1. LEPAYA SHIP MACHINE-BUILDING PLANT NO. 29 2. LEPAYA SUGAR REFINERY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A007500340002-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 19, 2008
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: August 29, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTR
This material contains information affecting the Na
18, U.S.C. Secs. 793 and 794, the transmission or re
AL- INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
tional Defense of the United States within t
velation of which in any manner to an un
he meaning of the Espionage Laws, Title
authorized person is prohibited by law.
COUNTRY USSR (Latvian SSR) REPORT
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1. Lepaya Ship Machine-Building DATE DISTR. 29 August 1955
Plant No. 29
2. Lepaya Sugar Refinery
DATE OF INFO.
PLACE ACQUIRED
REQUIREMENT
REFERENCES
DATE ACQUIRED
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Lepaya Ship Machine-Building Plant No. 29
1. The Lepaya Ship Machine-Building Plant No. 29 had several names prior to the
Soviet occupation in 19110. The original name of Tosmare Naval Shipyard was
changed to1Warship Repair Factory, which again was changed in 1950. to its pre-
sent name, Tha was printed on the gate pass in Russian and in Latvian.
he plant was subordinate to the Navy in the UgSR Minis-
ry o e ense. ere were about 1,200-1,300 workers at the plant.
2. The management of the plant consisted of a director, chief engineer, and a
Party. organizer. The director and chief engineer were captains first rank;
they wore Navy uniforms with three stars on the shoulder straps and three
stripes on the cuffs, The director and chief engineer were chan ed between
1948 and 1953. The last director was a Tartar
He lived in
ec epaya at the corner o Peldu and e u Streets
apartment house which was rebuilt by the factory.
His office was on the second f oor in e plant's main
office (see No. 1, sketch No. 1, p. 10). He arriv5d at the plant in 19118.
The c i e f en esi r-eer since '105r% was Zava n k
(fr
%
ov
i
and lived
in die same ouse as the rec or. He was a skilled specialist and was known
to be kind to the workers. He already worked at the plant before becoming
chief en sneer. The chief en sneer before Zavarukov was Kovalenkov (fnu),
s t or anizer
dressed in c aln to eth wlove the same house with the director
and chief engineer. the Party organizer being changed four
3. The chief of the personnel section was a Soviet captain second rank. His
post went to a Soviet in the fall of 1952. The
chief of the economic and motor vehicle section since 1947 or 1948 was
SET
STATE X ARMY NAVY AIR FBI AEC gf/ 1 X
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Zhigulev
(Thu), since 1952.1 was chairman o both the plant committee an the plant trade
union.
H's office was in the main
office building across from the director's office. The Latvian Jozefs (Thu)
held this job in 1940-19L1 and for a short time after 1945. He was replaced
by the Latvian Stankevics (fnu) who is now the director of the Baltija Match
Factory in Lepaya. Stankevics was replaced by the Latvian Grinbergs (fhu) who
had the job in 1951.
lived in Jaunlepaya on .rams ijas 5treet ne ar e re u oa Jail. Tr. in rgs was
also a huller and a peoplets judge. The chief bookkeeper since the Soviet
occupation was the Latvian Blumins (fnu),
The manager of the wage office
a ion was a Latvian woman named Jaunara u
lived in Jaunlepaya around No.
5 in the wes oc prom the corner o U enu and Fabrikas Streets.
4. The construction office was located in the plant's main office building (see No.
1). It was scheduled to be moved to the upper floor of a building (see No. 38)
near the stores in February 1953. The Soviet Borrrach (fnu) was the manager
of the construction office since 1952. He and his predecessor, the Soviet
Lebedev (fhu), were both captains second rank. Bor-r~ach's assistant was the
Latvian Harijs Galle.
He earned about 00 rubles
a month . His o wa
b importan ,,because he reviewed all. designs of vessels.,
radar, and Lepaya Harbor equipment
working groups in Gallets office.
was responsible for colored metals., such as brass and tin
e uioment, such as bulbs and cables.
held his job since 1549 or 1950. He succeeded the Latvian uczis u ,
5. Some of the 13 shops at the Lepaya Ship Machine-Building Plant No. 29 consis-
ted of several sections. The managers of the shops were usually Soviets, but
the foremen of the sections were Latvians, The foreman of a larger section
had an assistant,and every eight to ten workers hai a brigadier who worked
on an hourly pay scale. His work was not too hardt since his job was to super-
vise, Shop No, 1 consisted of the hull, coppersmith, anc? sheet metal sections.
The shop manager since 1948 or 1949 was Tchakatchir(.ftu:),
The hull and coppero,u.Lth sections of Shop No.
1 "were located in a two-story building built in 1936 or 1937 (see 2). The
fore- of the 120-130 worker ;he hull sects n wa,s the Latvian Sisenis
o a e on o oors in a ui rig nex o e coppersmi
sections (3). The Latviai Derevjanskis (fnu) was forema:i of some 15 workers
in the sheet metal section.
annex (4). Karlis Strazds,
was foreman of some 0 welders of whom 25 were electrowelders.
e we. ers worked the 0800-1700 and the 1700-0130 shifts, The first shift
had a 1200 to 1300 lunch period and the afternoon shift had an additional
a hour break. All of the foremen in this shop earned a bout
month. Vi]..is Slampe was a designer in the welding section.
He earned about 800 rubles a month,
Shop No. 5 was a machine workshop. The shop manager was the Soviet Ivanov (fhu)9
a captain second rank. The foreman was the Latvian Vihsna (fnu),
This shop had some 60 workers and was located in the
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largest building at the shipyard (5). It consisted of a two or three-story
high hall (5a) and a one-story building (5b). The shop had a large
thousandth of one millimeter. This lathe was set up in the fall of 1952. A
still larger lathe, used in turning the vaults sic of screw propellers, was
in a separate turner shop in the large hall. 25X1
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7. Shop No. 7 was a forge shop. It was located in a two-story building (6),
adjacent to the hull and coppersmith sections.
8. Shop No. 9 was a motor repair shp and thermopower plant. The manager of the
shop was Soviet Captain Second Rank Kublakov (fnu). His Latvian assistants
were Saulesle ja (fnu) and Pickins (fnu), and his foreman of the diesel section
was the Latvian Balcers (fnu). Diesel, gasoline, and submarine engines were
repaired in the one-story, red brick, motor repair dnp building (7). The
auxiliary thermopower plant, located in a one-story building (8), had two
liesel engines. The steam plant (9), which provided heat for the whole plant,
was located in the same building. A high chimney with a red light on top, was
located at the northeast corner of this building?(10). A concrete conduit.,
about ?.o5 meters deep and two meters widefor carrying electric cables and
steam ripes, went from this building to the Northern Basin where it branched
off to `he north and south (red line can sketch). This conduit was covered by
seven-inch thick and 12-inch wide concrete slabs, and the cables were covered
with sheet metal, lead, and rubber.
9. The artillery repair shop was located in the southern part of the highest build-
ing of the plant. This was a three or four-story high budding with a glass
dome on top (11).
10. The foundry, located in the same building as the turner shop (12), made pig
iron screw propellers and brass, bronze,and aluminum castings. The manager
was the Latvian Kadias (fnu).
