Ship-building Industry (general article)

Categories / Economy/Industry
SHIP-BUILDING INDUSTRY. From the beginning of the 18th century, St. Petersburg was a centre of Russian ship-building industry. On November 5, 1704, the first shipyard was founded here (see Admiralty Shipyard), by 1710 it employed some 4,700 people; the number of workers grew to 10,000 people in 1715, and to 15,000 people in 1725. Construction of battleships started In 1709. Rowing boats were built in the Galley Yard in the New Admiralty from 1713 on. The shipyard on the Galley Island was created in 1719. The construction of small civilian ships was done at Partikulyarnaya (civil) Shipyard from 1711 on. In the middle of the 19th century, ships with the total displacement of 12 to 14 thousand tons were laid in St. Petersburg annually. The first steamboat in Russia, Elizabeth, was built at the plant of K. N. Bird in 1815, and in 1834, the submarine of A. A. Schilder was built at Alexandrovsky Plant. It was the first solid-metal vessel constructed in Russia. To defend the sea approaches to the capital in 1854-55 a total of 89 propeller gunboats and corvettes were built; some battleships were equipped with propeller engines on the initiative of General-Admiral Grand Prince Konstantin Nikolaevich with participation of N. I. Putilov in St. Petersburg. From the middle of the 19th century and up to 1904, the New Admiralty alone built 36 military ships, and Borodino battleship is considered to be the best of those. Over that period a total of sixty-two ships were built in the shipyard of the Galley Island (“Untouchable” armour-plated battery was the first squadron of its kind). In 1908, the Galley Island and the New Admiralty were merged together and called the Admiralty Plant. Nevsky Plant established in 1857 specialised in construction of torpedo boats as did Metal Plant founded at the same time. In 1912, the joint-stock company of Putilov Plants created Putilov Ship Building Plant and purchased Nevsky Plant. In 1914-17 some 10,000 workers were employed at these enterprises, building destroyers. By the end of 1914, the Baltic Plant and the Admiralty Plant completed 4 dreadnought battleships (Sevastopol, Poltava, Petropavlovsk and Gangut), and the serial construction of turbine destroyers of Novik type started at Putilov Plant. All in all in 1908-17, Petrograd shipbuilders built 37 turbine ships for the Baltic Fleet. In the years of the Civil war ship building industry went into recession. The Baltic Plant in 1917-20 reduced the annual output from 25 million roubles to 1 million roubles. The Petrograd Ship Building Association was created in 1922 with the purpose of reviving the industry. In 1928 the Association was re-organised as the Association of Shipyards comprised of Baltic Plant, Admiralty Plant, Northern Shipyard, and Petrograd Plant. In 1925, the construction of a series of lumber ships started. Construction of cargo and cargo-and-passenger motor ships and ice-breakers started in 1931; sectional assemblage of welded hulls was gradually introduced in the industry. The construction of military ships started from construction of a series of step-bottom torpedo-boats, D-type submarines. and patrol ships in 1927. In the years before WWII Leningrad shipyards built sea hunters, trawlers, destroyers, flotilla leaders, and light cruisers; construction of battleships began at Baltic Plant and Admiralty Plant; this project was never completed. In the period of the siege of 1941-44, shipbuilders of Leningrad built tens of barges and self-propelled flat-bottom pontoons for the Road of Life, large submarine chasers and skerry monitoring units were built for the Baltic Fleet at Admiralty Plant as well. After the end of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45, the city shipyards began making ships and boats of new types, including diesel and nuclear submarines, large anti-submarine ships, missile cruisers (including Peter the Great series). In 300 years St. Petersburg formed the city’s own shipbuilding school. In various years outstanding shipbuilders worked in St. Petersburg shipyards, including F. M. Sklyaev, I. M. Golovin, R. Brown, G. A. Menshikov, R. Kozents, A. M. Kurochkin, A. Zenkov, M. M. Okunev, S. O. Burachek, I. A. Amosov, K. A. Schilder, A. A. Popov, A. N. Krylov, I. G. Bubnov, P. A. Titov, V. A. Stepanov, I. F. Alexandrov, S. K. Dzhevetsky, M. N. Beklemishev, M. N. Naletov, K. P. Boklevsky, V. L. Pozdyunin, B. M. Malinin, V. I. Ruberovsky, A. I. Pavlov, V. F. Popov, S. V. Kovalev, I. M. Ioffe, V. P. Vorobiev, P. P. Pustyntsev, I. L. Bazanov, G. N. Chernyshev, Y. N. Kormilitsyn, A. S. Savichev, A. V. Marinich, N. P. Sobolev, V. N. Mishin, Y. A. Nikolsky, E. I. Yukhnin, B. I. Kupensky, A. K. Perkov, V. I. Mutikhin, I. I. Rubin, and others. Professional ship builders were trained at the best institute of higher education of the branch - the Naval Technical University.

