Meteor: Soviet hydrofoil jet

On May 19, 1959, the project was approved. In October, the first experimental hydrofoil vessel Meteor was launched, sea trials of which took place from November 1, 1959, to November 17, 1959. During sea trials, the first Meteor, built at the Krasnoye Sormovo plant, traveled from Gorky to Feodosia and was left there for the winter.

In the spring of May 9, 1960, the first Meteor set out on its way back from Feodosia and, on May 14, 1960, arrived in Gorky. In June 1960, the Meteor was presented to N. S. Khrushchev.

The aircraft designer A. N. Tupolev, who was present simultaneously, was impressed by the Meteor and asked R. E. Alekseev to manage the ship jointly.

Next was “Meteor-2”. The ship became part of the Volga United Shipping Company of the MRF of the RSFSR. One of its captains was the famous pilot Hero of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Devyatayev, who, during the Great Patriotic War, could escape from captivity by stealing an enemy bomber.

A. M. Gorky in Tatarstan. Serial production of “Meteors” was launched at the Zelenodolsk shipbuilding plant. More than 400 ships of this series were built from 1961 to 1999, and two units in 2006.

By 2007, the line for producing “Meteors” at the plant was dismantled, and cavern-planning motor ships of the new A45-1 project were laid down.

In the 2010s, several Meteors were modernized at the manufacturing plant and in St. Petersburg. However, by now, most of the units of the series have undergone mass decommissioning. Their places of operation, instead of being almost ubiquitous on large rivers and lakes, have become extremely limited.

Production: Krasnoye Sormovo (USSR)

Year of production: 1959-2007

Capacity: 120 persons in 3 big saloons + 3 members of crew

Power: 2 × 1000 HP

Max speed: 77 km/h

Range: 600 km

Weight: 4725 kg

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