Nizhny Novgorod - 800!

The city has undergone many changes over the eight centuries of its existence, but its connection with the Volga navigation and shipbuilding has never been interrupted.

Ekaterina STARTSEVA
Krasnoye Sormovo

«Novy grad» was founded at the confluence of the great Russian rivers - the Volga and the Oka - by Prince Yuri (Georgy) Vsevolodovich in 1221 as a strong point of defense of the Russian borders from the Mordva, Cheremisses and Tatars. In the XVI-XVII centuries, thanks to a convenient geographical location in Nizhny Novgorod, the biggest in the country Makarievskaya fair began to operate. During this period, handicrafts got a new lease on life, and the city’s economy began to flourish and it became the center of mass ship caravan formations.

In the middle of the XIX century in Nizhny Novgorod the largest industrial universal plant opened in Sormovo, which produced steamships, cars, railway cars, locomotives, motor ships. During the years of the Great Patriotic War the plant built over 240 above-water vessels, not counting submarines, and repaired 300 of such vessels. It produced 600 diesel engines, over 1000 steam locomotives, over 80 thousand cars and other units of the rolling stock. In short time some of the shops were re-equipped for the production of the T-34 tanks, about 12 thousand of which were produced. Metallurgy was restructured, the production of artillery shells and bodies of reactive armament began. Through their labor, the workers of the plant made a significant contribution to the victory over the Nazis.

Many talented people passed through Krasnoye Sormovo. It’s here where in the 50’s the designers created fundamentally new types of river and sea vessels Raketa and Meteor under the leadership of Rostislav Alekseev.In August 1957 the first passenger trip from Nizhny Novgorod to Kazan was carried out by the hydrofoil ship Rocket. The news spread all over the world, since the speed of the vessel surpassed the speed of all civilian ships of that time. Alekseyev personally tested his hydrofoils, which are still used in Russia today.

The plant is over 170 years old and in that time many projects and technologies have been developed and introduced by the plant for the first time:
the first Russian open-hearth furnace;
the world’s first diesel-electric ship;
the first domestic tanks;
the first continuous casting facility;
the first hydrofoil ships;
the first in Russia series of hi-tech dredging vessels of the TSHD 1000 project.

Many types of products manufactured here have no analogues in the country and are not inferior to the world samples. Thanks to Sormovo Shipbuilding Plant, Nizhny Novgorod has become one of the leading cities in the field of shipbuilding.

The present generation of specialists of Sormovo shipyard knows, remembers and honors the history of the enterprise and its contribution to domestic shipbuilding. This is evidenced by unique expositions in the museum of history of Krasnoye Sormovo Shipyard, which is currently being reconstructed. By the 800th anniversary of Nizhny Novgorod it will open in a new, expanded format, there will be new open-air exhibits. The exposition of the museum will become more informative.

This year, for the first time, the Krasnoye Sormovo Plant became one of the venues for a film screening as part of the Festival of New Russian Cinema Gorky Fest. Another leitmotif of this event was the anniversary of the city. The improvised movie theater was organized right in the workshop.