The harbour of Ventspils, Latvia according to a Cia report dated 19 May 1953

An item described the harbour of Ventspils, Latvia of which the entrance seemed to be mined while in the narrow with buoys marked channel which could be just used by one ship at a time. The harbour herself extended in an east-west direction alongside the mouth of the Venta. Two long breakwaters increased the mooring capacity. Just the north side of the harbour was available for merchant shipping, the south side was used by the Soviet navy. At least 23 diesel driven cranes were available in the northern part of the harbour which part was also connected to the railroad station of the town. When the report was written were just 2 merchant ships lying in the harbour namely the Beloostrov and a smaller Polish vessel. Of a distance of about 150 metres from the channel and 50 metres of the north side of the entrance was recently a wooden observation tower built with a height of around 490 metres. Between the tower and the railroad station was a factory still under construction but already roofed. The machinery to be placed in this factory was stored outside.

A trawler guarded the whole time the entrance. She resembled the trawlers used by the German Kriegsmarine in the Second World War and had a length of around 45 metres, a crew numbering 40 men and a armament consisting of a quite heavy gun on the foredeck, a smaller gun mounted on the poopdeck and 2 multi barrelled anti aircraft guns mounted amidships. At the stern was a slip available for mine laying.

Source
The report was published on www.archive.org, document number CIA-RDP80-00810A000700260003-3