Description of the attraction
The Museum of the History of the Murmansk Shipping Company was opened in 1977 in a small room, where an exhibition about the history of the marine fleet was decorated. At the first exhibition, photographic documents, sports awards, albums, prizes and many other things and materials were presented, which were transferred to the management of the museum by ship crews and which are of historical value. After almost 30 years of constant fruitful work, the museum has expanded significantly, so at the moment the museum is located on Volodarskaya Street.
Showcases and stands tell not only about the past, but also about the present development of the Arctic transport icebreaker fleet. A distinctive feature of the museum is the painting depicting the heroic and legendary scientist Otto Yulievich Schmidt, who once headed the very first expeditions to the unknown Arctic, as well as the brave captain Vladimir Ivanovich Voronin.
The museum has several exhibitions: "People and Ships of the Nuclear Fleet", "Historical Development of the Transport and Icebreaker Fleet", "Tanker Fleet of the Company", "Diorama of the Development of the Northern Sea Route". The exhibition "From Yermak to Nuclear Icebreakers" tells about the historical development of the Soviet icebreaker fleet, which presents technical characteristics and photographs of not only steam, but also diesel-electric icebreakers actively exploring the long Arctic routes.
In the Museum of the History of the Murmansk Navy, you can see a wide variety of devices that were removed from previously operating sea vessels. The distinctive side lights taken from the steamer "Volgograd" and the lifebuoy, which bears the signatures of all the members of the very last of the crews, are clearly visible. Here you can see the instrument of the ship's stoker from one of the most recent steamers called "Volodarsky", presented in a rather primitive form in the form of a shovel, and there are also two-meter bogatyr tongs and a stoker scrap.
The museum has a stand dedicated to the activities of Murmansk sailors in the development of Antarctica, where you can see stuffed penguins so entertaining for children.
The museum stands display photographs and portraits of the conquerors of the Arctic space. For example, the portrait gallery of heroic people is represented by images of sailors, so there are often cases when relatives of sailors come to the museum just to honor the memory of their loved ones.
The museum halls contain a large number of models of various transport ships and icebreakers, the collection of which is constantly being supplemented. One of the unique collections was the collection of micromodels, which were made on a scale of 1: 500. Its author is the famous resident of the city of Murmansk Vladimir Samokhin. His works delight the museum visitors to an unprecedented delight.
The “Diorama of the Northern Sea Route Development” is also of great interest to visitors, where you can see what the territorial expanses of the Arctic Ocean look like, as well as see the view of a cargo ship before unloading, figures of sailors and the incredible northern lights in the sky over the Arctic.
It should be noted that the museum not only tells about the history of the development of the marine fleet, but also serves as a meeting place for veterans of the shipping company. Since 1999, the museum has been constantly meeting within its walls participants of polar convoys from Moscow, St. Petersburg, USA, England and other countries.
In 2001, the museum launched a new exhibition called "Pole - 2000", which presented about 50 colorful photographs of one of the Murmansk photojournalists Lev Fedoseyev on the theme of the trip to the cold North Pole on the icebreaker "Yamal". Until today, the exhibition is expanding its collection. Particularly interesting are the photographs presented by N. Golovin "Colors of the Arctic".
Today, the museum continues to seek more and more new forms of work with numerous visitors, thereby cementing together the true connoisseurs of the history of the most difficult development of the Arctic.
