Raketa (hydrofoil)

Raketa ( _ru. "Раке́та") was the first type of hydrofoil boats commercially produced in the Soviet Union. They were manufactured from 1957 until the early 1970s.

The first model, Raketa-1, was built by Krasnoye Sormovo shipbuilding plant in Sormovo, Nizhny Novgorod. On its maiden voyage, on August 25, 1957, it carried 30 passengers from Nizhny Novgorod to Kazan (420 km) in seven hours.

Raketa boats were soon in wide commercial service on the Volga River and elsewhere in the Soviet Union. To this day, the name is often used generically in Russian for all hydrofoil river boats.

Operators

*Russia
*Ukraine
*Lithuania
*Austria "Dolphin"
*England River Thames
*Finland, Lake Päijänne cities of Lahti and Jyväskylä 1962-1983, Royal Cruises 2005- (Rosetta;Raketa-314, Feodocija 1963)
*People's Republic of China
*Germany "Rheinphil" (now in private collection in Holland)
*Hungary between 1962-1985
*Poland in the Gdansk area (still in operation in 2005) and on Szczecin-Świnoujście cruise line
*Romania 5 pieces
*Slovakia "Raketa I II and III"
*Yugoslavia, Serbia since mid '80.s river Danube

Gallery

ee also

*Voskhod (hydrofoil)

References

* [http://www.riverships.ru/english/types/?grp=3 Russian River Ships: Passenger Hydrofoils]