History of whaling in Russia

According to the data cited by the captain-director of the USSR fishing industry fleet A.N. Solyanik , the first information about whaling on the coast of the Arctic Ocean on the modern territory of Russia dates back to the 9th century. The center of the coastal fishery was the village of Kola . In 1723, Emperor Peter I established the Kola Whaling, equipped with five ships of the Arkhangelsk building, by registered decree. The hired Dutchmen served as commanders and harpooners ^[1] . The enterprise was not crowned with success: one of the whalers was wrecked upon crossing from Arkhangelsk. Over the four years of its existence, Kola Whaling reported 4 prey and 5 polar bears; income amounted to 17 thousand rubles with expenses of 87 thousand. Subsequent attempts to organize whaling were also unsuccessful; after the English fleet destroyed the base of the White Sea company and its court in 1805, the Russian whaling industry on the Arctic Ocean ceased to exist forever ^[2] .

The Russian-American company , founded in 1799 , in addition to fishing for beaver and cat , was also engaged in the extraction of whales. For one killed whale, the company paid 25 rubles to the local population, while the cost of production from whaling was about 15-20 thousand rubles. Gradually, the Company's management reduced the whale fishing to zero, concentrating all its attention on the beaver and fur trade. Russian naval officer Zbyshevsky, who served on the Sea of ​​Okhotsk , reported that American whalers were in 1847-1861. received products from whales mined in Russian waters in the amount of $ 130 million. The price of fat at that time was 30-40 dollars per barrel and 70 cents per pound of whalebone . In the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, at least one hundred foreign vessels were fishing annually, each of which received at least 1 thousand barrels of fat and at least 9600 pounds of mustache per season . The main market for whale products was the port of Honolulu ^[3] .

The history of the beginning of modern whaling in Russia dates back to 1850 , when the Russian-Finnish Company was founded. Since 1864, a similar enterprise of the Vladivostok merchant O. V. Lindholm successfully operated, which founded a soap factory. In the 1890s, the first steam whalers “Gennady Nevelskaya”, “Nikolai” and “George” appeared on the Far East, specially built for this purpose in Norway. In 1903, the Pacific Whaling and Fisheries Joint-Stock Company of Count G. G. Keyserling and Co. had a floating whaling base Mikhail with a carrying capacity of 5000 tons. However, in 1904, Russian whalers were captured by the Japanese ^[4] . In subsequent years, whale fishing in the Far Eastern waters was carried out by foreign companies. Whale fishing was a very profitable article for them. According to N.V. Slyunin, off the coast of the Primorsky region , which included Kamchatka , back in 1889, whale fat and a mustache were obtained in the amount of 1,280,000 rubles. This trade contributed to the predatory extermination of whales, without generating revenue to the treasury. Two decades later, the Governor of the Kamchatka Region, State Councilor N.V. Monomakhov in the report for 1912-1913. stated that "the fishing of whales and walruses is noticeably decreasing every year due to the extermination by the Americans of these animals, with their annual regular movements in our territorial waters from north to south and back" ^[5] .

On May 22, 1923, a concession agreement was signed in Moscow with Norwegian businessman K. Christensen (father of the polar explorer Lars Christensen ), who was granted the right to fish for all types of whales within a 12-mile strip along the northern coast of the RSFSR , from the northern end of Cape Heart-Stone to Cape Lopatka . The concession period was determined at 15 years and 5 months - until January 1938.

Christensen's Vega Company began fishing in 1925. It was carried out along the eastern coast of Kamchatka, mainly in the areas of the bays of Walrus and Deep. The fleet consisted of 4 whalers and a floating base “Komodoren I” with a deadweight of 9,000 tons. During the season from June to October, 286 whales were killed, while the fishing program was designed to catch 800 animals. In total, 1582 tons of fat was obtained, the cost of which amounted to 200 thousand dollars of that time.

On the ships of the flotilla worked international crews, including blacks and Eskimos, used in black jobs. In the 1925 season, the number of personnel of the flotilla totaled 120 people. Vega was obliged to accept USSR citizens for training in fishing and whale handling. In 1926, when the company's vessels arrived from Mexico in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky , a group of Kamchatka residents were sent to them - only 10 people.