11. Shop No. 10 was an electrical shop consisting of a tr.,ns.former station, bat-
tery charging, electrical, radio and radar, and a nic ,es l-p]a ting section. H 25X1
The transformer station was located in a one-story building between the dry
docks (13). The radio and radar section was in the northern part of a on
c+-^-n-vr ".MA hrinlr 1-%1141A4ner (1)1%- ?MA fmrAman was a T?atvian. ziverts.(fhu).~7
was in the middle of this building and the n .c.ce..-p7a.tina and battery charging
.:ections were in the southern wing of the building (i6,?17). A Soviet captain
:-acond sank succeeded a Latvian with a Russian-scounding name as manager of
`hop No. 10. 25X1 25X1
12. Mechanical Shop No. 1 was an instrument shop whose manager was the Latvian
''ukis (fhu). It was located on the first floor of the same two-story red
brick main office building (1). A part of th l :hob was also in a one-story
annex (la). This shop included a section located in a separate building (18)
which copper-coated motor bearings. The tempering section was located in the
southern part of a one-story building (19). The oxygen tank-filling section
located at the east dry dock (20) and the adjacent compression plant (21) were
in this shop, The Latvian Ragovskis (fnu) was foreman of both of these sec-
tions. two -,ery large tanks which he had seen here 25X1
were filled with liquid air.
13. The factory repair shop, built in 1939, was located in the sane building as
the tempering section X22). It had a galvanizing section and a section for
cleaning oxygen tubes, both located in an adjacent building (23). The man-
ager of the shop was a Latvian, Supstiks (fhu).
lb.. The woodworking shop was located in the same building a~, th, motor vehicle re-
pair.shop (24). The manager was the Latvian Jundzis and the foreman wasth
The electrical section 15)
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Latvian Deikans (fhu). Ship's furniture, as well as moulds for casts and
tackle were made here. The saw mill (25), steamery (26), and the life boat
section (27) belonged to this shop. The life boat section was located on the
top floor of a two-story, red brick, sheet metal-roof building. The foreman
of the life boat section was the Latvian Deikans (fhu), brother of the general
foreman of the woodworking shop.
15. The motor vehicle section was located in the same building as the dining
room (28). The only new building, built in 1952, was the garage (29). It held 25X1
15-20 vehicles, some of which were busses used to carry office workers, three.
or four were Studebaker trucks, and the rest were ZISs. The chief mechanic was
Spare drivers accompanied the regular drivers on trips which took a few weeks. 25X1
and Jansons: (fhu),
Arvids Luba. The Latvians Osis (fhu), 25X1
were the garage's chief drivers.
16. The plant had its own vulcanizing shop (30) and a gasoline tank shaped lily a
concrete shelter (31). The plant had no periscope shop so that periscopes
were sent to Leningrad to be repaired. However, a special brigade came from
Leningrad to make minor periscope repairs. The torpedo cleaning shop, which
exploded in 1947 or 1948, was located about 200 meters west of the southwest
corner of the Northern Basin, on the northern shore of the Naval Harbor Canal.
It was later restored at an unknown location.
17. The propulsion machinery store was the largest store at the plant. It occu-
pied the greater part of a three or four-story building (32). The store had its
own railroad spur. An oxygen tank store was located on the ground floor of a
two-story, red brick, sheet metal-roof building (27). A gasoline and oil fuel
store was located on the ground floor of the same type of building to the north (31).
The light metal and electrical equipment store was on uh a top floor of this
building. The storekeeper of this building was the Latvian:Epermanis (fhu).
The miscellaneous metal products store was located 25X1
in a two-story, red brick building with a sheet metal roof, to the north (34).
The tackle store occupied the eastern part of the last building to the north
(35),and the plant fire brigade, with its two or three fire trucks, occupied the
opposite part of this building.(36). The four stores across the railroad spur
were of the same type of constraction. Items such as ball bearings were stored
in the northernmost military stores building (37). F_ -1 the 25X1
upper floor of the next building (38) was to become the construction office
and the eastern part of the one-story third building were the bil]s is of
a Na guard unit. 25X1
The 'timber store was the next building to the south (41), and Snri.et 25X1
plant workers were lodged in four buildings to the east of this row (42)..
Fuel tanks, surrounded by barbed wire fence, were to the south of the timber
store (43).
18. Dining rooms for Navy personnel were ibo the east of these tanks (1). The
kitchen and dining room.tor Soviet workers, and the barber shop were located
in the same building as the motor vehicle section (15). Only Soviet
women worked in the dining room- K reasonable dinner cost seven rubles.
