Stebel battery construction
Battery construction was hugely expensive.
20 million rubles were allocated for this purpose. The ceilings of the facility were covered with a 3.5-meter layer of concrete, which was poured in one line: four nights and days at the command post, and it took a total of ten days to cast each tower. Two giant DEMAG cranes were brought from Moscow to build the battery. The crushed stones needed for the concrete casting were bought from the locals and paid for with tsarist gold rubles, because no one wanted Russian money. The construction of the battery was huge. 20 million rubles were allocated for this purpose. The ceilings of the facility were covered with a 3.5-meter layer of concrete, which was poured in one line: four nights and days at the command post, and it took a total of ten days to cast each tower. Two giant DEMAG cranes were brought from Moscow to build the battery. The crushed stones needed for the concrete casting were bought from the locals and paid for with tsarist gold rubles, because no one wanted Russian money.
"Stories at the End of the Sõrve Leg" Compiled by Bruno Pao Kuressaare 2004
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The Coastal Battery No 315 command post (Stebel)
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 October 1941, after which the lower levels of the barbettes were flooded. The complex comprised two artillery barbettes mounting two 180-mm guns, a command centre, a fire control tower in the shape of a windmill, a generator and a heating plant.
Unfortunately, these intriguingly engineered battery positions are situated on private property and are difficult to locate. As such, anyone interested will have to make do with viewing the command centre from the outside, as its lower level is submerged. The centre was drained in 2010, but had filled up with water again just a few months later.
