Editing Vaygach (1909 icebreaker)

{{Short description|Russian icebreaker sunk in 1918}}
{{for|the nuclear icebreaker of the same name|Vaygach (1989 icebreaker)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}

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|+''Vaygach''
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|Ship image=Taimyr and Vaigach 1913.JPG
|Ship caption=''Taymyr'' and ''Vaigach'' coaling from a freighter at [[Providence Bay, Siberia|Emma Harbor]], 1913
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|Ship country=[[Russia]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Russian Empire|naval}} {{shipboxflag|Soviet Russia|naval}}
|Ship namesake=[[Vaygach Island]]
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|Ship launched=1909
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|Ship fate=Sank 1918
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|Ship badge=[[Image:Taymyr-vaygach.PNG|220px|A Russian Imperial badge commemorating the successful arctic expedition of icebreakers ''Taymyr'' and ''Vaygach''.]]
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Icebreaker '''''Vaygach''''' ({{langx|ru|Вайгач}}) was an icebreaking steamer of moderate size built for the [[Russian Imperial Navy]] at [[Saint Petersburg]] in 1909. She was named after [[Vaygach Island]] in the [[Russian Arctic]].

''Vaygach'' and her sister ship [[Taymyr (1909 icebreaker)|''Taymyr'']] were built for the purpose of thoroughly exploring the uncharted areas of the [[Northern Sea Route]]. This venture became known as the [[Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition]].

The first of a series of surveys began in the autumn of 1910, when ''Vaygach'' and ''Taymyr'' left [[Vladivostok]]. They entered the [[Chukchi Sea]] with scientists on board and began their exploration. For the next five years, these icebreakers went on sounding and carrying on vital surveys during the thaw. Before every winter, when ice conditions became too bad, they returned to Vladivostok and waited for the spring. In 1911 the scientists and crew aboard ''Vaygach'' and ''Taymyr'' made the first Russian landing on [[Wrangel Island]].

In 1914, led by Colonel I. Sergeev, ''Vaygach'' sailed together with ''Taymyr'', whose captain was [[Boris Vilkitsky]]. Together, they tried to force the whole Northern Passage in order to reach [[Archangelsk]]. Severe weather and ice conditions, however, did not allow them to cross the [[Kara Sea]] and they were forced to winter at Bukhta Dika, close to the [[Firnley Islands]]. Thus they were able to complete the passage only in 1915.

Some of the biggest successes of the expedition were the accurate charting of the Northern Sea Route and the discovery of [[Severnaya Zemlya]] in 1913. ''Taymyr'' and ''Vaygach'' were considered the best [[icebreaker]]s in the world at the time.

==Fate==
''Vaigach'' struck an underwater rock and sank in 1918 in the [[Yenisei Gulf|Yenisei Bay]] of the [[Kara Sea]].<ref>[http://bse.sci-lib.com/article002738.html «Вайгач»], [[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]</ref> A nuclear river-icebreaker was named ''[[Vaygach (1989 icebreaker)|Vaygach]]'' in 1989.

==See also==
* [[Russian Hydrographic Service]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
* [[William Barr (Arctic historian)|William Barr]], ''Otto Sverdrup to the Rescue of the Russian Imperial Navy''.
* J. Niven, ''The Ice Master, The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk''.

{{Clear}}
{{Polar exploration|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaygach}}
[[Category:Icebreakers of Russia]]
[[Category:Chukchi Sea]]
[[Category:Kara Sea]]


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