Kola Bay

View of the Kola Bay

The Kola Bay (Russian Кольский залив, also Murmansk Fjord ) is a 57 km long fjord of the Barents Sea, which cut into it located in the northern part of the Kola Peninsula.

The fjord is up to seven miles wide and has a depth of 200 to 300 m. The rivers Tuloma and Kola open into the southern end of the Kola Bay.

The eastern shore is rugged and steep, while the western shore is relatively flat. The ports of Murmansk and Severomorsk lie on the east, the Port of Polyarny on the western shore of the bay. The Kolabucht Bridge spans the bay. The tidal range in the Kola Bay reaches a height of four meters. In the winter months freezes the southern part of the Kola Bay. The Sajda Bay is a western tributary of the Kola Bay.

At the beginning of the Second World War, the Kola Bay became a haven of merchant ships, including the German Bremen. From 1941 to 1945 she was arrival and gathering place for the North Sea convoys, which were driving back from here to the UK.