Squad Pacific Fleet, including the large landing ship "Admiral Nevelskoy", the killer ship KIL-168 and the rescue tugboat "SB-522", delivered to the Kurilsk matua island participants of the joint expedition of the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Russian Geographical Society, as well as more than 30 units of various equipment.
Matua Island is located in the middle part of the Kuril ridge and is significantly removed from the populated areas of Sakhalin and Kamchatka. The size of the island is 11 kilometers long and 6 and a half wide. It is characterized by an abnormally cold climate with a large amount of precipitation. On Matua there is one of the most active active volcanoes in the region - Sarychev volcano. A powerful layer of historical and cultural heritage has been preserved here, which is divided into Ainu, Japanese and Russian. In addition, the northernmost point of distribution of Corded Ware - the archaeological culture of the Neolithic "Jomon", is located on Matua.
This year the scientific staff of the expedition has significantly expanded. Hydrogeologists, volcanologists, hydrobiologists, landscape scientists, soil scientists, divers, prospectors and archaeologists from Vladivostok and Moscow, Kamchatka and Sakhalin will work on Matua Island. The Expeditionary Center of the Ministry of Defense is taking part in the project Russian Federation, Russian Geographical Society and the personnel of the Pacific Fleet.
In the course of the work, materials will be collected for the preparation of an atlas-identifier of marine life in the water area of \u200b\u200bMatua Island and neighboring islands, as well as video recording of the bottom relief at the dive sites for the analysis of hydrographic characteristics.
The activity of the Sarychev Peak volcano over the past 100 thousand years will be reconstructed, the level of its current activity will be determined. This is necessary to assess the volcanic hazard of the area and form a long-term forecast.
In addition, work will continue on the search and study of objects of historical military equipment and fortifications during the Second World War. Archaeological work will be developed to identify and study monuments of history and culture of various eras, including the Ainu.
Based on the results of the 2017 expedition, materials will be prepared on the prospects for the further development of the island: maps of natural hazards have been compiled, an analysis of alternative energy sources has been carried out, chemical composition natural waters, potential soil fertility.
In 2016, the Russian Geographical Society, together with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, organized an expedition to Matua for the first time. Its purpose was to study the artifacts of the Second World War and compile a historical and geographical portrait of the island.
Matua is a small island located in the very center of the Kuril ridge. During the Great Patriotic War, the Japanese turned it into an impregnable fortress, planning to use it as a springboard in case of war with the USSR.
The Russian Defense Ministry is taking unprecedented measures to develop military infrastructure in Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. An expedition of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the Russian Geographical Society (RGO) has begun engineering work on the study of fortifications on the Kuril island of Matua. This was announced by the head of the press service of the Eastern Military District, Colonel Alexander Gordeev.
“On the slopes of the hills and at the foot of the Sarychev volcano, the liberation of posterns (underground corridors for communication between fortifications, fortress forts or strongholds of fortified areas) and warehouses from debris has begun,” Gordeev said. -Five groups of search engines "carry out earthworks using a bulldozer, excavator and other special equipment."
According to the participants of the military-historical expedition, scientific research will help to find answers to many questions and "dispel the aura of the mystery of the Matua Island." Before starting work, air samples are taken in each fortification, which are carefully analyzed in the laboratory for the presence of toxic substances.
Until the end of World War II, Japan was actively exploring these islands, including the mysterious island of Matua, located in the center of the Kuril ridge. On this island, Japan was mining some valuable minerals. After the end of World War II, Truman even turned to Stalin with a request to transfer the island of Matua to the United States. The island was not given away, but we ourselves do not use its dungeons for some reason.
During World War II, allied aircraft, which bombed everything that belonged to Japan in the Pacific Ocean, bypassed Magua. And when the war ended, President Truman turned to Stalin with an unexpected request to provide the United States with only one of the islands in the center of the Kuril Islands occupied by Soviet troops. Why is the small island of Matua so attractive to the President of America?
