By Oliver August on Lake Hovsgol.
7 Juli 2001
The Times
THE senior ranking officer in the
Mongolian Navy gazed across turbulent waters and
picked up an oversized telephone mouthpiece of Soviet
vintage. "Calling headquarters, calling headquarters,"
Captain Purevdorj barked.
Standing on the bridge of the diesel-powered
Sukhbaatar III, he was ready to pursue enemy vessels
across Lake Hovsgol on the Siberian border. He pulled
levers controlling the engine while his eyes darted
back and forth between compass and radar. "She
can get up to 22km an hour," he said, before
suddenly collapsing into his seat. "But what
is the point?"
The Sukhbaatar III is the only vessel
in the navy of Mongolia, the world's largest landlocked
country. Named after Damdiny Sukhbaatar, the Lenin
of Mongolia, it has been on patrol duty since 1938
without ever encountering a foe. Lake Hovsgol, which
holds 2 per cent of the world's fresh water, is
about 1,000 miles from the sea.
Despite having served on the Sukhbaatar
III for three decades, Captain Purevdorj has never
fully accepted his fate. He keeps his black and
gold rimmed cap in pristine condition, ready for
the day when he can sail on open water.
As he walked past paintings of ancient
sea battles in the officers' mess, he said mournfully:
"I trained in the Russian Navy - that was exciting.
I have been bored ever since coming back here."
To the rest of Mongolia, however,
the Sukhbaatar III is an object of immense satisfaction.
In the provincial capital of Moron, pictures of
the ship are on public display.
"The Sukhbaatar constitutes the
Mongolian Navy and thus is a source of national
pride," a visitors' guide said.
The high seas have long fascinated
the nomadic people of the steppe. In the 13th century,
Mongolia under Genghis Khan ruled the world's largest
empire, stretching from the Pacific to the Mediterranean.
Having broken free of communism, Genghis Khan's
heirs try to rekindle some of the old fervour.
Dambii Dorligjav, the Defence Minister,
told Jane's Defence Weekly magazine: "We don't
think either of our two neighbours (Russia and China)
intends to attack Mongolia, but neither do we neglect
that some incidents might develop which threaten
Mongolian security."
Speaking to The Times, Nambaryn Enkhbayar,
the Prime Minister, fondly remembered sailing on
the Sukhbaatar III. "It was in the late 1970s,"
he said. "The captain was the uncle of a university
classmate. It's good to know that the ship is still
there today."
And there it will remain. The six-strong
crew of the Sukhbaatar III have little hope of ever
reaching the open seas. The ship was transported
on 100 lorries across the grassland and assembled
from parts on the edge of the lake. Its two predecessors,
the Sukhbaatar I and II, sank in shallow water not
far from the docks in the town of Hatgal on the
southern tip of the lake. According to the Comprehensive
History of the Mongolian Navy, published by the
Government in 1967 on a single, folded sheet of
paper, both were peacefully retired. The history
did not record the armaments aboard the ships.
As it is, Captain Purevdorj said,
"the biggest battles we fight are with the
weather. We have all the right weapons for that."
In the summer thunderstorms from Siberia regularly
whip up the water. During winter the Sukhbaatar
III is stuck in port because the lake is frozen
solid - hardly ideal conditions.
Moreover, the Sukhbataar's patrol
duties have been greatly reduced in recent years
after the ship was privatised. Without an enemy
to engage, the Mongolian Navy's pride and joy has
been seen towing bulk carriers across the lake.
(c) Times Newspapers Ltd, 2001.
