Cruiser "Varyag", Russia, 1899. Historical Guide

CRUISER "VARYAG"

ODYSSEY OF THE CRUISER "VARYAG"

Vladimir KRAVTSEVICH-ROZHNETSKY

80 years ago, at the end of March 1922, the heroic steel heart of the legend of the Russian fleet, the cruiser Varyag, stopped beating. During the transition to the shipyard's plant near Lendalfoot, the ship ran into rocks in the Irish Sea and half-sunk 500 meters off the Scottish coast. All attempts to remove the cruiser from the aground were in vain, and the company dismantled the ship for scrap. "Varyag" was gone, but its glory, courage and bravery of the crew, who withstood the battle with the Japanese squadron at Chemulpo on January 27, 1904 and did not lower the flag, will forever remain in the memory of the Russian people.

Home travel

The armored, high-board, handsome cruiser Varyag was laid down 105 years ago at the shipyards of one of the largest shipbuilding enterprises in the United States - the Wilhelm Crump plant (Philadelphia) by order of the Admiralty ...

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"Our proud" Varyag "does not surrender to the enemy, no one wants mercy ..." Russian, not everyone remembers (music by A.S. Turishchev, words by Rudolf Greinets, trans. E. Studenskaya, 1904). As not everyone today remembers what was the unprecedented feat of our soldiers and officers.

On the night of February 8-9, 1904, when guns were already thundering in Port Arthur, explosions thundered and the beams of Russian searchlights rushed through the dark water in search of attacking Japanese destroyers, 260 miles to the south, over the Korean port of Chemulpo, a tense silence thickened. In the light of fires burning brightly on the shore, Japanese troops landed on the city pier, and Japanese cruisers and destroyers scattered among foreign ships in the roadstead, holding the Russian cruiser Varyag and a gunboat at gunpoint with their guns and torpedo tubes ...

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The heroic and tragic fate of the cruiser "Varyag"

More than 300 years ago, by order of Peter the Great, the St. Andrew's flag was first raised on Russian ships. Since then, many heroic pages have been written in the history of the fleet, but the cruiser Varyag, which refused to lower the banner in front of a huge enemy squadron in 1904, has forever remained in the memory of people as the brightest symbol of fearlessness, self-sacrifice and military valor.

history of the cruiser "Varyag"

And the history of this ship began more than 100 years ago in 1898 in the American city of Philadelphia. The light armored cruiser "Varyag" was built in the United States by order of the Russian naval ministry. The shipyard of the American Company William Cramp & Sons in Philadelphia on the Delaware River was chosen as the place of construction of the ship. The parties signed the contract on April 11, 1898. The choice of this shipbuilding company was not accidental. The plant was well known in Russia. Here ships and cruisers were repaired and refurbished for ...

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From the conclusion of the domestic commission of experienced specialists who examined the "Varyag": "... Nikloss's boilers are very curious, but they seem to be so only in idea, in practice, except for a number of faults and difficulties, they will give nothing."

In addition, there were mistakes in the project itself. There was not enough room for fresh water, coal, mine arsenal, anchors, spare parts. The officers' cabins were cramped and uncomfortable. But the biggest mistake of the developers was that the cruiser did not have the required stability. To correct the defect, it was necessary to add cast iron ingots with a total weight of 200 tons to the hold. And this led to a decrease in speed and excessive consumption of coal.

On May 3, 1901, the Varyag completed the crossing of the Atlantic, dropping anchor in the Kronstadt roadstead. After a series of repairs in August of the same year, the cruiser went to sea again. In Danzig, two emperors visited the ship at once: Nicholas II and Wilhelm II. At the end of September, the Varyag, which was in the Mediterranean Sea, received a secret order ...

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The cruiser "Varyag" was built in 1899. The ship became part of the Pacific Flotilla. On the eve of the Russo-Japanese War, the Varyag sailed to the neutral Korean port of Chemulpo (present-day Incheon). Here he found himself at the disposal of the Russian embassy. The second such vessel was the gunboat "Koreets".

On the eve of the battle

On the eve of the new 1904, Captain Vsevolod Rudnev received a secret encryption. It reported that the Korean emperor learned about the movement of ten Japanese ships in the direction of Chemulpo (the death of the cruiser "Varyag" happened at one time in the bay of this port). So far, there was no war, although both countries were actively preparing for it. In Russia, Japan was looked down upon, leaving the army and navy in a difficult position when the conflict really broke out.

The Japanese flotilla was commanded by Admiral Sotokichi Uriu. His ships arrived off the coast of Korea to cover the landing. The flotilla was supposed to stop the Varyag if he decided to leave ...

