Wheel tugs on the Volga. river antiquity

After in 1843 the British Admiralty conducted comparative tests of the same type of steamers "Rattler" and "Alecto" with screw and wheel propellers, the wheelers began to quickly disappear. Still would! After all, in front of everyone's eyes, the propeller-driven Rattler dragged the Alecto, desperately slapping its plates, stern forward at a speed of more than two knots.

In addition, the sailors remembered another significant drawback of the onboard paddle wheels - when they rolled, they alternately left the water, which adversely affected the maneuverability and controllability of the vessel.

In general, by the beginning of the twentieth century, chariots began to die out, like dinosaurs in the prehistoric era. But isn't it too early to send them to rest? Alexander Pavlov, an engineer of the Lena River Shipping Company from Yakutsk, asked this question. And he began to recall cases when engineers again turned to technical ideas that were considered long forgotten.

In particular, propellers have their drawbacks. For example, he loves depth - his hub should be deepened by at least two-thirds of the diameter. Otherwise, air will be sucked from the surface to the blades, which will inevitably lead to a decrease in the efficiency of the propulsion unit. But the deepening of the screw is impossible without increasing the draft of the vessel, and in this case, shallow rivers become inaccessible to river transport.

In addition, as soon as a screw ship enters shallow water, a so-called drawdown occurs - the screws, as it were, expel water from under the hull and the ship immediately settles to the stern. Noticing that the bow of the ship begins to lift up, the captain immediately slows down the engine speed so that the propellers and rudder do not hit the ground. But, having lost speed, the ship becomes difficult to control. And ships equipped with a water jet are in danger of the same danger.

So rivermen and shipbuilders had to remember about paddle wheels, which are not covered by the law of D. Bernoulli.

So in the mid-80s of the twentieth century, employees of the Novosibirsk branch of the Central Technical Design Bureau of the Ministry of the River Fleet of the RSFSR again turned to wheelers.

They recalled that as early as the beginning of the 19th century, several catamaran steamers were built, the paddle wheels of which were placed between the hulls. True, in those days, the trusses that connected the hulls broke down with more or less serious excitement, which is why the “steam catamarans” never became widespread. Modern materials allow this drawback to be eliminated, and at the same time to replace the conventional paddle wheel with a more efficient rotary propulsion unit.

It is precisely such small-draft powerful vessels for various purposes that are now needed by the rivermen of Siberia, and first of all by the employees of the Lena Shipping Company. “On this great Siberian river, which crosses almost the entire country from south to north, today up to 80% of the goods imported to Yakutia are transported,” Pavlov testifies. - At the same time, from the port of Osetrovo, located in the upper reaches, to Yakutsk in the middle reaches of the Lena, ships have to go along a narrow winding fairway. Consider also strong currents, shallow water, frequent fogs, and it will become clear in what conditions the Lena rivermen have to work.

That is why the largest Zhatai plant in Yakutia began to build wheeled tugs again. The initiator of their creation was the chief engineer of the Lena Shipping Company I. A. Dmitriev. And in 1977, the experimental ship "Mechanic Korzennikov" entered service.

At first, even experienced rivermen went out to the bridges to look at the unusual vessel. It soon became clear that the chariot has high traction, is not afraid of "drawdown", walks in shallow water, having only 5-10 cm of water under the bottom, easily maneuvers (especially when the wheels are running at random).

Convinced that the ship was successful, the Zhatai shipbuilders released four more chariots, after which they made a number of changes to the original project. In particular, the main engines were mounted on shock absorbers to reduce vibration. To improve maneuverability in shallow water, we increased the area of the rudders, changed the location of the cabins on the second tier of the superstructure, removing them from the exhaust shafts, lengthened the hull by 2.4 m. They even provided for a sauna!

The first ship built according to the revised project - BTK-605 - raised the pennant in 1981. It was a tugboat with a medium engine room and a two-tiered superstructure. To transmit torque to the paddle wheels, gearboxes are used, connected to the propeller shaft by a cam clutch. The vessel is powered by two diesel generators with a capacity of 50 kW each. Moreover, the automation system allows shift officers to control the operation of mechanisms directly from the wheelhouse.