During the 1926 season, Vega produced 284 whales, of which 110 were killed near the Commander Islands . This year, the whaling flotilla operated with six vessels - the Komodoren I base and 5 whalers. The production program, according to the administration of the flotilla, was not completed. However, the Kamchatka Provincial Committee believed that this information was incorrect, since “... the plant worked all season without interruptions at full load. It often happened that due to the impossibility of processing whales, only fat and other especially valuable parts of the whale were cut for processing. The rest - meat, bones and other things were thrown away, but meanwhile the plant is adapted for utilization of an animal 100% ... It is not uncommon when up to 10 whales were killed. The maximum throughput is designed for 5-6 whales ... ” ^[5] .

In 1927, Vega fished whales off the coast of Kamchatka with a flotilla consisting of the Komodoren I floating base and the Anadyr and Selina whalers. From mid-July to the end of October, 283 whales were caught, about 2,600 tons of whale fat were received in the amount of £ 40.4 thousand. The activity of Vega ended on October 13 with a resolution of the Glavkontsesskom , due to the inability of the company to pay a concession tax. Vega sold the shipyard and both whalers of Argentina de Pesca for 1 million 450 thousand Norwegian crowns .

Projects of the Second Half of the 1920s

In 1926, K. Kulagin, the head of the commanding fur trade, proposed a design for the installation of a coastal whale carcass processing plant. In his opinion, the further economic development of the Commanders could not be ensured only due to the fur trade . Excess island labor could be used in whaling. This would lead to the refusal to import canned meat and corned beef to the islands and to replace them with whale meat. Surplus whale meat could be exported to Japan, as well as raw materials for domestic enterprises, in particular for the Vladivostok soap factory, which worked on imported raw materials. It would also make it possible to feed Arctic foxes with whale meat, which would allow salting or preserving the red fish used for this. A device was proposed at the salotpenny factory in the canning department with a capacity of 300 thousand cans per season. This made it possible to get at least 30 thousand rubles. arrived annually. Norwegian O. Paust believed that such a plant, which has two whalers, could annually hunt at least 150 whales. According to his calculations, one recycled whale brought an income of about 1700 rubles. The seasonal income of the coastal plant utilizing the entire whale could exceed 375 thousand rubles. The cost of building the plant was estimated by Paust at 1,160 thousand NOK , which included the cost of acquiring whalers , 6 grease-producing boilers, 3 steam winches, etc. ^[6]

Aleut Whaling Flotilla

The practical organization of the Soviet whaling industry began in 1930 with the help of AKO - the Kamchatka Joint-Stock Company . It was supposed to equip a floating whaling base and to acquire 4 whaling vessels, for which 1,400,000 rubles in foreign currency were allocated. With this money, the Glen Ridge double-deck bulk carrier built in 1919 was bought in the USA and specialized whaling vessels were ordered in Norway. The Glen Ridge, called Aleut , was 115 meters long, 16 meters wide, and had a displacement of 10,573 tons.

At the beginning of 1930, Captain A. I. Dudnik was sent to receive the steamship in Baltimore . In March, Aleut arrived in Oslo , but the Norwegian whaling lobby , fearing competition, did not allow it to be refitted. Over the next year, work on the reconstruction of the ship according to Norwegian drawings and developments was carried out in the Kronstadt docks . Salotene-fired boilers and separators , three steam saws, as well as an inclined slip for dragging the caught whales onto the cutting deck were equipped ^[7] . The slip equipped at Aleut had a width of 5, a length of 17 m and a tilt angle of 45 degrees. 13 steam winches with a carrying capacity of 5 tons were installed. Whale carcasses were hoisted by two steam winches with a carrying capacity of 30 tons and one with a carrying capacity of 15 tons. Whales could be cut in two platforms - bow and stern, connected by a special corridor. The ship’s main power plant included three steam boilers and a reciprocating steam engine, which rotated the 4-blade propeller. Full speed was 9.5 knots. The main boilers worked on coal, the total reserve of which reached 3813 tons. ^[6]

On June 28, 1932, the Aleut, under the command of Captain L. I. Burkhardt, left Leningrad on his first voyage. The crew was 126 people. In the Kiel Canal , three whaling ships (Trudfront, Enthusiast, and Vanguard) joined him at the Norwegian shipyard in Tonsberg . The whalers had a length of 37.8 m, a displacement of 538 tons, were equipped with harpoon guns and steam winches, and reached speeds of 12.5 knots .

