THE AMAZING STORY OF THE SS BELLAVENTURE'S RESCUES
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The strange tale of a heroic ship with ties to both Russia and Newfoundland prompted one
Russian diplomat this month to mark the anniversary of its demise. Russia's newest ambassador to Canada noted it had been nearly 80 years since the famous sealing ship, the S.S. Bellaventure, was destroyed in the Second World War. In 1941, the Bellaventure — at that point christened the Alexander Sibiriakov, renamed after it was sold to the Russians — "started to work for the convoys and brave the more severe Arctic conditions, German U-boats and enemy fleet forces," said Oleg Stepanov. The Bellaventure was fitted with guns, and its crew battled bravely in an encounter with a German warship on Aug. 25, 1942. Its Russian captain and crew refused to surrender, Stepanov said in his early December
speech, succumbing to enemy fire. "Both the ship and the crew [are] legendary in my country," he told the St. John's audience.
Russian diplomat this month to mark the anniversary of its demise. Russia's newest ambassador to Canada noted it had been nearly 80 years since the famous sealing ship, the S.S. Bellaventure, was destroyed in the Second World War. In 1941, the Bellaventure — at that point christened the Alexander Sibiriakov, renamed after it was sold to the Russians — "started to work for the convoys and brave the more severe Arctic conditions, German U-boats and enemy fleet forces," said Oleg Stepanov. The Bellaventure was fitted with guns, and its crew battled bravely in an encounter with a German warship on Aug. 25, 1942. Its Russian captain and crew refused to surrender, Stepanov said in his early December
speech, succumbing to enemy fire. "Both the ship and the crew [are] legendary in my country," he told the St. John's audience.
