The icebreaker Fyodor Litke (SKR-18, ) was active in the Soviet era in the Arctic, until the late 1950s. It was built in 1909 in England for the Saint Lawrence River service and initially named CGC Earl Grey after Albert Grey, Governor General of Canada.Fraser, p.3 After four years in Canada it was sold to the Russian government and eventually renamed Fyodor Litke in honour of the Arctic explorer Fyodor Petrovich Litke.
LitkeName of the ship was usually reduced to Litke, omitting Fyodor. became famous for its Arctic operations in 1932–1935, survived World War II and was retired in 1958 after nearly 50 years of service. Unlike conventional icebreakers that crush ice with their own weight from above, Litke belonged to an older generation of vessels, relying on ramming and cutting ice without any downward movement.Papanin, ch.3 For this reason, Litke was uniquely classified as an ice-cutter () or icebreaking steamship (), rather than a true icebreaker.
History
CGS Earl Grey
Albert Grey, the ninth Governor General of Canada, paid his first visit to the Hudson Bay area in 1910, returning home in a luxuriously-appointed suite on board an icebreaker bearing his name, CGS Earl Grey. Grey was interested in the construction of a coastal railroad, establishing new seaports (including Port Nelson) and charting the waters of Hudson Bay.
CGS Earl Grey was built in 1909 in Barrow-in-Furness for the Saint Lawrence River winter service as an "icebreaking freight and passenger steamer".Fraser, p. 6 Its engine was just 30% less powerful than the engine of Yermak, the largest true icebreaker of the period, although Yermak was slower due to a bulky ice-crushing layout. Earl Grey was equipped with a clipper style Stanley bow, giving it a yacht-like appearance and its owners claimed it to be the "First Canadian ice fighting machine".Fraser, p. 6 Later Russian crew members praised its living quarter luxuries but scorned the substandard shower room. The ship also rolled excessively, even on relatively calm seas.Seliverstov, p. 57
Canada and the Russian Civil War Earl Grey continued service between Charlottetown and Pictou until the outbreak of World War I. In 1914 she was sold to the Imperial Russian government and renamed Canada, operating in the Arkhangelsk area from 9 October 1914.Combat chronicles..., p.426 Canada and another Canadian icebreaker, Lintrose ( in Russian service) were key in extending the navigation season around Murmansk in 1914 to the end of January 1915, escorting a total of 146 British transports with military supplies.History of World War I, vol.II, p. 379
In 1918–1920, during the Russian Civil War, when General Evgenii Miller controlled Arkhangelsk, Canada remained in port, loyal to Miller's government. However, on 19 February 1920, when a defeated Miller was evacuating the city, Canada and Ivan Susanin refused to cooperate with the white forces and stayed in Solombala harbor.Sokolov, p.413
Canada, now in the hands of local commissars who were leaning towards the Bolsheviks, was armed and sailed out to sea, becoming trapped in ice after chasing and intercepting a convoy on the morning of 21 February.Sokolov, p.418 An artillery duel between Canada and Miller's icebreaker Kozma Minin was probably the only sea battle ever to take place between icebreakers and ended in favor of Miller. Canada retreated due to hull damage and the Bolsheviks blamed the failure on commissars Petrov and Nikolayev, who could have negotiated with the fugitives.Sokolov, p.428
Fyodor Litke The new Bolshevik owners changed the name of Canada to III International and eventually to Fyodor Litke – after Fyodor Petrovich Litke, the notable Arctic explorer, geographer, and tutor of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia.
1929 expedition In 1926, a team of Soviet explorers equipped with three years of supplies landed on Wrangel Island. The clear waters which had facilitated the 1926 landing were followed by years of continuous heavy ice. Attempts to reach Wrangel Island by sea failed and it was feared that the team would not survive their fourth winter.
In 1929 Litke, as one of the most capable Soviet icebreakers, was chosen for a rescue operation. The vessel sailed from Sevastopol with captain Konstantin Dublitsky in command, reaching Vladivostok on 4 July 1929. In Vladivostok, all the Black Sea sailors were relieved and replaced with local crew. Ten days later Litke sailed to the North, passed through the Bering Strait safely and attempted to pass Long Strait in order to approach the island from the south. On 8 August a scout plane reported seeing impassable ice in the strait, and Litke turned north, heading to Herald Island. It failed to escape the mounting ice and on 12 August the captain shut down the engines in order to save coal and had to wait two weeks until ice pressure eased up. Making only a few hundred meters a day, Litke reached the settlement on 28 August. On 5 September, Litke went to sea once more, bringing all the 'islanders' to safety. This operation earned Litke the order of the Red Banner of Labour (20 January 1930), as well as memorial badges for the crew.
