LITMIR.BIZ

      .. On April 14, 1945, units of the Red Army took possession of Neukuhren. The local port was then two powerful mauls – northern and eastern. There was also a small wooden pier in the southeastern part of the water area. In the northwest part was stranded with numerous boulders. Construction of the port began in 1902. But it was never completed. The war-torn country was in dire need of food. And the fish was supposed to be a powerful help here. On June 14, 1945, an order was issued by Narkomrybprom on the formation of the Baltgosrybtrest. And in July, forty-sixth, our fish factory was being created at an old German fish processing plant a couple of kilometres west of Wanger Bay in Neukuhren. And soon the first catch was brought to Koenigsberg, just renamed Kaliningrad.

      Delivery of fish to Tchaikovsky Street, 49—51, where the trust was managed, was entrusted to Ivan Baskakov, a member of the war, a lieutenant. Subsequently, Ivan Ageevich became a senior mechanic of SRT-4294 (in 1957 I was his third mechanic). On July 26, 1947 Neukuhren was renamed Pioneersk. And on September 1 of the same year, UTF was created (Office of the Trawl Fleet), which is located in the house No. 1 on the street of the Embankment. Thus, Neukuhren-Pioneersk became a kind of maternity home of the fishing industry of the Kaliningrad region.

      Most of the specialists among the first fishermen came from the ranks of the army and navy. Thus, in 1949, the chief engineer of UTF was the captain of the 2nd rank of Patrakeev, and the group mechanic – Senior 2 articles Daniluk (graduating in 1941 Odessa Maritime School). Deputy head of Belokurov, head of human resources Anufrievsky, captains Chechetkin, Novostavsky, Glukhov, Zabenin, Polonsky, Zimovin, Pukinsky, Medvedev – all transferred from the military. Our fishing fleet consisted then mainly of wooden vessels of the type KFC and boats, most of which did not even have radio stations.

      This problem was solved by stations removed from aircraft. In Pioneersk then, in particular, the base of torpedo carriers of the Baltic Fleet was stationed. Sometimes, along with radio stations, radio telegraph players came to us. All in the same so memorable for me 1949, in October, began to come vessels such as MRT of the Finnish building (in the account of reparations). At that time – excellent sea vessels onboard trawling for coastal fishing. In 1950 Konstantin Andreevich Sobolev was appointed head of the UTF. At the same time began the construction of piers and cleaning of the water area of the port from the boulders, which here and there were sticking out of the water.

      I can’t help but mention the incident that occurred in the spring of 1951.

      In that spring appeal, the district military enlistment office of the city suddenly sent summonses to half of the workers of the fleet. They were young fishermen, like me, who had a residence permit on the ship. If they had all been called then, the fishing would have been disrupted. Because of the incompleteship of ship crews. Sobolev, having learned about it, flew to Moscow on an emergency military plane directly from Pioneersk. And there he appeared in the Central Committee of the party with a request for help. Returning the next day early in the morning, Sobolev came to the military enlistment office and, making his way among the slumbering conscripts from Pioneersk (slept on the floor, waiting to be sent to the troops), went to the office of the military enlistment office. And twenty minutes later he came out of there and said:

      – “Which of the trawling fleet must lift up! The bus is waiting on the street. Go back to your ships immediately. And in the sea – to catch fish.

      Sobolev is from Archagelsk, a hereditary fisherman. He was demanding and harsh.

      For example, once he had to “educate” two of our captains. N. and G. went for a walk. As a result, two ships could not go out to sea. Sobolev summoned them to his cabinet, closed the door. And when he came to G., who was closer, he suddenly hit him so hard that he flew across the table. N., seeing this, jumped out the open window. Needless to say, soon both of the captains walked out into the sea.

      In 1951, the Fishermen’s Culture House opened in Pioneers. In 1952, four SRTs left our port into the Atlantic. In 1959, a tuna expedition to the Central-East Atlantic was organized by two vessels of pioneering UTF – SRTR “Oskol” and “Orehovo” under the leadership of Dolgov and Kadilnikov. It was possible to open a tuna fishing area. It was a great success.

      And in 1963, UTF was renamed the Pioneers Base of the Ocean Fishing Fleet. PBORF already had an impressive fishing fleet, which included vessels of various types: SRT, SRTR, SRTM, SRTMK. The port had mooring lines of 725 meters with powerful equipment for unloading and loading work and a good repair base. STR, STM, and even tropic-type vessels began to arrive. PBORF played a prominent role in the region’s economy. And Pioneers budget was 70 percent formed by the contributions of the fishing industry. But, alas, in the 90s came a black streak for the region’s fisheries industry as a whole, and for PBORF. As a result, today we have almost no fishing fleet, and our specialists work on foreign vessels. Shame. And there’s nothing you can see about the end of this black stripe.

      Now the Pioneersk port near the entrance part is shallow, currents and storms bring it sand. The depth at the entrance is already only two and a half meters. Cleaning is needed, and finances are not allowed to do so. There were a lot of plans in this regard, but all of them were so on paper and remained…

      I lived in Pioneer for a long time. On the street of the Embankment, house number 4, which is on the very shore. I worked at the Pioneersk UTF, then in PBORF. My children were born in this city. The eldest son, having graduated from KVIMU, thirty years went to the seas, having gone from sailor to captain on heavy-duty ships. Unfortunately, he often went to foreign courts. Now he works in the port administration. My grandson followed in my footsteps, too. He graduated from the BGA, now works as a senior assistant captain on gas vessels. However, also foreign…

      I, a former mechanic and founder of our ershov sea dynasty, am proud of what happened. But nostalgia is tormented. Oh, that nostalgia!..

      From the glorious past we, the old fishermen, were left with only memories yes Holiday – Fisherman’s Day..

      .And yet I want to believe that the Kaliningrad fish industry will be revived. And Pioneersk town will regain the former glory of the fishing city.”