Icebreaker "Ermak" Icebreaker Ermak Long service of the icebreaker "Ermak"

Explore the North Russia The first explorers began back in the 15th-16th centuries, but these were only individual people and groups who decided to get to the very ice of the Arctic Ocean in order to see the so-called edge of the earth. Until the beginning of the 19th century, few people dared to travel through the ice-covered waters of the northern seas and oceans, and even subsequently these waters were unsuitable for the passage of large ships. Light sailing ships and even heavy frigates were not able to deal with ice drifting in the ocean, both in winter and in summer.

As a result of the need to establish northern sea and trade routes, an urgent need arose for a special type of ship that could not only pass through a sea full of icebergs, but also safely carry other not so strong ships behind them. This is how the first icebreakers appeared in Russia - ships with reinforced sides, a bottom, and sometimes a ram on the bow to crush especially large ice barriers.

In 1897, the English company Armstrong, on behalf of the Russian Admiralty, began the construction of a modern well-equipped and equipped icebreaker, which in Russia received the name "Ermak" in honor of the famous conqueror of Siberia. In addition to the fact that this ship was the first icebreaker in Russia, it was also the first Arctic-class icebreaker in the whole world, that is, intended exclusively for Arctic work.

The first icebreaker "Ermak"

Supervised the construction icebreaker Admiral Makarov, he also headed the selection committee that accepted the icebreaker into the country’s combat fleet. In addition, this commission also included the famous chemist Mendeleev and the future head of the white movement Wrangel.

The construction of the icebreaker was completed in February 1899 by raising the commercial flag of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Empire over the ship, with whose money the equipment and construction of the ship itself was organized. After the end of the ceremonial events, the Ermak, with a new crew that had already managed to settle down on the icebreaker, raised the anchors and went out to sea, heading to their native shores.

To test the ship, government officials ordered the captain to move the icebreaker towards the Gulf of Finland, where there was a lot of ice at this time of year. On March 1, the Ermak reached the ice edge, but this did not stop it; moving at a speed of 7 knots per hour, the icebreaker turned out to be an even better ship than the builders expected. However, near the island of Gogland, the team had to drop anchor and stop the icebreaker; the thickness of the ice in this place was too thick, so the captain had to look for a workaround, which was soon found and on March 4, the Ermak anchored in Kronstadt.

The meeting of the icebreaker was organized with special solemnity, an orchestra arrived ashore, the port was decorated with festive flags, music was played, and joyful speeches were heard. After standing at anchor for no more than 5 days, the Ermak set out on its first voyage; it was tasked with guiding several steamships through the ice that found themselves in a difficult situation near Revel. The first operation was very successful and easy, which forever silenced those who doubted the feasibility of building an icebreaker.

At the beginning of April, "Ermak" stood at the pier of the Nikolaevsky Bridge in St. Petersburg in order to head from there to Newcastle, and then to the Arctic Ocean. The icebreaker reached Spitsbergen and passed through the ice of the Arctic, after which it returned to England to eliminate the shortcomings identified during the trial voyage. In the summer, the Ermak, thoroughly updated and refurbished, set out on a second voyage, the purpose of which was to explore the Arctic for scientific purposes. The expedition, which included prominent scientists and researchers, collected useful information about the structure of northern ice, marine flora and fauna, the voyage was supposed to last at least a month, but the icebreaker encountered a particularly hard hummock and received a hole, due to which it had to return to England and undergo repairs.

The damage to the icebreaker was so significant that the commission created to investigate the incident decided to limit its sailing route to the waters of the Gulf of Finland, the ice of which the Ermak could cope with without difficulty. But the captain and crew of the ship were dissatisfied with this restriction, which made their ship practically useless, so in the summer of 1900 they managed to obtain permission to carry out the third Arctic expedition, with the condition that it would not continue beyond the mouth of the Yenisei. But, despite the readiness of the crew and the zeal of the scientists, the Ermak set sail only in March of the following year, and already in July it was forced to stop sailing when faced with impassable ice. The ship's course was changed, which is why it was not possible to reach Novaya Zemlya, but it was possible to explore Franz Josef Land.

This time the icebreaker was thoroughly battered, the damage was so serious that the command had to give an order to further limit the scope of the icebreaker’s activities; from now on, the Ermak was ordered to sail exclusively in the Baltic waters, and Vice Admiral Makarov was removed from his post.

After arriving at the port, the icebreaker was repaired and was subsequently used with great care, becoming famous in subsequent years for driving ships that went to participate in the Russian-Japanese War, after which the Ermak was tasked with sailing from the Baltic to the Bering Strait in one spring-summer navigation.

During the First World War, the icebreaker was assigned to and continued its service without leaving the Gulf of Finland. Despite its great age and combat experience, the Ermak served Russia and during the years of the Revolution, thanks to it, two hundred ships were able to reach from Helsingfors to Kronstadt without receiving any damage. Subsequently, the heroic feat of the icebreaker was rewarded; the captain of the Ermak was awarded the revolutionary Red Banner.

The icebreaker gained great fame in 1938, the winter of which was so severe that the entire Soviet fleet froze in the Arctic ice. The Ermak, thrown to help the sailors, saved many crews, removing them from ships that were no longer capable of independent sailing, but rescued even more ships from captivity in the ice. For two months, "Ermak" cruised throughout the Arctic, crossing it several times from west to east, taking part in the rescue of the famous "Malygin".

The outbreak of the Great Patriotic War showed that it was too early to write off the old icebreaker; Ermak very successfully sailed ships throughout the entire period of hostilities, and even 20 years after their completion, the icebreaker was scrapped only between 1963 and 1964. Thus ended the fate of the legendary icebreaker Ermak, which survived four wars and a revolution and remained in the memory of sailors as the grandfather of the icebreaker fleet.

