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Phil,
Yes thats correct.
There was Raketa Thames, Raketa Westminster & Raketa Greenwich. Raketa Thames was slightly different as it had a sliding front door which the other two did not have.
I just wonder what the fate of these 3 Raketa vessels were and if any are left today. I Would love to find out.
I have the three vessels Reg Numbers which im not sure if its there IMO number too but hopefully somebody can find something on them:
Raketa Greenwich : 263318
Raketa Thames : 363320
Raketa Westminster : 363319
Yes thats correct.
There was Raketa Thames, Raketa Westminster & Raketa Greenwich. Raketa Thames was slightly different as it had a sliding front door which the other two did not have.
I just wonder what the fate of these 3 Raketa vessels were and if any are left today. I Would love to find out.
I have the three vessels Reg Numbers which im not sure if its there IMO number too but hopefully somebody can find something on them:
Raketa Greenwich : 263318
Raketa Thames : 363320
Raketa Westminster : 363319
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Unfortunately, I doubt we will ever know Ben. They probably disappeared into the obscurity of the huge Soviet river fleets and became completely off the international radar. They were only ever built for domestic river service, so would never have had IMO numbers or be tracked by Lloyds Register. Those numbers are probably official registry numbers or something. There is a website here: http://www.hydrofoils.org/HGal/hgal.html which says that over 400 Raketas were built.
Cheers
Phil
Cheers
Phil
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Very True phil. However even if they were scrapped, i would still love to know just to find out there fate, i do know a few still operate in Russia and Yugoslavia so it could still be out there.
On the page you gave me , there were a few differnt types of hydrofoils listed there which operated on the thames such as :
Kometa hydrofoils which my father also operated during the 1970s
The Raketa's 1973-76
There were also small 6 seater Volga hydrofoils which operated for Catamaran Cruisers and Greenwich Pleasurecraft
I do know that the Raketa's had a bit of a tough time when it came to wood floating in the water. Ive heard a story where the Raketa Greenwich was coming down through the bridges when it hit a huge railway sleeper which was floating in the water, it bent the front foils and made the boat stop so sharp the front dug into the Thames causing a huge wave to splash over the deck soaking everybody outside.
On the page you gave me , there were a few differnt types of hydrofoils listed there which operated on the thames such as :
Kometa hydrofoils which my father also operated during the 1970s
The Raketa's 1973-76
There were also small 6 seater Volga hydrofoils which operated for Catamaran Cruisers and Greenwich Pleasurecraft
I do know that the Raketa's had a bit of a tough time when it came to wood floating in the water. Ive heard a story where the Raketa Greenwich was coming down through the bridges when it hit a huge railway sleeper which was floating in the water, it bent the front foils and made the boat stop so sharp the front dug into the Thames causing a huge wave to splash over the deck soaking everybody outside.
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