Leipaja Submarine Base
As its most westerly and ice-free harbour, Liepaja (or Libau) was already of crucial importance to Czarist Russia.
The late 19th and early 20th century Naval Base with its characteristic red brick buildings was already in use as a submarine port before W.W.I.
In the final phase of W.W.II it was the target of especially heavy fighting.
During the Soviet Era it was again used as a Navy and more specifically Submarine base. Concrete apartment blocks were built, but the fall of the Soviet Union and Latvian independence left many unfinished. The departure of military personnel to Russia and abandonment of many other (half-finished-) apartments added to the desolation. It is now being redeveloped by the port authorities.
The late 19th and early 20th century Naval Base with its characteristic red brick buildings was already in use as a submarine port before W.W.I.
In the final phase of W.W.II it was the target of especially heavy fighting.
During the Soviet Era it was again used as a Navy and more specifically Submarine base. Concrete apartment blocks were built, but the fall of the Soviet Union and Latvian independence left many unfinished. The departure of military personnel to Russia and abandonment of many other (half-finished-) apartments added to the desolation. It is now being redeveloped by the port authorities.
