Self-propelled barge T-36

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]

Drift of Self-propelled barge T-36

Date	January 17th, 1960
Duration	49 days
Non-fatal injuries	4

49-days long drift in the Pacific

On January 17, 1960, the barge's crew of four was preparing the barge for loading on the Kuril Islands, when they encountered hurricane-force winds. The tackle was torn and the crew, junior sergeant Askhat Ziganshin (Russian: Асхат Рахимзянович Зиганшин, Tatar: Cyrillic Әсхәт Рәхимҗан улы Җиһаншин, Latin Äsxät Räximcan ulı Cihanşin), and crewmen Filipp Poplavsky (Russian: Филипп Григорьевич Поплавский), Anatoly Kryuchkovsky (Russian: Анатолий Фёдорович Крючковский), and Ivan Fedotov (Russian: Иван Ефимович Федотов), drifted for 49 days until the U.S. aircraft carrier Kearsarge picked up them on 7 March in stormy waters 1,200 miles off Wake Island.

There was not enough food on the barge: one loaf of bread and a bucket of potatoes, sodden in diesel fuel. As they drifted in the area where navigation was forbidden due to Soviet missile testing, no ship found them until the Americans did. The crew even ate their leather belts, wristlets and finally boots to prolong their food reserves.

The drift of Askhat "Victor" Ziganshin's crew took a resonance in 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.[2] Soviet government expressed gratitude to the Kearsarge for its gesture[3]; the crew was soon returned home, first traveling to Paris on 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.
• 
  Askhat Ziganshin is being shaved for the first time in 49 days.
• 
  Ivan Fedotov drinking coffee after being rescued. March 9th 1960.
• 
  Filipp Poplavsky getting a haircut for the first time in 49 days.
• 
  Fefotov, Ziganshin, Poplavsky on the deck of USS Kearsarge. March 14th, 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, Abatoly Kryuchkovsky

49-days long drift in Soviet pop-culture

The name of Askhat Ziganshin was well known in the pop-culture of the Soviet Union in the 1960s as Askhat "Ate-His-Boot" Ziganshin.[4]

Childish rhyme:

Юрий Гагарин
Зиганшин-татарин
Никита Хрущёв
А ты кто будешь таков?

Yuri Gagarin
Ziganshin the Tatar
Nikita Khrushchev
And who are you?

References

1. (in Russian)
2. (in Russian) Смена: 14.06.06. Асхат Зиганшин: «Кожаные сапоги мне дарят до сих пор»
3. "USS Kearsarge Rescues Soviet Soldiers, 1960". History.navy.mil. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
4. (in Russian)

Videos

• Youtube Video of rescue, start at time 1:34
• USS Kearsarge Rescues Soviet Sailors Adrift for 49 Days. 1960-03-17.

Publications

• "Four Russians Adrift 49 Days Saved by U.S. Carrier in Pacific". The New York Times. New York: The New York Times Company. 1960-03-09. p. 1. ISSN 0362-4331.
• "Red Soldiers Recovering After Drifting 49 Days". The Honolulu Advertiser. Honolulu, Hawaii. 1960-03-09. p. 4 – via newspapers.com.
• "4 Russians Saved After Drifting 7 Weeks; Ate Shoes to Stay Alive". Chattanooga Daily Times. Chattanooga, Tennessee. 1960-03-09. p. 1 – via newspapers.com.
• "4 Russians Saved After Drifting 7 Weeks; Ate Shoes to Stay Alive". Chattanooga Daily Times. Chattanooga, Tennessee. 1960-03-09. p. 10 – via newspapers.com.
• "4 Rescued Soviet Seamen To Arrive in U.S. Today". Corpus Christi Times. Corpus Christi, Texas. 1960-03-15. p. 9 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
• "For Rescued Red Sailors Reach S.F." Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Honolulu, Hawaii. 1960-03-15. p. 2 – via newspapers.com.
• "Moscow Hails Rescue Army Paper Notes U.S. Navy's Saving 4 Soldiers in Pacific". The New York Times. New York: The New York Times Company. 1960-03-13. p. 4. ISSN 0362-4331.
• "Russians Thank U.S. Sailors". The New York Times. New York: The New York Times Company. 1960-03-15. p. 12. ISSN 0362-4331.
• Max Frankel (1960-03-15). "U.S. Navy Rescue Pleases Moscow ; Finding of 4 Russians Adrift in Pacific Brings Wave of Goodwill to Americans". The New York Times. New York: The New York Times Company. p. 12. ISSN 0362-4331.
• Lawrence E. Davies (1960-03-16). "San Francisco Greets Four Russians Saved at Sea; 4 Soviet Sailors Welcomed in U.S." The New York Times. New York: The New York Times Company. p. 13. ISSN 0362-4331.
• "Khrushchev Halls U.S. For Rescue of 4 Sailors". The New York Times. New York: The New York Times Company. 1960-03-16. p. 17. ISSN 0362-4331.
• "4 Soviet Sailors Here; Men Rescued by U.S. Navy to Rest at Glen Cove". The New York Times. New York: The New York Times Company. 1960-03-18. p. 54. ISSN 0362-4331.
• "Soviet Sailors in Paris; Four Rescued by Americans Flying to Moscow Today". The New York Times. New York: The New York Times Company. 1960-03-29. p. 13. ISSN 0362-4331.
• "Moscow Lionizes 4 Rescued by U.S. Ship; Seamen Are Hailed on Return as New Communist Men". The New York Times. New York: The New York Times Company. 1960-03-29. p. 9. ISSN 0362-4331.
• Yevgeni Bugayenko, Stanislav Kalinichev, Alexander Turundayevsky (February 1981). "The Magnificent Four: Two Decades After". Soviet Life. pp. 48–54.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Public papers of the Presidents of the United States. Dwight D. Eisenhower 1960-61. Federal Register Division, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration. 1960-12-31. pp. 310–311.
• Alexey Timofeychev (2018-08-08). "49 days at sea: When the U.S. Navy saved Soviet soldiers in distress". Russia Beyond.
• Ruslan Budnik (2018-08-28). "49 days Adrift – USS Kearsarge Saved Soviet Sailors". War History Online.

• "USS Kearsarge Rescues Soviet Soldiers, 1960". Naval History and Heritage Command. 2018-05-04.