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"Varangian"

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Armament

Ships of the same type

"Varangian"- Russian armored cruiser of the 1st rank, built in the USA according to an individual project and was part of the Russian Imperial Navy. He became famous all over the world for the decision, in response to the offer of surrender, to accept an unequal battle at Chemulpo against the superior forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy. In connection with the revolutionary events in Russia in October 1917, the Varyag was captured by the British and sold for scrap in 1920.

History of creation

Prerequisites for creation

In 1895 and 1896. in Japan, two shipbuilding programs were adopted, according to which, by 1905, it was planned to build a fleet superior naval forces Russia in the Far East. The militarization of Japan did not go unnoticed. Russia was implementing its own shipbuilding program to strengthen the military fleet, but it was clearly inferior to the growth rate of the Japanese fleet. Therefore, in 1897, an additional program "For the needs of the Far East" was developed, which included, among other ships, the construction of an armored cruiser of the 1st rank "Varyag".

Design

Due to the lack of a detailed design of the ship at the time of signing the contract, the supervisory commission headed by Captain I Rank M.A. Danilevsky, who left Russia for the shipyard, in addition to monitoring the progress of construction, also coordinated emerging issues on the future appearance of the ship in the process of its construction.

As a prototype for the construction of the "Varyag", the shipyard management proposed to take a Japanese armored cruiser of the "Kasagi" type (Jap. 笠置 ), but the Marine Technical Committee insisted on a Diana-class cruiser. At the same time, the contract provided for the installation on the ship, albeit heavier, but well-proven in the Russian fleet for their reliability, Belleville boilers. Contrary to the requirements of the customer of the ship, at the direction of the admiral-general and head of the Main Directorate of Shipbuilding and Supply V.P. Verkhovsky, preference was given to the variant with the Nikloss boilers, which were ingenious in idea, but not tested in practice.

Build and test

Due to the workload of domestic factories "Varyag" was ordered in the USA in Philadelphia at the shipyard of The William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Company. The contract was signed on April 11, 1898.

During construction, the project included significant changes, dictated by the initially signed contract with vague wording about the parameters of the ship. For example, the conning tower was increased in size, in addition, it was raised to improve visibility. The height of the cruiser's side keels was increased from 0.45 to 0.61 m. Auxiliary mechanisms were provided with electric motors, and gun shields were not installed due to fear of overloading the ship.

Most of the equipment for building and equipping the ship came from firms located in the United States. At the same time, the main caliber guns were supplied from Obukhovsky, and torpedo tubes from the St. Petersburg Metal Works. Anchors, anchor chains and anti-torpedo nets were ordered in England.

On January 11, 1899, the cruiser was included in the lists of the fleet under the name "Varyag" in honor of the corvette of the same name, sent during the American Civil War in 1861-1865. to aid the government of President Lincoln.

October 19, 1899 the ship was launched. The construction of the ship was carried out at a rapid pace, but the workers' strikes and the constant approval of the ship's project did not allow the shipbuilders to meet the deadlines allotted by the contract. Due to the objective reasons for the delay in the construction of the ship, no penalties were imposed by the Russian government.

On September 22, 1900, the cruiser was handed over to the customer, exceeding the main characteristics laid down in the contract. At the same time, right down
until the cruiser left for Russia in March 1901, the elimination of minor flaws continued, mainly related to imperfections
dynamos (electric generators) and boat mechanisms.

Cross-sectional drawing

Booking scheme

Boiler diagram of the Nikloss system

Appearance of the ship upon completion of construction

Description of the structure

Frame

The hull of the cruiser was made with a forecastle, which improved its seaworthiness in a stormy sea. The basis of the hull was the keel, enclosed between the pins. The foundations of 30 Nikloss steam boilers were installed on the deck of the second bottom of the ship. The height of the ship's hull was 10.46 m. ​​Coal pits were located along the sides, above and below the slopes in the area of ​​the engine and boiler rooms. In addition to their direct purpose, they also performed protective functions, forming a parapet around the vital mechanisms and systems of the ship. In the bow and stern ends of the ship, there were ammunition cellars, brought together in two compact groups of nine rooms each, which simplified their protection from being hit by the enemy.

Reservation

All vital mechanisms, machines, boilers and cellars were covered by an armored carapace deck. The total thickness of the horizontal armored deck was 38 mm. The deck slopes descended to the sides 1.1 m below the waterline, their thickness was 76 mm. The spread of water from the side compartments, upon receiving a hole, was delayed by limiting longitudinal bulkheads, which were 1.62 m from the side in the engine rooms and 2.13 m in the boiler rooms.

