Fyodor Litke (1909 icebreaker)

For other icebreakers with the same name, see Fyodor Litke (icebreaker).
Postcard version of photograph of Earl Grey while on builder's trials in 1909[1]
History
Soviet Union
NameФёдор Литке / Fyodor Litke
Owner
  • Government of Canada (1910–1914)
  • Russian Empire (1914–1917)
  • Northern Sea Route (1932–1958)
BuilderVickers, Barrow-in-Furness
Launched18 June 1909
Out of serviceAugust 1958
FateScrapped 1960
General characteristics
TypeIcebreaking freighter
Displacement4,850 tonnes
Installed power7,000 hp (5,200 kW)
Speed17 knots (31 km/h)

The icebreaker Fyodor Litke (SKR-18, Russian: Фёдор Литке, СКР-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.[2] 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.

Litke[nb 1] 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.[3] For this reason, Litke was uniquely classified as an ice-cutter (Russian: ледорез) or icebreaking steamship (Russian: ледокольный пароход), rather than a true icebreaker.

  1. ^ The original builder's photograph was reproduced in 1949 in McMurtrie and Blackman, p. 297.
  2. ^ Fraser, p.3
  3. ^ Papanin, ch.3


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