Boris Vasilievich Kurylev, who passed away in October last year, left a photo archive of passenger ships. Today this photo archive has temporarily moved to our office.

And now the river people are looking at us from the photographs passenger ships of the past. Project 737 paddle steamers are a milestone in the history of many Soviet river shipping companies. Now they are no longer in service, and the life of most of them was short-lived - few of these ships served for more than thirty years. But at one time such vessels were widespread on many Russian rivers. And they were built in large series in the 1950s, filling the need of shipping companies for a passenger fleet after the war. These ships were first built in the USSR, but the bulk of them were built in Hungary.

Boris Vasilyevich photographed many of them during his travels along the river. I publish some photos here. I could talk a lot about each ship, but I will limit myself to only short comments. The photograph at the beginning of this material, taken in 1963, shows the steamer “Perm” of the Kama River Shipping Company.

Steamship "Pavel Bazhov", 1960.

Steamship "Vyacheslav Shishkov". The photograph was apparently taken no later than the mid-sixties, because then the ship was transferred from the Kama Shipping Company to the Dnieper. There, in the early 1970s, he was commanded by Captain Vadim Mikhailovich Lapidus, who later moved to Leningrad and worked as a captain on the four-deck ships Alexander Ulyanov and Sergei Kirov. He was an extraordinary, interesting person, remembered by everyone who had the opportunity to communicate with him. He is always remembered very fondly.

Steamer "Yaroslav Galan" below Gorky, 1959.

Steamship "V.A. Zhukovsky", Kostroma, June 9, 1965. Who lived at that time, can you remember what you did that day? Oddly enough, sometimes this works. For example, you were on vacation in Yalta. And at that time the steamer “Zhukovsky” was approaching Kostroma with passengers. By the way, the Zhukovsky is a long-lived ship (of course, by the standards of this series): it was one of the last to be decommissioned in the European part of the USSR, after navigation in 1985. Almost all its life the ship sailed on the Moscow-Ufa passenger line. Tickets for the line's ships could be bought at river ticket offices, including in Moscow. And it’s very simple. I came from the street and bought it very inexpensively. Well, not always, of course, but if by chance there was an unassigned place in a six-berth cabin.

I couldn’t help but scan Mayakovsky, since photographs of him are very rare. This steamer operated for only a short time, and then disappeared.

The same thing happens with “Eduard Bagritsky”. Like the Mayakovsky, this ship worked for the Volga-Don Shipping Company in the 1950s.

The steamship "Vladimir Stavsky" in the Aksai electronic warfare department, 1976. Here, a quarter of a century later, the legendary Volga steamships Volodarsky and Spartak ended their lives.

Steamship "Kyiv", 1960.

Steamship "Ivan Kadomtsev", July 1966, Gorky.

Steamship "Anton Makarenko". This ship, unlike its counterparts, which were usually used on transport lines, lived a “tourist” life. For many years, “Anton Makarenko” worked on the “Moscow Around the World” and on other routes with tourists.

Steamship "Volgograd" on the Moscow Canal.

The steamship "Demyan Bedny" on the Moscow River.

The steamship "40 years of the Komsomol" (formerly "Rybinsk"). Most likely, between 1962 (renaming the ship) and 1964 (transfer of the ship to the Dnieper). That is quite rare shot, on which the already renamed steamship is captured back in the Volga basin.

Steamboat "A. Serafimovich", 1963.

Steamship "Ufa". Together with “V.A. Zhukovsky" this ship operated on the Moscow - Ufa line until 1985. And the photograph shows him in his youth, in 1961.

Steamship "Sergeev-Tsensky" in Kasimov.

Steamship "A.P. Chekhov", 1963. During the next navigation he will go to the Dnieper.

