Otwaschny (ship, 1893)

Gunboat Otwaschny
Overview
Type	Gunboat
Shipyard	Baltic shipyard , Saint Petersburg
Keel laying	December 21, 1890
Launch	May 7, 1892
Commissioning	1893
Whereabouts	Sunk December 20, 1904 in Port Arthur
Technical specifications
displacement	Max. 1,717 t
length	72.6 m
width	12.7 m
Draft	4.4 m
crew	189 men
drive	6 Belleville boilers , 2 screws, 2 triple compound machines 2,500 hp
speed	13.3 kn
Range	995 nm
Armament	• 1 × 229 mm L / 30 cannon • 1 × 152 mm L / 35 cannon • 6 × 47 mm L / 43 cannons • 4 × 37 mm L / 23 Hotchkiss rapid fire guns • 2 × 381 mm torpedo tubes
Belt armor	76 - 127 mm
Under deck :	19 - 38 mm
Sister ships	Grozjashchi , Gremyashchi ,
similar	Bobr , Siwutsch , Chrabry

Otwaschny ( Russian Отважный ) was the name of a sea-going gunboat of the Imperial Russian Navy. Commissioned in 1890, it was sunk by the crew off Port Arthur itself on December 20, 1904.

history

The Otwaschny belonged to a class of four boats. Sister ships were the Grosjaschtschi (Грозящий), at the same time the type ship, the Gremjaschtschi ( Гремящий ) and the later, slightly modified Chrabry ( Храбрый ).

The Otwaschny was laid down on December 21, 1890, the launch took place on May 7, 1892. She was finally put into service in 1893. As early as 1892, the boat, which was still under construction, was transferred from the armored gunboat ( броненосная канонерская лодка ) to the sea-going gunboat ( мореходная канонерская лодка ) reclassified.

In 1894 the Otwaschny was moved from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean and later to the Far East. From June 3 to 23, 1900, the boat was involved in the suppression of the Chinese Boxer Rebellion ; as part of a multinational squadron, it took part in the conquest of the port of Yingkou , then also known as Niuzhuang.

In the Russo-Japanese War

At the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War it was enclosed with most of the 1st Russian Pacific Squadron by the Japanese fleet in the Russian naval base Port Arthur . The boat was involved in various skirmishes and in the squadron's attempts to break out. After the Japanese troops took Hill 203, the entire port was in the fire area of ​​heavy Japanese artillery from December 5, 1904. Several Russian ships sank in enemy fire, but the Otwaschny remained essentially undamaged. In order not to let the Otwaschny fall into the hands of the enemy, the boat was sunk by the crew themselves shortly before the Russian surrender on December 20, 1904.

Web links

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