Suur Tõll (icebreaker)
Suur Tõll at the Maritime Days in Tallinn on 27 May 2007.
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| History | |
|---|---|
 Russia
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| Name: | Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich (Царь Михаилъ Феодоровичъ) |
| Namesake: | Michael of Russia |
| Port of registry: | Tallinn, Estonia |
| Ordered: | 1912 |
| Builder: | Vulcan Werft, Stettin, Germany |
| Yard number: | 345 |
| Launched: | 26 December 1913 |
| Commissioned: | 27 May 1914 |
| In service: | 1914–1917 |
| Fate: | Captured by the Bolsheviks in 1917 |
.svg){kind=small} Soviet Russia
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| Name: | Volynets (Волынец) |
| Namesake: | Volhynian military regiment |
| In service: | 1917–1918 |
| Fate: | Captured by Finland in 1918 |
.svg){kind=small} Finland
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| Name: | Wäinämöinen |
| Namesake: | Väinämöinen |
| Owner: | Finnish Board of Navigation |
| Port of registry: | Helsinki, Finland |
| Acquired: | 29 March 1918 |
| Commissioned: | 3 June 1918 |
| Decommissioned: | 20 November 1922 |
| In service: | 1918–1922 |
| Fate: | Handed over to Estonia in 1922 |
 Estonia
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| Name: | Suur Tõll |
| Namesake: | Toell the Great |
| Owner: | Estonian Government |
| Port of registry: | Tallinn, Estonia |
| Acquired: | 20 November 1922 |
| In service: | 1922–1940 |
| Fate: | Transferred to the Soviet Union in 1940 |
 Soviet Union
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| Name: | Volynets (Волынец) |
| Owner: | Soviet Union |
| Acquired: | June 1940 |
| Decommissioned: | 1985 |
| In service: | 1940–1985 |
| Identification: | IMO number: 8640351 |
| Fate: | Sold to Estonia in 1988 |
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Estonia
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| Name: | Suur Tõll |
| Owner: | Estonian Maritime Museum |
| Port of registry: | Tallinn, Estonia |
| Acquired: | 13 October 1988 |
| Status: | Museum ship in Tallinn, Estonia |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Type: | Icebreaker |
| Tonnage: | 2,417 GRT |
| Displacement: | 3,619 tons |
| Length: | 75.4 m (247 ft) |
| Beam: | 19.2 m (63 ft) |
| Draft: | 5.7 m (19 ft) |
| Boilers: | Six coal-fired boilers with mechanical ventilation |
| Engines: | Three triple-expansion steam engines, 2,300 ihp (1,700 kW) each |
| Propulsion: | Three propellers; two in stern and one in bow |
| Crew: | 62–65 |
| Armament: | Second World War: 4 × 45 mm 4 × 76 mm |
Suur Tõll is an Estonian steam-powered icebreaker preserved in the Estonian Maritime Museum in Tallinn. She was originally built for the Russian Empire in 1914 by AG Vulcan in Stettin, Germany, as Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich. In 1917, she was taken over by the Bolsheviks and renamed Volynets. However, in 1918 she was captured by Finland and served as Wäinämöinen until 1922, when she was handed over to Estonia according to the Treaty of Tartu and renamed Suur Tõll. When Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, the icebreaker rejoined the Soviet fleet and was again named Volynets. She remained in service until 1985.
The Soviet Navy decided to sell the decommissioned icebreaker for scrap, and she was purchased by the Estonian Maritime Museum in 1987. The ship was given back her original Estonian name and was extensively renovated; Suur Tõll, the largest preserved pre-war icebreaker in the world, is currently moored at Lennusadam, the historical seaplane harbour in Tallinn.
In 1912, the Imperial Russian government organized a request for tender for the construction of a large steam-powered icebreaker designed specifically for the ice conditions of the Baltic Sea. The shipbuilding contract was awarded to the German shipyard Stettiner Maschinenbau AG Vulcan and the vessel, christened Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich (Царь Михаилъ Феодоровичъ) after Michael of Russia, was ready for launching on 26 December 1913. In the following spring, the new icebreaker carried out sea trials off the coast of Finland. Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich was presented to the general public in St. Petersburg on 26 May and on the following day she was officially handed over to Russia. In 1915, two armed icebreakers of similar design, Knyaz Pojarskiy and Kozma Minin, were constructed in England.
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