Icebreaker Ermak where. Icebreaker "Ermak. Negotiations with the manufacturer and the construction of the ship

4. S. Dolgova. "White Crow" in the history of the icebreaker "Ermak"

This story began with an unusual phone call from the Museum of the World Ocean. As a representative of a museum in Moscow, I was informed that a resident of the small town of Reutov near Moscow, on the ninth floor of an ordinary high-rise building, has a piano from the legendary icebreaker Ermak. It was impossible to believe it. The famous Yermak was decommissioned for scrap in Murmansk back in 1965, and those few exhibits - the helm, rynda, anchor, flag and some other rarities left for history as symbols of the firstborn of the icebreaking fleet, have long found their place in the museums of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. How could a unique piano from the Ermak, the keys of which were touched by the hands of E.V. Toll, S.O. Makarov and many other famous explorers of the Arctic, end up in the Moscow region?

The story of the mistress of the musical instrument opened a little-known page not only for historians, but also for most experienced “Arctic wolves” in the biography of “Ermak”, which is associated with the name of Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Smirnov, the last captain of the legendary icebreaker. Smirnov gave "Yermak" almost thirty years of his life, having gone from stoker to captain. The fate of our hero is unusual - in life he was a typical "black sheep". But everything is in order.

Piano in the wardroom of the icebreaker "Ermak" 1899

Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Smirnov - the last captain of the icebreaker "Ermak"

V. V. Smirnov was born on July 10, 1898 in St. Petersburg, into a noble family. His grandfather, and then his father, were successfully and profitably engaged in the production of vodka, the famous Smirnovka. But the family business did not captivate the young man. He enters one of the cadet corps in St. Petersburg. Vyacheslav likes to study. Among his peers, he is distinguished by great diligence and accuracy, his calligraphic handwriting is cited as an example to others. In addition to good manners, a young man is instilled with a love of music and poetry from childhood. Vyacheslav is fluent in several foreign languages. He has a bright future ahead of him, but his life is drastically changed by the revolutionary events in Russia.

In October 1917, the still very young V.V. Smirnov and his fellow students became defenders of the Winter Palace. The turbulent events of the October Socialist Revolution draw a line under his past life, change his way of thinking and values. The youthful perception of reality is being replaced by meaningfulness, which helps him accept the victory of the October Revolution as a natural phenomenon. This decision divorces him from his family forever. Vyacheslav's father, after his factory was nationalized, goes abroad. Our hero chooses a different path in life, it is more important for him to serve the Fatherland, to which he swore allegiance, and to remain with his people. Having made his choice, he still does not know that difficult ups and downs of fate lie ahead of him.

For a long time, the imprint of a past life does not give V. V. Smirnov the opportunity to realize himself. They call him a "barchuk", a "pooch", his biography does not fit into the revolutionary standard. Everything changed after the meeting of our hero with the captain of the icebreaker "Ermak" V. I. Voronin. This happened in 1936. The illustrious ice captain listens attentively to the story of his interlocutor about his life, about his old dream of working in the Arctic.

Back in 1928, Smirnov made an attempt to get on the Krasin icebreaker in order to take part in the rescue of Umberto Nobile's expedition. In his statement to the Italy Airship Assistance Committee, he then wrote that he "wants to help the Italians on behalf of the Russian land." Having been refused, he does not change his dream and still strives to the Arctic in order to conquer high latitudes together with his compatriots. He especially carefully reads articles in newspapers about the campaigns of the Yermak icebreaker. He has known about the first-born of the icebreaker fleet, built by the legendary naval commander S. O. Makarov, since childhood, so he is eager to get on this ship.

And now the dream of V. V. Smirnov is realized thanks to V. I. Voronin. Being a man of a wide soul, the captain takes him to his team as a stoker. Smirnov was immensely happy. For the first time in many years, he felt like a full-fledged person who was believed and given a chance to realize himself in this life.

