Vladimir Voronin (Captain)
Encyclopedia
Vladimir Ivanovich Voronin (October 17, 1890 - October 18, 1952)
was a Soviet Navy
captain, born in Sumsky Posad, in the present Republic of Karelia
, Russia
. In 1932 he commanded the expedition of the Soviet
icebreaker Alexander Sibiryakov
which made the first successful crossing of the Northern Sea Route
in a single navigation without wintering. This voyage was organized by the All-Union Arctic Institute (presently known as the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute
).
sailed from Archangelsk, crossed the Kara Sea
and chose a northern, unexplored way around Severnaya Zemlya
to the Laptev Sea
. In September the propeller shaft broke and the icebreaker drifted for 11 days. However, the Sibiryakov used its sails and arrived in the Bering Strait
in October. The icebreaker
reached the Japanese port of Yokohama
after 65 days, having covered more than 2500 miles in the Arctic seas. This was regarded as a heroic feat of Soviet polar seamen and Chief of Expedition Otto Schmidt
and Captain Vladimir Voronin were received with many honors on their return to Russia.
The icebreaker Sibiryakov continued in service until it was sunk in 1942 after an unequal fight with German
heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer during Operation Wunderland
in World War II
.
sailed from Leningrad
before a large crowd. However, in September icebreaker Cheliuskin got stuck in pack ice in the Chukchi Sea
near Kolyuchin Island
. The crew worked hard to free the ship from the surrounding ice, succeeding after almost a week. But the ship became stuck again and drifted in the general direction of the pack ice toward the Bering Strait
. By the end of November it became obvious that the Cheliuskin would not break free from the pack ice and would have to winter on the Chukchi Sea. Eventually the ship was squeezed by large ice floes
and was in danger of sinking. Captain Voronin ordered the crew to unload equipment from the ship and set up a camp site astern of the ship. But cracks in the ice formed under the tents, forcing the crew to load their equipment back onto the ship. The Cheliuskin drifted for the next two months in the Chukchi Sea to the east of Wrangel Island
.
Finally, increasing pressure resulted in the ship's creaking and eventual breach by ice. Voronin and Otto Schmidt
managed to jump off just in time before the Cheliuskin sank close to Kolyuchin Island. Thus only one crew member went down with the ship. The crew then set up tents on a part of the ice surface that was named Camp Schmidt. The crew made radio contact with the village of Uelen
on the Chukotka Peninsula and asked for help. During a dramatic rescue operation, pilot Anatolii Liapidevskii sighted Camp Schmidt, landed his plane on the ice, and rescued the women and children before returning to Uelen. The remaining passengers and crew of the ill-fated icebreaker Cheliuskin were rescued later and flown to Cape Vankarem
on the Chukotka Peninsula. Due to severe weather conditions, the rescue took one month with planes trying hard to carry out the rescue operation from Khabarovsk
; Nome
in Alaska
; and Cape Oliutorskii
until they were successful.
Cape Voronin off Viachtu Bay in Sakhalin
Island, however, is not named after Captain Vladimir Voronin, but after Second lieutenant Alexey Ivanovich Voronin, a previous Russian explorer who took part in the 1849-1855 Amur
Expedition.
was a Soviet Navy
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
captain, born in Sumsky Posad, in the present Republic of Karelia
Republic of Karelia
The Republic of Karelia is a federal subject of Russia .-Geography:The republic is located in the northwestern part of Russia, taking intervening position between the basins of White and Baltic seas...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. In 1932 he commanded the expedition of the Soviet
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....
icebreaker Alexander Sibiryakov
Icebreaker Sibiryakov
The icebreaker Sibiryakov was a Soviet ship which was active in the Russian Arctic during the 1930s. She was built in 1909 in Glasgow and was originally the Newfoundland sealing steamer Bellaventure. After being purchased by Russia in 1916, she was renamed the Sibiryakov...
which made the first successful crossing of the Northern Sea Route
Northern Sea Route
The Northern Sea Route is a shipping lane officially defined by Russian legislation from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean specifically running along the Russian Arctic coast from Murmansk on the Barents Sea, along Siberia, to the Bering Strait and Far East. The entire route lies in Arctic...
in a single navigation without wintering. This voyage was organized by the All-Union Arctic Institute (presently known as the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute
Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute
The Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, or AARI is the oldest and largest Russian research institute in the field of comprehensive studies of Arctic and Antarctica...
