City Ufa
Leader: Dyagilev Alexander Vasilievich (history teacher at the Ufa Cadet Corps)
Research work "Air ramming - is it exclusively a weapon of Russians?"
Plan:
I IntroductionA Classification of air rams
B. First air ram
A. Reasons for the use of rams
IV. Conclusion
V. Bibliography
I Introduction
We often talk about heroes, but rarely about how they achieved victories that perpetuated their names. I was interested in the proposed topic, because ramming is one of the most dangerous types of air combat, leaving the pilot with minimal chances of survival. The subject of my research is not only interesting, but important and relevant: after all, the topic of the exploits of heroes who defended our grandparents at the cost of their own lives will never become obsolete. I would also like to compare our pilots with pilots from other countries.
II. What is an air ram
The ram is divided into 2 types
1) a targeted collision of an aircraft with a target in the air, causing it huge damage directly by the attacking aircraft itself
2) a ram of a ground object or a ship, in other words - a “fiery ram”.
A. Classification of air rams
For clarity, I compiled a table in which I showed the type of ram, depending on the types aircraft, on which and against which this air combat technique was performed. I also want to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of each technique and method of air ramming
B. First air ram
The world's first ram was made on September 8, 1914 by Nesterov Petr Nikolaevich
. Baron F. Rosenthal flew boldly on a heavy "Albatross" at a height inaccessible to shots from the ground. Nesterov boldly went to cut him off in a light high-speed "Moran". His maneuver was swift and decisive. The Austrian tried to escape, but Nesterov overtook him and crashed his plane into the tail of the Albatross. An eyewitness wrote:
"Nesterov came from behind, caught up with the enemy, and, like a falcon beats a clumsy heron, so he hit the enemy."
The bulky "Albatross" continued to fly for some time, then fell on its left side and fell rapidly. At the same time, Peter Nesterov also died.
.
A. Reasons forcing a pilot to ram:
What were the reasons that forced the pilot to destroy the enemy aircraft, despite the mortal danger, to ram?
The heroism and patriotism of the Soviet people, clearly manifested during the years of the Great Patriotic War, are interconnected. These two concepts are sides of the same coin. The country would not have withstood such a terrible and severe test if it had not lived with a single thought: "Everything for the front, everything for victory!" Not only during the war, but even to the present time, the reasons that prompted pilots to ram were not properly analyzed.Even in the works of A.D. combat. All emphasis was placed only on the promotion of heroism, proceeded from the fact that every ram was necessary. Yes, heroism is undeniable. Ramming is the highest form of manifestation of heroism. Honor and praise to every pilot who decided to make this deadly technique in the name of protecting their homeland air combat.
The impossibility of a second attack, and therefore the need to destroy the enemy aircraft immediately. For example, when a bomber has already broken through to the target and can start bombing; an enemy scout returning to his airfield after completing a mission is about to disappear into the clouds; real danger hangs over a comrade who is attacked by an enemy fighter, etc.
- Expenditure in air combat of all ammunition, when circumstances forced the pilot to fire from a long range and at large angles or when conducting a long air battle, a battle with several enemy aircraft.
- The depletion of ammunition due to the inability to conduct an attack, the inability to conduct aimed fire and, first of all, shooting from an unreasonably long distance.
- Failure of weapons due to design and production deficiencies in weapons, installations or ammunition,
- Failure of weapons due to unsatisfactory training by the technical staff.
- Failure of weapons through the fault of the pilot.
- Low weapon efficiency.
- The desire to use the last opportunity to hit the air enemy. For example, a pilot's plane is shot down, most of all they burn, although the engine is still running, but they cannot reach the airfield, and the enemy is nearby.
Why did our pilots more often use a ram to destroy the enemy? Trying to figure it out, I made a table and added a couple of diagrams to compare the aviation of the USSR and Germany during the Second World War
In 1941 
In 1943 
Thus, I came to the conclusion that many of our pilots tried to compensate for their lack of readiness for combat operations, their lack of training in terms of acquiring flying skills with their heroic confidence that the enemy should not harm their native country. Therefore, the enemy must be destroyed at any cost, even at the cost of one's own life.
B. Air rams during the Great Patriotic War
The air ram became widespread during the Great Patriotic War.
The air ram was repeatedly repeated by Soviet pilots during the Great Patriotic War, turning into a means of decisively destroying enemy aircraft.
Rams on enemy pilots terrified!
Already on the 17th day of the war, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 8, 1941, three pilots were awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union. They were the valiant defenders of the city of Lenin, pilots junior lieutenants P.T. Kharitonov, S.I. Zdorovtsev and M.P. Zhukov, who made air rams in the first days of the war. (3 heroes of the USSR)
Much later, we learned that on the first day of the war, Soviet pilots rammed planes with fascist swastikas 16 times. On June 22, 1941, at 4:25 a.m., the flight commander of the 46th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Southwestern Front, Senior Lieutenant Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov, was the first to ram.
It is significant that this feat was accomplished in the area of the city of Zhovkva, Lviv region, that is, where Peter Nesterov rammed for the first time in the history of aviation. Almost simultaneously with it, the enemy plane D.V. Kokarev hit.
Let us dwell on the most notable rams of the war years.
