Borodino class (1901)

Cracks of the Borodino class in Brasseys 1906
Overview
Type	Ship of the line
units	5
Shipyard	Baltic shipyard (3) Galerny shipyard Admiralty shipyard
Keel laying	1899-1902
Launch	1901-1903
delivery	1903-1905
Decommissioning	1924 after service in Japan from 1905
Whereabouts	three sunk at Tsushima in 1905 a war loss in 1917
Technical specifications
displacement	13,516 ts
length	121 m over everything
width	23.3 m
Draft	8.0 m
crew	around 800 men
drive	12 Belleville boilers 2 × 3-way expansion steam engines 15,500 HP 2 screws
speed	17.5 kn
Range	2,590 nm at 10 kn with 1,545 t coal
Armament	• 4 × 305 mm L / 40 cannons in twin turrets • 12 × 152 mm L / 40 canet rapid fire guns • 20 × 75 mm canet rapid fire guns • 20 × 47 mm Hotchkiss rapid fire guns • 3 × 381 mm torpedo tubes
Armor	• Belt: 190–203 mm • Deck: 50 mm • Barbettes: 200–360 mm • Main towers: 249 to 254 mm • Secondary towers : 152 to 203 mm • Command tower : 254 to 304 mm

The Borodino class was a class of five pre-dreadnought - battleships of the Imperial Russian Navy , built 1899-1905.

Building history

The Borodino class was based on the plans of the Zessarevich, built in France 1899–1901 . The Russian naval command had existed at the completion of the construction contract out that another five ships of the same type built in Russia and could be modified as far as necessary in order to comply with the requirements of the Russian Navy. Accordingly, from 1899 to 1905, the ships of the Borodino class were built in Russian shipyards: Borodino , Emperor Alexander III. , Oryol , Knjas Suvorov and Slava .

Construction defects

Like the Zessarewitsch , these ships also suffered from the fact that their center of gravity was too high, the hull walls in the so-called tumblehome design pointed inwards above the waterline, the longitudinal bulkhead running in the middle of the hull caused the risk of capsizing, and the low belt armor was pushed underwater with a full combat load. The casemate guns were so low that they were unusable in rough seas. In addition, despite their greater weight, the ships had weaker engines than the Zessarewitsch . All three ships of the class sunk at Tsushima capsized before sinking. The ships are therefore considered by some shipbuilding experts as the worst battleships ever built.

Whereabouts

ship	Keel laying	Launch	Commissioning	comment
Borodino Admiralty Shipyard, Saint Petersburg	July 1899	Sep 1901	Aug 10, 1903	With the Second East Asian Squadron to East Asia. Sunk on May 27, 1905 in the naval battle near Tsushima. Just a survivor.
Emperor Alexander III Baltic shipyard, Saint Petersburg	July 1899	Jan. 1901	Aug 1903	With the Second East Asian Squadron to East Asia. Sunk on May 27, 1905 in the naval battle near Tsushima. No survivors.
Oryol Galerny Shipyard, Saint Petersburg	0June 2, 1900	July 19, 1902	Oct 1904	With the Second East Asian Squadron to East Asia. Surrendered on May 28, 1905 after the naval battle at Tsushima. As an Iwami in the service of the Japanese Navy and sunk as a target ship in 1924.
Knyaz Suvorov Baltic Shipyard, Saint Petersburg	July 1901	Sep 1902	Sep 1904	With the Second East Asian Squadron to East Asia. Sunk on May 27, 1905 in the naval battle near Tsushima. 20 survivors and 908 dead.
Slava Baltic Shipyard, Saint Petersburg	Oct 1902	Aug 1903	June 1905	The ship remained in the Baltic Sea with the Baltic Fleet. Sunk in Moonsund on October 17, 1917.

Web links

Commons : Borodino class  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

1. ^ Antony Preston: World's Worst Warships , Conways Maritime Press 2002