Battle of Sukho Island

Battle of Sukho Island
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II

Map showing the Axis occupation of Leningrad Oblast by the end of 1941, including Sukho Island on Lake Ladoga
Date22 October 1942
Location
Sukho Island, Lake Ladoga
Result Soviet victory
Belligerents
 Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
  • Friedrich Siebel
  • Max Wachtel
  • Viktor Cherokov
  • Nikolai Ozarovsky
  • Pyotr Kuriat
  • Ivan Gusev
  • Pyotr Kargin
  • Vladimir Kovalevsky
Strength
  • Landing forces:
    • 11 combat ferries
    • 3 transport ferries
    • 7 infantry boats
    • 70 troops (landing party)
    • 1 HQ ferry
    • 1 hospital ferry
  • Screening force:
    • 3 MAS boats
  • Anti-landing forces:
    • 3 × 100 mm (3.9 in) coastal guns
    • 1 × 12.7 mm, 1 × 7.62 mm, and 1 × quadruple 7.62 mm AA machine guns
    • c. 90 – c. 100 troops
    • 1 minesweeper
    • 1 patrol boat
  • Pursuing forces:
    • 3 gunboats
    • 3 minesweepers
    • 5 patrol boats
    • 2 armoured motor gunboats
    • 2 motor torpedo boats
Casualties and losses
  • 4 combat ferries and 1 infantry boat lost
  • Unknown number of aircraft
  • 18 KIA, 57 WIA, 4 MIA
  • 1 gunboat and 1 patrol boat damaged
  • 2 × 100 mm coastal guns and 2 × AA machine guns destroyed
  • 1 × AA machine gun damaged
  • 6 aircraft lost (4 Il-2s, 2 I-15bises)
  • 6 KIA, 23 WIA, 6 POWs

The Battle of Sukho Island, also known as Operation Brazil (German: Brasil),[1] was an amphibious operation and naval engagement on Lake Ladoga between the Soviet Navy and a German Luftwaffe naval detachment during World War II.

Background

During the siege of Leningrad the Soviets moved supplies to the city through Lake Ladoga. The Axis deployed the Finnish Ladoga Naval Detachment, Naval Detachment K (including the Italian XII Squadriglia MAS), and the German Luftwaffe Einsatzstab Fähre Ost, to interdict the route;[2] the Italian unit conducted MAS attacks.[3] The combined Axis force failed to significantly interrupt traffic.[2][3]

The culmination of Axis operations was the raid against Sukho Island, c. 20 km (12 mi; 11 nmi) from the southern shore of the lake, which covered supply lines and the approaches to Soviet bases.

Axis forces

A German infantry boat (I-boat) underway during the Axis naval review at Lakhdenpokhya on Lake Ladoga, 13 August 1942

The attack was commanded by Oberstleutnant Max Wachtel. The flotilla was composed of 16 Siebel ferries, seven infantry boats (German: Infanterietransporter „Siebelgefäß“, lit. 'Siebel Vessel infantry transporter', also known as I-Boot, 'I-boat'), and three Italian MAS boats (two of which escorted the landing force to Sukho Island and subsequently returned to base).[4]

The German heavy anti-aircraft combat Siebel ferry SF 25 (foreground) and the transport Siebel ferry T 5 (background) are at Käkisalmi on Lake Ladoga, 25 August 1942

Seven combat ferries (SF 11, SF 13, SF 15, SF 17, SF 21, SF 23, SF 25) were fitted with heavy anti-aircraft weapons. Four combat ferries (SF 12, SF 14, SF 22, SF 26) were fitted with light anti-aircraft weapons. A 70-troop landing party was carried aboard three transport ferries (T 2, T 4, T 6), and allocated five of the I-boats. There was also one HQ ferry and one hospital ferry.

Stern views of the German light anti-aircraft combat Siebel ferry SF 12 (left) and of an I-boat (right) underway during the Axis naval review at Lakhdenpokhya on Lake Ladoga, 13 August 1942

German and Finnish fighter aircraft provided air cover for the landing force during the battle.[5]

Soviet forces

A Soviet Moskva-class gunboat underway in the Baltic Sea, 1944;[a] this ship class consisted of 11 German-built (1940–1941) self-propelled hopper barges that were converted for naval service
Garrison of Sukho
Screening force off Sukho
  • The minesweeper TShch-100 (formerly the Finnish gunboat Aunus from 1919 to 1940, originally a 1900-built icebreaking river tug commissioned into naval service) commanded by Senior Lieutenant Pyotr Kargin,[10] and the MO-class patrol boat MO-171 under the command of Senior Lieutenant Vladimir Kovalevsky.[11][12]

These Soviet warships patrolled the waterway area near Sukho Island on the night of October 21–22, 1942, and participated in the battle during the Axis landing.[11][12]

