The original version
(in Russian) was published in MyBlog at www.accentee.com on April 3, 2011. Since many people
expressed interest in the story I have it translated into English and started this MyBlogg for other possible translations.
Back in the fifties among the major ceremonial events lauded
in Soviet media and reels, were the seeing off and meeting of the whaling flotilla
“Slava” ("Glory"). In Odessa,
where the flotilla was based, these days were holidays. The events were even depicted
in the Dunayevsky’s famous operetta "White Acacia". A girl Tonya
played by the beautiful actress Tatiana Shmyga, worked as a radio operator on one
of the flotilla whalers.
To explain a bit, a whaler is a whale-hunting vessel, 40-60
meters in length, which is relatively small compared to the fleet’s base (a floating
plant for cutting and processing whales). There were about eight whalers
working with the floating base "Slava". All the people on board the flotilla,
who traveled to distant waters of Antarctica, were called by the same word: whalers.
In recent decades, commercial whaling was halted by
international conventions, and it all went down in history. The farther
away from us any story is, the more we know, there are people who want to write
about it as experts or witnesses. Recently I decided to see what is published
on the internet about the history of whaling in Russia. It turned out - a lot,
though the stories often repeat each other. What I noticed - when it comes to
describing the technical details of whale hunting, there are numerous
absurdities, such as a harpoon weighing 100 kg (in fact much less), or some
guys were going to fire a whaling gun during a strong gale (not even funny). This
clearly suggests that the authors themselves did not see it, and probably have never
been to whaling. And then I thought: I’ve been there, seen it all, and even ...
touched it. So I have to tell you about it, while I am still alive, especially
because I keep a few old photos from the event.
Here's
how it was. I studied naval architecture, and in the
spring of 1957 I had to choose a theme for a graduation project, which
was usually
tied to a certain type of vessel and its location. Looking through my
options I ran across the "whaling vessel for the Far East,"
and immediately felt a pleasant excitement. I knew that there was
another Soviet
flotilla, "Aleut", whaling in the Bering Sea,
and the theme itself together with a long journey to that remote
destination were
promising a lot of interesting things.
So it all happened. Plane fare was not covered for the
students, but this was for the better: a week on the train from Moscow
to Vladivostok through Russia, on the
rails and on the map - that was great. My path was supposed to continue onboard a
tanker through the Sea of Japan, the La Perouse Strait, Sea of Okhotsk, the one
of Kuril Straits and then farther north to the Commander Islands, the whaling waters
of “Aleut”. The tanker was one of those who made regular trips to the
"Aleut", delivering fuel oil to the mother ship and taking whale oil
back in the same tanks (after cleaning and steaming). The tankers also provided
resupply of food, spare parts, and sometimes replacement of individual members
of the crew. They also inevitably brought parcels from relatives, but more on that
later.
The way from Vladivostok
to "Aleut" usually took about four days, but this time things went
wrong. First, engine trouble was discovered after a short voyage in a
completely calm sea, so we went to the nearest port of Nakhodka,
where the vessel was sentenced to several days of repairs. We were moored side-by-side with
another tanker and pumped all the contents of our tanks into theirs. So we continued
on. And then, in the Sea
of Okhotsk, where violent
storms happen even in summer, we got into a big one. Rough sea from
the wheelhouse is an unusual sight. The tanker itself is huge, the wheelhouse
is at high elevation, however "the ninth shaft" completely buries the bow into the water and rides
through the entire vessel, banging in the wheelhouse light ports, as if right in
your face. Also unusual to watch an oncoming vessel on top of a wave, when the stern is
exposed completely and screw propellers are spinning idle. One has to see it to believe it.
