Postcard sent from Russian gunboat "Donets" (Georgy Baglay company commander gunboat "Donets") in Batum (january 5, 1916) to Nikolaev, Kherson province (January 14,1916).

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Used postmark:

"Nikolaev Khers. serial "б"".

Used cachet:

"Rotniy komandir kanonerskaya lodka Donets"."

*During Turkey's provocative night attack on the Black Sea ports on October 16 (29), 1914, the Donets was in Odessa. The Turkish destroyers Gayret and Muanvet, which attacked the port, entered the harbor at 3:20 a.m. and were noticed by the watch commander of the Russian gunboat, who personally rushed to the gun. At this moment, "Gayret" fired a torpedo from 100 meters, which exploded in the bow boiler room, creating a hole of about 3.5 square meters, with a strong rupture of the adjacent plating sheets. “Donets” quickly sank with its nose and, tilting to the left side, began to quickly dive. Its personnel were unable to offer any resistance and the boat sank in the port. 12 crew members were killed and 12 were injured.

The Turkish destroyers also fired at other ships in the bay and coastal buildings and, after an hour-long battle, went into the open sea virtually unpunished. This was the first and largely unexpected attack by Turkish naval forces on a Russian port and fleet during the First World War, where Turkey took the side of Germany. More than 130 people served on the Donets gunboat, but at the time of the attack by Turkish destroyers, most of the Donets sailors and officers were on the shore.

The burial of the sailors of the crew of the gunboat “Donets” who died on October 16 took place in a mass grave at the Second Christian Cemetery in Odessa in October 1914.

In December 1914, the gunboat was raised and, after repairs, put back into service. Until 1916, “Donets” was part of the defense detachment of the northwestern coast of the Black Sea and was sometimes involved in providing fire support to the troops together with the Batumi detachment.

Since August 1916, “Donets”, as part of a detachment of gunboats, operated as part of the Danube Flotilla, supporting ground forces with fire. During the campaign on the Danube, the gunboat completely destroyed the gun barrels, which led to a significant decrease in the accuracy of the shots.

On January 18, 1918, she went over to the side of Soviet power. On May 1, 1918 it was captured by German troops in Sevastopol. In December 1918 it was captured by the Anglo-French interventionists. Since April 1919, it was part of the Naval Forces of the South of Russia, repeatedly supporting the troops with gun fire. In May 1919, she sank during a storm near the Tenderovskaya Spit: