Coastal defence battery
I WW1, II WW2, IV Soviet Occupation

The restored fire control tower of the 46th Coast Guard Battery in Ventspils is located on Saulrieta street and is available to visitors in the form of an observation tower. There are four artillery gun positions near the tower and it is the only World War II coastal defence battery in Latvia in such a good condition. Visitors can take the tower stairs to an outdoor viewing platform overlooking the sea. An information stand with a QR code is available next to the tower. You can use the QR to watch an animation about historical events. There is a new street leading to the tower, a large parking lot and a wooden footbridge that crosses the protected nature area next to the tower.

The first coastal defence batteries for the defence of the Irbe Strait were built after 1912, when the Baltic Fleet Mine-Artillery Defence Position Plan was approved, which included several coastal defence batteries and sea mine-laying.

The Irbe Strait position was the furthest south, and its task was to block any enemy access to the Gulf of Riga. The main emphasis was on sea mines, tens of thousands of which were laid in...

The area between the Southern Cape of Ristna and Kalana Port in Hiiumaa is tightly packed with military objects. As the structures of different eras and military units are randomly scattered, you can only wonder about the function of several objects. After the battery was closed down in 1960, an early warning radar company moved to the base from North Ristna. In 1986 large-scale work began: a two-storey 16-apartment block for officers remained incompleted, a foundation of  barracks was completed and the brick-laying of walls had started. The block of flats is still standing, the barracks have been demolished to their foundations. From 1979 a department of making aluminium spoons operated in Ristna base. It was meant to keep the officers’ wifes busy...

Three 180-mm coastal batteries with twin towers were built in  Estonia: in Osmussaar, on the Cape of Sõrve Säär in Saaremaa (so-called Stebel Battery) and in Hiiumaa. Tahkuna battery no. 316 comprised two 180-mm twin-gun devices MB-2-180. The distance between gun blocks is 450 m. Due to swampy ground the construction was complicated, the pumps were constantly working. Concrete casting had to be carried out uninterrupted, the casting of one position  (ca  6500 m3 ferroconcrete) took five days. The ceiling is 2.7 m thick. The total weight of the gun tower is 375 tons, the armour of the tower is 203 mm. The crew - 55, ammunition reserve – 408 shells and 819 cartridges.

The 130-mm battery at Tahkuna is architecturally similar to the battery at Tohvri. The ferroconcrete surfaces in the gun emplacements bear the inscripted date 20/IV 1941. In 1941 the battery had four 130-mm  B-13 guns (weight of gun including shield 12.8 tons, crew 11, shooting range up to 25 km). The crew included 151 seamen and 9 officers. The guns were installed right before the battles of October 1941.

A building battalion of the Red Army arrived in Hindu village in October 1939. The local population was ordered to leave their homes before winter. By the following spring the battery area was surrounded by a wire fence. Building material arrived via Sõru Port where work was done in 3 shifts, 24 hours a day. At least a hundred local men were employed to build the battery. Concrete mix was manually made in large tubs, foundation holes were dug. The barracks  were going to have two storeys, the second storey angle iron framework was completed when the top committee came to check on the construction. An order was given to demolish the second floor because it was visible from the sea. By the autumn of 1940 two barracks, two officers’...

The construction of the battery began in 1914. As it was an additional battery, missing in the original plan of the naval fortress and the type of guns was repeatedly changed. Finally four 120- mm Vickers guns were installed. A 200-m length and 10-20-m width sandbar was piled up in defence of the gun emplacements and covered in concrete above the guns. Hindu was the only battery in Hiiumaa that participated in combat operations during the Tagalahe landing on 12 October 1917. After a brief exchange of fire with the German warships the Russian artillerymen fled, leaving the battery intact. The Germans sent a landing unit of soldiers inland that blew up the guns of the battery. One of the German warships that shot Hindu battery, was ’Bayern’, the ...

A building battalion of the Red Army arrived in Hindu village in October 1939. The local population was ordered to leave their homes before winter. By the following spring the battery area was surrounded by a wire fence. Building material arrived via Sõru Port where work was done in 3 shifts, 24 hours a day. At least a hundred local men were employed to build the battery. Concrete mix was manually made in large tubs, foundation holes were dug. The barracks  were going to have two storeys, the second storey angle iron framework was completed when the top committee came to check on the construction. An order was given to demolish the second floor because it was visible from the sea. By the autumn of 1940 two barracks, two officers’...

This coastal defence battery is situated on the shores of the Gulf of Riga in the village of Sääre on Saaremaa.

Sääre was the site of the 43rd coastal battery of the Moonsund forward position of Peter the Great's Naval Fortress, also known as Zerel.  It comprised four 305-mm guns. Construction began in 1914, during World War I, on a limited budget. The artillery pieces were mounted in the open on barbettes, with a narrow firing range over Irbe Strait. These were accompanied by ammunition...

This Coastal Defence Battery Command centre is situated in a now deserted part of the village of Sääre.

The coastal defence battery was named after its commander, Captain Aleksandr Stebel. Construction began in May 1940 and the battery was completed shortly before the outbreak of World War II. The battery deterred German marines in Lõu Bay and provided covering fire for the Red Army’s Lõpe-Kaimri defensive line. The artillery was destroyed during the Red Army retreat in...

