Admiral Ushakov class

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Admiral Ushakov class
Admiral Ushakov
Admiral Ushakov
Overview
Type Coastal armored ship
units 3
Shipyard
Keel laying 1892 (2), 1894
Launch 1893-1896
delivery 1895-1899
Namesake Russian admirals
period of service
  • Russian Navy 1896–1905
  • Japanese Navy 1905-1935
Technical specifications
displacement

4971 t

length

87.4 m

width

15.85 m

Draft

5.9 m

crew

404 men

drive

4/8 cylinder boiler
2 triple expansion steam engines
5750 HP
2 screws

speed

16 kn

Range

2700–3100 nm at 10 Kn
300 t coal (max. 450 t)

Armament
  • 4 × 252 mm L / 45 cannons
    3rd ship only 3rd
  • 4 × 120 mm canet cannons
  • 6 × 47 mm Hotchkiss cannons
  • 10 × 37 mm Hotchkiss cannons
  • 4 × 380 mm torpedo tubes
  • 2 × landing guns
Armor

Harvey system

Belt armor

100-250 mm

deck

50-76 mm

Towers

200 mm

Command post

200 mm

Sister ships

Admiral Senjawin ,
Admiral General Apraxin

The Admiral Ushakov class ( Russian Российский броненосец береговой обороны "Адмирал Ушаков" -серии ) were three coastal armored ships of the Imperial Russian Navy that were developed for the defense of the Swedish navy at the end of the 19th century . The three ships were stationed in the Baltic Sea in 1904 at the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War . They were forwarded through the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal with the 3rd Pacific Squadron of the Baltic Fleet marching to East Asia and took part in the naval battle at Tsushima . The day after the battle, the Admiral Ushakov fought alone against Japanese ships and sank herself in flames. The other two ships surrendered with the group of Admiral Nebogatow . The Admiral Senjawin and the General-Admiral Apraxin came back into service for the Imperial Japanese Navy as Mishima ( Japanese 見 島 ) and Okinoshima ( 沖 島 ).

Building history

After taking office, Tsar Alexander III. the leadership of the Navy and entrusted his brother Alexei with this. They planned a major modernization and reinforcement of the Russian fleet. At the same time, Russian industry should be further developed. But the budget was limited. The Greek ships of the Hydra class (4885 ts) built in France showed the possibility of installing considerable combat power in small ships. Such ships made sense, especially in the shallow Baltic Sea. As a first attempt in this direction, the Russian Navy Ministry ordered a version of the ships of the line of the Imperator Alexander II class (9300 t) reduced to 6500 t from the New Admiralty Shipyard in 1888 , which was launched in July 1893 and entered service as a gangut in 1894 came.

In 1892, the construction contracts for two even smaller ships of the line were awarded to the New Admiralty Shipyard and the Baltic Shipyard in the immediate vicinity , for which Alexander III. as namesake the admirals Fyodor Fjodorowitsch Uschakow (1745-1817) and Dmitri Nikolajewitsch Senjawin (1763-1831) selected. The draft developed by the navy required a ship of 4971 t, 87.40 m length overall, 15.85 m width and up to 6 m draft. The ships received two triple expansion - steam engines , which were delivered from the UK and together provide 5,750 PSI and a speed should be allowed 16 knots over two waves. The Admiral Ushakow received four cylinder boilers , and her sister ship Admiral Senjawin received eight cylinder boilers for steam generation . The ships were supposed to carry 300 t of coal with them, and a maximum of 450 t could be loaded.

The ships received armor made of Harvey steel with a 52 m long belt armor with a thickness of 100 to 250 mm, which was connected at the ends with 150 to 200 mm thick armored bulkhead and formed the citadel to protect the core of the ship. Above it was an armored deck 50 to 75 mm thick. The turrets and the command tower were provided with 200 mm thick armor.
The ships of the Admiral Ushakow class were armed with a 254 mm L / 45 gun newly developed in Russia. The Admiral Uschakow and Admiral Senjawin each received a twin tower on the forecastle and on the stern. Four 120 mm L / 45 canet guns were installed in individual casemates at the corners of the superstructure . For defense against torpedo boats, six 47-mm Hotchkiss cannons and ten 37-mm Hotchkiss cannons were installed on the Admiral Uschakow . These light weapons were different and subject to change on the three ships of the class. In addition, there were four 380 mm torpedo tubes and - as on most of the larger Russian ships of the time - two Baranowski landing guns .

Stern tower of General-Admiral Apraxin

In October 1894, when the first two ships were still in their final equipment, a third ship was laid at the New Admiralty Shipyard, named after the creator of the Russian Navy, the first Russian Admiral General , Fyodor Matveevich Apraxin (1661-1728) has been. The new ship received a number of small improvements. The most significant change was the installation of a single turret at the stern, but this allowed the gun to be raised up to 35 °, which resulted in a considerably larger firing range compared to the twin turrets, which only allowed an increase of 15 °. While the towers of the first two ships were driven hydraulically, this drive on the General-Admiral Apraxin was electric.

The operational readiness of the ships was delayed considerably. Admiral Ushakov's first year of service was filled only with tests and improvements. It was not until 1897 that the first two ships were partially operational.

ship shipyard Keel laying Launch Commissioning
Admiral Ushakov New Admiralty Shipyard January 1, 1892 November 1, 1893 February 1895
Admiral Senjawin Baltic shipyard August 1892 August 22, 1894 September 1896
Admiral General Apraxin New Admiralty Shipyard October 24, 1894 May 12, 1896 August 1899

Mission history

In 1898, Admiral Ushakow and Admiral Senjawin formed a squadron association with the torpedo cruiser Abrek and torpedo boats, in particular to improve artillery training for the fleet, which covered almost 2000 km in the Russian Baltic Sea area. At the end of the season, the Admiral Ushakow was not launched, but formed a standby division with the Petropavlovsk and a destroyer in the Libau naval port , which was still under construction, which should enable a longer service life than the usually frozen Gulf of Finland . In 1899 the two ships were used again as training squadrons with largely new crews. The standby division was to form Admiral Senjawin and the new Admiral General Apraxin . The new ship was to make a visit to Copenhagen during the acceptance phase in August , where Nicholas II also made a visit.

General-Admiral Apraxin, who ran aground at Hochland

In November 1899, General-Admiral Apraxin ran aground in strong storms, fog and ice drifts off the highlands in the Gulf of Finland . The ship could not simply be taken away. A similar accident had already occurred in 1897 and led to the loss of the small ship of the line Gangut . The crew of Admiral-General Apraxin were ordered to remain on board in order to be able to carry out a rescue after the winter period and to avoid losing the ship. The Admiral Uschakow brought the damaged vessel an additional 100 t of coal in difficult weather.

The stay of the ship at Hochland led to the world's first radio transmission in 1900, as the island had not been connected with a telegraph cable. On the recommendation of the Russian radio pioneer Alexander Stepanowitsch Popow , the crew set up a radio station on the island in January 1900, with which they remained in constant contact with the fleet headquarters in Kronstadt via a switching station in Kymi . Rear Admiral Zinovi Petrovich Roschestvensky , head of the artillery training unit, was entrusted with the management of the rescue work. The investigation of the position of the ship made it clear that attempted towing would lead to the safe loss of the ship. Roschestvensky hired a civilian salvage company to remove the rock that was holding Admiral General Apraxin with small explosive charges. The rescue work was supported and taken care of by the icebreaker Yermak , whose use Roshestvensky initially had considerable doubts. But the Jermak ensured that the work could continue, so that General-Admiral Apraxin was released in May and could be brought to Kronstadt, where considerable repairs were necessary.

Before 1904, the General-Admiral Apraxin and her two sister ships Admiral Uschakow and Admiral Senjawin were reclassified from ships of the line to coastal defense ships .

Russo-Japanese War

The coastal armored ships in Port Said

After the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War , the use of the three coastal armored ships of the Admiral Ushakow class with the 2nd Pacific Squadron was refused by Admiral Roschestvensky. He did not consider them suitable to take part in the overseas mission in support of the Pacific Squadron in Port Arthur . The three coastal armored ships of the Admiral Ushakov class were nevertheless assigned to the 3rd Pacific Squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Nikolai Nebogatow in 1905 and left Libau on February 2, 1905 together with the old ship of the line Imperator Nikolai I (as flagship), the cruiser Vladimir Monomakh and several transporters to reinforce the 2nd Pacific Squadron under Admiral Roschestwensky, which was already on its way to the Pacific. The 3rd Squadron ran from the Baltic Sea to Europe through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal , across the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea, where it met the Roschestvenskis Association on April 26 at Cam Ranh Bay off French Indochina . On May 1, the Russian ships left their anchorages to continue their voyage to Vladivostok . The march through the Korea Strait occurred on May 27, the collision with the Japanese Floote and Battle of Tsushima .

