Arktika-class icebreaker
The "Arktika" class is a Russian (former Soviet) class of nuclear-powered icebreakers. Formerly known as "Project 10520 nuclear-powered icebreaker", they were the largest and most powerful icebreakers until the 2016 launch of the ship named Arktika. Ships of the "Arktika" class are owned by the federal government, but were operated by the Murmansk Shipping Company (MSCO) until 2008, when they were transferred to the fully government-owned operator Atomflot. Of the ten civilian nuclear-powered vessels built by Russia (and the Soviet Union), six have been of this type. They are used for escorting merchant ships in the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia as well as for scientific and recreational expeditions to the Arctic.
Ice Boat No. 3
To replace "Ice Boat No. 3", the Department ordered a modern icebreaker from William Cramp & Sons at a cost of $350,000. Said to be "the most powerful icebreaker ever constructed" in the United States, and able to do the work of two of the older ice boats combined, the new icebreaker, named "John Weaver" after the Mayor of Philadelphia, entered service in time for the winter of 1906. The new icebreaker eventually became known as "Ice Boat No. 3" after her predecessor.