Sovetskaya Gavan

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Sovetskaya Gavan (Russian: Сове́тская Га́вань, 'Soviet Harbor') is a town in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, a port on the Strait of Tartary (part of Sea of Japan) and the eastern terminus of the BAM railway line. Population: 30,480 (2002 Census).

[edit] History

Sovetskaya Gavan is located on the bay that was discovered on May 23, 1853 by Lt. Nikolay Konstantinovich Boshnyak (Russian: Николай Константинович Бошняк) in Russian-American Company ship "Nikolay", and named Hadji Bay. On August 4, 1853, Capt. Gennady Nevelskoy founded there a military post named after Admiral Grand Duke Constantine, and renamed the bay to Imperatorskaya Gavan ('Emperor's Harbour'), after the then reigning emperor Nicholas I. Nikolay Boshnyak was appointed the commander of the post, which became the first Russian settlement in the area, and the predecessor of today's Sovetskaya Gavan.^[1]

The bay and the settlement were renamed to Sovetskaya Gavan ('Soviet Harbor') in 1922.

Sovetskaya Gavan became a town in 1941. In 1958, the city's northern neighborhood, on the Vanino Bay, was separated into a separate urban-type settlement Vanino.

It is served by Kamenny Ruchey naval airfield (also known as Mongokhto) as well as Maygatka Airport.