Aurora cruiser is famous for what. Brief history of cruiser Aurora

"Aurora" - a cruiser of the 1st rank of the Baltic Fleet, known for its role in the Great October Socialist Revolution, was built according to the shipbuilding program of 1895.
The cruiser Aurora was laid down on May 23, 1897 in St. Petersburg at the Novoye Admiralty shipyard. Almost simultaneously, three brand new cruisers were launched, built under the guidance of engineer Konstantin Tokarevsky: Diana, Pallada and Aurora.
The cruiser got its name in honor of the sailing frigate Aurora, which became famous during the defense of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

The irony of history - the cruiser that heralded the revolution was solemnly launched on May 11 (24), 1900 on the personal command of the Emperor of All Russia Nicholas II, in the presence of two empresses and numerous members of the Imperial family.
Another irony of history - the cruiser-symbol of the revolution, as a project, constructively, was, to put it mildly, not the most successful - the vehicles turned out to be underpowered, the armor was thin, and the artillery was weaker than that of foreign counterparts. At that time, one could hear such a joke in the Navy: "Low speed and few guns - that's what distinguishes the Aurora from an ordinary steamer."

Type and functional purpose of the cruiser "Aurora"

Functionally, this type of cruiser was intended to act as a reconnaissance and combat enemy merchant shipping at a short distance from bases, as well as to support battleships in squadron combat. However, due to insufficient cruising range for a cruiser, low speed, relatively weak armament and armor, since 1908 it was called upon to perform the functions of a training cruiser.
Structurally, it belonged to the type of armored cruisers, tactically - to trade fighter cruisers. Her crew consisted of almost six hundred people. The hull was sheathed with copper - against fouling with shells.

The history of the cruiser "Aurora"

On September 18, 1903, the Aurora entered service.
On September 25 (November 8), 1903, the Aurora left Kronstadt for Far East, after entering Portland in early October, arrived in the Mediterranean Sea and on October 25 arrived in the port of La Spezia (Italy), where she joined the detachment of ships of Rear Admiral A. A. Virenius, following to the Far East to reinforce the Port Arthur squadron. During a stay in Djibouti (French Somalia) in connection with the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, the entire detachment was recalled to the Baltic on February 2, 1904.
In preparation for a new campaign, the cruiser received three machine guns of the Maxim system, 25-mm armored shields for the main caliber guns and a new Telefunken radio station with a communication range of up to 100 miles.

Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905

On April 17, 1904, the ship was transferred to the 2nd Squadron of the Pacific Fleet. On August 29, as part of this squadron under the command of Vice-Admiral Z. P. Rozhestvensky, he left Kronstadt for the Pacific Ocean to the theater of operations of the Russo-Japanese War.
Aurora was among those ships that took part in Tsushima battle, played out on May 14–15 (27–28), 1905 as part of the 2nd squadron of the Pacific Fleet under Vice Admiral Z. P. Rozhdestvensky with the Japanese fleet under Admiral H. Togo.

Participation of the cruiser "Aurora" in the Battle of Tsushima

At the beginning of the daytime battle on May 14, the cruiser was second behind the flagship cruiser of the Oleg detachment, covering the convoy of transports from the east. As part of his detachment, together with the reconnaissance detachment, he entered into battle with the 3rd and 4th Japanese combat detachments, as well as with the 6th Japanese combat detachment. Around 16:00 came under fire from two armored cruisers 1st Japanese Combat Squad, received serious damage and additionally entered into battle with the 5th Japanese Combat Squad. At about 16:30, together with the detachment, he went under the protection of the non-shooting side of the Russian battleships, but at 17:30-18:00 he took part in the last phase of the cruising battle.

In this battle, the ship received about 10 hits from 8 to 3-inch caliber shells, the crew lost 15 people killed and 83 wounded. The commander of the ship, Captain 1st Rank E. R. Yegoriev, died - he was mortally wounded by a shell fragment that fell into the conning tower. Command of the Aurora was taken by a senior officer, Captain 2nd Rank A. K. Nebolsin, himself wounded. The cruiser received 37 holes (of which 13 were small near the waterline), but did not put her out of action. The chimneys were seriously damaged, the compartment of the forward mine apparatus and several coal pits of the front stoker were flooded. Several fires were extinguished on the cruiser. All range measuring stations, four 75-mm and one 6-dm guns were out of order.

On the night of May 14/15, following the flagship of the detachment, forced the course to 18 knots, broke away from enemy pursuit in the dark and turned to the south. After several attempts to turn north, repelling torpedo attacks by Japanese destroyers, two ships of the detachment of O. A. Enkvist - "Oleg" and "Aurora" - with the cruiser Zhemchug that joined them, on May 21 came to the neutral port of Manila (Philippines, US protectorate ), where they were interned on May 27, 1905 by the American authorities until the end of the war. A subscription was taken from the team about non-participation in further hostilities. For the treatment of the sick and wounded, both on the transition to the Far East, and during and after the battle, an X-ray machine was used on the ship - this was the first use of fluoroscopy in shipboard conditions in world practice.

Cruiser "Aurora" and the revolution of 1917

The cruiser standing in Petrograd was at the center of the events of two revolutions in 1917. Being in close contact with the workers of the plant, the sailors of the cruiser "Aurora" were involved in revolutionary agitation. This was facilitated by the general situation in Russia, which the war brought to the brink of disaster. On February 27 (March 12), the crew demanded that the commander release three imprisoned agitators from custody. During the dispersal of the rally that followed, the commander of the cruiser Captain 1st Rank M. I. Nikolsky and senior officer P. P. Ogranovich opened fire on the team with pistols; were injured. When on February 28 (March 13), 1917, it became known on the cruiser that the February bourgeois-democratic revolution had taken place, the sailors, together with the workers, raised a red flag on the ship. The ship's commander was killed, the senior officer was wounded, most of the crew went ashore and joined the uprising.

"Aurora" was the largest ship capable of passing the Neva fairway. The revolutionary leaders set the crew the task of keeping the Nikolaevsky Bridge from possible capture by the Provisional Government detachments.

By decision of the Central Committee of the Baltic Fleet, the almost repaired Aurora was left in Petrograd and subordinated to the Petrograd Council. The sailors of the cruiser took part in the October armed uprising in Petrograd on October 25 (November 7), 1917: on the night of October 25, 1917, by order of the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, the Aurora team captured and brought down the Nikolaev bridge in Petrograd, which connected Vasilyevsky Island with the center cities. On October 25, at 21:45, a blank shot from the Aurora's bow gun, fired on the orders of Commissar Belyshev, gave the signal to storm the Winter Palace, where the Provisional Government was located.

However, there is evidence that the shot of the Aurora sounded long before the storming of the Winter Palace. On the eve of the uprising, Antonov-Ovseenko, secretary of the military revolutionary committee, visited the cruiser. According to the instructions before the storming of the Winter Peter and Paul Fortress should have signaled. At the Aurora, they got tired of waiting for the signal and decided to draw attention, - they say, well, when already? - so they fired a blank shot.

