Soviet monitor Zhelezniakov

History
Soviet Union
Name	Zhelezniakov
Namesake	Anatoli Zhelezniakov
Laid down	25 November 1934
Launched	22 November 1935
Commissioned	27 October 1936
Decommissioned	10 September 1960
Renamed	PSKL-4, 18 March 1958
Reclassified	Hulk, 11 March 1958
Fate	Transferred to the Soviet Danube Shipping Company after 10 September 1960 Converted to a floating jetty
Status	Memorial ship since 10 July 1967
General characteristics
Type	River monitor
Tonnage	263 t (259 long tons; 290 short tons)
Length	51.2 m (168 ft)
Beam	8.2 m (26 ft 11 in)
Draft	0.90 m (2 ft 11 in)
Propulsion	2 × 140-metric-horsepower (138 hp) diesel engines 2 × shafts
Speed	8.3 kn (15 km/h; 10 mph)
Endurance	3,700 nmi (6,900 km; 4,300 mi)
Crew	72
Armament	1 × twin 102 mm (4 in)/45 cal. MK-2-4 gun turret 2 × 45 mm 40-K gun turrets (each with 1 × coaxial 7.62 mm DT machine gun) then 1 × 45 mm 40-K gun turret (with 1 × coaxial 7.62 mm DT machine gun) and 1 × twin 45 mm 41-K gun turret (from 1941) 2 × 7.62 mm machine gun turrets 1 × 7.62 mm AA machine gun then 1 × quadruple 7.62 mm M-4 AA machine gun mount (from 1941), later 2 × 37 mm 70-K AA guns and 2 × 12.7 mm DShK machine guns (during the Great Patriotic War)
Armor	Belt: 16 mm (0.63 in) and 4 mm (0.16 in) at the ship's ends Main deck: 4 mm (0.16 in) Main gun turret and CT tops: 16 mm (0.63 in) Main gun turret and CT sides: 30 mm (1.2 in)

Zhelezniakov (Russian: Железняков) was a river monitor of the Soviet Navy and the class leader of her six-ship class (Soviet designation Project SB-37). Completed during the 1930s it participated in World War II and was the only one of its class that survived the war.

The ship was named after the Russian sailor Anatoli Zhelezniakov who was famous for being among those who dispersed the Russian Constituent Assembly in 1918 and his saying "The guard has grown weary".

In 1967 it was installed in the Sailor's Park at Rybalskyi Island as a memorial ship. The same year around the memorial ship was created the Sailor's Park (official name "To the sailor's of the Dnieper Flotilla"). The ship was a monument of science and technology, history with a protected number 260062-N until its removal from the State Register of Immovable Monuments in 2023.

Further reading

• Gardiner, Robert; et al. (1980). Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922–1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7. ISBN 978-0-85177-146-5.
• Budzbon, Przemysław; Radziemski, Jan & Twardowski, Marek (2022). Warships of the Soviet Fleets 1939–1945. Vol. I: Major Combatants. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-68247-877-6.

External links

• Media related to Zhelezniakov (Monitor Warship) at Wikimedia Commons