The beginning of the Museum was a Model-chamber founded by Peter the Great in 1709. It is one of the earliest museum of the city and one of the largest naval museums in the world. The Museum's collections comprise more than 700 000 exhibits, ship models which are unique in their perfect execution. Many of them are masterpieces of decorative and applied art. The pride of the Museum is the famous Boat of Peter the Great, named by him the "Grand father of the Russian fleet", the original submarine of S. Dzewieckiy which was built in 1881 and other rarities.

    The paintings and sculptures of famous Russian and foreign artists are well represented in the Central Naval Museum. The collection includes art works by I.Ayvasovsky, A.Bogolybov, A.Beggrov and other Russian artists and sculptures by M.Antokolsky, P.Klodt, M.Mikeshin and N.Pimenov. There is a reach collection of foreign art works by A.Storck, R.Kerr Porter, N.M.Condy, J.Scott, F.A.Biard and other artists.

    The Central Naval Museum has four branches. They are: The memorial ship cruiser "Aurora", The submarine D-2 "Narodovolets", The "Kronstadt Fortress" museum and The Museum at Ladoga Lake "The Road of Life"