The exhibition of the reserve collection of the Central Naval Museum is dedicated to the officer dagger that has always been – and still remains – the symbol of honor, valor, courage and bravery of the Russian naval officer.
In total 50 daggers are present in the exposition collected from different countries. Among the exhibits that deserve special attention one can name the daggers that used to belong to the people's comissar of the USSR navy, admiral of the fleet N. G. Kuznetsov and the commander of the Northern fleet at the time of the Great Patriotic War, admiral A. G. Golovko, as well as the weapons of the legendary Northern fleet submarine officer, first rank captain V. N. Kotelnikov and the veteran of the Great Patriotic War, a former artillery officer B. F. Winter who used to serve at the "Aurora" cruiser and prevented a diversionary explosion at "Aurora" in 1918.
England, for instance, is represented at the exhibition by a crescent-shaped dagger. In September 1810 a Russian merchant vessel called "Euplus" was sailing to Norway with a cargo of wheat. It was captured by English capers near Nordcape. Sailor M. A. Gerasimov together with the boatswain and three seamen locked the Englishmen in one of the cabins and the cargo hold and brought their ship to the port Vardø. The commander of the English vessel handed over the flag of the UK Royal Fleet together with his épée and dagger to M. A. Gerasimov. For this act of bravery Gerasimov was decorated with the badge of merit of the Order of St. George.
The "St. George" officer dagger was made in 1913 by Russian weaponeers. It used to belong to the commander of the "Alligator" submarine which served at the Baltic fleet, the second rank captain R. K. Valrond who was decorated with it in the 17th of August 1915 for the brave attack on the German cruiser "Pillau" and for the prevention of the massive minelaying at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland in July 1915.
The honorary officer dagger made in Solingen (Germany) was given in September 1915 to warrant officer V. I. Ivanov who had served at the battleship "Slava" for distinguished conduct under enemy fire in the Irben Strait in August 1915.
One more trophy from Germany is a dagger made of damascus steel. It used to belong to the commander of the light cruiser "Magdeburg", the third rank captain R. Habenicht. The cruiser ran upon the rocks near the north coast of Estonia and was captured by the Russian cruisers "Bogatyr" and "Pallada" in August 1914. The commander surrendered.
