PRODUCTION OF RIVER PASSENGER SHIPS FOR THE USSR IN THE SKODA SHIPYARDS IN KOMARNO

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00046R000400330009-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 4, 2009
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: March 24, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

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C-O-N-F-I-D-E-N-T-I A-L
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
Czechoslovakia
Production of River Passenger Ships
for the USSR in the Skoda Shipyards
in Kora rn o
This material contains ihformation affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States within the mean-
ing of the Espionage Laws, Title 18, U.S.C. Sees. 793
and 794, the transmission or revelation. of which in
any manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law.
21- March 1955
REPORT
DATE DISTR.
NO. OF PAGES
REQUIREMENT
REFERENCES
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THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
C-O-N-F-I-D-E-N-T-I A-L
ARMY !1 x NAVY
AIRS FBI.
ORR x
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COUNTRY Czechoslovakia
SUBJECT Production of River Passenger Ships
for the USSR in the Skoda Shipyards
in Komar
DATE OF INFORMATION
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
1. During 1948 or early 1949, the Soviet Ministry of the River. Fleet
(Ministerstvo Rechnogo Flota) placed an order with Investa, a
Czechoslovak export and import firm in Prague, for the delivery
of river passenger ships. All the ships were to be of the same
type and were destined for use on Soviet rivers and canals. The
Investa firm placed this order with the Skoda Shipyards in Komarno
(N 47-46, E 18-08). Stuchlik (fnu) was the Investa official who
was in charge of liaison between his firm and the Skoda Shipyards.
der.
2. The first conference for discussing ship roduction was held in
Prague (or in Hradec Kralove) in early 1949. Smok (fnu), a repre-
sentative of the Ministry of Heavy Machinery Construction, Dr. Ing.
Klima (fnu), manager of the MEZ Development in Brno, and Strajbl
(fnu), a graduate engineer in machinery construction in charge of
the Design Department of the Skoda Works, represented Czechoslovakia.
The Soviet representatives were headed by the Deputy Minister of the
River Fleet, Ptashnikov (fnu). This was only a general discussion
and no technical details were determined. Ptashnikov originally
wanted side-wheel-propelled ships with diesel-electric drives, but
Klima opposed this idea because of their unnecessary expense and
insisted that diesel-electric drives with propellers be used instead.
In 1949, the Skoda Shipyards in Komarno entrusted the designing of
the ship to the Skoda Ship Design Department located in the Skoda
Works in Hradec Kralove.' The Skoda Ship Design Department, as
such, was liquidated at some tuns near the end of 1950 and its
employees and all activities were transferred to the newly created
Stuchlik also may have been the I;
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DATE DISTR. 27 Dec 1954
NO. OF PAGES 8
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Ship Design Department of the Evika firm in Prague-Smichov,
Kartouzska 200. This newly created Ship Design Department served
both the Skoda Shipyards in Komarno and the CKD Shipyards in Liben,
the CKD Design Department having been liquidated in the meantime.
Evika (Evidencni kancelar vagonu - Office for'Recording Railroad
Cars) was originally a department of the Tatra concern but qu ckl
grew far beyond the original nur-nnsip pxnracaarsd 1-n t fa +{ *, a
During
1951 the Evike Ship Design Department became independent and wasrenamed Navika but its location remained the same. There was no
change in its personnel or activities. Thus it was with Navika that
the responsibility for the Soviet orders finally rested. Strajbl
(see paragraph 2) was in charge of Navika. There were three chief
designers for electric ,equip
ment,whose names were Ing. Mareda (fnu),
machinery.
The shipbuilding project was considered urgent and it was planned
to begin delivery during 1951. The ships were to have diesel-electric
drives, a capacity of about 400 passengers, and required about 20 crew
members. The first order was for nine river ships. The following
national enterprises participated in the production, supplying parts
as mentioned:
a. Skoda Shipyards in Komarno built the ships. They were built in
the new section of the Komarno Shipyards which was opened
apparently in connection with this Soviet order.
b. Navika firm designed the ship.
Skoda Works in Prague-Smichov provided:
(1)
Main,diesel engines of the 6L275 type, six cylinders, 400
hp at 550 rpm. There were two of these engines for each
ship.
(2) Diesel engines, four cylinders, 100 hp at 1,500 rpm,
for driving synchronous generators. There were two of
these engines for each ship.
(3), Diesel engines, two cylinders, for charging batteries in
cases of emergency. There was one of these engines for
each ship.
