Raketa: 24H Atomic IceBreaker Siberia

I have been collecting watches related to Soviet Antarctica Expedition. I am glad to find this timepiece, the reason being I get to know who is the original owner of the watch and he has participated in the expedition back then. This watch is known to be issued to the participants of Soviet Antarctica Expedition on Atomic IceBreaker Siberia in 1987 for critical rescue mission, however the question is do we have official information about the watch apart from being discussed by collectors?

Here are the photos I have photographed -

The dial design is one of the best in my opinion with a lot of stories to tell

The back cover is known to have 6 digits serial numbers

According to the seller, here's the scan of the photo from the owner of the watch, the back of the photo with interesting handwriting indeed. Initially I thought this is just the image downloaded from the Internet, however searching across Google and Yandex yield no result at all, making me believe this is genuine. Unfortunately the owner didn't want to sell the photo together with the watch, and most likely it holds more sentimental value to him but I am just as happy that the owner decided to share the photo so I can learn more about the history background.



The handwriting in Cyrillic language -
Олейнику Н.Н участнику
высокоширотной экспедиции
на Атомном ледоколе "Сибирь"
по закрытию дрейфующей
станции СП-29.
Капитан А/Л (Атомный Ледокол) "Сибирь" Начальник Экспедиции
Начальник дрейфующей станции СП-29

Translated to English as -
Oleynik N.N. To the participant
high-latitude expedition
on the atomic icebreaker "Siberia"
to close the drifting
station SP-29.
Captain A / L (Atomic Icebreaker) "Siberia" Head of Expedition
Head of the drifting station SP-29

I was told that the name Олейнику Н.Н, the Н is most likely Николай which should be translated to English as Nikolai. According to Oleynik, the issue of the watch is approximately 1200 pieces. And he is someone very important, a CHEF on the IceBreaker Siberia ;)

Tell me who don't need foods?!

Unfortunately I couldn't find his name in the list of participants -

http://www.polarpost.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=609&start=30

http://www.polarpost.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3183

I don't think the information is complete, there are only 3 chefs' name in the list which is impossible, if someone else has more information, do share with me ;)

So we are all wondering, if the watches were indeed issued to the participants, there should be some official reference. Having discussed with Oscar Cabrero about many Soviet watches were actually well maintained and recorded by the Museum, I get the clue of hunting the information from the History Museum of Murmansk Shipping Company, and with luck I found the following piece of valuable information -

https://www.votpusk.ru/country/dostoprim_info.asp?ID=7709

https://www.votpusk.ru/gallery/foto.asp?DST=7709&P=3

The Raketa 24H Atomic IceBreaker Siberia watch display in Museum

On the left, translation for the badge
первый экипаж а/л Сибирь
The first crew of the Atomic Icebreaker Siberia

On the right bottom, translation for the description of the watch
Часы изготовленные для участников высокоширотного рейса ал (атомного ледокола) Сибирь к Северному Полюсу
Watches made for the participants of the high-flight Atomic Icebreaker Siberia to the North Pole

The photo from the Museum is definitely a solid proof, and maybe one day I will have chance of visiting the museum, daydreaming continues ...

If you are interested in the history of IceBreaker Siberia, have fun reading the additional information that can be found in the Internet -

http://www.polarpost.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=609&start=15

https://forum.faleristika.info/viewtopic.php?f=110&t=18341&start=60

https://secrethistory.su/22-arkticheskiy-pohod-sibiri.html

http://elib.biblioatom.ru/text/sovetskie-atomnye-ledokoly_1988/go,14/

http://yavix.ru/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8%20%D0%AD%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F%20%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B0%20%C2%AB%D0%A1%D0%B8%D0%B1%D0%B8%D1%80%D1%8C%C2%BB

Big thanks to both Ilya and Valeriy Zubko to provide me assistance regarding language context and translation since I know nothing about Cyrillic language.

Cheers ;-)

Additional update: As I have found photo of this watch in Monchegorsk Museum of Colored Stone as well, which is located in Murmansk -

http://museum.3dn.ru/blog/chasy_i_vremja/2016-10-03-148

The most left ;)

Interestingly I also read about the important of Chef role during expedition -


Comments

  1. Another great choice. Beautiful condition .These commemorative watches are becoming much harder to find and more expensive. Regards Russ.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Indeed, but that's the fun of hunting, keep looking out for interesting pieces ;)

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