3 Era's 2 Wars 4 countries 1 ship
 

So this is one of those odd ball scratch your head moments to keep up with History and this is one of those ships who's time line stretches the brain.

The ice breaker Suur Toll as she is now known was originally a Russian Imperial ship built to clear the shipping lanes of the Baltic sea, built in 1912 in Germany for the Russian Empire she was known as Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, but with the onset of world war I the Russian intervention and the subsequent 1917 Bolshevik revolution she was captured by the Soviets and renamed Volnyets, she would serve them for just a year before being captured by the Finn's.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5608/...936b2c36_c.jpgDSCN2514 by B S, on Flickr

Captured in 1918 but only seeing service until 1922 she was known as Wäinämöinen.
After the failed attempt to capture the small Finnish icebreaker Avance from the Russian revolutionaries in March 1918, Finnish captain Theodor Segersven and his men shifted their focus to the much larger Volynets. On 29 March 1918, 53 men dressed as workers boarded the icebreaker and Segersven presented a forged written order for the ship's political commissar claiming that he and his men were to be transported to Kuivasaari for construction work. When the icebreaker passed the lighthouse of Harmaja, the men broke into the ship's weapons storage and shortly afterwards the Russian crew of 116, half of them armed guards, had been taken into custody. In the evening Volynets, flying the Finnish flag under the command of Segersven, arrived in Tallinn, where she was welcomed by a group of high-ranking German officers, including Prince Henry of Prussia. On 28 April 1918 the captured icebreaker was renamed Wäinämöinen after the legendary Finnish hero. This caused some discontent with the crew who had held a naming contest while the icebreaker was moored in Tallinn and chosen the name Leijona after the Lion of Finland

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5496/...6b4eefb0_c.jpgDSCN2534 by B S, on Flickr

After her service in Finland she was handed over to Estonia who named her Suur Toll there she would spend most of her days until 1940 when the soviet union invaded Estonia, once more she was back in the hands of the people she was built for, She would be renamed back to Volnyets and serve the soviet union until her decommissioning in 1985!

This ship had served 71 years ! impressive for a steam ship but she was built well, her 6 boilers power this 75m long 19m wide 2500ton ship along, her engines which power 3 propellers (2 stern 1 bow) produce 2500hp each making her a 2to1 ship (2hp for every ton).


https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5452/...90d9c73f_c.jpgDSCN2553 by B S, on Flickr
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5619/...7e760842_c.jpgDSCN2559 by B S, on Flickr

In 1987 she was slated to be scrapped here is the interesting bit, after a long negotiation the commander in chief of the soviet navy traded the ship for 300 tons of scrap iron (one sided deal in my opinion) but she was saved.

When Estonia became independent from the Soviet Union 4 days later Suur Toll became the first ship to be indexed on the new register her official Estonian registration number is 001 Suur Toll is also the largest preserved pre-war steam-powered icebreaker in the world.

There are plans afoot to restore her boilers so that she can run on her own power something she hasn't done since 1994.

Suur Tolll is located in the maritime museum not far from the EML Lembit submarine in Tallinn Estonia i do recommend a visit there is a lot to see.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5705/...171610db_c.jpgDSCN2508 by B S, on Flickr

Nice. Thanks for sharing.:salute:

Pretty remarkable to have served for so long and have avoided being sunk as well.

Thanks for posting. She looks remarkably good for a 106 year old ship.



That Soviet CinC got a pretty good deal. In the USA we actually have to pay a penny to have our aircraft carriers taken away. https://popularmilitary.com/navy-sells-aircraft-carrier-penny/ :har:

Great stuff!! I do hope they restore her boilers and can hold her own again!:up:

Cool! Ships' histories are always fascinating.

Great post.:up:


Im finn and love ice breakers, but never heard the story of this ship. Thanks for the info.

:salute:

That is quite some history :up: