Basis Nord, a German naval base in the SU - before Barbarossa

This detail of the soviet-German partnership was previously unknown to me, maybe to some others as well.


"In 1939, the Soviet Union agreed to supply the base location to Germany for the purpose of supporting U-boats and commerce raiding."

"the Soviet Union made clear that it was willing to exchange its strategic maritime position for technology."

"The Soviets modified the offer to then undeveloped Zapadnaya Litsa, in the Motovsky Gulf on the Litsa Fjord at the westernmost point of the Kola Peninsula, which the Germans accepted."

"The base at Zapadnaya Litsa, called "Basis Nord", had advantages with regard to secrecy. It was surrounded by Russian territory and closed to all foreign and Soviet domestic shipping, so that no one could see operations taking place.[13] Its entrance also prevented observation from the open sea."

"The Soviet Union's Arctic Fleet Command was informed by Moscow that the Germans were to be able to use the base to support their blockade of the British Isles."

"On May 1, 1940, the Soviets provided a better anchorage point for Basis Nord at nearby Iokanga Bay.[23] However, the German capture of Norway decreased the need for operations at Basis Nord, and it became more important as a symbol of cooperation than a base for significant operation."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basis_Nord

 

I wonder if A: the Germans abandoned the base just before the attack which did not raise Stalins suspicion or B; I have never heard of any battles to retake the base or that they were used to attack lend lease.

 

That was mentioned in a BBC doc on Soviets about a year ago...Wish I could remember the documentary. It went into the association between Soviets and Nazis in a big way.

 

Thanks to all for the comments. Would be interesting to see that document you mentioned.

 

You probably got your answers already but here's some info anyway:

A. No, the Germans abandoned the base already in 1940, because after the occupation of Norway there was no more need for it.

B. No, the Germans were not trying to get back the base itself, although the failed German operation "Platinfuchs" (the Platinum Fox) targeted Murmansk. The base would have been en route.
The base was abandoned a year before the lend-lease.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Platinum_Fox

 

They were actually came quite close to their former base, but I wonder if Dietl even knew it had existed. They had next to no maps of the area, which is not conducive to invading, in that kind of broken terrain, with swamps, lakes, etc. Just goes to show how short sighted the whole war effort was on the part of the Germans.

You can check out the former base on Google Maps. It's near the modern town of Zaozyrsk, which didn't exist then, and if you zoom in, you can see Russian submarines stationed at the base. There is a river which runs into the bay, the Litsa. The 2nd Mtn Division I believe had a small bridgehead across that river for a while, but that was about as close as they got.

 

As far as I know, Dietl had maps, but they suggested lines on the map as streets which were telegraph supply lines in reality. Dietl reported Hitler during the plannings of Barbarossa, that warfare in this kind of terrain is nearly impossible. But the only changes made were more men and material for Dietl.

Basis Nord is known as basis from which the supply ship Jan Wellem reached Narvik. The famous 10 destroyers there needed to refuel and this took too long, so that they were soon trapped in the Fjords.
I always thought, the Oceanliner Bremen used Basis Nord to refuel and hide before returning to Germany, but i am not sure about it.