Russian 1916 Wooden Aircraft Carrier?

"QUANTUM SHOT" #846 Link - article by Avi Abrams Russian 1916 Wooden Aircraft Carrier? (images via) This huge 100-meter-plus vessel was going down the Volga (and Vetluga) rivers in the early 1900s - complete with log cabins and even houses stacked up on top. From various angles it may resemble either some sort of a Noah's Ark, or a Flintstones aircraft carrier, boasting truly immense bulk and shape... However, all these guesses would be wrong: these huge vessels were part of log driving operations on Volga river in 1910s-1920s (read more about log driving here). This behemoth, for example, could easily haul 13,000 tons worth of logs: (images via) "Belyana" was the name of this ship - the logs were neatly stacked on top of a barge in an "inverted pyramid" pattern, and the "guiding cabins" were built on top of it all. The cabins were not really cabins, but full-size houses, and were actually sold as such at the end of log driving operations. (images via) These monumental river cruisers even made it into Wikipedia's list of the Longest Wooden Ships. Often decorated with streams of colorful flags, they resembled some strange cruise ships as they drifted in the dusk on peaceful waters, bathed in ethereal glowing lights and surrounded by aromas of the freshly-cut wood. Sometimes, up to eighty people were counted as crew on each of these ships: Today only a few faded photographs bear witness to the strange glory and ridiculous size of these ships... Speaking of 1916-1918 Russian boat-building abilities, here is a rare photograph of the Russian 1918 Submarine! - (images via) CONTINUE TO THE "BEST OF RUSSIA" -> Also check out our "BIGGEST SHIPS" Series! ->