It was not easy for him on the Yermak: a person with a higher education, fluent in English and French, becomes the object of jokes and ridicule from his fellow stokers. For example, they forced him to clean the scrap to a shine, and then carry it to the check to the senior mechanic, who, examining the metal polished to pristine purity, said to the novice in their hearts: “They are mocking you again.” Of course, Smirnov himself understood this situation. To resolve it, he chose the only correct path. No, he did not flinch in front of these simple, physically strong people, pierced by numerous frightening tattoos, he simply worked on a par with them, and often better.

And the work of the stokers was hard labor. It is no coincidence that they were called "spirits from the underworld", heroes and martyrs of the "coal age" in the navy.

On the Ermak icebreaker, which worked on coal until the middle of the 20th century, there were ten steam boilers, twenty-seven coal pits, into which up to 3,200 tons of coal could be loaded. Steam boilers, operating in the ice of the ship, daily absorbed one hundred or more tons of coal.

On the Ermak, coal, or, as it was called, "prune", had to be thrown into the furnaces manually, with shovels, and the slag was lifted up in three-pound buckets and overturned overboard. The stokers took care of their main tool - a shovel - like the apple of their eye. Everyone had their own, personal. And if it was necessary for someone to switch to another icebreaker, the shovel was sure to take it with them.

The temperature at the fire-breathing roaring furnaces reached such a degree that ordinary clothes ignited. Therefore, the stoker's clothes were simple and unpretentious - a canvas apron and mittens. Often, stokers tied gray nets around their necks with which they wiped sweat, and while washing in the bath they used them instead of washcloths.

The watch at the stokers could last up to eight hours. They breathed poisonous coal dust around the clock, for many weeks and even months in a row. After all, during the Arctic navigation, the icebreaker almost all the time remained on the Northern Sea Route, except for a short visit to Dikson, Tiksi or Providence Bay for bunkering (coal loading).

If we add to this that the living conditions of the stokers on the icebreaker (up to 20 people were accommodated in one cockpit) were extremely cramped, it becomes clear why the stokers were classified as laborers. But at the same time, everyone knew that they were not the last people on the ship, because the progress of the icebreaker depended not only on the quality of the coal, but also on the work of the stokers.

Despite the hard work, the stoker V.V. Smirnov showed himself on the positive side in a variety of situations. Here is one example.

In early February 1938, the captain of the Yermak received an order for an urgent trip to the Greenland Sea to rescue the participants of the drifting polar station North Pole-1: I. D. Papanina, E. K. Fedorova, P. P. Shirshov, T E. Krenkel. The ice floe, on which the polar explorers were based, split, and the brave four were in serious danger.

Repair work was urgently completed on Yermak, and the icebreaker was put into bunkering. Coal was loaded manually. Red Navy men came to the aid of the stokers. A living conveyor, formed of more than a thousand people, to the sounds of a brass band, quickly passed from hand to hand baskets of coal, which were poured into bunkers in a continuous stream. People slept two or three hours a day and went back to work. Among them was Smirnov - exhausting work could not extinguish his cheerful nature.

When the Yermak entered the Gulf of Finland, a competition began between the stokers: whose steam would rather drive the icebreaker to the Papanins. At the same time, V.V. Smirnov was one of the initiators of this initiative. He dreamed of an early meeting with polar explorers. And it took place on February 21, when the Yermak team warmly welcomed the heroes of the Arctic on board the icebreaker.

At this time, an event occurred that Smirnov could not even dream of. I. D. Papanin asked Vyacheslav Vladimirovich to put in ink on the map the drift route of the polar station "North Pole-1". The brilliantly educated stoker quickly and well coped with the request of I. D. Papanin, after which the illustrious polar explorer, who graduated from only 4 classes of the Zemstvo school, attracted V. V. Smirnov, as the owner of excellent handwriting, to the correspondence of his - not always legible - diary entries, made by him on the ice. For a job well done, the stoker from I. D. Papanin received a reward in the form of a bottle of cognac, and new duties from the captain. He was entrusted with filling out the ship's Book of Orders (on the icebreaker it was called the "Book of the Belly"). In addition, he had to draw up various statements, certificates and other documentation, some of which he typed on a Remington typewriter. There was no financial benefit in this, Smirnov was not paid money for this, but they were provided with a separate cabin. It was extremely small (during the construction of the icebreaker, this room was intended for the needs of the ship's priest). But Smirnov was also pleased with this tiny cabin. Now the stoker, after many hours of grueling watch, had the opportunity to come to his separate cabin in order to have a quick rest, and only then sit down to draw up documents.