The fishing was started during the relocation: on October 25, 1932, the first two whales were caught in the area of Revilla-Hikhedo . On the way to Vladivostok, the flotilla got another 20 whales, and on February 27, 1933 arrived at the port, where the captain-director A. I. Dudnik took command of the Aleut. During the first fishing season, 203 whales were caught. By 1935, Aleut fleet production reached 500 whales a year.

Soon the Aleut flotilla was transferred to Dalmorsveroprom . The plans for the development of the fishing industry in the fourth five-year plan (1943-1947) were supposed to expand whaling and separate it into a separate production within the framework of AKO. However, the Great Patriotic War prevented these plans. In 1956-1958, during the winter periods in Vladivostok, the forces of the Dalzavod upgraded the Aleut, after which the whaling depot worked for another ten years. In 1957, the Aleut Flotilla was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for success. In 1967, due to complete depreciation, the flotilla was decommissioned ^[8] .

Second Far Eastern Whaling Flotilla

The second Far Eastern whaling flotilla was organized in 1947. It included 15 whaling vessels converted from military minesweepers and 3 coastal whaling plants : Podgorny on about. Paramushir , "Rocky" on about. Simushir and "Killer whale" on about. Iturup . Whalers caught whales along the Kuril ridge and delivered them for processing to coastal bases. The flotilla was not able to maneuver and limited its activities to the radius of action of whalers. During the period of greatest development, the flotilla had 22 whalers and five coastal bases ^[9] . The flotilla lasted until 1964, then the whalers were closed, and the whalers were decommissioned.

Glory Whaling Flotilla

For reparations, the USSR received from Germany a whaling fleet - the whalers Wikinger ^[10] , with 15 small whalers-hunters (according to other sources, there were 8) ^[7] . The Vikinger was built in 1929 in England for the Norwegian company Christensen, but was acquired by Germany in 1938. The mother ship had five decks, a displacement of 28,000 tons, a length of 150 m, a width of 22 m and a speed of 12 knots. The crew of the whaling depot - 350 people. Small whalers had a displacement of about 500 tons, a crew of 35 people, and could reach speeds of up to 14.5 knots (steam engines running on coal fuel, later on fuel oil ). The base and flotilla received the name " Glory ", whalers were designated by the name of the flotilla and number.

In 1946, the Slava whaling flotilla set off on the first Antarctic expedition - the first time in the history of the Russian fishing fleet. The flotilla was commanded by V. I. Voronin , a veteran of Sibiryakova and Chelyuskin ; The main specialists were hired Norwegians: harpooners, fat producers, masters of cutting whale carcasses. On January 28, 1947, the Glory flotilla (the Slava-4 whaler hunter, harpooner Olsen, a Norwegian) produced the first whale, a 20-meter fin whale . Starting from the third putina, only Soviet specialists worked on the Slava, a small part of which recruited in the Far East, the rest were prepared directly during the flights. The main base of the flotilla was Odessa , fresh supplies, water and fuel were usually taken in Cape Town , later in Montevideo . In the first voyage, 384 whales were caught, in the second - 820, and in the third, the production exceeded a thousand whales. The 17th flight became a record one - more than 2000 whales. Starting from the 11th flight, a search helicopter was used . In 1947-1959 the captain-director of the flotilla was A.N. Solyanik .

Far management whaling was considered by the leadership of the USSR as an important tool for economic recovery: whale oil was used in food, leather, soap and other industries. According to A. N. Solyanik, one “Glory” flight replaced in this respect the slaughter of more than 2 million sheep ^[11] . Sperm whale oil was used in textile and chemical industries, sperm whale spermaceti and ambergris - in perfumery and cosmetology. Из мяса китов производили колбасы, консервы, белковые концентраты, из печени — вырабатывали витамины , лечебные препараты, в частности, инсулин . Кормовая мука и упаренные бульонные концентраты добавлялись в корм животных и птиц. Делались попытки использовать шкуру кашалота в кожевенной промышленности — для изготовления обувных подошв. Один рейс «Славы» давал в начале 1950-х годов более 80 млн руб. прибыли ^[12] .

