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Armoured Coastal Batteries #30 and #35, commonly known in English as Maxim Gorky I and Maxim Gorky II, were coastal batteries used by the
Maxim Gorky I (russian: Бронебашенная батарея-30, , Armoured Turret Battery-30) was located east of Ljabimorka, at (north of Severnaya Bay which formed
After the war, Maxim Gorky I was restored using the 305 mm gun turrets of the battleship Frunze, up-gunning it from 4 guns to 6, and upgraded with increased armour and a modern fire-control system. It remained in service until 1997 when it was mothballed, and the last time it fired its guns was in 1968, for the filming of the Soviet film "Sea on Fire" (russian: Море в огне). It reportedly can be reactivated in only 72 hours.
Maxim Gorky II was not fully restored, with parts of the fort being used for other coastal batteries until 1963, when the military officially abandoned the fort. It was further damaged in the 1980s and 1990s by salvagers and grave robbers. In 2007, it was made into a museum complex commemorating the sacrifice of its defenders. Funding was acquired via charity, primarily from Russian businessman
The History of Maxim Gorky-I Naval Battery, Sevastopol
World War II sites in Russia Coastal fortifications Military installations in Sevastopol Fortifications in Russia Fortifications in Ukraine
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
during the Crimean Campaign
The Crimea campaign was an eight-month-long campaign by Axis forces to conquer the Crimea Peninsula, and was the scene of some of the bloodiest battles on the Eastern Front during World War II. The German, Romanian, and defending Soviet t ...
of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. The invading German forces nicknamed them after the famous Soviet author and political activist Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...
.
Maxim Gorky I
Maxim Gorky I (russian: Бронебашенная батарея-30, , Armoured Turret Battery-30) was located east of Ljabimorka, at (north of Severnaya Bay which formed Sevastopol
Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...
's harbor), and contained two twin gun turrets which could fire four 30.5 cm guns. Once the Germans had broken through the Perekop Isthmus
The Isthmus of Perekop, literally Isthmus of the Trench ( uk, Перекопський перешийок; transliteration: ''Perekops'kyy pereshyyok''; russian: Перекопский перешеек; transliteration: ''Perekopskiy peresheek ...
in October 1941, they advanced on Sevastopol but were confronted by Maxim Gorky I. They deployed the 80 cm rail gun Schwerer Gustav
Schwerer Gustav (English: ''Heavy Gustav'') was a German railway gun. It was developed in the late 1930s by Krupp in Rügenwalde as siege artillery for the explicit purpose of destroying the main forts of the French Maginot Line, the strongest ...
to destroy it. On June 6, 1942, heavy guns and Karl-Gerät
"''Karl-Gerät''" (040/041) (German literally "Karl-device"), also known as ''Mörser Karl'', was a World War II German self-propelled siege mortar (''Mörser'') designed and built by Rheinmetall. Its heaviest munition was a diameter, shel ...
siege mortars managed to make direct hits on the battery which destroyed one of the gun turrets and damaged the other. None of these were successful in eliminating the Maxim Gorky I, however, and it was not until June 17 that it was put out of action by German assault engineers. According to the Soviets, the batteries guns ran out of ammunition, firing was forced to cease, and the fortification was subsequently blown up by the crew.
Maxim Gorky II
Maxim Gorky II (russian: Бронебашенная батарея-35, , Armoured Turret Battery-35), which was armed with similar battleship turrets to Maxim Gorky I, was located on seaward cliffs on the southwest side of Sevastopol (. On July 4, Maxim Gorky II was taken after the Sapun positions were captured, making it the last major pre-war fortification to take part in a campaign.Post-War
After the war, Maxim Gorky I was restored using the 305 mm gun turrets of the battleship Frunze, up-gunning it from 4 guns to 6, and upgraded with increased armour and a modern fire-control system. It remained in service until 1997 when it was mothballed, and the last time it fired its guns was in 1968, for the filming of the Soviet film "Sea on Fire" (russian: Море в огне). It reportedly can be reactivated in only 72 hours.
Maxim Gorky II was not fully restored, with parts of the fort being used for other coastal batteries until 1963, when the military officially abandoned the fort. It was further damaged in the 1980s and 1990s by salvagers and grave robbers. In 2007, it was made into a museum complex commemorating the sacrifice of its defenders. Funding was acquired via charity, primarily from Russian businessman Aleksei Chaly
Aleksei Mikhailovich Chaly (russian: Алексей Михайлович Чалый; born 13 June 1961) is a businessman and formerly ''de facto'' mayor of Sevastopol. He declared himself mayor in February 2014, amidst the Crimean crisis, after t ...
.
Footnotes
External links
{{Commons category, Maxim Gorky FortressesThe History of Maxim Gorky-I Naval Battery, Sevastopol
World War II sites in Russia Coastal fortifications Military installations in Sevastopol Fortifications in Russia Fortifications in Ukraine