On the slopes of the armored deck along the side, compartments were fenced off - cofferdams, intended according to the project to be filled with cellulose, which was later decided to be abandoned due to its fragility. Thus, the cruiser was girded with a kind of protective parapet 0.76 m thick and 2.28 m high, which did not allow water to penetrate through the holes at the waterline.

Electrical equipment

The cruiser "Varyag", in comparison with the ships of the previous years of construction, had a relatively large percentage of equipment powered by electricity. Electricity direct current produced three parodynamo machines. Each of them rotated two electric generators. Two parodynamo machines with a power of 132 kW each were located in the bow and stern of the ship under the armored deck, one with a power of 66 kW was located on the living deck. In a special compartment there was a battery of 60 batteries for emergency power supply of navigation lights, loud bells and other needs.

Electricity consumption on the ship.

Longitudinal diagram of the ship's device

(*) - with a load factor of 0.5.

Drainage system

Stern view

Captain's salon

Scheme (draft) of the distribution of sectors of firing from guns

152-mm / 45 gun of the Kane "Varyag" system

View of the ship's tank

The drainage system consisted of alarms, drainage pumps and drives (electric motors). It provided pumping out of the incoming water from all the rooms under the armored deck of the ship. Water was removed from the boiler rooms using centrifugal pumps located on the double bottom deck. Electric motors installed on the armored deck and connected to the pumps with a long shaft were used as a drive for them. According to the specifications, each pump was supposed to pump out water in the volume of the entire compartment in an hour. The engine rooms were pumped out by two circulation pump main refrigerators.

To extinguish fires, a fire main was laid under the armored deck. To connect fire hoses, the pipe had branches that extended into all cellars, boiler rooms and engine rooms. Fire alarm sensors (thermostats) were installed in coal pits. The fires in the coal pits were extinguished with steam.

Steering

For the first time in the Russian fleet, the steering of a cruiser had three types of drive: steam, electric and manual. The rudder blade was made in the form of a frame, sheathed with sheet steel. The space of the frame was filled with wooden blocks. The steering wheel area is 12 m 2. The steering was carried out from the conning tower or the wheelhouse. In the event of their failure, control of the ship was transferred to the aft steering compartment, located under the armored deck.

Crew and habitability

On the cruiser "Varyag", in accordance with the specification, the crew consisted of 21 officers, 9 conductors and 550 lower ranks. The living quarters of the crew were located under the forecastle on the living deck, and in the aft part on the armored deck. From the 72nd frame towards the stern went the cabins of the officers and the command of the ship. The officers' cabins were single. The premises towards the stern were occupied by the commander. A wardroom adjoined them. On the living deck there was an infirmary, a pharmacy, a galley, a bathhouse and a ship's church.

Armament

Initially, it was supposed to install on the ship: 2 x 203-mm; 10 x 152 mm; 12 x 75mm; 6 x 47 mm guns and 6 torpedo tubes. But due to an overload of 30 tons, in the final version, the cruiser received: 12 x 152/45-mm, 12 x 75/50-mm, 8 x 47/43-mm, 2 x 37/23-mm; 2 x 63.5 / 19 mm Baranovsky guns; 6 x 381 mm, 2 x 254 mm torpedo tubes and 2 x 7.62 mm machine guns, as well as barrage mines.

Main caliber

The cruiser's main battery artillery, represented by 152 mm / 45 Kane guns, was combined into two batteries. The first consisted of 6 guns located in the bow, the second - 6 stern guns. All onboard guns to increase the angles of fire were installed on sites protruding beyond the side line - sponsons. The rate of fire of the guns reached 6 rounds per minute.

Auxiliary / anti-aircraft artillery

Small-caliber cannons were still of great importance in the fight against destroyers. To enhance their effectiveness and increase the angles of fire, two 47-mm Hotchkiss rapid-fire guns were installed on the Varyag's tops. Four more such guns were located on the upper deck, of which two, in addition to two 37-mm Hotchkiss cannons and machine guns, were used to arm ship's boats and boats.

Two 7.62 mm machine guns were mounted on special brackets located on the bulwarks near the conning tower. After the ship was repaired in 1916, it became possible to fire at aircraft from machine guns.

The ship had two 63.5-mm amphibious guns of Baranovsky, located on the forecastle under the wings of the bow bridge. The wheeled carriages were stored separately under the bow bridge behind the conning tower.

Mine torpedo armament

Communication, detection, auxiliary equipment

On the cruiser, a remote fire control system was introduced using special indicators installed at the guns and in the cellars. Data on the parameters of fire and the type of shells were set directly from the conning tower. Determination of the distance to the target was carried out by three ranging stations, two of them were located on the tops and one on the front bridge.

