This museum, which is located in the heart of the city at 11 Lenin Street (ул. Ленина), covers the history of the Black Sea Fleet through three eras: Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union and the post-Soviet Russian Federation.
Photo from Wikipedia Commons, by Елизавета Резник
The museum first opened in 1869, and it was moved to its current location in 1895. Before the city fell to the Germans in 1942, the most valuable artefacts in the collection were evacuated and stored in Baku and Ulyanovsk. The museum building was badly damaged, but was quickly restored after the war and reopened on August 15, 1948.
The museum’s collection now comprises over 30,000 artefacts, documents and paintings, and the exhibits are displayed in chronological order in a series of eight halls:
- The Establishment of the Fleet and the base at Sevastopol
- The Crimean War Siege of 1854-5
- The Fleet during the second half of the 19th century
- The Fleet during the early years of the 20th century
- The October Revolution
- The Defence of Sevastopol in 1941-2
- The liberation of the Crimea and Kuban 1943-4
- The Fleet in the post-WWII era
In addition, some larger items, such as torpedoes and missiles, are held in an open-air display in the museum courtyard.
The museum is open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm every day except Monday. Admission is 25 UAH (about €2.50), with a photography pass costing an extra 15 UAH.
Mamayev Kurgan 