Steam-powered across the Atlantic

Carried away by the fate of the charioteers, we ran a little ahead, ahead of the unhurried course of history. Now let's go back to the beginning of the 18th century and see how the history of steamboats developed further.

As already mentioned, historians to this day argue when and where the first steamboats appeared. And only one fact has not yet been questioned by anyone. Namely, that in 1707 in Kassel, the inventor Denis Popen built a boat with paddle wheels located on the sides. And although it was not a steamship yet, since the steam engine was completely absent and the paddle wheels had to be rotated manually, for some reason, many researchers call this date the progenitor of all steamboats.

The Savannah was the first steamship to cross the Atlantic.

By 1812, when Napoleon, who did not understand Fulton's invention, set out on a campaign against Moscow, the smoke of a dozen and a half steam ships fluttered on American rivers. Moreover, the first steam ships on the same Mississippi had a rather strange appearance due to high stabilizer beams - vertical supports for cables that pulled together the bow and stern parts of a long vessel for strength. The ingenious invention, which was used by the ancient Egyptians, was celebrating its second birth!

In Europe, the first steam ship appeared only in 1816 on the Rhine. It was, oddly enough, the English boat Defiance. And on October 27 of the same 1816, the Princess Charlotte, the first German river steamer, began to make regular flights between Berlin and Potsdam.

However, the old sailors began to take the steam engine seriously only after the steamer had successfully crossed the Atlantic. It was the three-masted frigate Savannah, which in 1818 covered the distance from New York to Liverpool. However, he walked with the help of a steam engine and two paddle wheels along the sides for only 85 hours, and did most of the 27.5-day voyage under sail.

Only twenty years later, in 1838, the Sirius steamer crossed the Atlantic in 18 days and 10 hours solely with the help of a steam engine. And after him - a day later - the steamer "Great Western" arrived in New York along the same route - the largest steamer of that time.

Steam boat (video)

Test of a towing paddle steamer red miner

Eng. V.A. Seeveke "River Shipbuilding", 1932, No. 4-5, pp. 15-20.

On June 25, 1930, a towing paddle steamer, completed for the Volga Shipping Company, left the Sormovskaya shipyard red miner with a capacity of 1200 i.l.s.
Representing an ordinary Volga tugboat red miner was the second most powerful in the Volga towing fleet, yielding in this championship Stepan Razin , former Redede to Prince Kossozhsky with a capacity of 1560 and. l. s., buildings of the Motovilikha plant. Main machine red miner is the largest of the inclined machines built by the Sormovo plant. The main dimensions and elements of its body are as follows:

load waterline length	65.0 m
midsection width	9.8 m
board height	3.2 m
draft with a fuel reserve of 20 tons	1.32 m
deepest draft with 185 tons of fuel	1.625 m
nose strap length	17.5 m
stern length	17.5 m
midship frame turning radius	0.45 m
with a draft of 1.3 m, the displacement completeness coefficient d = 0.800, the displacement is equal to	661 t
with a draft of 1.625 m, the coefficient of completeness of displacement d = 0.812, the displacement is equal to	839 t

The stern is spoon-shaped with a balancing steering wheel.

The hull is divided by nine transverse bulkheads into ten compartments; in the first, counting from the bow, a pantry and a chain box are placed, in the second - cabins for 11 sailors and 3 helmsmen, in the third - a cofferdam, in the fourth - an oil tank, in the fifth - an engine room, in the sixth - a boiler room, in the seventh - oil tank, in the eighth - cofferdam, in the ninth - cabins of 4 oilers and 4 stokers, in the tenth - material.

In the casing rooms there are cabins for the 1st assistant commander, two pilots, a driver, his 1st and 2nd assistants, six oilers, 1 spare cabin, a red corner, a dining room, a laundry room, a bathhouse, a washroom and two water closets. The kitchen and dryer are placed in front of the boiler casing.

In the bow deck house there are cabins for the commander, his 2nd assistant, one pilot, one helmsman and the 3rd assistant driver.

Paddle wheels of the Morgan system with external rims and through (up to the sheaths) propeller shafts. The diameter of the wheels at the centers of the rollers is 4 m; in each wheel there are 8 iron plates, divided in half in length and driven by two separate eccentrics, one at the side cushion and the other at the side cushion; the dimensions of each half of the plate are 3400X1000X12 mm, the distance from the center of the shaft to the bottom is 2640 mm. The rowing wheel spokes are forged steel, the heads are made of cast steel, autogenously welded to the spokes.