The control, communications and surveillance facilities on the cruiser were focused mainly on the stern and bow bridges. The conning tower of the cruiser was an oval-shaped armored breastwork protected by 152-mm armor. A flat roof with overhangs bent down and protruding beyond the dimensions of the parapet was fastened to the upper end of the parapet of the deckhouse, forming viewing slots with a height of 305 mm. ... The conning tower was connected to the armored deck by a vertical armored tube with a wall thickness of 76 mm, which led to the central post. In this pipe, the drives and cables of the ship's control devices were hidden.

Above, there was a transverse bridge, on which searchlights and hackabort lights were installed. The wheelhouse was located in the center of the bridge. There were five compasses on the cruiser. The two main ones were located on the roof of the undercarriage and on a special platform for the aft bridges.

For intercom, in addition to the communication pipes and the messenger sailors, a telephone network was organized, covering almost all the service premises of the ship. Telephones were installed in all cellars, in boiler rooms and engine rooms, in officers' cabins, in the conning tower and in the wheelhouse, at gun posts.

Launching

On the roadstead of Philadelphia, USA

Electrical signaling devices (bells, indicators, fire alarm sensors, annunciators, etc.) were available in the cabins of the command personnel, at combat posts and in the conning tower. In addition to warning calls, the cruiser retained a staff of drummers and buglers. To communicate with other ships, in addition to the radio station, the cruiser consisted of a large staff of signalmen.

Overall project assessment

The Diana-class cruisers that entered service before the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War were outdated and no longer met modern requirements. "Diana", "Pallada" and "Aurora" were distinguished by good reliability of mechanisms, but in all respects they were outperformed by modern armored cruisers of foreign construction.

"Varyag" and armored cruiser "Askold", in fact, were experimental cruiser-type ships with a displacement of 6,000 tons. "Varyag" was designed more thoughtfully and compactly than ships of the "Diana" type. The forced placement of artillery at the extremities saved him from cramped cellars along the sides. The ship had good seaworthiness, boats and boats were very well located on it. The machine-boiler rooms were spacious, their equipment and ventilation system deserved the highest praise.

During the factory tests at maximum speed, "Varyag" showed outstanding results. So, on July 12, 1900, the Varyag developed a move of 24.59 knots. During 12-hour continuous testing "Varyag" showed an average result of 23.18 knots. On 24-hour trials, the Varyag covered 240 miles during the run at an economical speed of 10 knots, using 52.8 tons of coal (that is, 220 kg per mile).

But the actual cruising range of the ship always differs significantly from the calculated one obtained from the test results. So, during long-distance crossings "Varyag" at a speed of 10 knots spent 68 tons of coal per day, which corresponds to the greatest cruising range of 4288 miles.

One of the disadvantages of the "Varyag" was the unreliability power plant... The cruiser spent a significant part of the pre-war service in Port Arthur at the quay wall in endless repairs. The reason lay in both the careless assembly of the machines and the unreliability of the Nikloss boilers.

Repair and modernization of the ship

1906 - 1907

Deck view from the forward bridge

During overhaul a ship raised from the bottom by the Japanese after it was sunk in the battle of Chemulpo, appearance cruiser has changed a lot. First of all, because of the new navigation bridges, navigational cabin, chimneys and fans. Mars platforms were dismantled on the masts. The 75mm Hotchkiss guns were replaced with 76mm Armstrong guns. The poles of anti-mine nets were removed from the sides of the ship.

1916 g.

The Russian admissions committee found the ship returned by Japan in poor technical condition. For example, the service life of Nikloss boilers until the full depletion of the resource was no more than 1.5 - 2 years. During the repairs in Vladivostok, Kane's nose 152/45-mm guns were moved to the center plane on the cruiser, as well as two of the same guns on the poop. As a result, the number of guns in the side salvo increased to eight. All the guns that stood open were fitted with shortened armor shields. The gun guidance mechanisms were repaired and the elevation angles were increased from 15 ° to 18 °. Dead motions of mechanisms are eliminated. Machine guns are adapted for firing at aircraft. During sea trials with 22 boilers out of 30, "Varyag" developed a speed of 16 knots.

Service history

Sea trials off the coast of the United States
1901 g.

"Varyag" after the battle at Chemulpo
1904 g.

"Soya" (jap. 宗谷 ) - Japanese educational
ship - 1905 - 1916

"Varyag" and the battleship "Chesma" (formerly "Poltava") in Vladivostok - 1916

Sitting on the stones "Varyag" off the coast of Scotland - 1920

Before the outbreak of the Russo - Japanese War

March 20, 1901 - the cruiser "Varyag" with a Russian crew on board sailed from the United States to the shores of Russia. The passage to Kronstadt across the Atlantic took just over two months and on May 3, having covered 5,083 miles, the ship arrived at its destination.

