81. Navy Day at Fort Konstantin
Russia certainly has its share of military displays during national holidays - Victory Day and Russia Day earlier in the summer, and Navy Day at the end of July. This year, a military parade involving various warships, submarines, and aircraft set the tone for Navy Day. According to a press release from the Kremlin with the transcription from one of Putin's speeches: "the Main Naval Parade was held for the first time in Russia’s modern history. The parade featured the passing of ships and a marine air force unit overflight. Sailors from the Baltic, Black Sea, Northern and Pacific fleets and the Caspian Flotilla participated in the parade."
The ships were set to sail up the Neva River, but the crowds were sure to be huge, so I thought a vantage point near the Hermitage might not be the best viewing location. I decided to get a closer look at the parade with several of my colleagues, so we took a taxi to Kronstadt to see the larger ships come in from further out in the Baltic. Kronstadt is a town on Kotlin island in the Gulf of Finland (the eastern inlet of the Baltic Sea) that protects St. Petersburg from all manner of threats (storms or military invasions). Peter the Great built a fort there shortly after founding the city to protect against Swedish invasions, and the remains of numerous forts and military buildings are extant around the island.
Thousands of other people had the same idea, so traffic jammed badly well outside of the prime viewing areas in the eastern part of the island. We continued west to Fort Konstantin where the traffic and crowds were much lighter. Fort Konstantin was built in the 19th century and also served a role in the defense of the city during the Siege of Leningrad. It was an excellent place to see the parade of ships as they sailed just to the south through the main navigation channel toward central St. Petersburg.
After seeing models of all the different ships in the Russian fleet (past and present) at the Naval Museum, it was exciting to see many of the current ships in real life. I've visited a few military ships in the United States (the USS Alabama battleship in Mobile, Alabama and the Aircraft Carrier Intrepid in Manhattan), but never seen more than one ship at a time and never sailing in formation. I've also not seen nuclear submarines before, let alone four of them at once.
The air force parade had a slightly different sequence of helicopters and airplanes than at the two previous air shows I've seen here this summer, but was for the most part more of the same. The grand finale release of colored smoke in the shape of the Russian flag was new to me, though.
Once again, I was impressed with the friendly show of Russian patriotism by the crowd. I've never seen so many civilian adults wearing sailor suits. Actually, I don't think I've ever before seen anyone above the age of five wearing a sailor suit! The main sentiment expressed by the spectators seemed to be an appreciation for the hard work of the sailors (most of the flags were Navy flags rather than Russian flags), and I saw no evidence of a bellicose or jingoistic attitude in the crowd - everyone was just there for the show. As Putin said on Navy Day in one of his speeches in St. Petersburg, "Here is to Russian Navy and the prosperity of our dear Motherland!"
The ships were set to sail up the Neva River, but the crowds were sure to be huge, so I thought a vantage point near the Hermitage might not be the best viewing location. I decided to get a closer look at the parade with several of my colleagues, so we took a taxi to Kronstadt to see the larger ships come in from further out in the Baltic. Kronstadt is a town on Kotlin island in the Gulf of Finland (the eastern inlet of the Baltic Sea) that protects St. Petersburg from all manner of threats (storms or military invasions). Peter the Great built a fort there shortly after founding the city to protect against Swedish invasions, and the remains of numerous forts and military buildings are extant around the island.
Thousands of other people had the same idea, so traffic jammed badly well outside of the prime viewing areas in the eastern part of the island. We continued west to Fort Konstantin where the traffic and crowds were much lighter. Fort Konstantin was built in the 19th century and also served a role in the defense of the city during the Siege of Leningrad. It was an excellent place to see the parade of ships as they sailed just to the south through the main navigation channel toward central St. Petersburg.
After seeing models of all the different ships in the Russian fleet (past and present) at the Naval Museum, it was exciting to see many of the current ships in real life. I've visited a few military ships in the United States (the USS Alabama battleship in Mobile, Alabama and the Aircraft Carrier Intrepid in Manhattan), but never seen more than one ship at a time and never sailing in formation. I've also not seen nuclear submarines before, let alone four of them at once.
The air force parade had a slightly different sequence of helicopters and airplanes than at the two previous air shows I've seen here this summer, but was for the most part more of the same. The grand finale release of colored smoke in the shape of the Russian flag was new to me, though.
Once again, I was impressed with the friendly show of Russian patriotism by the crowd. I've never seen so many civilian adults wearing sailor suits. Actually, I don't think I've ever before seen anyone above the age of five wearing a sailor suit! The main sentiment expressed by the spectators seemed to be an appreciation for the hard work of the sailors (most of the flags were Navy flags rather than Russian flags), and I saw no evidence of a bellicose or jingoistic attitude in the crowd - everyone was just there for the show. As Putin said on Navy Day in one of his speeches in St. Petersburg, "Here is to Russian Navy and the prosperity of our dear Motherland!"
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