yacht 1930

Transportation History

Finding the unexpected in the everyday.

1930: The Launch of a Yacht that Would Have a Long and Versatile Life

December 8, 1930

The diesel-powered vessel Aras was launched by her manufacturer Bath Iron Works at the Maine-based company’s location on the Kennebec River. Measuring 243 feet and nine inches (74 meters) in length, this luxury yacht had been built for paper and wood products magnate Hugh J. Chisholm. His wife Sara (“Aras” is her name spelled backwards) christened the new vessel, slamming a bottle of water against the hull at 2:10 on a Monday afternoon.

Aras became one of the last great yachts of the pre-World War II era and, for more than a decade, Hugh J. Chisholm used the vessel for cruising along the Eastern Seaboard. He was planning to take his yacht around the globe until the outbreak of World War II made that impossible.

The war also opened a new chapter for Aras after the U.S. Navy commandeered her in 1941. The vessel was renamed USS Williamsburg and converted into a gunboat. The one-time pleasure craft was put to extensive military use in the Atlantic during the next few years; a large part of this service involved escorting Allied convoys between New York and Iceland.  

In 1945, Williamsburg was outfitted for a new assignment as the presidential yacht. President Harry S Truman traveled on Williamsburg so much that she became a sort of floating White House. His guests on board Williamsburg included Secretary of State George C. Marshall; President Miguel Alemán of Mexico; and British prime ministers Winston Churchill and Clement Atlee. (The above photo of the vessel was taken during her time as USS Williamsburg.)

Dwight D. Eisenhower, who succeeded Truman as president in 1953, made only one trip aboard Williamsburg and then ordered her to be decommissioned. In 1962, Williamsburg was transferred to the National Science Foundation for use as an oceanographic research vessel. She was renamed Anton Bruun in honor of the renowned Danish marine biologist and took part in various scientific cruises until 1968. In 1971, the ship was sold by the U.S. Maritime Administration to a commercial interest. She was scrapped in January 2016.

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on the Bath Iron Works vessel originally known as Aras, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Williamsburg

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The Yacht Owner

Choose Smart for Happy Sailing!

Doriana, a Classic Yacht Originally Built in 1930

December 5, 2017 By Daniel Mihai Popescu Leave a Comment

S/Y (Superyacht) Doriana is a schooner which was originally built at Frederikssund shipyard in Denmark in 1930, for the Danish ship owner Ivar Lauritzen, who sailed her around the Swedish and Norwegian coasts. She was sold in United States and chartered out of Antigua in the 1970s. Completely restored between 2003 and 2005, this classic sailing yacht has an exterior styling by E. Wedell, and the engineering by A. von Lindholm, with an interior designed by Donald Starkey. Following her extensive refurbishment Doriana became a finalist in the refit category of the 2006 World Superyacht Awards.

Doriana Exterior

During the rebuild, everything technical onboard the yacht was replaced, including a new engine, generators, electronics, plumbing and wiring. The hull of this two-masted schooner is in teak and Iroko, over oak frames. Her superstructure in quarter-sawn teak consists of a charthouse, cockpit, skylights and five guest staterooms for ten guests that were built and installed during the rebuild. This 38m yacht also features accommodation for seven crew. The interior is in high gloss mahogany and has a large saloon with a corner bar, and a library that converts into a double en suite cabin.

Doriana-Exterior-Starboard

With her expansive deck spaces, traditional staterooms and racing pedigree, Doriana is an unmissable opportunity for any classic sailing yacht enthusiast. She is for sale with Bluewater (a brokerage agency) for the exceptional bargain of only €2,95 millions. I have met something newer, shorter and without the sleekness done by sails, with an outrageaous €16 millions. I know an ultra luxurious 5 stars hotel in a fabulous position at the Aegean Sea who was sold with much less than the €16 millions asking price for that absolutely common, almost vulgar superyacht.

Doriana-Deck

Doriana is the embodiment of style and elegance, as you can see from the scarce pictures I found online. I think I know who is the actual owner, and I also know why he want to sell her.

Doriana – Technical Characteristics

Main characteristics.

