Murtaja (1890 icebreaker)
Murtaja was a Finnish state-owned steam-powered icebreaker. Built in 1890 by Bergsunds Mekaniska Verkstads AB in Stockholm, Sweden, she was the first state-owned icebreaker of Finland and one of the first purpose-built icebreakers in the world. Murtaja remained in service for 68 years until she was decommissioned and broken up in 1958 after having been replaced by the diesel-electric Karhu.
Murtaja at the port of Helsinki in the 1890s.
Murtaja on sea trials in late March 1890.
Drawing of Murtaja published in the Finnish newspaper Land och Stad on 16 April 1890, two weeks after she arrived to Finland.
Drawing of Murtaja published in 1894.
Sampo was a Finnish state-owned steam-powered icebreaker. Built in 1898 by Sir W.G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co Ltd in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom and named after a magical artifact from the Finnish mythology, she was the second state-owned icebreaker of Finland and the first European icebreaker equipped with a bow propeller. When Sampo was decommissioned and broken up in 1960, she was also the second last steam-powered icebreaker in the Finnish icebreaker fleet.
Sampo undergoing sea trials on 23 October 1898.
Sampo assisting SS Castor during the Finnish Civil War in February 1918.
Sampo grounded and camouflaged with tree branches.
Neptun's salvage ship Assistans next to the partially submerged Sampo.