War airfield near Tukums
Today, in Soviet times, army destroyers stood in barely visible, overgrown hangars on the highway to Tukums. Even in those days, the airfield with hangars was disguised and ignorant people did not know about it.
Driving along the Ventspils highway, about less than a kilometer before turning to Tukums, now even from the car on the right side you can see hangars overgrown with grass and greenery, where Soviet army destroyers once stood. In the times of the USSR, the uninitiated did not even realize that a warfield was hidden next to the highway. However, the airfield hid not only destroyers, but also more - mobile missile launchers with missiles. In order to disguise these weapons from the curious eyes of the civilian population, the inscriptions "Ogneopasno" - fireproof - were painted on the mighty rocket tugs. This could give local civilians the impression that tankers are actually transporting fuel, not missiles. The aerodrome is currently used for small aviation. Among other things. On April 8, 1950, at the sea near Liepaja, the Soviet destroyers shot down a US plane with a crew of ten people, who allegedly arrived in the territorial waters of the USSR and spied. The fate of the pilots is still a mystery, but the fighters have taken off to intercept a US plane directly from Tukums airfield. This event was described by the German writer Wolfgang Schreier in his novel "Captain Loy's Dream", the book was also translated into Latvian and published by the LSSR. Apparently with the intention to properly shed light on this event for the readers of Latvia.
An anonymous soldier who served in Tukums airfield for some time during the Soviet era.
Related objects
Aviation Museum “SKY ZOO”
The Aviation Museum “Sky Zoo” is located in Smārde parish, Tukums municipality, in the territory of Jūrmala Airport that was once the Tukums Military Airfield. The exhibit includes aircrafts YAK-40, AN-2, SU22M4, PZL TS-11 Iskra and a helicopter MI-24. Tour of the airfield includes hangars, caponiers and engineering equipment. The airfield was used by both the German and Soviet armies. During the Soviet occupation it was one of the most important military airfields in the territory of Latvia. The fighters stationed there were intended to attack enemy ships and bomb coastal fortifications. On the night of 9 November 1975, a battle alarm was received at the Tukums airfield – there was enemy warship in the territorial waters of the Soviet Union (in the Gulf of Riga), and it had to be destroyed. Several planes took off from Tukums. However, it turned out that it was the Soviet naval warship ‘Storozhevoi’ (Guardian) on which an armed mutiny against the existing Soviet regime took place. When the planes reached the warship, the battle was still ongoing. Later the rebel leader Valery Sablin, a Soviet naval officer, was wounded and the mutiny ended. He was sentenced to death for treason. This was one of the most dramatic events showing the discontent with the regime and marking the approach of its collapse.
