# Russian Ships-Queries



## jim prentice (Dec 18, 2006)

I attach two fotos taken in Leith during December 1968. Thus far I have been unable to ascertain year of build, grt and any other names carried by these vessels.Would be grateful if someone could positively identify the ships.


----------



## poseidon9 (Aug 13, 2010)

This is a good thread. I am not able to say anything to the first question posted here. I have however another question:
Why did the Soviet nuclear icebreakers have such a large passenger capacity?
Vessels like Yamal have been used as cruise-ships and they have large passenger capacities. I wonder, why did they build these vessels with such large extra accommodations? (Perhaps research purposes or troop transport?)
If I remember correctly the first nuclear icebreaker "Lenin" could take up to 1000 persons onboard. What could the purpose have been to provide that vessel with such huge capacities? The western icebreakers take mostly only the crew (and that crew is not very large). Did "Lenin" actually take passengers for cruises? 
"Lenin" is nowadays a museum ship and you find in web lots of pictures of that ship. There seem to be quite large public rooms in deck house and even several heads of state visited that vessel according to informations in web. (I don't want to link those pages, you find them when you write icebreaker Lenin ...)
There seems to be a thread about that vessel, see: http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/showthread.php?t=27916&highlight=Lenin
There is some information for instance in the newspaper article.


----------



## sparkie2182 (May 12, 2007)

Research purposes would be my guess, requiring a large accomodation area.

The Soviet navy submarines had the most enviable selection of detailed seabed contour charts
available to any navy...............the USSR oceanographical knowledge was second to none.


----------



## NAUCLER (Dec 10, 2006)

Also for resueing operations - if a ship in crisis under heavy winter storms - people must have somewhere to spend the voyage. There is this rumour of that the world's first nuclear merchant ship could take 1000 'passengers' - but it is space for transit and rescued people from the North Polar Ocean, and possibly also local village people which had to be transported from a remote village to a larger town in the midst of winter.

In general USSR passenger ships have had extraordinary low passenger certificates compared to similar Western European ships of about the same size. Rarely they had certificates for deck passengers at all, and if so, very few.

If you show the photo in larger size where it is possibly to read the name of the ship hull - I can help you at once!


----------



## poseidon9 (Aug 13, 2010)

It would be interesting to see the deck plan of Lenin, perhaps it's available somewhere in the web. The vessel is now a museum ship, so it's no longer a secret. Maybe they had cabins for all the 1000 people. Any large vessel can of course rescue even that many people, but there were perhaps facilities for that many people. I wonder what the occasions were, when the heads of state visited that vessel? Did they go to Murmansk or did the ship come to Leningrad or even to a foreign port? The photos show a very official looking large meeting or dining room on board and staircases like on passenger vessels of those days.

P.S. If Lenin was a merchant ship? I think that icebreakers were mostly regarded not as merchant vessels those days. For instance Soviet icebreakers were listed in Jane's, so perhaps one should say a "government vessel" (like for instance civilian research vessels). The Savannah was then clearly the first nuclear merchant ship as it was owned also by a commercial shipping company.


----------



## chadburn (Jun 2, 2008)

Russian Merchant Vessel's were under the "Umbrella" of the Soviet Navy and were treat as such by the West. Icebreaker's would have the role of Troopship's


----------



## poseidon9 (Aug 13, 2010)

Soviet merchant vessels were owned by Soviet shipping companies like Baltic Shipping or Black Sea Shipping (for instance). Was Lenin owned by a such state-owned shipping company or directly by a ministry or other state organ? That could determine, if that vessel was a merchant vessel. Anyway, Soviet merchant vessels were not listed in Jane's like Lenin. In some web-sources they call Lenin a "quasi-military" vessel. Anyway, a very interesting ship and of course the first nuclear powered icebreaker in the world and very advanced as a such vessel.


----------



## chadburn (Jun 2, 2008)

Soviet "Merchant" Vessel's were not listed in Jane's but they were drawn and listed elsewhere(*)), I spent six month's of my life doing it.


----------



## John Dryden (Sep 26, 2009)

Can,t answer your question Jim but is it possible they were attatched to to the Russian fishing fleet?If so there are a few folk on the fishing side of SN who have a good knowledge of Russian vessels.


