''Krišjānis Valdemārs'' was an

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 ...

of the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Republic of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

from 1926 to 1941. It was designed to clear shipping lanes from the ice in the freezing

port of Riga Riga Free Port () is a major port on the east coast of the Baltic Sea, located in Riga, the capital of Latvia. It stretched for 15 kilometers along both banks of the Daugava within the city limits, the area of the port is 1962 ha, water area - ...

, but was also used for escorting the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and members of the government on foreign visits.

Description

It had a tonnage of . The vessel long with a beam of and a draught of . The ship had an engine rated at . The maximum speed of the vessel in free water was and in hard, smooth ice, .

History

The ship was ordered in 1924–1925 by the Latvian government and built at

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Shipyard. The icebreaker was given the name of the spiritual leader of

The First Latvian National Awakening The First Latvian National Awakening or the First Awakening () was a cultural and national revival movement between 1850 and 1880 among the Young Latvians, a group of well-educated Latvians, who, opposed to the Baltic Germans, Baltic German domi ...

and the most prominent member of the

Young Latvians New Latvians () is the term most often applied to the intellectuals of the First Latvian National Awakening (), active from the 1850s to the 1880s. The movement was modeled on the Young Germany () movement led by Heinrich Heine. Originally a d ...

movement

Krišjānis Valdemārs Krišjānis Valdemārs (in Germanized spelling as Christian Waldemar or Woldemar) (2 December 1825 at Vecjunkuri in Ārlava parish (now Valdgale parish, Courland, Latvia) – 7 December 1891 in Moscow, Russia) was a writer, editor, Education, edu ...

(1825–1891). ''Krišjānis Valdemārs'' sailed on 13 January 1926 on its first voyage from the port of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. The first captain of the icebreaker was Kārlis Cērpe (1875–1931). After his death Captain Fricis Veidners (1883–1942) and Pēteris Maurītis (1887–?) succeeded in command. After the

Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 The Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 refers to the military occupation of the Republic of Latvia by the Soviet Union under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany and its Secret Additional Protocol signed i ...

the ship was nationalized. At the end of August 1941 ''Krišjānis Valdemārs'' took part in

Soviet evacuation of Tallinn The Soviet evacuation of Tallinn, also called Juminda mine battle, Tallinn disaster or Russian Dunkirk, was a Soviet operation to evacuate the 190 ships of the Baltic Fleet, units of the Red Army, and Soviet civilians from the fleet's encircled ...

Kronstadt Kronstadt (, ) is a Russian administrative divisions of Saint Petersburg, port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Saint Petersburg, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg, near the head ...

, but struck a

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are ...

on 28 August and sunk. ''Krišjānis Valdemārs'', loaded with cargo, was bombed and sunk in the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a twin-engined multirole combat aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works. It was used extensively during the Second World War by the ''Luftwaffe'' and became one o ...

aircraft of Kampfgeschwader 77,

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

Finding the wreck

In 2011,

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n submarine archaeologist Vello Mäss was able to identify the wreck of ''Krišjānis Valdemārs'' at a depth of about by submerged filming in the

near Mohni Island near Juminda Cape.
Kuģa Krišjānis Valdemārs vraks atrasts Somu jūras līcī
daivings.lv

References

{{Icebreakers of Latvia Ships of Latvia Icebreakers of Latvia Shipwrecks in the Gulf of Finland Ships sunk by mines World War II shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea Icebreakers of the Soviet Union Ships built in Glasgow Royal and presidential yachts

Description

History

Finding the wreck

See also

References