German positions in the Danube region in the autumn of 1944 The "political battle" in Hungary was - viewed superficially - won by the Germans. The new Budapest government outwardly retained the appearance of a fairly battered German-Hungarian brotherhood in arms, and -

Cruiser "Ochakov" By the beginning of the twentieth century. in the Black Sea, the following situation developed: the Russian fleet had a noticeable qualitative superiority over the Turkish in linear forces, but at the same time, modern cruisers were completely absent in its composition. The only representative of this

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Mutiny on the cruiser "Ochakov" in the autumn of 1905.

On November 11, 1905, a mutiny organized by the Social Democrats among the sailors of the Naval crew and soldiers of the Brest regiment began in Sevastopol. In a few hours, more than two thousand sailors of the naval division, part of the soldiers of the 49th Brest regiment, a reserve battalion of fortress artillery and port workers joined the rebellion. The rebels arrested officers, made political and economic demands to the authorities. During the endless rallies, a man in the uniform of a lieutenant in the navy stood out among the speakers. His name was Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt. He made speeches in which he accused the Tsar of the incompleteness of the granted freedoms, demanded the release of political prisoners, and so on. The personality of Schmidt is of undoubted interest to researchers in connection with the role he played in the Sevastopol events and, of course, in the rebellion on the cruiser Ochakov. Schmidt was turned into another legend by the Bolsheviks, and it must be said that a rare officer received such an honor from the Bolsheviks. But was Schmidt a combat officer? You can call it that only with very big reservations.

Armed uprising on the cruiser "Ochakov"
L.E. Muchnik

P.P. Schmidt was born in 1867 in Odessa. His father, the hero of the Sevastopol defense, the commander of the battery on Malakhov Kurgan, died with the rank of vice admiral. Mother was a native of the princes of Skvirsky. Early left without a mother, whom he dearly loved, Schmidt reacted very painfully to his father's second marriage, considering it a betrayal of his mother's memory. From a young age, he wanted to go against the will of his father in everything. Contrary to his father, he married a girl of very dubious reputation. Nevertheless, Dominika Gavrilovna Schmidt turned out to be a good and loving wife, and their marriage until 1905 was generally happy. They had a son, Eugene.

In 1866, Schmidt graduated from the St. Petersburg Naval Corps and received the rank of midshipman. However, he served only a short time. In the same year, he voluntarily left military service for health reasons. (Schmidt suffered from epileptic seizures). " Painful condition, - he wrote in a petition to Emperor Alexander III, - deprives me of the opportunity to continue serving Your Majesty, and therefore I ask you to dismiss me.”

Later, Schmidt explained his departure from the Navy by the fact that he wanted to be "in the ranks of the proletariat." But contemporaries testified that he initially did not like military service, and could not live without the sea and ships. Soon, due to lack of money, thanks to the patronage of a high-ranking uncle, Schmidt returns to the navy. Midshipman Schmidt is sent to the cruiser Rurik. By a coincidence, it was on this cruiser in 1906 that the Social Revolutionaries were preparing the assassination of Nicholas II. On the "Rurik" Schmidt did not stay long, and soon was assigned to the gunboat "Beaver". His wife followed him everywhere. At this time, Schmidt's psychopathic character traits, his painful pride, bordering on the inadequacy of reactions, are increasingly manifested. So, in the city of Nagasaki, where "Beaver" had one of its hospitals, the Schmidt family rented an apartment from a wealthy Japanese. Once there was a dispute between the Japanese and Schmidt's wife over the terms of renting an apartment, as a result of which the Japanese said a few harsh words to her. She complained to her husband, and he demanded an apology from the Japanese, and when the latter refused to bring them, he went to the Russian consulate in Nagasaki and, having obtained an audience with the consul V. Ya. Kostylev, demanded that he take immediate measures to punish the Japanese. Kostylev told Schmidt that he could not do this, that he sent all the materials of the case to the Japanese court for a decision. Then Schmidt began to shout that he ordered the sailors to catch the Japanese and flog him, or he himself would kill him on the street with a revolver. " Midshipman Schmidt- wrote the consul to the commander of the "Beaver", - behaved indecently in the presence of consular employees».

