Politkofsky (steam tug) facts for kids
Politkofsky
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Quick facts for kids History |
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 Russia |
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| Name | IRN Politkofsky |
| Launched | 1850s |
| Reclassified | Gunboat |
| Stricken | 1867 |
| Fate | Sold with Russian Alaska in 1867 |
| History | |
 United States |
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| Name | Polly |
| Acquired | by being sold |
| Reclassified | steamboat tugboat |
| Fate | Lost on Yukon River 1906 |
Politkofsky was a small ship built in Russia. It was a sidewheel gunboat, which is a small warship with guns. This ship patrolled the waters near the Alaskan Panhandle in the 1860s.
The Ship Politkofsky
Building the Ship
Politkofsky was built in the 1850s in Russian America, which is now Sitka, Alaska. It was made from yellow cedar wood. The ship was about 120 feet (37 m) long and weighed about 152 tons. It had early copper boilers and a special steam engine from another Russian ship called Imperator Nikolai I.
From Gunboat to Tugboat
In 1867, Tsar Alexander II of Russia decided to sell Russian Alaska to the United States. Politkofsky was part of this deal. After the sale, the ship was no longer a warship. It was sold to private owners and became a tugboat. Tugboats are strong boats that pull other ships.
Life as Polly
As a tugboat, the ship was renamed Polly. It worked along the northwest coast of North America. During the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1890s, many people went to Alaska looking for gold. Polly helped by operating on the Yukon River. Sadly, the ship sank in the Yukon River in 1906.
