Vladimir Voronin (captain)

For the Moldovan politician, seeVladimir Voronin.

Vladimir Voronin

Vladimir Ivanovich Voronin(‹See Tfd›Russian:Владимир Иванович Воронин;October 17, 1890 – October 18, 1952) was aSoviet Navycaptain, born inSumsky Posad,in the presentRepublic of Karelia,Russia.In 1932 he commanded the expedition of theSovieticebreakerA. Sibiryakovwhich made the first successful crossing of theNorthern Sea Routein a single navigation without wintering. This voyage was organized by the All-Union Arctic Institute (presently known as theArctic and Antarctic Research Institute).

TheA. Sibiryakovexpedition

TheA. Sibiryakovsailed fromArkhangelsk,crossed theKara Seaand chose a northern, unexplored way aroundSevernaya Zemlyato theLaptev Sea.In September the propeller shaft broke and the icebreaker drifted for 11 days. However, theA. Sibiryakovused its sails and arrived in theBering Straitin October. Theicebreakerreached the Japanese port ofYokohamaafter 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 ExpeditionOtto Schmidtand Captain Vladimir Voronin were received with many honors on their return to Russia.

The icebreakerA. Sibiryakovcontinued in service until it was sunk in 1942 after an unequal fight withGermanheavy cruiserAdmiral ScheerduringOperation WunderlandinWorld War II.

TheChelyuskinexpedition

In 1933-34 Voronin commanded another icebreaker on a dramatic, albeit not so fortunate, expedition. In July 1933 theChelyuskinsailed fromLeningradbefore a large crowd. However, in September icebreakerChelyuskingot stuck inpack icein theChukchi SeanearKolyuchin 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 theBering Strait.By the end of November it became obvious that theChelyuskinwould not break free from the pack ice and would have to winter on the Chukchi Sea. Eventually the ship was squeezed by largeice floesand 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. TheChelyuskindrifted for the next two months in the Chukchi Sea to the east ofWrangel Island.

Finally, increasing pressure resulted in the ship's creaking and eventual breach by ice. Voronin andOtto Schmidtmanaged to jump off just in time before theChelyuskinsank 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 ofUelenon theChukchi Peninsulaand asked for help. During a dramatic rescue operation, pilotAnatoly Lyapidevskysighted 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 icebreakerChelyuskinwere rescued later and flown toCape Vankaremon the Chukotka Peninsula. Due to severe weather conditions, the rescue took one month with planes trying hard to carry out the rescue operation fromKhabarovsk;NomeinAlaska;andCape Olyutoruntil 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 Island,a small island group in theKara Sea.
• Banka Voronina,a shoal in theGulf of Finland60°23′N28°08′E.
• Bukhta Voronina,a bay in the NW shores ofNovaya Zemlya76°12′N62°36′E.
• TheVoronin Trough,a geological feature in theArctic Oceanbasin with a depth of 450m located 290 km east ofFranz Josef Land.

Cape Voronin offViachtu BayinSakhalinIsland, however, is not named after Captain Vladimir Voronin, but after Second lieutenant Aleksey Ivanovich Voronin, a previous Russian explorer who took part in the 1849–1855AmurExpedition.

ARC-7 class Ice breaking LNG carrier launched in 2019 named Vladimir Voronin in his honor. Vessel regularly makes unescorted passages of the Northern Sea Route carry LNG from LNG plant in Sabetta to Europe and Asia.

References

• Armstrong, T.,The Russians in the Arctic,London, 1958.
• Early Soviet Exploration
• History of Russian Arctic Exploration
• Voronin Trough