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Operational Sites and Bases

Missile Sites

Air Defence Missile Battery

Maantee Military Base

Maantee Military Base

Full name of site:

Maantee küla sõjaväelinnak. Maantee Military Base

Location:

Sääre-Maanteeküla, 93121 Saare maakond, Estland

Operational period:

1940

to

1992

Primary user:

Soviet Navy

Description:

This military base in the village of Maantee is situated on the island of Saaremaa, on both sides of the old highway a couple of kilometres from Sõrve Military Museum.

Construction of the barracks here began in April 1940 after the signing of the Mutual Assistance Pact. The base was constructed by a local company, A. ja M. Edenberg. It comprised two barracks accommodating 350 soldiers, a canteen, a bread factory, a bathhouse, an officers' mess, a clinic and an ice house. The base housed the detachments of the 315th coastal defence battery. Existing farmhouses were demolished to make way for the new facilities, forcing many to move.

After the war, the detachments manning the coastal defence batteries in the vicinity were stationed here. The barracks were put back into use during the Cold War, this time by missile troops. In July 1960 the 74907th Air Defence Regiment equipped with S-75 missiles arrived here. They began building the Granit missile depot near the barracks. The other barracks housed a single radio-technical company. In 1972, three air defence missiles fitted with nuclear warheads were stored at the Granit depot. The missile unit was disbanded in January 1991. The radio-technical company left the village of Maantee the following year.

Ownership:

Estonian State Property

Valuation of authenticity and integrity:

Baseline 1992. The buildings are abandoned and mainly ruined.

Status and access:

Access: Full. Public access. Today the buildings are dilapidated to the point of posing a danger. The visitors must be cautious when visiting the object.

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