The Dudinka exhibition. Photo: Taimyr Local Branch of the RGS
A part of the steamer «Tbilisi», recovered from the bottom of the Kara Sea during an expedition of the Russian Geographical Society in April this year, has joined the collection of the Taimyr Museum of Local History in Dudinka. Now it can be seen at the exhibition «Your Feat is Eternal, Soldier! Arctic Perspective», which tells about the events of the Great Patriotic War.
A part of the steamer "Tbilisi". Photo: Taimyr Local Branch of the RGS
The steamer «Tbilisi», which was lost in the area of the Krestovsky Islands in the Yenisei Gulf of the Kara Sea in 1943, was discovered in 2024 by the expedition of the RGS. According to experts, the ship hit a mine laid by a German submarine.
In 2025, during a new expedition organized by the Krasnoyarsk Regional Branch of the RGS together with the Russian Ministry of Defense to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, it was possible to explore the vessel in more detail. Fragments of it were lifted from the seabed.
«This expedition is important for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Russia as a whole, it continues a number of activities of the Russian Geographical Society to preserve the historical memory of the events of the Great Patriotic War and the heroism of the Soviet people. Now our fellow countrymen can see a part of the steamer 'Tbilisi’ in the museum and personally touch our great history,» said Igor Spiridenko, Chairman of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Branch of the RGS.
The artifact, which is a handle or flywheel that was used on the ship to control a cast-iron gate valve, was handed over to the museum by Maksim Mironov, head of the «Tbilisi-2025» expedition, chairman of the Norilsk Local Branch of the RGS. The exhibition in Dudinka also shows photographs of the expedition of the Russian Geographical Society.