At the beginning of the XX century

N.V.Gogol». From century to century

In 2011 the wheel steamer «N.V. Gogol» – the only steamer of the beginning of XX century still operating on the Severnaya Dvina and which is the historic memorial, sight of the North – has 100th anniversary! Built in 1911 at the Sormovo yard in Nizhniy Novgorod, the steamer was shifted to the Severnaya Dvina and started sailing in the same year on route Vologda—Ustyug—Kotlas—Arkhangelsk. All these decades «N.V. Gogol» worthily performed her duty by carrying passengers and cargos along the Severnaya Dvina. In 1972 the steamer «N.V. Gogol» was purchased by «Zvyozdochka». After repair she was operated as a tourist excursion ship, a floating recreation center of yard workers. Understanding the value which «N.V. Gogol» has as a historic memorial of national shipbuilding, cultural history, shipbuilders of «Zvyozdochka» maintain her state and repair annually. Therefore the oldest steamer in Russia is still young and live as she was in 1911. The ship shill entertains people traveling along the beautiful Severnaya Dvina or just bystanders, when she goes along the river glowing with her sides. Now, as it was one hundred years ago, people seeing the steamer going along the river shout happily: «Look! There a steamer goes! » And how it is good that history of the remarkable steamer «N.V. Gogol» is going forward! Seven feet under keel, hero of the day!

Nikitin Vladimir Semyonovich, Director General of JSC «Shiprepairing Center «Zvyozdochka»

At the beginning of the XX century

At this period there were 15 shipping companies working in intense competition conditions on the Northern Dvina. And the doubtless leader among them was the Northern steamship society «Kotlas—Arkhangelsk—Murman», set up in 1898 by Arkhangelsk merchants, timber manufacturers, bankers and ship-owners (M. A. Krilichevskiy, firm «G. Lindes and KO», Y.A. Belyayevsky, V. E. Brant, A.Y. Surkov, P.A. Bulychyev and others). The main purpose of the society foundation was delivery from Kotlas to Arkhangelsk of Siberian grain, brought by newly constructed railway Perm—Vyatka—Kotlas. Grain was exported from Arkhangelsk, and imported cargoes were brought up the Northern Dvina far in Russia. The first steamboat belonged to this society set off to Europe with grain on board in 1899. Kotlas became a big center on the way of grain export. Granaries were built for temporary storage of grain brought by railway during wintertime. They stretched for more than 4 kilometers on the high right bank of the Northern Dvina. In spring, at the beginning of navigation grain was loaded on board the ships, which were setting off down the river in chain. Storehouses became empty. In water space in front of Arkhangelsk a huge quantity of barges, sailing ships, steamers were gathered waiting for unloading and setting off abroad. The Northern steamship society had in its disposal 12 steamers, 55 barges and 20 small ships, and the original stock of the company made up 600 thousand roubles. The society developed very quickly. It actively created a network of its representatives in many towns, including the offices in Kotlas, Veliky Ustyug, bases for repair and wintering; it bought up ships from its competitors. In 1907 the Northern steamship society had already at its disposal 19 steamers and 93 wooden ships, and the original stock made up 1.573.714 roubles. Along with cargoes' transportation (not only grain, but also fish, timber, coal and others) the society «Kotlas—Arkhangelsk—Murman» realized passenger operations.

The first passenger steamboats (the very first steamboat appeared on the Northern Dvina in 1858) were not perfect. Passengers crowded on decks like sardines, but still this did not decrease their wish to travel quickly for hundreds miles away on board «the ship with furnace», as the first paddleboats were called among people. That is why, developing its activity, Northern steamship society considered indispensable to have in its fleet much more spacious and comfortable passenger boats built at Sormovo shipyard in Nizhny Novgorod, of the same type as steamboats already running along the Volga.

N. V. Gogol» and others

In 1909 Sormovo shipyard built the steamboat «Mikhail Krilichevskiy» by request of northerners (notice: after nationalization it received the name «Ivan Kalyayev»). One year later, in 1910, two steamboats of the same type were laid down; cost of each vessel was 140 thousand roubles. Original names of these steamboats were «N. V. Gogol» and «General Kondratenko» (notice: after nationalization — «A.I. Zhelyabov»). The steamboats were built according to the up-to-date technology of that time. Steam was produced by two straight-air fire-tube steam boilers burning wood. Main triple dilatation steam engines installed on the steamboats under construction were also manufactured at Sormovo shipyard. These were triple dilatation engines with slide valve Joy drive. Diameters of each of three cylinders: high pressure – 380 mm, medium pressure – 610 mm, low pressure – 1030 mm. Piston stroke – 1070 mm. The engine working on airborne paddle wheels could make power up to 500 hp. (note: at the same time the full design exploitation capacity was 360 hp). For preliminary preparation (purification and warming) of fluvial outboard water fed to steam-boilers they used special so-called «warm boxes» including three stage cascade coke filters and water heater, that used spent vapor warmth after the third stage of the main steam engine. To ensure the maximal economy of work the paddle wheels were equipped with eccentric floats turn drives due to which the floats (paddles) while wheel rotation entered the water edgewise, not by flat surface in order to avoid a slap. Under water the floats turned perpendicularly to the tangent of wheel rim circumference, and on coming out of water they turned back edgewise to water surface.

There was its own direct current source (two steam-dynamo generators), steam steering wheel and engine telegraph on board the vessel. Two-deck snow-white superstructure gave to the steamboat particular beauty and majesty. And what is worth mentioning, the passenger capacity was also big enough – 695 men. The former captain of the steamboat «N.V. Gogol» Y.A. Dyegtev points that the design of this type of ships (built, by the way, in big series for many regions of Russia) turned to be surprisingly successful, combining high reliability of all the components, its economy, mobility, stability, sufficient simplicity of steering and exploitation: — The steamboats of this project, such as «N.V. Gogol», in combination of all this factors made up so called «golden section» in techniques, they are on the same level as acknowledged rarities, such as airplanes AN2, lorries GAZAA… In spring 1911 the representatives of the Northern steamship society «Kotlas—Arkhangelsk—Murman» carried out examination of the steamboats «N.V.Gogol» and «General Kondratenko» built at Sormovo shipyard. A trial trip along the Volga from Sormovo to the town of Balakhin and back was made in order to determine the capacity of main steam engines, speed and fuel consumption. At that the steamers were evenly loaded with cast iron until the project draft. Examination and trials showed that the ships.