(4) Diesel engines for air compressors, probably one for each
ship.
d. Skoda Works in Hradec Kralovel supplied two propellers for each
ship, propeller bearings, and propeller gaskets.
eb MEZ Vsetin supplied:
(1) Main drives which consisted of main generators of the
MR 8092-10 type, marked 273 kw, 400 v, 550 rpm, and DC
electric motors of the MR 8052-10 type, 250 kw, 490 v,
.240 rpm, for driving propellers.
(2) Auxiliary machinery for the main drive which consisted of
generator exciters, type MV 1311-4, and motor exciters, type
M 1709. The latter were used for blowing air into the
electric motors which drove the propellers.
(3) Generators, type M 2214, for charging the battery.
.MEZ Frenstat (N 49-33, E 18-13) supplied synchronous generators,
three-phase, 3 x 220 v, 50 cycles per second, for electric
current for lighting and other.common purposes. There were
synchronous generators for each ship, each of which was driven
by a diesel engine of about 100 hp.
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MEZ Brno-Zidenice provided motor generator sets for rudder drives,
output about five kilowatts, consisting of a DC generator, an
induction motor, a motor exciter, and an amplidyne.for exciting
the generator.
h. MEZ Mohelnice (N 4+9-47, E 16-55) supplied all kinds of small
induction motors such as winch motors for the anchor chains and
emergency ventilating motors for the electric motors which drove
the propeller.
i. MEZ Postrelmov (N 49-55, E 16-55) supplied panels and panel controls.
3. CKD Stalingrad in Prague-Vysocany supplied switches and controls.
k. Metra in Blansko (N 49-22, E 16-4o) supplied instruments for
measuring revolutions per minute of the generators and motors,
and standard electric measuring instruments.
1. Sigma Pumps Factory in Lutin (P90/N74) or Olnmniin r%, ajedla
(N 49-10, E 17-32) provided
all of the water pumps.
m. Tesla
and receiving sets.
n. Signal Firm
and control .
supplied radio sending 25X1
supplied signal .
o. EZ (Elektromontalni zavody - a plant for the assembly and
installation of electric equipment) in Bratislava, Komarno
Branch, installed all of the main electric machinery and
r+iAf11114iL j caul j,/111C111r, 11.1 LUU.ng Gaples. 25X1
the Komarno Branch later became an indep en enterprise.
Janka in Radotin (N 49-59, E 14-22) supplied various ventilators.
q. An enterprise supplied heating 25X1
e
ui
t
q
pmen
--warm-water ea ng systems and. boiler heating by diesel
oil..
The drawings and blueprints for the ship were finished and sent to
the USSR in 1950. The Soviets, however, did not fully approve the
plans and requested changes., in, the external lines and internal space
allocation of the ship. The changes did not affect the machinery. 25X1
Making the changes in the blueprints and drawings necessitated post-
poning the date Dlanned for nningdelivery until early 1952.
(See page 8 for sketch of the ship as it was constructed.)
In the summer of 1951,MEZ Vsetin was urged to speed u delivery of
machinery to the shipyards; however the ship- 25X1
yards were not ready to use this machinery at that time but used
the delay in delivery of machinery from MEZ Vsetin as an excuse for
their own delay. MEZ.Vsetin finally delivered the equipment in.early
1952. It was planned to finish the building of the' ship and to start
testing it in the shipyards on 10 March 1952, to start testing the
ship on the open water on 20 March 1952, and to schedule departure of
the ship for 30 March 1952. It was also planned to display the ship
in Moscow on 1 May 1952.
The construction of the ship was not completed as planned. The testing
began on.2 April 1952 and the ship, ~ROSSIYA , was finally handed over
to Soviet representatives in Komarno in August 1952. The main reasons
for delay in delivery were:
a. The electrical equipment was not designed according to the standards
of the Soviet River Registry. MEZ Vsetin did not originally have
the Soviet standards. They reached the plant when the design was
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almost finished and at that time they were disregarded. The
necessary modifications of the machinery were made partly in
the shipyards and partly after the ship had been delivered to
the Soviet Union.
b.. The electric machinery was not properly tested at MEZ Vsetin.
sand, therefore, defects appeared during the testing in the ship-
yards which could have been found and corrected in the factory.
c. The rudder drive was defective. It was very weak mechanically
and had to be modified Even after'the modification, the rudder.
drive was not entirely satisfactory and it was still unoatis-
factory when the tenth ship was built..
d. EZ in Komarno was not sufficiently staffed with qualified personnel.
for shipbuilding.
e. The Metra Blansko measuring instruments were not satisfactory.
