史上最坚之船：探秘全球首艘北极破冰船的传奇航程——从帝国时代驶向核能纪元
正文翻译
History’s toughest ship Meet the world’s first Arctic icebreaker that sailed from empire to nuclear age
史上最坚之船：探秘全球首艘北极破冰船的传奇航程——从帝国时代驶向核能纪元
The Yermak outlasted czars, commissars, and world wars. Its final enemy wasn’t ice – it was bureaucracy
叶尔马克号历经沙皇时代、苏维埃政权与世界大战。它最终的敌人并非冰层——而是官僚主义
Few ships in history lived as long and saw as much as the icebreaker Yermak. The first true Arctic icebreaker, it entered service under the Russian Empire, endured the storms of revolution and world wars, and was still sailing when the Soviet unx launched its first nuclear vessels. Its story is not just one of steel and ice, but of an entire country’s passage through the 20th century.
历史上鲜有船舶能像"叶尔马克号"破冰船这般长寿且历经沧桑。作为真正意义上的首艘北极破冰船，它在俄罗斯帝国时期服役，历经革命风暴与世界大战洗礼，直至苏联首艘核动力舰船下水时仍在航行。它的传奇不仅是钢铁与冰原的史诗，更是一个国家穿越二十世纪的历史长廊。
The birth of an idea
灵感的诞生
At the end of the 19th century, Admiral Stepan Makarov was already a legend in the Russian Navy – not for commanding squadrons, but for his restless mind. A scientist, engineer, and inventor, he believed Russia needed a vessel unlike anything the world had seen: An icebreaker capable of forcing its way through the Arctic and even reaching the North Pole.
19 世纪末，海军上将斯捷潘·马卡罗夫已是俄罗斯海军中的传奇人物——并非因其舰队指挥才能，而是因其永不停歇的头脑。作为科学家、工程师和发明家，他坚信俄罗斯需要一种世界前所未见的船舶：能够强行穿越北极甚至抵达北极点的破冰船。
The idea seemed fantastical. Russia already had small icebreaking steamers working in ports and rivers, but Makarov envisioned a ship that could challenge the polar pack itself. The Naval Ministry hesitated. Arkhangelsk, Russia’s main northern port, was locked in ice most of the year; St. Petersburg fared little better. A powerful icebreaker promised to change this – yet the project looked ruinously expensive, and many officials dismissed it as scientific indulgence.
这个设想在当时看来近乎天方夜谭。俄罗斯虽已拥有在港口与河流作业的小型破冰蒸汽船，但马卡罗夫构想的是一艘能够挑战极地浮冰的巨舰。海军部对此犹豫不决——俄罗斯主要北方港口阿尔汉格尔斯克全年大部分时间被冰封，圣彼得堡的情况也好不了多少。虽然强大的破冰船有望改变这种局面，但该项目耗资巨大，许多官员认为这不过是科学家的任性妄为。
Makarov refused to let the idea die in committee. In 1897, he delivered a fiery lecture at the Marble Palace in St. Petersburg under the provocative title ‘To the North Pole – Straight Ahead!’ The city’s aristocracy, ministers, and diplomats filled the hall, and the speech sent ripples into the highest offices. Soon Makarov was summoned by Finance Minister Sergey Witte, a pragmatist who saw in the plan not scientific glory but the possibility of opening frozen seas to trade.
马卡罗夫拒绝让这个设想在委员会中夭折。1897 年，他在圣彼得堡大理石宫发表了一场激昂的演讲，标题极具煽动性——《直取北极点！》。圣彼得堡的贵族、部长和外交官济济一堂，这场演讲的涟漪一直荡漾到最高权力机关。很快，财政部长谢尔盖·维特召见了他——这位务实主义者看到的不是科学荣耀，而是开辟冰封海域贸易通道的可能性。
This was the breakthrough. With Witte’s support, Makarov traveled to Scandinavia and Spitsbergen, speaking with whalers, Arctic captains, and even the crew of Fridtjof Nansen’s famous ship the Fram. He abandoned his initial ‘giant’ design in favor of a more realistic but still formidable vessel – strong enough to escort merchant ships through the Baltic and White Seas, yet with the potential to test the Arctic itself.
这成为了突破性转折。在维特支持下，马卡罗夫前往斯堪的纳维亚和斯匹次卑尔根岛，与捕鲸人、北极船长乃至弗里乔夫·南森著名探险船"弗拉姆号"的船员深入交流。他放弃了最初"巨无霸"的设计方案，转而采用更现实但仍具威慑力的船型——既足够坚固能为商船在波罗的海和白海护航，又具备试探北极冰域的巨大潜力。
The contract went to Armstrong Whitworth in Newcastle. Makarov personally supervised construction, insisting on innovations along the way: Special tanks to rock the ship free if it became stuck, and even an 80-ton ‘calming tank’ to reduce rolling in heavy seas. The icebreaker was taking shape not just as a machine, but as a new type of weapon in humanity’s contest with the North.
合同最终交给了纽卡斯尔的阿姆斯特朗-惠特沃斯公司。马卡洛夫亲自监督建造过程，始终坚持创新设计：专门配备了摇晃脱困水舱，甚至安装了 80 吨级的减摇水舱以减少巨浪中的船体晃动。这艘破冰船不仅逐渐成型为机械杰作，更成为人类征服北极的新型利器。
When the ship was launched in 1899, it carried a name that evoked Russia’s first explorers of Siberia: The Yermak.
1899 年该船下水时，被命名为"叶尔马克号"，以此致敬俄罗斯西伯利亚的首批探险先驱。
First triumphs
初战告捷
In March 1899, the brand-new Yermak steamed into the Gulf of Finland toward St. Petersburg. The scene bordered on the theatrical: The black hull climbing onto the ice with its bow, the groan and crack of frozen sheets giving way, and the slow rocking movement as ballast water was pumped forward and back to help the ship break free. Step by step, the icebreaker carved its path through the gulf.
1899 年 3 月，崭新的"叶尔马克号"破冰船驶入芬兰湾，朝着圣彼得堡前进。这一幕近乎戏剧性：黑色船首攀上冰层，冰面破裂发出嘎吱巨响，压载水在船体内前后泵送助船破冰时引发的缓慢摇晃。这艘破冰船一步步在冰封海湾中开辟出航道。
Thousands of spectators rushed onto the ice to watch. Some came on horseback, others on bicycles, braving the late-winter chill for a glimpse of the steel marvel.
数千名围观者涌上冰面驻足观看。有人骑马而来，有人骑着自行车，冒着冬末的严寒只为一睹这座钢铁巨兽的风采。
When the ship paused, crowds clambered on board as an orchestra struck up from the shore. The arrival of the Yermak was not just a naval test – it was a public spectacle, a promise that Russia had created a machine able to master its frozen seas.
轮船停泊时，岸上乐队奏响乐章，人群纷纷登船围观。"叶尔马克"号的到来不仅是一次海军试验——更是一场全民盛事，它向世人宣告俄罗斯已打造出能够征服冰封海域的机械巨兽。
The promise was tested almost immediately. Soon after its debut, the Yermak was dispatched to rescue merchant steamers trapped in the ice off R (now Tallinn). The operation was carried out with precision: Captain Mikhail Vasiliev steered the icebreaker in a wide circle, cracking a channel that freed three dozen vessels and drew them out into open water.
考验很快来临。叶尔马克号甫一登场，便被派往雷瓦尔（今塔林）附近冰封海域营困商船。行动精准展开：米哈伊尔·瓦西里耶夫船长驾驶破冰船划出巨大弧线，开辟的航道解救了三十余艘船只，将它们引向开阔水域。
The exploit electrified the press. Newspapers hailed the ‘savior of the Baltic’, and readers devoured every scrap of news about the new ship. The icebreaker became a national sensation – too much of one. Public expectations soared into myth, as if the Yermak were invincible, able to smash through any obstacle the Arctic might place before it.
这一壮举令媒体沸腾。报纸将之誉为"波罗的海的救星"，读者们如饥似渴地吞噬着关于这艘新船的每一条消息。破冰船引发了全国轰动——甚至有些过度。公众的期待将其神化，仿佛"叶尔马克"号所向披靡，能碾碎北极设下的任何障碍。
But nature, as Makarov knew, has a way of humbling idols.
但正如马卡罗夫所知，大自然总有办法让偶像跌落神坛。
Rescues and reputation
救援与声誉
The Yermak soon sailed north for its first experimental voyage. The plan was ambitious: From Spitsbergen toward the mouth of the Yenisei River, the great waterway of Siberia. No one doubted the existence of a Northern Sea Route, but almost everything about it was still unknown. Like the British expeditions that had hunted for the Northwest Passage, Russia was venturing into ice and uncertainty.
“叶尔马克”号很快启程北上，开启了首次试验性航行。这次计划雄心勃勃：从斯匹次卑尔根群岛直抵西伯利亚大水道叶尼塞河口。虽然无人怀疑北方海路的存在，但这条航道几乎完全处于未知状态。正如英国探险队当年寻找西北航道那样，俄罗斯此刻正勇闯冰封之境，直面未知的凶险。
At first the trials went well. Then, in August 1899, the icebreaker struck a massive hummock near Spitsbergen. The impact tore a hole in the starboard side. The crew patched the wound with a temporary ‘bandage’ and nursed the ship back to Newcastle under its own power. Nothing catastrophic had happened – yet in the eyes of the press and public, the invincible hero had stumbled. The same newspapers that had glorified the Yermak now joked about its ‘broken nose’.
起初试航一切顺利。然而 1899 年 8 月，这艘破冰船在斯匹次卑尔根岛附近撞上巨大冰丘，右舷被撞出窟窿。船员用临时"绷带"修补伤口，依靠自身动力将船驶回纽卡斯尔。虽未酿成大祸——但在媒体和公众眼中，这位无敌英雄已然失足。那些曾盛赞"叶尔马克"号的报纸，此刻却调侃它"撞断了鼻梁"。
Worse was the official verdict. A government commission concluded that polar expeditions were too risky; the icebreaker should be confined to the Baltic as a rescue vessel. For Makarov, it was a bitter blow.
更糟的是官方的裁决。政府委员会认定极地探险风险过高；这艘破冰船应只限于在波罗的海作为救援船只使用。对马卡洛夫而言，这是个沉重的打击。
Then came redemption. The winter of 1900 was unusually severe. In February, the coastal defense battleship Apraksin ran aground on the rocks of Gogland Island in the Gulf of Finland, taking on hundreds of tons of water. Trapped in the ice, the vessel faced destruction. Only the Yermak could reach it.
随后迎来了转机。1900 年的冬天异常严寒。二月，海防战列舰阿普拉克辛号在芬兰湾戈格兰岛的礁石上搁浅，数百吨海水涌入船舱。这艘被困在冰中的舰船面临毁灭。只有叶尔马克号能够抵达救援。
For weeks, the icebreaker shuttled through blizzards and frozen seas, carrying coal, provisions, and equipment to keep the stranded crew alive. It was one of the first operations to rely on the new marvel of wireless radio. At last, using controlled explosions to free the Apraksin from the rocks, the icebreaker cut a channel through floes and hauled the crippled battleship to safety. In all, the Yermak had traveled 2,000 miles in ice to complete the mission.
