Great Naval Base at Leningrad

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 41, 18 February 1938, Page 2

Great Naval Base at Leningrad

FOREIGNERS TO LEAVE United Press Association— By ttlectrlc Telegraph.— Copyright. HELSINGFORS, Feb. 15. Foreigners have: been ordered to quit Leningrad, which, will bo convcrtel into an impregnable fortress and naval base, states the Moscow correspondent of the Svenska Pressen. Ten thousand political prisoners aro reported to have arrived to start construction work. The diplomatic correspondent of the Daily Herald reported last month that Leningrad, which is being converted into a great secret fortified naval dockyard and arsenal, was to become a closed zone. No foreigners would be permitted to remain, and the crew's of

foreign ships would be allowed ashore only in a limited area. New shipyards were being constructed, capable of building and repairing the largest capital ships. The immediate building programme included three 35,000-ton battleships, with 16-inch guns. CLOSING OF BRITISH CONSULATE AT LENINGRAD MOSCOW, Feb. 15. Britain has notified the Soviet of her decision to close the Leningrad Consulate immediately arrangements are completed. Russia advised Great Britain that she must close the British Consulate at Leningrad within two months, as she .had decided that the number of any country’s consulates in Russia must bethe same as Russia’s consulates in that country. Britain retorted with the decision to close the Consulate branch at Moscow.