The ice-breaker "Krassin" can be named a symbol of the Arctic fleet of Russia.
The history of the ice-breaker is closely connected with the history of the country.
It was built according to the drawings of the vice-admiral S.O. Makarov in Great Britain
at the shipyard «Armstrong and Witworth» in 1916 at the command of the Russian Maritime
Ministry. «Svyatogor» was the first name of the ice-breaker.
It is a three-deck ice-breaker with the displacement of 10 000 tons.
The ice-breaker is 99,8 meters long and 21,6 meters wide.
The maximum speed of the ship came to 15 knots.
The history of the ice-brekaer started on the 31st of March 1917,
when St. Andrew's flag was raised on the ship and it
became a part of the Russian fleet.
In 1918 the ice-brekaer was sunk to occlude the harbour of Arkhangelsk during the Civil war.
The ship was raised by the English fleet and wore the ensign of England till 1921.
Later it was bought out with the assistance of the ambassador L. B. Krassin.
In 1927 the ice-breaker received a new name and became the ice-breaker "Krassin".
In 1928 the ice-breaker participated in a legendary internation mission to rescue the expidition of Umberto Nobile.
The ship was one of the 18 ships, which participated in the rescue expedition.
In June 1928 the ship started sailing towards the tent the place where the airship of Nobile crashed.
The ice-breaker saved 7 members of Nobile's crew at the beginning of July. On the way to Norway the ice-breaker
helped the German passenger ship "Monte Servantes" to fix the leaks. After that the ice-breaker went to Norway
to get some repairing.
Later in August the ice-breaker continued sailing in the Arctic area in search of the airplane with R.
Amudsen onboard. The plane
disappeared during the rescue mission. In October the ice-breaker returned to St.Petersburg and the
crew of the ship was met as heroes.
Within the period of 1929-1941 the ice-breaker participated in many other research and
rescue expeditions in the Arctic area.
During the WWII the ice-breaker took part in the convoy PQ-15 and safely reached Murmansk.
After the war the ship was sent to capital repairing and reconstruction.
In 1972 the ice-breaker "Krassin", being the veteran of the Arctic fleet, was passed over
to the Ministry of Geology as a research vessel.
In 1992 the Government of the Russian Federation gave the protection certificate to
the ice-breaker as a historical monument of state significance.
Later the ship was registered as a museum-ship in the Russian museum registry.
In 2007 the ship celebrated its 90th anniversary.
And in 2008 the ice-breaker celebrated the 80th anniversary since
the mission to rescue U. Nobile's expedition.
Nowadays the ice-breaker is docked in St.Petersburg in Lt. Smidt embankment, 23rd line of Basil's Island.
Opening hours:
Open: WE-SU from 10.00 till 18.00 (except for last Wednesday of each month).
Excursions to the engine compartment take place only on Saturday and Sunday.
Closed: Monday, Tuesday
|
