RUSSIAN FORTRESSES.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XI, Issue 2937, 19 May 1877, Page 2

RUSSIAN FORTRESSES.

The following information concerning the fortifijecT, towns in Russian territory adjoining' the Black Sea conies in very apropos now that; the cablegrams are daily filled with unknown and uncouth names :—ln: — In a Gfevman paper some information is published about the Russian fortifications on the shores of the Black Sea. The first of , the ;naval fortresses in Southern llussia is Nicholaieff, and no pains have been spared to make it Strong as possible. The extensive arsenals and shipbuilding yards' are. incessantly employed in producing the requirements of naral warfare, and Nieolaieff now posseses depots of ammunition and a park of artillery, which t wijl enable ; the ( director of the coast defences to strengthen any re quired point at very short notice. Tlie entrance into the Bay ,of v Kli~er'sdn, from which one passes , into the s IJug Liman, and then to ijTicoJalenv is*, defended tiy two naval torts.' The' first of th^'e, Otchakoff, is on the Bessarabian. toasrfc* and is tolerably .protected on the yeat by swamps" ; the b.ther is Kinburn, tyingopposite on the, Jftdgai steppe, and su)rl rounded by creeks and canals. From ptch^kqff along ihe coast is about, 80 .v.ersts. 'o(Jqss^ is,.surrounde i d by a series 'or fdrtifications which extenjd to Akermann, "pn^i;he v Dniester,.. t Th|H chain oftvorks, armed with guns brheavy calibre, and supplemented by submarine torpedoes,- would make an i attack^frbia. the sea very difficult.. But the line df .defencq extending f^om Odessa .laieff.Jias one weak point, at JEfereko^,, where 'tne Crimean Peninsular 'is connected with the 'Nogai' steppe.', The wHoleof the northern and westeni coait J of the almost unprotected, although Eussia has little. to fear, on that f *i#e,sa lanjajixading; ajrmy ,wbioU' IrUUe& to oiicttwent^^e^li^^ofttiojis £ 1b . . . ■ttit! .

ibetwed* Odesia and Nicolaleff would bo ;oblige() iojcrbss the Isthmus of Perekop. '«W, lw-n tho,Tartars ruled over the Taurian ipemns ilatCjtheyWblocked this Isthmus !^ih\a'hug^Wall/ similar to that of Tra"jkn in^feE^^brudscha, and fortified the adjoining hills of Karr-Djanai, Kullah, Utch-Djilija, and TJrmemskoibazar. This wall has now been repaired, armed with gans7rand~ a prDtec*tS(i "ttjagntrwrcirasents. The southern coast -xrf. the Qrimea has disobeefi strongly fdrtificd. v !iar£e sums i^ve been expended, in st^jj&fchsning^hjp works 4, around * Sebastopol. ; t Torpedoes have beon laid down in the Bay <>f Tchernaya, and also at v Oape. Kh'erionese and ,B'alaklavaV whiebu harbouiis 'protected by a fort.' 'There are other fortifications at Sudak r in4he Baylof Takkieh, near Feodosiaj': and on' therhitt: ofnSt Elias, near the> latter itow'n, .which is, also protected by torpedoes in ihe bay.. above mentioned. Kertch is fortifiei&by works on the -Ws tern." extremity, of. the peninsula of Taman, on the hill of Takil, at Kertch itself, and! at>7Yanikaltsh;. ' Cape Fanaf, on the other side of the.'.Kimmerican Bosphorus, is als"o to be fortified. On the Caucasian coast tho -following are ihefprinpipal forts : Djemiter, Novorossiskaya, Gelendtchilt, Tenpinsk, Lazarevsfk, Douvha Soukhoum, .Kaleh i Hori Redout Kaleh, Poti, .aud Nikolava,. .j .„^ x ■