The time passed quickly, often making her forget her promise to visit her parents as often as she could. However, in recent times, she had often begun to question her current situation. What did the future hold? She had reached her thirties and was not really living the life she had hoped for. After more than two years in Portsmouth, she was still feeling lonely. Most of her colleagues went home to their husbands or boyfriends. This was what prompted her to try online dating sites – where she discovered Nikolai!
Was this to be the time when her ship would come home?
4.
“DOROGAYA”
Eventually, the big day came. It was about noon on a Wednesday when Marina stood on the sea wall, waiting for her first sighting of the visiting Russian ships. It was misty in the Solent area as she looked expectantly into the distance, past the four, dark grey, formidable stone Spithead sea forts dating from the Napoleonic wars. And then, at around the time she had expected, she spotted the small group of three ships appearing first as dots in the misty distance and then heading slowly in a line past the Isle of Wight and through the Spithead channel. She gave a tentative wave as the dark grey frigates passed her eager gaze and moved out of sight and into the harbour entrance.
She had not slept well, through anxiety perhaps, but the sea breeze had helped to awaken her spirits. She had taken the day off from work, and, with her mind spinning, she began to walk briskly towards the Dockyard. Along the way, she recalled the naval history of Portsmouth as she passed Battery Row and Sally Port, then the Cathedral so well restored after its bomb damage in World War Two. Then onwards to the impressively modernistic new development of Gunwharf Quay, with its shops and restaurants, and the soaring and dramatic feature of Spinnaker Tower, a symbolic feature visible from miles away.
Her walk took her along The Hard and past more historic landmarks such as the Keppels Head Hotel, from where the impressive stone and brick Dockyard gates came into view. As usual, the area was busy with coaches and tourists on their way to view the historic ships, and looming above it all was the towering building which housed the Commodore, his staff and the various administrative departments necessary to manage the work of the Dockyard.
In its heyday, the docks and jetties were usually full of naval ships, large and small, but the combination of defence cuts and modern naval operations meant there were now large spaces where once there had been aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers and minesweepers – either moored or undergoing maintenance in the dry docks.
Within an hour of arriving in the harbour, the three Russian ships had tied up safely alongside the South Railway Jetty – the place where the cruiser Ordzhonikidze had famously berthed when it brought the Soviet leaders, Bulganin and Khrushchev, to Britain on their official visit in 1956 for talks with Prime Minister Anthony Eden (and where the veteran frogman Commander “Buster” Crabb had lost his life in mysterious and controversial circumstances while trying to carry out a secret spying mission on the ship’s propulsion system).
Marina was unaware of this piece of Portsmouth’s naval history as she walked on through the activities of a still bustling dockyard, where tourists mingled with vehicles, dockyard workers and sailors. She found her way to the three Russian ships, and there, at long last, was the dark grey shape of RS Admiral Essen.
A uniformed Russian sailor was standing guard at the foot of the gangway and, in careful, simple English, she enquired about Lieutenant Nikolai Aldanov. He saluted politely as he recognised the name of one of his own officers and called to another sailor on deck. Marina waited, her heart thumping with a combination of excitement and anxiety, as the guard sent a messenger to find him.
After what seemed like a lifetime, she at last recognised her handsome officer in his smart, gold-braided uniform and peaked hat coming down the gangway to greet her. She had thought a hundred times about this moment and how she would welcome him – a hug, a handshake, even a kiss?
Nikolai took the initiative. He removed his uniform hat and tucked it under his arm, reached out to hold Marina’s hand and kissed her on both cheeks. Then looking into her eyes, he said, in his perfect English with hardly a trace of an accent: “So here we are. Marina is a real person. This is wonderful.”
Marina was suddenly speechless and overwhelmed, but pulled herself together to reply in a whisper: “Yes, here we are… I never thought this would really happen.”
“Well it has,” said Nikolai. “Let’s stroll and have a chat.”
He gently took her hand and as they walked along the jetty, watched by some envious sailors on board the Russian ship, he started telling Marina about their voyage from Sevastapol to Portsmouth.
The sailors were not the only ones watching them; in a discretely parked black car, two MI5 agents were also watching every move and taking photographs.
Nikolai spotted the nearby dock where the historic, first ironclad warship, HMS Warrior was moored, with a queue of tourists waiting to go on board. He asked about its history and this change of subject helped Marina to relax and she told him all about the famous 19th century ship. And she continued with the story of Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory when they could see her masts and flags further away in the Dockyard as they walked. Now regaining her composure, she asked: “How long will you be here?”
He explained that they were scheduled to refuel the Admiral Essen the next day and then sail for more exercises on the following day – but he added that he was not required to be on duty until the next morning and asked her, “So do you have time to show me a bit more of Portsmouth?”
Marina was pleased to say yes and pausing briefly to show him the office building where she worked, she explained that she had taken the day off, and added that as it was already mid-afternoon, they should make a start as soon as possible. Nikolai said he would need to change out of his uniform to “go ashore” and as they were walking past the Boathouse with its restaurants thronged with tourists, he suggested that she should wait for him there – “I will be back here in 10 minutes,” he said, as he strode away.
Marina bought herself a cold drink and found a seat. She tried to think about where to take him – and in her mixed-up thoughts she suddenly wondered whether he would actually come back to find her? Also, since she did not have a car, they would be limited to places within reasonable walking distance.
And then Nikolai appeared at the door and searched anxiously among the groups of visitors. Marina saw him and waved. She thought he was looking specially handsome and very different in blue jeans and a grey, patterned sweater. As they met and he said warmly: “OK Marina, let’s go.”
They walked out through the Dockyard gates into The Hard where Marina pointed out the various features of the area including the famous Keppels Head Hotel, the Harbour railway station and the ferry service plying to and from Gosport where, she explained, there were several Royal Navy establishments. Then as they approached the modern development of the Gunwharf Quays shopping centre, she found herself rather naturally taking his arm as she guided him through the crowds toward the Spinnaker Tower. At the reception desk, she bought two tickets and they took the lift to the top deck where, from a height of 550 feet they had a dramatic view of the whole of Portsmouth and beyond to Southampton Water to the West, the Isle of Wight to the South with the Needles in the distance and the Sussex coast to the East. Marina had now lived in the area long enough to be able to give a commentary on all the views around them and to answer all of Nikolai’s questions.