The cloak room and ]a vatory were on the top floor in the southern part of
the two-story building which housed the sheet metal section (46). An in-
strument store was on the ground floor,and the paint shop was located on
both floors in the same building (47). A bathroom was located in a sepa-
rate building (48), and hull plates were stored outdoors in front of the
hull and coppersmith sections (49).
19. The manager of the d cks and pumping plant was a Soviet captain second
rank, Shalev (fnu).' He was replaced at one time in the summer of 1952 by
the .Latvian Karlis Straume. Jansons (fhu) was foreman of the docks. The
fitter-on-duty had his office in a one-story wooden building (50). The pump-
ing plant, with its basement and sub-basement, was located between the two
graving docks (51). A brick chimney was located to the east of the s+.'
plant and was about 3/4 the length of the steam plant chimney, (51a). The dock
workers' office was located in the southern part of the transformer station (52)
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building. The graving docks were unchanged except that a three-meter long
and 1.5-meter wide extension was carved in the sloping end of the concrete
wall of the eastern dock, to permit the docking of the KIROV and MAKSIM GORKIY.6
These docks, numbered 1 and 2, were nine meters deep and had five steps on
both sides (see sketch No. 2, p.11)67 The upper four steps were two meters
high and the lower step was one meter high. The sloping concrete end wall was
covered by boards, Each keel block was about 1.8 meters long, 1.5 meters high,
and 0.8 meter wide, and each had staples and clasps anchored in lead for
fastening wooden blocks. The 20-meter-wide entrance of each dock was closed by
a gate which was pulled out and back by steel cables. The western dock gate
was pulled to the west, and the eastern dock gate was pulled to the east in
the quay when the en trances were opened. The gate was pulled out between.both
docks in the direction of the quay when they were being closed (see sketch No.
3, p.11). Each gate had a round hatch,about 0.5 meter in diameter, and two
one-meter square hatches. The round hatch was opened first, followed by the
square hatches, when the dock was to be flooded. The gate was opened only
when the water level in the dock reached the same level as that in the har-
bor. The edge of the gates was about one meter lower than the quay, A chain
was attached below the edge of the quay. It was impossible to dewater both
docks simultaneously., but if one was already dry, the other could then be
emptied. However, it was possible to prevent the first from becoming flooded
again. It now took six hours to dewater a dock with a ship in it, whereas,
it once took 12 hours to dewater a dock..8 Flooding of a dock through the
hatches took about two hours,
20. A gantry"crane ran parallel to each graving dock. The western dock crane ran
along the eastern side and the eastern dock crane ran along the western side
of the dock (53). The maximum lift capacity of each gantry crane was ten tons,
and the minimum lift capacity at the end of the arm was one ton. These two
cranes belonged to Plant No. 29, unlike the floating cranes which belonged to
the Naval Harbor. There were heavy-lift facilities in the industrial build-
ings of the plant as well. An overhead traveling crane with a maximum lift
capacity of 35 tons was in the propulsion machinery store. It was used for
carrying materials into the building from the railroad spurs' The hull and
coppersmith sections had two overhead traveling cranes; the crane on the
eastern side of the building had a maximum lift capacity of 12 tons and the
crane on the western side of the building had a maximum lift capacity of 3.5
tons.
21. The HERKULES, with a maximum lift capacity of about 50 tons, was the only
self-propelled floating crane at the Naval Harbor. Another floating tripod
crane had a maximum lift capacity of 75 tons. Also, there were thre or four
smaller floating cranes with a maximum lift capacity of 10-20 tons*:" All of
-these cranes belonged to the Naval Harbor and were not subordinate to Plant
No. 29. A floating crane was sent into the dock together with the vessel
if an object was too heavy for the dock cranes, A floating dock, usually
anchored at the southeast end of the Northern Basin, had diesels which,in an
emergency, could provide electric power for the whole plant (54). Its lift-
ing capacity was 3,500 tons. Each of three smaller floating docks could
lift vessels weighing up to 600 tons (54a). A 50-meter-long and 15-meter-
wide floating workshop, resembling a ferry, was anchored for years at the
northwest corner of the Northern Basin (55).
22. The only.Secret Department located in Lepaya was responsible for the inner
main office (1). only Soviets were employed in this 25X1 '
security at Plant No. 29. It was located in either Room 21 or 23 of the I..
department. The Personnel Department, located in the building at the main
gate (56), had similar duties to that of the Secret Department. Watchers who
checked workers arriving and leaving the plant were located in the same
building. Permits with a picture and a stamp were issued every year by the
Personnel Department; these permits had to be shown to gain entrance into the
plant. A special permit issued by the Personnel-Department, was needed for
working on a vessel, Another checkpoint, beside the one at the main gate,
was located at Cate No. 2 (57). Night watchmen were also located in all the
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sections and stores. The watchersVas well as the.night watchmen,were old
men who earned 250 rubles a month. The shipyard was also guarded by a unit
of seven or eight sailors. Two or three of the sailors were on sentry duty
at the main gate, while others patrolled the wooden fence north of the main
gate. The plant was inclosed by three kinds of fences:
a. Wooden fence with barbed wire on top running from the Naval Harbor Canal
to the main gate (58) and north to the living quarters of the Soviet
workers (42).
b. A barbed wire fence eastward from the living quarters of the Soviet
workers (59) (sic, see sketch No. 1).
c. An old brick wall along the northern part of the plant area (60).
23. The glass roofs on the hull and coppersmith section and the propulsion machin-
ery shop were painted a camouflage blue two or three years after the war. The
plant area was frequently dark at night because of the many air alarms. It
was, therefore, dangerous to move around the area on such occasions.
2L. The only rail line into the shipyard area came from the north (63). The longer
of its three spurs ended between the graving docks. The rail linepwhich came
into the shipyard from the east and ran parallel to the Northern Basin, was
abandoned. Another rail line from the east passed the Lepaya Sugar Refinery
and ended at the main gate (61L). It was used by city workers of Plant No. 29.
25. The telephone switchboard was located in the building at the main gate (56).10
Plant telephones had four numbers. The club of Plant No. 29 was located at
No. 9 on the north side of Pumpura Street, between Stendera and Zofijas Street,
in Veclepaya. Social affairs and dances were held at the club. The Latvian
Benkis (fhu) was club manager.
26. New Soviet methods of production and some new machinery at the plant resulted
in workers becoming more skilled after the Soviet occupation.
this was because of the Latvianst eagerness to learn. The plant had new and
modern American-made machinery while the largest part of the tools, e.g., air
hammers, were obsolete. The condition of the buildings was generally satis-
factory, but no new building, extent for the garage, had been built since the
Soviet occupation. Soviet workers were very proud of their progress in modern
technology. They would often say: 'IWWe graduated from eta mentary school during
the First World War, but during the Second World War, we graduated from the
university."
27. Except for urgent projects, there was no regular three-shift work at the plant.
Welders and turn s sometimes worked two shifts, and diesel workers had
worked overtime.
28. The welding section manufactured 27 50-ton fuel tanks from March until August
1952. The tanks were three meters in diameter and were welded of four mili-
meter steel plates. The rounded ends were welded and.the entire-tank was
painted red.(see sketch No. L, p.12). the tanks were coated
with a pitch-like substance, a sack-like cloth, and another layer of each,
respectively. They were transported on freight cars smaller than the tanks
to airfields at unknown destinations, where they were used underground. The
plant's first attempt at this type of manufacture was successful and resulted
in an order for a new group of tanks to be made.
29. There were four apartment buildings outside the brick wall north of the plant
area (61) and two apartment buildings for the plant engineers in the curve of
the brick wail, east of the second gate (62).
Lepaya Sugar Refinery
30. The Lepaya Sugar Refinery was located southeast of Lepaya Ship Machine-Build-
ing Plant No. 29. All production was done in a large building with a high,
black-metal chimney