Thanks, Marty!
I've just found the exact info - 06.06.1922 four main steamship companies were established by government regulation: Baltic, North, Black Sea-Azov, Caspian (the pennants for their ships were introduced 30.07.1923 - see my recent posts above with the images of pennants).
The pennant for Far-East "Dobroflot" (which didn't belong to State merchant fleet then) was introduced the same year.
When all four steamship companies and "Dobroflot" were united into joint-stock company "Sovtorgflot" the new common pennant was introduced 12.02.1926. The pennants for tankers of "Neftesindikat" and ships of Crab business organization were introduced in 1926 also.
The pennant for "Dal'stroy" ships was introduced 10.04.1934 by the order of People's Commissariat of Water Transport. "Dal'stroy" received first three sea-going ships in 1935 indeed as we've already discussed here: those were Dutch-built "Kulu", "Dzhurma" and "Yagoda" (later "Dal'stroy").
Transport ships of USSR in 1941-1945 - any info!!
Soviet Locomotive Carriers
Hello again!
I don't expect that my list of Soviet locomotive carriers is correct. Actually, the reason I joined this discussion is because I see that here are people who are knowledgeable concerning Soviet ships. My specialty is Lend-Lease (diesel) locomotives. But, insofar as the ships which transported them to the Soviet Union, the list I compiled is merely put together from numerous and varied references to Soviet ships from different sources. Most of them are question marks. I knew a few of these ships to be definitely correct, such as the "Volgoles"-Class (even though I didn't know the name of the class before reading this discussion). Others are on my list only because I found them mentioned in WSA or Army correspondence, their arrivals often being awaited by the Office of the Chief of Transportation or some other entity waiting to ship locomotives. From such mentions, I surmised that they may have been used for shipping locomotives. This may or may not have been the actual case. I recall seeing memos in the National Archives which indicated that, during the war, the ship(s) that arrived in port to receive some Lend-Lease cargo were not always capable of carrying the the cargo for which the Soviets were clamoring at that particular time.
BP, you questioned the "Anadyr" and "Smolny" being on my list; I am not certain whether these two actually carried locomotives, but they apparently were mentioned in someone's memo. Coincidentally, in the last day or two I just saw the "Anadyr" mentioned elsewhere, but only that it was a "bulk carrier".
I,too, saw those news reports last year about the "SS Thomas Donaldson" wreck having been found by the Russians. I just don't understand about two torpedo holes being visible. This contradicts all the official reports and, albeit after 60 years, perhaps somewhat fading memories of some survivors, which all indicate only one torpedo hit. I suppose, if two torpedoes hit absolutely simultaneously.......? Who knows? After the torpedoing, and despite knowing there were U-boats in the area, a British corvette tried to tow the "Thomas Donaldson" ashore, but made little headway in choppy seas with the waterlogged Liberty, and then had to cast off when she began to go down. So much for Russian revisionist histories, many of which are now out there and seem to be saying mostly that the Allied seamen didn't overexert themselves and quickly ran from danger.
BP, I knew about the "Horace Bushnell" being salvaged. In fact, it was repaired and served the Soviet fisheries fleet as the Pamyati Kirov for many years. Beyond that, I don't know which Soviet steamship company operated it. But, I had not found all the information which you mentioned concerning the salvaging in detail, especially the "Dickson" and "Yamal", etc. Do you think you could find where you read this and also tell me this source?
It's a shame nothing's been written about the Soviet sea tugs. At least, I've never seen anything about them, no histories or mentions in anyone's memoirs, or anything.
I don't expect that my list of Soviet locomotive carriers is correct. Actually, the reason I joined this discussion is because I see that here are people who are knowledgeable concerning Soviet ships. My specialty is Lend-Lease (diesel) locomotives. But, insofar as the ships which transported them to the Soviet Union, the list I compiled is merely put together from numerous and varied references to Soviet ships from different sources. Most of them are question marks. I knew a few of these ships to be definitely correct, such as the "Volgoles"-Class (even though I didn't know the name of the class before reading this discussion). Others are on my list only because I found them mentioned in WSA or Army correspondence, their arrivals often being awaited by the Office of the Chief of Transportation or some other entity waiting to ship locomotives. From such mentions, I surmised that they may have been used for shipping locomotives. This may or may not have been the actual case. I recall seeing memos in the National Archives which indicated that, during the war, the ship(s) that arrived in port to receive some Lend-Lease cargo were not always capable of carrying the the cargo for which the Soviets were clamoring at that particular time.
BP, you questioned the "Anadyr" and "Smolny" being on my list; I am not certain whether these two actually carried locomotives, but they apparently were mentioned in someone's memo. Coincidentally, in the last day or two I just saw the "Anadyr" mentioned elsewhere, but only that it was a "bulk carrier".
I,too, saw those news reports last year about the "SS Thomas Donaldson" wreck having been found by the Russians. I just don't understand about two torpedo holes being visible. This contradicts all the official reports and, albeit after 60 years, perhaps somewhat fading memories of some survivors, which all indicate only one torpedo hit. I suppose, if two torpedoes hit absolutely simultaneously.......? Who knows? After the torpedoing, and despite knowing there were U-boats in the area, a British corvette tried to tow the "Thomas Donaldson" ashore, but made little headway in choppy seas with the waterlogged Liberty, and then had to cast off when she began to go down. So much for Russian revisionist histories, many of which are now out there and seem to be saying mostly that the Allied seamen didn't overexert themselves and quickly ran from danger.
