''Buran'' () is a

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

. It was built at

Admiralty Shipyard The JSC Admiralty Shipyards () (''formerly Soviet Shipyard No. 194'') is one of the oldest and largest shipyards in Russia, located in Saint Petersburg. The shipyard's building ways can accommodate ships of up to , in length and in width. Mili ...

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, in 1966 and remains in service . ''Buran'' had a sister ship, ''Ilya Muromets'', which was built in 1965 and decommissioned in 1993.

Description

In the mid-1950s, the Soviet Union began developing a new diesel-electric icebreaker design based on the 1942-built steam-powered icebreaker ''Eisbär'' to meet the needs of both civilian and naval operators. Built in various configurations until the early 1980s, the

Project 97 icebreaker ''Dobrynya Nikitich'' class, also known by its Soviet designation Project 97, is a diverse series of diesel–electric icebreakers and other icebreaking vessels built in the Soviet Union. In total, 32 vessels were built in various configurations ...

s and their derivatives became the largest and longest-running class of icebreakers and icebreaking vessels built in the world. Two unarmed Project 97A icebreakers built for the Soviet Navy are sometimes considered as a separate subclass, Project 97K. Project 97K icebreakers were long overall and had a beam of . Fully laden, the vessels drew of water and had a displacement of . Their three 10-cylinder 13D100

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 of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...

opposed-piston

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s were coupled to generators that powered electric propulsion motors driving two propellers in the stern and a third one in the bow. Project 97K icebreakers were capable of breaking thick snow-covered ice at very slow but continuous speed. Unlike the three Project 97 icebreakers built for the Soviet Navy in 1960–1962, the later Project 97K variants were unarmed.

History

The second of two Project 97K icebreakers was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

on 21 January 1966, launched on 16 May 1966, and delivered on 24 October 1966 . The ship was named ''Buran'',

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

for "blizzard", and joined the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet. , ''Buran'' remains in service with the

Baltic Fleet.

References

Icebreakers of the Soviet Union Icebreakers of Russia 1965 ships Ships built at Admiralty Shipyard Auxiliary ships of the Soviet Navy Auxiliary ships of the Russian Navy {{Russia-mil-ship-stub