Glorious St. Petersburg is rich in museums. Sometimes quite unusual! Among them there is a museum-submarine S-189. This ship has been operational for a long time, and has visited many military campaigns. It was this submarine S-189 that participated in the testing of new weapons at the military training ground of Lake Ladoga. She served faithfully from March 1954 to 1990 - more than thirty-five years. Thousands of submariners - officers, foremen, sailors - served on its board. And today the submarine S-189 is working, raising the younger generation in readiness to defend their homeland.
How did the museum turn out
This event will surely seem painful even to a person far from the submarine fleet, when a ship that has served thirty-five years breaks down and becomes a joke where it slowly dies, forgotten and abandoned by everyone. No sadder spectacle than a ship graveyard ...
This happened this time too: the submarine S-189 was dying at the pier of the port of Kronstadt for nine whole years. And in 1999, finally lost buoyancy and sank there, in the Merchant harbor.
And she would have stayed at the bottom if it had not been for her for a fortune that helped her return to life and filled the cabins and decks with people who would never leave her again. The submarine S-189 in St. Petersburg received a second life, which was given to her by a former submariner Andrei Artyushin: he took upon himself all the material costs for the repair and arrangement of the vessel. The boat was lifted from the bottom, put into the dock of the Kanonersky Zavod and gradually regained its former combat and severe appearance.
Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment
The submarine was thoroughly repaired, the interior was restored, and a place was obtained for her on the embankment of Lieutenant Schmidt. And they didn’t think very long about what to do next. March 18, 2010 the submarine S-189 in St. Petersburg became a private museum. This day can be considered the second birthday, so a new holiday was arranged for the newborn!
At the first event, the postal card was officially canceled, where an amazing picture was depicted: the submarine C-189 at the sea parade! In all its glory, it was portrayed by the artist-marine painter A. Zaikin. A new life began, which already did not resemble the terrible existence at the joke, when the boat was torn to pieces, plundering the insides and stealing equipment. The vessel was deprived of buoyancy for the sake of an extra kilogram of scrap metal - for five whole years only a small part of the deckhouse was peeping out from under the water.
Memory
The museum opened for a very, very long time: almost until the very end, the confidence in victory was not one hundred percent. The museum-submarine S-189 was being repaired for a whole year on Kanonersky Island (St. Petersburg) . It is better not to show the photo of the recovery process to anyone - the heart is bleeding ... But little by little the ship was nevertheless put in order. Another year had to be spent at the outfitting wall, where work was underway on the conversion of a warship into a museum. The submarine S-189 reviews visitors now hears only enthusiastic!
True, the guests were not allowed to board immediately. In 2007, the flag was solemnly raised, which testified to the amazing events that still happen in our lives. But the status of the museum and its first visitors only in 2010 was able to get the submarine S-189. Photo of the holiday can be shown to everyone - for good luck!
How are excursions
The museum gathered a team almost entirely of submariners, albeit former, but real professionals who know their job well. And not only mine. They know everything that the S-189 submarine survived, its history sounds on excursions. And the excursions themselves are not like any others. Firstly, civilians are at the full disposal of submariners and must immediately fulfill all incoming commands. "Have a go to the ticket office and buy a ticket!" - the guests respond, albeit not the first time, but in a military bravo.
This is not a tour, but a real show! It is as if you find yourself in a military life saturated with marine romance. It is imperative that guests come downstairs to get inside, as climbing divers is common for submariners. And inside is very crowded! The ceilings of most people do not allow to expand for real. All the protruding parts upstairs are carefully wrapped with something soft, and it is not without reason that such forethought - many thank for the absence of bruises and bumps.
Impressions
First of all, visitors enter the torpedo compartment at the stern, from where the museum begins. Lucky for those who choose the time on a weekday to join the Soviet submarine fleet. As already mentioned, the inside is very crowded, so it remains to be amazed how submariners can operate flawlessly quickly in combat conditions. Even when there are ten people on the tour, there is literally nowhere to turn around.
But the submarine C-189 calmly contained fifty-six sailors who did not go ashore in an hour, did not inhale fresh air, did not straighten and did not pull their arms and legs in all directions! They lived in a submarine and carried out combat missions, for months without seeing the land even in the periscope. Visitors to the periscope are required. You can even see how beautiful St. Petersburg appears before your eyes. Another reason to visit the museum on weekdays: on Sundays, the queue at the pier is going to be very, very long.
About the project and torpedoes
The history of the submarines of this project is told to guests on excursions. From the guide, we learn that the S-189 is a class of medium-sized submarines, with a Project 613 diesel-electric engine equipped with torpedoes - two at the stern and four at the bow. Their construction was carried out until 1957, by the way, since 1950, they managed to build two hundred and fifteen pieces - this is a pretty impressive figure. By the way, this is the most popular model, the license for which was sold to China, where they were built more than twenty.
