Steamboats on the Volga River

Last updated
Map of the Volga watershed Volgarivermap.png
Map of the Volga watershed

The Volga River is Europe's longest river, and a major trade artery in that continent. The technological arrival of the steam engine allowed cargoes to be more easily moved upstream. The use of steamboats on the Volga River began in the year 1821.

Contents

History

Volga boatmen

Burlaks on the Volga (painting by Ilya Yefimovich Repin, 1870-73) Ilia Efimovich Repin (1844-1930) - Volga Boatmen (1870-1873).jpg
Burlaks on the Volga (painting by Ilya Yefimovich Repin, 1870-73)

Formerly, tens of thousands of burlaki, or Volga boatmen, were employed in dragging boats up the Volga and its tributaries, but this method of traction has disappeared. [1] Horses were still extensively used along the three canal systems. Steamers really took hold in the 1840s.

First steamers

FreshWindOfLevitan.jpg

In 1843 Czar Nicholas I issued a license to the "Along the Volga" company in 1843, which became the premier Volga Flotilla until the Soviet takeover. The first steamer Volga visited Samara in 1846. [2] Nizhniy is the chief station of the Volga steamboat traffic. The first steamer made its appearance on the Volga in 1821, but it was not till 1845 that steam navigation began to assume large proportions.

The first large steamers of the American type were built in 1872. [1] Thousands of steamers are now employed in the traffic, along with smaller boats and rafts. Many of the steamers use as fuel mazut or petroleum refuse. [1] In 1870, the first Russian open hearth furnace was built in Nizhny Novgorod, followed by a two-decked steamship Perevorot a year later. In 1913, it produced a dry bulk cargo ship Danilikha. The shipyard built 489 ships between 1849 and 1918.

Steamboat and rail connection on Volga River at Kineshma, 1900 Kineshma. Promyshlennaia chast' goroda. Pochtovaia otkrytka. Izdanie L.M.Gol'dfeina. 1900-e g.g..jpg
Steamboat and rail connection on Volga River at Kineshma, 1900

In 1913 there were over 5,000 steamers on the Volga river system.

Engines for Commerce

Batashev's steamers were on par with the world-famous engines produced by Berdov and were installed on the majority of Volga steamships. Berdov's plant in St. Petersburg was the first to build a steamboat in Russia in 1815. It later specialised in stationery and marine machines, as well as marine devices. Building small warships from the 1850s, the plant rented the shipyard on Galerny Island for a ten-year period to start building battleships. Numerous decorative sculptures were created in the foundry shop in the early to mid 19th century including sculptures for the Kazan Cathedral, St. Isaac's Cathedral, and the Alexander Column, as well as numerous grilles, lamps, decorative and structural components for bridges, palaces, and public buildings of St. Petersburg.

The town of Rzhev on the banks of the Volga. 1910 Rzhev.jpg
The town of Rzhev on the banks of the Volga. 1910

Many cargoes

The Volga is the main street of European Russia. To this end many loads are moved from their source to the market—coal from the Donbass Region, iron ore, minerals, timber, wheat, fish, watermelons, zeks or exiles, machinery, cement, limestone, and oil.

Various troubles

In 1897 the New York Times reported "Forty Drowned in the Volga.; Steamer Tsarevitch Run Down by the Malpitka Near Astrakhan." [3] In 1858, the Nizhny Novgorod Machine Factory produced the first Russian steam dredger. The amount of suspended matter brought down by erosion is correspondingly great. All along its course the Volga is eroding and destroying its banks with great rapidity; towns and loading ports have constantly to be shifted farther back. [1]

Alfred Nobel built fifty steamers at Baku to move Caspian oil. He also built the MS Vandal, which in 1903 was probably the first ship (and not barge) propelled by a diesel engine. [4] [5] In 1902 Karl Hagelin, "a veteran of the Volga and sometime visionary", [6] suggested mating diesel engines to river barges. He envisioned direct shipment of oil through an 1,800-mile (2,900 km) route from the lower Volga to Saint Petersburg and Finland. [6] The first Volga steamers Komar, Shmel, and Tungus were constructed between 1908 and 1917 in the Nobel Shipyard in Rybinsk. [7]

View from Polustovaia Hill to the Volga near Zubtsov. circa 1910 Volga-near-Zubtsov-Prokudin-Gorskii.jpeg
View from Polustovaia Hill to the Volga near Zubtsov. circa 1910

The Russians move large amounts of timber for export to Europe. Large barges of 300 ft (91 m) length to 1,000 t (1,102 tons ) are purpose-built for the single journey in the season. Large numbers of the boats and rafts are broken up after a single voyage. [1] The wood barges are towed by tug.

Soviet era

Stamp of the Soviet Union, 1953, showing steamship "Joseph Stalin". TeploxodStalina1953.jpg
Stamp of the Soviet Union, 1953, showing steamship "Joseph Stalin".

