A brief history of the squadron looks like this:
On July 2, 1938, by the decision of the Military Council of the Pacific Fleet, three submarines: L-7, L-9 and L-10 of 41 divisions of the 6th naval brigade of submarines under the flag of brigade commander Captain 1st Rank Zaostrovtsev were redeployed from Vladivostok to Petropavlovsk -Kamchatsky. Captain 3rd Rank A. Kulagin was appointed the battalion commander. From the moment it arrived at the new location, the division began to be called: 41 separate submarine division of the 4th submarine brigade of the Pacific Fleet. To provide submarines by the decision of the Military Council of the Pacific Fleet, 361 coastal submarine bases were created.
The main tasks of the Kamchatka battalion were the study and development of the coast in the area of responsibility, reconnaissance, operations to develop the landing of reconnaissance and sabotage groups.
During the Great Patriotic War, by decision of the State Defense Committee of the USSR, four submarines of the Vladivostok base and two submarines of the Kamchatka formation: "L-15" and "L-16" in 1942 made the transition along the route: Avachinskaya Bay - Dutch Harbor - San Francisco - Panama Canal - Atlantic - Polar (Kola Peninsula), where they joined the Northern Fleet. During the crossing 820 miles west of San Francisco, the L-16 was attacked by an enemy submarine and sank. The L-15, having safely joined the Northern Fleet, subsequently sank 4 German ships and took part in laying minefields.
In August 1945, the division's submarines provided cover for the landing of Soviet troops on the Kuril Islands.
In subsequent years, the division grows to the size of a division, repeatedly changes its name, and its submarines make more and more distant campaigns, covering several oceans with their presence. So, from October 27, 1959 to March 24, 1960, the submarines 611 of the B-88 and B-90 projects in support of the Mikhail Kalinin motor ship and the Vilyuisk tanker under the general command of Captain 1st Rank B. A. Veshtort under the "Tide" program, they made an inter-fleet passage from the Northern Fleet by the southern route through the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans around Africa and Australia. For 150 days, the detachment traveled more than 23 thousand miles. It was the first transoceanic inter-fleet submarine crossing around Australia in the history of the Navy.
June 18, 1963 from Primorye to Krasheninnikov Bay in Kamchatka to the permanent base of the 45th division arrived the first nuclear submarine "K-122" 659 project.
Nuclear submarines are beginning to regularly perform transarctic underwater transitions from the Northern Fleet to the Pacific Fleet, to make transoceanic voyages tens of thousands of miles long and lasting more than a hundred days.
On February 22, 1968, in the year of the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Army and Navy, for its great contribution to strengthening the defensive power of the Soviet state, for successes in combat and political training, the development of new technology, the 15th squadron of submarines of the Pacific Fleet was awarded the Order of the Red Banner - the compound became known as the Red Banner.
In the 70s and 80s of the 20th century, the composition of the formation's ships was regularly updated, the range and duration of campaigns increased, and new tests of the combat capabilities of submarines were carried out.
In October 1975, the second crew of the SSBN "K-258" under the command of Captain 1st Rank G. Marchuk, combining state tests with serial control tests of missile weapons, performed rocket firing with the actual launch of six ballistic missiles, for which an excellent score was given. This was the first time such rocket firing was carried out in the navy and was highly appreciated by the state commission.
1975 year.
In 1989, the flotilla consisted of five divisions, 42 units of the ship composition, which was the heyday of the power of the association.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union on July 26, 1992, the Navy flag of the USSR was solemnly lowered on the ships of the flotilla and the St. Andrew's flag was raised.
Despite the difficult economic situation in the country, which also affected the Armed Forces, submarines continued to carry out command tasks and master new methods of firing and using submarines for peaceful purposes. In 1993, the submarine under the command of Captain 1st Rank S. Igishev, thanks to the high professionalism of the crew, fired cruise missiles at coastal targets for the first time.
The K-434 crew (Project 667AU, Commander 1st Rank Captain V. I. Prokhorov) took part in a unique scientific experiment. At the head of the rocket, which was launched into orbit, there was a technological module for the production of interferon, a valuable raw material for the production of drugs.
On September 1, 1998, the management of the 2nd Red Banner flotilla of nuclear submarines was reorganized into the management of the 16th Red Banner operational squadron, and on June 1, 2003 - into the 16th Red Banner submarine squadron, having received its current name.
The squadron consists of 20 submarines, some of which are constantly on duty in the World Ocean. We were allowed to visit one of the submarines.
The nuclear submarine of Project 949A "Chelyabinsk" was provided for the visit.
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Crews do not guard boats, for this there is a special guard company
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Submarine "catacombs"
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Give up hope everyone who enters here ©
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While it was allowed to shoot in quite a few places on the Karelia nuclear submarine in the Northern Fleet, we were escorted around Chelyabinsk very quickly and was practically not allowed to shoot. At the main command post of the ship, it was allowed to remove only this part from a strictly defined angle.