After the October Revolution, the Aurora became the only ship of the tsarist fleet, which was left with its native name. In the twenty-third year, the cruiser again became a training one.
After the decree on the dissolution of the old fleet and the organization of the new RKKF on a voluntary basis, most of the team was demobilized. Only 40 people remained on the ship, necessary for ongoing work and protection. In 1918, a civil war broke out in Russia. In the summer of 1918, the cruiser, which could no longer be maintained in a state of combat readiness, was transferred to Kronstadt and put into reserve, like most of the large ships of the fleet. The 152-mm guns of the Aurora were removed and sent to Astrakhan to arm the floating batteries. Most of the sailors of the cruiser went partly to the fronts of the civil war, partly just to go home. In 1922, the ship was transferred to the Kronstadt port for long-term storage (mothballed).

Cruiser "Aurora" during the Great Patriotic War

During the Great Patriotic War, the personnel and guns of the Aurora took part in the heroic defense of Leningrad. The cruiser spent the entire war in Oranienbaum near Leningrad. The ship was included in the air defense system of Kronstadt. From the very first days of the blockade of the city, he repelled the attacks of German aircraft with the fire of his anti-aircraft artillery. In winter, Aurora continued to serve as a floating base for submarine formations. After he received damage on September 30, 1941 from artillery shells, he was planted on the ground on an even keel in the Oranienbaum harbor. The remaining guns were unloaded from it, but until the very end of the war, the Aurora did not lower the Naval flag of the USSR.

Cruiser "Aurora" after the Great Patriotic War

Even before the end of the war in 1944, a decision was made to restore the cruiser as a monument to the active participation of sailors in the 1917 Revolution. "Aurora" was raised in 1944 and in 1945-1947 underwent a major overhaul, during which appearance the ship was brought closer to its appearance in 1917. 152-mm Kane guns were installed, the same type as those that were in 1917 on the ship, but, unfortunately, guns were found in the arsenals only on land machines. Ship shields for them were made according to the drawings of veteran Aurors. The underwater part of the hull was made waterproof using a concrete "shirt" worn on the inner surface of the ship's skin. Power plant was removed, with the exception of two boilers for heating and a medium steam engine left as study guide. The superstructures were restored, including the complete replacement of the chimneys, badly damaged during the war.

As a result, the ship became a full-fledged training base for the students of the Nakhimov School, against the building of which on the Bolshaya Nevka River in Leningrad, the ship solemnly took its place on November 17, 1947. Future officers of the Navy received primary naval skills on the Aurora: they participated in ship work, served as ship outfits.

Memorial ship cruiser "Aurora"

At Soviet power the cruiser Aurora became a training cruiser and was revered as one of the symbols of the revolution. During repairs, in 1945–46. the cruiser participated in the filming of the movie "Cruiser Varyag", playing the role of "Varangian".
The museum on the ship began to be created in 1950 by personnel, Aurora veterans, and enthusiasts. In 1956, it was decided to give the ship museum the status of a branch of the Central Naval Museum. Since 1961, Aurora has ceased to be an educational base, and the former cockpits of the students of the school were transferred to the museum, the staff of which was increased to 5 people.

Museum on the cruiser "Aurora"

For ordinary visitors, the upper deck and forecastle with a 152-mm gun, as well as the premises of the ship's museum, were open. The rest of the ship's quarters were inaccessible. Simultaneously with the museum, a team of 50 sailors and officers was left on the ship (and remains to this day) to guard the ship and maintain the mechanisms, so the cruiser itself and the museum on the cruiser are different, albeit friendly, organizations. Current repairs of the ship were carried out in 1957-1958 and 1966-1968. In 1968, the Aurora cruiser was awarded the order October revolution.

Repair and restoration of the cruiser "Aurora"

In the late 1980s The ship's hull was in dire need of a major overhaul. In 1984-1987, the cruiser underwent repair and restoration work and re-equipment. As a result of the repair of the cruiser:
The underwater part of the ship's hull (1.2 m above the waterline) was considered unrepairable; it was cut off and handed over to the butcher. The cut off lower part was towed into the Gulf of Finland to the unfinished Ruchi naval base and scuttled near the coast. Instead, a new welded underwater part (dummy) was made. The wood and copper cladding was not recreated. Screws are missing.

The surface part was divided into four sections, which were installed on the new underwater part. In the engine room of the right and left machines, a boiler room was made and mock-ups of two boilers of the Belleville-Dolgolenko system were placed there. The aft main machine was put in order and installed in its place. The carapace deck was made anew. Most of the old armor plates were returned to it (except for the lower belt).
The superstructures were installed in their places and mostly externally decorated to look like a ship as it was in 1917. The pipes and masts were made from scratch, since the old ones were also "remake". It was decided to leave the guns on coastal mounts.

Almost all of the interior of the ship has been redesigned. On the battery deck there is a museum, a compartment for museum employees, a team catering unit with a galley, an officer's quarters, a wardroom and a commander's saloon. Below, on the living deck, are the crew's new living quarters. All accommodation units are equipped according to the habitability requirements of the modern Navy. In two aft engine rooms, an engine and boiler room was organized with auxiliary mechanisms and additionally placed combat steam dynamos. The premises of the boiler rooms are occupied by modern PES (energy and survivability post), a power plant, air conditioners, hot water boilers for domestic needs, diesel generators, a drainage station, a fire extinguishing system and other equipment. The tiller compartment, the compartment of the refrigerator car and the central post remained unredesigned.

Cruiser Aurora today

After repair and restoration work, on August 16, 1987, the Aurora was returned to its place of parking - at the Nakhimov VMU. At present, in addition to scientific staff, a team of 6 officers, 12 midshipmen and 42 sailors serves on the ship.

Address and opening hours of the museum cruiser "Aurora". Excursions on the cruiser "Aurora"

Address: 197046, St. Petersburg, Petrovskaya emb., cruiser "Aurora"; tel. 230–8440
Directions: St. m. "Gorkovskaya", tram. 2, 6, 30, 63
Opening hours: Daily from 10.30 to 16.00, except Monday and Friday
Excursions: admission to the cruiser is free; thematic excursions to the underwater part of the hull and the engine and boiler room are paid separately.

Aurora fired! Aurora gasped!
The eagle fell under the boots...
For the cause of Lenin! For the will of Trotsky!
We will win all over the world...
folk revolutionary song

D to understand what the cruiser Aurora is dreaming of"
I propose to recall her his long and glorious military and life path ...

History of the Aurora
The armored cruiser "Aurora" was laid down on May 23, 1897 in St. Petersburg (in the New Admiralty). The ship is of the same type with the previously laid down "Pallada" and "Diana".

In the Russian Navy, there was (and still is) a tradition of succession in the names of ships, and the new cruisers inherited the names of sailing frigates. The construction of the ship took more than six years - the Aurora was launched on May 11, 1900 at 11:15, and the cruiser entered the fleet (after completion of all outfitting work) only on July 16, 1903.

