Object 221, reserve command post of the Black Sea Fleet

While people are discussing how many missiles are needed to destroy all life on the planet, I will tell you about how the command of the USSR Black Sea Fleet (hereinafter the Black Sea Fleet) was going to be saved in case of an atomic war. For information that is known about this project now, in Soviet times, at best, they would send to places not so remote. But the Soviet Union fell, and now this object is known not only to one tourist, besides it can be visited, which I actually did 2 times.

Object 221 is a grand structure, which is located directly in the mountain on the southern part of the Crimea peninsula, not far from Balaklava. The height was chosen 495 meters, according to geological exploration the mountain was a rock, without faults and cavities. The "roof" of rock above the bunker rooms is 180 meters.
In the event of an atomic catastrophe, the fleet managers as well as the state elite resting in the Crimea, perhaps with their families, could move into this shelter and be autonomously in it for about 30 years, incidentally “firing” missiles in response.

Colonel S. A. Polotsky says:

"In the underground structure under the 180-meter thick rock, the communications center was supposed to be located, providing communication via satellite to ships located anywhere in the oceans, a computer center, an autonomous life support system - a power station, water and fuel tanks, a ventilation system and air regeneration, kitchen, medical center. The interior could accommodate hundreds of staff officers, communications operators, service personnel. ”

Excerpts from the book VB Ivanova "Secrets underground":

“One of the important tasks facing the Black Sea Fleet by the beginning of the 80s was the creation of a new modern protected fleet command center. The planned secret facility was to become the largest defensive structures in the southern strategic direction. An underground deep-level bunker from which combat control of the fleet was to be conducted in the event of a thermonuclear war. On the undeveloped site, in the rocky hills of the fells, in 1977, construction work began on the construction site.
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In the underground structure, under the 180-meter-thick rock, a communication center was to be placed, providing communication via satellite to ships located anywhere in the world’s ocean, a computer center, an autonomous life-support system — a power station, water and fuel tanks, a ventilation system and air regeneration, kitchen, medical center. The interior could accommodate hundreds of specialists - staff officers, telecom operators, attendants. The attack on the bowels of the earth lasted nearly five years. During this time, hundreds of meters of concrete-rubbed corridors were built in the mountain range.

Under the ground, in a confined space, it was necessary to mount four-story buildings. For this technology was developed metal insulation and sealing of welds. Such work was entrusted only to highly qualified welders, each weld was x-rayed through the apparatus.

The underground area of ​​the 3-block protected command post of the Black Sea Fleet was more than 13,500 m2, and the area of ​​the multi-tiered underground premises of the complex reached -22,000 m2. The length of the pedestrian corridors of the complex exceeded three and a half kilometers, and the volume of underground premises exceeded 80,000 m3.

All underground penetration was carried out in compliance with the standards of careful disguise. Exposed false technology, laid false glades and roads. Created a legend building ground-based training center. Roads were laid to mask the object under the forest plot. Entrance portals gave the appearance of the facades of two-story houses. The windows of the second floor painted in black paint. In photos taken from spy satellites, office buildings in the restricted area did not differ from the nearby Alsuu pioneer camp.

Today, the unfinished underground command post belongs to the Ukrainian state, the authorities are studying the issue of the further use of "another masterpiece of the national fortification."

When the object was ready for 90% of the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine didn’t afford such an expensive project, and Russia didn’t need it. As a result, in 1992, funding stopped, security was removed, until 1998, according to some rumors, the criminal authorities "held" the object (they say to train their fighters) and after the death of one of them in 1998, the final embezzlement began, it is still happening.

In order to accomplish such a difficult task as gouging the rock, a construction battalion was specially formed to which specialists from Donetsk Shakht Passage were joined, who already had experience in building concreted mines for ballistic missiles. At first, the specialists “drilled” two 182 meter trunks from top to bottom (on the “Ventilation Shaft” map), they did it in 1 year, and already in the following year they began to move horizontally. All walls inside the shelter and trunks were sheathed with 8mm steel, thereby ensuring tightness and strength. The total mass of the metal was calculated in kilotons!



The facility itself began to be built in 1977, when choosing a site for building a bunker, the government was based on the American nuclear attack plan “Drop shot”, which indicated that 12 nuclear warheads would be brought down on Sevastopol, Inkerman on Balaklava, and the rest on the city itself, in which be managed by the Black Sea Fleet. In turn, the ZKP (Spare Command Post) had to withstand this blow.

For 10 years before 1987, all construction activities were completed. The builders began to lay cables, ennoble the rooms, install secret equipment. Since there were 3 levels, (zero - communication) messages between them were through the stairs, there were no elevators. In total, according to some data, the area of ​​all premises was 13.5 thousand m 2, and on the other, 17.5 thousand m 2.

It is known that on a secret construction site the workers of platoon of midshipman T. Pavlyuk were recognized as the best. The main reward for labor were orders and passing pennants.

Until 1982, they succeeded in gouging two 130-meter blocks with a height and width of 16 meters where they built 2 conventional four-story houses. In addition, there are other large underground areas: 120x10x12 m - it is believed that the water tank, two 20x10x12 m - considered to be compartments for garbage. The rest of the area - a huge number of corridors and rooms, as well as flooded mountain water compartments.

For a more thorough concealment, a legend was invented that a training base for the Black Sea Fleet was built in this place. A four-storey dormitory is being erected next to the object, and several civil buildings, garages, a dining room, etc.

