Afanasev, Vasilii

Afanas’ev, Vasilii Ivanovich 

Born 1843, in St. Petersburg; died 1913. Russian mechanical engineer in the navy; lieutenant general. Served in the navy from 1861 to 1906.

Afanas’ev graduated from the Nicholas Naval Academy and, after 1870, taught at navigation and artillery schools in Kronstadt. In 1883 he was chief mechanic and then director of the Kronstadt shipbuilding plant. He was inspector in the mechanics section of the Naval Technology Committee from 1894 until the end of his service. Afanas’ev’s works played a great role in the building of warships. He developed the first formula for determining the power of ship engines. He closely collaborated with Admiral S. O. Makarov in the design and construction of Ermak, the world’s first icebreaker; he made the computations for determining the speed of the icebreaker, the power of the engines, and the choice of the screw propellers.

WORKS

Prakticheskie zakony dvizheniia sudov. St. Petersburg, 1895.
Prakticheskie vzgliady na elektricheskie i magnitnye iavleniia, issue 1. St. Petersburg, 1906.