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Origin Pre-War Post-War What Outsiders Know The Reality Population Territory and Locations Astoria Glenwood Seaside Tillamook Newport Organization Government, National and Local Military Forces Justice, Social Control, Punishment Political Factions, Dissent Famous/Infamous Persons Relationships with Other Groups Culture Ethnic Groups, Emigration and Emigration Social Divisions and Castes Religion, Beliefs and Superstition Morality and Values Progress and Failure Family, Age, Sexuality and Gender Education and Language Environment and Agriculture Food Art and Entertainment, Music, Literature, Recreation Fashion and Appearance Urban and Rural Areas, Architecture Equipment and Resources Economy  Science, Medicine and Technology Weapons and Military Equipment Communications Vehicles Aircraft Watercraft

 

     Descendants of Soviet sailors and soldiers, and conquered Americans, on the Oregon coast.

Origin

 

Pre-War

         

     The land power of the Red Banner Pacific Fleet consisted of one naval infantry division (the 55th Naval Infantry) and a coastal defense division. The naval infantry division included more than half of the total manpower in the Russian naval infantry. In the fall of 1989 the Soviet Navy was conducting maneuvers in the Pacific:  a simulated attack by the U.S. towards the Asian coast.

     The vessels present were:

 

• Ural, a Kapusta-class command ship; 36,000 tons, it was powered by two 300 megawatt nuclear reactors
  

• Minsk, a Kiev-class VSTOL carrier
  

• Vladivostok (a Kresta I) and Marshal Timoshenko (a Kresta II), both were guided missile cruisers
  

• Petropavlovsk and Tashkent, both Kara-class cruisers

• four Udaloy/Sovremenny-class destroyers

• two Tarantul-III missile corvettes

• Berezina, a large replenishment ship

• two Osa II missile boats

• Aleksandr Nikolayev and Mitrofan Moskalenko, both were Ivan Rogov-class landing ships (each carried 1 battalion - 520 marines - capacity, plus 2500 tons of cargo, 40 armored vehicles and landing craft for all that; or, if no landing craft, a mix of 53 tanks or 80 APCs).

• five Alligator-class landing ships; each carried about 440 troops, and about 50 trucks and armored cars
  

   

     Aboard the flagship Ural was Admiral Gennady Aleksandrovich Khvatov, commander of the Pacific Fleet, since January 1987. His counterintelligence chief was Alexander Yegorkin. About 6500 men were aboard the 17 ships. Several submarines were taking part in the exercise on the "American" side, but Khvatov had essentially no communication with them.

 

Post-War

 

     For a couple of years various techno-military-thriller actions took place:  ships were seized, small ports on the Canadian and American coast were raided, etc. Several of the Soviet vessels were sunk by American aircraft and submarines.

     Ordered to scout and if possible occupy a useful port on the west coast of the United States, Admiral Khvatov found the area to be a combination of radioactive contamination and military remnants. By 1991, he and his fleet were desperately short of food, fuel, ammunition and other supplies; they chose Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River, for a semi-permanent base. The following ships took up (eventually permanent) berths in Astoria (or at Tongue Point a few kilometers east of the city):

 

• Ural, a Kapusta-class command ship

 

port side view of the Ural

 

starboard side view of Ural

 

• if there is information about the Soviet view of the causes of the Atomic War anywhere, it'll be in the data held by the Ural's computers 

• In the summer of 1990, there was a fire in the aft engine room, which destroyed the generator and electrical system; the had to rely solely on electric power from the forward engine room. The aft reactor was shut down to become a standby unit. In 2007 the ship broke loose from its buoy in a gale, and drifted out to sea; an attempt to start the ship's propulsion system caused damage to the remaining main generator, and two backup diesel generators provided only limited power. The vessel was too large for the tugs to tow her into port again while the storm lasted, but they did manage to prevent the ship from running ashore. A few hours after the Ural reached the Pacific, the bridge over the Columbia River collapsed; she remained at sea for a several weeks, until the forward power plant was repaired. After her return she was moored east of Tongue Point, in a sheltered bay. In the autumn of 2008 another storm destroyed the dome covering the ship's main radar, exposing the radar antenna on the inside. By the mid-21st Century many of her larger antenna systems had been removed.
  

• Minsk, a Kiev-class VSTOL carrier; heavily damaged by a torpedo attack. Eventually stripped of useful equipment and partially scrapped.
  