References: Дмитриев Н. И., Колпычев В. В. Судостроительные заводы и судостроение в России и за границей. СПб., 1909; Военно-морской флот СССР в 1921-1941 гг. // Морской атлас. М., 1966. Т. 3, ч. 2. С. 79-89; Яковлев И. И. Корабли и верфи. 2-е изд. Л., 1973; Сорокин А. И., Краснов В. Н. Корабли проходят испытания. 2-е, перераб. и доп. изд. Л., 1985; Касатонов И. В. Океанский флот Отчизны. СПб., 1996. E. P. Perovsky. Alexandrov I.F.
Amosov Ivan Afanasievich
Bazanov I.L.
Beklemishev Mikhail Nikolaevich
Bird Karl (Charles) Nikolaevich
Boklevsky Konstantin Petrovich
Browne R.
Bubnov Ivan Grigorievich
Burachek Stefan (Stepan) Onisimovich
Chernyshev Georgy Nikolaevich
Cosens Richard
Dzhevetsky Stepan Karlovich
Golovin Ivan Mikhailovich
Ioffe I.M.
Konstantin Nikolaevich, Grand Prince
Kormilitsyn Yu.N.
Kovalev Sergey Nikitich
Krylov Alexander Nikolaevich
Kupensky B.I.
Kurochkin Vasily Stepanovich
Malinin Boris Mikhailovich
Marinich Arkady Vasilievich
Menshikov G.A.
Mishin V.N.
Mutikhin V.I.
Naletov Mikhail Petrovich
Nikolsky Yu.A.
Okunev M.M.
Pavlov Arkady Ivanovich
Perkov Alexander Kuzmich
Popov Andrey Alexandrovich
Popov Vladimir Fedorovich
Pozdyunin Valentin Lvovich
Pustyntsev Pavel Petrovich
Putilov Nikolay Ivanovich
Ruberovsky Xenofont Ivanovich
Rubin I.I.
Savichev A.S.
Schilder Karl Andreevich
Sklyaev Fedosey Moiseevich
Sobolev N.P.
Stepanov Vasily Andreevich
Titov Peter Akindinovich
Vorobyev Vladimir Petrovich
Yukhnin Evgeny Ivanovich
Zenkov A.
Касатонов И. В. Океанский флот Отчизны. СПб., 1996
Военно-морской флот СССР в 1921-1941 гг.// Морской Атлас. М., 1966
Перовский Е.П. На стапелях морского города. Л., 1967
Дмитриев Н. И., Колпычев В. В. Судостроительные заводы и судостроение в России и за границей. СПб., 1909
Сорокин А. И., Краснов В. Н. Корабли проходят испытания. 2-е, перераб. и доп. изд. Л., 1985
Яковлев И. И. Корабли и верфи. 2-е изд. Л., 1973 Admiralty Shipyard
Galley Yard
Particulyarnaya Shipyard
Admiralty Dockyards
Nevsky Plant
Kirovsky Plant
Baltic Shipyard and Machine-Building Plant
Northern Shipyard Plant
Siege of 1941-44
Road of Life
Naval Technical University
1957