The commander of the Beaver decided to subject Schmidt to an examination by a medical commission, which concluded that Schmidt was suffering from a severe form of neurasthenia combined with epileptic seizures. In 1897, however, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. According to his wife, in 1899 Schmidt's mental state deteriorated so much that she placed him in the Savey-Mogilevsky psychiatric hospital in Moscow, after leaving which Schmidt retired and got a job in the commercial fleet. Upon retirement, as was customary in the Russian army, Schmidt was awarded the rank of captain of the II rank.

Schmidt began sailing on commercial ships. Most likely, Schmidt was a good captain, since it is known that Admiral S. O. Makarov intended to take him on his expedition to the North Pole. He passionately loved and knew the maritime business. At the same time, painful pride and ambition were present in him all the time. " Let it be known to you he wrote to his friend, that I have a reputation as the best captain and experienced sailor.”

With the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, Schmidt was called up for military service and appointed senior officer on the Irtysh large coal transport, which was to follow along with Admiral Rozhestvensky's squadron. For the inept management of the ship, Rozhestvensky put Schmidt for 15 days in a cabin under a gun. Soon the squadron went in the direction of the Far East towards Tsushima. But Schmidt fell ill and stayed in Russia. Schmidt was not liked among the officers, he was considered a liberal.

However, liberal views did not yet mean that Schmidt was ready to take part in an anti-state rebellion. The fact that this happened nevertheless indicates that Schmidt somehow, even before the events at Ochakovo, got in touch with the revolutionary underground.

Schmidt himself, although vaguely, spoke about this during the investigation: I cannot be seen as separate from the movement I was a part of.” During the uprising on the cruiser "Ochakov" he said: " I have been engaged in revolutionary activities for a long time: when I was 16 years old, I already had my own secret printing house. I don't belong to any party. Here, in Sevastopol, the best revolutionary forces are gathered. The whole world supports me: Morozov donates whole millions to our cause.

Although it is difficult to figure out from these confused words of Schmidt where the truth is in them, and where the wishful thinking is presented as real, the fact that he was supported by the revolutionary organizations of Sevastopol, that Lenin himself knew about its existence, that Schmidt knew about the “Morozov millions”, speaks that there really were real organizations behind Schmidt's back. Therefore, it seems that it was not by chance that Schmidt ended up on the rebel cruiser Ochakov.

In November 1905, when riots broke out in Sevastopol, Schmidt took an active part in them. He made friends with the Social Democrats, spoke at rallies. This participation of Schmidt in revolutionary meetings had a very negative effect on the already painful state of his psyche. He began to demand from his wife that she take part in revolutionary meetings, help him in his new revolutionary activities. When his wife refused, Schmidt left her. They were not destined to see each other again. A few days later, Schmidt joined the uprising on the cruiser Ochakov.

"Ochakov" returned from training navigation on November 14, 1905. The team was no longer calm and the sailors Gladkov, Churaev and Dekunin, known for their revolutionary spirit, worried her with questions of establishing democracy in Russia. Upon the return of "Ochakov" to Sevastopol, the unrest among the team intensified even more, as rumors about the indignation of the Sevastopol garrison reached her. Captain II rank Pisarevsky, in order to ease this excitement, gathered the sailors after dinner and began to read to them about the heroes of the Russo-Japanese War. However, the team listened to him poorly. However, the night passed quietly. On November 12, the call signs “Ochakov” and the signal “send deputies” were raised on the mast in the division, that is, the revolutionaries from the rebellious military units demanded that the “Ochakovites” join them by sending their deputies. This greatly agitated the team, which interpreted this signal in its own way, deciding that the sailors of the naval division were being massacred. The team demanded that deputies be sent to Sevastopol to find out what was going on there. At 11 o'clock in the morning, the signal was again raised on the mast of the division with the same call. Sailors Dekunin, Churaev and Gladkov began to shout that it was necessary to answer the call signs of the division and send deputies to it, that "people are being slaughtered there." All attempts by Lieutenant Vinokurov to influence the team were unsuccessful. Then the senior officer allowed to send two deputies to the division. For this, the sailors chose Gladkov and Dekunin, together with midshipman Gorodyssky, went to the division. They did not find anyone in the naval division and went to the Brest regiment, where a rally was taking place at that moment. On the way to the regiment, they met the commandant of the fortress who was riding in a cab, arrested by rebellious sailors. The crowd walking around the wagon shouted: “by their own court!”. At the meeting in the regiment, the deputies saw a large number of sailors and soldiers. Demands of sailors and soldiers were also put forward there, mainly to improve the conditions of service, amnesty for political prisoners of sailors and soldiers, polite treatment of lower ranks, an increase in salaries, the abolition of the death penalty, and so on.