Build in Frederikssund, Denmark Year: 1930 Restored: 2003-2005 Rig: 2-masted schooner Hull: Teak & Iroko over Oak Frames Superstructure: Teak Deck: Teak Engineering: A. von Lindholm Exterior Styling: E. Wedell Interior Design: Donald Starkey Speeds: 8 – 10 Knots

Doriana-Deck-Dining

Doriana – Dimensions

LOA: 38.00m Length at waterline: 23.90m Length of hull: 31.50m Maximum beam: 6.90m Draft: 3.80m

Displacement tonnage: 150 tons Gross tonnage: 97 tons Turbo charged diesel: 318hp

Doriana-Settee

Fuel: 3,000 l / 792.52 USG Water: 8,000 l / 2,113.38 USG

Main engine 1 x Scania Diesel Engine hours 1,000 (approx.) Generators 1 x 25kw Kohler 1 x 17.5kw Kohler Generator hours 1,000 (approx.) Air conditioning system Cruise Air Bow thruster Sleipner motors Norway, Hydraulic

Doriana-Interior

Winches: Specially built Meissner electric winches, cast bronze to an old model Anchor, Windlass, Chains, Hawse pipes, Propeller, Propeller shaft, Stern tube, SPW, feathering 4 blade propeller

6 Meissner CMB 36E-lassic electric single speed winches 1 Lofrans Super Ercole 3500ww

Navigational Equipment

1 x Furuno Marine VHF Radiotelephone FM-2721 1 x Marin VHF Watertight portable 1 x Furuno FMD 1900C NavNet radar and GPS chart plotter display

Doriana-Interior-2

1 Silva Nexus Network with: 1 x multi control digital display 1 x wind data digital display 1 x depth sounder 1 x speed log 1 x analog speed log 1 x analog wind angle indicator 1 x analog depth indicator

Doriana-Saloon

Engine Room/24v Equipment Scania Marine Engine type D19 44m (318hp at 1990rpm) Twin Disk Marine transmission MG-5091 (1:2,95) SPW Vairprop DF-260 4 blade Sidepower Bow thruster SP550HYD/U-37 Kohler 17, 5EFOZD 220v/50Hz 12v – Yamaha Motor Kohler 2EFOZD 220v/50Hz 24v – Yamaha Motor 1200Ah2v Acid cells battery bank (new 2017) 1800Ah Acid cells battery bank (new 2017) Victorian Energy 100A 24c Charger skylla-TG Cruise Air MTC60C Remote MPC-XC Circulation Pump CPOD80 Circulation Pump P3000BXT Electric pump EAM40 – 220/380V – 28m3/h at 6m Engine mounted pump AM40 – 28m 3/h at 6m

Doriana-Cabin

• 1 ALTAIR8 VZ • 2 DVES01S Flooding detector • 2 DN2SMOB level sensor

• 1 x Zodiac 8prs open sea life raft (XDC8BYI9A797) (2017) • 1 x Bombard 8prs Life raft (XDC1BC48E393) (2017)

Doriana-Bathroom

• 2 x pump M1 Leroy somer type MBT82 Il • 1 x Zodiac YL 380 R + 25hp Yamaha outboard engine (2005) • 1 x Zodiac YL 420 + 50hp Yamaha outboard engine (2005)

2003-2005 Restoration • New deck fittings • New chain plates • New 316L Stainless steel inserted in the hull, including stainless steel longitudinal reinforcement stringer • New rudder, rudder stock and stern tube • New propeller and propeller shaft • All new electronic equipment • New electrical system, including cables, switchboards, etc. • New plumbing system, including pipes, tank and pump • New bilge pump system • New fire-fighting system • Fire integrity insulation of engine room • New fire detection system in each cabin • New bowsprit, lower main mast, lower foremast with inner reinforcement of aluminium, booms and gaffs • Parts of rigging not in perfect condition renewed • Keel bolts in bronze inspected and found to be in perfect condition • Sails renewed in clipper cream canvas by Doyle US • 2 x New Zodiac Yachtline 4.2m and 3.8m with Yamaha 50hp and 25hp respectively

Doriana-Galley

2017 • 2 new top masts in Douglas Fir installed and all rigging inspected • Full bimini covers with side curtains • New sail covers • 2 x 8-person life rafts • All new batteries in both battery banks

Doriana-Crew-Cabin

Accommodation

Sleeps 10 guests in 5 staterooms and has accommodation for up to 7 crew

The owner is Mikael Krafft, who owns the fabulous sailing cruise line, Star Clippers, with a fleet of three, waiting for the fourth “tall ship” as he calls it. “Sailing with Star Clippers is like sailing with your own private yacht”. I know exactly what he says. I hope you enjoyed this post.

