
Kharkovchanka – Soviet Antarctic Cruisers [video] - simonebrunozzi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6R-h06IsJw
======
zoomablemind
Captivating documentary. Thanks to the author. Also thanks for staying
consistent with pronunciation too. Surprised it would bother the Russian
speakers so much at all. Oh, well, the designers back in Ukrainian SSR would
not dare to name it in Ukrainian manner either.

There seems to be some unintended irony in the naming. There was a popular
sedan car Moskvitch [1] (masculine for Moscow resident), and Zaporozhets [2]
(masc. for resident of Zaporizhia in Russian). Both of these cities had resp.
car factories. However, Kharkiv, had none, instead it had a tractor and tank
factory... The product is literally out of the league, so is the name
Kharkovchanka (fem. for resident of Kharkiv in Russian)

I'd guess the choice of masculine for a car name is in line with masc. for
'automobile' in Russian. Meanwhile, the feminine in this case is, perhaps, for
fem. 'machine' in Russian. Just a guess.

[1]:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moskvitch_402](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moskvitch_402)

[2]:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZAZ_Zaporozhets](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZAZ_Zaporozhets)

~~~
noir_lord
If you like this stuff check
[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9Mdi_Fh9_Ag](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9Mdi_Fh9_Ag)
they most informative and dryly hilarious historian I know is Drachinifel.

His stuff is beautifully researched and you can tell it's his passion.

I posted that one on HN a while back but it didn't go anywhere.

I've listened to it several times entirely because it reminds me of
dysfunctional companies so much.

~~~
francis_t_catte
Hahahah, oh man, one of Drach's best. Highly recommend his episode on what to
do if your ship is sinking/exploding/disagreeable too:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbX8rJMI9GM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbX8rJMI9GM)

btw, did anyone else see Japanese torpedo boats???

~~~
noir_lord
The Battle of Samar is my 2nd favourite.

> "After 17 bombs and 19 torpedoes, at least some of which were probably
> unnecessary..

> After firing all their armor penetration rounds, they switched to high
> explosive, then anti-aircraft, then starshells which was was surprisingly
> effective as it caused a massive number of fires to break out

That and the USS Johnston,

> "[Johnson] seeing the ship under attack by a Heavy Cruiser, it promptly
> shoots up this ship as well....because of course it does."

A light destroyer escort mistaken for a cruiser because literally no light
destroyer captain would charge a fleet and trade fire with a cruiser (never
mind damage it so badly it was out the fight then trade fire with another and
then we’ll watch the video it’s surreal), it’s so unthinkable that to stay in
a sane world where the rules made sense it had to be a cruiser.

That and the pilot landing his plane, helping defend the airfield then
buggering off into the jungle coming back with a new wing to replace his
damaged one.

If it was a movie you simply wouldn’t believe it.

And it should be a movie.

------
Torkel
Here's a twitter thread by a guy who built a nice model of one:

[https://twitter.com/PeterOlsson/status/1280940641472655367](https://twitter.com/PeterOlsson/status/1280940641472655367)

~~~
muro
Thanks for sharing, very good scratch-build on display with the track
extension and cabin build.

~~~
dayofthedaleks
It also shows interesting deep-nerd cross-pollination in the model
building/military history/art scenes.

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amoitnga
I'm not quite sure why apparently accepted english name for the town is
Kharkiv, and author wrongly (understandably) pronounces it as Charkovchanka.
Yeah, it's hard - no biggie.

just wanted to let those of you who interested to know how to pronounce it is:
first 3 characters are same as in word 'harvest' and rest almost the way
author pronounces it - kovchanka, so

har-kov-chanka

only r has to be softer. It just sounds so much better

try russian sound ->

[https://translate.google.com/?rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS806US806&um=1&...](https://translate.google.com/?rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS806US806&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&client=tw-
ob#auto/ru/harkov-chanka)

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dayofthedaleks
I am highly impressed by the production values as well as the research quality
here. Edited in an attic studio, facilitated by Google Translate.

The YouTube auto transcription is brutally bad with Callum’s Scottish accent,
though. Do uploaders have the ability to manually edit subtitles?

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jojobas
Later designs moved the engine outside to reduce noise. I'm not aware of any
operational difficulties but I'd rather cope with noise than service a V12
diesel in -60C wind.

~~~
mc32
You can’t shut off the engine in that climate, if you do you would need a way
to heat it up before restarting so, it’s redundant.

In other words if you will anyway need a warmer environment [hangar, large
building] to enable the engine to start, there is no point to “fixing it” in
the cold as it will not turn over anyway.

~~~
nuccy
While looking for more info on Kharkovhanka 2, I found a blog of a russian guy
who actually lives on the Vostok station [1]. There is an additional
engine+generator inside [2], which is used for heating of the interior, but
probably can also be used to heat up the main engine.

I was not aware of the fact that all the stations in Antarctic are on the ice
actually, so they drift as time passes. There is a map of that [3]. Given the
extremely low humidity, non-existing grounding (since the station is on the
ice), when there is a blizzard or strong wind outside, snowflake rub
themselves, and the station accumulates significant static charge which
affects all the equipment.

[1] [https://pikabu.ru/@deratizator](https://pikabu.ru/@deratizator) (in
russian, but google translate is capable of translating most of the text,
except profanity words which appear occasionally to highlight the complexity
of life in such climate conditions :) )

[2]
[https://pikabu.ru/story/kharkovchankaii_5499165](https://pikabu.ru/story/kharkovchankaii_5499165)
(still in russian, same blog)

[3]
[https://cs7.pikabu.ru/post_img/big/2017/12/11/7/151299321313...](https://cs7.pikabu.ru/post_img/big/2017/12/11/7/1512993213138441238.jpg)

~~~
masklinn
The pictures are pretty cool. It looks like the cabin of the kharkov II is
significantly less insulated than the crew space? The hatch between the two
looks as thick as the "external" doors (actual door and transmission hatch). I
was also surprised to hear the windows are _only_ double-paned in kharkov, and
it doesn't look like model II is any better.

Understandable but a bit sad to see how decayed they got, especially if
they're still in somewhat active use.

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throwaway0a5e
Maybe I'm crazy but wondering if your engine is gonna overheat, field
modifying tracks and swapping a gearbox in the middle of nowhere in -40
weather sounds like a fun time.

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0ld
a wonder what on earth made the guy pronounce kh as ch

~~~
0ld
i was also completely puzzled what the hell "yearny" (or something) meant
until i saw мирный on the map

god, is it that hard to check up at least the approximate pronunciation of
things and places when you are making a video like that?

~~~
cpursley
I've been studying Russian for several years. The pronunciation of certain
letters and letter combinations can be difficult; give people a break. Or at
least correct them in a helpful way.

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bserge
I still wonder why many people think colonizing Mars is doable, when we can't
even colonize Antarctica.

I mean, weather _might_ be slightly better, but the lack of breathable air,
water and the distance from Earth far outweigh that.

Neither Mars nor Antarctica offer anything of real use, even asteroid capture
and mining seems like a more viable idea.

~~~
Torkel
It's about the 'why'. The thing that Mars has to offer that Antarctica does
not is "backup solution for humankind". An asteroid impact can make earth
uninhabitable. With a self sustaining backup on Mars we can keep humans around
even after that. Asteroids are interesting too, but more far fetched than
Mars.

I recommend watching the Elon Musk presentations on Mars / making life
multiplanetary.

~~~
cmrdporcupine
I can't actually imagine what could happen to Earth that would make it worse
than Mars.

After an asteroid impact at least there'd likely be breathable air and some
water and oceans still around. Most of an atmosphere.

Mars is a radioactive, extremely cold, thin atmosphered dustbowl without
breathable air and no life to speak of.

~~~
keymone
The issue is not with long term effects, it’s that the impact itself wipes out
human race entirely.

~~~
cmrdporcupine
I think it's a highly dubious proposition to imagine human beings lasting on
Mars for more than a generation or two.

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mikl
Such an interesting machine.

