Sadko (icebreaker)

Sadko was a Russian and Soviet icebreaker ship of 3,800 tonnes displacement. She was named after Sadko, a hero of a Russian bylina.

History
Soviet Union
Name: Lintrose; Sadko
Owner: Reid Newfoundland Company; Russia , Soviet Union
Builder: Swan Hunter, Newcastle, England
Launched: 21 January 1913
Fate: Sank after grounding on 11 September 1941
General characteristics
Displacement: 3,800 tonnes
Length: 77.7 m (255 ft)
Beam: 11.4 m (37 ft)
Speed: 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)

She was built in Newcastle upon Tyne (England) in 1912. The length of the ship was 78 metres (256 ft) and its width was 11.4 metres (37 ft). The vessel was originally constructed for the Reid Newfoundland Company for the ferry service in Newfoundland and was part of the Alphabet Fleet and christened Lintrose. She was sold to the Russian Government in 1915. In 1916, she sank in Kandalaksha Bay with a payload for the construction of the Kandalaksha–Murmansk railroad.

In 1932, Sadko was salvaged by the EPRON team, and on July 9, 1934 was on a trial voyage once again. In 1935, she took part in an expedition led by Georgy Ushakov, engaging in deep-sea research and an attempt to reach Kvitøya in the Arctic Ocean.[1]

In the summer of 1937, Sadko sailed from Murmansk. Its original goal was to sail to Henrietta, Zhokhov and Jeanette Islands in the De Long group, search for Sannikov Land and carry out scientific research.[2] The purpose of the expedition was also to find out how the Northern Sea Route could be used for regular shipping. But the Soviet naval authorities changed the plans and the ice-breaker was sent instead to help ships in distress in the Kara and Laptev Seas.

Sadko, however, became itself trapped in fast ice at 75°17'N and 132°28'E in the region of the New Siberian Islands. Other two Soviet icebreakers, Sedov and Malygin, in the same area researching the ice conditions, became trapped by sea ice as well and drifted helplessly.

Owing to persistent bad weather conditions, part of the stranded crew members and some of the scientists could only be rescued in April 1938. And only on August 28, 1938, could icebreaker Yermak free two of the three ships stuck at 83°4'N and 138°22'E, Sadko and Malygin. The third ship, Sedov, had to be left to drift in its icy prison and was transformed into a scientific Polar Station.

She sank in 1941 in the Kara Sea after running aground on a submerged bank. Her crew were rescued by the icebreaker Lenin. An island in the Nordenskiöld Archipelago was named after Sadko.

See also

References
  1. "Soviet Expedition Seeks Lost Phantom Island in the Arctic". The Evening News. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. 22 August 1935. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  2. White, Calvin S. (16 May 1937). "U.S.S.R. Opens Far North". New York Times. Retrieved 4 November 2011.


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