On the night of August 7, 1941, having shot all his ammunition, wounded in the arm, fighter pilot Viktor Talalikhin rammed a German bomber. Victor was lucky: his I-16, which cut off the tail of the Non-111 (enemy aircraft) with a propeller, began to fall, but the pilot was able to jump out of the falling plane and land on a parachute. Let us pay attention to the reason for this ram: due to the wound and lack of ammunition, Talalikhin had no other opportunity to continue the battle. Undoubtedly, Viktor Talakhin demonstrated courage and patriotism by his act. But it is also clear that before ramming, he was losing an air battle. The battering ram was Talalikhin's last, albeit a very risky means of retaking the victory. (First night ram)
On September 12, 1941, the first aerial ramming by a woman took place. Ekaterina Zelenko and her crew on the damaged Su-2 were returning from reconnaissance. They were attacked by 7 enemy Me-109 fighters. Our plane was alone against seven enemies. The Germans took the Su-2 into the ring. A fight ensued. "Su-2" was hit, both crew members were injured, in addition, the ammunition ran out. Then Zelenko ordered the crew members to leave the plane, and she continued to fight. Soon she ran out of ammo. Then she entered the course of the fascist who attacked her and led the bomber to approach. From a wing strike on the fuselage, the Messerschmitt broke in half, and the Su-2 exploded, while the pilot was thrown out of the cockpit. Thus, Zelenko destroyed the enemy car, but at the same time she herself died. This is the only case of aerial ramming committed by a woman!
On June 26, 1941, the crew under the command of Captain N. F. Gastello, consisting of Lieutenant A. A. Burdenyuk, Lieutenant G. N. Skorobogaty and Senior Sergeant A. A. Kalinin, took off on a DB-3F aircraft to bomb a German mechanized column on the road Molodechno - Radoshkovichi as part of a link of two bombers. Gastello's aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft artillery fire. An enemy projectile damaged the fuel tank, and Gastello made a fiery ram - sent a burning car to the mechanized column of the enemy. All crew members were killed.
Boris Kovzan rammed enemy planes three times in 1942. In the first two cases, he safely returned to the airfield on his MiG-3 aircraft. In August 1942, Boris Kovzan discovered a group of enemy bombers and fighters on a La-5 plane. In a battle with them, he was hit, injured in the eye, and then Kovzan sent his plane to an enemy bomber. From the impact, Kovzan was thrown out of the cockpit and from a height of 6000 meters, with a parachute not fully opened, he fell into a swamp, breaking his leg and several ribs. Partisans came to the rescue to pull him out of the swamp. For 10 months the heroic pilot was in the hospital. He lost his right eye but returned to flying duty.
And how many air rams did Soviet pilots make during the Great Patriotic War?
In 1970, there were more than 200, and in 1990, 636 air rams, and there were completely 350 fire rams
34 pilots used an air ram twice, Hero of the Soviet Union A. Khlobystov, Zdorovtsev - three times, B. Kovzan - four times
V. Rams of pilots of other countries
IN Soviet time always mentioned only domestic and Japanese air rams; moreover, if the ramming of Soviet pilots was presented by communist propaganda as a heroic conscious self-sacrifice, then for some reason the same actions of the Japanese were called "fanaticism" and "doom". Thus, all Soviet pilots who made a suicidal attack were surrounded by a halo of heroes, and Japanese "kamikaze" pilots were surrounded by a halo of "anti-heroes".
Although the ram was used the largest number times in Russia, but it cannot be said that it is exclusively a weapon of the Russians, because the pilots of other countries also resorted to ramming, albeit as an extremely rare method of combat.
Here, for example, the most amazing air ram in the 1st World War was made by the Belgian Willy Coppens, who rammed the German Draken balloon on May 8, 1918. Coppens slammed the wheels of his Anrio fighter against the skin of the Draken; propeller blades also slashed across the tightly inflated canvas, and the Draken burst. At the same time, the HD-1 motor choked due to gas rushing into the hole of the torn cylinder, and Coppens literally did not die by a miracle. He was saved by the oncoming airflow, which spun the propeller with force and started the Anrio's engine as it rolled off the falling Draken. It was the first and only ram in the history of Belgian aviation.
And about a year later (in July 1937) on the other side the globe- in China - for the first time in the world, a sea ram was carried out, and a massive ram: at the very beginning of Japan's aggression against China, 15 Chinese pilots sacrificed themselves by falling from the air on enemy landing ships and sinking 7 of them!
On June 22, 1939, the first ram in Japanese aviation was made by pilot Shogo Saito over Khalkhin Gol. Clamped “in tongs” and having shot all the ammunition, Saito went for a breakthrough, cutting off part of the tail of the fighter closest to him with his wing, and escaped from the encirclement.
In Africa, on November 4, 1940, the pilot of the Battle bomber, Lieutenant Hutchinson, was hit by anti-aircraft fire during the bombing of Italian positions in Nyalli (Kenya). And then Hutchinson sent his "Battle" into the thick of the Italian infantry, at the cost of his own death, destroying about 20 enemy soldiers.
During the Battle of England, British fighter pilot Ray Holmes distinguished himself. During the German raid on London on September 15, 1940, one German Dornier 17 bomber broke through the British fighter screen to Buckingham Palace, the residence of the King of Great Britain. Spikirova on his "Hurricane" on top of the enemy, Holmes on the opposite course cut down the tail of the Dornier with his wing, but he himself received such severe damage that he was forced to escape by parachute.
The first American pilot to actually fly a ram was Captain Fleming, commander of the USMC Vindicator bomber squadron. During the Battle of Midway on June 5, 1942, he led his squadron's attack on Japanese cruisers. On approach to the target, his plane was hit by an anti-aircraft shell and caught fire, but the captain continued the attack and bombed. Seeing that the bombs of his subordinates did not hit the target, Fleming turned around and dived at the enemy again, crashing into the Mikuma cruiser on a burning bomber. The damaged ship lost its combat capability, and was soon finished off by other American bombers.