BP, I knew about the "Horace Bushnell" being salvaged. In fact, it was repaired and served the Soviet fisheries fleet as the Pamyati Kirov for many years. Beyond that, I don't know which Soviet steamship company operated it. But, I had not found all the information which you mentioned concerning the salvaging in detail, especially the "Dickson" and "Yamal", etc. Do you think you could find where you read this and also tell me this source?
It's a shame nothing's been written about the Soviet sea tugs. At least, I've never seen anything about them, no histories or mentions in anyone's memoirs, or anything.
Dear Peteris, if I find some additional info about Soviet merchant ships which transported Lend-Lease locomotives during WWII I let you know for sure.
By the way, I collected some info (which was quite hard!) about Soviet-built diesel and electric locomotives of 1930s, if you are interested in it, see here - http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=75970
Yes, many small or medium Soviet ships didn't have powerful cargo derricks on board to lift tanks or other heavy cargos (the same about cargo-passenger ships) - as they were not adapted for such purposes. So some of ships were equipped with powerful cargo derricks and wrenches during WWII, but another continued to use derrichs they had and power of crewmembers. As for large timber ships (for example, "Volgoles"-class) and large universal cargo ships (for example, "Max Hoelz"-class) - they were designed for transportation of heavy cargos and had powerful electric and steam cargo derricks on board. I also think that the word "clamoring" is not very correct in this case - more correct will be "ask for planned deliveries"
As for "Anadyr" (cargo-passenger icebreaking steamer of "Anadyr"-class) and "Smolny" (cargo-passenger diesel ship of "Andrey Zhdanov"-class) - I know only that they transported different cargos in Pacific during WWII. "Anadyr" was stopped several times by Japanese patrol boats. But they were more passenger ships than cargo ships I should say (or more correct - they were universal ships) - so I am doubt that they transported locomotives. "Anadyr" could transport 2630 t of cargos in 4 cargo sections (each section had hold and tweendeck), including perishables in refrigerator compartment (tweendeck of the 3rd cargo section) - but the ship was not a bulk-carrier.
As for "SS Thomas Donaldson" - according to the 2005 year reports Russian hydrographers clearly saw two torpedo holes with the help of underwater movie camera. Probably, two torpedos from the submarine hit the ship one by one......
Regards, BP
By the way, I collected some info (which was quite hard!) about Soviet-built diesel and electric locomotives of 1930s, if you are interested in it, see here - http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=75970
I recall seeing memos in the National Archives which indicated that, during the war, the ship(s) that arrived in port to receive some Lend-Lease cargo were not always capable of carrying the the cargo for which the Soviets were clamoring at that particular time.
Yes, many small or medium Soviet ships didn't have powerful cargo derricks on board to lift tanks or other heavy cargos (the same about cargo-passenger ships) - as they were not adapted for such purposes. So some of ships were equipped with powerful cargo derricks and wrenches during WWII, but another continued to use derrichs they had and power of crewmembers. As for large timber ships (for example, "Volgoles"-class) and large universal cargo ships (for example, "Max Hoelz"-class) - they were designed for transportation of heavy cargos and had powerful electric and steam cargo derricks on board. I also think that the word "clamoring" is not very correct in this case - more correct will be "ask for planned deliveries"
As for "Anadyr" (cargo-passenger icebreaking steamer of "Anadyr"-class) and "Smolny" (cargo-passenger diesel ship of "Andrey Zhdanov"-class) - I know only that they transported different cargos in Pacific during WWII. "Anadyr" was stopped several times by Japanese patrol boats. But they were more passenger ships than cargo ships I should say (or more correct - they were universal ships) - so I am doubt that they transported locomotives. "Anadyr" could transport 2630 t of cargos in 4 cargo sections (each section had hold and tweendeck), including perishables in refrigerator compartment (tweendeck of the 3rd cargo section) - but the ship was not a bulk-carrier.
As for "SS Thomas Donaldson" - according to the 2005 year reports Russian hydrographers clearly saw two torpedo holes with the help of underwater movie camera. Probably, two torpedos from the submarine hit the ship one by one......
This seems not correct. I've read a lot of Soviet/Russian sources about Lend-Lease convoys and almost all of them mention bravery of US and British sailors, trying to deliver cargos under German bombs and torpedos, and extremelly bad and cold weather conditions. When Soviet ships rescued life-boats with foreign seamen, US and British sailors often asked to allow them to participate in combats with German bombers and to have all duties on board (captain of Soviet tanker "Donbass" wrote the message to US navy attach and note the bravery of rescued US artillerymen who replaced killed Soviet artillerymen and could knocked down bomber from the nose gun of "Donbass"). On the other hand - US captains sometimes ran their only slightly damaged ships aground far away from Soviet ports. Also US and British crews often left their damaged ships during bomber attacks according to the orders of convoy commanders whereas Soviet crews (consisted very often of women mainly) tried to repair their ships and fought a fire even on the ships full of explosives (but I can assume that differ situations occured - for example, some Soviet captains wrote that some Soviet port managers stole Lend-Lease supplies and made a lot of money whereas many others responsible for Lend-Lease supplies transportation died down because of hunger) - I believe that every nation have heroes and cruds and war conditions discovers such persons very quickly.So much for Russian revisionist histories, many of which are now out there and seem to be saying mostly that the Allied seamen didn't overexert themselves and quickly ran from danger.
