Boilers:	Four coal-fired boilers with mechanical ventilation
Engine:	Two triple-expansion steam engine, 2500 ihp (stern) and 1000 ihp (bow)

Voima was a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 and later Soviet steam-powered icebreaker

Icebreaker

An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller vessels .For a ship to be considered an icebreaker, it requires three traits most...

. Laid down at Werft Becker & Co. in Tallinn

Tallinn

Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...

 in 1916 and fitted with engines in Danzig in 1918, the unfinished icebreaker was towed to Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

 in 1920 and completed by Sandvikens Skeppsdocka och Mekaniska Verkstads Ab

Hietalahti shipyard

Hietalahti shipyard is a shipyard in Hietalahti, in downtown Helsinki, Finland. It is operated by Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, a joint venture between STX Finland Cruise Oy and United Shipbuilding Corporation....

 in 1923–1924. After two decades of successful service the Voima was handed over to the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 as war reparation

Finnish war reparations to the Soviet Union

War reparations of Finland to the Soviet Union were originally the worth 300 000 000 US dollars, at 1938 prices. Finland agreed to pay the reparations in the Moscow Armistice signed on 19 September 1944. Armistice had started already 5 September 1944...

 in 1945 and renamed Malygin (Малыгин). She remained in service until 1970 and was broken up in 1971.

The Voima was the first state-owned icebreaker acquired by the independent Finland. She can also be considered as the first state-owned icebreaker designed by Finnish naval architects and delivered by a Finnish shipyard.

Background and construction

When Finland signed the Treaty of Tartu

Treaty of Tartu (Russian–Finnish)

The Treaty of Tartu between Finland and Soviet Russia was signed on 14 October 1920 after negotiations that lasted for four months. The treaty confirmed the border between Finland and Soviet Russia after the Finnish civil war and Finnish volunteer expeditions in Russian East Karelia. Ratifications...

 on 14 October 1920, it agreed to return the Russian icebreakers that the Finnish White Guard

White Guard (Finland)

The White Guard was a voluntary militia that emerged victorious over the socialist Red Guard as part of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918...

 had seized during the Civil War

Finnish Civil War

The Finnish Civil War was a part of the national, political and social turmoil caused by World War I in Europe. The Civil War concerned control and leadership of The Grand Duchy of Finland as it achieved independence from Russia after the October Revolution in Petrograd...

 in 1918. As a result the Wäinämöinen, the largest and most powerful state-owned icebreaker of Finland at that time, was handed over to Estonia and the smaller Ilmarinen to the Soviet Union in 1922. While Finland got the Avance

Finnish icebreaker Apu (1899)

Apu was a Finnish state-owned steam-powered icebreaker built by Howaldtswerke in Kiel, Germany, in 1899. Initially owned by a private shipping company founded by shipowners from the Finnish city of Turku and known as Avance, she was later purchased by the Finnish Board of Navigation and her name...

 back in return, there was a definite need for a powerful icebreaker — both the size of the ships calling the Finnish winter ports and the amount of exported goods, especially forest products, had increased considerably since the First World War. When the forest industry owners voiced their concerns, the Finnish shipowner John Nurminen stepped in and offered the state an unfinished icebreaker he had purchased from Germany two years earlier.

The partially completed icebreaker he was offering was one of the two icebreakers ordered by the Russian Baltic Fleet from Werft Böcker & Co. in Tallinn, Estonia, in 1916. Laid down as Shtorm, the icebreaker was intended not only for escort operations on the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

, but also naval tasks such as laying mines during the winter months and transporting troops and supplies to Russian warships and coastal forts. The construction proceeded slowly during the war and in 1918, shortly after the ship had been launched, the unfinished icebreaker was captured by Germans and towed to Danzig, where she was fitted with boilers. However, the German Revolution of 1918–1919 stopped the construction of the ship, now known as Hansa, shortly afterwards. Nurminen bought the unfinished icebreaker in 1920 and had her towed to Helsinki.

