Lenin (1957 icebreaker)

Lenin docked at Murmansk
History
Soviet Union
NameLenin (Ленин)
NamesakeVladimir Lenin
BuilderAdmiralty Shipyards, Leningrad USSR[1]
Launched1957[1]
Completed1959
In service1959–1989
IdentificationIMO number5206087
StatusPreserved as a museum ship
General characteristics
Displacement16,000 tonnes [2]
Length134 m (440 ft)[1][2]
Beam27.6 m (91 ft)[1][2]
Draught10.5 m (34 ft)[1]
Depth16.1 m (53 ft)
Installed power
  • Three OK-150 nuclear reactors (3 × 90 MW) (until 1970)
  • Two OK-900 nuclear reactors (2 × 171 MW) (since 1970)
  • Four steam turbine generators
PropulsionNuclear-turbo-electric, three shafts[1]
Speed18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)[1]
Crew243
Lenin on a 1958 stamp

Lenin (Russian: Ленин) is a Soviet nuclear-powered icebreaker, the first nuclear-powered icebreaker in the world. Launched in 1957, it is both the world's first nuclear-powered surface ship[2] and the first nuclear-powered civilian vessel. Lenin entered operation in 1959 and worked clearing sea routes for cargo ships along Russia's northern coast. From 1960 to 1965 the ship covered over 157,000 kilometres (85,000 nautical miles) during the Arctic navigation season, of which almost 120,000 km (65,000 nmi) was through ice.[2] Nuclear power proved to be an ideal technology for a vessel working in such a remote area as it removed the need for regular replenishment of fuel. On 10 April 1974 the vessel was awarded the Order of Lenin. It was officially decommissioned in 1989.[1] It was subsequently converted to a museum ship and is now permanently based at Murmansk.

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Paine, Lincoln P (1997). Ships of the World. Houghton-Mifflin. pp. 298. ISBN 0-395-71556-3. LCCN 97-12872.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Soviet Life". Soviet Life. 2 (149): 57. February 1969.