• Tashkent, a Kara-class cruiser. Ditto.
  

• one Udaloy/Sovremenny-class destroyer. Ditto.
  

• one Tarantul-III missile corvette. Ditto.
  

• Berezina, a large replenishment ship. Heavily damaged by a fire in the mid-21st Century, partially scrapped.
  

• Aleksandr Nikolayev and Mitrofan Moskalenko, both were Ivan Rogov-class landing ships. Both were scrapped long ago.
  

 

     The only ships which were kept in "service" much past the end of the Twentieth Century were the small landing ships:

 

• five Tapir-class landing ships (NATO codename Alligator):

• BDK-13 (group 1)

• BDK-66 (group 2)

• BDK-77 (group 3)

• Alexandr Tortcev (group 3)

• Nikolay Vilkov (group 4); this is the only still in service as of 2139.
  

 

     Of course, various American and Canadian non-military vessels were added to the fleet -- the lightship Columbia, the fishing schooner Burya, and the pilot boat Pavlin (formerly Peacock), for example.

     The Astoria-Megler Bridge collapsed during a major storm in 2007, the Great Coastal Gale; the channel was clear within a few weeks, however. The Columbia River was heavily contaminated by radioactive debris from dams destroyed by nuclear strikes, and (especially) by attacks on Hanford and Umatilla.

     By the mid-1990s, the Soviet occupation was firmly established in Clatsop County; in 1993, Khvatov became too ill to continue in command, and was replaced by Captain Cherepkov. 

     Cherepkov realized the need for more agricultural land. Pushing southwards along US 101, they found only token resistance -- the Soviet forces by now included as many Americans as Russians, and Khvatov made good community relations (and careful intelligence work) a goal. By about 2000, the area controlled by the Soviets was about 300 kilometers long north-to-south, and usually about 30 kilometers wide, up into the hills of the Coast Range. The Willamette Valley was considered too dangerous, both from contamination and due to large numbers of armed raiders and refugees.

     Up to about 2030, the Soviets had to fight off various military and para-military attacks. The town of Seaside was a center for resistance to the Soviet occupation.

     A few times during the 21st Century, survey expeditions traveled from Astoria up to Alaska, and down along the coast to southern California. The Brethren, in the San Francisco area, were a particular disappointment.

 

What Outsiders Know

     The DRA is located on the Oregon coast, between the Coast Range and the Pacific Ocean. They can be an organized, dangerous enemy ... fortunately, they don't seem to have any aggressive plans. Their industrial center, roughly at Astoria, is probably the most advanced in the Northwest; they make and repair simple radios, small ships, and gyrocopters, for example.

 

The Reality

     A busy and technically sophisticated little nation. 

 

Population

    The total number of Soviet personnel who arrived after the War was about 2500 men, while about 50,000 Americans were in the occupied area. Russian-speakers continued in positions of authority for three generations, but by 2060 there was no cultural difference between the nominal "Soviets" and Americans.

     The decades after the Atomic War saw the population diminish, but it has rebounded now to roughly pre-War levels -- about 50,000 persons. That's about the same as the number of people in the Willamette Valley, by the way.

 

Territory and Locations

 

     From the mouth of the Columbia River, down to Coos Bay, and inland for about 30 kilometers:  about 9000 square kilometers, of which about 3000 square kilometers is agricultural.

 

Astoria

 

 

     The capital and largest city in the DRA. It's a bustling commercial city, with light industry, shipbuilding, fishing, government and education being important activities.The population is 8000, with another 3000 persons within 15 kilometers. Well over half of the inhabitants derive their living from the maritime trades (fishing and canning, shipbuilding, transport by ship).

     The three shipyards are located south of the city, facing Young's Bay, and are capable of building wooden vessels up to 50 meters in length. One of the yards is planning to build some steel-hulled ships in the coming years.

     About three kilometers east of Astoria is the construction yard for airships and gyrocopters; there is one large airship hangar (can hold two airships), and two smaller aircraft hangars. The original airfield, southwest of Young's Bay, was flooded decades ago by the ocean.

     East of the city, past Tongue Point, are the rusting hulks of the old Soviet fleet, moored in Cathlamet Bay along with several other old ships. All of these ships, except the Ural, have been stripped of everything useful. Heavy electrical cables run from the shore to the Ural; a century ago these fed power to the grid ashore, but now they provide power to the Ural. Her precision (relatively) machine shops are a major resource for the DRA. Here are some useful pictures; note that the main radar dome and the radar itself are now gone.

