SUBMARINE-MUSEUM OPENING

Submarine B-396, reequipped on Sevmash for the museum according to the order of Moscow Government, will take the participants of the 43rd International Submariner congress, that takes place in Moscow on May, 22 - 25. On the solemn ceremony of the submarine-museum opening the delegation from Sevmash will also arrive.
In 1999 Moscow mayor Y. Luzhkov made a decision to open in the capital the museum of the submarine fleet. For this purpose the Northern fleet submitted a large diesel submarine of 641B project.
Large diesel submarine B-396 (project 641B, code «Som» / «Tango») was built on yard «Krasnoye Sormovo» (N. Novgorod), submitted for the Navy in 1980. It was based in Polyarnyi and naval base Linakhamari, served in the Mediterranean Sea, South and Northern Atlantic, Barents and Norwegian Sees. In 1984 it was named «Novosibirskiy Komsomolets». In 1998 was excluded from the Navy list.
In 2000 B-396 was moored in the water area of Sevmash. The designers of «Sevmash» Design Bureau prepared the technical project of the reconstruction. The main operations were carried out in shop 42. After modules «cleaning» the bulkheads were formed and a light submarine hull was reconstructed. The viewing site and the ramps were installed in the submarine, the passageways were made in the transverse bulkheads, the training class was reequipped. The modules were equipped with the gear, removed from the utilized submarines. In Autumn 2003 the submarine-museum was passed to Khimkinskoye water storage reservoir, installed on the special underwater pylons, that allowed to open for review the water line, propeller screw and the rudder and to make the submarine appearance easy for perception.
On March, 19, 2006 on the basis of submarine-museum the celebration events, devoted to 100 Anniversary of Russian Submarine Forces, were organized. As Deputy Director General of Sevmash S. Khviyuzov, the Chief of maintenance, upgrading and guarantee inspection and ships utilization informed, in present time the submarine preparation for a solemn opening of the museum is being finished. The delegation from Sevmash will arrive for the ceremony.
According to Moscow government resolution (2003), the water area of Khimkinskoye water storage reservoir is selected for the location of the museum-memorial complex of Russian Navy history and cultural and entertainment center, composed of diesel submarine B-396 and guard-ship «Druzhnyi», the State cultural institution of Moscow «Submarine museum» was established.


- The submarine is on the way to Moscow
Ðhoto by Sergey KISELEV

Michail STAROZHILOV,
Press-cutting service of
FSUE «PO «Sevmash»
Tel.. +7 (8184) 50-59-56
pressa@sevmash.ru