Moskva (1959 icebreaker)

Moskva under construction at Wärtsilä Hietalahti shipyard
History
Soviet Union
Name	Moskva (Москва)
Namesake	Moscow
Port of registry	Vladivostok, Russia
Ordered	24 May 1956
Builder	Wärtsilä Hietalahti shipyard, Helsinki, Finland
Yard number	365
Launched	10 January 1959
Completed	1960
In service	1960–1992
Identification	IMO number: 5242495
Fate	Broken up in 1992
General characteristics
Class and type	Moskva-class icebreaker
Displacement	13,290 tonnes (design) 15,360 tonnes (maximum)
Length	122.10 m (400.6 ft)
Beam	24.50 m (80.4 ft)
Draught	9.50 m (31.2 ft) (design) 10.50 m (34.4 ft) (maximum)
Installed power	8 × Wärtsilä-Sulzer 9MH51 (8 × 3,250 hp)
Propulsion	Diesel-electric; three shafts 22,000 hp (16,400 kW)
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Crew	109
Aviation facilities	Helideck and hangar

Moskva (Russian: Москва; literally: Moscow) was a Soviet polar icebreaker and the lead ship of a series of five diesel-electric icebreakers named after major Soviet cities. She was built at Wärtsilä Hietalahti shipyard in Helsinki, Finland, in 1959 and when delivered was the largest and most powerful non-nuclear icebreaker ever built. Shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Moskva was decommissioned after a long and successful career along the Northern Sea Route and sold for scrap in 1992.

In February 1985, Moskva became the center of international attention when a pod of beluga whales was trapped by ice near the Chukchi Peninsula in the Soviet Far East. The icebreaker broke a channel through the ice pack and managed to lead about 2,000 whales to the open sea.