The main dimensions of the machine (760x1040x1728) / 1500 mm, piston rods are not through, the diameter of all of them is the same - 140 mm; air pump piston diameter is 680 mm, stroke is 800 mm; feed pump plunger diameter is 150 mm, stroke is 300 mm.

The spools of the HPC and CSD are cylindrical, the first with an internal and the second with an external cut-off, the spool of the LPC is a flat Penn with a compensator. The machine is located with the cylinders from the shaft to the stern, i.e. as they say, "works on its own." There is a manual turning mechanism.

Steam boilers, two in number, span three-furnace boilers with a total heating surface of 397 m2, settling tanks of the Naumov system are installed in the boilers. Superheaters of the Schmidt system in fire tubes, with a total heating surface of 200 m2. Working pressure - 14 kg per cm2, overheating - up to 350 °.

Tow(tugboat) from Dutch boegseren /buxˈseːrə(n)/(pull) - an extensive category of ships designed for towing and tilting other ships and floating structures.

A tugboat is a steam (diesel) vessel for safe maneuvering, moving ships (cargo) in ports and harbors, against the current and along the river.

Tugs are used on all types of waterways and are operated in the water basins of many countries of the world. Usually these are small or medium-sized vessels, the design of which can vary significantly depending on the purpose and area of navigation.

Features of tugs

The tugs are distinguished from other vessels by their high specific power, good maneuverability, increased hull strength and stability, and the presence on board of special devices for towing and pushing.

The towing device is usually located near the center of gravity so that the tug can maneuver when the towline is under tension. The towing hook (hook), for which the rope clings, is fixed on the towing arc, allowing it to move freely from side to side. Since tugs often work with objects of large mass having significant inertial forces, and lateral tension or jerks of the towing rope can lead to capsizing of the tug, the towing hook is equipped with a quick remote rope release device and shock-absorbing devices. For the same purpose, towing winches are equipped with cable release devices in case of excessive tension.

Unlike other types of vessels for a tug, one of the most important characteristics is not speed, but thrust or emphasis, that is, the force with which it can act on a moving vessel. To obtain a high propulsion efficiency in this mode of operation, large propellers are required that are capable of throwing a significant mass of water at a relatively low speed, therefore, a distinctive feature of sea tugs is that, with small sizes, they have a deep draft. The latter is also necessary so that during the transportation of high-sided vessels (especially in narrow places where the vessels are connected by short cables), propellers do not “ exposed", but constantly remained under water.

Classification

Steam tug on the Neva
1950s.

Like all ships, tugs are subdivided by navigation area. There are ocean, sea, mixed river-sea navigation, coastal navigation, raid, port, as well as for navigation in inland waters, river and lake, designed for operation in normal or ice conditions. In more detail, navigation areas are indicated in various classification documents, which may differ in different countries. The navigation area largely determines design features tugs, their dimensions, seaworthiness, autonomy, equipment with communication and navigation equipment.

By appointment tugs are divided into:
Linear- serving rather long lines and non-self-propelled vessels (barges), rafts and other floating structures towing along them.
Port or offshore tugs- serving ports and raids.
Pusher tugs- intended for transportation of barges by pushing.
Rescue tugs- designed to provide assistance to emergency and distressed ships.
Escorts- for escorting and escorting large-capacity vessels.
Gateways- service gateways.
Raft Tugs- for conducting rafts along the rivers.
fire tugs- designed to extinguish fires, and others.

Tugs are not always highly specialized according to their purpose and can often serve multiple functions. For example, port and offshore tugs have additional rescue and fire fighting equipment on board and are capable of performing the functions of rescue tugs in the port, and escort tugs can perform the work of tilting tugs.

Type of main engine tugboats currently belong to the class of motor ships, usually one or two diesel engines are used. Steam engines were widely used on the first tugboats (towboats). The release of tugboats continued until the 1950s; in Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, they belonged to the BOD type - B uksir P are To forest.

