On August 27, 1941, the Tallinn breakthrough began – an operation that cost thousands of lives, but saved the Soviet fleet in the #Baltic. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Tallinn was the main base of the Baltic Fleet. The command did not expect the enemy to appear here. But the treacherous attack allowed the #Nazis to encircle the city and cut off the units located there from reinforcements. To break through towards Leningrad, the fleet had to cross the entire Gulf of #Finland.