A few examples of German pilots who committed aerial ramming:
If at the beginning of the war the ramming actions of German pilots, who were victorious on all fronts, were a rare exception, then in the second half of the war, when the situation was not in favor of Germany, the Germans began to use ramming attacks more and more often. So, for example, on March 29, 1944, in the skies of Germany, the famous Luftwaffe ace Hermann Graf rammed an American Mustang fighter, while receiving severe injuries that put him in a hospital bed for two months.
The next day, March 30, 1944, on the Eastern Front, the German assault ace, holder of the Knight's Cross Alvin Boerst, repeated the "feat of Gastello". In the Yass area, he attacked a Soviet tank column on the anti-tank version of the Ju-87, was shot down by anti-aircraft guns and, dying, rammed the tank in front of him.
In the West, on May 25, 1944, a young pilot, Oberfenrich Hubert Heckman, in a Bf.109G, rammed Captain Joe Bennett's Mustang, decapitating an American fighter squadron, after which he escaped by parachute. And on July 13, 1944, another famous ace - Walter Dahl - shot down a heavy American B-17 bomber with a ramming blow.
D. Air rams in the USSR in subsequent times
After the victory over Nazi Germany rams continued to be used by Soviet pilots, but this happened much less frequently:
1951 - 1 ram, 1952 - 1 ram, 1973 - 1 ram, 1981 - 1 ram
The reason is connected with the absence of wars on the territory of the Soviet Union and the fact that powerful machines appeared equipped with firearms and maneuverable and light interceptor aircraft.
Here are some examples:
During the battle, Subbotin scored one aerial victory, but then his plane was hit by enemy fire. According to the official version, after that, Subbotin deliberately rammed the Saber chasing him, releasing the brake flaps, which led to a collision of aircraft. After that, he ejected. In a number of sources, this episode is mentioned as the first aerial ramming on a jet aircraft in the history of aviation.
2) On November 28, 1973, air defense systems recorded another violation of the state border. Noticing the target, Eliseev went to rendezvous. Having reached the distance of aimed fire, the pilot fired two R-3S missiles at the intruder, but the Phantom released heat traps, and the missiles, having captured them, flew 30 meters from the aircraft and self-destructed. Then Eliseev hit the enemy plane not with the wing, but with the whole body. MiG-21 exploded in the air. Eliseev failed to eject, and both enemy pilots, sadly, survived.
3) Another successful ram was made later. It was carried out by Captain Valentin Kulyapin on July 18, 1981 on the Su-15. He hit the fuselage on the right stabilizer of a Canadair CL-44 transport. CL-44 went into a tailspin and fell two kilometers from the border. The crew of the violator died, reserve colonel Valentin Aleksandrovich Kulyapin is still alive.
VI. Conclusion
Here is what the Chief Marshal of Aviation A.A. Novikov wrote about the ram twice Hero of the Soviet Union:
“As for my opinion about the role and significance of the ram in battle, it has been and remains unchanged ...
It is known that any method of air combat, culminating in a decisive attack by the enemy, requires courage and skill from the pilot. But the battering ram makes immeasurably higher demands on a person. An air ram is not only a virtuoso command of a machine, exceptional courage and self-control, it is one of the highest forms of manifestation of heroism, that very moral factor inherent in the Soviet person, which the enemy did not take into account, and could not take into account, since he had very vague idea."
In this way I set the goal of my work to show the air and fire ram as a weapon used not only by Russians, but also by pilots of other countries at moments when the fate of the battle is being decided. At the same time, I want to emphasize that if in other countries pilots resorted to a ram as an extremely rare method of combat, then Soviet pilots used a ram when they could not destroy the enemy in any other way, so only in the Red Army did the ram become a permanent weapon of battle.
VII. Bibliography
1. L. Zhukova "I choose a ram" (Essays) "Young Guard" 1985. http://u.to/Y0uo
2. http://baryshnikovphotography.com/bertewor/ram_(air)
3. Zablotsky A., Larintsev R. Air ram - the nightmare of German aces. //topwar.ru;
4. Stepanov A., Vlasov P. Air ram - a weapon not only of Soviet heroes. //www.liveinternet.ru;
5. Film "I'm going to ram". (2012 Russia)
6. Immortal feats. M., 1980;
Vazhin F.A. Air ram. M., 1962;
7. Zablotsky A., Larintsev R. Air ram - the nightmare of German aces. //topwar.ru;
Zalutsky G.V. Outstanding Russian pilots. M., 1953;
8. Zhukova L.N. I choose ram. M., 1985;
9. Shingarev S.I. I'm going to ram. Tula, 1966;
Shumikhin V.S., Pinchuk M., Bruz M. Air power of the motherland: essays. M., 1988;
10. Vazhin F.A. Air ram. M., 1962;
Ramming as a method of air combat remains the last argument that pilots resort to in a hopeless situation. Not everyone manages to survive after it. Nevertheless, some of our pilots resorted to it several times.
The world's first ram
The world's first air ram was made by the author of the "dead loop" staff captain Pyotr Nesterov. He was 27 years old, and having made 28 sorties at the beginning of the war, he was considered an experienced pilot.
Nesterov had long believed that an enemy airplane could be destroyed by hitting the planes with wheels. This was a forced measure - at the beginning of the war, aircraft were not equipped with machine guns, and aviators flew on missions with pistols and carbines.
On September 8, 1914, in the Lvov region, Pyotr Nesterov rammed a heavy Austrian aircraft under the control of Franz Malina and Baron Friedrich von Rosenthal, who was flying over Russian positions, making reconnaissance.
Nesterov on a light and fast airplane "Moran" took off, caught up with the "Albatross" and rammed it, striking down on the tail. It happened in front of the locals.
The Austrian plane crashed. Upon impact, Nesterov, who was in a hurry to take off and did not fasten his seat belts, flew out of the cockpit and crashed. According to another version, Nesterov jumped out of the crashed plane himself, hoping to survive.
The first ram of the Finnish war
The first and only ram of the Soviet-Finnish war was made by senior lieutenant Yakov Mikhin, a graduate of the 2nd Borisoglebsk military aviation school named after Chkalov. It happened on February 29, 1940 in the afternoon. 24 Soviet aircraft I-16 and I-15 attacked the Finnish Ruokolahti airfield.
To repel the attack, 15 fighters took off from the airfield.
A fierce battle ensued. Flight commander Yakov Mikhin in a frontal attack with the wing of the aircraft hit the keel of the Fokker, the famous Finnish ace, Lieutenant Tatu Guganantti. The keel broke off on impact. The Fokker crashed to the ground, the pilot was killed.
Yakov Mikhin, with a broken plane, managed to reach the airfield and safely landed his donkey. I must say that Mikhin went through the entire Great Patriotic War, and then continued to serve in the Air Force.
The first ram of the Great Patriotic
It is believed that the first ramming of the Great Patriotic War was carried out by 31-year-old senior lieutenant Ivan Ivanov, who on June 22, 1941 at 4:25 am on I-16 (according to other sources - on I-153) over the Mlynov airfield near Dubno rammed a Heinkel bomber ”, after which both planes fell. Ivanov is dead. For this feat he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
His superiority is contested by several pilots: junior lieutenant Dmitry Kokorev, who rammed the Messerschmitt in the Zambro area 20 minutes after Ivanov's feat and survived.
On June 22 at 5:15, junior lieutenant Leonid Buterin died over Western Ukraine (Stanislav), taking the Junkers-88 on a ram.
After another 45 minutes, an unknown U-2 pilot died over Vygoda, having rammed the Messerschmitt.
At 10 am, a Messer rammed over Brest and Lieutenant Pyotr Ryabtsev survived.
Some pilots resorted to ramming several times. Hero of the Soviet Union Boris Kovzan made 4 rams: over Zaraisk, over Torzhok, over Lobnitsa and Staraya Russa.
The first "fiery" ram
A “fire” ram is a technique when a pilot directs a downed aircraft to ground targets. Everyone knows the feat of Nikolai Gastello, who directed the plane to a tank column with fuel tanks. But the first "fiery" ram was made on June 22, 1941 by 27-year-old senior lieutenant Pyotr Chirkin from the 62nd assault aviation regiment. Chirkin directed the wrecked I-153 to the convoy German tanks approaching the city of Stryi (Western Ukraine).
In total, over 300 people repeated his feat during the war years.
First female ram
Soviet pilot Ekaterina Zelenko became the only woman in the world to ram. During the war years, she managed to make 40 sorties, participated in 12 air battles. September 12, 1941 made three sorties. Returning from a mission in the Romny area, she was attacked by German Me-109s. She managed to shoot down one plane, and when the ammunition ran out, she rammed the enemy plane, destroying it. She herself died. She was 24 years old. For the feat, Ekaterina Zelenko was awarded the Order of Lenin, and in 1990 she was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
First jet ramming
A native of Stalingrad, Captain Gennady Eliseev made his ram on a MiG-21 fighter on November 28, 1973. On this day, an Iranian Phantom-II invaded the airspace of the Soviet Union over the Mugan Valley of Azerbaijan, which carried out reconnaissance on the instructions of the United States. Captain Eliseev flew to intercept from the airfield in Vaziani.
Air-to-air missiles did not give the desired result: the Phantom released heat traps. In order to fulfill the order, Eliseev decided to ram and hit the tail of the Phantom with his wing. The plane crashed and its crew was arrested. MiG Eliseev began to decline and crashed into a mountain. Gennady Eliseev was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The crew of the reconnaissance aircraft, an American colonel and an Iranian pilot, were handed over to the Iranian authorities 16 days later.
First ramming of a transport aircraft
On July 18, 1981, a transport plane of the Argentine airline "Canader CL-44" violated the border of the USSR over the territory of Armenia. There was a Swiss crew on board the plane. The squadron deputy, pilot Valentin Kulyapin, was tasked with landing the violators. The Swiss did not respond to the pilot's demands. Then came the order to shoot down the plane. The distance between the Su-15TM and the "transporter" was small for launching R-98M missiles. The intruder went towards the border. Then Kulyapin decided to go to the ram.
On the second attempt, he hit the fuselage on the stabilizer of the Canader, after which he safely ejected from the damaged aircraft, and the Argentine fell into a tailspin and fell just two kilometers from the border, his crew died. Later it turned out that the plane was carrying weapons.
For the feat, the pilot was awarded the Order of the Red Star.
Exactly 75 years ago, on the night of August 7, 1941, junior lieutenant Viktor Talalikhin was one of the first in Soviet aviation to ram an enemy bomber at night. The air battle for Moscow was just beginning.
sinister plane
That night, Viktor Talalikhin, deputy squadron commander of the 177th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment, received an order to intercept the enemy, who was heading for Moscow. At an altitude of 4800 meters, the junior lieutenant overtook an enemy aircraft, went into its tail with lightning speed and began to shoot at it.
