Many landlocked countries with no access to the open ocean maintain navies, which might seem odd at first.
Hungary maintains a full armada of vessels including warships and minesweepers.
All these nations have legitimate reasons for defending their inland waterways.
But Mongolia is another story.
Mongolia is surrounded on all sides by land.
In terms of size, it is the world’s second-largest landlocked country behind Kazakhstan.
Realistically speaking, the chances of Russia invading Mongolia through this narrow corridor is extremely low.
Nevertheless, if Mongolia wants to defend its water boundary, so be it.
But thats not the reason why Mongolia has a Navy.
As a matter of fact, Mongolias Navy isnt even on Uvs Lake.
Its on another water bodyLake Khovsgolthats entirely inland.
Mongolias token navy is the result of the countrys vain attempt to keep alive a lost heritage.
Eight hundred years ago, the Mongols, led by Kublai Khan, had the worlds largest navy.
Both invasion fleets were destroyed by devastating typhoons, that the Japanese called the divine wind, or kamikaze.
A 19th-century painting by artist Issho Yada depicts the sinking of Kublai Khans fleet.
The current vessel,Sukhbaatar III, is manned by a crew of seven.
According to adocumentaryproduced by Litmus Films, only one of the crew members know how to swim.
I would like to see the real sea someday, muses a sailor of the Mongolian Navy.
I imagine itd be gentle and peaceful.
Here on Lake Khovsgol, the water is very rough and cold.
Sukhbaatar IIIdoesn’t see a lot of combat duty.
Lake Khovsgol, where it sails, is completely surrounded by Mongolian territory.
There is no motor-able road.
But when the post-communist government moved its oil hub elsewhere, the navy lost its purpose.
The navy has since been privatized and abandoned by the government.
The crew now struggles to stay relevant by hauling cargo and ferrying tourists across the lake.
Photo credit:Nyambayar Turbat/Flickr
Lake Khovsgol.
Photo credit:Felix Filnkoessl/Flickr
