Nineteenth Battery Drapushko description and photo - Crimea: Balaklava (Topic)

Nineteenth battery Drapushko description and photo - Crimea: Balaklava. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photos and a map showing the nearest significant objects.

Photo and description

The Nineteenth Battery of Drapushko is a famous Crimean fortification in the city of Balaklava, which is located on the top of the mountain on the left side of the entrance to Balaklava Bay. The coastal fortification began to be built back in 1912, and ended only in 1924. The nineteenth battery was capable of reaching cruisers and battleships at a distance of 20 km; it had four 152-mm guns. From the cliff Mytilino you can see how successful the choice of the location of the battery was - the sector of shelling was a large angle. It was erected almost on the cliff itself, with a spacious approach from only one side.

The nineteenth Crimean battery consisted of four gun ports, under which there were underground communications, an ammunition depot, a boiler room, a compressor and a power station, utility rooms and command post. 12 people worked near each gun, shells weighing 52 kg were fed to the gun manually.

The underground rooms under the nineteenth Drapushko battery were one-story, but were located on three levels, which were connected by stairways. The battery was completely unprotected from the air.

In November 1941, the nineteenth battery, under the command of Captain M. Drapushko, entered into battle with the advancing Germans. Then the battery was badly damaged. In these difficult times, the coastal battery was given another name - the Drapushko battery after the name of the commander-captain, who bravely defended the Crimea, repelling, together with his soldiers, numerous enemy attacks. The Germans, in turn, gave the name to this battery - "Centaur-1".

In the post-war years, the nineteenth battery of Drapushko was restored and used to guard the Crimean naval base of the Black Sea Fleet. In 1999 the battery was decommissioned and in 2002 destroyed.

Currently, the Drapushko battery is a sad sight: it is an almost disappeared fortification attraction of the Crimea. Only a concrete structure, underground casemates and two gun yards have survived from it, and all of them were broken and plundered.

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Topic: Nineteenth Battery Drapushko description and photo - Crimea: Balaklava.