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Arkhangelsk Admiralty

             The crews of Krasnaya Kuznitsa trace their histo-
          ry back to the late 17th century. Here on the island of
          Solombala, the shipyard was laid by order of Tsar Pe-
          ter I in 1693, even before Saint Petersburg was found-
          ed. The tsar’s next order tasked Arkhangelsk voivode,
          Fyodor Apraksin, with building a 24-gun storeship.
          One year later, the Russian Navy’a firstborn named
          St. Paul was floated off.
             In 1701, the shipyard in Solombala was merged
          with two more shipyards to form Arkhangelsk Ad-
          miralty. A few decades later, it received the first dry
          dock for repairing the underbody parts of ships and
          had evolved into a huge shipyard with covered berths,
          forges, workshops, and coal warehouses.
             The heyday of Solombala-based shipyard fell on
          the 19th century – the era of industrial revolution.
          The period between 1801 and 1842 saw the launch of
          85 ships for the Baltic Fleet, while the total number of
          naval and merchant vessels built here over the course
          of one hundred and fifty years stood at nearly four
          hundred and fifty. Many of those vessels made use
          of the shipbuilding know-hows of that time – metal
          elements on framing timbers, hold ventilation, lime-
          coated underbody. The warships built by local crews   vanced technologies, its task now was to build 40-
          joined the Russian Empire’s largest naval battles, with   ton estuarial dump barges, each built in record time
          the Silny (Strong) and Azov as flagships of the Rus-  of three or four days, as well as supply vessels, mo-
          sian squadrons.                              tor ships, bridge boats and floating docks. Krasnaya
             But, despite its numerous merits, the Arkhangelsk   Kuznitsa’s capacity had increased substantially after
          Admiralty was abolished in 1862, for it was decid-  commissioning, in the 1970s, of its 5,000-ton-capac-
          ed that the heart of maritime construction should be   ity floating dock, which was soon followed by anoth-
          moved to the Baltic area. Workshops closed and crews   er one dock.
          laid off, the lower-level officials of the former admi-  However, those two docks did not have the capac-
          ralty moved to Saint Petersburg to assume new posts.   ity for handling the large bulk carriers of the North-
          The admiralty’s timber stocks were sold, as was its   ern Shipping Company. Neither
          iron, and coal sheds were destroyed in the fire of 1863.   were their floors suitable for the
          What formerly was a full-fledged cradle of shipbuild-  heavy Mudyug-class icebreakers.
          ing ceased to exist. Its function was now to service   That was the reason why NSC had   До сих пор доки «Красной
          the scanty number of warships that called at Arkhan-  its fleet serviced abroad. The man-  Кузницы» остаются
          gelsk, as well as pilot boat, hydrographic survey ves-  agement of Krasnaya Kuznitsa de-  крупнейшими в регионе,
          sels, and Arctic expeditions’ supply ships.  cided to expand one of its docks by
                                                       increasing its length by 21 meters   что позволяет заводу
             Steamboat era                             and width by 4 meters. To do this,   сохранять статус главной
                                                       they  ordered  the  design  concept
             It wasn’t until the Soviet time that the shipyard   from a dedicated institute in Odes-  судоремонтной базы в
          on the island of Solombala saw its revival. In 1922,   sa and had it developed with the   Архангельской области
          its facilities became the responsibility of the People’s   help from Leningrad Shipbuild-  The two docks are still the
          Commissariat for Lines of Communication and were   ing Institute. Then, two lifting sec-
          renamed Krasnaya Kuznitsa (Red Forge). Tasked with   tions were installed at Krasnaya   largest in Arkhangelsk Oblast,
          providing service maintenance to the Soviet Arctic-  Kuznitsa to lift its 3,000-ton float-  allowing Krasnaya Kuznitsa to
          bound expeditions, Krasnaya Kuznitsa began to re-  ing dock. The dock was then cut   remain the busiest ship repair
          pair service icebreakers, freighters and hydrographic   in two for its bottom to the added
          survey vessels. A part of its premises was converted   with few more sections, bulkheads   facility in the area
          into Shipyard 176, dedicated solely to servicing the   and dock floor space. Welded to it
          Soviet Navy.                                 was a 21-meter-long extension.
             With the onset of World War II, more than one   As a result, the dock’s lifting
          thousand workers left Krasnaya Kuznitsa for the   capacity had increased from five to nine thousand
          frontline. With few people, little time and poor   tons and was now sufficient for servicing the North-
          stocks, the shipyard was making enormous efforts to   ern Shipping Company’s large timber carriers – the
          achieve the targets set by the military command. In   main means of transporting export-bound lumber
          addition to naval and civil ship repair and conversion   and sawn timber. The other dock underwent refur-
          to warship and floating hospitals, Krasnaya Kuznit-  bishment in 1991. The two docks are still the largest
          sa assumed the production of defense items – mines,   in Arkhangelsk Oblast, allowing Krasnaya Kuznitsa
          grenades, and propeller-driven sleds. Its largest order   to remain the busiest ship repair facility in the area.   SOZVEZDYE #40
          at that time was the overhaul of the destroyer Karl   After the collapse of the USSR, Krasnaya Kuznit-
          Liebknecht that it completed in 1944. Other major   sa had repeatedly changed its legal structure. With
          orders included the repair of foreign craft and escort   Shipyard 176 as its asset, it is currently an affiliate of   история
          ships that reached Arkhangelsk as part of the Arctic   Zvyozdochka ship repair center and a member of the     history
          convoys. During the three years of the war, Krasnaya   United Shipbuilding Corporation. The orders Krasna-
          Kuznitsa provided repairs to some two hundred Al-  ya Kuznitsa is being placed today include repairs and
          lied ships.                                  refurbishment of Northern Fleet ships, civil vessels, as
             The post-war time marked a new page in the his-  well as orders for new ships and offshore structures.
          tory of Krasnaya Kuznitsa. Installed with more ad-  There is a plan for further increase in its dock capacity.
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