Silatch

Last updated
JM Ilmarinen.jpg
Silatch briefly as Finnish Ilmarinen
History
Naval Ensign of Russia.svg Russia
NameSilatch
Namesake Russian for "strong man"
Builder W. Crichton, Saint Petersburg, Russia [1]
Completed1910 [2]
In service1910–1917
FateCaptured by the Bolsheviks in 1917
Flag of Russian SFSR (1918-1937).svg Soviet Russia
NameSilatch
In service1917–1918
FateCaptured by Finland in 1918
Flag of Finland (state).svg Finland
NameIlmarinen
Namesake Ilmarinen
Owner Finnish Board of Navigation
Port of registry Helsinki, Finland
In service1918–1922
FateHanded over to the Soviet Union in 1922
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soviet Union
NameSilatch [3]
Owner Sovtorgflot [3]
Port of registry Leningrad, Soviet Union [3]
In service1922–late 1950s
General characteristics
Type Icebreaker
Tonnage541  GRT [3]
Displacement910 tons
Length47.0 m (154.2 ft)
Beam10.1 m (33 ft)
Draft5.3 m (17 ft)
Engine: Triple-expansion steam engine, 1,000 ihp (750 kW)
PropulsionFour-bladed propeller
Crew32–33

Silatch was a small Imperial Russian and later Soviet steam-powered icebreaker. She was captured by Finland in the aftermath of the Finnish Civil War in 1918 and renamed Ilmarinen until returned to the Soviet Union in 1922. She was decommissioned in the 1950s.

Contents

History

Silatch (Russian for "strong man") was built in 1910 by W. Crichton shipyard in Saint Petersburg, Russia. [3] She was taken over by Bolsheviks in 1917 during the October Revolution, but retained her original name. [2]

On 4 May 1918, in the aftermath of the Finnish Civil War, Silatch arrived secretly in Kotka, Finland, to evacuate remaining members of the Finnish Red Guard. However, she was confiscated by the Finns and joined the Finnish icebreaker fleet as Ilmarinen, after the legendary hero from Kalevala. In December 1919 she was sent to Koivisto to assist three Finnish torpedo boats, C1, C2 and C3 that had been surrounded by ice some 15 centimetres (5.9 in) thick. The 150-ton torpedo boats had participated in the British campaign in the Baltic, and Admiral Walter Cowan had demanded that the Finnish squadron patrolling the area had to stay until the British forces had withdrawn. Despite the efforts of Ilmarinen, the weak-hulled torpedo boats were crushed by the ice, and the newly founded Finnish Navy lost one fifth of its ships. [4] After the winter of 1919 Ilmarinen was laid up until she was returned to the Soviet Union according to the Treaty of Tartu. [1] In turn the Soviets gave back the Finnish icebreaker Avance. The name Ilmarinen was later given to a Finnish coastal defence ship launched in 1931.

After rejoining the Soviet Union, the ship was given back her original name, Silatch, and was again stationed in her former home port, Petrograd, which was renamed Leningrad in 1924. [3] She worked in the Kronstadt port until 1941. At the beginning of the Soviet-German war, the ship was docked in Liepāja port under maintenance. She was exploded by her crew on 27 June 1941. The Germans had repaired and commissioned her as Nordlicht ("northern lights"), but the ship was sunken by a Soviet air strike. After the war, she was salvaged by the Soviets and repaired. The icebreaker Silatch worked for the Baltic Sea Shipping Company and was decommissioned in the end of 1950s. [5]

Technical details

The 910-ton Silatch was 47.0 metres (154.2 ft) long, 10.1 metres (33 ft) wide and had a draft of 5.3 metres (17 ft). She was powered by a single triple-expansion steam engine producing 1,000 indicated horsepower (750 kW) and propelled by a four-bladed propeller in the stern.

In Finnish service she had a crew of 32–33, of which 8 or 9 were officers. [1] In terms of size and design she was comparable to the Finnish icebreakers Murtaja and Apu.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finnish Navy</span> Military unit

The Finnish Navy is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS", short for "Finnish Navy ship", but this is not used in Finnish language contexts. The Finnish Navy also includes coastal forces and coastal artillery.

