Sankt Erik (ship, 1915)

SS Sankt Erik is an icebreaker and museum ship in Stockholm, Sweden. It was launched in 1915 by the Finnboda Shipyard in Stockholm, Sweden, as Isbrytaren II ( Ice breaker II ). Initially, the ship was built to keep the shipping routes to Stockholm open during wintertime. Although owned and operated by the Stockholm Port Authority, Sankt Erik was often requisitioned by the Swedish government to assist shipping in the Gulf of Bothnia, around the coast of Scania and elsewhere.

In 1977, Sankt Erik was decommissioned, and it has been a museum ship since 1980. Initially known as Isbrytaren II, the ship was renamed Sankt Erik after an extensive refit in 1958. The bridge was enclosed to protect the crew from the cold, and it was fitted with modern radio and radar. Simultaneously, the steam boilers were converted to use fuel oil instead of coal, greatly reducing the need for fuel bunkering. Sankt Erik was built as a conventional Baltic icebreaker.

The stem is angled to slide up onto the ice, which is then crushed by the weight and force of the vessel. It has a fore propeller that flushes water and crushed ice along the sides of the hull. It also has heeling systems that enable seawater to be pumped between tanks in the sides of the hull, rocking the icebreaker from side to side to reduce the grip of the ice and to broaden the channel. There are also brackets in the stern used for towing assisted vessels.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons