Amur class (1898)
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|
|---|---|
| Amur class | |
 Amur |
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| Overview | |
| Type | Mine layers |
| units | 2 |
| Shipyard | |
| Keel laying | 1898 |
| Launch | 1898 |
| Namesake | Rivers |
| period of service |
1900-1904 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
3,010 t |
| length |
91.5 m in the waterline |
| width |
12.5 m |
| Draft |
5.5 m |
| crew |
317 men |
| drive |
12 water tube boilers |
| speed |
18 kn |
| Range |
2000 nm at 10 kn |
| Armament |
• 5 × 75 mm canet cannons |
| Sister ships |
Yenisei , Amur |
| following class |
Amur class of 1905 |
The two miners of the Amur class were the first purpose-built, ocean-going miners in the world. They were built for the Imperial Russian Navy from 1898 to 1901 . In the Russo-Japanese War of 1904/05, both ships were part of the Pacific Squadron in Port Arthur .
Yenisei was hit by its own mine when it tried to lay a minefield and sank just two days after the war began.
Amur was sunk in Port Arthur by Japanese howitzers in December 1904. The Japanese ships of the line Hatsuse and Yashima sank in a minefield they had laid .
Building history
The Amur-class mine-layers were supposed to drop their mines at high speed. They had a clearly overhanging stern with doors that allowed the mines to be dropped behind the screws. Behind the drop gates there were rails to the mine storage rooms for up to 300 mines. The ships of the Amur class were 91.4 m long in the waterline, were up to 12.5 m wide and had a draft of 5.5 m. The ships had two pole masts and a battering bow.
Two standing triple expansion steam engines powered the two screws. Twelve Belleville tubular boilers produced the necessary steam. The machines produced 4,700 PSi and enabled a top speed of 18 knots. The 400 tons of coal carried gave a range of 2000 nautical miles at 10 kn.
The Amur class was armed with five 75 mm L / 50 cannons of the Canet 1892 model , which could fire their 4.9 kg projectiles up to 7850 m. Well-trained operators could fire up to 15 rounds per minute. In addition, seven 47 mm Hotchkiss cannons were installed, which had a range of 1850 m. In addition, there was a 381 mm torpedo tube and the main armament up to 300 mines.
Mission history
Both ships, the Yenisei and the Amur , were built by the Baltic Shipyard in Saint Petersburg . The keel was laid in 1898 and both ships were completed by 1901. Both were sent to the Pacific Squadron from 1901 to 1902 and were stationed in Port Arthur at the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War.
The early loss of the Yenisei
On February 11, 1904, two days after the Japanese attack on Port Arthur, the Yenisei laid a minefield in Dalian Bay when one of the laid mines failed to anchor itself and drifted towards the ship. When trying to evade, Yenisei ran into a mine that had just been laid. The ensuing explosion detonated eight more mines on the ship's rails. Yenisei sank within 20 minutes, 100 men could not be saved.
The protected cruiser Boyarin and four torpedo boats ran to the scene of the accident, where the Boyarin also ran into a mine on the Yenisei . The hit filled the engine room and the crew evacuated the cruiser. The ship continued to swim and the next day was propelled in an inaccessible place in Dalian Bay, so that it was no longer possible to recover it.
The success of the Amur
On the morning of May 15, 1904, a Japanese squadron under Rear Admiral Nashiba Tokioki with the ships of the line Hatsuse , Yashima and Shikishima as well as the cruiser Kasagi and the torpedo cannon boat Tatsuta ran towards Port Arthur for reconnaissance and bombing. They ran into a field of 50 mines that the Amur had laid in the usual Japanese approach the previous evening.
At 10:50 a.m. the hatsuse ran into a mine, which put a machine and the controls out of action. Shortly afterwards, Yashima also ran into a mine when she had to avoid the drifting Hatsuse . At 11:30 the Kasagi went alongside the hatsuse , the stern of which was almost under water and was listing 4 °. When Kasagi handed over a tow, the hatsuse received another hit from a mine, which detonated her magazine. Their chimneys collapsed, the main mast broke, and the upper deck exploded. In 1.5 minutes, the vessel dropped to 38 ° 37 ' N , 121 ° 20' O .
Tatsuta and Kasagi were able to save the admiral, Captain Nakao with 21 other officers and 313 men. But 38 officers and 458 men died with the ship.
Also, the hard hit Yashima , by the Shikishima was dragged, could not be maintained above water and sank in the afternoon on the way to the Korean coast to 38 ° 34 ' N , 121 ° 40' O . Over 200 men of their crew died.
On June 15, the Amur was severely damaged when it hit the ground. She remained in the besieged Port Arthur, although a further mine operation was no longer an option, as no more mines were available. On December 8, 1904, the Amur was badly hit in dry dock by the Japanese land artillery with 28 cm howitzers . On December 18, she received another 30 hits. The Japanese removed the wreck from the dock and demolished the remains.
Replacement buildings
During the Russo-Japanese War, two slightly modified replacement ships were started as the Amur class at the Baltic shipyard in St. Petersburg , which were given the same names and were used in the Baltic Sea during the First World War .
literature
- Robert Forczyk : Russian Battleship vs Japanese Battleship, Yellow Sea 1904-05 . Osprey, 2009, ISBN 978 1-84603-330-8 .
- Gardiner, Robert (Ed.): Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905 . Mayflower Books, New York 1979, ISBN 0-8317-0302-4 .
- Russian Minelayers Amur and Yenisei . In: Naval Records Club (ed.): Warship International . IX, No. 2, Toledo, OH, 1972, pp. 205-206.
- Anthony J. Watts: The Imperial Russian Navy . Arms and Armor, London 1990, ISBN 0-85368-912-1 .
Web links
Footnotes
- ↑ a b c Russian Minelayers Amur and Yenisei , p. 205
- ↑ Gardiner, p. 204
- ↑ a b c d Watts, p. 172
- ↑ Russian 75 mm / 50 (2.95 ") Pattern 1892 Canet Model
- ↑ Russian 47 mm / 5 (1.85 ") Hotchkiss gun
- ↑ a b Russian Minelayers Amur and Yenisei , pp. 205f.
- ↑ Russian Admiral General Grand Duke Alexis informs the press about the mining successes, NY Times, May 21, 1904
- ↑ Forczyk, p 46
- ↑ Russian Minelayers Amur and Yenisei , p. 206