
Minesweepers are special-purpose ships whose task is to search, detect and destroy sea mines and to lead other ships through minefields.
Prior to 1922 the both ships went by the same historic routes, and if to tell about the minesweeper No 15, it is equal if to tell about minesweeper No 14.
In 1895 they were launched as tugs. On June 3, 1915 during the First World War the tugs were mobilized and enrolled in the lists of the Baltic Fleet as minesweepers No 14 and No 15. Until 1917 they took part in different hostilities: they swept mines, and mined.
Minesweeper No 14: Length – 124 ft, width – 19 ft, draft – 6 ft. Displacement – 140 tons. Two steam engines with total capacity of 477 hp. Speed – 10 knots. Oil supply – 40 tons. Cruising range at full speed – 1680 miles. Armament: one large-caliber gun, two machine guns. Crew – 34 men.
Minesweeper No 15: Length – 127 ft, width – 19 ft, draft – 6 ft. Displacement – 135 tons. Three engines with total capacity of 450 hp. Speed – 13 knots. Oil supply – 60 tons. Cruising range – 1,800 miles . Armament: one large-caliber gun, one machine gun. Crew – 35 men.
In the early 20th century minesweepers, using special underwater chains, cut mines from the underwater holders and, after their surfacing, shot them.
On October 25, 1917 the minesweepers, mooring in Kronstadt, were ordered to leave for Petrograd to accompany the cruiser Aurora. The minesweepers went across the Neva River and anchored in front of the windows of the Winter Palace. Some of the crew remained aboard, and the rest joined the troops of the Red Guards and sailors who were storming the last refuge of the bourgeois government. The minesweepers stood in Petrograd until the establishment of the Soviet government in the city, and after that they returned to Finnish ports.
Having discharged their service in the Red Fleet with fidelity, the ships were dismantled due to their old age: minesweeper No 14 in 1924, minesweeper No 15 – in 1928.
COLLECTION
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The cockade with the “Red Star” emblem was intended to be worn on a military headdress (garrison cap, panama hat, or beret) by the junior leaders of recruitment, the rank and file soldiers and sailors, cadets of military schools, Suvorov military and Nakhimov naval cadets.
The cockade is a five-pointed star with the hammer and sickle.
The cockade is fastened with a clamper (or “the barbs”). The method of painting – cold enamel.
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The tiny lapel pin badge of the servicemen of the Special Purpose Detachment of the Interior Troops of Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD).
The emblem stands for the years of glorious fighting history. Initially it belonged to the first created in the USSR special actions group “Vityaz” (Knight-errant). The fist over the machine gun shortly and clearly shows force and confidence. Further this emblem was borrowed by the majority of the special forces detachments.
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The ID pin badge of the operatives and soldiers of the Police Riot Squad Special is to be attached to the upper garment and a special outfit: body armor, individual tactical load-bearing vest.
The pin badge is a goldish metal star of twelve rounded points formed by the beams radiating from the center of convex polished rays.
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The chest pin badge (insignia) of the servicemen of the 3rd Separate Special Purpose Brigade of Belorussian Interior Troops.
The symbol of the Brigade is the lynx – a Belorussian forester. It is a slick, fast, accurate and at the same time cunning and clever beast. Obviously, Belarusian commandos and consider themselves the owners of the same qualities.