Steamship "A.F. Pisemsky" on the Moscow Channel, August 2, 1972. What did you do on this day? I wasn't born yet, but planned to do so within the next few months. Actually, if I’m not mistaken, I was in Kyiv that day. That is, my mother was there, and it turns out that I was too. However, since I have no idea how long before birth the soul enters the body, it is quite possible that on that day I was not in Kyiv, but was enjoying last days in the subtle worlds before the next incarnation. And, wow, at the same time, just like now, there was a channel named after Moscow along with passenger ships and joyful river travelers on the decks. There is a suspicion that all this will happily exist after us.

Steamship "N.G. Pomyalovsky."

Steamship "Sergey Alymov".

Steamship "I.S. Nikitin."

Well, this is just a photo from the deck of the Project 737 steamship approaching the pier.

Steamship "K.M. Stanyukovich" from the deck of some similar ship. Today, this is the only vessel of this type preserved in a tolerable condition in the European part of Russia, but without any special prospects for work.

Steamship "Vladimir Arsenyev".

Steamship "Sverdlovsk"

The steamer "Ryazan" stood idle in front of Bely Gorodok for many years until it burned down. And in the photo he is alive and on a flight with passengers.

Here it is, in a perspective familiar to most river tourists. Approaches Uglich.

The steamship "Evgeniy Petrov" departs from the Volga pier. And behind him, some diesel-electric ship of Project 785 approaches her.

Steamship "Stalingrad" in Gorky. Later it was renamed “Volgograd”, and at that time he worked on the Moscow-Gorky passenger line. The line ran along the Moscow River and Oka River.

These are the photographs of Project 737 steamships that have already become historical. Next time I will scan photographs of ships from a different series. Good evening!

How pleasantly surprised I was when, on the territory of the Gorodets Shipyard, I suddenly saw a real paddle steamer"K.M. Stanyukovich." So, very close to me, there stood real living and carefully restored history.

In Gorodets I photographed new patterns on board the motor ship "Dmitry Furmanov". I've already talked about these patterns.

02.

Here they are. Noticeable on the starboard side of the Furmanov.

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And today I’ll show you a very interesting neighbor - the paddle steamer “K.M. Stanyukovich”.

04.

The paddle steamer "K.M. Stanyukovich" was built in Hungary in 1956 according to project 737A. Until the mid-80s of the last century, the ship was assigned to the Moscow Shipping Company and worked regularly on various passenger lines.

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But in the 80s of the last century, almost all ships were gradually replaced by more modern ships and decommissioned.

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In the late 2000s, a group of enthusiasts tried to restore Stanyukovich.

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We took care of the hull, restored the steam engine, installed a new steam boiler and diesel generator.

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The ship, in this restored form, even passed sea trials. But then the money ran out, and the fate of “K.M. Stanyukovich” is now unclear.

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It is not suitable for cruises - river travelers no longer have the same requirements for comfort, and there are few cabins there.

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It is possible to use it as a banquet, but it is expensive. And also try to find a specialist in working with a steam engine.

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So now the wheeled river steamer “K.M. Stanyukovich” stands idle on the territory of the Gorodets Shipyard.

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Maybe it will be useful for some retro film.

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But it was very interesting to look at it up close.

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While I was looking at “Stanyukovich”, I didn’t notice and climbed into the evil thorns on the shore :)

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What else did you manage to see at the Gorodets Shipyard? Pay attention to Volgoneft-39 located on the right side of the frame. We will return to it later, but for now remember its dimensions: 132.6 meters in length!

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And this is a pontoon bridge that is being built in the city of Pavlovo across the Oka.

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They say that the master rides along it to his lands.

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"UK-5". Boat (Yaroslavets type) of the Moscow City Children's Maritime Center named after Peter the Great. Just like that, I got stuck here in Gorodets.

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But these points on the boat’s hull remained in the field of measuring the thickness of the metal with a special device. At three points of the sheet, the areas are cleaned with a grinder and the residual thickness of the metal is measured. If it is less than the norm, then the sheet is changed.

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Tanker "Volgoneft-39" built in 1969.

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Let's get to it too :)

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The windlass at the stern of the Volgoneft is a contraption with which you can control the anchor and mooring lines.

