Once upon a time in the south of the Kamchatka Peninsula, in the lower reaches of the Amur, on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, the ancient Ainu people lived. These natives also populated the island of Shumshu. In 1711, Ivan Kozyrevsky, a traveler in Siberia, visited this northernmost of the Kuril Islands.
A detachment of Cossacks, led by him and Danila Antsyferov, landed on Shumsha in order to develop and join a number of the Kuril Islands to Russia. In honor of Ivan Kozyrevsky on Shumshu named the bay and cape. And in honor of Antsyferov on the next busy
island, Paramushir, a volcano, mountain and cape are named. In addition, his name was assigned to one of the 56 Kuril Islands.
Ownerless Islands
In 1787, 21 islands were officially annexed to the Russian Empire, including the island of Shumshu. Initially, these lands began to develop Russian. And if you recall that on the eve of the negotiations of 1792, even about. Hokkaido was not Japanese territory, and the Kuril Islands did not belong to anyone at all, the interest of Russian business people in settling on vacant squares is understandable. But all the Romanovs, starting with Catherine II, did not show any interest in the Far East, and this is confirmed by the sale of Alaska.
Return Island Terms
After Russia's defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin depart to Japan, and the current Sakhalin Region is divided into two parts.
In 1945, the United States and Great Britain turned to the Soviet Union with a request to enter the war with Japan. The USSR promised to do this exactly three months later in exchange for the return of South Sakhalin and all the Kuril Islands. Our country has kept its word.
Became famous
And here Shumshu, unremarkable earlier, separated from Kamchatka by the 1st Kuril Strait, the width of which at this place is 11 kilometers, enters the historical arena. From the neighboring Paramushira Shumshu is separated by the 2nd Strait of the same name, the width of which is only 2 km.
A description of the island can begin with its size. Its length is 30 km, its width is 20. It is the lowest of all 56 islands. It has a small number of fresh water bodies, the largest of which can be called Lake Big. Ozernaya and Mayachnaya are two rivers flowing through its territory, whose area is 388 square meters. km The highest point of this island rises 189 meters above sea level, and it is called High Mountain. Simple and clear Russian names. What is he famous for? The landing operation of the Soviet troops, carried out here in the month of August.
The final stage of the Soviet-Japanese war
On this island, the last battle of the Second World War was played, in which tanks took part, and it was very cruel. The battle on the island of Shumshu was part of the Kuril landing operation, which lasted from September 18 to September 1. The purpose of the operation is the capture of the Kuril Islands. It was carried out by the forces of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, commanded by Army General M. A. Purkayev, and the Pacific Fleet, headed by Admiral I. S. Yumashev. A successful operation has already been carried out in Manchuria, where the Kwantung Army was completely defeated. The complete liberation of South Sakhalin ended the offensive in this direction. These successes created extremely favorable conditions for the liberation of the Kuril Islands from the Japanese.
Militarization of the islands
On the northernmost island of Shumshu was Japan's largest naval base, Kataoka, from which Japanese warships set sail to capture Pearl Harbor. There was also an airfield, the landing strip of which has survived to the present day, and back in the 90s of the last century, L-410 airplanes flying from Yelizovo (Kamchatka) - 19-seater twin-engine aircraft for local airlines.
Soviet troops relied on the surprise of the strike, the purpose of which was Shumshu Island - to capture it and create a bridgehead here for the further capture of Paramushir, Onekotan and other islands, on each of which there were Japanese troops. Up to 80 thousand military men were concentrated here, 9 airdromes were built, capable of accommodating about 600 aircraft.
Impregnable fortress
Directly on the island of Shumshu there were 60 tanks belonging to the 11th tank regiment, 100 guns, and the garrison numbered 8.5 thousand people. The whole island was a single perfectly fortified defensive system. Warehouses, hospitals, power plants and communication centers were hidden at a depth of 50-70 meters. Most of the guns were well camouflaged, and the Soviet command had no idea about them, and there were many false objects. Only 300 concrete bunkers were built on the island, anti-airborne defense structures were erected along the coast 3-4 km inland.
The surprise of the attack was also necessary because by this time the USSR, although it had reached an agreement with the United States on the full return of the Kuril Islands and Southern Sakhalin, the slightest delay facilitated the occupation of any islands by American troops. Moreover, Hirohito, the Japanese emperor, on August 15 ordered the troops to prepare for surrender mainly to the Americans. The surprise of the attack, put at the forefront of the operation of the Soviet troops, in general, paid off, except for the fact that when the capture of the northernmost island, Soviet soldiers again died.
Component of the Soviet troops
The landing, which was supposed to storm the island of Shumshu, included almost everything that the defensive area of Kamchatka had at its disposal. The group itself consisted of 8.3 thousand soldiers, guns and mortars were in the amount of 118 units, light and heavy machine guns were about 500 pieces. The landing group itself was divided into a forward detachment and two divisions of the main forces. In addition, 64 ships and vessels, which included minesweepers, mine barriers, a floating battery, transport vessels, patrol boats and ships, torpedo boats and landing ships, were supposed to support the offensive. This armada was also divided into 4 parts — an artillery support detachment, a transport group, an amphibious assault force, and trawling and security detachments. A mixed air division of 78 aircraft and a coastal 130 mm battery located at Cape Lopatka supported the Soviet offensive. Shumshu Island (it is clearly visible on the map below) is located very close to the extreme point of metro Lopatka.
Paratroopers against tanks
It should be noted that the soldiers were not fired and did not take part in the battles before, and the forces from the Western fronts were not deployed due to the strict secrecy of the operation. The forces were clearly not enough, and on the first day the ship group lost 9 ships, and 8 were damaged. Nevertheless, the advanced detachment, consisting of 1.3 thousand people, managed to land on the shore and gain a foothold there. Of the 22 radios, only one worked on the shore. The sailor G.V. Musorin, who delivered her, was walking under water, holding an invaluable load above the surface of the sea. In general, as always, Russian soldiers and sailors showed miracles of courage - two of them repeated the feat of A. Matrosov. Actually, the advance detachment had only light weapons against Japanese tanks. The assault on Shumshu became a decisive event during the entire landing operation, and the turning point that determined the decisive victory of the Soviet troops was the capture of the highest point of the island - High Mountain. And the Russians won.
Operation Summary
Already on August 20, Soviet ships went to Kataoku to accept surrender, but were met by fire. With the advance of the landing, the Japanese command each time agreed to surrender, but the actual signing was drawing on with all its might. On August 22, Fusaki Tsutsumi, who commanded the Japanese forces, accepted all the conditions of surrender, and 20 thousand Japanese soldiers surrendered: 12 on the island of Shumshu and 8 on Paramushira. In total, 30 thousand people surrendered in the northern islands.
The sad results of this operation were human casualties suffered by the Soviet side. 1567 people were lost, of which 416 were killed, 123 were missing, (most likely drowned), and 1028 were wounded. The Japanese garrison of the island lost 1018 people, 300 of them were killed.
Our islands
As a result of the war, absolutely all the Kuril Islands departed to our country, and the restored Sakhalin Region accepted them. Japan continues to lay claim to the South Kuril Islands, calling them its northern territories.
Negotiations on the ownership of these islands, to which the Land of the Rising Sun does not have any rights, are still ongoing. Japan really wants to, and the United States is helping her in this, appropriating the South Kuril Islands, rich in priceless, including recently discovered rhenium, metals. Japan and Russia, with the unjustified behavior of the former, will probably never agree.