On damages inflicted upon the Stalingrad section of the Lower Volga steamship line in the Great Patriotic War

Introduction. The paper reviews the Lower Volga shipping industry before the Great Patriotic War and after the Battle of Stalingrad. The goal is to establish the loss inflicted by the invaders upon the facilities of the Stalingrad section of the Lower Volga Steamship Line that suffered most from the hostilities. Methods and materials. The study is based on the objectivity principles and applies general scientific as well as specific historical methods. The paper is based on unpublished archival materials as well as on scientific publications on the Lower Volga Steamship Line. Analysis and results. The Lower Volga Steamship Line was created in 1934. It was a big economic entity. The territory of its operation stretched along the Volga from Kamyshin down to Lagan. The Steamship Line comprised two basic sections - the Stalingrad and Astrakhan ones. Before the Second World War the Steamship Line included five production establishments (ship repairing yards and workshops), 17 transit piers, a passenger river-boat station, two local piers with registered fleet, three crossings and other facilities. The Stalingrad section was the largest. Within its boundaries the principal Steamship Line unit was situated - the Stalingrad transit pier. 90 percent of it was destroyed in the Battle of Stalingrad. The Stalingrad section of the Steamship Line suffered most from the hostilities. The total amount of damage of the Steamship Line has been established.