Probably, those who are interested in modern weapons, the cruiser Aurora will seem old-fashioned and morally obsolete. In our age of aircraft carriers, a small ship looks like a children's toy. But those who were born and raised under the Soviet Union have the best childhood memories associated with Aurora. How many songs were dedicated to this ship. And not because it stands out for its parameters. The famous cruiser was made by history itself. If another ship fired a volley as a signal for the start of a revolution, now it would be a museum. But fate ordered to make the famous Aurora. The cruiser, the operating hours and conditions of which we will describe here, has long turned into a branch of the Maritime Museum in St. Petersburg. Is it worth going there? It is up to you.
The story of Aurora
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Russia later had a settled conflict with the British Empire. A few years later, the situation with the German threat in the Baltic Sea escalated. In connection with this tense international situation, Russia has increased the need for new warships. And before we look at the hours of the cruiser Aurora, let's find out about his birth. In principle, there was nothing special in the birth of the ship. Several such armored cruisers of the Diana type were made at the Baltic Shipyard. Their prototype was the British ship "Talbot" - the latest military vehicle at that time. “Aurora” was named after the sailing frigate, which became famous in the Crimean War of 1854 during the defense of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. This cruiser was launched in 1900, successfully passed tests and was adopted by the imperial Russian fleet in 1903. He made a control exit to the sea on July 10.
Parameters of the cruiser Aurora
The ship did not stay in St. Petersburg for long. After all, the Japanese war had already erupted. Aurora, among other military vessels, sailed to Port Arthur. She was fortunate enough to return to her native harbor, and in 1904 she participated in exercises near Kronstadt. At that time, "Aurora" was visited by Emperor Nicholas II. But already in May of the following year, the cruiser took part in the battle near Tsushima. This time, fate was not so supportive of the Aurora. As a result of a shell hit, more than eighty crew members were killed, and the cruiser itself suffered significant damage. He was sent to Russia, where they began to repair at the Franco-Russian shipyard of St. Petersburg. It was a powerful warship equipped with three torpedo launchers and 42 cannons of various calibers. The displacement of the vessel was over seven tons. The cruiser was fully lined with armor. Its thickness was 152 mm on the captain’s cabin and 64 mm on the deck. The fast ship could move at a speed of over nineteen knots per hour. The vessel is almost 127 meters long and almost seventeen meters wide. Furthermore, the draft depth is 6.4 m.
The role of Aurora in the October Revolution
With the outbreak of World War I, the cruiser, who had previously made several long voyages, was called to the capital. During these years he patrolled the waters of the Gulf of Bothnia. In September 1916, it was decided to carry out major repairs on the ship. At the beginning of the February Revolution, the Aurora was wanted to be turned into a floating prison, but sailors sympathizing with the prisoners opposed this. Then on the cruiser the riot of the crew began. They overthrew the officers and established a ship committee. Most of the members of this body were Bolsheviks. Although the repair was almost completed, they did not allow the ship to leave the city. On the evening of November 7, when the repair work on the Aurora cruiser was over, the clock struck half-past nine, and then the ship gave an unexpected salvo. It served as a signal for the storming of the Winter Palace.
Turning into a museum
But even after the revolution, the track record of the legendary cruiser did not end. He plowed the waters of the Baltic and White Seas as part of the Soviet fleet. And when the Great Patriotic War began, the ship was included in the defense of Kronstadt and Leningrad. From his deck, the crew fired on fascist aircraft. But the enemy did great damage to the cruiser. After the war ended, in 1948, a ship battered in battles embarked on its last pier. Nine years later, the museum “Cruiser Aurora” was opened in it. But only in 2010 the ship was removed from the balance of the Navy of the Russian Federation. In 2015, the museum was closed for repairs. Its exposition was again opened for visitors in July 2016. There you can stroll along the upper deck, and in the hold is the museum itself. The exposition displays household items and the crew’s weapons, uniforms and the like artifacts. For groups open engine room and ship cabin.
Museum "Cruiser Aurora": how to get, opening hours, prices
The nearest metro station is from Petrovskaya Naberezhnaya, 2, where the legendary ship Gorkovskaya stands on eternal fun. You should turn right and walk about twenty minutes to the Neva. It will be difficult not to notice the magnificent cruiser Aurora. The museum is open from 11am to 6pm, except Mondays and Tuesdays. The cash desk closes at 17:15. For citizens of the Russian Federation an adult ticket costs 400 rubles, a preferential ticket (schoolchildren, students, pensioners) - at half price. Children under six are free. For foreigners, tariffs are higher - 600 and 400 rubles, respectively.