Rossija (ship, 1896)
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|---|---|
 Rossiya |
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| Overview | |
| Type | Armored cruiser |
| units | Single ship |
| Shipyard | |
| Order | 1893 |
| Keel laying | May 20, 1895 |
| Launch | April 30, 1896 |
| delivery | Fall 1896 |
| Namesake | Russia |
| period of service |
1896-1918 |
| Whereabouts | Wrecked in Germany in 1922 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
12,195 t , max. 13,767 t |
| length |
144.2 m |
| width |
20.9 m |
| Draft |
8.0 m |
| crew |
839 men |
| drive |
32 Belleville boilers |
| speed |
19.74 kn |
| Range |
7,740 nm at 10 kn |
| Armament |
|
| Bunker quantity |
1,663 t coal (max. 2,200 t) |
| Armor |
|
| similar | |
The Rossija ( Россия , German: Russia ) was an armored cruiser of the Russian Navy launched in 1896 . She served in the Siberian war flotilla from 1898 and was part of the cruiser squadron in Vladivostok during the Russo-Japanese War .
She returned to Europe in 1906 and was used during the First World War in the Baltic Fleet as a mine layer and then as an artillery carrier. In 1922 the Rossija was scrapped.
Building history
The Rossiya was originally intended to be a replica of the Rurik armored cruiser , but the Ministry of the Navy wanted the armor to be reinforced. The draft was revised several times taking into account recent developments. An obvious change was the abandonment of a possible sail, as it was still planned on the Rurik .
The Rossija was built at the Baltic shipyard in Saint Petersburg . Preparations for construction began in October 1893. The keel was officially laid on May 20, 1895 and launched on April 30, 1896. The ship was 144.2 m long, up to 20.9 m wide and had a draft of 8, 0 m. It displaced 12,195 tons and was only slightly heavier than planned. Your underwater ship was clad with wood and copper to reduce vegetation. She was considered a good seagoing ship with pleasant rolling movements.
drive
In order to extend its range, the Rossija received a somewhat unusual machine arrangement. A large expansion steam engine each drove the two outer propellers , while a small machine as a marching machine drove the middle screw. At full speed, the screw of the machine was march disengaged, whereas at cruise speed turned happened to the outer coil. The two main engines should develop 14,500 PSi , even reached 15,523 PSi on the test drive and gave the Rossija a speed of 19.74 knots . The marching machine developed 2,500 PSi. 32 Belleville-type water tube boilers generated the steam for these machines. The Rossiya was up to 2200 tons of coal bunkers . This gave her a range of action of 7740 nm at a cruising speed of 10 kn.
Armament
The main armament of the Rossija consisted of four 203 mm L / 45 cannons with protective shields of the model 1892 front and rear, which protruded on swallow nests a little over the inwardly retracted hull. These cannons could be pointed 5 ° downwards and 18 ° upwards. They fired 88 kg projectiles at a distance of up to 11,000 m.
The middle artillery consisted of sixteen 152 mm L / 45 cannons of the 1892 model . One cannon was mounted directly in the bow and one in the stern. The other 14 were set up in casemates in the trunk . They fired 42 kg projectiles up to 11,500 m. There were also twenty 47-millimeter Hotchkiss rapid-fire cannons and eighteen 37-millimeter Hotchkiss cannons . In addition, the ship still had five 381 mm torpedo tubes .
Armor
The Rossija received the new armor with Harvey nickel steel , which, with the same resistance value, meant a considerable saving in weight compared to the normal steel armor that was still used in the Rurik . Her armored belt in the area of the waterline began about 24 m behind the bow and extended to the stern. It should protect 1.4 m above and 1.2 m below the waterline. In the area of the engine rooms it was 200 mm thick, otherwise around 150 mm and at the stern only 127 mm. Its thickness also decreased down to 100 mm. The armored belt was closed at the front by a 178 mm thick armored bulkhead.
The armored deck was 50 mm thick and reinforced to 127 mm in the area of the machines. In front of the armored bulkhead, the deck was protected with armor from 64 to 76 mm. The walls of the command tower were 305 mm thick. 76 mm armor was also installed at the beginning of the chimney flues.