Although talking about the "training center" was not serious because the size of the construction was simply enormous. Colonel S. A. Polotsky (with co-authors) in the book “Military builders of the Black Sea Fleet” writes:

“On the undeveloped site, in the rocky hill, in 1977, tunneling work began for the construction of the fleet's gearbox ... For sinking the first vertical shaft ... in the complete absence of the approach and access roads, any engineering communications, the division of the Donets shakht passage was chosen ... This Management specialized in driving vertical shafts for rocket complexes throughout the Soviet Union and had extensive experience working on autonomous objects. The construction team coped with the task on time and with high quality of work ... The first vertical shaft, 180 meters deep, was used for horizontal penetration as a ventilation shaft, which greatly accelerated the pace of drilling and blasting.
In parallel with the commencement of mining operations, the design of a gearbox, which had no analogues in the Black Sea Fleet, was led by the Moscow Design Institute ...
The specialized construction organization of the trust “Kharkovmetrostroy”, a highly qualified team of machine operators, drillers, demolition workers with a powerful production base, worked on the horizontal penetration of the underground part of the enterprise. They built their own concrete plant, well-equipped workshops for the manufacture of various metal structures, a woodworking workshop, a stationary compressor station for supplying compressed air to rotary hammers, rock loaders and concrete pumps ...
Vertical tunneling of the trunk 2 2 was continued by the team of CPSU - the head A. I. Simakov (Balaklava - DK) ... "

If you look at the plan of the bunker, you can see that its schematic basis is the letter “A”. Communication with the world in 3 places, ventilation, and two rubbed 500 meters each that end with portals. At the entrance, they were blocked by anti-nuclear armor doors with airlock chambers. Two mines with a diameter of 4.5 meters go up to the top, they lead to the top of the mountain and served to take in air and output the communication cables to the antenna. Through these mines, too, there were exits to the surface, spiral staircases were built along them. Everything was blocked by valves, hatches, etc. to protect the inhabitants from toxic gases and radioactive dust. Through the same mines, communication on antennas, for communication with ships and submarines, should have been derived.



If you move along the Sevastopol-Yalta highway, you can stumble upon an abandoned mine behind which there is a turn, the road of which rises a little and goes somewhere upwards. It is not easy to drive along this road because the sign “brick” immediately hanging at the entrance tells us that further traffic is prohibited. At the same time, on the other side of the road there is a sign “Morozovka”. The “brick” is hanging apparently in order to once again intimidate that it is better not to go further, otherwise how will the villagers pass through this sign? We skip the sign and drive on. If you look at the map, then down the road there should be a pioneer camp, in fact, there are Pioneer Leaders with machine guns, i.e. military unit. Most likely, when “object 221” was built and developed, this part ensured security and secrecy, in the 70s and 80s I would not even be missed for “brick”, and my uncle with a gun would politely ask not to interfere with the service. Although at that time the Sevastopol-Yalta road was closed by posts, since Sevastopol was a closed city.

Next to the “children's camp” is the tourist camp “Alsou”, I visited this place 2 times, and both times it was spring, so there were no tourists found on it.

You can get there by car to KPP1, where the road is carefully dug up and there is a barrier on the castle. They say it is the efforts of an evil forester with whom it is better not to meet. We leave the car here. Further on foot, we take lanterns, warm clothes and move on. The road winding on asphalt tracks from the tracks and heavy machinery - marks of looting. We reach the KPP2, here a small house in a dilapidated one in which the guard has served. After 15-20 minutes, it’s expensive to get to the first portal (western), if you go further along the road you can see the second portal (eastern) where you could enter by car before, now it is filled with construction debris. You can login through both portals.

Almost on all maps of the object wandering on the Internet there are marks “reactor well”, there are a lot of disputes, some of the reactor are called ridiculous and not possible, and the rest are discussing the installation of a reactor from a submarine on the object. Nevertheless, it is known for certain that there is a room where diesel generator sets stood. But using them in such a long battery life is questionable.

If you look at the object from the satellite, the following picture opens ( link to Google maps ):



The route from the road itself is indicated by the pink line.

Tires are scattered around the PCP, some visitors say that they see a used hopper in the bowels of the bunker. tires, and then they are lit there to get scrap metal.



The transition between the blocks, still remained official inscriptions. The size of the entrance tunnels is such that KAMAZ can easily pass there.



A piece of the wall near the floor, which shows the mountain monolith, and it is clear how powerful the work was done by the builders



We met another group that was walking on the other side, I remind you that there is complete darkness, and if you stop talking you can hear only the slaps of drops in the puddles. In this photo on the floor you can see the remnants of peretochenok, which destroyed for the uprooting of metal from them.



Removing the tripod with exposure and lighting lanterns. All the metal from the walls was removed and taken out, someone who was not sickly enriched at this object. I'm not talking about secret equipment, and many kilometers of cables that were managed to be installed and installed here.





Multi-level communication mine where you can still see the remnants of the metal, although partially already cut off.



One of the entrance portals (western) disguised as a house with painted windows. The second almost the same window was also drawn, apparently from reconnaissance aircraft and satellite photos.



Metal carvers filmed by comrades from Kharkov tourist.kharkov.ua/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=5812



I advise everyone to visit this bunker while there is an opportunity :)

Used literature, and links where you can still read about the object:
sevdig.sevastopol.ws/stat/alsu.html “KP is closed. Everything went for scrap "
strannik.crimea.ua/content/view/52/1 "Some additions to the mysteries surrounding the underground Sevastopol"
abonent99.at.tut.by/zkp221/zkp221.html Report on the visit of the "Object number 221"
tourist.kharkov.ua/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=5812 ZKP ChF (Object 221)
ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapasnoy_kommandny_punkt__ Black Sea Fleet Page from Wikipedia
docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AT9UK8G_yP1UZGhoYnM4bXBfMzNnZnNuMmZkYg&hl=en Link to a copy of this article in Google Docs just in case :)

ps removed annoying sentence about the death of soldiers.