Suur Tõll, Steam-powered icebreaker at Lennusadam, Estonia
Suur Tõll is a steam-powered icebreaker now moored as a museum ship at Lennusadam, the seaplane harbour in Tallinn. The vessel is about 74 meters (243 ft) long and has three propellers, with two at the stern and one at the bow.
The ship was built in 1914 at the AG Vulcan shipyard in Germany and went on to serve under Russian, Finnish, Estonian, and Soviet flags over the following decades. It was retired in 1988 and later turned into a museum ship to document the maritime past of the Baltic region.
The ship takes its name from a giant in Estonian folklore, known as a protector of the island of Saaremaa. On board, visitors can see how the crew lived and worked, with the cramped cabins and narrow corridors giving a clear sense of life at sea in the early 20th century.
The ship is moored at Lennusadam, on the eastern side of Tallinn Bay, and is easy to reach on foot from the city center. Visitors can board and walk through the engine rooms and crew quarters, though some areas involve steep stairs and low ceilings.
The ship sailed under four different national flags during its working life, changing its name each time, which makes it an unusually complete record of the shifting control over the Baltic Sea in the 20th century. Despite all those changes, the original steam engines are still largely intact and can be seen on board.
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