В 1956 году в СССР были разработаны дизель-электрические китобойцы типа «Мирный» ( проект 393 ). Они имели водоизмещение 1270 тонн, длину 63,6 метра, ширину 9,5 метра. Стальной корпус позволял действовать в разреженном льду. Экипаж китобойца состоял из 31 человека. Четыре дизель-генератора по 900 л.с. позволяли развивать максимальную скорость до 17,2 узлов. По проекту силовая установка была двухвальной, однако серийные суда имели только один винт. Теперь киты, даже самые резвые — сейвалы и малые полосатики , — оказались полностью доступны для промысла.

В связи с вводом в строй более современных флотилий, «Слава» была переведена на Дальний Восток в 1966 году. В 1971 году была продана в Японию ^[13] .

Советские китобойные флотилии в 1950-х — 1980-х годах

Осенью 1959 года была введена в строй новая антарктическая китобойная флотилия « Советская Украина », полностью созданная силами советских конструкторов и кораблестроителей. Корабль-матка был построен на Николаевском судостроительном заводе , имел водоизмещение 44900 т, длину 217,5 м, экипаж 520 человек. Базу сопровождали новые китобойные суда типа «Мирный» с дизель-электрическими силовыми установками, всего 20. Китобойцы, входящие в состав соответствующей флотилии, именовались словами, начинающимися на одинаковую букву ^[14] . Капитан-директором флотилии до 1965 г. был А. Н. Соляник .

В 1961 году в строй вошёл систершип «Советской Украины» — китобойная база « Советская Россия », приписанная к порту Владивосток, в состав флотилии входили 20 китобойцев и научное судно. Постоянным портом захода флотилии стал Сингапур . Предназначалась база для работы в любых широтах Мирового океана. Производственная мощность китобазы позволяла обработать 75 китов в сутки общим весом свыше 4 тыс. тонн, вырабатывать 1 000 тонн жира и 200 тонн китовой муки при 100 % утилизации сырья. Китобазы «Советская Украина» и «Советская Россия» были самыми мощными в мире.

В 1963 году вступили в строй китобойные базы «Владивосток» и «Дальний Восток» меньшего тоннажа (26 500 тонн), построенные в ФРГ . Они действовали в северной части Тихого океана. Китобазам придавалось по 12 китобойных судов каждой. В межпромысловый период китобазы использовались на приёмке и переработке рыбного сырья, для чего на них было установлено соответствующие оборудование.

Постановлением Совета Министров РСФСР от 30 марта 1959 года в Калининграде была организована флотилия « Юрий Долгорукий ». В её состав входила китобаза «Юрий Долгорукий» и 17 китобойных судов типа «Мирный» постройки Николаевского судостроительного завода им. Носенко . Основной базой снабжения флотилии стал Монтевидео .

Китобаза «Юрий Долгорукий» была построена и спущена на воду в 1926 году в Гамбурге фирмой « Блом и Фосс » как грузопассажирское судно «Гамбург». В апреле 1945 года «Гамбург» был затоплен, в сентябре 1950 года поднят и доставлен для перестройки в Антверпен (Бельгия), затем в ГДР на предприятие «Варноверфь» в порту Варнемюнде . Перестроенное в китобойную базу судно с новым именем было спущено на воду в марте 1960 года, и прибыло в порт Балтийск , где 20 июня на судне был поднят советский флаг. «Юрий Долгорукий» имел длину 207,4 м, ширину 24 м, высоту надводного борта 19,37 м, осадку 12,05 м при водоизмещении около 30 тысяч тонн. Для экипажа было предусмотрено 521 койко-место . Паротурбинная силовая установка обеспечивала скорость 20 узлов — это была самая быстроходная китобойная база СССР ^[15] . В первую экспедицию флотилия (судно-матка и 18 китобойцев) вышла 16 ноября 1960 года. Ещё в 1959 году китобойцы совершили так называемый «нулевой» рейс, забирая припасы с китобазы «Слава».

С 1960 года флотилия «Юрий Долгорукий» провела 15 экспедиций в Антарктику, ведя промысел китов во всех промысловых районах южнополярных вод Атлантического, Индийского и Тихого океанов, совершив несколько кругополярных рейсов с пересечением линии дат и заходом за Южный полярный круг . С 1965 г. промысловый сезон был ограничен периодом с 1 декабря по 1 марта. «Юрий Долгорукий» был расформирован в 1975 году в связи с падением поголовья китов и снижения продуктивности работы многих китобойных флотилий. Китобойные базы «Советская Россия», «Владивосток» и «Дальний Восток» были переоборудованы под приём и переработку рыбы. Некоторые китобойные суда были переделаны под военные нужды (проект 393А) ^[16] , однако большая их часть пошла на слом.