By type of propulsion tugs can be single-screw, twin-screw, with conventional propellers or controllable pitch propellers (CPP), with azimuth propellers (azimuth), with vane or water jet propulsion. To obtain good traction characteristics, they tend to install propellers of relatively large diameter on tugs and also use annular guide nozzles, a twin-screw scheme, in addition, can significantly improve maneuverability, for the same purposes the nozzles are often made to rotate in a horizontal plane. Controllable pitch propellers make it possible to further increase the efficiency of work at different speeds and also make it possible to perform a quick reverse thrust without changing the direction of rotation, this property is also useful when working in ice conditions. Where maneuverability is especially important, for example, on tilting tugs, at present, rudder propellers or, less often, vane propellers are often used, such tugs are able to move lag (sideways) and create an emphasis in the lateral direction. Water jets are sometimes used on river tugs, they make it possible to make a vessel with a shallow draft and a smooth bottom, which is convenient for working in shallow water.

Sometimes, by analogy with the English-language classification, tugs are divided into two groups: conventional- with a traditional shaft screw complex and tugs tractor type which include azimuthal(equipped with rudder propellers) and voit-schneider type(equipped with vane propellers).

Previously, paddle wheels were widely used as a propulsion in tugboats. When working in extreme shallow water, the paddle wheel is more efficient than other types of propulsion, but it does not work well in heavy seas, and in tugboats it creates problems due to its size and is now being replaced by propellers and water jets. One of the latest serial wheeled tugs (BTK series) was developed and built in the USSR from 1954 to 1990 for the Lena, Irtysh, Vitim and other Siberian rivers. In 1991, a new rear-wheel tug of project 81470 was built by the Novosibirsk branch of NPO "Sudostroenie", which remained in a single copy. Despite the limited application, projects of wheeled tugs for small rivers are being developed at the present time.

Main types of tugboats

The most numerous types of tugs are port and road tilting tugs, they are used in all busy ports in harbors and shipyards, where they are used for mooring, transportation, ice breaking, and other work, in major ports their number is in the tens. The tilting tug has a relatively small size, the displacement usually does not exceed 400 tons, the power is from 200 to 2000 hp. sec., speed 10-15 knots, navigation autonomy is small, since all tasks are performed in the coastal zone, the crew of the tug is 2-4 people. An alternative to using tilting tugs can be equipping ships with thrusters, which are usually installed in the bow and stern and allow you to moor on your own, this is economically justified in areas with underdeveloped port infrastructure, for example, on Far North. As a rule, tilting tugs are produced in large series (tens and hundreds of pieces) at specialized shipyards.

The largest of the class of tugs are ocean rescue tugs. These are multifunctional vessels with great autonomy and an unlimited navigation area, equipped with various equipment that allows them to search and rescue ships and people on the high seas, to provide medical care, extinguish fires, carry out repair and diving work, supply heat and electricity to other facilities, collect oil products, and the like. One of the largest rescue tugs of the Fotiy Krylov type (project R-5757) with a length of just under 100 meters. has a displacement of 5250 tons, power plant capacity of more than 20,000 liters. With. and a speed of 18.2 knots. Such vessels are produced in small batches, sea rescue tugs are more numerous, which have similar equipment, but are 2-3 times smaller. Apart from rescue work the rescue tug performs ordinary towing operations, escorts other vessels, or patrols various areas of the ocean.

The pushing method has a number of advantages over traditional barge towing and is 20-30% more cost-effective; at present, pushers and pusher-tugs transport about half of all cargo on inland waterways. The fleet of pushers is most well developed in the USA, where they have been used since the middle of the 19th century and carry almost 100% of the cargo turnover. In Europe and the USSR, a massive transition from traditional tugs to pushers began in the 1950s, and now in terms of cargo turnover, tug transportation competes with traditional river transport vessels and river-sea vessels. In maritime transport, the pushing method is used less frequently, mainly in coastal navigation, since pushed convoys lose in seaworthiness and speed. sea vessels.

History of occurrence

Tugs were among the first among mechanical ships, because the problem of sailing in calm weather, safe maneuvering in the area of ports and harbors, as well as moving cargo against the flow of rivers could not be effectively solved in other ways.

In 1736, the Englishman Jonathan Gulls built one of the first steam-powered ships - the prototype of a port tug, which he called "a machine for towing ships in and out of harbors, ports or rivers, against wind, tide or in calm weather." Due to the low power and low reliability of steam engines of that time, Gulls' experiment did not give a positive result and was not further developed; sea vessels.

