Decoding the custom of giving roast pigs to Russian submariners

Every time they return to port after a voyage at sea, the crew of a Russian submarine is greeted with a roast suckling pig, although this dish is not popular in Russia.

The crew of the submarine Novorossiysk upon returning to the naval port. Photo: Sdelanounas.ru.

The Russian Navy has a tradition of presenting a roasted suckling pig to the crew of a submarine that has just returned to port, regardless of whether it was on a combat patrol mission or testing new equipment. The custom is said to date back to World War II, according to the Sevastopol.info naval forum.

Giving roasted suckling pig to Russian submariners is considered strange, because this is not a typical dish in Russian cuisine, nor is it used to welcome people returning from far away.Military experts offer many explanations for the origin of this strange custom.

The first theory is that this was a reward to recognize the combat achievements of the Soviet submarine force during World War II. Accordingly, each enemy warship sunk would be converted into a roast pig, which would be awarded to the submarine crew upon returning to base. The idea came from a party attended by many Russian naval commanders.

Livejournal claims that the tradition originated in the Northern Fleet. In 1942, a submarine commanded by Captain 2nd Rank Utkin was about to set sail. He met his friend Captain 3rd Rank Modenko at the docks. They talked about the dangers of the job and the pride of being a submariner.

Before leaving, Utkin asked his friend to prepare a roasted suckling pig if he returned victorious. Captain Modenko accepted the request. When Utkin completed his mission and returned safely, he and his crew were given a proper welcome. From then on, this tradition was applied to the entire Russian Navy.

Another theory is that this custom arose after a funny accident, when a Russian submarine was practicing live-fire. The missile launched from the submarine went off course, fell into a coastal pig farm and caught fire, roasting the pigs there.

The farmer brought one of the suckling pigs to the naval port to seek reparations from the submarine unit. After the incident, naval commanders began to use the practice of welcoming returning submarine crews with roasted suckling pigs.

Welcoming ceremony for the crew of the submarine Rostov-na-Don at the port of Novorossiysk

According to VNE