
1 Moored - tied with ropes.
Like all of them, he looked at the huge ship with curiosity.
The heavy building of the Aurora towered over the granite embankment not far from the building of the Leningrad Nakhimov School. The ship lived. Light smoke curled from its chimneys, rising into the cloudless sky, towards the sun.
Unusual sailors were busily scurrying about on the deck and bridges: teenagers dressed in black naval uniforms - young students of the Nakhimov School, which now owned the cruiser Aurora.
Having examined the cruiser from the pier, the stranger stepped onto the gangway1 and presented his document to the watchman2.
1 Ladder - a staircase on a ship.
2 Watchman - the person on duty on the ship.
- Hello shift! - he said smiling.
The watchman read the document and, saluting, showed the visitor to the door of the aft vestibule3.
3 Aft vestibule - a room like a booth on the aft part of the upper deck.
The guest grinned:
- I haven’t forgotten the way! The ship is familiar to me... Is the commander at home?
And, having learned that he was waiting for him, he leisurely headed to the aft vestibule.
There the guest was met by the gray-haired ship commander.
The newcomer identified himself.
“We’ve been wanting to see you for a long time,” said the commander, shaking the guest’s hand. - So you received our letter, Comrade Belyshev?
He invited him inside the ship.
The guest spent the whole day on board the school cruiser, examined the nooks and crannies of the engine room and greatly surprised the Nakhimovites with their excellent knowledge of their ship. Watching the stranger in civilian clothes, they expressed to each other the guess that the guest must have once served on the Aurora. The guess was confirmed. In the evening, when the students gathered in the spacious room of the ship's club, the commander introduced them to the guest:
- Comrades Nakhimovites! Among us is the honorary Auror Alexander Viktorovich Belyshev. He will talk about the greatest historical events that took place on the cruiser Aurora in nineteen seventeen. Now you will learn from a participant in these events why the day when the people took power into their own hands is the ship holiday of our cruiser. This is a high honor, which is awarded to only two ships: the Red Banner
"Aurora" and the battleship "October Revolution" ... I give the floor to Comrade Belyshev.

Great initiative

This time is buzzing
telegraph wire.
This
heart
together with the truth.
It was
about the fighters,
or country
or
in heart
was
in my.
V. Mayakovsky

February 1917 in Petrograd was gloomy. A short stormy day fades before it has time to flare up. The damp haze, thickening, envelops the upper floors of city buildings all night, creeps under the humpbacked bridges of frozen canals, along the wide clearings of extinct avenues, spreads on the slippery granite of the Neva, Moika, and Fontanka embankments. Morning is like evening twilight. The wet windows of the houses glisten sadly. Not a single light in the windows or street lamps. Occasionally, an empty tram will rush past, thundering, pieces of ice, undermined by dampness, will rattle in the drain pipes, falling
an icicle falls from the cornice onto the sidewalk, scatters into a thousand splashing needles, they crunch under the feet of a passer-by - and again there is silence, so unusual in the working-class neighborhoods near the Moscow and Narvskaya outposts, on the Vyborg side and on the outskirts of the Kolomensky district, near the commercial port.
Peter is on strike.
At the entrance booth of the Franco-Russian shipbuilding and ship repair plant, chilled people are huddling against the gates: delegates of the striking workers of the Kolomna region. They were sent to the sailors of the cruiser Aurora, moored at the pier of the factory harbor.
Two of them - sedate, gray-haired - argue in a low voice with an old acquaintance - the watchman Ignatich. The watchman persuades the delegates to go home before it’s too late. Otherwise, they will catch the eye of the guard officer. He won’t beg: he’ll arrest you, and that’s the end of the conversation. There's no way to get on the ship anyway. The road to it is through the factory yard, and the factory is guarded in the evening by a combined infantry battalion of the Semenovsky and Kexholm regiments. The battalion is subordinate to the cruiser commander, captain first rank Nikolsky.
The third delegate - in a soldier's overcoat without a strap - clung to the gap between the doors. Through the crack you can see mounds of stale snow in a cluttered courtyard, dirty workshop buildings, an ice-bound square harbor, above it - a gray block topped with three huge pipes, taller than the factory roofs: the cruiser Aurora. Near the gangway, lowered from the stern of the ship onto the quay wall, the watchman stands motionless. Constantly blocking it, a soldier with a rifle on his shoulder walks past the gap.
“They walk and stomp around...” grumbles a man in an overcoat. - And there are no naval ones in sight. Oh, if only they could help! ..
- “Oh, if only”!.. - hearing his grumbling, the watchman imitates. - No naval personnel from the ship today. And they are not allowed into the workshop. The commander forbade it.
“It means he doesn’t rely on the sailors,” guesses one of the gray-haired delegates.
“That’s why they asked Semenovdev,” adds the second. - The Tsar’s faithful servants. In the fifth year, Moscow was flooded with blood, and now they are getting to us.
“Maybe so,” the watchman agrees, “but I only heard from the soldiers that whoever was arrested was ordered to take everyone to the cruiser, to a punishment cell.” So I say in a good way: get out of here.
The delegates frown.
- You're talking nonsense, Ignatych! - the man in the overcoat responds. - The navy will not go against the people. Our life is a dog's life, and theirs is completely... We talked with their machinists in the workshop. People are like newborns: they knew nothing while swimming in the sea. The gentlemen buried the truth, but now the sailors' eyes are open...
A push in the back interrupts the man in the overcoat.
The gates creak, letting the infantry officer on duty through. Soldiers appear behind him, guns at the ready.
- Are you agitating, my dear? - the officer says sarcastically. - Take! And these. - He points to the gray-haired workers.
Having surrounded the delegates, the soldiers take them to the factory yard.
In the foggy darkness the figure of a watchman at the entrance booth looms black and lonely.
Silence.

The door connecting the engine room with the propeller shaft corridor is ajar. Near her, warily listening to the silence, stands a man in an oil-stained blouse. He holds the turned piece in front of him and, without looking, moves a piece of rag over it. The man’s gaze is directed upward, to the web of ladders, to the exit from the engine room to the middle deck.
Portable electric lamps, hanging from the ramps, dimly illuminate the disassembled car. There is disorder and dirt everywhere, the coldness of metal emanates, shapeless shadows are piled up.
"Aurora" is undergoing major repairs.
For four months, frozen cables have held the ship against the wall. Electric cables meander across the factory yard and into the living decks: the current is supplied from the shore, because the ship's dynamo is inactive. The main machines and auxiliary mechanisms were torn apart, the fires in the furnaces were extinguished; Only the boiler, which supplies heat to the steam heating pipes, is left in operation. The appearance of the cruiser is also unsightly. The paint on the sides is peeling. Here and there there are square holes where the sheets were removed for replacement. Stripes of blackened snow are visible on the yards and the landing platform. The upper deck is dirty, as if after loading coal. From morning until dusk, blacksmith forges smoke on it, layering soot. On the gazebos lowered overboard, the factory boilermakers are swarming around, drilling the hull minutely and hammering rivets into it. Mechanics, turners, ship drivers, and stokers scurry along the steep ladders. They are indistinguishable from each other - they are alike, like twins: yesterday's artisans, now sailors on the engine crew of the cruiser Aurora, and workers in the mechanical shop of the Franco-Russian plant.
The ship lives with the usual hustle and bustle after three months of repairs. And suddenly everything is interrupted by a strike. The forges go out, and you can’t hear the rattling sound of pneumatic hammers. Deserted on the piers, there is a stand at the flagpole1 at the stern there is a watchman.
1 Flagpole - a pole to the top of which a flag is attached.
And in the cozy salon, the commander of the Aurora, captain first rank Nikolsky, shouts at representatives of the plant administration. The representatives make excuses. It's not a matter of a penny increase. They agree to silence the slaves' mouths with a nickel, but the strike is political. It covers the largest enterprises in the country. The police are powerless. Act, Mr. Nikolsky, the word is yours... Do not forget that the commander of the Petrograd Military District ordered you to suppress the strike in the Kolomensky district adjacent to the plant by any means.
And Nikolsky acts. He forbids the crew to go ashore - not only to the city, but even to the workshops where the ship's engineers helped mechanics repair parts removed from the ship - and hurries to demand several companies of the Semenovsky regiment to the territory of the plant. There is little hope for the Kexholm soldiers: they are in favor of the striking workers. He hurries up the report of senior officer Ogranovich. The senior officer reports that he managed to find out through spies - the ship's priest Pokrovsky and boatswain1 Serov: the crew is in favor of the strikers.
1 Boatswain's mate - boatswain's assistant. The boatswain is the senior sailor on a ship.
Three months of communication with the shore played a role: the sailors are aware of the events taking place in the country and will not pacify the workers... For the hundredth time, annoyed that the war provided the opportunity for more than the required number of artisans to enter the service of the fleet, Ogranovich says that the machine command is completely unreliable. The commander does not share all the concerns of the senior officer. He is confident in the sailors’ habit of obedience, does not want to consider the sailors subordinate to him as people, and explains the mood of the sailors only by the influence of the striking workers. This zealous servant of the sworn enemies of the people does not see and, like Ogranovich, does not understand the main thing: the sailors of the Baltic Fleet, including the crew of the cruiser Aurora, not only do not want to follow the orders of the authorities and pacify the striking workers, but have long been ready for revolutionary actions against the common enemy of the working people - against the class of capitalists and landowners. For several years, underground revolutionary organizations have existed on many ships. All of them are part of the main Kronstadt collective of the military organization of the Bolshevik Party. They act under the leadership of the Central and Petrograd Committees of the Bolshevik Party, prepare Baltic sailors for a general armed uprising, and carry out revolutionary work in the fleet according to the instructions of V. I. Lenin and I. V. Stalin.
Denying the sailors of the cruiser the right to human dignity, Nikolsky does not intend to take into account the mood of the crew. By his order, the soldiers bring to the ship the people arrested at the checkpoint and hand them over to boatswain Serov.
The boatswain pushes the workers into the punishment cell, but does not manage to do this unnoticed by the sailors.
The bolt rattles, and, like a loud bell, the indignant voice of sailor Osipenko flies around the forecastle:
- The Aurora is being turned into a floating prison!
Serov points at the sailor and suddenly sees in front of him many eyes lit with indignation. Turning white, he rushes to Ogranovich’s cabin, accompanied by furious cries:
- Informer!
- A ship is not a prison! This should not happen!
- We are sailors, not jailers!
- Don’t let me go - we’ll free you ourselves!
“Dispersing through the cockpits, the sailors for the first time, without fear, publicly recall much that their memory has accumulated over the years of their service in the tsarist fleet. How can one forget the injury of driver Popov, who was beaten by non-commissioned officer Pishchalnikov, or the story of fireman Orlovsky! The driver's eardrum burst from a blow to the ear, and the non-commissioned officer got away with receiving a reduced salary for five months. Sergeant Major Tebenkov brutally beat the fireman, but the senior officer Ogranovich, who patronized Tebenkov, managed to turn the matter around in such a way that Orlovsky was put on trial and sentenced to a year in prison... for “beating” the sergeant major!
There is no point in seeking protection from the commander and senior officer. They both set an example for the non-commissioned officers.
The cup of patience is full. Whose face does not burn from slaps, from bitter resentment for the vile humiliations invented by Ogranovich and his henchmen! The sailor's account is long. Time multiplies it.
The cockpits are noisy:
- Belyshev! Where is Belyshev?..
The ship's carpenter Timofey Lipatov does not leave the middle deck platform, but rolls into the engine room.
Drivers surround him:
- What happened, brother?
Lipatov talks about the events upstairs.
The hot-tempered southerner Minakov throws a file at the wall with all his might:
- Enough!
Someone's hand, smelling of metal and grease, clamps over the driver's mouth.
- Don't boil! - Retracting his hand, a lean, very young man, short in stature, in a blue robe1 and a cap pulled down over his large ears, gently reasoned with Minakov. - You'll just become hoarse to no avail.
Minakov is shaking with excitement.
- Belyshev! Shura! - he almost moans. - How long can I endure? What are the gentlemen up to?!
“And we’ll think of our own,” Belyshev answers coldly.
The drivers move closer to him:
- Tell me, Shura, what to do?
They wait, ready for anything, without taking their eyes off the man recognized as the leader of the machine team - friends, comrades, people of different crafts, but of the same class, proletarians who have nothing to lose except their chains.
1 Sailors call work clothes a robe.
Three years ago, roads converged and the friendship of the turner of the textile factory in Nerekhta Belyshev, the Ural miner Nevolin, the Odessa ship repairman Minakov, the mechanic Krasnov from Vyazniki, the St. Petersburg, Moscow, Ivanovo craftsmen - Lukichev, Babin, Khaberev, Belov, formed into a strong sea knot. Starinov and Foteev, mobilized into the fleet before the war. They brought with them to the cockpits, to the bottom of the holds of the engine and boiler rooms, hatred of the predatory war started by the capitalists and landowners, of police brutality and massacres, legalized in the tsarist fleet. And the sailors jealously protect their leaders from the senior officer's spies.
The list of politically unreliable Aurors does not include two people: among the combatants on the upper deck there is a master carpenter, a stocky Tambovite Timofey Lipatov, and below, in the stuffy boxes of cars and stokers, is the hereditary turner Alexander Belyshev.
“Kostya,” Belyshev addresses the bilge engineer Starinov, “run for Ivanov.” - Taking a candle out of his pocket, he lights it. - Let's go into the tunnel, comrades! It’s no good to interpret in plain sight. You, Alexey,” he punishes Minakova, “take care of the ladder.” Just a little click.
The drivers and Lipatov dive in single file into the corridor of the propeller shaft. As soon as the tunnel swallows them, out of breath Starinov and electrician Ivanov run into the engine room.
Minakov waves at the tunnel door. The electrician, surprised, climbs in after Starinov. The tunnel is tight. The candle smokes, crackling. Shadows dance on the damp walls. The drivers squat at the propeller shaft.
“To protest in words is to rage in vain,” Belyshev convinces. - Those arrested will not be released freely. What do you say, Timofey?
Lipatov is laconic:
- I can vouch for the combatant’s quarters. People are seething. The other day Serov again beat a man bloody. Signalman Vedyakin. Unbearable!
Belyshev turns to the electrician:
- Do you remember what we talked about in the machine shop? Have you changed your mind? Are you taking it?
Ivanov nods in agreement.
“We talked about this,” Belyshev explains to others: “at evening prayer, when the commander and others come to the church deck, after the words: “... and bless your property,” the first thing to do is to cut the wires and deal with their nobles in the dark. Suitable?
The drivers and Lipatov approve.
- Give no quarter to either the tyrant Nikolsky or the crab-eater Ogranovich. We'll deal with them and free the factory workers.
- And then?
“Polundra!” Minakov warns in a booming whisper.
1 Polundra! - Be careful!
Having blown out the candle, Belyshev leans towards Lipatov:
- Tell Alontsev to notify the radio operators. Warn Vekshin: as a messenger, it’s convenient for him, let him see Bakhmurtsev. I’ll go down to Marushkin’s stoker’s room later myself.
- I’ll tell you, Shura.
Lipatov silently gets out of the tunnel and barely has time to sneak under the ladder to the emergency exit.
- Truly you are in the underworld! - is heard above the heads of the drivers.
- Long-maned bacon! - Minakov mutters with hatred.
The iron ladder, shaking, rings under the pressure of the heels.
The ship's priest Pokrovsky, Ogranovich's right hand in supervising the crew, descends into the engine room. Folding his chubby fingers together, he sweeps the sign of the cross over the disassembled mechanisms and suspiciously inspects the machinists.
The sailors have been here for a long time. Everyone is busy with their own business. Files in deft hands sing like crickets, hammers knock.
Renovations are in full swing.