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There are colored markings on the anchor chain in certain places. They are used to determine the length to which the chain is selected when the armature is released. Well, it helps with the reverse process.

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The photo was taken just under the wheelhouse, and the bow of the tanker is far, far ahead. And how do the navigators control this colossus! Fantastic:)

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Another one interesting feature tankers - booms. They are a ribbon of blue hollow bags with a load inside. It is mandatory to place these booms around the tanker when loading/unloading fuel. If something happens, the fuel slick will not spread further across the reservoir, but will remain within the boom ring.

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Like this short excursion happened to me at the Gorodetsky Shipyard in March 2016.

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Russia was once famous for its numerous paddle steamers, there were literally hundreds of them, but only the N.V. Gogol, based in Severodvinsk, and two ships in Yakutia, the Krasnoyarsk and Blagoveshchensk, survived the disaster of the 90s.

Almost all the other “wheels” were destroyed - sawn into metal, burned in fires started by homeless people who settled in them, or simply rotted due to lack of care. However, there are still adherents of the romance of wheeled ships in the country. In 2005, they decided to find and “revive” at least one more such ship suitable for restoration.
A long search eventually led to Shlisselburg, where the remains of the steamship "K.M. Stanyukovich" were rusting at rest near the bank of the Neva. Having bought these remains and patched up the hull, the ship was towed to the Gorodets shipyard near Nizhny Novgorod.


The ruins of the steamship "Dostoevsky", on which the film "Cruel Romance" was filmed. It was the original candidate for restoration, but just a couple of weeks before the planned towing to the shipyard, the ship burned down.

In 2006, the restoration of “Stanyukovich” began, which is still ongoing. In 2007, the superstructure walls, decks and bulkheads were rebuilt. In 2008, after a 20-year break, the steam engine was restarted, the steering was repaired and a new paddle wheel was installed to replace the lost one. In 2009, the installation of electrical equipment, diesel generators, ventilation systems, water supply, etc. began. Then we started finishing.

Initially, it was planned to complete the reconstruction by 2010, but, unfortunately, the crisis and its consequences greatly slowed down the pace of work. Now "Stanyukovich" is still standing at the quay wall of the Gorodets shipyard, but it appearance radically different from what it was six years ago. I hope that the protracted epic of the resurrection of this “wheelie” will end in the foreseeable future.


This is what Stanyukovich was like half a century ago. In the top photo it departs from the Severny pier river station in Moscow.
This flat-bottomed, double-deck river steamer was built at the Budapest shipyard Obuda Hajogyar in 1956 according to the so-called project No. 737 (Joseph Stalin type). In total, the USSR received 70 such ships from Hungary. Five more were built in Nikolaev.
Ship length - 68 m, displacement - 518 tons, draft - 1.2 m, crew - 50 people, passenger capacity - 360 people, engine power - 450 hp, maximum speed- 19 km/h.


And this is what it looked like in 2006 before being towed to Gorodets.


The bottom has been repaired, completely rusted plating sheets have been replaced with new ones.


Photo from 2010. The superstructures, left paddle wheel, captain's bridge, rudder blade, wheelhouse and chimney were restored.


Recreated boiler room. In the center is the main steam boiler running on fuel oil. On the left is a cranked chimney.


Wheelhouse with steering wheel. The machine telegraph and other equipment have not yet been installed. On the left is the emergency shutdown lever for the steam engine.


Work has begun on finishing the forward salon, which will house one of the ship's two restaurants.


When finished, it will look something like this. A photograph of a restaurant on a similar Hungarian steamship is shown.


This is what “Stanyukovich” has become now, photo taken in June 2013.

PURPOSE
Boiler equipment is designed to generate and supply superheated steam to a power steam engine paddle steamer. To implement this project, it was specially developed by TN s.r.o. river steam boiler.

