At the end of September, the Swedish armed forces announced the return of the Musköbasen underground naval base, owned by the Navy. In the near future, this facility will be restored and made a "home" for the main headquarters of the naval forces. This means that one of the most interesting sites of the Swedish Armed Forces is returning to full service.
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Reports of the restoration of the Muskyo underground base appeared on September 30, the 50th anniversary of its official opening. After years of limited operation and downtime, some of the facility's blocks will be repaired and returned to normal service. It is planned to deploy the headquarters of the Navy on it. The Musköbasen base has a number of characteristics and will be able to provide command protection in the face of full-scale conflict.
The Muskyo facility was decommissioned in 2004 due to a change in the military-political situation in the region. The likelihood of a conflict with the participation of Sweden was reduced to a minimum, and the limited military budget did not allow maintaining a large buried structure.
The situation in Europe is changing, and the Swedish Navy has shown a desire to defend against possible threats. In this regard, in the next two years, Musköbasen will be renovated and the infrastructure will be restored. After that, the main headquarters of the Navy will move to the base.
The foreign press and experts associate such plans with the notorious Russian aggression. It is assumed that the command of the fleet wants to protect itself from an attack by Russia, and for this it moves to a particularly stable facility. At the same time, the Navy themselves only indicate the need to ensure the security of the main headquarters in the new conditions.
Unique construction
The Musköbasen facility began to be built in the fifties, but the prerequisites for its appearance existed before. Back at the beginning of the XX century. The issue of transferring the main fleet base from Stockholm was raised, but for many decades such a proposal did not receive development. The situation changed only in 1948, when the next search for an optimal location for a new base was crowned with success.
In 1950, a report appeared, according to which the new object should have been deployed on about. Muskö in the south of the Stockholm archipelago. Soon, a project was approved, according to which underground shipbuilding and ship repair enterprises should be built on Muskyo. The actual fleet base was supposed to appear later - to reduce costs in the first years of construction.
All new objects were to be built in the thickness of the rocks. This arrangement could provide protection against the newly emerging nuclear weapons. Despite its neutral status, Sweden feared that it might be affected by a future armed conflict - incl. with the use of nuclear weapons. For this reason, the new base had to be made as stable as possible.
In the future, the project was revised several times, but construction continued. In 1950-55. the builders made the first tunnels suitable for receiving small and medium-sized ships. In 1955, the minesweeper HMS M14 entered the underground tunnel for the first time and moored at the pier.
In 1959, the project was revised again, changing the composition of the underground structures and the placement of various components. The latest version of the project appeared only after 1965. At the same time, the final cost of underground construction, as well as the arrangement of the surface infrastructure, was determined.
The first version of the project from 1950 had an estimate of 190 million Swedish kronor (over.2.5 billion kroons or 230 million euros at current prices). By the end of the fifties, the estimate was reduced, but later it began to grow again. The revised draft of 1965 required more than 300 million kroons (more than 3.1 billion kroons or 300 million euros in 2019 prices).
By means of some reductions, the final cost of the base was brought to 294 million kroons. The construction, starting from the first works and ending with the delivery of the last section, took 19 years.
On July 1, 1969, an order was issued to transfer the fleet base from Stockholm to about. Muskyo. On September 30, the official opening ceremony was held, in which King Gustav VI Adolf took part. The facility was officially named Ostkustens Örlogsbas or ÖrlB O - East Coast Military Base. Subsequently, the name changed several times. So, since 2000, the name MarinB O has been used, since 2005 - MarinB.
Underground fortress
The Muskyo base is a large underground structure that contains all the necessary facilities to accommodate ships, equipment and personnel. The exact plans of the base are still secret, but open sources often claim that it is comparable in size to the historic center of Stockholm. During the construction of the base, approx. 1.5 million cubic meters of rock.
Inside the rock there are three large dock tunnels of different sizes with mooring walls. With the help of a system of smaller exit tunnels, they are connected to the Baltic Sea. The base can simultaneously receive several small or medium ships or submarines. Two of the three main tunnels can serve as dry docks for servicing ships. The tunnels are protected from external influences by reinforced gates.
The largest of the tunnels with berths is 250 m long and can accommodate several ships. There are also 150 and 145 m tunnel docks up to 40 m high with the possibility of drainage. The docks are equipped for inspection and maintenance of ships. In fact, they deployed their own shipyard at the base, capable of restoring damaged combat units.
Almost any ships, vessels and submarines of the Swedish Navy could take shelter at the Muskyo base - up to destroyers with a displacement of more than 3 thousand tons. The only exceptions were cruisers.
The rock also houses numerous rooms for personnel and objects for various purposes, divided into several blocks. They are interconnected by tunnels with pressurized doors with a total length of more than 20 km. If necessary, different blocks of the base can be isolated from each other. In this case, they use their own power plants, filtration plants, etc. The ÖrlB O served as the main headquarters of the fleet, as well as several different directorates.
The base's own garrison included approx. 1000 people. Also, the base could accommodate the crews of sheltered ships. For example, the main canteen of the base was designed to serve 2 thousand people at the same time. The autonomy of the facility was several weeks.
Big cut
In the early nineties, the military-political situation in Europe changed dramatically. Military budgets began to decline, and the Swedish Navy suffered, among others. In 2004, they were forced to cut plans to operate the MarinB O base to save money.
The main headquarters of the fleet and most of the ships were transferred to the city of Karlskrona. Some support and security units remained at the underground base. In addition, the Information Department, which monitors the situation in the Baltic Sea, continued its work. The vacated premises were mothballed; property from them was taken to new duty stations. Ship repair dock tunnels were leased to civilian companies.
Nevertheless, warships continued to work in the area of about. Muskyo, and also regularly entered the underground tunnels. The Navy tried to preserve the necessary facilities and train personnel in the event of a hypothetical conflict.
Base revival
On the day of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Musköbasen / ÖrlB O / MarinB O base, the command announced new plans. The preserved blocks of the base will be restored and returned to operation. The main headquarters of the Navy will move there from Karlskrona. A full return of warships is also possible.
The new plans will take 2-3 years to complete. The return of the headquarters is scheduled for 2021-22. By this time, the underground premises will be repaired and equipped with modern equipment necessary for controlling the fleet. The exact plans for the relocation of other controls or ships have not yet been published.
The news about the restoration of the base and the transfer of the headquarters has already received several explanations. The version concerning "Russian aggression" is especially popular in foreign media. Allegedly, Sweden fears an attack from Russia, and therefore is forced to restore military facilities during the Cold War.
However, Muskyo's recovery can also be explained from an economic point of view. In recent years, the Swedish defense budget has been increasing, and the naval forces have been able to restore their combat capability. One of the methods of this is the return to service of a key naval base. In addition, it should be borne in mind that the thrifty Swedes at one time with great difficulty agreed to the conservation of an extremely complex and expensive object.
Now the unique naval base is returning to full-fledged service and will support the work of the command. Thanks to this, military leaders and warships will be able to serve under the protection of the rocks. In addition, an expensive and complex structure will no longer stand idle and provoke disputes about its future.
