APEC 2012 → Vladivostok Guide → VLADIVOSTOK’S FORTRESS

In 1889 Russia’s government decided to establish a key base for the Russian Pacific Fleet in Vladivostok and to fortify the port to guard the new lands of Russian Empire. First, a number of ramparts fitted with artillery were constructed within a 3-5 kilometer distance from Zolotoy Rog Bay.  In the next few decades, solid structures were built to protect the city – a Fortress from both sea and land attacks.  It is no surprise that today Vladivostok continues to be an important base of Russia’s Pacific Fleet.

    

The Russian-Japanese war in 1904-1905 compelled the Russian government to improve earlier fortifications.  In 1910 the main line of defense was moved 15-20 kilometers’ distance from the Bay. A number of strong forts and an intricate system of tunnels were constructed. In some places, the tunnel walls were four meters thick!  By 1916, Vladivostok’s fortress included powder magazines, refrigerators, cable railways, runways, airship landing fields, barracks, etc., allowing the city to withstand a long siege.

   

Around the same time, multiple artillery batteries and pillboxes were placed along the Amur and the Ussury Bays to protect the city from the sea.  The Fortress was considered the most advanced defense structure in Russia. Moreover, in 1919, Vladivostok’s Fortress was recognized as a model for military engineering and the best sea stronghold in the world.

   

In 1923, under pressure from Japan, Soviet Russia signed an agreement ending its elaborate Fortress around Vladivostok.  Defensive structures were replaced by a system of fortified areas and zones along the coastline. In 1930, the defense system was redesigned again by setting 305 mm guns on nearby Russky Island. Their shells weighed 471 kilograms and could hit a target within a range of 35 kilometers. This battery was operational until 1996 when it became part of the Naval Museum. Today, more than 100 defensive structures remain in Vladivostok with some of them open to the public.