vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #166 / Social life / Reading article...

A trip to Fort No. 3 offers a glimpse of a time when four great powers had their eye on Vladivostok.

As a group of explorers follows the faint path along a small ridge, a cement bunker built into the hillside emerges from the thick fog.

The path runs parallel to a low wall, and then stops at a small concealed doorway that leads downward to tunnels cut 400 meters deep into the mountain.

The fortification has hunkered here for 80 years, but its only signs of age are two rusted doors and the graffitti that has accumulated over time. The concrete is not cracked or crumbling, the walls are firm, and inside, the narrow passageways remain intact.

The structure, mostly underground, is Fort No. 3, one of Vladivostok’s extensive collection of batteries, bunkers, outposts, and strategic redoubts that comprise the Vladivostok Fortress. The system was built at the turn of the century to guard the region primarily against threats from the British, Japanese, and Chinese.

“Vladivostok has the most important strategic significance as a base for our Navy in the Pacific Ocean. It must be prepared to oppose all possible invaders with artillery strength and a sufficient number of troops. The reinforcement of Vladivostok’s forts must be our primary goal.” Gen. Pavel Unterberger, 1880.

Fort No. 3 is a reminder of a different era, when Vladivostok was considered a jewel of the Far East, the prize of nations throughout the Pacific Rim, and a vulnerable but important outpost for its Russian keepers.

It recalls a time when the tsar desperately poured money into the far-flung region after its owners surrendered Port Arthur, located in what is now eastern China, to the Japanese in 1905. Vladivostok was essentially an unguarded post, although it already housed Russia’s Navy.

Without land-based defense, the region’s hilly terrain could be Vladivostok’s undoing, and officials, still reeling from defeat at Port Arthur, feared that Russia would lose control of its eastern territories.

“The Vladivostok Fortress Commission pointed out that from the mountains of Russky Island, it was possible to bombard the Bosfor-Vostochny Strait and the city; to bring down mainland batteries, and fire on all of Russky Island. The commission recommended placing forts and artillery in mountain batteries for the bombardment of remote bays on the south side of the island’s shores.” Commission reports, late 19th century.

What followed was an extensive building campaign that saw the construction of sixteen partially underground forts like No. 3. These forts housed more than 1,000 troops, and were under constant guard.

Builders also constructed a vast array of bunkers and artillery in the area. By 1917, Vladivostok was considered invulnerable, and many feel that this image kept the region scarcely touched by foreign invaders. Besides a brief shelling during the Russo-Japanese War, the forts were never attacked.

“These forts were primarily used as intimidation,” said Sergei Isayev, who now runs tours through some of the forts. “The Japanese knew about Vladivostok’s defenses, and the knowledge kept them away.”

Fort No. 3 is one of the region’s less flashy, but extremely powerful structures. Its design and current condition are testament to Isayev’s claim that it, and others like it, were constructed by some of the best military engineers of the time.

As a group of flashlight-toting journalists prepares to enter the fort, Isayev stops them. Look how well designed it is, he says with affection. It is built into the hill’s topography, invisible from below. Before an attacker even saw the fort, he would have long been the target of well-protected defenders hiding behind walls that on one side slope into the ground, and on the other provide ample room to crouch in holes built into them.

“In Vladivostok you can see how ideas are coming to life, ideas which haven’t yet reached Russia’s furthermost outposts, though present in the newest manuals. The fortifications follow the terrain, lending each of them uniqueness and imagination.” Military engineer and Maj. Gen. Svidzinsky, 1912.

The fort’s strategic importance is obvious – from its vantage point, one can see all across Vladivostok and into its bays. Though the fort was not equipped with long-range artillery, defenders could spot approaching ships and notify other soldiers by telephone.

There are little enclaves for fleeing soldiers, weak walls that could crumble around unwary attackers, and strong doors that could be sealed off to block captured tunnels. Small holes are cut into walls that look down long passages – designed for defenders to hide behind as they shoot attackers running through the fort.

There is also a well. Special concealed rooms were designed to hide weapons. A secret tunnel provided escape if the fort had to be abandoned. Electric wires ran above in a ceiling pipe, while water could run below the floor.

The forts themselves were built in secrecy. Only the engineers knew the full plan for the fort’s construction, and individual workers knew only their own jobs. Because Fort No. 3 took years to build, it was constructed to function from the start – first as a field support point, then as a temporary fortification, and only later as a long-term fort.

Much of the architecture in Fort No. 3, and others like it, has been grounds for serious debate, and partly occupies the time of Vladimir Kalinin, a chemist who has studied the forts since he was a student.

Kalinin helped found the Vladivostok Fortress Club in 1989 to spark discussion and research about historical landmarks that were largely forgotten when the Soviets moved in and sealed many of them off after the 1922 Soviet victory in the Far East.

“Our club provides a base for research,” Kalinin said. “But one of our goals is also to provide intelligent interpretation of the forts’ actual design.”

Kalinin is also trying to boost interest in the forts by casting them as a tourist attraction. A 1996 presidential decree gave all of Vladivostok’s old fortresses the title of federal monuments, a recognition Kalinin is trying to use to raise money and win grants, mostly from the West.

Still, most of Kalinin’s time is spent on history, research, and interpretation. Though many of the forts need renovation if they are to become tourist sites or museums, the necessary government aid is not forthcoming, Kalinin said.

“Government support won’t happen any time soon,” he said. “But it’s a practice world-wide to renovate these forts to become tourist attractions, and we’ll be no exception.”

Until then, while some earlier forts crumble, others will survive based on their own sound building.

“Every aspect of these forts was designed for a specific purpose,” Kalinin said. “At the time they were built, they had no equal anywhere in the world.”

“On October 6, we blessed a new building of the Vladivostok fortress battery, named Petropavlovsk…God help our stronghold, the most advanced battery of Vladivostok, to carry the blessed name of Petropavlovsk honestly and proudly. We will defend our capital with strong soul and courage, as the sailors of Petropavlovsk defend their city also with strength and courage.” Gen. Nikolai Gordenko, 1898.