The Soviets ran fleets of armed riverboats during the Civil War. The Red Army and the White Army had small naval battles on the river. Later, during the Russian famine of 1921, steamers became a way out of misery. [8] With the Red control of Russia, rebuilding infrastructure became paramount. [8] The Soviets nationalized the Volga and Mercury company's fleets.

The largest fleet of any of Soviet rivers is that on the Volga, where in 1926 there were 1,604 steamers with an indicated total horsepower of 300,595. On January 1, 1927, the Internal Waterways Steamship Co. had at its disposal 2,020 steamers. [9] Presumably the Russian Civil War accounts for the destruction of more than half the fleet.[ citation needed ]

World War II and beyond

At the start of the Battle of Stalingrad, and before the Wehrmacht reached the city itself, the Luftwaffe had rendered the River Volga, vital for bringing supplies into the city, unusable to Soviet shipping. [10] Between 25 and 31 July 1942, 32 Soviet ships were sunk, with another nine crippled.

However, the Soviets put up a defense. During the Battle of Stalingrad, one tug Krasnoflotets crossed the river towing barges of men, food, and ammunition, constantly under the fire of the German guns. The tug made many journeys until it was too damaged to continue. One hospital ship was struck by German artillery 11 times.

The Stalingrad story for Gasitel began on July 27, 1942, when the enemy set fire to the oil tankers near Erzovka. The crew risked their lives to save the oil tankers and took the barges with oil to Shadrinsk backwater. In the midst of the battle of Stalingrad, Gasitel was used at river crossings. The vessel had received numerous holes, the team repaired them on their own, without going into the backwater. The crew had to constantly pump out the water that came through the holes in the ship. For his bravery the steamer captain Peter Vasilievich Vorobiev was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. In mid-October riddled with bullets Gasitel sunk. One river paddler removing women and children refugees from the city was shelled and sunk. Three thousand people drowned.

The Soviets held the ferry building on September 14 with one hundred soldiers and a semi-operable tank. More soldiers were rushed in by steamer to the key river landing.

The German armies later overran the ferry landing, while the Soviets held on to a sliver of the western riverbank of the Volga. The tug Abkhazets and others moved 7 Soviet divisions across the river to Crossing 62 to provide General Chuikov with new troops.

The Soviet navy built armed cutters, sporting T34 tank turrets. This "Volga Flotilla" made the Red Army's greatest victory possible, keeping open supply lines to the troops fighting for their lives in the ruins of Stalingrad. Gunboats armed with 76 mm (3 in) anti-aircraft guns fought off German Stuka attacks throughout the siege, and those with tank turrets hove close to the riverbanks to provide fire support for the troops ashore. Every night, they ferried reinforcements and ammunition across the river, and brought back the wounded to safety. [11] [12]

"About the role of the sailors of the fleet and their exploits", wrote Vasily Chuikov, the Soviet commander in Stalingrad, "I would say briefly that had it not been for them the 62nd Army might have perished without ammunition and rations, and could not have carried out its task." [11] [12] The Germans surrendered in the winter of 1943 and the Volga was once again open to steamers after the removal of war wreckage.

During the Great Patriotic War, river transport carried approximately 200 million tons of cargo for the front and the rear. River workers worked at the military crossings at Stalingrad and on Lake Ladoga. The war caused enormous damage to river transport. The fascist occupying troops sank and seized more than 8,300 river vessels and destroyed hundreds of ports, wharves, dams, dikes, and locks. River transport was rebuilt during the Fourth Five-Year Plan (1946–50).

The Soviets embarked on a huge series of dams, canals, barrages, lakes and hydro schemes. Much of this had been planned prior to the war but that tragedy only delayed their completion. Control of river erosion, and silting was one reason; providing enough draft for large ships and clearing rapids was another. The Volga-Don Canal was one scheme, and the Volga-Baltic Waterway another.

Most of the keels on the river were of the paddle steamer type. Up until 1950, the Soviets continued with this layout.

With the new hydrological and hydroelectric work, new ships needed to be built. In the post-war years, new steamers of the Josef Stalin type were built and navigated the river.

The Soviets then went into hydrofoils and diesel steamers A few steamers have survived. Today, the river is worked by diesel cruise boats and tugs.