 

Glenwood

 

     About 60 kilometers south-east of Astoria, in the Coast Range hills, is the repair and construction facility for the DRA's rail system, and the site of an important charcoal-fueled blast furnace and steel mill. A few dozen old diesel-electric locomotives, and several hundred freight cars, stand on the yard tracks here, being rebuilt, or stripped for parts. There's a substantial military presence here, including an airstrip; raids from Scappoose have been know to happen. A thousand persons live in the town; there are a score or so of logging towns and hemp farming communities along the rail line back to Astoria. Smoke from the lumber mills and the blast furnace is visible for many miles; dozens of square kilometers of forest have been cut down for industrial purposes.

• There are deposits of roughly 50% iron ore west of Scappoose; the industrial managers of the DRA have their eye on those, if the flow of scrap meter from the Willamette Valley ever dries up.

• On Point Adams the rising sea level has exposed black sand containing 40% magnetite ore, in a layer about a meter thick by 200 meters on a side.

 

Seaside

 

     A lumber and fishing town, at the southern end of the long sand banks and wind-swept beaches of Point Adams. The current town is built 8 kilometers to the south of the original town, on the neck of Tillamook Head. A railway station is located here. Population, 2000, with another 4000 persons within 30 kilometers.

     North of Seaside is the main airfield of the DRA, with three aircraft hangars and three blimp hangars. The noise of pulsejet-powered aircraft can be heard around here every day. A rescue/patrol boat is based at Seaside, to recover pilots and training aircraft which crash in the Pacific.

     The original town was a center of resistance to the Soviet occupation; quite a few small battles, acts of sabotage and assassination, episodes of imprisonment and forced labor took place. The remains of the old town, on the banks of the Necanicum River, were pretty much entirely swept away in a serious of winter storms before 2040, and are now submerged under two or three meters of the Pacific.

 

Tillamook

 

      The waters of Tillamook Bay gradually rose after the Atomic War, submerging much of the city. The new town is located about 5 kilometers inland, along the Tillamook River. The town has 3,000 residents, and another 6,000 persons live within 30 kilometers. Dairy farms, logging, hemp farming, and fishing are important industries. The railway from Astoria ends here (although there are minor logging railways that run a few miles inland; these change their route every few years). 

     There's an airfield here, but it's rarely used, as the locals don't like the noise of pulsejet engines.

 

Newport

 

    The furthest south town of any size, the 2000 residents of this town (including the neighboring small communities) are hemp farmers, fishermen, and loggers. A military base is located here; regular patrols on land and sea are made as far south as Coos Bay. There's an airstrip as well.

 

 

Organization

 

Government, National and Local

 

      Technically, the area is controlled by the Democratic Republic of America, but nobody calls it that. The head of the People's Army, the Secretary of the CPA, and the President of the DRA are all the same person:  Colonel Robert Nadlov.

     The constitution of the DRA requires leaders to be members of the Communist Party. It guarantees freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion; the rights to privacy, due process, work, leisure, housing, education, health care, old-age and disability pensions. However:  "Enjoyment of the rights and freedoms of citizens must not be to the detriment of the interests of society or the state."

     There are also several obligations or duties:   citizens must work, perform military service, protect communal or socialist property, etc.

     All legislative bodies (usually named councils, commissions or committees) must be elected at regular intervals; some are elected by citizens based on residency, others based on occupation or organizational membership, and a few by members of lower-level bodies.

     The highest body is the State Committee, which is made up of members of various lower councils and legislative bodies, plus several ex officio members (notably the head of the military and the President of the Academy of Sciences). There are currently 14 members of the State Committee; it is both legislative and executive in nature. The members of the State Committee select the President of the DRA from among their members.

      Major branches of the government are termed "departments", as follows:

• Military Department

• Justice Department

• Department of Technology and Industry
  

• Department of Finance and Trade
  

• Department of Health and Education

     There are also less-notable offices reporting directly to the State Committee:

• Office of State Security

• Office for National Issues

• Office of Cultural Affairs
  

 

Military Forces

 

     There are only five colonels in the People's Army currently -- one for each infantry battalion, one commanding the naval forces (with the title of captain), one commanding intelligence and security forces (including the recon company), and Nadlov himself, of course.

     Ranks are:  private, corporal, sergeant, senior sergeant, master sergeant, lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, colonel. In the naval division ranks are matrose (seaman), senior matrose, starshina, starshina 1st class, chief starshina, junior lieutenant, lieutenant, senior leiutenant, captain-lieutenant, captain (the senior officer of the naval forces).

     3200 people are enlisted in the People's Army, of which:

• 300 in the aviation section

• 500 in the naval division (of which about 120 are ships' crews)
  

• 2400 in the ground forces

     There is a horse-mounted cavalry squadron, several batteries of light artillery, one battery of garrison artillery (at Astoria), a recon company, and two battalions of infantry. All ground forces troops are armed with AK74 rifles in 9.3x40mm caliber.

     At least a couple dozen armored vehicles are in service, but not as a formation -- they're usually used to bolster defenses, rush to military emergencies, and (mainly) to look imposing. Their systems and weapons are old and unreliable.

     For most of the second half of the 21st Century, the People's Army was largely armed with muzzle-loading muskets in .58 caliber -- approximate copies of American Civil War weapons. Several thousand of these, along with powder and ammunition, are stored in arsenals for use by reserve forces. A few hundred of these weapons were converted to cartridge breech-loaders, in various calibers; there are also a couple hundred other cartridge weapons in stock -- mostly American guns from the 20th Century.

 

• pump shotguns (Remington, Mossberg, Ithaca, Winchester), mostly in 12 or 20 gauge
  

• single- or double-barrel shotguns (side-by-side, over-under, and bolt-action), in every gauge
  

• .22 LR bolt-action, lever-action or pump-action rifles

• .30-30 lever-action rifles (Winchester, Marlin)
  

• .30 caliber bolt-action hunting rifles (Remington, Winchester) ... "30" covers a lot of different calibers

• .280 caliber bolt-action hunting rifles (Remington Model 700 Mountain Rifle)

• .38 Special or .357 Magnum revolvers, usually Smith & Wesson
  

• 9mm semi-auto pistols (Smith & Wesson, Beretta, Colt, Ruger P85, Browning, Intratec Tec-9)

• .45 ACP semi-auto pistols (M1911A1, Kimber)

• .380 or .320 semi-auto pistols (Beretta, Colt, Davis, Grendel)

• .25 semi-auto pistols (Raven)

 

     Basic hand grenades are produced for the military:  fragmentation or smoke.

 

Justice, Social Control, Punishment

     More to come

 

Political Factions, Dissent

     Nothing was noticed by the Morrow team during their visit, but the Harris clan (in the Willamette Valley) may well have agents here.

    The Academy of Sciences, the Communist Party of America, the military, and various large cooperative and collectives each have influence within the govenment.

     There is no sign of any remaining resistance movement.

 

Famous/Infamous Persons

 

• Admiral Gennady Aleksandrovich Khvatov, commander of the Pacific Fleet at the time of the Atomic War.

• Alexander Yegorkin, chief counterintelligence officer with the fleet at the time of the Atomic War.

• Captain Cherepkov, commander of the Ural at the time of the Atomic War; he succeeded Admiral Khvatov as head of the Soviet occupation.

• Colonel Robert Nadlov, current head of the People's Army, the Secretary of the CPA, and the President of the DRA.

 

Relationships with Other Groups

     They trade regularly with the River Folk (River Runners Clan) and the Chinook; some folk of the Willamette Valley (especially the Harris clan) don't trust them. For trading with "skittish" groups, they use the Tillamook Trading Caravans, which gives a veneer of "American" to Soviet products.

     It's quite likely that there are Soviet agents among the members of the TTC, and in various nearby regions.

 

Culture

 

Ethnic Groups, Emigration and Emigration

 

     By now, the republic is fairly homogenous. The incidence of Slavic last names is a bit higher than pure patrilineal descent might account for -- the higher status of Russian citizens in previous generations gave a Slavic name a useful value. Knowledge of the Russian language doesn't have much relationship to your ancestry anymore.

 

Social Divisions and Castes

 

     Education creates an upper class; so far, education is freely available based (pretty much) on merit. "Scientist" or "Academician" are terms of respect.

     Some collectives and cooperatives have influence and wealth out of proportion to their membership; they can usually arrange for their members to have various advantages.

