Memorial Submarine S-56
Korabelnaya Naberezhnaya
Being the integral part of Vladivostok's glorious history, the Pacific Fleet was a reliable guard of Soviet Union's Far Eastern sea borders during the Great Patriotic War and significantly contributed to defeating the fascist invaders. The city has several monuments devoted to Russian seamen's heroism and selflessness: the Memorial Submarine S-56 installed on the Korabelnaya Naberezhnaya (literally: Ships' Quay) is one of them. Together with patrol ship 'Krasny Vympel' it constitutes the memorial complex Military Glory of the Pacific Fleet.
Upon its origin in 1936, the submarine S-56 was the first rank vessel equipped with powerful engines. Having strong torpedo and artillery arms, high speed and self-sufficiency, such submarine was a dire threat to any enemy. In 1941, submarine S-56 became a part of the Pacific Fleet, and a year later, it was sent from Vladivostok to polar region in order to increase Northern Fleet's war strength.
During the World War II the submarine passed two oceans - the Pacific and the Atlantic, nine seas - including Caribbean Sea, Sargasso Sea and North Sea, and scores of islands and straits. Over this time it made eight military campaigns, carried out twelve torpedo attacks that resulted in sinking ten rival ships and damaging four more. Over three thousand depth bombs were dropped on it, but the S-56 remained unsinkable.
In the year 1975, to honor the 30th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, the submarine was installed on the pedestal of eternal glory on the Zolotoy Rog Bay's beach. Today the unique museum is equipped inside the submarine S-56. There you can get a clear image of how submarine's heroic crew fought with furious storms, repulsed torpedo attacks and wormed its way through tropical heat and sever cold to help the Northern Fleet. The museum is devoted not only to the vessel's history, but to development of the Pacific Fleet's submarine forces.
Each of submarine's seven sections is a separate room with its own original exposition. Museum's visitors start discovering the S-56 from the last - seventh section. It provides facts about museum's opening history (here you can see old pictures and even submarine's original tonnage board, which was found at memorial complex's foundation), and also about submarine fleet's history from its creation to 1917. The story continues in the sixth section, introducing the period of 1917 - 1923.
The fifth (diesel) section's exposition is devoted directly to the fate and deeds of the submarine S-56: truly unique artifacts are kept here. The forth section (former galley) shows models of the modern submarines. The last three sections are the most interesting ones, because they are preserved unchanged from the war times. One of guests' favourite exhibits in the third section is 9-meter long periscope. In the second section, visitors' attention is invariably attracted to the sonarman's manikin, listening to the sound of the sea. Many tourists nickname it the 'dried seaman'. The first section features varied torpedoes - in section, as well as whole.
