Vanya the Communist (Vanya No. 5) — a gunboat of the Volga Flotilla.
Formerly the paddle-wheel tugboat "Vanya."
History
In 1905, a paddle-wheel tugboat was built in Saratov on commission for the trading house of Borel and was given the name "Vanya." Before the Civil War it operated on the Volga. In 1918 it was sent to Nizhny Novgorod and refitted at the Nizhegorodsky Teplookhod plant for combat operations as part of the Volga Military Flotilla. The vessel's interior spaces were gutted to make room for the mounting bases of naval guns; the wheelhouse was armored, as was the boiler room. During fitting-out, two 75 mm guns and one 37 mm gun were installed, along with 6 Maxim machine guns. The vessel was assigned hull number 5.
On 21 August 1918 the gunboat Vanya, as part of the flotilla, set out for Kazan, which was held by the Czechoslovak Legion. Aboard the gunboat Vanya flew the flag of the commissar of the Volga Military Flotilla, Nikolai Grigoryevich Markin. Serving in the crew as a machine gunner was the future Soviet writer and playwright Vsevolod Vishnevsky. Echelons of Red Army soldiers and Baltic Fleet sailors were being directed toward the Kazan area. All these forces were concentrating at the major transport hub of Sviyazhsk. The White Guard command decided to take this hub and dispatched Kappel's officer battalion there. In addition, White Guard armored trains were operating in the same area and managed to disable two Red Army armored trains. The White Guards succeeded in routing a detachment of Kazan volunteers and pushing back the 1st Petrograd Regiment. At a critical moment in the battle, vessels of the Volga Flotilla drew up to the bank, opened artillery fire, and landed troops in the rear of the White Guards. The enemy's advance was repelled. Preparations were then made for the assault on Kazan.
On 9 September 1918 the vessels of the Volga Flotilla, led by the flagship gunboat Vanya, landed troops at the far wharves. The landing was so unexpected that the Red Army soldiers managed to capture 8 heavy guns. The landing party then deployed into a skirmish line and advanced on the city. However, the White Guards recovered and managed to repel the initial attacks and cut off the remaining troopships with artillery fire. The landed troops were therefore forced to retreat.
On 10 September 1918 another landing attempt was made. This time the flotilla included 4 destroyers that had arrived from the Baltic. Under cover of shipboard artillery, a landing force was put ashore and, after fierce fighting, took Kazan by evening. For its part in the taking of Kazan, the gunboat was awarded the Red Banner of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. By order of the Revolutionary Military Council, the flotilla's vessels were invited, in recognition of their exploits, to take new revolutionary names. The gunboat "Vanya" was to be renamed "Vanya the Communist."
The name was never officially assigned. For several days "Vanya" returned to Nizhny Novgorod for repairs and additional fitting-out.
On 1 October 1918 the gunboat "Vanya" and the destroyer "Prytky" conducted a reconnaissance-in-force near the village of Pyany Bor on the Kama (now the village of Krasny Bor). It was thought that the White Guards had a battery of heavy guns hidden in the forest there, with armed steamboats lying in ambush. Prior to this, the scout vessels had been shelling the bank in hopes of drawing a response from the enemy. The gunboat and the destroyer then headed toward Malinovsky Cape. The White Guards believed that the main Red forces were approaching and opened artillery fire. The very first salvo struck the gunboat squarely. The stern gun was destroyed and the hold engineer was mortally wounded. The unrelenting fire prevented the destroyer from breaking through to the stricken vessel. Flotilla commissar Markin himself took up position at one of the machine guns. When shells began exploding aboard the burning vessel, he ordered the crew to abandon the gunboat and remained at the machine gun himself to cover his comrades. Rescue teams managed to save 48 men; the commissar perished with the ship.
Several years later a powerful tugboat was built and named "Vanya the Communist."
Specifications
- Overall length — 60.20 m
- Length at design waterline — 53.32 m
- Beam at design waterline — 7.32 m
- Overall beam — 15.15 m
- Depth of hull — 2.57 m
- Minimum draft — 0.708 m
- Draft with fuel — 0.885 mm
- Steam engine power, hp — 300
- Armament:
- 2 × 75 mm naval guns,
- 1 × 47 mm anti-aircraft gun,
- 6 × 7.62 mm Maxim machine guns on tripod mounts;
- 7.62 mm Maxim machine guns on wheeled mounts for arming landing parties.
- Armor: Bullet-resistant, steel plate approximately 8 mm thick. The wheelhouse, boiler casing, and paddle-box cabins were protected by such plating.
- Crew — 78 men.
Current bearers of the name
A passenger vessel of the Volga Shipping Company, built in 1986, was named in honor of the gunboat "Vanya the Communist."