Voroshilovsky Battery, Military fortification museum in Russky Island, Vladivostok, Russia.
The Voroshilovsky Battery is a coastal turret battery on Russky Island, consisting of two armoured towers, each housing three 305 mm guns removed from the battleship Mikhail Frunze (formerly Poltava). Beneath each tower are three floors of underground living quarters, technical rooms and ammunition stores, linked by a 250-metre-long deep passage. A green barrel with a rounded breech block lies in the foreground, with a low curved armoured structure behind it.
In spring 1931 the Revolutionary Military Council decided to strengthen Vladivostok's defences, and a commission led by People's Commissar Kliment Voroshilov chose a height near the eastern corner of Novik Bay on Russky Island. Most concrete, rock and underground work was done in 1932–1933; turret parts and barrels arrived by barge, and a railway was laid from Cape Polonsky. The first turret was finished on 1 February 1934, the second on 1 April, and on 11 November 1934 the battery received Voroshilov's name, with Major Nikolai Arsenyev as first commander. New barrels were fitted in 1941, and in 1997 the battery was disbanded, becoming a museum branch in 1998.
The battery is named after Kliment Voroshilov, the defence commissar who headed the commission that chose the site near the eastern corner of Novik Bay. In 1987 the grounds served as a film set for "Moonzund", based on Valentin Pikul's novel, with a gun standing in for a warship's turret. Since 1998 the site has operated as a branch of the Pacific Fleet's military history museum.
The site is accessible by ferry from Vladivostok to Russky Island and can be explored through guided tours. Visit during dry weather since the underground areas are dark and sturdy footwear is essential for navigating the passages.
The gun turrets were actually removed from the battleship Poltava, giving the battery a direct link to the region's naval history. This detail shows how Soviet engineers repurposed ship weapons on land to create a hybrid defense system.
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