数周以来，这艘破冰船在暴风雪与冰封海域间往返穿梭，运送煤炭、给养和设备以维持被困船员的生存。这是首批依赖无线电报这一新奇迹的救援行动之一。最终，通过可控爆破使阿普拉克辛号脱离礁石后，破冰船在浮冰中开辟出一条航道，将受损的战舰拖至安全地带。整个任务中，"叶尔马克号"累计在冰海中航行了 2000 英里。
This time there was no mockery. The critics fell silent, and the reputation of Russia’s first great icebreaker was secure.
这次再无人嘲弄。批评者们集体噤声，俄罗斯第一艘伟大破冰船的声誉就此确立。
War and revolution
战争与革命
In 1904, war with Japan pulled Admiral Stepan Makarov – the driving force behind the Yermak – to the Pacific. Captain Mikhail Vasiliev, the icebreaker’s first commander, went with him. Neither man returned. Both were killed when the battleship Petropavlovsk struck a mine off Port Arthur. With their deaths, the Yermak lost its godfather and its guiding captain in a single moment.
1904 年，日俄战争将"叶尔马克号"的推动者——海军上将斯捷潘·马卡洛夫调往太平洋。破冰船首任舰长米哈伊尔·瓦西里耶夫随同前往，两人却再未归来。当战列舰"彼得罗巴甫洛夫斯克号"在旅顺港外触雷沉没时，他们双双殉职。随着他们的逝去，"叶尔马克号"顷刻间失去了它的奠基者与领航船长。
For the icebreaker, life settled into routine. It kept the Baltic lanes open in winter, freed merchant ships locked in ice, and became less of a sensation than a reliable workhorse. Respect replaced excitement.
这艘破冰船的生活重归平静。它冬季维持波罗的海航道畅通，解救受困商船，从万众瞩目的奇迹变成了可靠耐用的工具。人们对其敬意取代了先前的兴奋。
Then came 1914. World War I battered Russia to collapse, and the revolutions of 1917 tore apart what remained. Out of the chaos, Finland declared independence, and civil war broke out on its territory. To the south, German forces advanced on R. In early 1918, the entire Russian Baltic Fleet was at risk of capture.
1914 年风云突变。第一次世界大战将俄国推向崩溃边缘，1917 年的革命更将残存秩序彻底撕裂。芬兰在混乱中宣布独立，境内爆发内战。南面，德军向雷瓦尔（今塔林）推进。至 1918 年初，整个俄国波罗的海舰队面临被俘的危机。
February meant ice. And once again, it was the Yermak that made the difference. The icebreaker led convoys from R to Helsingfors (Helsinki), carving channels for warships desperate to escape. When German troops closed in, the fleet had to be evacuated from Helsinki itself. At the head of the icebound column stood the black hull of the Yermak, dragging Russia’s warships through frozen seas to safety. Within weeks, the city fell – but by then the fleet was gone.
二月意味着冰封。而再一次，是“叶尔马克”号扭转了局势。这艘破冰船引领着从雷瓦尔（塔林）到赫尔辛基的护航舰队，为急于逃生的军舰凿开航道。当德军逼近时，舰队不得不从赫尔辛基撤离。在冰封的队列最前方，“叶尔马克”号的黑色船体牵引着俄罗斯军舰穿越冻海，驶向安全地带。数周后，城市陷落——但那时舰队早已撤离。
It was a rare moment of triumph amid defeat. The following decade was far harsher. Civil war, famine, and ruin left the Soviet unx with little money to maintain an aging icebreaker. Through much of the 1920s, the Yermak lay idle, neglected in harbor. The ship that had once been a national idol now sat rusting, awaiting a new purpose.
这是败局中罕见的胜利时刻。随后的十年更加艰难。内战、饥荒与废墟使苏联无力维护这艘老旧的破冰船。整个 1920 年代的大部分时间，“叶尔马克”号都被闲置在港口，无人问津。这艘曾被视为国家偶像的船只如今锈迹斑斑，等待着新的使命。
Return to the Arctic
重返北极
By the 1930s, the Soviet unx was slowly recovering from civil war and chaos. The government needed to revive Arctic shipping, and the old icebreaker was called back into service. In 1934, for the first time since Makarov’s era, the Yermak pushed north into the Kara Sea.
到了 20 世纪 30 年代，苏联正从内战与动荡中缓慢复苏。政府亟需重振北极航运事业，这艘老式破冰船再次被征召服役。1934 年，"叶尔马克号"自马卡洛夫时代以来首次挺进喀拉海。
The ship had aged, but it was far from obsolete. Engineers fitted it with an amphibious aircraft – a striking innovation for its time. With aerial reconnaissance, the icebreaker could scout floes and channels far ahead, dramatically improving its effectiveness. Yet the romance was gone. Service on the Yermak was no longer a coveted assignment for elite officers; shortages of skilled personnel reflected the harsher times. Still, the ship proved strong enough to handle both the Baltic and the Arctic, a veteran adapting to new demands.
这艘船虽显老态，却远未过时。工程师为其配备了水陆两栖飞机——这在当时堪称惊艳的创新。凭借空中侦察，破冰船能探测远处浮冰与航道，作业效率显著提升。但浪漫情怀已不复存在：在"叶尔马克号"服役不再是精英军官们向往的美差；技术人才的短缺映射出时局维艰。即便如此，这艘功勋舰船仍展现出同时驾驭波罗的海与北极航线的实力，完美诠释了老将适应新挑战的传奇。
Then, in 1941, World War II reached the Soviet unx. Plans to modernize the Yermak were swept aside by the German invasion. Once again, the ship became a rescuer. It evacuated the garrison of the distant Hanko base, ferried troops between Leningrad and Kronstadt, and braved skies alive with bombs and artillery. “Ice below, bombs above, shells on the side,” Captain Mikhail Sorokin later said.
1941 年，第二次世界大战的战火蔓延至苏联。原定对"叶尔马克号"进行现代化改造的计划因德国入侵而搁置。这艘船再次化身为救援者：它撤离了遥远汉科基地的驻军，在列宁格勒与喀琅施塔得之间运送部队，冒着炮火连天的危险穿梭。"脚下是冰层，头顶是炸弹，两侧还有炮弹"，船长米哈伊尔·索罗金后来回忆道。
On December 8, 1941, disaster struck: The Yermak hit a sea mine. The ship survived, but fuel shortages forced it into harbor. Its crew was sent ashore to fight as marines, while the icebreaker itself was rearmed and stationed on the Palace Embankment as a floating anti-aircraft battery – a warship turned fortress within the besieged city.
1941 年 12 月 8 日，灾难降临：叶尔马克号撞上了一枚水雷。虽然船只幸存下来，但燃料短缺迫使其停泊港内。船员们被派往岸上作为海军陆战队参战，而破冰船本身则被重新武装，停泊在宫殿堤岸充当浮动防空炮台——在被围困的城市中，这艘战舰化身为堡垒。
Postwar renaissance
战后复兴
When the war ended in 1945, the veteran icebreaker came back to life. The Soviet government sent the Yermak to Antwerp for a major overhaul, where Belgian shipyards replaced worn machinery and upxed critical systems. For a vessel already approaching 50, it was a second youth.
1945 年战争结束时，这艘功勋破冰船重获新生。苏联政府将"叶尔马克"号送往安特卫普进行大修，比利时船厂为其更换了老旧机械并升级关键系统。对于一艘已近五十高龄的船舶而言，这无异于第二次青春。
The modernization worked. Through the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Yermak once again kept winter lanes open and escorted ships through ice. In 1954, it became one of the first Soviet vessels to carry a helicopter, transforming its reach and efficiency. Half a century after its launch, the icebreaker was still serving as a testbed for new technologies.
现代化改造成效显著。整个 1940 年代末至 1950 年代，"叶尔马克"号再度承担起开辟冬季航道和冰区护航的重任。1954 年，它成为苏联首批搭载直升机的舰船之一，作业范围与效率因此大幅提升。在这艘破冰船下水半个世纪后，它依然充当着新技术的试验平台。
By the early 1960s, the Soviet unx had entered the nuclear age. In 1959, the world’s first nuclear icebreaker, the Lenin, began operations on the Northern Sea Route. Yet the Yermak endured. In 1962, it entered Murmansk harbor side by side with the Lenin – a steel veteran steaming alongside the symbol of a new era. For a moment, it seemed as if two centuries of technology were meeting on the same sea.
1960 年代初，苏联已迈入核能时代。1959 年，全球首艘核动力破冰船"列宁"号开始在北方海航道服役。但"叶尔马克"号仍在坚守。1962 年，它与"列宁"号比肩驶入摩尔曼斯克港——这位钢铁老兵与新时代象征并肩航行的画面，恍若两个世纪的技术成果在此刻的海面上相遇。
But time was running out. Nuclear power had changed the game. For all its history and resilience, the Yermak no longer had a role in the Arctic it once helped to open.
然而时间所剩无几。核动力的出现彻底改变了游戏规则。尽管"叶尔马克"号历史悠久且坚不可摧，但它在这片曾助力开拓的北极海域已无立足之地。
The end of an era
一个时代的终结
In 1963, a government commission ruled that the aging Yermak should be scrapped. The decision provoked outrage. Letters poured in from across the Soviet unx, urging the ministry to preserve the ship as a memorial. Arctic explorer and Hero of the Soviet unx Ivan Papanin added his voice to the appeal. Admirers pointed out that the vessel’s godfather had been Stepan Makarov himself – how could a ship of such history simply be dismantled?
1963 年，政府委员会裁定老迈的"叶尔马克"号应当报废。这一决定激起了公愤。来自苏联各地的信件如雪花般涌入，恳请当局将这艘船作为纪念舰保存。北极探险家、苏联英雄伊万·帕帕宁也加入了请愿行列。仰慕者们指出，该船的教父正是斯捷潘·马卡洛夫本人——这样一艘承载历史的舰船怎能说拆就拆？
But bureaucratic resolve proved stronger than sentiment. Deputy Minister Anatoly Kolesnichenko pushed the order through, and in autumn 1964, the once-mighty icebreaker was broken up in Murmansk. Only fragments survived: The anchor, wheel, and a few instruments transferred to museum collections.
然而官僚意志终究战胜了怀旧之情。副部长阿纳托利·科列斯尼琴科强力推动了拆解令，这艘昔日的破冰巨舰于 1964 年秋在摩尔曼斯克解体。仅存的遗物包括：移交博物馆收藏的船锚、舵轮及少量仪器。
After 65 years of service, the Yermak was gone – a lifespan as long as a man’s. The first true Arctic icebreaker outlasted empires, revolutions, and wars, only to be erased by the nuclear age it had helped to usher in. Its steel is gone, but its shadow still lingers in the history of exploration: A ship that proved humanity could master the frozen seas.