Finnish coastal defence ship <i>Ilmarinen</i>

Ilmarinen was a Finnish Navy Panssarilaiva, Swedish Pansarskepp. The unit was constructed at the Crichton-Vulcan shipyard in Turku, Finland, and named after the mythological hero Ilmarinen from the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. Ilmarinen was the flagship of the Navy from 1 May 1933 until her sinking on 13 September 1941.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Icebreaker</span> Special-purpose ship or boat capable of maneuvering through ice-covered water

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 vessels, such as the icebreaking boats that were once used on the canals of the United Kingdom.

<i>Suomen Joutsen</i>

Suomen Joutsen is a steel-hulled full-rigged ship with three square rigged masts. Built in 1902 by Chantiers de Penhoët in St. Nazaire, France, as Laënnec, the ship served two French owners before she was sold to German interest in 1922 and renamed Oldenburg. In 1930, she was acquired by the Government of Finland, refitted to serve as a school ship for the Finnish Navy and given her current name. Suomen Joutsen made eight long international voyages before the Second World War and later served in various support and supply roles during the war. From 1961 on she served as a stationary seamen's school for the Finnish Merchant Navy. In 1991, Suomen Joutsen was donated to the city of Turku and became a museum ship moored next to Forum Marinum.

SMS <i>Undine</i> Light cruiser of the German Imperial Navy

SMS Undine was the last member of the ten-ship Gazelle class of light cruisers that were built for the German Kaiserliche Marine in the late 1890s and early 1900s. The Gazelle class was the culmination of earlier unprotected cruiser and aviso designs, combining the best aspects of both types in what became the progenitor of all future light cruisers of the Imperial fleet. Built to be able to serve with the main German fleet and as a colonial cruiser, she was armed with a battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and had a top speed of 21.5 knots. Undine was a modified version of the basic Gazelle design, with improved armor and additional coal storage for a longer cruising range.

Finnish Ladoga Naval Detachment was a Finnish naval unit stationed on Lake Ladoga between 1920–1940 and 1941–1944.

Magadan is a Russian icebreaker and the second vessel in a series of three subarctic icebreakers built at Wärtsilä Helsinki shipyard in Finland in 1982–1983. The vessel's sister ships are Mudyug and Dikson.

<i>Tarmo</i> (1907 icebreaker) Finnish icebreaker and museum ship launched in 1907

Tarmo is a Finnish steam-powered icebreaker preserved in the Maritime Museum of Finland in Kotka. Built in 1907 by Sir W.G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co Ltd in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, she was the third state-owned icebreaker of Finland and the last Finnish steam-powered icebreaker to remain in service. When Tarmo was decommissioned in 1970, a decision was made to preserve the vessel as a museum ship. After a long wait in Helsinki, Tarmo was towed to Kotka and completely restored in the early 1990s.

The Uragan-class guard ships were built for the Soviet Navy as small patrol and escort ships. Eighteen were built in the 1930s and served during World War II in all four of the Soviet Fleets: Baltic, Black Sea, Northern and Pacific. Four were lost during the war and the rest remained in service until the late 1950s in various secondary roles. The official Soviet designation was Project 2, Project 4 and Project 39, but they were nicknamed the "Bad Weather Flotilla" by Soviet sailors by virtue of their meteorological names.

SMS <i>Thetis</i> Light cruiser of the German Imperial Navy

SMS Thetis was the fourth member of the ten-ship Gazelle class of light cruisers that were built for the German Kaiserliche Marine in the late 1890s and early 1900s. The Gazelle class was the culmination of earlier unprotected cruiser and aviso designs, combining the best aspects of both types in what became the progenitor of all future light cruisers of the Imperial fleet. Built to be able to serve with the main German fleet and as a colonial cruiser, she was armed with a battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and a top speed of 21.5 knots.

<i>Sampo</i> (1898 icebreaker) Finnish icebreaker ship

Sampo was a Finnish state-owned steam-powered icebreaker. Built in 1898 by Sir W.G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co Ltd in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom and named after a magical artifact from the Finnish mythology, she was the second state-owned icebreaker of Finland and the first European icebreaker equipped with a bow propeller. When Sampo was decommissioned and broken up in 1960, she was also the second last steam-powered icebreaker in the Finnish icebreaker fleet.

<i>Murtaja</i> (1890 icebreaker)

Murtaja was a Finnish state-owned steam-powered icebreaker. Built in 1890 by Bergsunds Mekaniska Verkstads AB in Stockholm, Sweden, she was the first state-owned icebreaker of Finland and one of the first purpose-built icebreakers in the world. Murtaja remained in service for 68 years until she was decommissioned and broken up in 1958 after having been replaced by the diesel-electric Karhu.