     Membership in the Communist Party of America have various benefits, some are "unofficial". Knowledge of the Russian language, and a Russian surname, are an advantage in gaining membership in the CPA -- this is one of the remaining prejudices against the original American population. The top levels of government require party membership -- specifically, anyone with an executive role has to be a member.

 

Religion, Beliefs and Superstition

     Formal church organizations seem to have been completely suppressed long ago, although freedom of religion is guaranteed.

     Some notable beliefs:

• stuff about babies, including the idea that people saying good things about the kid are secretly jealous; until recently, you should have said, "What a hideous baby you have there!" or some such thing.
  

• people leaving, on voyages or long journeys, sit around quietly "near the door" (or at the gangplank, etc.). The usual response to "why do you do this" is, "to remember what we might have forgotten for the trip."

• "knocking on wood three times" to avoid bad luck. This is especially notable when people realize they've been optimistic about future success.

• gifts per se are rarely given; the recipient usually makes a very small payment in return (so that it's not really a "gift"). Family members don't have to worry about this, though.

• too many courtesies and requirements about drinking to list

• whistling inside houses, or on boats, is unlucky.

• a fair number of "folk beliefs" about food, sort of like "carrots let you see in the dark" or "spinach makes you strong".

 

Morality and Values

     For many decades the basic rule in the DRA was, "Those who don't work, don't eat." The importance of work for the sake of society is taught at an early age.

     However, the most recent generation has grown up with no famines or epidemics, and are realizing they have a good personal income -- but without a lot of spending options.

     The concept of "class struggle", "world revolution" and much of actual Marxist ideology have become practically invisible. Family, and relatives, are a major counterweight to government or party control -- in fact there is some official concern that particular families might gain too much hereditary control. 

     There's a strong hedonistic element, with the quest for consumer goods, prestige, power, sex and alcohol being notable. When these come into conflict with traditional or official values, the hedonistic values tend to win out. Only patriotism, family and close friendship really restrain this tendency.

     Folk will state a support for the protection of "socialist property", but don't feel much disapproval for embezzlers.

     Privacy doesn't have a strong value, even though the various secret police agencies have dwindled to only a couple. Your family and your community are the ones who "peek at your business."

     Examples of positive values (these get mentioned a lot in reference to "good people")

• peace:  the Soviet people have a strong distaste for war

• health:  keeping healthy, and promoting health, are important; epidemics scare the populace easily, though

• work:  working hard to support the community gets a lot of recognition

• family:  supporting children and the elderly, raising lots of children

• creativity:  education that results in advancements and invention; literature, music, and the arts are "creative work" (see:  work)

• social recognition:  people know of your deeds. "Public shame" is a motivator; "private guilt" is not so much

 

Progress and Failure

     More to come.

 

Family, Age, Sexuality and Gender

     Unlike most areas Recon Team R54 has visited, there weren't any obvious brothels. More to come.

 

Education and Language

     Most of the inhabitants speak Ancient; Russian is a common second language, especially for ambitious people. You have to know Russian to advance very far in the military or political hierarchies. The current generation is probably the last one with any native Russian speakers; it's on its way to being a dead language, mostly used for technical literature. Literacy stands at about 75% -- closer to 90% in the towns named below.

     There are half-a-dozen high schools; three colleges operate in Astoria -- one for teachers, one for medicine, and one for technical subjects (the Ural Technical Academy, established aboard the ship of that name). These schools, and several laboratories and research centers, are controlled by the Academy of Sciences, an organization with a certain amount of independence from the government. The Academy conducts planning for research and oversees all educational programs. The executive staff of the Academy are titled "academicians", and are elected by the teaching and research staff; there are 9 academicians currently, who choose the President of the Academy from among themselves. Note that "science" includes most engineering fields, social sciences, medicine, etc.

     Membership of the Academy of Sciences stands at about 1200 persons currently; a bit more than half of them are instructors at various schools or the colleges. Members of the Academy must be literate in Russian; in fact, the higher-level meetings and conferences are conducted mostly in the Russian language.

 

Environment and Agriculture

     Especially around the city of Glenwood, the DRA has cut down a lot of forests; partly for charcoal, but also to clear land for livestock or hemp farms. There are about 300 square kilometers of hemp farms. 

     Hemp provides fiber for ropes and fabric; stalks are used to produce ethanol and methanol (typically 20000 liters per hectare), and the seeds produce various oils or biodiesel fuel (about 900 liters per hectare). Thus the DRA can produce (in a year with good weather) 600,000 cubic meters of alcohol, and 27,000 cubic meters of biodiesel.