Notable events

In 1913, the Romanovs boarded the steamer Mezhen at Nizhny Novgorod to sail down the Volga river for their 500th Anniversary tour.[ citation needed ]

Maxim Gorky, the writer, worked as a cook on a Volga steamer in his youth and thus the Volga river enters Russian literature: stories where a young officer encounters a beautiful stranger on board a Volga steamer.[ citation needed ]

Konstantine Fedin wrote to his American allies, comparing the Volga to the Mississippi and reminding them of the rampaging German Army then in conquest in the dark days of 1942.[ citation needed ]

"The Volga is the homeland of daring, courage, and the people's glory. The Volga is the homeland of Russian geniuses and talents. From childhood, people on the Volga dream about their river as the most beautiful of all earthly gifts which have been bestowed upon them. When I was a child sitting at my school bench, I imagined Volga steamers, rafts, and boats sailing past, like a holiday; green islands stretched out before me; the silver of fish scales sparkled; I breathed the aroma of the swaying shoreline willows. All this was living right next to me. I knew that after lessons I could run along the Volga and touch all this with my own hand."

See also

Related Research Articles

Battle of Stalingrad Major battle of World War II

In the Battle of Stalingrad, Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia. Marked by fierce close-quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians in air raids, it is one of the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare, with an estimated 2 million total casualties. After their defeat at Stalingrad, the German High Command had to withdraw considerable military forces from the Western Front to replace their losses.

Steamboat Smaller than a steamship; boat in which the primary method of marine propulsion is steam power

A steamboat is a boat that is propelled primarily by steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S or PS ; however, these designations are most often used for steamships.

Paddle steamer Steam-powered vessel propelled by paddle wheels

A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans.

Caspian Flotilla

The Caspian Flotilla is the flotilla of the Russian Navy in the Caspian Sea.

Russian commando frogmen Tactical scuba diving unit

The Russian commando frogmen are a Russian Naval Spetsnaz unit under operational subordination to the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). It is the special forces unit of the Russian Naval Infantry and is composed of highly trained and elite marines within the Naval Infantry. It is also part of the Coastal Troops of the Russian Navy. The navy itself does not field any special forces or special operations units. Russian FSB special forces Alpha Group and Vympel also have frogman units in their respective naval components.

<i>Virginia V</i>

The steamship Virginia V is the last operational example of a Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet steamer. She was once part of a large fleet of small passenger and freight carrying ships that linked the islands and ports of Puget Sound in Washington state in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She is a Seattle landmark and a National Historic Landmark.

Krasnoye Sormovo Factory No. 112

Krasnoye Sormovo Shipyard No. 112 named after Andrei Zhdanov is one of the oldest shipbuilding factories in Russia, located in the Sormovsky City District of Nizhny Novgorod.

Port Weller Dry Docks was a shipbuilder located on the Welland Canal at the Lake Ontario entrance. The shipbuilder was founded in 1946 and the site was initially owned by the Government of Canada for storage purchases. The shipyard expanded to include ship repair, and reconstruction work. In 1956, the drydock was sold to the Upper Lakes Shipping Company, which began the construction of vessels at the site. The shipyard twice went insolvent, most recently in 2015. Port Weller Dry Docks was used to build, refit and repair cargo vessels.

SS <i>Stalingrad</i>

SS Stalingrad was a steamship of the Soviet Union, named after the Soviet city of Stalingrad, itself named after Joseph Stalin. She was built at Soviet Shipyard No. 189 (Ordzhonikidze) in Leningrad and operated by Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route (GUSMP), who homeported her in Vladivostok. She had entered service in 1933.

<i>Luna</i> (tugboat)

Luna is a historic tugboat normally berthed in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. Luna was designed in 1930 by John G. Alden and built by M.M. Davis and Bethlehem Steel. She is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a U.S. National Historic Landmark. In 1985, the Luna was designated as a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission.

Borodino class motorship was a class of Russian river passenger ships. The series is named after Borodino village, and the ships themselves are notable for their size, power, and use in the Russo-Japanese War and the Bolshevik Revolution.

Boats of the Mackenzie River watershed

The Mackenzie River in Canada's Northwest Territories is a historic waterway, used for centuries by Indigenous Canadian peoples as a travel and hunting corridor. It is part of a larger watershed that includes the Slave, Athabasca, and Peace rivers extending from northern Alberta. In the 1780s, Peter Pond, a trader with the North West Company became the first known European to visit this watershed and begin viable trade with the Athapascan-speaking Dene of these rivers. The Mackenzie River itself, the great waterway extending to the Arctic Ocean, was first put on European maps by Alexander Mackenzie in 1789, the Scottish trader who explored the river. The watershed thus became a vital part of the North American fur trade, and before the advent of the airplane or road networks, the river was the only communication link between northern trading posts and the south. Water travel increased in the late 19th century as traders, dominated primarily by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), looked to increase water services in the Mackenzie River District.

Steamboats of the Mississippi

Steamboats played a major role in the 19th-century development of the Mississippi River and its tributaries by allowing the practical large-scale transport of passengers and freight both up- and down-river. Using steam power, riverboats were developed during that time which could navigate in shallow waters as well as upriver against strong currents. After the development of railroads, passenger traffic gradually switched to this faster form of transportation, but steamboats continued to serve Mississippi River commerce into the early 20th century. A small number of steamboats are used for tourist excursions into the 21st century.

The Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works, was a major late-19th-century American shipyard located on the Delaware River in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the industrialist John Roach and is often referred to by its parent company name of John Roach & Sons, or just known as the Roach shipyard. For the first fifteen years of its existence, the shipyard was by far the largest and most productive in the United States, building more tonnage of ships than its next two major competitors combined, in addition to being the U.S. Navy's largest contractor. The yard specialized in the production of large passenger freighters, but built every kind of vessel from warships to cargo ships, oil tankers, ferries, barges, tugs and yachts.

<i>Vandal</i> (tanker)

Vandal was a river tanker designed by Karl Hagelin and Johny Johnson for Branobel. Russian Vandal and French Petite-Pierre, launched in 1903, were the world's first diesel-powered ships. Vandal was the first equipped with fully functional diesel-electric transmission.

Lawrence & Foulks was a 19th-century American shipbuilding company based in New York. Established in the early 1850s, the company built 144 vessels of all types over the course of some fifty years, but is best known for its production of high-speed wooden-hulled steamboats and steamships. Notable vessels built by the company include the record-breaking Hudson River steamboat Chauncey Vibbard, the luxury Long Island Sound steamer Commonwealth, and the fast oceangoing steamships—later U.S. Navy gunboats—Bienville and De Soto. In addition to the domestic market, the company also built ships for service as far afield as South America and China.

Richard Holyoke

Richard Holyoke was a seagoing steam tug boat built in 1877 in Seattle, Washington and which was in service on Puget Sound and other areas of the northwest Pacific coast until 1935. The vessel was considered to be one of the most powerful tugs of its time.

<i>General Miles</i>

General Miles was a steamship constructed in 1882 which served in various coastal areas of the states of Oregon and Washington, as well as British Columbia and the territory of Alaska. It was apparently named after US General Nelson A. Miles.

Seattle tugboats

There is a long marine tradition of Seattle tugboats. The complex inlets of Puget Sound needed tugs to move sailing vessels against contrary winds. Tugs would wait in the open Pacific off Cape Flattery to greet the sailing ships entering the sound to move lumber. During the war years and the Alaskan booms, it became of renewed importance.

References

Sources

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Kropotkin, Peter; Bealby, John Thomas (1911). "Volga"  . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica . 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 193–195.
  2. Samara Tourist Guide (2011). "Samara Travel Guide". myeuropeholidays.com. Retrieved 4 July 2011. The first steamer 'Volga' visited to Samara in 1846.
  3. "FORTY DROWNED IN THE VOLGA. - Steamer Tsarevitch Run Down by the Malpitka Near Astrakhan. - View Article - NYTimes.com" (PDF). The New York Times . 17 September 1897. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  4. Naval-engineers.Com (2011). "All About Naval Engineering: History of Shipping Industry". naval-engineers.blogspot.com. Retrieved 4 July 2011. In 1903 the Wandal, a steamer on the Volga River, was powered by the first diesel engine used for ship propulsion.
  5. sources disagree over whether Vandal or Petite-Pierre was the first diesel ship: Thomas, p. 207: Petite-Pierre was the first diesel ship. Gardiner and Greenway, p. 160: Vandal was the first diesel ship.
  6. 1 2 Tolf, p. 171.
  7. Nobel Shipyard (2011). "About Company | Nobel Shipyard". nobel-shipyard.ru. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  8. 1 2 Patenaude, Bertrand M. (2011). "Food as a Weapon | Hoover Institution". hoover.org. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  9. Marxists.Org (2009). "The Soviet Union: Facts, Descriptions, Statistics — Ch 8". marxists.org. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  10. "Battle of Stalingrad". Encyclopædia Britannica. By the end of August, … Gen. Friedrich Paulus, with 330,000 of the German army's finest troops… approached Stalingrad. On August 23 a German spearhead penetrated the city's northern suburbs, and the Luftwaffe rained incendiary bombs that destroyed most of the city's wooden housing.
  11. 1 2 Avalanche Press (2011). "119694_avalanche Press". avalanchepress.com. Retrieved 4 July 2011. I would say briefly that had it not been for them the 62nd Army might have perished without ammunition and rations, and could not have carried out its task.
  12. 1 2 World Naval Ships (2011). "The Volga Flotilla Russian River Gunboats - World Naval Ships Forums". worldnavalships.com. Retrieved 4 July 2011. About the role of the sailors of the fleet and their exploits", wrote Vasiliy Chiukov, the Soviet commander in Stalingrad, "I would say briefly that had it not been for them the 62nd Army might have perished without ammunition and rations, and could not have carried out its task.
  13. Keegan, John. The Battle for History: Re-fighting World War Two (Barbara Frum lecture series), Vintage Canada, Toronto, 1995. Republished by Vintage Books, New York, 1996.:121