August 5, 1901 - the cruiser left Kronstadt and escorted the imperial yacht Shtandart with Nicholas II to Danzig, Kiel and Cherbourg.

September 16, 1901 - "Varyag" continued her voyage to the Far East, passing through the Suez Canal, entered the Persian Gulf, where he visited Kuwait with a diplomatic mission on board. After that, with a call to Singapore and Hong Kong, he arrived on February 25, 1902 in Port Arthur. During the passage, short-term repairs to Nikloss boilers were repeatedly carried out in the parking areas. The created special commission came to the conclusion that the maximum speed of the "Varyag" for a short period of time should be considered 20 knots, and for a longer period - 16.

March-April 1902 - in Port Arthur in the armed reserve (exercises in the roadstead, without going out to sea for tactical training), all the time during which it was allotted to the repair of ship mechanisms.

May-July 1902 - cruising in Talienwan Bay, off the coast of the Kwantung Peninsula and Thornton Island.

August-September 1902 - in Port Arthur (in the armed reserve), boiler repair.

October 1902 - a campaign to Chemulpo.

October 1902 - March 1903 - in Port Arthur.

April 1903 - in Talienvan Bay.

May 1903 - in Chemulpo.

June-September 1903 - in Port Arthur (in the armed reserve), the departure of a number of officers and the transfer to the reserve of 30 experienced sailors, mainly from the engine room.

October 1903 - December 1903 - in Port Arthur, due to the weakness of the repair base, the speed of the Varyag was limited to 17 knots and for a short time 20. For a full repair in Russia, parts for the power plant were ordered, which did not have time to arrive before loss of the ship in the battle at Chemulpo.

December 1903 - Crossings between Chemulpo, Seoul and Port Arthur.

Russo - Japanese War

January 27, 1904 - the cruiser "Varyag" together with the gunboat "Koreets", refusing to accept the terms of the ultimatum of the Japanese command to surrender, took an unequal battle against the superior forces of the Japanese squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Uriu (2 armored cruisers "Asama" and "Chiyoda", 4 armored cruisers "Naniwa", "Niitaka", "Takachiho", "Akashi"; 8 destroyers). Having suffered significant damage in people during the battle and received severe damage that did not allow the battle to continue, the Varyag returned to Chemulpo, where the team went ashore and the ship was sunk.

According to the report of the Varyag commander, the cruiser sank one destroyer and damaged the Asama cruiser, and the Takachiho cruiser sank after the battle; the enemy allegedly lost about 30 people killed. Official Japanese sources and archival documents do not confirm either hitting Japanese ships or the presence of any losses.

February 1904 - the Japanese began to lift the Varyag, but by October they had stopped unsuccessful attempts to pump water out of the ship's hull due to a large number holes.

April 1905 - lifting work was resumed, a caisson was built over the cruiser and on August 8 the ship rose from the bottom.

November 1905 - the cruiser was towed to Yokosuka for overhaul, which lasted until 1907. The helm was removed from the Varyag cruiser and transferred to the flagship of the Japanese fleet, the battleship Mikasa. 宗谷 ) and enlisted as a training ship in the Japanese Imperial Navy.

World War I

Early 1916 - Japan, an ally of Russia in the First World War, agreed to sell some of the captured ships of the First Pacific Squadron. Among them was the cruiser Varyag, which had previously served as a training ship for Japanese cadets for nine years.

June 18, 1916 "Varyag", henceforth manned by a guard crew, went to sea and on November 17, 1916 arrived in Murmansk.

November 30, 1916 - Enlisted in the Arctic Ocean Flotilla.
Due to the poor technical condition of the ship and the absence of full-fledged repair bases in the North, an agreement was reached with the British Admiralty to repair the Varyag.

March 19, 1917 - arrival at the British Birkenhead (eng. Birkenhead) for docking for major repairs.

After the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia, on December 8, the ship was requisitioned by the British and sold in 1920 for scrap. On the way to the place of disassembly, "Varyag" sat down on stones in the Irish Sea, 500 meters from the Scottish coast, near the village of Lendalfoot (eng. Lendalfoot). Location coordinates: 55 ° 11 "3" N .; 4 ° 56 "30" W. D.

Until 1925, the hull of the cruiser "Varyag" stood at the crash site until it was blown up and cut into pieces so as not to interfere with navigation and fishing.