Matua is a small island located in the very center of the Kuril ridge. During the Great Patriotic War, the Japanese turned it into an impregnable fortress, planning to use it as a springboard in case of war with the USSR. The war really began, but in 1945 3811 japanese soldiers and officers "valiantly" surrendered to 40 Soviet border guards.
The island, which went to the USSR, was dug up and down with ditches, trenches and artificial caves. Numerous pillboxes and hangars were built conscientiously. The entire coast of Matua around the perimeter was surrounded by a dense ring of pillboxes, laid out of stone or hollowed out in the rock. They were made so soundly that members of amateur expeditions, who have been studying the island for many years, argue that even today the pillboxes could be used for their intended purpose. Moreover, their device was not limited only to preparing a point for firing. Each such position had an extensive network of underground passages, also carved into the rock.
The island's airfield was constructed even more carefully. It was located so well and made so technically competent that aircraft could take off and land in winds of any strength and direction. Japanese engineers have provided for an "anti-snow" design. Pipes were laid under the concrete pavement, which received hot water from thermal springs. So the Japanese pilots were not in danger of icing the runway, and the planes could take off and land both in winter and in summer.
In one of the coastal cliffs, the hardworking Japanese cut down a huge cave where a submarine could easily hide. Nearby was the underground headquarters of the garrison command, disguised in one of the surrounding hills. Its walls were neatly lined with stone, there is a swimming pool and an underground bath nearby.
One of the secrets of the island is the disappearance of all military equipment without a trace. Despite careful searches since 1945, nothing has been found on the island. Moreover, there is an amazing, downright mystical pattern - people who tried to search, died in fires that often happened on the island, fell into avalanches.
In the late 1990s, the deputy head of the border post, who was in charge of this search, died in an accident. And when they tried to restore the destroyed communications, the volcano in the center of the island suddenly woke up. The eruption took place with such force that huge blocks flying out of the vent knocked down the birds that soared hundreds of meters from the crater!
Here is an opinion about the unsolved mysteries of the island of Matua by enthusiast researcher Yevgeny Vereshchagi: “There is an extraordinary hill on Matua with a height of more than 120 meters and 500 meters in diameter.
Nature does not like such correct forms. This involuntarily suggests that this whole hulk was made by human hands. This is an artificial hill, which served as a disguised hangar for aircraft. A very wide man-made depression overgrown with trees and shrubs stands out on its slope. Probably, the gates to the hangar were located here, which were first blown up, and then covered with the ash of an erupting volcano.
In addition, hundreds of rusty fuel barrels are scattered on the island - mostly German, and absolutely intact and with fuel from the times of the fascist Third Reich. In translation, the marking on them read "Wehrmacht fuel, 200 liters." And the dates - 1939, 1943 - up to the victorious 1945.
So, having circled the globe, Hitler's allied submarines moored at Matua and delivered goods !?
By the way, about the volcano. There were a lot of questions about where the military equipment disappeared, which, judging by the underground structures, literally stuffed the island-fortress. One of the participants in the amateur expeditions made a seemingly incredible assumption: “Perhaps the Japanese threw all their ammunition into the mouth of the volcano, and then blew it up, causing a powerful eruption. This version, at first glance, sounds like fantasy. But a road was laid up the cone of the volcano, where, even after decades, traces of tracked vehicles could be discerned. One can only guess what the Japanese drove along it. "
But all these striking grandiose structures are only the outer, visible part of the Japanese secret underground fortress. More than half a century has passed since the end of World War II, but no one has managed to unravel the secrets of the dungeons.
The Japanese, referring to the secrecy of this information, stubbornly refused to answer the requests of first Soviet and then Russian researchers of Matua Island. The American president also failed to understand the strange interest in the island.
What does the Kuril island hide in its depths? But what if the death of the island's military explorers, the untimely awakened volcano, and the American president's interest in Matua, and the Japanese refusal to provide materials are not a random chain of events? Perhaps, in the secret, not yet found dungeons of the island-fortress, there is not rusted and unnecessary military equipment hiding, but secret laboratories that developed secret weapons that were never used during the war?
