Travel to Russia - Reisebuero WELT - Russia Travel Tours - Russian Visa - Moscow hotel - St. Petersburg hotel

A submarine called Novosibirsky Komsomolets has landed on the bank of Moscow Khimkinskoye reservoir to become a museum exhibit. It was launched in 1980 and has been crossing Atlantic and Mediterranean waters for almost twenty years as part of the Northern Navy of the USSR.

Novosibirsky Komsomolets or B-396 along with another 17 boats of the same class were used as patrol ships In the late 90-s Novosibirsky Komsomolets, worn out and fusty, was sent to Severodvinsk on a five-year long pointless ride.

The boat was to be sent for meltdown, when unexpectedly, Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov came forward as a rescuer of the historic submarine. By that time Luzhkov had nurtured the ambitious idea to found a museum of Naval history in the Russian capital with samples of original Russian boats of different types. He saved the Novosibirsky Komsomolets from a sad fate: the submarine became the first exhibit of the newly founded museum.

The 90 meter long giant belongs to the 641-b class of submarines, which was recognized as one of the best in the Russian Navy. Among NATO officers, the Soviet diesel boats of the 641-b class had the common nickname Tango for their noiselessness. This effect was achieved because the hull was covered with a special rubberized facing which made the boat imperceptible for radiolocators. Another nickname given to the boat by Russian submariners was "Rubber".

Rusty, after years of neglect, the boat was repaired by request of the Moscow city hall at a ship-building factory. Today all the visitors coming onboard have an opportunity to see the boat almost as it looked during its service in the Soviet army. To restore the interior and all the equipment of Novosibirsky Komsomolets the researchers collected some items from its analogues.

"We tried not to overwhelm our visitors with lots of scientific or military information or to burden the interior with lots of museum stands but to show the real submarine as it used to look during its service. Our visitors have access to all the submarine's compartments, even to the commander's cabin. The only thing that we have changed was to make the entrances between the compartments bigger for our guests' convenience," says Alexandr Iskra, the director of the museum.

In the next two years the new museum of Russian Naval History will occupy about five hectares near Khimkinskoye reservoir. The next exhibits to be displayed will include an original 19th century yacht and a landing ship. Movies of the history of the Russian Navy will be on display in a specially built hall.

hotel russian visas air tickets and train tickets transport services	conference facilities sightseeing tours special offers