----------



## chadburn (Jun 2, 2008)

There were a number of Russian Research vessel's working around our coast many years ago, their stated purpose was to monitor the outfall's from nuclear power station's for any radioactive content.


----------



## A.D.FROST (Sep 1, 2008)

jim prentice said:


> I attach two fotos taken in Leith during December 1968. Thus far I have been unable to ascertain year of build, grt and any other names carried by these vessels.Would be grateful if someone could positively identify the ships.


Russian Hydrographic vessel take your pick;http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/141523/title/kolguev281974-29/cat/518


----------



## jim prentice (Dec 18, 2006)

Hi Chaps

The names of the Russian vessels are Arktika and Ascold. Sorry for missing that bit of info. Look forward to your feed back.

Jim


----------



## poseidon9 (Aug 13, 2010)

During the Soviet times there were huge fleets of inland river/canal passenger vessels operating and all the larger vessels had cabins for passengers. I have been wondering, whether all these vessels were primarily built for cruising or for scheduled passenger services. What might have been the longest scheduled passenger route operated? (Perhaps Moscow to Astrakhan?).


----------



## jim prentice (Dec 18, 2006)

Many thanks to A D Frost. Have read the previous thread and would agree that the Askold and Arktika are of the Moma class. Query solved.

All the best.

Jim


----------



## poseidon9 (Aug 13, 2010)

Does anyone have any information about Volna class of accommodation vessels? Are they possibly earlier passenger ships? How many vessels did the class have originally, they now seem to have two left. If someone has answers to that exotic question, then many thanks in advance.


----------



## McCloggie (Apr 19, 2008)

There was a lot of "sneaky" stuff going on during the Cold War in the Arctic Circle by both sides - the Americans (allegedly) had listening devices on the sea bed for example and the UK had at least one submarine damaged.

It would not surprise me if the ice breakers had a military capability in addition to their supposed civilian roles.

McC


----------



## A.D.FROST (Sep 1, 2008)

poseidon9 said:


> Does anyone have any information about Volna class of accommodation vessels? Are they possibly earlier passenger ships? How many vessels did the class have originally, they now seem to have two left. If someone has answers to that exotic question, then many thanks in advance.


Is this VOLNA class;

View attachment 29284


----------



## poseidon9 (Aug 13, 2010)

A.D.FROST said:


> Is this VOLNA class;
> 
> View attachment 29284


No, I didn't mean these vessels (although one of the ships seems to be called also Volna). 
The Volna class has at least two accommodation barges, one is in St. Petersburg and the other one possibly somewhere in Vladivostok. They have a length of almost 100 m. There used to be a couple of photos in web of them. I guess the name "Volna" means something like "Wave", that's why it is probably a quite common name for all kinds of vessels in Russia.
P.S. The vessel is listed with brief information and photo in the Naval Institute Guide to the Combat Fleets of the World and this page is to be found also in internet. This is just about all info available. I was looking for info about that class of vessels (when and where built?) and possibly info, if they were originally somekind of passenger vessels (possibly river-sea type?).


----------



## chadburn (Jun 2, 2008)

The vessel shown is of the Passat Class, as indicated the Volna is one of that Class of Research Vessel's


----------



## poseidon9 (Aug 13, 2010)

According to Naval Institute's Guide Volna has the pennant number S-920. She is being referred as "accommodation barge" without any further information. According to that same Guide book similar functions are being taken by other ships including the accommodation hulk Angara (ex. Hela) and ships including larger oceanographic vessels are used also as floating quarters. 
A mention has been done of that vessel on the following website, (please use that link on your own risk, my web security found the page actually fully OK)
http://ship-pics.co.uk/np.htm . You find on that website also a photo of her. That article has also lots of other interesting things and photos from St. Petersburg shipping scene. You find Volna on the photo behind the submarine El Hadj Slimane. (The website has it's own copyright notice, please note that.)


----------



## chadburn (Jun 2, 2008)

I have the "Angara" as a Intergrated Tug Barge (ITB).