At dawn on August 12, 1945, three days before Japan's declaration of surrender, a deafening explosion sounded in the Sea of \u200b\u200bJapan, not far from the Korean Peninsula. A ball of fire about 1000 meters in diameter rose into the sky. A giant mushroom cloud appeared after him. According to the American expert Charles Stone, the first and last atomic bomb in Japan was detonated here, and the power of the explosion was about the same as that of the American bombs detonated a few days earlier over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Ch. Stone's statement that during the Second World War Japan was working on the atomic bomb and achieved success was met with great doubts by many US scientists. The military historian John Dower was more cautious about this information.
According to this famous scientist, it is impossible to completely exclude the possibility that at dawn on August 12, 1945, the first and last atomic bomb of Japan was detonated in the Sea of \u200b\u200bJapan off the coast of Korea. This is evidenced by the huge secret military Hinnam complex, located on the territory of the modern DPRK. It was powerful enough and equipped with everything needed to produce an atomic bomb.
The plausibility of Charles Stone's unexpected hypothesis is confirmed by the investigations of the former American intelligence officer Theodore McNally. At the end of World War II, he served in the analytical intelligence headquarters of General MacArthur, Commander of Allied Forces in the Pacific.
In his article, McNally writes that American intelligence had reliable information about a large Japanese nuclear center in the Korean city of Heungnam, but kept information about this object a secret from the USSR. Moreover, on the morning of August 14, 1945, American aircraft brought air samples taken over the Sea of \u200b\u200bJapan near east coast Korean Peninsula. The processing of the received samples gave stunning results. She showed that an unknown nuclear device had exploded in the aforementioned region of the Sea of \u200b\u200bJapan on the night of August 12-13!
If we assume that the development of the most terrible weapon of the 20th century - nuclear - was really going on in the underground city on the island-fortress, then this gives an answer to many questions that baffle the organizers of amateur research expeditions.
Why did President Truman, referring to Stalin, ask to transfer the island of Matua to the United States?
Even before the end of World War II, the Americans began to prepare for an armed confrontation with the USSR. After the declassification of materials about the Second World War, a folder was found in the British archives with the inscription "Unthinkable Operation". Indeed, no one could have thought of such an operation! The date on the document is May 22, 1945. Consequently, the development of the operation was begun even before the end of the war. The document contained the most detailed description of the plan ... of a massive strike on Soviet troops!
The main trump card in a military confrontation could be nuclear weapons, available only to the United States. Soviet tank divisions that passed the Second world war, were located in the center of Europe. If Stalin had received, in addition to his superiority in the ground forces, nuclear weapons created by Japanese scientists, then in the event of a military clash the outcome of the war would have been predetermined and Europe would have become completely socialist.
Why do the Japanese, referring to the secrecy of information, stubbornly refuse to answer the inquiries of first Soviet and then Russian researchers of Matua Island?
But what should they do?
If an underground secret center was discovered on the island of Matua, in which nuclear weapons were developed, and not only were they developed, but also the technology for their manufacture was brought to practical implementation, this would lead to a reassessment of the events of World War II. The atomic bombing of Japanese cities would have been justified: American pilots were simply ahead of the future atomic raids of the Japanese. Demands for the return of the South Kuriles could be seen as a desire to continue work on the creation of secret weapons, which stopped as a result of the defeat of Japan.
And on this mysterious island, the Russian Pacific Fleet launched an unprecedented survey.
The representative of the Eastern Military District recalled that “mobile airfield complexes have already been deployed on the island to support flights aircraft”. The drainage system was cleared and preparations for landing helicopters of any type were completed.
The personnel of the military-historical expedition continues to be active in Dvoinaya Bay in order to “prepare the coastal section of the island for the approach of a large landing ship to the shore in a“ point-blank ”manner for loading equipment and materiel,” Gordeev said.