Regards, BP
One hour of lost time 
Will do this again tomorrow............................Well, I find five minutes at the moment.
As for "Horace Bushnell" - I will post the info tomorrow, promise
As for Soviet sea tugs - there is only a few info about them and their technical specifications in Internet.
But what I could find about the losses of Soviet sea tugs in the North.
1. Sea steam tug of Pechora port "Komsomolets" was sunk together with the sea steam tug "Komiles" 17.08.1942 (Barents Sea, near Matveev Island). Tug "Komsomolets" towed barge and lighter with several hundreds of workers and building cargos on board, and tug "Nord" towed broken tug "Komiles" (run from Khabarov to Naryan-Mar). That small unarmed convoy didn't have an escort of warships so German submarine U-209 sank barge, lighter, "Komsomolets" and "Komiles" by artillery fire; a lot of people were killed in water by MG fire. Survived tug "Nord" could rescue 20 men only, 305 were killed (including the superintendent of Naryan-Mar port).
2. Rescue tug "Shkval" (950 hp) was exploded 25.08.1943 on bottom mines which were placed by German submarine U-625 (Yugorski Shar Strait - between Kara and Barents seas). 46 men were lost, 5 men were rescued.
3. Rescue steam tug "Musson" towed two barges and was exploded 15.11.1944 on mine (Barents Sea, Varanger Fjord), 9 men were lost, 9 men were rescued.
Mines (bottom mainly) were the reason of losses of several Soviet tugs on Baltic: rescue tug "Karin" (16.10.1941), steam tug "Loots"/T-1 (10.10.1944), steam tug "Eino"/K-40 (21.11.1944), steam tug "Tutti"/T-2 (21.11.1944)
Quite many Soviet sea tugs were lost on Black and Azov seas because of German bomber attacks - tug "Taifun" (22.09.1941), tug "Volodarsky" (27.10.1941, port Kerch), tug "Fanagoriya" (26.12.1941, Azov Sea, paricipated in landing operation, 100 marines on board were lost), "Voikov" (03.08.1942, old paddle steamer, was built in 1883 and participated in WWI, Civil war and WWII as mine-sweaper), "Anapa" (12.08.1942), "Rekord" (15.08.1942, port Sukhumi).
Tug "Mius" was torpedoed by German torpedo boats 27.02.1943 near Novorossisk, tug "Simeiz" was exploded on mine 05.04.1943 near Novorossisk, tug "Pervansh" was torpedoed by German torpedo boat 19.05.1943 near Sochi, tug "Smely" was torpedoed by U-23 29.05.1944 near Sukhumi.
http://www.solovki.ru/history58_81.jpg - Russian-built sea steam tug during the ice navigation.
As for "Horace Bushnell" - I will post the info tomorrow, promise
As for Soviet sea tugs - there is only a few info about them and their technical specifications in Internet.
But what I could find about the losses of Soviet sea tugs in the North.
1. Sea steam tug of Pechora port "Komsomolets" was sunk together with the sea steam tug "Komiles" 17.08.1942 (Barents Sea, near Matveev Island). Tug "Komsomolets" towed barge and lighter with several hundreds of workers and building cargos on board, and tug "Nord" towed broken tug "Komiles" (run from Khabarov to Naryan-Mar). That small unarmed convoy didn't have an escort of warships so German submarine U-209 sank barge, lighter, "Komsomolets" and "Komiles" by artillery fire; a lot of people were killed in water by MG fire. Survived tug "Nord" could rescue 20 men only, 305 were killed (including the superintendent of Naryan-Mar port).
2. Rescue tug "Shkval" (950 hp) was exploded 25.08.1943 on bottom mines which were placed by German submarine U-625 (Yugorski Shar Strait - between Kara and Barents seas). 46 men were lost, 5 men were rescued.
3. Rescue steam tug "Musson" towed two barges and was exploded 15.11.1944 on mine (Barents Sea, Varanger Fjord), 9 men were lost, 9 men were rescued.
Mines (bottom mainly) were the reason of losses of several Soviet tugs on Baltic: rescue tug "Karin" (16.10.1941), steam tug "Loots"/T-1 (10.10.1944), steam tug "Eino"/K-40 (21.11.1944), steam tug "Tutti"/T-2 (21.11.1944)
Quite many Soviet sea tugs were lost on Black and Azov seas because of German bomber attacks - tug "Taifun" (22.09.1941), tug "Volodarsky" (27.10.1941, port Kerch), tug "Fanagoriya" (26.12.1941, Azov Sea, paricipated in landing operation, 100 marines on board were lost), "Voikov" (03.08.1942, old paddle steamer, was built in 1883 and participated in WWI, Civil war and WWII as mine-sweaper), "Anapa" (12.08.1942), "Rekord" (15.08.1942, port Sukhumi).
Tug "Mius" was torpedoed by German torpedo boats 27.02.1943 near Novorossisk, tug "Simeiz" was exploded on mine 05.04.1943 near Novorossisk, tug "Pervansh" was torpedoed by German torpedo boat 19.05.1943 near Sochi, tug "Smely" was torpedoed by U-23 29.05.1944 near Sukhumi.
http://www.solovki.ru/history58_81.jpg - Russian-built sea steam tug during the ice navigation.