The main purpose is to conduct reconnaissance, destroy enemy merchant ships, cover battleships from attacks by enemy destroyers, sentinel service. The ship could not conduct artillery duels with modern battleships of that time. It did not have armor and sufficient firepower. But having a solid (about seven thousand tons) displacement and, as a result, good seaworthiness and autonomy. With a full supply of coal (1430 tons), the Aurora could, without additional bunkering, go from Port Arthur to Vladivostok and return back.

On September 25, 1903 (only a week after the staffing ended on September 18), the Aurora with a crew of 559 people under the command of Captain 1st Rank I.V. Sukhotin left Kronstadt.
In the Mediterranean, the Aurora joined the detachment of Rear Admiral A. A. Virenius. The war began and on April 5, 1904, the Aurora returned to Kronstadt, where it was included in the 2nd Pacific squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Rozhdestvensky, who was preparing to march on the Far Eastern theater of operations.

Admiral Rozhdestvensky was an original and (perhaps for the purpose of conspiracy) gave warships nicknames, with salty naval humor. The cruiser "Admiral Nakhimov" was called the "Idiot", the battleship "Sisoy the Great" - "Invalid shelter", the yacht "Svetlana" was called "Maid", and the "Aurora" was awarded the "honorary" title "Hooker under the fence"))))

On October 2, 1904, as part of the squadron, changing the commander (it was the captain of the 1st rank E. R. Egoriev ("Aurora" went to Tsushima.

in the Battle of Tsushima, Aurora fired 303 152-mm, 1282 75-mm and 320 37-mm shells at the enemy.

During the battle, the cruiser received 18 hits from shells of various calibers, had serious crew losses - up to a hundred people were killed and wounded.

The commander died - his photograph is now exhibited in the museum of the cruiser, framed by a steel sheet pierced by a fragment of a Japanese shell and charred deck planks.

But with all this, the ship managed to escape from the encirclement and go to Manila, where it stood disarmed until the end of the war.

In 1909-1910, the Aurora, together with the Diana and the Bogatyr, was part of the foreign navigation detachment, specially designed for the practice of midshipmen of the Naval Corps and the Naval Engineering School, as well as students of the Training Team of combatant non-commissioned officers.
In November 1911, the Aurors took part in the celebrations in Bangkok in honor of the coronation of the Siamese king.

In 1910, the cruiser accompanied the imperial yacht to Riga.

The cruiser underwent its first modernization after the Russo-Japanese War, the second, after which it received the current appearance, - in 1915. The artillery armament of the ship was strengthened - the number of 152-mm main-caliber guns was first brought to ten, and then to fourteen. Numerous 75-mm artillery was dismantled - the size and survivability of destroyers increased, and three-inch shells no longer posed a serious danger to them.

The cruiser was able to take on board up to 150 mines - mine weapons were widely used in the Baltic and proved their effectiveness. And in the winter of 1915-1916, a novelty was installed on the Aurora - anti-aircraft guns. But the glorious cruiser might not have survived until the second modernization ...

the first world war"Aurora" met as part of the second brigade of cruisers of the Baltic Fleet (together with "Oleg", "Bogatyr" and "Diana"). The cruisers went on patrol in pairs, and at the end of the patrol period, one pair replaced the other.

On October 11, 1914, at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland, the German submarine "U-26" under the command of Lieutenant Commander von Berkheim discovered two Russian cruisers: the Pallada, which was ending its patrol service, and the Aurora, which had come up to replace it. The commander of the German submarine correctly assessed and classified the targets and attacked. A torpedo hit caused the detonation of ammunition magazines on the battleship Pallada, and the cruiser sank along with the entire crew. And the veteran of the Russian-Japanese war, the cruiser "Aurora" managed to hide in the skerries under the guise.

It is not worth talking seriously about the fateful role of the Aurora in the events of October 1917. The cruiser could not shoot the Winter Palace with guns. It was under repair, and all the ammunition from it was unloaded. But it is possible that the Bolsheviks found a couple of shells for a salvo and effect.

IN civil war and the Aurora did not take part in battles with the English fleet. There was an acute shortage of fuel and other supplies.

In 1918, the Aurora was in deep reserve, without guns, which were used to equip home-made light gunboats.

At the end of 1922, the Aurora was the only ship, by the way, of the old imperial Russian fleet, which retained its name given to it at birth, it was decided to restore it as a training ship. The cruiser was repaired, ten 130-mm guns were installed on it instead of the previous 6-inch guns, two anti-aircraft guns and four machine guns, and on July 18, 1923, the ship entered sea trials.

Then for ten years - from 1923 to 1933 - the cruiser was engaged in a business already familiar to him: cadets of naval schools were practicing on board.
The ship made several foreign voyages, participated in the maneuvers of the newly resurgent Baltic Fleet. But the years took their toll, and due to the poor condition of the boilers and mechanisms, the Aurora, after another repair in 1933-1935, became a non-self-propelled training base. In winter, it was used as a floating base for submarines.

During the Great Patriotic War, the old cruiser stood in the harbor of Oranienbaum.

The guns were once again removed from the ship, and nine of its "hundred and thirty" mounted on the coastal battery defended the approaches to the city.

The Germans did not pay much attention to the decrepit veteran, trying first to disable the best Soviet ships (such as the Kirov cruiser), but the ship still received its portion of enemy shells. On September 30, 1941, the half-sunken cruiser, damaged as a result of artillery shelling, sat down on the ground.

After the blockade of Leningrad was lifted in July 1944, the cruiser was taken out of condition. clinical death- lifted from the ground and (for the umpteenth time!) Put it in for repairs. Boilers and onboard machines, propellers, side shaft brackets and the shafts themselves, as well as part of the auxiliary mechanisms, were removed from the Aurora. They installed the weapons that were on the ship in 1915 - fourteen 152-mm Kane guns and four 45-mm salute guns.

In 1946, during the repair, "Aurora" played the steward of the cruiser "Varyag" in the film of the same name. Then the Aurora, as a true actress, even had to disguise herself as her character - they removed the shields from the guns (there were none on the Varyag), and installed a fourth fake pipe to make the image of the most heroic cruiser of the Russian-Japanese war true.

Now the cruiser was to become a monument ship and at the same time the training base of the Nakhimov School. In 1948, the repair was completed, and the restored Aurora stood where it stands to this day - to Petrogradskaya Embankment opposite the building of the Nakhimov School. And in 1956, the Ship Museum was opened aboard the Aurora as a branch of the Central Naval Museum.

In the Soviet years, of course, the main (and, perhaps, the only) attention was paid to the revolutionary past of the cruiser. Images of the Aurora were present wherever possible, and the silhouette of the three-pipe ship became a symbol of our city.