     The fishing fleets bring in crab, salmon, halibut ...

 

Food

     Fish and dairy, at least! More to come.

 

Art and Entertainment, Music, Literature, Recreation

     More to come.

 

Fashion and Appearance

     More to come.

 

Urban and Rural Areas, Architecture

     More to come.

 

Equipment and Resources

 

Economy

 

     The Tillamook Trading Caravans travel up the Columbia River, carried by River Folk craft east of Portland, buying and selling from willing communities. The Caravans were originally a thin cover to disguise their "communist" nature -- a generation or two ago, there were many places that didn't want anything to do with the Soviets. By now, the TTC is more like a trademark; everyone knows where they really come from. The TTC is technically a collective.

     Major imports are electronics, rubber products, paper (from Oregon City), scrap metal, basic metals (copper, nickel, etc.), grains, wines, beer and fabric. Exports are boats, biodiesel and ethanol fuel (both from hemp), rebuilt/repaired engines, tools, steel, fish ... and Communist ideology, if you believe some people in the Willamette Valley.

     There are 1800 persons employed aboard fishing vessels of all sizes, and another 2700 persons employed in the various canneries and processing plants. The three shipyards in Astoria each employ about 180 persons, but could expand up to 400 persons each in an emergency.

 

 Science, Medicine and Technology

     Before the war, almost all electrical power west of the Coast Range came from generator plants inland -- especially the dams along the Columbia River. A few sawmills generated 5 or 10 megawatts of power by burning waste lumber. For a few decades after the Atomic War, the reactors of the Ural powered Astoria.

 

Weapons and Military Equipment

     Machine guns (in 7.62x54mmR caliber) and AK74 rifles have been seen in their hands. There are a lot of PKM light machine guns available, but not so much ammunition.

     The AK74 rifles have been converted to fire 9.3x40mm semi-smokeless -- originally based on a straight-neck conversion of the 5.45mm cartridge.

 

Communications

     Radios and telephones. The more sophisticated radios -- such as CBs -- are either imported, or made from imported parts.

 

Vehicles

     Presumably, they had the usual Soviet naval infantry vehicles:   MTLB, BTR70 or BTR80, GAZ 66 light trucks, KrAZ-255B heavy trucks, etc. By the early 22nd Century, any of the original vehicles have been rebuilt a couple of times, or replaced by less-capable copy. There are at least a dozen of the KrAZ-255B trucks, plus many more old American vehicles, or entirely "built from scratch / scrap" trucks.

     The most reliable AFVs are three-axle armored cars, built on KrAZ-255B chassis; they mount the turrets removed from BTR-80 vehicles.  Armor on the front and turret is RHA 9mm thick; on the sides, mild steel 7mm thick.

 

Front and turret armor value, 15; sides, deck and rear armor value, 13.

 

     A railway line operates between Astoria and Tillamook. Some of their rolling stock came from the museum located at Glenwood, some from the old Burlington Northern, and some newly-built.

http://www.oerhs.org/oerm/roster.htm

     More to come.

 

Aircraft

     They use small airships and pulsejet-powered gyrocopters for military purposes; there are a few small prop-driven planes for training and courier service. The technological connection between the People's Army gyrocopters and those of the Foundation is unknown to team R54 at this time. 

     The semi-rigid hydrogen-filled airships were developed to better use the smaller, quieter diesel engines often used in the DRA; there have been three spectacular crashes, and the airship program is only kept going by public pressure.

 

Watercraft

     

     Commercial vessels include 4 coastal motor cargo boats (each about 250 tons displacement, top speed about 10 knots), 32 fishing schooners and pilot boats, a few dozen sailing fishing boats, and 50 motor fishing vessels. The government operates a few coastal and river patrol boats, the research/exploration schooner Burya, the lightship Columbia (39 meters long, 627 tons), and one large (by 22nd Century standards) landing ship, the Nikolay Vilkov.