Makarov first expressed the idea of ​​​​creating a polar icebreaker to his friend, Professor of the Maritime Academy F. F. Wrangel, in 1892, when Nansen was energetically preparing for a historic voyage. As a statesman, Makarov understood that a ship capable of actively operating in ice was a vital necessity for Russia, since extending the Arctic navigation period would immeasurably expand trade opportunities and economic ties of the huge northern power.
As a military leader and naval commander, the admiral was well aware of how important it was for Russia to have a sea route connecting the eastern part of the country with the western and at the same time lying entirely within the territorial waters of the Russian Empire.
Makarov’s innovation was reflected not only in the fact that he proposed a qualitatively new type of vessel and provided for it a steam engine of gigantic power at that time (10,000 horsepower), but also in the fact that, contrary to generally accepted opinions, which recognize only wooden ones as suitable for navigation in the Arctic ships, he insisted on building a steel icebreaker.

At first, Makarov hoped to attract interest of a purely humane nature to his brainchild. Nansen goes to the Arctic on an extremely risky journey, no one knows how it might end; So we need to build an icebreaker so that, if necessary, we can send it to the aid of an expedition in trouble, and maybe even to search for it. The admiral tried to enlist the support of Siberian merchants, to seduce them with the opportunity to “open regular (regular - S.B.) cargo flights with the Yenisei River, forcing cargo ships to follow the icebreaker.”

Another important point in Makarov’s note sent to the Navy Ministry was the idea that the creation of an icebreaker would be of great scientific importance for the study of the seas of the Arctic Ocean.

Finally, he emphasized the important strategic role of the icebreaker:
“I believe that maintaining a large icebreaker on the Arctic Ocean can also have strategic importance, making it possible, if necessary, to move the fleet to the Pacific Ocean by the shortest and militarily safest route.”

How many ships, how many human lives would have been saved if the Northern Sea Route had been opened and developed by the beginning of the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905! There would not have been bloody Tsushima, there would not have been this terrible and shameful page in the history of the tsarist fleet, if the ships of the Baltic squadron had sailed to the Far East not around the world, but along the northern coast of Russia.

Photo of the painting "Ermak helps a warship stuck in the ice"

Ermak participates in the rescue of the coastal defense battleship “General-Admiral Apraksin” off the island of Gogland, 1900.

But high-ranking tsarist officials could not be convinced by any argument. The resolution of the head of the Maritime Ministry P.P. Tyrtov was laconic, but expressive:

“The Russian navy is not at all so rich as to donate them (these ships - S.B.) for scientists and for problematic tasks.”

But Makarov was not the person to immediately give up his idea. He decided to gain support from the scientific community. On March 12, 1897, the admiral gave a lecture at the Academy of Sciences, having previously published the text of the lecture as a separate brochure.

Together with Wrangel, he organizes a public lecture with a catchy, advertising title " All the way to the North Pole!“The lecture was a huge success and immediately received wide publicity.

And yet, it is unlikely that Makarov would have been able to cope with the tsarist bureaucracy if the remarkable Russian scientist D.I. Mendeleev had not joined the ranks of the icebreaker’s supporters. He warmly supported Makarov's proposal and took on the difficult mission of convincing the Russian rulers of the reality and usefulness of the proposed project. Enjoying enormous authority in the highest government circles, Mendeleev turned for help to the all-powerful Russian Minister of Finance S. Yu. Witte.

“In 1897, namely at the end of this year, on my initiative, the icebreaker Ermak was ordered.”
from the memoirs of S.Yu. Witte.

And already in March 1899, the new icebreaker left England and arrived in Kronstadt. Already on the third day of the Ermak’s stay in Kronstadt, messages began to arrive from ice-bound ships asking for immediate help. And “Ermak” came out on top. He easily freed all the ships stuck in the Kronstadt and then Revel ports.

"Here "Ermak" is getting closer and closer. Its movement in a mass of solid ice is amazing. We all knew that the ice on the roadstead reached 1 1/2 arshins (106 centimeters - S.B.), and we couldn’t believe our eyes how the Ermak was sailing, as if there was no ice. Not the slightest effort is noticeable. "Ermak" walked with a dull crash, breaking the ice and knocking it under itself thanks to surprisingly well-calculated contours, especially in the nose. It was clearly visible how the stem easily crashed into the ice, after which the mass of ice obediently went under the powerful hull of the ship. No cracks formed around, and “Ermak” walked, tightly pressing its sides to the ice. Thick ice floes sometimes appeared at the very side, but quickly hid under the hull; behind the stern there was a free channel filled with ice, broken into pieces by the powerful propellers of the Ermak. Kronstadt newspaper “Kotlin”

In early April, the Ermak opened the mouth of the Neva and thus allowed navigation in the St. Petersburg port to begin unusually early. On April 4, with a huge crowd of people, the icebreaker moored near the Mining Institute.

In 1901, Ermak came under the jurisdiction of the Committee for Port Affairs, subordinate to the Department of Trade and Navigation for work in the Baltic.
1903-1905 - came under the jurisdiction of the Main Directorate of Merchant Shipping and Ports.

In February 1918, the icebreaker removed all Soviet ships capable of moving from Tallinn and brought them to Helsingfors, and then ensured the passage from Helsingfors to Kronstadt.