But again, the unexpected happened: during the storm the propeller
shaft thrust bearing was damaged, the engine turned off, no speed meant no
maneuverability, the waves positioned the vessel along their crests transforming
it into a rolling float. The rescue tug came after half a day, all the while I
sat in the cabin, looking at the porthole, which then went deep into the water,
then surfaced and looked into the sky. The tug brought us to
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, where it took a day to do necessary
repairs. So I had an opportunity to go ashore and explore one of the
surrounding hills. As they say, there would be a blessing in disguise: thanks
to these two accidents, I visited two magnificent bays - in Nakhodka and Petropavlovsk. The rest
of the way passed without incidents. At this time the fleet was anchored next
to the “Medny” Island (the smaller of the Commander Islands)
and the captain arranged a day off on the beach, as the parcels were mostly
alcohol. Whalers drank well, but without any excesses.
On the "Aleut" I was enrolled sailor, and I had to
take part in all the usual work of a deck crew: mooring, anchoring, handling,
cleaning. But there were also features. In one of my first days there a large sperm
whale was dragged (tail first) onto the deck through the aft slip, and a crew
of butchers started to do flensing, i.e. removing the whale’s outer integument (which is skin and fat). I
asked a mate to take a picture of me next to the whale.
Using their flensing knives, in the form of an ax on a long
stick, the butchers initially made two
parallel incisions from head to tail and two short ones at their ends, the
depth, as it turned out, the thickness of the layer of fat. Then closer to the
head between the incisions they cut out a square hole, put through the tip of a
hoist hook, commanded "raise", carefully separating the first strip
of fat, like a banana peel. So strip by strip the butchers stripped the whale,
cut strips into pieces and tossed them into the deck hatches of the steam
boilers. During this time the deck was relatively clean.
But then the cutting of the carcass has followed, revealing
meat and bones, so the deck got covered with blood and mucus, which in itself is
nothing special. But the deck became slippery. Now imagine that the deck was
not horizontal, i.e. there was almost always a certain list during the periods
of hard work, when whales arrived one after another. Some boilers and tanks
were filled, others emptied, and the mechanics did not have the time to pump
the liquids over from one tank to another in order to quickly compensate for the
list. And if one had to walk on deck downhill, it was easy, just slide
carefully. But going back was possible only by holding on to something, and so
often around. Falling down was not recommended, because washing and cleaning
clothes would then take a lot of time.
One day together with another sailor I was taken to the
shore to get some clean sand for the fire boxes. It was in the bay of
“Severnaya Glubokaya” (Northern Deep), on the east coast of Kamchatka,
where "Aleut" was replenishing the fresh water supply. That bay is
really deep, you take a look: floating base stern is just next to the shore.
You probably noticed the large stack, belching out that black
smoke? This is because "Aleut" was a steamer, as well as all of its
whalers. They were built in the early twentieth century, overseas, and
initially had coal-fired boilers, then replaced with masut-fired ones. These
things were familiar to me, but what I have not seen before, is the deck
steam-driven machinery. It turned out, the winches, capstans, mechanical saws
for cutting carcasses were very compact and they worked - well, just great,
like a clock, with a characteristic tapping.
Having loaded the right amount of sand, my friend and I
looked around. A small river coming out of a gorge peaked by rocky mountains
was emptying into the bay just next to us. Although it was in the late summer,
in August, the mountains at lower elevations were still covered with patches of
snow. A dense continuous school of salmon (I don’t remember which kind of) was rushing
upstream to its faraway spawning destination. The river was blocked bank to
bank by a large hammock-like net, in which a few fish were stuck. And all
around was quiet. From somewhere came the Chukchi, he silently took out and
gave us a big fish. Our boat has not come yet, and since we had a spare bucket
and matches, we decided to cook the fish on fire. But we had no salt, so the
fish we cooked finally was not edible. It would be better to take it to the kitchen.
Whalers came every day with a catch of whales, or without it,
just for supply. So I was able to examine them well from the outside, while
still onboard base. Distinctive exterior architectural features of those whalers
are the following: the deck side line rises steeply to the bow; the forecastle deck
at the bow is a horizontal striker’s platform with a whaling gun installed on
it; there is an alternative steering station at the open terrace in front of
the wheelhouse and a catwalk from there to the striker’s platform; there is a crow’s
nest (a barrel for the observer at the top of the mast).