However, it was not easy to shoot down the Heinkel-111 long-range bomber. Of the five crew members, three fought the fighters. The ventral, rear and side gunners in flight constantly kept their sector of fire in sight and, in the event of a target appearing, opened furious fire at it.
The ominous silhouette of "Heinkel-111" was well known to the inhabitants of Poland, Denmark, Norway, France, Great Britain. This bomber was considered one of the main ones in the Luftwaffe and took Active participation in all military campaigns of the Third Reich in Europe. He took an active part in the attack on the USSR from the very first minutes.
Deprive the USSR of Moscow
In 1941 the Germans tried to bomb Moscow. They pursued two strategic objectives: firstly, to deprive the Soviet Union of the largest railway and transport hub, as well as the center of command and control of troops and the country. Secondly, they hoped to help their ground troops break the resistance of Moscow's defenders.
This task was entrusted by Hitler to Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, commander of the German 2nd Air Fleet. This task force of 1,600 aircraft supported the offensive of Army Group Center, whose main goal, according to the plan "Barbarossa", was the Soviet capital.
The bomber crews had extensive combat experience in strikes against large cities, including at night.
Unpleasant surprises for the Luftwaffe
The Fuhrer demanded from the pilots "to strike at the center of the Bolshevik resistance and prevent the organized evacuation of the Russian government apparatus." Strong resistance was not expected, and therefore the military and political leadership of Germany was confident in their imminent parade on Red Square.
On the night of July 22, 1941, the first raid on Moscow took place. The Germans found that the Russians had a lot of anti-aircraft guns, barrage balloons, which were installed much higher than usual, and a lot of air defense fighter aircraft, which were active at night.
Having suffered significant losses, the Luftwaffe pilots began to rise to new heights. Actively participated in massive raids and "Heinkels-111".
Trophies of the 177th Fighter Regiment
The command of the German Air Force did not learn the lesson from the air battle for Britain in 1940, in which the Germans lost two and a half thousand aircraft. Of these, almost 400 "Heinkel-111". As a gambler, in the battles over Moscow, the Nazis bet on their own luck, ignoring the combat potential of the enemy.
Meanwhile, the air defense fighter regiment under the command of Major Mikhail Korolev, in which Talalikhin served, opened a combat account for enemy losses on July 26, 1941.
On this day, the deputy commander of the regiment, Captain Ivan Samsonov, shot down a German bomber. Soon this military unit had other "trophies".
Young but experienced pilot
The "impenetrable" "Heinkel-111", which Talalikhin met in a night battle, did not have time to drop bombs on the target and began to leave. One of his engines caught fire. The Soviet pilot continued to shoot, but soon the machine guns fell silent. He realized that the cartridges ran out.
Then the junior lieutenant decided to ram the enemy aircraft. At almost 23 years old, Viktor had a low rank, but by the beginning of World War II, he was already an experienced pilot. Behind him was the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939/40 and the Order of the Red Star for four downed Finnish aircraft.
There, the young pilot fought on an obsolete I-153 biplane, nicknamed "The Seagull". However, in the first battle he won an air victory. Another enemy plane was shot down by him when Talalikhin covered his commander Mikhail Korolev.
Don't let the bastards get away
In a lightning-fast fight in the Moscow night sky, when a Soviet pilot aimed his plane at a ram, his hand was suddenly burned. One of the enemy shooters wounded him.
Talalikhin later said that he "decided to sacrifice himself, but not to miss the reptile." He gave full throttle and his plane crashed into the tail of the enemy. "Heinkel-111" caught fire and randomly began to fall down.
The damaged I-16 fighter lost control after a terrible blow, and Talalikhin left it on a parachute. He landed in the Severka River, from where he was helped to get out locals. The entire German crew was killed. The next day, Viktor Vasilyevich Talalikhin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Infernal air defense
Having lost 172 Heinkel-111 aircraft in a short time (not counting a significant number of other types of bombers), by the tenth of August 1941, German aviation abandoned the tactics of raiding in large groups from one or two directions.
Now the Luftwaffe pilots tried to "seep" into Moscow from different sides and often attacked the target, entering in turn, one after the other. They had to exert all their strength and skill in the fight against the hellish for the Nazis air defense of the capital of the USSR.
The air struggle reached its apogee in the fall of 1941, when a grandiose ground battle unfolded on the outskirts of Moscow. The Germans relocated their airfields closer to the city and were able to increase the intensity of sorties, interspersing night raids with daylight ones.
Death in battle
In fierce battles, the ranks of the 177th Fighter Aviation Regiment thinned out. On October 27, 1941, Viktor Talalikhin died in an air battle, and on December 8, Ivan Samsonov died.
However, the Germans also suffered significant losses, breaking through the wall of anti-aircraft fire and fighting off Soviet fighters. During the period from July 26, 1941 to March 10, 1942, 4% of enemy aircraft broke through to the city. During this period, over a thousand enemy aircraft were destroyed by Moscow's air defense systems.
Those of the crews of the German bombers who managed to drop bombs did it chaotically, in a hurry to get rid of the cargo as soon as possible and leave the shelling zone.
The failure of the air blitzkrieg
British journalist Alexander Werth, who had been in the USSR since the beginning of World War II, wrote that in Moscow shrapnel from anti-aircraft shells drummed through the streets like hail. Dozens of searchlights illuminated the sky. In London, he had never seen or heard anything like it.
Pilots did not lag behind the anti-aircraft gunners, and not only fighters. For example, the squadron commander of the 65th Assault Aviation Regiment, Lieutenant Georgy Nevkipely, burned not only six enemy aircraft, but also several tanks and more than a hundred vehicles with infantry in his 29 sorties.
He died a heroic death on December 15, 1941 and was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. The power of the air defense of the capital of the Soviet Union proved to be generally insurmountable for the Luftwaffe. The air blitzkrieg, which Goering's pilots counted on, failed.
This happened on June 26, 1941, on the fifth day of the war, when the aircraft of Captain Nikolai Gastello was shot down during the bombardment of an enemy tank column. The squadron commander did not withdraw from the battle and continued to fight the Nazis to the end. With a firm hand, the pilot directed the bomber, enveloped in flames, into the very thick of enemy tanks and gas tanks. There, in the raging fire of enemy vehicles, he completed his last flight together with the commander and his combat crew (lieutenants Grigory Skorobogaty, Anatoly Burdenyuk and Sergeant Alexei Kalinin).
The name of the hero gained fame. Central newspapers wrote about the feat and talked on the radio. Throwing a bomber on fire at a ground target, first accomplished by regimental commissar M. Yuyukin back in 1939, and the feat of Captain Gastello showed Soviet pilots the last means of struggle that nothing could take away from them - neither damage to the aircraft, nor the depleted supply of shells, nor heavy wound.
For many years it was believed that the crew of Captain N. Gastello was the first to ram a ground target in battles with the Nazis. But the work of historians made it possible to make adjustments. It has been established that one of the first who made a fiery ramming of a ground target was the crew of a bomber under the command of Captain G. Khrapai. The crew included navigator Lieutenant V. Filatov and gunner-radio operator Senior Sergeant G. Tikhomirov. And this happened on June 24, 1941 near the city of Brody, Lviv region. On the same day, the senior political instructor S. Airapetov made a fiery ram. He sent his plane to a convoy of enemy vehicles near the city of Tauragė in Lithuania.
On June 27, 1941, near the Polish city of Khrubieszow, a new fiery explosion passed like a tornado through a fascist motorcade. It was a farewell salute for pilot Lieutenant D. Tarasov and navigator Lieutenant B. Eremin, who repeated the feat of Captain Gastello's crew. A day later, on June 29, 1941, now on Belarusian soil, the flames of a furious explosion shot up. It was in the very center of the group of Nazi tanks that the senior lieutenant I. Preseizen brought down his bomber.
On July 4, 1941, on the Rezekne-Ostrov highway, the squadron commander, Captain L. Mikhailov, attacked enemy tanks with his bomber. On August 28, pilot junior lieutenant I. Vdovenko and navigator lieutenant N. Gomonenko sent their burning plane to the enemy crossing across the Dnieper and destroyed it.
On September 19, 1941, near Leningrad, junior lieutenant V. Bondarenko aimed his wrecked fighter at an enemy anti-aircraft battery. On September 23, Senior Lieutenant I. Zolin rammed the Berislav Dam on the Dnieper. On September 28, Sergeant D. Koryazin crashed his plane onto a column of Nazi tanks near Tula.
IN Lately among some military historians, the assertion began to occur that the ground ram was caused by an accidental fall of out-of-control aircraft. But the facts say otherwise. Testimonies of our pilots who heard in the headphones of headsets through the roar of battle last words heroes: "For the Motherland, I'm going to ram!" and those who saw their fiery dive, finally, the very circumstances of the accomplishment of the ram convincingly prove that the wrecked cars were deliberately directed at the target with the firm hand of the pilots.
“On January 17, 1945, accompanying a group of attack aircraft,” fighter pilots Major Gontarenko and Captain Makarov reported on the last sortie of junior lieutenant A. Kolyado, “we watched the fourth wingman, whose engine caught fire in the air, deployed his “silt” and crashed into a cluster of enemy manpower and equipment. According to our observation, the plane was controllable, and the pilot, if desired, could land on fascist territory.
Lines of combat documents confirm that the roar of explosions and an avalanche of flame that tore apart the tank wedges of the Nazis, raised their cannons into the air, broke bridges and crossings, were not caused by an accidental fall of aircraft that had lost control. No, planes were thrown at the target by living people who decided, even at the cost of their lives, to strike at the hated enemy.
The flames rose above the engine and fuselage of the downed bomber, rushed to the gas tanks - the senior political instructor A. Anikin did not turn off the combat course. As if not noticing the mortal danger that threatened him, the pilot boldly attacked the fascist tanks concentrated to cross the Velikaya River. The pilots led by him broke through a flurry of anti-aircraft explosions and for the second, third time brought down a deadly load on the Nazis. The fourth dive was the last one for the senior political officer - with a fiery comet of his plane, he crashed into a formation of tanks with crosses on their armor. The enemy on that July day in 1941 was never able to reach the right bank of the Velikaya River.
Did those heroes have the opportunity, like A. Kolyado, to save their lives? Certainly. They could land or parachute out of flaming vehicles. The last target could not have been chosen by chance. Otherwise, would pilot Lieutenant V. Kovalev have succeeded in ramming an enemy anti-aircraft battery on December 14, 1941, located away from the Rumyantsevo station, over which he was shot down? The pilot saw that the battery was blocking the path of enemy tanks leading to the Volokolamsk highway moving along the Volokolamsk highway with a barrage of fire, and headed for it. A flying fire fell on the enemy’s firing position, the fighter of V. Kovalev crushed the guns along with their crews, and the Nazi tanks, having lost their anti-aircraft barrier, were burned by the pilots of the unit of the heroically deceased commander.