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Canteen
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Memo to those wishing to aggravate
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I was very surprised by the presence of a sauna on the submarine.
Dressing room
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Steam room
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After the steam room - into the pool. The duck was very touched:)
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Shower room
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It is allowed to swim during the hike every ten days, in shifts. After swimming, you can relax in two cabins, where you can sit, admire various plants, parrots (which, after a couple of months of hiking, where iron and only iron are everywhere, is very useful), watch movies, play chess
The ship's paramedic takes care of the plants
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The submarines also managed to remove the return of the nuclear submarine pr.949A "Tver" with the firing of the "Granit" anti-ship missiles at the surface target
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Large submarine of project 877 "St. Nicholas the Wonderworker"
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In the foreground is the nuclear-powered large submarine pr.671RTM "B-242", then the nuclear-powered submarine pr.949A "Krasnoyarsk"
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Today the squadron is preparing to receive three new Project 955 Borey submarines, for which the crews have already been formed. One of them is already on the lead boat of the Yuri Dolgorukom project, which is being tested in the White Sea. The second is at the "Alexander Nevsky" in Severodvinsk, the third is undergoing training.
Then we went to the headquarters of the squadron, which was guarding the sentry in such an interesting outfit. Since he is not supposed to talk at the post, it did not work to find out if he had regular glasses.
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Squadron emblem
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Briefly about the squadron, the commander himself told us - Rear Admiral Nikolai Evmenov, who has been in this position since July last year
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The story about the infrastructure of the base was presented to the commander in such a way that at times we just rolled with laughter, and at the end we applauded him heartily. Be sure to watch this video, it tells in detail about the formation of the social component of the base
If someone was too lazy to watch, then, in short, the situation is as follows: after the arrival of Putin in 2004, who looked at the devastation taking place at the base, large-scale construction and improvement of the social component of life were undertaken. 14 residential buildings, two kindergartens, an ice rink, a water park with an entertainment center, and an officers' house were built and reconstructed. This year, at the end of October, Spetsstroy will continue work, demolishing three old buildings, in the place of which two residential buildings with 80 and 100 apartments, respectively, will be erected.
Even the headquarters are equipped with simulators.
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Billiard room
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Rest corner
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For the crews of submarines of the Borey project, a comfortable barracks-hostel was built in advance
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All personnel are provided with housing: family apartments are provided with service apartments, single people - apartments in a hostel (they say that they do not want to move out of hostels to an apartment, because living conditions are the same, but you have to pay for the apartment and clean it yourself, while in dormitory staff). Beds in the dormitory barracks are required only for new arrivals for service (until they are allocated housing) and for the duty shift
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Leisure room
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Household room
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Wash basin
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Shower room
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There is a dining room in the adjacent building. Hall for the rank and file
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And for a senior officer, they practically do not differ
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Ice skating rink, built in 2009
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In memory of the deceased Yaroslavl team
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Hockey is very popular at the base, there are several teams that compete with each other. The captain of the "Ocean" team, for example, is the commander himself (in the role of a defender)
Workout
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When hockey players do not train, everyone skates, prices are quite democratic
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For comparison - the allowance received by the rank and file (plus a bonus by order No. 1010). Officers, of course, receive more, plus bonuses under the 400th order, plus "northern"
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The son of one of the officers also participated in the training.
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Entertainment center and water park
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At the moment, preparations are underway for the winter season, maintenance of boiler houses, so there is no water now. But the employees of the center asked very much to say that the launch was postponed until October (it seems that something with funding has stalled), so they are very worried that the season may not start.
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Bowling
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Visit rates
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Since they arrived on Saturday, there were no children in the kindergarten. There are two new kindergartens in the town - "Fairy Tale" and "Little Mermaid" for 200 and 190 children, respectively. Now they will build another one, tk. the available ones are no longer enough. The wives of the military themselves, who have a pedagogical education, work as educators. The teacher's salary is small - from 14-16 thousand
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View of a part of the military town. A minibus runs in a circle, travel costs 10 rubles. There are three firms that provide taxi services, around the town - 100 rubles
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One of the new residential buildings
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The arrival of the hordes of journalists was closely watched. Chapik as an observer:)
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All doors are coded, there is a large stroller on the ground floor
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One-room apartment of one of the lieutenants, who and his wife were given to be torn apart by TV men
Hallway
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Bathroom
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Living room. All furnishings and furniture are state-owned. The lieutenant's wife works as a photographer at a local photo studio
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It was impossible to get into the kitchen due to the presence of many cameras, so I did not take it off.
I didn't have time to ask about a one-room apartment, but a two-room apartment (75 m2) costs 11,500 rubles a month, of which the lion's share is consumed by heating (season from late September to early June).
Finally, a few photos.
Monument to the submarine "L-16", which died in 1942
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Captured US Navy sonar buoy AN / SSQ-41B, dropped by aircraft and designed to search for submarines
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And this slope next to the town is the local ski slope. Favorite skiing spot in winter
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