02.11.2012
Text: The Marine Heritage Magazine
Photo: Model of the monument: Soviet signalman and British naval officer on the bridge of a ship breaking through waves. The Marine Heritage Magazine
Veterans of the Arctic Convoys continue the nationwide funds collection to erect a monument to the memory of mariners fallen during the convoys in 1941-1945. The monument will decorate the park opposite the Maritime College building in St. Petersburg.
The Arctic Convoys of 1941-1945 are one of the famed chapters in the chronicle of the Great Patriotic War and a unique example of comradeship-in-arms between naval mariners of the anti-Hitler allied countries. Cargoes delivered by the convoys played an important role in recovery of the Red Army's combat power and strengthening of Soviet Union's economy, especially at the opening stage of the war. Deliveries of foodstuffs and medicines saved hundreds of thousands people from diseases and starvation. That assistance is especially remembered by residents of blocked Leningrad (presently St. Petersburg), the city closely tied with the history of Northern Fleet and the Murmansk Steamship Company and Arctic explorations, the school city for the whole northern region.