[Technical info provided mostly by Bluewater, Boat.com, and Monaco Yacht Show’s website!]  

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Copyright © 2017 The Yacht Owner – Doriana, a Classic Yacht Originally Built in 1930  

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About Daniel Mihai Popescu

Daniel Mihai Popescu is a ship engineer with background in sea transportation, real estate, yacht brokerage, construction, entrepreneurship. Avid reader, traveled the world, explorer of the human nature. Never stopped learning, now I create and manage Wordpress based sites . • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn • Instagram • Pinterest • Goodreads • Medium •

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1930s classic motor yacht Alicia launched by SMS

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Written by Rachael Steele

SMS Group has announced the launch of 50m/163ft classic superyacht ALICIA , originally built in America by Defoe at the East Coast yard in 1930 under the name M/Y JANIDORE.

Alicia hull

Arriving at the Southampton shipyard in 2015, M/Y ALICIA underwent an extensive three-year restoration project in her 60m/197ft covered dry dock to return her interiors to their former 1930s glory.

SMS has an established reputation within the UK maritime industries involving commercial, defence and luxury sectors for repairs, marine engineering and major fabrication projects. In recent years the company has cemented its reputation for restoration work, having completed M/Y SHEMARA for Sir Charles Dunstone and M/Y LADY A for Lord Sugar, working directly with the Owners throughout their time at the yard.

Chris Norman, the MD of SMS commented on the restoration:

“Having worked in the refit industry both here in the UK and in Holland, for many, many years I can safely say this project has been nothing short of huge. We practically rebuilt M/Y SHEMARA from the keel up, and we, as a project team, assumed that would be a one-off. Not so. M/Y ALICIA has proven to be an equally challenging program of works over a three year period. The Owners aspirations stem from the vessels true form as M/Y JANIDORE; his attention to detail and passion have helped not only lead an inspired team but also restore a truly unique and genuinely wonderful Classic to her former glory.”

Hull – close up

M/Y ALICIA has seen a new hull from the aft machinery bulkhead forward and a new aluminium superstructure. The equipment package more suited to a 1,000 GT yacht has been installed into a 400 GT one, working around existing machinery and tanks configuration.

Newly launched classic yacht Alicia

Her engines allow her to reach a top speed of 14 knots and a cruising speed of 10 knots with a range of 2,500 nautical miles.

Alicia – refit

Alicia refit

Luxury yacht ALICIA will now undergo sea trials in the Solent before attending the 20th edition of Les Voiles de Saint Tropez running from the 29th of September until the 8th of October, where over 300 modern and classic superyachts will be on show.

Please contact CharterWorld - the luxury yacht charter specialist - for more on superyacht news item "1930s classic motor yacht Alicia launched by SMS".

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Boat of the Week: This Historic, 90-Year-Old Sailing Yacht Was Once a Floating Playground for Ernest Hemingway, Cole Porter and More

1930s celebrity guests like pablo picasso, louis armstrong and coco chanel gave "weather bird" its provenance., julia zaltzman, julia zaltzman's most recent stories.

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Weather Bird is more than a classic, wooden boat. The 101-foot staysail schooner is a whispering storybook from the 1930s when luminaries like Ernest Hemingway and Cole Porter rubbed shoulders out at sea. Coco Chanel walked her teak decks. Pablo Picasso found inspiration amid the rich varnished woodwork. Louis Armstrong reportedly wrote a song about the yacht and then hid the record deep inside the frames of the wooden hull.

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The shipyard that built the ‘titanic’ has filed for bankruptcy.

The 90-year-old boat wears her age well, having emerged from a 12-month refit last year with a complete mechanical overhaul. Weather Bird ’s current owner bought the yacht 18 months ago. His two previous boats were Tecnomar motoryachts—an 83-footer and a 120-footer, which caught fire in Mykonos. But wooden schooners are his passion, and though the vintage collector has experience renovating classic cars, Weather Bird was his first antique yacht.

