Basis Nord - the planned secret base for supplying the operations of the German Navy in 1939-1940 in the North of the USSR , 60 km to the northwest of Murmansk . The place for the base in the West Litsa Bay was proposed by the USSR during negotiations with Germany . As a result, not a single military vessel or submarine in Germany received supplies at this base [1] .
Content
History
Negotiations on the base were conducted as part of the exchange of resources and technology between the USSR and Germany, on the Soviet side subordinates of the People's Commissar of Foreign Trade Mikoyan [2] .
A German submarine U-36 was sent to the alleged location of the base for reconnaissance, but it did not reach the place, since on December 4, 1939 it was sunk by the English ship HMS Salmon [3] . Another German submarine, U-38 , was able to inspect the approaches to the base, despite the opposition of Soviet torpedo boats and coast guard vessels [4] .
In December 1939, the German unarmed merchant ships Cordillera , Phoenicia and Sachsenwald came and anchored in West Faces from Murmansk [5] .
The territory of the proposed base was practically not developed. There were no berths or any port facilities in the bay, ships anchored in unprepared anchorage. On the other hand, the Soviet Union sought to maintain neutrality, and for this, it was just a remote base in a remote fjord on Soviet territory, which few people knew about, that could serve as well as possible.
On January 20, 1940, the Germans sent the merchant ship Jan Wellem from Kiel with reserves, which arrived in the bay on February 4 [6] .
With the invasion of Norway in April 1940, the Germans' need for a base on Soviet territory decreased markedly, if not completely.
On May 1, 1940, the USSR proposed another location for Basis Nord - in the nearby Yokanga Bay, but this proposal was also not implemented.
In April 1940, the Soviet government revoked all its previous promises regarding Basis Nord [7] .
See also
- Western Faces - USSR Naval Base
- Soviet-German relations
Literature
- Tobias R. Philbin. The lure of Neptune: German-Soviet naval collaboration and ambitions, 1919-1941. Chapter 5. Basis Nord.
- Meltiukhov M.I. Lost chance of Stalin. The Soviet Union and the struggle for Europe: 1939-1941 (Documents, facts, judgments). - M .: Veche, 2000 .-- with ill. - Chapter 6.
Links
- “Basis Nord”: Soviet-Nazi cooperation in 1939-1940 , "Fleet of Ukraine", edition of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine .
- Map of anchorage in the bay .
Notes
- ↑ Tobias R. Philbin. The lure of Neptune: German-Soviet naval collaboration and ambitions, 1919-1941. Chapter 5. P. 113
- ↑ Tobias R. Philbin. The lure of Neptune: German-Soviet naval collaboration and ambitions, 1919-1941. Chapter 5. P. 82
- ↑ Tobias R. Philbin. The lure of Neptune: German-Soviet naval collaboration and ambitions, 1919-1941. Chapter 5. P. 96
- ↑ Tobias R. Philbin. The lure of Neptune: German-Soviet naval collaboration and ambitions, 1919-1941. Chapter 5. P. 97
- ↑ Tobias R. Philbin. The lure of Neptune: German-Soviet naval collaboration and ambitions, 1919-1941. Chapter 5. P. 103
- ↑ Tobias R. Philbin. The lure of Neptune: German-Soviet naval collaboration and ambitions, 1919-1941. Chapter 5. P. 110
- ↑ Memorandum by the German Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Schulenburg); April 11, 1940 ). Tgb. Nr. A. 1833/40 Moscow, April 11, 1940.