).
The Sibiryakov expedition
The SibiryakovIcebreaker Sibiryakov
The icebreaker Sibiryakov was a Soviet ship which was active in the Russian Arctic during the 1930s. She was built in 1909 in Glasgow and was originally the Newfoundland sealing steamer Bellaventure. After being purchased by Russia in 1916, she was renamed the Sibiryakov...
sailed from Archangelsk, crossed the Kara Sea
Kara Sea
The Kara Sea is part of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia. It is separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya....
and chose a northern, unexplored way around Severnaya Zemlya
Severnaya Zemlya
Severnaya Zemlya is an archipelago in the Russian high Arctic at around . It is located off mainland Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula across the Vilkitsky Strait...
to the Laptev Sea
Laptev Sea
The Laptev Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, the Taimyr Peninsula, Severnaya Zemlya and the New Siberian Islands. Its northern boundary passes from the Arctic Cape to a point with co-ordinates of 79°N and 139°E, and ends at the Anisiy...
. In September the propeller shaft broke and the icebreaker drifted for 11 days. However, the Sibiryakov used its sails and arrived in the Bering Strait
Bering Strait
The Bering Strait , known to natives as Imakpik, is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, USA, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65°40'N,...
in October. The 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...
reached the Japanese port of Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
after 65 days, having covered more than 2500 miles in the Arctic seas. This was regarded as a heroic feat of Soviet polar seamen and Chief of Expedition Otto Schmidt
Otto Schmidt
Otto Yulyevich Schmidt was a Soviet scientist, mathematician, astronomer, geophysicist, statesman, academician, Hero of the USSR , and member of the Communist Party.-Biography:He was born in Mogilev, Russian Empire...
and Captain Vladimir Voronin were received with many honors on their return to Russia.
The icebreaker Sibiryakov continued in service until it was sunk in 1942 after an unequal fight with German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer during Operation Wunderland
Operation Wunderland
Operation Wunderland was a large-scale operation undertaken in summer 1942 by the Kriegsmarine during World War II in the waters of the Northern Sea Route close to the Arctic Ocean...
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The Cheliuskin expedition
In 1933-34 Voronin commanded another icebreaker on a dramatic, albeit not so fortunate, expedition. In July 1933 the CheliuskinChelyuskin steamship
SS Chelyuskin was a Soviet steamship reinforced to navigate through polar ice that became ice-bound in Arctic waters during navigation along the Northern Maritime Route from Murmansk to Vladivostok...
sailed from Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
before a large crowd. However, in September icebreaker Cheliuskin got stuck in pack ice in the Chukchi Sea
Chukchi Sea
Chukchi Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west by the De Long Strait, off Wrangel Island, and in the east by Point Barrow, Alaska, beyond which lies the Beaufort Sea. The Bering Strait forms its southernmost limit and connects it to the Bering Sea and the Pacific...
near Kolyuchin Island
Kolyuchin Island
Kolyuchin Island or Koliuchin Island is a small island in the Chukchi Sea. It is not far from the coast, being only from the northern shore of the Chukotka Peninsula. Its latitude is 67° 28' N and its longitude 174° 37' E....
. The crew worked hard to free the ship from the surrounding ice, succeeding after almost a week. But the ship became stuck again and drifted in the general direction of the pack ice toward the Bering Strait
Bering Strait
The Bering Strait , known to natives as Imakpik, is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, USA, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65°40'N,...
. By the end of November it became obvious that the Cheliuskin would not break free from the pack ice and would have to winter on the Chukchi Sea. Eventually the ship was squeezed by large ice floes
Sea ice
Sea ice is largely formed from seawater that freezes. Because the oceans consist of saltwater, this occurs below the freezing point of pure water, at about -1.8 °C ....
and was in danger of sinking. Captain Voronin ordered the crew to unload equipment from the ship and set up a camp site astern of the ship. But cracks in the ice formed under the tents, forcing the crew to load their equipment back onto the ship. The Cheliuskin drifted for the next two months in the Chukchi Sea to the east of Wrangel Island
Wrangel Island
Wrangel Island is an island in the Arctic Ocean, between the Chukchi Sea and East Siberian Sea. Wrangel Island lies astride the 180° meridian. The International Date Line is displaced eastwards at this latitude to avoid the island as well as the Chukchi Peninsula on the Russian mainland...
