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Baltika
This page is devoted to postcards and photographs of Soviet passenger liner
Baltika
.
Baltika
was built as the
Vyasheslav Molotov
in 1940. She was 7494 gross tons and 445 feet long. She was powered by twin screw turbo-electric machinery, originally giving a speed of 20 knots, but latterly just 15 knots.
Vyasheslav Molotov
was renamed
Baltika
in 1957.
The Soviet Russians ran a service from Leningrad to Helsinki, Stockholm and London for some years before the Second World War, using small motorships which could only maintain about 12 knots. In 1938 they ordered two much-improved vessels to upgrade the service. Local yards were unable to produce such ships, so the order went to Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij (Netherlands Shipbuilding Company) of Amsterdam. Whilst part of the vast state Sovtorgflot, they were allocated to the Baltic Shipping Company of Leningrad for the new express service.
The first sister was the
Josef Stalin
, followed by the
Vyasheslav Molotov
(Soviet Foreign Minister). They were fast ships, achieving 22 knots on trials. Despite their Marxist ownership, passenger accommodation was arranged in first, second, third and tourist classes, giving a total of 437 for many years. Both sisters were delivered to their owners before the German invasion of Holland in 1940.
Josef Stalin
hit a mine off Finland in December 1941. She was run aground in German-controlled territory, but found to be beyond repair.
Vyasheslav Molotov
was also mined in 1941, but was repaired, although her wartime use is not recorded. By 1945 she was in Kronstadt naval base near Leningrad. It was announced that she would run to New York via Liverpool in October 1945, but it seems she was unready and she spent some time in both Liverpool and Amsterdam being refitted. However, she returned to service not on her designed route, but in the Black Sea where she remained until 1950. She then moved even further away, working in the Far East from Vladivostok. She returned to the Black Sea in 1955, before finally taking up her designed route from Leningrad to London, where she handled cargo in the Surrey Commercial Docks. Passengers were dealt with at Tilbury. A round trip took 16 days, including four or five days in London, and usually calling at Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki. In later years, the Copenhagen and Stockholm calls were usually omitted. She was renamed
Baltika
when Molotov lost his government post in July 1957.
In 1960, she carried Kruschev to New York for his famous belligerent United Nations speech. She also visited Cuba a number of times, and returning from there in 1973 she ran onto rocks in Bermuda at full speed. All foreign assistance was refused and Soviet freighters stood by, although passengers remained on board. Eventually, a US Navy barge was allowed to remove most of the fuel. She floated free and continued under her own power. In the mid-1960s she made a number of cruises for western passengers. The Leningrad-London service was in decline, but a reducing number of sailings were still run each year until the mid-1980s. Her final fling was a number of London visits in 1986 (
images below
), before being scrapped in Pakistan the following year.
Sections on This Page:-
Baltika - Postcards
Baltika - Photographs
Associated Pages:-
Soviet Passenger Ships
Ferry Postcards
Cruise Ship Postcards
Ocean Liner Postcards
Simplon Postcards Home Page
References:-
Liners & Cruise Ships - Some Notable Lesser Vessels: Anthony Cooke - Carmania Press 1996
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Baltika Postcards
Official postcard of
Baltika
Scan: Dimas Almada
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Official postcard of
Baltika
Scan: Dimas Almada
Click to open larger image in new window
Official postcard of
Baltika
Scan: Dimas Almada
Click to open larger image in new window
Official postcard of
Baltika
Scan: Dimas Almada
Click to open larger image in new window
Official postcard of
Baltika
Scan: Dimas Almada
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Baltika Photographs
Photograph of
Baltika
in Tilbury in 1985.
Photo: © Ian Boyle
Photograph of
Baltika
in Tilbury in 1985.
Photo: © Ian Boyle
Photograph of
Baltika
in Tilbury in 1985.
Photo: © Ian Boyle
Photograph of
Baltika
leaving Tilbury in 1986.
Photo: © Ian Boyle
Photograph of
Baltika
leaving Tilbury in 1986.
Photo: © Ian Boyle
Click to open larger image in new window
Photograph of
Baltika
leaving Tilbury in 1986.
Photo: © Ian Boyle
Click to open larger image in new window
Photograph of
Baltika
leaving Tilbury in 1986.
Photo: © Ian Boyle
Photograph of
Baltika
leaving Tilbury in 1986.
Photo: © Ian Boyle
Photograph of
Baltika
leaving Tilbury in 1986.
Photo: © Ian Boyle
Photograph of
Baltika
leaving Tilbury in 1986.
Photo: © Ian Boyle
Click to open larger image in new window
Photograph of
Baltika
leaving Tilbury in 1986.
Photo: © Ian Boyle
Photograph of
Baltika
leaving Tilbury in 1986.
Photo: © Ian Boyle
Click to open larger image in new window
Photograph of
Baltika
leaving Tilbury in 1986.
Photo: © Ian Boyle
Click to open larger image in new window
Photograph of
Baltika
leaving Tilbury in 1986.
Photo: © Ian Boyle
Click to open larger image in new window
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