To match the feat of V. Kovalev was the fire ram of the squadron commander, Captain V. Shiryaev. On September 4, 1942, during the attack of Nazi tanks, rushing across the Kalmyk steppe to Stalingrad, his plane was overtaken by a volley of anti-aircraft guns. The pilot separated from his group and, having found a large accumulation of enemy vehicles, directed a wounded attack aircraft at them. On October 21, 1943, mortally wounded by a fragment of an anti-aircraft shell, the pilot dived into enemy firing points that prevented the advance of our advancing infantry near the city of Melitopol.
In the name of Victory, ground targets were rammed by Lieutenant V. Aleinikov, Captain S. Borodkin, Captain K. Zakharov, Lieutenant P. Kriven, Senior Lieutenant P. Nadezhdin and other Soviet pilots. Ground ramming is a feat that only Soviet pilots, brought up on a sense of patriotism and the habit of putting the interests of the country above personal ones, were able to accomplish.
The path to a feat can be traced along the routes of the battles of Major D. Zhabinsky. October 9, 1943 in one of the sorties on Western front under continuous anti-aircraft fire, together with the followers, he attacked the enemy artillery battery seven times and still suppressed its fire. Wounded in the chest, neck, right arm, D. Zhabinsky struggles with the last of his strength for life, for the preservation of the aircraft, believing that in the formidable “silt” he will “iron” the Nazis more than once. And the pilot, in spite of all the deaths, returned to duty.
When, on February 15, 1945, during the assault on the Nazi airfield, D. Zhabinsky's plane was hit by a burst of anti-aircraft machine guns, the pilot discarded the opportunity to escape, because this could only mean captivity. Zhabinsky decided to bring down all the steel power of his "silt" on the enemy - to die so that there would be benefit from death. "Farewell, Motherland!" - with these words, heard on the radio by comrades, the pilot gave the control stick of the burning machine away from himself.
Yes, ground targets were rammed at the end of the war. And D. Zhabinsky was not the only one. On March 19, 1945, during the attack on the Nazi airfield in Heiligenbeil (East Prussia), the plane of Captain K. Ivanov was shot down. The fearless pilot consciously, without hesitation, sent his attack aircraft to the accumulation of enemy aircraft.
The self-sacrifice of the heroes of the fiery rams was the highest manifestation of heroism, moreover, collective heroism. Indeed, in bombers or attack aircraft, led by pilots against the enemy, all crew members were soldered with them with hatred for the enemy, front-line friendship. Navigators and gunners-radio operators Nazar Gubin, Boris Eremin, Boris Kapustin, Semyon Kosinov, Sergei Kovalsky, Nikolai Pavlov, Pyotr Sologubov, Stepan Shcherbakov and others - all of them performed their duty until the last second of their lives, until their last breath. Soviet pilots during the war years made 446 fire rams. Almost all of these heroes did not return from the war, but the memory of them lives on in the names of streets, factories, schools and courts.
Sources:
Gulyas I. Fragments combat use IL-4 // Aviation and time. 1998. No. 1. S. 17-18.
Kotelnikov V., Medved A., Khazanov D. Pe-2 dive bomber // Aviation and Cosmonautics. 2004. No. 5-6. S.29-30.
Mikhailov V. Shield and Sword of the Motherland // Aviation and Cosmonautics. 2002. No. 8. C.8.
Zaitsev A. For the honor, freedom and independence of the Motherland // Wings of the Motherland: Sat. articles. M.: DOSAAF USSR, 1983. S. 162-164.
Larintsev R., Zabolotsky A., Kotlobovsky A. To the ram! // Aviation and time. 2003. No. 5. P. 25.
Kovalenko A., Sgibnev A. Immortal deeds. Moscow: Military Publishing House, 1980, pp. 102-110.
Contrary to frequently encountered statements, the first night air ramming was carried out not by Viktor Talalikhin, but by another Russian pilot. Evgeny Stepanov in October 1937 rammed an SM-81 bomber over Barcelona.
He fought in Spain on the side of the Republicans during civil war. Shortly after the start of the Great Patriotic War, the night ram would glorify the young pilot Talalikhin.
Now historians write that in the Great Patriotic War, the first night ram was carried out by Peter Yeremeev, who served in the Moscow region in the 27th air regiment. He shot down a Ju-88 on the night of July 28-29 over the Istra region. Eremeev died a few weeks before Talalikhin - in early October 1941. However, his feat did not become widely known, and he received the title of Hero posthumously only in 1995. Talalikhin became a symbol of the heroism of Soviet pilots.
Dreams of the sky
At the age of seventeen in September 1935, Talalikhin enrolled in a glider circle. By this time, the future ace had behind him secondary school and the factory apprenticeship school at the Moscow Meat Processing Plant, where the young man later worked. Perhaps his older brothers served as an example for Talalikhin: they were drafted into the army, and both ended up in aviation. But in the 1930s, many Soviet boys dreamed of heaven.
A few months after the start of training in the circle, Talalikhin wrote in the factory newspaper that he had made his first flight in a glider, completed the first stage of training with "good" and "excellent", hopes to continue his studies. He declared that he wanted to fly like Chkalov, Belyakov and Baidukov - the names of these pilots were heard by the entire Soviet Union.
