Angara, Historic icebreaker ship in Irkutsk, Russia

The Angara is a riveted-steel icebreaker and passenger-freight steamer launched in 1900, now moored near the Irkutsk hydroelectric dam as a museum ship. Its black hull has a red stripe at the waterline, a white superstructure with round portholes, and three white funnels with red bands. The name "АНГАРА" appears on the bow and between the funnels.

The vessel was built in Newcastle and assembled in 1900 to clear ice paths for ferries crossing Lake Baikal during the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Later, during the Russian Civil War, it was converted into a military ship and saw combat against Czechoslovak forces.

The ship is named after the Angara, the river that drains Lake Baikal. Since 1990 it has been a branch of the Irkutsk Regional Museum of Local Lore, and visitors can go below deck to see the triple-expansion steam engine and four boilers built by Wigham Richardson & Co.

The museum is open year-round, and visitors can take guided tours to explore different areas of the vessel. It is helpful to check ahead about available tours, as the number of visitors allowed inside at one time may be limited.

The Angara was not the main ferry: it was ordered in 1898 as a smaller, more manoeuvrable escort to the icebreaking ferry Baikal. Its riveted steel hull carried a 25 mm ice belt, and a 1,250 hp triple-expansion engine drove a single 3.5 m propeller at up to 14 knots. During the Russo-Japanese War it once carried about 1,000 passengers, mostly soldiers.