Commanders

• March 1899 - March 1903 - Captain I Rank Vladimir Iosifovich Baer
• March 1903 - January 1904 - Captain I rank Vsevolod Fedorovich Rudnev
• March 1916 - December 1917 - Captain II Rank Karl Ioakimovich von Den

Memorialization

The memory of the dead sailors is immortalized by a monument at the Vladivostok Sea Cemetery.

Monuments to the commander of the cruiser V.F. Rudnev were installed in Tula, Novomoskovsk and the village of Savino, Zaoksky district, Tula region.

In the regional center of Lyubino, Omsk region, a monument to the stoker "Varyag" F.E. Mikhailov was unveiled.

On February 10, 2004, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the battle, a memorial plaque and monument were unveiled in the South Korean port of Incheon.

The image of the event in art and culture

The ship is presented in World of Warships as a premium Tier III cruiser of the same name.

The feat of the crews of the cruiser "Varyag" and the gunboat "Koreets" are dedicated to the songs "Our proud" Varyag "does not surrender to the enemy" and "Cold waves are splashing".

In 1946, the film "Cruiser Varyag" was shot in the USSR.

In 1958 and 1972, postage stamps with the cruiser image were issued in the USSR.

In 2003, an expedition led by VGTRK journalist Alexei Denisov managed to find the exact place of the cruiser death in the Irish Sea and find its wreckage at the bottom. This story was included in the two-part documentary "Cruiser Varyag", timed to coincide with the centenary of the Battle of Chemulpo.

Modeling

In the Central Naval Museum in St. Petersburg there is a model of the cruiser "Varyag", made in the USA on a scale of 1:64 in 1901, as well as a model of the main steam engine cruiser, manufactured by S.I. Zhukhovitsky on a scale of 1:20 in the 1980s.

After the feat of the crew of the cruiser "Varyag" German writer and poet Rudolf Greinz wrote a poem "Der" Warjag "" dedicated to this event. It was published in the tenth issue of the German magazine Jugend. In Russia, it was translated into Russian by Evgenia Studenskaya. Soon the musician of the 12th Astrakhan Grenadier Regiment Turischev, who took part in the solemn meeting of the heroes of "Varyag" and "Koreyets", put these poems to music. For the first time, the song was performed at a gala reception hosted by Emperor Nicholas II in honor of the officers and sailors "Varyag" and "Koreyets". The song became very popular in Russia.

Image gallery

Video

On cuts and kickbacks in tsarist Russia

The development of a fire control system for the battleship Borodino was entrusted to the Institute of Precision Mechanics at the court of His Imperial Highness. The creation of the machines was carried out by the Russian Society of Steam Power Plants. Leading research and production team, whose developments have been successfully used on warships around the world. Ivanov's guns and Makarov's self-propelled mines were adopted as weapons systems ...

All of you, on the upper deck! Stop taunting!

The fire control system was French, mod. 1899. The set of instruments was first presented at an exhibition in Paris and immediately acquired for the RIF by its commander, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich (according to the recollections of relatives, le Beau Brummel, who almost permanently lived in France).

In the conning tower, horizontal base rangefinders of the Barr and Studd brand were installed. Boilers designed by Belleville were used. Searchlights Mangin. Steam pumps of the Worthington system. Martin's anchors. Ston's pumps. Medium and anti-mine guns - 152 and 75 mm Canet cannons. Rapid-fire 47 mm Hotchkiss cannons. Whitehead torpedoes.

The Borodino project itself was a modified project of the Tsesarevich battleship, designed and built for the Russian Imperial Navy by specialists of the Forge and Chantier French shipyard.

In order to avoid misunderstandings and unfounded reproaches, it is necessary to make an explanation for a wide audience. The good news is that most of the foreign names in the design of the Borodino EDR belonged to systems manufactured under license in Russia. From the technical point of view, they also met the best international standards. For example, the generally accepted design of the sectional boiler of the Belleville system and the very successful cannons of Gustave Canet.

However, already one French fire control system on the Russian EBR makes one think. Why and why? Looks as ridiculous as the Aegis on the Soviet Orlan.

There are two bad news.

Great empire with a population of 130 million people, with a high-quality education system (for the elite) and a developed scientific school- Mendeleev, Popov, Yablochkov. And with that all around solid foreign technologies! Where is our domestic “Belleville”? But he was an engineer-inventor V. Shukhov, an employee of the Russian branch of Babcock & Wilksos, who patented a vertical boiler of his own design.

In theory, everything was. In practice - solid Belleville, brothers Nikloss and EBR "Tsesarevich" at the shipyard "Forge and Chantier" as a model for the Russian fleet.

But, what is especially offensive, the ships at domestic shipyards were built many times slower. Four years for EDB "Borodino" versus two and a half years for "Retvizan" ("Crump & Sans"). Now you shouldn't be like a recognizable hero and ask: “Why? Who did this?" The answer is on the surface - the lack of tools, machine tools, experience and skillful hands.