Another event of this year was no less striking in the life of V. V. Smirnov. At the end of August 1938, the Ermak icebreaker came to the aid of the Sedov, Malygin and Sadko icebreakers, which were forced to drift in the high latitudes of the Central Arctic. However, "Sedov", devoid of control, the icebreaker "Ermak" could not bring to ice-free water. And then the country's leadership decided to leave the icebreaker in the ice, turning it into a drifting research station. They announced the recruitment of volunteers who are ready to stay for a risky wintering. V. V. Smirnov was the first to apply with a request to transfer him to the Sedov team for the duration of the drift. But they did not let him go: he was needed on the Yermak, by this time he was already the trade union head of the ship committee. He was chosen for this position for his benevolent character, for his ability to captivate people with interesting things.

Icebreaker "Ermak" in the ice of the Arctic

Festive reception of the Papaninites on board the icebreaker. In the center of I.D. Papanin

Ermakovites during the landing on the ice. V.V. Smirnov with a harp seal pup

VV Smirnov was the initiator of many sports events. In the winter of 1937, he organized the transition of the Yermak icebreaker's ski team from Leningrad to Moscow. There are archival documents that tell about this event. The cost estimate compiled by V. V. Smirnov during the preparation of the ski crossing shows how attentive he was to people. He thinks through everything to the smallest detail, including suits and ski waxes, but first of all he does not forget about the needs of his comrades, ordering thermoses for hot food for them.

This reveals a distinctive feature of the character of Vyacheslav Vladimirovich - a sensitive attitude towards people. He did not harden through the harsh trials of life.

Separate fragments of V. V. Smirnov's memoirs about certain events on the Yermak have been preserved. They have not been published anywhere, and the reader has the opportunity not only to be the first to learn about distant events in the life of the Yermakovites, but also to supplement the image of this person in the manner of his writing.

Here are excerpts from his notes.

“Before the Great Patriotic War, the Ermak icebreaker had its own brass band. All musicians were stokers. They kept watch together. They were called the musician's watch. The stoker Vasily Popov led the orchestra. For some reason, the musical watch decided that icebreaker captain Vladimir Ivanovich Voronin had a birthday on July 28. The stokers decided to congratulate the captain. By order of the musicians, the baker Paygalak prepared a delicious cake. Musicians with instruments came out on deck. Outside the ship sparkled arctic ice. Lined up. The orchestra boomed. The musicians moved along the wide deck. One of the stokers was importantly carrying a cake. The rest of the crew, not understanding the reason for the celebration, looked with surprise at the marching musicians. The orchestra members approached the captain's cabin, stopped, and at a sign from Popov, the orchestra began to play a carcass. The captain abruptly opened the cabin.

- What's the matter? he asked sternly.

- Congratulations on your birthday, Vladimir Ivanovich! the stokers said in unison.

“Get out immediately,” Voronin ordered sternly. - I don't want to see you here! - He disappeared into the cabin, slamming the door loudly.

The musical watch was confused and instantly disappeared. As it turned out later, the captain's birthday was not on that day. The embarrassed musicians moved to their cockpit, sat down at the table and began to eat cake with pleasure. They talked noisily, condemning themselves for an untimely undertaking.

Very simply, concisely, without mockery, VV Smirnov describes this amusing story. Surprisingly, he, having experienced numerous mockeries of others, never allowed himself to be taunted by his offenders.

Music on "Ermak" sounded not only in the performance of a brass band.

In his free time from the watch, V.V. Smirnov liked to sit down at the piano in the wardroom and play classical music. According to the memoirs of the Yermakovites, the music of Chopin and Schumann sounded more often than others.

In 1938, Mikhail Yakovlevich Sorokin, a highly educated captain, an experienced sailor, a former naval officer, took over from V.I. Voronin, a participant in the Tsushima battle. The new captain played the same significant role in the fate of our hero as V. I. Voronin.

Vyacheslav Vladimirovich recalled M. Ya. Sorokin with special pride in connection with the events of the Great Patriotic War.

The war found "Ermak" in the Baltic. Already from the first months of the war, the icebreaker, conducting caravans of ships with equipment and troops, was under fire from German batteries and aircraft. But the most severe test for the Yermakovites was one of the autumn days of 1941.

On September 23, M. Ya. Sorokin received a warning: an armada of enemy aircraft was moving towards Kronstadt, where the Yermak was standing at that time. The captain, saving the icebreaker, brought him to the Great Roadstead. Soon more than a hundred fascist planes appeared in the air. The sky, according to eyewitnesses, at that time became literally black from bombers. The main mass moved to Kronstadt, and the detached group of "Junkers", consisting of thirty-six aircraft, chose the icebreaker "Ermak" as their target. An unequal duel ensued. Realizing that the weapons installed on board the icebreaker were not designed for such a massive attack, the Nazis openly mocked the Yermakovites. They staged a "carousel" - alternately, with a howl, one by one or in groups, swooped down on the icebreaker, dropping dozens of bombs. But thanks to the skill and self-control of M. Ya. Sorokin, the mighty Yermak masterfully avoided bombs flying directly at the icebreaker. The water around the icebreaker literally boiled. According to the memoirs of V.V. Smirnov, it was Captain Sorokin who inspired the Yermakovites with his calmness and restraint. He gave clear and precise commands. So, for example, he turned to the stokers by phone: "Come on, guys, turns and a couple, the bomb is not ours, not ours."

V. V. Smirnov himself describes the events of this battle as follows: “I fed shells from the hold. If you raise your head, the black fascist cross hangs over you again. Close your eyes: well, the end! For several hours of battle, this thought scalded a thousand times.

The skill and composure of an experienced captain, as well as the courage of the entire crew, saved the Yermak - not a single bomb hit the legendary ship.

The Yermakovites deserved awards for their feat, our hero received the Order of the Red Star for his courage.

A calm, balanced, educated stoker, able to courageously hold himself in the most difficult situations, aroused the respect of Captain Sorokin. Therefore, it is not surprising that immediately after the end of the war, he addressed a letter to the All-Union Starosta (Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR) M. I. Kalinin with a request to give V. V. Smirnov the opportunity to take the position of navigator on the Yermak. M. Ya. Sorokin honestly and frankly wrote to the highest authority of the country that he trusts this person and vouches for him. Over the decade of his service on the icebreaker, the stoker Smirnov proved in practice his devotion to the fatherland.

The answer from Moscow came positive, but with a caveat - V.V. Smirnov does not have the right to occupy a position higher than 4 assistant captains.

After graduating from the school of navigators of the icebreaker fleet, V.V. Smirnov became a navigator on the Yermak. His authority as a specialist is indisputable. This is confirmed by the words of M. Ya. Sorokin, which he, going to sail, said: “I won’t go without Smirnov. He can navigate the ship with his eyes closed."

Despite the promotion, V.V. Smirnov did not become conceited. He was extremely courteous and polite to all team members. They sometimes used this when they asked him to defend another watch. But even in the changed circumstances, he remained a "black sheep". Having received a navigator's position, Vyacheslav Vladimirovich did not part with his small cabin, in which he was settled back in the days when he served as a stoker. He did not exchange it for another, more comfortable one. To the surprised questions, he answered: “It’s so convenient for me.” Smirnov did not smoke, did not recognize plentiful feasts, did not drink vodka at all and did not swear - this caused smiles from those people who believed that all of the above was a necessary component for people in Arctic voyages. Another reason to make fun of him was caused by his manner of saying “eat” and at the same time saluting “under the heel”. This habit has remained with our hero since his young cadet years. They made fun of him, but at the same time he did not become embittered and did not withdraw, on the contrary, he knew how to attract people to him. When V.V. Smirnov sat down at the piano in the wardroom and took the first chords of his favorite classical works, everyone fell silent and listened ... He played soulfully, very expressively, could touch the most intimate strings of the human soul, and also perfectly recited poems, mostly Russian poets.

