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The first icebreaker ''Krassin'', or ''Krasin'', (russian: Красин) was built for the
The first icebreaker ''Krassin'', or ''Krasin'', (russian: Красин) was built for the Imperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from ...
as ''Svyatogor''. She had a long, distinguished career in rescue operations, as well as a pathfinder and explorer of the Northern Sea Route
The Northern Sea Route (NSR) (russian: Се́верный морско́й путь, ''Severnyy morskoy put'', shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route officially defined by Russian legislation as lying east of No ...
. She has been fully restored to operating condition and is now a museum ship in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
.
History
The icebreaker was built byArmstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles and ...
in Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
under the supervision of Yevgeny Zamyatin
Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin ( rus, Евге́ний Ива́нович Замя́тин, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ zɐˈmʲætʲɪn; – 10 March 1937), sometimes anglicized as Eugene Zamyatin, was a Russian author of science fictio ...
. (updates articles by Myers published in ''Slavonic and East European Review
''The Slavonic and East European Review'', the journal of the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (University College London), is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering Slavonic and East European Studies. It was establ ...
'') The vessel was launched as the ''Svyatogor
Svyatogor () is a mythical ''bogatyr'' (knight/hero) in ancient bylinas of Kievan Rus'. His name derives from the words for "sacred mountain". Svyatogor's tale, ''Ilya Muromets and Svyatogor'', forms a part of the Ilya Muromets cycle. According ...
'' on 3 August 1916 and completed in February 1917. Up to the beginning of the 1950s she remained the most powerful icebreaker in the world.
During the allied intervention against the Bolsheviks in Northern Russia (1918–19) she was scuttled
Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...
by Bolshevik forces to block the port at Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near ...
. The Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
raised her for use in the White Sea
The White Sea (russian: Белое море, ''Béloye móre''; Karelian and fi, Vienanmeri, lit. Dvina Sea; yrk, Сэрако ямʼ, ''Serako yam'') is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is s ...
and later brought her to England. She was moved from Devonport to Scapa Flow for crushing hurdles put up to prevent German submarines entering. During this time she undertook minesweeping
Minesweeping is the practice of the removal of explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that ...
duties.
''Svyatogor'' was returned to the USSR under the Krasin trade agreement in 1921. In 1927 she was renamed by the Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
government to honor a recently deceased early Bolshevik leader and Soviet diplomat Leonid Krasin
Leonid Borisovich Krasin (russian: Леони́д Бори́сович Кра́син; 15 July 1870 – 24 November 1926) was a Russian Soviet politician, engineer, social entrepreneur, Bolshevik revolutionary politician and a Soviet diplomat. In ...
.
Perhaps the most famous duty the ''Krassin'' performed was rescuing General Umberto Nobile
Umberto Nobile (; 21 January 1885 – 30 July 1978) was an Italian aviator, aeronautical engineer and Arctic explorer.
Nobile was a developer and promoter of semi-rigid airships in the years between the two World Wars. He is primarily remembe ...
and his surviving crew when their airship ''Italia
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the Italy (geographical region) ...
'' crashed on the ice upon returning from the North Pole in 1928. On return from this mission ''Krassin'' helped to repair the German passenger ship ''Monte Cervantes
A number of ships have been named ''Monte Cervantes'', including:
*
*
Ship names
de:Monte Cervantes (1927)
es:Monte Cervantes
{{Short pages monitor
Between August 1953 to June 1960, under the East German war reparations program, ''Krassin'' was extensively reconstructed at VEB Mathias-Thesen-Werft,
After the war, the historic icebreaker took an active part in research expeditions in the Polar Ocean and led Soviet cargo convoys through the polar region. Rather than being destroyed (like the Icebreaker ''Yermak'') to make way for more modern ships, the ''Krassin'' was preserved and restored. The vessel is now a museum ship in
* «Kommersant» Num. 035 от 02-09-91 The legendary Krasin is floating to meta
* The history of the icebreaker «Krasin
* Federal investigation bearo
{{coord, 59, 55, 40, N, 30, 16, 08, E, region:RU_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Icebreakers of the Soviet Union Icebreakers of Russia Krassin Ships built on the River Tyne 1916 ships Ships built by Armstrong Whitworth Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg
Between August 1953 to June 1960, under the East German war reparations program, ''Krassin'' was extensively reconstructed at VEB Mathias-Thesen-Werft, Wismar
Wismar (; Low German: ''Wismer''), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar (''Hansestadt Wismar'') is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city ...
, Germany. She served the Arctic Northern Sea Route
The Northern Sea Route (NSR) (russian: Се́верный морско́й путь, ''Severnyy morskoy put'', shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route officially defined by Russian legislation as lying east of No ...
until 1971, then was used as an Arctic scientific vessel by the International Fund for the History of Science. Fund president Arkady Melua took part in the ownership transfer on August 10, 1989. The ship was then used for the import of used cars from Europe to Russia, and then sold by Melua to the JSC "Tehimeks." JSC "Tehimeks" planned to sell the icebreaker to the United States of America to be broken up as scrap metal. After the failure of the deal caused by the Russian government it was registered at St. Petersburg, where it was docked as a floating museum.
Today
After the war, the historic icebreaker took an active part in research expeditions in the Polar Ocean and led Soviet cargo convoys through the polar region. Rather than being destroyed (like the Icebreaker ''Yermak'') to make way for more modern ships, the ''Krassin'' was preserved and restored. The vessel is now a museum ship in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, the only icebreaker maritime museum commemorating the Arctic convoys. She has been fully restored to operating condition and there are plans to sail her to various European ports.
An island in the Nordenskiöld Archipelago
The Nordenskiöld Archipelago or Nordenskjold Archipelago (russian: Архипелаг Норденшельда, Arkhipelag Nordenshel'da) is a large and complex cluster of islands in the eastern region of the Kara Sea. Its eastern limit lies ...
was named after this icebreaker. Postage stamps and a coin have been issued in her honor.
See also
* Yakov LegzdinReferences
External links
* * «Sankt-peterburgskie vedomosti» 13.09.91 г. «„Krasin“ is sinking down* «Kommersant» Num. 035 от 02-09-91 The legendary Krasin is floating to meta
* The history of the icebreaker «Krasin
* Federal investigation bearo
{{coord, 59, 55, 40, N, 30, 16, 08, E, region:RU_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Icebreakers of the Soviet Union Icebreakers of Russia Krassin Ships built on the River Tyne 1916 ships Ships built by Armstrong Whitworth Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg