Kit class

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Imperial Russian Navy Военно Морскоий Флот СССР (Soviet Naval Navy)
Kit (Bditelnyi) .jpg
The Russian destroyer kit .
Class details
Ship type: destroyer
Builder: Schichau, Elbing and Danzig
Period of service: 1900-1949
Units: 14th
Technical specifications
Length: 63.5 m
Width: 7.0 m
Draft: 2.7-3.0 m
Displacement : Construction: 350–375 t
Maximum approx. 450 t
Drive:
Speed: 27.0 kn
Range: 420–500 nm at 27 kts
1,500–1,600 nm at 10 kts
Fuel supply:
Armament:

1st series

2nd series

  • 2 × 75 mm L / 50 guns
  • 6 × 7.62 mm machine guns
  • 3 × torpedo tubes (3 × 1) Ø 457 mm
  • up to 16 mines
Crew: 70 men

The kit class ( Russian Кит , for whale ) was a class of Russian torpedo boat destroyers of the Baltic and Pacific fleets of Tsarist Russia, which were sold in two lots between 1898 and 1900 at the Schichau shipyard in Elblag and in Gdansk before and during the Russo-Japanese War and 1905 and 1907 respectively.

draft

For the needs of the Far East

The destroyer Boevoy built at Laird , initially Som
The French-built destroyer Vnimatelnyi , initially Forel

The first four boats in the class, which are sometimes referred to as the kit class , were ordered from the Schichau shipyard in August 1898 as part of the program For the needs of the Far East of 1898. All four were delivered by August 1900. In terms of size and combat power, the boats were among the first "destroyers" of the Russian Navy, but because of their size and combat power they actually have to be described as deep-sea torpedo boats. The most striking feature of the class was the pronounced ramming stem, the rounded cruiser stern and the two chimneys with a strong stern fall. The original design provided for only one 75 mm and five 47 mm guns, with no mine-laying device provided.

In addition to the four boats ordered in Germany, the Imperial Russian Navy ordered a destroyer in the Far East program in Great Britain ( Som , 1900 delivered) and five in France ( Forel class , delivered 1901/1902), which were also used at the start of the Russian -Japanese war stationed there. In Russia itself, thirteen Buiny and Groznyi- class destroyers were built simultaneously , two of which were also stationed in Port Arthur before the war and nine marched to the Far East with the Second Pacific Squadron during the war.

Immediately after the completion of the tests, the four destroyers of the first order moved from October 1900 to May 1901 in the Far East to the Pacific Squadron and were stationed in Port Arthur. After the naval battle in the Yellow Sea , three of the destroyers ( Besposchtschadni , Besschumni , Besstraschni ) were interned on August 12, 1904 in the German colony of Tsingtao . The Bditelny was not ready for use due to boiler damage. At the end of October 1904 it was hit by a mine, could not be repaired and was blown up before Port Arthur surrendered.

Transportable by rail

The destroyers Ingenieur-mechanik Zverev and Burny

The remaining ten boats were ordered in December 1904 as replicas and replacements and were simple kit- type replicas so as not to take any risks. Only modified boilers were required and the armament was increased to two 75 mm guns. New 45 cm torpedo tubes were also installed. When the contract was signed, the Russian government was still hoping to be able to use the boats during the Russo-Japanese war. When the contract was signed, the shipyard therefore had to guarantee that the boats would be built in such a way that parts of them could also be transported overland to Vladivostok . In fact, only two boats ( Kapitan Jurassowski , Leitenant Sergejew ) made use of this option. On the one hand, the war quickly went to the disadvantage of the Russians; on the other hand, the railway to the Far East proved to be totally overloaded in order to be able to transport the necessary construction equipment to the Far East. The other eight ships were then completely completed in Germany and were used in the Baltic Sea.

Due to the war experience of 1904/05, the armament was immediately reinforced and standardized to two 75 mm guns. The boats are also known as an independent class under the name Ingenieur-Mechanik-Swerew-Klasse in Russian literature or in German as Bojewoi-Klasse and in English as Bditelny-Klasse .

They experienced their continuous continuation in the four boats of the Emir Bucharski class , which were also ordered in 1904 and designed by the Schichau shipyard and built on Russian Baltic Sea shipyards.

