1941. The death of the ship "Armenia"

Photo: Shipsnostalgia.com

75 years ago, on November 7, 1941, a German plane sank near Yalta a ship "Armenia" with 7,000 people on board. Only 8 people were saved. Exactly the number of dead is unknown. On the ship were wounded military personnel, almost the entire medical staff of Sevastopol, civil evacuated, party leadership of Crimea, NKVD employees and a small number of not wounded military personnel.

Armenia was armed with four anti -aircraft guns and, from the point of view of international law, was a legal military goal, despite the sign of the Red Cross. The ship was sunk by a torpedo from a torpedo carrier and sank in four minutes. In many ways, the guilt for the tragedy was laid on the captain of the ship Vladimir Plaushevsky, who led the ship into the sea in the daytime in the conditions of the dominance of the Luftwaffe in the air. However, he had no way out. Waiting for the night on November 8 in unprotected air defense yalta was suicidal. The hollow was the entry in Yalta to evacuate the local party leadership. This delay in the vessel, emerging from Sevastopol, did not allow to reach the Caucasian coast at night.