Krišjānis Valdemārs (icebreaker)

Krišjānis Valdemārs was an icebreaker of the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Republic of Latvia from 1926 to 1941. It was designed to clear shipping lanes from the ice in the freezing port of Riga, but was also used for escorting the President and members of the government on foreign visits.

History
Latvia
Name: Krišjānis Valdemārs
Namesake: Krišjānis Valdemārs
Builder: Glasgow Shipyard
Laid down: 1924
Launched: 1925
Commissioned: January 1926
Fate: Sunk on 28 August 1941 by mine in the Gulf of Finland near Mohn Island near Juminda Cape.
General characteristics
Type: Icebreaker
Displacement: 1,932 tons
Length: 60 m (196 ft 10 in)
Beam: 17 m (55 ft 9 in)
Draught: 6.7 m (22 ft 0 in)
Propulsion: 5,200 hp (3,900 kW)
Speed: 14.4 knots (26.7 km/h; 16.6 mph)

Description

It had a tonnage of 1,932 gross register tons (GRT). The vessel 60 metres (196 ft 10 in) long with a beam of 17 metres (55 ft 9 in) and a draught of 6.7 metres (22 ft 0 in). The ship had an engine rated at 5,200 horsepower (3,900 kW). The maximum speed of the vessel in free water was 14.4 knots (26.7 km/h; 16.6 mph) and in hard, smooth ice, 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph).[1]

History

The ship was ordered in 1924–1925 by the Latvian government and built at Glasgow Shipyard. The icebreaker was given the name of the spiritual leader of The First Latvian National Awakening and the most prominent member of the Young Latvians movement Krišjānis Valdemārs (1825–1891). Krišjānis Valdemārs sailed on January 13, 1926 on its first voyage from the port of Riga. The first captain of the icebreaker was Kārlis Cērpe (1875–1931). After his death Captain Fricis Veidners (1883–1942) and Pēteris Maurītis (1887–?) succeeded in command. After the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 the ship was nationalized. At the end of August 1941 Krišjānis Valdemārs took part in Soviet evacuation of Tallinn to Kronstadt, but struck a naval mine on August 28 and sunk. Krišjānis Valdemārs, loaded with cargo, was bombed and sunk in the Gulf of Finland by Junkers Ju 88 aircraft of Kampfgeschwader 77, Luftwaffe.[2]

Finding the wreck

In 2011, Estonian submarine archaeologist Vello Mäss was able to identify the wreck of Krišjānis Valdemārs at a depth of about 100 metres (330 ft) by submerged filming in the Gulf of Finland near Mohni Island near Juminda Cape.[3]

References
  1. (in Latvian) Ledlauzis "Krišjānis Valdemārs" zudusilatvija.lv
  2. Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. p. 532. ISBN 9781591141198.
  3. (in Latvian) Kuģa Krišjānis Valdemārs vraks atrasts Somu jūras līcī daivings.lv
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