在服役 65 年后，"叶尔马克"号走向终结——其寿命与人类相当。这艘真正的北极破冰船历经帝国兴衰、革命洗礼与战争硝烟，最终却被它曾助力开启的核能时代所湮没。其钢铁之躯虽已消逝，但探索史的苍穹仍徘徊着它的身影：这艘船证明了人类能够征服冰封之海。
By Roman Shumov, a Russian historian focused on conflicts and international politics
作者：罗曼·舒莫夫，俄罗斯历史学者，研究方向为冲突与国际政治
History’s toughest ship Meet the world’s first Arctic icebreaker that sailed from empire to nuclear age
史上最坚之船：探秘全球首艘北极破冰船的传奇航程——从帝国时代驶向核能纪元
The Yermak outlasted czars, commissars, and world wars. Its final enemy wasn’t ice – it was bureaucracy
叶尔马克号历经沙皇时代、苏维埃政权与世界大战。它最终的敌人并非冰层——而是官僚主义
Few ships in history lived as long and saw as much as the icebreaker Yermak. The first true Arctic icebreaker, it entered service under the Russian Empire, endured the storms of revolution and world wars, and was still sailing when the Soviet unx launched its first nuclear vessels. Its story is not just one of steel and ice, but of an entire country’s passage through the 20th century.
历史上鲜有船舶能像"叶尔马克号"破冰船这般长寿且历经沧桑。作为真正意义上的首艘北极破冰船，它在俄罗斯帝国时期服役，历经革命风暴与世界大战洗礼，直至苏联首艘核动力舰船下水时仍在航行。它的传奇不仅是钢铁与冰原的史诗，更是一个国家穿越二十世纪的历史长廊。
The birth of an idea
灵感的诞生
At the end of the 19th century, Admiral Stepan Makarov was already a legend in the Russian Navy – not for commanding squadrons, but for his restless mind. A scientist, engineer, and inventor, he believed Russia needed a vessel unlike anything the world had seen: An icebreaker capable of forcing its way through the Arctic and even reaching the North Pole.
19 世纪末，海军上将斯捷潘·马卡罗夫已是俄罗斯海军中的传奇人物——并非因其舰队指挥才能，而是因其永不停歇的头脑。作为科学家、工程师和发明家，他坚信俄罗斯需要一种世界前所未见的船舶：能够强行穿越北极甚至抵达北极点的破冰船。
The idea seemed fantastical. Russia already had small icebreaking steamers working in ports and rivers, but Makarov envisioned a ship that could challenge the polar pack itself. The Naval Ministry hesitated. Arkhangelsk, Russia’s main northern port, was locked in ice most of the year; St. Petersburg fared little better. A powerful icebreaker promised to change this – yet the project looked ruinously expensive, and many officials dismissed it as scientific indulgence.
这个设想在当时看来近乎天方夜谭。俄罗斯虽已拥有在港口与河流作业的小型破冰蒸汽船，但马卡罗夫构想的是一艘能够挑战极地浮冰的巨舰。海军部对此犹豫不决——俄罗斯主要北方港口阿尔汉格尔斯克全年大部分时间被冰封，圣彼得堡的情况也好不了多少。虽然强大的破冰船有望改变这种局面，但该项目耗资巨大，许多官员认为这不过是科学家的任性妄为。
Makarov refused to let the idea die in committee. In 1897, he delivered a fiery lecture at the Marble Palace in St. Petersburg under the provocative title ‘To the North Pole – Straight Ahead!’ The city’s aristocracy, ministers, and diplomats filled the hall, and the speech sent ripples into the highest offices. Soon Makarov was summoned by Finance Minister Sergey Witte, a pragmatist who saw in the plan not scientific glory but the possibility of opening frozen seas to trade.
马卡罗夫拒绝让这个设想在委员会中夭折。1897 年，他在圣彼得堡大理石宫发表了一场激昂的演讲，标题极具煽动性——《直取北极点！》。圣彼得堡的贵族、部长和外交官济济一堂，这场演讲的涟漪一直荡漾到最高权力机关。很快，财政部长谢尔盖·维特召见了他——这位务实主义者看到的不是科学荣耀，而是开辟冰封海域贸易通道的可能性。
This was the breakthrough. With Witte’s support, Makarov traveled to Scandinavia and Spitsbergen, speaking with whalers, Arctic captains, and even the crew of Fridtjof Nansen’s famous ship the Fram. He abandoned his initial ‘giant’ design in favor of a more realistic but still formidable vessel – strong enough to escort merchant ships through the Baltic and White Seas, yet with the potential to test the Arctic itself.
这成为了突破性转折。在维特支持下，马卡罗夫前往斯堪的纳维亚和斯匹次卑尔根岛，与捕鲸人、北极船长乃至弗里乔夫·南森著名探险船"弗拉姆号"的船员深入交流。他放弃了最初"巨无霸"的设计方案，转而采用更现实但仍具威慑力的船型——既足够坚固能为商船在波罗的海和白海护航，又具备试探北极冰域的巨大潜力。
The contract went to Armstrong Whitworth in Newcastle. Makarov personally supervised construction, insisting on innovations along the way: Special tanks to rock the ship free if it became stuck, and even an 80-ton ‘calming tank’ to reduce rolling in heavy seas. The icebreaker was taking shape not just as a machine, but as a new type of weapon in humanity’s contest with the North.
合同最终交给了纽卡斯尔的阿姆斯特朗-惠特沃斯公司。马卡洛夫亲自监督建造过程，始终坚持创新设计：专门配备了摇晃脱困水舱，甚至安装了 80 吨级的减摇水舱以减少巨浪中的船体晃动。这艘破冰船不仅逐渐成型为机械杰作，更成为人类征服北极的新型利器。
When the ship was launched in 1899, it carried a name that evoked Russia’s first explorers of Siberia: The Yermak.
1899 年该船下水时，被命名为"叶尔马克号"，以此致敬俄罗斯西伯利亚的首批探险先驱。
First triumphs
初战告捷
In March 1899, the brand-new Yermak steamed into the Gulf of Finland toward St. Petersburg. The scene bordered on the theatrical: The black hull climbing onto the ice with its bow, the groan and crack of frozen sheets giving way, and the slow rocking movement as ballast water was pumped forward and back to help the ship break free. Step by step, the icebreaker carved its path through the gulf.
1899 年 3 月，崭新的"叶尔马克号"破冰船驶入芬兰湾，朝着圣彼得堡前进。这一幕近乎戏剧性：黑色船首攀上冰层，冰面破裂发出嘎吱巨响，压载水在船体内前后泵送助船破冰时引发的缓慢摇晃。这艘破冰船一步步在冰封海湾中开辟出航道。
Thousands of spectators rushed onto the ice to watch. Some came on horseback, others on bicycles, braving the late-winter chill for a glimpse of the steel marvel.
数千名围观者涌上冰面驻足观看。有人骑马而来，有人骑着自行车，冒着冬末的严寒只为一睹这座钢铁巨兽的风采。
When the ship paused, crowds clambered on board as an orchestra struck up from the shore. The arrival of the Yermak was not just a naval test – it was a public spectacle, a promise that Russia had created a machine able to master its frozen seas.
轮船停泊时，岸上乐队奏响乐章，人群纷纷登船围观。"叶尔马克"号的到来不仅是一次海军试验——更是一场全民盛事，它向世人宣告俄罗斯已打造出能够征服冰封海域的机械巨兽。
The promise was tested almost immediately. Soon after its debut, the Yermak was dispatched to rescue merchant steamers trapped in the ice off R (now Tallinn). The operation was carried out with precision: Captain Mikhail Vasiliev steered the icebreaker in a wide circle, cracking a channel that freed three dozen vessels and drew them out into open water.
考验很快来临。叶尔马克号甫一登场，便被派往雷瓦尔（今塔林）附近冰封海域营困商船。行动精准展开：米哈伊尔·瓦西里耶夫船长驾驶破冰船划出巨大弧线，开辟的航道解救了三十余艘船只，将它们引向开阔水域。
The exploit electrified the press. Newspapers hailed the ‘savior of the Baltic’, and readers devoured every scrap of news about the new ship. The icebreaker became a national sensation – too much of one. Public expectations soared into myth, as if the Yermak were invincible, able to smash through any obstacle the Arctic might place before it.
这一壮举令媒体沸腾。报纸将之誉为"波罗的海的救星"，读者们如饥似渴地吞噬着关于这艘新船的每一条消息。破冰船引发了全国轰动——甚至有些过度。公众的期待将其神化，仿佛"叶尔马克"号所向披靡，能碾碎北极设下的任何障碍。
But nature, as Makarov knew, has a way of humbling idols.
但正如马卡罗夫所知，大自然总有办法让偶像跌落神坛。
Rescues and reputation
救援与声誉
The Yermak soon sailed north for its first experimental voyage. The plan was ambitious: From Spitsbergen toward the mouth of the Yenisei River, the great waterway of Siberia. No one doubted the existence of a Northern Sea Route, but almost everything about it was still unknown. Like the British expeditions that had hunted for the Northwest Passage, Russia was venturing into ice and uncertainty.
“叶尔马克”号很快启程北上，开启了首次试验性航行。这次计划雄心勃勃：从斯匹次卑尔根群岛直抵西伯利亚大水道叶尼塞河口。虽然无人怀疑北方海路的存在，但这条航道几乎完全处于未知状态。正如英国探险队当年寻找西北航道那样，俄罗斯此刻正勇闯冰封之境，直面未知的凶险。
At first the trials went well. Then, in August 1899, the icebreaker struck a massive hummock near Spitsbergen. The impact tore a hole in the starboard side. The crew patched the wound with a temporary ‘bandage’ and nursed the ship back to Newcastle under its own power. Nothing catastrophic had happened – yet in the eyes of the press and public, the invincible hero had stumbled. The same newspapers that had glorified the Yermak now joked about its ‘broken nose’.
起初试航一切顺利。然而 1899 年 8 月，这艘破冰船在斯匹次卑尔根岛附近撞上巨大冰丘，右舷被撞出窟窿。船员用临时"绷带"修补伤口，依靠自身动力将船驶回纽卡斯尔。虽未酿成大祸——但在媒体和公众眼中，这位无敌英雄已然失足。那些曾盛赞"叶尔马克"号的报纸，此刻却调侃它"撞断了鼻梁"。
Worse was the official verdict. A government commission concluded that polar expeditions were too risky; the icebreaker should be confined to the Baltic as a rescue vessel. For Makarov, it was a bitter blow.
更糟的是官方的裁决。政府委员会认定极地探险风险过高；这艘破冰船应只限于在波罗的海作为救援船只使用。对马卡洛夫而言，这是个沉重的打击。
Then came redemption. The winter of 1900 was unusually severe. In February, the coastal defense battleship Apraksin ran aground on the rocks of Gogland Island in the Gulf of Finland, taking on hundreds of tons of water. Trapped in the ice, the vessel faced destruction. Only the Yermak could reach it.
随后迎来了转机。1900 年的冬天异常严寒。二月，海防战列舰阿普拉克辛号在芬兰湾戈格兰岛的礁石上搁浅，数百吨海水涌入船舱。这艘被困在冰中的舰船面临毁灭。只有叶尔马克号能够抵达救援。
For weeks, the icebreaker shuttled through blizzards and frozen seas, carrying coal, provisions, and equipment to keep the stranded crew alive. It was one of the first operations to rely on the new marvel of wireless radio. At last, using controlled explosions to free the Apraksin from the rocks, the icebreaker cut a channel through floes and hauled the crippled battleship to safety. In all, the Yermak had traveled 2,000 miles in ice to complete the mission.