This coastal defence battery is situated in Pikanina in the southern part of the island of Abruka. It is 4 km from the village centre.

Battery no. 3 (the 29th battery) was built shortly after the decree of the Mutual Assistance Pact near the former border outpost. It was manned by 125 soldiers, five of them officers. The unit’s commander was Senior Lieutenant Savin, aided by Commissary Lukonin. By 1941, three 130-mm gun positions had been completed. Two of them were destroyed in German air raids. The gun...

This 130-mm battery is situated at the tip of Kübassaare Peninsula.

Unfinished, it comprised four 130-mm 50-calibre B13 Pattern guns with a range of 24 km and a sector of fire of 166°. The crew was meant to consist of 160 men (nine Soviet officers, 39 non-commissioned officers and 112 Red Fleet marines), but historical records state that as at 1 February 1941 there were five officers, 23 non-commissioned officers and 135 Red Fleet marines here.

This coastal defence battery is situated between the villages of Võiküla and Rässa. The 36th 10-inch Coastal Defence Battery formed part of the 1st Battalion of the Muhu Strait fortifications during World War I. Its construction began in 1915. The battery comprised five 10-inch (254-mm) Durlacher-type guns, which were mounted on wooden barbettes later upgraded to concrete emplacements standing 70 metres apart. The artillery was protected from the front by a 400-metre-long sand wall piled without the use of machinery, 15 metres wide at its ridge and 25 metres wide at its foot.. The battery was active in combat during Operation Albion, the German offensive in 1917.

This coastal defence battery is situated in Ninase near the Port of Saaremaa on Tagaranna Peninsula. Following the outbreak of World War II, the Soviet Union began fortifying the Western Estonian Archipelago and a coastal defence battery comprising four 180-mm guns was built on farmland in the village of Ninase to deter the enemy. Construction work on the battery began in July 1940. Its artillery stood 200-300 metres apart, with a generator established nearby to supply the complex with electricity. The battery was not used in combat. On 20 September 1941, German troops surrounded the battery. The battery crew managed to blow up two of the guns and break through the German line.

The island of Osmussaar is situated off the north-west coast of Estonia. This 180-mm coastal battery is located, in turn, in the north-western part of the island.

The battery comprised two twin 180-mm guns. Some sources state that the battery was ready for combat by 1 September 1941, four months ahead of schedule. Others claim that only the 180-mm gun facility to the south had been set up by this time. The fact that the gun to the north was seldom used is confirmed by its ammunition stock being more full than that of the gun to the...

The island of Osmussaar is situated off the north-west coast of Estonia. This 180-mm coastal battery is located, in turn, in the north-western part of the island.

The battery comprised two twin 180-mm guns. Some sources state that the battery was ready for combat by 1 September 1941, four months ahead of schedule. Others claim that only the 180-mm gun facility to the south had been set up by this time. The fact that the gun to the north was seldom used is confirmed by its ammunition stock being more full than that of the gun to the...

The beach defense battery is located in the Mõntu park on the coast of the Gulf of Livonia near the Mõntu harbor in a deserted place.

The 127 mm coastal defense artillery battery No. 458, which consisted of four underground firing positions with circular galleries cast in concrete, along with weapons and primary ammunition, was located in Mõntus in 1944 as aid.

The museum is located in the former Tahkuna border guard cordon. In order to assemble a team of enthusiasts, in 2005 the non-profit Hiiumaa Association of Military History was established and went to work.  

When it turned out that in the summer 2005, the Estonian border guard unit was going to move out of Tahkuna Station and the buildings would become redundant, the ambitious idea of setting...

The rangefinder (dated 1954) is located in the pines of a dune 10m away from the 1941 rangefinder. The gun positions of the 1st and 2nd guns of the shore battery are located on the seafront and partially eroded, while the gun position of the 4th gun is best seen in the dunes.

Liepaja Fortress Battery 2 was planned to be built further from the shoreline and protected by a high rampart. The armament of the battery was to be 16 11-inch (280 mm) mortars of the 1877...

The rangefinders (dating from 1941) are located in the pines of the dune, only 10m from the other tower, built in 1954. The 1st and 2nd gun emplacements of the shore battery are located on the seafront and partially eroded, while the 4th gun emplacement is best seen in the dunes.  The reinforced concrete bunker of the personnel who manned the guns is now washed away by the waves and has a washed-out foundation, tilted and leaning seawards.

No military infrastructure was planned in Cape Kolka, except for several offshore lighthouses that were rebuilt over a long period of time, either before World War I, during World War I or during World War II. Coastal defence batteries were planned for the narrowest part of the Irbe Strait, between the Sirves Peninsula and the Michael Tower Lighthouse.

The only fortifications of a military nature appeared at the end of 1944, when the German Army Group North was preparing to repel possible landings by the Soviet Baltic Fleet. In the spring of...