1932: First Dalstroy campaign From 1932 until 1933 Litke was employed by Dalstroy, which was an NKVD organization in charge of Far Eastern gold mining. The gold mines were separated from Magadan Harbor by virtually impassable mountains; however, the mines could be reached from the Arctic coast of Chukchi Sea by river – if the ships managed to break through from Bering Strait to Kolyma River inlet. On 23 January 1932, the government assigned Litke and a smaller icebreaker, Davydov, to guide Arctic convoys with over 13,000 tonnes of supplies, over 1,000 passengers and numerous small river craft, to the Kolyma settlements. The plan also considered the possibility that the ships would be trapped in the ice for the winter of 1932–1933, and they were supplied sufficiently to survive 14 months.Bochek, IntroductionBochek, Work in Vladivostok. Loading and sailing out Formation of the first convoy was delayed owing to the lack of Arctic-ready transport ships that had to be assembled from the Black Sea and Baltic Sea fleets, or built at the Dalzavod yards in Vladivostok.Bochek, Preparation work in Moscow
Ships of the first large convoy – Litke, six transport ships and a motor schooner, towing 26 smaller craft and carrying 867 passengers, most of them convicts,Larkov, Romanenko, p. 172 – sailed from Vladivostok individually between 27 June and 5 July 1932. Litke, under the command of captain Nikolay Nikolayev, sailed on 2 July. Due to delays in Vladivostok, the convoy missed the optimal, calm period (June) and faced heavy storms in the Sea of Okhotsk. Two 500-tonne welded barges towed by Litke suffered hull cracks as early in the voyage as the La Perouse Strait and had to be repaired in rough seas. Litke arrived in Petropavlovsk on 10 July, making an average with only four out of its six boilers working.Bochek. Vladivostok to PetropavlovskFour out of six boilers were normally used in clear water. Five or six were used in heavy ice only. In the following week it resupplied from a Japanese coaler, taking special precautions to block any contacts between Soviet and Japanese crews.Bochek, Resupplying in Petropaplovsk The sailing to Provideniya (18–26 July) was uneventful, except for a minor storm off Cape Olutorsky, once again damaging the barges.Bocher. Petropavlovsk to Providenya
While the convoy assembled in a formation off Cape Dezhnev, two larger transports, Anadyr and Suchan, attempted to head west to Kolyma on their own. They were stopped by heavy ice; Litke released them on 31 July and immediately returned to Cape Dezhnev.Bochek. Failure of Anadyr and Suchan Most of August was spent seeking ice-free westward passages. With scout planes grounded by bad weather until 15 August, the ships moved by trial and error around impassable ice formations. Litke, with half of the transports, headed west, making a day; the other transports were relieved from a possibly fatal attempt for them.Bochek, Operations of the second group of ships
The convoy reached Ambarchik Bay (Kolyma inlet) on 4 September. Ambarchik became the main "port of entry" for the prisoners of Kolyma for the next decade. A P Bochek, the leader of the expedition, cited the efforts of Litke as the main factor in the operation's success. However, the convoy ultimately failed to unload its cargo – 18 out of the 20 days in Ambarchik anchorage were stormy, so 5,980 of the 10,890 tonnes of cargo were left in the holds.Bochek, Unloading process Thus it was decided to relocate the transports to a safe winter anchorage in Chaunskaya Bay; however the short journey was plagued by increasingly heavier ice that damaged Litkes rudder on 26 September. Divers confirmed that the damage could be fixed only in a dry dock. Litke could now only sail accompanied by a tugboat.Bochek, Kolyma to Chaun
Between 2–7 October, the crippled Litke was busy clearing a passage to Uritsky off Cape Shelagsky. Fearing that Litke itself would be trapped away from the convoy, Bochek and his staff ordered that it cease its efforts. Litke joined the main forces in Chaun Bay, preparing to stay there for the long Arctic winter. On 31 October, Litke was fully prepared for the winter; it still carried 500 tonnes of coal, with 150 allocated for heating at the anchorage.Bochek. Personnel quarters and their preparation Its large luxurious saloons were used for propaganda and entertainment assemblies for the whole convoy.Bochek, December 1932 Meanwhile, the morale of its crew was plummeting. The ship surgeon and cook were relieved from duty for absenteeism.
1933: Chelyuskin disaster After a winter in Chaun bay, Litke was declared seaworthy again on 20 June 1933. On 28 June, Litke assisted two transports, beached by a storm, and on 1 July sailed once more to attempt to release Uritsky from the ice.Bochek, June 1933 On this occasion Litke carried 450 tonnes of coal – enough to last for seven days in heavy ice. To save fuel, she moved in a start-stop manner, shutting down her boilers for days on end when ice density or fog forced her to idle. On 18 July Litke finally approached Uritsky and both ships safely reached Kolyma Inlet on 21 July.Bochek, Winter on Uritsky Meanwhile, the fleet in Chaun Bay finally unloaded their cargoes and on 16 August, Litke, along with Anadyr, sailed to Vladivostok, picking up other stranded ships on their way. The short run to the Bering Strait was a hazardous operation, and numerous ships again became trapped in the ice with fuel running low. As the coastal ice grew heavier, the convoy had to turn north, and reached Vankarem only on 13 September.Bochek, Return from Ambarchik anchorage Later in September, the convoy, in small isolated groups, was stuck in coastal ice east of Vankarem. Litke, the only icebreaker in the Chukotka area, managed to get them through, but sustained wear and damage from the ice was gradually reducing her capability.Larkov, p.139
At the same time , attempting a single-season passage from Murmansk to Vladivostok, was stuck in ice in the same area, off Cape Koluchin. On 22 September, while attempting to clear a passage for three ships trapped in the ice, Litke again damaged its rudder and propeller, hardly escaping entrapment in the ice itself, and had to retreat to clear water in Provideniya bay.Larkov, p. 140 In the middle of October, Cheluskin was firmly trapped in solid pack ice and drifting westward through the Chukchi Sea. Litke, protecting a far larger convoy, had to complete her mission at the cost of leaving Cheluskin alone in the Arctic.