JERMAK - ROSYJSKI LODOŁAMACZ ARKTYCZNY Z 1899 ROKU / RUŚ - ROSYJSKI HOLOWNIK Z 1904 ROKU

Yermak was a Russian icebreaker that was ordered in 1897 and entered service in 1899. It was 51.8 meters long and about 9.2 meters wide. The displacement reached approx. 620 tons, and the maximum speed was around 13-14 knots. Jermak was the first ship in history to be designed and built as an icebreaker from the beginning. The idea of its construction and many design solutions were proposed by the Russian admiral Stepan Makarov, while the British Armstrong Whitworth shipyard in Newcastle was responsible for the construction of the unit. Since 1899, the unit operated in the Arctic regions, conducting oceanographic research there, and later operated in the waters of the Gulf of Finland. The unit took a very indirect part in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) and fortunately survived it, as did both world wars, although in 1941-1945 it operated in the Baltic Sea. The unit was decommissioned only in 1963!