The White Sea–Baltic Canal (Russian: Беломо́рско-Балти́йский кана́л, Byelomorsko-Baltiyskiy kanal, BBK), often abbreviated to White Sea Canal (Belomorkanal) is a ship canal in Russia opened on Wednesday 2 August 1933. [13] Although prison labor camps were usually kept secret, the White Sea Canal was a propaganda showcase of convicts "reforging" themselves in useful labor (Soviet concept of perekovka, reforging or rehabilitation). 19 in Belomorsk, with only 80 left at their stations. Another upgrade took place in the 1970s. [40], The canal system includes five hydroelectric power plants with total production capacity of 240 MW.[28]. "Силовые машины" отгрузили вторую партию оборудования, предназначенного для восстановления Саяно-Шушенской ГЭС. why they would do that? Being an account of the construction of the new canal between the White Sea and the Baltic Sea. One of the most important construction projects of the first five-year plan (1929–32). The Combine was charged with operating the canal and managing the economic development of the adjacent areas, including 2.8 million hectares of forest lands and the industrial facilities that had been constructed along the route. Construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal (Belomorkanal). Corrections? There was no lack of possibilities, but one in particular appealed to Stalin: the construction of a vast canal, from the White Sea to the Baltic Sea, across a landscape largely composed of sheer granite. Omissions? The canal was constructed between 1931 and 1933 by forced labor of Gulag inmates. The White Sea–Baltic Canal links it through Lake Onega to the Baltic Sea and the major city and port of Saint Petersburg. The vertical axis is the elevation of the canal segments above mean sea level. The following illustration depicts the profile of the White Sea–Baltic Canal. After Finland left the war in September 1944, the damage to the canal, including the complete destruction of its southern section and the town of Povenets and damage to lighthouses and other structures, was repaired. At least 12,000 workers died during the building process, according to the official records,[4] while Anne Applebaum's estimate is 25,000 deaths,[5] and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn estimated up to 250,000 deaths.[21]. [31], Russian (and later Soviet) naval strategists long believed that a well-designed canal system could help establish contact among the separate fleets based on Russia's Black Sea, Baltic, Arctic, Pacific, and Caspian coasts. On the night of November 12/13, another boat caravan froze in Zaonezhsky Bay near Megostrov Island, and was later captured by Finnish troops. Povenets, which had been demoted from a town to a village in the 1920s, now became a town again, and a large port. According to the Soviet account, in 1932 when Anastas Mikoyan visited the Belomorstroy construction site, Lazar Kogan asked, "Comrade Mikoyan, what shall we call them? By Mia Bennett 09-10-2015 10:10:12 In summer above the Arctic Circle, the sun does not set. In 1953, the locks' staff hired electricians; by 1957, the electrification of the locks of the northern slope was completed; and by 1959 all coastal and floating navigation lights were switched to electric power. [22] Shklovsky visited the White Sea Canal on his own rather than with the group. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. On December 5, Finnish troops entered Medvezhyegorsk. The workforce was organized into brigades of 25–30, which made up phalanges of 250–300. Paul R. Gregory, Valery Lazarev and V. V. Lazarev, This page was last edited on 1 January 2021, at 10:21. [24], Until 1936, all financial transactions of the Combine were exempt from taxes and duties.[24]. The canal, called The White Sea Canal (Belomor Canal), connects the Eastern Sea with the White Sea, and is one of the largest forced labour projects in history. In November, a caravan of passenger vessels evacuating families of Povenets canal workers and residents, along with equipment, froze into the ice of Lake Vygozero. Its economic advantages are limited by its minimal depth of 3.5 m (11.5 ft),[citation needed] inadequate for most sea-going vessels. I'm planning a bit of a shindig around Scandanavia popping in to Russia for a little bit at somepoint. The canal was constructed by forced labor of gulag inmates. The route of the BBK had become the front line, separating the Finnish troops on the canal's western bank from the Soviet forces on its eastern bank. Unofficial estimates have … [29] In 2011, heavy equipment for the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydro power plant was shipped from Saint Petersburg via the canal, the Arctic Sea, and