Also I found a mention that near 20 Soviet sea and port tugs were reequipped into fire-fighting vessels of Arkhangelsk port (those ships were equipped with powerful steam pomps and 1 km long fire lines each). Arkhangelsk was a very important Soviet north port (for Lend-Lease cargos also), naval base and shipyard, but the city with wooden houses mainly strongly suffered from German bombers. A lot of wooden buildings and ships in port were saved by those fire-fighting vessels (ex-tugs).
Hello BP!
I certainly understand your frustration concerning interrupted Internet connections. We have been having many thunderstorms in the evenings. Yesterday evening, in a search for something unrelated, I accidentally found a page which mentioned the ice-breaker Severny Polyus. Then all of the electricity turned off because of a storm, and I lost the Internet page it was on. Tonight I've been trying to find it. All I remember is that the page itself was not specifically about history or ships. The Severny Polyus was mentioned in a context which concerned oceanographic exploration immediately after the war. I hope I can find this page again so that I can read it in detail.
Thank you very much for the information you found regarding tugs!
I certainly understand your frustration concerning interrupted Internet connections. We have been having many thunderstorms in the evenings. Yesterday evening, in a search for something unrelated, I accidentally found a page which mentioned the ice-breaker Severny Polyus. Then all of the electricity turned off because of a storm, and I lost the Internet page it was on. Tonight I've been trying to find it. All I remember is that the page itself was not specifically about history or ships. The Severny Polyus was mentioned in a context which concerned oceanographic exploration immediately after the war. I hope I can find this page again so that I can read it in detail.
Thank you very much for the information you found regarding tugs!
Hello, Peteris!
I found some additional info about "Horace Bushnell" you are asking for.
As I've already wrote "Liberty"-class US ship "Horace Bushnell" also transported locomotives, the ship was torpedoed by U-313 six hours before "Thomas Donaldson" was torpedoed by U-955 (both ships were from the convoy JW-65, run to Murmansk). Many US sources mention that "Horace Bushnell" sank indeed, but in reality it was rescued by Soviet ships. Heavily damaged (the engine compartment was destroyed) "Horace Bushnell" was successfully beached at Teriberka by Soviet tug and 04.1945 Soviet transports "Dikson" and "Yamal" (escorted by 3 Soviet destroyers, 8 patrol boats, 4 torpedo boats and 2 flying boats "Catalina" - convoy KT-1) took the cargos from "Horace Bushnell" - http://vmk.iatp.org.ua/battles/WWII/She ... icle7.html
USA didn't want to repair "Horace Bushnell" as it was expensive and had no sense for the "Liberty" ship with short life, Soviets didn't want to repair such heavily damaged ship also. So abandoned remains of "Horace Bushnell" rusted several years after WWII near Teriberka. But new Soviet fishing fleet of "Murmansel'd" ("Murmansk herring") needed in depot ship in 1950s, so it was decided to repair "Horace Bushnell" and to reequip the ship into very modern fishing depot ship (the project was developed by Soviet engineers from Leningrad institute "Giprorybflot" and the work was done in GDR - German ship engineers converted rusty hull of "Horace Bushnell" into the newest herring depot ship with refrigerator holds for fish). The ship was renamed as "Pamyati Kirova" (note the correct spelling!) and was accepted by "Murmansel'd" company in 1956. The ship served as fishing depot ship in 1960s-1970s at least.
I found some additional info about "Horace Bushnell" you are asking for.
As I've already wrote "Liberty"-class US ship "Horace Bushnell" also transported locomotives, the ship was torpedoed by U-313 six hours before "Thomas Donaldson" was torpedoed by U-955 (both ships were from the convoy JW-65, run to Murmansk). Many US sources mention that "Horace Bushnell" sank indeed, but in reality it was rescued by Soviet ships. Heavily damaged (the engine compartment was destroyed) "Horace Bushnell" was successfully beached at Teriberka by Soviet tug and 04.1945 Soviet transports "Dikson" and "Yamal" (escorted by 3 Soviet destroyers, 8 patrol boats, 4 torpedo boats and 2 flying boats "Catalina" - convoy KT-1) took the cargos from "Horace Bushnell" - http://vmk.iatp.org.ua/battles/WWII/She ... icle7.html
USA didn't want to repair "Horace Bushnell" as it was expensive and had no sense for the "Liberty" ship with short life, Soviets didn't want to repair such heavily damaged ship also. So abandoned remains of "Horace Bushnell" rusted several years after WWII near Teriberka. But new Soviet fishing fleet of "Murmansel'd" ("Murmansk herring") needed in depot ship in 1950s, so it was decided to repair "Horace Bushnell" and to reequip the ship into very modern fishing depot ship (the project was developed by Soviet engineers from Leningrad institute "Giprorybflot" and the work was done in GDR - German ship engineers converted rusty hull of "Horace Bushnell" into the newest herring depot ship with refrigerator holds for fish). The ship was renamed as "Pamyati Kirova" (note the correct spelling!) and was accepted by "Murmansel'd" company in 1956. The ship served as fishing depot ship in 1960s-1970s at least.
passenger ships
Hello. I am trying to find out about exactly these passenger ships that took English tourists to Russia in the 1930s. I have a guidebook to Russia from 1934 which says the London-Leningrad route was plied by the oil-burning motor vessels Jan Rudzutak, Feliz Dzerzhinski, Alexei Rykov, Cooperatsia, Smolny and Sibir. So 6 names are given - but not the same 6 as you give. Now what I'm wondering is, what happened to the Jan Rudzutak and the Alexei Rykov after 1937 when they were both accused of conspiracy and sentenced to death? Did the names of the boats change? Perhaps they changed to Andrey Zhdanov and Maria Ulyanova? Do you have any idea? I'd very much like to find out, for a book that I am writing.