Gladkov and Dekunin spoke with the sailors, learned their requirements and, making sure that nothing bad was happening to them, returned to the cruiser.

The team began to calm down, but some of the sailors continued to worry her, demanding immediate fulfillment of the requirements. Sailor Churaev bluntly told Lieutenant Vinokurov that he was a convinced socialist and that there were many like him in the Navy. At 17 o'clock the commander's order was received: " Whoever does not hesitate to stand for the King, let him stay on the ship. Those who do not want to have Him or doubt, they can go ashore.”

This order was announced on the morning of November 13 after the flag was raised. To the question of the captain of the 2nd rank Sokolovsky: “Who is for the Tsar?”, The team answered: “everything!”, And not a single person came out to the order to come forward to those who were for the rebellion. However, the unrest among the team continued. At the same time, an officer arrived at Ochakov from another ship of the squadron, who said that if Ochakov answered the signals of the rebels from the garrison again, they would shoot at him. Sailor Churaev replied to this: "Well, let them shoot."

The sailors decided to continue to communicate with the shore. Around 14:00 on November 13, two deputies arrived at the Ochakov from the shore. The commander of the Ochakov tried to prevent them from meeting with the sailors. but the team did not listen to him. The deputies told the sailors that the entire Brest regiment, the fortress artillery, the Bialystok regiment and other military units were on the side of the uprising. It was a strong exaggeration, but it had an effect on the team. The deputies told the sailors that they should support the rebels. The team answered in the affirmative. Then the officers decided to leave the cruiser, which they did by moving to the Rostislav cruiser. After lowering the flag, the captain of the 1st rank Sapsay arrived at Ochakov with a flag officer. Sapsay held a speech to the Ochakov team, urging them to stop the rebellion. At the end of the speech, Sapsay demanded that those who wants to serve faithfully to the Sovereign Emperor come forward". Again, like the first time, the whole team came forward. Then Sapsay demanded that those who did not want to serve further be extradited. The team replied that everyone wanted to serve. But at the same time, someone from the team asked: “What about our requirements?” Sapsay replied that they would be sent to St. Petersburg and examined there. The sailors asked Sapsay to have the officers return to the cruiser. Sapsay said that the officers would return only if the team gave their word of honor not to participate in the rebellion and obey their officers. The sailors promised Inspired, Sapsay went to the Rostislav and told the officers that they could return. The officers returned and demanded that the sailors hand over the firing pins from the guns. The team was about to return the strikers when a man desperately shouted, “ Do not give up weapons - a trap! The sailors refused to give up the strikers, and the officers again left for the Rostislav.

As soon as the officers left the cruiser for the second time, the conductor Chastnin spoke to the sailors, who said that he had been a “fan of the ideas of freedom” for 10 years and offered his leadership, to which he received the consent of the team.

Meanwhile, the officers, hoping to calm the squadron's commands, decided to send deputies from all its ships to the rebellious Sevastopol. This was an absolute mistake, as it testified to the weakness of the officers, who, as it were, allowed to start negotiations with the rebels. At 8 am on November 14, the deputies went to the pier. But before going to the garrison, they decided to first go to Schmidt to ask him for advice. This moment is extremely interesting: someone skillfully promoted Schmidt in this way, otherwise it is difficult to explain why the sailors went to him for advice?

The deputies went to Schmidt's apartment. He greeted them very warmly. After reading the demands of the sailors, Schmidt broke out into a long speech criticizing the existing state system in Russia, spoke of the need for a Constituent Assembly, otherwise Russia would perish. Thus, he skillfully replaced the naive and, on the whole, unimportant demands of the sailors with the political program of the revolutionary parties. In addition, Schmidt declared that he was a socialist and that it was necessary to look for officers who sympathized with the revolution, choose commanders from them, and arrest the rest. When all the teams join the uprising, he will lead the fleet and send a telegram to the Sovereign Emperor, in which he will announce that the fleet has gone over to the side of the revolution. However, as soon as the deputies left him, Schmidt, dressed in the uniform of a captain of the II rank, went to Ochakov and told the team: “ I came to you, because the officers moved out from you and therefore I take command of you, as well as the entire Black Sea Fleet. Tomorrow I will sign a signal about it. Moscow and the entire Russian people agree with me. Odessa and Yalta will give us everything we need for the entire fleet, which will join us tomorrow, as well as a fortress and troops, on a prearranged signal by hoisting a red flag, which I will raise tomorrow at 8 o'clock in the morning. The team covered Schmidt's speech with a thunderous "hooray!"