First flight and military school
In October 1936, Talalikhin was sent to the flying club. He, despite his small stature, successfully passed the medical examination and began training. The instructor noted that the young man has talent, but he needs " cold head". Talalikhin will acquire composure and prudence during military service.
Talalikhin made his first flight on a U-2 in 1937, a few months before being drafted into the army. There, the dream of the future ace came true - he was sent to the Chkalov military aviation school in Borisoglebsk. He studied diligently: later, Talalikhin recalled that he got up at sunrise, and returned to the barracks exactly at the end. In addition to classes, he spent a lot of time in the library: he read special literature, studied maps and instructions.
However, Talalikhin once had to end up in a guardhouse - for violating flight safety rules: during training, he performed several more aerobatics than was prescribed by the rules.
In 1938, he graduated from college with the rank of second lieutenant and began service in the 27th Fighter Aviation Regiment. The officers and teachers of the school noted that Talalikhin has courage, he makes the right decisions in difficult situations.
in the Finnish war
During the Soviet-Finnish war, Talalikhin made 47 sorties. Already in the first battle, the junior pilot of the third squadron destroyed the enemy aircraft. Then Talalikhin flew on the "Seagull" - I-153 (biplane). For valor, the future ace received the Order of the Red Star.
In total, four aircraft were shot down by Talalikhin during the campaign. In one of the battles, he covered commander Mikhail Korolev, who was trying to intercept a German bomber and came under fire from a Finnish anti-aircraft battery. Talalikhin "cut off" the commander's aircraft and destroyed the German Fokker (F-190). After the end of the Finnish campaign
Talalikhin spent about a month on vacation with his parents, and then he was sent for retraining - refresher courses for flight personnel. In the characterization at their end, Talalikhin was named worthy of becoming a flight commander. It was also said that he "flies boldly", is quick-witted in the air, and successfully flies fighters.
In the spring of 1941, Korolev and Talalikhin met again: the young pilot was sent to the first squadron of the 177th Fighter Aviation Regiment, commanded by Korolev. His immediate commander was Vasily Gugashin.
The beginning of the Great Patriotic
The first rams were carried out by Soviet pilots immediately after the start of the war. It was recorded that on June 22, 1941, seven pilots risked their lives and sent their planes to the enemy. The ram was a fatal risk for the pilot. Few survived - for example, Boris Kovzan shot down four planes in this way and each time successfully landed by parachute.
The squadron in which Talalikhin served was based near the city of Klin. Pilots began to fly sorties on July 21, after the first German air raid on Moscow. Then, thanks to the successful work of air defense and Soviet aviation, out of 220 bombers, only a few flew to the city.
The task of the Soviet pilots was to detect fascist bombers and fighters, cut them off from the group and destroy them.
The Talalikhin regiment took the first battle on July 25. Then the ace was already deputy squadron commander, and soon Gugashin was unable to exercise command, and Talalikhin had to take over.
night ram
On August 7, one of the last major German air attacks on Moscow took place. It was the sixteenth raid.
Talalikhin was ordered to fly out to intercept the bombers in the Podolsk area. The pilot later told reporters that he noticed the Heinkel-111 at an altitude of 4800 meters. He attacked and knocked out the right engine. The German plane turned around and flew back. The pilots began their descent. Talalikhin realized that he had run out of ammunition.
The search engines who discovered the Talalikhin plane in 2014 have a version that the firing system was disabled. The ammunition was used up to half, and the dashboard was shot through. Then Talalikhin was wounded in the arm.
He decided to go for a ram: at first there was a plan to “chop off” the tail of a German aircraft with a propeller, but in the end, Talalikhin rammed the bomber with all his I-16, which he called a “hawk”.
The Soviet pilot glided by parachute into the lake near the village of Mansurovo (now it is the area of Domodedovo Airport). He chose a long jump, fearing that the parachute canopy would be shot through by the Germans.
A German plane crashed near the village of Dobrynikha, its crew died. The Heinkel was commanded by a forty-year-old lieutenant colonel. The crash site of the downed aircraft had to be fixed, otherwise, according to the rules of the Red Army aviation, the feat would not have been recognized. The military was helped to find it by local residents. There is even a photograph in which Talalikhin is captured against the background of the Heinkel.
Radio interception recorded that the Germans called Talalikhin a "crazy Russian pilot" who destroyed a heavy bomber.
The feat of Talalikhin was immediately reflected in the newspapers, they talked about him on the radio. The Soviet state needed heroes: stories of such deeds raised the morale of the soldiers. The day after the ramming, Talalikhin received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The decree about this appeared in the newspapers on 9 August. As wrote to his brother Alexander that the award was a great honor for him. However, it seemed to him that he did nothing special and his brother in his place would have done the same.
On August 7, the day of Talalikhin's feat, long-range Soviet aviation carried out the first bombardment of Berlin, which infuriated the Nazi government.
The death of Talalikhin
While being treated, Talalikhin talked a lot with youth and workers, spoke at anti-fascist rallies. As soon as he was able to return to duty, he again began to shoot down enemy aircraft. By the end of October, he had four downed German aircraft on his account.
On October 27, the Talalikhin group flew out to cover the troops in the area of the village of Kamenki. Flying up to their destination, the pilots noticed the Messerschmites. Talalikhin managed to shoot down one of them, but soon three German planes were very close to him and opened fire. With the help of his partner Alexander Bogdanov, the second one was also shot down, but almost immediately after that, Talalikhin received a severe bullet wound in the head and was unable to fly the plane.
Fragments of the plane were found. The pilot's body was sent to Moscow. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.
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