THE JOURNAL OF REGIONAL HISTORY V.4 No.2
Expedition of BK-31 (History of the Volga Military Flotilla armored boat)
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The article reveals the history of the discovery, recovery and restoration of the BK-31 armoured boat of the Volga Military Flotilla, which perished in October 1942 in the height of the Battle of Stalingrad. The role of the Volgograd Oblast Regional Brunch of the Russian Military Historical Society (RMHS) in preserving the memory of sailors of the Volga Military Flotilla is shown. The military operations with the participation of armoured boats of the Flotilla, including BK-31 in particular, are described. The main indicators of its combat missions are given and the circumstances of the loss of the boat and of the attempts to save it are established. Based on a variety of sources, including the memoirs of the participants in the events and archival materials, which are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, the author conclude that the boats of the Volga Military Flotilla, and the BK-31 armoured boat in particular, significantly contributed to the defeat of the Nazi invaders in the Battle of Stalingrad.
Chernyshev, A.A. Morskaya gvardiya Otechestva [Marine Guard of the Fatherland] – Moscow: Veche, 2013 (In Russian)
Chuikov, V.I. Nachalo puti [The beginning of the road]. Moscow: Voenizdat, 1959. (In Russian)
Isaev, A.V. Stalingrad. Za Volgoi dlya nas zemli net [Stalingrad. For us, there is no land beyond the Volga]. Moscow: Yauza; Eksmo, 2008. (In Russian)
Khronika boevykh deistvii Volzhskoi voennoi flotilii v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine Sovetskogo Soyuza [Chronicles of military operations of the Volga Military Flotilla in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union]. Vol. 1. Volzhskaya voennaya flotiliya v boyakh za Stalingrad: (kampaniya 1942 g.) [The Volga Military Flotilla in the battles of Stalingrad: (the 1942 campaign)]. Moscow: Voenmorizdat, 1945. (In Russian)
Khronika boevykh deistvii Volzhskoi voennoi flotilii v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine Sovetskogo Soyuza [Chronicles of military operations of the Volga Military Flotilla in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union]. Vol. 2. Bor'ba za volzhskuyu kommunikatsiyu [The struggle for the Volga communication]. Moscow: Voenmorizdat, 1947. (In Russian)
Loktionov, I.I. Volzhskaya flotiliya v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine [The Volga Flotilla in the Great Patriotic War]. Moscow: Voenizdat, 1974. (In Russian)
Mazunin, N., comp. Volzhskaya voennaya flotiliya v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine [The Volga Military Flotilla in the Great Patriotic War]. Moscow: Voennoe izdatel'stvo Ministerstva Vooruzhennykh Sil Soyuza SSR, 1947. (In Russian)
Plekhov, I.M., S.P. Khvatov, and G.I. Zakharov. V ogne stalingradskikh pereprav [In the fire of Stalingrad crossings]. Volgograd: Volgogradskii komitet po pechati, 1996. (In Russian)
Wüster, W. An Artilleryman in Stalingrad. Pymble: Leaping Horseman Books, 2007.
Zagorul'ko, M.M. et al., eds. Stalingradskaya bitva, iyul' 1942 – fevral' 1943: entsiklopediya [Battle of Stalingrad, July 1942 – February 1943: An encyclopaedia]. Volgograd: Izdatel', 2012. (In Russian)
Chuikov, V.I. Nachalo puti [The beginning of the road]. Moscow: Voenizdat, 1959. (In Russian)
Isaev, A.V. Stalingrad. Za Volgoi dlya nas zemli net [Stalingrad. For us, there is no land beyond the Volga]. Moscow: Yauza; Eksmo, 2008. (In Russian)
Khronika boevykh deistvii Volzhskoi voennoi flotilii v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine Sovetskogo Soyuza [Chronicles of military operations of the Volga Military Flotilla in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union]. Vol. 1. Volzhskaya voennaya flotiliya v boyakh za Stalingrad: (kampaniya 1942 g.) [The Volga Military Flotilla in the battles of Stalingrad: (the 1942 campaign)]. Moscow: Voenmorizdat, 1945. (In Russian)
Khronika boevykh deistvii Volzhskoi voennoi flotilii v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine Sovetskogo Soyuza [Chronicles of military operations of the Volga Military Flotilla in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union]. Vol. 2. Bor'ba za volzhskuyu kommunikatsiyu [The struggle for the Volga communication]. Moscow: Voenmorizdat, 1947. (In Russian)
Loktionov, I.I. Volzhskaya flotiliya v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine [The Volga Flotilla in the Great Patriotic War]. Moscow: Voenizdat, 1974. (In Russian)
Mazunin, N., comp. Volzhskaya voennaya flotiliya v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine [The Volga Military Flotilla in the Great Patriotic War]. Moscow: Voennoe izdatel'stvo Ministerstva Vooruzhennykh Sil Soyuza SSR, 1947. (In Russian)
Plekhov, I.M., S.P. Khvatov, and G.I. Zakharov. V ogne stalingradskikh pereprav [In the fire of Stalingrad crossings]. Volgograd: Volgogradskii komitet po pechati, 1996. (In Russian)
Wüster, W. An Artilleryman in Stalingrad. Pymble: Leaping Horseman Books, 2007.
Zagorul'ko, M.M. et al., eds. Stalingradskaya bitva, iyul' 1942 – fevral' 1943: entsiklopediya [Battle of Stalingrad, July 1942 – February 1943: An encyclopaedia]. Volgograd: Izdatel', 2012. (In Russian)
Keywords:
Battle of Stalingrad, Volga Military Flotilla, armoured boat, reconstruction, museum studies
For citation:
Epifanov, A. “Expedition of BK-31 (History of the Volga Military Flotilla armored boat).” Historia Provinciae – The Journal of Regional History, vol. 4, no. 2 (2020): 427–70, http:// doi.org/10.23859/2587-8344-2020-4-2-4
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
ISSN 2587-8344 (Online)