Rurik (ship, 1892)
 Russian armored cruiser Rurik |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Type | Armored cruiser |
| Shipyard |
Baltic shipyard |
| Keel laying | May 31, 1890 |
| Launch | November 3, 1892 |
| Namesake | Lord Rurik |
| 1. Period of service |
|
| Commissioning | May 1895 |
| Whereabouts | Sunk near Ulsan on August 14, 1904 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
Construction: 10,933 ts |
| length |
over everything: 132.58 m |
| width |
20.42 m |
| Draft |
8.3 m |
| crew |
683 men |
| drive |
|
| speed |
18.7 kn |
| Range |
7700 nm at 10 kn |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
| stock |
2,000 ts of coal |
The Rurik (Russian: Рюрик ) was an armored cruiser of the Imperial Russian Navy . It was named after the legendary Varangian prince Ryurik , the founder of the Russian Empire. She was sunk on August 14, 1904 in a naval battle near Ulsan during the Russo-Japanese War .
Design, construction and technical data
After a long debate, the final blueprint finally envisaged a ship that, at 10,000 tons in size and with 25 cm thick belt armor, would run 18 knots and have a range of 10,000 nautical miles. In addition, it should come as Bark be rigged.
The keel was laid on May 19, 1890 at the Baltic shipyard in St. Petersburg . The ship was launched on October 22, 1892 and entered service in May 1895. The Rurik was, with 11,960 tons of water displacement, 126 m long and 20.4 m wide and had a draft of 7.9 m. The armor was made of nickel steel; the belt armor was 127-254 mm thick, the top armor was 50-75 mm, and the command post was provided with 150 mm armor. The main artillery consisted of four 203 mm guns. In addition there were sixteen 152-mm guns, six 120-mm quick-loading guns, as well as six 47-mm and ten 37-mm guns and six 380-mm torpedo tubes. Four standing triple expansion steam engines , which worked on two screws, gave the cruiser 13,250 hp and a top speed of 18.7 knots in smooth seas. The range of action was only 7,700 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 10 knots. The crew numbered 719 men.
The Rurik caused head shakes in the Royal Navy and other Western navies, apparently obsolete by the time it was completed. Their comparatively heavy armament was more than offset by their low speed and weak armor.
history
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The Rurik was assigned to the Pacific Fleet and marched on Vladivostok immediately after its commissioning . There, the commanding Admiral Dubasov ordered various modifications after just a few weeks, in particular the dismantling of the rigging and the installation of other boilers. In the end, the boiler system was not renewed, but the rigging was considerably reduced.
After the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War on 8/9 February 1904, Rear Admiral Karl Jessen and his cruiser squadron stationed in Vladivostok - consisting of the armored cruisers Rossija , Gromoboi , Bogatyr and Rurik - were supposed to wage a trade war in the Sea of Japan and prevent or disrupt Japanese transports to Manchuria . Jessen attacked Japanese ships several times during the first months of the war, and in June he sank two troop carriers. As a result, the Japanese naval command stationed eight armored cruisers and protected cruisers under Vice Admiral Kamimura Hikonojo in the Korea Strait to prevent further attacks.
On August 13, 1904, Admiral Jessen ran out of Vladivostok with Rossija , Gromoboi and Rurik to join the First Pacific Squadron expected from Port Arthur under Admiral Withöft . This happened in ignorance of the fact that Withöft's attempt to break out had failed three days earlier with the defeat in the naval battle in the Yellow Sea . When on the morning of August 14th, after more than 24 hours of driving, almost at the height of Pusan , there was still no sign of Withoft's squadron to be seen, Jessen ordered the march back to Vladivostok.
During the night Vice Admiral Kamimura had passed Jessen's formation with four modern armored cruisers and two armored cruisers in the opposite direction without coming into contact with the enemy. Since 01:30 a.m. on August 14, he was on the march back again and was now heading straight for Jessen's cruiser. At 5:20 a.m., the opponents were within 8 km of each other and opened fire. Jessen was in a much worse position: superior enemy forces blocked his way to his base, and he had the rising sun in his eyes.
The Rurik , the last and weakest ship of the Russian Union, was badly hit by the last two ships of the Japanese formation, very soon lost almost all of its officers and fell behind. The other two Russian cruisers, also under heavy fire, made a U-turn so that the Rurik could cut back into the keel line on the opposite course. The Rurik , however, was no longer able to follow the Rossija and the Gromoboi after a shell impact in her rudder system . Still, Jessen tried to save them by continuing to maneuver close to them, constantly changing course and trying to attract enemy fire. Here were Rossiya and Russian cruiser Gromoboi 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. According to Russian reports, this was done on the orders of Lieutenant Ivanov, the only survivor and 13th in the ranking of the Rurik's seafaring officers . Since Jessen saw no way to save the survivors, he turned and headed for Vladivostok.
Kamimura pursued the Russian cruisers and scored more hits, but broke off the battle at 11:15 a.m., possibly due to a lack of ammunition, and marched back to Pusan.
See also
Two other ships named Rurik served in the Russian Navy:
- the wheel frigate Rurik (1851)
- the armored cruiser Rurik (1906), flagship of the Baltic fleet in World War I.
literature
- Anthony Preston: The World's Worst Warships. Conway Maritime Press, 2002, ISBN 0-85177-754-6 .
- Stephen McLaughlin: From Ruirik to Ruirik: Russia's Armored Cruisers. in Warship 1999-2000, Conway's Maritime Press.
- Peter Brook: Armored Cruiser vs. Armored Cruiser, Ulsan August 14, 1904. in Warship 2000-2001, Conway's Maritime Press.
- John Roberts, HC Timewell, Roger Chesneau (Ed.), Eugene M. Kolesnik (Ed.): Warships of the World 1860 to 1905 - Volume 2: USA, Japan and Russia , Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Koblenz 1983, ISBN 3-7637 -5403-2 .
Web links
- Various photos (Engl.)
- Photos and technical data (Engl.)