Boats and Fates

ship Keel laying Launch Commissioning comment
Kit ("Whale")
from March 22, 1902:
Bditelny
("The Vigilant") 		March 8, 1899 November 30, 1899 August 10, 1900 Stationed in Port Arthur since May 1901. Not ready for use when the squadron attempted to break out of the Yellow Sea due to boiler damage. At the end of October 1904, the boat was hit by a mine during an operation and was badly damaged. Due to missing parts, it could not be repaired and was blown up before the port surrendered on January 2, 1905.
Skat ("Rochen")
from March 22, 1902:
Besposchtschadni
("The Merciless") 		March 8, 1899 October 24, 1899 July 12, 1900 Stationed in Port Arthur since May 1901. After the sea battle in the Yellow Sea, the boat was interned in Tsingtau on August 12, 1904. After the end of the war, the boat remained with the Pacific Squadron in Vladivostok until 1918 and changed hands several times in the wake of the civil war. An intended transfer to the Arctic Ocean in 1917 had to be omitted due to the condition of the propulsion system. It was removed from the fleet on May 31, 1923 and scrapped until 1925.
Delfin ("Delphin")
from March 22, 1902:
Besstraschni
("The Fearless") 		March 29, 1899 July 12, 1899 September 8, 1900 Stationed in Port Arthur since May 1901. After the sea battle in the Yellow Sea, the boat was interned in Tsingtau on August 12, 1904. After the end of the war, the boat remained with the Pacific Squadron until 1917 and moved to the Arctic Ocean to Murmansk until October 1917. There it was occupied by French intervention troops, handed over to the White Army and left behind when they withdrew in February 1920. Then it was launched in Arkhangelsk from 1921 and was scrapped from 1924.
Kassatka ("Orca")
from March 22, 1902:
Besschumni
("The silent one") 		1899 March 16, 1900 July 14, 1900 Stationed in Port Arthur since May 1901. After the sea battle in the Yellow Sea, the boat was interned in Tsingtau on August 12, 1904. After the end of the war, the boat remained with the Pacific Squadron until 1917 and moved to the Arctic Ocean to Murmansk until October 1917 . There it was occupied by French intervention troops, handed over to the White Army and left behind when they withdrew in February 1920. Then it was launched in Arkhangelsk from 1921 and was scrapped from 1924.
Engineer-mechanics Dmitriev
from February 25, 1925
Roshal 		February 8, 1905 November 4, 1905 1906 The boat remained in the Baltic Sea, was assigned to the 7th Destroyer Division of the Baltic Fleet before the First World War and was mainly responsible for escorting, outpost and mine detection tasks. Between April 1918 and May 1919 it was in reserve status, was then moved to Lake Ladoga, took part in the fighting in the Gulf of Finland in 1921/22 and was launched in 1926. In November 1928 it was deleted from the fleet list and then the boat was scrapped.
Boyevoi ("The Combative
") 		March 11, 1905 January 9, 1906 Spring 1906 The boat remained in the Baltic Sea, was assigned to the 7th Destroyer Division of the Baltic Fleet before the First World War and was mainly responsible for escorting, outpost and mine detection tasks. During the ice march of the Baltic Fleet it remained frozen in the Helsingfors base, was occupied by German troops and handed over to the Finnish Navy, but handed over to Russia in May 1918. It was laid up in Kronstadt between May 1918 and 1924, was deleted from the fleet list in November 1925 and then scrapped.
Burny
("The Stormy") 		April 7, 1905 February 7, 1906 Spring 1906 The boat remained in the Baltic Sea, was assigned to the 7th Destroyer Division of the Baltic Fleet before the First World War and was mainly responsible for escorting, outpost and mine detection tasks. It was laid up in Kronstadt between April 1918 and February 1925, was deleted from the fleet list in November 1925 and then scrapped.
Wnimatelny
("The Mindful") 		May 29, 1905 February 20, 1906 Spring 1906 The boat remained in the Baltic Sea, was assigned to the 7th Destroyer Division of the Baltic Fleet before the First World War and was mainly responsible for escorting, outpost and mine detection tasks. Between April 1918 and May 1919 it was in reserve status, took part in the fighting in the Gulf of Finland in 1921/22 and was launched in September 1924. In February 1925 it was deleted from the fleet list, after which the boat was scrapped.
Bditelny
