Page 59 - Журнал Sozvezdye Review - «СОЗВЕЗДИЕ» #40

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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