Coastal fortifications are located in Riga, Mangaļsala, at the mouth of the Daugava across from Daugavgrīva. Fortifications built by different armies (Russian, Latvian, German and Soviet) can be seen here. The fortifications of Mangaļsala were built to defend the city of Riga from hostile navies. This area was strategically important for a long period of time. After World War I the Latvian Army did not yet have a strong navy. The maritime border was long and coastal defence was becoming an increasingly difficult task. The Latvian Army took over the fortifications built by the Russian Empire in the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century and expanded the defence system. The artillery of Daugavgrīva and Mangaļsala would open fire on enemy...

The Northern Forts are the best known and visually most impressive part of the Liepāja Fortress. Built by the Russian tsarist army in the late 19th century, their historical name is Fortress Battery No 1.

In November 1908, less than 10 years after its construction, the Liepāja Fortress ceased to operate, because its construction was acknowledged as a strategic mistake. Some of the cannons...

The longest pier in Latvia - the Northern Pier - was built at the end of the 19th century as a very important part of the Liepaja Sea Fortress and military port. The length of the pier is 1800 metres, the width - 7.35 metres.

The Northern Pier is one of the first port structures of Emperor Alexander III, built between 1890 and 1892 before the excavation of the Karosta Canal. Together with the North Breakwater, the...

Around 1958, a special railway branch was built on Mangaļsala from the Vecāķi station for the needs of the Soviet army. It was the most convenient way to bring fuel, ammunition, firearms and building materials to the military base located here. Even earlier, starting from the 20th century and up to the Soviet years, a narrow-gauge railway ran through the entire Mangaļsala, transporting ammunition to the gun emplacements. Later, a more serious railway branch was built, crossing the Vecdaugava over one of the two – the least known – dams on Mangaļsala. For example, it is no longer possible to access this dam from the Vecāķi side, because the view is blocked by private property. The concrete hillock visible in nature was a platform. When Soviet...

In the 1950s, such a bunker was built and covered with earth so that a potential enemy could not find it so easily. There are four such buildings in Mangalsala in total, all of which were built between 1953 and 1955. During the Soviet era, ammunition was stored here - underwater mines, torpedoes, etc. Currently, this is the cleanest of the closed-type ammunition depots from the Soviet era, but if you go further, you can also see the largest one.

During the Soviet era, so much ammunition and military equipment was brought to Mangaļsala that there was not enough space in the warehouses, so a large part of it had to be stored in the open air. Only such things that could be damaged by moisture were placed in the premises. This action also shows the careless attitude of the Soviet army towards any kind of inventory: a sandbank was built around it, of which a small hillock still remains, but the bank itself protected the ammunition from fires and explosions. If a rocket were to explode in the vicinity here, the blast wave would hit the bank and would not reach further, or would reach a much smaller extent. Nearby is a reinforced concrete pole - a lightning rod! Such poles allowed to protect...

This bunker was built in 1955 - during the Soviet occupation. The path around this building was once a bypass road, surrounded by a double barbed wire fence. Guards walked behind it and watched to see if any unauthorized person approached the facility. This building is mentioned in some sources as an ammunition depot, and in others - a chemical storage facility. It is said that there were even nuclear missiles here, but no traces of radiation have been found here. It is completely dark inside, but then - light is visible. It used to be a ventilation system. This is the only building on Mangalsala that had ventilation. Cargo was brought here by wagons along the railway. The acoustics are very good - once a youth choir even had a rehearsal here! However, here...

The peculiar horseshoe-shaped concrete structure was once the location of a searchlight. Meanwhile, a hundred meters further towards Vecāķi, a searchlight helmsman sat in a small concrete bunker and watched for any unauthorized person approaching from the coastal side. There were practically no trees here, so the entire area was clearly visible. If an attacker started shooting at the light source, the helmsman would be completely protected – submerged in the cover of darkness and concrete. This searchlight point was built by the Latvian army in 1928, continuing to adapt the already militarized Mangaļsala to its needs. Later, during the Soviet occupation, the searchlight could also be used to watch for anyone intending to go in the opposite direction and...

This is the largest military structure on Mangalsala, which began to be built between 1912 and 1916. The walls of the bunker were several meters thick, and it was protected from the sea by a sandbank. During the First World War, the German fleet did not come to Riga, only thanks to the cannons stationed here. In 1917, the Russians withdrew from Riga on their own and blew up part of the bunker when they left. During the Latvian Independence period – in the 1930s – and later during the Soviet years, this battery was renovated and expanded – the cannon platforms were rebuilt and new cannons were installed. In 1941 – during the Second World War, the Russians blew up this battery again, fearing that German troops might enter Latvia. The first cannons fired...

The fortifications of the Daugava River mouth are the oldest structures on Mangaļsala. Here you can see the entire 400-year history of the island's military heritage, as well as examples of military architecture from several periods - the Swedish era, the Tsarist era, the era of free Latvia and the Second World War. The first gun positions on ancient maps in this area appear as early as the 17th century with the construction of the Daugavgrīva fortress, but later the fortifications were gradually expanded and renovated. During the Swedish era, dolomite was transported here by barges along the Daugava from the Koknese quarries for the construction of tunnels and gun positions. In the mid-19th century, piers began to be built in the Daugava. About twenty or...