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artis) rakstīja,
@ 2020-04-06 13:00:00

Note to self
Churchill's Secret War With Lenin: British and Commonwealth Military Intervention in the Russian Civil War, 1918-20

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artis
2020-04-06 14:11 (saite)

Vindictive was dispatched to the Baltic with a dozen aircraft, a mix of Griffins, Sopwith 2F.1 fighters, Sopwith 1½ Strutter and Short Type 184 bombers, on 2 July 1919 to participate in the British campaign in the Baltic in support of the White Russians and the newly independent Baltic states.[14] On 6 July she ran aground on a shoal near Reval at speed. Stuck hard in the tideless Baltic, all of her fuel was dumped overboard, and most of her ammunition as well. Some 2,200 long tons (2,200 t) of stores were also off-loaded, but the ship could not be towed free by the combined efforts of the light cruisers Danae and Cleopatra and three tugboats. Eight days after grounding a fortuitous westerly wind began that raised the water level by 8 inches (203 mm), just enough to pull the ship free. Unbeknownst to the British the entire operation had taken place in a minefield.

The carrier unloaded her air group, commanded by Major Grahame Donald, at Koivisto, Finland on 14 July. Their airfield was still under construction, but they were able to fly a reconnaissance mission over the major Bolshevik naval base at Kronstadt on 26 July while Vindictive sailed to Copenhagen, Denmark, to load aircraft and spares left for her by the carrier Argus. Four days later, Rear Admiral Walter Cowan ordered Donald and his aircraft to attack Kronstadt at night. As their airfield was not yet finished, the ship's flying-off deck was extended to 118 feet (36.0 m) to better allow the bombers to take off with their 112-pound (51 kg) bombs. Accurate anti-aircraft fire kept the aircraft too high for an effective attack, but Donald's men claimed two hits on the submarine tender Pamiat Azova. In reality one bomb struck the oil tanker Tatiana, setting it on fire and killing one man. That same day eight RN Coastal Motor Boat (CMB)s arrived; Vindictive served as their depot ship.

Vindictive's aircraft continued to support British operations against the Bolsheviks until they left the Baltic in December, although no further missions were flown from the carrier. They shot down a helium-filled observation balloon and spotted for ships conducted shore bombardments. Most importantly, nine of them attacked Kronstadt during the night of 17/18 August 1919 to provide a diversion for an attack by the CMBs on ships in Kronstadt harbour. As a result, the torpedo boats damaged the battleship Andrei Pervozvanny and sank Pamiat Azova. In subsequent attacks on Kronstadt, they nearly hit Andrei Pervozvanny while she was in drydock, nearly hit a minesweeper, killing one crewman from the explosion, and hit two auxiliary ships. By December it was clear that the Whites' offensive against Petrograd had failed and the British began withdrawing; Vindictive left three Camels in Latvia, embarked the rest of her aircraft and sailed for home on 22 December.

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