In 1934, “Ermak” supported the activities of the Kara and Lena expeditions, and four years later it rescued the icebreaking steamships “Sadko” and “Malygin” from ice captivity, and participated in the expedition to evacuate the heroic four Papanins from the ice floe. In the late autumn of 1939, the icebreaker crossed the combat zone of the Second World War and, bypassing Scandinavia, moved from Murmansk to the Baltic. On October 4, 1941, Ermak was enlisted in the Special Purpose Detachment of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. The icebreaker took part in the evacuation of the garrison of the Hanko Peninsula and other garrisons, escorted ships in the Gulf of Finland, and brought submarines to combat positions, operating under fierce bombing and artillery shelling.

In 1964, Ermak was decommissioned

M.P.Vasiliev The first commander of Ermak 1898-1901.

Ermak in England, 1901

The achievements of a great man are difficult to divide into more and less significant. There were enough of these in the active, ebullient and dramatic life of the Russian admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov. It is difficult to overestimate the full significance of his contribution to domestic and world science, military affairs and navigation. And among many things is the actual creation by Makarov of the Russian icebreaker fleet, since the world's first Arctic-class icebreaker was designed and built under the leadership of an admiral scientist.

Predecessors

The Arctic has always been and remains the most important strategic region for Russia. One has only to look at the map and estimate the length of the coastline in the polar regions. What the Arctic is and why it is needed was not clearly understood in St. Petersburg for a long time. Expeditions were sent to the north from time to time, but there was no economic need for its full-scale development. In the second half of the 19th century, the eastern regions of Russia, and primarily Siberia, on the wave of intensive development, began to experience an urgent need to export their products to the European part of the country and further abroad. The newly built Trans-Siberian Railway could not fully provide for the ever-increasing trade turnover, especially since its capacity was still limited, and most of the capacity was taken up by military needs. In the north there was only one port - Arkhangelsk.

While the bureaucrats in the capital were leisurely tossing and turning, as often happened in Russia, enterprising people on the ground took matters into their hands. In 1877, equipped with the money of the merchant and industrialist M. Sidorov, the ship “Morning Star” delivered goods and various products from the mouth of the Yenisei to St. Petersburg. Subsequently, the resourceful British stuck their long noses into Russian polar trade between the mouths of the Ob and Yenisei rivers and Arkhangelsk. By the 1990s, Mr. Popham's company had concentrated sea communications with these remote areas. This was an extremely risky business and was extremely dependent on the ice situation in the Kara Sea. It was necessary to go to the destination, unload and load the goods and return in one very short navigation. The risk of getting stuck in the ice was quite high, so the cost of transportation and the goods themselves was fabulous. In some years, due to difficult ice conditions, it was not possible to get further than the Yugra Ball. The problem of ensuring unimpeded cargo circulation in the Arctic had to be solved in a radical way - specially built ships were needed that could cope with Arctic ice. The idea of ​​​​building a large icebreaker had been in the air for a long time, the need for it was felt year after year, but only such an active, energetic and, most importantly, knowledgeable person as Stepan Osipovich Makarov was able to implement such a plan in metal.

In the era of the sailing fleet, ice remained an insurmountable obstacle to ships. All navigation in frozen ports stopped. In the 17th–18th centuries, the fight against ice, if for some reason a ship got stuck in relative proximity to its destination, was reduced to mobilizing the local population, armed with saws, crowbars and other hand tools. With great labor and effort, a canal was cut and the prisoner was released. And only if weather conditions permitted. Another method, but again situational, was firing cannons at the ice, if the caliber of the cannonball and the thickness of the ice allowed, or dropping the gun on the ice. There is a known case when in 1710, during the capture of Vyborg, the Russian frigate “Dumkrat” passed through the ice with the help of a small gun suspended from the bowsprit and periodically lowered and raised. Another way to combat ice was detonation - initially, gunpowder was used for this purpose, and later dynamite. In Russia, some ships were equipped with a so-called ice ram made of wood or metal. With its help it was possible to cope with relatively thin ice. But all of the above related mostly to auxiliary or forced measures.

In the 60s of the 19th century in Russia, an original project by engineer Euler was developed and tested in 1866. The ship was equipped with a metal ram and, in addition to it, a special crane for dropping special weights weighing 20–40 pounds onto the ice. The crane was driven by a steam engine; the weights were raised to a height of about 2.5 meters and then dropped onto the ice. To overcome particularly strong ice floes, the ship was equipped with a couple more pole mines. Initial tests showed fairly satisfactory results, and the gunboat “Experience” was converted into a kind of weight-bearing “icebreaker.” However, this was the end of the successful part of the experiment - although the weights were able to crack small ice, the power of the “Experience” machine was clearly not enough to move through the crushed ice. “Experience” could not move the ice and ensure passage of ships through the formed channel. Even more exotic ice control projects arose: for example, equipping a ship with hammers and circular saws or eroding ice with water from special monitors under pressure.

The first more or less technically advanced ship for combating ice was created, again, in Russia. For a long time, communication between the Kronstadt fortress and St. Petersburg in the autumn-spring period was practically impossible - the ice strength was insufficient for sleigh transport. Mikhail Osipovich Britnev, a Kronstadt entrepreneur and shipowner, decided to find a way to extend navigation between Oranienbaum and Kronstadt for several weeks. For this purpose, he converted one of his steamships - a small screw tug. According to his instructions, the bow was cut at an angle of 20 degrees to the keel line, following the example of Pomeranian hummock boats. The Pilot icebreaker was small, only 26 meters long, and equipped with a 60-horsepower steam engine. Later, two more icebreakers were built to help him - “Boy” and “Buy”. While Russian officials were trying to understand the enormous significance of this invention, foreigners flocked to Britnev in Kronstadt, like sparrows on haystacks that had not yet been threshed. In the winter of 1871, when severe frosts tightly shackled the most important shipping artery for Germany, the Elbe River, German specialists from Hamburg bought the Pilot drawings from Britnev for 300 rubles. Then there were guests from Sweden, Denmark and even the United States. Icebreakers began to be built all over the world, the progenitor of which was the brainchild of a self-taught Kronstadt inventor. At the end of the 19th century, icebreaking ships and ferries finally appeared in Russia - on the Volga and on the island of Baikal. But all of these were relatively small ships for coastal navigation. The country needed a large icebreaker to support Arctic cargo transportation. Any idea or project simply turns into a heap of papers covered with dust if there is no person who, like an icebreaker, breaks through the path for it among the ice of skepticism. And he was such a tireless man - his name was Stepan Osipovich Makarov.

