Kronstadt Naval Base (Кронштадт)

Kronstadt is a Russian Navy base on Kotlin Island, at the head of the Gulf of Finland some 30 km west of Saint Petersburg, within the federal city of Saint Petersburg. It is the base of the Baltic Fleet, covering the seaward approaches to Saint Petersburg. Road access from the mainland runs over the Saint Petersburg Dam, a levee-causeway and seagate structure that also carries the city ring road across the island and passes shipping through.

The naval facilities lie on the south side of the island, where three harbours adjoin the town: the western or merchant harbour, closed on its western flank by a pier tied into the fortifications crossing the island; the middle harbour, used for fitting out and repair; and the eastern, or military, harbour used for docking naval vessels. The Peter and Catherine Canals link the merchant and middle harbours. The Kronstadt naval dockyard overhauls and repairs surface ships and submarines of the Baltic Fleet, supported by the Admiralty establishment, an arsenal and foundries. A naval hospital and marine engineering school are located in the town. The port is icebound from early December to April, typically 140 to 160 days a year.

Peter the Great's forces took Kotlin in 1703 and the first works, known as Kronshlot, were inaugurated in 1704. The port was refortified in the 19th century. In the late 1930s the city became the base of the Soviet Baltic Fleet and a training centre for the Soviet navy, with the dockyard handling fleet overhaul and repair.