As previously reported, 200 members of the expedition of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Russian Geographical Society, the Eastern Military District and the Pacific Fleet under the leadership of the Deputy Commander of the Pacific Fleet, Vice Admiral Andrey Ryabukhin, left Vladivostok on May 7 and arrived on Matua Island on six ships and vessels.
The second joint expedition of the Ministry of Defense and the Russian Geographical Society to the island of Matua has ended. Its participants - historians, archaeologists, ecologists and hydrographers - told at a regular meeting of the Russian Geographical Society about their amazing finds discovered on this small but very mysterious island of the Kuril ridge, reports the correspondent. IA SakhalinMedia.
Participants of the second joint expedition of military and scientists to the Kuril island of Matua summed up the results of their work. At a regular meeting of the Sakhalin Branch of the Russian Geographical Society, they made reports in which they told what new secrets the island had revealed for them and what findings gave rise to new questions.
Opened the meeting chairman of the RGS department Sergey Ponomarev... He noted that cooperation with the Pacific Fleet has provided new opportunities for exploring the Kuril Islands.
“In the expedition, the most expensive thing is transport delivery to the Kuril Islands. But the fact that Sergei Shoigu headed the Russian Geographical Society, allowed to organize such joint projects with the Ministry of Defense. The military is also sent to Matua for their research purposes. And they take our scientists with them. We use this cooperation to our advantage. Our research concerns history, archeology, ecology. This versatility helps to comprehensively explore the islands - both on land and at sea, ”said Ponomarev.
Meeting with members of the expedition to Matua. Photo: IA SakhalinMedia
Meeting with members of the expedition to Matua. Photo: IA SakhalinMedia
Meeting with members of the expedition to Matua. Photo: IA SakhalinMedia
Meeting with members of the expedition to Matua. Photo: IA SakhalinMedia
Meeting with members of the expedition to Matua. Photo: IA SakhalinMedia
He recalled that Matua is a very interesting island from the point of view of local historians. It is located in the middle of the Kuril ridge and was previously used by the Japanese as a staging post on the north-south route, as well as a powerful naval base and airfield.
Regional historian Igor Samarin during this expedition he continued his last year's work. Its main task was to restore the scheme of Japanese permanent firing structures on the island. Last year, such a map was drawn up, but, as it turned out, the island is fraught with many more discoveries.
“This year, quite by accident, our military colleagues discovered the emergence of a ceramic pipe from the ground. They lowered an impromptu video camera into it - a smartphone with a flashlight, and found a room there. At a depth of three meters, there was a concrete structure adjacent to an artillery rangefinder post. It turned out that there was a fire control command post underground. From there, with the help of electronics, commands were transmitted to the guns, ”said Igor Samarin.
Also one of the tasks of this year was the study of the Japanese command post on one of the heights of the island. Samarin's group dug up this concrete structure and got inside.
But the most interesting discoveries scientists did it by studying small, not always obvious details. So, next to one of the soldiers' barracks, we found a lamp shade. Igor Samarin explains: according to the testimony of the Japanese military themselves of those years, naval sailors lived better than the infantry and they were the only ones who had electricity. So the found lampshade reinforced the belief that it was the sailors who lived in the barracks on the island.
“Many ordinary things were revelation. They found a beer bottle, the most common one, but on the bottom - the date of manufacture "18 S 8". For a knowledgeable person, this is simple - August 16, according to European chronology - 1941. There were 25 such bottles found on the island. From them it was possible to determine the time when the bottles were delivered to the island. It turned out that the first supplies of provisions began in 1938 and ended in 1943. And in 1944, the blockade of Matua Island by American submarines began, ”Samarin continued his report.
Scientists also paid attention to the Japanese kitchen piles near each dugout. Bird bones were found among the waste. As it turned out, the Japanese actively used local hatchets for food. They also ate mice - voles. Even a natural exchange was established - one mouse cost two cigarettes. The skins of rodents were transported to the metropolis for making gloves from them.
