AS part of my espionage duties, I came across this ' Ship's parking lot ' in Russia.
Or are they ships ? Shaped like ships, could be in dry dock but no evidence of access to the sea. Is it a prison using old vessels or are the shapes something else ?
tinyurl.com/43k56n5
Zoom in to max.....any ideas ?
Ted
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They appear to be flat markings on the ground, no shadows like the rectangular objects (shipping containers?).
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I think they may be platforms of some sort - probably a couple of feet high
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I think I may have sussed it, the other side of the ferry terminal there are similar markings with a hovercraft on the bit between the ship shapes. I think they are hovercraft hardstandings with containers stored on them.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sat 9 Apr 11 at 19:33
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They look a lot less like ships using the birds eye view in Bing, although it's not a brilliant photo.
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hover over the 'map' icon, and it will show an 'earth' icon.
click that, and it takes you to a google earth version of the picture, which is slightly clearer.
I still have no idea what they are though!
Last edited by: swiss tony on Sat 9 Apr 11 at 19:49
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>> I think I may have sussed it, the other side of the ferry terminal there
>> are similar markings with a hovercraft on the bit between the ship shapes. I think
>> they are hovercraft hardstandings with containers stored on them.
>>
EDIT -
The ship shapes are the dividers between the hardstandings, Pointed at the water end to help guide the hovercraft (of which the Russians had many, and big ones) onto the hardstanding.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sat 9 Apr 11 at 20:05
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The ramps look Lebed assault hovercraft sized.
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Nice one Z, in Google images there are a couple of hovercraft parked between the ship shapes.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sat 9 Apr 11 at 20:34
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Yep... well spotted Zero... I've found a Russian map with the area marked in red and Babelfish translates the Russian description as...
*Once they all were occupied with landing ships on the air cushion*
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If I told you that, I would have to kill and eat you all.
I was initially interested in the spit of land to the West that encloses the lagoon, an interesting geographical feature.
I came across the star shaped fort at the entrance to the lagoon and that led me to have a look round the area. Loads of ships berthed side by side...presumably all warships.
I might have known ON would have been sticking his periscope up somewhere nearby !
Always interested in strange features.....you should see the wife !
Ted
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Just as final closure here's an image of the mystery ship type structures...
static.panoramio.com/photos/original/10558249.jpg
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Nothing more than dummies! - old tactits, similar to the ones used by the British in WW2 (of tanks or airfields) to lure enemy bombers away from the real targets!
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There was an article a few months ago in the paper about a concrete aircraft carrier in China, apparently for training purposes.
It made me think of the Chinese dowager empress who purloined the imperial navy finances in about 1900 and built a stone palace in a lake, shaped like a ship.
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Devonite's post reminded me of a book I read abouit Jasper Maskelyne, the war magician.
A stage magician who managed to build a replica of Alexandria in the desert for Jerry to bomb, built a battleship which they towed round the Med and left in various ports and created the tanks and trucks which were models. These were put in the desert where there was no reference point to show their size.
I think he made a whole town disappear as well.
A good read, it's called ' The War Magician '....i'm pretty certain.
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Yeah, read it a few years back, excellent. We also employed several famous artists to design camouflage and dazzle schemes.
After the war when all the tales came out, the surviving german military couldn't get to grips with how off the wall, crazy, inventive, devious and sneaky the so called "British gentlemen" had been.
Completely un-British in fact.
Funnily enough, the dazzle concept is now being used by car makers to disguise the shapes of new car models when on test.
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Mystery ships ? - Bigtee