Apologies if this is posted in the wrong place.
Apologies if this is posted in the wrong place.
Hello, kh!
Welcome to our discussion! And this is the very right place for your questions
Yes, Soviet cargo-passenger diesel ships of "Andrey Zhdanov"-class (so called "London reefers", 6 were built by Leningrad North Shipyard in 1925-1930 in 3 series, two ships in each) were developed especially for Leningrad-London line (they also made runs to British Hull, Hamburg, France and Mediterranean during the winter time). They transported perishable goods (1000 t of butter and 800 t of eggs from Russia) in refrigerator holds, different cargos and passengers/tourists (up to 300 men - 28 passengers of I class, 32 passengers of II class, 240 tourists as IIIrd class passengers) - each ship made 10 runs Leningrad-London-Leningrad during the 210 days of year navigation.
As I've mentioned above for increasing the prestige of USSR those ships had very comfortable cabins for passengers (with furniture from the most expensive woods, carpets), smoke room, music saloon and restaurants for I-III class passengers, which were designed with the help of famous French and Russian painters and decorators. Also the ships were equipped with the most powerful Soviet diesels RD-2400 (1650 kWt) and ice strengthening of the hull for winter navigations. English Lloyd and Soviet Maritime Register gave a highest qualification to those ships.
The arrival of the first Soviet refrigerator ship of the class ("Alexey Rykov") to London in 1928 made a sensation, a lot of Londoners visited the ship and that increased the status of young Soviet merchant navy a lot, as nobody expected that Soviet Russia could produce excellent ocean ships just in several years after destructive revolution and civil war. Diesel ship "Yan Rudzutak" ("Mariya Ulyanova") was awarded with the gold medal during the International Shipbuilding Contest of 1928.
The only main disadvantage of those ships was the problems with the Soviet-built diesels, which were powerful but not reliable at first. The problem was solved in the end of 1930s only when Kanonersky ship-repair yard in Leningrad improved those diesels.
Those 6 ships had the following names (note their correct spelling): "Alexey Rykov" (later "Andrey Zhdanov"), "Yan Rudzutak" (later "Mariya Ulyanova"), "Felix Dzerzhinsky" (mine-layer "Ural" during WWII), "Smolny", "Cooperatsiya" (patrol ship/depot ship "Veter" during WWII) and "Sibir".
Some sources mention that cargo-passenger ships as the ships of "Alexey Rykov"-class as the first two ships had the names "Alexey Rykov" and "Yan Rudzutak" when they were laid down in May 1925, later they were renamed (in 1937?) as "Andrey Zhdanov" and "Mariya Ulyanova", correspondingly.
AFAIK Alexey Rykov (1881-1938) was the experienced economist, he developed the economic politics of Soviet Russia after the revolution 1917 and he didn't agree with many bolshevists about the ways of economic development of USSR. Rykov was the Chairman of the Soviet of People's Commissars (Chairman of the Government) after the death of Lenin, but he lost his position in 1930 because of strong disagreement with Stalin. In 1932 he became the People's Commissar (Minister) of posts and telegraphs, 27.02.1937 he was arrested as antisoviet spy and was murdered 15.03.1938 in Moscow.
http://sscadm.nsu.ru/deps/hum/histrus/p ... age091.jpg
AFAIK Latvian Yan Rudzutak (1887-1938) was the People's Commissar of railways in 1924-1930 and Vice-chairman of the Soviet of People's Commissars, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party in 1931-1934. 24.05.1937 he was arrested as antisoviet German spy and was murdered 28.07.1938.
The good scheme of "Cooperatsiya" - http://www.sea.infoflot.ru/shems/1/10
Note the location of walk-around deck, main and 2nd decks. Also note that the ship was equipped with 4 holds and tweendecks and 3-12 t cargo derricks as cargo-passenger ship.
P.S.
Welcome to our discussion! And this is the very right place for your questions
Yes, Soviet cargo-passenger diesel ships of "Andrey Zhdanov"-class (so called "London reefers", 6 were built by Leningrad North Shipyard in 1925-1930 in 3 series, two ships in each) were developed especially for Leningrad-London line (they also made runs to British Hull, Hamburg, France and Mediterranean during the winter time). They transported perishable goods (1000 t of butter and 800 t of eggs from Russia) in refrigerator holds, different cargos and passengers/tourists (up to 300 men - 28 passengers of I class, 32 passengers of II class, 240 tourists as IIIrd class passengers) - each ship made 10 runs Leningrad-London-Leningrad during the 210 days of year navigation.
As I've mentioned above for increasing the prestige of USSR those ships had very comfortable cabins for passengers (with furniture from the most expensive woods, carpets), smoke room, music saloon and restaurants for I-III class passengers, which were designed with the help of famous French and Russian painters and decorators. Also the ships were equipped with the most powerful Soviet diesels RD-2400 (1650 kWt) and ice strengthening of the hull for winter navigations. English Lloyd and Soviet Maritime Register gave a highest qualification to those ships.
The arrival of the first Soviet refrigerator ship of the class ("Alexey Rykov") to London in 1928 made a sensation, a lot of Londoners visited the ship and that increased the status of young Soviet merchant navy a lot, as nobody expected that Soviet Russia could produce excellent ocean ships just in several years after destructive revolution and civil war. Diesel ship "Yan Rudzutak" ("Mariya Ulyanova") was awarded with the gold medal during the International Shipbuilding Contest of 1928.
The only main disadvantage of those ships was the problems with the Soviet-built diesels, which were powerful but not reliable at first. The problem was solved in the end of 1930s only when Kanonersky ship-repair yard in Leningrad improved those diesels.
Those 6 ships had the following names (note their correct spelling): "Alexey Rykov" (later "Andrey Zhdanov"), "Yan Rudzutak" (later "Mariya Ulyanova"), "Felix Dzerzhinsky" (mine-layer "Ural" during WWII), "Smolny", "Cooperatsiya" (patrol ship/depot ship "Veter" during WWII) and "Sibir".
Some sources mention that cargo-passenger ships as the ships of "Alexey Rykov"-class as the first two ships had the names "Alexey Rykov" and "Yan Rudzutak" when they were laid down in May 1925, later they were renamed (in 1937?) as "Andrey Zhdanov" and "Mariya Ulyanova", correspondingly.
AFAIK Alexey Rykov (1881-1938) was the experienced economist, he developed the economic politics of Soviet Russia after the revolution 1917 and he didn't agree with many bolshevists about the ways of economic development of USSR. Rykov was the Chairman of the Soviet of People's Commissars (Chairman of the Government) after the death of Lenin, but he lost his position in 1930 because of strong disagreement with Stalin. In 1932 he became the People's Commissar (Minister) of posts and telegraphs, 27.02.1937 he was arrested as antisoviet spy and was murdered 15.03.1938 in Moscow.
http://sscadm.nsu.ru/deps/hum/histrus/p ... age091.jpg
AFAIK Latvian Yan Rudzutak (1887-1938) was the People's Commissar of railways in 1924-1930 and Vice-chairman of the Soviet of People's Commissars, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party in 1931-1934. 24.05.1937 he was arrested as antisoviet German spy and was murdered 28.07.1938.
"Andrey Zhdanov" (ex-"Alexey Rykov") was used as the large hospital ship on the Baltic Sea since July 1941. Participated in dangerous navigations from Tallinn to Leningrad (evacuation of civilians and soldiers). The ship exploded on mine (12 November 1941, Gulf of Finland) during his run from Kronshtadt to Hango in convoy for evacuation the Soviet troops from Hango naval base. "Andrey Zhdanov" sank after explosion, 66 men from the crew were rescued by patrol boats, 7 were lost.
"Mariya Ulyanova" (ex-"Yan Rudzutak") was used as military transport during the Winter war for Soviet landed troops and ammunition transportation to Petsamo port together with other civil ships, several times avoided the Finnish mines.
Later it was moved to Barents Sea and participated in WWII as hospital ship and depot ship for submarines. It was lightly damaged by German bombs in August 1941. 26 August 1941 "Maria Ulianova" was torpedoed by German submarine U-571 and lost its stern during the torpedo esplosion. The heavily damaged ship was towed to the port, but wasn't repaired and was sent for remelting after the end of the war.
The good scheme of "Cooperatsiya" - http://www.sea.infoflot.ru/shems/1/10
Note the location of walk-around deck, main and 2nd decks. Also note that the ship was equipped with 4 holds and tweendecks and 3-12 t cargo derricks as cargo-passenger ship.
P.S.
The best and the most comfortable Soviet-built passenger liners of 1930s were six mail-freight-passenger ships of "Abkhazia"-class (displacement 5770 t; carrying capacity 1100 t freight + 522-980 passengers; crew 76 men; length 112,1 m; 2 x 2000 hp diesels; speed 14,5 knots).
Those ships were built by Soviet Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad ("Abkhazia", "Adzharia", "Armenia", "Ukraina") and Deutsche Werft in Hamburg ("Gruzia", "Krym") in 1926-1931. The Soviet project was very successful, so Deutsche Werft built two additional identical passenger ships for Spain ("Canarias" and "Balearis"). Also two quite similar, but smaller ships were built in USSR for Caspian Sea ("Daghestan", "Turkmenistan").
All six liners were used on Black Sea (Crimea-Caucasus resort route: Odessa-Batumi) and on Mediterranean Sea before WWII, but in first days of the war they were mobilized, equipped as military transports/hospital ships and were armed with AA guns and machine-guns. They participated in heroic evacuation of Soviet Seaside Army from Odessa under heavy bombing as the military transports of Black Sea Navy, carrying cargos, wounded men and civilians - all were lost during WWII.
Last edited by BIGpanzer on 22 Jul 2006, 12:38, edited 1 time in total.