When Nurminen began offering the Hansa to the state of Finland, he faced severe opposition even though he even offered to accept the old and, to some people, outdated icebreaker Murtaja

Finnish icebreaker Murtaja (1890)

Murtaja was a Finnish state-owned steam-powered icebreaker. Built in 1890 by Bergsunds Mekaniska Verkstads AB in Stockholm, Sweden, she was the first state-owned icebreaker of Finland and one of the first purpose-built icebreakers in the world...

 as part of the payment. Her rusted hull was seen as a pile of scrap, not worth the government's scarce funds, and she didn't even have a bow propeller which was seen as a crucial component of a modern icebreaker. However, several maritime professionals saw her potential and the owner of Götaverken

Götaverken

Götaverken was a shipbuilding company that was located on Hisingen, Gothenburg. It was founded in 1841, and went bankrupt in 1989.The company was founded in 1841 by a Scottish businessman called Alexander Keiller under the name Keillers Werkstad i Göteborg, and was aimed at industrial production...

, Hugo Hammar, even said that once finished, the Hansa would outperform the largest icebreakers of Finland at that time, Sampo

Finnish icebreaker Sampo (1898)

Sampo was a Finnish state-owned steam-powered icebreaker. Built in 1898 by Sir W.G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co Ltd in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom and named after a magical artifact from the Finnish mythology, she was the second state-owned icebreaker of Finland and the first European...

 and Tarmo. As a result the Finnish Board of Navigation reserved FIM 17 million for the purchase and completion of the Hansa.

The rebuilding of the Hansa was awarded to Sandvikens Skeppsdocka och Mekaniska Verkstads Ab in Helsinki and the work began in late spring 1923. During the ten months the icebreaker spent in the shipyard she received a new bow with a bow propeller and two German steam engine

Steam engine

A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...

s with an official combined maximum output of 4100 ihp, making her the most powerful Finnish icebreaker at that time. On 15 December 1923 she was given the name Voima, meaning "power" in Finnish

Finnish language

Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...

, and during the first sea trials on 6 March 1924 she turned out to be an excellent icebreaker that left a broad ice-free channel behind her. The Voima had also cost considerably less than a new icebreaker with similar characteristics and performance.

Career

Commissioned in March 1924, the Voima was usually sent to the Gulf of Bothnia

Gulf of Bothnia

The Gulf of Bothnia is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It is situated between Finland's west coast and Sweden's east coast. In the south of the gulf lie the Åland Islands, between the Sea of Åland and the Archipelago Sea.-Name:...

 where she assisted ships to the port of Vaasa

Vaasa

Vaasa is a city on the west coast of Finland. It received its charter in 1606, during the reign of Charles IX of Sweden and is named after the Royal House of Vasa...

 until late December. As the ice conditions got worse, she moved south until, from February on, she was tasked to maintain an open channel between Finland and Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 on the Turku

Turku

Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...

-Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 route.

In 1927, after the loss of the Finnish torpedo boat S2

Finnish torpedo boat S2

S2 was a Finnish Sokol class torpedo boat that had been seized from the Russians after the Finnish Civil War 1918. It sank during a fierce storm on October 4, 1925, taking with her the whole crew of 53.-Background:Between 1900 and 1908, the Russians built 25 Sokol class torpedo boats for the...

, the Voima was used as a gunnery training ship by the Finnish Navy

Finnish Navy

The Finnish Navy is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS" simply short for "Finnish Navy Ship"...

. As a result she already had deck gun mounts when the Winter War

Winter War

The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...

 began on 30 November 1939 and the icebreakers were armed against Soviet fighters. During the war the Voima assisted ships in the Bothnian Sea

Bothnian Sea

The Bothnian Sea links the Bothnian Bay with the Baltic proper. Kvarken is situated between the two. Together, the Bothnian Sea and Bay make up a larger geographical entity, the Gulf of Bothnia...

 and stayed outside major conflicts.