数周以来，这艘破冰船在暴风雪与冰封海域间往返穿梭，运送煤炭、给养和设备以维持被困船员的生存。这是首批依赖无线电报这一新奇迹的救援行动之一。最终，通过可控爆破使阿普拉克辛号脱离礁石后，破冰船在浮冰中开辟出一条航道，将受损的战舰拖至安全地带。整个任务中，"叶尔马克号"累计在冰海中航行了 2000 英里。
This time there was no mockery. The critics fell silent, and the reputation of Russia’s first great icebreaker was secure.
这次再无人嘲弄。批评者们集体噤声，俄罗斯第一艘伟大破冰船的声誉就此确立。
War and revolution
战争与革命
In 1904, war with Japan pulled Admiral Stepan Makarov – the driving force behind the Yermak – to the Pacific. Captain Mikhail Vasiliev, the icebreaker’s first commander, went with him. Neither man returned. Both were killed when the battleship Petropavlovsk struck a mine off Port Arthur. With their deaths, the Yermak lost its godfather and its guiding captain in a single moment.
1904 年，日俄战争将"叶尔马克号"的推动者——海军上将斯捷潘·马卡洛夫调往太平洋。破冰船首任舰长米哈伊尔·瓦西里耶夫随同前往，两人却再未归来。当战列舰"彼得罗巴甫洛夫斯克号"在旅顺港外触雷沉没时，他们双双殉职。随着他们的逝去，"叶尔马克号"顷刻间失去了它的奠基者与领航船长。
For the icebreaker, life settled into routine. It kept the Baltic lanes open in winter, freed merchant ships locked in ice, and became less of a sensation than a reliable workhorse. Respect replaced excitement.
这艘破冰船的生活重归平静。它冬季维持波罗的海航道畅通，解救受困商船，从万众瞩目的奇迹变成了可靠耐用的工具。人们对其敬意取代了先前的兴奋。
Then came 1914. World War I battered Russia to collapse, and the revolutions of 1917 tore apart what remained. Out of the chaos, Finland declared independence, and civil war broke out on its territory. To the south, German forces advanced on R. In early 1918, the entire Russian Baltic Fleet was at risk of capture.
1914 年风云突变。第一次世界大战将俄国推向崩溃边缘，1917 年的革命更将残存秩序彻底撕裂。芬兰在混乱中宣布独立，境内爆发内战。南面，德军向雷瓦尔（今塔林）推进。至 1918 年初，整个俄国波罗的海舰队面临被俘的危机。
February meant ice. And once again, it was the Yermak that made the difference. The icebreaker led convoys from R to Helsingfors (Helsinki), carving channels for warships desperate to escape. When German troops closed in, the fleet had to be evacuated from Helsinki itself. At the head of the icebound column stood the black hull of the Yermak, dragging Russia’s warships through frozen seas to safety. Within weeks, the city fell – but by then the fleet was gone.
二月意味着冰封。而再一次，是“叶尔马克”号扭转了局势。这艘破冰船引领着从雷瓦尔（塔林）到赫尔辛基的护航舰队，为急于逃生的军舰凿开航道。当德军逼近时，舰队不得不从赫尔辛基撤离。在冰封的队列最前方，“叶尔马克”号的黑色船体牵引着俄罗斯军舰穿越冻海，驶向安全地带。数周后，城市陷落——但那时舰队早已撤离。
It was a rare moment of triumph amid defeat. The following decade was far harsher. Civil war, famine, and ruin left the Soviet unx with little money to maintain an aging icebreaker. Through much of the 1920s, the Yermak lay idle, neglected in harbor. The ship that had once been a national idol now sat rusting, awaiting a new purpose.
这是败局中罕见的胜利时刻。随后的十年更加艰难。内战、饥荒与废墟使苏联无力维护这艘老旧的破冰船。整个 1920 年代的大部分时间，“叶尔马克”号都被闲置在港口，无人问津。这艘曾被视为国家偶像的船只如今锈迹斑斑，等待着新的使命。
Return to the Arctic
重返北极
By the 1930s, the Soviet unx was slowly recovering from civil war and chaos. The government needed to revive Arctic shipping, and the old icebreaker was called back into service. In 1934, for the first time since Makarov’s era, the Yermak pushed north into the Kara Sea.
到了 20 世纪 30 年代，苏联正从内战与动荡中缓慢复苏。政府亟需重振北极航运事业，这艘老式破冰船再次被征召服役。1934 年，"叶尔马克号"自马卡洛夫时代以来首次挺进喀拉海。
The ship had aged, but it was far from obsolete. Engineers fitted it with an amphibious aircraft – a striking innovation for its time. With aerial reconnaissance, the icebreaker could scout floes and channels far ahead, dramatically improving its effectiveness. Yet the romance was gone. Service on the Yermak was no longer a coveted assignment for elite officers; shortages of skilled personnel reflected the harsher times. Still, the ship proved strong enough to handle both the Baltic and the Arctic, a veteran adapting to new demands.
这艘船虽显老态，却远未过时。工程师为其配备了水陆两栖飞机——这在当时堪称惊艳的创新。凭借空中侦察，破冰船能探测远处浮冰与航道，作业效率显著提升。但浪漫情怀已不复存在：在"叶尔马克号"服役不再是精英军官们向往的美差；技术人才的短缺映射出时局维艰。即便如此，这艘功勋舰船仍展现出同时驾驭波罗的海与北极航线的实力，完美诠释了老将适应新挑战的传奇。
Then, in 1941, World War II reached the Soviet unx. Plans to modernize the Yermak were swept aside by the German invasion. Once again, the ship became a rescuer. It evacuated the garrison of the distant Hanko base, ferried troops between Leningrad and Kronstadt, and braved skies alive with bombs and artillery. “Ice below, bombs above, shells on the side,” Captain Mikhail Sorokin later said.
1941 年，第二次世界大战的战火蔓延至苏联。原定对"叶尔马克号"进行现代化改造的计划因德国入侵而搁置。这艘船再次化身为救援者：它撤离了遥远汉科基地的驻军，在列宁格勒与喀琅施塔得之间运送部队，冒着炮火连天的危险穿梭。"脚下是冰层，头顶是炸弹，两侧还有炮弹"，船长米哈伊尔·索罗金后来回忆道。
On December 8, 1941, disaster struck: The Yermak hit a sea mine. The ship survived, but fuel shortages forced it into harbor. Its crew was sent ashore to fight as marines, while the icebreaker itself was rearmed and stationed on the Palace Embankment as a floating anti-aircraft battery – a warship turned fortress within the besieged city.
1941 年 12 月 8 日，灾难降临：叶尔马克号撞上了一枚水雷。虽然船只幸存下来，但燃料短缺迫使其停泊港内。船员们被派往岸上作为海军陆战队参战，而破冰船本身则被重新武装，停泊在宫殿堤岸充当浮动防空炮台——在被围困的城市中，这艘战舰化身为堡垒。
Postwar renaissance
战后复兴
When the war ended in 1945, the veteran icebreaker came back to life. The Soviet government sent the Yermak to Antwerp for a major overhaul, where Belgian shipyards replaced worn machinery and upxed critical systems. For a vessel already approaching 50, it was a second youth.
1945 年战争结束时，这艘功勋破冰船重获新生。苏联政府将"叶尔马克"号送往安特卫普进行大修，比利时船厂为其更换了老旧机械并升级关键系统。对于一艘已近五十高龄的船舶而言，这无异于第二次青春。
The modernization worked. Through the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Yermak once again kept winter lanes open and escorted ships through ice. In 1954, it became one of the first Soviet vessels to carry a helicopter, transforming its reach and efficiency. Half a century after its launch, the icebreaker was still serving as a testbed for new technologies.
现代化改造成效显著。整个 1940 年代末至 1950 年代，"叶尔马克"号再度承担起开辟冬季航道和冰区护航的重任。1954 年，它成为苏联首批搭载直升机的舰船之一，作业范围与效率因此大幅提升。在这艘破冰船下水半个世纪后，它依然充当着新技术的试验平台。
By the early 1960s, the Soviet unx had entered the nuclear age. In 1959, the world’s first nuclear icebreaker, the Lenin, began operations on the Northern Sea Route. Yet the Yermak endured. In 1962, it entered Murmansk harbor side by side with the Lenin – a steel veteran steaming alongside the symbol of a new era. For a moment, it seemed as if two centuries of technology were meeting on the same sea.
1960 年代初，苏联已迈入核能时代。1959 年，全球首艘核动力破冰船"列宁"号开始在北方海航道服役。但"叶尔马克"号仍在坚守。1962 年，它与"列宁"号比肩驶入摩尔曼斯克港——这位钢铁老兵与新时代象征并肩航行的画面，恍若两个世纪的技术成果在此刻的海面上相遇。
But time was running out. Nuclear power had changed the game. For all its history and resilience, the Yermak no longer had a role in the Arctic it once helped to open.
然而时间所剩无几。核动力的出现彻底改变了游戏规则。尽管"叶尔马克"号历史悠久且坚不可摧，但它在这片曾助力开拓的北极海域已无立足之地。
The end of an era
一个时代的终结
In 1963, a government commission ruled that the aging Yermak should be scrapped. The decision provoked outrage. Letters poured in from across the Soviet unx, urging the ministry to preserve the ship as a memorial. Arctic explorer and Hero of the Soviet unx Ivan Papanin added his voice to the appeal. Admirers pointed out that the vessel’s godfather had been Stepan Makarov himself – how could a ship of such history simply be dismantled?
1963 年，政府委员会裁定老迈的"叶尔马克"号应当报废。这一决定激起了公愤。来自苏联各地的信件如雪花般涌入，恳请当局将这艘船作为纪念舰保存。北极探险家、苏联英雄伊万·帕帕宁也加入了请愿行列。仰慕者们指出，该船的教父正是斯捷潘·马卡洛夫本人——这样一艘承载历史的舰船怎能说拆就拆？
But bureaucratic resolve proved stronger than sentiment. Deputy Minister Anatoly Kolesnichenko pushed the order through, and in autumn 1964, the once-mighty icebreaker was broken up in Murmansk. Only fragments survived: The anchor, wheel, and a few instruments transferred to museum collections.
然而官僚意志终究战胜了怀旧之情。副部长阿纳托利·科列斯尼琴科强力推动了拆解令，这艘昔日的破冰巨舰于 1964 年秋在摩尔曼斯克解体。仅存的遗物包括：移交博物馆收藏的船锚、舵轮及少量仪器。
After 65 years of service, the Yermak was gone – a lifespan as long as a man’s. The first true Arctic icebreaker outlasted empires, revolutions, and wars, only to be erased by the nuclear age it had helped to usher in. Its steel is gone, but its shadow still lingers in the history of exploration: A ship that proved humanity could master the frozen seas.
