Yefim Yakovlevich Marushchenko

Yefim Yakovlevich Marushchenko

Medal for Combat Merit nr. 22861 was awarded by Order of the Baltic Fleet of February 19, 1942 to 28-year-old Chief Petty Officer Yefim Yakovlevich Marushchenko, antiaircraft battery first sergeant aboard the battleship Marat, Baltic Fleet.

Battleship Marat was commissioned in January 1915 as Petropavlovsk. During the first years after the October Revolution of 1917 she was the only battleship available to the Soviets. She saw service during the Russian Civil War and the Winter War of 1939-1940, during which she bombarded Finnish coastal defense guns. Before World War Two Marat was refitted several times, with various types of anti-aircraft armament being installed. After sailing to Tallinn following the Soviet occupation of Estonia, she returned to Kronstadt on 20 June 1941, only two days before the German invasion of the Soviet Union. From the harbor Marat bombarded troop positions of the German 18th Army on 8 September. She was lightly damaged by German 15 centimeter guns on 16 September 1941.

Marat was attacked by German Stukas on September 21, 1941 and sustained several direct hits. Two of the bombs hit almost simultaneously near the forward superstructure, causing a detonation in the forward magazine and destroying the bow, including the conning tower and A turret. 326 men of Marat's complement were killed and the battleship was sunk at her moorings. The fatal hit is commonly credited to famous German Stuka pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel. Sinking to the bottom in 11 meters of water, the battleship was later refloated and given back her old name of Petropavlovsk. She spent the remainder of the war as a stationary battery and provided gunfire support during the siege of Leningrad. Marushchenko continued serving on the ship as an antiaircraft gunner. After the war the battleship served as a stationary training ship until stricken in 1953.

Award citation

Concerning: Chief Petty Officer Yefim Yakovlevich Marushchenko, antiaircraft battery first sergeant aboard the battleship Marat

Name of the award: Medal for Combat Merit

1. Year of birth: 1913
2. Nationality: Ukrainian

3. Social position: Working class from a family of peasants
4. Party affiliation: Member of the Communist Party since 1939
5. Since when in the Red Army: Since 1935
6. Service in the Civil War: No
7. Wounds and contusions: No
8. Has he been nominated for an award before (when and what for): No
9. Which commendations and awards did he receive and what for: No
10. Service in the White Army or other bourgeois armies and time spent in captivity: No, no
11. Permanent address: _______________

Brief, concrete description of his feat of arms or achievements:

During combat on September 16 comrade Marushchenko was thrown overboard by an explosion. Coincidentally, his gas mask got caught behind a broken pole. From the cold water he got back onto the ship and immediately returned to his battle station. Risking his life, he put out the burning ammunition stocks. Upon extinguishing the fire, he put together a gun crew using four seamen from other sections and opened fire at the enemy troops who had reached the shores near the Pishmash Factory.

On September 23, 1941, when fascist aircraft launched an airstrike on our ship and aerial bombs were falling, he put together a gun crew using men from outside the antiaircraft section in order to ward off additional attacks by the fascist aircraft and opened fire at the enemy aircraft attacking the ships in Kronstadt harbor.

Commander / chief
Captain 3rd Grade [Lieutenant Commander] [signed] /Vasilyev/

Military commissar
Regimental Commissar [Colonel] [signed] /Barabanov/

Medal for Combat Merit nr. 22861, reverse

Medal for Combat Merit nr. 22861, obverse and reverse

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the image.

Battleship Marat at Spithead for the 1937 Fleet Review	Battleship Marat before World War Two
Some of Marat's crew	An artist's rendition of the attack on Marat
Another artist's rendering of the attacking Stukas	A German aerial reconnaissance photo, with Marat's bow blown away (below the '1')
A photo taken from Marat's B turret. The entire conning tower, A turret, and the bow are destroyed. A turret's barrels can been seen sticking out of the water	Marat spent the remainder of the war as a stationary battery. B turret and the remnants of the bow can be seen in the center / right