It is difficult to say whether Schmidt himself believed in what he said. Most likely he did not think about it, but acted under the impression of the moment. The essay by F. Zinko about Schmidt says: “ Exalted, struck by the grandeur of the goals opening before him, Schmidt not so much directed the events as inspired by them.».

But despite the exaltation, Schmidt showed himself as a prudent, cunning and double-minded person. When Captain II rank Danilevsky arrived on the cruiser, Schmidt received him in the captain's cabin and said that he had arrived on the cruiser in order to influence the crew, that his main task was to calm her down and return the cruiser to normal. Schmidt also stated that he considered wartime propaganda to be very dangerous. Danilevsky returned to the Rostislav in full confidence that the Ochakov was in good hands.

However, at 18 00 a meeting of deputies was held in the garrison, at which Schmidt spoke. Schmidt again declared that he was a socialist by conviction, that it was necessary to demand the convocation of the Constituent Assembly. He called for a general uprising in the army and navy. Further, Schmidt said that it was necessary to capture the Rostislav. To do this, he proposed the following plan: he, Schmidt, having made his way to the Rostislav, would arrest the admiral, then on his behalf he would give a command to all the officers to gather in the admiral's cabin, where he would also arrest them all.

Meanwhile, the counter-destroyer Svirepy and three numbered destroyers went over to the side of the uprising, which were assigned to Schmidt, who returned to Ochakov in the evening, taking with him his 16-year-old son Yevgeny. At about 6 o'clock in the morning, officers arrested in the garrison from the cruiser Griden and the destroyer Zavetny were brought to Ochakov. These officers went to the garrison for provisions, where they were captured by the rebels. Among them was also Major General Sapetsky. Schmidt ordered that the arrested be placed in their cabins. Then, on his orders, the passenger steamer "Pushkin" was seized. Schmidt ordered all the passengers to gather on the deck of the Ochakov, which was done. At sunrise, in the presence of the crew and captured passengers, he raised a red flag over Ochakovo. At the same time, Schmidt gave a signal: “ I command the fleet - Schmidt. Interestingly, during the raising of the red flag, the orchestra played "God save the Tsar!". By this, he wanted to win over other ships of the squadron to his side, to reassure the officers and sailors of other ships, convincing them that he was not a rebel. However, they were indifferent to this signal.

Seeing that red flags were not hoisted on other ships, Schmidt went to the destroyer "Svirepy" and began to call on the sailors of other ships to go over to his side, as " God, the Tsar and all the Russian people are with him. The answer was the deathly silence of the rest of the courts.

Then Schmidt, with a group of armed sailors, arrived at the Prut transport, where the arrested sailors from the Potemkin battleship were kept. The Prut officer mistook Schmidt and his men for guards, who had come to pick up another batch of prisoners. Entering the ship, Schmidt immediately arrested the officer and released the prisoners, taking them all to the Ochakov, where they were greeted with shouts of "Hurrah!" At this moment, unsuspecting officers arrived at the Ochakov: the commander of the Prut, captain of the 1st rank Radetsky and his entourage. They were immediately arrested and placed in cabins.

Meanwhile, Schmidt became increasingly convinced of the failure of his plans. When he followed from the Prut to the Ochakov, they shouted to him from the Ferocious: “ We serve the Tsar and the Fatherland, and you, the robber, force yourself to serve!”

Schmidt ordered the passengers to be released from Pushkin, as he no longer needed them. To his surprise, two of them, students, refused to leave the ship and joined the rebellion.

Convinced that the rebellion did not receive support from the rest of the courts, Schmidt threw off his mask and began to act like a real terrorist and revolutionary: “ I have many captured officers, that is, hostages", he sent a signal to all ships. Again there was no answer. Then Schmidt decided to capture the battleship "Panteleimon", the former "Potemkin", which he managed to do. Having arrested all the officers, he addressed them with a speech: “ Here, he said, in Sevastopol, gathered the best revolutionary forces. The whole world supports me. (…) Yalta supplies me with provisions for free. None of the promised freedoms has yet been realized. The State Duma is a slap in the face for us. Now I have decided to act, relying on the troops, the fleet and the fortress, which are all loyal to me. I will demand from the Tsar the immediate convocation of the Constituent Assembly. In case of refusal, I will cut off the Crimea, send my sappers to build batteries on the Perekop Isthmus, and then, relying on Russia, which will support me with a general strike, I will demand, I am already tired of asking, the fulfillment of the conditions from the Tsar. During this time, the Crimean peninsula forms a republic in which I will be president and commander of the Black Sea Fleet. I need a king because without him the dark mass will not follow me. The Cossacks interfere with me, so I announced that for each blow with a whip I would hang in turn one of you, and my hostages, of which I have up to a hundred people. When the Cossacks are handed over to me, I will put them in the hold of the Ochakov, Prut and Dniester and take them to Odessa, where a folk festival will be held. The Cossacks will be put up at the pillory and everyone will be able to express to their faces all the vileness of their behavior. I included economic needs in the sailors' demands, because I knew that without this they would not follow me, but the sailors and I deputies laughed at them. For me, the only goal is political demands.”

Here Schmidt, as always, wishful thinking. There was no talk of any significant assistance to the rebels either from Yalta, or from the Crimea, and even more so from all of Russia and “the whole world”. On the contrary, General Meller-Zakomelsky was moving towards Sevastopol with loyal units, the rest of the ships of the Black Sea squadron remained completely loyal to the government. Schmidt could not but understand that the hours of his illusory power were inevitably numbered. And he went for broke, fantasizing about the republic, secession of the Crimea, his presidency and so on. Rather, he convinced of his power not the captured officers, but himself. His thoughts sometimes take a painfully feverish turn: “ I will demand, I am already tired of asking, the fulfillment of the conditions from the Tsar ... ". From whom and what did Schmidt ever ask? But the main thing in these words is different: the Tsar, humiliatedly fulfilling the conditions of Schmidt, is what the first “red admiral” dreamed of!

But one should not think that Schmidt was insane and acted in a semi-delirious state. No, his methods and tactics are absolutely thought out: hanging hostages, his fellow officers, hiding behind sailors for his ambitious goals, deceiving them, laughing at their naivety and gullibility, exposing them in the name of his pride to a crime for which the death penalty threatened, planning reprisals over the Cossacks - all these are well-known methods and tactics of terrorists of all times and peoples, and Schmidt acted like a terrorist.

But like any terrorist, no matter how lucky he was, Schmidt was doomed. His situation worsened every minute. General Meller-Zakomelsky entered Sevastopol, who quickly put an end to the rebellion. The coastal artillery of the Sevastopol fortress opened fire on the Ochakov, which, together with the Ferocious, Prut and Panteleimon that joined it, was surrounded by ships loyal to the Tsar. Hurricane fire was opened on the rebel ships from all guns. The Ferocious tried to return fire, but it was suppressed and the ship lost control. The crew of the Fierce dived into the water. "Prut" and "Panteleimon" after the first shots lowered the red flags.

Meanwhile, on the Ochakovo, Schmidt completely lost his composure. He shouted that he would hang all the officers if the fire did not stop. Then he said: "I'm going to accept death." But at that moment, all the turret guns of the Rostislav, Terts and Memory of Azov, as well as the coastal artillery of the fortress, began to hit the Ochakov. The Ochakov team rushed into the water. One of the first to escape was Lieutenant Schmidt. This was not due to his cowardice: just like any revolutionary, he found it inappropriate to accept a "stupid" death on a doomed cruiser. He and his son were picked up by destroyer No. 270. A few minutes later, a boat sent from Rostislav delivered Schmidt to the battleship. "Ochakov" raised the white flag.

Schmidt and his accomplices were tried by the Black Sea Naval Court chaired by Admiral Chukhnin, who in March 1906 sentenced Schmidt to death by hanging, which was later commuted to execution. The sailors Gladkov, Chastnik and Antonenko were sentenced to death by the court. On March 6, 1906, the sentences were carried out.

