NS 50 Years Since Victory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 50 Let Pobedy (Photo credit: unton) |
|
Career (  ) |
 |
|---|---|
| Builder: | Baltic Works, Leningrad, USSR/Saint Petersburg, Russia |
| Laid down: | October 4, 1989 |
| Commissioned: | 2007 |
| Homeport: | Murmansk, Russia |
| Fate: | active in service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Ice breaker, Arktika class |
| Displacement: | 25,000 metric tons |
| Length: | 159.6 m (522 feet) |
| Beam: | 30 m (28 m at the waterline) |
| Propulsion: | Power plant: 2 nuclear reactors 75,000 h.p. |
| Speed: | up to 21.4 knots |
| Complement: | 138 crew members |
NS 50 Years Since Victory or 50 Years Anniversary of Victory (Russian: 50 лет Победы, transliterated as 50 Let Pobedy) is a Russian Arktika class nuclear powered icebreaker, the largest in the world as of 2007.
Construction on project no. 10521 started on October 4, 1989 at the Baltic Works in Leningrad (currently Saint Petersburg), USSR. Originally the ship was named NS Ural. Work was halted in 1993 for lack of funds, so that the real 50 Years Anniversary of Victory Day in 1995 found the ship in an abandoned state. Construction was restarted in 2003.
On 30 November 2004, a fire broke out in ship. All workers aboard the vessel, had to be evacuated while the fire crews battled the fire for some 20 hours before getting it under control. One worker was sent to hospital. There was no threat of radioactive contamination as the nuclear reactor had no fuel inside.
She was finally completed in the beginning of 2007, after the 60th Anniversary. The icebreaker sailed into the Gulf of Finland for two weeks of sea trials on February 1, 2007.
Upon completing sea trials, the icebreaker returned to St-Petersburg Baltic shipyard and started preparations for her maiden voyage to Murmansk. The new ship showed superior characteristics for an icebreaker such as exceptional maneuverability and a top speed of 21.4 knots.
She arrived at her homeport Murmansk on April 11, 2007.
The icebreaker is an upgrade of the Arktika-class, the most powerful icebreakers ever built. The 159-meter (522-foot) long and 30-meter (100-foot) wide vessel, with a deadweight of 25,000 metric tons, is designed to break through ice up to 2.8 meters thick (9.2 feet). It has a 138-man crew. [1] [2] [3] [4]
50 Years Since Victory is also an experimental project - for the first time in history of the Russian icebreakers it used a spoon-shaped bow. As predicted by the ship's designers such a shape will increase the efficiency of breaking the ice. The icebreaker is equipped with an all-new digital automated control system. The biological shielding complex was heavily modernized and re-certified by the State Commission. A new ecological compartment was created equipped with high-end devices of collection and utilization of vital functions material.
The ship has a sporting room, a swimming pool, a library, a restaurant and a music salon at the crew's disposal.
[edit] References
- ^ Anastasia Yakonuk (February 26, 2007). A ship called ’Fifty years after the victory’. Sveriges Radio. Retrieved on 2007-03-08.
- ^ Russia tests nuclear icebreaker on open sea. RIA Novosti (16:51 31/01/2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
- ^ Titans of the Upper Latitudes. Aeroflot in-flight magazine (2006 #1). Retrieved on 2007-01-31.
- ^ Russia to get new nuclear-powered icebreaker this year. Bellona.org (01/03-2006). Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
