Naval Museum Complex Balaklava
Naval museum complex Balaklava (Ukrainian: Морський музейний комплекс "Балаклава", Russian: Музей холодной войны, "The Cold War Museum", designation K-825) is an underground submarine base in Balaklava, Crimea, Russia/Ukraine[1] (originally known as Object 825 GTS). It was a top-secret military facility during the Cold War, located in Balaklava Bay.
Today it serves as a museum and also houses a museum about the Crimean War.
The object is built accordingly to withstand a category-I nuclear explosion (protection from a direct hit by a nuclear yield of 100 kt), which includes a combined underground network of water channels with a dry dock, repair shops, warehouses for storage of torpedoes and other weapons. Additionally it could house personnel to protect them from nuclear fallout. Located in the mountain of Tavros, on both sides of which there are exits. If necessary, caisson gates could be used, which seals the entire complex. To exit to the open sea, an exit is provided on the northern side of the mountain. The holes in the rock are neatly covered with camouflage devices and networks.
Object 825 GTS was intended to house, repair and maintain submarines of Projects 613 and 633. The central water channel of the facility, whose length is at 602 meters, could accommodate up to 7 submarines if necessary, and in all channels, up to 14 submarines of different classes. The water channels have depths up to 8 meters, with width ranging from 12 to 22 meters. The total area of all facilities in this base is around 9600 m2, while the total surface area of water is at 5200. Equipment loading in peacetime was carried out on the pier, while watching out for the movements of spy satellites of the possible military adversary. A special tunnel is used for loading equipment into the base in wartime. The entire complex also includes the repair and technical base, codenamed Object 280, designed for storing and maintaining nuclear arsenal. The temperature inside the base is kept around 15 degrees Celsius.
In the period after the Second World War, the two superpowers, the USSR and the U.S., stepped up their nuclear arsenal, threatening each other with pre-emptive strikes and retaliatory strikes. It was then when Joseph Stalin gave Lavrentiy Beria (who was responsible at that time for "nuclear projects"), a secret directive: to find a place where they could house submarines for a retaliatory nuclear strike. Several years of research pinpointed the quiet Balaklava as the location, and the city was immediately coded and got merged into the city of Sevastopol as a city district. Balaklava sits on a narrow winding inlet with a width of only 200–400 meters. The small inlet protects the city not only from storms, but also from prying eyes, as it is not visible under any angle from the open sea. Additionally, the site is close to Sevastopol, a major naval base still used by the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet.
(Text Wikipedia)
Naval Museum Complex Balaklava
Naval museum complex Balaklava (Ukrainian: Морський музейний комплекс "Балаклава", Russian: Музей холодной войны, "The Cold War Museum", designation K-825) is an underground submarine base in Balaklava, Crimea, Russia/Ukraine[1] (originally known as Object 825 GTS). It was a top-secret military facility during the Cold War, located in Balaklava Bay.
Today it serves as a museum and also houses a museum about the Crimean War.
The object is built accordingly to withstand a category-I nuclear explosion (protection from a direct hit by a nuclear yield of 100 kt), which includes a combined underground network of water channels with a dry dock, repair shops, warehouses for storage of torpedoes and other weapons. Additionally it could house personnel to protect them from nuclear fallout. Located in the mountain of Tavros, on both sides of which there are exits. If necessary, caisson gates could be used, which seals the entire complex. To exit to the open sea, an exit is provided on the northern side of the mountain. The holes in the rock are neatly covered with camouflage devices and networks.
Object 825 GTS was intended to house, repair and maintain submarines of Projects 613 and 633. The central water channel of the facility, whose length is at 602 meters, could accommodate up to 7 submarines if necessary, and in all channels, up to 14 submarines of different classes. The water channels have depths up to 8 meters, with width ranging from 12 to 22 meters. The total area of all facilities in this base is around 9600 m2, while the total surface area of water is at 5200. Equipment loading in peacetime was carried out on the pier, while watching out for the movements of spy satellites of the possible military adversary. A special tunnel is used for loading equipment into the base in wartime. The entire complex also includes the repair and technical base, codenamed Object 280, designed for storing and maintaining nuclear arsenal. The temperature inside the base is kept around 15 degrees Celsius.
In the period after the Second World War, the two superpowers, the USSR and the U.S., stepped up their nuclear arsenal, threatening each other with pre-emptive strikes and retaliatory strikes. It was then when Joseph Stalin gave Lavrentiy Beria (who was responsible at that time for "nuclear projects"), a secret directive: to find a place where they could house submarines for a retaliatory nuclear strike. Several years of research pinpointed the quiet Balaklava as the location, and the city was immediately coded and got merged into the city of Sevastopol as a city district. Balaklava sits on a narrow winding inlet with a width of only 200–400 meters. The small inlet protects the city not only from storms, but also from prying eyes, as it is not visible under any angle from the open sea. Additionally, the site is close to Sevastopol, a major naval base still used by the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet.
(Text Wikipedia)