''Sadko'' was a Russian and
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
icebreaker
An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...
ship of 3,800
tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s
displacement
Displacement may refer to:
Physical sciences
Mathematics and Physics
*Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...
. She was named after
Sadko
Sadko (russian: Садко) is the principal character in a Russian medieval epic '' bylina''. He was an adventurer, merchant, and '' gusli'' musician from Novgorod.
Textual notes
"Sadko" is a version of the tale translated by Arthur Ransome ...
, a hero of a Russian ''
bylina
A ( rus, были́на, p=bɨˈlʲinə; pl. ) is an Old Russian oral epic poem. Byliny narratives are loosely based on historical fact, but greatly embellished with fantasy or hyperbole. The word derives from the past tense of the verb '' ...
''.
Ship history
She was built in
Low Walker,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in 1912-13 as the icebreaking passenger and freight steamer ''Lintrose''. The length of the ship was and its width was . Launched on 21 January 1913, the vessel was originally constructed for the
Reid Newfoundland Company
The Reid Newfoundland Company was incorporated in September 1901 and was the operator of the Newfoundland Railway across the island from 1901 to 1923. For a time it was the largest landowner in the Dominion of Newfoundland, today the modern Canad ...
. She was enrolled to this owner on 14 March 1913 for ferry service in
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
and was part of the
Alphabet Fleet The Alphabet Fleet was a fleet of vessels owned and operated by the Reid Newfoundland Company as part of the provisioning of the 1898 Railway contract between the Dominion of Newfoundland and the Reid Newfoundland Company. The vessels were named af ...
. In 1915 she was sold to the Imperial Russian Government's Ministry of Commerce and Industry for use as an icebreaker and cargo ship and renamed ''Sadko''. On 20 June 1916, she sank in
Kandalaksha Bay
The Kandalaksha Gulf (, sms, Käddluhtt), fi, Kantalahti) is located in the Republic of Karelia, and Murmansk Oblast in northwestern Russia. Forming the north-western corner of the White Sea, it is one of four large bays and gulfs of this sea ...
with a payload for the construction of the
Kandalaksha–Murmansk railroad.
In 1932-33, ''Sadko'' was salvaged by the
EPRON
EPRON, russian: Экспедиция подводных работ особого назначения (ЭПРОН) "Special Expedition for Underwater Works" —Special-Purpose Underwater Rescue Party, was a government agency of the Soviet Union ...
team led by Timofey Ivanovich Bobritsky, chief engineer. Refloated on 14 October 1933, she underwent repair and a complete refit at
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies o ...
, emerging on 9 July 1934 on a trial voyage. Artur Karlovich Burke (1891-1942) was her captain. Burke also took ''Sadko'' on her first expedition to the
Kara Sea
The Kara Sea (russian: Ка́рское мо́ре, ''Karskoye more'') is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. ...
, which lasted from 22 July to 25 September 1934, confirming the excellent work that had been done in restoring the ship to service. (For his work in ice navigation and scientific research, Burke received the
Order of the Red Star
The Order of the Red Star (russian: Орден Красной Звезды, Orden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 193 ...
(N 3902) on 27 June 1937. He died of tuberculosis at
Solombala,
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies o ...
, in November 1942.)
The next season, in 1935, she took part in an expedition led by
Georgy Ushakov
Georgy Alexeyevich Ushakov (russian: Георгий Алексеевич Ушаков) (17 (30) January 1901 – 3 December 1963) was a Soviet explorer of the Arctic.
Ushakov broke new ground when he surveyed and explored Severnaya Zemlya, togeth ...
(1901-1963) with N.M. Nikolaev as captain of ''Sadko'' and Nikolay N. Zubov (1885-1960) as scientific director, engaging in deep-sea research and an attempt to reach
Kvitøya
Kvitøya (English: "White Island") is an island in the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, with an area of . It is the easternmost part of the Kingdom of Norway. The closest Russian Arctic possession, Victoria Island, lies only to the e ...
in the
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...
.
In the summer of 1937, ''Sadko'' sailed from
Murmansk
Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') i ...
with Nikolay Ivanovich Khramtsov as expedition leader, N.M. Nikolaev as captain of ''Sadko'', and
Vladimir Vize (1886-1954) as scientific director. Also taking part in this expedition was a
Polikarpov U-2SP floatplane capable of landing on and taking off from the ice. The original goal was to sail to Henrietta, Zhokhov and Jeanette Islands in the
De Long group, search for
Sannikov Land
Sannikov Land (russian: Земля Санникова) was a phantom island in the Arctic Ocean. Its supposed existence became something of a myth in 19th-century Russia.
History
Yakov Sannikov and Matvei Gedenschtrom claimed to have seen the ...
and carry out scientific research. The purpose of the expedition was also to find out how the
Northern Sea Route
The Northern Sea Route (NSR) (russian: Се́верный морско́й путь, ''Severnyy morskoy put'', shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route officially defined by Russian legislation as lying east of Nov ...
could be used for regular shipping. But the Soviet naval authorities changed the plans and the ice-breaker was sent instead to help ships in distress in the
Kara
Kara or KARA may refer to:
Geography Localities
* Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture
* Kára, Hungary, a village
* Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township
* Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province
* Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in Da ...
and
Laptev Sea
The Laptev Sea ( rus, мо́ре Ла́птевых, r=more Laptevykh; sah, Лаптевтар байҕаллара, translit=Laptevtar baỹğallara) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, th ...
s.
