''Vityaz'' (russian: Витязь) is a

research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicate ...

that was built in 1939 by

Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau Aktiengesellschaft (abbreviated Deschimag) was a cooperation of eight German shipyards in the period 1926 to 1945. The leading company was the shipyard AG Weser in Bremen. History The Deschimag was founded in 19 ...

Bremen Bremen ( Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state cons ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

as ''Mars'' for Neptun Line,

. She served with the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and was seized by the United Kingdom in 1945. She was renamed ''Empire Forth'' for the

Ministry of War Transport The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transport ...

(MoWT). She was allocated to the

Soviet Union 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 nationa ...

in 1946 under the terms of the

Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement (german: Potsdamer Abkommen) was the agreement between three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union on 1 August 1945. A product of the Potsdam Conference, it concerned th ...

and renamed ''Equator'' (russian: Экватор) and later renamed ''Admiral Makarov'' (russian: Адмирал Мака́ров). She was renamed ''Vityaz'' in 1949 and was used as a research vessel. Retired in 1979, she was preserved as a museum ship in 1982. __FORCETOC__

Description

When recorded in 1945, the ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of and a draught of . She was assessed at , . The ship was propelled by two

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...

Single Cycle, Single Action

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-cal ...

s, which have seven cylinders of 24 inches (62 cm) diameter by 45 inches (115 cm) stroke driving twin screw

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

s. The engines were built by

Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' Other *Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

. They are rated at 3,000 hp. They could propel her at .

History

The ship was built as yard number 614 in 1939 by

as ''Mars'' for Neptun Line, Bremen. She was launched in August 1939. Her port of registry was

. ''Mars'' was operated by the Neptun Line. She had a crew of 38 and accommodation for twelve passengers. She was requisitioned in 1940 by the

, but was returned to Neptun Line later that year. She was requisitioned again in 1942. and converted to a

hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. I ...

for military use. On 13 December 1943, ''Mars'' was severely damaged in an air raid on

by the United States Eighth Air Force. She assisted in the evacuation of German citizens from

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...

and

Pillau Baltiysk (russian: Балти́йск; german: Pillau; Old Prussian: ''Pillawa''; pl, Piława; lt, Piliava; Yiddish: פּילאַווע, ''Pilave'') is a seaport town and the administrative center of Baltiysky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Ru ...

. Between January and April 1945, she carried 20,000 people. ''Mars'' was probably the last major ship to leave Pillau for

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

.
Midt i en mørketid : tyske flygtninge på Kløvermarken 1945-49
', Ulf Kyneb, in ''Historiske meddelelser om København'', 2006 (''in Danish'') In May 1945, ''Mars'' was seized at Copenhagen, Denmark. She was passed to the

and renamed ''Empire Forth''. The

Code Letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids and today also. Later, with the i ...

GLTZ and United Kingdom Official Number 169468 were allocated. Her port of registry was changed to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. She was operated under the management of Prince Line Ltd. In 1946, ''Empire Forth'' was allocated to the

under the terms of the

. She was renamed ''Equator'' (russian: Экватор), and taken to

Leningrad 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 Code Letters UPJA were allocated. She was later renamed ''Admiral Makarov'' (russian: Адмирал Мака́ров). She was converted to a

in 1947-48 for the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology,

USSR Academy of Sciences The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...

. The work was carried out at Leningrad,

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the ...

and Vladivostock in the Soviet Union and also at

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 cit ...

Allied-occupied Germany Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Franc ...

. During the conversion, the ship was lengthened and equipped with modern laboratories and accommodation. Her measurements were now long, with a beam of and a draught of . Her displacement was 5,710 tonnes. In 1949, she was renamed Vityaz (russian: Витязь). 1959 CPA 2353

''Vityaz'' had Vladivostock as her port of registry. She made 65 voyages covering . In August 1957, She measured the depth of the

Mariana Trench The Mariana Trench is an oceanic trench located in the western Pacific Ocean, about east of the Mariana Islands; it is the deepest oceanic trench on Earth. It is crescent-shaped and measures about in length and in width. The maximum known ...

at . On 29 May 1958, ''Vityaz'' was west of the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Inte ...

when she detected radioactivity in rainfall at levels that were harmful to human health (see

Operation Hardtack I Operation Hardtack I was a series of 35 nuclear tests conducted by the United States from April 28 to August 18 in 1958 at the Pacific Proving Grounds. At the time of testing, the Operation Hardtack I test series included more nuclear detonatio ...

). On 7 November 1960, ''Vityaz'' was reported to have been buzzed in the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channe ...

by a Grumman S-2F Tracker from . The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

denied that the aircraft was buzzing the ship, but merely establishing her identity. With their introduction in the 1960s, ''Vityaz'' was allocated the

IMO Number The IMO number of the International Maritime Organization is a generic term covering two distinct meanings. The IMO ship identification number, is a type of hull number used as a unique ship identifier, and the IMO company and registered owne ...

5382609. Scientists on board ''Vityaz'' discovered 1,176 new species of marine plants and animals. During her time as a research ship, ''Vityaz'' visited 49 countries and acted as a goodwill ambassador for the Soviet Union. Notable people who visited her include

Jacques Cousteau Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful Aqua-Lung, open-circuit SCUBA ( self-contained underwater breathing apparatus). T ...

and Thor Heyerdal. ''Vityaz'' made her final voyage around Europe and was retired on 22 April 1979. She was then laid up in the Pregol River. In 1982, she was preserved as a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

at Leningrad. In 1988, she was moved to the Yantar Shipyard,

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...

, where she was repaired and rebuilt for use as a museum ship. In 1994, she was moved to the Museum of World Oceans, Kaliningrad, which was established in 1990. ''Vityaz'' is claimed to be the largest research vessel to have been preserved.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vityaz 1939 ships Ships built in Bremen (state) Cargo liners World War II merchant ships of Germany Auxiliary ships of the Kriegsmarine Hospital ships in World War II Maritime incidents in December 1943 Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the Soviet Union Research vessels of the Soviet Union Merchant ships of Russia Museum ships in Russia Museums in Kaliningrad Oblast Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Kaliningrad Oblast