It's stuffy in the cockpit. The frosty air from the fan is not refreshing. The beds stretched along the ceiling are empty. The drivers sit around the table.
The guitar strums sadly, the driver Bragin sings mournfully:
... Corpses wander in the sea,
The waves carry them green.
Hands tied with elbows to back,
Their faces are covered with bags of tar,
The uniform is stained with black blood -
These are the Kronstadt sailors...
“They will do the same with them,” Bragin assures.
The sailors remain silent.
... In the gray fog, the border of the banks of the Low Ridge is drawn;
There the Royal Palace of Peterhof flaunts over the water...
Where are you, king? Show yourself, come out to us from under strong guard!
Do you see what bloody wounds are gaping in each chest?..
With a sad look, Minakov looks around the cockpit, Belyshev and Lukichev leaning against the wall near the door, swears for a long time and hysterically.
The song is depressing.
...Corpses are floating across the Gulf of Finland,
Surrounded by gray fog...
Sobbing at every scale, the guitar falls silent. It was Belyshev who snatched it from Bragin’s hands.
- Don’t hurt people’s hearts and don’t attract attention from the non-commissioned officers: they hang around and around, in the compartments1 and on the deck!
- One end. We all have to keep watch where the lads lie - the Potemkinites, the Ochakovites, the Azovites...2
Lukichev looks at Bragin with contemptuous regret:
- Why are you whining? The gentlemen found themselves between two fires. Let's wait until morning and see whose side is strong.
- We’ll wait... just like Osipenko waited!
The drivers bow their heads even lower: there is nothing worse than the thought of defeat. And you can’t erase from your memory the events that happened unexpectedly just a few hours ago.
... Shortly before evening prayer, which coincided with the uprising, armed officers led by Ogranovic appeared on the living decks. Accompanied by conductors3, they walked around the cockpits and, having intimidated the sailors, threatening to deal with the instigators sooner or later, returned to the wardroom.
It became clear: the plan for the uprising had been issued. Too many people knew about him - almost the entire team.
And yet Nikolsky decided not to play with fire.
As soon as Ogranovich and his retinue left, gunner 4 Evdokim Ognev burst into the engine room:
- They're taking me away! Those arrested are being taken away!
1 Compartment - this or that part of the ship, separated from others by waterproof bulkheads (walls).
2 This was the name given to the sailors from the battleship Potemkin and the cruisers Ochakov and Memory of Azov, who rebelled against tsarism in 1905. The uprisings were exterminated, and many of their participants were executed.
3 Conductor - an assistant officer in some specific ship specialty.
4 The gunner is an artilleryman.
Having crushed the cordon of non-commissioned officers, the sailors rushed to the ladders to the upper deck. Indeed, on the ice of the harbor three people could be seen surrounded by soldiers: Semyonov’s men were taking the workers’ delegation into the city.
A hundred-voiced cry rose above the ship:
- Hooray! Ours took it!..
The combat sailor Osipenko, clenching his fists, rushed to the stern, where officers and conductors huddled around Nikolsky. Firemen, electricians, machinists, and gunners rushed there in a wave after the sailors of the boatswain's crew. And immediately shots fired abruptly in the frosty air.
As if thrown back by an invisible pressure, the sailors retreated. Belyshev jumped behind the gun - this saved him. Osipenko collapsed flatly, arms outstretched, and froze forever. The driver Fokin, like a blind man, scurried from side to side and, finding no escape from the bullets, jumped from a height of five fathoms onto the ice of the harbor. Leaving a trail of blood behind him, driver Vlasenko hobbled towards the vestibule. It was picked up by Babin and Lipatov.
Volleys began to fire frequently from the pier: at Nikolsky’s signal, a company of Semenovites opened fire. Bullets rained down on the deck, knocking the paint off the superstructures.
Belyshev, bending over, ran to the ladder and jumped down to where the drivers were busy with the groaning Vlasenko. Having torn his vest into pieces, Lukichev tightly bandaged the wounded man’s leg. Vlasenko became quiet.
The silence was cut through by the sound of a trumpet: the bugler was calling the team to the parade. The wheel of the ship's schedule continued to turn.
The sailors grimly obeyed.
Having stood next to Belyshev in formation, Nevolin nudged his neighbor and imperceptibly glanced at the bridges.
From there, machine guns aimed by the conductors looked at the sailors.
- Form into companies! - the non-commissioned officer commanded.
The engine crew sailors obediently took their places in the line.
It was getting dark. The time for evening prayer was running out. People were frozen in the frosty wind. Belyshev and Lukichev supported the exhausted Vlasenko with their shoulders.
It was completely dark when the commander and senior officer emerged from the aft vestibule. Flashing, the thin beam of a pocket flashlight slid along the numb formation. A two-hour search of the ship's nooks and crannies and sailors' lockers ended in nothing. Neither the agitators from the shore, whose presence Nikolsky suspected, nor the prohibited literature were found. There were no strangers in the ranks.
- Disperse! - Ogranovich ordered.
- Take the beds! - the boatswains yelled.
Under machine gun fire, the sailors returned to the living decks. The doors, which were tightly closed from the outside, clanged. The machine guns on the bridges now have the most reliable of conductors.
The day was over. For the first time in the history of the cruiser Aurora, the traditional evening prayer did not take place.
The night came, full of uncertainty and doubt, and an oppressive silence hung in the cockpits.
Nobody sleeps a wink. Everyone is thinking about one thing: is Bragin really right in promising reprisals and death instead of happiness and joy?..
- Don't bury it prematurely! - Khaberev boils, staring angrily at Bragin. - Just now, the combatants, returning from the crew, what did they convey? All of St. Petersburg is on strike. No one wants to suffer for the master's war! Full payment is suitable for the Tsar, but what are you prophesying for us?.. Lukichev noticed exactly: between two fires, gentlemen. We scare them from here, and the working class from the shore!
- It’s scary when they placed machine guns against the vestibules! - Bragin snaps sadly. - Sunshine!
- Let’s go and let us come to our senses! - Babin answers. - Do you think we missed once, so let’s lose pairs? We are supposed to keep high blood pressure now. Come on, Matvey, drive to the mark!
Belyshev mints:
- There is nowhere to retreat. You know what they say in the workshops: the workers are waiting for our support. They cannot survive without us and we cannot survive without them. The commander and the factory gendarmes will break and take on the Aurora. Nikolsky and Ogranovich will not have mercy on us for what happened yesterday, for putting fear into their nobility. Who did the gentlemen have mercy on when they gained the upper hand? There are few sailors lying on the seabed, on Fox Nose? Few of our comrades were sent to hard labor, perished in prisons? So, should we get into the noose, waiting for the rope to be lathered?.. Bragin, tell me, what do you choose: machine guns or a noose?
- Death is one.
- You're lying! - Belyshev objects. - Throw it around your neck, hang it up - you can’t jump out of the noose, but you can take possession of machine guns. Today, together, with the whole team.
The drivers, perking up, chime in.
During the night the decision was made: to capture the machine guns at the first opportunity.
The same thing happens in other cockpits.
Exhausted from uncertainty and impatience, the cruiser is waiting for the bugler to signal a wake-up call. Nobody has time to sleep. There is no rest for thoughts. And time, as if on purpose, seemed to stop. As if a lifetime is not enough to wait for the dawn.

The last hour has been painfully long...
The bugler begins to play the wake-up call when the pre-dawn darkness is still black in the portholes.
- To prayer! - the non-commissioned officers and boatswains call out, opening the doors.
The day has begun. Through the line of armed conductors stationed in the corridors, five hundred and sixty-seven people who make up the crew of the cruiser, one after another, cross the threshold of the church deck.
Stomping his boots, the priest emerges from behind the screen of the marching altar. His running gaze is directed either to the chain of conductors behind the sailors, or to the door, from where the commander and senior officer should appear any minute.
One after another, mechanics, midshipmen, and lieutenants squeeze through the ranks. Each of them is on guard.
- Give up! - the senior boatswain hums in a low voice.
The sailors make way.
Nikolsky and Ogranovich quickly walk to their places.
The commander nods to Pokrovsky as he walks.
The priest's hasty muttering is barely audible in the stuffiness of the church deck. The pungent smell of sweat overpowers the sweetish smell of incense and the aroma of Senior Lieutenant Erickson's expensive perfume.
Pokrovsky quickly mumbles the words of prayer and suddenly, as if he had forgotten, he stumbles.
Lukichev winks at Belyshev at the commander.
Nikolsky’s cheek twitches.
The officers' hands reach for their unbuttoned holsters.
Ogranovich, moving his shoulder, glances sideways at the team.
The sailors are motionless.
Prompted by the evil gaze of the commander, Pokrovsky cautiously squeezes out the words that should have served as a signal for an uprising last night:
- .. And bless your achievement...
Having hastily finished reading the prayer, he hides behind the screen of the altar.
Looking over the sailors' heads, Nikolsky announces:
- The whole team, even though today is not Saturday, wash the paint! I will teach you not to rebel!..
Having interrupted, he leaves.
The senior officer gives a sign to the non-commissioned officers and boatswains.
They take the sailors to their compartments.
The last to go is Bosun Serov's department. He is entrusted with the corridors of the officers' quarters and the wardroom.
- They must understand that there is a rebellion in wartime. For such things, your brother is covered with a tarpaulin and written off as an expense,” Serov intimidates. - Guys, name the instigators. I will report to his honor, and you will receive complete forgiveness.
The sailors remain silent, listening to Ogranovich’s irritated squeal coming from the wardroom.
The boatswain hastily closes the door.
“The senior priest scolds him for praying,” the messenger Vekshin whispers, running past the front linemen.
- Dmitriev! - the boatswain calls out, noticing a smile on the face of one of the sailors. - Why are you grinning? March to clean the bathroom! You'll laugh there!..
The sailor takes a bucket of caustic soda and heads to the officer’s bathroom.
There is no one in it.
He looks out the side window and sticks to it.
The twilight morning still struggles with the night. The wide open gate behind the factory yard gapes like a black hole. Crowds of people move from them to the pier. Every moment they get closer to the Aurora. The workers' coats were mixed with the overcoats of the soldiers of the Kexholm Regiment. Ahead, carrying a red flag, minces the old watchman Ignatich.
Dmitriev noisily unscrews the windows of the porthole.
A stream of fresh air rushes into the musty stuffiness of the room.
The cries of encouragement are growing:
- The soldiers are with us, and you, sailors?
- Hurray for the Aurors! - is heard at the side.
- Hooray! - Dmitriev shouts at the top of his lungs and, gasping from unbearable pain in his back, instantly turns around.
The boatswain, swearing, pokes his silver pipe - for his length of service - into the sailor's teeth and, pushing him away, slams the porthole.
- What are you doing? To the punishment cell!..
Without finishing, receiving a heavy blow from his fist, he sits down heavily on a stool near the bathroom.
The sailor immediately puts a bucket of caustic caustic solution on the boatswain's head.
- Here's your change, Judas!
He rips the revolver out of Serov’s holster and, slamming the door, jumps out into the corridor.
Sailors are running from everywhere. The echo repeats incessantly in the long corridors:
- Urrrraaaa!..
At the threshold of the wardroom, Dmitriev’s path is blocked by a screaming senior officer. Convulsively clinging to the door, Ogranovich tries to escape from the hands of the messenger Vekshin and the machine keeper Foteev.
- Look, hog! You feel sorry for yourself, but who shot Osipenko? - the sailor asks sternly. - Move away, guys, so you don't accidentally get hurt.
He aims at Ogranovich.
- Don't touch it! - Vekshin shouts. - Don't dirty the deck! We'll get you out on the ice!
- That's right, just don't miss it! - Dmitriev warns and, clenching the handle of his revolver, hurries to the upper deck.
The whole team is already there. Both bridges are crowded with sailors. The machine guns are captured at the moment when
the conductors turned them towards the pier to open fire on the workers and soldiers of the Kexholm regiment. Taken by surprise at morning tea, the officers were led out of the wardroom onto the aft deck. The disarmed Semyonovtsy guard is surrounded by drivers. Sailors shame soldiers.
- Move aside, bro! - Lukichev warns.
An enraged Nikolsky runs out of the aft vestibule.
Lukichev, contrived, knocks the Browning out of his hand.
- We won, your honor! - Babin sarcastically, picking up the revolver. - Ordered, get down. Nikolsky turns his head in a daze.
Several hands reach out to his shoulder straps.
- Don't you dare! - He is shaking with rage. - Sailors, I order you to disperse! Don't disgrace the fleet!
- Shut up! - Lipatov answers angrily. - It’s not us, but people like you who disgraced the fleet at Tsushima!
Bragin, grabbing Nikolsky by the shoulders, tears off his shoulder straps:
- Go!
Nikolsky resists. The sailors push him onto the gangway.
The messenger and engine keeper drag Ogranovich onto the deck.
The senior officer hoarsely begs for mercy.
-Did you spare us? - Dmitriev leans towards him. -Have you pardoned Osipenko? Get to the calculations!
He lifts Ogranovich by the collar and drags him off the ship onto the ice.
Two shots are fired in a row.
- Comrades! - a gray-haired turner, chairman of the strike committee of the Franco-Russian plant, addresses the sailors. - There are cars hidden in the barn behind the machine shop. Director's. We could use a couple of machine guns for them. We ask all the people: lend some money while we deal with the policemen and gendarmes. The scoundrels have settled in the attics near the Haymarket and are not allowing passage or passage to people.
- Get the cars out, father! Let's swim together. We have one road,” Belyshev says to the approval of all sailors. - Let the gentlemen know who we are with, let them remember “Aurora”!
Lipatov removes a piece of calico from the shaft taken from the watchman and ties it to the halyards1 of the mainmast2 with the strongest nautical knot.
Sailors, workers and Kexholm soldiers unanimously take hold of the halyards.
A minute later, the red flag of the revolution flies victoriously over the cruiser Aurora.
1 Halyards are thin ropes used for raising signals.
2 The main mast is the second mast on the ship, counting from the bow.

This happened at dawn on February 26, 1917, on the eve of the memorable day when the Russian people put an end to the tsarist autocracy forever.
There was still a long road ahead to the socialist revolution.