在服役 65 年后，"叶尔马克"号走向终结——其寿命与人类相当。这艘真正的北极破冰船历经帝国兴衰、革命洗礼与战争硝烟，最终却被它曾助力开启的核能时代所湮没。其钢铁之躯虽已消逝，但探索史的苍穹仍徘徊着它的身影：这艘船证明了人类能够征服冰封之海。
By Roman Shumov, a Russian historian focused on conflicts and international politics
作者：罗曼·舒莫夫，俄罗斯历史学者，研究方向为冲突与国际政治
评论翻译
History’s toughest ship Meet the world’s first Arctic icebreaker that sailed from empire to nuclear age
史上最坚之船：探秘全球首艘北极破冰船的传奇航程——从帝国时代驶向核能纪元
The Yermak outlasted czars, commissars, and world wars. Its final enemy wasn’t ice – it was bureaucracy
叶尔马克号历经沙皇时代、苏维埃政权与世界大战。它最终的敌人并非冰层——而是官僚主义
Few ships in history lived as long and saw as much as the icebreaker Yermak. The first true Arctic icebreaker, it entered service under the Russian Empire, endured the storms of revolution and world wars, and was still sailing when the Soviet unx launched its first nuclear vessels. Its story is not just one of steel and ice, but of an entire country’s passage through the 20th century.
历史上鲜有船舶能像"叶尔马克号"破冰船这般长寿且历经沧桑。作为真正意义上的首艘北极破冰船，它在俄罗斯帝国时期服役，历经革命风暴与世界大战洗礼，直至苏联首艘核动力舰船下水时仍在航行。它的传奇不仅是钢铁与冰原的史诗，更是一个国家穿越二十世纪的历史长廊。
The birth of an idea
灵感的诞生
At the end of the 19th century, Admiral Stepan Makarov was already a legend in the Russian Navy – not for commanding squadrons, but for his restless mind. A scientist, engineer, and inventor, he believed Russia needed a vessel unlike anything the world had seen: An icebreaker capable of forcing its way through the Arctic and even reaching the North Pole.
19 世纪末，海军上将斯捷潘·马卡罗夫已是俄罗斯海军中的传奇人物——并非因其舰队指挥才能，而是因其永不停歇的头脑。作为科学家、工程师和发明家，他坚信俄罗斯需要一种世界前所未见的船舶：能够强行穿越北极甚至抵达北极点的破冰船。
The idea seemed fantastical. Russia already had small icebreaking steamers working in ports and rivers, but Makarov envisioned a ship that could challenge the polar pack itself. The Naval Ministry hesitated. Arkhangelsk, Russia’s main northern port, was locked in ice most of the year; St. Petersburg fared little better. A powerful icebreaker promised to change this – yet the project looked ruinously expensive, and many officials dismissed it as scientific indulgence.
这个设想在当时看来近乎天方夜谭。俄罗斯虽已拥有在港口与河流作业的小型破冰蒸汽船，但马卡罗夫构想的是一艘能够挑战极地浮冰的巨舰。海军部对此犹豫不决——俄罗斯主要北方港口阿尔汉格尔斯克全年大部分时间被冰封，圣彼得堡的情况也好不了多少。虽然强大的破冰船有望改变这种局面，但该项目耗资巨大，许多官员认为这不过是科学家的任性妄为。
Makarov refused to let the idea die in committee. In 1897, he delivered a fiery lecture at the Marble Palace in St. Petersburg under the provocative title ‘To the North Pole – Straight Ahead!’ The city’s aristocracy, ministers, and diplomats filled the hall, and the speech sent ripples into the highest offices. Soon Makarov was summoned by Finance Minister Sergey Witte, a pragmatist who saw in the plan not scientific glory but the possibility of opening frozen seas to trade.
马卡罗夫拒绝让这个设想在委员会中夭折。1897 年，他在圣彼得堡大理石宫发表了一场激昂的演讲，标题极具煽动性——《直取北极点！》。圣彼得堡的贵族、部长和外交官济济一堂，这场演讲的涟漪一直荡漾到最高权力机关。很快，财政部长谢尔盖·维特召见了他——这位务实主义者看到的不是科学荣耀，而是开辟冰封海域贸易通道的可能性。
This was the breakthrough. With Witte’s support, Makarov traveled to Scandinavia and Spitsbergen, speaking with whalers, Arctic captains, and even the crew of Fridtjof Nansen’s famous ship the Fram. He abandoned his initial ‘giant’ design in favor of a more realistic but still formidable vessel – strong enough to escort merchant ships through the Baltic and White Seas, yet with the potential to test the Arctic itself.
这成为了突破性转折。在维特支持下，马卡罗夫前往斯堪的纳维亚和斯匹次卑尔根岛，与捕鲸人、北极船长乃至弗里乔夫·南森著名探险船"弗拉姆号"的船员深入交流。他放弃了最初"巨无霸"的设计方案，转而采用更现实但仍具威慑力的船型——既足够坚固能为商船在波罗的海和白海护航，又具备试探北极冰域的巨大潜力。
The contract went to Armstrong Whitworth in Newcastle. Makarov personally supervised construction, insisting on innovations along the way: Special tanks to rock the ship free if it became stuck, and even an 80-ton ‘calming tank’ to reduce rolling in heavy seas. The icebreaker was taking shape not just as a machine, but as a new type of weapon in humanity’s contest with the North.
合同最终交给了纽卡斯尔的阿姆斯特朗-惠特沃斯公司。马卡洛夫亲自监督建造过程，始终坚持创新设计：专门配备了摇晃脱困水舱，甚至安装了 80 吨级的减摇水舱以减少巨浪中的船体晃动。这艘破冰船不仅逐渐成型为机械杰作，更成为人类征服北极的新型利器。
When the ship was launched in 1899, it carried a name that evoked Russia’s first explorers of Siberia: The Yermak.
1899 年该船下水时，被命名为"叶尔马克号"，以此致敬俄罗斯西伯利亚的首批探险先驱。
First triumphs
初战告捷
In March 1899, the brand-new Yermak steamed into the Gulf of Finland toward St. Petersburg. The scene bordered on the theatrical: The black hull climbing onto the ice with its bow, the groan and crack of frozen sheets giving way, and the slow rocking movement as ballast water was pumped forward and back to help the ship break free. Step by step, the icebreaker carved its path through the gulf.
1899 年 3 月，崭新的"叶尔马克号"破冰船驶入芬兰湾，朝着圣彼得堡前进。这一幕近乎戏剧性：黑色船首攀上冰层，冰面破裂发出嘎吱巨响，压载水在船体内前后泵送助船破冰时引发的缓慢摇晃。这艘破冰船一步步在冰封海湾中开辟出航道。
Thousands of spectators rushed onto the ice to watch. Some came on horseback, others on bicycles, braving the late-winter chill for a glimpse of the steel marvel.
数千名围观者涌上冰面驻足观看。有人骑马而来，有人骑着自行车，冒着冬末的严寒只为一睹这座钢铁巨兽的风采。
When the ship paused, crowds clambered on board as an orchestra struck up from the shore. The arrival of the Yermak was not just a naval test – it was a public spectacle, a promise that Russia had created a machine able to master its frozen seas.
轮船停泊时，岸上乐队奏响乐章，人群纷纷登船围观。"叶尔马克"号的到来不仅是一次海军试验——更是一场全民盛事，它向世人宣告俄罗斯已打造出能够征服冰封海域的机械巨兽。
The promise was tested almost immediately. Soon after its debut, the Yermak was dispatched to rescue merchant steamers trapped in the ice off R (now Tallinn). The operation was carried out with precision: Captain Mikhail Vasiliev steered the icebreaker in a wide circle, cracking a channel that freed three dozen vessels and drew them out into open water.
考验很快来临。叶尔马克号甫一登场，便被派往雷瓦尔（今塔林）附近冰封海域营困商船。行动精准展开：米哈伊尔·瓦西里耶夫船长驾驶破冰船划出巨大弧线，开辟的航道解救了三十余艘船只，将它们引向开阔水域。
The exploit electrified the press. Newspapers hailed the ‘savior of the Baltic’, and readers devoured every scrap of news about the new ship. The icebreaker became a national sensation – too much of one. Public expectations soared into myth, as if the Yermak were invincible, able to smash through any obstacle the Arctic might place before it.
这一壮举令媒体沸腾。报纸将之誉为"波罗的海的救星"，读者们如饥似渴地吞噬着关于这艘新船的每一条消息。破冰船引发了全国轰动——甚至有些过度。公众的期待将其神化，仿佛"叶尔马克"号所向披靡，能碾碎北极设下的任何障碍。
But nature, as Makarov knew, has a way of humbling idols.
但正如马卡罗夫所知，大自然总有办法让偶像跌落神坛。
Rescues and reputation
救援与声誉
The Yermak soon sailed north for its first experimental voyage. The plan was ambitious: From Spitsbergen toward the mouth of the Yenisei River, the great waterway of Siberia. No one doubted the existence of a Northern Sea Route, but almost everything about it was still unknown. Like the British expeditions that had hunted for the Northwest Passage, Russia was venturing into ice and uncertainty.
“叶尔马克”号很快启程北上，开启了首次试验性航行。这次计划雄心勃勃：从斯匹次卑尔根群岛直抵西伯利亚大水道叶尼塞河口。虽然无人怀疑北方海路的存在，但这条航道几乎完全处于未知状态。正如英国探险队当年寻找西北航道那样，俄罗斯此刻正勇闯冰封之境，直面未知的凶险。
At first the trials went well. Then, in August 1899, the icebreaker struck a massive hummock near Spitsbergen. The impact tore a hole in the starboard side. The crew patched the wound with a temporary ‘bandage’ and nursed the ship back to Newcastle under its own power. Nothing catastrophic had happened – yet in the eyes of the press and public, the invincible hero had stumbled. The same newspapers that had glorified the Yermak now joked about its ‘broken nose’.
起初试航一切顺利。然而 1899 年 8 月，这艘破冰船在斯匹次卑尔根岛附近撞上巨大冰丘，右舷被撞出窟窿。船员用临时"绷带"修补伤口，依靠自身动力将船驶回纽卡斯尔。虽未酿成大祸——但在媒体和公众眼中，这位无敌英雄已然失足。那些曾盛赞"叶尔马克"号的报纸，此刻却调侃它"撞断了鼻梁"。
Worse was the official verdict. A government commission concluded that polar expeditions were too risky; the icebreaker should be confined to the Baltic as a rescue vessel. For Makarov, it was a bitter blow.
更糟的是官方的裁决。政府委员会认定极地探险风险过高；这艘破冰船应只限于在波罗的海作为救援船只使用。对马卡洛夫而言，这是个沉重的打击。
Then came redemption. The winter of 1900 was unusually severe. In February, the coastal defense battleship Apraksin ran aground on the rocks of Gogland Island in the Gulf of Finland, taking on hundreds of tons of water. Trapped in the ice, the vessel faced destruction. Only the Yermak could reach it.
随后迎来了转机。1900 年的冬天异常严寒。二月，海防战列舰阿普拉克辛号在芬兰湾戈格兰岛的礁石上搁浅，数百吨海水涌入船舱。这艘被困在冰中的舰船面临毁灭。只有叶尔马克号能够抵达救援。
For weeks, the icebreaker shuttled through blizzards and frozen seas, carrying coal, provisions, and equipment to keep the stranded crew alive. It was one of the first operations to rely on the new marvel of wireless radio. At last, using controlled explosions to free the Apraksin from the rocks, the icebreaker cut a channel through floes and hauled the crippled battleship to safety. In all, the Yermak had traveled 2,000 miles in ice to complete the mission.
数周以来，这艘破冰船在暴风雪与冰封海域间往返穿梭，运送煤炭、给养和设备以维持被困船员的生存。这是首批依赖无线电报这一新奇迹的救援行动之一。最终，通过可控爆破使阿普拉克辛号脱离礁石后，破冰船在浮冰中开辟出一条航道，将受损的战舰拖至安全地带。整个任务中，"叶尔马克号"累计在冰海中航行了 2000 英里。
This time there was no mockery. The critics fell silent, and the reputation of Russia’s first great icebreaker was secure.
这次再无人嘲弄。批评者们集体噤声，俄罗斯第一艘伟大破冰船的声誉就此确立。
War and revolution
战争与革命
In 1904, war with Japan pulled Admiral Stepan Makarov – the driving force behind the Yermak – to the Pacific. Captain Mikhail Vasiliev, the icebreaker’s first commander, went with him. Neither man returned. Both were killed when the battleship Petropavlovsk struck a mine off Port Arthur. With their deaths, the Yermak lost its godfather and its guiding captain in a single moment.
1904 年，日俄战争将"叶尔马克号"的推动者——海军上将斯捷潘·马卡洛夫调往太平洋。破冰船首任舰长米哈伊尔·瓦西里耶夫随同前往，两人却再未归来。当战列舰"彼得罗巴甫洛夫斯克号"在旅顺港外触雷沉没时，他们双双殉职。随着他们的逝去，"叶尔马克号"顷刻间失去了它的奠基者与领航船长。
For the icebreaker, life settled into routine. It kept the Baltic lanes open in winter, freed merchant ships locked in ice, and became less of a sensation than a reliable workhorse. Respect replaced excitement.
这艘破冰船的生活重归平静。它冬季维持波罗的海航道畅通，解救受困商船，从万众瞩目的奇迹变成了可靠耐用的工具。人们对其敬意取代了先前的兴奋。
Then came 1914. World War I battered Russia to collapse, and the revolutions of 1917 tore apart what remained. Out of the chaos, Finland declared independence, and civil war broke out on its territory. To the south, German forces advanced on R. In early 1918, the entire Russian Baltic Fleet was at risk of capture.
1914 年风云突变。第一次世界大战将俄国推向崩溃边缘，1917 年的革命更将残存秩序彻底撕裂。芬兰在混乱中宣布独立，境内爆发内战。南面，德军向雷瓦尔（今塔林）推进。至 1918 年初，整个俄国波罗的海舰队面临被俘的危机。
February meant ice. And once again, it was the Yermak that made the difference. The icebreaker led convoys from R to Helsingfors (Helsinki), carving channels for warships desperate to escape. When German troops closed in, the fleet had to be evacuated from Helsinki itself. At the head of the icebound column stood the black hull of the Yermak, dragging Russia’s warships through frozen seas to safety. Within weeks, the city fell – but by then the fleet was gone.
二月意味着冰封。而再一次，是“叶尔马克”号扭转了局势。这艘破冰船引领着从雷瓦尔（塔林）到赫尔辛基的护航舰队，为急于逃生的军舰凿开航道。当德军逼近时，舰队不得不从赫尔辛基撤离。在冰封的队列最前方，“叶尔马克”号的黑色船体牵引着俄罗斯军舰穿越冻海，驶向安全地带。数周后，城市陷落——但那时舰队早已撤离。
It was a rare moment of triumph amid defeat. The following decade was far harsher. Civil war, famine, and ruin left the Soviet unx with little money to maintain an aging icebreaker. Through much of the 1920s, the Yermak lay idle, neglected in harbor. The ship that had once been a national idol now sat rusting, awaiting a new purpose.
这是败局中罕见的胜利时刻。随后的十年更加艰难。内战、饥荒与废墟使苏联无力维护这艘老旧的破冰船。整个 1920 年代的大部分时间，“叶尔马克”号都被闲置在港口，无人问津。这艘曾被视为国家偶像的船只如今锈迹斑斑，等待着新的使命。
Return to the Arctic
重返北极
By the 1930s, the Soviet unx was slowly recovering from civil war and chaos. The government needed to revive Arctic shipping, and the old icebreaker was called back into service. In 1934, for the first time since Makarov’s era, the Yermak pushed north into the Kara Sea.
到了 20 世纪 30 年代，苏联正从内战与动荡中缓慢复苏。政府亟需重振北极航运事业，这艘老式破冰船再次被征召服役。1934 年，"叶尔马克号"自马卡洛夫时代以来首次挺进喀拉海。
The ship had aged, but it was far from obsolete. Engineers fitted it with an amphibious aircraft – a striking innovation for its time. With aerial reconnaissance, the icebreaker could scout floes and channels far ahead, dramatically improving its effectiveness. Yet the romance was gone. Service on the Yermak was no longer a coveted assignment for elite officers; shortages of skilled personnel reflected the harsher times. Still, the ship proved strong enough to handle both the Baltic and the Arctic, a veteran adapting to new demands.
这艘船虽显老态，却远未过时。工程师为其配备了水陆两栖飞机——这在当时堪称惊艳的创新。凭借空中侦察，破冰船能探测远处浮冰与航道，作业效率显著提升。但浪漫情怀已不复存在：在"叶尔马克号"服役不再是精英军官们向往的美差；技术人才的短缺映射出时局维艰。即便如此，这艘功勋舰船仍展现出同时驾驭波罗的海与北极航线的实力，完美诠释了老将适应新挑战的传奇。
Then, in 1941, World War II reached the Soviet unx. Plans to modernize the Yermak were swept aside by the German invasion. Once again, the ship became a rescuer. It evacuated the garrison of the distant Hanko base, ferried troops between Leningrad and Kronstadt, and braved skies alive with bombs and artillery. “Ice below, bombs above, shells on the side,” Captain Mikhail Sorokin later said.
1941 年，第二次世界大战的战火蔓延至苏联。原定对"叶尔马克号"进行现代化改造的计划因德国入侵而搁置。这艘船再次化身为救援者：它撤离了遥远汉科基地的驻军，在列宁格勒与喀琅施塔得之间运送部队，冒着炮火连天的危险穿梭。"脚下是冰层，头顶是炸弹，两侧还有炮弹"，船长米哈伊尔·索罗金后来回忆道。
On December 8, 1941, disaster struck: The Yermak hit a sea mine. The ship survived, but fuel shortages forced it into harbor. Its crew was sent ashore to fight as marines, while the icebreaker itself was rearmed and stationed on the Palace Embankment as a floating anti-aircraft battery – a warship turned fortress within the besieged city.
1941 年 12 月 8 日，灾难降临：叶尔马克号撞上了一枚水雷。虽然船只幸存下来，但燃料短缺迫使其停泊港内。船员们被派往岸上作为海军陆战队参战，而破冰船本身则被重新武装，停泊在宫殿堤岸充当浮动防空炮台——在被围困的城市中，这艘战舰化身为堡垒。
Postwar renaissance
战后复兴
When the war ended in 1945, the veteran icebreaker came back to life. The Soviet government sent the Yermak to Antwerp for a major overhaul, where Belgian shipyards replaced worn machinery and upxed critical systems. For a vessel already approaching 50, it was a second youth.
1945 年战争结束时，这艘功勋破冰船重获新生。苏联政府将"叶尔马克"号送往安特卫普进行大修，比利时船厂为其更换了老旧机械并升级关键系统。对于一艘已近五十高龄的船舶而言，这无异于第二次青春。
The modernization worked. Through the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Yermak once again kept winter lanes open and escorted ships through ice. In 1954, it became one of the first Soviet vessels to carry a helicopter, transforming its reach and efficiency. Half a century after its launch, the icebreaker was still serving as a testbed for new technologies.
现代化改造成效显著。整个 1940 年代末至 1950 年代，"叶尔马克"号再度承担起开辟冬季航道和冰区护航的重任。1954 年，它成为苏联首批搭载直升机的舰船之一，作业范围与效率因此大幅提升。在这艘破冰船下水半个世纪后，它依然充当着新技术的试验平台。
By the early 1960s, the Soviet unx had entered the nuclear age. In 1959, the world’s first nuclear icebreaker, the Lenin, began operations on the Northern Sea Route. Yet the Yermak endured. In 1962, it entered Murmansk harbor side by side with the Lenin – a steel veteran steaming alongside the symbol of a new era. For a moment, it seemed as if two centuries of technology were meeting on the same sea.
1960 年代初，苏联已迈入核能时代。1959 年，全球首艘核动力破冰船"列宁"号开始在北方海航道服役。但"叶尔马克"号仍在坚守。1962 年，它与"列宁"号比肩驶入摩尔曼斯克港——这位钢铁老兵与新时代象征并肩航行的画面，恍若两个世纪的技术成果在此刻的海面上相遇。
But time was running out. Nuclear power had changed the game. For all its history and resilience, the Yermak no longer had a role in the Arctic it once helped to open.
然而时间所剩无几。核动力的出现彻底改变了游戏规则。尽管"叶尔马克"号历史悠久且坚不可摧，但它在这片曾助力开拓的北极海域已无立足之地。
The end of an era
一个时代的终结
In 1963, a government commission ruled that the aging Yermak should be scrapped. The decision provoked outrage. Letters poured in from across the Soviet unx, urging the ministry to preserve the ship as a memorial. Arctic explorer and Hero of the Soviet unx Ivan Papanin added his voice to the appeal. Admirers pointed out that the vessel’s godfather had been Stepan Makarov himself – how could a ship of such history simply be dismantled?
1963 年，政府委员会裁定老迈的"叶尔马克"号应当报废。这一决定激起了公愤。来自苏联各地的信件如雪花般涌入，恳请当局将这艘船作为纪念舰保存。北极探险家、苏联英雄伊万·帕帕宁也加入了请愿行列。仰慕者们指出，该船的教父正是斯捷潘·马卡洛夫本人——这样一艘承载历史的舰船怎能说拆就拆？
But bureaucratic resolve proved stronger than sentiment. Deputy Minister Anatoly Kolesnichenko pushed the order through, and in autumn 1964, the once-mighty icebreaker was broken up in Murmansk. Only fragments survived: The anchor, wheel, and a few instruments transferred to museum collections.
然而官僚意志终究战胜了怀旧之情。副部长阿纳托利·科列斯尼琴科强力推动了拆解令，这艘昔日的破冰巨舰于 1964 年秋在摩尔曼斯克解体。仅存的遗物包括：移交博物馆收藏的船锚、舵轮及少量仪器。
After 65 years of service, the Yermak was gone – a lifespan as long as a man’s. The first true Arctic icebreaker outlasted empires, revolutions, and wars, only to be erased by the nuclear age it had helped to usher in. Its steel is gone, but its shadow still lingers in the history of exploration: A ship that proved humanity could master the frozen seas.
