Hydrographic Society Russia

News
In St. Petersburg at the mouth of the Neva River there lies at moorage the world-famous icebreaker, Krasin. The icebreaker was built in Great Britain in 1917 and named Svyatogor. In 1927 she was renamed after the famous Soviet diplomat Krasin. For many years the icebreaker worked in the Arctic, successfully leading convoys through the ice and carrying out hydrological and hydrographic studies and many other tasks.
The icebreaker won her world fame in 1928 when she participated in the rescue of the Italian expedition of Umberto Nobile, who was aiming at the North Pole. Under severe conditions, Krasin managed to take from the ice the seven Italians who had stayed alive after the wreck of the dirigible Italy. In the winter of 1933, Krasin reached the northern extremity of the archipelago Novaya Zemlya, the first known successful endeavour of its kind.
At present, the icebreaker Krasin is a monument to shipbuilding and a Branch of the Museum of the World Ocean, the headquarters of which is located in Kaliningrad. In February this year, HSR member Rear-Admiral (Retired) Vyacheslav A. Solodov was appointed director of the Branch. The new director held a reception for HSR members and scientists on the occasion of his appointment. The scientific community of St. Petersburg working in the fields of hydrography, sea geology, navigation, geography and other marine sciences was represented.
At the reception Society membership cards and badges were handed to the three prominent Russian scientists who had earlier applied for HSR membership: Prof. Dr Aleksandr M. Gorodnitskiy, Prof. Dr Mikhail A. Spiridonov and Prof. Dr Yuri S. Velikanov. These, in co-authorship with other prominent Russian scientists, have produced a collective monograph, Search for Sense, an introductory presentation of which was made at the reception.
The authors have spent their entire lives in studying the fields of sea geology, geophysics, geography, history and culture and they have attempted here in various ways to understand the sense of their studies. One of the chapters of the book written by Prof. Dr Alexandr Alkhimenko deals with geographical discoveries made by Russian hydrographers and the sense of hydrographic studies.
The icebreaker Krasin, covered with romantic glory and keeping up the spirit of many polar studies and heroic deeds, is a most suitable place for meetings devoted to historical subjects. The HSR chairpersons hope that in the future the HSR will enjoy the possibility to use Krasin for arranging some of the HSR meetings.

Contact
The Hydrographic Society Russia (HSR)
Att. Viktor Rybine
Kozhevennaja linija 41
Saint-Petersburg 199106
Russia
T/F: +7 812 350 5026
E: [email protected]