With a compliment of 236, the Lenin had a large crew for a ship of its size. The main reason was the number of nuclear specialists on board. It’s said that nobody knew how everything worked, just their specific part of the ship. Modern nuclear ice breakers are much larger but have a compliment of just 110.

The configuration is nuclear-turbine-electric, initially three reactors, 6 steam turbines and 3 motors. One of the reactors was removed in 1965, the remaining two were later replaced with a newer type. The motors drive three screw’s, the largest is the central screw at 5 metres in diameter! The port and starboard screws measure just 4.2. The speed and direction of each screw can be individually controlled from the bridge, making for a manoeuvrable vessel.

The bridge itself is a conventional layout, with duplicate controls on each side of the ship. I’m here operating the port screw. I can’t believe they actually let me drive!