Hara allveelaevade sadam - Submarine Base — Attraction in Kuusalu vald

▶️ The construction of the former Soviet Union submarine base was built between 1956-1958, by the Russian military. It was in use until 1991.

🏗 It was built as a secret site for the demagnetization of submarines and military vessels. It was named "Military Unit No. 53083". The Soviet Union kept this place secret and closed to the public.

👉 Demagnetization procedure was invented by the British military during WW2, to make submarines less susceptible to magnetic sea mines. Submarine and vessel hulls are magnetically loaded due to the Earth’s magnetic field.

The base contained a special installation for demagnetizing boats which would then allow the vessels to seamlessly cross the Baltic Sea.

▶️ What you can see today is approximately only 10% of what was there when the base was operational. There was a measuring system in the sea and the entire bay both below the water line and above was protected by wires and sensors which are assumed to have been taken as the Soviet Navy left the area.

🏗 The base was rebuilt in Russia close...

If you are a military history and technology enthusiast then this is a rare find. A secret soviet research and de-magnetizing submarine base is something you don’t come across often. Although all the equipment is long gone and the place is falling apart, you can still walk around the strange steel-concrete structures and wonder about all the secret military stuff that used to go on around here… something a Bond villan would have appreciated for sure.

There is now a nice exhibition in the abandoned control building and although the ticket is a bit pricy (€10) its still worth it. They have invested to preserve some of the heritage and to make it accessible for visitors. But don’t expect too much, this is after all a rural area in Estonia where you don’t have huge numbers of visitors.

Oh, and its great for bird watching as well because many swallos and seabirds have made nests...

This year we see much advancements made in the aria. A lot of new houses, sauna, local bathroom but sadly it aint beeing looked affter very much. The soviet muzeum at the subarine base ir amasing and worth checking out. However this year was a bit of a letdown. The food was very expensive and for the whole week had very few options. The houses were very hot to sleep in even on a rainy day, no conditioning what so ever. One camper could drive his car to the house to unpack but we weren't alowed to. The checking out is very late, from 11 only. We had to go out in the morning but had to wait 2 hours till 11 to check out... They need to add some kind of mailbox for people who are...