 IcebreakerSvyatogor (renamedKrassin) as completed in 1917 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 .svg) Russia | |
| Name | Svyatogor thenKrassin orKrasin |
| Namesake | Svyatogor thenLeonid Krasin |
| Owner | Imperial Russian Navy, thenSoviet Navy |
| Builder | Armstrong Whitworth,Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Yard number | 904 |
| Launched | 3 August 1916 |
| Completed | February 1917 |
| Status | Museum ship inSaint Petersburg |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Icebreaker |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 99,80 m |
| Beam | 21,65 m |
| Draft | 7,5 m |
| Armament | (in World War II) four 76mm guns, seven 20mm AA guns, 10 large caliber machine guns |
| Notes | [1] |
The first icebreakerKrassin, orKrasin,[2][3] (Russian:Красин) was built for theImperial Russian Navy asSvyatogor. She had a long, distinguished career in rescue operations, as well as a pathfinder and explorer of theNorthern Sea Route. She has been fully restored to operating condition and is now amuseum ship inSaint Petersburg.
The icebreaker was built byArmstrong Whitworth inNewcastle upon Tyne under the supervision ofYevgeny Zamyatin.[4] The vessel was launched as theSvyatogor on 3 August 1916 and completed in February 1917.[4] Up to the beginning of the 1950s she remained the most powerful icebreaker in the world.[5]
During theallied intervention against the Bolsheviks in Northern Russia (1918–19) she wasscuttled by Bolshevik forces to block the port atArkhangelsk. TheRoyal Navy raised her for use in theWhite Sea and later brought her to England.[4] She was moved from Devonport toScapa Flow for crushing hurdles put up to prevent German submarines entering. During this time she undertookminesweeping duties.
Svyatogor was returned to the USSR under theKrasin trade agreement in 1921.[4] In 1927 she was renamed by theSoviet government to honor a recently deceased early Bolshevik leader and Soviet diplomatLeonid Krasin.
Perhaps the most famous duty theKrassin performed was rescuing GeneralUmberto Nobile and his surviving crew when their airshipItalia crashed on the ice upon returning from the North Pole in 1928. On return from this missionKrassin helped to repair the German passenger shipMonte Cervantes, with 1,835 passengers on board, after it hit an iceberg and its hull was severely damaged.
In 1933Krassin became the first vessel to reach the inaccessible northern shores ofNovaya Zemlya in the history of navigation. In 1938, theKrassin rescued the icebreakerLenin and her convoy, trapped in ice at the end of the previous summer.[6]
DuringWorld War II,Krassin participated in many Russianconvoys. In 1941 the US Government entered into negotiations with the Soviet Government for the purchase or lease of one or more of their modern ice breakers for use by theUS Coast Guard on the east coast ofGreenland. TheKrassin was offered, and crossed the Pacific toBremerton, Washington. She was surveyed and found to be in need of repairs totalling about $500,000. Funds were allocated from President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Emergency Fund for the President", but negotiations came to an abrupt end on 25 November 1941. Although theKrassin never served in the Coast Guard, the service gained valuable knowledge about icebreakers that was put to use in the design of theWind class icebreakers.[3]
She continued her journey through thePanama Canal toGreat Britain, where she was armed with surface and anti-aircraft guns and proceeded to Reykjavik, Iceland to join convoyPQ-15. She escorted the convoy through the North and Barents Seas, around the Kola Peninsula and into Murmansk.[7] In 1942 theKrassin andLenin were spotted at theMona Islands in theKara Sea by aKriegsmarine plane duringOperation Wunderland. The heavy cruiserAdmiral Scheer rushed to find them, but providential bad weather, fog and ice conditions saved the icebreakers from destruction.[citation needed]
Between August 1953 to June 1960, under the East German war reparations program,Krassin was extensively reconstructed atVEB Mathias-Thesen-Werft,Wismar, Germany.[3] She served the ArcticNorthern Sea Route until 1971, then was used as an Arctic scientific vessel[8] by the International Fund for the History of Science. Fund presidentArkady Melua took part in the ownership transfer on August 10, 1989. The ship was then used for the import of used cars from Europe to Russia, and then sold by Melua to the JSC "Tehimeks." JSC "Tehimeks" planned to sell the icebreaker to the United States of America to be broken up as scrap metal. After the failure of the deal caused by the Russian government it was registered at St. Petersburg, where it was docked as a floating museum.[3]
After the war, the historic icebreaker took an active part in research expeditions in the Polar Ocean and led Soviet cargo convoys through the polar region. Rather than being destroyed (like theIcebreakerYermak) to make way for more modern ships, theKrassin was preserved and restored. The vessel is now a museum ship inSaint Petersburg, the only icebreaker maritime museum commemorating the Arctic convoys.[9] She has been fully restored to operating condition[10] and there are plans to sail her to various European ports.
An island in theNordenskiöld Archipelago was named after this icebreaker. Postage stamps and a coin have been issued in her honor.
Uses both spellings in English
59°55′40″N30°16′08″E / 59.92778°N 30.26889°E /59.92778; 30.26889