Indonesia
The Submarine Monument
There are only two of it in the world. One in German, the other is in Indonesia.
Average people can’t just walk into a submarine. Fortunately we have the Submarine Monument (Monkasel) in Surabaya that allow people to see, touch and take pictures of everything in it. But wait the second, is it the real submarine?
It sure is. Monkasel is not a mere miniature or replica, Superkids. It’s the same submarine used by TNI-AL (Indonesian Navy) to obliterate the enemy crossing line, reckon and silent raids over 28 years. The submarine known as KRI Pasopati 410 hit the sea for the first time on December 15th 1962. It retired on January 25th 1990, eight years before started the duty as Monkasel.
With weight 1.300 tons, removing KRI Pasopati from the ocean floor to downtown area surely was not a simple task. It took three years, since 1995 to 1998. In order to do this, the ship was cut down into 16 blocks and reassembled in its current site.
Monkasel ‘set sails’ on Jl Pemuda 29, right next to Surabaya Plaza (Delta Plaza), downtown of Surabaya. It is located by the river bank of Sungai Kalimas. To enter, we only need to pay Rp 8.000 per person. Just don’t imagine chambers of high tech sub marine. Monkasel is a well preserved ancient Russsian submarine dated in 1952.
The 76.6 meters submarine consists of seven main compartments. In the first compartment, we can see torpedo hall. Each torpedo is seven meters long with weight 1.9 tons. In other compartment, we can see where the sailors sleep in the hanging beds. Or we get to check out the traffic across the street using the periscope. The ship that has been led by 14 commanders also equipped with a mini kitchen, which actually only has one wooden table and meal warmer.
According to local guide Liska Mardiana, everyday there are at least 300 visitors to the Monkasel. “Not only from out town, there many foreigner comes to visit this educative tourism site,” said Liska. She confirms that despite there are a number of submarine put on display for museum in some countries, only very few that are showing real submarine. “There’s another one in German, but it’s smaller, about 25 meters,” Liska reveals.
Interested?
Monumen Kapal Selam
Jl Pemuda 29 Surabaya
Telp 031-5490410
Open every day 09.00 AM – 09.00 PM
HAFIDA INDRAWATI
PHOTOS: HAFIDA INDRAWATI
