This River Rocket Was Once the Pride of Soviet Waterways, But Now It’s Rusting in Peace 

These are still buzzing around the St. Petersburg / Kronstadt waterways. Was on one a few years ago. The power of those huge twin Russian turbo diesels was awesome.

they were marvelous piece of engineering which at the capable hands of greek seamen became the easy, relatively economic and convenient mean of sea transportation throughout all of the agean.... equipped with modern caterpillar engines, they could ... fly over the waves of agean sea and all around greece at a speed of 30-35 knots per hour and they were permitted to do so even in sea state 7 at the beaufort scale. they still serve in specific routes and they have shown exceptional ease of maintenance and operation. in their current civilian mode (beacause they can always be drafted and serve as fast sea transport vehicles carrying 125 soldiers on full combat weight, maybe more) they are operated by a captain class a, an enginer class a, 2 deckhands, one hostess and a machine man.Construction aluminum alloy today is not coming cheap, but the mass production at the former UUSR made them the perfect solution for countries like mine.i personally know a man who was litrerally born in one of themwhile his mother was being transported to capital from a saronic gulf island to deliver... i hope that the vision of Alexeev who made these ships reality to continue with more modern, more efficient, faster machines like this.

Growing up in the late 80's in Russia, I clearly remember my Grandpa taking me down to the river to watch the 'Meteor" ferry buzz by. Hell of an experience for a 4 year old :)

There are several of these doing the run between the Summer Palace to St Petersburg, Russia. I had the pleasure and joy to ride one of these wonderful craft in 2012 while on tour.

In Greece we call them flying Dolphins, and it's an awesome safe fast way to travel in the island's.

I've been on one of those "rockets" a few times as a kid. They were awesome at full speed. There would be a massive spray of water behind the ship going at full speed. I think there is at least one still in service but the safety regulations prevent them from going full speed.

Saint Petersburg's waters are still full with those boats! :-) I was on one, and that was pretty fun!

That stuff should be preserved not because they are efficient or state of the art, but because of the heart and soul that went into building them.

Wow!! I forgot about those. Awesome work man. Peace

In fact that was my instant thought that I would like to own one of those, but when you said the price tag that only puts it at about $290,000 outside of my reach. But I was thinking it would make a wonderful house boat.

These and the ekanoplan were extremely cool machines! I hate to see them rot.

In Greece we call them "Flying Dolphins" and they are being used to connect nearby islands. They work nonstop for at least 40 years now, and they have carried millions of tourists. In fact I used one just last week. The price for a 35 minute trip is €14 (USD 16) :-)

Hydrofoils were part of my childhood memories back in the 80's, we'd take them between Sydney's Circular Quay and Manly (Australia)

Imagine turning this into a home! Moor her somewhere in the Norfolk Broads or the Thames. Russia too cold. In many ways 😳!

Those boats are so futuristic looking.

The sociates were not afraid to try new things some of the machines to come out of the area are simply amazing

Took a trip on one of these a few weeks ago in St Petersburg Russia. They were everywhere! Great mode of transportation!

I used to travel in my childhood and early adolescence some of the kometas commissioned in Cuba as ferries from Nueva Gerona, Isle of Youth to Batabanó, Havana. They were really fast, even today none of the modern vessels that have covered that itinerary since kometas where decommissioned had manage to make the travel in less than 2 hours.

I saw that boat on the movie “xXx”. It was called AHAB LOL

Great interesting video. Thanks!

Right up there with the Ekranoplan

years ago we had them in Rotterdam to ! verry cool boats

It's a great sight watching them power along the Neva River in St. Petersburg.

Beautifully designed vessels that were ahead of their time. It is truly sad to see them in the shape that they're in. It had to be a blast to in.

I remember riding the occasional Kometa through the Black Sea in Bulgaria, way back in the 70s and 80s. * randomly remembering better times and smiling like an idiot *

Hi Facts i like ur videos

There is also one of these rotting away in a boat yard in Illinois near Chicago. I was able to photograph it this summer.

They look like space ships, amazing.

They had a scheduled service in Bulgaria’s Back Sea coast. Back in the 80s there they were called “kometa” or comet. They operated from Varna to Nesebar. It was much like an airplane experience, boarding and interior.

I rode these between ho chi mihn city and vungtau in Vietnam. Shortens the trip over 5 hours

Used to go up and down to Vung Tau from Saigon on these in the late eighties to mid nineties. Much more relaxing than the road trip!

4:22 - Not Thailand, but Vietnam. On route from Ho Chi Minh City to Vung Tau city by the coast. I've been on them several times, but rumours are that they will stop using them in the foreseeable future. Amazing crafts!

They are still used on Lake Onega, FWIW. I have been there several years ago.

Amazing form of marine transport

They used to run Meteors from Split to Hvar (Croatia) until a few years ago, when I first went on one in 1979 it had the nice perspex nose windows but when the replacement plastic become unavailable a Croatian boatyard put a redesigned front window on them. The problem was lack of spares.

In 2017, quite a few of these ships were travelling the river Neva in St. Petersburg.

What an awesome piece of machinery

I have been onboard of one like that so many times going between Helsinki and Tallinn with Linda Line. They operated with hydrofoil ships until 2007 when they changed them to bigger catamarans. Once I was on board in Samos Greece in one just like that yellow.

Thank you very much for such a interesting Video

We had those on Black Sea it’s like airplane pulls up nose and goes fast from sukhumi to Sochi within an hour you r there 👍

"Voskhod" type hydrofoils are still in daily use in Greece as inter island transports. We Greeks call them Flying Dolphins and are very fond of them. Amazing workhorses …………. with a very good safety record over decades of continuous use in almost all weather (open sea, not river)

We had (or maybe even still have) several of those in the Netherlands; some were used for sightseeing trips, but the majority was part of our public transportation network, mainly in Amsterdam.

Those Rooskies are crafty

Last year in 2017 I had been lucky enough to cruise up the Danube river from Bratislava Slovakia to Vienna austria on board an aging Meteor Hydrofoil! It was smooth as a Cadillac and it was fast! 52mph or 83kph! We have everything in the United States but no Hydrofoil! Boeing used to make them for the Navy and they built those 929 ones for Hong Kong and Tokyo but had none in service here in the US! I love Hydrofoils!

the yellow one at 1:10 was in use in the Netherlands between Amsterdam and IJmuiden on the Noordzeekanaal (= North Sea Canal). Notice the bikes on top .... They were bought second hand in Russia. They stopped using them a couple of years ago after serious technical failures resulting in accidents

they still in use in st Petersburg, I used them this summer

That would make an awesome vacation home if it were moved to a great spot overlooking a lake.

They commonly ply the Mekong River from Ho Chi Ming City to the mouth. I've ridden on them several times. They are fast, comfortable, and cheap.

At 4.24 minutes, it is mentioned that they are still being used in Greece and Thailand. This is new to me and I am totally surprised. We have some Catamaran craft service in The Gulf of Thailand, but I have no knowledge about this craft.

Those things are badass... it'd be cool to ride in one

Is there a video of this when in operation?

You can still "fly" with these in Greece. We call it "the flying dolphins" and it's a popular way of fast travel to the islands.

I've seen one of these abandoned in the outskirts of Chicago IL

Dniper lol love the way you said that one Commentator ......it is pronounced Knee-Per

Ive been on such a Meteor not even 3 months ago. Between Kasan and Bolgar. It was in fairly good condition considering its more than 30 years old. :)

I thought the first space station was Skylab in 1973. Nevermind, I stand corrected. Salut-1 was 1971

Nice. I want one. If I had Bill Gates money I'd probably buy one. the front end resembles that submarine on the Fantastic Voyage. I think it was called Proteus.

Right im going over there to buy this restore it and do Thames party boat cruises. TRANCE TRIPS ! What futuristic beautiful boats!

20 years ago, I travelled on a "Dolphin" (0:50) in Greece - what a ride!

They need to restore one of those Meteor Raketas just so they can make a new James Bond film and have Bond fight the villain on the hull of the ship during the films climax.

It was 3 main types - ROKETA - for small rivers, compact; METEOR - for big rivers and golfs; KOMETA - sea type, big and comfortable. At 1988 I used Kometa via the Black Sea from Batumi to Crimea only 4 hours. Today Meteors are poplular at StPetersburg.

Looks like an Airstream camper built for water

There are a couple rusting away at Puerta Diamante on Lago Cocibolca, Nicaragua

It would be nice to have one of those to put in back yard.and renovate. I love the silver ones, so space age looking.

Looks like a space ship

I took a couple of trips in a Kometa (the sea fairing variety) that (at least used to) connect the ports of New Gerona (north coast Isle of Pines) & Batabano (south coast of Cuba).

To ride it you had to wait on a list for 15 years

yea kym i was thinking the same when i seen the boat. i would love to see them turned into homes. :)

Interesting.

I traveled on one of those ancient was a couple of years ago from Rhodes to Turkey, what a noisy old contraption that was

Wow that river rocket would have been a great restaurant or exclusive night club even set up on land!

You don't need to go to Russia to ride on a hydrofoil ferry. They are running in the summer on North America's Great Lakes. Took one to Mackinac Island this year, they're fast if the winds don't make the surface choppy. These boats do better on smooth rivers, rough open waters, not so much.

So nice. Racing sailboats are starting to use this technology as well as some fast ferries. Truely leading tech. Sad to see it rusting.

This type of boat still operates in Slovakia, Bratislava.

Neat vessels. Very space age

100 years in the making

That would make a really cool house.

R.I.Peace

Could use a few of those here in Vancouver CA

look like spaceship !

I was driwing with raketa in 80s,was nice boat!!!!!!

Rust In Peace greatest thrash album ever created.

2:58 those are "Voskhod" type hydrofoils NOT "Raketa"

These things do still exist in upgraded form they hobble around St Petersburg

Ooh I went on one of those in St Petersburg in 1995.

would make a cool home

They are still in use in Vietnam too, I have seen them

1:08 This one is (or was till recently, i'm not sure) operational in The Netherlands, and other hydrofoils too. They are part of the Fast Flying Ferry service.

I rode in those on Volga river as a child... if I was rich I'd buy one and fix it up.

Mane. Why did I sit through this video?

thats now how you say raketa xD

I like you bud,not yet have you gone to robot voice and even on top of all of your channels you still speak with fact and honestly to the best of your knowledge,I’ve been a sub of yours for years and you still make up for the most of my recommended lol 👍🏻

I know these awesome hydro boats are/were still used in The Netherlands few years ago as "bus on the water" .

I remember it from the Elton John tour in the USSR in 1979 on dvd

Those would be cool, on the Great Lakes.

Turned into a commercial lol

They still use them out of Ho Chi Mihn City to Vung Tau Vietnam. They've been upgrading them to meet safety standards. Hard ride in rough water though.

i tried it in Vietnam not too long ago. It was so cool

How fast can these things go?

They have or had one of those in Toronto as a tour boat.