Another problem is that even with "mutually beneficial cooperation" in the "open world market" something is not observed torpedoes designed by Makarov in the arsenal of the French fleet. And in general, nothing is observed that would indicate an exchange of technologies. Everything, everything according to the old, proven scheme. We give them money and gold, they in return - their technical innovations. Belleville Cauldron. Meena Whitehead. IPhone-6. Because the Russian Mongols are completely impotent in terms of the creative process.

Speaking specifically for the fleet, even licenses were not always enough. I just had to take and place orders at foreign shipyards.

The fact that the Varyag cruiser was built in the USA is no longer hidden. It is much less known that the second participant of the legendary battle, the gunboat "Koreets", was built in Sweden.

Armored cruiser "Svetlana", built in Le Havre, France.
Armored cruiser "Admiral Kornilov" - Saint-Nazaire, France.
Armored cruiser "Askold" - Kiel, Germany.
Armored cruiser Boyarin - Copenhagen, Denmark.
Armored cruiser Bayan - Toulon, France.
Armored cruiser "Admiral Makarov", built at the shipyard "Forge & Chantier".
Armored cruiser "Rurik", built at the British shipyard "Barrow-inn-Furness".
Battleship Retvizan, built by Cram & Sans in Philadelphia, USA.
A series of destroyers "Kit", shipyard Friedrich Schiehau, Germany.
A series of destroyers "Trout" were built at the A. Norman plant in France.
Series "Lieutenant Burakov" - "Forge & Chantier", France.
Series of destroyers "Mechanical Engineer Zverev" - Shihau shipyard, Germany.
The lead destroyers of the Rider and Falcon series were built in Germany and, accordingly, Great Britain.
Batum - at the Yarrow shipyard in Glasgow, UK (the list is incomplete!).

A constant participant in the Military Review was very caustic about this:

Well, of course they ordered ships from the Germans. They built well and had excellent cars. Well, it's clear in France, like an ally, plus kickbacks to the Grand Dukes. One can understand the order to the American Crump. He did it quickly, promised a lot and rolled back in every way no worse than the French. But we, it turns out, under the tsar-father even in Denmark ordered cruisers.
Commentary from Edward (qwert).

The irritation is understandable. With that colossal gap in technology and labor productivity, the construction of a series of armored cruisers is equivalent to the construction of a modern cosmodrome. Giving such “fat” projects to foreign contractors is unprofitable and ineffective in all respects. This money should go to the workers of the admiralty shipyards and move the domestic economy. And together with it, develop our own science and industry. This is what everyone has strived to do at all times. Steal from profits, not losses. But this is not accepted in our country.

We did it differently. The scheme was called “to steal the ruble, harm the country in a million”. The French have a contract, they are whoever needs it - a rollback. Their shipyards are sitting without orders. The industry is degrading. Qualified personnel are not needed.

There was a time when they even tried to build dreadnought battleships, so it would be better not to try. During the implementation of the most complex project, all the shortcomings of pre-revolutionary Russia were clearly manifested. Widespread lack of production experience, machine tools and competent specialists. Multiplied by incompetence, nepotism, kickbacks and a mess in the offices of the Admiralty.

As a result, the formidable “Sevastopol” had been under construction for six years, and by the time the Andreevsky flag was raised, it was completely outdated. The Empress Maria turned out to be no better. Look at their peers. Who joined them in 1915 at the same time? A 15-inch “Queen Elizabeth” case? And then say that the author is biased.

They say there was still a mighty “Ishmael”. Or was not. The battle cruiser Izmail turned out to be an overwhelming burden for the Republic of Ingushetia. It’s a rather strange habit to pass off as achievement what you didn’t do.

Even in peacetime, with the direct help of foreign contractors, ships time after time turned into long-term construction projects. With the cruiser, everything turned out to be even more serious. When the readiness of “Izmail” reached 43%, Russia got involved in a war in which there was no goal, objective benefit, and in which it was impossible to win. For “Ishmael” this was the end, since some of its mechanisms were imported from Germany.

If we talk outside of politics, then the LKR “Izmail” was also not an indicator of the flourishing of the empire. In the East, dawn was already glowing. Japan stood up to its full height with its 16-inch "Nagato". One that even their British teachers were taken aback by.

As time went on, there was not much progress. From the author's point of view, industry in tsarist Russia was in complete decline. You may have a different opinion from the author's opinion, which, however, will not be easy to prove.

Go down to the engine room of the destroyer "Novik" and read what is stamped on its turbines. Come on, bring light here. Really? A.G. Vulkan Stettin. Deutsches Kaiserreich.