In 1967, the 50th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution was widely celebrated in the Soviet Union. For the anniversary, they filmed the film "Volley of the Aurora", where the cruiser played himself. All filming was done on location. The Aurora was towed to a historical place to the Nikolaevsky Bridge. The sight was impressive, and thousands of Leningraders and guests of the city watched the gray three-pipe the beauty slowly and majestically floats along the Neva.

Towing to a parking lot after filming in 1967.

A major restoration of the Aurora took place in 1984. Powerful tugboats removed the cruiser from the eternal parking lot and dragged it to the Northern shipyard.

At the docks, the cruiser of the revolution was simply cut into pieces. The lower part of the vessel, including the entire underwater part, was completely replaced with a new one.

Severe alteration was subjected to what was above the water. By the anniversary date, the Aurora returned to its usual place, and then the question arose of what to do with the skeleton left at the shipyard. The scrapping of the cruiser of the revolution in Soviet times would have been considered ideological sabotage. So they decided to hide the real Aurora from the eyes of the people.

During the restoration, the Aurora was slowly taken away for souvenirs, both military and civilian. From the surface parts, they tore off the sheathing of sheet copper, which covered the entire ship. The chief mechanic of the Baltika fishing state farm, Vladimir Yurchenko, as a deeply religious economic man, tore off all the tiles from the shower room of the heroic ship and laid them in the dacha. And that's right, the good does not disappear. Many took the doors along with the jambs and took out the portholes.

According to the recollections of eyewitnesses, the workers who plundered the restored cruiser stumbled upon a completely serviceable fire extinguishing system. It worked when, with the help of a welding machine, they began to open the bulkheads. At the same time, half of the ship was flooded with foam.

They wanted to turn the cut off hull into a breakwater, but it did not work out. Corpse The severed part sank in the wrong place. Now you can easily find the remains of the cruiser of the revolution.

Against the background of the wreckage, casual tourists willingly take pictures, in the summer local boys recklessly climb the skeleton. At low tide, the hull, stretching 120 meters in length, is visible in its entirety.

And the reborn cruiser Frankinstein "Aurora" was solemnly returned to eternal parking.

The modern cruiser is a partial remake. Of the most noticeable differences from the original is the use of welds on the new body instead of rivet technology.

On the ship in 1992, the Andreevsky flag was again raised, the cruiser was listed as part of the Russian Navy as No. 1. Until recently, officers and sailors served on the ship. All auxiliary mechanisms and life support systems are maintained by the cruiser team in working order. In working well-groomed condition and ship guns.

On the night of June 6, 2009, a banquet and a solemn presentation of the Russian Pioneer magazine were held on the ship, which were also attended by distinguished guests. The prosecutor's office became interested in the case, and the Minister of Defense and the Navy turned out to be the last one, as overwatch)))

December 1, 2010 "Aurora" lost the status of ship number 1 of the Russian Navy. The ship became a branch of the Central Museum of the Navy.

On August 1, the Aurora was finally transferred to the jurisdiction of the Central Naval Museum. The military unit that served on the ship was disbanded. The crew of the cruiser "Aurora" was reorganized into a staff of three military personnel and 28 civilian personnel; the status of the ship remained the same.

In October 2011, a flag with a skull and crossbones was hung on the mast of the cruiser Aurora. Two young people and a girl sat on the mast under the Jolly Roger for about five hours, alarming the police, rescuers, the city commandant's office and military sailors.

The troublemakers called themselves representatives of the organizations "People's Share" and "Food Instead of Bombs." They dedicated the action "Memorable October or Aurora Sunday" to the fight against the crisis, poverty, oligarchs, "endemic pedophilia" and "religious extremism."

A conditional shot from the head gun of the Aurora cruiser at the house of People's Artist Mikhail Boyarsky was reported to herald the beginning of the Russian October Political Postmodernization (ROPP).

The slogans were beautiful and revolutionary.
Russia from tyrants - will! To the people - from oil, gas - a share! Food is a right, not a privilege! Our cause is just - we are not piz..m!

Activists managed to be removed from the masts without loss (for activists). Their further fate is humane and disappointing (it was up to the pussies).

Now officially the crew is recruited from former military sailors. But besides them, there are also sailors on the Aurora. They are seconded to the ship and continue to perform the functions of the crew, as before. It turns out that the status of the cruiser was not finally sorted out.

Now "Aurora" has again left its place at the Nakhimov School.

At the shipyard in Kronstadt, the first stage of repair will take place, after which the cruiser will be moved to another point. It is assumed that by the end of the year the legendary ship will be returned to its permanent mooring.

Historical photos and info (C) different places on the Internet.

The cruiser "Aurora" has become one of the main symbols of St. Petersburg, and the history of its service is covered with myths and legends.

Russian naval commander, Admiral Z. P. Rozhestvensky loved a non-standard approach to standard processes. Among the admiral's favorite quirks was the habit, which amused the sailors, of arbitrarily giving out "nicknames" to warships under his command. So, the battleship Sisoy Veliky became the Invalid Shelter, the yacht Svetlana became the Maid, the cruiser Admiral Nakhimov was named the Idiot, and the Aurora was awarded the title Prostitute Podzabornaya.
We are not responsible for Rozhdestvensky, but he would know what kind of ship he called!

The appearance of the legend

Contrary to the patriotic role of the ship in the history of the country, there is an opinion that the famous cruiser was built abroad. In fact, the miracle of shipbuilding arose in the same place where it ended its glorious way- in St. Petersburg. The development of the project began in 1895, but only in July 1897 a contract was signed with the Society of Franco-Russian Factories for the manufacture of machines, boilers and all the mechanisms listed in the specification. Such a late deadline for reaching an agreement was due to the reluctance of the management to share the drawings with the Baltic Plant, and over the next six years, the Admiralty Izhora and Aleksandrovsky iron foundries, the Ya.S. Perm. In total, four ship builders, officers of the Corps of Naval Engineers, were directly involved in the construction of the cruiser from September 1896 until the end of sea trials, that is, for almost eight years. Unfortunately, the author of the cruiser project is still unknown - two names are mentioned in different sources: K.M. Tokarevsky and De Grofe, and officially the construction was carried out at the New Admiralty plant, under the leadership of the Franco-Russian factories society.

Battle glory

The Aurora is known to many contemporaries only by the ambiguous fact of its naval biography, as the ship whose guns gave the signal to storm the Winter Palace. But the cruiser participated neither more nor less in four wars and two revolutions. Emperor Nicholas II himself, after the battle of Tsushima, telegraphed the crew: “I heartily thank you, commanders, officers and the crew of the cruisers Oleg, Aurora and Zhemchug for their unrequited, honest service in a difficult battle. May you all be consoled by the consciousness of a holy duty .Nicholas II". In 1968, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the cruiser "Aurora" was awarded the Order of October Revolution, and in the harsh years of the Great Patriotic War, the sailors of the Aurora took an active part in the heroic defense of Leningrad on the Duderhof Heights, as one of the paintings exhibited in the museum on the Aurora tells about.