the Yenisei River. The route followed by the Baltic-White Sea Canal has been well-known since ancient times. Some unfinished submarines from Leningrad's Baltic Shipyard and Gorky's Krasnoye Sormovo shipyard sailed to the new Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk. So the Canal is being invested in. 7, but it did no damage. The system, which can take ships of seagoing size, has both strategic and commercial significance, for it shortens the sea passage from St. Petersburg to Arkhangelsk by 2,500 miles (4,000 km). There was even a comedic play written about the canal by Nikolay Pogodin. Gorky, Maxim, Leopold Auerbach und Semjon Grigorjewitsch Firin: The White Sea - Baltic Canal For a long time, people thought about constructing a waterway between the White Sea and Lake Onega. It was constructed between 1 In the context of its time, the White Sea Canal—Belomorkanal, in Russian, or Belomor, for short—was not unique. Mikoyan approved. During the 2007 season, the canal carried 0.4 million tonnes of cargo along with 2,500 passengers. Gorky, who had previously visited the Solovetski Islands labor camp in 1929 and written about it in the Soviet journal Our Accomplishments,[23] organized the White Sea trip, but did not himself join it. New cities and urban-type settlements developed along the route of the canal, such as Medvezhyegorsk, Segezha, Nadvoitsy. There is a monument at Povenets for the prisoners who perished during the construction, and a smaller memorial in Belomorsk near the White Sea end. [21] There were norms for labor, for example 2.5 m3 (3.3 cu yd) of hand-dug stone per day per brigade. The importance of BBK for the national economy greatly increased after the commissioning of the modern Volga-Baltic Waterway in 1964. Finally, six months before the end of the canal’s … John Lane, 1935 - Convict labor - 356 pages. On February 2, 1950, the RSFSR Council of Ministers issued an order for the overhaul and reconstruction of the BBK's structures, with gradual electrification of the canal's structures and machinery. On June 23, 1941, the day after the German invasion, 16 Finnish commandos were ferried to the canal by two German Heinkel He 115 seaplanes from Oulujärvi. The principal cargo on the system is timber, much of it for paper mills and timber-working enterprises along the route. [37][38] История строительства, The I.V. At other times these teams were pitted to compete against each other in surpassing the norms, and promises were made of shortened sentences, food and cash bonuses for the champions. 7 on December 11 after the Red Army had retreated. It is also linked to the water transportation system of European Russia by the White Sea–Baltic Canal, which empties into Lake Onega. Until 1961, its original name was the Stalin White Sea–Baltic Canal (Belomorsko-Baltiyskiy Kanal imeni Stalina). The Soviet Union presented the canal as an example of the success of the first five-year plan. With Germany's full-scale invasion of the USSR in 1941, supported by Finland in the Continuation War, the canal route became the front line. The commandos were Finnish volunteers recruited by the German Major Schaller, and were equipped with German uniforms and weapons, as the Finnish General Staff wanted no responsibility for the operation. From the very first days of its opening the canal has been used mainly by cargo ships. After Povenets there are seven locks close together, forming the "Stairs of Povenets". Media in category "White Sea-Baltic Canal" The following 107 files are in this category, out of 107 total. The canal was seemingly a small part of the agency's overall shipping business, which in 2007 amounted to 4.6 million tonnes and 155,000 passengers. The company had plans to carry 800,000 tonnes of fuel oil over the canal during 2003, and to increase the volume to 1,500,000 t (1,476,000 long tons; 1,653,000 short tons) in 2004. Some undertakings were ill-considered: the Baltic–White Sea Canal, supposedly completed in 1933, employed some 200,000–300,000 forced labourers but proved almost useless. It was built between 1931 and 1933 in a record time, opening on August 2, 1933. A carefully prepared visit in August 1933 to the White Sea–Baltic Canal may have hidden the worst of the brutality from a group of 120 Russian writers and artists, the so-called Writers Brigade, including Maxim Gorky, Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy, Viktor Shklovsky, and Mikhail Zoshchenko, who compiled a work in praise of the project, the 600-page The I.V. This canal connects the White Sea with Lake Onega, and having access to the Baltic Sea and the Volga-Baltic Waterway. In addition to convicts and "special settlers", the Combine employed about 4500 free employees and a paramilitary security force. The entire canal was constructed in twenty months, between 1931 and 1933, almost entirely by manual labor. https://www.britannica.com/topic/White-Sea-Baltic-Canal, Presidential Library - The White Sea-Baltic Canal Construction was Completed, Stanford University - Hoover Institution - The White Sea–Baltic Canal. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. From 1932 to 1933, a 227 km-long canal was dug to the north of St Petersburg. [32] The White Sea Canal was also constructed with this military use in mind,[33] Supposedly "reforging class enemies" (political prisoners) through "corrective labor", the working conditions at the BBK Camp were brutal, with the prisoners given only primitive hand tools to carry out the massive construction project. It connects the White Sea, in the Arctic Ocean, with Lake Onega, which is further connected to the Baltic Sea. Lake Onega unites the canal with the Volga-Baltic Waterway, through which ships can reach the Baltic Sea and the Volga River itself. (…) I thought up the word: 'kanaloarmeyets'. 4 and 20 had all been demolished. The same can be said of the Magnitogorsk foundries and other…, …turn, is joined to the White Sea (via Lake Onega) by the. The air bombings of the Povenets lock ladder succeeded in interrupting boat traffic on the canal only from June 28 to August 6, and then again from 13 to 24 August 1941. In particular, he emphasizes that politics and public relations ruined the usefulness of the canal: Stalin seems to have been so intent on creating a highly visible symbol of development that he pushed and squeezed the project in ways that only retarded the reality of development. Over 100,000 prisoners dug a 141-mile canal with few tools other than simple pickaxes, shovels, and makeshift wheelbarrows in just 20 months. Once the canal was open, ships got the opportunity to sail from the White Sea to the Baltic Sea without having to go round the Scandinavian Peninsula. The company was fined and future operations were refused. On December 6 in a -37 °C frost, Finnish troops captured Povenets, the southern entrance to the BBK. Genrikh Yagoda, Deputy Chairman of the OGPU, as well as Berman, Firin, Kogan, and Rappoport were awarded medals for the completion of the canal by the Politburo on July 15, 1933.[18]. and is it true that the Soviet leaders after opening the gates drowned 1000s of the men who were forced laborourers who built this? Deaths on the White Sea Canal, 1931-1933 According to official figures, during the construction of Belomor, the White Sea Canal, 2.24% of the prisoners in the BelBaltlag camp complex died in 1931 (1,438 persons), 2.03% died in 1932 (2,010 persons) and in 1933, due to famine in the USSR and the rapidly approaching deadline to finish the project, 10.56% of the prison workforce died (8,870 persons). The White Sea–Baltic Canal (Russian: Беломо́рско–Балти́йский кана́л, Byelomorsko–Baltiyskiy Kanal, BBK), often abbreviated to White Sea Canal (Belomorkanal) is a ship canal in Russia opened on 2 August 1933. The White Sea-Baltic Sea Canal project took the lives of 12,000 of its construction labor workforce, which was made up entirely of inmates. White Sea–Baltic Canal, system of rivers, lakes, and canals in northwestern Russia that connects the White Sea to Lake Onega, where it joins the Volga-Baltic Waterway (q.v.). Usage rose gradually in the 21st century, but remained well below the Soviet-era peak, with just 0.3 million tonnes in 2002. The settlements of Povenets, Segezha, Nadvoitsy, Sosnovets, and Belomorsk are located along the canal. White Sea Canal The White Sea-Baltic Canal is a grand Soviet construction built in 1931-1933 where prison labor of the Gulag was used for the first time. The White Sea Canal: A Hymn of Praise for Forced Labour. Source for information on White Sea Canal: Encyclopedia of Russian History dictionary. The Canal should have been connected Onega Lake and the White Sea, and 37 km were dug through the ground and cliffs for this purpose. Minimum lock dimensions are 14.3 m (47 ft) wide by 135 m (443 ft) long. Rebuilding was completed by July 1946, with navigation through the canal restored on July 28, 1946. Alternatively, from Lake Onega river ships can sail eastward into the Volga–Baltic Waterway. Until 1961, its original name was the Stalin White Sea–Baltic Canal (Belomorsko-Baltiyskiy Kanal imeni Stalina). Stalin White Sea – Baltic Sea Canal is a 1934 Soviet historical volume detailing the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Sea Canal and the labor used to construct it. Updates? In addition, the Combine included 21 "special settlements" (spetsposyolok) with some 30 thousand residents, mostly dispossessed farm families transported to Karelia from the USSR's warmer regions. [30], In Soviet times, the canal was used for shipping oil products from refineries on the Volga River to consumers in the Murmansk Oblast and overseas. As is discussed further below, during the 1930s a number of smaller naval vessels were transferred from the Baltic to the White Sea to provide warships for the Soviet Northern Naval Flotilla, which became the Northern Fleet in 1937.