Published on: 2026-09-13
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
At the rescue stations of the Moscow City Search and Rescue Service on water bodies, old anchors of various types are kept. These are symbols of hope for help, of the professions of sailors and river workers, as well as a reminder of the history of navigation. The unique collection was discussed at in the urban infrastructure complex of Moscow.
The anchor is one of the oldest inventions. Over many centuries, people have perfected it and made it reliable. The history of the anchor began with a simple wooden hook. Then it became stone and iron. Since then, the design has been continuously modernized. Today, there are about five thousand patents and certificates of authorship for improvements to the anchor.
Hall anchor at Strogino station
At the “Strogino” search and rescue station, the Hall anchor has been greeting guests for more than 20 years. The design was invented by an English captain named Hall in 1885; it replaced complex forged forms. The sailor developed an anchor that is easy to disassemble, simple to manufacture, and very durable. He removed the shank and made the object collapsible, which allowed it to be quickly adopted by navies worldwide. However, the inventor’s name was soon forgotten even in his homeland, and only in our country has the design retained the creator’s surname in its name.
Matrosov and Becker anchors at the “Borisovskaya” station
The Borisovskaya Search and Rescue Station keeps two anchors. One of them — Matrosov’s anchor — has been standing on the territory for many years. This original cast design was created and patented in 1946 in the Soviet Union by engineer Igor Matrosov. Such an anchor securely holds a vessel in weak sandy or silty soil and is extremely stable on a hard bottom.
The second specimen resembles Becker’s anchor, patented by a Swedish engineer. Its distinctive feature is an elongated steel frame. It serves both as a rod and a grip, which gives the anchor a strong holding power. The story of its appearance at the station was told by rescuer Roman Pasevin.
“About 10 years ago, vacationers at one of the beaches of the Borisov Ponds came across a cable underwater. People called us and asked to remove it. During the dive, we followed the cable down to the bottom and found an anchor at the end. The three of us were able to raise it to the surface. Since then, the anchor has been at our station. It is possibly left from a dredger that once cleaned the pond bottoms. I find no other explanation for its presence at the bottom of the pond,” shared Roman Pasevin.
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Two anchors have been installed on pedestals at the “Kuntsevo” search and rescue station. One is David’s anchor, dating back to Soviet times, and the other is a classic admiralty anchor, whose story of appearance resembles that of the item from the “Borisovskaya” station. During the 2010 floods, when the riverbed near the station was severely eroded, rescuers found an anchor protruding from the silt during a training descent. Yuri Chvanov, who was the station chief at the time, decided to lift it from the bottom and install it. Three years ago, the rescuers beautified the site: they placed the anchors on a scatter of boulders and stones. Among them are ancient ammonite fossils — the bottom of the Moscow River in this area is rich with them.
Anchor of the steamboat “Grazhdanka” at the “Central” station
In mid-summer, divers from the ‘Central’ search and rescue station found an admiralty anchor at the bottom of the Khimki reservoir, 60 meters from the shore.
“During a training descent, diver Maxim Teleshev got his signal line caught on some object at depth. By touch, he determined it was a sunken anchor. We marked the location with a buoy and waited for the right time to retrieve it. After a few days, my colleagues and I used a lifting pontoon and a winch to raise the anchor to the surface,” said rescuer Ilya Sokolov.
After cleaning off the layer of dirt and silt on the anchor stock, the words “p/h Grazhdanka, weight 170 kg” became visible. The history of the steamship “Grazhdanka” began more than a century ago. In 1904, it was launched at the Sormovo plant in Nizhny Novgorod under the name “Knyazhna.” In 2007, the steamship ceased operations on the Chusovaya River near the village of Krasnaya Sludka in the Perm region. There, it was used as a floating holiday home, and the vessel was abandoned.
The steamboat sailed on various routes, including from Moscow to Perm. Presumably, the anchor was lost on one of these voyages and was found decades later by the capital’s rescuers in the water. The head of the “Central” search and rescue station, Denis Gusev, said that they plan to restore the find to proper condition and install it on a pedestal near the station. In addition, specialists intend to raise another large anchor lying at the bottom of the Khimki Reservoir.
Anchor collection at the ‘Serebryany Bor’ station
The Search and Rescue Station “Serebryany Bor” can boast a small collection of anchors, gathered by its chief Yaroslav Chernogorov.
According to him, many tours are conducted at the station, during which guests are told about the history of water rescue, shown various equipment and gear from past years. The staff came up with the idea to gather various models and types of anchors used on water transport in Russia, including Moscow, in one place, and also to make a description for each of them.
The first in the collection was a grapnel anchor that was found at the bottom of the Moskva River. It lay for several years on the territory of the Taturovo Search and Rescue Station and was then transferred to the Serebryany Bor Search and Rescue Station. This is a classic forged anchor. Such items come in various sizes and have from three to six hooks. The exhibition also includes a second much smaller grapnel anchor. It was left from the boat “Chir,” which worked in the water rescue service about 10 years ago.
Yaroslav Chernogorov reported that an anchor weighing 125 kilograms belonging to Matrosov was found in the prevention area of the station. It was discovered by rescuer Denis Izotov during a diving descent. During the lifting operations, another identical anchor was found nearby, which was later also retrieved. These items were manufactured in various sizes and used on sea and river vessels.
A David anchor was found by acquaintances of Yaroslav Chernogorov in a tributary of the Volga River in the Tver region; it is currently at the station. The item was named after its inventor, the French engineer Gavra David. The difference from a standard anchor is the rotating flukes. The design turned out to be expensive, insufficiently durable, and did not gain wide use.
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The largest anchor in the station’s collection is the admiralty anchor, which was made and fired in 1956. The item was delivered to Moscow from the city of Engels in the Saratov region. Anchors of this type are depicted on the emblem of the Moscow City Water Search and Rescue Service. They used to have a wooden stock, which was later replaced with a thin metal one. In addition, a modern version of the Danforth anchor is stored at the “Serebryany Bor” station.
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