Unknown Russian Naval Artifact

[LightningMunk]

hey everyone! i am in need of some assistance and is wondering if anyone can help me out. my grandpa had this artifact from the longest time that he received while he was in WWII from a Russian. he did not know what it meant in russian nor what the object was. I was wondering if anyone on the board could help me out with things. Either could help translating what the Russian says or what the object is....or both :). Here is a picture of the item:

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b245/ssjyamivegeta/russian1.jpg

As you can see, it sort of resembles an anchor like shape, but on the bottom of the object it has these inscriptions:

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b245/ssjyamivegeta/P6090073NOrm.jpg

I noticed thru some research that this couldn't be right because some of the letters were backwards. My thought is that this could be a stamper of some sort, like putting a signature into a wax seal, here is the image flipped:

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b245/ssjyamivegeta/P6090073.jpg

And here are the markings on both side of the long part:

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b245/ssjyamivegeta/russian2.jpg
I figured out this refers to the Kama and the Volga river (that actually converge) but i do not know about the dates 1918-1919

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b245/ssjyamivegeta/RussianSide2.jpg
And I could not make out the cursive at all lol :)


But yes, any help on this mystery would be great. My grandpa has been wanting to know for ages so this could be a real great help, thank you! :D

[herakles]

Welcome to the Forum Lightning Munk.

My guess is that the anchor is part of the commemoration of the launching of a Russian warship.

I have a couple of these as my grandfather built many RN ships at Portsmouth. One is in a beautifully carved box along with other memorabilia from the launching of as I recall Frobisher. But I might have the ship name wrong after all these years.

My Russian isn't good enough any more but I guess it's the name of the ship.

[John Brown]

Hi Munk

Welcome to the forum.

I have a colleague who has a Russian wife and will ask if she can translate these words for you. It may take a few days but please do come back to the site now and then to see if I have answered.

I did the same for a visitor to the forum once before and he never came back to the site so my efforts and those of my colleague were wasted. ......Very annoying!!


Regards..John

[John Brown]

Hi Again Munk..

Well that was quicker than I thought.....

The first picture shows somebody's name. It is a B BLAHIN.

The second picture shows an inscription bearing the names of two rivers...

The Volga and the Kama (The Kama is the longest tributary of the Volga) together with the date 1918 - 1919.

The final photo shows the inscription, as she translated it.....'weoponed ship 'PROUD'

I guess this could mean something like....'armed ship' or perhaps even 'gun boat'.

I hope this helps you with further research. Good luck!

No responsibility is accepted for any errors in translation :-)

Regards....John

[Batstiger]

Thanks for that John, perhaps when Munk has done a little research, he will report back to the forum so that we all may know.

Cheers, Bob.