In addition to the above-mentioned defects which were more or less
corrected, the first ship had the following permanent:defects which
were never actually corrected:
a.. The ship was off balance when drawing a line from stem to stern
at water level; one side was about 20 cm.,wider than the other
when measuring from the center of the ship.,
The maximum speed of the ship in shallow water was.19.3'km, per
hour. This eneed was considered too low, although
no exact speed. was stipulated in the order.
The second ship, 1TKRAINAYA" , was handed over to the Soviet officials
in December 1953, but the ship was not yet navigable at t-h~t time an
did not actually leave the shipyards until January 1954.
The ninth
-,-7-- 1 --
in. April 1954 and was sent to the USSR sometime between May and the
end of July.
10. The main.characterist.ics.of the.machinery of.the ships of the first
series were as follows:
e The.output.of the diesel engine.was.400 hp,.aa contracted, but
only when the temperature in the-engine room. was 20C or below.
When the temperature exceeded 20* C the output decreased pro-
portionately. The'Soviets interrupted the testing of the ninth
ship in April 1954 because of the diminishing output of the
diesel engines and did not allow any testing of the ship what-
soever until they obtained a chart giving the re.lationship.be
tween the output of the engine and the temperature and air
pressure in the engine room. They received a.. chart from,the
Skoda Works.in Smiohov.within.a week. Actually, it was possible
to compile such a table. in a couple of hours and it could have
been done on the spot but, because the..chart.had to be .signed by.
the chief engineer of the Skoda Works,it had to be prepared in'.
Prague. Thit event contributed to the friction between the
shipyard representatives and the Soviets which had existed from
the beginningi
b. The engine room was very crowded, making the maintenance of
machinery very difficult; the disassembly of generators was
especially inconvenient.
c.. The main electrical equipment, was. very complicated when designed
and became even more complicated through. modifications made during
the'first series:
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ZoA]
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'vFu1 I& LFJ 1111.
(1) There were seven possibilities for combining the generators
and the motors. Beginning with the. sixth ship, the controls
were located in the captain's bridge so that the captain
could choose any combination he needed by moving the switches.
(2) This equipment enabled the captain to change the direction
of the propeller blades and thereby alter the course of the
ship by simply moving two upright control levers back: and
forth, each regulating one propeller. A period of five
seconds had to elapse while a lever was being moved in
order to avoid ,a break in the circuit which would cause
the propellers to cease operation.. In order to insure the
five-second, delay after the levers were set into motion,
a set of automatically timed relays was installed in the
circuit beginning with the fifth ship. The relays were a
CKD Stalingrad product and were individually good but proved
unsatisfactory when installed in the ship's equipmenti
d. The design and manufacture of the main electrical equipment for
the ships of the first series, especially for ships one through
.five, was unsatisfactory. Motor and generator armatures On some
of the ships had to be replaced shortly after the ships were put
into use and it was planned to replace the armatures on all of 25X1
the ships. The armatures Were made in MEZ Vsetin and were sent
to the USSR t
b
o
e installed in thchio
e manprv nfl 1h ships.
e. The Metra Blansko measuring instruments were unsatisfactory.
Metra Blansko asked.for time to develop apparatus for electrical
machinery for ships at the time the order wa.s placed but was
informed that, because of the lack of time, standard Metre
apparatus would have to suffice.
The auxiliary oil tank was poorly designed. It was placed above
one of the diesel engines. One of the ships caught fire in a
Soviet harbor; the fire started in the auxiliary oil tank.
11 The second series consisted of ships 10 through 35, all of which had
the same technical features. Actually ships 10 through 35 were
included on several separate orders. Most important changes in,
comparison to the first series were as follows:
a. The ventilator motors were of the TMN-16 type, a MEZ Zidenice
product,and.were fed by the propeller motor-exciter at a constant
voltage of 220 v. The propeller motor-exciters were of the MR
2214 type, a MEZ Vsetin product, a larger type than the M 1709
propeller motor-exciter used in the first series. The first
series was equipped with MU 1713 ventilator motors, a MEZ Vsetin
product, fed by the generators at a voltage which varied up to
500 v.
The generator exciters were of the MRL 1610-4 type; this type
being larger and having greater output than the MV 1311-4 type
generator exciter used in the first series. Both were MEZ
Vsetin products.
c. The blowing of air from the ventilator to the generator was
improved durin
th
c
g
e
ourse of the secodi
n seres.
d. Beginning with the twentieth or twenty-fifth shin
ofhi
- ....,.- Hype for super-
charging was to be employed with the die
l
se
enginnes. This equip-
memt would keep the output: of the engine at X400 hp. even at a.
temperature higher than 20 C.