Icebreaking plan of S.O. Makarov and the information struggle in his defense

The future admiral, scientist, inventor and researcher was born on January 8, 1849 in the city of Nikolaev in the family of a naval officer. Already in 1870, his name became known thanks to articles on the theory of the unsinkability of a ship. During the Russian-Turkish War of 1877–1878, Makarov carried out successful combat use of mine-torpedoes. Then there was command of the steamship Taman, research, including for military purposes, of the currents between the Black and Marmara seas, a trip around the world on the corvette Vityaz. In 1891–1894, Makarov served as inspector of Naval Artillery. At the end of the 19th century, already as a vice admiral, he commanded the Practical Squadron of the Baltic Sea.

For the first time, Makarov expressed the idea of ​​​​building a large Arctic icebreaker to his friend, professor of the Maritime Academy, F.F. Wrangel in 1892. At this time, the Norwegian explorer and polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen was preparing for his voyage on the Fram. Makarov, as a person with a deep, dynamic mind, well understood the importance of the Northern Sea Route, which connects the western and eastern regions of Russia and is also located in its territorial waters. Its development will significantly expand the country’s trade and economic opportunities. Gradually, the idea began to take on clearer forms from purely theoretical calculations. Makarov proposed to immediately build a large ship from good steel. The engine was supposed to be a steam engine with enormous power for that time - 10 thousand hp. In a special explanatory note to the Ministry of the Navy on the feasibility of building a large icebreaker, the scientist emphasized not only the scientific and research significance of such a ship, but also the military one, in particular, the possibility of quickly relocating warships to the Far East. Thus, long before the use of the Northern Sea Route, Makarov already clearly understood its significance for Russia.

Traditionally conservative, the military leadership responded in the negative with a great deal of skepticism. Someone else in Makarov’s place would have declined the myopia and shortsightedness of the powers that be in all cases and calmed down. But Makarov was cut from a different cloth. On March 12, 1897, the tireless admiral gave an extensive lecture at the Academy of Sciences, where he thoroughly and reasonably proved the prospects of having a large icebreaker in the fleet, or better yet several. This would, according to the lecturer, contribute not only to unimpeded navigation in the Gulf of Finland in winter conditions, but would also establish regular communication between the mouths of the Ob and Yenisei rivers and foreign ports, which would entail significant economic benefits. The next step in the information struggle for the icebreaker was organized with the help of Professor F.F. Wrangel and the hugely successful lecture “Right to the North Pole!” The idea of ​​building an icebreaker has ceased to be behind the scenes and discussed in a narrow circle of scientists and technical specialists. The public and the press started talking about her. But the domestic bureaucracy has traditionally been strong in defense against bold ideas and projects. And, quite likely, the debate about the need to build an icebreaker in Russia would not have subsided until some enterprising foreigners, using Makarov’s ideas, created a similar ship at home. Then the bureaucratic army would unanimously exclaim: “Ah, the advanced West has surprised us again, let’s now build something like this for ourselves!”

Fortunately, a prominent Russian scientist, academician D.I., became interested in the icebreaker project. Mendeleev. Having connections at the very top of the empire, Mendeleev went directly to the Minister of Finance S.Yu. Witte. The minister’s tenacious mind immediately saw economic benefits in Makarov’s concept. Later, Makarov was organized a meeting with him, at which the admiral finally convinced Witte, who had enormous influence in the state machine, of the need to build an icebreaker. The admiral is promised support, and while hidden flywheels are spinning and secret levers of power are being pressed, Makarov was asked to make a large familiarization trip around the North in order to more clearly learn on the spot under what operating conditions the new ship will operate.

Makarov first goes to Sweden, where he meets the famous polar explorer Professor Nordenskiöld. It was he who first traveled the Northern Sea Route on the ship Vega in 1878–1879. The professor spoke with approval about Makarov's ideas. After Sweden, Norway and the island of Spitsbergen were visited. Having finished with Europe, Makarov goes to the Russian North. He visited different cities: Tyumen, Tobolsk, Tomsk. He talked with local merchants and industrialists - everyone understood him, everyone nodded their heads approvingly, but no one gave money for the construction of the ship they themselves needed so much. Returning from the trip, Makarov draws up a detailed memo, where he describes in detail the technical requirements for the promising icebreaker. The admiral insisted on building two icebreakers, but the cautious Witte, after thinking about it, gave the go-ahead for only one ship.

Negotiations with the manufacturer and construction of the ship

In October 1897, a special commission was created under the chairmanship of Makarov himself, which also included Mendeleev, Professor Wrangel and other prominent specialists. The initial task of the commission was to describe in detail all the requirements for the future icebreaker - its technical characteristics, dimensions, requirements for strength and unsinkability were described in detail. A necessary list of equipment required for installation has been compiled. Thus, the technical specifications were ready. Since the new ship was difficult to construct, it was decided to turn to the services of foreign shipbuilding firms. Three companies that already had experience in building icebreakers were allowed to compete for the right to build the icebreaker. These were Burmeister and Wein in Copenhagen, Armstrong and Whitworth in Newcastle and the German Schichau in Elbing. All three participants proposed their projects. According to the preliminary opinion of the commission, the Danish project turned out to be the best, Armstrong took second place, and serious shortcomings were found in the German one. True, Makarov disputed this opinion and believed that the ideas proposed by Schichau had their advantages. Once agreements were reached with factory representatives, they were asked to indicate their prices in sealed envelopes. With the commission's resolution and the sealed envelopes, Makarov went to Witte, where they were opened. The Germans asked for 2 million 200 thousand rubles and guaranteed construction in 12 months, the Danes - 2 million rubles and 16 months, Armstrong - 1.5 million and 10 months. Since the British offered the shortest construction time at the lowest price, Witte chose the English project. In addition, an important factor was that the British offered a ship capable of taking 3 thousand tons of coal instead of the required 1800, thereby almost doubling the icebreaker’s autonomy.

On November 14, 1897, Witte presented Emperor Nicholas II with a memorandum, which he endorsed with his signature. The first stage of the battle for the icebreaker was won - all that remained was to build and test it.

A month later, Makarov leaves for Newcastle to conclude an agreement on the construction of the ship. During negotiations with representatives of the manufacturer, the admiral behaved toughly with his characteristic persistence and tenacity. We must give him his due - in order to defend his demands against such hardened businessmen as the sons of Foggy Albion, one must have a stranglehold. The admiral insisted on the specifications of the Russian Voluntary Fleet when equipping the future icebreaker, which differed from the English ones. Makarov also achieved control over the construction of the ship at all stages of construction, with mandatory testing of all compartments for unsinkability by filling them with water. The final financial settlement was to be made only after the completion of a full cycle of tests in the Gulf of Finland and then in the polar ice. If the icebreaker being tested received any damage to the hull, the manufacturer had to fix it at his own expense. In addition, if the tests reveal technical imperfections in the design solutions adopted, the company had to eliminate them under the same conditions. The negotiations were difficult, the British were stubborn, but did not want to lose the order. In December 1897, the new ship was finally laid down at the Armstrong and Whitworth shipyard.

Having signed the agreement, Makarov left for the Great Lakes in America to observe the work of icebreakers. Having returned, he spent some time at the shipyard, after which he left for the Baltic - the summer of 1898 was spent in exercises at the squadron. In his absence, the future first captain of the icebreaker M.P. supervised the construction. Vasiliev. We must recognize the merits of the English builders - they built really quickly. Already on October 17, 1898, the ship, by order of Emperor Nicholas II, received the name "Ermak", was launched. The ship was 93 meters long, then after refurbishment it reached 97 meters. The standard displacement was 8 thousand tons, the ship was equipped with four steam engines with a power of 2500 hp each. - three in the stern, one in the bow. The fact is that initially the Ermak was equipped with one additional American-style bow propeller - this propeller was supposed to pump out water from under the ice floe to make it easier to crush later. The unsinkability of the Ermak was achieved by the presence of 44 waterproof compartments into which the hull was divided. The icebreaker was equipped with special trim and inclining tanks, which was a technical innovation at that time. The survivability of the ship was ensured by a special rescue line, serviced by a pump with a capacity of 600 tons per hour. All living quarters had winter vestibules and double portholes for thermal insulation. On February 19, the commercial flag was raised on the Ermak - it was accepted on the balance sheet of the Ministry of Finance, and not the Navy. On February 21, 1899, the ship set sail for Kronstadt.

The first contact with the Baltic ice occurred on March 1 - the results were very positive. The new icebreaker easily destroyed its main enemy. On March 4, with a large crowd of people, “Ermak” arrived in Kronstadt. When the first enthusiasm subsided, the new icebreaker immediately began its immediate work - it freed ships from ice, first in the Kronstadt and then in the Revel port. In early April, the Ermak easily opened the mouth of the Neva - the navigation of 1899 began unusually early. Makarov became the hero of the day and a welcome guest at receptions and dinner parties. However, these first successes did not at all turn the head of the tireless admiral. He was well aware that the Baltic ice was just a warm-up before the assault on the real Arctic bastions. Preparations began for the campaign to the North. During the organizational gatherings, a disagreement occurred between Makarov and Mendeleev. Two such bright personalities did not agree in the process of final choice of the route, tactics of fighting the ice and, finally, unity of command. The disputes became more and more fierce, and, in the end, Mendeleev and his scientific group refused to participate in the first Arctic expedition.

First Arctic voyage and fine-tuning of the icebreaker

"Ermak" with the dismantled bow

On May 8, 1899, Ermak set off on its first Arctic voyage. Exactly a month later, on June 8, he encountered real northern ice in the Spitsbergen area. At first, the icebreaker easily dealt with the vanguard of white silence, but then problems began: the plating began to leak, the hull began to vibrate. Makarov decided to return to England. In Newcastle on June 14, the ship was docked. Upon inspection, it turned out that the nose rotor blade had been lost, which, while acceptable for the realities of the Great Lakes, turned out to be useless for the Arctic. It was dismantled. The repairs lasted a month, after which Ermak set off for the North again. And again difficulties arose. On July 25, when hitting a hummock, the icebreaker developed a leak. It turned out that in practice the specified hull strength was not enough for such a difficult situation. The ship returned to England again. The domestic press happily attacked “Ermak” and its creator. Still, the liberal scent of our newspapermen did not appear after 1991 - it existed before, it’s just that after the revolution this virus was in deep hibernation. The Ermak was compared to a useless icicle, the world's first Arctic icebreaker was accused of weakness and infirmity, and its creator was accused of adventurism. The newspaper persecution reached such a level that the most authoritative polar explorer Nansen could not stand it and spoke out in defense of the icebreaker.

