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The "Ice campaign" has begun to rescue the ships of the Baltic Fleet from capture by German and Finnish troops
On February 19th, 1918, due to the threat of German troops capturing Reval (now Tallinn), the Central Committee of the Baltic Fleet (Tsentrobalt) decided to transfer the ships based there to Helsinki, and from there, to Kronstadt and Petrograd.
The decision to move the ships from Reval to Helsingfors was announced in a directive from P. E. Dybenko, People's Commissar for Maritime Affairs, and E. A. Behrens, Chief of the Naval General Staff, to the Military Department of the Central Department on February 17, 1918. The ships began their journey on February 19 and arrived in Helsingfors on February 25. The transition was led by Captain 1st rank A. M. Shchastny, the 1st Assistant to the Head of the Military Department of the Central Baltic and de facto Head of the Baltic Fleet.
Under the terms of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty, signed on March 3, 1918, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) was obligated to either transfer its warships to designated ports or disarm them immediately. At this time, Russian ships stationed in Helsinki were threatened not only by the German fleet that arrived on March 5 at the Åland Islands, but also by Finnish troops. Under these circumstances, on March 12, the Soviet government instructed A.M. Shchastny to move the ships to Kronstadt.
In the face of thick ice and dense fog, Captain A. M. Shchastny successfully completed the Ice Crossing by April 22, without losing any of his ships. On April 12, German troops occupied Helsinki, and a German squadron launched a raid on the city.
As a result of this heroic effort, the Baltic sailors successfully rescued 226 ships, including two air squadrons, equipment from the fortress and fortifications, and military supplies. In 1919, during General N. N. Yudenich's offensive, these rescued ships played a crucial role in defending Petrograd.
Captain 1st Rank A.M. Shchastny, who led a successful operation and managed to prevent the surrender of the Baltic Fleet to the enemy, was arrested in May 1918 for "crimes of office and counterrevolutionary activities" and executed in Moscow on June 22, 1918. It is believed that the arrest was related to the fact that on May 10, 1918, sailors from the ships of the Baltic Fleet stationed on the Neva River passed a resolution demanding the transfer of "all power to manage and defend the Petrograd district to the naval dictatorship of the Baltic Fleet". A. M. Shchastny was likely the figure that the sailors would have chosen, as his authority had increased after the "Ice Campaign". During his trial, L.D. Trotsky, People's Commissar for Military Affairs of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), stated in his indictment: "Shchastny consistently and persistently deepened the rift between the navy and the Soviet government by spreading panic and always putting forward his candidature for the role of a savior.". The leaders of the conspiracy, the officers of the mining division, openly proposed the slogan "dictatorship of the navy."
Lit.: Кулиниченко В. Алексей Щастный. Спаситель русского флота // Российский кто есть кто: журнал биографий. 2006. № 2; Назаренко К. Капитанская точка // Родина. 2020. № 9 [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://rodina-history.ru/2020/09/09/za-chto-bolsheviki-rasstreliali-komanduiushchego-baltijskim-flotom-kapitana-i-ranga-alekseia-shchastnogo.html; Эдлинский С. Ф., Яковлев И. И. Транспортный флот в Ледовом походе 1918 года. М., 1959.
Based on the materials of the Presidential Library: