Inside the graveyard of Soviet Russia’s rusting ‘River Rockets’ that once soared over water at 150kmph with JET engines

9 months ago 6

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A COLLECTION of Russian soviet-era “River Rockets” have been left to rot near a forest in an abandoned ship graveyard.

The rusting passenger boats, which sailed above the water at 150kmph fuelled by turbine jet engines, were once a 1980s revelation.

The once revolutionary boats have been left to rot there for years[/caption]

Russian hydrofoil boats like the River Rockets skimmed above water and were powered by turbine jet engines[/caption]

The Star Wars-like boats were once part of a fleet dubbed the “heroes of Russian rivers”.

Hydrofoil technology was used lift the boat from the water, allowing it to rapidly skim above the waves and travel at incredible speed.

Know as “River Rockets”, the popular boats were even fitted with aeroplane turbine jet engines and were used all over Russia and Ukraine.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, hydrofoil production stopped.

The Rockets were decommissioned and many were sent to a ship graveyard near a forest in the Russian city of Perm, where they remain gathering dust and rusting today.

Haunting images show the windows of the once wildly popular boats cracked and yellowed with age.

Even the seats inside are still draped with a stained, decades-old fabric.

And the exteriors of the boats are a shell of what they once were.

Rows upon rows of the enormous passenger boats are lined up in the eerie collection – a reminder of the once ‘golden’ Soviet era.

Hydrofoil technology in the 80s saw Russian inventors build almost 3,000 vessels like these for water travel.

Different models were named with the Space Race in mind – like “Sputnik”, “Comet”, “Meteor” and “Stormbringer”.

Some of the River Rockets did survive the Cold War – and sail down rivers in Canada, Greece, Turkey and even China today.

One wealthy Russian even converted his own into a luxury yacht.

Another ended up in the middle of a Ukrainian housing estate.

Black and white photographs from the 20th century show the River Rockets gliding over the water with passengers waving from the windows.

Sketches presumably drawn by architects and designers show the impressive boats gloating above the sea and cutting through the water at rapid speed.

The River Rockets are not the only impressive vessels that have been left to rot.

An incredible cruise ship dubbed a “City on the Sea” was left beached in Greece – and is now half submerged.

The floating palace had an incredible journey, travelling between England, South Africa, Mozambique and Spain alongside its three sister ships.

It even once travelled from London to Cape Town in a whopping fifteen days.

The passenger boat had state-of-the-art amenities for the time, including luxury cabins, three swimming pools, lavish bars and air conditioning.

But in August 1996, the liner would make its last journey from Patras to Brindisi in Greece.

After its caretaker died and the owners put it up for sale – it ended up without a home and was sent to Elefsina in 2002, where it lies in the shallow water today.