{{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=Bundesarchiv Bild 183-58610-0003, Wismar, Mathias-Thesen-Werft, Ausrüstungskai.jpg |image_caption=''Feliks Dzerzhinskiy'' and ''Krasin'' at shipyard in Wismar in 1958 }}
|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |name=*''Feliks Dzerzhinskiy'' (1958–1988) *''Excelsior Neptune'' (1988–1993) |owner=*1958–1970: Black Sea Shipping Company *1970–1988: Far East Shipping Company *1988–1991: Excelsior Third Marine Tpt. Inc. *1991–1993: Excelsior SG Co. Ltd.<ref name="fleetphoto">[http://fleetphoto.ru/ship/18658/ Excelsior Neptune (Феликс Дзержинский → 10.1988)] {{in lang|ru}}</ref> |operator=*1958–1970: Black Sea Shipping Company *1970–1988: Far East Shipping Company |registry=*1958–1970: Odessa, {{flag|Soviet Union}} *1970–1988: Vladivostok, {{flag|Soviet Union}}<ref name="FESCOlist">[http://www.fesco.ru/fleetr/second/f755.html Fleet list of FESCO, ''Feliks Dzerzhinskiy'' (second)] {{in lang|ru}}</ref> *1988–1991: Panama City, {{flag|Panama}} *1991–1993: San Lorenzo, {{flag|Honduras}} |ordered= |builder=VEB Mathias-Thesen Werft, Wismar, East Germany |yard_number=102<ref name="fleetphoto" /> |laid_down= |launched=30 December 1957 |completed=1958 |christened= |acquired=1958 |in_service=1958 |identification=*Call sign: HQEV2 *{{IMO Number|5113436}}<ref name="fleetphoto" /> |out_of_service=1993<ref name="fleetphoto" /> |fate=Sank at shipyard, wrecked in tow off Canton in January 1993<ref>[http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?192558 MV ''Excelsior Neptune'', Wrecksite]</ref> |notes= }}
|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class=''Mikhail Kalinin''-class ocean liner |tonnage=*{{GRT|4,871}}<ref name="deckofficer">[http://deckofficer.ru/titul/handbook/item/regsudov Регистровая книга морских судов СССР 1964-1965 - Register Book of Sea-going Ships of the USSR] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103045517/http://deckofficer.ru/titul/handbook/item/regsudov |date=2013-11-03 }} PDF, p. 1151 {{in lang|ru}}</ref><ref name="FESCOlist" /> *{{DWT|1,358}}<ref name="deckofficer" /> |displacement= |length={{convert|122.15|m|ft|2|abbr=on}}<ref name="deckofficer" /><ref name="FESCOlist" /> |beam={{convert|16.00|m|ft|2|abbr=on}}<ref name="deckofficer" /> |height={{convert|7.60|m|ft|2|abbr=on}}<ref name="deckofficer" /> |draught={{convert|5.21|m|ft|2|abbr=on}}{{convert|16.00|m|ft|2|abbr=on}}<ref name="deckofficer" /> |depth= |ice_class= |power=*2 × MAN-DMR K6Z57/80 diesels, *{{convert|6192|kW|abbr=on}} |propulsion=2 propellers |speed={{convert|17.0|kn}}<ref name="deckofficer" /> |capacity=333 passengers |crew= 134<ref>[http://sea.infoflot.ru/en/fleet/ship.php?id=2 Technical Data, Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze]</ref> |notes= }} }} '''MS ''Excelsior Neptune''''' (originally, the ''Feliks Dzerzhinskiy'') was an ocean liner owned by the Soviet Union's Black Sea Shipping Company. She was built in 1958 by VEB Mathias-Thesen Werft, Wismar, East Germany, as one of the Mikhail Kalinin series of ships. It was named after Felix Dzerzhinsky, a Soviet statesman and founder of the Soviet secret police (Cheka).
The ''Feliks Dzerzhinskiy'' entered regular service with the Black Sea Shipping between Odessa and Alexandria in 1958, and after 1970 she was used by the Far East Shipping between Vladivostok and Kamchatka, and from Nakhodka to Yokohama and Hong Kong. In the late 1970s she was also used by the CTC Line for Pacific Ocean cruises out of Fremantle and Sydney.<ref>{{cite book|last=Plowman|first=Peter|title=Australian Cruise Ships|year=2007|publisher=Rosenberg Publishing Pty. Ltd.|location=Kenthurst, NSW|isbn=9781877058509|page=25}}</ref>
In 1988 she was renamed ''Excelsior Neptune'', and was sold to Chinese interests in 1992. It was planned to rebuild her as a cruise ship, along with her sister ship ''Excelsior Mercury'' (formerly the ''Mariya Ulyanova''), but she sank in January 1993 while being towed from Hong Kong to Guangzhou.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cruise Travel - General Info: Mikhail Kalinin series|url=http://www.cruiseserver.net/travelpage/other/soviet_ships_mikhail_kalinin.asp|publisher=travelpage.com|accessdate=2013-05-02|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102193512/http://www.cruiseserver.net/travelpage/other/soviet_ships_mikhail_kalinin.asp|archivedate=2013-11-02}}</ref>
==See also== * List of cruise ships
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|IMO 5113436}} *[http://fleetphoto.ru/ship/18658/ Excelsior Neptune (Феликс Дзержинский → 10.1988)] {{in lang|ru}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Excelsior Neptune}} Category:Cruise ships Category:Passenger ships of the Soviet Union Category:East Germany–Soviet Union relations Category:1957 ships Category:Ships built in Wismar Category:Ships of Black Sea Shipping Company