Badge of a Veteran of the 1941 Defense of Gangut (Hanko) Naval Base, #426, circa late 1960s - early 70s.
In aluminum, paint and lacquer; medallion is 38.0 mm tall (incl. eyelet), 35.9 mm wide. The reverse has raised inscription "164 Days of Defense" and engraved serial number. The reverse of the suspension has a raised logo of the Lenemalyer Factory in Leningrad.
In excellent condition. The paint and lacquer finish are perfect, free of significant wear of any kind. The attachment of the pin to its base is skewed off center which is a manufacturing flaw typical for this badge, but the pin is sound and fully functional.
Gangut is the Russian name for Hanko Peninsula in Finl
In aluminum, paint and lacquer; medallion is 38.0 mm tall (incl. eyelet), 35.9 mm wide. The reverse has raised inscription "164 Days of Defense" and engraved serial number. The reverse of the suspension has a raised logo of the Lenemalyer Factory in Leningrad.
In excellent condition. The paint and lacquer finish are perfect, free of significant wear of any kind. The attachment of the pin to its base is skewed off center which is a manufacturing flaw typical for this badge, but the pin is sound and fully functional.
Gangut is the Russian name for Hanko Peninsula in Finland and the naval base that the Soviets had acquired there following the 1939-40 "Winter
War". Despite the disastrous losses suffered by the Soviet Baltic Fleet in the first weeks of the German Blitzkrieg, the base had remained
fully operational and a real thorn in the side of both the Germans and Finns for quite a while. The Soviet sailors even used it to launch
several amphibious assaults on neighboring islands and only left the isolated base in late November - early December 1941. The five-month long
defense and operations of the base - and the unprecedented, icebreaker-led evacuation of its 25000-men strong army garrison - became
legendary, a matter of pride for generations of Russian sailors. The serial-numbered version of the badge was issued exclusively to the
surviving participants of the battle and is quite rare (the more common unnumbered badges were probably given to naval command and support
personnel; we have already seen some of them with added fake numbers.)
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