Mission history
After the launch, the Rossija was towed to Kronstadt for equipment. In doing so, she got onto a sandbar and was only removed after a month. It finally came into service in late 1896. In winter she continued her tests from Libau and in June 1897 she took part in the fleet parade in Spithead for the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria 's throne . She continued her tests in the Baltic Sea until October, before leaving for the Pacific. It reached Nagasaki , Japan on March 10, 1898 , and remained in the Far East until the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904.
Russo-Japanese War
At the beginning of the war, the Rossija was the flagship of the cruiser squadron in Vladivostok , which still included the armored cruisers Gromoboi and the outdated Rurik, as well as the protected cruiser Bogatyr . The squadron made a few trips to disrupt Japanese transports to Korea. On June 15, the first major success came when a troop transport and the Hitachi Maru (6,716 GRT) were sunk , which transported eighteen 28 cm siege guns that were to be used against Port Arthur . The Hitachi Maru was en route from Shimonoseki to the Manchurian coast and had around 1,000 Guards soldiers and sailors on board who refused to surrender. Only 152 people survived the sinking. It was the most casualty sinking of a single Japanese ship during the Russo-Japanese War.
On an earlier voyage in May, the Rossija had carried an observation balloon on deck, but it was not possible to detect Japanese shipping traffic early. It was the first use of an aerial observation aid on the high seas during a war.
The ship was badly damaged by the Japanese in August 1904 in the sea battle at Ulsan as the flagship of Rear Admiral Karl Jessen . Following the successes of the Russian cruiser squadron in June, the Japanese naval command stationed eight armored cruisers and protected cruisers under Vice Admiral Kamimura Hikonojo in the Korea Strait to prevent further attacks. In August, the Russian cruisers lying in Vladivostok were supposed to meet the First Pacific Squadron coming from Port Arthur when it attempted to break out, but were not ready to march when the order to do so arrived on August 11, as Admiral Withoft had reported six days earlier that he was staying in Port Arthur. Although late, Rear Admiral Jessen ran out on August 13 with the three armored cruisers Rossija , Gromoboi and Rurik , as he expected a successful breakthrough, which had since failed in the sea battle in the Yellow Sea . When on the morning of August 14th, after more than 24 hours of driving, there was no sign of Withoft's fleet to be seen almost at the height of Pusan , Jessen ordered the march back to Vladivostok.
During the night, Vice Admiral Kamimura with the four modern armored cruisers Izumo , Azuma , Tokiwa and Iwate and the two protected cruisers Naniwa and Takachiho passed the Russian unit in the opposite direction without either side noticing. Kamimura was also on the march back from his night patrol and was heading straight for the Russian cruisers. Jessen had barely set course for Vladivostok when he saw the four Japanese armored cruisers in front of him. Its situation was very bad: it was far from its base; superior enemy forces blocked his way there; in the early morning of a clear summer day the rising sun illuminates his ships for the enemy. At 5:20 a.m. on August 14, 1904, the battle began at a distance of about 8 km. The Rurik , the last and weakest ship in the Russian formation, was shot at by the last two ships in the Japanese formation. Badly hit Rurik lost almost all of her officers and fell back, but continued to resist. The other two Russian ships made a U-turn so that the Rurik could cut back into the keel line on the opposite course. Kamimura initially maintained his course and thereby increased the distance between the opponents again.
The Rurik was after a grenade strike on its rudder system no longer capable of Rossiya and Russian cruiser Gromoboi to follow in the order of battle. Although their position was hopeless, Jessen tried to save them by continuing to maneuver close to them with constant changes of course and trying to attract enemy fire. His two remaining ships received increasingly heavy hits. At around 8:30 a.m., when the situation on the Rurik had become hopeless, it was sunk by its crew themselves. 204 seafarers on board were killed or drowned by the fire; 625 men (305 wounded) were rescued by the Japanese. Since Jessen saw no way to save the survivors, he turned and headed for Vladivostok. Kamimura chased the Russian cruisers and scored more hits, but the Iwate and Azuma were also badly hit. Despite his clear superiority and the obviously badly battered opponents, Admiral Kamimura broke off the chase at 11:15 am, possibly due to a lack of ammunition, and set course back to Pusan.