But despite the fact that V. V. Smirnov was an active participant in amateur performances and was often in the public eye, he was careful in communication, he could trust few people. The exception was his friendly relations with Pavel Grigorievich Miroshnichenko, the first mate of the Yermak, and later its captain.

Shturman V.V. Smirnov paves the way for the icebreaker "Ermak"

V.V. Smirnov (Left) at the machine telegraph "Ermak"

Together they kept the morning watch (from four to eight o'clock), and they had enough time to get to know each other in detail. Despite the difference in age (the first mate was younger), they had a lot in common, they understood each other. Having learned about all the ups and downs of the life of the fourth navigator, the first mate supported him in every possible way, and if necessary, he could stand up for his comrade.

On the 65th anniversary of V. V. Smirnov, P. G. Miroshnichenko gave him the most significant gift in his life.

Shortly before the anniversary of the fourth navigator, during the inventory on the Yermak, St. Andrew's flag was found in one of the cockpits, which fluttered on the icebreaker until 1917. P. G. Miroshnichenko washed the frayed and dirty cloth, hemmed it, put it in order, and on the birthday of his friend, July 10, 1963, in the wardroom in a solemn atmosphere handed it over to the birthday man from the entire Yermak team. Vyacheslav Vladimirovich was shocked by this gift. He accepted the St. Andrew's flag, got down on one knee, kissed it, pressed it to his chest and burst into tears. He explained to all those present that in his youth he swore allegiance to this flag and remained faithful to it, for him the St. Andrew's flag is still the holy of holies.

This gift was dear to V.V. Smirnov also because he had a piece of Yermak in his hands. By this time, the first-born of the Russian icebreaker fleet had completed its last Arctic navigation, the cars on it were stopped, its future fate was being decided - whether the legendary icebreaker would become a museum or ingloriously be scrapped.

VV Smirnov did not look indifferently at this alarming situation. He wrote a letter to the most important person in the country - the first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee N. S. Khrushchev with a proposal to leave the legendary ship for posterity as a museum. The answer, signed by the Deputy Minister of the Navy of the USSR A. Kolesnichenko, came quite quickly. It contains dry, laconic phrases of an official addressed to V.V. Smirnov:

“Your proposal, expressed in an address to Comrade N. S. Khrushchev, about preserving the Yermak l / c and turning it into a museum cannot be considered expedient.

The repair of the Ermak icebreaker, taking into account docking and elimination of water leaks, will cost more than 50 thousand rubles, keeping afloat at least 7 thousand rubles. per month without the cost of heating and lighting ... "

Several numbers, and on the scale of a huge country, quite insignificant, decided the fate of Yermak.

The public of the country and polar explorers joined the fight against the officials.

But in September 1963, the last point was put in the fate of Yermak. According to the results of the inspection of the vessel in the Murmansk port, an act of the technical condition of the icebreaker was prepared. On the basis of this document, 10 members of the commission issued their opinion, in which they finally signed the death warrant for the Yermak icebreaker.

Icebreaker "Ermak"

The last crew of the icebreaker "Ermak" 06/01/1963

For V. V. Smirnov, this was a shock. The legendary icebreaker was not only a home for him, but also a friend. In the fate of our hero, "Ermak" played a decisive role - it made it possible to change his life path, to believe in himself. Here he faithfully served for almost thirty years and knew the icebreaker thoroughly.

For himself, V.V. Smirnov decided that he would not part with Yermak until the last minute of his life. And in the future he will do everything possible to perpetuate his memory.

Therefore, when there were no people willing to take over the powers of the captain of the dying Yermak, Vyacheslav Vladimirovich agreed to become one. And on November 4, 1964, he officially assumed the post of captain of the Yermak.

The icebreaker at that time was standing on Zeleny Cape (the northern part of Murmansk) on 2 anchors and 2 barrels, ready for burning and transfer to the Vtorchermet base.

On the Yermak, the dismantling of parts of the ship's mechanisms, which were supposed to be used on other ships or onshore installations, was being completed.

The icebreaker team consisted of several people - a watch, a senior mechanic and a driver. They left a work boat to communicate with the shore.

On the orphaned ship, V.V. Smirnov often came to the wardroom and played his favorite classical melodies on the piano. In those moments it seemed to him that he was brightening up the loneliness of the Yermak.

The captain's favorite musical instrument has become an integral part of life. And when, during the disarmament of Yermak, the question arose of what to do with the piano, no one doubted that the musical instrument should be given to V.V. Smirnov when decommissioned. By order of the head of the Department of the Arctic and Icebreaker Fleet of the Northern Shipping Company, V.V. Smirnov was awarded a valuable gift - a piano - for many years of impeccable work on the Yermak icebreaker. So the unique instrument ended up at home - in the Murmansk apartment of Vyacheslav Vladimirovich.

Another unique exhibit - a three-ton anchor from the "Ermak" with a five-meter chain - was delivered by V.V. Smirnov to the Murmansk Museum of Local Lore. Soon, a memorial sign in honor of the legendary icebreaker was opened on the end side of the museum building. Against the background of a mosaic panel depicting the Yermak, paving the way in the icy expanses of the Arctic, the anchor of the “grandfather” of the icebreaker fleet was set.

This monument has become not only a tribute to the memory of the descendants of the world's first Arctic icebreaker, but also one of the symbols of the city of Murmansk.

V.V. Smirnov at the anchor of the icebreaker "Ermak" during the installation of a commemorative sign in 1965

Memorial sign in honor of the icebreaker "Ermak"

Other rarities from the Ermak - an icebreaker model, a steering wheel, a binnacle and other items of ship equipment - were also carefully dismantled by V.V. Smirnov and sent to Leningrad to the Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic, as well as to the Moscow Museum of the Navy.

In mid-December 1965, Captain Smirnov boarded his pet to say goodbye to him. For the last time, he walked along the decks and cabins of the icebreaker. The brightest pages of Yermak's biography of the last thirty years came to life in my memory. In each of them was a particle of his life.

According to the unchanging maritime tradition, the captain of the Ermak icebreaker, V.V. Smirnov, was the last to leave his ship.

The death of "Ermak" our hero experienced very hard. In this difficult time for him, he was supported by his family and, first of all, by his wife Antonina Nikolaevna, whom he loved very much. With her, he shared all the joys and hardships, he was in constant correspondence with her, leaving for distant Arctic flights on the Yermak.

The music was also a comfort. He, as before, sat down at the unique piano from Yermak and played for a long time, plunging into his memories.

Soon, due to family circumstances, V.V. Smirnov moved from Murmansk to Ufa, but he did not break contact with his comrades in the naval service, he actively corresponded with them until the last days of his life. During the funeral of Vyacheslav Vladimirovich in 1986, according to his will, the coffin was covered with the St. Andrew's flag from the icebreaker "Ermak". Our hero left on his last journey, remaining true to his oath and the cause of life.

And the most precious thing in his life was the piano from the Yermak icebreaker, the last captain of the legendary ship bequeathed to his granddaughter Tatyana, who lives in the Moscow region. In the early 1990s, a priceless cargo sent by container from Murmansk arrived in Reutov and for many years later delighted Tatyana's family with its melodic sound.

V.V. Smirnov did not live very long until the moment when in 1992 the St. Andrew's flag again began to fly over Russian ships, and the state realized the need to create a museum that tells about the domestic history of the icebreaker fleet and its importance in the development of the Arctic. The legendary icebreaker Krasin escaped the sad fate of Yermak. In 1995, the first museum exhibition was opened on board, and since 2004, the Krasin icebreaker has become a branch of the Museum of the World Ocean in St. Petersburg, and materials telling about its predecessor, the Ermak icebreaker, appeared in its expositions. But there were catastrophically few authentic items associated with the firstborn of the icebreaker fleet.

And at that time, the museum became aware of the piano from the Yermak. The granddaughter of our hero T. B. Mikheeva decided to donate the unique musical instrument and archive of V. V. Smirnov to the museum. It became obvious to her that family heirlooms should be displayed in the museum on the Krasin icebreaker in order to preserve the thread of time between people and events in the history of the Arctic.

Since 2008, the piano from the Ermak icebreaker has been exhibited in St. Petersburg on the Krasin icebreaker. Museum visitors can see it in the exposition dedicated to the firstborn of the icebreaker fleet. The ancient instrument, made of mahogany with ivory keys, has a special feature. The most attentive visitor will notice that its body is weighted with metal bolts. This is a hallmark of all ship pianos. In this way, the musical instrument was given stability even with the strongest pitching. After the restoration, the piano from the Yermak acquired its former sound. And if earlier S.O. Makarov, E.V. Toll, O.Yu. Schmidt, E.K. Fedorov, P.P. generations of Russians interested in the history of the conquest of the polar latitudes.

But the special value of this unique piano lies in the fact that it is connected with the amazing life story of the last captain of the Yermak, Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Smirnov, a cadet, stoker, musician, navigator - conqueror of the Arctic and a great patriot of the Russian fleet.

Piano from the icebreaker "Ermak" in the exposition of the museum-icebreaker "Krasin" Document 1 Estimate prepared by V.V. Smirnov in 1937

Icebreaker "Ermak"

Vice-Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov, an outstanding figure and innovator of the Russian Navy, first thought about the implementation of the idea of ​​​​creating a powerful icebreaker suitable for conducting research in the Arctic and prolonging navigation in the ports of Russia. 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 took up the actual implementation of the project five years later. In October-November 1897, a commission was created to develop a specification for the future icebreaker, in which D.I. Mendeleev, as well as a number of engineers and shipbuilders. Soon a competition took place between three firms - Burmeister and Wein (Denmark), Armstrong, Whitworth and Co. (Britain) and Pillau (Germany). The most favorable conditions were offered by Armstrong's firm, so the choice fell on it.

The main technical data of "Ermak": length - 97.5 m, width - 21.64 m, draft - 8.55 m; displacement - 8730 tons; steam engine power - 6950 hp; speed - 14 knots; icebreaking 0.8-1.6 m; crew (in 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 surrender, and a month later, Yermak entered the harbor of Kronstadt. The icebreaker calmly overcame ice with a thickness of 0.6-0.9 m. In 1900, Yermak took part in the rescue of the coastal defense battleship General-Admiral Apraksin, which on November 13, 1899, as a result of a navigational error, jumped out onto the shallows south of -east coast of Gogland Island. In April 1900, "Ermak" managed to pull the battleship off the stone ridge and bring it safely to the port.

Soon the first scientific expeditions organized by S.O. Makarov. The first voyage lasted from May 29 to June 14, 1900. A leak was discovered in the hull near the southern tip of Spitsbergen, and the icebreaker had to return back to Newcastle for repairs. But the damage to the hull was minor and, in general, 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 passed in the Svalbard region. 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 Yermak. Nevertheless, considerable success was achieved - to complete two voyages to Franz Josef Land, to map Novaya Zemlya from Dry Nose 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 the polar expeditions of Yermak for 33 years. In October, the icebreaker was transferred to the Committee for Port Affairs and was engaged in servicing the commercial ports of the Baltic. During the first ten years of work in the Baltic, Yermak spent over 618 ships in the ice.