In total, historians brought 86 items of the Japanese and Soviet period from the island - from children's booties and dishes to fuel barrels and handicraft stoves.
Also, scientists managed to uncover another mystery that the Matua Islands kept since the Second World War. For more than 70 years, the fate of the American submarine Herring, which sank two Japanese ships off Matua, was unknown and contradictory information about it remained. Hydrographers, led by the captain of a large hydrographic boat, Igor Tikhonov, combed the entire water area of \u200b\u200bDvoynaya Bay using a multi-beam echo sounder. And an object very similar to a submarine was discovered in the area of \u200b\u200bCape Yurlov at a depth of 110 meters. The military will determine what to do next with this discovery.
As part of the expedition, the researchers studied the more ancient period of the island's history. So the group archaeologist Olga Shubina discovered on the island more than a hundred pits from the ancient dwellings of the first inhabitants of the island. Most likely they belonged to the ancient Ainu, who lived here 2.5-3 thousand years ago. Scientists have conducted excavations at the sites of finds and marked the boundaries of archaeological sites.
At the end of the meeting, the chairman of the Sakhalin RGS Sergei Ponomarev said that scientists had created a working group to unify geographical names on the island of Matua.
“Many objects of Matua still wear japanese names or "popular" Soviet. The group is preparing a proposal for the official naming of about three dozen bays, capes and heights, so that when drawing up maps and diagrams, we can use the same designations and understand each other, ”said Ponomarev.
The second large-scale expedition of the Ministry of Defense and the Russian Geographical Society will go to the Kuril island of Matua in 2017. This was announced on Wednesday, September 14, by the commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Sergei Avakyants, at a meeting of the media club.
The Japanese began to develop the island in the 1930s and attached exclusively military importance to it. "The island served as a springboard for further expansion and capture of the Kamchatka Peninsula. unique system underground structures connected by a single system of tunnels. Underground structures are a separate topic that requires deep study, "said Admiral Sergei Avakyants.
According to him, underground structures are divided into two types: fortifications and structures of unknown purpose - rectangular, square and round in shape, up to 150 meters long.
"Initially, there was an assumption that these were storage facilities, but everything was taken out of them. And if these were storage facilities, then any material traces would remain. Moreover, it was discovered that a high-voltage cable and a power supply system were suitable for these premises. allowed to supply up to 3 thousand volts there. Naturally, this is an excess voltage for storage facilities. But, obviously, some work was carried out in these structures ", - quotes the head of the TASS expedition.
The admiral also said that the same high-voltage cable was found on the slope of Sarychev volcano. "The volcano is alive, the volcano is still breathing. Powerful eruptions occur every 25 years. Remains of an old road leading to the volcano's mouth have been found. From a helicopter you can see the characteristic entrances to underground structures from the water surface. Serious deep-sea exploration of the northern and northwestern parts of the volcano is needed. ", - Avakyants emphasized.
He noted that during the expedition, dishes were found with symbols characteristic of the imperial family - stars, that is, the island was visited by the highest military and political leadership of Japan during the war, and the garrison was given exceptional attention.
"If on all the islands the Japanese garrisons fought fiercely, to the last soldier, the island of Matua surrendered last, but surrendered without a fight. The garrison numbered 7,500 people and, which is not typical for the Japanese army, did not put up any resistance," the commander said. “We concluded that the garrison fulfilled its main task - removed all traces and all the facts that could lead to the disclosure of the true nature of activities on this island,” he continued.
According to the admiral, the expedition also studied the volcanic activity of the island and discovered the remains of an ancient paleovolcano dating back several million years. "Thus, the version requires confirmation that the Kamchatka Peninsula, the islands of the Kuril ridge and Japanese islands were a continuous strip of land, "Avakyants noted.
