Avrora crew will consist of 3 military and 28 civilians – Navy Commander-in-Chief

17.12.2010 The crew of cruiser Avrora will consist of 3 military servicemen and 28 civilian employees, answered Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky to St. Petersburg legislative assembly. Text of the answer was distributed on Wednesday by the assembly's press service.

As was decided by defense ministry and Navy Main HQ, the cruiser's military crew will be replaced with civilian personnel of the Central Naval Museum. The process of staff replacement started on Dec 1 and caused wide public repercussions. Some politicians and public figures doubted whether civilians could maintain the cruiser.

"Defense minister's order dated on Nov 30, 2010 imposed changes to the directive of June 25, 2010. Avrora's crew is not going to be disbanded; it is simply reshaped into a 3-man staff (one commander and two enlisted) and 28 civilian employees. Status, subordination, and maintenance practices of Avrora remain the same", answered Vysotsky.

As was previously reported by RIA Novosti referring to a spokesman for the Navy, the cruiser will remain on balance of Baltic Fleet after reducing of military crew; that means that Baltic Fleet will be still in charge for the ship's maintenance and technical service. The cruiser will be commanded by a naval officer.

Chairman of St. Petersburg legislative assembly Vadim Tulpanov says he is satisfied with such decision of the Navy Commander-in-Chief. According to him, keeping the cruiser within the Navy will prevent unintended use of the ship and save her from activities discrediting heroic history of the veteran cruiser.

"This decision preserves not only the status of a warship but provides appropriate financing; if the directive of defense ministry would have remained unchanged, Petersburg could lose one of its legendary symbols", Tulpanov said.

In 1917 Avrora fired a blank shot which became the signal for assault of tsar residence during the October Revolution. The cruiser had been "a revolutionary ship" and "Russian Navy's No. 1 ship" for a long time.

Avrora happened to be in the spotlight of scandal on June 6, 2009 when a VIP party was arranged on board the ship with participation of known politicians, public figures, and businessmen. Afterwards, the Procuracy of Leningrad Military District initiated an inquiry, and Navy Commander-in-Chief issued an order prohibiting any "other than crew-related" activities onboard warships.