<i>Apu</i> (1899 icebreaker)

Apu was a Finnish state-owned steam-powered icebreaker built by Howaldtswerke in Kiel, Germany, in 1899. Initially owned by a private shipping company founded by shipowners from the Finnish city of Turku and known as Avance, she was later purchased by the Finnish Board of Navigation and her name was translated into Finnish. Apu remained in service until 1959, when she was replaced by the new diesel-electric Murtaja.

<i>Voima</i> (1924 icebreaker)

Voima was a Finnish and later Soviet steam-powered icebreaker. Laid down at Werft Becker & Co. in Tallinn in 1916 and fitted with engines in Danzig in 1918, the unfinished icebreaker was towed to Helsinki in 1920 and completed by Sandvikens Skeppsdocka och Mekaniska Verkstads Ab in 1923–1924. After two decades of successful service Voima was handed over to the Soviet Union as war reparation in 1945 and renamed Malygin (Малыгин). She remained in service until 1970 and was broken up in 1971.

Rautu and Vilppula were Kljuz class Minesweepers left by the Soviets to Finland in 1918 since they would not have survived the harsh sailing to the Leningrad. Ships had weak hulls and their engines were not particularly powerful. During peacetime they were used as depot and test ships. Vilppula was designated as T-2 and Zashtshitnik and Rautu as Murman before they were included to the Finnish Navy

<i>Suur Tõll</i> (icebreaker) 1914 Estonian ship

Suur Tõll is an Estonian steam-powered icebreaker preserved in the Estonian Maritime Museum in Tallinn. She was originally built for the Russian Empire in 1914 by AG Vulcan in Stettin, Germany, as Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich. In 1917, she was taken over by the Bolsheviks and renamed Volynets. However, in 1918 she was captured by Finland and served as Wäinämöinen until 1922, when she was handed over to Estonia according to the Treaty of Tartu and renamed Suur Tõll. When Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, the icebreaker rejoined the Soviet fleet and was again named Volynets. She remained in service until 1985.

<i>Jääkarhu</i>

Jääkarhu was a Finnish and later Soviet steam-powered icebreaker. Built in 1926 by P. Smit Jr. Shipbuilding and Machine Factory in Rotterdam, Netherlands, she was the last and largest steam-powered state-owned icebreaker of Finland. After two decades of successful service, Jääkarhu was handed over to the Soviet Union as war reparation in 1945 and renamed Sibiryakov. She remained in service until the 1970s and was broken up in 1972.

<i>Voima</i> (1952 icebreaker) Finnish icebreaker

Voima is a Finnish state-owned icebreaker. Built by Wärtsilä Hietalahti shipyard in Helsinki in 1954, she was the first icebreaker in the world to be equipped with two bow propellers and generated widespread publicity that helped the Finnish shipbuilding industry to become the world leader in icebreaker design.

<i>Katarina</i> (1953 ship) Finnish ship

Katarina is a Finnish training ship of the Kotka School of Nautical Studies. Built by Valmet in Helsinki in 1953 as Aranda, she was the second vessel to bear the name. Until 1989, she served as a transport vessel for the Finnish National Board of Navigation and a research vessel for the Finnish Institute of Marine Research.

<i>Sisu</i> (1938 icebreaker) Finnish icebreaker built in 1939

Sisu was a Finnish state-owned icebreaker. Built in 1939 at Wärtsilä Hietalahti Shipyard in Helsinki, she was one of the world's first diesel-electric icebreakers. In addition to icebreaking duties, she served as a submarine tender for the Finnish Navy during the summer months until the end of the Continuation War.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Auvinen, Visa (1983). Leijonalippu merellä. Pori: Satakunnan Kirjateollisuus Oy. p. 198. ISBN   951-95781-1-0.
  2. 1 2 Laurell, Seppo (1992). Höyrymurtajien aika. Jyväskylä: Gummerus Kirjapaino Oy. p. 118. ISBN   951-47-6775-6.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lloyd's Register of Ships, 1945. Retrieved2012-02-11.
  4. ↑ Eerola, Jani: Englannin laivastotoimet Itämerellä 1918-1921. Retrieved2012-02-11.
  5. ↑ Андриенко, В. Г. Ледокольный флот России, 1860-е — 1918 гг. § 5.3. Портовые ледоколы. (in Russian)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.