 

Nikolay Vilkov

An Tapir-class landing ship, commissioned in 1974. Displacement 4650 tons, 113 meters long, draft loaded 6.15 meters, with two type 58A4 4500 HP diesels plus a 300 kilowatt diesel generator. It has two fixed-pitch propellers.      There are 2000 liters of lubricating oil in the engines and propulsion system; another 2000 liters of fresh water circulates in the cooling system; the fuel tanks hold 400 cubic meters (320 tons) of diesel. The engines each use 500 liters of fuel per hour at full power, giving 16.5 knots (30 kph) speed. At the cruise speed of 15 knots (27 kph), fuel usage is 300 liters per hour per engine, giving a range of 18,000 kilometers. Each engine weighs about 30 tons, is 6.5 meters long, 2 meters wide, 3 meters tall.      The current condition and reliability of the ship's engines is not known, but expected to be "less than perfect".      The ship had a 5-ton crane aft and a 7.5-ton crane on the forward deck, though the aft crane has been removed; originally the crew was 55, along with about 440 troops (see below for capacity). The bow entrance has two doors and a ramp; the stern has a drawbridge-type ramp. A couple of lifeboats are fitted, along with some rafts.      This vessel in 1989 mounted a ZIF-31B twin 57mm gun (using the same ammunition as the various Soviet Army 57mm AA guns), two 2M3 twin 25mm AA guns, and a UMS-73 multi-barrel rocket launcher (40 tubes, with 160 rounds carried; 140mm), for dealing with beach defenses. Small arms for the crew, and three SA-N-5 Grail launchers, completed the armament.      The 22nd Century weapons are less capable, but still pretty hefty compared to any gun truck. Various radars and other electronic sensors are long gone.      Transport capacity as a "non-tactical" vessel is 1750 tons. For landing cargo over the beach, in a tactical environment, typical loads were:   313 troops + one (or a combination of) the following: x5 BTR-60 (or -70, or -80) APCs + 120 additional troops + 10 MAZ-543 trucks x20 PT-76 amphibious tank x52 ZIL-131 trucks x85 GAZ-66 jeeps + 100 additional troops 600t of dry cargo        The mild steel hull ranges in thickness from 9.5 mm along the sides, to 25mm at the bow (including the bow doors). Armor value 15 (sides), 22 (bow).

 

 

schooner Burya

her original appearance        Built in Seattle in 1914 as a two-masted halibut schooner, by the time of the Atomic War she had served as a pilot boat, yacht, rum-runner, and crab fishing boat. 30 meters long on deck, with a beam of 6 meters and a displacement of 143 tons, she could carry 60 tons of cargo in her 3 meter deep cargo holds.      Designed for fishing around the Aleutian Islands and in the Bering Sea, she is extremely strongly built -- the hull is made of 3" thick oak planks, on top of 4" x 4" oak frames spaced only 6" apart. Armor value 9 points. The hull is divided into four watertight compartments, and the bow has steel plates to protect it from floating ice. There are two 20-meter masts.      The current engine is a six cylinder, 7 liter 220 HP diesel, probably the fourth or fifth engine the ship has had since it was built. It uses half a ton of fuel (570 liters) per day at cruising speed (9 knots), or a ton per day at full speed (11 to 13 knots, depending on load, sea state, hull condition, engineer skill, repair state, etc.). The installed fuel tanks can hold 20 tons of diesel fuel, actually biodiesel produced from hemp in this case, and of course more fuel could be carried at the expense of cargo. An electrical generator, separate from the main engine, powers lights and a radio. The sails don't add any speed when motoring except in the most extraordinary conditions, but provide a backup in case of engine failure, and help with maneuvering in storms.      One or two simple rowboats are normally carried; as a fishing boat, nine 5-meter, two-man flat-bottom dories were nested on skids over the hold. The dories had a simple mast and sail, and could each easily carry half-a-ton of cargo.      A crew of three or four persons is sufficient for motor operations (master, engineer, two sailors); when under sail, or when armed, or as a fishing vessel, at least four more crew will be carried. As a halibut schooner in the early Twentieth Century, the whole crew was about twenty men. There are two small cabins in the deckhouse, along with the galley and mess; the crew quarters in the bow can accommodate eight persons in bunks, plus ten more in hammocks (which makes the space very crowded). Another twenty persons can be carried in the cargo hold, or on deck if a simple accommodation shelter is installed (as in the photo below).        If the DRA needs to send an expedition a long distance, this is the vessel they will choose (until they build a better ship for the purpose). It's usually armed with a couple of machine guns. Here's a plan, with a 1-meter grid (in red) superimposed -- dotted lines and italics are the compartments below the deck: