What is Fort Gray Horse? What is he famous for? You will find answers to these and other questions in the article. This fortification is a coastal anti-landing battery of the sea fortress of Peter I, which has a Kronstadt position. From October 21, 1919 it was renamed into Fort Peredovaya, from 1926 into the Bukharin bastion, and from 1936 to 1953 it was called Fort Krasnogvardeisky.
Annals
Fort “Gray Horse” was built on Cape Gray Horse in 1911 near the village of Black Lahta. The position consisted of two long-term open batteries: on the right flank was a three-gun 152-mm howitzer Kane, and on the left - a four-gun 120-mm howitzer Vickers.
The battery was made thanks to Major General Engineer A. A. Shishkin, who provided management with a relevant memorandum. She had to withstand the enemy landing ships in the Kopory Bay so that the Red Hill bastion was not captured from land.
In May 1919, along with the fortification of Krasnaya Gorka, Fort Gray Horse reflected the advance of the Northern Corps (commander General A.P. Rodzianko) on Petrograd. In October of that year, he defended Petrograd from N.N. Yudenich and his North-Western troops, safely repulsing all the attacks of the assault. For this reason, in December 1919 he was awarded the Honorary Red Banner. During World War II, Fort “Gray Horse” was forced to defend the Oranienbaum bridgehead. In the 1950s, it was disarmed in connection with the abolition of the Kronstadt fortress.
Battery No. 333
Have you ever seen Fort Gray Horse? Its scheme is quite unusual. In 1925, it was planned to amplify the battery with two 254-mm tower installations from the Rurik caravel. In 1927, a fleet reinforcement project was created using two 203-mm towers from the Republic cruiser. It was based on an improved scheme of the 254-mm tower battery of Gabbin and Konoplev. The towers were mounted in concrete isolated nests instead of a single concrete array for a couple of towers.
During installation, the following improvements were made:
- Mounted system PUAO.
- The thickness of the armored roof is enlarged from 2 to 5 mm.
- Ammunition modified to 195 rounds of howitzers.
- The vertical guidance angle has been expanded from 25 to 35 °.
The new battery received No. 9, and then it was assigned No. 333.
Insurrection
The uprising of the Gray Horse and Red Hill bastions is a fragment of the civil war that took place in the northwestern zone of Russia. Then, in June 1919, the militarized garrisons of the forts opposed the Bolshevik government. This uprising was crushed by the ships of the Red Baltic Fleet, parts of the Red Army and naval landing. Riot in the Gray Horse bastion was prepared by Officer Ogloblin. It was launched on June 13th. The battery commissar and the communists were taken into custody, but the team was inactive and did not go over to the side of the rebels. She barricaded herself on one of the fortifications and took a wait and see attitude.
The rebel cruiser “Whalers”, which was converted into a patrol vessel, went over to the side of the rebels. They were commanded by midshipman V.I. Speransky, who was on duty at the battery that day. The ship was armed with two 75 mm howitzers. When the “Whalers” went over to the side of the rebels, he was first fired by artillery of the battery and the fleet, and then, when he changed the red flag to Andreevsky, with the “Anchor” brigantine of his personal red platoon. Nevertheless, the Whalers got one small hole in the deck.
The fortress "Red Hill" "Whalers" went the next day. From there he left with a message to the English squadron about the riot. At the same time, the British captured the ship and behaved with it like a trophy. They completely disregarded the fact that the St. Andrew flag was fluttering on it. It was not until June 17 that the ship was handed over to the Naval Russian Headquarters, and rendering assistance to the rebellious British squadron was indecisive and belated. Battery guns participated in the shelling of the brigantines of the Baltic Fleet and Kronstadt. Moreover, the team refused to conduct artillery fire, and the officers took up this. The uprising was broken on the night of June 16, the rebels left the fort without damaging the structure and guns.
Summary
After the confrontation, the leadership of the defensive region of Petrograd paid close attention to the bastions. The garrisons of the fortifications were improved by communist details, and subsequently these formations became real strongholds of the Gulf of Finland riviera defense. It was this nuance that played a crucial role in repelling the fall attack of the North-Western troops on Petrograd.
Management arrested the conspirators at the forts. As a result, the Cheka was able to enter the Petrograd group of the People’s Center, which was later destroyed.
Nuances
In fact, the “Gray Horse” battery is the subsequent formation of the defense of the nearby approaches to Kronstadt. The bastion was rebuilt in two stages. The construction of two quick-firing batteries at Cape Gray Horse was started in 1911, as we discussed above. In the years 1925-1928. coastal defense was modernized, and the fort was improved by an 8-dm battery consisting of two towers and located on Cape Suurniemi. This fort during the years of the Civil War, intervention and the Great Patriotic War fully justified its mission.
How to get there
Many want to see the Gray Horse Fort. How to get to it by car? From Krasnoflotsk you need to move through Chernaya Lakhta. Before reaching Pulkovo, turn right along the cobblestone road. You need to get to the Gulf of Grafskaya Lakhta. You can identify the bay by the pungent odor. Move to the gate with the words "No entry". Next, walk through the forest towards Cape Gray Horse. Then you will need to find a path that will lead you to the ruined gates of the camp of the Higher Naval Diving School with forbidden inscriptions.
Then go past the buildings to the desired fort, defending the "Red Hill" from the west. Today, the four-gun battery, due to inaccessibility, has been preserved quite well. Although her lower casemates were flooded due to the proximity of water, and she was overgrown with grass. The same can be said of the second battery.
The top of the local observation post, built in the 1910s, after the end of World War II, was built on with a rangefinder pavilion. The post consists of three floors, and if you climb it, you can long admire the blue waters of the Gulf of Finland. After visiting these sights, you can reach the 68 km station and depart for St. Petersburg. It should be noted that if you started your trip from the central square of Bolshaya Izhora village and completed it in the “Gray Horse” bastion, then your path will be 40 km long.
On the minibus
You must admit that far is the Fort "Gray Horse". How to get to it by minibus? Consider the shortest path. You need in St. Petersburg near the metro station "Avtovo" to take the minibus number 401 and go to a stop in the village of Gora-Valdai. Then you have to go about a kilometer to the first turn to the right. Three kilometers along it, you will exit to the wide-open gate with a sign.
And you can also take an electric train from the Baltic Station to the 68 km platform and briskly head towards the village of Krasnoflotsky. Having reached the abandoned railway line, turn left towards the village of Chernaya Lakhta. Then follow to the village of Gora Valdai.