''Vyuga'' () was a

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 ...

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 ...

in service from 1962 until 1991. It had two sister ships, ''Dobrynya Nikitich'' (1960–1998) and ''Purga'' (1961–2012).

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. Three of the 32 ships built in total were of the original Project 97 variant. Project 97 icebreakers were

long overall Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also u ...

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 97 icebreakers were capable of breaking thick snow-covered ice at very slow but continuous speed. Project 97 icebreakers were initially armed with one twin 57MM

AK-257 The AK-257 is a Soviet 57mm naval gun, originally a land ZIF-31 L/70 57mm (Type 66/76) cannon. During the early 1950s, development began of naval versions of the 57x348mmSR 70 calibre weapon which had entered service with the Soviet army in 1950 ...

and one twin 25mm 2M-3M naval guns, but later disarmed.

History

The third and final Project 97 icebreaker 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 ...

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 ...

on 5 May 1961, launched on 20 January 1962, and delivered on 16 July 1962. The ship was named ''Vyuga'',

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

Red Banner Pacific Fleet. ''Vyuga'' was decommissioned in 1991 and

broken up Ship breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship scrapping, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sol ...

afterwards.

References

Icebreakers of the Soviet Union 1962 ships Ships built at Admiralty Shipyard Auxiliary ships of the Soviet Navy {{Project 97 icebreakers