The ice-breaker "Krassin"

St.Petersburg
St. Petersburg, Leitenat Shmidt emb., 23rd line
Phones: +7 (812) 325-35-47
Web site: http://krassin.ru/en/

This is the only ship that took part in the Arctic battles of World War II, keeping the class of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, a unique "living museum". The museum exposition reveals the history of the ship, at the same time the ship itself is a monument of history and technology. The museum funds contain original maps and drawings of the icebreaker, documents and photographs dedicated to the history of the ship and the history of the Russian icebreaker fleet.

"Krasin" is well known in St. Petersburg, the ship has its own exhibition hall, about 40,000 visitors come on board annually, and he is one of the organizers of the Icebreaker Festival. The Ice Captains Club, the All-Russian Society of Radio Amateurs, and the Krasin Icebreaker Friends Club hold their meetings here. Scientific conferences and meetings are held on board. Krasin is a center for the study of the history of marine polar research and the headquarters of the Russian Marine Heritage Association.

Contemporaries were greatly impressed by her technical perfection. With a displacement of 10,000 tonnes, she had a length of 99.8 m and a beam of 21.6 m. She had steam engines of over 10,000 hp, giving her a top speed in excess of 15 knots, and could break ice up to 4-5 m thick. Due to her unique abilities Krasin served in the Arctic fleet for over half a century, and until the early fifties remained the most powerful icebreaker in the world.

January 21, 1916 — Building commences.
October 1 1916 — The icebreaker Svyatogor joins the Russian Navy's Arctic Ocean fleet.
March 31, 1917 — Svyatogor hoists the St. Andrew's flag.
1918 — Scuttled in the Severnaya Dvina by the Bolsheviks to try to deny access to Arkhangel'sk to the Royal Navy. Refloated by the British and came under British control.
1920 — At the request of the Soviet Union, and flying the Norwegian flag, she was one of the icebreakers which rescued the icebreaking steamer Solovey Budimirovich (later Malygin) adrift in the ice of the Kara Sea.
1921 — Purchased from Britain by the Soviet government, with the involvement of L. Krasin and A. Krylov.
1922-1928 — Operated in the Baltic Sea.
1927 — Svyatogor renamed Krasin.
1928 — Rescued survivors from the crash of Umberto Nobile's dirigible Italia (Italy), and the German cruise-ship Monte Cervantes which had run aground off Spitsbergen.
1928-1934 — Worked in the Arctic.
1934 — Participated in the rescue of survivors of the sinking of Chelyuskin in the Chukchi Sea.
1937-1941 — Escorted freighters on the Northern Sea Route .
1941-1942 — From Vladivostok to Bremerton, Washington, USA for refit; proceeded via Panama Canal to Halifax, Nova Scotia and Reykjavik, Iceland.
1942 — Part of escort for Allied convoy PQ-15 (20 ships), Iceland to Murmansk.
1942-1943 — Returned to Vladivostok, completing circumnavigation started in 1941.
1943-1945 — Worked in the eastern Russian Arctic.
1950-1956 — Operated by the Murmansk Shipping Company.
1956-1960 — Modernized in the Wismar shipyards, GDR (East Germany).
1960-1972 — Escorting freighters on the Northern Sea Route.
1972 — Transferred to the Soviet Ministry of Geology; supporting geological exploration in the arctic.
1974-1989 — обеспечивает работу буровых партий на шельфе Арктики
1992 — Became a historical monument of state significance.
1995 — First exhibition opened.
2002 — принят в Ассоциацию военно-исторических кораблей (HNSA)
February 10, 2004 — Became a branch of the World Ocean Museum, St. Petersburg.
March 31, 2007 — Hoisted the St. Andrew's flag again.
2018 — 90th anniversary of the rescue of Umberto Nobile's expedition and Krasin's triumphal return to Leningrad.