Kranto ir priešlėktuvinės (Flak) artilerijos baterijos Klaipėdoje: bandymai datuoti statybų laikotarpį

LTStraipsnyje analizuojama Kriegsmarine kranto ir priešlėktuvinės (Flak) artilerijos baterijų statybos Memelyje (Klaipėdoje) pradžios data. Jame keliama prielaida, kad pagrindinis Kriegsmarine uždavinys buvo apsaugoti uosto įplauką nuo grėsmės iš jūros, todėl tikėtina, kad jis buvo išspręstas nuo 1939 m. kovo iki 1940 m. pradžios. Stacionarios Flak baterijos aplink miestą galėjo būti pastatytos ir vėliau, o iki tol jų vietoje ar netoliese buvo įrengtos laikinos pabūklų pozicijos. Lauko tyrimų Tauralaukio baterijoje rezultatai patvirtina šį spėjimą: ant užbetonuotų sviedinių gilzių yra užrašai, iš kurių galima spręsti, kad šie buvo pagaminti 1941 m. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Baterija; Flak; Klaipėda; Krantų gynyba; Kriegsmarine; Memelis; Nacistinė Vokietija; Battery; Coastal defence; Coastal defense; Flak; Klaipėda; Kriegsmarine; Memel; Nazi Germany.

ENThe article covers the details of the construction of fortifications in Klaipeda and surrounding areas in the period from March 1939 until the early 1940 based on the analysis of published texts and archival materials. Doubts about the fortifications for medium and heavy artillery pieces erected by Kriegsmarine in that period expressed in the article are based on the data about the particularities of Flak battery operations, technical specifications of guns, and the results of the field research. The author presumes that the construction of fortifications for Flak and coastal batteries had to start after the exploratory and preparatory engineering work and definitely not in the last week of March 1939. Stationary fortifications for Flak batteries around the city could have been built during a later period, after the war with Poland, or even with the Soviet Union, had started. Until then, temporary emplacements for Flak guns could have been constructed in the surrounding areas. The arguments presented in the article are based on technical specifications of antiaircraft and coastal defence guns. The dating of the beginning of the fortifications construction for Flak coastal defence batteries in Klaipėda is controversial. In most sources of reference, the topic has not been analyzed in-depth. […] Lithuanian and Polish intelligence reports of those times were dated better, however, the information contained in them was also imprecise: improbable size or an incredible amount of guns was named, and the type of detected construction works was not explained. However, such data are likely to support the idea of the later date of the start of the construction – late spring and summer of 1939 – and the progress of work in stages.It is quite possible that Flak batteries aiming to protect the positions of coastal defence cannons from air raids were being constructed at that time. Part of those Flak batteries had a double purpose, namely, antiaircraft and coastal defence. On the other hand, the German archives were not accessible to the author; therefore, quite a few of the statements about the period of battery construction presented in the article will have to be revised in the future. The period and circumstances of the construction of some Flak batteries can be deduced from the findings on the site. For instance, the drilling and testing of concrete cores in the battery facilities revealed extraneous inclusions, such as beer bottle caps with letters, bottle slivers, and Flak gun shell scraps. Shell cases were detected in the fragments of Tauralaukis (Tauerlauken) battery reinforced concrete structures. The investigation of misshapen 105 mm shells revealed that they were not shot, but were torn apart and distorted by the power of explosion. Some shell remains, cleaned from rust and adhering concrete, and surfaces of fuzes inside the shells have revealed ammunition marks stating that this ammo was made in 1941. This means that Tauralaukis Flak battery, located 4.5 km away from the sea, was built not earlier that the shells embedded in reinforced concrete there were produced. Unfortunately, the results of the field research in battery structures in Klaipėda environs were less informative. The main result of the research referred to in the article is the presumption that the construction of coastal defence and antiaircraft artillery batteries in Klaipėda was performed in stages from the summer of 1939 to 1941. [From the publication]