Conversation in Smolny

Eat! -
turned around
and soon disappeared
but only
on tape
at the naval
under the lamp
flashed:
- Aurora.
V. Mayakovsky

More than seven months have passed, and there is no change for the better. It's the end of October, but the situation of the people is no easier than before the February revolution. The war started by the landowners and capitalists under the Tsar continues under the Provisional Government of Kerensky. She devours everything. Even in Petrograd, the then capital of Russia, grain supplies dried up. Thousands of hungry children and women wait in lines day and night for the bakery doors to open and be lucky enough to receive a meager ration: a quarter of a pound of bread, sticky like putty, per head.
I can't stand it any longer.
- Sons! Sailors! - they call from the queue at the bread shop on Suvorovsky Prospekt, not far from Smolny.
Two sailors walking in step near the panel slow down. Rifle barrels shine in the rain. The peacoats, hung with bandoleers, were swollen from dampness. On the wet caps the name of the ship, known throughout Petrograd, turns yellow: “Aurora”.
An emaciated woman rushes from the line towards the sailors.
- What do you say, mom? - one of them asks good-naturedly.
The woman sobs. Drops of rain, like tears, crawl down her cheeks.
- Three days without bread... My children will die of hunger... When will our torment end? - In a sobbing voice she shouts: - Will you soon take the bourgeoisie and speculators by the throat?
The dark, stocky sailor clenches his fists and, cursing slightly, says with quiet rage:
- Be patient just a little longer, mom. Now soon. This is how we will talk to them!
He hits the rifle with his fist and adjusts his belt with the usual movement of his shoulder.
- Full speed ahead, Shura! I'm so eager to help with words that I'm even more likely to irritate myself... Eh, mother!
The woman looks after the sailors for a long time.
They pass a chain of armed workers and soldiers guarding at the crossroads the approaches to the Smolny Institute, in the building of which the Military Revolutionary Committee is located, and soon merge with the crowd at the gates of the main entrance, where red banners with the slogans of the Bolshevik Party flutter over the continuous stream of people:
ALL POWER TO THE TIPS!
PEACE TO THE NATIONS!
* * *
A sentry in a black cotton jacket and a shiny cap - a Red Guard worker - returns the passes to the sailors and opens the door to the room of the Military Revolutionary Committee:
- Come in, naval comrades.
Having crossed the threshold, the sailors put their rifles in the corner
and look around.
The room looks like a ship's chart room. Its walls are full of maps of the fronts and plans of all the districts of Petrograd. Opposite the door, in the back of the room, you can see a table covered with cards. From behind him, a thin man in a leather jacket rises, adjusting his pince-nez. He quickly walks towards the sailors.
- Where from, comrades?.. However, your business cards are on your peaked caps. For what purpose, comrades Aurors?
- Arrived at the call of the Military Revolutionary Committee to Comrade Sverdlov! - a lean, short sailor reports.
“I am Sverdlov,” the man in the pince-nez calls himself. -Who authorized you?
- The crew of the cruiser "Aurora", Comrade Sverdlov. As soon as we received your call.
And the short sailor hands over a neatly folded document.
1 Navigation room - the room from which the ship is controlled during voyage.
Sverdlov reads:
“... is that the chairman of the ship committee of the cruiser Aurora, mine operator Alexander Belyshev, and a member of the ship committee, bilge operator Nikolai Lukichev, were sent by a team meeting to Smolny in fulfillment of the call of the Military Revolutionary Committee...”
- Take a seat.
Return to your seat, Sverdlov asks an unexpected question:
-Who is the most authoritative person on your cruiser?
“Yes, here’s Belyshev,” the dark, stocky Lukichev points to his neighbor. - We elected him as chairman on the ship and at Tsentrobalt1.
1 Tsentrobalt - the Bolshevik-led Central Committee of the Baltic Fleet, which included representatives of all ships.
Inquisitively studying Belyshev’s face, Sverdlov inquires:
- What are your political views, comrade?
- Member of the Bolshevik RSDLP. On March 1, three of us signed up: Lukichev, Timofey Lipatov and me.
- I know Timofey Lipatov. This is the representative of Aurora in the military organization of our party. Reliable comrade. So, how many sailors are there on the cruiser?
- Five hundred sixty seven.
- Are any of them members of our party?
- Thirty two.
- What about the mood of others? - Sverdlov asks.
“The majority of the team is for us,” Belyshev reports. - In the court committee, one is non-party, one is an anarchist, the rest are Bolsheviks.
“There are, of course, some who whine in the corners,” Lukichev adds briskly. - Those who do not like revolutionary discipline, those who misunderstand life and freedom. Together, as they say, we tighten the screws. Yes, just now, on Obvodny, we see: Babushkin, our driver, is walking, but he is not dressed in uniform. Belyshev told him heart to heart: “What are you, brother, serving for the bourgeoisie? So that they can point their fingers at you and mock us?.. Get on the ship this very minute!” The man realized. Today at a meeting in front of the whole team I asked for forgiveness... - Lukichev catches himself: - I got a little distracted. We're not talking about Grandma right now.
“And about him,” Sverdlov says separately. - This is extremely important. Revolutionary discipline will help defeat the enemies of the people. You’ve probably read what fables are published in cadet and conciliation newspapers about you, the sailors from the Aurora?
- We are sitting in the livers of the bourgeoisie! - Lukichev responds, grinning. - Because in February they supported the working class and helped the people overthrow the tsar.
Sverdlov looks expectantly at Belyshev:
- I would like to ask you to inform me in more detail about the situation on your ship.
Having unbuttoned his peacoat, the chairman of the ship's committee takes out a stack of protocols and resolutions.
- Here is the command’s resolution: “The working class can always count on the support of the revolutionary fleet in the fight against enemies inside and outside.”
- This resolution was published in Pravda. “I read it,” explains Sverdlov.
Belyshev hides the papers and decisively declares:
- The team is on the side of the Bolsheviks. We will carry out any order of the Military Revolutionary Committee.
- The Military Revolutionary Committee has no doubt about this. What do your officers think?
Lukichev laughs:
- They are sick... The bear disease has clung to them. Since February, they have been holed up in city apartments every now and then. Whatever you say, they seem to be reading a prayer: “We remain neutral, we are out of politics and do not interfere in anything.”
“They are all quiet for the time being,” Belyshev says restrainedly. - When Kornilov moved towards St. Petersburg to put the Tsar on our necks again, they immediately came to life. I had to warn you straight out: if you mess around, you’ll blame yourself. They became quiet again. And now, when there is no need, they run to the court committee for every trifle. They lost themselves and still can’t find them.
- So, the ship’s commander is actually the ship’s committee?
Both sailors confirm.
Sverdlov bends over the map spread out on the table and runs his finger along the blue snake of the river.
The sailors carefully watch the movement of his finger.
“The Central Committee of our Party,” Sverdlov says slowly, as if dictating, “entrusted the Military Revolutionary Committee with practical leadership of the armed uprising of the Petrograd workers and garrison.” Delay is like death - these are the words of Comrade Lenin. We Bolsheviks are obliged to take state power into our own hands. Otherwise, the Provisional Government will deal the death blow to the revolution with the bayonets of the cadets. Leadership in this or that section of the uprising will be carried out by one person - a commissar, appointed by us from among the units themselves... Do you share the point of view of the Central Committee?
Belyshev does not hesitate:
- Yes, Comrade Sverdlov.
- Right! - Lukichev joins. - Our whole life is at stake.
“The Military Revolutionary Committee and its party center, headed by Comrade Stalin,” Sverdlov finishes, “authorized me to appoint a commissar for Aurora.” Your candidacy, Comrade Belyshev, is very successful. You are a Bolshevik, invested with the full confidence of the sailors, elected by the team to the post of chairman of the ship's committee, and the ship's committee is the real owner of the cruiser.
Belyshev’s face turns a little pink:
- I consider the party’s decision an order.
- What is your name and patronymic?
- Alexander Viktorovich.
- Your deputy will be Comrade Lipatov. Do you have anything against it?
“Appropriate,” Belyshev responds with satisfaction.
“Quite,” Lukichev also confirms.
Pulling out a desk drawer, Sverdlov takes out a form with a stamp and, filling it out, reads aloud what he writes:
- “Mandate. Given to military sailor Comrade Alexander Viktorovich Belyshev, commissar of the Military Revolutionary Committee on the cruiser Aurora.
The Commissioner is authorized to dispose of the cruiser and acts only on the instructions of the Military Revolutionary Committee."
Sverdlov signs the mandate and, handing it to Belyshev, instructs both sailors:
- Please note that in these decisive days the Provisional Government will make every attempt to remove Aurora from Petrograd.
“Yesterday they wanted to send us out,” recalls Lukichev. - The commander brought Kerensky’s order: “Aurora” to go out to test the machines on the twenty-second.
“We asked Tsentrobalt,” adds Belyshev, “and received the answer: “We’ll try to make a test on the twenty-fifth.”
- It's clear. - Sverdlov smiles with his eyes: - The opening of the Congress of Soviets is scheduled for the twenty-fifth. However, you should not be bound by numbers... However, for now, refer to this order of Tsentrobalt and do not obey any orders from Kerensky. We will warn our comrades from Centrobalt. Wait for an official telegram from there without any code: stay in Petrograd and follow only our instructions. Explain to the team that the Military Revolutionary Committee instructs the cruiser Aurora to protect the security of the opening All-Russian Congress of Soviets from provocations of the Provisional Government. When you receive a written order from the Military Revolutionary Committee to speak, then announce to the team and officers that you are a commissar. Then categorically warn the commander that any order given by him without your consent is invalid. Be on the lookout: the Aurora may have to go up the Neva. Keep in touch with us and with the committee representative in the barracks of the Second Baltic Fleet Crew.
- Eat! We just need shells just in case. They were unloaded in Kronstadt last year when they were docking,” warns Belyshev. - After all, the ship is in repair position. Although the repairs have been completed, the machines have not been turned over or tested. So to leave the factory harbor and escort us to the new mooring site, we need tugs. Otherwise you can’t get them out with boats and boats. You can't do it without tugboats.
- Fine. - Sverdlov makes a note in his notebook. - The Kronstadters will provide you with tugs and shells. By the way, do you have a lot of boats?
- Two steam ones.
- Do you really need them?
- No, what? - Belyshev is surprised, not understanding what he’s talking about.
- Will you be able to arm them with machine guns and lead them along the river - for example, here?
- To Smolny? Any minute now. Machine guns are installed on them. When are they required?
“The sooner the better,” says Sverdlov, satisfied with the speed of the answer. - We need to secure Smolny from the Neva.
“As soon as we return to the ship, we will direct both boats,” Belyshev promises.
“One more important matter, comrades,” Sverdlov restrains the rising sailors. - Today the Military Revolutionary Committee has compiled a letter to all army and naval units: both those stationed in Petrograd and those outside it. In the city, we can simply familiarize ourselves with this letter: we call the unit commissars here. It’s more difficult with those who are in other places. In short, we must immediately use the Aurora radio station. Is she okay? Is the radiotelegraph operator reliable?
“It’s in good order, and I can vouch for the senior radiotelegraph operator Fyodor Alontsev as for myself,” Belyshev answers confidently.
- Then here's a copy for you.
Sverdlov gives Belyshev a copy of the letter, reproduced on a hectograph.
The sailors' heads bow to the letter. Its text is like a battle order:
“... Do not allow a single military unit into Petrograd that is not known about its position in relation to current events. Several dozen agitators should be sent to meet each unit, who should explain to them heading to Petrograd that they want to incite them against the people.
Kornilov's echelons, if they do not obey exhortations, must be detained by force. We must act strictly and carefully and, where necessary, use force.
All troop movements should be immediately reported to the Smolny Institute in Petrograd, the Military Revolutionary Committee...”
Lukichev looks excitedly at Sverdlov:
- So you really started? That's right! But what if they don’t hear our radio station?
“You needn’t worry, Nikolai,” Belyshev reassures. - Now all radiotelegraph operators have their ears on the top of their heads. They will hear!
- They will certainly hear! - Sverdlov has no doubt and firmly shakes hands with the sailors: - Happy, comrades! Remember that the Central Committee and Vladimir Ilyich Lenin highly appreciate the role of Aurora in future events.

The matter with armored cars

Are they climbing?
Fine.
Let's erase
into powder.
V. Mayakovsky

The next morning, a gray-haired turner - the chairman of the working committee of the Franco-Russian plant - climbs aboard the Aurora, lovingly examines the newly repaired ship, and then, having found Belyshev, quietly says to him:
- From Smolny they were ordered to transfer... Three tugboats and a barge with gifts for Kerensky left Kronstadt. By evening they will be... Are you complaining about the repairs?
“Done conscientiously,” Belyshev reassures.
- How could it be otherwise? - The turner strokes his mustache with a proud look. - We tried for ourselves. "Aurora" is our ship. The bourgeoisie are sickened by the mere sight of her... Well, I’ll go to the shops. You tell the guys to keep their ears open. The Provisional Government has a huge grudge against your cruiser.
- We'll knock out the tooth, don't doubt it, father! - Belyshev promises, escorting the old man to the stern ladder. -
Be calm about the cadets. Just let them visit! It is not proper to gossip with uninvited guests. If only a treat would arrive for them... In extreme cases, we'll make do with rifles.

