Saratov icebreaker

The construction of the icebreaker is associated with the development of the railway network in the second half of the 19th century and the formation of the Society of the Ryazan-Ural Railway (RUZD). In 1871, the railway line was brought to Saratov , the construction of the road to the Volga region began . There was a need for year-round railway communication between the Volga shores ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} .

In view of the initially insignificant cargo turnover, the costs of erecting a bridge across the Volga near the Saratov were considered economically inexpedient. The Russian Railways Society made the decision to build a ferry crossing , having applied for the construction of an icebreaker and ferry with the British company Sir WG Armstrong Mitchell & C ° ^{[2] [5] [3] [4]} .

On November 28 ( December 10 ), 1894 , an agreement was signed between the organizations for the construction of an icebreaker ( £ 22,550 ) and a ferry ( £ 47,240 ). According to the task set by the customer, the icebreaking vessel was intended for cargo and passenger transportation and “punching the channel ahead of the ferry through solid ice up to 28 inches thick , or through moving ice of any thickness, at least bypassing or passing large and thick ice blocks where necessary” ^{[2] [4]} .

The icebreaker was built at the shipyard in Newcastle , on the Tyne River. Launched in May 1895, in the same year it was delivered to the customer from England to St. Petersburg , where the icebreaker came under its own power and from where the forces of the Russian Railways carried the vessel to the Saratov port ^[5] .

The design and shape of the hull of the icebreaker are similar to the Hamburg ship Aisbreher , characterized by a nasal tip of a parabolic shape and a rounded after-rod ^[5] . The specifics of the Volga’s natural conditions and the remoteness of the vessel’s construction site from the place of subsequent operation determined a number of its technical features - increased hull strength and collapsibility of the structure ^{[6] [4]} .

To perform the icebreaking function, the vessel had to be wide enough, which prevented its passage to its destination - the waterway from Petersburg to Saratov ran through the Mariinsky Canal system with narrow locks . The solution was the longitudinal waterproof bulkhead provided for in the design of the icebreaker, which allows the vessel to be divided into two parts - each with its own steam engine and chimney . This design feature was reflected in the atypical appearance of the vessel - the pipes are not located along the central axis, but on the line perpendicular to it ^{[7] [5] [2] [4]} .

In the prospectus of the manufacturer of the late XIX century, these features of the design of the vessel were called "the most complex" and "revolutionary." Subsequently, “ Sir WG Armstrong Mitchell & C ° ” reproduced them in the manufacture of several more ships under Russian orders ^{[6] [K 1]} .

Twin-screw icebreaker with two steam engines of the Compound system with a total capacity of 1,400 indicator horsepower , with 26- and 50-inch cylinders and a piston stroke of 30 inches. Two 4-furnace horizontal boilers were heated by oil ( fuel oil ). In 1912 and 1925, boilers were replaced (manufactured in Saratov and Warsaw, respectively) ^{[5] [2] [9] [3] [4] [8]} .

The superstructure is single-tier with an open bridge ; after major repairs, the wheelhouse was equipped ^{[9] [8]} .

The length of the icebreaker is 44.81 m; case width - 10.97 m; height - 15 m; side height - 5.03 m; empty draft - 3.36 m; draft in cargo - 3.64 m; deadweight - 112 t; displacement - 870/1000 tons. ^{[5] [2] [9]}

Case type - riveted; body material - iron , propellers - brass , water pipes - lead , steam lines - red copper, nuts - bronze ^{[9] [3] [4]} .

Team - 50 people (25 people - deck crew, 25 people - engine crew) ^[8] . Passenger capacity: I and II classes - 40 people; Grade III - 400 people ^[9] .

According to its technical characteristics, the Saratov Icebreaker corresponded to a class I marine vessel ^[3] .

XIX century

The vessels that arrived at the Saratov port in 1896 received the names “Saratov Icebreaker” and “ Saratov Crossing ” and laid the foundation for the flotilla of the Ryazan-Ural Railway ^{[10] [2]} . Operation began on March 1, 1896 ^[3] .

The icebreaker made its first flights between the marinas of Sazanka and Mezhennaya, then it cruised between Knyazevka and Sazanka, Saratov and Knyazevka. With the opening of navigation, April 28 was set aside for inspection and repair. Since November 1896, he walked between the marinas of Uvek and Sazanka, between the Crossing and Sazanka, exporting ice from the banks of the Volga. With the end of the ice drift , flights were discontinued on April 11, 1897, and on April 20 the icebreaker was sent to Astrakhan for oil transportation. Over two flights, 1 million 10 thousand pounds were exported ^[3] .

On November 23, 1897, an oceanographer and polar explorer S. O. Makarov arrived in Saratov to study the ship and "observe the action of the icebreaker in ice", who soon began to develop technical specifications for the construction of the Arctic icebreaker " Ermak ", subsequently manufactured at English shipyards ^{[3 ] [4]} .

The Saratov Icebreaker was engaged in towing, clearing ice and maintaining clean water channels between the shores along the ferry route, transporting passengers, various cargo and mail ^[3] . With the participation of an icebreaker, overcoming hummocks up to 1.5 m high and sailing in ice 30 cm thick at a speed of 5-6 km / h, up to 120 rail cars per day were transported in the winter season ^[5] . Captains who made voyages at the crossings of the Volga were called "captains of transverse navigation" ^[2] .

