Project 588. Three-deck Cruise Ships | Shipspotting

Описание: This is the second episode of the 10-part serial featuring spotting of Russian River Cruise Ships during 2022 navigation.

"Rodina" class river motor ships (project 588) are the series of three-deck river passenger ships designed to operate on tourist and transport lines. They were built in Germany at the VEB Mathias-Thesen-Werft Wismar shipyard by the USSR order from 1953 to 1961, according to a project developed by the Soviet shipbuilders. In the beginning, 11 ships of the first series were manufactured (“V. Chkalov” type: 1954 - 1956), then some features were improved, and the second series of 38 ships of this project was launched born (“Kosmonav Gagarin” type: 1957 - 1961). Since the Volga-Baltic waterway was opened for shipping only in 1964, motor ships were transported to the Volga via Leningrad, then through the Neva and the Svir rivers, Ladoga and Onega lakes, the White Sea-Baltic Canal (Belomorkanal), the White Sea, via Arkhangelsk, and then along the Northern Dvina and the Sukhona rivers, as well as the North Dvina Canal. It is worth noting that the first two ships of this series were transported to the Yenisei river around Scandinavia, through three seas, and not through the White Sea-Baltic Canal. The 588s became the most mass motor ships on the inland waterways of the USSR.

According to the initial project cruise, ships could carry 350 passengers and 100 tons of cargo. Only some cabins were equipped with washbasins. The rest onboard facilities were shared. Only two cabins according to the initial project could boast of the high level of comfort in those years. These were suites called A and B. The given suites had a full bathroom with a real cast-iron bathtub!

There were two restaurants at the bow of the ship on the main and on the boat deck, a music lounge at the bow on the middle deck, and an open-air cinema hall on the boat deck.

By present-day most of the remaining ships of the given project have been modernized, and little is left of the original interiors. Passenger capacity was reduced thus contributing to the noticeable raise of passenger comfort. Most of the cabins have got modern facilities and up-to-date furniture. At present, the cabins on some ships are equipped with air conditioners, TV sets, refrigerators, and onboard telephones. You can even find suites with bathrooms.

Motor ships of the 588 project are allowed access to large lakes, and from Moscow, they can go on a cruise even to the Kizhi island on lake Onega.

As for public premises on board and their location, they are much similar to the ships of project 26-37, but the main difference between these projects consists in better seaworthiness of the 588s, which enables them to go on a cruise from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Naturally, cruises to Astrakhan, Rostov-on-Don and Perm are also available to these ships.

Content of Episode:
00:00 - Russian River Cruise Ships. Project 588
00:28 - m/s Aleksey Tolstoy (ex Nikolai Gastello)
01:10 - m/s Alexander Fadeev
01:51 - m/s Alexander Nevsky
02:31 - m/s Dve Stolitsy (ex Anatoli Papanov, ex Konstantin Tsiolkovsky)
04:58 - m/s Fyodor Panfyorov
06:00 - m/s Grand Rus (ex General Vatutin)
07:23 - m/s Ilya Muromets
09:36 - m/s Ivan Krylov
11:13 - m/s Kliment Timiryazev
12:26 - m/s Mikhail Kutuzov
14:22 - m/s Northern Tale (ex Karl Marx)
14:59 - m/s Yuri Nikulin (ex Solnechniy Gorod, ex Yuri Nikulin, ex Karl Liebknecht)

Check out this playlist for more videos of Russian river cruise ships:    • Professional River Shipspotting: Russian R...