Makarov, not paying attention to newspaper scribblers, developed a work plan for modernizing the icebreaker. In Newcastle, the entire bow of the Ermak was to be replaced. While its production was underway, the icebreaker was hard at work in the Baltic. Among his many deeds, one can especially highlight the rescue of the coastal defense battleship "Admiral General Apraksin" from the rocks and the rescue of fishermen who found themselves on a broken ice floe - during this rescue operation, for the first time in the navy and navigation, a wireless telegraph (radio), invented by the Russian engineer A. WITH. Popov. In the spring, "Ermak" returned to Newcastle, where it underwent a thorough alteration - its bow was replaced, the already useless bow engine was dismantled, and the sides were strengthened. The design of the icebreaker stem, in the calculations of which, by the way, the young shipbuilder and future academician A.N. took an active part. Krylov, became standard for all icebreakers for many decades.

"Ermak" after modernization with a new bow

While the Ermak was being modernized to take into account its first voyages in ice, Makarov was waging a protracted battle with domestic officials, who were preventing the icebreaker from being sent to the Arctic again. In the end, it was forced to yield to the admiral’s pressure. In the summer of 1901, Ermak left for the Arctic. On June 21, he left Tromso, Norway, and on the 25th he entered solid ice. Makarov's calculations were confirmed. The icebreaker confidently withstood the elements, the strength of the hull was excellent - no leaks were observed. The modification of the stem was not in vain. However, in early July, “Ermak” encountered such difficult ice conditions that it was only able to break into clean water a month later. The Pole remained an unconquered frontier, swimming in the Arctic ice was still dangerous. This was largely due to non-constructive solutions incorporated into the icebreaker - they were later fully justified by time and experience of long-term operation. “Ermak” simply lacked the power of the power plant - after dismantling the bow steam engine, it did not exceed 7500 hp. Despite the fact that the icebreaker's last voyage was more successful - there were no breakdowns or leaks - upon return, Makarov was relieved of his duties in organizing experimental voyages in the ice. Ermak's place of activity was limited to the Baltic. Stepan Osipovich hatched plans for new expeditions, he believed in his brainchild, but while these issues were being worked out, the Russian-Japanese War began, and the life of Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov was cut short on April 13, 1904 with the death of the battleship Petropavlovsk.

Long service of the icebreaker "Ermak"

“Ermak” also had to take part in this tragic war for Russia. At the insistence of the governor in the Far East, Adjutant General E.I. Alekseev's icebreaker was included in the 2nd Pacific Squadron. The fact is that Vladivostok was a freezing port, and the capacity of the small icebreaker “Nadezhny” located there would not have been enough to support the entire squadron upon arrival. As part of the squadron, Ermak left Libau, but, fortunately for him, one of the steam engines broke down in the area of ​​Cape Skagen. Together with the destroyer Prozrivyvy, which had faulty refrigerators, the icebreaker was sent to Kronstadt. In January 1905, he ensured the departure of the 3rd Pacific squadron of Rear Admiral Nebogatov. In the summer of the same year - leads a large caravan of merchant ships to the mouth of the Yenisei with cargo for the Siberian Railway.

Throughout the decade preceding the First World War, Ermak worked in the Baltic, fighting ice and from time to time providing assistance to ships in difficulty. So in 1908 he removed the cruiser “Oleg” from the stones. In 1909, a radio station was installed on it. With the outbreak of war on November 14, 1914, the icebreaker was mobilized and enlisted in the Baltic Fleet. Despite the need for repairs - the boilers were already old - the icebreaker was actively used. It was planned to be used to remove the German light cruiser Magdeburg from the stones, but due to the severe destruction of the latter, this idea was abandoned.

“Ermak” met the events of 1917 in Kronstadt. Revolution is revolution, but ice has not been canceled. And all winter and spring he provided communication between Kronstadt, Helsingfors and Revel. On February 22, 1918, in connection with the approach of German troops to Revel, the icebreaker provided escort for two submarines and two transports to Kronstadt. From March 12 to April 22, the famous Ice Transit of the Baltic Fleet from the Finnish bases to Kronstadt took place. The icebreaker "Ermak" guided more than 200 ships and vessels through the ice. The Baltic Fleet made the transition in detachments, and, having escorted the next of them, the icebreaker again had to return to Helsingfors. For the ice campaign, the Ermak team was awarded the Honorary Red Banner.

More or less regular work resumed in 1921, when the Baltic Shipyard finally managed to repair the icebreaker. Until 1934, Ermak continued to work in the Baltic. Great importance was attached to his activities - after all, he created the working conditions for the Petrograd port. For example, in 1921 the port provided 80% of Soviet Russia's foreign trade. Finally, after an almost 30-year break, the icebreaker returns to the Arctic to escort ice caravans. In 1935, it was even equipped with an on-board seaplane Sh-2. In 1938, Ermak took part in the evacuation of the first Soviet polar station, North Pole 1. The intense navigation of 1938 (as many as five caravans of ships that needed help were wintering in Artik at that time) affected the technical condition of the ship - long-awaited repairs were required. A larger volume of work, including improving the living conditions of the crew (a new canteen, radio-equipped cockpits, a cinema booth and a laundry), was planned to be carried out in Leningrad. "Ermak" in the fall of 1939, already through the combat zone, comes to the Baltic. But the outbreak of the war with Finland, and then the Great Patriotic War, prevented these plans.

On October 4, 1941, the honored ship was mobilized again. It was equipped with weapons: two 102 mm guns, four 76 mm guns, six 45 mm guns and four DShK machine guns. "Ermak" takes part in the evacuation of the garrison of the Hanko naval base, guides ships to positions for shelling the enemy, and escorts submarines. After the blockade of Leningrad was lifted, the ship provided shipping between Leningrad and the ports of Sweden.

