EPRON, (ЭПРОН) "Special Expedition for Underwater Works" —Special-Purpose Underwater Rescue Party, was a

government agency A government agency or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government (bureaucracy) that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, s ...

of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

to salvage valuable cargo and equipment from sunken ships and submarines.

History

EPRON was established on 17 December 1923 and was initially under the

Joint State Political Directorate The Joint State Political Directorate ( rus, Объединённое государственное политическое управление, p=ɐbjɪdʲɪˈnʲɵn(ː)əjə ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əjə pəlʲɪˈtʲitɕɪskəjə ʊprɐˈv ...

() at the

Council of People's Commissars The Council of People's Commissars (CPC) (), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (), were the highest executive (government), executive authorities of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the Soviet Union (USSR), and the Sovi ...

. Its first operation was treasure-hunting near

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

for the wreckage of HMS Prince, a steamship sunk by a storm off

Balaklava Balaklava ( Ukrainian and , , ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. It is an administrative center of Balaklavsky District that used to be part of the Crimean Oblast before it was transferred to Sevast ...

in November 1854 when it was carrying gold from Britain to pay British troops fighting in the Crimea (GBP 200,000). The project team was financed, equipped, trained and managed by Japanese diving specialists, who had become highly experienced through salvaging warships of the

Russian Imperial Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

sunk or scuttled during the 1904–1905

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

. The wreckage was allegedly located but there were no reports of gold being found in the quantities that had been initially deemed. After that EPRON extended its operations to rescue and salvaging sunken ships, gradually absorbing other diving units (less experienced and/or worse equipped) and creating new ones. In 1929 EPRON became the sole body in the USSR responsible for all kinds of work under water - in marine operations, hydraulic and river engineering, mining, wreckage and derelict logging and utilizing, etc. In 1931 it was transferred from the

OGPU The Joint State Political Directorate ( rus, Объединённое государственное политическое управление, p=ɐbjɪdʲɪˈnʲɵn(ː)əjə ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əjə pəlʲɪˈtʲitɕɪskəjə ʊprɐˈv ...

as a department to the People's Commissariat of Communication Routes. In 1936 EPRON was subordinated to NKVT ( - "People's Commissariat (Ministry) of Sea and River Transport"); in 1939 - further to NKMF ( - "People's Commissariat (Ministry) of the Merchant Navy"). By 1941 EPRON had rescued 36 ships and raised 74 sunken ships with total weight of about 25,000 GRT.М.Ю. Сорокин�
В поисках затонувших кораблей – "In search of sunken ships" (ru)
«Природа» № 1, 2001 г. In 1941 naval rescue and salvage units were transferred to the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

(still under the name EPRON); in 1942 it was renamed the Emergency Rescue Service of the Navy (''Аварийно-спасательная служба ВМФ''), which became the

Search and Emergency Rescue Service of the Navy Searching may refer to: Music * " Searchin", a 1957 song originally performed by The Coasters * "Searching" (China Black song), a 1991 song by China Black * "Searchin" (CeCe Peniston song), a 1993 song by CeCe Peniston * "Searchin' (I Gotta ...

(''поисково-спасательная служба ВМФ'') in 1979.

Notable commanders

Vladimir Yazykov Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology T ...

(1923-1924) * Lev Zakharov-Meyer (1923-1930) * Photius Krylov (1932-1942)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Работа ЭПРОНа по подъему судов в северных морях

Defunct government agencies of Russia Science and technology in the Soviet Union Rescue agencies Russian Navy 1923 establishments in Russia 1942 disestablishments in the Soviet Union Soviet Navy Naval history of Russia

History

Notable commanders

See also

References

External links