Flagman of the Russian shipbuilding

The middle of the 19th century was a crucial moment for Russia. The defeat in the Crimean War (1853-1856) clearly demonstrated that Russia could retain the status of a great maritime power only subject to reorganization of its navy and reconsideration of its shipbuilding.

A private enterprise of Matvey Egorovich Karr, a first order merchant, and Mark Lvovich Makferson, a naval architect and engineer, appeared to be riding this wave. Starting from its establishment on 26 May 1856 (13 May according to the Old Style) Baltiysky Zavod mastered new designs of merchant and naval ships subsequently built by other shipyards.

Baltiysky Zavod’s main profile was the construction of metal ships for the Russian Navy as well as steam engines and other marine equipment. 30-40 years prior to the development of submarines construction and combat tactics all over the world, Baltiysky Zavod built a submarine designed by Ivan Aleksandrovsky (1866) that complied with almost all the above requirements. The ironclad gunboat Opyt was built in 1862 and became the first Russian ship made completely of steel..

In the 70s of the 19th century the ironclad floating battery ship Admiral Lazarev was built marking the start of construction of ironclad ships in Russia. The Russian Navy operated the frigate as long as four decades.

The first Russian steam engine of 5300 BHP was built in 1877.

Baltiysky Zavod pioneered the serial construction of ships (the Pobeda class war cruisers, ironclads). The Bars and the Morzh class submarines were as good as the best foreign prototypes. The experience and knowledge available with the engineers of Baltiysky Zavod (1900) paved the way to the famous Rubin Design Bureau (1938).

Baltiysky Zavod also built the first Russian dreadnoughts – the Petropavlovsk (Marat) and the Sevastopol (Parizhskaya Kommuna) battleships in the beginning of the 20th century.

In the 1920s Baltiysky Zavod was one of the pioneers in the USSR to resume the construction of merchant ships (wood cargo vessels, cargo and passenger motor vessels, diesel icebreakers) followed by naval orders. Within one decade 32 merchant ships were built.

Before and after the War

During the Great Patriotic War Baltiysky Zavod had to meet the frontline needs. The shipyard established mass production of ammunition and was involved in ship repair, construction of mine sweepers, barges and cutters for the Ladoga Road of Life. A half of the 15 thousand workers went to war, only about 6000 people returned home …

After the Great Patriotic War the shipyard started the construction of cargo and cargo/passenger ships (tankers, reefers, dry cargo ships, chemical carriers, polar icebreakers, research ships).

The construction of the Pekin class tankers (with displacement of 40 thousand tons) and the Sofia class (with displacement of 62 thousand tons) in the 60s was an important milestone for the shipyard.

Second generation of nuclear powered icebreakers

From 1974 to 1992 a series of nuclear powered icebreakers of the second generation were built. The lead ship named the Arktika reached the North Pole during Arctic navigation in 1974. The icebreaker Rossiya commissioned in 1985 opened the series of modernized icebreakers of the second generation. The construction of the icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy was completed in 2007. The ship is the nowadays world’s biggest icebreaker boasting 20 thousand tons displacement and 14 decks.

In the 80s a series of Project 1144 (the Orlan) heavy nuclear powered battlecruisers were built (the Admiral Ushakov, the Admiral Lazarev, the Admiral Nakhimov). The last warship of the series (the Piotr Velikiy) built in 1998 is second to none as far as equipment and weaponry are concerned.

Baltiysky Zavod executed the largest international surface shipbuilding order in April 2004 by building a series of frigates for the Indian Navy.

Recent and current projects

Baltiysky Zavod delivered two diesel electric icebreakers – the Moskva and the Sankt-Peterburg in 2008 and 2009. Those were the first diesel electric icebreakers built in Russia for the last 30 years.

In 2009 the shipyard started the erection of the hull of the world’s first floating nuclear power plant – the Akademik Lomosov. This project is quite unique as well as many other products made by Baltiysky Zavod. The nuclear power plant currently undergoes final outfitting.

There are other unique ships being built by Baltiysky Zavod. The smaller slipway (slipway B) is occupied by the world’s largest diesel electric icebreaker – the Viktor Chernomyrdin (Project 22600).

The hull of the nuclear powered 60 MW icebreaker Arktika (Project 22220) is built on the bigger slipway (slipway A). This will be the largest and most powerful icebreaker in the world. An order for two more Project 22220 sister ships was placed with Baltiysky Zavod in 2014.

During its 150 year history Baltiysky Zavod built about 600 naval & merchant ships and submarines.