Before the uninvited guests complain, here's what happens.
At noon, when the tugs and the barge with shells are still halfway between Kronstadt and the factory harbor, a meeting of the ship committee is scheduled on the cruiser. As is customary, all Aurora sailors can attend the meeting.
In the middle of the room, which, out of long-standing habit, is still easily called the church deck, stands Belyshev and a member of the ship’s committee, carpenter Timofey Lipatov, surrounded by a dense crowd. In an intermittent voice, Lipatov reads to the crew the appeal of the Military Revolutionary Committee, published in the Bolshevik newspaper “Worker and Soldier,” which had just been delivered to the ship:
- “Soldiers! Workers! Citizens!
The enemies of the people went on the offensive at night. The headquarters Kornilovites are trying to pull together cadets and shock battalions from the surrounding area... The campaign of the counter-revolutionary conspirators is directed against the All-Russian Congress of Soviets on the eve of its opening...
All the gains and hopes of soldiers, workers and peasants are in great danger. But the forces of the revolution immeasurably exceed the forces of its enemies.
The people's business is in firm hands. The conspirators will be crushed.
No hesitation or doubt. Firmness, perseverance, endurance, determination.
Long live the revolution!.."
- Long live the revolution! - thunders under the iron arches of the ship's compartments.
Belyshev glances quickly around the room crowded with sailors. Hundreds of people in caps are excitedly discussing the appeal read by Lipatov.
Hundreds of voices merge into a roar that never stops for a second. The sailors are captivated by the events that live throughout Petrograd on this alarming day: in Smolny and in the factories, in the Winter and Mariinsky palaces, in the barracks and on the streets, in the working-class neighborhoods of the Vyborg side and near the shop windows of Nevsky Prospect, colorful with many proclamations and appeals.
Standing apart, almost in the same place where they once lined up for prayers and masses, stand out the current commander of the cruiser, Senior Lieutenant Erickson, and a group of officers. There is concern on the commander's face, anticipation in his eyes. Some of the officers are pale, some smile ingratiatingly, others are arrogantly imperturbable.
However, no one neglected the invitation to come to the church deck - everyone showed up.
“I consider the emergency meeting open,” Belyshev announces, when members of the ship’s committee gather around him and Lipatov: chief signalman Zakharov, machinists Lukichev, Nevolim, diver Belousov and messenger Vekshin. - Here’s the thing, comrades... Listen to what the Military Revolutionary Committee orders: “The Petrograd Soviet is in direct danger: at night, counter-revolutionary conspirators tried to call cadets and shock battalions from the surrounding area to Petrograd. The newspapers “Soldier” and “Rabochy Put” are closed. The regiment is ordered to be put on "combat readiness." Wait for further orders.
Any delay and confusion will be considered as betrayal of the revolution...”
The clang of the iron door above the entrance ladder drowns out Belyshev’s last words.
Rattling boots and the butt of a rifle down the steps, a wet sailor descends into the room. He places the rifle on an empty spot in the pyramid at the entrance and makes his way to Belyshev.
This is the liaison. The chairman of the ship's committee sent him to the telegraph operators of the Naval General Staff with instructions to obtain from them a resolution of the Central Balt addressed to the Aurora.
- I got it under the very noses of the Kornilovites! - the messenger boasts, handing the telegram to Belyshev.
He shows it to the members of the ship's committee.
- What's going on in the city! - exclaims the messenger. - A scythe on a stone... Kerensky ordered the cadets to seal the doors to the editorial offices of "Soldier" and "Working Way", and Red Guards, sappers and soldiers of the Lithuanian regiment rushed from Smolny in trucks. They tore off the seals from the doors, kicked the necks of the cadet sentries and other Kornilovites who came to hand, drove them away, set up their guards and went to close the bourgeois newspapers... On Morskaya, soldier patrols stop all the cars with bourgeois and invite the gentlemen to take a walk, and their cars are given to the Red Guards... They are interested in when we will set out and how soon the Kronstadters will come...
- So what are we waiting for? - the hot-tempered Minakov asks, turning purple with indignation.
“We’ll start soon,” Lukichev assures. - Vote, chairman: “The order of the Military Revolutionary Committee must be accepted for immediate execution.”
- Please speak! - Erickson’s voice comes from where the officers stand.
Belyshev, the members of the ship's committee and the entire crew look questioningly at the senior lieutenant.
He holds a piece of paper in his hand.
- I have orders of a completely different order. I consider it necessary to bring it to the attention of all those present: “I order all units and command
I will allow you to remain in the occupied barracks until you receive orders from district headquarters. I prohibit any independent performances. All officers who acted outside the orders of their superiors will be put on trial for armed rebellion. I categorically prohibit the troops from carrying out any orders emanating from various organizations. Chief Chief of the General Staff District, Colonel Polkovnikov”... I hope you understand what this means? - asks the commander.
- Say goodbye to every sneeze! - Lipatov answers to the approving laughter of the assembly.
“We have an order from Tsentrobalt for Polkovnikov’s order,” Belyshev reports, raising the telegram brought by the messenger above his head. - Here it is: “To the cruiser “Aurora”, minelayer “Amur”, Second Baltic crew, guards crew and crew of Ezel... Tsentrobalt together with the ship committees decided: “Aurora”, minelayer “Amur”, Second Baltic and guards crews and crew Ezel to completely obey the orders of the Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet.”
- May I take a look? - asks Erickson. - Both to the telegram from Tsentrobalt and to the order.
Belyshev passes both documents to his neighbor, who passes them to the next one. Having traveled through the entire meeting, the sheets with the order of the Military Revolutionary Committee and the Tsentrobalt telegram fall into the hands of Erikson.
The commander looks at them carefully and suddenly declares publicly:
- Excuse me, allow me... It says here: “To the Commissioner and to the regimental committee of the Aurora.” What kind of commissar is on a warship? No outside representatives should be on board!
The officers look at each other meaningfully.
The congregation is puzzled. From different corners provocative cries are heard from those who have long been constituting
a small minority on the cruiser - Socialist Revolutionaries, anarchists and Mensheviks:
- No controllers!
- Why don't they trust us?
- We know these civilians!
- Chairman, protest! Or are you not the chairman?
- What is the purpose of the ship’s committee?...
Lukichev drums his fist on the table:
- Quiet!.. What if it’s not a stranger?
- Who? Isn't it you, Mikola?
The officers laugh openly.
Belyshev looks at them angrily and briefly throws in their faces:
- I'm a commissioner!
There is complete silence. He takes out a mandate signed by Sverdlov and hands it to the amazed sailors. Dozens of hands reach out to the document.
Having visited everyone present at the meeting, the battered mandate is returned to Belyshev.
- Cleverly! - one of the officers remarks. - The Bolshevik gentlemen have prepared in advance... Don’t put a finger in their mouth!
“Yes, I don’t recommend it,” says Belyshev and, in turn, asks the commander: “I hope you understand what this means?”
Erickson and the officers turn to leave.
- I'm warning you! - the commissioner clearly says after them. - I warn the commander that any order given by him without my consent is invalid. Now I order: put the ship on combat readiness!
The door clangs again from the upper deck. Pushing aside the crowd, a sailor from the watch department makes his way to Belyshev:
- Chairman... There the adjutant arrived from the Minister of Navy. Demands to let him through to the commander. We ask why, he doesn’t want to talk.
- In that case, turn it one hundred and eighty degrees and lead it to the ladder! - recommends Mars boatswain Klevtsov.
- There is no need to stand on ceremony with him!
- We've heard enough, gentlemen!
- Let him fail!
- Stop the noise! - Belyshev calls. - We will always find time to send the adjutant out. First, let's find out what he needs from the Aurora... Don't leave the cockpits wide open. Discipline and order.
Members of the ship's committee, and then the entire crew, are selected to the upper deck.
Coldness blows from the black depths of the harbor. Damp. The buildings of factory workshops, ship superstructures, the towers of the Kalinkin Bridge, buildings on both sides of the mouth of the Fontanka are blurred in the fog.
On the poop deck, by the gangway, a man in an officer's overcoat is arguing angrily with a sentry... On the dandy boots, with every movement of the officer, the wheels of the spurs jingle.
- Leave it alone! - Belyshev calmly commands. - Take it a semitone lower. Why are you shouting?
The officer, turning purple, is speechless for a while.
- Why did you come? - Belyshev is interested.
- I have instructions from the minister to present a written order to the commander of the cruiser.
- About what?
-Who are you? - the adjutant inquires.
Belyshev's eyes sparkle with challenge:
- Chairman of the ship committee.
The adjutant grins:
- As far as I know, the minister did not approve such a position either for the Aurora or for other ships.
- The revolution is affirmed without asking permission from the ministers of the Provisional Government. Give us an order!
- Only personally to the commander!
- Okay... Comrade delivery boy!
- Yes, chairman... - A young sailor steps out from the crowd of sailors.
- Call the commander upstairs!
The delivery boy runs towards the vestibule.
The adjutant closely examines the sailors and the ship.
“Admire how impassable the dirt is,” Lipatov points to the deck, on which there is not a speck of dirt, the pleasant-looking cleanliness of the superstructures and covered guns, “and what ragamuffins we are.” “With a sweeping gesture, he gestures around the sailors standing in buttoned-up peacoats, and, moving closer to the adjutant, asks indignantly: “Why do you allow all sorts of trash to lie about us for seven months?”
The adjutant is silent.
- Hey, buddy, great! - driver Babin greets him, making his way through the crowd. - Didn’t he really admit it?
The adjutant's pompous face turns gray.
- Remember?.. That's it!
Babin explains to the team:
- He was at the beck and call of the chief persuader when we were on guard duty in Zimny.
- Is this when Kornilov attacked Petrograd? - Lipatov clarifies.
- Whoa! - Babin picks up. - As soon as our shift began, I was leading the sailors to their posts, suddenly Kerensky himself emerged from the office: an eagle-eyed look, his hand stuck between the buttons of his jacket... Napoleon! He has an adjutant with him, this one...
- Listen! - The adjutant raises his voice to a scream. - Mr. Committeeman, order the sailors to treat the Minister-Chairman with due respect!
Belyshev is extremely polite:
- There is no need to get excited. The comrade didn’t say anything special.
- Prove it, Babin! - asks Zakharov. “It’s very interesting to know what you and Kerensky were talking about.”
The sailors join Zakharov in unison, although they have heard the driver’s story more than once.
“The minister saw us,” Babin continues calmly, “he began to smile, as if he had found lost happiness.” I greeted everyone by the hand and let’s talk with my tongue... What didn’t I say! He always, he swears, was a friend to sailors. And then he became sad. “Why,” he asks, “are you protecting me, but supporting the Bolsheviks?” I see malice in his eyes: he seemed to put us on both shoulders. And I was so angry, I blurted out to him: “Because,” I answer, “Mr. Kerensky, to arrest you if you want to sell the working people to Kornilov.” He turned sixteen points - and went full speed back to the office. Since then the friendship has been apart.
Belyshev cheerfully watches the adjutant.
The crowd parts to allow Erickson into the circle.
Clicking his spurs, the adjutant introduces himself and takes out a package from his cuff.
Erickson invites the adjutant into the salon.
“Take the order,” Belyshev suggests, “there’s no time for ceremony.”
The commander's fingers, trembling, tear open the envelope and straighten out the order form.
- The Minister orders... - Anticipating a storm, Erickson squeezes out the words: - the same as the day before yesterday... "Aurora" to go to sea to test the machines and, having completed it, proceed to Abo at the disposal of the head of the second brigade of cruisers .
- Look! - Zakharov is amazed. - It was cunningly conceived: so that they would not interfere with the suppression of the people! So, Mr. Adjutant?
The latter, without deigning to answer him, intimidates Erickson:
- The Minister warns you that an attempt to delay the cruiser’s departure will be considered treason. You know the consequences.
Erickson has a martyr's expression on his face, as if he is suffering from a toothache.
- Mr. Adjutant, I am powerless: the command does not obey me.
Belyshev sternly corrects:
- Not certainly in that way. The team will not obey you only if you decide to dance to the tune of the Provisional Government and insist on going to sea. In the meantime, you follow the instructions of Centro-Balt, for each of us your word is law.
- So, the Aurora team refuses to obey the minister? - the adjutant asks passionately.
“He’s not the only one,” Belyshev clarifies calmly as before. - The Aurors do not recognize the Provisional Government. We are following the instructions of Tsentrobalt, please tell us so.
- And I’ll pass it on! - the adjutant threatens, pulling on his glove. - They will treat you like traitors!
- Then shake yourself out! - shouts the angry gunner Ognev. - Go... to Mr. Kerensky!
The sailors press the adjutant against the gangway like a solid wall, ready to deal with him for insulting him.
Erickson quickly disappears into the vestibule booth.
- Stop, comrades! - Belyshev says imperiously. - Never mind. The dog is barking, the wind is blowing... Get off the ship, Mr. Adjutant! Tell your minister that we will soon sort out the traitors!
The ringing of spurs is removed. Kerensky's long, awkward messenger crosses the factory yard and disappears behind the gate near the main entrance.
- Double the guard! - Belyshev orders. - Now he will send cadets or other Kornilovites.
- Let him try to poke his nose in! - driver Vlasenko mutters.
Chuckling, the sailors return to the living decks.
- Brothers! Chairman! - they call out anxiously from the stern.
Belyshev quickly turns around.
The sentry, moving towards the entrance ladder, points towards the factory gates.
Their doors slowly move apart.
One after another, the green hulks of two armored cars emerge through the gap in the gate.
“I kept these things in reserve, no less,” Lipatov suggests. - He wants to intimidate!
- Quickly in the cockpits! Everyone to the gun! - Without taking his eyes off the armored cars, Belyshev commands. - Sentinels, to the officer's vestibule. Don't let anyone out of the nobility!
And he, pulling out the Mauser, runs up to the aft bridge.
Waddled on earthen mounds, armored cars crawl through the yard and stop near the pier opposite the cruiser.
The round cover of the turret of the nearest car swings back. A cadet stands over the hatch in a leather cap and a leather jacket, crossed with the straps of a brand new sword belt.
Cupping his hands like a megaphone, he shouts out loudly:
- Hey, ko-mi-tet-chi-ki!
Belyshev responds through a megaphone:
- What do you order, Mr. Junker?
- I order you to set sail and go where you are assigned! I'll give you a quarter of an hour!
There is laughter on deck.
- Passengers like you travel, but sailors walk! - shouts the sailor Shevchenko. - And they don’t set sail, but take off!
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Belyshev cannot help but smile: the cadet does not understand anything either in naval terminology or in terms of sailing. It takes at least an hour to get a cruiser out of the factory harbor, and then only with the help of tugboats.
- Maybe you can give me ten minutes? - they ask jokingly from the deck.
Juncker is angry:
- So that in a quarter of an hour your spirit will not be here!
Standing at the wing of the bridge, Belyshev assesses the situation. Everywhere - behind the projections of vestibules, gun turrets, superstructures, fan funnels - armed sailors perched themselves. The shutters click dryly.
- Hey you, dandy! - Belyshev calls loudly, pointing the megaphone at the cadet. - We give you and your friends five minutes to get out of the gate!
The cadet instantly disappears into the hatch. The lid slams shut.
The turrets of both armored cars rotate smoothly and freeze again. Their machine guns are aimed at the deck of the cruiser.
- Feed! - Belyshev’s voice resounds over the pier. - Aim at gentlemen cadets!
The covers rustle softly as they fall onto the deck. The barrels of rapid-fire cannons turn towards the pier.
The silent endurance duel lasts less than a minute. Then Belyshev again touches the megaphone:
- Gentlemen Junkerio! I suggest you find yourself at the Kalinkin Bridge in four minutes! If you don't mind, throw out the white flag!
The turret cover of the lead armored car rises slightly. A gloved hand pokes out of the hatch, waving a handkerchief.
- Well done! - Belyshev praises. - Come on, get out of the yard!
Backing away, both cars move deeper into the factory site and, with sirens blaring, rush towards the gate at full speed.
The Commissioner, hiding his Mauser, leaves the bridge.
- There were no treats. Next time they won’t poke their noses in... What are you doing, Evdokim? It’s too early to laugh,” he says reproachfully to the commandant, who is spitting in his bass voice.
- What am I talking about, Shura... Our guns have no shells at all! Idle charged!
Thunderous laughter rolls for a long time across the compartments and decks.

In the evening, tugboats moor a barge with shells brought from Kronstadt to the side of the cruiser.
Loading begins.

Exit to the fairway

On the water
dusk
similar and so -
bottomless
blue hole,
And here
more
and the sight of a whale
carcass
Aurorova.
V. Mayakovsky

By midnight the cruiser is in full combat readiness. The reloading of the required number of shells from the barge to the ship's magazines has been completed. The curious attempt of the Provisional Government to intimidate the sailors with armored cars and force the crew to withdraw the Aurora from Petrograd failed. The sailors are staying alert. The guards on the cruiser have been doubled, and on the minesweeper "Fifteenth" moored not far from it, additional posts have been posted near the pier and the main gate, and behind them, outside - near the square opposite the fire station and at the Kalinkin Bridge - patrols of sailors and workers walk around.
The war between the people and the Provisional Government has entered its final phase.
This is clearly indicated by the third order of the Military Revolutionary Committee, brought by a messenger from Smolny around midnight. It is addressed to the Commissioner.
Calling over the members of the ship's committee, Belyshev acquaints them with the order.
The text of the order is as follows:

“To the Commissioner of the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies on the cruiser Aurora.
The Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies decided: to instruct you to restore traffic on the Nikolaevsky Bridge with all the means at your disposal."

The provisional government ordered the cadets to open all bridges on the Neva, says the messenger. - Nikolaevsky, Dvortsovy, Troitsky and Liteiny have already been divorced. Do you understand, Commissar, what Kerensky is up to? Cut off the factory workers so that not a single Red Guard detachment gets into the center, and wait until the Kornilovites arrive in time from outside the city, and then fall en masse on the workers and strangle us!
“We need to bridge the gap,” says Belyshev. - And quickly.
- Give me twenty people, Shura! - asks Lukichev. - Let's knock out the cadets from the Nikolaevsky Bridge.
Belyshev disagrees:
- There’s no point in meddling at random. Who knows how many cadets there are near the bridge! We'll send twenty - probably not enough; Let’s send one hundred and twenty - what if it’s also not enough? Send everyone? What will we do if the Kornilovites come here? No, people are needed on the ship. There is no way to risk Aurora. We must go with the ship. To the Neva. Aim the guns at the bridge and, at gunpoint, attack and knock out the cadets.
The members of the ship's committee are thinking.
-Who will lead? - Bzlousov doubts. - This is a cruiser, not a boat. Dexterity is needed to control such a colossus.
- What are the officers on the ship for? - Vekshin asks irritably. - Since February they have been eating bread for nothing. They will lead. I'm in favor of going to the bridge.
Lipatov, Zakharov and Nevolin join Vekshin.
“It still doesn’t hurt to send reconnaissance to the shore,” Lukichev insists.
“When we enter the Neva, we will send on both sides - to Vasilyevsky Island and to the English Embankment,” Belyshev decides. - So, we agreed: let's go to the bridge! Prepare people. Let the steam rise and warm up the cars. This is the responsibility of the three of you - Belousov, Nevolin and Lukichev. We will definitely need a spotlight, so, Vekshin, notify the electricians. The rest - the helmsman's watch, gunners, signalmen, tugboats and gentlemen officers - is ours: Lipatov, Zakharov and me. We finished the conversation.

