Water Transport Industrial Establishments in the Lower Volga in the Latter Half of the 1930s

Abstract

Introduction. The paper deals with the condition of industrial establishments of the Lower Volga water transport before the Second World War. The goal of the work is to establish the technical and economic condition of these Lower Volga steamship line facilities in the second half of the 1930s. All objects were studied in detail. Materials and methods. The study is based on the principles of objectivity, it applies both general scientific and specific historical methods. The paper is based on unpublished archival materials, as well as on scientific publications on river transport. Analysis and results. In 1934 the Upper Volga, Middle Volga and Lower Volga steamship lines were organized. They were big economic entities in the Volga region. At that time industrial facilities of the river transport infrastructure were developed. Those were shipyards, repairing facilities, and workshops. In the latter half of the 1930s, the Lower Volga ship repairing establishments were in the middle positions in terms of their output among the other Volga steamship lines. The Lower Volga steamship line did not have a shipyard. The equipment was mainly run for ship repairing (in winter as well) and for making spare parts. The balance of the Volga transport industrial establishments was changing. The facilities were repeatedly exchanged among the steamship lines and agencies. When the Lower Volga steamship line was just formed it had 10 industrial establishments. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War there were half as many. The facilities were ranked in classes. The biggest establishment during the entire period studied was the Stalingrad ship-repairing works. The production capacity of the ship-repairing facilities made possible to increase workload, but the facilities needed renewal, required renovation, as well as the entire material base of the Lower Volga steamship line. When the war began the condition of the industrial establishments aggravated.