The second large-scale expedition of the Ministry of Defense and the Russian Geographical Society will go to the Kuril matua island 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. A unique system of underground structures connected by a single system of tunnels was created. 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 are warehouses, but everything was taken out of them. And if these were warehouses, then any material traces would have remained. 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 old roadleading to the mouth of the volcano. From the helicopter, one can see the characteristic entrances to underground structures from the water surface. We need serious deep-sea exploration of the northern and northwestern parts of the volcano, "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, then 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, islands Kuril ridge and Japanese islands were a continuous strip of land, "Avakyants noted.
Commanding Pacific Fleet believes that Toporkovy Island, which, presumably, is connected with 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, flora of this island, volcanic activity, water supply system, underground structures, including underwater ones, require further study. And, besides, it is necessary to conduct archaeological research, "the admiral concluded.
The command of the Eastern Military District the possibility of a prospective basing of the forces of the Pacific Fleet on the island of Matua.
Development of a plan for the second expedition to the island Matua Kurilskaya the ridge is completed, the researchers will go there in June 2017, said the representative of the Pacific Fleet Vladimir Matveev.
“The headquarters of the Pacific Fleet (PF) continues to prepare a research expedition to Matua Island, which will take place from June to September 2017. At present, the development of a detailed survey plan for the Kuril island has been completed, the personnel and the necessary equipment for survey work have been determined, ”he said.
Matveev recalled that "an expedition of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Russian Geographical Society (RGO) and the Pacific Fleet in the amount of 200 people under the leadership of the Deputy Commander of the Pacific Fleet, Vice Admiral Andrei Ryabukhin, conducted large-scale research on Matua Island in 2016."
“Experts have carried out more than a thousand laboratory studies on physical, chemical and biological indicators. More than 200 measurements of the external environment were also made. Radiation and chemical reconnaissance of more than 120 kilometers of the route was carried out, all fortifications of the island and more than 100 historical objects were examined. The divers carried out work on hydrographic research of the bays and bays of the island, ”he said.
Earlier, the commander of the Pacific Fleet Sergey Avakyants noted that scientific expeditions to Matua Island had not been carried out since 1813.
“The Japanese began to master Matua 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. A unique system of underground structures was created, connected by a single system of tunnels. Underground structures are a separate topic that requires deep study, ”said the commander.
According to him, "the structures are divided into two types: fortifications and structures of unknown purpose - rectangular, square and round, up to 150 meters long."
“If on all the islands the Japanese garrisons fought fiercely, to the last soldier, then the island of Matua surrendered last, but surrendered without a fight. The garrison numbered 7.5 thousand people and, which is not typical for the Japanese army, did not show any resistance. We concluded that the garrison fulfilled its main task - it removed all traces and all the facts that could lead to the disclosure of the true nature of the activity on this island, ”Avakyants said.
He noted that Toporkovy Island, which is possibly connected with Matua by underground tunnels, also requires further study.
“With the permission and instructions of the President of the Russian Geographical Society (Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu - ed.), In 2017 we are conducting the second expedition with the involvement of a wide range of specialists - the Academy of Sciences, the Russian Geographical Society and Moscow State University. The fauna, flora of this island, volcanic activity, water supply system, underground structures, including underwater ones, require further study. And besides, it is necessary to carry out archaeological research, ”the admiral concluded.
Defensive incarnation of the "mysterious island" of Matua
Recently, the mention of the small island of Matua in the Kuril ridge has become frequent not only in Russian, but also in foreign media. So why is this "mysterious island" so famous?
"Matua" in translation from the Ainu language means "Small burning bays". This island is located in the middle part of the Kuril ridge between the islands of Raikoke and Rasshua.
Recall that in early May, a scientific expedition departed for the least-studied Kuril island of Matua, which included six (!!!) warships of the Pacific Fleet, on board of which more than two hundred people - scientists and specialists equipped with heavy equipment, underground search means, various materials and equipment.
The expedition was organized not by social activists or semi-underground treasure seekers, which happened more than once, but for the first time jointly by the Russian Geographical Society (RGO) and the Russian Ministry of Defense itself. We also recall that General of the Army Sergei Shoigu is not only the Minister of Defense Russian Federation, but plus the president of the Russian Geographical Society. Agree, this is suggestive.
“There are many mysteries, many interesting things, the island is mysterious,” the President of the Russian Geographical Society and the Minister of Defense said in admonishing the expedition participants, noting that Matua has many fortifications, mines, grottoes, runways, a road leading to the volcano ... He did not hide that in the expedition - cavers, explorers of underwater worlds, military specialists.
“And on the military side there are many different mysteries. To this day, no one can answer where the huge amount of equipment and ammunition that was prepared to repel the Soviet troops went. And where did two-thirds of the garrison, which was on this island, disappear, ”Sergei Kuzhugetovich recalled.
Such a level of awareness of the highest official of the Russian military department indicates that the situation has been studied and the decision for reconnaissance has been made.
Yes, and the expedition is headed by Deputy Commander of the Pacific Fleet (Pacific Fleet) Vice Admiral Andrey Ryabukhin. And this is a direct target designation for "reconnaissance by force of the terrain."
Colonel-General Sergei Surovikin, Commander of the Eastern Military District (VVO), fully opened the curtain of mystery: “The Russian military is considering the possibility of basing the forces of the Pacific Fleet (Pacific Fleet) on the island of Matua, Kuril ridge,” he said.
1. Matua Island is one of the geological and historical gems of the Kuril ridge. The island is elongated meridionally in the form of an oval, convex to the east, slightly concave from the west. The length from north-west to south-east is about 11 km, width is 6.4 km, area is 52 km2.
Most of the island is occupied by a conical active volcano Fuyo (Sarychev Peak) with a height of 1485 m, constantly smoking and at times emitting lava flows flowing from the crater along the northeastern slope.
The volcano received its name in honor of the honorary member of the Petersburg Academy, Admiral G.A. Sarychev. This polar explorer was the first to most accurately establish the position of Matua Island.
Towards the coast they take the form of hills and, decreasing more and more, pass into a flat sandy coastal area with two capes; the continuation of the latter are underwater reefs up to 1.8 km long.
The slopes of Mount Fuyo are dissected by hollows, but for the most part they are covered with stone deposits, especially thick at the bottom.
About a third of the foot of the volcano is occupied by low-growing bushes. Their dwarf growth, no more than a meter, they obviously compensate for their extraordinary density. The thickets are so thick that you can't get through.
A strip of alpine meadows begins in the highlands. And even higher - unstable slag and stones. At the tip of the top, hydrosolfators abundantly throw water vapor jets into the air.
The crater, from which sulphurous gases burst out with hiss and hum, is filled to the brim with lava. From the south east side its walls rise 40 m above its boiling interior. On the east side, they almost disappear, and in the west they are almost equal to the level of a volcanic funnel.
There is a version that on this side part of the crater was deliberately blown up by the Japanese, so that during the eruption the lava would drain into the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk. Since 1760, at least a dozen volcanic eruptions have been known.
So in 1946, an explosive wave of terrifying force threw volcanic bombs through the Dvoynaya Strait (1.6 km) onto Toporkovy Island. The ash of the eruption reached as much as Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky itself. The incandescent avalanches that year flowed into the bays, forming three new capes.
On the other side of the island, a giant tsunami wave, penetrating deep into the gentle coast of Ainu Bay, brought and piled up huge tree trunks, washed away the soil layer and opened the entrances to the old half-flooded adits. Similar structures have been cut into the rocks all over the island.
The southernmost promontory of Matua Island is named Yurlov after the skipper who was part of the Second Kamchatka Expedition and overwintered on the island in 1756-1757. True, a typo has crept into the maps, and now this place is often called Cape Orlov.
There are no completely closed bays on Matua. If you look at the island on maps or aerospace surveys, it might seem that there is no good shelter for a ship near the island at all.
In practice, there is a convenient and relatively safe place. This is a strait in the southwestern part of the island, covered from the west by a small island Iwaki (Toporkovy). It was here that the Japanese roadstead was located, the moorings were located.
Approaches to the islands from the sea are safe everywhere up to 0.18 km from the coast. Anchorages are in two bays.
Ainu Bay (Ainu, Ainuwan) is located in the south-west of the island and serves as a refuge for few ships in calm and easterly winds. Depth 14-25 m; sandy soil. Disembarkation is convenient on the sandy shore near the mouth of the Khesupo river.
Yamato Bay (Yamoto). Located between the islands of Matsuwa and Iwaki. The best of all the bays of the ridge. It is divided into two parts by a bridge connecting the islands. You can go from one bay to another along a hollow near about. Iwaki, 9 m deep.
The soil in both parts of the bay is sandy. Depending on the winds, you can use either the northern or southern parts of the bay
Despite the proximity of a very restless and formidable volcanic "neighbor", the Ainu from time immemorial settled their dwellings on Matua, which were located on the bank of the only fresh stream. The last Ainu families were resettled by the Japanese to Shikotan at the beginning of the 20th century.
After the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, according to the Treaty of Portsum, the islands of the Kuril ridge and half of Sakhalin went to Japan. The Japanese have long had their eyes on the island of Matua because of its successful middle - geographic location, not foggy climate and the convenience of anchorage of vessels of various types.
They have equipped fishing camps, a fur station and a marine reserve on Matua. Then a guard post, a weather station, and a Shinto shrine were built here.
Fortification surprises, military secrets and political mysteries of Matua Island
During the Great Patriotic War, the Japanese turned Matua into a naval fortress - a miracle of fortification art.
The entire coast of the island 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 the point for firing. Each such position had an extensive network underground passagesalso carved into the rock.
In one of the coastal cliffs, numerous Chinese and Korean prisoners of war 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.
The island's airfield was constructed even more carefully.
It is located so well and made so technically competently that aircraft could take off and land in the wind of any strength and direction along three (!!!) runways (runways) up to 85 meters wide and up to 1850 m long.
Japanese engineers also provided for an "anti-icing" design. Pipes were laid under the concrete cover, into which 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.
Most of the fortification works have been carefully camouflaged to this day. Here is the private opinion of enthusiastic 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 that served as a disguised hangar for aircraft. A very wide man-made depression overgrown with trees and shrubs stands out on its slope. Probably, there was a hangar gate, which was first blown up and then covered with the ash of an erupting volcano. "
But even these conspicuous or disguised grandiose structures are only the outer, visible part of the Japanese secret underground fortress. More than 70 years have 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.
According to its fortification data, the naval fortress Matua theoretically, and practically impregnable. Take the author's word for being an officer-fortifier by military education.
However, on August 26, 1945, 40 Soviet border guards "valiantly" surrendered 3795 japanese soldiers and officers.
But the trophies were only 2127 rifles, 81 light machine guns, 464 heavy machine guns and 98 grenade launchers, which is clearly not a lot. Moreover, among the listed trophies taken on Matua, there were no artillery pieces, anti-aircraft guns and tanks.
Why? Where are foodstuffs, supplies of uniforms and communications of the garrison? Where have about 10,000 Chinese and Korean prisoners of war disappeared?
In fact, there are many questions in the history of the landing of Soviet troops on Matua. One of the members of amateur expeditions made a seemingly incredible assumption: “Perhaps the Japanese threw all their ammunition and prisoners into the mouth of the volcano, and then blew it up, causing powerful eruption".
This version, at first glance, sounds like fantasy. But a road is laid up the cone of the volcano, where, even after decades, you can distinguish traces of tracked vehicles. One can only guess what the Japanese drove along it.
And here's another. At the 1945 Potsdam Conference, US President Harry Truman, for no reason at all, turned to Stalin with an unexpected request to provide the United States with only one of the islands in the center of the Kuriles, which should be occupied by Soviet troops - Matua.
"It's not a pity for friends!" - answered the Generallisimus. But as "allaverdy" asked one of the Aleutian Islands.
Why did the small island of Matua so attracted the President of America? The clue to this, perhaps, should be sought in the secrets of the development and mastery of nuclear weapons by the USA, USSR, Germany and Japan. Yes, and Japan.
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.
The credibility of Charles Stone's unexpected hypothesis is confirmed by the research of the former American intelligence officer Theodore McNally. At the end of World War II, he served in the analytical intelligence of the headquarters of the Allied Commander in Pacific General MacArthur.
In his article, McNally writes that American intelligence had reliable data on the development of nuclear weapons by the Japanese on one of the islands of the Kuril ridge (Matua?) And on a large Japanese nuclear center in the Korean city of Hinnam, but kept information about these objects 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!
Assuming that in underground city On the island-fortress of Matua, the development of the most terrible weapon of the 20th century - nuclear, was really going on, this gives an answer to many questions that baffle the organizers of amateur research expeditions.
Maybe the interest of the American president in Matua, and the untimely awakened volcano, and the refusal of the Japanese to provide materials are not a random chain of events? And maybe, in the secret, not yet found dungeons of the island-fortress, there is not only a rusted and useless one. military equipment, and the secret laboratories that developed secret weapons that were never used during the war?
Say - fiction. Then please pay attention to the latest facts. No sooner had the aforementioned expedition set off for the Great Kuril Ridge, when the Prime Minister of Japan suddenly rushed to set off ...
Not to Washington at all, but to Sochi, to Russian President Vladimir Putin, ignoring the insistent recommendations of the “elder brother” - the US President - to refrain from such a step. The details of this high meeting remained "a secret behind seven seals." I don't think this is a coincidence of facts and events. In other matters, time will tell.
Better late than never
The solution to the surprises, secrets and mysteries of the Matua Island has waited for its researchers. The ships of the Pacific Fleet, the large landing ship "Admiral Nevelskoy" and the killer ship KIL-168, take part in today's expedition.
On board are representatives of the Ministry of Defense, the Eastern Military District and the Pacific Fleet, as well as the Russian Geographical Society, Moscow specialists in soil science, geomorphology, paleogeography and other sciences.
“The Japanese have created an impressive number of anti-amphibious defense facilities on Matua, erected numerous long-term firing points,” said one of the expedition members Igor Samarin. - Our task is to find them, describe them, map them. I have already been to Matua twice, doing this work. But there are still so many unexplored objects, there will be enough for more than one such expedition. "
In addition to scientific tasks, the military leadership is considering the possibility of the prospective basing of the forces of the Pacific Fleet there. In the meantime, the island has deployed all the infrastructure necessary to ensure the life of the expedition members.
The military forces of the Air Defense Forces on Matua have already equipped a field camp, organized water and power supply, created a communications center and a logistics center. One of the tasks that was announced was to assess the state of the local airfield.
The expedition settles down on the island. Matua, May 2016 ...
The headquarters of the Eastern Military (VVO) District notes that the airfield runways are well preserved. “Their favorable location, taking into account the wind rose and the local climate in those years, ensured landing and takeoff aircraft at any time, ”the press service of the VVO informed.
"An airfield on the island of Matua in the Kuril ridge will eventually become a full-fledged air base of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS)," said the former commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force, Army General Pyotr Deinekin.
P. Deinekin noted that one of the important criteria for assessing the air power of a state is ground infrastructure. “In military affairs there is such a concept as operational density of basing. When there is a large number of aviation technology, it can be disabled in one missile strike or air raid of the enemy. And so that the air pogrom of 1941 does not repeat itself, our airfield network is expanding. "
The research and exploration expedition of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the Russian Geographical Society (RGO) has begun engineering work to restore the airfield on Matua Island in the center of the Kuril ridge, the Russian Ministry of Defense reports.
A survey of the runway (runway) was carried out, ready for work, deployed mobile airfield complexes and equipment for flight support, cleared the drainage system of the airfield, completed equipment of the landing area for helicopters of all types.
The airfield has three runways over 1200 m long and 85 m wide with concrete and asphalt pavement.
“As for the airfield at Matua, it is currently too small to support heavy aircraft flights. But in the future everything will be done to turn this airfield into an air base, ”P. Deinekin said.
The headquarters of the Pacific Fleet (Pacific Fleet) informs that the expedition of the Ministry of Defense and the Russian Geographical Society has begun engineering work on the island of Matua to restore the mooring structures of the island of Matua, and is also investigating the fortifications of the Second World War.
The primary task is to prepare the coastal section of the island in Dvoinaya Bay for the approach of the large landing ship "Admiral Nevelskoy" to the shore in a "point-blank" manner for carrying out full-fledged loading and unloading operations.
In addition, experts have already begun to survey the previously discovered underground fortifications.
There is also an active search for entry points to underground utilities and transitions between structures.
Conclusion
Naturally, this is only part of the information collected by the expedition, open to the public.
Even more than 70 years after the liberation of Matua, there are more questions on the island than there are answers.
A detachment of the Pacific Fleet, including the large landing ship Admiral Nevelskoy, the killer ship KIL-168 and the rescue tug SB-522, delivered the 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 technology.
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 is one of the most active active volcanoes in the region - the 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 the island of Matua. The Expeditionary Center of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Russian Geographical Society and the personnel of the Pacific Fleet are taking part in the project.
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 diving sites for 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.
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 as part of 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 servicemen.
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 World War II, 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 Soviet. The island has preserved many fortifications, mines, grottoes, two runways that are heated by thermal springs, so they 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 and rains in summer. Sunny days, one or two and missed. Here, even in June, snow whitens on the slopes of the hills. A 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, and 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 originating at the very edge of the water. The pillboxes and pillboxes, carved into 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 aircraft from 1942 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 like 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 behind it, 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 mudflows and tsunamis will wash away new infrastructure islands. 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 part of the Japanese set up near the lakes, which were formed during the period of snow melting. Pumping stations were installed next to them. By the way, due to the fact that there were many rats on the island that also used water, strong antibiotics were found here, which were literally inundated 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. The only threat to the safety of this route was American submarines and surface ships. 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, up to ten thousand people could be on the island, in order, if necessary, to strengthen the Japanese garrisons by northern islands Shumshu and Paramushir. I ask Ryabukhin: did the expedition manage to understand how the defense of the island was built?
“We figured 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 Matua developed automobile transport and the railway ”.
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. To reliably defend 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. For now, 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 here is peculiar, including very fragile rocks. What the Japanese dug here was very relevant 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 this year. And there is a high probability that our troops will be located on Matua.
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 find answers to many questions and “dispel the aura of the mystery of 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 is located so well and made so technically competent that the aircraft could take off and land in the wind 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 icing runway Japanese pilots were not threatened, 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 unsolved mysteries the island of Matua, researcher and enthusiast 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 worked on the creation of an 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 Heunnam, 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 the east coast of the Korean Peninsula to their airfields. 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 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, then 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 had 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.
