Polar bear (ship, 1942)

Icebear

The polar bear in 1942 in the Frierfjord , Norway

Ship data other ship names Ilja Muromez (1946–1981) Ship type Icebreaker Owner Kriegsmarine Soviet Union, Headquarters Northern Sea Route Shipyard Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstad , Gothenburg Build number 319 Keel laying 1941 baptism 1942 takeover 1942 Decommissioning 1979 Whereabouts Wrecked in 1981

Ship dimensions and crew length 59.90 m ( Lüa ) 50.95 m ( Lpp ) width 15.0 m Side height 17.2 m Draft Max. 6.35 m measurement 1500 GRT   crew 70

Machine system machine 2 × three-cylinder triple expansion machine, 4 × Capuskessel 16 atü 850 m² heating surface Machine performance 3,300 PS (2,427 kW) Top speed 13 kn (24 km / h) propeller 1 × 4-blade fixed propeller 3.8 m diameter

The Eisbär was an icebreaker in the German Navy during World War II . After the war, the ship was delivered to the Soviet Union as spoils of war and served there under the name Ilja Muromets .

Construction and technical data

The ship was built on the Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstad , Gothenburg , Sweden, with hull number 319 for the Kriegsmarine. It ran on 20 October 1941 by stack and was put into service on February 1, 1942nd The ship was 56.90 m long and 15.00 m wide and had a maximum draft of 6.35 m . The water displacement was 1918 t (standard) or approx. 2500 t (fully equipped). The machinery consisted of two triple expansion steam engines , which together made 3300 PSi , and two screws . Unlike the Eisvogel , the Eisbär had a bow thruster, which had proven its worth when the ice was breaking in the Baltic Sea . The maximum speed was 13 knots . The armament consisted of two 3.7 cm Flak 37 in single mounts , and the crew numbered 61 men.

career

The ship, at first with an unusual breakdown, served in the Baltic Sea and in Danish and Norwegian waters as an icebreaker, tugboat and escort boat . After the end of the war it was awarded to the Soviet Union as spoils of war and on September 2, 1946 by the Northern Sea Route Headquarters at the Council of People's Commissars with the new name Ilya Muromets ( Russian Илья Муромец ; named after the Russian Bogatyr Ilya Muromets ) and the registration number M- Commissioned in 1591. The callsign was UPXG. In 1957 the Ilya Muromez ( IMO number 6805000) was relocated to Vladivostok , where she was used as a port icebreaker and tug for the Far-Eastern Shipping Company (FESCO; Russian Дальневосточное морское пароходство ). The ship was decommissioned in 1979 and scrapped in 1981.

Web links

• Photo of the polar bear, March 1942
• Photos of the Ilya Muromets
• Photo of the Ilya Muromets

literature

• Hans-Georg Prager & Christian Ostersehlte: Steam icebreakers Stettin and the icebreakers of the world: From wooden sleds to polar giants. 2nd edition, Prager, Hamburg, 1987, ISBN 3-9257-6904-8 , pp. 190ff.

Footnotes

1. ↑ The modified and somewhat larger sister ship Eisvogel was launched in 1942 at Aalborg Værft in Aalborg in Denmark, which has been occupied by Germany since April 1940 .
2. ↑ Fleetphoto: Ilya Muromets
3. ↑ FESCO: Ilya Muromets (polar bear)