Self-propelled barge T-36

Drift of Self-propelled barge T-36
Date	January 17th, 1960
Duration	49 days
Non-fatal injuries	4

The self-propelled barge T-36 was a Soviet barge of the Project 306 type. Its waterline length is 17.3 m, width is 3.6 m, depth is 2 m, draft is 1.2 m. Tonnage is 100 tons, barge has two engines, speed is 9 knots.^[1]

Prehistory[]

In December 1959, all six of the self-propelled barges attached to the garrison of the Iturup island, were beached in order to wait out the period of winter storms and perform planned repairs. Ten-day emergency rations that were normally stored aboard, were sent to the depot. Shortly before January 17, 1960 the command has been alerted of a final supply ship's late arrival, and two of the six barges were dragged back to the water. Both received 1.5 tonnes of diesel fuel and, on January 15, a three-day supplies of water and food. Both, T-36 and T-97, were moored to a floating barrel approximately 500 feet offshore.^[2]

49-days long drift in the Pacific[]

Shortly after midnight of January 17, 1960, the barges were hit by a severe storm, accompanied with hurricane-force winds. The tackle was torn and the crew, junior sergeant (Russian: Асхат Рахимзянович Зиганшин, Tatar: Cyrillic Әсхәт Рәхимҗан улы Җиһаншин, Latin Äsxät Räximcan ulı Cihanşin), and three privates, (Russian: Филипп Григорьевич Поплавский), (Russian: Анатолий Фёдорович Крючковский), and Ivan Fedotov (Russian: Иван Ефимович Федотов), started the barge's engines in attempt to stay away from the rocks. Weighing anchor away from the shore proved impossible due to poor visibility and strong winds; when, after 40–50 minutes the wind pushed the barge too close to the shore, the engines were started again in order to navigate further away from it. This sequence repeated a few more times. Fighting with the storm continued for over ten hours.

Eventually the eye of the storm passed over the island, and the wind reversed direction, this time pushing the barge away from the shore. The crew decided to run the barge aground, but when they attempted to do so, around 10pm, the engines ran out of fuel and stopped. The wind dragged the barge out of the lagoon and into the open ocean. The crew of T-97 had better luck and managed to successfully run their vessel aground.

The garrison command was aware of the crew struggle with the hurricane, but then radio communications ceased, as the barge's transmitter was rendered inoperable by the storm. As the storm subsided, search and rescue crew of fifteen soldiers was deployed to sweep the seashore. The wreckage discovered by them, which included a lifesaver and remnants of the wooden coal storage box, both marked with the barge's number, confirmed the suspicion that the barge has been sunk by the hurricane, and its crew perished. After the conclusion of search efforts, formal missing person notifications have been sent to the families of the crew.

The drift[]

Ziganshin has recorded the details into the vessel's deck log. From a recent newspaper found aboard, the crew learned that the area of the ocean the vessel was drifting towards (according to their personal estimate, which was later found to be wildly incorrect) was being officially dedicated for ballistic missile testing for the period between January 15th and February 15th. With that in mind, Ziganshin estimated that the chances of their rescue in the near future are extremely slim, and decided to strictly ration the available food and water. Nonetheless the crew has been manning the helm around the clock, "just in case".

On the second day of the drift, the crew performed the "stock-taking". The available supplies consisted of approximately two buckets of potatoes, a loaf of bread, three pounds of lard, a can and a half of canned meat, some freshwater in the teakettle (the 2-bucket-worth tank of fresh water has been destroyed by the storm), a couple pounds of millet and dried peas, one carton of tea and one of coffee, and approximately fifty matches. The buckets of potatoes that were stored in the engine room got turned over by the storm, and the potatoes scattered over the floor and got sodded in diesel fuel. Significant amount, 120 litres (32 US gal), of fresh water, "red with rust, tasting like metal", was sourced from the engines' cooling system. In order to preserve even this supply, the crew, when possible, spread their bedsheets on the deck, allowing them to soak in the rainwater, and then wringed the water out of them.

In order to keep themselves warm, the soldiers tended fire in the potbelly stove, utilizing available combustible materials, such as wooden crates, lifesavers, rags, paper scraps, old newspapers, and wooden planks from two of their beds. Once these easily available materials were exhausted, the crew resorted eventually resorted to burning tires that served as the barge's fenders, filing pieces of rubber off them with a dull kitchen knife; each tire lasted about a week.

The uncontrolled T-36, lacking any means of communication, started its 49-day long drift, until the U.S. aircraft carrier Kearsarge picked up them on 7 March^[3] in stormy waters 1,200 miles off Wake Island.

After exhausting the available food supplies, the crew eventually ate their leather belts, wristlets, leather parts of their garmon and leather boots in attempts to quell the hunger.

T-36 as seen from USS Kearsarge

Approximately 40 days into their journey, they spotted a passing ship, but attempts to attract its attention failed; in the following days, two more ships passed by without noticing them. Finally, around 3pm (local time) on March 7,^[3] they were been spotted by two S2Fs launched by the Kearsarge, and consequently rescued.

The drift of 's crew were noticed by the worldwide press. Returning to the USSR, the crew had popularity close to that of cosmonauts, and took a major role in Soviet popular culture.^[4] Soviet government expressed gratitude to the Kearsarge for its gesture;^[5] the crew was soon returned home, first traveling to Paris on the RMS Queen Mary cruise liner, and then flying to the USSR, as doctors recommended against taking a transatlantic flight.

Filipp Poplavsky (left) telling their story. Askhat Ziganshin (center) listens.
Kryuchkovsky, Poplavsky, Ziganshin consuming some soup and bread shortly after being rescued.
Ivan Fedotov drinking coffee after being rescued. March 9, 1960.
Askhat Ziganshin is being shaved for the first time in 49 days.
Filipp Poplavsky getting a haircut for the first time in 49 days.
Fefotov, Ziganshin, Poplavsky on the deck of USS Kearsarge. March 14, 1960
After arrival at Moscow. March 1960. Left to right: Ivan Fedotov, Askhat Ziganshin, head of Political Directorate of the Soviet Army general Filipp Golikov, Filipp Poplavsky, Anatoly Kryuchkovsky