Tango01  | 05 Dec 2015 11:41 a.m. PST |
A little known fact about the Cold War: Sweden (famous for it's neutrality) was the nation best prepared for nuclear war. Able to shelter it's entire population in gigantic public shelters.
Amicalement
Armand |
| Majors WotWot | 05 Dec 2015 12:31 p.m. PST |
I think they are in the middle of closing that place down, heard it had several sub pens too. I recall seeing pictures of something similar that they do with their air force. |
| Gennorm | 05 Dec 2015 12:33 p.m. PST |
The same for Switzerland. Si vis parcem pare bellum. |
| skippy0001 | 05 Dec 2015 12:54 p.m. PST |
Good for post-apok (Fallout)Europe! |
| Daniel S | 05 Dec 2015 1:21 p.m. PST |
While there was an extensive network of public shelters that were part of the civil defence only a few were 'gigantic', the common shelter was simply a very reinforced basement found in most apartment buildings that had proper blast doors, air filters and so on. Similar shelters were built into factories, department stores and so on. (Bombshelters were mandatory by law in all buildings of a certain size.) It was the Muskö base that had the huge tunnels for destoryers as well as several smaller ones for subs, the Swedish wikipedia has some photos of it in operation.
link To a large extent the Muskö base has been decomissioned or mothballed following a decision in 2004 but parts are still in active service.
Several older airbases did indeed have underground hangars, the first one was actually built during WW2
and they contiuned to be built where there was the right kind of rock below the ground. All in all 5 airbases had underground hangars. However in the 60's it was recognised that dispersion was better protection than a single fortified base that was still vulnerable to chemical or nuclear attack and the Swedish Air Force switched to an ever increasing network of dispersed bases many of which used used ordinary highways and roads as runways.
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| Mako11 | 05 Dec 2015 3:24 p.m. PST |
I recall seeing pics of the aircraft hangars, sub pens, and some for the smaller missile boats, but didn't know about them for the general population. They also have an interesting network of hardened, coastal gun batteries too, some of the turrets of which are made to look like rocks. They use tunnels to access those as well. |
| VonTed | 05 Dec 2015 7:56 p.m. PST |
Didn't they less one to Russia a few years ago….. caused a bit of a controversy |
| Daniel S | 06 Dec 2015 3:18 a.m. PST |
Basicly everything that could protected by blasting into the abundant Swedish granite was as long as there was the necessary funds. All major military HQ's had at least one fortfied mountain to hide in while civil defence and civilian authorities built their own nuclear proof bunkers to keep things running in even of an attack (Such as the the "Wolf" and "Elephant" civilian command centers in Stockholm)
link
link Then you had the still top secret "Zonen" ("The Zone") which housed the supreme military command, the goverment, His Majetsty the King as well as support functions such as state TV and Radio broadcasting companies in a sprawling complex of underground positions and above ground bunkers. They also have an interesting network of hardened, coastal gun batteries too, some of the turrets of which are made to look like rocks. They use tunnels to access those as well. I'm afraid it's "had" rather than "have" as all fixed costal artillery was decomissioned in 2000. The turrets you are thinking of are the ERSTA system aka the Bofors 12/70 linkEach battery was made up of 3 gun positions, a central command, fire control stations and fortified positions for mortars, AA and close defence troops. Everything that could be built underground was, each gun position was not only the turret but also included up to 4 stories of quarters, muntions storage and other necessities. Each position was supposed to be able to last 30 days sealed from the outside world. The Command centre had 5 stories underground and included a small field hospital, radio and radar masts were protected undground in deep shafts and only raised above ground when needed. All of this made the ERSTA batteries hideously expensive, the cheapest cost over 1 billion SEK to build at a time when the annual Swedish defence budget was around 30 to 35 billion SEK. So only 6 of the 12 planned batteries were built. The "rock" camouflage was used on older gun turrets as well, a glassfiber casing was fitted on top of the armour.
link
link |
| Tango01 | 06 Dec 2015 4:13 p.m. PST |
"…Able to shelter it's entire population in gigantic public shelters…" Wonder to know how many population can be shelter there now!. (smile) Amicalement
Armand |
| Daniel S | 06 Dec 2015 4:27 p.m. PST |
Don't have numbers for all of Sweden but Stockholm County has shelterspaces for 1,7 million people according to last count which at the time was sufficient for 90% of the County's population. These days that might be 85% given increase in population. There was never shelter spaces for the "entire population", you only found public shelters in major cities, towns close to military bases and other strategic targets. The population living in rural or remote areas as considered safe from direct attack. |
| Charlie 12 | 06 Dec 2015 6:01 p.m. PST |
Didn't they less one to Russia a few years ago….. caused a bit of a controversy That was Norway. The "bunker" in question was thoroughly deactivated. |
examines another pre-painted building for WWII.