Transportation of ships up the rivers has long been carried out manually with the help of barge traction. The first river tugs that appeared at the beginning of the 19th century, due to their low power, could not perform such work. At first, their role was played by capstan ships with a steam engine of 80-240 hp. With. set in motion a vertical capstan winding a long anchor rope, due to this, movement was made. There were two anchors and they were alternately brought 1-1.5 km upstream by a special small steamboat, which ensured the continuity of movement. Such a vessel could tow a caravan with a load of up to 8000 tons, but the average speed remained low, about 75 km per day. Tuer ships were used less frequently, which moved, rewinding, due to steam traction, a rope or chain specially laid along the entire bottom of the river, their speed was slightly higher - up to 5 km / h.

River towing began to develop rapidly only in the last quarter of the 19th century, the power of steam engines of linear tugs major rivers grew rapidly, exceeding 1000 liters. with., paddle wheels were used as propellers. One of the largest tugs of that time, Rededya Prince Kosozhsky (later Stepan Razin), had a four-cylinder steam engine with 2000 hp. With. Being built in 1889, it was operated on the Volga until 1958.

In 1892, for the first time, tugboats carried out the complex towing of three barges between ports over a distance of 350 miles, and in 1896, two tugboats for the first time transported a floating dock across the Atlantic Ocean.

Notes

// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

Continuing the theme of old wheeled ships, I want to show you another ship I found. It would be more accurate to say not found by me, but rather discovered for myself, and now for you, if you have not seen it yet. The first time I noticed it was last year, when on a sunny February day I made a sortie to the village of Rozhdestveno. At that time, we did not approach and did not examine it, and the purpose of the walk was to see the village as soon as possible. But the ship has sunk into the soul since then, and now, a year later, the Volga ice is again under our feet, and driven by the wind, we again go along the Volga to the old paddle steamer that attracts like a magnet.
In general, walks on the Volga ice always give a lot of impressions. On a sunny day off, a lot of people walk here, and this is not surprising. After all, an excellent panoramic view of the city opens from here, here you can catch your breath from the city smog, and standing somewhere in the middle, you should imagine that such a colossal mass of water is moving under this 35 cm crust and either from the realization of this, or from the oncoming frosty wind cold chills run through the body. But during these walks, you seem to be charged with some kind of energy, as if scooping it from the river.
So admiring the winter landscapes, we passed through the Volga and the island. Here, on the banks of the Volozhka, 3.5 kilometers from Samara, on the territory of the camp site, there is the same old steamer, which was the goal of our walk.

This ship is standing on the territory of the TTU camp site, a watchman's house has been built on the deck, therefore it has not yet been sawn up and demolished to a scrap metal collection point. Several bridges lead to the ship, apparently, it is used for economic purposes.

An old steam tug, the brainchild of the Krasnoye Sormovo plant. In the early 30s of the last century, this plant produced a series of tugs with a capacity of 1200 horsepower. Then it was the most powerful serial tugs on the Volga. The first series of such tugs were: "Red Miner", "Industrialization" and "Collectivization". They were intended for driving along the Volga oil barges with a carrying capacity of 8 and 12 thousand tons. They were surpassed in power only by Stepan Razin, the former Rededya, Prince Kosogsky, built before the revolution in 1889 and having a capacity of 1600 horsepower. These tugs operated on fuel oil, were equipped with an inclined steam engine with two boilers and superheaters, the total heating surface of the boilers was 400 m2. The use of superheated steam made it possible to significantly increase the efficiency of the steam plant. A steam plant with a three-stage water heating, that is, water was supplied to the boilers through heaters that received heat from the already exhausted steam. The steamer had an electric lighting network, the electricity for which was generated by a steam dynamo with a power of 14 kW, giving a direct current of 115V. To lift anchors from the ground, the steamers were equipped with a steam windlass on the bow of the vessel and aft capstan. In addition, they had a horizontal steering machine. For the first time in the river fleet, a steam towing winch was installed, on the drum of which almost half a kilometer of strong steel cable was laid. The machine and boilers, like all the ship's equipment, were designed and manufactured at the Krasnoye Sormovo plant.