В конце 1970-х годов условия китобойного промысла значительно ухудшились в связи с резким уменьшением численности китов. Поэтому в 1982 году Международной китобойной комиссией (МКК) был принят мораторий на китовый промысел, начиная с 1986 года. Большинство стран поддержали его, за исключением Японии , Норвегии, Исландии, СССР и Фарерских островов. Однако фактически СССР прекратил китобойный промысел в 1987 году, когда «Советская Украина» вернулась из своего последнего рейса. В 1995 г. она была продана на слом в Турцию. «Советская Россия» с конца 1980-х гг. использовалась для ловли и переработки минтая, и в 1997 г. из-за убыточности была продана на металлолом в Индию.

Всего за 25 лет китобойного промысла, с 1947 по 1972 годы советскими китобойными флотилиями было добыто около 125 тысяч крупных усатых китов и кашалотов. В Большой Советской Энциклопедии сообщалось, что на долю СССР приходилось 43 % добытых в мире китов (на Японию 41 %). Одна только флотилия «Юрий Долгорукий» добыла 58 тысяч китов 22 видов ^[17] . По другим данным, в 1947—1972 гг. было добыто более 193 тыс. китов, в том числе «Славой» — 59136, «Советской Украиной» — 37727 (в 1959—1972 гг.), «Юрием Долгоруким» — 42311 (с 1960 г.), «Советской Россией» — 53874 (с 1961) ^[18] .

После распада СССР западными изданиями были обнародованы факты нарушений советскими китобойными флотилиями правил промысла. Например, по словам В. Морелл, китобоями добывались все встретившиеся киты без исключения, а не только те, отлов которых предусматривался квотами МКК ^[19] . Советские отчёты для Международной китобойной комиссии фальсифицировались, в том числе при участии КГБ . Например, вместо 48 тыс. китов, забитых в антарктических водах в начале 1960-х годов, в МКК было сообщено лишь о 2710 особях ^[19] . Аналогичные сведения приводятся и в современных отечественных исследованиях ^{[18] [20]} .

• Фетисов А. Т. Китобои. — Хабаровск: Дальгиз, 1939. — 104 с.
• Зенкович Б. А. Киты и китобойный промысел в дальневосточных морях. - M .; Л.: Пищепромиздат, 1939. — 60 с.
• Зенкович Б. А. Вокруг света за китами. 2-е изд., доп., перер. — М.: Географгиз , 1954. — 408 с.
• Слава. Записки советских китобоев. — Одесса: Одесское областное изд., 1952. — 320 с.
• Соляник А. Н. Четыре похода в Антарктику. — М.: Правда, 1950. — 32 с.
• Соляник А. Н. Под созвездием Южного креста. Серия: «Прочти, товарищ.» — М.: Знание , 1960. — 80 с.
• Шистер Е. Л. В Антарктику за китами. — М.: Госкультпросветиздат , 1948. — 72 с.
• Шлямин Б. А. Плавание в Антарктику. — Л.: Гидрометеоиздат , 1953. — 98 с.
• Вахов А. А. Трагедия капитана Лигова: Первая книга трилогии Китобои. — Магадан: Обл. изд., 1955. — 405 с.

• История советского китобойного флота
• Гаврилов С. В. ПЕРВЫЕ ТРАНСПОРТНЫЕ И ПРОМЫСЛОВЫЕ СУДА АКЦИОНЕРНОГО КАМЧАТСКОГО ОБЩЕСТВА
• Статья Сергея Гаврилова, доцента кафедры судоэнергетических установок КГАРФ
• Государственный архив Калининградской области. Антарктическая китобойная флотилия «Юрий Долгорукий» К 50-летию создания
• «Юрий Долгорукий». Калининградский морской рыбный порт
• Интернет-музей отечественного рыболовства
• Фалеристика. Советский китобойный промысел
• Э. Черный. Тайны советского китобойного промысла
• Список кораблей-китобойцев
• Иосиф Беренсон. Китобои и китобойцы
• СОВЕТСКИЙ АНТАРКТИЧЕСКИЙ ПРОМЫСЕЛ
• Китобойный промысел — статья из Большой советской энциклопедии .
• Small reconnaissance ships Project 393A