''Sadko'', however, became itself trapped in fast ice at 75°17'N and 132°28'E in the region of the
New Siberian Islands
The New Siberian Islands ( rus, Новосиби́рские Oстрова, r=Novosibirskiye Ostrova; sah, Саҥа Сибиир Aрыылара, translit=Saña Sibiir Arıılara) are an archipelago in the Extreme North of Russia, to the north o ...
. Other two Soviet icebreakers,
''Sedov'' and
''Malygin'', in the same area researching the ice conditions, became trapped by sea ice as well and drifted helplessly.
Owing to persistent bad weather conditions, part of the stranded crew members and some of the scientists could only be rescued in April 1938. They were evacuated using ANT-6-4M-34R ''Aviaarktika'' aircraft (a specialized Arctic variant of the Tupolev
TB-3
The Tupolev TB-3 (russian: Тяжёлый Бомбардировщик, Tyazhyolyy Bombardirovshchik, Heavy Bomber, civilian designation ANT-6) was a monoplane heavy bomber deployed by the Soviet Air Force in the 1930s and used during the early ...
four-engine bomber) under the command of the famed Soviet Arctic aviator Anatoly Dmitrievich Alekseev (1902-1974). It was only on 28 August 1938 that the icebreaker
''Yermak'' could free two of the three ships stuck at 83°4'N and 138°22'E, ''Sadko'' and ''Malygin''. The third ship, ''Sedov'', had to be left to drift in its icy prison and was transformed into a scientific
Polar Station
A number of governments maintain permanent research stations in the Arctic. Also known as Arctic bases, polar stations or ice stations, these bases are widely distributed across the northern polar region of Earth.
Historically few research sta ...
.
''Sadko'' sank on 11 September 1941 in the
Kara Sea
The Kara Sea (russian: Ка́рское мо́ре, ''Karskoye more'') is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. ...
after running aground on a
submerged bank
An ocean bank, sometimes referred to as a fishing bank or simply bank, is a part of the seabed that is shallow compared to its surrounding area, such as a shoal or the top of an underwater hill. Somewhat like continental slopes, ocean bank sl ...
. Her crew were rescued by the
icebreaker ''Lenin''. Captain A.G. Korelsky was accused of sabotage and shot. Owing to the lack of information about the vessel's loss, as late as 1949 ''Sadko'' was still pictured and described in ''Jane's Fighting Ships''.
[McMurtrie, Francis E., and Raymond V.B. Blackman (1949), ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1949-50'', p. 297. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.]
Memory
An island in the
Nordenskiöld Archipelago
The Nordenskiöld Archipelago or Nordenskjold Archipelago (russian: Архипелаг Норденшельда, Arkhipelag Nordenshel'da) is a large and complex cluster of islands in the eastern region of the Kara Sea. Its eastern limit lies ...
was named after ''Sadko''.
In 1977 a Soviet postage stamp honoring ''Sadko'' was issued, with the first day of issue postmarked at
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
on 27 July 1977.
A Russian postage stamp honoring Nikolay N. Zubov in 2010 included a portrait of Zubov with an illustration of ''Sadko'' at sea.
There is an excellent scale model of ''Sadko'' in the Museum of the
Murmansk Shipping Company
Murmansk Shipping Company (russian: Мурманское морское пароходство), often abbreviated as MSCO, is a Russian shipping company based in Murmansk (hence the name). One of the primary shipping companies operating in Ar ...
in
Murmansk
Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') i ...
.
See also
*
Professor Vize
Vladimir Yulyevich Wiese (russian: Владимир Юльевич Визе; 5 March 1886 – 19 February 1954) was a Russian scientist of German descent who devoted his life to the study of the Arctic ice pack. His name is associated with the ...
*
Konstantin Badygin
*
Malygin (1912 icebreaker)
The steamship ''Malygin'' (''Малыгин'') was a Soviet icebreaker of 3,200 tonnes displacement. She was named after Stepan Malygin.
Design and construction
The icebreaking passenger-cargo ship was built in 1911-12 as ''Bruce'' for the Re ...
, originally ''Bruce'', sister ship of ''Lintrose''
*
Fyodor Litke (1909 icebreaker), originally ''Earl Grey'', another Canadian icebreaker purchased in 1915.
References
External links
А. А. Киселев Работа ЭПРОНа по подъему судов в северных морях (Russian)*
ttp://www.polarpost.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=644 "Садко", ледокольный пароход (Russian)S.S. Lintrose
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadko
Icebreakers of Russia
Icebreakers of the Soviet Union
Ships built on the River Tyne
Shipwrecks in the Kara Sea
White Sea
1913 ships
Maritime incidents in September 1941
Ships built by Swan Hunter