The hull of the ships of the first series is riveted, it was divided by nine bulkheads into ten compartments: in the first, bow compartment there is a pantry and a box with anchor chains; in the second cabins for sailors; the third is a rubber dam, which serves to prevent the penetration of gases from the fuel compartment; in the fourth tank with fuel oil; the fifth was the engine room; in the sixth boiler room; in the seventh aft fuel tank, then again a cofferdam, behind which are the cabins of oilers and stokers, well, the aft compartment, where the stern anchor chains and machine parts were located. In the casing rooms, which are located on the railings next to the paddle wheel arch, there are cabins: two pilots, a machinist and his two assistants, a spare cabin, a red corner, a dining room, a laundry room, and a sanitary block. The kitchen and dryer are placed in front of the boiler casing.

In the bow deck cabin there are cabins for the commander, his assistant, one pilot, one radio control room. On the left side you can see the inscriptions on the doors of the captain and the radio room.

The paddle wheels have been dismantled, so I'll just show them a diagram. The wheels had a diameter of 4.8 meters on each wheel, 8 metal plates - blades. To reduce energy losses during the entry and exit of the plates from the water, they are made swivel, due to the swivel connection with an eccentric mechanism that regulates the position of the plates when the wheel is turned.
This design of the wheel has a greater efficiency, providing the entry of the blades into the water with large angles of attack. The operational qualities of the new tugboats were significantly higher than those of pre-revolutionary ships of similar power.
But along with all these technical advantages, the new tug had a number of significant drawbacks that were identified after the commissioning of the Krasny Shakhter tug. Then the customer, which was the People's Commissariat water transport, claims were made against the plant. So, for example, when moving with a load, the steamer did not obey the helm well. It was found that poor handling and longitudinal instability of the vessel was the result of an improperly designed hull, it was too narrow, the towing hook was too high, and the wheels were too far forward of the vessel. On the tugs of the next series, these defects were eliminated, but on the already released ships "Industrialization" and "Collectivization", the changes were partially affected and the shortcomings regarding the hull design were preserved.

By 1936, the plant built a series of Tsiolkovsky-type tugs according to the same project with some changes, in particular, relating to the ship's hull.

Drawing by Mikhail Petrovsky taken from the website of the magazine Technique of Youth

An interesting article about them was published in the 8th issue of the Youth Technique magazine for 1982, from which I learned a lot. useful information about the ship.
Through the snowdrifts, fairly gaining snow in his boots, he approached the ship closely. Here, there is no snow at all under the portage, and the height of the side allows you to move freely without hitting the support brackets with your head, of which there are many. The arch of the paddle wheel is closed, instead of the shaft, a channel is installed, which serves as a support for the flooring, which just closes it. But you can carefully consider the structure of the body.

Such a body kit design, namely, reliance on triangular brackets resting on the hull, was used on the first three ships: Krasny Miner, Industrialization and Collectivization, and created some problems. The fact is that the water thrown by the wheel hit the brackets, thereby creating additional resistance to movement. On the ships of the next series, the design of the piers was changed. The brackets began to be made in the form of beams suspended from vertical racks installed on the deck, and the ship's hull was made all-welded, these changes made it possible to reduce the water resistance experienced when the ship was moving.
So this tug is one of the first trinity of 1200 strong.
After examining the hull, it turned out that it was welded, but with noticeable traces of alteration, the portholes were previously lower on board, you can see their welded openings and were moved higher relative to the waterline.

It should be noted that the 1930s were recovery years for shipbuilding, the industry lacked qualified personnel, and there were no research developments. On the river, ships of pre-revolutionary construction were mainly used, often they were altered for new tasks.

By overall dimensions the hull of the steamer is also very similar to the first series of tugs. So the head steamer of the first series "Krasny Shakhter" had dimensions of 65 x 9.8 x 3.2 m, which coincides with the dimensions of our oil carrier, the dimensions of which I measured, very approximately, on a kart-vikimapia. However, they match. By the way, the width is given without taking into account the run-outs, along the waterline.

I went up on deck, but did not approach the gatehouse, somehow I didn’t want to get caught by the watchman at all, I don’t think that my interest in the steamer would have aroused his approval. Maybe there are storage rooms here, and I'm like this without an invitation. Although I really wanted to see it, I didn’t become impudent, maybe I’ll come back here in the summer, when the camp site is open and it will be possible to pass for a vacationer.

