Alice Sturgulevski, a state senator Alaska, visited Vladivostok in the summer 1991. In her interview with local TV she said the USA were going to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Lend-Lease program in 1992. This Anniversary refering to Alaska and ALaska SIBeria vets. ALSIB was the route for ferrying aircraft from Alaska to Siberia when during WWII 7925 planes were transported to the USSR. In the form of Lend-Lease the USA rendered military aid to their allies in the anti-Hitler coalition. At the beginning of 1941, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt invented this form of non-currency exchange for commodities and services with payments delayed after the end of war. Great Britain was the first country to receive such aid.

Both the USA and Great Britain gave the Soviet Union a helping hand just after Hitler's attack. On October 1, 1941 at the Moscow conference involving the three powers: USSR, USA and Great Britain, "The first secret protocol for deliveries of the military equipment, machinery, metals, raw materials, foodstuffs and clothing", were signed. The possibility of Lend-Lease was mentioned in the djcument as well.

The final Lend-Lease agreement was signed in Washington on June 11, 1942, under the name "Agreement between governments of the USSR and USA on principles employed to the mutual assistance in fighting a war against the aggression". The agreement spread the Lend-Lease terms from October 1, 1941.

It is known the Lend-Lease to Russia crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Murmansk and Archangelsk and Percian Gulf. But half of the Lend-Lease involved transport through Pacific Ocean. In fact, the route to Vladivostok wasn't blocked when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The rout was developed in 1942 and became a powerful stream from 1943 to 1945. The first military aid to the Soviet Union was sent also through the Pacific in June (about 3,000 tons) and July (around 30,000 tons) 1941. This data comes from Vail Motter's book, "The Persian Corridor and Aid to Russia".

A fourth route, through the Bering Sea and the Bering Straits to the Soviet Arctic, was also utilized. Cargo was shipped through the northern sea route to Archangelsk and Murmansk from east to west, but most of it was taken to the mouth of the largest Siberian rivers through which supplies for the ALSIB route had been carried.

Prof. Alexander Alexeyev, of the Institute for History of the USSR, disclosed information revealing that 49 to 53 percent of all Lend-Lease cargo went through the Pacific Ocean, 25 to 28 percent, through the Russian northern ports and 22 to 23 percent, through the Persian Corridor. Alexeyev's information comes from his research into the Soviet archives, but wasn't published.

The book "The Roads to Russia" by American scientist Robert H.Jones published in 1969 by Oklachoma Univercity Press and became open to the Russian readers only in 1991.

According to Jones's book, 17.5 million long tons of military aid were delivered tj the Soviet Union. 971,000 long tons of the cargo had been produced in Great Britain, Canada and other countries, with the USA being the main supplier. According to the routes of delivery, cargo was distributed in the following way - in thousands of long tons:

According of this data, 23 percent of the cargo sent through Soviet northern ports, 24 percent, through the Persian Gulf, and 49,7 percent - through the Pacific routes.

The Pacific transport epopee is unknown till today. Why is it? Why the Northern convoys are known, and Persian Gulf route is known, but Pacific routes, besides ALSIB, are unknown?

Because Northern convoys, Persian Gulf route, ALSIB were international actions, while only Soviet ships, with Soviet crews and Soviet flags, crossed the Pacific Ocean. And heavy stamp of secrecy lay on this routes. They led to GULAG.

Navigation was far from being safe. That's why the ships were armed with largecalibre machine-guns. The crews of each ship contained special military detachment. They were brought together only for piloting. Approaches to the Russian Far East ports were mined. Military pilot stations were located near Vladivostok and Nahodka in Valentin Bay, near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in Achomten Bay, now it names Russian Bay. For ice-piloting, the caravans were formed in Provideniya Bay.

Not only the front line, but the sub-polar, Far East and Siberian parts of GULAG were supplied by Lend-Lease. The following was shipped through the Pacific Ocean: foodstuffs - over 2,5 million long tons or 56,6 percent of the total quantity of provisions, delivered on Lend-Lease; oil-products - about 1,6 million long tons (75,1 percent); machinery and equipment - about 750,000 long tons (59,6 percent).

In 1990, after Russian naval squadron visited San-Diego and ships of American Pacific Fleet visited Vladivostok, there appeared a new stand at the Russian Pacific Fleet museum. On it, among other exhibits, there is a table which gives the figures of the Lend-Lease deliveries to Soviet Pacific Fleet:

Thirty eight "Liberty" class large capacity vessels and three tankers, five "Victory" class tankers, and about 100 other older vessels, were delivered to the Far Estern Shipping Company (FESCO) during the war. The icebreaker fleet had been replentished by three "lend-lease" icebreakers.

Unfortunately, the United States not only delivered ships to the Soviet Union, but sometimes sank them.

From books written by American Rear-Admiral Charles Lockwood, former commander-in-chief of the Pacific submarine forces, it has become known that the steamers "Kola" and "Ilmen" were torpedoed by the American submarine "Sawfish" and the "Transbalt" steamer by the submarine "Spadefish".

Some Soviet ships were probably sunk by Japanese even though the two powers were not at war. But Japan, fascist Germany's staunch ally, blocked the passage to the unfrozen Sangar Strait from Soviet ships. The route around Japan through the Korean Strait was long and dangerous. There were only route left through the First Kurilsky Strait, where powerful Japanese coastal fortifications were located on Shumshu Island, and through the Laperouse Strait, which was controlled from both coasts by Japanese. These straits also being prone to freeze during the winter. When icebreakers couldn't cope with the thick ice, ships from America went to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, unloaded, and then headed to America for new cargo.

Sometimes the Japanese closed the Laperouse Straits to Soviet ships. The military and strategic cargo had to be delivered through the Tatarsky Straits where there were a lot of sandbanks, and the ships were usually piloted to prevent running aground. To pilot the large-capacity vessels through the Tatarsky Strait, it was necessary to raise theirdraught. To accomplish this, ship were partially unloaded also in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

The stream of Lend-Lease cargo cflled not only for a considerable reconstruction of existing ports in Vladivostok, but for building new ones. The Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky seaport, which became the main newly constructed port, had 6 capital moorages, and could taken 1 million metric tons during a year.

Lend-Lease also assisted in the transport cargo through the whole of Siberia. About 300,000 tons (58,3 percent) of the railroad rolling stock were delivered through the Pacific Ocean to Vladivostok. Locomotives with tenders and cars came in from Portland. They were adjusted to the width of Russian tracks, which differed with both American and European standards. The re-equipped log transport ships were used for carrying rolling stock.

There were many interesting moments in the history of Lend-Lease. One of them being the designing of the liberty class vessels. The sailors who navigated to the USA during the war recall that there was a competition announced for the design of that vessel. A group of engineers won the cjmpetition, but they were not naval architects, they were or aircraft or bridge constructors. The hulls of the "Liberty" vessels were not riveted, but welded. They were assembled from ready sections right at the port. Those sections were brought there by rail from different cities of the USA.

These vessels were brought to the Far Eastern Shipping Company line in February 1943. Captain Alexei Yaskevitch took command of the first Liberty Class vessel which was named "Krasnogvardeyets". Anna Shchetinina, the first woman captain in the world, was the captain of "Jean Jeores", the second Liberty Class vessel. Many officers and sailors considered "Liberty" vessels to be the best in the history of shipbuilding.

But those ships suffered from one grave shortcoming. If the sections were not adjusted properly, strains appeared in the welded joints. The joints couldn't stand heavy loads, and the ship broketo halves. A group of researches, headed by the chief engineer of the FESCO Nicolai Bykov, came to this conclusion. Usually "Liberty" vessels broke during storm. But the halves of the hull didn't sink since the bulkheads were undamaged. Those halves were towed to the nearest port where they were welded together, and the ship could be used again.

At the end of September 1945 two American war ships came to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. One of them was a transport ship. American navy seamen walked along the streets of Petropavlovsk, danced in the park on the slopes of Love Hill and built the base for the service of air passage from Alaska to Japan. Some of them could speak Russian. When the cjnstruction was over, the ships went out, and only the staff of the service base remained. "The Cold War" eventually forced them go too.

According to American statistics, 7 percent of cargo was lost while transported to Soviet northern ports, 4 percent - on the way to the Persian Gulf, and 0 percent - on the Pacific Ocean, whereas with the torpedoing of the "Transbalt" steamer, 10,000 tons of cargo was lost. All in all, FESCO lost 23 ships during the war in Pacific region. American Statistics do not mention any losses suffered on the Siberian section of the ALSIB route, but R.Jones says in his book that 133 aircrafts were lost over Alaska and Kanada. This "inaccuracy" can be explained only by the fact that Soviet routes were top secret. Secrecy is so deeply rooted in our minds that the Russian Far Easternes "forgot" to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Lend-Lease. Though Lend-Lease greatly influenced the development of many cities. The only celebration was held in Magadan. The Magadan fliers along with their colleagues from Alaska, performed a flight in honor of the anniversary.

The jubilee of Lend-Lease did not celebrate in towns of American western coast, also, as I know.

I believe a celebration should be adopted in memory of Lend-Lease, I have there fure passed a proposal on to the press service of the US embassy. At the press conference, held after the official opening ceremony of the US consulate in Vladivostok, Mr.Lecock - the Consul General, said work on setting up a TV-bridge, already started.

I think our American readers could take part in this work. They could help to find people who participated in the Russian Lend-Lease: designers and builders of "Liberty" vessels; workers of the USA and Canada west seacoast ports; veterans of firms which took part in Lend-Lease; veterans of the Coast Guard; military sailors and workers who worked on Kamchatka in autumn of 1945; representatives of the Russian Diaspora, and the Church of the war-time; members of the families where the Russian sailors were on a visit; members of "Sawfish" and "Spadefish" submarines crews; representatives of the Hollywood's 20th Centure Fox, which held a reception for crews of two Russian ships (Anna Shchetinina was the captain of one of them).

We must do this while the participants of this "fiery voyages" are alive.

In spring of this year the Leningrad Studio of Documentary Films (LSDF), St.Peterburg, beginning to produce the film "Lend-Lease, Pacific Ocean" with my script. I hope, American documentalists will join in our work.

This article was published in the third and unfortunately the last number of the newspaper "VOSTOK ROSSII" in April 1993. Its editorial staff worked in Magadan but the newspaper itself was printed in Anchorage. The most blatant errors made by the translator with respect to facts and names have been corrected.

It is now 1997. Much of the information from this article is still unknown even today. There was no TV bridge. A film wasn't made. Many participants in these events have died.

But the biggest gap in the History of WWII, the relationships between Russia (formerly USSR) and USA in the Pacific is still there. To resolve this problem, the International Conference on "Pacific Lend-Lease and military action in the Northern Pacific during WWII" could be organized in Vladivostok in the next few years. I await your support and help. My addresses: