RODINA CLASS inland passenger ship

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The passenger vessel depict on this stamp on the Volga River is one of the Project 588, Rodina class, which vessel is depict on the stamp is unknown, in 1981 one of this vessels was depict on a Russian stamp sg 5144 the COSMONAUT GAGARIN.

The Project 588 passenger ship were built as a river passenger vessel on the VEB Mathias-Thesen Werft in Wismar, East Germany between 1953 and 1961 for the Soviet Union Government. The first new ship built on this yard was V. CHKALOV was built for the Soviet Union as war reparations after World War II on March 30, 1954.
The yard still exist (2020) today but renamed in Lloyd Werft.
Displacement 1,492 ton, tonnage 2,470 grt, 1,751 nrt, 230 dwt, dim.95.8 x 14.3 x 2.4m. (draught)
Powered by three 6NVD48 diesel engines each 295 kW, (400 hp.), three shafts, speed 25.5 km/h.
Accommodation for 400 passengers and 72 crew.

The Rodina class is a class of Russian river passenger ships. "Rodina" means "motherland" in Russian.
They were three-deck cargo-passenger ships manufactured in Germany from 1954–1961.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodina-class_motorship

The river passenger motor ship Rodina class (project 588) is a three-deck passenger (cargo-passenger) long-distance motor ship.
Designed to sail on the river in the fast passenger lines and tourist cruises. The most numerous and successful of the mass series of river passenger ships in the USSR. Most of the vessels are currently still in operation.
Project 588 is practically identical to Project 26-37 "October Revolution", which ships were built in Czechoslovakia.

Development
Project No. 588 was developed at the beginning of the 1950s by TsTKB and a plant in the GDR. The project proposed a new architectural solution for a river passenger vessel (the first three-decker ships), distinguished by the rationality of the layout of the passenger premises and high comfort for that time. The external appearance of the vessel and the layout of the premises were developed under the guidance of the chief architect of the Ministry of River Fleet, academician L.V. Dobin.
In the design of the ships of this project, for the first time, the dynamic forms of the surface of the ships were used, the fashion for which came in the late 1950s - early 1960s due to the rapid development of space, aircraft and automotive industries. When creating the ship, shipbuilding engineer Lev Dobin applied the so-called smooth aerodynamic curve, inscribing all the above-deck structures into its contour. Therefore, the appearance of the ships of this project recalls the affinity with the “aircraft design” characteristic of cars of the 1950s and accurately conveys the aesthetics of the era.

Construction
The motor ships were built in the German Democratic Republic, in the city of Wismar, at the VEB Mathias-Thesen-Werft, Wismar shipyard, which bore the name of the German communist Mathias Thesen who was shot in a concentration camp. In total, 49 motor ships were built for the period 1954-1961.
Shipyard designation: BiFa Typ A, Binnenfahrgastschiff - river passenger motor ship of type A. The first motor ship of the class the V. CHKALOV was launched in 1953 and transferred to the Soviet Union on March 30, 1954.

The motor ships were built in 2 series:
Series I type: B. CHKALOV (1954-1956), 11 ships.
Series II type: COSMONAUT GAGARIN (1957-1961), 38 ships.
Motor ships of different series differ in the shape of the stern, superstructure elements, the location of some ladders and the layout of the premises. The vessels of the first series have a luxurious wood finish. The number of vessels on series II has been reduced (4 instead of 6); they also differ in displacement, some change in the layout of the premises and ladders and a slightly reduced passenger capacity due to the increased comfort of the cabins.

Description and characteristics
Cargo-passenger ships of this project could take on board about 350 people and more than 100 tons of cargo. On non-sleeping voyages, up to 1000 passengers were allowed. A freight elevator was installed in each hold.

Powered with three diesel engines coupled to three propeller shafts, it provided a speed of about 25 km / h. The ships were equipped with a bow thruster, which created significant convenience for navigators. When passing under low bridges, the main mast - the flagpole is lowered. Parallel mooring of up to 3 vessels was allowed at the berths.
Upper deck corridor with wood panelling and skylight
The vessel have 3 decks and 1 hold levels, on all of which passengers are accommodated in one-, two- and four- berth cabins , including cabins with washbasins and “junior suite” and “suite” cabins equipped with individual bathrooms. The promenade decks are open at all levels above the hold.
The lower level includes four-berth bunk cabins, a kitchen, service rooms and an engine room.
On the main (lower) deck there are two-tier two- and four-berth cabins, utility and service rooms, a grocery buffet (room) and a souvenir kiosk , a place for passenger check-in, a restaurant with 100 seats aft. The middle deck is the largest passenger deck of the motor ship; there are all single-tier double cabins of the improved category, two-tier double and four-berth cabins, a reading salon in the bow, a dance salon with a bar for 20 aft.
On the boat (upper) deck there are junior and deluxe cabins, a 70-seat restaurant at the bow, a cinema room and lifeboats at the stern. Above the boat deck is a superstructure with a wheelhouse and a captain's bridge.
Motor ships of project 588 were intended for sailing in water of category "O" according to the classification of the Russian River Register with wind strength up to force 6 and wave height up to 2.5 meters. Thus, good navigability allows a river vessel to navigate through reservoirs and large lakes (basins of the Volga / Don, Yenisei, Ob, Amur, etc.). In the river-sea mode, coastal navigation is allowed in coastal areas (Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea on the line St. Petersburg - Vyborg; Yenisei Gulf the Kara Sea to Dikson Island in weather that satisfies wind and wave restrictions; Taganrog Bay of the Azov Sea to the port of Taganrog, etc.).

Exploitation
34 out of 49 vessels of the project were intended for operation on the Volga and in the early 1960s formed the basis of the Volga passenger fleet. The motor ships of the project were also operated on the Kama , Don , Neva and other rivers and lakes of the Volga-Baltic waterway , the Yenisei and others, both on transport and tourist lines.
Currently, most of the ships are still in use. Some motor ships sank or were taken out of service, some of them were written off, and several ships were scrapped.
Some of the ships were renamed (for example, K. E. TSIOLKOVSKY into the motor ship ANATOLY PAPANOV , L. DOVATOR into the motor ship ARABELLA and others).

Upgrades
In the process of operation, the ships of project 588 underwent various modernizations. A cinema hall was additionally located at the end of the 3rd deck on almost all ships. Since the end of the 1980s, a comprehensive reconstruction and modernization of ships in Austria was planned with the replacement of equipment and redevelopment of passenger premises, but due to the economic crisis and the collapse of the USSR, this project was not implemented. Some ships were modernized later and are currently being reconstructed in accordance with modern ideas about comfort (for example, IIYA MUROMETS and others), while several ships have been converted or converted into four- or double-deck.

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0 ... %BE%D0%B2) Google translated.
Russia 1966 4k sg 3319, scott 3227.