The revolutionary nature of the ship

A rebellious ship is not glorious with a single shot. A few years before historical events In 1917, in 1905, the disarmed Aurora stood in the port of Manila under the control of the Americans after the Battle of Tsushima. The Philippine Islands turned out to be a prison for miraculously surviving sailors, forced to eat rotten food, unable to contact their relatives, seized by a brewing outburst of anger. They managed to raise an international signal on the mast, symbolizing the beginning of a riot, which led to the arrival of local police and port officials on board. The Aurors put forward their ultimatum - improved nutrition and immediate distribution of letters addressed to the sailors. The conditions were accepted by the Americans, but immediately led to a new outbreak of rebellion - opened envelopes and read letters finally informed the sailors about the horrors " bloody sunday". Upon returning to Russia, most of the sailors were decommissioned from the ship - in this way the tsarist government sought to separate the existing combat crews in order to avoid revolutionary sentiments. Attempts were unsuccessful, and in the future it was the sailors, including recruits, who formed the revolutionary backbone of Russia.

historical shot

The volley that signaled the assault on the Winter Palace on October 25, 1917 is one of the most colorful legends about the cruiser. They say that despite the well-known proverb about a woman on a ship, the sailors not only did not drive away the beauty who boarded the ship, but did not dare to disobey. A pale-faced, tall and slender girl of unearthly beauty gave the order “Blow!”, And then disappeared from sight. At the moment, it is not known for certain who dared to become the ghost of the Aurora, but most historians tend to believe that he was the famous journalist, Soviet writer and revolutionary Larisa Reisner. They say that she was not sent to the Aurora by chance, it was purely psychologically calculated that not a single sailor would refuse such a beautiful woman. Yes, and the shot, according to historians, was fired at 21:40, while the assault began after midnight, which, alas, does not confirm the theory of the Aurora's signal function in the capture. Nevertheless, the Aurora cruiser is depicted on the Order of the October Revolution, which he himself was awarded in 1967.

Explosions and drunken sailors

And where without myths about alcohol and its consequences? Recently, curious information has appeared from various sources about the participation of drunken revolutionary sailors of the Aurora in the explosion of Fort Pavel in 1923. It is even rumored that drunken sailors set fire to the mine depot located there. In July 1923, several sailors sailed here on a boat from the battleship "Paris Commune" (formerly "Sevastopol"). The "rest" of the sailors ended with a big fire. Cadets from the cruiser "Aurora" tried to put out a burning mine set on fire by sailors from the "Paris Commune". The fort rumbled for several days, and, they say, in all of Kronstadt there was not a single whole glass left. According to one of the members of the current crew of the cruiser, four sailors died during the fire, and many were awarded medals for their heroic help in extinguishing. The authors of the brochure "Forts of Kronstadt" were among the first to voice the version of the cause of the explosion. In Soviet books this question was bypassed, it was left to think that the evil counter-revolution was to blame.

Cruiser Star Life

Every schoolboy who is going to visit St. Petersburg definitely strives to visit the legendary ship that served faithfully in so many battles and is now a branch of the Central Naval Museum. In fact, in addition to military merit and excursion programs, the Aurora did not bypass the path of show business: in 1946, the cruiser played the role of the no less famous colleague of the Varyag in the film of the same name. To match, the "make-up artists" had to work: they installed a fake fourth tube and several guns on the ship, built a commander's balcony in the stern and redesigned the bow. These two ships are completely different from each other, but for the undemanding viewer, the “fake” went unnoticed. In parallel, the Aurora's hull was reinforced with concrete, which already meant that the ship could not be restored, which determined the future fate of the ship.

Ship or layout

It is believed that the Aurora is the only domestic ship that has retained its original appearance to this day. The legendary cruiser was put on "eternal parking" in front of the St. Petersburg Hotel, however, this is already half the ship that the rumor does not stop: the ship itself was towed to the village of Ruchi near the coastal strip of the Gulf of Finland, sawn into pieces, flooded and taken away by the patriots of the 80s. During the reconstruction in 1984, most of the main part and superstructures of the unforgettable Aurora were replaced, the current museum ship on the new hull used the technology of welds instead of the rivets that distinguished the original. The batteries, which included guns removed from the cruiser, died on the Dudergof heights, another gun was installed on the Baltiets armored train. About the historic gun that heralded the “new era of the proletarian revolution”, the senior midshipman, with a sly wink at us, said: “Read carefully the plate on the shield, it says that a historical shot was fired from the bow gun of the cruiser. And about the fact that they shot specifically from this gun - it is not said anywhere. ”

When in September 1896 at the St. Petersburg shipyard "New Admiralty" they start building a naval vessel, the proud name "Aurora" still does not even occur to anyone. The new project was given the name "cruiser with a displacement of 6630 tons of the Diana type", with which the ship lasted for almost a year. Only in 1897 did he receive the name that Nicholas II came up with for him. The emperor, so that he would not bother himself once again, was offered a list of possible names. Among them: Aurora, Naiad, Helion, Juno, Psyche, Askold, Varyag, Bogatyr, Boyar, Polkan, Neptune. The emperor read the list, thought, and wrote the word "Aurora" in the margins of the note.

Aurora crocodiles refuse to fight

The solemn launching took place on May 11, 1900 in the presence of Emperor Nicholas II and Empresses Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna, who watched what was happening from the Imperial Pavilion.

In 1905, at the height of the Russo-Japanese War, along with members of the crew of a cruiser heading for the shores of the Land of the Rising Sun, there was a couple of crocodiles taken on board during one of the stops in an African port. Such an unusual “cargo” is explained simply: sailors were allowed to take pets with them on a voyage. Of course, crocodiles can hardly be called domestic animals, but, as they say, they don’t argue about tastes. The crocodiles were given the nicknames Himself and Togo, they arranged planned bathing for them and even tried to tame them. However, as it turned out, the training of crocodiles is a troublesome and thankless task: having seized a good moment, one of the crocodiles rushed into the ocean and disappeared forever in its blue waters. The diary of the commander that evening was replenished with a note: “One of the young crocodiles, which the officers released today for fun, did not want to go to war, he preferred to jump overboard and die.” The second reptile was killed during the Battle of Tsushima.

Those who, thinking about naval service, imagine that sailors bend their backs all day long, scrubbing the deck or getting poked by the captain, can be immediately disappointed when talking about the life on a cruiser. Leisure time on the Aurora was fun and varied: Boat races, races across Mars (a platform on one of the masts), aiming competitions and a theatrical performance were organized on Maslenitsa. By the way, the "troupe" of the cruiser, which consisted of sailors, turned out to be so gifted that they often visited other ships of the squadron with performances.

Cruiser Hero

During the Battle of Tsushima, the cruiser proved to be a reliable ship capable of not only repelling an attack, but also inflicting crushing losses on the enemy: during the battle, the cruiser fired over 300 shells at the enemy and covered other Russian battleships more than once. After the battle, the Aurora missed five guns, irretrievably lost 16 people (including the captain of the ship) and received ten "wounds".