在服役 65 年后，"叶尔马克"号走向终结——其寿命与人类相当。这艘真正的北极破冰船历经帝国兴衰、革命洗礼与战争硝烟，最终却被它曾助力开启的核能时代所湮没。其钢铁之躯虽已消逝，但探索史的苍穹仍徘徊着它的身影：这艘船证明了人类能够征服冰封之海。
By Roman Shumov, a Russian historian focused on conflicts and international politics
作者：罗曼·舒莫夫，俄罗斯历史学者，研究方向为冲突与国际政治
History’s toughest ship Meet the world’s first Arctic icebreaker that sailed from empire to nuclear age
史上最坚之船：探秘全球首艘北极破冰船的传奇航程——从帝国时代驶向核能纪元
The Yermak outlasted czars, commissars, and world wars. Its final enemy wasn’t ice – it was bureaucracy
叶尔马克号历经沙皇时代、苏维埃政权与世界大战。它最终的敌人并非冰层——而是官僚主义
Few ships in history lived as long and saw as much as the icebreaker Yermak. The first true Arctic icebreaker, it entered service under the Russian Empire, endured the storms of revolution and world wars, and was still sailing when the Soviet unx launched its first nuclear vessels. Its story is not just one of steel and ice, but of an entire country’s passage through the 20th century.
历史上鲜有船舶能像"叶尔马克号"破冰船这般长寿且历经沧桑。作为真正意义上的首艘北极破冰船，它在俄罗斯帝国时期服役，历经革命风暴与世界大战洗礼，直至苏联首艘核动力舰船下水时仍在航行。它的传奇不仅是钢铁与冰原的史诗，更是一个国家穿越二十世纪的历史长廊。
The birth of an idea
灵感的诞生
At the end of the 19th century, Admiral Stepan Makarov was already a legend in the Russian Navy – not for commanding squadrons, but for his restless mind. A scientist, engineer, and inventor, he believed Russia needed a vessel unlike anything the world had seen: An icebreaker capable of forcing its way through the Arctic and even reaching the North Pole.
19 世纪末，海军上将斯捷潘·马卡罗夫已是俄罗斯海军中的传奇人物——并非因其舰队指挥才能，而是因其永不停歇的头脑。作为科学家、工程师和发明家，他坚信俄罗斯需要一种世界前所未见的船舶：能够强行穿越北极甚至抵达北极点的破冰船。
The idea seemed fantastical. Russia already had small icebreaking steamers working in ports and rivers, but Makarov envisioned a ship that could challenge the polar pack itself. The Naval Ministry hesitated. Arkhangelsk, Russia’s main northern port, was locked in ice most of the year; St. Petersburg fared little better. A powerful icebreaker promised to change this – yet the project looked ruinously expensive, and many officials dismissed it as scientific indulgence.
这个设想在当时看来近乎天方夜谭。俄罗斯虽已拥有在港口与河流作业的小型破冰蒸汽船，但马卡罗夫构想的是一艘能够挑战极地浮冰的巨舰。海军部对此犹豫不决——俄罗斯主要北方港口阿尔汉格尔斯克全年大部分时间被冰封，圣彼得堡的情况也好不了多少。虽然强大的破冰船有望改变这种局面，但该项目耗资巨大，许多官员认为这不过是科学家的任性妄为。
Makarov refused to let the idea die in committee. In 1897, he delivered a fiery lecture at the Marble Palace in St. Petersburg under the provocative title ‘To the North Pole – Straight Ahead!’ The city’s aristocracy, ministers, and diplomats filled the hall, and the speech sent ripples into the highest offices. Soon Makarov was summoned by Finance Minister Sergey Witte, a pragmatist who saw in the plan not scientific glory but the possibility of opening frozen seas to trade.
马卡罗夫拒绝让这个设想在委员会中夭折。1897 年，他在圣彼得堡大理石宫发表了一场激昂的演讲，标题极具煽动性——《直取北极点！》。圣彼得堡的贵族、部长和外交官济济一堂，这场演讲的涟漪一直荡漾到最高权力机关。很快，财政部长谢尔盖·维特召见了他——这位务实主义者看到的不是科学荣耀，而是开辟冰封海域贸易通道的可能性。
This was the breakthrough. With Witte’s support, Makarov traveled to Scandinavia and Spitsbergen, speaking with whalers, Arctic captains, and even the crew of Fridtjof Nansen’s famous ship the Fram. He abandoned his initial ‘giant’ design in favor of a more realistic but still formidable vessel – strong enough to escort merchant ships through the Baltic and White Seas, yet with the potential to test the Arctic itself.
这成为了突破性转折。在维特支持下，马卡罗夫前往斯堪的纳维亚和斯匹次卑尔根岛，与捕鲸人、北极船长乃至弗里乔夫·南森著名探险船"弗拉姆号"的船员深入交流。他放弃了最初"巨无霸"的设计方案，转而采用更现实但仍具威慑力的船型——既足够坚固能为商船在波罗的海和白海护航，又具备试探北极冰域的巨大潜力。
The contract went to Armstrong Whitworth in Newcastle. Makarov personally supervised construction, insisting on innovations along the way: Special tanks to rock the ship free if it became stuck, and even an 80-ton ‘calming tank’ to reduce rolling in heavy seas. The icebreaker was taking shape not just as a machine, but as a new type of weapon in humanity’s contest with the North.
合同最终交给了纽卡斯尔的阿姆斯特朗-惠特沃斯公司。马卡洛夫亲自监督建造过程，始终坚持创新设计：专门配备了摇晃脱困水舱，甚至安装了 80 吨级的减摇水舱以减少巨浪中的船体晃动。这艘破冰船不仅逐渐成型为机械杰作，更成为人类征服北极的新型利器。
When the ship was launched in 1899, it carried a name that evoked Russia’s first explorers of Siberia: The Yermak.
1899 年该船下水时，被命名为"叶尔马克号"，以此致敬俄罗斯西伯利亚的首批探险先驱。
First triumphs
初战告捷
In March 1899, the brand-new Yermak steamed into the Gulf of Finland toward St. Petersburg. The scene bordered on the theatrical: The black hull climbing onto the ice with its bow, the groan and crack of frozen sheets giving way, and the slow rocking movement as ballast water was pumped forward and back to help the ship break free. Step by step, the icebreaker carved its path through the gulf.
1899 年 3 月，崭新的"叶尔马克号"破冰船驶入芬兰湾，朝着圣彼得堡前进。这一幕近乎戏剧性：黑色船首攀上冰层，冰面破裂发出嘎吱巨响，压载水在船体内前后泵送助船破冰时引发的缓慢摇晃。这艘破冰船一步步在冰封海湾中开辟出航道。
Thousands of spectators rushed onto the ice to watch. Some came on horseback, others on bicycles, braving the late-winter chill for a glimpse of the steel marvel.
数千名围观者涌上冰面驻足观看。有人骑马而来，有人骑着自行车，冒着冬末的严寒只为一睹这座钢铁巨兽的风采。
When the ship paused, crowds clambered on board as an orchestra struck up from the shore. The arrival of the Yermak was not just a naval test – it was a public spectacle, a promise that Russia had created a machine able to master its frozen seas.
轮船停泊时，岸上乐队奏响乐章，人群纷纷登船围观。"叶尔马克"号的到来不仅是一次海军试验——更是一场全民盛事，它向世人宣告俄罗斯已打造出能够征服冰封海域的机械巨兽。
The promise was tested almost immediately. Soon after its debut, the Yermak was dispatched to rescue merchant steamers trapped in the ice off R (now Tallinn). The operation was carried out with precision: Captain Mikhail Vasiliev steered the icebreaker in a wide circle, cracking a channel that freed three dozen vessels and drew them out into open water.
考验很快来临。叶尔马克号甫一登场，便被派往雷瓦尔（今塔林）附近冰封海域营困商船。行动精准展开：米哈伊尔·瓦西里耶夫船长驾驶破冰船划出巨大弧线，开辟的航道解救了三十余艘船只，将它们引向开阔水域。
The exploit electrified the press. Newspapers hailed the ‘savior of the Baltic’, and readers devoured every scrap of news about the new ship. The icebreaker became a national sensation – too much of one. Public expectations soared into myth, as if the Yermak were invincible, able to smash through any obstacle the Arctic might place before it.
这一壮举令媒体沸腾。报纸将之誉为"波罗的海的救星"，读者们如饥似渴地吞噬着关于这艘新船的每一条消息。破冰船引发了全国轰动——甚至有些过度。公众的期待将其神化，仿佛"叶尔马克"号所向披靡，能碾碎北极设下的任何障碍。
But nature, as Makarov knew, has a way of humbling idols.
但正如马卡罗夫所知，大自然总有办法让偶像跌落神坛。
Rescues and reputation
救援与声誉
The Yermak soon sailed north for its first experimental voyage. The plan was ambitious: From Spitsbergen toward the mouth of the Yenisei River, the great waterway of Siberia. No one doubted the existence of a Northern Sea Route, but almost everything about it was still unknown. Like the British expeditions that had hunted for the Northwest Passage, Russia was venturing into ice and uncertainty.
“叶尔马克”号很快启程北上，开启了首次试验性航行。这次计划雄心勃勃：从斯匹次卑尔根群岛直抵西伯利亚大水道叶尼塞河口。虽然无人怀疑北方海路的存在，但这条航道几乎完全处于未知状态。正如英国探险队当年寻找西北航道那样，俄罗斯此刻正勇闯冰封之境，直面未知的凶险。
At first the trials went well. Then, in August 1899, the icebreaker struck a massive hummock near Spitsbergen. The impact tore a hole in the starboard side. The crew patched the wound with a temporary ‘bandage’ and nursed the ship back to Newcastle under its own power. Nothing catastrophic had happened – yet in the eyes of the press and public, the invincible hero had stumbled. The same newspapers that had glorified the Yermak now joked about its ‘broken nose’.
起初试航一切顺利。然而 1899 年 8 月，这艘破冰船在斯匹次卑尔根岛附近撞上巨大冰丘，右舷被撞出窟窿。船员用临时"绷带"修补伤口，依靠自身动力将船驶回纽卡斯尔。虽未酿成大祸——但在媒体和公众眼中，这位无敌英雄已然失足。那些曾盛赞"叶尔马克"号的报纸，此刻却调侃它"撞断了鼻梁"。
Worse was the official verdict. A government commission concluded that polar expeditions were too risky; the icebreaker should be confined to the Baltic as a rescue vessel. For Makarov, it was a bitter blow.
更糟的是官方的裁决。政府委员会认定极地探险风险过高；这艘破冰船应只限于在波罗的海作为救援船只使用。对马卡洛夫而言，这是个沉重的打击。
Then came redemption. The winter of 1900 was unusually severe. In February, the coastal defense battleship Apraksin ran aground on the rocks of Gogland Island in the Gulf of Finland, taking on hundreds of tons of water. Trapped in the ice, the vessel faced destruction. Only the Yermak could reach it.
随后迎来了转机。1900 年的冬天异常严寒。二月，海防战列舰阿普拉克辛号在芬兰湾戈格兰岛的礁石上搁浅，数百吨海水涌入船舱。这艘被困在冰中的舰船面临毁灭。只有叶尔马克号能够抵达救援。
For weeks, the icebreaker shuttled through blizzards and frozen seas, carrying coal, provisions, and equipment to keep the stranded crew alive. It was one of the first operations to rely on the new marvel of wireless radio. At last, using controlled explosions to free the Apraksin from the rocks, the icebreaker cut a channel through floes and hauled the crippled battleship to safety. In all, the Yermak had traveled 2,000 miles in ice to complete the mission.