After multiple refits, the 90-year-old yacht has kept its original wooden beauty, but the engines, electronics and even the sail systems have been modernized.  Courtesy Northrop & Johnson

For the Greek owner, the experience has been less restoration, more in-depth reconditioning. The Vladimir Orloff-designed oak hull is original, but virtually all else, such as fabrics, lights (made from opaline rather than glass, as per the 1930s) and interior cabinetry are new, albeit in sympathetic Art Deco style. The owner commissioned an artist to create sketches of what Weather Bird would have looked like in her heyday and used these to remain true to the original styling.

“I researched the boat and found magazine articles and books of how the lamps and ceiling lights looked back then,” he told Robb Report . “I also found an 80-year-old carpenter who used to build wooden boats, and he’s overseen much of the styling.”

Louis Armstrong reportedly wrote a song about the yacht and put a record of it deep in the wooden hull.  Courtesy AP

Built in 1931 by Chantiers Navals de Normandie, Weather Bird was a leading superyacht of her day. Her original American owners, high society couple Sara and Gerald Murphy, settled on the French Riviera where they entertained the artist community of 1930s Paris aboard their newly commissioned yacht.

At one point, French painter Fernand Léger used the two-masted schooner as a floating studio, creating a series of watercolor paintings of the vessel. Picasso painted Sara’s portrait seven times. It’s also thought that F. Scott Fitzgerald portrayed the Murphys as the main couple in his novel, Tender is the Night .

“I haven’t been able to verify it, but it’s rumored that Louis Armstrong, who was a friend of Sara Murphy, wrote a song called ‘Weather Bird’ and embedded the first record in the keel of the boat,” said the owner, asking not to be named. “It’s a difficult job to open up the 40-ton keel to check, but it’s written in all the newspapers at the time, so I like to think it’s true.”

The yacht still has the same sail plan, but the winches and furling systems have been modernized for single-person operation from the helm.  Courtesy Northrop & Johnson

The boat has undergone several refits since her launch. The 2021 refit included new engines and generators. All electrical systems have also been upgraded, controlled by a Lutron system that can be operated by a smart phone.

The owner has also added his own touches, such as a fold-out piano in the center of the main salon, near an Art Deco-inspired cocktail bar for Gatsby-like entertainment. A fireplace has been reinstated, this time gas-electric. The main sails are also now electrically operated, meaning the boat can be under sail in a speedy three minutes. “The details nod to the 1930s but it’s modern underneath,” he says.

If the walls could talk: The yacht still has a sense of 1930s style.  Courtesy Northrop & Johnson

Sunbathing happens at the bow. A side boarding ladder allows for easy guest embarkation. Amidships on deck is a cozy seating area. The newly designed cockpit features custom-made electric gauges and switches. It was inspired by Perini Navi’s automated sailing system and means the entire sail plan can be operated by one person. Marble adds a contemporary touch in the guest en suites, as do glass skylights on the lower deck.

The plan for this summer is to sail the Greek islands, taking in Patmos and Hydra before heading to Bodrum in Turkey. With its 14-foot draft the boat will need to anchor outside of the port. This does little to trouble the owner, who has visited the yacht every day since acquiring her to relax on the on-deck sofa. “There is an amazing vibe on board,” he says. “You sense the bygone era and the guests who have passed before.”

A summer fling will have to be enough for the owner, who placed the yacht for sale with Northrop & Johnson at about $4.06 million, with the rather Jay Gatsby-like explanation that he has another big project waiting in the wings.

Here are other views of Weather Bird. 

Courtesy Northrop & Johnson

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The 1930s inspired superyacht Taransay is an instant classic

Could this be a new trend in superyachting? The 40 metre Taransay  from Rossinavi may look like a 1930s boat – but rather than go to the trouble and expense of restoring a crumbling oldie, the owner built one from scratch: a brand new, but utterly traditional and beautiful modern classic yacht.

Why build a modern classic?

Why would anyone choose to build a 1930s-style yacht today? I can’t get that question out of my head as the newly built 40 metre Taransay hangs above me in a travel lift at the Rossinavi shipyard in Viareggio, ready for launch. The style absolutely demands small, limiting windows, a relatively low volume compared to modern, similarly sized platforms and the added challenge of hiding today’s complicated systems in a classic-looking package.

A few months later, in Venice, I’m on board the boat for the first time and Taransay ’s captain, Marco Santoro, is giving me the answer, shortly before leaving on the yacht’s maiden voyage with the owner and his family.

“I was involved in the project from the beginning, while I was still captain on board Ocean Glory (ex- Destiny ), a gentleman’s motor yacht designed by GL Watson & Co and launched in Scotland in 1935,” begins Santoro. “After an adventurous life, Destiny arrived in dire condition in Genoa, where she underwent a full refit at Amico & Co yard. The yacht was presented as Ocean Glory in all her splendour at the Monaco Yacht Show in 2007.”

She was made available for charter and immediately caught the attention of Taransay ’s owner. He ended up chartering her for a number of years in a row and was seduced enough by the idea of owning a classic himself that he investigated buying one to refit.

I realised that I would love to own some kind of classic yacht, so I could have the opportunity to travel in style rather than at top speed

_Taransay_'s owner

“Chartering Ocean Glory , I realised that I would love to own some kind of classic yacht, so I could have the opportunity to travel in style rather than at top speed,” the owner says. In 2012, while enjoying his annual cruise in the Med aboard Ocean Glory , he chanced upon a beautiful modern replica of a classic sailing yacht built by Royal Huisman. That was a turning point: the realisation that building his own replica from scratch would allow for a made-to-measure classic yacht, without the constraints and unforeseen problems that come with a refit project.

The brief for Taransay

One thing was established from the outset: his new boat’s style should be inspired by the gentleman’s yachts designed by GL Watson & Co, a company that, in the early 20th century, produced icon after icon. Madiz , Blue Bird , Nahlin , King Edward VII’s Royal Yacht Britannia – all penned by the company’s founder, George Lennox Watson, or by its design studio. Today it is run by William Collier, an entrepreneur with a PhD in yachting history, who works with owners restoring classics such as _ Malahne  _and designing new ones inspired by former projects.

Once the decision to build a replica was taken, Rossinavi was entrusted with the project. It was a tricky proposition from the outset: there was no platform or pre-existing project to draw on, so the team, comprising the owner, Santoro and Rossinavi’s technical department, had to rely on old photographs for inspiration and information. The most difficult task, though, was to stay faithful to the shape of a yacht from the 1930s, while still giving it all the comfort, volume and amenities of a contemporary vessel. As the owner said: “A project like this turns the clock back and forward at the same time.”

A project like this turns the clock back and forward at the same time

The team settled on a size of 39.3 metres, a displacement hull and a canoe stern and high bow to eke the most volume out of her length. The steel hull and aluminium superstructure house an interior styled by French designer Alain Tassin, who came with a wealth of experience, having worked on the refit of Ocean Glory. “We have tried to recreate a gentleman’s yacht atmosphere,” Tassin says. “The owner had his own requests for the yacht’s layout and overall feel and we worked in close collaboration to give Taransay the right ambiance and liveability.”

Taransay 's period-inspired interior

By studying the layout and features of a number of classics that had been refitted, Alain Tassin was able to create a tasteful period interior with plenty of teak, exposed deck beams and simple white panelling. He resisted the temptation to over-embellish the décor, so the final effect is elegant and homely, rather than grating pastiche. “The main deck welcomes guests in a quite austere setting, while in all cabins we used a delicate white satin lacquer to enhance the open-pore grain of the ash wood panelling,” Tassin explains. “This also means that the cabins on the lower deck seem light and airy despite the small portholes. The use in the cabins, stairs and lobbies of dark-brown leather floor tiles is a modern touch – they will develop a warm patina with age.”

Entered through double glass doors, the main saloon is an intimate retreat entirely clad in satin-lacquered mahogany, although not much natural light makes it through the row of small, shapely windows that stand in stark contrast to the massive glazing panels we’re used to seeing today. The galley, forward of the saloon, is one area where the past hasn’t penetrated; it’s laid out thoughtfully and equipped with all the details and appliances you’d expect on a modern yacht. Custom-made fridges and a wine cellar complete the professional feel of this large, bright space. From here, stairs lead up to the wheelhouse in its sturdy deckhouse, where the past and present mingle: contemporary instruments and screens sit alongside a traditional teak steering wheel and a replica of a classic wood and brass binnacle.