Speaking at the trial, Schmidt said: Behind me will remain the sufferings of the people and the upheavals of the past years. And ahead I see a young, renewed, happy Russia.”

As for the first, Schmidt was absolutely right: behind him were people's suffering and upheavals. But as regards young, renewed and happy Russia”, then Schmidt was not destined to find out how deeply mistaken he was. 10 years after the execution of Schmidt, his son, the young cadet E.P. Schmidt, volunteered for the front and heroically fought "For Faith, Tsar and Fatherland." In 1917, he categorically rejected the October Revolution and joined the White Army. He went all the way from the Volunteer Army to the Crimean epic of Baron Wrangel. In 1921, the ship took Yevgeny Schmidt abroad from the Sevastopol pier, from those places where in 1905 his father helped those who now enslaved his homeland and drove him to a foreign land. " What did you die for, father? Yevgeny Schmidt asked him in a book published abroad. - Is it really so that your son will see how the foundations of a thousand-year-old state are crumbling, shaken by the vile hands of hired killers, corrupters of their people?».

In this bitter question of the son of the "red admiral" lies the main defeat of Lieutenant Schmidt.

100 great ships Kuznetsov Nikita Anatolyevich

Cruiser "Ochakov"

Cruiser "Ochakov"

By the beginning of the twentieth century. in the Black Sea, the following situation developed: the Russian fleet had a noticeable qualitative superiority over the Turkish in linear forces, but at the same time, modern cruisers were completely absent in its composition. The only representative of this class, the armorless "Memory of Mercury" (once ordered in France as the ship "Yaroslavl") is outdated, and mine cruisers and gunboats could not be considered universal ships suitable for all occasions. The problem of strengthening the Black Sea Fleet also consisted in the fact that it was not possible to transfer ships built abroad or in St. Petersburg to the theater due to international treaties regulating the regime of the Straits.

Therefore, the cruisers had to be built on the spot, despite the certain weakness of the factories in Nikolaev and Sevastopol. Based on the model of the armored cruiser Bogatyr, which was built according to the German project, it was decided to lay two ships for the Black Sea. It is difficult to understand what explained the choice of a ship of the first rank - the so-called long-range reconnaissance aircraft - for a closed and limited theater. However, the decision began to be put into practice in February 1901. A cruiser was laid down on the slipway of the Sevastopol Admiralty, which since April has been included in the lists of the Russian Imperial Fleet under the name Ochakov (a ship of the same type was called the Cahul); the official bookmark took place on August 13 of the same year. Builder - N.I. Yankovsky.

According to the project, the cruiser had the following characteristics: displacement - 6645 tons; length - 134 m, width - 16.6 m, draft - 6.3 m. The main mechanisms are two triple expansion steam engines with a total capacity of 19,500 hp, steam for them was produced by 16 Belleville boilers. Armament - 12 152 mm and 75 mm guns, 8 47 mm and 2 37 mm guns, as well as two landing guns, two machine guns, six torpedo tubes. Four six-inch guns were installed in two-gun turrets, four more in single casemates. Armor thickness: deck 35-79 mm, conning tower - 140 mm, towers - 127 mm, casemates - up to 80 mm. Crew - 570 people.

The ceremonial launching of the ship took place on September 21, 1902, the completion was not going too fast, but by the fall of 1905, Ochakov had already begun testing vehicles and artillery. During the Sevastopol uprising on November 14 (27), the cruiser became the flagship of the revolutionary squadron, it was the headquarters of the rebels and P.P. Schmidt. The next day, the authorities decided to suppress the uprising by force: the Ochakov and several other ships flying red flags were fired upon by naval, coastal and field artillery, troops loyal to the government fired at them. Many ships of the revolutionary squadron were damaged, up to 100 people died. "Ochakov" received many hits and caught fire, the fire on it lasted two days.

"Ochakov"

Now the cruiser needed not only to be completed, but also to be repaired. The works supervised by A.A. Bazhenov, completed only in June 1909. By this time, the cruiser was renamed: from the summer of 1907 it was called "Cahul" (and the former "Cahul" became the "Memory of Mercury"). Formally, the ship that entered service had many imperfections and defects, which were only eliminated in 1910. During the 1st Balkan War, it was part of the international squadron located in Constantinople.

