Tarmo (1907 icebreaker)
Finnish icebreaker Tarmo at the Kotka Maritime Museum in 2006
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| History | |
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  Finland
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| Name: |
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| Owner: |
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| Port of registry: |
Helsinki,  Finland
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| Ordered: | 15 February 1907 |
| Builder: | Sir W.G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom |
| Cost: | FIM 1,631,548.81 |
| Launched: | 9 September 1907 |
| Completed: | 17 December 1907 |
| Commissioned: | 4 January 1908 |
| Decommissioned: | 29 May 1969; 1970 |
| In service: | 1908–1970 |
| Identification: | IMO number: 5352898 |
| Status: | Museum ship in Kotka, Finland, since 1992 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Icebreaker |
| Tonnage: | |
| Displacement: | 2,400 tons |
| Length: |
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| Beam: |
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| Draft: | 5.7 m (18 ft 8 in) |
| Boilers: | Five coal-fired boilers and one auxiliary boiler |
| Engines: | Two triple-expansion steam engines; 1,450 ihp (bow) and 2,400 ihp (stern) |
| Propulsion: | Bow and stern propellers |
| Sail plan: | Two masts; two staysails and two Bermuda sails |
| Speed: | 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) in open water |
| Endurance: | Approximately one week in ice |
| Crew: | 43 |
| Armament: | Armed during war |
Tarmo is a Finnish steam-powered icebreaker preserved in the Maritime Museum of Finland in Kotka. Built in 1907 by Sir W.G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co Ltd in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, she was the third state-owned icebreaker of Finland and the last Finnish steam-powered icebreaker to remain in service. When Tarmo was decommissioned in 1970, a decision was made to preserve the vessel as a museum ship. After a long wait in Helsinki, Tarmo was towed to Kotka and completely restored in the early 1990s.
The number of merchant ships calling at Finnish ports and requiring icebreaker assistance during the winter months had increased steadily since the first Finnish state-owned icebreakers, Murtaja and Sampo, were built in the 1890s. In 1902 General Nikolai Sjöman, the director of the Finnish Pilot and Lighthouse Authority, made a proposal to the Senate of Finland for the construction of the third state-owned icebreaker. While reluctant at first, in May 1906 the Senate announced that the old Murtaja could be replaced with a new icebreaker and a call for bids was sent to a number of suitable shipyards. On 4 September 1906 a decision was made to order a new icebreaker even though no buyer had been found for the old Murtaja.
By 1 November 1906 tenders for the construction of a new icebreaker, similar to but slightly larger than Sampo, had been received from four European shipyards. The most expensive tender, 1,608,900 Finnish markkas (FIM), was given by Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft from Germany. It was followed by Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd from England (FIM 1,575,000), Gourlay Brothers Ship Builders of Dundee from Scotland (FIM 1,432,500), and Burmeister & Wain from Denmark (FIM 1,422,500). When a fifth tender for FIM 1,485,000 was received from the English shipbuilder R. & W. Hawthorn Leslie and Company nine days after the deadline, Armstrong Whitworth lowered their bid by 100,000 markkas to FIM 1,475,000. Wärtsilä Hietalahti shipyard was also asked to participate in the call for tenders, but the domestic shipbuilding was not yet ready to accept such demanding projects and there were difficulties in acquiring and importing steel suitable for icebreakers. The tenders were evaluated by an expert committee appointed by the Senate and, after careful consideration, the icebreaker offered by Armstrong Whitworth turned out to be the most suitable. A number of changes were proposed to the original design including moving the bow propeller slightly abaft and upwards to protect it from grounding and improve the icebreaking characteristics of the ship by reducing the stem angle to 20 degrees. The shipbuilding contract was signed on 15 February 1907, and with the proposed changes the price of the vessel was 1,631,548.81 Finnish markkas.
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