Very close to Sevastopol (10 km) is the resort town of Balaklava. The secret submarine base is one of its popular attractions. Today, this previously classified object can be visited by tourists.
Balaclava. Submarine base: history of creation
This secret facility began to be built in 1957. In those years, the Cold War flared up between the Soviet Union and the United States. To preserve confidentiality, it was decided to call the facility GTS (city telephone exchange) No. 825. According to experts, today not one of the military facilities (declassified) has surpassed the station in Balaklava in size and power.
During its construction, a huge tunnel was dug. One hundred and twenty-five tons of soil were removed. For the purpose of conspiracy, the breed was taken out at night, when the small southern city was sleeping. Barges unloaded it into the open sea. At first, the task of building a secret facility was assigned to the military, but then, when the process of drilling the earth became more complicated, the government of the USSR turned to metro builders for help.
BAs a result, an underground channel appeared with a depth of more than eight meters. Its width in different sections ranged from eight to twelve meters. All the premises of the underwater base occupied a vast territory (5000 square meters). The area of the water area under which the object is located is 3000 meters.
The underwater plant could accommodate up to seven ships. This figure impresses even the builders of military facilities these days.
Object description
Many of our compatriots are familiar with the Balaklava resort. The underground submarine base located here, as already mentioned, was classified. This is a huge structure located deep in the bowels of the earth. It is able to protect its contents from an atomic explosion - for example, when an atomic bomb is hit, the power of which can reach 100 kilotons. In this case, all boats, ammunition and specialists working there will remain unharmed.
Balaklava is still of great interest to technical specialists. The submarine base is divided into several parts: a combined water channel underground, which always had a dry dock, a mine and torpedo section of the GTS, a fuel and lubricants warehouse, workshops for the repair of underwater equipment.
Where is the base?
The underground submarine base in Balaklava is located in the bay of the same name, in a picturesque mountain called Tavros. It has two exits from the station, and an entrance to the canal has been created from the side of the bay. Employees called it the adit.
In emergency cases, when a threat could hang over the object, the entrance was blocked by a special batoport. Its weight reaches one hundred and fifty tons. On the northern slope of the mountain, an exit for boats to the sea was built. It also closes with a batoport. All holes in Mount Tavros were expertly hidden with fishing nets and other camouflage devices.
Why was the strategic facility created?
Few cities in the world have such an underwater structure as Balaklava. Photos of the submarine base today can be seen in many special technical publications. Many are interested in what this unique object was intended for. Let us recall once again that it was built during the years of the Cold War, when the international situation was tense to the limit. The base was intended for the maintenance and repair of military submarines of a certain class (633rd and 613th).
Ammunition and spare parts were stored on the territory of this facility. The central adit contained seven boats of this type, and in an emergency, all the adits could accommodate up to fourteen submarines of various classes. But that's not all.
The designers provided a special adit (in case of a nuclear threat) for diving submarines into the station under water. In addition, nuclear weapons were stored among all the stocks of the special facility.
Project flaws
We have already said that modern specialists are still interested in thisconstruction. Sometimes they argue over whether the base was the perfect facility, or whether it had flaws. And they come to the conclusion that there were certainly disadvantages.
While the underwater station was being built, the Black Sea Fleet began to receive new models - boats of the 625th project, which ran on diesel fuel. These vessels could not fit into the created channels. It was extremely difficult to get to the territory of the underwater base during even a weak storm from the other side of the mountain. New boats could be marked in the channels of the GTS no more than three units.
Closing the base
Due to the fact that Balaklava (submarine base) was a secret facility, the government decided in 1957 to annex the city to Sevastopol. He lost his status, and a rather large settlement actually "disappeared" from the map of the USSR. The balaclava was closed to access. In 1994, after Perestroika, the last boat went to sea from the territory of the plant. In subsequent years, this huge and unique object was simply plundered.
Museum
Today many tourists are interested in Balaklava (submarine base). The museum at the secret facility 825 GTS will allow everyone to learn many interesting facts about the tense times of the Cold War between the USSR and the USA.
Museum complex in Balaklava was founded by the leadership of Ukraine in December 2002, opened to the public in 2003.
It consists of part (600 meters) of the central tunnel, nuclear weapons storage (empty), submarine docks, severaloutbuildings. The museum is located in the western part of the bay, which runs almost through the entire city.
The cave labyrinths of this object stretched for 600 meters to the exit from the second hole, which is located on the opposite side of the mountain. The part of the naval base that belongs to the museum is about 30% of the entire complex. Now this section has been repaired and a constant temperature of +15 degrees is maintained in it.
The museum complex consists of curved tunnels and huge shut-off doors that were designed to extinguish a nuclear strike and shock wave. If necessary, not only its employees, but also residents of the city could take refuge at the base.
In the museum you can visit the hall dedicated to the history of the navy and submarines, see models of naval ships, elements of submarines and many other interesting exhibits.
The tenth anniversary of the complex was celebrated in June 2013. The celebration was attended by veteran submariners, former employees of a secret facility, government officials, the Armed Forces, as well as schoolchildren and students.
Interesting facts
The ceiling and walls of the arsenal are covered with a very thick layer of concrete. Its thickness reaches several meters.
The weight of the concrete anti-nuclear door that blocks the entrance to the adit is twenty-four tons.
Balaklava submarine base is currently the only underground harbor in the world. Boats entered the canal only at night, and in Balaklava at that timeturned off the light.
When the boat entered the dock, water was released from it. A large number of fish remained at the bottom. Workers collected and smoked it. Fragrant smoke appeared, by which one could understand that the next ship was put in for repairs.
When the leadership of independent Ukraine, with the approval of foreign "friends", abolished the security service of the underground base, almost the entire huge stock of equipment was stolen. Today, sightseers walk through half-empty tunnels and use their imagination to recreate the past.
Recovery
Nevertheless, Balaklava (submarine base) makes a strong impression on tourists. The Russian government is considering the restoration of this unique object. Such reports appeared in the media in March 2014.
Balaklava: submarine base. Address, excursions
The museum is located at: Tavricheskaya embankment, 22. It waits for visitors daily from 10 am to 5 pm (until 7 pm in summer).
Every hour there are guided tours. Their duration is 1 hour.