Why all this is necessary? During the hunt for whales all
the command passes to the striker. Once the observer has detected a fountain,
the striker crosses to the gun, and gives voice orders to the steersman at the
open station. Incidentally, a sperm whale (namely this kind of whales were mainly
found in the area), issues a very small fountain. Look straight along the
catwalk and onto the water: it’s like a small cloud, and to the left of it is
the guessed whale’s back. Striker is already on the lookout.
The fact is that the sperm whale belongs to the category of
toothed whales, i.e. predators, and does not take water while breathing. Another
thing is the baleen whales: they have no teeth, the mouth is always wide open, and blocked by a palisade of thin horny plates of baleen with a
fluffy fringe on one edge. With every breath the whale takes large amounts of
water while the plankton - small crustaceans and algae, which are whale’s food,
gets stuck on the fringe. Accordingly, the fountain accompanying the exhalation
is powerful and high.
Finally the day came when I passed over to the whaler. This
very moment I remember well. The whaler was moored to the side of the base
just next to the exhaust steam outlets of the fat melting boilers, and when I descended
on the deck of the whaler, it was all wrapped in a thick yellow-green cloud with
a very specific odor. Later on I got used to it, but that first time I was
encouraged with a facetious remark: - Perfume "Red Moscow" (a famous
brand at that time). The name and home port of the whaler on the lifebuoy ring
which reads Trudfront, Vladivostok,
along with myself you can see in the next picture.
In the beginning the crew played a joke on me a little bit by
offering me to steer (not on the hunt, of course, but on passage). The fact is that
a heavy boat, especially an old one, did not immediately respond to the rotation
of the wheel, as in case of a car or a motor boat. You turn the wheel and
nothing happens, and if you have experience, you know that you have to wait. I didn’t
have such an experience. So I turned the steering wheel – there was no reaction,
I turned it even more until the whaler began turning. I thought that’s enough
and returned the wheel to the initial position, but the whaler didn’t obey
continuing to turn. I turned the wheel in the opposite direction ... in short,
the vessel yawed the right and left, and I wasn’t able to chase the compass. The
seamen were laughing, so did I, as you can see in the next picture. Incidentally,
the picture clearly shows the alternative steering station, engine telegraph,
and speaking tube. The compass missed the shot.
The hunt for whales, in principle is like catching a big
fish: hook it, soften yanks, gently pull up, take it on board. To catch a whale
at a distance, a steel harpoon is fired from a whale gun. Look at the following
picture: harpoons are attached to the wall of the cabin; a woman standing by (the
whaler’s cook) allows you to visually estimate the harpoon length - about 1.7
meters. The top end of the harpoon is cylindrical, threaded for screwing on before
firing a conical grenade, which explodes in the whale’s body a few seconds
after the hit. The threads remain undamaged that makes the harpoon reusable. Right
below you can see pivotally mounted arrow-headed flukes (four of them in a
circle), which are now strapped with strings in order not to diverge. But at
the moment of explosion they spread out and firmly anchor the harpoon in the whale’s
body.
The lower part of the harpoon down to the end looks
like an elongated eye of a needle. Many of us keep childhood memories of throwing
darts, very simple ones, made of a darning needle
and a ravel of thread through its eye. The thread tail provided in-flight
orientation of the needle precisely along its trajectory, the sharp end
forward. The harpoon has to fly in the same way and therefore the whaling line
- a thin but strong rope, performing the function of a fishing line should be
attached to the end of the harpoon. However, there is a problem: the harpoon is
inserted with its rear into the front end of the whale gun barrel and goes all
the way through down to the breech. But the whale line should not go along with
the harpoon into the barrel (see next photo).
