Location: Sevastopol
Monument to the Sunken or Flooded Ships is one of the most famous
monuments dedicated to the Russian Nave. It is depicted on the coat
of arms of the city and is considered one of the Sevastopol's main
attractions. Monument to Sunken Ships is lcoated the Sevastopol Bay,
the waterfront Promenade. Monument to Sunken Ships was erected in
1905 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the dirst defense of
Sevastopol during the Crimean war. It marks a tragic event when
Russian sailors were forced to sink their own ships and move to land
fortress at the face of approaching Anglo- French navy. In total
they sank 80 ships. Ship cannons were removed and added to the
battery on land. After rule of Russian Emperor Nicholas I Black Sea
Fleet didn't see much modernization. While most of the Russian Navy
was made up of sailing ships, Western European fleet already began
adding ironclads with greater firing range and better protection.
Russian sailing ships couldn't compete with technologically advanced
navy at sea so defense of the Russian base became the only feasable
way to resist invasion. Sunken ships created a problem for the
Anglo- French ships and in combination with the shore batteries
greatly decreased invaders' technological superiority.
Monument to the Sunken Ships was designed by an Estonian sculptor A.
Adamson as well as military engineers O. Enberg and V. Feldman.
Light gray column was installed on the natural granite boulders
cliff that is barely visible above sea waves. Columned is crowned by
a capital with a huge bronze double- headed eagle with outstretched
wings. Its gaze is directed toward the entrance into the Sevastopol
Bay and Black Sea beyond. Eagle's heads are crowned by a large
imperial crown. In its beak it holds a massive wreath. Left side is
made up of laurel leaves, and the right side is made up of acorns
and oak leaves. A sea anchor is attached to the wreath by a hanging
chain. Breast of the eagle carries a shield with the image of Saint
George. Base of the column consists of hexagonal pedestal of hewn
granite blocks. Side of pedestal that is facing the promenade is
covered by scenes of the flooding ships. Inscription below a bas
relief states "In memory of ships sunk in 1854-55 to block the
entrance of ships". A signature of a sculpture ("A. Adamson,
scultpor, 1904") is also visible in the lower right corner.
Monument to the Sunken Ships is one of the main symbols and hallmark
of Sevastopol. Its central location is the reason why most of
tourists come and see it during their visits.
Ship sinking
The monument was built in 1905 on the occasion of the
50th anniversary of the First Defense of Sevastopol during the Crimean
War, during which Russian sailing ships were sunk "to block the entrance
of enemy ships to the raid and thereby save Sevastopol" (P. S.
Nakhimov). On September 11, 1854, seven obsolete ships were sunk across
the fairway, between the Konstantinovskaya and Aleksandrovskaya
batteries: the frigates Sizopol, Flora, the ships Uriel, Three Saints,
Silistria, Selafail, Varna. After autumn-winter storms, due to the
partial destruction of this barrier, in November - December, the ship
"Gabriel", a merchant ship and the corvette "Pylades" were additionally
flooded. In February 1855, from the Mikhailovsky Fort on the North side
to the Nikolaev battery - on the South side a second line of masts
appeared, protruding from the water - six more ships were flooded: the
ships "Twelve Apostles", "Rostislav", "Svyatoslav", frigates "Cahul" ,
Mesemvria, Mussel. On August 27, 1855, when the defenders left the South
Side, the rest of the fleet was flooded in the bay, and only their tops
of the masts remained on the water. Coastal battery fire and sunken
ships made the Sevastopol Bay inaccessible to the Anglo-French fleet.
And for almost 6 months, until the truce (02/17/1856), the enemy armies
could not continue the offensive. Because the fairway was blocked by the
masts of ships, and the North side was blocked by new bastions.
After the October Revolution
Despite the fact that after the
Bolsheviks came to power, monuments in the form of the coat of arms of
Russia - the double-headed eagle - were destroyed and remade throughout
the country, this fate bypassed the monument in Sevastopol, although
there were also proposals to remake this monument: “Near the embankment
of Primorsky Boulevard,” expressed indignation of one of the then
fighters with the "remnants of the past" - there is a column of memory
for the dead sailors. Above the eagle rises the royal crown, insulting
the memory of the dead. I propose instead of the crown to put a star
with electric lighting. However, the imperial crown with St. Andrew's
ribbon was not touched during the entire Soviet period, and in 1969 the
monument even appeared on the Soviet coat of arms of Sevastopol. The
only loss is the cross above the crown, probably knocked down in the
first post-revolutionary years. During the restoration of the monument
in 2003, the cross above the crown was restored.
During a strong
earthquake in 1927, the monument was not damaged.
The monument
survived during the Great Patriotic War during the bombing, during the
occupation of Sevastopol by German troops and during the liberation of
the city. In 2009, the monument was included in the State Register of
Monuments of Ukraine. In 2015, the Government of the Russian Federation
issued an order to classify the monument as a cultural heritage site of
federal significance.
Name
On July 29, 1905, in an official
announcement about the transfer of the monument to the city, the
construction commission announced its first name: "a monument to the
sinking of ships." And the following month, the renaming began. On
August 3, 1905, G. Eroshevich (acting Head of the Chancellery of the
Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich) signed document No. 3898, according
to which: "The monument to the sinking of ships will henceforth be
called:" The place of the barrier of the Sevastopol fairway "". In 1907,
a historical guide to Sevastopol published a new name for the monument:
"Monument to block the fairway with sunken ships." But it didn't last
long either. In the guide to the Crimea in 1914, in the description of
Primorsky Boulevard, the “monument to the scuttled ships” is already
mentioned. Later, other options appeared (over the entire history - more
than 20 different names). Now the most common name for the monument is
“the Monument to the Scuttled Ships”.
The monument is a 9-meter artificial granite rock standing in the
sea, 23 meters from the embankment of Primorsky Boulevard, with an
octagonal pedestal protruding from it towards the embankment, on top of
which rises a triumphant diorite column of the Corinthian order with a
bronze eagle facing the sea on the capitals. The double-headed eagle,
crowned with a large imperial crown, laid on the St. Andrew's ribbon,
spreading its mighty wings, holds a wreath with an anchor in its beaks
(a sea anchor hanging on a chain is chained to the upper part of a
complex wreath of laurel and oak leaves). On the chest of the eagle is a
shield with a relief image of St. George the Victorious. The base of the
column, its capital and the entire sculptural composition crowning the
column, as well as the eagle, are made of bronze. On the side of the
embankment, the upper part of the pedestal is decorated with a bronze
bas-relief depicting the sinking of ships. In the lower right corner -
the author's signature: "A. Adamson Sculp. 1904". Below the bas-relief,
on the granite slabs of the pedestal, the words are carved: “In memory
of the ships sunk in 1854 and 1855. to block the entrance to the raid.
On the top of the rock, on opposite sides, two granite bas-reliefs are
built. On the left - the number "1854" is depicted, on the right -
"1855". On the retaining wall of the embankment, opposite the monument,
there are two anchors from sunken ships. This memorial wall is also part
of the monument. Previously, a bronze mast of a sailing ship protruding
from the water was fixed on the rock of the monument from the sea. The
total height of the monument is 16.7 m, the height of the column is 7.1
m, the average diameter of the column is 0.95 m, the wingspan of the
eagle is 2.67 m.
Additional Information
plinth - 15 × 15 m
base of the monument - 9 × 9 m
granite rock - 8.7 m
pedestal - 4.1
m
bas-relief - 0.75 × 0.5 m
lost mast - 5.7 m
memorial wall -
98 × 6.5 m
from the wall to the column - 35 m