When the Moscow Armistice

Moscow Armistice

The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on September 19, 1944, ending the Continuation War...

 was signed on 19 September 1944, Finland was ordered to pay war reparations

War reparations

War reparations are payments intended to cover damage or injury during a war. Generally, the term war reparations refers to money or goods changing hands, rather than such property transfers as the annexation of land.- History :...

 to the Soviet Union. One of the first payments included the newest and most powerful state-owned steam-powered icebreakers. The Voima was handed over along with the enormous Jääkarhu on 24 February 1945. She was renamed Malygin (Малыгин), becoming the second Soviet icebreaker named after the Russian 18th century arctic explorer Stepan Malygin

Stepan Malygin

Stepan Gavrilovich Malygin was a Russian Arctic explorer.In 1711–1717, Stepan Malygin was a student at the Moscow School of Mathematical and Navigational Sciences. After his graduation, Malygin began his career as a naval cadet and was then promoted to the rank of lieutenant four years later...

. The old Malygin, built in 1912, had been lost in a storm near Kamchatka in 1940. In 1950 she was modernized and her boilers were converted to oil.

The Malygin remained in service until 1970. She was broken up in the following year.

Technical details

The Voima was 64.2 metres (210.63 ft) long overall and 61.25 metres (200.95 ft) at the waterline

Waterline length

The Waterline length is a measurement of ships and boats. The term denotes the length of the vessel at the point where it sits in the water. It excludes the total length of the boat, such as features that are out of the water...

. Her moulded breadth was 14.2 metres (46.59 ft) and breadth at the waterline slightly smaller, 14 metres (45.93 ft). To improve her icebreaking characteristics the Voima was built with considerable stern trim, meaning that her draft was greater in the stern than in the bow. When operating at a normal displacement of 2,070 tons, her bow draft was 4.4 metres (14.44 ft) and stern draft 5.1 metres (16.73 ft), but the latter could be increased up to 5.9 metres (19.36 ft) in case of difficult ice conditions. The Voima had a crew of 44.

The hull of the Voima, designed by Finnish naval architect K. Albin Johansson, was based on Finnish icebreakers Sampo

Finnish icebreaker Sampo (1898)

Sampo was a Finnish state-owned steam-powered icebreaker. Built in 1898 by Sir W.G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co Ltd in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom and named after a magical artifact from the Finnish mythology, she was the second state-owned icebreaker of Finland and the first European...

 and Tarmo and the Russian icebreaker Pyotr Velikiy — her hull form and main dimensions were interpolated from the three older icebreakers. While initially designed without a bow propeller, her bow was later completely rebuilt with one. The angle of the stem, the first part of the icebreaker to encounter ice and bend it under the weight of the ship, was 26 degrees.

The Voima was powered by two coal-fired triple-expansion steam engines manufactured by Vulcan-Werke Hamburg und Stettin AG, one driving a propeller in the stern and the other a second propeller in the bow to reduce friction between the hull and the ice. The stern engine was rated at 2,500 ihp at 95 rpm and the bow engine 1,000 ihp at 140 rpm, but during backing and ramming the engines could produce 2,800–3,100 ihp and 1,200–1,300 ihp, respectively, for a brief period of time. Her speed in open water was 13 knots (7.1 m/s). The four coal-fired mechanically ventilated main boilers, installed on the icebreaker in 1918 in Danzig, had been manufactured by Blohm & Voss in 1899 and originally intended for German armored frigate SMS Friedrich der Grosse. In addition the Voima had a smaller auxiliary boiler, manufactured by Vulcan

Crichton-Vulcan

Crichton-Vulcan is an abandoned shipyard in Turku, Finland that once formed the cornerstone of the Finnish shipbuilding industry. The shipyard is best known for the World War II coastal defence ships and submarines it produced....

 in Turku. Her fuel stores could hold 380 tons of coal that was fed to the fireboxes at a rate of 2.4–3.3 tons per hour depending on operating conditions.

Equipped for escort icebreaker duties, the Voima had a steam-powered towing winch, a cable and a stern notch. In difficult ice conditions the ship being assisted was taken into tow, and in extremely difficult compressive ice it was pulled to the icebreaker's stern notch. For salvage operations the Voima had a powerful centrifugal pump

Centrifugal pump

A centrifugal pump is a rotodynamic pump that uses a rotating impeller to create flow by the addition of energy to a fluid. Centrifugal pumps are commonly used to move liquids through piping...

capable of pumping 1,000 tons of water per hour.