----------



## the brit (Jan 31, 2010)

*soviet fishing vessels*

i remember i 1981 being well up North on RFA Olwen, we were trailing a new class of russian ship a kiev class if my memory serves me well, we found her no problem but the area she was in was full of fishing vessels which we or i took to be russian, and there just wasn't 4 or 5 there was more like 35 -50 just full of them with all sort of antennas hanging over the sides and well all over, so i guess they were fishing in another sense of the word. on the way up we had also picked out of the water things that seemed like sonars apparently laid by them pesky ruskys, although i cannot confirm this. that trip was where the bosun was in the rubber dingy and was sat upon a whales back at one time.


----------



## chadburn (Jun 2, 2008)

Every ship has a different noise signature even sister ship's, recording's made of this signature are very handy when it came to an identification. When Fylingdales Early Warning Radar Station was in it's early stage's it had it's very own "Russian Trawler" laid off the Yorkshire Coast "sprouting" some strange antennas like Sprat Star, Square Grate etc, etc.


----------



## david.hopcroft (Jun 29, 2005)

We had one light green hull 'fishing' vessel bristling with antenna sheltering off Mablethorpe once, just over the sea wall opposite Humber Radio/GKZ - Coast Radio Station. We also used to get visits from Inverkeithing giving us outline posters to report any sightings. When the fishing fleet was in our area, a huge number of vessels were involved, even down to small fresh water tankers. No matter how small, they all seemed to have H24 watch on 500kcs. Medivac's were treated with suspicion by our authorities. Apparently it was not always the same guy who went back after treatment !

David
+


----------



## chadburn (Jun 2, 2008)

The run ashore and going back on board with a different head on was a well known "habit" of the Russian's, mind you when I was with the Israeli's they also had the same "habit", otherwise they would have never been able to sail their Gunboat's from France.(*))


----------



## DAVID ALCOCK (Mar 27, 2012)

the accomadation barges were used by the crew of a new ship before the vessel was able cope to by itself ,i saw one in ST PETE with a submarine alongside


----------



## DAVID ALCOCK (Mar 27, 2012)

check Janes f/s for details on accomadation barges and other conversions


----------



## poseidon9 (Aug 13, 2010)

DAVID ALCOCK said:


> check Janes f/s for details on accomadation barges and other conversions


If I remember correctly, they are not listed in Jane's. (Only one other class of accommodation vessels is listed there)


----------



## DAVID ALCOCK (Mar 27, 2012)

Their is only the one standard class of accomadation barges but they have been suplemened by a mixture of other old ships including 5 ATREK class and barges many older ones have been sold or scrapped


----------



## poseidon9 (Aug 13, 2010)

Does anyone know the number of hydrofoils built in Soviet Union/ Russia? They built alone almost 400 units of the Raketa class. If one adds all the other classes like Meteor or Kometa, the number of passenger hydrofoils built must be very high. Some of these vessels were used also in western Europe like on routes from Italian mainland to Capri, on the River Rhine in Germany or on Saronic Gulf near Athens. I have seen a photo taken somewhere in Russia, where dozens of old hydrofoils are being stored on land. There are photos in web showing one of the larger hydrofoils having been converted to yacht (somewhere in Siberia probably).
Anyone with knowledge of this lay-up site of old hydrofoils or with knowledge about exact numbers of hydrofoils built, still in use, etc.?


----------



## DAVID ALCOCK (Mar 27, 2012)

as an add on to the previos question -what has replaced them???improved trains/busses/air??


----------



## poseidon9 (Aug 13, 2010)

DAVID ALCOCK said:


> as an add on to the previos question -what has replaced them???improved trains/busses/air??


You mean the hydrofoils. On some routes by fast monohull vessels and catamarans. On other routes I think they always catered more for pleasure. Many of the hydrofoils were built in 1960s and are simply getting old.


----------



## bobs (Aug 12, 2006)

Hi, Jim (long time no see)
To get back to your original query: They are 'Moma' Class naval survey ships ARKTIKA and ASKOLD, built in Poland by Stocznia Północna, Gdansk from 1967-to 1972 (can't find any exact dates for specific vessels in the class)
Cheers
Bob


----------



## DAVID ALCOCK (Mar 27, 2012)

which is why they followed ARK ROYAL round the world(Applause)


----------



## R396040 (Sep 30, 2008)

I have a dozen or so postcards of Russian ships if anyone is interested would require postage though/ for details contact mr
Stuart H


----------