After the war, “Ermak” needed major repairs - domestic shipyards were loaded and the “old man” was sent to Antwerp (Belgium). Here, in 1948–1950, its major renovation was carried out. On April 1, 1949, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of service, the ship was awarded the Order of Lenin. After the repairs were completed, the icebreaker returned to Murmansk, where it was now assigned. In the spring of 1953, Ermak received the latest radio equipment and the Neptune onboard radar. Next year - one of the first Mi-1 helicopters.

In 1956, together with another icebreaker "Captain Belousov", the veteran of the Arctic lines set a record - escorted a caravan of 67 ships. Ermak also took part in testing the first Soviet nuclear submarines (projects 627a “Kit” and 658).

Is Aurora enough for us?

Technological progress did not stand still. On December 3, 1959, the first nuclear-powered icebreaker Lenin entered service in the Soviet fleet. New diesel-electric icebreakers have also appeared. The archaic steam engine was becoming a relic of the past. At the end of 1962, the “grandfather” of the Russian icebreaker fleet made its last voyage to the Arctic. He returned to Murmansk accompanied by an honorary escort from the nuclear-powered icebreaker "Lenin". The lined up warships greeted the veteran with crossed beams of searchlights. The honored ship found itself at a crossroads - the repairs it needed were no longer practical. There were two options left: a museum or dismantling for scrap. In September 1963, “Ermak” was examined by an authoritative commission, which recognized the impossibility of its further operation. But if the icebreaker was already a little old for the ice of the Arctic, the condition of the hull fully allowed installation for eternal mooring.

A real struggle unfolded for Ermak. The outstanding Soviet polar explorer I.D. played an active role in protecting the ship and trying to turn it into a museum. Papanin. The government and the Ministry of the Navy received a stream of letters from sailors, scientists, and polar explorers with requests to preserve the Ermak for posterity. But the old icebreaker had enough opponents, and, unfortunately, they occupied high positions. Deputy Minister of the Navy A.S. Kolesnichenko seriously said that “Ermak” does not have any(!) special merits: “The Aurora is enough for us.” In the spring of 1964, after Kolesnichenko’s meeting with Khrushchev, the idea of ​​preserving the ship as a monument was finally buried. The then General Secretary generally treated the fleet with a feeling similar to irritation. In the cold summer of 1964, a farewell to the veteran took place in Murmansk - he was towed to a ship cemetery awaiting cutting into metal. In December of the same year, “Ermak” passed away. The cost of its disposal was almost double the cost of converting it into a museum.

All that remains of Ermak. Modern photo

You can philosophize for a long time on the topic of preserving maritime traditions and caring for history. These are examples much more worthy than the massacre of the world's first Arctic icebreaker. The British carefully preserve Nelson's flagship, the battleship Victory, compared to which Ermak was not so old. The world's first iron battleship, Warrior, is still afloat, having spent its entire service in the metropolis. When the question of disposing of the decommissioned American battleship Alabama arose in 1962, residents of the state of the same name created a public commission to raise funds to buy the ship and turn it into a museum. Part of the required amount ($100 thousand) was raised by schoolchildren using 10- and 5-cent coins, saving on lunches and breakfasts. "Alabama" is now one of the major US naval museums. Would Soviet schoolchildren really be less conscientious? To be fair, it should be noted that the icebreaker “Lenin” was permanently moored in 1989. It’s good that they managed to do this before the country he served disappeared. The installation of the cruiser "Mikhail Kutuzov" as a museum ship seems to confirm the course towards preserving historical memory. Otherwise, our ships will become decorations of foreign ports, such as the Kyiv and Minsk aircraft carriers.

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Icebreaker "Ermak"

The idea of ​​creating a powerful icebreaker suitable for conducting research in the Arctic and extending navigation in Russian ports was first thought about by the outstanding figure and innovator of the Russian Navy, Vice Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov. Makarov expressed the idea of ​​​​creating such a vessel in the winter of 1892 precisely in connection with the problem of reaching the North Pole. The admiral began the actual implementation of the project five years later. In October-November 1897, a commission was created to develop specifications for the future icebreaker, in which D.I. took part. Mendeleev, as well as a number of engineers and shipbuilders. Soon a competition took place between three companies - Burmeister and Wein (Denmark), Armstrong, Whitworth and Co. (Britain) and Pillau (Germany). The most favorable conditions were offered by Armstrong's company, so the choice fell on it.

Basic technical data of the Ermak: length - 97.5 m, width - 21.64 m, draft - 8.55 m; displacement - 8730 tons; steam engine power – 6950 hp; speed – 14 knots; ice penetration 0.8-1.6 m; crew (during different periods of service) 102-150 people.

The construction of the icebreaker proceeded at an accelerated pace and on February 4, 1899 the ship was presented for delivery, and a month later the Ermak entered the Kronstadt harbor. The icebreaker calmly overcame ice 0.6-0.9 m thick. In 1900, Ermak took part in the rescue of the coastal defense battleship Admiral General Apraksin, which on November 13, 1899, as a result of a navigation error, jumped onto a sandbank in the south -eastern coast of Gogland Island. In April 1900, Ermak managed to pull the battleship off a rock ridge and bring it safely to the port.

Soon the first scientific expeditions took place, organized by S.O. Makarov. The first voyage lasted from May 29 to June 14, 1900. Near the southern tip of Spitsbergen, a leak was discovered in the hull, and the icebreaker had to return back to Newcastle for repairs. But the damage to the hull was minor and overall the expedition turned out to be quite effective. The second voyage began on July 14 and ended on August 16 of the same year. His route also took place in the Spitsbergen area. Another campaign took place from May 16 to September 1, 1901. The ice in the northern part of Novaya Zemlya turned out to be impassable for the Ermak. Nevertheless, it was possible to achieve considerable success - to complete two flights to Franz Josef Land, to compile a map of Novaya Zemlya from Sukhoy Nos to the Admiralty Peninsula, to collect a large amount of materials on glaciology, deep-sea and magnetic research.

But this voyage put an end to Ermak’s polar expeditions for 33 years. In October, the icebreaker was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Port Affairs Committee and was engaged in servicing the Baltic commercial ports. During the first ten years of operation in the Baltic, Ermak carried over 618 ships through the ice.

In February 1918, in connection with the approach of German troops to Revel, the evacuation of ships of the Baltic Fleet began. This operation was successful thanks to Ermak. During the “Ice Campaign” from Helsing Force to Kronstadt, which lasted from March 12 to April 22, 236 ships and vessels were withdrawn, including six battleships and five cruisers.

Until 1934, the icebreaker provided navigation in the Baltic ice, and that year, for the first time since 1901, it launched an assault on Arctic ice. For the next five years, the icebreaker’s work was structured according to the following scheme: during the year it worked in the Arctic, and at the end of navigation it returned to Leningrad and was engaged in escorting ships in the Baltic.

"Ermak"

In 1938, the icebreaker participated in the evacuation of polar explorers from the North Pole-1 station. The winterers rescued by the icebreaker Taimyr (I.D. Papanin, P.P. Shirshov, E.T. Krenkel and E.K. Fedorov) moved to Ermak and the station’s equipment was reloaded. In December 1939, having crossed the combat zone, the icebreaker moved from Murmansk to Liepaja, and then to Leningrad. He had to work and fight in the Baltic until 1947.

When the Soviet-Finnish War began on November 30, 1939, Ermak continued to free both merchant ships and warships from the ice. The icebreaker was equipped with anti-aircraft weapons, and not in vain: enemy air attacks had to be repelled more than once.

The Ermak met the beginning of the Great Patriotic War while being repaired in the Leningrad port. On June 27, 1941, the icebreaker was handed over to the Red Banner Baltic Fleet along with the crew and all its equipment. Artillery weapons were reinstalled on the icebreaker. In November, it was aimed at providing ice support for ships between Leningrad and Kronstadt. During November and December, the Ermak made 16 voyages, each of which was associated with considerable danger (for example, on December 8, in the Peterhof area, the icebreaker hit a mine, received significant damage, but remained in service). In total, during the first military navigation, “Ermak” piloted 89 ships. But starting in January 1942, due to the lack of coal, it stood idle for almost two and a half years. Operation of the icebreaker became possible only in 1944, after the siege of Leningrad was lifted. On November 6, 1944, Ermak was demobilized from the fleet. The crew returned to the icebreaker (most of whom had gone to fight on the land front) and its 46th ice navigation began in December.

In August 1946, thanks to the Ermak, it was possible to save a floating dock that was towed onto rocks eight miles from the Swedish port of Gothenburg. The dock was pulled off the rocks and towed to the destination port of Bergen. In 1947, the Ermak went to the Arctic for the first time after the war, where, together with the icebreaker North Pole, it escorted caravans in the Kara Sea. In 1948-1950 The icebreaker was undergoing repairs in the port of Antwerp.

On July 28, 1950, Ermak returned to Murmansk. Now it was assigned to the Murmansk commercial port and was under the jurisdiction of the Arkhangelsk (since 1953 - Murmansk) Arctic Shipping Company. In 1953-1954. The icebreaker was equipped with the latest radio equipment, radar, and direction finder. At the same time, one of the first samples of the Mi-1 helicopter was tested on it. In 1954-1955 "Ermak" was the flagship of the icebreaker fleet in the western sector of the Arctic, where it remained the only linear icebreaker at that time. During his time working in the Arctic, he had the opportunity to perform a variety of tasks: escorting and freeing ships trapped in ice and in distress, helping geological parties cut off from the mainland.

By the beginning of the 1960s. It became clear that due to the significant age of the vessel, as well as the entry into operation of the nuclear-powered icebreaker Lenin and new diesel-electric icebreakers, further operation of the Ermak became unprofitable. At the end of 1962, he made his last voyage to the Arctic, from which he returned to Murmansk, accompanied by the nuclear-powered icebreaker Lenin. A ceremonial welcome was prepared for the Ermak: it walked along the line of warships, which greeted it with crossed beams of searchlights.

The government and the Ministry of the Navy received numerous letters from sailors and polar explorers with proposals to turn the Ermak into a monument ship. I.D. took an active part in this. Papanin. The discussion also took place on the pages of various newspapers, including Pravda. Finally, on December 12, 1963, an order was signed by the Minister of the Navy on the free transfer of Ermak to the Murmansk Higher Naval School. But this decision was opposed by officials from the Ministry of Marine Fleet, led by Deputy Minister A.S. Kolesnichenko (it was he who spoke in one of the newspaper discussions with the words that “... the ship does not have any special merits”). Kolesnichenko reached the highest authorities, right up to N.S. Khrushchev and, unfortunately, achieved his goal: on May 23, 1964, the Minister of the Navy issued an order No. 107 to write off the Ermak and cancel the previous order. For cutting up the ship, Vtorchermet asked for approximately twice the amount required for repairs and permanent installation of the icebreaker...

This is how an Arctic veteran ended his life in an absurd manner. The memory of him remained in the exhibition of museums in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Murmansk and Odessa, where some relics from the Ermak were transferred. And ten different geographical locations in the Arctic and Antarctic are named in honor of “Ermak”. In 1976, the Finnish-built diesel-electric icebreaker Ermak entered service.