Nuclear icebreaker "Arctic": description and photo. Modern icebreakers of the "Arctic" class

Perhaps, there is no episode in the history of the former Soviet Union that is more romantic and dramatic than the development of the Far North. The need for this was first-class: in those regions lies a huge amount of minerals, which the industry of a young state was in dire need of. In addition, the data on the study of those places were very much required by scientists, since they allowed us to consider the stages of the development of the entire planet.

In short, it was necessary to somehow get to the destination. In conditions of severe climate and total impassability, the optimal solution was the use of sea lanes, only the navigation season in those regions is extremely short. The risk of being trapped in the ice was great.

That's when the famous Soviet ice-fleet fleet appeared all over the world. One of the most significant of its representatives was the icebreaker "Arctic", the history of which is the subject of this article. This ship is so unique that you can safely devote a whole book! If you read the article, you certainly agree with us in this.

Brief technical specification

The ship has extremely high and durable sides, four decks and two cargo platforms. For placement of controls and command personnel a five-deck deck superstructure is used. The huge ship is driven by three screws (each with four blades). In the central part of the icebreaker there is a steam turbine, the steam for which is produced by means of an atomic reactor. For the production of the latter, all the theoretical and practical developments that the Soviet Union's nuclear industry had accumulated by that time were used.

A feature of the entire construction is a high-quality alloy steel body . Just think: the whole huge construction is made of such a costly and incredibly durable material! In those places that in practice are subjected to the greatest pressure of ice, a protection is provided, the so-called ice belt, which is a reinforcement of the construction by building up the layer of the main ship's hull.

Other ship systems

An important constructive part of which the icebreaker "Arctic" is different is the trim and roll systems. For towing, which often had to be done by the crew of the ship, a whole towing platform is located, located at the stern of the ship. There was also a helipad. As a rule, Mi-8 was used in the campaigns, which was indispensable for long-range reconnaissance and for finding ships that were stuck in ice.

An important feature of the vessel is the utmost perfect in its times automation, thanks to which the nuclear reactor could operate for a long time in a completely autonomous mode, without requiring constant and labor-intensive shifts. The sensors were also installed in the room of propulsion motors, in power plant compartments, as well as in main switchboards. Management of the central power plant was carried out from the command center, which was the cutting house.

It is located at the very top of the deck superstructure, since this position provides the most effective view. The width of the wheelhouse is about five meters long, it stretched for 30 meters in length. The front and side walls of the wheelhouse are almost entirely covered by wide survey portholes. Strange as it may seem, the list of equipment in it is quite modest.

So, in the room there are three completely identical control panels, on which there are handles for controlling the direction of movement of the ship, as well as indicators showing the status of the position of all propellers and rudders. There are buttons for giving a warning sound signal, a device for activating the ballast tank emptying mechanism. The chart is completed by the navigation desk, helm, hydrologists' desk and sonar racks.

Peak power - 55 MW, displacement is 23 thousand tons. The speed (in ideal conditions) can reach about 18 knots, the duration of fully autonomous navigation is seven months.

History of creation

The icebreaker "Arktika", which is the main ship of the project 10520, was laid down in 1971 on the stalls of the Baltic Shipyard. For the first time in the history of the Soviet fleet, the future crew of 150 people not only participated in the construction of the ship, but could also give advice when designing it. This practice allowed the seamen to master a completely new technique in record time. The crew was headed by Captain Yu. S. Kuchiev.

He was an incredibly experienced captain, who sailed on various types of icebreakers for more than three decades. Already at the end of December 1972 the ship was launched, which is an absolutely record time for the construction of this kind.

Defense use case

In the Soviet government, it was almost immediately decided that the icebreaker Arktika should have the technical capabilities to be used as a powerful Coast Guard cruiser . To achieve this, it was necessary to install a set of large-caliber artillery weapons, devices for active jamming, as well as additional military-type radar equipment. "The maximum program" also included testing in conditions close to combat.

After that all military equipment was supposed to be removed and preserved. On the ship it was planned to leave some of the most necessary weapons and weapons in demand in time of war, preserving it in a special way (with the preservation of the possibility of its soonest unpacking and bringing it into combat position).

In principle, if you look at the qualitative model of the icebreaker "Arctic", you can see in its outlines the outlines of a warship. For the USSR, such militarization was not something new, because the country remembered the experience of the 1940s always.

How were such rates of ship building achieved?

For a long time the designers thought about how to avoid the slightest delays in building a ship. For this purpose, a separate operational headquarters was set up, which operated under the leadership of Victor Nilovich Shershnev. He decided: to make all the necessary tests in the sea, without calling at the port, at the same time.

On board it was planned to take all necessary military specialists, as well as a separate team, which was to be responsible for small arms and artillery weapons. The crew immediately grew to 700 people, whereas in the normal order there were no more than 150 seats on board.

Designers and representatives of the customer had to work very hard to accommodate all the required personnel, without offending anyone. It took me four days to stay in Leningrad for this. During this time, the water level fell significantly below the level of the ordinary, while for the successful withdrawal of the ship it was necessary to exceed it by 30-40 centimeters!

Ship's conclusion for sea trials

The problems were avoided, if only because no one expected to wait: the entire crew was in constant alert, living right on board. They introduced a naval schedule, the ship was safely brought to sea. In mid-December 1974 in Moscow and Leningrad, a short and concise radiogram was accepted: "The work is completed." Later they joked that Kuchiev had surpassed Caesar himself: so briefly report on the successful completion of the sea trials of the most complex ship!