At one o'clock in the morning the steam is raised to the mark, the cars are warmed up. Gunners, electricians, and helmsmen have been in their places for a long time. The ship is ready to sail, but the exit is unexpectedly delayed due to the refusal of the commander and other officers to obey the decision of the ship's committee. At the last moment, Erickson told the commissioner that the draft would not only prevent the cruiser from reaching the Nikolaevsky Bridge, but would even prevent it from entering the Neva.
“During the war, the river fairway was never deepened,” the commander explains the reason for the refusal. - The true depths are unknown, the ship could run aground.
The argument Erickson makes is a serious one. Formally, the commander is right, but in fact - the sailors understand this very well - he, under a plausible pretext, does not want to lead the ship to the Neva.
The Commissioner convenes the ship's committee again.
- What to do, friends and comrades?
“We need to take measurements,” suggests the secretary of the ship’s committee, Sergei Zakharov.
- How? - asks Vekshin. - The boats are away, near Smolny.
- I undertake to measure the fairway with a hand lot. Give me a boat, a lantern, a sheet of paper and four oarsmen, the foreman asks.
Belyshev hesitates:
- Risky, Sergei. If they spot a cadet on the bridge, they will shoot him down with a bullet.
- I’ll try not to take it off. Order, commissar, to lower the boat! - Zakharov repeats angrily. - Every minute is precious.
He puts on his peacoat, raises his collar, and, pulling his peak cap down, leaves.
For a long hour and a half, Belyshev and almost the entire crew, with the exception of those on watch in the engine and boiler rooms, were freezing on the upper deck in the cold rain, peering into the darkness of the night that had swallowed the boat, and anxiously listening to the frequent pops of rifle shots somewhere in the direction of the Neva.
Finally, Lipatov’s joyful voice is heard:
- Boat!
In response, the electric flashlight blinks. This is Zakharov signaling.
Dozens of hands grab the sergeant major and drag him onto the deck.
Soon Zakharov, soaking wet, shivering from cold and excitement, stands in the middle of the engine room and hands Belyshev a sheet with a drawing.
- Full order! The depths are quite normal for the Aurora. Even with a reserve.
Inspired, Belyshev hurries to the wardroom, where the officers and commander are sitting, having forgotten about sleep.
- The floor is yours, citizens. - He puts the wet sheet on the table. - Here it is measured. We can safely go all the way to the bridge.
The officers' faces are frowning and aloof.
Erickson asks quietly:
- Why will the ship go to the bridge?
- So I informed you! The cadets decided to open the bridge, and the Military Revolutionary Committee ordered us, the cruiser Aurora, to restore traffic by all means.
- Are you going to shoot at Zimny? - Erickson is still quietly interested in him.
“There’s no point in thinking about this,” Belyshev answers after thinking. - If the Military Revolutionary Committee orders, we will shoot at the Winter Palace... until the Provisional Government surrenders.
- In other words, the Bolsheviks are starting a civil war and are inviting us to take part in it! - says the commander.
- Hey, where did they go! - Somewhat taken aback, the commissioner is surprised. - Who opened the Nikolaevsky Bridge - the Bolsheviks or gentlemen cadets? The Bolsheviks demand: power - to the Soviets, land and factories - to the working people, peace - to the peoples! This is what the whole people want, but Kerensky and those who support him - the capitalists and landowners - do not want this. This means we need to drive them out of power!
- You are campaigning in vain! - Erickson is nervous. - I am informing you on behalf of all officers of the cruiser “Aurora” without exception: we flatly refuse to lead the ship to the Nikolaevsky Bridge! We don’t want to participate in a civil war! We are neither for the Bolsheviks, nor for Kerensky, but for Russia!...
- Is not it? - Belyshev abruptly interrupts, looking into Erickson’s eyes. - Russia is the people, and we, the Bolsheviks, are with the people. The people believe us, not Kerensky!
“We remain neutral,” the commander insists.
- Do you want to wait to see whose will take it? Is this your last word?
- Yes.
- Okay... Sentinels! - the commissar shouts in anger, grabbing the sheet with the drawing and rolling it into a tube.
The figures of two armed sailors appear in the doorway.
The Commissioner orders:
- Don’t let anyone out of the wardroom and don’t let anyone near the portholes! Batten down the portholes onto the armored covers!
Turning to the seated officers and having already mastered himself, he finishes:
- Oh, you neutrals!.. You don’t even know how to make up your mind, and yet you consider yourself sailors! Think carefully about what I will tell you in the end: either with the people or against the people. One out of two. There is no third.
Having finished speaking, he goes up to the upper deck.
- Here's the commissioner! - they shout from everywhere.
An unfamiliar sailor and an elderly bearded soldier are walking towards Belyshev, surrounded by members of the ship’s committee.
“By order of the Military Revolutionary Committee, the second battalion of the Kexholm Regiment was allocated to help Aurora,” the soldier reports.
“And I’m from the Second Baltic Crew,” the sailor introduces himself. - From the left sector headquarters. For communication. Have you received an order to go to the Nikolaevsky Bridge?
Belyshev nods affirmatively:
- Got. Let’s just think about how to get the Aurora out... Our officers seem to have staged a strike.
“Their upbringing doesn’t allow them,” the bearded Kexholm man responds ironically.
- We'll force you! - Vekshin is furious. - Let me have a heart-to-heart talk with them!..
He takes out his revolver.
“Don’t scare me, they’re already scared,” Zakharov stops. - We'll figure it out ourselves, you'll see. It is not the gentlemen who keep the helm watch, but the sailors. I put the best. Do you agree, Commissioner?
“Go ahead,” Belyshev allows.
- What should our battalion do? - reminds the Kexholmian.
- Take people to the Promenade des Anglais. We will aim our guns at the cadets, and you must drive them away from the bridge.
“In a word,” concludes the messenger from the crew, “I’ll report to headquarters like this: only the Aurora to the Neva, the Kexholmites to the bridge... Let’s go, infantry!”
Both messengers leave the ship.
- Stay in your places! - the foreman commands loudly. - Get off the moorings! Tell “Fifteenth”: let him come after us right now!
The boatswains' pipes are blaring, the stomping of feet is heard, and the sailors on the towing ships, which are supposed to take the cruiser out of the factory harbor, call to each other. Everything happens as always when sailing.
Belyshev, Lipatov and Zakharov climb to the command bridge.
For the first time in their lives, they will have to independently navigate the ship, and even in the pitchless darkness of an October night, along the winding fairway of the Neva. Every second of movement threatens an accident, but there is no other way out. The Aurora sailors must carry out the instructions of the Military Revolutionary Committee to the end.
These are the thoughts of Belyshev and everyone next to him on the bridge.
The engine telegraph bell tinkles melodiously. It was the foreman who moved the progress indicator knob to “small”
forward". A return bell is immediately heard, confirming that the order has been understood and that the mechanisms in the engine room have been activated.
Two tugboats help the cruiser get out onto the invisible fairway of the Neva.
A minesweeper crawls behind.
Frozen, the commissioner listens to the words of the foreman.
In a voice ringing with tension, Zakharov indicates the course to the sailor standing at the helm.
Someone persistently calls out to Belyshev:
- Commissioner!.. Chairman!..
The silhouette of a man with a rifle appears on the top step of the ladder.
Belyshev recognizes one of the sentries assigned to the officers.
- Why did he leave his post without permission?
“Dmitriev doesn’t take his eyes off them,” the sailor justifies himself. - There was no one to send before you. But the commander was impatient for something: take it out and introduce the commissar!
Clenching his fists, the angry Belyshev takes a step towards the gangway:
- Tell him... I begged twice, but I won’t do it a third time. Say: no time. The ship took off. Although, maybe he changed his mind... Okay, lead me here.
A little later, Erickson, accompanied by a sentry, climbs onto the bridge.
- I agree to bring the ship.
- So, you thought about it and figured it out? - Belyshev is curious.
- No, I just can’t allow the Aurora to run aground. I lead as needed. And only to the bridge. I won't do anything else.
- Okay, okay... The morning is wiser than the evening.
Unfastening the Mauser holster, Belyshev takes
place near the commander.
Slowly making its way through the night darkness and rain, the cruiser enters the Neva fairway.

In the pre-dawn darkness, the Aurora anchors in front of the Nikolaevsky Bridge.
The beam of its searchlight creeps along the shore, snatching from the darkness the figures of cadets and an armored car, as if asleep at the entrance to the bridge.
From the height of the cruiser you can clearly see: the cadets are racing along the embankment to the alleys, and the armored car takes off and rushes at full speed towards the distant Senate building. Enemies do not accept combat.
In the spotlight, the facades of buildings on both banks and the huge cube of the Winter Palace emerge from the darkness.
That's where the Aurora's guns are aimed.

At the Nikolaevsky Bridge

And because of Nikolaevsky
cast iron bridge,
like death
looks
unkind
Aurora
towers
steel.
V. Mayakovsky

The dawn is long. The fresh wind is unable to dispel the dense fog. Through the thickness of the fog and the endless twilight of a stormy October morning, the surface of the river is invisible. The Nikolaevsky Bridge, blocking the Neva in front of the Aurora, looks like a humpbacked monster hanging in space without any support. The beam of the ship's searchlight is lost in the gray haze. Drilling through it, it either soars under low rain clouds, then falls flat on the granite slabs of the English and Senate embankments, polished by the autumn slush, on the endlessly long facade of the Winter Palace, then moves like a round trembling speck along the Palace Bridge to Vasilievsky Island, to the Rostral Columns, stretches out yellow a path along the University embankment and, gradually shortening, creeps towards the ancient sphinxes shining from the rain, as if keeping a constant watch near the Nikolaevsky Bridge.
The order of the Military Revolutionary Committee was carried out at three hours and thirty minutes in the morning.
As soon as the cadets, seeing the Aurora, fled into the pre-dawn darkness, a group of ship electricians moved ashore in a boat and, on their own, activated the mechanisms of the drawbridge. At the same moment, as soon as the flight fell into place, detachments of soldiers of the Finnish Reserve and 180th Infantry Regiments and Vasileostrovsky regiments rushed from Vasilyevsky Island to meet the Kexholmians and sailors of the Second Baltic Fleet
Red Guards. Having united, they moved to the city center.
Many Aurors wanted to follow their example, but Belyshev, on behalf of the Military Revolutionary Committee, as its commissar, forbade leaving the ship. Everyone, without exception, except Lukichev. He was transported in a boat across the Neva with instructions to deliver him to Smolny
Commissioner's report that the cruiser "Aurora"
holds the Winter Palace at gunpoint with six-inch guns and that the sailors are awaiting further instructions
Lenin and Stalin.
Since Lukichev disappeared into the fog behind the bridge, the ship's bell counted down the time three times.
It's past eight o'clock in the morning, but daylight can't overcome the darkness of the night. It takes more than three hours to wait for a response from Smolny.
The gun crews on the forecastle and the stern, the electricians on the top platform near the searchlight, are getting wet under the incessant rain and the piercing storm wind. Three people in oilskin raincoats with pointed hoods are vaguely visible on the bridge. These are Belyshev, Lipatov and Zakharov. Before their eyes, sore from insomnia, everything merges, covered in a gray haze of fog. The Aurora's bridge seems to hang over an impenetrable cloudy abyss.

The ship's bell rings four times, echoing the double strokes: eight o'clock in the morning.
Leaving Lipatov and Zakharov on the bridge, the commissioner goes down inside the ship.
Everywhere - in the cockpits and corridors of the living decks - you can hear the chatter of hundreds of people. The sailors are ready: peacoats are buttoned, rifles are in their hands or placed nearby. The ribbons with cartridges worn over the peacoats glow yellow, and the bayonets and rifle barrels glisten.
The drivers listen intently to the commissar.
- Take ten people at a time and find out what Zimny has. Foteev, go along Konnogvardeisky Boulevard to St. Isaac's Square. Babin, move towards the Admiralty along the embankment. Don’t get into trouble, but if the cadets and other Kornilovites offend you, don’t let them go!
“Don’t doubt it,” Babin assures. - Let’s introduce ourselves: we are from Aurora!
Having selected twenty people from the mass of those willing to go on reconnaissance, the drivers take them to the upper deck, to the gangway, near which the boats lowered from the ship fidget on the short river waves.
Throwing back the hood of his cloak, Belyshev continues to walk around the premises. It's nice to be warm after a night spent in the wind and rain! Heightened hearing catches snippets of conversations.
The Commissioner enters the cockpit.
Laughing artillerymen sit and stand in a tight ring around the burly gunner Evdokim Ognev and his sidekick Larion Gurdin.
“... Just wait,” Ognev booms, “let’s shake out the gentlemen - and we’ll be our own masters!”
The smiles on the artillerymen's faces are replaced by stern determination. Glances are turned to Belyshev: soon?
- What's good? - Gunner Mineev is perplexed. - When do we leave, commissar?
- Didn’t we perform? - Belyshev asks in turn. - Why is the position for guns bad? Or are you afraid of missing Winter?
“From here?.. Somehow we won’t miss,” Ognev promises. - Just order it.
- It’s not I who give the orders, but the Military Revolutionary Committee. We are obliged to obey his instructions. This is what Tsentrobalt ordered. Lukichev was sent to Smolny. He will return and say that the Aurora has been ordered.
Gurdin sighs:
- I would rather...
The deafening sound of the alarm bell permeates the entire ship.
There's no time to talk now.
Following Belyshev, loading rifles on the move, overtaking each other, the sailors run out onto the upper deck.
It's still just dawn.
A dim October day falls over the Neva and the facades of buildings on the granite embankments. The bridge and embankments are deserted. The wind drives dirty red swell lambs across the lead surface of the river.
The commissioner looks around and, not seeing anything threatening, hurries to the bridge to find out the reason for the combat alarm.
- Look!
Zakharov extends his hand towards the mouth, where the buildings of workshops, slipways with unfinished ships and the cranes of the Baltic plant, reminiscent of gigantic storks with lowered beaks, rise in the fog.
Against the background of the workshops, five oblong spots are moving along the Neva, heading towards the bridge.
- Destroyers! - Lipatov identifies. - For whom? For Kerensky or ours?
Belyshev grabs his binoculars. Squat destroyers and high-sided minelayers are clearly distinguishable. Knocking up the breakers on the river and throwing them towards the granite shores, the ships go against the current.
“The Perspicacious,” Belyshev reads the name of the lead destroyer. - Behind it is the minelayer “Khoper”, the third is the destroyer “Prochny”, the fourth is the minelayer “Amur”, and the last one is “Zyany”. From Kronstadt. Our! Set aside the combat alert!
One by one the ships are approaching the Nikolaevsky Bridge. Their decks are crowded with armed sailors, red flags flutter under the gaffs, and red flags with huge letters of the most popular slogan are hung on the walls of the conning towers:
ALL POWER TO THE TIPS!
Slowing down, the ships turn around near the cruiser and moor one by one to the Promenade des Anglais: first, the Prozrivivy sticks to the wall, then the minelayers and the rest of the destroyers.
Davits1 are taken overboard from the outermost ship. Several sailors jump into the boat, launch it and row it across the Neva to the Aurora.
Belyshev goes down to the front steps to meet the guests.
A tall sailor climbs out of the boat onto the gangway and easily runs up onto the deck of the cruiser. On his flattened cap, flat as a pancake, is the name of the battleship of the Baltic Fleet: “Dawn of Freedom.” At his belt is a Mauser. Boots squeak. The collar of the peacoat is raised to protect against rain. The face is young, high cheekbones, in the eyes - concern, determination, confidence.
1 Davits are steel rotating bars under which boats are suspended on a ship.
The sailor shakes the hand of Belyshev and everyone standing near the gangway as hard as he can.
- Aren't you late? - he is worried. “We squeezed every last drop out of the cars.”
“They arrived just in time,” Belyshev reassures. - It started the other day, but there is enough work for both you and us.
- Why aren’t you in the city?
Belyshev draws a straight line with his hand from the tank gun to the Winter Palace:
- They took the temporary ministers at gunpoint.
“I see,” the guest grins. - This is Kerensky’s apartment? Let's smoke the fox out of the bear's den! We hope for Aurora's guns. We were given an order over the phone in Kronstadt: to cordon off Zimniy.
“Keep in touch with us,” the commissioner recommends. - We sent a man to Smolny and two detachments for reconnaissance.
- Yeah. In this case, I will provide contacts.
The Kronstadter salutes and returns to the boat.
Many eyes watch her as she crosses the Neva. Halfway there, the Kronstadter, having taken off his cap, semaphored the destroyers.
- Landing on shore! - following the waves of the hands of the man in the boat, signalman Vedyakin announces the meaning of the semaphore.
From the Aurora you can see: a stream of people in black pea coats is rushing ashore from destroyers and minelayers.
The landing party stretches in a long chain along the embankment from Nikolaevsky to the Palace Bridge.
- Well, hold on, Kerensky! - they exclaim triumphantly on the deck.”
- Send the eagles! - Sailor Shevchenko says with approval and undisguised envy. - Eh, we wish we could go with them too! Respect, Commissioner!
The sailors look expectantly at Belyshev.
The Commissioner is adamant.
- Not until Lukichev returns. In the meantime... everyone who is not on duty - down! Go to your cubicles! Be ready!
He climbs onto the bridge again, pulls down the hood of his raincoat and, standing next to Lipatov and Zakharov, secretly worried, constantly looks at the square behind the bridge, from where Lukichev should come.
The stormy day of October 25 dawned over the rusty Neva, tousled by the storm wind, over the aristocratic mansions of the embankments, over the workshops and lacy cranes of the Baltic Shipyard, over the gray hulls of ships near the Nikolaevsky Bridge. The bayonets on hundreds of rifles of the airborne detachment leaving for the Palace Bridge dimly gleam in the rain shroud; the naked barrels of the cruiser’s guns tirelessly look towards the Winter Palace; The gunners froze at the guns, the sentries stood at the gangway, the commissar and his assistants stood on the bridge.
The Aurora sailors are waiting for orders.