数周以来，这艘破冰船在暴风雪与冰封海域间往返穿梭，运送煤炭、给养和设备以维持被困船员的生存。这是首批依赖无线电报这一新奇迹的救援行动之一。最终，通过可控爆破使阿普拉克辛号脱离礁石后，破冰船在浮冰中开辟出一条航道，将受损的战舰拖至安全地带。整个任务中，"叶尔马克号"累计在冰海中航行了 2000 英里。
This time there was no mockery. The critics fell silent, and the reputation of Russia’s first great icebreaker was secure.
这次再无人嘲弄。批评者们集体噤声，俄罗斯第一艘伟大破冰船的声誉就此确立。
War and revolution
战争与革命
In 1904, war with Japan pulled Admiral Stepan Makarov – the driving force behind the Yermak – to the Pacific. Captain Mikhail Vasiliev, the icebreaker’s first commander, went with him. Neither man returned. Both were killed when the battleship Petropavlovsk struck a mine off Port Arthur. With their deaths, the Yermak lost its godfather and its guiding captain in a single moment.
1904 年，日俄战争将"叶尔马克号"的推动者——海军上将斯捷潘·马卡洛夫调往太平洋。破冰船首任舰长米哈伊尔·瓦西里耶夫随同前往，两人却再未归来。当战列舰"彼得罗巴甫洛夫斯克号"在旅顺港外触雷沉没时，他们双双殉职。随着他们的逝去，"叶尔马克号"顷刻间失去了它的奠基者与领航船长。
For the icebreaker, life settled into routine. It kept the Baltic lanes open in winter, freed merchant ships locked in ice, and became less of a sensation than a reliable workhorse. Respect replaced excitement.
这艘破冰船的生活重归平静。它冬季维持波罗的海航道畅通，解救受困商船，从万众瞩目的奇迹变成了可靠耐用的工具。人们对其敬意取代了先前的兴奋。
Then came 1914. World War I battered Russia to collapse, and the revolutions of 1917 tore apart what remained. Out of the chaos, Finland declared independence, and civil war broke out on its territory. To the south, German forces advanced on R. In early 1918, the entire Russian Baltic Fleet was at risk of capture.
1914 年风云突变。第一次世界大战将俄国推向崩溃边缘，1917 年的革命更将残存秩序彻底撕裂。芬兰在混乱中宣布独立，境内爆发内战。南面，德军向雷瓦尔（今塔林）推进。至 1918 年初，整个俄国波罗的海舰队面临被俘的危机。
February meant ice. And once again, it was the Yermak that made the difference. The icebreaker led convoys from R to Helsingfors (Helsinki), carving channels for warships desperate to escape. When German troops closed in, the fleet had to be evacuated from Helsinki itself. At the head of the icebound column stood the black hull of the Yermak, dragging Russia’s warships through frozen seas to safety. Within weeks, the city fell – but by then the fleet was gone.
二月意味着冰封。而再一次，是“叶尔马克”号扭转了局势。这艘破冰船引领着从雷瓦尔（塔林）到赫尔辛基的护航舰队，为急于逃生的军舰凿开航道。当德军逼近时，舰队不得不从赫尔辛基撤离。在冰封的队列最前方，“叶尔马克”号的黑色船体牵引着俄罗斯军舰穿越冻海，驶向安全地带。数周后，城市陷落——但那时舰队早已撤离。
It was a rare moment of triumph amid defeat. The following decade was far harsher. Civil war, famine, and ruin left the Soviet unx with little money to maintain an aging icebreaker. Through much of the 1920s, the Yermak lay idle, neglected in harbor. The ship that had once been a national idol now sat rusting, awaiting a new purpose.
这是败局中罕见的胜利时刻。随后的十年更加艰难。内战、饥荒与废墟使苏联无力维护这艘老旧的破冰船。整个 1920 年代的大部分时间，“叶尔马克”号都被闲置在港口，无人问津。这艘曾被视为国家偶像的船只如今锈迹斑斑，等待着新的使命。
Return to the Arctic
重返北极
By the 1930s, the Soviet unx was slowly recovering from civil war and chaos. The government needed to revive Arctic shipping, and the old icebreaker was called back into service. In 1934, for the first time since Makarov’s era, the Yermak pushed north into the Kara Sea.
到了 20 世纪 30 年代，苏联正从内战与动荡中缓慢复苏。政府亟需重振北极航运事业，这艘老式破冰船再次被征召服役。1934 年，"叶尔马克号"自马卡洛夫时代以来首次挺进喀拉海。
The ship had aged, but it was far from obsolete. Engineers fitted it with an amphibious aircraft – a striking innovation for its time. With aerial reconnaissance, the icebreaker could scout floes and channels far ahead, dramatically improving its effectiveness. Yet the romance was gone. Service on the Yermak was no longer a coveted assignment for elite officers; shortages of skilled personnel reflected the harsher times. Still, the ship proved strong enough to handle both the Baltic and the Arctic, a veteran adapting to new demands.
这艘船虽显老态，却远未过时。工程师为其配备了水陆两栖飞机——这在当时堪称惊艳的创新。凭借空中侦察，破冰船能探测远处浮冰与航道，作业效率显著提升。但浪漫情怀已不复存在：在"叶尔马克号"服役不再是精英军官们向往的美差；技术人才的短缺映射出时局维艰。即便如此，这艘功勋舰船仍展现出同时驾驭波罗的海与北极航线的实力，完美诠释了老将适应新挑战的传奇。
Then, in 1941, World War II reached the Soviet unx. Plans to modernize the Yermak were swept aside by the German invasion. Once again, the ship became a rescuer. It evacuated the garrison of the distant Hanko base, ferried troops between Leningrad and Kronstadt, and braved skies alive with bombs and artillery. “Ice below, bombs above, shells on the side,” Captain Mikhail Sorokin later said.
1941 年，第二次世界大战的战火蔓延至苏联。原定对"叶尔马克号"进行现代化改造的计划因德国入侵而搁置。这艘船再次化身为救援者：它撤离了遥远汉科基地的驻军，在列宁格勒与喀琅施塔得之间运送部队，冒着炮火连天的危险穿梭。"脚下是冰层，头顶是炸弹，两侧还有炮弹"，船长米哈伊尔·索罗金后来回忆道。
On December 8, 1941, disaster struck: The Yermak hit a sea mine. The ship survived, but fuel shortages forced it into harbor. Its crew was sent ashore to fight as marines, while the icebreaker itself was rearmed and stationed on the Palace Embankment as a floating anti-aircraft battery – a warship turned fortress within the besieged city.
1941 年 12 月 8 日，灾难降临：叶尔马克号撞上了一枚水雷。虽然船只幸存下来，但燃料短缺迫使其停泊港内。船员们被派往岸上作为海军陆战队参战，而破冰船本身则被重新武装，停泊在宫殿堤岸充当浮动防空炮台——在被围困的城市中，这艘战舰化身为堡垒。
Postwar renaissance
战后复兴
When the war ended in 1945, the veteran icebreaker came back to life. The Soviet government sent the Yermak to Antwerp for a major overhaul, where Belgian shipyards replaced worn machinery and upxed critical systems. For a vessel already approaching 50, it was a second youth.
1945 年战争结束时，这艘功勋破冰船重获新生。苏联政府将"叶尔马克"号送往安特卫普进行大修，比利时船厂为其更换了老旧机械并升级关键系统。对于一艘已近五十高龄的船舶而言，这无异于第二次青春。
The modernization worked. Through the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Yermak once again kept winter lanes open and escorted ships through ice. In 1954, it became one of the first Soviet vessels to carry a helicopter, transforming its reach and efficiency. Half a century after its launch, the icebreaker was still serving as a testbed for new technologies.
现代化改造成效显著。整个 1940 年代末至 1950 年代，"叶尔马克"号再度承担起开辟冬季航道和冰区护航的重任。1954 年，它成为苏联首批搭载直升机的舰船之一，作业范围与效率因此大幅提升。在这艘破冰船下水半个世纪后，它依然充当着新技术的试验平台。
By the early 1960s, the Soviet unx had entered the nuclear age. In 1959, the world’s first nuclear icebreaker, the Lenin, began operations on the Northern Sea Route. Yet the Yermak endured. In 1962, it entered Murmansk harbor side by side with the Lenin – a steel veteran steaming alongside the symbol of a new era. For a moment, it seemed as if two centuries of technology were meeting on the same sea.
1960 年代初，苏联已迈入核能时代。1959 年，全球首艘核动力破冰船"列宁"号开始在北方海航道服役。但"叶尔马克"号仍在坚守。1962 年，它与"列宁"号比肩驶入摩尔曼斯克港——这位钢铁老兵与新时代象征并肩航行的画面，恍若两个世纪的技术成果在此刻的海面上相遇。
But time was running out. Nuclear power had changed the game. For all its history and resilience, the Yermak no longer had a role in the Arctic it once helped to open.
然而时间所剩无几。核动力的出现彻底改变了游戏规则。尽管"叶尔马克"号历史悠久且坚不可摧，但它在这片曾助力开拓的北极海域已无立足之地。
The end of an era
一个时代的终结
In 1963, a government commission ruled that the aging Yermak should be scrapped. The decision provoked outrage. Letters poured in from across the Soviet unx, urging the ministry to preserve the ship as a memorial. Arctic explorer and Hero of the Soviet unx Ivan Papanin added his voice to the appeal. Admirers pointed out that the vessel’s godfather had been Stepan Makarov himself – how could a ship of such history simply be dismantled?
1963 年，政府委员会裁定老迈的"叶尔马克"号应当报废。这一决定激起了公愤。来自苏联各地的信件如雪花般涌入，恳请当局将这艘船作为纪念舰保存。北极探险家、苏联英雄伊万·帕帕宁也加入了请愿行列。仰慕者们指出，该船的教父正是斯捷潘·马卡洛夫本人——这样一艘承载历史的舰船怎能说拆就拆？
But bureaucratic resolve proved stronger than sentiment. Deputy Minister Anatoly Kolesnichenko pushed the order through, and in autumn 1964, the once-mighty icebreaker was broken up in Murmansk. Only fragments survived: The anchor, wheel, and a few instruments transferred to museum collections.
然而官僚意志终究战胜了怀旧之情。副部长阿纳托利·科列斯尼琴科强力推动了拆解令，这艘昔日的破冰巨舰于 1964 年秋在摩尔曼斯克解体。仅存的遗物包括：移交博物馆收藏的船锚、舵轮及少量仪器。
After 65 years of service, the Yermak was gone – a lifespan as long as a man’s. The first true Arctic icebreaker outlasted empires, revolutions, and wars, only to be erased by the nuclear age it had helped to usher in. Its steel is gone, but its shadow still lingers in the history of exploration: A ship that proved humanity could master the frozen seas.
在服役 65 年后，"叶尔马克"号走向终结——其寿命与人类相当。这艘真正的北极破冰船历经帝国兴衰、革命洗礼与战争硝烟，最终却被它曾助力开启的核能时代所湮没。其钢铁之躯虽已消逝，但探索史的苍穹仍徘徊着它的身影：这艘船证明了人类能够征服冰封之海。
By Roman Shumov, a Russian historian focused on conflicts and international politics
作者：罗曼·舒莫夫，俄罗斯历史学者，研究方向为冲突与国际政治
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