Not only a person, but also a modest river boat can become a war hero. Proof of this can be found in Nizhny Novgorod, where on the Nizhnevolzhskaya Embankment there is a monument to the boat «Geroi», a participant in two world wars.
It was originally built in 1916 in Kolomna and bore the name «Matvey Bashkirov». But not for long: after the revolution it was renamed «Volgar-Dobrovolets», equipped with heavy machine guns, and clad in armor. The boat fought bravely against the White Guards during the Civil War on the Volga, in the Caspian Sea, and even on the Kama. When the war ended, «Volgar» worked as a tug and dispatcher. And when the Great Patriotic War began, it was armed again, this time with anti-aircraft guns. The boat took part in the bloody battles near Stalingrad in 1942-1943.
For a long time after the war, the heroic little ship sailed along the Volga, but now as a Museum of Naval Battle Glory.
The boat «Geroi» was placed on a pedestal at the foot of the Chkalov Staircase in 1985, in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Great Victory. Nowadays it is often visited to lay flowers in memory of its heroic past.
Newlyweds also come here to take photographs and tie a symbolic ribbon to the propeller at the keel of the boat.
