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Soviet evacuation of Tallinn
Part ofWorld War II,Continuation War and theSummer War
Soviet cruiserKirov protected by smoke during evacuation of Tallinn in August 1941
Date 27–31 August 1941 Location Gulf of Finland Result Finnish–German victory
Belligerents
Finland  Germany	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Alfred Keller Wolfram von Richthofen	Vladimir Tributs Kliment Voroshilov
Strength
Luftflotte 1 Fliegerkorps VIII	1Kirov-classcruiser 190 smaller vessels 30,000 men
Casualties and losses
Unknown	12,000+ dead of which ~11,000 POWs(civilian and military) 28 large transports and auxiliary ships 16 warships[1] 6 small transports 34 merchant vessels sunk

TheSoviet evacuation of Tallinn, also calledJuminda mine battle,Tallinn disaster orRussianDunkirk, was a Soviet operation to evacuate the 190 ships of theBaltic Fleet, units of theRed Army, and Soviet civilians from the fleet's encircled main base ofTallinn inSoviet-occupiedEstonia during August 1941.^[1] Near theJuminda peninsula, the Soviet fleet ran into a minefield that had been laid by the Finnish and German navies, and it was repeatedly attacked by aircraft and torpedo boats, incurring major losses.

Soviet forces had occupied Estonia in June 1940. After theGerman invasion of the Soviet Union began on 22 June 1941, German forces advanced rapidly through Baltic countries and by the end of August, theEstonian capital of Tallinn was surrounded by German forces, while a large part of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet was bottled up in Tallinn harbour.

In expectation of a Soviet breakout, theKriegsmarine and theFinnish Navy had started on 8 August 1941 to layminefields off CapeJuminda on theLahemaa coast. While Soviet minesweepers tried to clear a path for convoys through the minefields, German coastal artillery installed a battery of 150 mm (5.9 in) guns near Cape Juminda and the Finnish Navy gathered their 2ndMotor Torpedo Boat Flotilla withpatrol boatsVMV9,VMV10,VMV11 andVMV17. At the same time the German 3. Schnellbootflottille withE-boatsS-26,S-27,S-39,S-40 andS-101 was concentrated atSuomenlinna outsideHelsinki. GermanJunkers Ju 88 bombers from Kampfgruppe 806 based on airfields in Estonia were put on alert. On 19 August the final German assault on Tallinn began.

During the night of 27/28 August 1941 the Soviet10th Rifle Corps disengaged from the enemy and boarded transports in Tallinn.

The embarkation was protected by smoke screens. However, the mine-sweeping in the days before the evacuation began was ineffective due to bad weather, and there were no Soviet aircraft available for protecting the embarkation. This, together with heavy German shelling and aerial bombardment killed at least 1,000 of the evacuees in the harbour.

Twenty large transports, eight auxiliary ships, nine small transports, a tanker, a tug, and a tender were organized into four convoys, protected by theSoviet cruiserKirov, with AdmiralVladimir Tributs on board, two flotilla leaders, nine destroyers, three torpedo boats, twelve submarines, ten modern and fifteen obsolete minehunters, 22 minesweepers, 21 submarine chasers, three gun boats, a minelayer, thirteen patrol vessels and eleven torpedo boats.^[2]

On 28 August Luftwaffe bomber wingKampfgeschwader 77 (KG 77) and KGr 806 sank the 2,026 grt steamerVironia, the 2,317 grtLucerne, the 1,423 grtAtis Kronvalds and the 2,250 grt ice breakerKrisjanis Valdemars. The rest of the Soviet fleet were forced to change course. This took them through a heavily mined area. As a result, 21 Soviet warships, including five destroyers, struck mines and sank. On 29 August, the Luftwaffe, now reinforced withKG 76,KG 4 andKG 1, accounted for the transport shipsVtoraya Pyatiletka (3,974 grt),Kalpaks (2,190 grt) andLeningradsovet (1,270 grt) sunk. In addition, the shipsIvan Papanin,Saule,Kazakhstan and theSerp i Molot were damaged by I./KG 4, which also sank three more. Some 5,000 Soviet soldiers died.^[3] Later that evening the armada was attacked by Finnish and German torpedo boats, and the chaotic situation made organized mine sweeping impossible. Darkness fell at 22:00 and the Soviet armada stopped and anchored at midnight in the mined waters.^{[citation needed]}

Early on 29 August Ju 88 bombers attacked the remains of the convoys offSuursaari, sinking two transports. the undamaged ships made best speed to reach the safety of theKronstadt batteries. The severely damaged merchant shipKazakhstan disembarked 2300 men of the 5000 on board before steaming on to Kronstadt. In the following days ships operating from Suursaari rescued 12,160 survivors.^[2]

The Soviet evacuation of Tallinn succeeded in evacuating 165 ships, 28,000 passengers and 66,000 tons of equipment.^[4][5] A total of 84 vessels were sunk or damaged irreparably.^[6] At least 12,400 are thought to have drowned in circumstances little known outside the former Soviet Union.^[7] The event was long downplayed by theStalinist regime after the war. The evacuation may have been the bloodiest naval disaster since theBattle of Lepanto.^{[citation needed]}

On 25 August 2001, a memorial was unveiled at Juminda.^[8]

• Passenger ship SSVironia - hit a mine off Cape Juminda and sank in 5 minutes. 1300 people lost their lives.^[9]
• Cargo ship SSEestirand /VT-532 - attacked and damaged by German bombers and was beached in Prangli island. At least 44 people died in the initial attack.^[10]
• SubmarineS-5 - 28 August 1941, Gulf of Finland^[11]
• SubmarineShch-301 - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda^[11]
• DestroyerYakov Sverdlov - 28 August 1941, off Mohni island^[11]
• DestroyerKalinin - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda^[11]
• DestroyerArtem - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda^[11]
• DestroyerVolodarski - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda^[11]
• DestroyerSkory - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda^[11]
• Patrol vesselSneg - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda^[11]
• Patrol vesselTsiklon - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda^[11]
• GunboatI-8 - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda^[11]
• Minesweeper No. 71 (Crab) - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda^[11]
• Minesweeper No. 42 (Lenvodput-13) - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda^[11]
• Everita (3251grt) - Transport with around 1,570 soldiers on board, sank a minute after the explosion. No more than ten people rescued.^[12]
• VT-530/Ella (1522grt) - Soviet passenger ship struck a mine and sank in the Baltic Sea off Cape Juminda. Her captain and 643 crew and passengers killed.^[13]

• List of shipwrecks in August 1941

• Bergstrom, Christer (2007a).Barbarossa - The Air Battle: July–December 1941. London: Chevron/Ian Allan.ISBN 978-1-85780-270-2.
• Mati Õun:Juminda miinilahing 1941 – maailmasündmus meie koduvetes (Juminda sea battle 1941 – an event of the world in our seas), Juminda Sentinel, Juminda, 2006,ISBN 978-9-9859-6093-6. (Estonian)

59°26′47″N24°46′05″E / 59.446344°N 24.768033°E /59.446344; 24.768033

• Conflicts in 1941
• Eastern Front (World War II)
• 1941 in Estonia
• 1941 in the Soviet Union
• Baltic Sea operations of World War II
• Operation Barbarossa
• Naval battles of World War II involving the Soviet Union
• Naval battles of World War II involving Germany
• Naval operations of the Kriegsmarine
• Evacuations during World War II
• Tallinn in World War II
• August 1941 in Europe
• Naval battles of World War II involving Finland
• Forced migration in the Soviet Union during World War II
• Maritime disasters

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