Shot from the Aurora

And on top -
city
as if exploded -
banged
six-inch Aurorova.
V. Mayakovsky

Lukichev returns only at noon.
“The Military Revolutionary Committee ordered this to be conveyed,” he reports, entering the bridge. - First: select several small detachments and from time to time send them on reconnaissance to the center and to Zimny. Second: introduce a continuous watch on the ship's radiotelegraph. Third: detach fifty people to guard Smolny. Malkov from Diana was appointed commandant there.
- My little boy! - Zakharov declares joyfully. - From the crew to the brigade they were appointed together in the eleventh year. Solid man. Serious.
- Two of our detachments are already on the shore. “Okay, we’ll send two more,” says Belyshev. - And Lipatov will be appointed for Smolny. He has a list of buildings. Take action, Timofey.
- I’ll highlight it now.
Lipatov takes out a sheet of paper from his pea coat pocket, covered on both sides with the names of the sailors.
- Who did you see? - Belyshev is interested.
Lukichev’s face shines:
- Lenin himself - that’s who!
The sailors move closer around the driver.
- Wait, wait! What is he like? - asks Lipatov. - So short, with a beard and mustache, in civilian clothes... Is he or is he not?
There is amazement in Lukichev’s eyes.
- Short, about my height, that’s right; in civilian clothes - this is also true. However, without a beard or mustache.
“So it’s not Lenin,” Lipatov says decisively. “I saw him at a meeting of military representatives in June and on the balcony of the Kshesinskaya Palace in July, before the demonstration, when he gave a speech. From afar, though, but I remembered it.
“Look, what a mistake you made, Mikola,” Zakharov drawls in disappointment.
- I didn’t misrepresent myself at all! - Luki-chev is offended. - I heard his name with my own ears.
“Tell me clearly,” advises Belyshev. - Where did you see Lenin?
- In Smolny! I come, and there are even more people there than the day before yesterday, when you and I visited Sverdlov. There is no crowding on the lower floor or in the corridors. Warrants for rifles are issued, one hundred and fifty units per plant. There is no one in the seventeenth room, although there is a sentry. I asked him where the Military Revolutionary Committee was. He gave me a different address: room number ten. I’m walking, counting the numbers on the doors and in the corridor, and one person is rushing towards me. He caught up, squinted, looked with piercing eyes, as if he had looked into the soul, and asked: “Who are you looking for, comrade?” The voice is friendly, but he doesn’t pronounce the letter “er” like everyone else. He burrs a little. I don’t know why, but I just said it in one spirit,
that the sailors of the Aurora have fulfilled the instructions of the Military Revolutionary Committee and are awaiting instructions on what to do next. “Very good, very good,” he quickly replies. - Tell your comrades on the committee about this. They are in room ten." He showed me where room number ten was, and wanted to go his way; from around the corner, some compromiser in glasses ran at him and shouted: “You rely and rely on bayonets, Mr. Lenin!” Here I am rooted to the spot. It turns out that this is Lenin?! I stand and wait: what will he say... I look, Lenin strokes his huge forehead, squints slyly and puts it on the compromiser who amicably wanted to come to an understanding with the bourgeoisie, puts him on both shoulder blades... I remember word for word: “Not the Bolsheviks, but the whole people will defend the gains of the revolution with bayonets...” He turned and walked down the corridor, and I looked and looked after him... However, Lenin had neither a beard nor a mustache.
- How so? - the puzzled Lipatov is perplexed.
“Very simple,” Belyshev guesses. - He hid from the spies for how many months! He probably shaved off his beard and mustache so that they wouldn’t identify him.
- What's in the city? - Zakharov is curious.
- It’s pitch-dark on Nevsky. Gentlemen, their young ladies and ladies, all sorts of Kornilovites. They buzz like wasps that have had a stick stuck in their nest. Armored cars drive back and forth. Both ours and Kerensky’s. On the bridge near the Moika, our Babin and a patrol from the Kronstadt detachment turned some delegation from the City Duma back. Showers twenty gentlemen. With umbrellas. They wanted to board the Aurora in order to persuade us to listen to Kerensky and not the Bolsheviks. Babin showed these gentlemen his cap. “Literate? - asks. - Have you read what is written here?.. And if you have read it, you should understand that I am speaking to you on behalf of the crew of the cruiser Aurora. Listen to what I say: we have
On the ship, people like you, neutral compromisers, are sitting on guard in the hold. Maybe you’d like to join them for company?.. No?.. Then go home and drink tea and don’t get in the way of people... There’s marching all around!..”
- And those? - Lipatov is interested.
“And those, like new recruits at drill, turned around, some from left to right, some from right to left, and walked away.
- Who else did you see? - asks Belyshev.
- Near St. Isaac's Square, on the corner of Morskaya, I met Foteev with a detachment. Eagles! They act together with the Red Guards. They occupied the lobby of the Astoria military hotel, and it was full of officers and speculators, and they were not letting anyone out.
- Well, did you hire them to guard them? - Lipatov sarcastically.
“They’ll figure it out for now,” explains Lukichev. - The Red Guards are checking the gentlemen’s documents and looking for weapons. In one room, some Kornilov reptile installed a machine gun on the window behind the curtain. Found.
“Prepare people for Smolny, Timofey,” Belyshev hurries, “and I’ll go see Alontsev.”
Having left the bridge, he goes to the radio room.
Her door is wide open. In the back of the room, behind a table filled with metal utensils, senior radio operator Fyodor Alontsev perched on the edge of a chair, with his back to the door. It is very uncomfortable for him to sit in this position, and at another time, no doubt, he would have changed his position long ago, but now, apparently, there is no time for that. As if not noticing the commissar entering, he writes hastily.
From behind Alontsev’s shoulder, Belyshev reads the jumping lines of the radiogram he receives:
“To the citizens of Russia!
The provisional government has been overthrown. State power passed into the hands of the organ of the Petrograd Soviet
that of workers' and soldiers' deputies - the Military Revolutionary Committee, which stands at the head of the Petrograd proletariat and garrison.
The cause for which the people fought: the immediate proposal of a democratic peace, the abolition of landlord ownership of land, workers' control over production, the creation of a Soviet government, this cause is secured.
Long live the revolution of workers, soldiers and peasants!”
Jumping up, Alontsev rips off his headphones and turns to Belyshev:
-Have you read it, Commissioner? After all, this... after all, this is about... Let me hug you, Shura!..
They kiss three times and together carry into the cockpits, into the engine and boiler rooms, to the combat posts at the machine guns and guns the words of the appeal of the Military Revolutionary Committee, with which Lenin, like a magic key, opened the door to the cherished world of freedom for people. The appeal seemed to add fuel to the fire. Much has already happened, much remains to be done, but there is no signal about the Aurora’s performance. The sailors are alarmed. How can you then look people in the eye when they ask: “Where have you been, eagles”? What are the commissioner and the ship committee thinking? How long will the staring contest with Kerensky last?
After waiting until the most impatient of the team shouted to their heart's content, Belyshev announced the order of the Military Revolutionary Committee to send a detachment to Smolny.
- And Lukichev will tell you what he saw and heard in the city. Speak, Nikolai.
The driver repeats the story about his visit to Smolny, about the meeting with the detachments of Babin and Foteev.
Meanwhile, Belyshev is being tugged by the sleeve.
“Come out to the hold,” the watchman from the boatswain’s crew calls in a low voice.
- Has anything happened? - the commissioner is worried and looks around the room warily.
Hundreds of people listen to Lukichev with interest.
The watchman whispers:
- They are quarreling. You can hear every word through the fans.
The Commissioner hurries to the gangway.

The tarpaulin-covered hatch leading from the battery deck into the hold is empty except for two sentries. They guard the arrested officers and the ship's commander, transferred from a cozy wardroom to a dark hold, by order of the ship's committee. Moving their caps to one side, the sentries clung to the vents of the fans supplying air to the hold.
“Listen,” one of the sentries offers Belyshev. - The midshipman rebelled. He wants to come over to us, but the commander threatens to sue us.
The Commissioner puts his ear to the bell and immediately recognizes the voice of Midshipman Polenov, the youngest of the officers:
- ... not only dream of power, but also act. And they are not at all afraid of us. In addition, they even put me in the hold... You do what you want, and I will ask to go upstairs. Tired of it!
- Without transfer - and into Bolshevik speakers! Let's see, let's see how the Bolsheviks will be able to take power!
“This is Erickson,” the commissar guesses and loudly orders the sentries: “Open up!” Now I will make him happy, my dear, neutral friend!
The sentries are throwing the tarpaulin off the bilge hatch.
- Wait, commissar, I’ll give you a light.
Leaning over the square hatch, the watchman lowers the “flying” lantern into it.
It was as if they had died out in the hold.
Belyshev quickly climbs down the steep ladder, jumps from the bottom step onto the boardwalk, looks around at the officers and, finding Erickson, says, not without irony:
- You are a bad fortune teller, citizen commander: the Bolsheviks have already taken power. Read. - He hands him a radiogram: - Read aloud.
Stuttering in surprise, the commander reads out the appeal of the Military Revolutionary Committee, accepted by Alontsev.
The Commissioner watches the officers from under his brows. Erickson throws up his hands. The thin young midshipman, craning his neck, leaned forward. The plump, purple-faced artilleryman nervously fiddles with a button on his jacket, as if intending to tear it off.
“Since the Provisional Government has been overthrown...” Erikson mumbles, “we are free of obligations towards it...”
He thinks for a long time under Belyshev’s gaze, then stretches his arms at his sides:
- I place myself at the disposal of the new government.
- You? - Belyshev addresses the artilleryman.
“I am,” he exclaims in a tone of extreme amazement. - I'll wait.
“It’s a business matter,” the commissar answers dryly. - What do you say, midshipman?
- I agree to take the shift.
- So climb onto the deck with the commander. Who else?
The officers hesitate.
- There are no hunters! - senior officer Nikonov declares defiantly.
- No, no! - the commissioner says peacefully. -Then you will have to be bored in the hold. For now we can deal with Kerensky.
He climbs the ladder to the top, where the commander and midshipman are waiting, announces to both that they are free
bore within the ship, and, ordering the sentries to close the hold hatch again with a tarpaulin, returns to the bridge.

In the short time that Belyshev was in the cockpits and in the hold, the situation around the cruiser changed beyond recognition. The entire mouth section of the Neva from the Baltic Shipyard to the Nikolaevsky Bridge is crowded with warships and auxiliary vessels of all types: destroyers, minesweepers, submarines, towing and passenger ships, cargo transport, barges, armed steam and motor yachts. The embankments are black with so many people in sailor's peacoats. It was a combined detachment of sailors from the Baltic Fleet, led by the Bolsheviks, who arrived from Kronstadt at the call of the Military Revolutionary Committee.
“Ten thousand, no less,” says Zakharov.
- Well done people of Kronstadt! - Lipatov admires. - We didn’t skimp. Now Kerensky is finished!
- Have people been sent to Smolny? - the commissioner copes.
- Of course! Our squadron is already rowing back.
Lipatov points to the flotilla of boats heading to the Aurora across the Neva, then hands Belyshev a piece of paper:
- Alontsev brought it. This was transmitted from the Polar Star1 for Kronstadt.
1 On the steam yacht “Polar Star”, which was then stationed in Helsingfors, there was Tsentrobalt.
“Hello to Red Kronstadt,” the commissioner reads. - The destroyers “Samson” and “Zabiyaka” are coming to your aid. They will proceed straight to Petrograd...” Just below this text, in Alontsev’s handwriting, it is written: “Along with them are the destroyers “Deyatelny” and “Metky”, the messenger ship “Yastreb”.
The sailors do not take their eyes off Belyshev: will such good news really not break through the armor of his restraint?
Smiling, he repeats the words of his deputy:
- Now Kerensky will soon be finished!
Zakharov catches himself:
- It seems they are semaphoring us! Vedyakin, take it!
The signalman on watch peers into the rainy gloom and loudly reports:
- The representative of the Military Revolutionary Committee invites the commissioner of the Aurora and the chairmen of the ship committees of all ships to appear on the Farsighted!
- Reply that the semaphore has been accepted for execution! - Belyshev orders and, entrusting the cruiser to Lipatov, goes to the destroyer.
From everywhere, boats with ship delegates are rushing to the Prosrivovy. There is no time to hesitate. The delegates are carrying one order: to finish with Kerensky!
An hour later, Belyshev was again on the bridge of the Aurora.
“We agreed,” he informs the members of the ship’s committee. - Both minesweepers - “Fifteenth” and “Fourteenth” - will go up beyond the Palace Bridge. They will anchor there between Zimny and Petropavlovka. “Vigilant”, “Strong” and “Zealant” will take a position below the Palace Bridge. They will guard it and not allow the Kornilovites to approach the embankments. The other ships remain in their places. “Aurora” was appointed as the senior officer on the roadstead. The representative of the Military Revolutionary Committee, sent by Lenin and Stalin, will report through our contacts how things are going at the Winter Palace, and we will signal the other ships. The signals are as follows: two lights - red and white - which means negotiations are underway with the Provisional Government to surrender; one white - Kerensky surrendered; one red - start shelling Zimniy from the guns of all ships.
It has long since dawned, and the day is already fading.
Dusk is deepening over the bridges and embankments. Wet fog spreads over the rough surface of the river. Silently, as if behind a wall, you can hear rifle and machine gun fire. During short periods of calm, the stormy wind whistles and howls hysterically.
From morning until evening twilight, messengers from the reconnaissance detachments of Babin, Foteev, Krasnov and Shevchenko sent from the Aurora are ferried across the river to the cruiser.
They report to the commissioner about the news in the city. The news is countless. After the capture of the Military Port and the radio station, about six hours have passed, but both admiralties have already been occupied - New and Main, the Mariinsky Palace and the headquarters of the Petrograd Military District have been cleared of Kerensky supporters. Winter Palace surrounded by revolutionary troops. Near the Alexander Garden there are sailors of the mine training detachment, the Second Baltic crew, the guards naval crew, an armored division with machine guns and the Kexholm infantry regiment; on Morskaya Street and under the arch of the General Staff - the second division of armored cars, a battery of three-inch guns, detachments of Red Guards of the Kolomensky district, sailors and soldiers of various units; near the General Headquarters, from the Moika side and on the Police Bridge, there are infantry and Red Guards of the Putilov plant; at the Palace Bridge - soldiers of the Finnish Regiment, detachments of sailors from the engine school and the training ship "Ocean", Red Guards from the factories of Vasilyevsky Island; along the facade of the Main Admiralty, facing the Winter Palace, are sailors of the combined Kronstadt detachment; on the Trinity Bridge and Peter the Great embankment - the Revel shock battalion of sailors, a detachment from the training ship "Narodovolets", Red Guards of the Vyborg side; on Nevsky Prospekt, near the Kazan Cathedral, there is a reserve battery of three-inch guns, and further, to the Alexander Garden and the exit to Palace Square, there are army units; on the Admiralty Embankment and on St. Isaac's Square - the Red Guards of the Baltic Shipyard, reconnaissance detachments from the Aurora and landing forces from destroyers that came from Kronstadt; on Millionnaya Street near the Hermitage - soldiers of the Pavlovsky, Volynsky and Preobrazhensky regiments, sailors of the engine school and Red Guards of the factories of the Vyborg side. Everyone is waiting for the signal to storm.
And these are the forces of counter-revolution. By seven o'clock in the evening, in addition to the garrison of the Winter Palace - three Cossack hundreds, a women's battalion, six companies of cadets, the Akhtyrets armored car, the most powerful in Petrograd, and an artillery battery - the Provisional Government had armed support from cadet schools. Armored vehicles and ambulances, manned by cadets, hiding behind the flag of the Red Cross, from time to time rush through the streets and avenues, firing at soldiers, Red Guards, sailors, and unarmed passers-by. This is what the rifle shots and machine-gun bursts mean, the rattling of which is heard on the Aurora! Mikhailovsky Castle became the military center of counter-revolutionary conspirators. From there, cadets, dressed in the uniform of soldiers of infantry regiments, make forays into the most important points of the city.
Rain, fog, slush, cold stormy wind, but the situation in Petrograd is extremely tense.
- The boat is on the starboard side! - the signalman announces loudly.
-Where is the commissioner? - they shout from the boat.
Belyshev leans over the ledge of the bridge wing:
- What's the matter?
- Commissioner! Belyshev! - the man in the boat calls out to him intermittently. - I'm from Babin's squad. The representative of the Military Revolutionary Committee ordered the message: at nine o'clock Kerensky and the entire company must surrender. If they become stubborn, then a red fire will be lit on Peter and Paul Fortress. When you see it, don't yawn. The Aurora must fire a blank for the signal. So that everyone can hear. After the shot there will be an assault... - Taking a breath, the messenger continues to spread the news: - Our boatswain's mate Klevtsov and one driver from the Prozrivoy have been sent to Smolny with instructions from all detachments. Report to the Congress of Soviets and Comrade Lenin: let them not doubt, we will take Winter!.. The Cossacks have completely gone to the barracks. They didn’t want to defend Kerensky. And the cadets laid barricades of wood in front of the palace. Heroes!.. What time is it on the clock?
- Twenty minutes to nine! - they respond from different places on the upper deck and from the bridge.
- So don't yawn! - the messenger punishes.
The boat is moving away.
“Order a double signal,” the commissioner turns to Erickson. - The top one is red, the bottom one is white.
- I obey!
A minute later, one after another, along invisible halyards stretched from the bridge, wind-swayed double signal lanterns crawl obliquely upward towards the bow mast. They are eagerly awaited on the ships located along the Neva.
- Let's go to the forecastle, comrades!
Belysheva’s voice gives away: the commissioner is worried.
- I ask permission to remain on the bridge. I can’t be present! - Erickson1 bursts out.
1 Subsequently, Erickson betrayed our country and fled abroad
- Stay. We'll get by somehow.
Waving his hand, Belyshev is the first to run onto the deck.
Almost the entire team is already on the tank. The messenger's words instantly flew around the ship. Every person on the cruiser, languishing, counts the minutes and seconds. Gunners on watch stand ready at the tank gun turret.
- You, Evdokim? - asks the commissioner, recognizing Ognev by his gigantic height. - Load it with idle. For testing in Winter.
- We've waited! - Ognev booms happily.
The lock of a six-inch gun clangs dully.
An impenetrable darkness hangs over the river beyond the Palace Bridge. In the direction where the eye sees the dark bulk of the Peter and Paul Fortress, nothing is visible. There is no light signal.
It’s nine o’clock, but the watchman from the boatswain’s crew, absorbed, like everyone else, in waiting, forgot about his duties. The ship's bell, which keeps track of time every hour, is silent.
And time does not wait. Minute after minute goes into infinity, like wave after wave.
A tense silence hangs over the cruiser. Hundreds of eyes stare into the darkness, hoping to see the light of a lantern. The blurry silhouette of the Peter and Paul Cathedral seems to sway before your eyes.
- Why did they hesitate there? - Zakharov mutters impatiently and runs up the ladder to the bridge. The sound of the sergeant major's boots on the metal steps is clearly audible in the silence. It seems like a huge pendulum is hastily counting down the seconds.
“Thirty-five on the tenth,” the foreman announces, return back. - Something happened at Petropavlovka, no less.
- Fire, fire! - they exclaim on the deck.
Now everyone can see: in the darkness behind the bridge, slowly
a red dot is creeping upward - the fire of a lantern, a symbol for the Aurora.
Nine hours and forty minutes.
- Fire! - Belyshev says briefly.
Instead of the melodious chime of a clock bell - over a ship, over a river, over Petrograd plunged into darkness through a stormy wind, blocking all sounds,
The powerful roar of a six-inch gun is heard. The echo carries it along the granite shores.
The flash of a shot momentarily illuminates Belyshev, Lipatov, Zakharov, Lukichev, Alontsev, Ognev and the gun crew on watch, their figures tilted towards Zimny, as if petrified while running, their faces, on which anticipation is frozen...
The echo of the shot can no longer be heard. The roar of the wind increases again. It brings the sound of machine gun fire from across the river. Distant gun salvos merge with the dull, incessant, prolonged roar of thousands of people:
- Urrrraaaa!..
The assault began.
- Load up with combat!
Now there is the usual calm in Belyshev’s voice. The Commissioner regained control of himself.
However, the overall tension is at its limit. For what served as a signal to action for the revolutionary detachments on the shore means for the sailors on the ships so far only a warning to be ready to begin shelling the Winter Palace with live shells.
The darkness of the night hides the majestic spectacle of twenty-five warships, whose guns, after a light signal from the Aurora, are turned towards one, thrice-hated target. From behind the Nikolaevsky Bridge extended the gigantic fingers of the six-inch guns of the cruiser Aurora, the rapid-fire guns of the destroyers Samson and Zabiyaka, which had just arrived from Helsingfors, the messenger ship Abrek, the training ship Verny, the minelayers Amur and “Khoper”, messenger ship “Yastreb”, machine guns of submarines “Ruff” and “Forel”, steam and motor yachts “Standard”, “Roxana”, “Strela”, “Neva”, “Astarta”, “Concordia”, “ Princess", "Alexandria", "Zarnitsa". From the anchorage between the Nikolaevsky and Dvortsovy bridges, the destroyers “Prozrlivy,” “Zyany,” and “Prochny” set their sights on the last refuge of the Provisional Government. And through the night, the guns of the destroyer “Deyatelny” and the minesweepers “Fourteenth” and “Fifteenth”, which had passed beyond the Palace Bridge, almost to the very bastions of the Peter and Paul Fortress, looked straight through the night at the Winter Palace. A salvo of all the guns of the squadron led by the Bolsheviks is ready to fall on the citadel of the Provisional Government as soon as the desired signal blazes with crimson light on the mast halyards of the Aurora.
And time doesn't wait...
The second hour of the assault began. Machine guns are relentlessly knocking in the direction of Zimny. The messengers appear one after another, reporting to the commissioner about what is happening on Palace Square.
- They repulsed the cadet's attack! - the messenger from Foteev’s detachment shouts angrily. - “Akhtyrets” helped them. Suddenly he crawled out from behind the Alexander Column and started firing! He completely cut off the first chain of miners and Red Guards. Whoever ran out from under the arch on Morskaya Street - everyone lay down!.. Our armored cars hit him, and the bullets bounced off. He has armor like a ship's...
- They covered, they covered “Akhtyrets”! - the next messenger joyfully announces. - Mitin from “Standard” covered! Two grenades. The cadet machine gunner noticed him, but missed. Then the brother swung. Both grenades are right under the wheels. “Akhtyrets” even tilted... Stuck. Neither here nor here. It's easier for us now...
It's almost midnight.
And suddenly it becomes unbearably quiet. Everything fell silent: screams, machine gun fire, rifle shots. Only the wind whistles incessantly in the ship's rigging.
“They probably broke into the palace,” Zakharov suggests.
- Spotlight! Alive! - the commissar urges the electricians. - Take me along the embankment!
The spotlight's beam, like a trail of light, spreads along the shore. In the dusty light of the beam, a man is visible running towards the bridge.
This is a liaison from Shevchenko's detachment.
Standing on the bridge, he waves his cap.
- “On the Aurora!” - the signalman on the upper bridge folds the waves of his cap and hands into letters and words. - Don't shoot anymore! Ours in Winter! They fight on the stairs and in the corridors!”
- Long live the Soviet government! - Belyshev responds at the top of his voice.
The sailors unanimously repeat the words of the commissioner:
- Long live the Soviet government!
Belyshev also calls at the top of his voice:
- Citizen midshipman!.. Comrade Polenov! As an officer of the watch, I instruct you to write in the ship's log: “On October twenty-fifth, at nine forty minutes in the evening, the cruiser Aurora, according to the order of the Military Revolutionary Committee, fired a conditional shot at the Winter Palace in order to force the Provisional Government to recognize the rights of labor people and hand over power to the Soviets!”