The commander of the Pacific Fleet believes that Toporkovy Island, which is presumably connected to Matua by underground tunnels, also requires further study. "With the permission and instructions of the President of the Russian Geographical Society, in 2017 we are conducting the second expedition with the involvement of a wide range of specialists from the Academy of Sciences, the Russian Geographical Society and the Moscow State University. The fauna and flora of this island, volcanic activity, water supply system, underground structures, including including underwater. And, besides, it is necessary to conduct archaeological research ", - concluded the admiral.
The command of the Eastern Military District the possibility of the prospective basing of the forces of the Pacific Fleet on the island of Matua.
Uncover all the secrets of the Kuril island of Matua
One of the priority projects of the Russian Geographical Society today is an expedition to the island of Matua. Despite several months of painstaking work on its research, there are still many mysteries. Tunnels and underground structures have not been fully explored. It remains to be seen where the dishes of the Japanese imperial family and empty fuel barrels came from on Matua, and much more to come.
Recently, TASS reported that several teams of scientists from Vladivostok, Moscow, Kamchatka, and Sakhalin Island will work as part of an expedition to Matua, which will take place from June to September.
Currently, the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet has completed the development of a detailed survey plan for the Kuril Island, the personnel and the necessary equipment for exploration work have been determined for the expedition to Matua Island in 2017. This year the composition of the expedition will expand significantly. Several teams of hydrogeologists, volcanologists, hydrobiologists, landscape scientists, soil scientists, submariners, prospectors and archaeologists from Vladivostok, Moscow, Kamchatka and Sakhalin will work at once on Matua Island, "said the head of the information support department of the Eastern Military District (VVO) press service for the Pacific Fleet (Pacific Fleet) Captain 2nd Rank Vladimir Matveev.
According to him, now the psychologists of the Pacific Fleet are completing the professional psychological selection of military personnel participating in the future expedition, who undergo special tests and programs in order to establish the degree of stress resistance and the level of performance in extreme conditions, the psychological compatibility of the future members of the expedition and to assess the moral and business qualities of military personnel.
Matua is an island in the middle group of the Great ridge of the Kuril Islands. The length is about 11 km, the width is 6.4 km. During the Second World War, one of the largest naval bases in Japan was located there. In 1945 the island was ceded to the USSR, and japanese base was turned into a Soviet one. The island has preserved many fortifications, mines, grottoes, two runways, which are heated thermal springsso can be used all year round... In 2000, the base was mothballed and Matua Island officially became uninhabited.
In 2016, the first joint research expedition of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the Russian Geographical Society took place to Matua, in which servicemen from the Eastern Military District and the Pacific Fleet took part. In total, the expedition involved more than 200 people. The Ministry of Defense was interested in the island as a possible base for the forces of the Pacific Fleet. Then an extensive network of tunnels was discovered on Matua, as well as a sunken Japanese light fighter Mitsubishi Zero, released in 1942.
The second research expedition to Matua will take place from June to September 2017, it is planned to collect materials for the preparation of an atlas-identifier of marine life in the water area of \u200b\u200bMatua and neighboring islands. Also, the researchers will have to create a reconstruction of the activity of the Sarychev Peak volcano in the late Pleistocene, including historical eruptions, and to map the island. In addition, it is planned to conduct an inventory of species of marine aquatic organisms, compare the biota of adjacent water areas to assess the state of biodiversity and identify possible migration routes and interpenetration of flora and fauna elements in the North Pacific Ocean.
In September last year, the correspondent of tvzvezda.ru Alexander Stepanov visited Matua. Here are excerpts from his reportage "The Mystery of Matua Island: When the Japanese Fortress Will Become a Russian Base".
From a bird's eye view, Matua Island seems to be a small spot - 11 kilometers long and six and a half wide, two-thirds of the island's area is occupied by the active VOLCANO - Sarychev Peak. The island is not at all adapted for life. Harsh climatic conditions: constant winds, rains in summer. Sunny days one or two and missed. Here, even in June, snow whitens on the slopes of the hills. The snow cap adorns Sarychev Peak all year round. This volcano is famous for being one of the most active active volcanoes in the region. The burrows at the Sarychev peak are steep - you cannot call him sleeping. Eruptions, although short-lived, are frequent and strong.
Despite all natural disasters, the Japanese during the Second World War turned the island into an impregnable fortress, where there were underground tunnels, an airfield, and even a railway. The garrison on the island exceeded three thousand people. In general, the Kuril Islands were used by the Japanese as a strategic barrier to exit Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk to the Pacific Ocean. A whole network of various military defensive fortifications was erected here.
Getting to the island by air takes a fair amount of luck. The so-called windows - small gaps - open over the island very rarely, and people sometimes have to sit at the airfield for several days to get through this window that has opened for a short time. The nearest airfield, from which you can get to Matua, is located on the island of Iturup. It is about 500 kilometers. And if suddenly the weather over Matua deteriorates after the "turntable" has almost flown to the island, then you have to return to the base on the remains of fuel. As helicopter pilots say, “with adventures”.
When approaching the island, you can see that it is dug up by coastal fortifications. Trenches starting at the very edge of the water. The pillboxes and pillboxes, hollowed out in the numerous hills of the island, look with empty loopholes towards the sea. It is noticeable that the island really resembles a fortress rising directly from the sea. In mid-June, Matua is about seven degrees Celsius and a piercing wind. You have to warm yourself in winter: jackets, sweaters, boots with high ankle boots. An expedition of the RF Ministry of Defense, the Russian Geographical Society, the Eastern Military District and the Pacific Fleet has been working here since May under the leadership of the Pacific Fleet Deputy Commander Vice Admiral Andrey Vladimirovich Ryabukhin.
Despite the fact that since September 1945 the island passed to the USSR, no research was really carried out on it. The current expedition is called upon to unravel the secrets of the least explored island of the Kuril ridge. And there are many secrets here. The researchers have three main tasks: to study the military-historical component of the island, to study the volcanic activity of Matua and to understand how to develop a military infrastructure on the island.
The scientific group of the Russian Geographical Society is engaged in routine, but very necessary work on the island - it makes maps of the island: landscape, geological and soil. Samples of soil and plant species are taken. The second group is looking for artifacts left over from the Japanese. So, in June, the search engines lifted the wing of a Japanese 1942 aircraft and brought it to the camp. Also, objects were found that can tell about the life of Japanese soldiers: ammunition, dishes, clothes, household items. The members of the expedition even climbed Sarychev Peak, where two flags were hoisted - the Russian Federation and the Andreevsky flag of the Navy.
The ascent to the VOLCANO is not just a hoisting of flags, the expedition members tried to understand on which sides the eruption with a plume was going. From a height you can clearly see where the island has changed its structure, geography, where new beaches have appeared. They found out how the Japanese barriers, including anti-mudflow outflows, blocked the path of the mud going towards the Japanese barracks. I am interested in one of the leaders of the expedition, a full member of the Russian Geographical Society, Andrei Ivanov, whether Matua is really a mystery island where the secrets of Imperial Japan are kept, or is this idle speculation of journalists.
“Journalists love to ask questions about riddles,” the scientist smiles. - Of course, it is still difficult to thoroughly study what is left of the Japanese, to understand where the myths are and where the reality is. We managed to find out that the legends about the existence of an underground city on Matua, built by them at the end of World War II, are well-grounded. We have found quite a few entrances that lead underground, all of them blown up or blocked up. We dug out one such entrance and found numerous underground passages, storage rooms, which were connected to the above-ground system of trenches and trenches by special passages. This is not a legend, it really is. "
At the same time, the main goal of the expedition is not to guess the Japanese puzzles, but to make a comprehensive assessment of the territory in order to understand how suitable it is for development, whether the mudflows and tsunamis will wash away the new infrastructure of the island. The expedition is also interested in how the Japanese garrison solved the issues of life support, because, as it turned out, there are no water sources on the island.