When in the summer of 1914 Russia entered the First World War (then called it the Great War), relative calm remained for some time on the Black Sea, but after the treacherous attack of the Turkish fleet on Russian ports on October 16 (29), the most active hostilities unfolded. "Cahul" since October 24 (November 6) participated in the exits of the squadron, fired at Turkish ports, drowned transports. Especially successful for the Russian cruisers was the attack on Eregli on February 22 (March 7), 1915, when the Cahul and Memory of Mercury sent six steamships and a sailing bark to the bottom. In the same spring, eight 75 mm guns were removed from the ship, and four additional 152 mm guns and two anti-aircraft guns were installed.

In the autumn of 1916, the cruiser underwent a major overhaul, during which the composition of the armament completely changed on it. 152 and 75 mm artillery were removed (the towers were dismantled at the same time), and instead of them, 14 of the latest 130 mm guns were installed on the ship. The main caliber was supplemented by anti-aircraft guns: two 75 mm and two 40 mm. The revolutionary upheavals experienced by Russia affected the pace of work in the most negative way - the repair was completed only at the very end of 1917, when the truce between Russia and the Quadruple Union had already entered into force on the Black Sea. By the way, after the February Revolution, the “revolutionary” name “Ochakov” was returned to the cruiser, but it did not take root at all. And almost everyone - even in official documents - continued to call him "Kahul".

In the spring of 1918, the cruiser was delivered to the port of Sevastopol for storage. In the summer, the German occupation authorities remembered him - they handed over the practically incapacitated ship to the disposal of the ship-raising party (the so-called Marparty) that worked on the Black Sea, staffed by former Russian military sailors. After the defeat of Germany and the arrival of the Entente ships in Sevastopol, the Cahul turned out to be involved in their interests, participating in February 1919 in the work to refloat the French battleship Mirabeau. And shortly after that, the commander of the cruiser, captain of the second rank V.A. Potapiev began to bring him into a combat-ready state. Already at the end of April, his artillery for the first time opened fire on units of the Reds advancing on the positions of the White Army in the Crimea. In early May, the ship was officially enrolled in the White Guard fleet, after which it regularly participated in shelling the positions of the Reds, landing small assault forces, and providing military transportation. The vigorous activity of the fleet contributed a lot to the success of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia in battles with the Red Army. The White Fleet especially distinguished itself near Ochakov and during the breakthrough into the Dnieper-Bug Estuary.

Twice a cruiser, from the summer of 1919 called "General Kornilov" in memory of the deceased General L.G. Kornilov, got into dangerous situations. In early January 1920, sympathetic red sailors tried to send it to the bottom by opening the kingstons, and a month later, the ship, operating off the coast of the Caucasus, fell into a severe storm in the Novorossiysk region and was damaged, forcing it to go to Sevastopol for repairs. In 1920, "General Kornilov" was again active near Ochakov and in the Dnieper-Bug estuary, shelling batteries and positions of the Reds. In autumn, the red command decided to fight enemy ships with the help of aircraft. The anti-aircraft artillery and machine guns of the ex-Ochakov had to shoot a lot, repelling numerous air attacks. Although the Red military aircraft failed to hit the cruiser (contrary to their statements and reports), the White Guard ships considered it best to move away from Ochakov to Tendra.

At the end of October 1920, after the defeat of the Russian Army by General Wrangel in Northern Tavria, the Reds began to attack the Crimea. This forced the command to withdraw the ships to Sevastopol to participate in the evacuation. November 14 "General Kornilov" headed for Feodosia, and from there headed for Constantinople. A month later, he headed for Bizerte, a colonial French port in North Africa, where the Allies decided to internee the ships that left Russia. On the way, the cruiser pulled the Chernomor rescue ship from the shallows.

In Bizerte, at first, Russian sailors (sometimes with the help of local authorities, and sometimes contrary to their orders) for some time tried to maintain the combat capability of the squadron. But after France recognized the USSR, the situation changed. The ships were even going to be returned to Soviet Russia, however, the countries failed to finally agree. St. Andrew's flags were lowered for the last time after sunset on October 29, 1924. After that, the old cruiser rusted for five years in Bizerte, then it was sold to a private company for scrap and in 1933 it was dismantled.