A narrow strip of water, curving in two bizarre twists in the form of the Latin letter S, crashed into the shore to a depth of 800 meters. On both sides of the bay is squeezed by low , but fairly steep cliffs . Looks a lot like the famous fjords of Norway, but a reduced scale. However, the origin of the bay is not connected with the glacier .This work meridian geological fault lines . It is an ancient fault and must Sevastopol bays his Ship , Musketeers , and many others. And it is the presence of such deep , sheltered from the elements , bays and at all times attracted to these places of sea traders , pirates and warriors .In the quiet , tranquil bays NEVER even the slightest excitement . And after hours of weary conversion ships and their crews can be found here repairs and rest. Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the fact that the Black Sea Fleet base situated in the bays of Sevastopol , and the city was virtually cut off from the rest of the country's curtain of secrecy.
in the yard in 1945 . Birth era of nuclear weapons. The Americans, having thrown off bombs on Japanese cities , showed the world the power of new weapons. USSR intensively developing its nuclear program. The world is on its way to self-destruction . The country's leadership , headed by simply astonished by what he saw the devastation , IVStalin decides to somehow save part of its fleet of nuclear attack potential enemies . And even then, back in 1947, born project , code-named object number 825. The decision to enter this object in the system was made by Stalin in 1947 . It was only after his death in 1957, begins construction .
The main purpose of creating an underground bunker was to keep on the attack most of the nuclear fleet of the USSR and then in service were already in the Black Sea Fleet submarines of Project № 613 and 633 with nuclear warheads on board .During the attacks of 9 nuclear submarines and crews and a few thousand attendants hiding in a bunker , and can independently be there until 30 days after the battle fleet out of the fortifications, and striking back at the enemy . Scary word, but it is true of those years.
And to achieve this goal military engineers to begin developing the project. There is nothing strange in the fact that the balaclava was just the perfect place to channel it. The depth of the bay let it go to submarines in the surface condition. The proximity to the bastion of the Black Sea Fleet - Sevastopol .Just possibly , to create a framework in this area affected and the presence of a large number of mountain Tavros natural caves and hollows . In 1957 construction began . It went almost around the clock . But was conducted so secretly that even the locals had no idea about the ongoing work inside the mountain .The soil excavated for one day of work was taken out at a nearby quarry only during the night. Some of the soil were taken by barge and drowned in the sea. A year after the start of the military joined the Moscow metrostroevtsy . Construction was carried out rapidly. Already by 1961 the base was ready.
And from that moment Balaclava disappears from the maps . On any map, you can not find this bay . Entry and exit is controlled by a special department of Balaklava . All local residents have been on one, and even a few , interviews with staff security . On the territory of Balaklava may get only a residence permit in the passport.All the rest - with a pass . Passes are issued for a specified period and in particular residents of Balaklava. That is, the trip to relatives in Balaklava was possible only with the personal presence of relatives in the CP . All the surrounding hills literally kishili men in civilian clothes . It was strictly forbidden to photograph .If on the hill met a man with a camera , the film was withdrawn immediately and the man got the you- know - where. What to do? Special regime of secrecy.
The base could take as many as nine submarines, to make this a qualified repair , replenish , check the weapon to maintenance work with nuclear warheads.I'll try to tell a little about the hardware of the underground city . If you look closely in the photo , you will see on right side of the bay a huge gaping hole in the mountain and thrown across Canal Bridge. This is the entrance to the underground factory . Previously, he was completely masked by the special mesh reinforced with pieces of rock.And by the thought that the mountain has no holes. Submarines came into his own power , only at night on the surface. Bridge , overlapping channel rests on the two caisson . Of these, the pumped water , a bridge raised himself on the meter and in this situation it was towed away.
This is a very wide berth canal - the width is up to 22 meters , height of 12 meters , the depth of about 8. Log into the canal was closed airtight , stainless steel , hollow inside the door. Weight was the doors of about 150 tons. Shifted it sideways , thanks to the unique technology of the time .Inside pumped compressed air - the door is lifted and moved in a powerful hydraulic grooves on the opposite wall . She is able to withstand enormous pressure of a few tens of kilograms per square meter. see the canal boat and moved under its own power , but with constant monitoring mooring team.