The head of the expedition, the deputy commander of the Pacific Fleet, Andrei Ryabukhin, told the Army Standard that the Japanese used exclusively melt water, which is formed due to the melting of snow on the volcano. Therefore, many old Japanese filters for water purification are found on Matua, which were invented by the head of the 731th detachment in Manchuria, Shiro Ishii (a Japanese doctor who conducted inhuman experiments on people and developed bacteriological weapons). They involved two types of cleaning, coarse and fine. Rough with brushes removed all dirt and debris from the water. During thinning, water was driven through ceramic filters under pressure, then it went through trenches into special containers.
Part of the system was carried out in the area mountain system, and some of the Japanese set up near the lakes, which were formed during the period of melting snow. Pumping stations were installed next to them. By the way, due to the fact that there were many rats on the island who also used water, strong antibiotics were found here, which were literally flooded with underground hospitals. The tablets prevented the defeat of personnel. At the same time, the members of the expedition claim that there was no production of bacteriological weapons on the island. After all, if something went wrong, the Japanese garrisons in the Kuril Islands would have perished themselves.
The island was needed primarily as a huge storage and security base for a long line of communication that ran from "big" Japan to the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu, where large garrisons were stationed. Only American submarines and surface ships posed a threat to the safety of this route. Since the Allied aviation could not actively bomb the islands due to the flight range, the main emphasis was placed on protection from the fleet. Therefore, a large airfield with two lanes was built on the island, where fighter aircraft and bombers were based.
Also on the island could be up to ten thousand people, in order to strengthen the Japanese garrisons on northern islands Shumshu and Paramushir. I ask Ryabukhin: did the expedition manage to understand how the defense of the island was built?
“We found out the system of communications and fortification of the Japanese, understood how the defense structure of Matua was built,” he says. - A feature of the structure of the island is a large number of creeks - long gorges, in which they concentrated their warehouses. A road system was developed on the island. It was of a serpentine type and led to where the individual garrisons were stationed. A warehouse and barracks were equipped near the garrison, as well as positions for defense - trenches, pillboxes. So far, we can only guess how the delivery of food and ammunition to the positions was carried out. It is already clear that roads and railways were developed on Matua. "
Of course, the search engines have not yet found the railway itself, there are only traces of it. One can only guess where it passed - these are tunnels, punched underground and, like arteries, crossing the island. The fact that it worked is evidenced by numerous finds: trolleys rusted from time to time, fragments of rails. In addition, brass or bronze fuel lines were laid throughout the island.
Searchers find characteristic fittings and pumping parts, but the containers where the fuel was stored have not yet been found. In addition, the expedition found out how the Japanese built their barracks. They were collapsible and consisted of a metal frame and wood. All pillboxes on the island were also sheathed with wood.
The airfield of the Japanese is now in a rather deplorable state, it has been badly damaged by air raids and natural disasters. Several helipads are now equipped there. However, in the future, its restoration is possible. Of course, the main question is: do we need this piece of land, absolutely unsuitable for a normal life?
“Since last year, the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk has become our inland sea,” says Andrey Ryabukhin. - This is our sea. And here, so to speak, there are many open doors. And everyone wants to enter them. But with what intentions they enter these doors - good or not, you cannot immediately understand. In order to reliably protect our territories, we must make efforts so that later we do not regret that we did nothing. There are still loopholes, and they must be eliminated, including the creation of Russian bases. So far, it is planned that the Pacific Fleet units will be located on the island, which will ensure the protection of state interests. "
At the same time, the vice admiral believes that there is no point in restoring Japanese infrastructure on the island.
“Now, in modern conditions, to go deep underground, build cities there and railways expensive and impractical. - he continues. - Again, all the underground communications that we open are very dilapidated. They crumble, dilapidated. The structure of the soil is peculiar here, including very fragile rocks. What the Japanese dug here was very topical for that time, now it is no longer. "
Conclusions about whether the armed forces need Matua, whether a base will appear there, will be made already this year. And there is a high probability that our troops will be located on Matua.
