Russia's first interactive Submarine Museum

Russia’s first private submarine museum opened in St. Petersburg on March 18, 2010, in the run-up to Submariner Day.

This is the only surviving submarine of the 215 units that were built within Project 613, the most numerous class in the Soviet submarine fleet.

The diesel electric submarine, hull number S-189, was laid up at St. Petersburg’s Lt. Schimdt embankment and was built at the Baltic plant to be stationed at the Kronstadt submarine base in 1955.

Thousands of sailors, petty officers and officers learned to pilot submarines on this vessel before 1988.

In 1990, the submarine was decommissioned and later sank at the Kronstadt port.

The Leningrad submarine base could not afford to raise the submarine. It spent six years on the seabed before veteran submariners decided they could make a museum out of it. With former mariner Andrei Artyushin’s charitable aid, the submarine was raised from the bottom and laid up at the Kanonersky Ship Repair Yard in late 2005.

It took over two years to restore the submarine’s interior and equipment. Photo: visitor at Russia’s first private submarine museum.

In August, 2007, the submarine was docked at Lt. Schmidt embankment and work on the museum commenced. Photo: visitor at Russia’s first private submarine museum.

Organizers decided to make the submarine museum as interactive as possible. Visitors can try on a rescue suit for example.

Museum organizers say visitors can “turn and rotate” every control and valve here.

The museum’s director, Cpt. 1st Class (Ret.) General Nikolai Chernyshyov commanded a submarine a few decades ago.