Vladivostok, Russia

xgrafcorex

arachnobiker
Elite Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2009
Messages
341
Reaction score
18
Points
0
Location
Monterey, CA
Visit site
As mentioned in Cloggy's thread, these are a bunch of pictures I took when my ship went to Vladivostok, Russia. I was stationed on USS LASSEN (DDG 82) out of Yokosuka, Japan. It was possibly the best port visit we had in the two years I was there. Closest runner up being Hong Kong. Anyway, here are a ton of pictures.

I had duty the first day, so I couldn't leave the ship. These pics are just of the surroundings of where our ship was. We had to med-moor, which was the first time I had ever been on a ship that did it. Normally we moor to the pier with our lines going over the side to the pier. Med-mooring is basically backing into a parking spot and the lines all go out from the stern. It's pretty tricky, especially if you don't have bow thrusters but we did a great job and the Russians were surprised with how fast we did it. What they didn't know is that we practiced it twice in Yokosuka. Most of our ships never do it ever and most of the ones that did it in Vlad took a lot longer.

uCVEHrQ.jpg

WrnOoyX.jpg


Look at those launchers!! They have some serious missiles.
7PThw8G.jpg


My ship on the left.
AKXa08E.jpg


Some rubles
i9d6gKY.jpg


Some torps
6zUftct.jpg

apw32Lg.jpg

56PIZfL.jpg

F734 is a French frigate that was also visiting for V-day.
JMugyIq.jpg

ko5UrQI.jpg

wA4T60t.jpg

N21oGF9.jpg

TW25sd7.jpg

g0hoacz.jpg

rWuPWOu.jpg

OAiT186.jpg


The next day (we were there for 3 days.) I was able to get off the ship.
Kind of a bad pic but these were all part of a V-day parade. Someone there told us that there are two V-day parades in Russia that are televised across the country; one is in Moscow and the other is in Vladivostok. It was basically the parade you are probably already thinking of...lots of troops, missile launchers, etc parading down the streets. The French and our ship had a group of people take part in the parade also.
kx0stGD.jpg

qvumR27.jpg

3JnOJEa.jpg

2BzZeI4.jpg

kVfiLKI.jpg


We had to wear our blues on liberty. It attracted a lot more attention to us. It wasn't bad though, everyone seemed to love us there and I can't even count how many pictures we were asked to take with people.
48uuDdt.jpg

vlbUoag.jpg

8sd0xrN.jpg

lzU3IVI.jpg

gCXQFbr.jpg

lzstb5h.jpg

DAYa7TJ.jpg
 

xgrafcorex

arachnobiker
Elite Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2009
Messages
341
Reaction score
18
Points
0
Location
Monterey, CA
Visit site
I'm also into graffiti...that's where the graf in my name comes from.
RsITAC6.jpg

LtopCbT.jpg

YTZIf6U.jpg

vkTiv39.jpg

r7J47zV.jpg

R96pDBU.jpg


We ate lunch at this place. The funny thing is, LASSEN's "mascot" is a three headed dragon, or "sea devil" so this place was most fitting.
gOrr58u.jpg

QgtKJKC.jpg

9MREEVc.jpg

qaNKUTT.jpg


Japanese style bosozoku car.
gFUa6B5.jpg

E3L3Krq.jpg


"Fish zoo"
UE1gPJC.jpg

W4FvVY2.jpg

3ljBxRp.jpg

oqy0pvO.jpg

cOBOaz7.jpg

P2f9mvO.jpg

lCmzbFX.jpg

p9AHgS1.jpg

9UkLQF2.jpg

0ovxPy5.jpg

sbBWjFs.jpg

Piranha!
psHFFxI.jpg

jhSe62h.jpg


nx1muAm.jpg

2XlVrf7.jpg

jl9fa7H.jpg

fLOeCQx.jpg

RRYlyBK.jpg
 

xgrafcorex

arachnobiker
Elite Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2009
Messages
341
Reaction score
18
Points
0
Location
Monterey, CA
Visit site
exivArs.jpg

MjPN3kv.jpg

SiyMmiz.jpg

Ld8QRdy.jpg

Eo5vjxB.jpg

o9OOY5J.jpg

LWmKwYJ.jpg

wrRzyUx.jpg

Flying fish..we see these a lot. Mostly flying away from the ship.
tWw47g9.jpg

Zj8c4o1.jpg

oxX3gKb.jpg

rl0bwDt.jpg

hUCM0eR.jpg

bSjmSR3.jpg

ywFRsVt.jpg

A whale
3pvgCt2.jpg

spnO9B9.jpg

Q1ajyib.jpg


KUMHzhw.jpg

KUMHzhw.jpg


Having my first white russian in Russia.
UQrXd1b.jpg

x1uQXEm.jpg
 

xgrafcorex

arachnobiker
Elite Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2009
Messages
341
Reaction score
18
Points
0
Location
Monterey, CA
Visit site
This bar was great and we went there both nights. They loved fire.
amEKFVU.jpg

I286Nko.jpg

RyVAEPD.jpg

Random Russian bathroom stall vandalism.
S37kT3r.jpg


ULAFNl0.jpg

kXz1MWT.jpg

sIgwojg.jpg


This drink must've cost a lot of rubles...they had a whole stack of glasses, poured the liquor from the top then started a fire.
vXR6lFQ.jpg

of7N4SL.jpg

IHDO3uF.jpg


FT1qlmQ.jpg

BNEzxYa.jpg


Look at this car!
vY6NCgA.jpg


1oJ3Z22.jpg
 

xgrafcorex

arachnobiker
Elite Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2009
Messages
341
Reaction score
18
Points
0
Location
Monterey, CA
Visit site
Next day.
3jFkqsj.jpg

Lbi5BfK.jpg

0dfeun5.jpg

xIFBqZn.jpg

xOFjE6X.jpg

tUrteMI.jpg

tUrteMI.jpg

utIWt4k.jpg

eiyiGsN.jpg


A couple gypsy kids swarmed my friend shortly after this photo. Their parents yelled something we couldn't understand and 2 kids rushed my friend and tried to still his bag. They didn't get it though.
R6tifZR.jpg

lqymDBc.jpg


A random bar we chose to stop at.
a464Uli.jpg

Efiyf71.jpg


While people were at that bar, we went to a tobacco shop.
qqGOpHm.jpg


sZgUJPd.jpg


I'll post more later.
 

Tailgate

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2008
Messages
2,086
Reaction score
26
Points
0
Location
Sacramento, CA
Visit site
Fascinating pics! Great weather! Some day I hope to visit the city, maybe tak the trans-Siberian train from Moscow. Looks like you had a great time. Russia sure is big on military parades, museums,etc., huh?
 

xgrafcorex

arachnobiker
Elite Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2009
Messages
341
Reaction score
18
Points
0
Location
Monterey, CA
Visit site
Fascinating pics! Great weather! Some day I hope to visit the city, maybe tak the trans-Siberian train from Moscow. Looks like you had a great time. Russia sure is big on military parades, museums,etc., huh?

The weather was pretty nice. It was fairly cold but it wasn't snowing. Yea, there was a lot of military events going on during that visit.

lyKwGae.jpg

oxIGJQg.jpg

bXvNPyW.jpg

TH1DSP9.jpg

dN2Vruf.jpg

0LhHgxh.jpg


tGMKlvd.jpg

E7Rdhut.jpg

eXHHOUA.jpg

5EmD84c.jpg

9zI0xmZ.jpg

OOQJRhS.jpg

bjHYYFL.jpg

ZUXfWzn.jpg

6sTrjRX.jpg

b6M7nOU.jpg

ZTeOGUY.jpg

UuXAQQW.jpg

qldfVKx.jpg

1SMLglc.jpg


We were having drinks at this place and there was a power outage in the area we were in.
bqTj5QC.jpg

QlxZfhS.jpg


JzEbkTb.jpg

3WasEHC.jpg

KogWYwL.jpg

6oNiUQU.jpg

BWHjoTa.jpg


That's all of them.
 

Clay350

Junior Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2011
Messages
83
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Location
Minnesota
Visit site
Thanks man those are great. I am a huge military history person and in particular russia. Its great to see first hand pictures.
 

lytehouse

The Toy Lady
Moderator
Elite Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2007
Messages
4,563
Reaction score
155
Points
63
Location
ColoradoSprings,CO
Visit site
Great pics...except for some of the fish zoo shots! :eek: IMO, they are exactly where they should be, dead, in a jar! :eek: Some of those gave me the creeps
 

Motogiro

Vrrroooooom!
Staff member
Moderator
Elite Member
Site Supporter
Joined
May 8, 2008
Messages
14,968
Reaction score
1,137
Points
113
Location
San Diego, Ca.
Visit site
Great pictures! Thanks for sharing some of the culture with us and thank you for serving! :)
 

xgrafcorex

arachnobiker
Elite Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2009
Messages
341
Reaction score
18
Points
0
Location
Monterey, CA
Visit site
Thanks man those are great. I am a huge military history person and in particular russia. Its great to see first hand pictures.
Glad you liked them. It was an awesome visit, even though it was fairly short. I would definitely go back if given the opportunity.

Great pics...except for some of the fish zoo shots! :eek: IMO, they are exactly where they should be, dead, in a jar! :eek: Some of those gave me the creeps
Haha We just happened upon the "fish zoo" (it said that somewhere on the outside of the building) and figured it would be worth checking out. We got to see them feed the piranhas which was cool.

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing some of the culture with us and thank you for serving! :)
No problem. The only downside to shore duty is not being able to visit other countries, without buying my own tickets at least. It's a fair trade though, I have slept in my own bed every single night for the past two months for the first time in five years. :thumbup: Well..not counting the two days I went to FL for a wedding.
 
Top