Commissioner's report

We are living
by order
October will.
Fire
"Aurora"
in our sight.
V. Mayakovsky

The porthole is wide open. Through the rain haze, the embankments of the Neva, bordered by rows of mansions, are visible. In the distance stretches the box-shaped façade of the Winter Palace. The spiers of the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Admiralty seem like golden masts. The dome of St. Isaac's Cathedral rises above the colorful roofs.
The ship's committee cabin is full of sailors. These are the commanders of sailor detachments from the Aurora, who fought shoulder to shoulder with the Red Guards of the factory areas and soldiers against the Provisional Government. The sailors are sitting around the table - some leaning on it, others leaning their chests - sigh sympathetically when the commissar for the fourth time begins to rewrite the report to the Military Revolutionary Committee on the participation of the Aurors in the October battles. This is what Comrades Stalin and Sverdlov ordered. Things don't work without a habit. The report seems to Belyshev to be excessively long, many words are superfluous.
The Commissioner pores over the paper for a long time and finally, having copied the first page completely, reads aloud:
- “The cruiser Aurora, being repaired at the Franco-Russian plant, was supposed to leave Petrograd on October 22 to test the machines. But, bearing in mind the supposed Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets, by order of Tsentrobalt it was delayed for an indefinite time, and the reason for the delay was explained to the team by the fact that we, the cruiser Aurora, would have to take an active part in supporting the Council and, possibly, in the upcoming coup . On October 23, from the Military Revolutionary Committee I received the appointment of commissar of the cruiser Aurora, for which an emergency meeting of the ship’s committee was convened in the presence of the commander and other officers, where I briefly explained the commissioner’s instructions and, in connection with this, warned that all orders and instructions, emanating from the Military Revolutionary Committee and others will be carried out by me..."
Putting the report aside, Belyshev admits:
- I can’t figure out what to write next.
“Attribute it to the fact that the electricians built the bridge themselves, without waiting for the bridge mechanic,” Foteev advises.
“Okay,” the commissioner accepts the addition and, making a note in the margins, puts the report aside. “Now we’ll think together about what else to say.”
The sailors are thinking.
As if hastening them, a booming hooting bursts through the cabin porthole: the signal cannon of the Peter and Paul Fortress struck noon.
- Tell me in order: what happened in the Winter Palace? - Belyshev addresses Babin.
- Yes, I said so many times... Don’t you remember?.. We, that is, who are from the Aurora and from the destroyers,
from the Admiralty and the Alexander Garden they took aim, and the Red Guards, soldiers, armored cars and detachments from other ships - from the Nevsky, from the Peter the Great embankment, from Millionnaya and from Morskaya from under the arch. There is no one on the square. In front of the palace grille are barricades made of logs and the Kornilov armored car “Akhtyrets”. The cadets began shooting little by little to keep themselves alert, but when the Aurora raised its voice, they fell silent. We are approaching the palace from all sides, and here towards us, from behind the Alexander Column, is “Akhtyrets”. Then a drill soldier from the Shtandart, Mitin by name, grabbed two grenades. Threw them under the wheels. I just guessed right in “Akhtyrtsa”. Only one bullet bit Mitin. In heart. On the spot. Five minutes later we launched a second assault. All at once. Juncker - go! Ours follow them, into the palace, onto the stairs. There are machine guns everywhere on the window sills, rifles on the floor... We caught the cadets... We got to the corner room, either 701 or 901, there are a lot of them there! Green, all in gold, curtains made of real brocade, a long table, covered with green cloth, like a billiard table, and at the table, in armchairs, there were sixteen people. In civilian clothes. In front of each of them is paper, an inkwell and a pen, and they themselves are pale, like dead people. At first no one wanted to believe that these were the temporary ministers, but the doorman who led us into that room swears and swears that they are the very... We reach them: “Where is Kerensky?” They unanimously agreed that he left the palace in the morning. "Where?" They are silent... They rushed here and there, nowhere to be found. He escaped!.. We took the temporary ministers out of the palace, and I delivered them and our detachment to Petropavlovka without a transfer. There is a bastion in Trubetskoy. In separate rooms. I can call you by last name.
“No need,” Belyshev waves it off. What are they for?..
“It’s better about the telephone exchange,” Lipatov reminds.
“Nevolin is missing, well, so I’ll say,” Vekshin volunteers. “There were eleven of our personnel from the Aurora at the telephone exchange, the rest were Red Guards and Kexholmites. First of all, they agreed to take away the cars from which the cadets had disembarked when they captured her. Five people - Nevolin, me and three Red Guards - crawled to the entrance, from the corner of Brick Lane. The cadets missed us. Nevolin and I jumped into the car, started it and rushed to Nevsky at full speed. The cadets fired a whole burst of machine gun fire at us, but didn’t hit us. Behind us, others became bolder and snatched up the cars in no time. The gentlemen of the cadets were decapitated. They sense that things are bad, but they don’t dare stick their heads out. We squeezed them on three sides. The Keksholmites approached from Gorokhovaya, Lipatov and four others with him, who arrived from the cruiser to help us - Bakinovsky, Shevchenko, Maksimov and Penyugalov - from St. Isaac's Square, and we - from Nevsky along Morskaya. We took the barrels off the barricades, rolled them in front of us, and covered ourselves with them. At this time, Lipatov recaptured an armored car from other cadets. We are thinking about how to get to the station, and then an armored car flying a red flag rushes from the square. They rose from the pavement - and to the entrance!.. They burst in, and the cowardly cadets were celebrating: some were tearing off their shoulder straps, some were hiding behind the young ladies who were telephone operators, some were climbing into the attic and onto the roof... - Here a funny story happened with the young ladies. At first they were scared, and when they realized that we would not harm them, they began to curse. The young ladies shouted and dispersed. They refused to serve the revolution. We got used to the gentlemen. No more than a dozen left. We appointed them as elders, and we put on headphones ourselves - let's learn how to connect phones. We contacted barracks and factories. Smolny, and then turned off the cadet schools and the Duma. In general, we established communication and realized that everyone at the station had nothing to do. They called the hunters to become telephone operators. About fifty people were found. And four
from Aurora. We read to them how to behave, posted sentries everywhere, and then moved on. As soon as we stepped outside, a car with a red cross came around the corner. Before we knew it, they took us at gunpoint: bang! bang!.. We scattered... We shot at her with rifles for about five minutes. Then they ran up, and on the seats were the cadets. They are no longer breathing. The scoundrels covered themselves with a red cross. They threw them out onto the pavement and drove the car to the Aurora.
“It happened like this with the armored car,” Lipatov interjects. - In the evening during the assault, when our grenades damaged the Akhtyrets, the cadets somehow repaired it and broke into the city. No one knew where they were hiding all night, but in the morning “Akhtyrets” showed up near St. Isaac’s Square. It rushes from side to side and mows down everyone it comes across. We waited until he appeared on the corner of Morskaya, and with shots we drove him back to the square. One bullet hit the engine. He got stuck. We first took refuge in the window niches of the Astoria Hotel, and when the engine of the Akhtyrets stalled, we ran out and attacked. The cadets were hit with machine guns. Some of our people fell. Still, they ran to him. They pushed the revolvers into the embrasures and first of all neutralized the driver and the machine gunner. Then the cadets surrendered. We somehow started the engine and rushed to the telephone exchange to help Nevolin. Near her, the armored car completely stopped, but the machine guns came in handy.
“Don’t forget to remember, commissar, how they went against Kerensky at Gatchina and captured the cadets in the Engineering Castle and at the Pavlovsk School,” says Lukichev. - And about the fact that Nevolin and a detachment were sent to help Moscow, and Bondarev’s detachment helped the Council in Rybinsk1 take power.
1 Nowadays the city of Shcherbakov.
- What should I paint? - driver Bondar denies Belyshev’s question. - We were only in Rybinsk for two days. Better copy it from the letter that I brought you from the Council: “We thank the crew of the cruiser Aurora for the fraternal revolutionary assistance...” And period.
The door to the cabin opens noisily. A tall sailor steps across the threshold. His cap is pushed to the back of his head, and there are two grenades behind his belt.
- Hello, brothers!
- Hello, Nevolin, lost soul! - they respond joyfully in the cabin.
- Of course, missing!.. Yes, we wandered all over Mother Russia! - Nevolin explains, heading to Belyshev. - I report, commissar: our detachment returned without casualties. On the way, we captured the Kornilov armored train. They chased him for half a thousand miles...
He sits down at the table.
- I brought “Aurora” a bow from Moscow workers. Now in Moscow, Soviet power is on firm feet. True, we were a little late because of that armored train. He blocked the way. They didn’t find out about him right away. At first the railway workers did not want to take us anywhere. When our detachment arrived at the station, about two thousand people had gathered in the square. And the station is closed. Some kind of compromise beetle sticks out at the door and makes a speech: the railway workers, they say, will not take us to Moscow either for the Bolsheviks, or for Kerensky. Of course, everyone was angry. Then the locomotive fireman called us from another door: “This way, comrades! We’ll take you wherever you need it: to Moscow, to Sevastopol, to Vladivostok!..” They pushed through that door and sat down in echelons: in the first - Red Guards from the Putilovsky plant and seventy-five people from our cruiser; in others - from the Vyborg side, Kolpintsy and a detachment from the Second Baltic crew. We urge the railway workers: “Bring it quickly, otherwise in Moscow the cadets are gaining the upper hand. The Kremlin has been captured!..” The railway authorities are not providing steam locomotives. I had to threaten. Steam locomotives were found... In Lyuban we learn: an armored train with Kornilovites is heading towards us from Novgorod. Already left Chudo-vo station. We began to wonder what we could do to please our dear guests... We found two railway platforms made of coal, lined the walls with sleepers and sandbags, attached six machine guns on top, attached three heated cars to the platforms - and our armored train was ready. They sent sixty people to attack him, a little from all the detachments. Six Aurors. Once again stalled due to sabotage. None of the locomotive drivers wants to travel with us: their own skin is more valuable. Finally they persuaded one. They gave him a fighting guy, a Putilovite, as an assistant and for control. We rushed forward. The echelons are behind us. After a couple of flights, the railway telegraph operator thrusts a note at us. Read it. It contains a few words about the Kornilov armored train: they say, while we were preparing in Lyuban, the honorable gentlemen turned back to Bologoye...
- The bear disease has attacked the gentlemen! Lukichev laughs.
- It’s clear, and we pressed on. We're catching up little by little. Then they started blowing up the rails. We almost had an accident twice. Thanks to the switchmen: we warned you... We drove up to Bologoye, and there was another piece of news: the armored train turned onto the Polotsk branch. We're after him! The Kornilovites damaged the rails here too. We're still catching up. Just as they resonated with us, so they responded. At the Kuzhenkino station, the soldiers who guarded the military warehouses helped us in time: they dismantled the rails in front of the Kornilovites. They wanted to send us down the drain, but they almost fell down themselves. In a word, they overtook them. Let's go to that armored train in the bushes. Let's see - it's a serious matter. The armored train is not like ours, but a real one. The locomotive and carriages are armored, there are four cannons and sixteen machine guns in the towers versus our six. And the team on it is much against ours! (Afterwards, when they surrendered, I counted: one hundred and fifty people!) Of course, we won’t be able to deal with them until the echelons arrive in time. They began to think. They sent a delegation to them. Anatoly Zheleznyakov from “Amur” and I went. We demand: “Hand over the armored train and weapons...”
- Commissioner! - Having opened the door, the watchman interrupts Nevolin. - Package from Smolny.
Belyshev carefully opens the envelope.
“Order, comrades,” he announces quietly. - Such a thing... That night, the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, Comrade Lenin, and the People's Commissar, Comrade Stalin, called Commander-in-Chief Dukhonin to the direct line for negotiations. They suggested that he immediately begin peace negotiations with the governments fighting against us and immediately end the war. And Dukhonin said that he did not recognize Soviet power. The Council of People's Commissars removed Dukhonin, but Dukhonin is at headquarters, and headquarters is in Mogilev. The Military Revolutionary Committee orders us, Aurora, to allocate three platoons for the trip to Mogilev. We need to tell the truth to the Mogilev garrison and arrest Dukhonin... Let's go to the cockpits.
He leaves the cabin, forgetting about the unfinished report.

Only four days later, after the suppression of the counter-revolutionary rebellion of Dukhonin and headquarters, the commissar again began to take stock of the first days of the conquest of power.
Bending over the table, he concludes his report with spare words, the simplicity and businesslike modesty of which are characteristic of the harsh times of the revolution:
“...At present, although life goes on as usual, the crew and the ship every minute
but can be put on full combat readiness.”
And over the Neva, over Russia, over the world immersed in the darkness of the night, the stormy October wind hums victoriously.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE SHIP

The most important dates in the history of the Red Banner cruiser "Aurora"
May 23, 1897. A three-screw cruiser of the first rank was laid down at the New Admiralty shipyard in St. Petersburg. In honor of the sailing frigate, which became famous for the defense of Kamchatka against the Anglo-French invaders in 1854, the cruiser was given the same name as the frigate: “Aurora”.
May 1900. The hull of the new ship was launched at the mouth of the Neva.
1900 - 1903. Work is underway on the installation of mechanisms, equipment, weapons, and finishing of the cruiser's premises.
July 16, 1903. The construction of the ship is completed. The naval flag is raised on the Aurora.
1904 The first long-distance voyage of the Aurora. The cruiser "Aurora" was included in the detachment sent to Port Arthur to strengthen the Pacific squadron.
May 14, 1905. "Aurora" takes part in the Battle of Tsushima. Together with the cruiser's crew, "Oleg" enters into battle with nine Japanese cruisers, inflicting damage on them and avoiding capture.
The Battle of Tsushima, which ended with the defeat of the tsarist fleet sent to the Pacific Ocean, ended the Russo-Japanese War.
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, in his article on the defeat of Tsushima, wrote: “It was in the avant-garde style that the autocracy threw the people into an absurd and shameful war. It now faces a well-deserved end... The war turned out to be a terrible judgment. The people have already pronounced their verdict on this government of robbers. The revolution will carry out this sentence."
February 1906. "Aurora" returns to the Baltic.
September 1909. "Aurora" goes on its second long voyage - across the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
March 1911. While anchored in the harbor of Messina (the island of Sicily), the Aurora crew extinguishes a huge fire that has broken out in the city. The people of Messina express their gratitude to the team.
September 1911. "Aurora" sets out on its third overseas voyage - from Kronstadt to the ports of the Mediterranean Sea.
1912 The cruiser crosses the equator twice, visiting Indochina and the island of Java.
1914 - 1916. During the first imperialist war, the Aurora was at the forefront of the Baltic Fleet, on patrol. During these years, on many ships, including the Aurora, the Bolsheviks created revolutionary circles and groups, which, under the leadership of the Bolshevik Party, prepared sailors for an armed uprising against tsarism.
November 1916. The ship goes to Petrograd for repairs and moors at the Franco-Russian plant. Just a few hours before the cruiser arrived at the factory pier, 130 thousand Petrograd workers, at the call of the Petrograd Bolshevik Committee, went on strike in protest against the upcoming trial of the arrested sailors - members of the Kronstadt Bolshevik organization.
The Aurora sailors found themselves in the thick of events that were taking place not only in Petrograd, but throughout the country. Everyday communication with Petrograd workers contributed to the growth of the team’s revolutionary sentiments.
February 26, 1917. The sailors take control of the ship and raise the red flag of revolution over it. However, there is still a long road ahead of the struggle against the capitalists and landowners.
October 25 (November 7), 1917. At 3:30 a.m., fulfilling the order of the Military Revolutionary Committee, the cruiser Aurora anchored at the Nikolaevsky Bridge on the Neva. The Aurora's guns are aimed at the Winter Palace.
At 8:45 a.m., two detachments were sent ashore from the cruiser for reconnaissance.
At 12:20 p.m., the third and fourth detachments were sent to the city.
At one o'clock in the afternoon the radio operator accepts the appeal of the Military Revolutionary Committee that the Provisional Government has been overthrown.
At 19 o'clock the fifth detachment was sent ashore.
At 20:35, the messenger conveys the order of the Military Revolutionary Committee on the exact date for the storming of the Winter Palace.
At 21:40, according to the order of the Military Revolutionary Committee, “Aurora” fires a conditional shot at the Winter Palace, indicating the beginning of the assault.
December 1917. A detachment was sent from the Aurora to the Southern Front, near Balashov, against the White Guards. The remaining Aurors are guarding Petrograd; some of them work as commissioners for the nationalization of enterprises.
By order of the naval authorities, the cruiser, along with others
ships go to sea for testing and after a short stay in Helsingfors returns to Kronstadt, then on December 27 moves to Petrograd. The cruiser's path is difficult: the Gulf of Finland and the Neva are frozen.
January 1918. The counter-revolutionaries sent a scoundrel to the Aurora who added poison to the food. About a hundred Aurors became seriously ill.
March 1918. A new attempt by counter-revolutionaries to disable the cruiser. An “infernal machine” was brought onto the ship. The sailors discovered her. Explosion prevented.
August 1918. An expeditionary detachment of Baltic troops was sent to protect the Soviet North from interventionists. The detachment includes a platoon of Aurors.
The second group of Aurora sailors voluntarily goes to the front against Kaledin.
1918 Many Aurors fight on different fronts against the White Guards. In this regard, the Kronstadt Military Revolutionary Committee orders the Aurora to be put into conservation (long-term storage).
June 1923. The newly renovated Aurora is back in service. Together with the old Aurors who returned from the fronts of the civil war, young recruits, most of them Komsomol members, come to the ship.
July 1923. While stationed in Kronstadt, a mine accidentally catches fire at Fort Pavel. Its explosion threatens the powder magazines and ammunition of the remaining forts. A six boat was lowered from the Aurora to prevent a disaster. The mine exploded when it was carried a long distance from the fort. Four Aurors were killed and the rest were seriously wounded, but the forts were saved.
August 1923. The Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR takes patronage over the cruiser Aurora.
June 1924. "Aurora" is the first ship of the Soviet Navy to sail abroad (around Scandinavia).
November 1927. The Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR decided to award the cruiser Aurora with the Order of the Red Banner.
1931 - 1941. Every year, future fleet commanders undergo practical training on the cruiser Aurora.
1941 - 1944. The next graduating class of cadets leaves the cruiser straight into battle to defend Leningrad from the Nazis. The artillery was removed from the ship and installed at the Pulkovo Heights, the Aurora's tank gun was installed on the Baltiets armored train. The Nazis are mercilessly shelling the silent ship and dropping more than one ton of bombs on it.
1945 Restoration repairs have begun on the ship. According to the decision of the Leningrad Council, after repairs, the Aurora will be placed on the Neva forever, as a monument, and transferred to the Nakhimov School.
1946 A memorial plaque removed during the war with the inscription:
“The cruiser Aurora, with the thunder of its guns aimed at the Winter Palace, announced on October 25 the beginning of a new era - the era of the Great Socialist Revolution.”
1947 On the day of the thirtieth anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, honorary Aurora sailors visited the new generation of Aurora sailors - the ship's first commissioner A. V. Belyshev, now the chief mechanic of the Lenenergo repair plant, and T. I. Lipatov.
Addressing the sailors, A. V. Belyshev said: “Comrades Aurors! Sons and grandsons! Our descendants, successors and bearers of the Bolshevik traditions of “Aurora”! Be worthy of your grandfathers and fathers. Remember that the traditions of the Aurora are the traditions of the entire Soviet Navy: loyalty to Soviet power, our socialist homeland, the party of Lenin - Stalin. The future is yours!”
November 17, 1948. On this day, the Red Banner cruiser "Aurora", thoroughly restored by Leningrad ship repairers, made its last journey: up the Neva, to its eternal mooring - near the Leningrad Nakhimov School.
From now on, the immortal ship of the revolution, which heralded the beginning of a new era, became a school of practice for Nakhimov graduates - future Soviet sailors and naval commanders.

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