Vidyayevo () is a closed rural inhabited locality in

Murmansk Oblast Murmansk Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia, located in the northwestern part of the country, with a total land area of . Its only internal border is the Republic of Karelia to the south, and it is bor ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Despite having a rural status, it is municipally incorporated as Vidyayevo Urban Okrug, as such status is the only one allowed by the federal law for closed inhabited localities. Population: 6,307 ( 2002 Census). It is mostly known for the naval bases located in the

Ara Ara may refer to: Biology * ''Ara'' (bird), a genus of parrots * Ara (fish) (''Niphon spinosus''), a species of fish * L-arabinose operon, also known as ara Places * Ara (mountain), a mountain in Armenia * Ara, Armenia, a village in Armenia ...

and

Ura Bay Ura may refer to: Government and politics *United Red Army, a revolutionary group in Japan *Uganda Revenue Authority * United Reform Action, a party in Montenegro *Urban Renewal Authority, in Hong Kong *Urban Redevelopment Authority, in Singapore P ...

s. The locality itself is situated on the eastern side of the Ura Bay. One of the principal bases of the

Northern Fleet The Northern Fleet (, ''Severnyy flot'') is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Arctic. According to the Russian ministry of defence: "The Northern Fleet dates its history back to a squadron created in 1733 to protect the terri ...

of the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

is located here.

History

It was founded in 1958 as Uritsa (), after the river flowing from Pityevoye Lake into the bay and providing drinking water for the settlement. Most likely, the name Uritsa is a Russian diminutive of Ura, which is a native

Saami The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI, pronounced "Sammy") is an association of American manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and components. SAAMI is an accredited standards developer that publishes several A ...

(Lappi) name for the bay and for a larger river Ura also feeding into the Ura Bay several kilometers away from Vidyayevo. Uritsa was renamed Vidyayevo in 1964 in honor of the World War II submarine commander Fyodor Vidyayev who perished in the

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; , ; ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters.World Wildlife Fund, 2008. It was known earlier among Russi ...

in course of the military mission of the submarine ShcH-402 under his command.

Naval base

In the early 1960s, the area started serving as a base for

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

-powered

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s, and in 1979

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

-powered ones as well. In the 1980s, the base at Ara Bay was a relatively large one, serving submarines of all three generations. Remaining submarines in service in Ara Bay today are of the (''Shchuka-B''), , and Oscar-II (''Antey'') class. Vidyayevo (particularly the Ara Bay) was the home base of the now lost K-141 ''Kursk'' (which was an Oscar-II class). Naval radioactive waste storage facilities are located at the Ara Bay as well. The base at Ura Bay is used for diesel submarines and a few smaller surface vessels. The settlement consists mostly of five-story apartment buildings built on granite rock foundations or on poles driven into permafrost.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with another rural locality, incorporated as the closed administrative-territorial formation of Vidyayevo—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

.Law #96-01-ZMO As a municipal division, the closed administrative-territorial formation of Vidyayevo is incorporated as Vidyayevo Urban Okrug.Law #530-01-ZMO

References

Notes

Sources

* * {{Authority control Rural localities in Murmansk Oblast Submarine installations of the Russian Navy Russian and Soviet Navy submarine bases Closed cities Former urban-type settlements of Murmansk Oblast