The all-welded case seems very durable. Many people wonder how people manage to mine scrap metal. With a heavy heart, the guides also answer such questions ... Of course, they are much more willing to talk about the project. These submarines were designed taking into account the technical solutions that German designers found in their latest and unfinished models. This is especially true for a diesel engine and its operation under water. There are seven compartments on the submarine; the inspection begins with the last, at the stern, where torpedoes are installed.
Armament
The seventh compartment serves as a refuge, and the door leading to the sixth is not designed for high pressure. At first, boats of this type were armed with artillery mounts: a 2M-8, a 25-mm twin anti-aircraft gun, later - a twin gun, a 50-mm SM-24ZIF. However, in 1956, guns were removed from all boats, since they became useless and only added excess weight. Such self-defense no longer helped.
The passage from the sixth compartment to the fifth is equipped with a real bulkhead hatch, which can withstand 10 kg for every 1 cm 2 . In the fifth compartment there are diesel engines from the Kolomna plant 37D with a capacity of 2000 horsepower and compressors for them. Almost the same diesel engines were installed on Packard diesel locomotives. There are four torpedo tubes in the first compartment. The entire ammunition load is 10 combat units, 4 of which are ready to go to the target, and 6 remain in reserve. More interesting torpedoes are only 16 hanging beds nearby. Sailors literally lived in the workplace.
About the boat
During the tour, visitors do not leave a strange sense of unreality of the world that has remained overboard. And it seems that there is only the sea, only the service. This is probably because the real situation in which the Soviet submariners served was recreated in all compartments. It was these boats that guarded our country in all fleets until the end of the 80s of the 20th century. These ships are both scouts and miners, but their main purpose is the destruction of enemy transports and warships.
The first project 613 boat was launched in 1950 in Gorky, and 4 years later the S-189, the only surviving submarine, appeared. It was built at the Baltic Shipyard (at that time the Ordzhonikidze Shipbuilding Plant) for less than six months: in September 1954, she began her difficult service, which she performed until 1990. For thirty-five years in the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, she carried out combat missions, was named the best ship many times, was awarded the challenge Red Banner of the Komsomol Regional Committee, and entered into the Book of Honor. In 1978, participated in torpedo fire and shot accurately at the target perfectly. The boat visited both the Neva and the Khimki reservoir as a decoration of the naval parade. And then it was all over ...
Miscellaneous information
This museum is truly unique. Visitors feel inexplicable thrill when they fall into this grandiose 18-meter floating military history museum. They immediately learn so much new, so much interesting, that their heads are spinning. It is good that the military information of the guides is interspersed with interesting stories about long sea voyages, funny cases from everyday sea life, which on land seems ridiculous or strange. But not only the visitor learns about the construction of a diesel-electric submarine!
For example, bread. The one we are all used to. But we are used to fresh bread. What to do with this long voyage? Alcohol helps out. No, not inside the sailor! He was soaked in bread so that for many months of combat duty of the sailors the mold would not eat up the loaf. After impregnation, it was tightly wrapped in cellophane. As needed, the loaf was heated on the stove until all the alcohol had evaporated. Visitors do not believe that after such processing the products do not lose their properties - both taste and energy. Surely after the excursion, some home excursionists experimented with alcohol and bread.
And still about equipment
Everything will be shown to visitors: all rechargeable batteries, all walkie-talkies in the wheelhouse of radio communications, all officer cabins and the mess-room. Many (especially men of all ages) are interested in electronic equipment: sonar, noise-finding stations and surface targets.
You can even order in the third compartment at the central command post, where previously there were hydroacoustics with radiometers and a navigator with a periscope, from where control of depth, course, ascent, and immersion came. Here, on the submarine S-189, everything is interesting - from the gyrocompass and the torpedo tube to the drain pump and ship's clock.
Necessary information
Officially, this cultural institution is called: the museum "Submarine S-189". His address is simple: the embankment of Lieutenant Schmidt, the Leningrad Naval Base, a floating pier, the museum "Submarine S-189". How to get to this place, can tell any local. First you need to come to St. Petersburg, for example, by train to the Moscow station. Then take the metro to the Vasileostrovskaya station, and then take bus number 1.
If you want to see the city at the same time, then take a trolleybus No. 5, buses No. 27 and No. 22 on Nevsky Prospekt and move to Truda Square. Then you will find a pleasant walk through the Annunciation bridge with access to the embankment of Lieutenant Schmidt. The ticket office is open until 18:00, and the museum - until 19:00. On Monday and Tuesday, it is better not to come - the museum has weekends. All the necessary information can be found on the official website.