''Vityaz'' () is a research vessel that was built in 1939 by Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG,

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

as ''Mars'' for Neptun Line,

. She served with the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi 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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 military branch, branche ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was seized by the United Kingdom in 1945. She was renamed ''Empire Forth'' for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). She was allocated to the

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 1946 under the terms of the

Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement () was the agreement among three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe that was signed on 1 August 1945 and published the following day. A ...

and renamed ''Equator'' () and later renamed ''Admiral Makarov'' (). 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 of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...

Single Cycle, Single Action

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

propeller A propeller (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 a working flu ...

s. The engines were built by Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft,

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

. They are rated at . They could propel her at .

History

The ship was built as yard number 614 in 1939 by Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG,

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 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 (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

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

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

.
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 Ministry of War Transport and renamed ''Empire Forth''. The Code Letters GLTZ and United Kingdom Official Number 169468 were allocated. Her port of registry was changed to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. 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'' (), and taken to

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 ...

. The Code Letters UPJA were allocated. She was later renamed ''Admiral Makarov'' (). She was converted to a research vessel in 1947-48 for the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, USSR Academy of Sciences. The work was carried out at Leningrad,

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

and Vladivostock in the Soviet Union and also at

Wismar Wismar (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar () is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city of Mecklenburg after Rostock, Schwerin and ...

Allied-occupied Germany The entirety of Germany was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II, from the Berlin Declaration on 5 June 1945 to the establishment of West Germany on 23 May 1949. Unlike occupied Japan, Nazi Germany was stripped of its sov ...

. 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 (). 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 deep sea, deepest oceanic trench on Earth. It is crescent-shaped and measures about in length and in width. The maxi ...

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

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

when she detected

radioactivity Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...

in rainfall at levels that were harmful to human health (see Operation Hardtack I). On 7 November 1960, ''Vityaz'' was reported to have been buzzed in the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

by a Grumman S-2F Tracker from . The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

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 with two distinct applications: * the IMO ship identification number is a unique ship identifier; or, * the IMO company and registered owner identification number is u ...

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 open-circuit self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA), called the ...

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,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

, 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.

Species discovered on ''Vityaz''

One of the many species discovered by the ship. *'' Dolichopteryx vityazi'' Parin, Belyanina & Evseenko, 2009 on the 26th Cruise.

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