The Rossija and the Gromoboi reached their home port badly damaged. The Rossiya had 48 dead and 165 injured, the Gromoboi 91 dead and 182 injured. The high number of casualties was due to the poor protection of the Russian gun crews. However, the commander of the Rossija had always ordered the gun crews below deck on the non-fighting side. Rossiya had received over 28 hits. Over half of their guns were out of action and there had been intermittent fire on board. Their armor, however, was never penetrated. Even under the poor repair conditions in Vladivostok, it was ready for use again after two months. However, six 152 mm guns were replaced by 75 mm guns. However, there was no further advance against Japanese shipping.
Between the wars
The Rossija returned to the Baltic Sea after the war and arrived back in Kronstadt on April 8, 1906, where it was modernized by 1909. Their machines and boilers were overhauled, the main mast removed and the armament changed. Six additional 152 mm guns were installed in a lightly armored casemate one deck above the previous broadside guns in the spaces between them, and 75 mm guns previously installed there were removed. The concealed bow gun was placed on the foredeck and could now be used on both sides.
As part of the coronation celebrations in honor of King George V , a naval parade took place in June 1911, where Russia was represented by the outdated armored cruiser Rossija .
In September 1912 the Rossija ran from Kronstadt as a training ship for non-commissioned officer candidates on a training trip to the Canary Islands and the Virgin Islands , in March 1913 she returned to the Baltic Sea to visit Copenhagen with the protected cruisers Aurora and Oleg . In September 1913 her next big training trip began until April 1914 to the Azores and then to the Mediterranean. Among other things, Toulon was visited.
First World War
The Rossiya served in the war as the flagship of the second cruiser brigade of the Baltic Fleet . It had been converted into a fast mine-layer for 100 mines. In January 1915 she and Oleg and Bogatyr laid mine barriers off the Mecklenburg coast, into which the German small cruisers Augsburg and Gazelle ran and were severely damaged. The gazelle has not been repaired due to its age.
Another overhaul began in Kronstadt in October 1915, during which the armament was reinforced. A deck on the foredeck was dismantled and the bow and stern guns were each replaced by a 203 mm gun. There were also two more 203 mm guns on the side. The broadside of the cruiser increased to six 203 mm guns with only seven 152 mm guns. Two 47 mm cannons and three machine guns were installed for air defense.
Final fate
The Rossiya crew took part in the revolutionary events of 1917 and the cruiser came under Soviet control in September 1917. She took part in the ice march from Helsinki to Kronstadt in March 1918 and was decommissioned shortly after her arrival. In 1919 she gave some of her 152 mm guns to the Red Army for use in Latvia.
Like many other Russian warships, she was sold to Germany for demolition on July 1, 1922 via the Derumetall company. While being towed to Germany in October 1922, the cruiser got into a severe storm and ran aground off Tallinn . It was recovered and finally broken up in Kiel .
literature
- Peter Brook: Armored Cruiser vs. Armored Cruiser: Ulsan, August 14, 1904. in: Warship 2000-2001, Conway's Maritime Press.
- Robert Gardiner, Ed .: Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905. Conway Maritime Press, Greenwich 1979, ISBN 0-8317-0302-4 .
- Stephen McLaughlin: From Rurik to Ruirik: Russia's Armored Cruisers. in: Warship 1999-2000, Conway's Maritime Press.
- Anthony J. Watts: The Imperial Russian Navy. Arms and Armor, London 1990, ISBN 0-85368-912-1 .
Web links
- Rossija on battleships-cruisers.co.uk (English, with photos)
- Construction drawing
- Photo in tow on the way to scrapping
- Photo after commissioning
- Photo exhibits for the 100th anniversary of the end of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905
- Photo after the Battle of Ulsan
- Photo with balloon over the stern
Footnotes
- ↑ a b McLaughlin, p. 51
- ↑ McLaughlin, pp. 54, 74
- ^ Watts, p. 89
- ↑ McLaughlin, p. 74
- ↑ The Rossija had 210 projectiles per gun on board.
- ↑ Gardiner, p. 189, McLaughlin, p. 54
- ↑ a b c d McLaughlin, p. 77
- ↑ Brook, p. 34ff.
- ↑ Brook, pp. 45ff.
- ↑ McLaughlin, pp. 54, 77
- ^ Gray, p. 295.
- ↑ McLaughlin, p. 54.