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12. The first ship of the second series, the tenth ship built, was handed
over to the Soviets in August 1954. The delivery of the ship was
delayed because of the late delivery of the electrical equipment from
MEZ Vsetin to the shipyards. It had been planned to deliver this
equipment in the autumn of 1953 but,because of thorough testing of
the equipment in the factory, the delivery was delayed. In August
1954 the second, third, fourth, and fifth ships of the second series
were near completion in the shipyards. In August 1954~MEZ Vsetin
also delivered the equipment for the sixth and seventh ships of the
series. The shipyards planned to deliver two ships each month. MEZ
Vsetin was already delivering the equipment at that rate but the
shipyards were not yet able to build ships at that rate. It was
believed that the building of ships would continue indefinitely.
.13. The third series was to begin with the thirty-sixth ship. Basic
changes in machinery were to be made in the ships of this. series.
.Smok went to Moscow in early 1954,to discuss new technical features.
The basic changes included:
a. The some diesel engines with supercharging equipment as were
used in the second series were to be used in the third series
but the output was to be increased to 500 hp.
b. There was to be a mechanical transmission instead of the electric
transmission. This meant that MEZ Vsetin would no longer arti-
ci ate in this shipbuLldiniz Dr
the reasons,were purely technical, i.e,
although ships with a ec-ric transmission have the best possible
navigability, such perfection is not necessary for river navi-
9 ation; electric transmissions have larger power losses, about
0 hp in this case, than mechanical transmission,in which the
loss is only about 20 hp; and, finally, electric machinery is
more delicate and therefore more expensive to maintain.
c. The ships were to be wider at the water line, 10.5 m. instead of
8.6 m.
14. The Soviets dealing with the ships in the Skoda Shipyards in Komarno
were either employees of the Soviet River Registry Bureau or repre-
sentatives of the Soviet Ministry of the. Rii ' 21eeti* The River Registry
Bureau had its office at the shipyards and employed five to 10 people.
The office was subordinate to the River Registry Bureau in Prague,
chief of which was Po.lyakov (fnu). Kharitonov (fnu) was head of the
Komarno office. The task of the River Registry Bureau was to keep a
constant check on the building of the ships in the shipyards and
insure compliance with Soviet standards of river navigation. The
ships were the property of the shipyards until they were officially
turned over to the Soviets; however, an authorization from the River
Registry Bureau was necessary for making each test on open water.
-An official from the River Registry Bureau went to MEZ Vsetin to
25X1
check the equipment when it was ready to leave the factory.
were located in Komarno in order better to control Soviet shipping 25X1
on the Danube River. In addition to this function, they also represented
the USSR in purchasing ships built in the Czechoslovak shipyards and
destined for the USSR. One of these representatives was present in
the shipyards during the building of the ships of the first series.
The captain and chief engineer were also present while the shi
on
p
which they were to serve was being built.
15. The Czechoslovak Ministry of Machinery Construction had representatives
in the shipyards whose task it was to handle coordination among the
individual enterprises participating in the building of the ships.
Prior to the setting up of the. Ministry of Machinery Construction,
these officials were in the shipyards as-representatives of the Ministry
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 of General .., Machinery Construction and of the Ministry of Heavy
Machinery Construction which existed at that time.
16. In general, this shipbuilding project was not properly planned and
organized. The quality of the ships of the second series should have
been better than that of the first series, and the ships with mechanical
transmissions, those of the third series, should have been better than
those with electric transmissions.
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Comment: The Skoda Works in Hradec Kralove produced mainly
equipment for sugar refineries and distilleries and
similar industrial equipment and had no connection
with the Ship Design Department. This department was
located in Hradec Kralove only because there was
adequate building space for it at this branch of the
Skoda Works. In addition to this installation there
was one other ship design department in Czechoslovakia;
the CKD National Enterprise had a Ship Design Department
located in Prague (probably Karlin) and shipyards-located
in Prague-Liben.
Legend (See Sketch, page 8)
1. Cabins for crew.
2. Third-class passenger cabins; capacity 200 persons.
3. Cargo storage.
4. Diesel oil tanks and water tanks.
b. Main diesel engines.
c. Diesel engines for driving synchronous generators.
d. Panel control.
Main engine room:
a. Boiler for heating ship.
Rudder drive.
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Panel.
Diesel oil tanks and water tanks.
Rear engine room:
a. Electric motor for driving propellers.
b. Motor generator set for driving rudder.
9. Gangways.
10. Second-class passenger cabins; total capacity about 180 persons.
11, Sitting rooms and offices.
12. Mess.
13. First-and second-class passenger cabins.
14. Pilot's room.
15, Captain's cabin and two or three luxury cabins.
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