Pursuing force from Naval Base Morye
  • The Moskva-class gunboats Bira and Selemdzha, and the G-5-class motor torpedo boats TKA-61 and TKA-81 (towed by the gunboats),[7]: 165, 168  under the command of Captain 1st Rank Nikolai Ozarovsky.[13][14]
    • The MO-class patrol boats MO-198 and MO-214, and the Type 1124BKA armoured motor gunboats BK-99 and BK-100,[7]: 100  commanded by Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Yepikhin.[14]

These Soviet naval forces departed from Morye sometime after receiving a radio message from TShch-100 about the Axis landing on Sukho Island and went on to participate in the battle during the pursuit phase.[14]

Pursuing force from Naval Base Novaya Ladoga
  • The Moskva-class gunboat Nora, the Izhorets-class minesweepers TShch-37,[c] TShch-126, and TShch-127,[7]: 481  and the MO-class patrol boats MO-201, MO-205, and MO-206, under the command of Captain 3rd Rank Pyotr Kuriat.[13][14]

This Soviet naval detachment departed from Novaya Ladoga sometime after receiving a radio message from TShch-100 about the Axis landing on Sukho Island. According to some sources, the force arrived too late to intercept the enemy and join the battle.[14]

Battle

The former Soviet minesweeper TShch-100 (Russian: ТЩ-100), a memorial ship in Novaya Ladoga, 2018

The German ferries were escorted at a distance by an Italian MAS boat (MAS 526 or MAS 528 according to various sources);[9][4] crucially, surprise was lost when they were detected by the Soviet minesweeper TShch-100 which joined the battle together with the patrol boat MO-171 entering the fight later. Prior to the landing, nine German Junkers Ju 88 As from KG 1 unsuccessfully bombed the island (according to some sources, there were only two Junkers Ju 88s).[15] The Axis landing party landed on Sukho under the cover of the combat ferries; two of the three Soviet 100 mm coastal guns, as well as two anti-aircraft machine guns, were destroyed, another anti-aircraft machine gun was damaged; and the lighthouse was also damaged but not taken.[8][9] The landing party withdrew after sustaining casualties, losing radio contact due to waterlogged equipment, and receiving a flare signal to retreat.[11]

On the lake, multiple German ferries grounded around the island. SF 12 grounded on rocks, followed by SF 13 while attempting to assist. SF 22 grounded after being disabled by the remaining Soviet 100 mm coastal gun; SF 14 and SF 26 grounded attempting to assist. A Soviet patrol boat was damaged and retreated under a smoke screen. The arrival of the main forces of the Soviet Ladoga Flotilla forced the Axis to withdraw after having refloated SF 14 and SF 22.

The German transport Siebel ferry T 6 underway on Lake Ladoga, 31 August 1942

Soviet naval and air forces pursued but inflicted only minor damage on the retreating Germans; attacks by the Soviet G-5-class motor torpedo boats TKA-61 and TKA-81 on rear-guard transport ferries scored no hits, while the Germans claimed four hits on a Soviet ship. The German retreat was slowed by ferries suffering machinery failure. SF 21 was used as a rearguard; it silenced the remaining gun on Sukho but was damaged and then abandoned – along with the towed infantry boat I 6 – when it began to sink from leaks and pump failures, after which it was set on fire by gunfire from the ferries SF 11 and SF 23.[16][11]

Aftermath

The Axis suffered heavy casualties for little result, and marked the effective end of offensive Axis operations on Lake Ladoga.[16] Seventeen of the 23 participating German ships were sunk or seriously damaged;[17] four combat ferries (SF 12, SF 13, SF 21, SF 26) and one I-boat (I 6, which was captured by Soviet forces) were lost, and SF 22 was heavily damaged (one of the light anti-aircraft combat Siebel ferries that ran aground near Sukho Island was captured by Soviet forces, repaired, and subsequently commissioned into the Soviet Navy as DB-51).[6]: 251  Crew and troop casualties amounted to 18 killed, 57 wounded (one of them fatally) and four missing.[18][16]

Total Soviet losses are six killed (or seven killed according to some sources)[8] and 23 wounded (according to some sources, two of them fatally).[8] Beyond naval losses, the Germans took six prisoners from Sukho.[19]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Until 1943, the armament of the Moskva-class gunboats Bira, Selemdzha, and Nora consisted of two 100 mm (3.9 in)/56-caliber B-24BM naval guns (for Bira and Selemdzha) or four 76.2 mm (3 in)/55-caliber 34-K anti-aircraft guns (for Nora), four 45 mm (1.8 in)/46-caliber 21-K anti-aircraft guns, and one 12.7 mm DShK machine gun.[6]: 238 [7]: 388–390 
  2. ↑ According to some sources, the Soviet garrison of Sukho also included c. 30 – c. 40 soldiers from a Soviet Ladoga Flotilla construction battalion, who were building fortifications on the island at that time.[8]
  3. ↑ According to some sources, TShch-37 was not part of the Izhorets class. Possibly, it was the minesweeper Boyevoy (ex–No. 37), a former 1911-built river steam tug of the North-Western River Shipping Company commissioned into naval service.[7]: 485 

References

  1. ↑ Nikitin 2019, p. 14.
  2. 1 2 Kijanen, Kalervo (1968). Suomen Laivasto 1918–1968 II. Helsinki: Meriupseeriyhdistys/Otava. pp. 185–197.
  3. 1 2 Ruge, F. (1979), The Soviets as Naval Opponents 1941–1945, p. 26, ISBN 0-85059-390-5.
  4. 1 2 Nikitin 2019, p. 91.
  5. ↑ Goncharov 2019b.
  6. 1 2 Dashyan, Alexander V.; Patyanin, Sergei V.; Mityukov, Nikolay V.; Barabanov, Mikhail S.; et al. (2009). Флоты Второй Мировой [Navies of World War II] (in Russian). Moscow: Yauza, Kollektsiya, Eksmo. pp. 238, 251. ISBN 978-5-699-33872-6.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Berezhnoy, Sergei S. (1988). Корабли и суда ВМФ СССР, 1928—1945. Справочник [Ships and Vessels of the Soviet Navy, 1928–1945. Reference Book] (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat. pp. 100, 165, 168, 388–390, 481, 485. ISBN 5-203-00541-9.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Goncharov 2019a.
  9. 1 2 3 Meister & Morozov (ed.) 2005, pp. 282–283, 319–320.
  10. ↑ "Gunboat «Aunus»". Heninen.net. Archived from the original on October 12, 2024. Retrieved February 21, 2025.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Zefirov, Dyogtev & Bazhenov 2008.
  12. 1 2 Nikitin 2019, pp. 91–96.
  13. 1 2 Meister, Jürg (1977). Soviet Warships of the Second World War. New York: Arco Publishing Company, Inc. pp. 125–126, 303–310. ISBN 0-668-04086-6.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 Nikitin 2019, pp. 96–99, 103–106.
  15. ↑ Nikitin 2019, p. 94.
  16. 1 2 3 Aromaa, Jari (July 2, 2007). "Finnish navy in Continuation War, year 1942". Kotisivut.fonet.fi. Archived from the original on March 30, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
  17. ↑ "War on Lake Ladoga". Heninen.net. Archived from the original on May 28, 2024. Retrieved February 21, 2025.
  18. ↑ Nikitin 2019, pp. 99, 101–103.
  19. ↑ Nikitin 2019, p. 99.

Further reading

  • Meister, Jürg (2005) [First published in 1958 under the title Der Seekrieg in den osteuropäischen Gewässern, 1941/45]. Действия на русских внутренних водных путях [Actions on Russian Inland Waterways]. In Morozov, Miroslav E. (ed.). Восточный фронт — война на море 1941—1945 гг. [The Eastern Front: the War at Sea 1941–1945] (in Russian). Translated by Lipatov, Sergei A. Foreword and comments by Morozov, Miroslav E. Moscow: Eksmo. pp. 271–321. ISBN 5-699-09910-7. ISBN 978-5-699-09910-8.
  • Zefirov, Mikhail V.; Dyogtev, Dmitry M.; Bazhenov, Nikolay N. (2008). Операция «Бразилия» [Operation Brazil]. Цель — корабли. Противостояние Люфтваффе и советского Балтийского флота [The Target is Ships. The Confrontation Between the Luftwaffe and the Soviet Baltic Fleet] (in Russian). Moscow: AST, AST Moscow, Hranitel. pp. 289–301. ISBN 978-5-17-045858-5. ISBN 978-5-9713-6441-2. ISBN 978-5-9762-4348-4.
  • Nikitin, Andrei A. (2019). Ладога, 1942: Противоборство двух флотилий [Ladoga, 1942: The Confrontation Between Two Flotillas] (in Russian). Saint Petersburg: Gjol. pp. 13–46, 53–65, 66–71, 88–110. ISBN 978-5-904790-86-8. Archived from the original on March 7, 2025. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  • Goncharov, Vladislav (January 16, 2019a). Операция «Бразиль»: схватка на острове Сухо [Operation Brazil: the Fight on Sukho Island]. Warspot.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on January 30, 2025. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
  • Goncharov, Vladislav (January 23, 2019b). Конец операции «Бразиль» [The End of Operation Brazil]. Warspot.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on January 30, 2025. Retrieved March 4, 2025.

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