Revolution Symbol

In the revolution of 1917, the role of the cruiser is of particular importance. Still, now the new government had its own formidable symbol of triumphant justice, which overnight destroyed the autocracy. However, literally in the first days after the volley, rumors spread around the city that ... do not stop to this day. So, for example, there is an opinion that on the day of the storming of the Winter Palace, fire was opened from a cruiser. Those who believed this legend were first of all rushed to convince the ship's crew, who sent a note to the editorial office of the Pravda newspaper stating that only one blank shot was fired from the cruiser, serving as calls for "vigilance and readiness". Also, this shot could not be called a signal, since it was fired at 21:40, while the assault began after midnight. In addition, it should be borne in mind that these days the cruiser was under repair, which excluded the possibility that live shells were fired.

The further fate of the cruiser

In 1941, the cruiser was supposed to turn into a monument, but this was prevented by the war, during which the ship was seriously damaged. In July 1944, the cruiser was sent for repairs, which, after dragging on for four years, nevertheless made a monument out of the Aurora, on board of which the training base of the Leningrad Nakhimov School was located, which later became a branch of the Central Naval Museum.

When two years later they started filming the film "Cruiser" Varyag "", they decided to shoot the Aurora as a ship. For filming, the cruiser was modified by installing a fourth, fake, pipe and redesigning the bow.

In the summer of 1984, the cruiser was towed to the shipyard "for overhaul and refitting." Three years later, the ship fell into place, but experts argued that the cruiser, standing at the famous pier, had little in common with the former Aurora. Only part of the hull above the waterline remained from the real cruiser. The lower one, filled with concrete, rests in the ship cemetery.

On September 21, 2014, the cruiser again went for repairs, the pier was empty for about two years. legendary ship returned to the place of permanent parking under the cover of night on July 16, 2016. Almost the whole city (we) followed the journey from the Kronstadt dock to the Petrogradskaya embankment in St. Petersburg. Repair of the cruiser lasted almost two years. It included updating the ship's structures and upgrading the security systems. The museum on board the ship also has a new look, and even the tickets have been updated with postcard-style designs, so guests have a unique memento after visiting. In addition, upon her return, the legendary cruiser was awarded the Museum Olympus Award: according to the honorary jury, Aurora is the best museum in St. Petersburg in 2016. Visitors are waiting for nine halls (previously there were six) with modern multimedia installations. It is they who will take the viewer back in time and allow them to immerse themselves in the events in which the cruiser happened to participate. In a word, for fans of naval technology, the museum has become a real must-have.

It is impossible not to recall another curious fact. This year, the number one ship of the Russian Navy became a participant in the Festival of Light. For the first time in history, giant projections could be seen on board the ship - paintings by Malevich, a portrait of Mayakovsky and stories about the revolution that accompanied the fireworks. Thus, the important role of the Aurora was recalled in October 1917, when the shot announced that the revolution had taken place. You can see our photo report .

Ship Navy number one returned after repairs at the Kronstadt Marine Plant to its eternal parking lot at the Petrogradskaya embankment in St. Petersburg. All work on it has been successfully completed. The pride of the Russian fleet, the favorite of the Northern capital, has restored its former architectural and historical appearance. And this is an important sign that we are finally starting to preserve the relics of our own history, regardless of the turns of the ideological conjuncture. The ship, which Soviet time personified the start of the victorious October Revolution, after the completion of the reconstruction it returns to the center of St. Petersburg to decorate the sea capital and give rich food for thought and a reason for pride to representatives of various generations and cultures.

Ship number one of the Russian Navy was handed over to him in the presence of Deputy Commander-in-Chief Vice Admiral A.N. Fedotenkov and towed to St. Petersburg. The acceptance certificate following the results of the repair of the Aurora was signed on July 15, 2016 in a solemn ceremony at the Kronstadt Marine Plant.

The operation to return the ship to the place of eternal parking was carried out at night, when the water level in the Neva is at its highest. The cruiser "Aurora" left the Kronstadt Marine Plant at 21.00.

The cruiser was escorted to the place of eternal parking by five tugs, one of which was assigned to the Leningrad naval base, diving and fire boats.

"Aurora" was the first to go to the planned drawing of bridges from 15 to 16 July. All other ships entering and leaving the Neva missed the legendary cruiser. The schedule for the night passage of the ship along the Neva was agreed in advance with the schedule for the drawing of the bridges - Blagoveshchensky, Palace and Troitsky.

In the dead of night, the ship, with full illumination, approached its mooring place, where a complex operation was carried out to unroll it and wind it up to the mooring place between four installed barrels, establish mooring lines and set up a gangway bridge weighing 17 tons. All these actions were completed by the morning of July 16.

For the return of the cruiser, the place of its parking was prepared by special boats from the Leningrad naval base. Measurements carried out by naval hydrographs and navigational calculations showed that the depth reserve under the keel of the Aurora near Petrogradskaya Embankment would be 1.75 meters. This, according to the sailors, guarantees the safety of the anchorage of the ship of the first rank. While the Aurora was not in place, the city reconstructed the Petrogradskaya embankment and inspected the communications to which the cruiser was connected.

The performance characteristics of the cruiser "Aurora"

"Aurora" is an armored cruiser of the first rank of the Baltic Fleet of the "Diana" type. Built at the New Admiralty in St. Petersburg in 1903.

The cruiser "Aurora" was armed with 42 guns of four different calibers, three torpedo tubes. Its total displacement is 7130 tons, and the thickness of the armor is from 63.5 mm on the deck to 152 mm on the wheelhouse. He could go at a speed of 19.2 knots, and his maximum range was 4,000 nautical miles. The crew of the cruiser consisted of 570 people, including 20 officers. The cruiser is 126.8 meters long, 16.8 meters wide and has a draft depth of 6.4 meters.

The history of the service of the cruiser "Aurora"

The Aurora received its baptism of fire during the Russo-Japanese War - it was one of two Russian ships that survived the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905. After the war in 1906, the cruiser returned to St. Petersburg and became a training ship, which hosted practice of cadets and midshipmen of the Naval Corps. Small-caliber artillery was partially removed from the ship, two 152-mm guns were added.

With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the cruiser became part of the 2nd cruiser brigade of the Baltic Fleet, conducted artillery firing and carried out sentinel service. By the summer of 1914, fourteen 152-mm guns and four 75-mm anti-aircraft guns were installed on the Aurora.

After the October Revolution

On November 7 (October 25, O.S.), 1917, the ship found itself in the center of revolutionary events: it is believed that the blank shot of the Aurora was the signal for the Bolsheviks to capture the Winter Palace. However, according to the testimony of a number of eyewitnesses of the events, the assault then began without a signal from the ship.

Cruiser "Aurora": the pride of the Russian fleet

After the revolution, the cruiser was in the reserve of the fleet, its guns were removed and transferred to the armament of the Volga flotilla. In 1922, it was decided to restore the Aurora as a training ship.

In this capacity, the cruiser received ten new 130 mm guns and became part of the Baltic Fleet Naval Forces.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. the personnel and guns of the Aurora took part in the defense of Leningrad, and the ship itself, which was in Oranienbaum, was included in the air defense system of Kronstadt, having received new anti-aircraft guns. After being hit by several artillery shells on September 30, 1941, the ship landed on the ground in the Oranienbaum harbor.

Training base and museum ship

In October 1948, after the refurbishment, the Aurora was put into eternal parking at the Petrogradskaya embankment in Leningrad. Until 1956, the cruiser was the training base of the Leningrad Nakhimov School. On July 5, 1956, the Ship Museum was opened on the ship by the forces of personnel and veterans as a branch of the Central Naval Museum. In 1960, by a decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the ship was taken under state protection as a historical and revolutionary monument and became one of the symbols of the 1917 revolution and Leningrad. In particular, his image was placed on the Order of the October Revolution, the cruiser itself was awarded this order in 1968.

In the first half of the 1980s. the Aurora hull fell into disrepair, and in 1984 repair and restoration work began. On August 16, 1987, the cruiser was returned to its place of parking.

On July 26, 1992, the Andreevsky naval flag returned to the Russian Navy was raised on the ship.
In the 1990s - 2000s. about 500 thousand people annually visited the museum on the cruiser "Aurora", more than 2 thousand excursions were held. Over a thousand historical exhibits and documents were stored on board the ship. The exposition includes 10 flags and banners of the ship, 14 orders and 24 medals, which were awarded to members of the cruiser's crew in different years. An exhibition of gifts from government, military and public organizations different countries. Over 30 million people from more than 160 countries of the world have visited the museum during its operation.

On December 1, 2010, by order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, the cruiser was withdrawn from the combat strength of the Navy and transferred to the balance of the Naval Museum. The military unit serving on the ship was disbanded. February 6, 2012 Aurora was included in the federal public institution culture and art "Central Naval Museum" of the Ministry of Defense as a branch.

The history of repairs of the cruiser "Aurora"

The historical armored cruiser "Aurora", which operated as part of the Russian Imperial and then the Soviet Baltic Fleet, was repeatedly repaired at the docks of the Kronstadt Marine Plant and other plants in St. Petersburg-Petrograd-Leningrad. The results of the last one can be seen today.

"Aurora" in a concrete shirt. Repair from 1945 to 1947.

Great Patriotic War the ship met at the wall in the harbor of Oranienbaum (now Lomonosov) on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland. In the second half of September 1941, during massive German air raids, the cruiser received holes, shells exploded in the hold. Having taken on board thousands of tons of water, the ship landed on the ground and remained in a semi-flooded state almost until the end of the war.

In 1944, a decision was made to restore the cruiser as a monument to the revolution. In the summer of 1945, the Aurora was raised, the water was pumped out, and the holes were patched up. The condition of the Aurora was difficult: after an emergency repair, the cruiser leaked and again sat on the ground. The ship was towed to Kronstadt, where it was docked at the Marine Plant.

In the autumn of 1945, the cruiser was transferred to Leningrad, where repair and restoration work continued until the end of 1947.

During the overhaul, the appearance of the ship changed, approaching what it had in 1917. Aurora's superstructures were restored, including the complete replacement of the chimneys, badly damaged during the war. They installed weapons, the same type as those that stood in 1917, but on coastal machines. The bow bridge was restored, the wooden flooring of the upper deck was made of pine. Significant changes have also taken place inside the ship. Worn-out boilers were removed from the Aurora, replaced with two new ones, two of the three main steam engines were dismantled, the armored shafts of the engine and boiler rooms, and part of the auxiliary mechanisms were cut and removed. In total, about a thousand tons of various mechanisms were unloaded from the cruiser.

The changes especially affected the underwater part of the hull. A survey conducted in 1945 showed that she was in a condition that allowed her further operation afloat. It was decided to achieve water resistance with the help of internal concreting of the skin.

Sealing damage to the hull with concrete was considered the most effective and durable in those years. Sealing work was carried out by the workers of the Sudobetonverf plant afloat, simultaneously with other work carried out in the surface part of the hull. Concreting was preceded by laborious cleaning of surfaces. Then, steel reinforcement from bars 6–8 mm in diameter was welded to the set, forming a grid with cells 70x70 mm, and concrete from high-grade cement was poured into it. Reinforced concrete cladding was carried out along the entire inner surface of the outer skin to approximately one meter above the waterline. The result was a waterproof concrete "shirt" with a thickness of 50 to 90 mm and a weight of about 450 tons.

Since November 1947, the ship was placed on the Bolshaya Nevka near Petrogradskaya Embankment (now Petrovskaya Embankment). For many years, the Aurora served as a training base for cadets of the Nakhimov Naval School.

The museum on the Aurora began to be created in 1950 by personnel, veterans and enthusiasts. Since 1956, the museum exposition of the cruiser has become a branch of the Central Naval Museum.

Stay afloat. Refurbishment from 1984 to 1987

By the end of the 1970s, the problem reappeared: the outer underwater part of the hull corroded, the inner concrete “shirt” cracked in many places and lost its tightness. The ship began to receive water, which had to be pumped out using pumps. The question of repair arose with a new urgency.

Relevant work from 1984 to 1987 was carried out by the Leningrad Shipbuilding Plant. A.A. Zhdanov () on the project. The repair was preceded by survey and design work. In the Central state archive Navy specialists studied about 6,000 cases from 13 funds, more than 500 drawings, descriptions, documents, albums on mechanical installation and artillery weapons.

According to the developers of the repair project, the cruiser was an engineering structure that lived according to the laws and traditions of the naval service. So, while maintaining it, it was necessary to read such qualities as strength, unsinkability, fire safety and resistance to aggressive environmental factors.

“It was decided to restore the ship not in the form of a frozen monument, but as a living reality of the historical days of the Great October Revolution, to keep the cruiser afloat under the flag of the Soviet Navy while preserving and updating the museum,” wrote scientific adviser work on the restoration and preservation of the "Aurora" Viktor Burov. However, this approach assumed strict requirements for the condition of the hull, mechanisms and installations.

The concept of the Aurora as a monument ship afloat as part of the fleet was diametrically opposed to the concept advocated by numerous opponents.

In short, their proposals were reduced to a sparing repair and careful restoration of the hull, equipment and mechanisms.

Several options for protection from environmental influences were proposed: from placing the cruiser on an underwater pedestal to creating a floating underwater dock.

As a result, the arguments of the developers of the repair project were accepted - the collapsing underwater part up to 1.2 m above the waterline was considered unsuitable for repair and cut off. The new underwater part was made from modern materials. The wooden and copper parts of the hull plating were not recreated. The new underwater and old surface parts of the hull were connected by welding.