In February 1918, in connection with the approach of German troops to Reval, the evacuation of the ships of the Baltic Fleet began. This operation was successful thanks to Yermak. During the "Ice Campaign" from Helsingfors 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 ice of the Baltic, and in that year, for the first time after 1901, it launched an assault on the Arctic ice. For the next five years, the work of the icebreaker was built according to the following scheme: during the year he worked in the Arctic, and at the end of navigation he returned to Leningrad and was engaged in escorting ships in the Baltic.

"Ermak"

In 1938, the icebreaker took part in the evacuation of polar explorers from the North Pole-1 station. The winterers rescued by the Taimyr icebreaker (I.D. Papanin, P.P. Shirshov, E.T. Krenkel and E.K. Fedorov) crossed to the Ermak and the equipment of the station was overloaded. In December 1939, having made the transition through the war zone, the icebreaker moved from Murmansk to Liepaja, and then to Leningrad. In the Baltic he had to work and fight until 1947.

When the Soviet-Finnish war began on November 30, 1939, Yermak continued to free both merchant ships and warships from the ice. Anti-aircraft weapons were installed on the icebreaker, and not in vain: enemy air attacks had to be repelled repeatedly.

The Yermak met the beginning of the Great Patriotic War while being under repair 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 property. Artillery weapons were again installed on the icebreaker. In November, he was sent to provide ice escort for ships between Leningrad and Kronstadt. During November and December, "Ermak" made 16 trips, 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, Yermak escorted 89 ships. But starting in January 1942, due to the lack of coal, he stood motionless for almost two and a half years. The operation of the icebreaker became possible only in 1944, after the blockade of Leningrad was lifted. November 6, 1944 "Ermak" was demobilized from the fleet. The crew returned to the icebreaker (most of which went to fight on the land front) and in December its 46th ice navigation began.

In August 1946, thanks to the Yermak, it was possible to save the floating dock, which was thrown out while being towed onto stones eight miles from the Swedish port of Gothenburg. The dock was pulled off the rocks and towed to the port of destination Bergen. In 1947, Yermak, for the first time after the war, went to the Arctic, where, together with the icebreaker Severny Pole, he was engaged in escorting caravans in the Kara Sea. In 1948-1950. The icebreaker was being repaired in the port of Antwerp.

July 28, 1950 "Ermak" returned to Murmansk. Now it was assigned to the Murmansk Commercial Port and was administered by the Arkhangelsk (since 1953 - Murmansk) Arctic Sea Shipping Company. In 1953-1954. the icebreaker was equipped with the latest radio equipment, a radar, a radio 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 work in the Arctic, he happened to perform a variety of tasks: escorting and freeing ships in distress, jammed with ice, 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 ship, as well as the commissioning of the nuclear icebreaker "Lenin" and new diesel-electric icebreakers, the further operation of the "Ermak" becomes unprofitable. At the end of 1962, he made his last voyage to the Arctic, from which he returned to Murmansk, accompanied by the Lenin nuclear-powered icebreaker. "Yermak" was prepared for a solemn meeting: he passed along the line of warships, which greeted him 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 Yermak into a memorial ship. I.D. took an active part in this. Papanin. The discussion also unfolded 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 gratuitous transfer of the Ermak to the Murmansk Higher Naval School. But this decision was opposed by officials from the Ministry of Marine Fleet, headed by Deputy Minister A.S. Kolesnichenko (it was he who spoke in one of the newspaper discussions with the words that "... there are no special merits behind the ship"). Kolesnichenko reached the highest authorities, up to N.S. Khrushchev and, unfortunately, achieved his goal: on May 23, 1964, the order of the Minister of the Navy No. 107 followed to decommission the Yermak and cancel the previous order. For the cutting of the vessel, Vtorchermet requested approximately twice the amount that was required for the repair and installation of the icebreaker in the eternal parking lot ...

So the veteran of the Arctic ended his life absurdly. The memory of him remained in the exposition of museums in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Murmansk and Odessa, where some relics from the Yermak were transferred. And in honor of "Yermak" ten different geographical points in the Arctic and Antarctic are named. In 1976, the Finnish-built diesel-electric icebreaker Ermak was commissioned.