RP79MU
Gorod-Geroy Murmansk

The enemy offensive in the northern direction began on June 29, 1941, but Soviet troops stopped the enemy 20-30 km from the city border. The heroic resistance of our soldiers during fierce defensive battles led to the fact that the front line remained unchanged until the offensive of our troops in 1944. Murmansk is one of those cities that became front-line from the very first days of the war. In terms of the number of bombs dropped on the city, Murmansk is second only to Stalingrad: it survived 792 air raids, 185 thousand bombs were dropped on the city. However, Murmansk, the country’s most important northern port, survived and continued to operate. Under regular air raids, city residents built bomb shelters, unloaded and loaded ships, and produced military equipment. During the war years, the Murmansk port received 250 ships and processed 2 million tons of various cargo.

The fishermen of Murmansk did not stand aside, supplying both the city residents and the army with provisions - in three years they caught 850 thousand centners of fish. The townspeople who worked at the shipyards repaired 645 warships and 544 transport vessels. In addition, 55 fishing vessels were converted into warships in Murmansk. In 1942, the waters of the northern seas became a strategic military bridgehead. The goal of the Nazis on the Kola Peninsula was to deprive the USSR of access to the seas and to cut off all transport communications with the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. The main task of the Nazis was to isolate the USSR from going to sea. They failed: as a result of the incredible efforts of the heroes of the Northern Fleet, more than 200 enemy combat ships and about 400 transport ships were destroyed. In the fall of 1944, the threat of the capture of Murmansk passed.