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mjbollinger
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Welcome KH
Yes, both ships had the names changed in 1937. Some more info:
YAN RUDZUTAK
1925 Laid down as YAN RUDZUTAK 01.05.25
1926 Launched as YAN RUDZUTAK 10.26
1928 Completed as YAN RUDZUTAK (STF-BGK) 10.28
1929 Arrived in Ostend Harbor 11.29
1934 YAN RUDZUTAK (BGMP) 15.03.34
1937 MARIYA ULYANOVA (BGMP)
1939 MARIYA ULYANOVA (MGMP) 22.09.39
1941 MARIYA ULYANOVA (SF) mobilized as hospital ship 07.01.41
1941 Torpedoed by U.571; bow broke off and sank 26.08.41
1941 Towed to Teriberka 27.08.41
1941 Taken off active roster; used as floating oil storage 05.12.41
1942 Reported at anchor Kola Inlet
1943 Reported damaged and out of service
ALEXEI RYKOV
1925 Laid down as ALEXEI RYKOV 01.05.25
1926 Launched as ALEXEI RYKOV 08.26
1928 Completed as ALEXEI RYKOV (STF-BGK) 07.28
1937 ANDREI ZHDANOV (BGMP)
1941 ANDREI ZHDANOV (BF) mobilized as hospital ship 22.06.41
MB
1941 Mined 59.47N-25.34E off Hango 12.11.41
YAN RUDZUTAK
1925 Laid down as YAN RUDZUTAK 01.05.25
1926 Launched as YAN RUDZUTAK 10.26
1928 Completed as YAN RUDZUTAK (STF-BGK) 10.28
1929 Arrived in Ostend Harbor 11.29
1934 YAN RUDZUTAK (BGMP) 15.03.34
1937 MARIYA ULYANOVA (BGMP)
1939 MARIYA ULYANOVA (MGMP) 22.09.39
1941 MARIYA ULYANOVA (SF) mobilized as hospital ship 07.01.41
1941 Torpedoed by U.571; bow broke off and sank 26.08.41
1941 Towed to Teriberka 27.08.41
1941 Taken off active roster; used as floating oil storage 05.12.41
1942 Reported at anchor Kola Inlet
1943 Reported damaged and out of service
ALEXEI RYKOV
1925 Laid down as ALEXEI RYKOV 01.05.25
1926 Launched as ALEXEI RYKOV 08.26
1928 Completed as ALEXEI RYKOV (STF-BGK) 07.28
1937 ANDREI ZHDANOV (BGMP)
1941 ANDREI ZHDANOV (BF) mobilized as hospital ship 22.06.41
MB
1941 Mined 59.47N-25.34E off Hango 12.11.41
Thanks, Marty! Are you in Germany at the moment?
Some short additional info:
Many German sources describe "Mariya Ulyanova" as passenger steamer but we know that she was diesel cargo-passenger ship, of course.
It seems to be that Teriberka harbor was the place where quite many damaged ship were towed (several US and British ships from convoys were towed to Teriberka also) - there was a small fishing village there only, so Soviets sent transport ships to take cargos from those damaged ships or sea tugs to tow them to Murmansk for repair if it was possible.
http://photo.murman.ru/www/vcards.nsf/i ... G_0734.jpg (Teriberka)
Hospital ship "Andrey Zhdanov" made several extremelly dangerous runs in convoys from Kronshtadt to Hango and back for evacuation of Soviet wounded sailors and soldiers - mine-sweepers protected the ship from mine danger and patrol boats - from very strong German air attacks (also the ship made run from Tallinn to Kronshtadt in convoy, run started 24.08.1941). "Andrey Zhdanov" was armed with several AA guns and had large red crosses on white boards and deck, but that didn't help against German bombardments.
Some short additional info:
1925 Laid down as YAN RUDZUTAK 01.05.25
1926 Launched as YAN RUDZUTAK 10.26
1928 Completed as YAN RUDZUTAK (STF-BGK) 10.28
Such delay between laid down and completed stages of those two ships (Ist series) was caused by two reasons: 1) the initial project was changed from refrigerator cargo ship to refrigerator cargo-passenger ship for the Leningrad-London line, so Soviet engineers modified the project a lot. The ships of the IInd and the IIIrd series were laid down as cargo-passenger ships but the ships of the Ist series were rebuilt on berth into cargo-passenger ships as they were laid down as cargo ships 2) as those ships were planned to use along the international lines for passenger transportation they should be built according to the British Lloyd rules (Soviet Maritime Register didn't have international rights at that time) - so British inspectors supervised the building of those ships in Leningrad and all drafts in two copies should be confirmed by London. When one confirmed copy returned back to Leningrad, the work continued. So that procedure needed a lot of time. As I've mentioned English Lloyd and Soviet Maritime Register gave a highest qualification to those ships.1925 Laid down as ALEXEI RYKOV 01.05.25
1926 Launched as ALEXEI RYKOV 08.26
1928 Completed as ALEXEI RYKOV (STF-BGK) 07.28
Do you mean Ostende in Belgium? Why this info is important?1929 Arrived in Ostend Harbor 11.29
The ship was transferred to Murmansk State Steamship Company (MGMP) because of Soviet-Finnish war as it was reequipped into military transport.1939 MARIYA ULYANOVA (MGMP) 22.09.39
Yes, also "Mariya Ulyanova" was used as submarine depot ship by North Navy in 1941 (SF).1941 MARIYA ULYANOVA (SF) mobilized as hospital ship 07.01.41
The ship was torpedoed by U-571 when it was used as submarine depot ship (during the run Murmansk-Arkhangelsk, escorted by two Soviet destroyers). In 2 hours after two torpedo explosions the stern with screw and rudder of the ship broke off and sank. One of the destroyers began to tow the damaged ship, also two additional destoyers and one patrol boat were sent for the defense against German bombers (Germans made a lot of air attacks against "Mariya Ulyanova" soon - 15-25 bombers every 30 min, but there were no direct bomb hits and destroyers knocked down and damaged ~10 bombers).1941 Torpedoed by U.571; bow broke off and sank 26.08.41
1941 Towed to Teriberka 27.08.41
Many German sources describe "Mariya Ulyanova" as passenger steamer but we know that she was diesel cargo-passenger ship, of course.
It seems to be that Teriberka harbor was the place where quite many damaged ship were towed (several US and British ships from convoys were towed to Teriberka also) - there was a small fishing village there only, so Soviets sent transport ships to take cargos from those damaged ships or sea tugs to tow them to Murmansk for repair if it was possible.
http://photo.murman.ru/www/vcards.nsf/i ... G_0734.jpg (Teriberka)
I found a mention that "Mariya Ulyanova" scrapped after the end of the war.1943 Reported damaged and out of service
Reequipment started 23.06.1941 by North Shipyard in Leningrad, finished 13.07.1941.1941 ANDREI ZHDANOV (BF) mobilized as hospital ship 22.06.41
Hospital ship "Andrey Zhdanov" made several extremelly dangerous runs in convoys from Kronshtadt to Hango and back for evacuation of Soviet wounded sailors and soldiers - mine-sweepers protected the ship from mine danger and patrol boats - from very strong German air attacks (also the ship made run from Tallinn to Kronshtadt in convoy, run started 24.08.1941). "Andrey Zhdanov" was armed with several AA guns and had large red crosses on white boards and deck, but that didn't help against German bombardments.
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mjbollinger
- Member
- Posts: 238
- Joined: 14 Sep 2005, 02:23
- Location: Great Falls, VA
Germany
Hi BP,
No, I am back from Dusseldorf and London. Next trip I know of will probably be Hamburg in September. Then to Frankfurt in October. Arrived just this morning.
Thanks for the correction on Mariya Ulianova.
The reason I track the trip to Ostende is because it was quite noteworth at the time and there was a lot of attention paid to the ship on this visit. I'm tracking the gradual expansion of Sovtorgflot reach in the 1920s and 1930s as part of my research.
MB
No, I am back from Dusseldorf and London. Next trip I know of will probably be Hamburg in September. Then to Frankfurt in October. Arrived just this morning.
Thanks for the correction on Mariya Ulianova.
The reason I track the trip to Ostende is because it was quite noteworth at the time and there was a lot of attention paid to the ship on this visit. I'm tracking the gradual expansion of Sovtorgflot reach in the 1920s and 1930s as part of my research.
MB
Hi, Marty! You have an intensive time-schedule As for me I also travelled and travelling a lot in my life (and very rear those trips were for rest, no time and sometimes no money for good vacations for many years already, only business trips 
) This August I am going to participate in the scientific expedition to the North Finland and North Russia (Murmansk region), so I hope to have a little bit rest, feasting eyes with the beautiful north nature.
By the way I've just found the small additional mention about hospital ship "Andrey Zhdanov". The ship was exploded on mine 12.11.1941 during the convoy run from Kronshtadt to Hango naval base, so the ship was empty and fortunately didn't have wounded soldiers on board (the ship could take ~2000 men on board). The captain of "Andrey Zhdanov" was an old civil experienced sailor who made the runs to London for many years but during peaceful times only; that captain got the rank of navy lieutenant-commander in June 1941 because the ship was reequipped into hospital ship of the Baltic Navy but he didn't know how to manoevre within mine fields and used only one command "stop engine" when he saw the mine (Soviet regular navy captains wrote a reports to replace the captain of "Andrey Zhdanov" as he complicated convoy runs through the mine fields very much, but that was not happened).
As for me I also travelled and travelling a lot in my life (and very rear those trips were for rest, no time and sometimes no money for good vacations for many years already, only business trips ) This August I am going to participate in the scientific expedition to the North Finland and North Russia (Murmansk region), so I hope to have a little bit rest, feasting eyes with the beautiful north nature.By the way I've just found the small additional mention about hospital ship "Andrey Zhdanov". The ship was exploded on mine 12.11.1941 during the convoy run from Kronshtadt to Hango naval base, so the ship was empty and fortunately didn't have wounded soldiers on board (the ship could take ~2000 men on board). The captain of "Andrey Zhdanov" was an old civil experienced sailor who made the runs to London for many years but during peaceful times only; that captain got the rank of navy lieutenant-commander in June 1941 because the ship was reequipped into hospital ship of the Baltic Navy but he didn't know how to manoevre within mine fields and used only one command "stop engine" when he saw the mine (Soviet regular navy captains wrote a reports to replace the captain of "Andrey Zhdanov" as he complicated convoy runs through the mine fields very much, but that was not happened).