Taransay has an unusual lower deck arrangement, with the amidships engine room splitting the accommodation. Two guest cabins sit forward of the machinery space, while the owner and more guests sleep aft of it. The owner’s quarters use the beam to its maximum advantage, stretching across almost the widest part of the boat. A twin guest cabin sits behind it, and then a very traditional touch: a guest cabin in the stern with V-berths in a space easily big enough for a double bed. The overall feeling down here is of space and relaxation – a huge advantage of building a “new classic” instead of working with a layout from the past – and all cabins benefit from plentiful storage and en suite bathrooms, with finely moulded marble countertops and marble-lined shower stalls.

The quarters forward of the engine room comprise the VIP double and another twin cabin, both accessed via dedicated stairs off the dining room. Large and comfortable crew quarters for six are on the lower deck forward, while the yacht’s captain has his own double cabin abaft the wheelhouse.

Nothing feels fake about the yacht’s interior and this sense of authenticity carries over on to the decks. Hatches boasting brass handles and hinges have been placed on the forward deck and all over the yacht finely executed fixtures and fittings hark back to the 1930s. All involved, from Rossinavi to the owner, worked hard to fit out Taransay with period details. “Our aim was to recreate the feel and style the owner loved so much on board Ocean Glory and Rossinavi has been very willing to cooperate and listen to our requests, even the most unusual ones. I’d be glad to build another hundred yachts with them!” declares Santoro.

The upper deck of Taransay

The upper deck, once free of the tenders, provides a vast area of relaxation at anchor. Facing L-shaped sofas provide the seating up here and can turn into a wonderful al fresco dining area thanks to adjustable-height tables. The faux funnel towering above the deck hides a small bar with fridge and freezer and an ingenious foldable crane to launch and haul out the tenders.

Perhaps the ultimate lounging space is atop the wheelhouse: sunpads accessed via a ladder. In keeping with the GL Watson style, there are full walk around decks on both the main and upper levels for an evening stroll, but they don’t seem to pinch too much volume from inside thanks to a beam of 7.6 metres.

Taransay 's exterior

The canoe stern prohibits a bathing platform or any modern flourishes like a beach club, but a folding boarding platform on the starboard side is a very good second-best. It was designed to fold down low to the waterline to make for easy entry and exit to and from the sea, so is an ideal dive platform and makes access to the yacht a breeze from the HTM Custom Tender. It’s while out circling the boat on this RIB that the yacht really shines. Her blue paintwork is buffed to dark blue perfection, reflecting the glinting waters of the northern Adriatic. Getting a finish like this on a refit project is notoriously difficult, with old steel and rivets upsetting the eye line. Here, though, there’s no such problem.

“To get what I wanted from a refit project would have required a gamble – you never know what you’re going to find beneath the surface. By building my very own classic from the ground-up, I have managed to get the best of both worlds. Taransay has all the old-world charm I could ever want in a boat, but I was also given total control of her destiny thanks to starting new and there were no nasty surprises. She also has every convenience of a modern yacht, and the comfort and spaces to rival any other 40 metre,” says the owner, neatly answering my initial question of why anyone would want to build a modern classic.

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What Russia was like in 1934 (PHOTOS)

Stalin would approve the general plan for the reconstruction of Moscow in a year, but the changes in the capital had already begun. They started to widen roads and ruthlessly demolish all old, "disturbing" buildings.

In particular, almost the entire Kitaigorodskaya Wall was demolished. This fortification was built around the center of Moscow back in the 16th century.

The photo below shows Moscow streets being paved after the demolition of the wall.

Trolleybus transport was launched in Moscow a year earlier.

And yet, at that time, the capital wasn't yet a large metropolis. The places that are now considered almost the center were suburbs back then. Below, for example, is a picturesque green area – Luzhniki.

Moscow Metro would only open the following year, but, in 1934, a epoch-making event took place: the trial run of the first metro train.

Lazar Kaganovich (pictured in the center) was Stalin's fellow responsible for the construction of the subway. At first, until 1955, the capital's metro even bore his name.

The first half of the 1930s marked the beginning of powerful industrialization in the USSR. The course on romanticization of labor and high achievements was taken. Though the Stakhanovite movement of strikers of labor would only appear the following year. The photo below shows a miner posing outside a factory.

The electrification of the country was also actively progressing, so power lines and masts became new landscape details inspiring photographers. 

Now known as the ‘Moskvich’ plant, in the 1930s, it was called the ‘KIM’ (Communist International Youth) Moscow Automobile Assembly Plant and assembled GAZ cars with Soviet components.

