Uniaxial compression experiments on horizontal and vertical samples of first-year freshwater ice in a reservoir were conducted at different temperatures and strain rates with an electronic universal machine equipped with low temperature cabinet.The results show that there is no difference between the strengths of two horizontal samples with grain sizes ranging from 1 to 4 mm and 4 to 14 mm,while the strength of the 1-4 mm vertical samples is 1.4 times higher than that of the 4-14 mm vertical samples because of the change of crystal structure.For different loading directions,the strengths of the horizontal samples do not differ from those of the vertical samples with the same grain sizes.The relation among the uniaxial compressive strength,strain rate and temperature was established through data analysis in both the ductile and brittle regions.