The Daily Alaska empire. [volume] (Juneau, Alaska) 1926-1964, 1934-08-28
SOVIET
VESSELS HERE
THIS MORNING
Tugs Bathalum, Baymead
Bound for Vladivostok
Under Capt. Uspensky

Two Soviet Ocean-gOlng tugs
recently purchased from the Ford
Company by the Russian govern
ment, under the command of Sen
Tor Capt Ivan Uspensky were in
the Juneau harbor for a few min
utes early this morning, leaving
as soon as they had put Capt. c.
c. kelly Garfield ashore.
Capt. Garfield piloted the tugs
from Seattle TO Juneau, and left
the vessels here after plotting a
course for them to follow between
Juneau and Seward.
Bought From Ford
The tugs are the Bathalum and
the Baymead, and were delivered
at San Francisco by the Ford Com
pany, from the East coast, and
the Russian crew went aboard at
that point
The Bethalum and the Baymead
are sister ships 1865 feet in length
and powered by 1000 horse power
steam engines They are the first
Soviet vessels to make the Inside
Passage, and Capt. USpenSky eX-
pressed himself as being highly i'm
pressed with the route for the pur-
pose of bringing small vessels from
Il the United States to Russia.
1t is thought that these two are
only the fore runners of a large
number of ships to be taken
through this way.
Going to Seward
The two tugs will take coal at
Seward, and again at Dutch Har-
Dor, from which point they will cut
across to Petropevlovsk, to coal
again for the final leg of the voy-
age to Vladivostok, where they are
to be based.
According to Capt. Garfield, the
crews of the tugs are of very
high order, although unframed in
sailing steam vessels. None of the
40 men in the two outfits had ever
had much experience before start
ing the voyage, and had to learn
how to get steam up while en-
route.
Shock Troopers Crews
They were taken from among
shock troopers who are being taught
to do anything which may come
up for them to do. One man was
little faster on catching on to
the method of getting up steam
than the others, and the next day
his picture appeared in chalk on a
blackboard posted in a prominent
spot, accompanied by Sketch OF
{ the furnaces and boilers, followed
by a detailed description of how
he did it, and the others followed
suit.
The blackboard is used in var
ious ways, all of the members of
the crews having been trained in
sketching. For instance, when one
man left his clothing lying about
on the floor and threw down a Gig
arctic butt, nobody said anything
about it to him But the next
morning, his picture appeared on
the board with sketch showing
the messy appearance of his quar-
tiers with the ACCOMPLISHMENT writ
ten below that he really shouldn't
do it.
Records Open
Capt. Garfield expressed himself
as astonished at the lack of des-
sension among members of the
crew, and stated that during the
entire trip from Seattle, he did not
see a single instance of disagree
ment. Discipline is high while the
men are performing their duties
but when not at work, each has
the privilege of inspecting the ship
papers, and of questioning the cap
tain as to the amount of money
spent in port after they have left.
The records and accounts are al
ways open to the Stoker as we'll as
anyone else.
Only one or two of the men could
speak English understandable, but
several could read and write flu
emily, making it possible to carry
on a conversation without much
difficulty
Capt. Garfield was put ashore
here in order that he could catch
a boat south.