Here, moored to the right side of the channel , a special command to unload all weapons on submarines and special carts for transporting rails laid in the so-called gun- tunnel. Nuclear warheads were removed in the same left Arsenalnoe tunnel.Of enhanced security measures is the fact that trucks were not equipped with any engine, rolled by hand. And they were made from a special alloy that would eliminate the possibility of sparks. A little further on in this part of the bunker were huge, up to 3000 cubic meters. meters , tanks with diesel fuel .
Thus, the boat could go disarmed the right side of the channel in the dry dock . Another floating caisson closed entrance to the dock. Pumped water out of it and to the body of the submarine maintenance work carried out . Channel itself is a tunnel about 8 meters wide with a permanent bend to the left.Boats placed one after another and moved from one position to another repair , both on the conveyor belt. After repairs in dry dock, boat pereshvartovyvalas is directly in the channel, in her arms loaded proven , and it was moving further towards the exit .
The output from the plant was carried out by yet another giant gate , located right at the beginning of the bay. The depth here is about 30 meters, which allowed for access to military duty in a submerged condition.
of the object placed inside the barracks for sailors , dining room, kitchen, repair shops - in short, a huge underground city designed for independent living of about 3,000 people ( the entire population of Balaklava at the time) .If necessary, all inputs and outputs overlap massive doors and a bunker could withstand a direct hit by a nuclear bomb capacity of 100 kilotons. For comparison - the Hiroshima bomb destroyed the power of 20 kilotons.After impact, the base could survive independently for about a month (some say up to three years), thanks to the powerful filter - ventilation units. Tightness was ensured by raising the pressure inside the base 1 . 1 atm. Thus, the pressure prevented the penetration of contaminated air inside.
In addition to inputs for submarines inside the plant there was a network of camouflaged and carefully guarding the entrance to the staff. Each of the workers held most severe tests and double-check the security bodies .Everyone who worked there , gave a subscription of secrecy , which , incidentally, is still in effect . The entire plant was divided into sectors and employee factory had a right to visit only the sector. All the questions where you work every employee , even at home , had to answer I do not know . It is constantly checked gosbeza staff .
The most sensitive part of a so-called Arsenal tunnel . Here was located the bunker for the storage of nuclear weapons. Volumes of his were such that could easily destroy not only Balaklava, but the entire peninsula Heracleian . Arsenal gallery has been through. Both ends its 20 -ton semi-circular closed doors.These gates were permanently closed. They open only during loading / unloading of warheads on board. Staff trapped inside a small semi-circular tunnel around these gates, also covered with massive doors. Tunnel constantly makes turning left - right - just to reduce the blast wave.In the widest part of the tunnel was located workshop, where to assemble and disassemble nuclear warheads. There were 4 tables , each of which runs a separate team . All his movements accompanied by a sound engineer first team.I take the key 16 - a special person was carrying the words in the log - turn the nut on the number 5 two turns counterclockwise ! Each movement was recorded.
There were also three rooms - safe. In one store - the fuses in the other - documentation , in the third something else . Each room can only be opened by two people together. That is,a person's work lay in the fact that he was the keeper of the key from the safe. He came to work and waited for the call. On a call came to the safe, there also came a second man , and together they opened the safe, and a third man came in and took away the contents .
The factory survived until 1991 and the collapse of the Soviet Union.Although in recent years has been to carry out repair functions can not . Boats 613 and 663 projects are hopelessly outdated. Boats of new classes have been many powerful armament and dimensions. And if a class could still enter the channel on the tugs , the advanced nuclear submarines already in it does not fit .So the sad end of the plant, alas , was a foregone conclusion .
In 1993, the top-secret base was completely abandoned and left without protection. Over the next few years she has been the strongest impact in their lives , which impact is worse than nuclear. Base began to downright plunder . Hauled away everything.Wires - Lamps - Furniture - In general , anything that could bring even cast iron manhole covers with . And by 2000, when I first got to this base, it has been completely looted. Not able to carry only 20 -ton gate, and what is not prolazilo in size . As such, the plant survived until 2003.At this time, the President of Ukraine signed a document recognizing the base of the naval museum. And from that moment begins a new twist in the history of the base. Now anyone can visit the underground bunker and hear everything that I tried to tell . And most importantly you can see all this with my own eyes .
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