''Alexander Sibiryakov'' (Russian ''Александр Сибиряков'') was a

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

that was built in Scotland in 1909 as ''Bellaventure'', and was originally a

seal hunting Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of Pinniped, seals. Seal hunting is currently practiced in nine countries: Canada, Denmark (in self-governing Greenland only), Russia, the United States (above the Arctic Circle ...

ship in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

. In 1917 the Russian government bought her to be an

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 ...

. She served the

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

and

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 ...

until 1942, when she was sunk by enemy action. The ship gave notable service in the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n Arctic during the 1930s. The ship was recorded as ''Bellaventure'' until at least 1920. By 1927 she had been renamed ''Александр Сибиряков''. In the

Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also known as the Roman alphabet, is the collection of letters originally used by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered except several letters splitting—i.e. from , and from � ...

her name was rendered ''Alexander Sibiriakov'' until at least 1935. This had been changed to ''Alexander Sibiryakov'' by 1939.

Building

In 1908 A Harvey & Co of St John's,

ordered a pair of ships from shipbuilders in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland. D&W Henderson Ltd built ''Bellaventure'', launching her on 23 November 1908. Napier and Miller built her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

''Bonaventure'', launching her on 5 December 1908. Both ships were completed in January 1909. ''Bellaventure''s registered length was , her beam was , her depth was and her

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on '' tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a cal ...

s were and . She had a single

screw A screw is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to the screw head, head. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and there are many forms for a variety ...

, driven by a three-cylinder triple expansion engine that was rated at 347 NHP. ''Bellaventure''s United Kingdom

official number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

was 127684 and her

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. Later, with the introduction of ...

were TQNL. By 1914 she was equipped for

wireless telegraphy Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is the transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using electrical cable, cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimenta ...

. Her

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

was VOM.

1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disaster

On 2 April 1914 ''Bellaventure'', commanded by Captain Isaac Randell, was off the northern coast of

taking part in a seal hunt. 132 hunters from another steamship, , had become lost in a storm on an ice floe. After 54 hours ''Bellaventure'' rescued the survivors and recovered 77 dead bodies. She sailed through the Narrows of St. John's, Newfoundland, with her flags at half mast.

Bought by Russia

In 1917 the Russian government bought both ''Bellaventure'' and ''Bonaventure''. In 1919, in the North Russia intervention in the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

forces in

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...

took control of both ships, and Ellerman's Wilson Line was appointed to manage ''Bellaventure''. Eventually the two ships were renamed '' Alexander Sibiryakov'' and '' Vladimir Rusanov'', after two Russian arctic explorers.

Between the wars

''Alexander Sibiryakov'' made the first successful crossing of the

Northern Sea Route The Northern Sea Route (NSR) (, shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route about long. The Northern Sea Route (NSR) is the shortest shipping route between the western part of Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region. Ad ...

in a single navigation without wintering. This historic voyage, which had been

Mikhail Lomonosov Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (; , ; – ) was a Russian polymath, scientist and writer, who made important contributions to literature, education, and science. Among his discoveries were the atmosphere of Venus and the law of conservation of ...

's dream, was organized by the All-Union Arctic Institute (now called the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute). ''Alexander Sibiryakov'' sailed on 28 June 1932 from the Krasny (previously Sobornoy) docks in

, crossed the

Kara Sea The Kara Sea is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. Ultimately the Kara, Barents and Laptev Seas are all ...

and chose a northern, unexplored way around

Severnaya Zemlya Severnaya Zemlya (, ) is a archipelago in the Russian high Arctic. It lies off Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula, separated from the mainland by the Vilkitsky Strait. This archipelago separates two marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean, the Kara Sea i ...

to the

Laptev Sea The Laptev Sea () is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, the Taimyr Peninsula, Severnaya Zemlya, and the New Siberian Islands. Its northern boundary passes from the Arctic Cape to a point with ...

. In September, after calling at

Tiksi Tiksi ( rus, Ти́кси, , ˈtʲiksʲɪ; , ''Tiksii'' – lit. ''a moorage place'') is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) and the administrative center of Bulunsky District in the Sakha Republic, Russia, located on the shore of the B ...

and the mouth of the

Kolyma Kolyma (, ) or Kolyma Krai () is a historical region in the Russian Far East that includes the basin of Kolyma River and the northern shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as the Kolyma Mountains (the watershed of the two). It is bounded to ...

, the propeller shaft broke and the icebreaker drifted for 11 days. However, ''Alexander Sibiryakov'' crossed the

Chukchi Sea The Chukchi Sea (, ), sometimes referred to as the Chuuk Sea, Chukotsk Sea or the Sea of Chukotsk, is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west by the Long Strait, off Wrangel Island, and in the east by Point Barrow, Alaska, ...

using improvised sails and arrived in the

Bering Strait The Bering Strait ( , ; ) is a strait between the Pacific and Arctic oceans, separating the Chukchi Peninsula of the Russian Far East from the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. The present Russia–United States maritime boundary is at 168° 58' ...

in October. ''Alexander Sibiryakov'' reached the Japanese port of

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

after 65 days, having covered more than in the Arctic seas. This was regarded as a heroic feat of Soviet polar seamen and Chief of Expedition Otto Schmidt and Captain

Vladimir Voronin Vladimir Voronin (; born Vladimir Bujeniță, 25 May 1941) is a Moldovan politician. He was the third President of Moldova#Republic of Moldova (1991–present), President of Moldova from 2001 until 2009 and has been the leader of the Party of ...

were received with many honors at their return to Russia. On 24 November 1936 ''Alexander Sibiryakov'' was stranded near Cape Menshikov in the

. She was refloated on 25 December 1936 and returned to service in June 1938.

Wartime service and sinking

In September 1941 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 ...

requisitioned ''Alexander Sibiryakov''. She was given the

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

LD-6. She continued in service, commanded by Captain Anatoli Kacharava. She was defensively armed, at first with several and guns. By 1942 one gun had been added. On 25 August 1942 during Operation Wunderland 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 ...

heavy cruiser A heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in calibre, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Treat ...

attacked her off the northwest shore of

Russky Island Russky Island () is an island in Peter the Great Gulf in the Sea of Japan, in Primorsky Krai, Russia. It is the largest island in the Eugénie Archipelago, separated from the Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula immediately to the north by the Eastern ...

in the Nordenskiöld Archipelago. Despite being heavily outgunned, ''Alexander Sibiryakov'' defended herself for an hour before ''Admiral Scheer'' sank her. ''Alexander Sibiryakov'' also sent a wireless telegraph signal that warned east and west bound Allied convoys of the attacks, enabling them to avoid the area. Most members of ''Alexander Sibiryakov''s crew were killed either in battle or when she sank. ''Admiral Scheer'' captured 22, including severely wounded Captain Kacharava. One crewman, stoker Pavel Vavilov, managed to reach Beluha Island and was rescued by a Soviet ship 34 or 35 days later. In total only 15 crew members survived the war. Soviet sources say 79 killed, 19 taken as

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

, and only 13 of them survived captivity. When the Finnish icebreaker was handed over to the Soviet Union, she was renamed ''Sibiryakov''.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander Sibiriakov 1909 ships Arctic exploration vessels Chukchi Sea Icebreakers of the Soviet Union Kara Sea Maritime incidents in August 1942 Polar exploration by Russia and the Soviet Union Ships built on the River Clyde Shipwrecks in the Kara Sea Steamships of Canada Steamships of the Soviet Union World War II shipwrecks in the Arctic Ocean