|
This copy of the newspaper article had supposedly been forwarded to Moscow by then Soviet Ambassador madam Kolontay in the spring of 1945 and is supposed to have been the only evidence the Soviet Navy had on the sinking at that time. It is also supposed to represent Captain Marinesko but, when compared to a photograph I recently obtained of Captain Marinesko, I have serious doubts about that claim.
A special chapter on the significance of this alleged article can be found here but for the moment, I would like to address the question of just who is represented in the photograph allegedly depicting Captain Marinesko.
The photo in question is reproduced in Christopher Dobson's fine book, "The Cruelest Night." For obvious reasons, I cannot reproduce this photograph within these pages. However, shown below is what I sincerely believe to be a never before published photograph of Captain (Third Class) Alexander Marinesko!
|
When both photographs are compared, side by side, the difference soon becomes apparent and obvious. The man on the U-boat tower (shown above) is a very handsome one - the other is not. (Marinesko had a reputation to be a womanizer)
No reasonable explanation can be offered for the difference between the person shown in the photo at the Museum and the one shown above but one fact remains: the source for the photo above has been confirmed. As for the photo shown at the Naval Museum, one has to take into account the fact that it originates from a State which has such disorder in their archives that they even today cannot determine the date when Mr Roul Wallenberg died, 1947 or 25 year later?
Another case which may help strengthen the claim that this State's archives need some sorting out comes to mind: Russia claimed to have shot down a Swedish Air Force DC3 west of Klaipeda in the Baltic Sea in 1951 - it later was seen parked at a military base in Budapest. The plane carried very sophisticated radio reconnaissance equipment supplied by the US Air Force to the Swedish FRA. Today, access to old archives in Russia is free but nevertheless, these and many other questions are still unsolved.
As to the question "Which photo shows the real Alexander Marinesko?" I opted for the one shown above, that is, ..... until the following information was received!
|
Commander of submarine M-96 A. I. Marinesco (~1942). Scanned from the work "Fleet. War. Victory" by V. D. Dotsenko, publ. in St.Petersburg in 1995.
|
In front - Marinesco. In back, left - commander of SHCH-407 submarine captain-lieutenant Pavel Bocharov, right - commander of D-2 submarine captain of 3rd rank Roman Lindenberg (~1943). This example is scanned from the work "In the depths of Baltic" by V. I. Dmitriev and O. G. Chemesov, publ. in Moscow in 1988.
|
Marinesco. This example is scanned from the "Maritime Biographical Dictionary" by V. D. Dotsenko, publ. in St.Petersburg in 1995.
|
