Of a titan, winds and power: Transnational development of the icebreaker, 1890-1954
Icebreakers have traditionally been seen as symbols of technological nationalism. While ship science for open-water vessels developed during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, understanding of how to cope with polar and subarctic ice conditions lagged behind. This led state organizat...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3105943 https://doi.org/10.1177/08438714211062493 |
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ftntnutrondheimi:oai:ntnuopen.ntnu.no:11250/3105943 2023-12-31T10:08:04+01:00 Of a titan, winds and power: Transnational development of the icebreaker, 1890-1954 Matala, Saara Aaro, Sahari 2021 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3105943 https://doi.org/10.1177/08438714211062493 eng eng International Journal of Maritime History. 2021, 33 (4), 722-747. urn:issn:0843-8714 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3105943 https://doi.org/10.1177/08438714211062493 cristin:1986507 Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no 722-747 33 International Journal of Maritime History 4 Peer reviewed Journal article 2021 ftntnutrondheimi https://doi.org/10.1177/08438714211062493 2023-12-06T23:46:56Z Icebreakers have traditionally been seen as symbols of technological nationalism. While ship science for open-water vessels developed during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, understanding of how to cope with polar and subarctic ice conditions lagged behind. This led state organizations in charge of icebreaking services to minimize risks in the development of new vessels by encouraging transnational expert cooperation. This article argues that such interactions were critical to the evolution of the modern icebreaker. We examine the development of three icebreakers in different countries in successive decades, and the critical technologies with which they are associated: the Ymer from Sweden and diesel–electric propulsion (1933); the American ‘Wind’ class and power-hull proportion (1942–1946); and the Voima from Finland and twin bow propellers (1956). We reconstruct the flow of information to explain the rationale for transnational cooperation in maritime technology development. The concept of ‘technology carriers’ is deployed in the analysis to enhance understanding of the role of international cooperation in polar and winter seafaring. publishedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper Icebreaker Subarctic NTNU Open Archive (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) International Journal of Maritime History 33 4 722 747 |
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Open Polar |
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NTNU Open Archive (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) |
op_collection_id |
ftntnutrondheimi |
language |
English |
description |
Icebreakers have traditionally been seen as symbols of technological nationalism. While ship science for open-water vessels developed during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, understanding of how to cope with polar and subarctic ice conditions lagged behind. This led state organizations in charge of icebreaking services to minimize risks in the development of new vessels by encouraging transnational expert cooperation. This article argues that such interactions were critical to the evolution of the modern icebreaker. We examine the development of three icebreakers in different countries in successive decades, and the critical technologies with which they are associated: the Ymer from Sweden and diesel–electric propulsion (1933); the American ‘Wind’ class and power-hull proportion (1942–1946); and the Voima from Finland and twin bow propellers (1956). We reconstruct the flow of information to explain the rationale for transnational cooperation in maritime technology development. The concept of ‘technology carriers’ is deployed in the analysis to enhance understanding of the role of international cooperation in polar and winter seafaring. publishedVersion |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Matala, Saara Aaro, Sahari |
spellingShingle |
Matala, Saara Aaro, Sahari Of a titan, winds and power: Transnational development of the icebreaker, 1890-1954 |
author_facet |
Matala, Saara Aaro, Sahari |
author_sort |
Matala, Saara |
title |
Of a titan, winds and power: Transnational development of the icebreaker, 1890-1954 |
title_short |
Of a titan, winds and power: Transnational development of the icebreaker, 1890-1954 |
title_full |
Of a titan, winds and power: Transnational development of the icebreaker, 1890-1954 |
title_fullStr |
Of a titan, winds and power: Transnational development of the icebreaker, 1890-1954 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Of a titan, winds and power: Transnational development of the icebreaker, 1890-1954 |
title_sort |
of a titan, winds and power: transnational development of the icebreaker, 1890-1954 |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3105943 https://doi.org/10.1177/08438714211062493 |
genre |
Icebreaker Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Icebreaker Subarctic |
op_source |
722-747 33 International Journal of Maritime History 4 |
op_relation |
International Journal of Maritime History. 2021, 33 (4), 722-747. urn:issn:0843-8714 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3105943 https://doi.org/10.1177/08438714211062493 cristin:1986507 |
op_rights |
Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/08438714211062493 |
container_title |
International Journal of Maritime History |
container_volume |
33 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
722 |
op_container_end_page |
747 |
_version_ |
1786840645156995072 |