("The Vigilant") 		March 11, 1905 March 17, 1906 April 8, 1906 The boat remained in the Baltic Sea, was assigned to the 7th Destroyer Division of the Baltic Fleet before the First World War and was mainly responsible for escorting, outpost and mine detection tasks. It ran on November 27, 1917 in the Gulf of Bothnia near Raumo on a mine laid by the German submarine SM UC 58 , whereby the forecastle was torn down and sank within just three minutes, losing 60 men.
Engineering mechanics Zverev
1925
Zhemchuzhin 		January 28, 1905 April 6, 1906 Summer 1906 The boat remained in the Baltic Sea, was assigned to the 7th Destroyer Division of the Baltic Fleet before the First World War and was mainly responsible for escorting, outpost and mine detection tasks. Between April 1918 and May 1919 it was in reserve status, was then moved to Lake Ladoga, took part in the fighting in the Gulf of Finland in 1921/22 and was launched in 1926. In January 1930 it was deleted from the fleet list, after which the boat was scrapped.
Wynosliwy
("The Persevering")
1925
Artemyev 		August 16, 1905 March 31, 1906 Summer 1906 The boat was renamed Artemjew on February 25, 1925 . The boat remained in the Baltic Sea, was assigned to the 7th Destroyer Division of the Baltic Fleet before the First World War and was mainly responsible for escorting, outpost and mine detection tasks. Between April 1918 and May 1919 it was in reserve status, was then relocated to Lake Ladoga, took part in the fighting in the Gulf of Finland in 1921/22 and was launched in 1928. In 1932 it was deleted from the fleet list and taken over by the Ossoawiachim as a training ship. It was sunk during the siege of Leningrad in World War II, only lifted in 1953 and then broken up.
Wnuschitelny
("The Impressive")
1925
Martynov 		August 18, 1905 March 31, 1906 Summer 1906 The boat was renamed Martynow on February 5, 1925 . The boat remained in the Baltic Sea, was assigned to the 7th Destroyer Division of the Baltic Fleet before the First World War and was mainly responsible for escorting, outpost and mine detection tasks. It rammed a German submarine on July 29, 1915 and was badly damaged. Between April 1918 and May 1919 it was in reserve status, was then relocated to Lake Onega, took part in the fighting in the Gulf of Finland in 1921/22 and was launched in 1926. Subsequently, the conversion to the training ship of the Naval War Academy took place; in 1931 it was deleted from the fleet list and taken over by the Ossoawiachim as a training ship. In January 1935 she was returned to the fleet as a guard ship and took part in both the Winter War and World War II. Although it was finally deleted from the fleet list in October 1940, it was not scrapped until 1949.
Captain Jurassovsky January 13, 1905 1907 1907 The boat was stacked at Schichau in Elbing, then dismantled into individual parts and transported by train to Vladivostok and assembled there. It remained with the Pacific Fleet until 1917 and moved to Murmansk in the Arctic Ocean until October 1917. There it was occupied by US intervention troops, handed over to the White Army and left behind when they withdrew in February 1920. It was then launched in Arkhangelsk from 1922 and was scrapped from 1924.
Director Sergeyev January 21, 1905 1907 1907 The boat was stacked at Schichau in Elbing, then dismantled into individual parts and transported by train to Vladivostok and assembled there. It remained with the Pacific Fleet until 1917 and moved to Murmansk in the Arctic Ocean until October 1917. There it was occupied by British intervention troops, handed over to the White Army and left behind when they withdrew in February 1920. It was then launched in Arkhangelsk from 1922 and was scrapped from 1924.

literature

  • Harald Fock: Black journeymen. Volume 2: Destroyer until 1914 . Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Herford 1981, ISBN 3-7822-0206-6 .
  • Harald Fock: Z-before! Vol. 1 International development and war missions of destroyers and torpedo boats 1914 to 1939. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Herford 1998, ISBN 3-7822-0207-4 .
  • Robert Gardiner: Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Conway Maritime Press, London 1979, ISBN 0-85177-133-5 .
  • René Greger: The Russian fleet in the First World War 1914–1917. JF Lehmanns, Munich 1970, ISBN 3-469-00303-3

Web links

Commons : Bditelny class destroyers  - collection of images, videos, and audio files
Commons : Destroyers of the Inzhener-mekhanik Zverev class  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files