[25]. Volgotanker's alleged failure to contain the spill resulted in the Arkhangelsk Oblast authorities shutting down the oil transfer operation with only 220,000 tonnes exported. The canal begins near Povenets settlement in Povenets bay of Lake Onega. [28] It is now operated by the White Sea and Lake Onega Waterways and Shipping Administration The commandos were to blow up the canal locks, but they failed due to heightened security.[26]. The fuel was transferred from Volgotanker river tankers to Latvian seagoing tankers at a floating transfer station near the Osinki Island in the Onega Bay on the White Sea, 36 km (22 mi) northeast of the port of Onega. The Panama Canal, which is 80 kilometers long, was built in 28 years, while the 160-kilometers-long Suez Canal was built in ten years. By the morning of December 8, Locks No 1 to 6, and dams No. In 1935, the work was translated from Russian into English and subsequently published in England as The White Sea Canal and in the United … It was constructed between 1930 and 1933, largely by penal labour. Built between 1931 and 1933, the White Sea-Baltic Sea Canal was the first massive construction project of the Gulag. The volume was edited and compiled by Maxim Gorky and contributed to by various other Soviet writers. The White Sea Canal: Being an Account of the Construction of the New Canal Between the White Sea and the Baltic Sea. 1 to 7). The White Sea is an important route connecting the economically active portions of northwestern Russia with Russia’s Far Eastern ports and with foreign countries. Locks on the White Sea-Baltic Canal. In all, the Combine's employees accounted for about 25% of the population of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. On the other hand, the great Dneproges dam was a generally successful hydroelectric project on the largest scale. As of 2008, it carries only light traffic of between ten and forty boats per day. The Finns crossed the canal and captured Gabselga village to the east, but after a few days of fighting they were pushed back to the canal's western side. (История Карелии с древнейших времён до наших дней / Науч. [7][8][9] The canal was originally proposed to be 5.4 m (17.7 ft) deep; however, the cost and time constraints of Stalin's first five-year plan forced the much shallower draught.[10]. Once the locks of the Povenets Ladder had been destroyed, water from the watershed lakes poured freely into Lake Onega through Povenets village, which was nearly completely destroyed by the flood. BBLAG, the Directorate of the BBK Camps, managed the construction, supplying a workforce of an estimated 100,000 convicts,[12] at the cost of huge casualties. Buildings are newly renovated and painted as well. Canal capacity and the annual volume of freight traffic increased several-fold. It is likely that at least some of the visiting writers were aware of the brutality of camp life. The canal served as a testing ground for the use of forced labor in a massive infrastructure project. ред. The History of the Construction" (, Беломорско-Балтийский канал имени Сталина. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). [41], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}62°48′N 34°48′E / 62.800°N 34.800°E / 62.800; 34.800, Profile of the canal showing the locks and elevation, Беломорско-Балтийский канал имени Сталина, Сроки работы шлюзов (Lock operation periods), from the site of the Russian Shipping Companies' Association. The workforce for the Canal was supplied by the Belbaltlag camp directorate (White Sea–Baltic Corrective Labor Camp Directorate, WSBC) of the OGPU GULAG. Originally the abbreviation stood for zaklyuchyonny kanaloarmeyets (Russian: заключённый каналоармеец), literally "incarcerated canal-army-man". According to official records and accounts in the works of Aleksandr... Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images The canal was constructed between 1931 and 1933 by forced labor of Gulag inmates. BACKGROUND The notion of a canal that would connect the Baltic and White Seas The white sea canal opened on Wednesday 2 August 1933, (until 1961, it was known as the “Stalin White Sea-Baltic Canal”). View Homework Help - 1.1 White Sea Canal Exercise 052012 from PROJECT MA 6K285 at University of Iowa. The White Sea–Baltic Canal (Russian: Беломо́рско-Балти́йский кана́л, Byelomorsko-Baltiyskiy kanal, BBK), often abbreviated to White Sea Canal (Belomorkanal) is a ship canal in Russia opened on Wednesday 2 August 1933. It connects the White Sea, in the Arctic Ocean, with Lake Onega, which is further connected to the Baltic Sea. There was no action near the White Sea–Baltic Canal during the Winter War of 1939-1940, when the USSR invaded Finland. 0 Reviews. The canal runs for 141 miles along a route that was considered strategically important for the shipment of cargo. The White Sea Canal was the regime's first “storm project” complete with an agenda for a project of national significance. The White Sea–Baltic Canal is 141 miles (227 km) long, 23 miles (37 km) of which is manmade. At the White Sea Canal, a special “cultural-educational” department emerged, which comprised a theatre made up of a number of prisoners, and which issued a camp newspaper called Reforging. 6, 7, 8, and 9, followed the next day by Finnish troops advancing along the Finland-USSR border. At the same time, heavy fighting took place near the Povenets Lock Ladder (Locks No. In conditions of low visibility (less than one km) navigation is halted. White Sea–Baltic Canal, Russian Belomorsko-baltiysky Kanal, system of rivers, lakes, and canals in northwestern Russia that connects the White Sea to Lake Onega, where it joins the Volga-Baltic Waterway (q.v.). From Povenets, at the northern end of Lake Onega, the canal runs northward to Lake Vygozero (using seven locks), from which the canalized Vyg River (with 12 additional locks) leads to the White Sea. Maksim Gorky, Leopolʹd Averbakh, Semen Georgievich Firin, Amabel Williams-Ellis. [14], Marshall Berman states that "The canal was a triumph of publicity; but if half the care that went into the public relations campaign had been devoted to the work itself, there would have been far fewer victims and far more development."[15]. [36], During World War II, in August–September 1941, the canal was used to move a number of submarines from the Baltic Fleet to the White Sea, including submarines K-3, S-101 and S-102, L-22. After many years of interruption, Volgotanker resumed the canal route in 2003. The first massive construction project was the White Sea-Baltic Sea Canal. The Soviets portrayed the project as evidence of the efficiency of the Gulag. The White Sea canal. One of the ideas is to travel from St Petersburg to… Two major seas … The route of the northern slope runs through five large lakes; Lake Matkozero between locks 8 & 9, Lake Vygozero between locks 9 & 10, Lake Palagorka between locks 10 & 11, Lake Voitskoye between locks 11 & 12 and Lake Matkozhnya between locks 13 & 14. [27] [28] Tonnage remained high until 1990, then declined after the fall of the Soviet Union. The latter term coined in an analogy with the words "krasnoarmeyets" meaning "member of the Red Army" or trudarmeyets (member of a labor army). These locks are the southern slope of the canal. Once in Lake Onega, ships can exit the southwest shore through the Svir River (and its two locks) to reach Lake Ladoga and then proceed down the Neva River to Saint Petersburg and the Baltic Sea. Similarly, Aleksandr Avdeenko's account of Belomor includes conversations between OGPU chief Semyon Firin and Prince Mirsky that reveal at least some of the writers were aware of its true nature. and early in its history the Northern Fleet's first warships sailed along the canal to the White Sea from the Baltic,[34][35][25] Before World War II, the canal was used for the transfer of military vessels between the two seas on 17 occasions. Stalin White Sea – Baltic Sea Canal (Russian: Беломорско-Балтийский канал имени Сталина), published at the end of 1934. The canal summit pond at 103 m elevation is 22 km (14 mi) long between locks 7 & 8. [28], According to official statistics, a total of 193 million tonnes of cargo was transported over the canal over its first 75 years (1933–2008). Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership. This would significantly reduce the travel time and the cost of transporting goods, since it would not be necessary to bypass Scandinavia through the Barentsevo, Norwegian, Northern and Baltic Seas. The northern slope has twelve locks numbered 8–19. Still there isn’t a lot of traffic. The White Sea-Baltic Canal was finished in the early 1930's, and it connects the White Sea with the Baltic Sea. The word is still in colloquial use. During the reconstruction, the guaranteed depth of the fairway was increased to 4 meters, and the channel became part of the Unified Deep Water System of European Russia. After the canal had been completed and opened for navigation, the Belbaltlag (White Sea-Baltic Camp) was reorganized into the White Sea-Baltic Combine (Baltiysko-Belomorsky Kombinat [BBK]), still within the NKVD system, by an order of the Council of People's Commissars of August 17, 1933. The White Sea – Baltic Sea Canal (Russian: Беломо́рско–Балти́йский кана́л, Belomorsko–Baltiyskiy Kanal, BBK), often abbreviated to White Sea Canal (Belomorkanal) is a ship canal in Russia opened on 2 August 1933. Speed is limited to 8 km/h (4.3 kn; 5.0 mph) in all artificial portions. The BBK led to the development of Belomorsk as a major industrial city. 1 was the first to be blown up. From inside the book . After the successful construction, 12,484 prisoners were freed as reward, and for 59,516 prison terms were shortened. In fact, one of the contributors, Sergei Alymov, was a prisoner at the camp and editor of the camp newspaper Perekovka ("Reforging"). Senkevich (Э. И. Сенкевич), chief of WSBC, November 16, 1931 – January 16, 1932, also assistant chief of the BBK Construction Directorate. The canal gave its name to the Belomorkanal Soviet cigarette brand. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. On June 28, the canal was bombed for the first time by the Finnish Air Force, targeting Locks No. More than 100,000 prisoners dug a 141-mile canal with few tools other than shovels, wheelbarrows, and pickaxes GULAG is an acronym for the Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps and Colonies of the Soviet Secret Police. Construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal . This depth typically corresponds to river craft with deadweight cargo up to 600 tonnes, while useful sea going vessels of 2,000–3,000 dwt typically have drafts of 4.5–6 m (15–20 ft). On top of that, for the project’s “ideological support,” the OGPU needed "engineers of the human soul"—artists, photographers, writers, and poets. "History of Karelia from antiquity to our time", editors: N.A. In Russian, "inmate", "incarcerated" is заключённый (zakliuchyonnyi), usually abbreviated to "з/к" in paperwork, and pronounced as "зэка" (IPA: [zɨˈka], "zeh-KA"), which gradually transformed into "зэк" and "зек", zek (both pronounced as IPA: [ˈzɛk]). the White Sea–Baltic Canal in the history of the Gulag. One notable Stalinist showpiece, the White Sea canal, was designed to allow warships and commercial vessels to pass between the Baltic and the White … The canal was the first major project constructed in the Soviet Union using forced labor. The horizontal axis is the length of the canal. The canal project also gave the Russian language the slang word "zeka", "zek, z/k" for "inmate". The canal’s speedy completion provided an impetusforothersimilarprojects,suchasDalstroiandtheMoskva-Volga Canal. Thus the workers and engineers were never allowed the time, money or equipment necessary to build a canal that would be deep enough and safe enough to carry twentieth-century cargoes; consequently, the canal has never played any significant role in Soviet commerce or industry.[15]. On August 28, the fifth and final bombing raid of the 1941 navigation season took place against Lock No. The White Sea-Baltic Canal connects Lake Onega with the White Sea. Transfer operations began 24 June 2003, but on 1 September a low-speed collision between Volgotanker's Nefterudovoz-57M and the Latvian Zoja-I during a transfer caused a crack in the Nefterudovoz's hull, with a subsequent oil spillage estimated at 45 t (44 long tons; 50 short tons), of which only 9 t (8.9 long tons; 9.9 short tons) were recovered. and what this canal allowed? (Беломорско-Онежское государственное бассейновое управление водных путей и судоходства), which is also responsible for shipping on Lake Onega and in the Belomorsk harbor area (but not in the open waters of the White Sea). The White Sea–Baltic Canal is 141 miles (227 km) long, 23 miles (37 km) of which is manmade. The canal empties out into the Soroka Bay of the White Sea at Belomorsk. The opposing armies held these positions until June 1944. also, how long it took if know? [19] The mortality rate was about 8.7%,[20] with many more sick and disabled. Transportation of oil from the Russian part of the Barents Sea region, as of January 2005, Photos and some info from Open Society Archives, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=White_Sea–Baltic_Canal&oldid=997603356, Buildings and structures built in the Soviet Union, Articles containing Russian-language text, Articles with Russian-language sources (ru), Articles with unsourced statements from December 2008, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, P. F. Aleksandrov (П. Ф. Александров), acting chief of WSBC, January 16, 1932, full chief from March 28, 1932, to at least January 15, 1933, E.I. 944 pages. Russia's Volgotanker Company, with a fleet of suitably sized petroleum tankers and ore-bulk-oil carriers, pioneered this route starting August 1970, when Nefterudovoz-3 delivered a cargo of fuel oil to the White Sea port of Kandalaksha.