He walked around the ship, on the rusting hull the markings of the ship's draft scale are still noticeable.

Looking through the forums of lovers of such river antiquity, I often came across the opinion that this is the Industrialization tugboat, the similarities with its surviving photographs are very strong, and the dimensions, the design of the piers, the number of windows on the deck superstructure - all this only confirms that this is definitely one of the first 1200 strong Sormovo paddle steamers.

Confused by one fact. On the arch of the left paddle wheel, which is located on the side of the camp site, the numbers “1918” and the letters at the top of the arc, either “rn”, or “ra”, are barely visible. Paint streaks, its layers showing through one another and the corrosion that is being accepted make it difficult to make out the full name of the ship. I tried to search for steamships with a combination of these letters and numbers on the net, unfortunately, the search did not give any results.

Perhaps it was renamed, but this is only an assumption, because I have not seen any mention of the renaming of tugs from the first three, except for the first-born. Only Krasny Shakhtar was renamed Georgy Dimitrov.
A porthole was opened next to the support of the propeller shaft axis. With the hope of seeing at least some surviving part of the steam engine, he looked inside. Total darkness, only the luminous circles of portholes on the opposite side were visible, through which light passed immediately dissolving into darkness. Having fairly raised the iso, he stuck his hand with the camera inside and took a few shots.

If you look closely, you can see that the connection of structural elements inside the hull remained riveted.

Then he turned on the flash and clicked a few more times. Somewhere nearby there was a noise. I listened, everything was quiet. But I didn't put my camera through the porthole anymore. Passing along the ship's hull, I again heard a creak coming from inside. Yeah, so I did not go unnoticed and attracted someone's attention. However, no one came out. Well, okay, I hope to be back next time it snows.

Leaving, I looked back to once again look at this river rarity, worthy of becoming a museum exhibit of the river fleet.

Inventors have been trying to adapt steam to move through water since the 15th century. But the first practical benefit of such efforts came in 1807, when New Yorker Robert Fulton set sail his paddle steamer.

For his device, the inventor used a wooden vessel similar to a barge, 133 feet long and with a displacement of 100 tons. On such a "vessel" he mounted his steam engine with a capacity of 20 horsepower. The engine turned two paddle wheels 15 feet in diameter. The wheels were located along the right and left sides. Their blades splashed on the water and pushed the ship forward. Its full name was New Nof River steamboat f Claremont, or simply Claremont. The ship began to make regular flights along the Hudson River (the Americans, however, call this Hudson River) from New York to the city of Albany. Already in 1839, about 1,000 steamboats with one or two wheels on the sides, with the wheels behind the stern, were sailing along American rivers and lakes, so that by this time America moving on the water had become independent of the wind.

Steam engine for a paddle steamer

The steam engine, perfected in the late 1700s by the Scottish engineer James Watt (aka Watt), "ate" wood and coal in its firebox and heated water in a metal boiler. Then steam came out of the water. The steam, compressing, pressed on the piston in the cylinder and set the piston in motion. The rods and cranks converted the reciprocating movement of the piston into the rotational movement of the wheel axle. And already paddle wheels were attached to the axle.

Fulton's extraordinary ship

The figure at the top of the article shows the Claremont - this long "boat", sitting low on the water, made an average of 4 knots, or about 5 miles per hour. The first voyage took place in August 1807, when this ship splashed upstream 150 miles in 32 hours. Regular flights soon began. The ship could immediately take on board 100 passengers who were provided with cabins or berths. Over time, America's first commercially successful steamship was rebuilt and enlarged. In an updated form, he walked along the Hudson until 1814, and then was decommissioned.

The very first paddle steamers

In 1543, the Spaniard Blasco de Gaulle built a primitive steamboat that, after three hours of puffing, traveled 6 miles. However, until the 1700s, self-propelled ships had no practical application.

In 1736, Englishman Jonathan Hulls patented the first tug where a steam boiler drove pistons that turned a wheel located behind the stern of his boat.

Williams Symington achieved real success when, in 1801, the steam ship Charlotte Dundes built by him was able to drag two boats for six hours during trials in Scotland.