North Portal Soviet Submarine Facility - Sevastopol, Russia
Posted by: 
Torgut
N 44° 30.060 E 033° 35.798
36T E 547429 N 4927693
Under a hill, the Soviet Navy build a base along the platforms standing by the U shaped canal tunnel.
Waymark Code: WMF7PG
Location: Russia
Date Posted: 09/06/2012
Views: 13
The whole area of Sevastopol, in Crimea, was not accessible to the normal Soviet (and then Ukrainian) citizen until 1993 (I think); in short, it was a militarized area, a huge base formed by dozens of facilities. And from the whole lot, Balaklava was the most well protected, the most secret. There, the Soviets built an underground base for submarines. It took five years to build and it became finally operational in 1961. It was designed to host up to seven class 613 or class 633 submarines.
With the collapse of Soviet Union the site was later abandoned, in 1995. For a while it became just a strange ruin, where people could enter and freely explore. A dangerous situation, with at least three deaths recorded due to accidents with explorers there.
Finally, in 2005, due to the efforts of the city of Sevastopol, a museum was open in this former military facility. Nowadays the visitor will have to pay a ticket and wait until a group is ready to start the tour, which is available in Russian and English. The cots of the ticket is approximately 7 Euros. Tours take about 90 min and include a walk of about 3 km underground.
Is the Tunnel in Use?: Redundant
Which End is this Entrance?: North
Date Constructed: 01/01/1961
Length of Tunnel: About 1 km, perhaps more
Construction Material: Beton
Associated Website: [Web Link]
|
Visit Instructions:
If visiting this Waymark please post at least one picture with your visit log and describe your experience at the location. This adds quality to the Waymark and additional information.