The surface part was divided into four sections installed on the new underwater part. A boiler room was created in the engine room, placing museum exhibits there - models of two boilers of the Belleville - Dolgolenko system and elements of the stoker equipment.

They put in order and installed the stern main machine. The carapace deck was re-made. Most of the old armor plates returned to it.

But the most important task was to recreate the external architectural and historical appearance and internal structure of the ship on the eve of the October Revolution.

All upper-deck structures and equipment were restored: artillery mounts, deckhouses, bridges, a radio station, boat and searchlight weapons, emergency and mooring devices, cargo devices, etc. Significant work was required to recreate the internal premises associated with the combat activities of the cruiser. The pipes and masts of the cruiser were made from scratch. However, those that stood before the repair were also not original - they were installed in the late 40s. It was decided to leave the guns on coastal machines.

Almost all of the interior of the ship was redesigned. On the battery deck there is a museum compartment with an exposition and working rooms for employees, a team catering unit with a galley, an officer's quarters, a wardroom and a commander's saloon. Below, on the living deck, are the living quarters of the crew, equipped to meet the habitability requirements of a modern Navy. The systems of communications, electricity, fire extinguishing have been modernized.

According to the developers of the repair, the technology used made it possible to use genuine hull parts to the maximum extent. For example, the contours and such unique structures as a bronze cast stem and archer stem with a rudder blade were completely preserved.

The task of reviving to the greatest possible extent the appearance of the historical cruiser and the details of its design, armament, equipment from the time of 1917 was recognized as completed. After repair and restoration work, which lasted three years, "Aurora" in August 1987 was returned to its parking place - on the Petrogradskaya embankment near the Nakhimovsky VMU.

The results of the repair by specialists and the public were perceived ambiguously.

The main claim of opponents is that, in their opinion, the work carried out was a rework, not a restoration.

Many drew attention to the loss during the repair of many valuable pieces of equipment and mechanisms of the historic Aurora, and the decision to leave the cruiser afloat was also criticized, while it could be installed on an underwater pedestal or in a special floating dock.

The decision to cut off the entire underwater part and attach a welded new one is still especially objectionable, especially since the old cut-off part was treated really barbarously. It was not dismantled and not disposed of, but along with many preserved parts of the equipment, they were left to rust in one of the bays near St. Petersburg. Until now, the huge, more than a hundred-meter, remains of the historical Aurora look out from the waters of the Gulf of Finland. This gives many people reason to call the current Aurora a dummy or model of an old cruiser.

Rumors do not subside that there are two "Aurora" - a fake current one and a drowned real one. In any case, according to estimates, no more than 40% of the historical Aurora remained.

However, if many criticisms are true, it must be taken into account that over the hundred years of its existence, the ship has been rebuilt, modernized and re-equipped more than once. That is, by 1984 it was far from the original, launched in 1900.

Repair of the museum ship in 2014–2016

The cruiser was towed for repairs to the Kronstadt Marine Plant on September 21, 2014. According to the Aurora Board of Trustees, the cost of repairing the cruiser was about 840 million rubles, which were used to renew the ship's hull and create a new exposition of the branch of the Central Naval Museum operating on the Aurora.

The shipbuilders carried out the most significant amount of work in the interior of the Aurora. The museum exposition was updated, the cruiser's crew quarters were restored, and modern video monitoring and fire extinguishing systems were installed. According to experts, in the future, Aurora will need to dock every 5-10 years to assess the thinning of the hull over time.

Carrying out repair work on the Aurora at the Kronstadt Marine Plant in 2014–2016, unlike all previous repairs, did not imply any interference with the ship’s structure, rebuilding the hull, or radical re-equipment of the interior. The repair concept is based on the perception of the historical cruiser as an operating ship of the fleet, a monument ship afloat.

In the fall of 2014, the cruiser was docked. Particular attention was paid to a thorough examination of the condition of the hull, especially its underwater part, and mechanisms in contact with external environment. An ultrasonic examination of the hull found that over the years that have passed since the last repair, the dynamics of hull corrosion is practically absent.

An examination of the bottom-outboard reinforcement led to the decision to completely replace it. During the dock repair, the outer hull of the ship, the underwater and surface parts were cleaned and painted. In addition, tanks, tanks and a number of other mechanisms were repaired, pressure testing and a tightness check of the adjoining bronze rods and a steel body were carried out. Despite the fact that the stems were made during the years of the ship's construction, no damage was found. An examination of the hull connections made in 1987 revealed their quality.

The re-docking of the Aurora was carried out in the spring of 2016. Of the major repair tasks, it is necessary to single out the examination of power cable routes, the replacement of the electrical network, the repair of decks, masts and all life support systems of the ship, the installation of spars, the replacement of rigging, the repair of boat devices, boats, boats, the restoration of the superstructure, hull structures and practical things.

During the repair, not only the ship itself was updated, but also its life support systems. In particular, it has the latest domestic system fire extinguishing "water mist". It provides extinguishing fires with high-pressure water mist, or the so-called water mist with a droplet size of less than one hundred microns and is not inferior to the best foreign samples in terms of characteristics. New system video surveillance from 52 cameras almost completely eliminates the possibility of unnoticed entry into the ship.

The main work was carried out by the specialists of the Marine Plant.

Museum ship

In 1956, it was decided to establish a museum of naval and revolutionary glory on board the legendary cruiser, and to store exhibits in the exposition of this unusual cruiser museum that will help to trace its glorious history in detail: documentary photographs, ship items and documents that represent great historical value.

In 1960, the Aurora became one of the monuments protected by the state. In 1968, she was awarded the Order of the October Revolution, on which she herself was depicted. Since 2013, the cruiser has been returned to the Navy. On board the cruiser is a branch of the Central Naval Museum.

During the repair, which was completed in July 2016, the historical appearance of the flagship cabin was restored, the design project of which was approved by the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy. Redecoration was carried out in the cockpits of the crew and the wardroom.

In addition to dock work and updating the ship's equipment, the museum part has been redone. Updated teak deck,

During the repair, a new museum exposition was created on board the Aurora. It has been expanded, and its character has also been changed. If earlier the museum spoke about the Aurora primarily as a cruiser of the October Revolution, now it presents the ship as a veteran of three wars: the Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905, the First World War and the Great Patriotic War.

A new part of the exposition was the medical block, where X-ray equipment was used for the first time in Russia.

The exposition site is provided with lighting, air conditioning systems, etc. The exposition has been increased from 6 to 9 halls. Expositions saturated with multimedia equipment have been created.

The stern of the Aurora was adorned with a new order flag, developed by the heraldic service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

The ship is an object of cultural heritage Russian Federation. The cartoon "Aurora" was filmed about him, and he was also shown in the film "Cruiser" Varyag "". "Aurora" is dedicated to a number of songs, she is depicted on many postage stamps, both Soviet and foreign. In addition, the image of the cruiser was minted on commemorative coins of 1967 in denominations of 10, 15 and 20 kopecks.