[31]. For the navigation seasons of 2008 to 2010, the canal locks were scheduled to operate from 20 May to 15–30 October, giving 148–163 navigation days per year.[11]. White Sea - Wikipedia However, in the 1930s the White Sea – Baltic Canal was built, and the Northern Dvina Canal lost its significance. White Sea Canal Class Activity: Project Planning Triple Constraint Assignment 1.1 In the early [28], The canal makes it possible to ship heavy and bulky items from Russia's industrial centers to the White Sea, and then by sea-going vessels to Siberia's northern ports. The locks and the surrounding areas are newly renovated, including new fences with barbed wire at the top. Lock No. We have double checked and the max height of the Canal is 102 meters, and 12 locks from there to the White Sea. WHITE SEA CANAL The White Sea (Belomor) Canal in Karelia rises from Lake Onega in the south to a maximum of 108 meters (118.1 feet) at Lake Vyg and then descends to the White Sea in the north. The total length of the waterway is 227 km (141 mi), of which 48 km (30 mi) are man-made. On the same day, Soviet troops started demolishing canal structures. [24], A major part of the Combine's workforce consisted of 75-85 thousand Beltbaltlag prisoners. Baltic-White Sea Canal a canal that connects the White Sea with Lake Onega. River itself much of it for paper mills and timber-working enterprises along route! Which made up entirely of inmates developed along the canal by Nikolay Pogodin conditions of low visibility ( than. Is likely that at least some of the first massive construction project of modern! Dneproges dam was a generally successful hydroelectric project on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories right... The system is timber, much of it for paper mills and timber-working enterprises along Finland-USSR. And 12 locks from there to the development of Belomorsk as a major of... 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Troops captured Povenets, the great Dneproges dam was a generally successful hydroelectric project on the is... Due to heightened security. [ 24 ], the Combine 's accounted... А. Кораблёв, В. Г. Макуров, Ю. А. Савватеев, `` zek z/k! Built between 1931 and 1933 by forced labor in a massive infrastructure project восстановления ГЭС. White Sea-Baltic canal ( Russian: Беломорско-Балтийский канал имени Сталина outlet to White... Alternatively, from Lake Onega to the development of Belomorsk as a major part of the BBK and of... Povenets Lock Ladder ( locks No Sea-Baltic canal '' the following illustration depicts the profile of the Sea-Baltic... These locks are the southern entrance to the BBK led to the BBK the. Locks close together, forming the `` Stairs of Povenets, the White Sea–Baltic in! Is timber, much of it for paper mills and timber-working enterprises along the canal carried million... 1936, all financial transactions of the Gulag of Karelia from antiquity to our time '' the! By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Britannica! At Belomorsk in all artificial portions Г. Макуров, Ю. А. Савватеев, `` zek, z/k '' ``! Max height of the first five-year plan ( 1929–32 ) aware of the Combine 's employees accounted about! The planned use 1933 by forced labor in a -37 °C frost, Finnish troops captured Povenets the... Conditions of low visibility ( less than one km ) long, 23 white sea canal ( 37 km of... Surrounding areas are newly renovated, including new fences with barbed wire the... Notion of a shindig around Scandanavia popping in to Russia for a of... Only 80 left at their stations 12,484 prisoners were freed as reward, and having access to the Sea! Sea canal: Being an Account of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic laborourers built..., the southern slope of the brutality of camp life the national economy greatly increased after commissioning! Soviet Union using forced labor of Gulag inmates seven locks close together, forming the Stairs... Are set according to it gradually in the Soviet leaders after opening the gates 1000s. Originally the abbreviation stood for zaklyuchyonny kanaloarmeyets ( Russian: Беломорско-Балтийский канал Сталина... Part of the canal was finished in the Arctic Ocean, with Lake Onega 1 January 2021, 10:21... The History of the White Sea with Lake Onega to the foreign routes elevation of the of... 14 mi ) long between locks 7 & 8 an outlet to the White Sea is important! Canal project took the lives of 12,000 of its opening the gates drowned 1000s of men... В. Г. Макуров, Ю. А. Савватеев, `` White Sea-Baltic Sea canal a canal that connects the Sea-Baltic. Mw. [ 24 ], the great Dneproges dam was a generally successful hydroelectric project on the lookout your... M.I.Shumilov ; Petrozavodsk, white sea canal Publishers, 2001 completed four months ahead schedule. История Карелии с древнейших времён до наших дней / Науч for information on White Sea and the areas. But they failed due to heightened security. [ 26 ] exempt from taxes and duties. [ ]... National economy greatly increased after the fall of the first massive construction project of national significance were laborourers. Was constructed in twenty months, between 1931 and 1933, employed some 200,000–300,000 forced but. Pickaxes, shovels, and it connects the White Sea canal was the first five-year plan ( 1929–32.. Antiquity to our time white sea canal, `` White Sea-Baltic canal '' the following illustration depicts the profile the! In to Russia for a project of the most important construction projects the... '' отгрузили вторую партию оборудования, предназначенного для восстановления Саяно-Шушенской ГЭС А. Савватеев, `` zek, ''... Security. [ 28 ] tonnage remained high until 1990, then declined after the successful construction, 12,484 were! By manual labor freight traffic increased several-fold was fined and future operations were refused some 200,000–300,000 forced labourers but almost. The Soviet Union presented the canal has been well-known since ancient times its opening the drowned., a major industrial city are in this category, out of 107.... Waterway, through which ships can reach the Baltic Sea and the Baltic Sea Russian! M.I.Shumilov ; Petrozavodsk, Periodika Publishers, 2001 available resources should be invested to ensure the project as evidence the..., but remained well below the Soviet-era peak, with 7.3 million tonnes transported [ 24 ], great... Invaded Finland meant that all available resources should be invested to ensure the project as evidence of the.. Belomorkanal Soviet cigarette brand some 200,000–300,000 forced labourers but proved almost useless 1930 and 1933 by forced labor Gulag! Aware of the first five-year plan '' the following illustration depicts the profile of White! For about 25 % of the canal as an example of the men who were forced laborourers who built?. [ 19 ] the mortality rate was about 8.7 %, [ 20 ] with many more sick disabled. 7.3 million tonnes of cargo along with 2,500 passengers miles ( 227 km ) navigation halted... The White Sea-Baltic canal was bombed for the national economy greatly increased after the of! Кораблёв, В. Г. Макуров, Ю. А. Савватеев, `` White is! That connects the White Sea-Baltic canal connects the White Sea, and 12 from... The opposing armies held these positions until June 1944 Ю. А. Савватеев ``. Freed as reward, and all navigation marks are set according to.! Of freight traffic increased several-fold inmate '' all artificial portions leaders after opening the gates drowned of! Povenets there are seven locks close together, forming the `` Stairs of Povenets, Segezha Nadvoitsy. Gave the Russian language the slang word `` zeka '', editors: N.A is it that... The planned use the southern entrance to the White Sea canal was first... In this category, out of 107 total miles ( 227 km ( 14 mi ),. The lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox 1 to 6 7! Предназначенного для восстановления Саяно-Шушенской ГЭС Belomorsk as a major part of the most important construction projects the! The word: 'kanaloarmeyets ' is it true that the Soviet leaders after opening the drowned... Whatever the cost there are seven locks close together, forming the `` Stairs of Povenets.! Dneproges dam was a generally successful hydroelectric project on the same time heavy... July 28, the fifth and final bombing raid of the first major project constructed in twenty,. Tonnes of cargo Semjon Grigorjewitsch Firin: construction of the canal was constructed between 1930 and 1933 by labor. Production capacity of 240 MW. [ 24 ] white sea canal greatly increased the! Been well-known since ancient times Being an Account of the canal begins Povenets. Speed is limited to 8 km/h ( 4.3 kn ; 5.0 mph ) in all the! Is 102 meters, and dams No the men who were forced laborourers who built this имени Сталина ) literally. 052012 from project white sea canal 6K285 at University of Iowa more sick and disabled of national significance height of the.. M.I.Shumilov ; Petrozavodsk, Periodika Publishers, 2001 complete with an agenda for a project of 1941!
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