Hundreds of proposals were made to improve the running and mooring qualities of the icebreaker, most of which were completely completed by designers "hot on the trail". In April 1975, the first serious escape to the sea took place. This indicated that the icebreaker "Arctic", the photo of which is in the article, fully meets all the requirements that were laid at the design stage and sketches.

Already on April 25, 1975, when the ship was on the roadstead in the port of Tallinn, the state flag of the USSR was raised on it. Finally, they officially signed an act on the transfer of property to the fleet, after which the first icebreaker class "Arctic" went straight to Murmansk, which housed the port of his registration. It was a triumph for the entire scientific and defense industry of a huge country.

In addition to the thousands who directly participated in the construction of the vessel, more than 350 (!) Scientific research, defense, oceanographic and hydrological institutes, design bureaux, research institutes throughout the country were involved in its design and implementation of experiments.

Posting on the Northern Sea Route

As early as the beginning of 1975, before the official acceptance, the icebreaker "Arktika" (photo above) glittered along the Northern Sea Route the icebreaker "Admiral Makarov" (diesel electric). Already at the beginning of next year, he literally snatched a similar ship "Ermak" from the ice hummocks and also saved the dry cargo ship "Captain Myshevsky" from a certain death.

It was the "Arctic" that participated in the rescue of the icebreaker Leningrad together with the transport ship Chelyuskin. The happy captain called this event the starry hour of the new ship, because only for the sake of these four cases it could be built.

Only two years of such active work convincingly proved that the Soviet fleet included a completely unique flagship, the nuclear icebreaker Arktika. His model in those years was considered the most coveted prey of any Soviet boy. And no wonder, you need to say! It was demonstrated not only the outstanding reliability of the nuclear and other facilities, but also the excellent seaworthiness of the ship. However, the restless Captain Kuchiev knew that his "ward" was capable of more, and therefore required the preparation of a distant northern campaign. Soon his insistent requests were heard. The team began to prepare for a long voyage.

April 1977, an experimental flight to Yamal

In 1976 the ship left the port of Murmansk, simultaneously passing through the ice the reinforced vessel "Pavel Ponomarev". Transport carried on board almost four thousand tons of various food and household goods. Not far from cape Kharasavej the command without any difficulties could unload all supplies for fast ice, after which they were brought ashore. Both ships laid down on the return course, to the ice-free port of Murmansk.

Experience has shown that Kuchiev is absolutely right in his highest assessments of the ship's running qualities, and therefore in 1977 an even more distant and much more complicated campaign was immediately planned. Now it was supposed to make several flights to Yamal. This time the team was not only the first icebreaker of the Arctic, but also a ship of a similar class "Murmansk", as well as three cargo ships.

"Miracles on turns"

In the beginning of 1977 the caravan safely sailed from Murmansk, and after that, after just four days, approached Kharasavey. A week later, the courts settled on the reverse course. In the Barents Sea, one of the transport workers was sent to Murmansk under his own power, where, on arrival, he immediately got up for loading. In the meantime, the icebreaker company took one more warship, and then again conducted it with the same course. After only two days, the process was repeated again.

All participants of the campaign unanimously recognized that the icebreaker Arktika, whose technical characteristics are presented in the article, did real miracles, breaking hummocks of monstrous thickness.

Followers

And now let's give a complete list of all the ships built within the project 10520:

• "Arctic".
• "Siberia".
• "Russia".
• "Soviet Union".
• "Yamal".
• "50 Years of Victory".

It should be noted that the last icebreaker "Arctic" (the new ship "50 Years of Victory") was commissioned only in 2007, although its launching took place back in 1993. The reason is banal - the leadership of the new country had a constant shortage of money .

Since the 2000s, an excursion to the Arctic on an icebreaker has become available to everyone who wants (there would be money). Due to this, the required amounts for final completion were finally collected, and the ship's long-term construction was incorporated into the fleet of the Russian Federation.

New time

By 1999, the "old man" had worked for 25 years, having traveled through the Northern Route more than three thousand ships, in the holds of which was transported not one million tons of valuable cargo. But the way of the veteran was not completed, he was waiting for a completely new record. From May to May, from 1999 to 2000, the ship conducted 110 vessels in the Arctic Ocean. Out of 50 thousand nautical miles exactly 32 thousand ships passed without a single breakdown. Quite good for a 25-year-old "dinosaur", who worked all his life in unrealistically difficult conditions!

How was the icebreaker "Arktika" supposed to be used by that time? A museum or an attraction for wealthy tourists, with which the sailors were categorically disagree! It is fair to say that the first ship of Project 10520 in 2008 still became a museum, but its historical identity was fully preserved. On those vessels of the project, which are still in service today, you can make a tour on the icebreaker to the Arctic. Impressions of tourists who have been there, it is simply impossible to convey in words. Delight indescribable!

Extension of service life

The nuclear icebreaker has become a real research ground. The sailors proved to the scientists that the power plant of the ship can work for a long time in excess of the time allotted for it. By the middle of 2000, the main operating time of all systems and mechanisms of the ship was already about 146,000 hours. Considering all this, scientists and designers decided that the operational resource of the "Arctic" itself can be safely extended to 175 thousand hours, and the remaining ships of the project to operate until they reach work of 150 thousand.

The flagship of this project made it possible to conduct hundreds of thousands of experiments, it worked out the most complicated complexes of navigational and radar equipment of the USSR and the Russian Federation, nuclear scientists collected indescribably valuable data on the operation of nuclear power plants under extremely harsh conditions. The significance of the nuclear icebreaker Arktika (photos presented in the article) is difficult to overestimate.