.
Finally, increasing pressure resulted in the ship's creaking and eventual breach by ice. Voronin and Otto Schmidt
Otto Schmidt
Otto Yulyevich Schmidt was a Soviet scientist, mathematician, astronomer, geophysicist, statesman, academician, Hero of the USSR , and member of the Communist Party.-Biography:He was born in Mogilev, Russian Empire...
managed to jump off just in time before the Cheliuskin sank close to Kolyuchin Island. Thus only one crew member went down with the ship. The crew then set up tents on a part of the ice surface that was named Camp Schmidt. The crew made radio contact with the village of Uelen
Uelen
Uelen is a rural locality in the Chukotsky District, just south of the Arctic Circle in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in the Russian Far East. Population: 776 in 2003, with 595 Chukchi and 72 Yupik. Located near Cape Dezhnev where the Bering Sea meets the Chukchi Sea, it is the easternmost settlement...
on the Chukotka Peninsula and asked for help. During a dramatic rescue operation, pilot Anatolii Liapidevskii sighted Camp Schmidt, landed his plane on the ice, and rescued the women and children before returning to Uelen. The remaining passengers and crew of the ill-fated icebreaker Cheliuskin were rescued later and flown to Cape Vankarem
Cape Vankarem
Cape Vankarem is a cape in the Chukchi Sea on the northern coast of Chukotka between Cape Schmidt to the west and Kolyuchinskaya Bay to the east...
on the Chukotka Peninsula. Due to severe weather conditions, the rescue took one month with planes trying hard to carry out the rescue operation from Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk is the largest city and the administrative center of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. It is located some from the Chinese border. It is the second largest city in the Russian Far East, after Vladivostok. The city became the administrative center of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia...
; Nome
Nome
Nome may refer to:A country subdivision:* Nome an administrative division within ancient Egypt.* Nome , the administrative division immediately below the peripheries of Greece Places:* Nome, Norway* Nome, Alaska, US...
in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
; and Cape Oliutorskii
Cape Oliutorskii
Cape Olyutorsky is a cape pointing south in the Bering Sea, in Koryak Okrug of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. It was named after Alyutors, a Northern ethnic group....
until they were successful.
Memory
Some geographic locations in Russia have been named in honor of this Soviet captain and explorer of the Arctic waters- Voronina IslandVoronina IslandVoronina Island or Voronina Islands is an isolated two-island group composed of a larger island and a narrow island on its northern side separated by a 3 km wide sound.The main Voronina Island is about 9 km long and 6 km wide and is covered with tundra vegetation and ice...
, a small island group in the Kara SeaKara SeaThe Kara Sea is part of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia. It is separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya....
. - Banka Voronina, a shoal in the Gulf of FinlandGulf of FinlandThe Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...
60°23′N 28°08′E. - Bukhta Voronina, a bay in the NW shores of Novaya ZemlyaNovaya ZemlyaNovaya Zemlya , also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as , is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island...
76°12′N 62°36′E. - The Voronin Trough, a geological feature in the Arctic OceanArctic OceanThe Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
basin with a depth of 450m located 290km east of Franz Josef LandFranz Josef LandFranz Josef Land, Franz Joseph Land, or Francis Joseph's Land is an archipelago located in the far north of Russia. It is found in the Arctic Ocean north of Novaya Zemlya and east of Svalbard, and is administered by Arkhangelsk Oblast. Franz Josef Land consists of 191 ice-covered islands with a...
.
Cape Voronin off Viachtu Bay in Sakhalin
Sakhalin
Sakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...
Island, however, is not named after Captain Vladimir Voronin, but after Second lieutenant Alexey Ivanovich Voronin, a previous Russian explorer who took part in the 1849-1855 Amur
Amur Oblast
Amur Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , situated about east of Moscow on the banks of the Amur and Zeya Rivers. It shares its border with the Sakha Republic in the north, Khabarovsk Krai and the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in the east, People's Republic of China in the south, and Zabaykalsky...
Expedition.