Ershov Vasily Artemyevich

(1781? - 15.02.1860)

The Russian shipbuilder, the shipwright, built more than 60 ships of various classes and ranks, including the Azov battleship, which became the first ship of the national fleet to receive the highest award for ships — the stern flag of St. George, member of the Shipbuilding Accounting Committee, Lieutenant General of the Ship Engineers his name is named cape on New Earth.

Born in Kazan in the family of a craftsman who worked at the local Admiralty. As a teenager, Vasily Yershov helped his father with his work at the shipyard. In 1791 one of the St. Petersburg ship masters, who was at the Kazan shipyard on official business, with the consent of his parents, took Vasily to the capital, where he entered the mast pupil in the drawing of the St. Petersburg port.

Later, Vasily was transferred to the shipyard in the Galerny Dvor by the first-class student of the 1st class, His teachers were the shipwright Daniil Massalsky and the mast master Ivan Kopeyshchikov.

In 1804, Ershov participated in the conversion of four transports to bombarding ships, and later in the construction of a corvette in the port of Kronstadt. In 1808, he became an assistant shipmaster and received the rank of the 14th class.

In 1808–1821 Vasily Yershov was engaged in the overhaul of the ships of the Baltic Fleet in Kronstadt, and participated in the preparations for the round-the-world expedition of the sloops Vostok, Mirny, Otkrytie and Blagonamerenniy. In 1821, after becoming a shipmaster, he participated in the construction of expeditionary ships: the frigates Castor and Cruiser, the Ladoga and Apollon sloops, the brigade Ajax.

In 1825 in connection with the development of shipbuilding in Arkhangelsk, assistance was required to the manager of the Port of Solombalsk A.M. Kurochkin. V.A. Ershov was sent to the northern shipyard.  From October 1825 to May 1826, together with Kurochkin, he built two 74-gun ships "Ezekiel" and "Azov".

In 1826 Ershov built the second wheeled steamer “Speshniy” in the North, and in 1831–1839 two more steamships were built. In the years 1831-1832, he built the "Novaya Zemlya" bot, which was commanded by P.K. Pakhtusov in 1832–1833  made an expedition to Novaya Zemlya.

In 1832 Ershov headed shipbuilding in the port of Arkhangelsk.

During the period of 1827-1842, under the leadership of Ershov, thirteen 74-gun ships of the Ezekiel type, seven frigates and five transports were built at the Solombala shipyard.

In 1842, Ershov was assigned to Kronstadt and handed over his duties as manager of the Port of Solombalsk to Fyodor Zagulyayev.

 On August 30, 1842, Yershov, together with his sons, naval officers, was on the 74-gun linear sailing ship "Ingermanland" built by him at sea.In the strongest storm the ship flew on the pitfalls. As a result of the tragedy, 389 people died, including the eldest son of Ershov, the lieutenant of the 7th crew, Vasily Yershov.

From 1853, Ershov became a member of the Shipbuilding Scientific Committee, on February 15, 1860 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General of the Ship Engineers Corps and died the same day.

Cape on the Kara coast of the southern island of Novaya Zemlya north of the Gulf of Abrosimov. Named by P.K. Pakhtusov in 1833.