The Labor Day on May 1 was celebrated with pomp on the Red Square in Moscow.

The 17th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in early 1934 was officially called the ‘Congress of Winners’ and proclaimed the successful results of the first five-year industrialization. Later, more than half of the delegates would be arrested or executed. The photo shows the presidium of the congress.

By the year 1934, the Gulag was already in operation; by the previous year, the White Sea-Baltic Canal had been built by prisoners in record time and other extensive construction projects were underway. But, there were no mass repressions yet. The photo below shows prisoners at a penal labor colony near Chelyabinsk.

On December 1, 1934, Sergei Kirov, head of the city's party branch and an associate of Stalin, was assassinated in Leningrad. It is believed that his murder was the reason for the start of Stalin’s so-called ‘Great Purge’ or, simply, mass repression in the USSR. In the photo below – Joseph Stalin and Andrei Zhdanov at Kirov's funeral.

Another important event in 1934 was the First All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers. Its honorary chairman was Maxim Gorky, the country's main proletarian writer and a real star and cult figure. Already during his lifetime, streets, parks were named in his honor – even an entire city, his native Nizhny Novgorod, was renamed Gorky.

Another star of the literary world in 1934 was writer Mikhail Sholokhov. By that time, three volumes of his cult novel about the Civil War, ‘The Quiet Don’, had already been published. And the country was eagerly awaiting the finale (it would be released in 1940). It is said that the book was read and personally approved by Stalin, despite the fact that the protagonist never fully joined the Bolsheviks.

In 1934, the British writer H. G. Wells visited the USSR for the third time and was a guest of honor.

Many foreigners sympathizing with socialism and Stalin personally came to Soviet Moscow. In the photo below, actors of the Mosfilm studio (star Lyubov Orlova pictured in the center) pose with French communist writer Henri Barbusse.

In the 1930s, the USSR was actively exploring the Arctic. Back in the Summer of 1933, the ‘Chelyuskin’ steamship set out on an expedition along the Northern Sea Route, but it became trapped by ice and drifted with the entire crew for almost five months.

On February 13, 1934, the ship sank, but the passengers managed to evacuate. For two months, they survived on the ice floe while a rescue operation was underway. Pilots made 23 flights, taking more than a hundred ‘Chelyuskin’ crew to the mainland.

In Moscow, the Chelyuskinites were solemnly welcomed with flowers already at the station and a ceremonial reception was also held on the Red Square. The pilots who rescued the crew became the first men in history to receive ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ awards.

Many Soviet children dreamed of becoming pilots and aviation modeling clubs began to open everywhere.

By the way, in 1934, the USSR had not yet completely turned into a puritanical country – and a naked body was commonplace (especially if it was fit and healthy). So, a young lady taking a sunbath in a transparent swimsuit was the norm.

Actually, women in the USSR were becoming more equal members of society and taking up many jobs that had previously been considered "masculine". Many female journalists and photographers emerged, covering both construction sites and sporting events. Famous photographer Alexander Rodchenko called the shot below: ‘Three women reporters: Krasnyavskaya, Elizaveta Ignatovich and Evgenia Lemberg’

Physical health of Soviet people was also paid special attention to. After all, a builder of communism had to be strong and enduring. The photo below shows physical training at a Red Army summer camp.

Alexander Rodchenko's famous photo titled ‘Jump into the water’ was taken in 1934 at the Dynamo stadium in Moscow.

Children in the Soviet Union were engaged in physical training from an early age. In summer, they did exercises, swimming and active games, while, in winter, they were skiing and ice skating.

Let's take a look at a few more pictures from ordinary Soviet life. Below are some students at a lecture at the Moscow State University.

And here is the training of service dogs in the Red Army.

The 1930s were also the years of active collectivization of agriculture. The popular words ‘Kolkhoz’ (collective farm) and ‘kolkhoznik’ (its members) entered the language. The following photo shows collective farmers standing on a hayfield.

Many Soviet photographers began taking pictures of collective farm life. The photo below shows peasants returning home from work on public land.

Tea time in a rural house. Surprisingly, despite all the campaigns against religion, icons are still hanging in the hut pictured below.

A female harmonist performs in the Caucasus.

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• Soviet women of the 1930s (PHOTOS)
• How Stalin transformed Moscow into a megapolis
• What Russia was like in 1924 (PHOTOS)

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