, 1900 An earlier vessel, the schooner Yermak, was commissioned for the 1862 attempt to find the
Yenissei river delta by
Paul Theodor von Krusenstern, by navigating from
Murmansk through the
Kara Sea to the destination, but was shipwrecked before obtaining success.
Yermak was built for the
Imperial Russian Navy under the supervision of
vice-admiral S. O. Makarov by the members of his commission, which included
D. I. Mendeleev, engineers N. I. Yankovsky and R. I. Runeberg, admiral
F. F. Wrangel, among others. It was built in
Newcastle upon Tyne at its
Low Walker yard and launched in 1898. She was named after the famous Russian explorer of
Siberia,
Don Cossack ataman Yermak Timofeyevich. She was commissioned on 17 October 1898. She arrived in
Kronstadt on 4 March 1899 after breaking through ice and a formal reception was held to mark her arrival. Later in 1899 she reached 81°21'N north of
Spitsbergen. She had been constructed to break through heavy ice (up to 2 m in thickness).
Yermak had been used in the winter of 1899–1900 to set up the first radio communication link in Russia between
Kotka and
Gogland (Suursaar) island (distance 47 km). In 1900 she came to the aid of the cruiser
Gromoboi which had grounded in the Baltic. Between 1899 and 1911
Yermak sailed in heavy ice conditions for more than 1000 days.
Yermak was initially part of the fleet sailing to the
Battle of Tsushima but irresponsible manoeuvring resulted in shots being fired across her bow before she was dismissed from the fleet in early October 1904
O.S. During World War I she assisted the Baltic Fleet during the
Ice Cruise when the fleet was evacuated from Helsinki to Kronstadt in February 1918. During World War II the
Yermak was mobilised again and took part in the
evacuation of Hanko naval base. She was armed with two 102 mm, two 76 mm, four 45 mm and four machine guns.
Yermak served with different branches of the Russian and Soviet Navy and Merchant Marine up until 1964, becoming one of the longest-serving icebreakers in the world. An island in the
Nordenskiöld Archipelago was named after her. By 1963 it was scrapped, despite efforts to preserve it as a museum piece. A monument to the icebreaker
Yermak was unveiled in
Murmansk In November 1965 – this included mosaic panels and the original anchor on the pedestal. Another icebreaker with the name
Yermak was built for the Soviet Union at the
Wärtsilä Helsinki shipyard, Finland in 1974. Russia employs an icebreaker named
Yermak in the Baltic Sea as late as 2010. File:E. J. Slawinsky - Ice-breaker “ERMACK” and her work in Baltic Ports - 1911.jpg|The first photographic album on Ice-breaker "Ermack" File:E. J. Slawinsky - Ice-breaker “ERMACK” and her work in Baltic Ports - 1911 - title page.jpg|The first photographic album on Ice-breaker "Ermack" – title page File:E. J. Slawinsky - Ice-breaker “ERMACK” and her work in Baltic Ports - 1911 - pic. nr. 5.jpg|The first photographic album on Ice-breaker "Ermack" – pic. nr. 5 ==See also==