The Admiral Senjawin under the command of Captain Grigoriev to the first shots have given in the battle, as they m 11:42 to about 9000, the Japanese shelled 3. (cruiser) Squadron. Roschestvensky ordered the cessation of the battle, which was fought at a great distance from Nebogatov's ships, as it contradicted his instructions given before the battle. During the battle, Nebogatov's units were hardly shot at. Admiral Senjawin was not hit at all, but Admiral Ushakov was badly hit in the bow and their antennas were disabled. Nebogatow tried with his ships and left alone by the 2nd Squadron Oryol break through to Vladivostok. During the night he forbade the use of searchlights and was thus able to evade the attacks of the Japanese destroyers. In the morning, however, he met with his flagship, Emperor Nikolai I , the badly damaged Oryol , Admiral Senjawin and General-Admiral Apraxin ( Captain Lischin ) on the Japanese main fleet. Nebogatov capitulated at 10:50 a.m. after only a few volleys, since he thought another fight with his units would be pointless.

Admiral Ushakov was unable to maintain the speed of the sister ships during the night because of the damage to the bow and fell back. The destroyed antenna also excluded them from communication with the remainder of the fleet. Alone she was looking for the way north on the 28th and was overtaken by the Japanese armored cruisers Iwate and Yakumo in the afternoon and attacked at 5:30 p.m. because the commander Vladimir Nikolaievich Mikluch-Maklai refused to surrender the ship. After heavy hits, he sank his ship himself shortly after 6:00 p.m. 298 men survived the sinking.

In Japanese services

Naval Ensign of Japan.svg

The Admiral Senjavin was named by the Japanese in Mishima after the small island Mishima off Hagi in Yamaguchi prefecture , near the site of the battle of Tsushima. The Admiral General Apraxin was named Okinoshima , also after an island off Munakata in Fukuoka Prefecture , with a famous Shinto sanctuary and also geographically close to the site of the Battle of Tsushima. Both ships were taken into service with the Imperial Japanese Navy on June 6, 1905 as coastal defense ships, 2nd class.

Mishima as an icebreaker without heavy towers

When the First World War broke out in 1914, both ships became part of the Japanese 2nd Fleet and took part in the siege of Tsingtau , where only a few German ships had been left behind by the cruiser squadron Admiral von Spees . At the end of the war, the Mishima supported the Japanese intervention in Siberia against the Red Army , in which Japan temporarily brought large parts of Siberia and in particular the Russian Pacific coast under its control. The Mishima served as an icebreaker and kept the sea routes from Japan to Vladivostok open to supply Japanese troops.

On April 1, 1921, Mishima and Okinoshima were reclassified as submarine escort ships . The Okinoshima was decommissioned on April 1, 1922 and sold to a private company for demolition in 1924. This converted the coastal armored ship into a museum ship . It came to Tsuyazaki, Fukuoka (now Fukutsu ) to commemorate the Japanese victory at Tsushima. In 1939 the museum ship was badly damaged in storms and then demolished. The Mishima was not decommissioned until October 10, 1935. As an artillery target, it was sunk off Kushima in September 1936 .

literature

Web links

Commons : Admiral Ushakov- class coastal armored vehicles  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Conway’s, p. 181.
  2. ↑ Information on the Russian 10 "/ 45 (254 mm) gun
  3. ↑ Information on the Russian 120 mm L / 45 gun.
  4. ↑ Information on the Russian 47 mm Hotchkiss gun.
  5. ↑ Information on the Russian 37 mm Hotchkiss gun.
  6. ↑ Pleshakov, pp. 50f.
  7. ^ Hore, p. 115.
  8. ↑ Pleshakov, pp. 209, 244f.
  9. ^ Campbell, p. 127.
  10. ↑ Pleshakov, pp. 279ff.
  11. ^ Campbell, p. 192.