XX century

During the Civil War , during the anti-Bolshevik revolt of the Socialist Revolutionaries in Volsk and Balakovo in July 1918, the "Saratov Icebreaker" was used by the Bolsheviks as a gunboat and a vehicle for transporting the Red Army to the place of hostilities. To conduct water battles at the stern of the icebreaker, 4 three- and five - inch artillery pieces and 12 machine guns were installed ^{[2] [3] [4] [11] [12]} .

After the establishment of Soviet power, the icebreaker continued to be used to provide ferry services. In the 1930s, he was involved in the construction of the Saratov railway bridge .

After the opening in 1935 at the bridge crossing point, the icebreaker, as part of the flotilla that had expanded by then, was transferred to the lower Volga. Due to the early offensive this year, winters near Astrakhan frozen in the ice caravans of ships that were brought out with the help of an icebreaker. Then the icebreaker worked at the railway ferry between Latoshinka and Ferry stations near Stalingrad ^{[4] [13] [11]} .

According to the information given in the publication issued on the 140th anniversary of the Volga Railway , at the beginning of World War II, the icebreaker was mothballed and on the basis of the Decree of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of September 12, 1941, together with several other vessels, among which included the Saratov Ferry ferry, was mothballed for military needs and staffed with a new team. The icebreaker participated in the Battle of Stalingrad , anti-aircraft guns were installed on the ship. Under shelling of German aircraft, transported equipment, weapons, soldiers and ammunition, together with the ferry, maintained communication between Stalingrad and the Volga region . During the war, 53 thousand wagons were transported along the route ^{[2] [4] [14] [12]} .

After the war, the icebreaker was registered with the Saratov Shipping Inspectorate and assigned to Mostotryad No. 8. He was involved in the construction of the Volga Hydroelectric Power Station (then the Stalingrad), a road bridge between Saratov and Engels - towed concrete structures and spans, was used as a floating boiler room for supplying steam from boilers to the shore. In the mid-1960s, while working on construction, he was photographed in the film " The Bridge Is Built " (directed by O. N. Efremov ), also captured in newsreels. Upon completion of construction, he was moored to the mooring of "Bridge Detachment No. 8" in Engels ^{[4] [15] [11] [14] [16] [17]} .

In 1968, the "Saratov icebreaker" sank under obscure circumstances ^[2] . It is located at the bottom of the Volga , in the water area of ​​Saratov, at a distance of 20 m from the shore of Engels , to the left of the highway bridge , at a depth of 4 m ^{[11] [14]} .

The "Saratov icebreaker" is called the "godfather" of " Ermak " and the "progenitor" of the Russian icebreaking fleet. The ship became the first icebreaker in Russia and the first river icebreaker in the world ^{[3] [4] [11] [14]} .

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the icebreaker was the second most powerful steamboat on the Volga after the wheeled tugboat Bogatyr (after the Revolution Stepan Razin) ^[4] .

According to the historical reference of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergencies, the Saratov Icebreaker was one of the five first-ever serial ships designed for ice breaking ^{[14] [4]} .

Materials related to the history of the icebreaker are in the State Archives of the Saratov Region ^[2] .

In the Museum of the History of the Volga Railway in Saratov, a compass from the “Saratov Icebreaker” is stored, dismantled from the ship shortly after arriving at the port of Saratov due to lack of demand in the conditions of river navigation. The compass is made of non-magnetic material and has a brass body ^{[4] [8]} .

In the Museum of the River Fleet in Nizhny Novgorod, a model of the ship is stored ^[18] .

In 1992, the idea came up of lifting the icebreaker from the bottom and turning it into a cultural object, it belonged to the head of the Saratov River Fleet Museum Alexander Azovtsev and interested veterans of the river fleet, historians, local historians, ecologists, journalists and the public. In 2013, the St. Petersburg Eco Tek organization conducted diving surveys of the vessel, according to the conclusions made, “the material of the side skin is in satisfactory condition. There are no dents or cracks in the visible part of the side skin of the hull ” ^{[11] [19]} .

In 2015, the idea aroused interest from the government of the Saratov region, which announced plans to raise the vessel for further restoration and placement of a river shipping museum in it. It was also planned to include the “Saratov icebreaker” in the Unified State Register and assign it the status of a cultural heritage object ^[11] . A coordination working group was set up to lift the icebreaker, and work began. Both technical and financial difficulties became an obstacle to the work - about half a century ago the ship was under water, the location of the icebreaker at the bottom at an angle of 30 degrees, the accumulation of river soil inside the hull; lack of funds for the rise, subsequent restoration and creation of the museum. The lifting of the ship was postponed ^{[17] [20]} .

In January 2018, it announced plans to lift the Saratov Icebreaker in 2021. After restoration, the icebreaker is planned to be laid up on the Saratov embankment ^[21] .

In November 2018, enthusiasts made an immersion to the location of the vessel with a photo and video of its condition ^[22] .