SLAVA S84 SUBMARINE

Bulgaria's last submarine welcomes visitors as an engaging museum

A narrow space that seems to press in on you. The smell of machines, metal, and people. A sense of the unknown – descending into and sailing with a submarine is an unforgettable experience, unless you suffer from claustrophobia. If you want to try it – and learn more about Bulgaria's submarines – your destination is Beloslav. Here, on the shore of Lake Varna, stands an extraordinary museum: the last submarine of the Bulgarian Navy – Slava.

People have wondered with a mix of fear and curiosity about what lies beneath the water probably ever since they first laid eyes on the sea. According to legend, Alexander the Great was the first to succeed in going under – he was lowered beneath the surface in a sealed barrel.

But building a real submarine was a task far beyond the capabilities of ancient and medieval people. The first serious attempts began in the 17th century, and it was notuntil the mid-19th century that engineers figured out how to power a submarine with an engine.

The First World War was the crucial push to the construction of military submarines. Germany built an entire fleet and in 1915 sank the British ship Lusitania. Just a year later, Bulgaria also acquired a submarine – a German UB I-8, which was named Submarine No. 18.

After the Second World War, the young Communist Bulgaria rapidly transformed its army along Soviet lines. It also adopted Soviet weaponry. In 1954, the Bulgarian Navy, based in Varna, officially commissioned three Soviet M-type ("Malyutka") submarines. On the same day, a special submarine division was established.

In the following decades, Bulgaria continued to purchase Soviet submarines; between 1985 and 1990, four vessels were in service – a period considered the peak of Bulgarian submarine operations.

The restructuring of the Bulgarian military after the fall of the Communist regime in 1989 led to a gradual phase-out of submarines. The last submarine in the Bulgarian Navy – Slava – was decommissioned in 2011.

Today, Bulgaria has no military submarines.

But Slava is still here.

The last Bulgarian military submarine has been turned into a museum. Entering it, you find yourself in an incredible, unexpected world – of confined spaces, machinery, and endurance. The tour takes you through the ammunition compartment, the captain's area, the crew quarters, the engine room… A walk back in time that you will remember for a long time.