The problem is solved with the help of that prolonged eye -
the slot along the harpoon, the front part of which projects outside of the
barrel edge. So there is the point where the whale line is initially attached to
the harpoon be means of a shackle (see the next picture - striker is ready to
fire). As soon as the harpoon flies, the shackle slides to its end and stays
there for the duration of the flight. Propellant powder is charged behind the
harpoon through the breech.
Two neat coils of whaling line, right and left, are placed next
to the gun - one coil for one shot. This ensures line’s freedom and inertialess
unwinding at a shot. How far should the harpoon fly? I had no chance to see hunting the
baleen whales. It is known they won’t allow getting closer than at 40-60 meters;
they are cautious, having such predatory enemies as an orca (killer whale). Contrary
the sperm whales behaved quite carelessly: sometimes we approached them at a
distance of just a few meters.
An injured whale makes a strong jerk, diving to the depth. A
fish does the same, and if an angler does not amortize the punch, he’ll end up
having a broken fishing line, or the fish will come off the hook, injuring itself.
In this case shock absorption is done by an elastic rod as well as skillful
angler’s actions, at times letting the reel go. Now imagine what must be a
shock absorber for a multi-ton whale carcass. It is clear it should be a strong
steel spring. But it must be very yieldable too, and therefore very long. In
practice, this problem is solved as follows: a set of short springs with the total
length equal to the length of an imaginary long spring is installed on a
special frame. The springs are integrated into a system of blocks with a rope
combining them all in such a way that the springs are equally loaded and their
extensions are summarized. As required. There are two such cushioning devices in
the forward compartment of the whaler, just under the deck, to which the root
ends of the two whaling line coils are attached.
Thus, the wounded whale went under the water. The vessel is
motionless. People on the deck are distributed along the sides in order to
locate the emerging whale as soon as possible. This moment triggers not an easy
maneuvering with a goal to have the whale in front of the bow, as only in such
a position it can be pulled closer by turning on the deck winch. Sometimes it
happened that the whale did not give up for a long time; he continued to dive
and had to be finished off with additional shots. By the way some harpoons after
the hunt were distorted. But they did not brake, because their tails were made of mild steel. Later on they
were straightened in the forge at the base and returned to the whalers.
Finally, the resistance of the whale is broken. Here's a
look: a sperm whale, already lifeless, lying on his side and pulled up to the
board. In order to continue the hunt, it will be temporarily, until the
evening, left at sea. For this purpose the whale is slightly inflated with compressed
air (two sailors on the left) and stabbed with pole bearing an aluminum screen
for easy location with a radar (a sailor on the right is preparing to do that).
A line with a floating buoy will be tied up to the whale’s tail for future
handling.
Sometimes, a flag was used instead of a screen.
The coordinates of the whales left at sea were recorded and radio
transmitted to the base, where the management then decided - which ones to be picked
up by the base, and which by the whaler. Here's a picture taken from the crow’s
nest: our "Trudfront" tows to the base a part of its catch: two whales,
tails forward; a chain noose around of each tail passes through the bulwark hawse
and fastens to the deck. The speed, of course, is pretty slow, but as they say,
an own burden is not pulling. By the way, here you can see the compass in front
of the wheel, which was not seen in other picture.
Well, what else ... You may have noticed that sperm whale’s head
is large, rectangular, like a suitcase? Inside of it is spermaceti, a soft
jelly-like substance, which was a very valuable raw material for the perfume
industry. Meat and fat of that whale is not edible and was used for other
purposes. Contrary, inside the head of a baleen whale there is nothing special,
but the flesh is quite tasty, like beef, just the texture and the smell are a
bit different. One of my days on "Aleut" when a baleen whale was scored,
the kitchen prepared a big amount of pans – enough for all fleet people-whalers
– with a Russian style dish: a thick layer of chopped meat at the bottom, covered
with a thicker layer of jelly, so light, almost transparent and delicious. If
one blew on it gently the jelly would sway...
Iosif Benenson
November 18, 2012 (this version)
April 3, 2011 –
original version (in Russian)