STEAM CONSUMERS
When the vessel is moving, the steam generated by the boiler is supplied to the following consumers (when the vessel is moving):
-Main steam engine (superheated steam 15 bar, 300 - 320 *C)
-Steering gear (saturated steam 12 bar)
-Ejector installation of auxiliary condenser (saturated steam 12 bar
-Thermal deaerator (saturated steam 12 bar)

PART OF THE EQUIPMENT
To generate superheated steam, a technological diagram of a steam boiler house was developed, taking into account the specific placement of equipment in the boiler room of a river vessel. The thermal circuit includes the following equipment:

After installation and installation on the ship, the boiler, together with the servicing systems and equipment, is tested in operation within the scope of the acceptance testing program agreed upon as part of the project.

STEAM BOILER WITH STEAM SUPERHEATER THS 32P/16-L

Steam boiler with superheater; generates superheated steam for the steam engine and saturated steam for supplying steam to own needs. Maximum permissible pressure 16.8 bar, Test pressure 25.5 bar.

The river steam boiler was manufactured and tested under the technical supervision of the Russian River Register. A special feature of the steam boiler is a specially designed design for installation in the boiler room of a ship and the ability of the boiler to operate during heeling (sideways tilt of the ship) and trim (the angle of deviation of the ship's hull from the horizontal position in the longitudinal direction, the difference in draft between the stern and bow of the ship).

SUPERHEATER
​ The superheater is located in the front rotary chamber of the boiler and consists of finned tubes that can operate during firing without consuming steam through the superheater tubes.

BURNER DEVICE
The boiler is equipped with a Weishaupt RL 10 ZMD liquid fuel burner for burning diesel fuel, operating in a modulated mode depending on the request for steam production, without a sudden significant change in fuel consumption. The burner is manufactured in a marine design and is suitable for use on marine and river boats. A distinctive feature of this burner is a three-wire electrical circuit, two burner controls and a marine-grade flame sensor.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SCHEME
The waste steam after the main steam engine enters the steam condenser through the oil separator. The resulting condensate is fed into the warm box by a piston condensate pump, which is mechanically driven from the crankshaft of the main steam engine. The pump performance varies depending on the crankshaft speed, i.e. from steam consumption by the machine.

The exhaust steam from the steering machine, after condensation in the steam cooler, also enters the warm box.
The auxiliary condenser is required to remove air from the main condenser. The released air is removed overboard, and the condensate is sent to a warm box.
From the warm box, the condensate is supplied to the thermal deaerator by a variable-frequency condensate pump (type CRE from Grundfos). This pump maintains an approximately constant level in the deaerator and is controlled by a level sensor mounted on the deaerator.
To protect the deaerator from overflow, a bypass line is installed that unloads the pressure pipeline of the pump supplying condensate to the deaerator. When the maximum permissible level in the deaerator is reached, the electrically driven valve closes and the condensate is sent back to the warm box through the bypass line. When the level in the deaerator drops, the electrically driven valve opens and replenishment of the deaerator resumes.
During operation, losses of steam and feed water from the system are inevitable through leaks in the seals and as a result of blowdowns of the boiler unit. Replenishment of the boiler feed water is carried out from the tank. Water of appropriate quality flows from it by gravity into the warm box through an electric valve, activated by a level sensor installed in the warm box.
The boiler feed water reserve tank is filled automatically from the water treatment system, which receives sea (river) water from the domestic sea water system, which is under a constant pressure of 0.3 - 0.4 MPa. The water treatment system includes a reverse osmosis unit.

In Gorodets, work is being done to give a second life to the USSR-era medium-haul cargo-passenger steamship Project 737 "K.M. Stanyukovich". The modernization project provides for the placement on the ship of two restaurant halls, two banquet halls, a music bar and a small number of cabins for relaxation.
The original steam engine is preserved on the ship and viewing windows are installed in the engine room to view its operation. To operate the steam engine, a modern steam boiler from the Czech company TH s.r.o. was newly manufactured. In addition, diesel generators, pumps, etc. are installed in the machine room.