The motors went wrong from the very beginning. Climb into the nacelle of the same "Ilya Muromets". What will you see there? Engines brand "Gorynych"? Really, surprise. Renault.

Legendary royal quality

All the facts indicate that the Russian Empire was trailing somewhere at the very end of the list of developed states. After Great Britain, Germany, the United States, France and even Japan, which, having gone through the late modernization of Meiji, by the 1910s. managed to bypass RI in everything.

In general, Russia was not at all where it should be for an empire with such ambitions.

After that, the jokes about “Ilyin's light bulb” and the state program for the elimination of illiteracy no longer seem so funny. Years passed, and the country was cured. Fully. It will become a state with the best education in the world, with advanced science and a developed industry that knew how to do everything. Import substitution in the most important industries (military industry, nuclear power, space) was 100%.

And the descendants of the scattered degenerates will whine for a long time in Paris about “the Russia they have lost”.
Author A. Dolganov.

November 1 marks 110 years since the day the legendary cruiser Varyag was launched.

The cruiser Varyag was built by order of the Russian Empire at the William Crump and Sons shipyard in Philadelphia (USA). He stepped off the docks in Philadelphia on November 1 (October 19 O.S.) 1899.

By technical specifications The Varyag was unmatched: equipped with powerful cannon and torpedo armament, it was also the fastest cruiser in Russia. In addition, "Varyag" was telephoned, electrified, equipped with a radio station and steam boilers of the latest modification.

After trials in 1901, the ship was presented to the Petersburgers.

In May 1901, the cruiser was sent to the Far East to reinforce the Pacific squadron. In February 1902, the cruiser, having circled half the world, anchored in the roadstead of Port Arthur. From that moment on, his service began as part of the squadron. In December 1903, the cruiser was sent to the neutral Korean port of Chemulpo to serve as a stationary. In the roadstead, in addition to the Varyag, there were ships of the international squadron. On January 5, 1904, the Russian gunboat "Koreets" arrived at the roadstead.

On the night of January 27 (February 9 new style), 1904, Japanese warships opened fire on the Russian squadron, which was in the roadstead of Port Arthur. The Russo-Japanese War began (1904-1905), which lasted 588 days.

The cruiser "Varyag" and the gunboat "Koreets", which were in the Korean bay of Chemulpo, were blocked by the Japanese squadron on the night of February 9, 1904. The crews of Russian ships, trying to break through from Chemulpo to Port Arthur, entered into an unequal battle with the Japanese squadron, which included 14 destroyers.

During the first hour of the battle in the Tsushima Strait, the crew of the Russian cruiser fired over 1.1 thousand shells. "Varyag" and "Koreets" disabled three cruisers and a destroyer, but they themselves received heavy damage. The ships returned to the port of Chemulpo, where they received an ultimatum from the Japanese to surrender. Russian sailors rejected him. By decision of the officers' council, the Varyag was flooded and the Korean was blown up. This feat became a symbol of courage and courage of Russian sailors.

For the first time in Russian history all participants in the battle (about 500 people) were awarded the highest military award - the St. George Cross. After the celebrations, the Varyag crew was disbanded, the sailors entered service on other ships, and the commander Vsevolod Rudnev was awarded, promoted, and dismissed.

Even the enemy was amazed by the actions of the Varyag during the battle - after the Russian-Japanese war, the Japanese government created a museum in memory of the heroes of the Varyag in Seoul and awarded its commander Vsevolod Rudnev the Order of the Rising Sun.

After the legendary battle in the Chemulpo bay, the Varyag lay at the bottom of the Yellow Sea for over a year. Only in 1905 the sunken ship was raised, repaired and entered into the composition of the Imperial Japanese Navy under the name "Soya". For more than 10 years the legendary ship served as a training vessel for Japanese sailors, however, out of respect for its heroic past, the Japanese kept the inscription on the stern - "Varyag".

In 1916, Russia acquired from its already ally Japan the former Russian warships Peresvet, Poltava and Varyag. After the payment of 4 million yen, the Varyag was enthusiastically received in Vladivostok, and on March 27, 1916, the St. Andrew's flag was raised on the cruiser. The ship was enlisted in the Guards crew and was sent to reinforce the Kola detachment of the Arctic Fleet. On November 18, 1916, the cruiser Varyag @ was solemnly greeted in Murmansk, where she was appointed the flagship of the Kola Bay Naval Defense Forces.

However, the vehicles and boilers of the cruiser required immediate overhaul, and the artillery required rearmament. Just a few days before February revolution"Varyag" went to England, to the Liverpool docks. The Varyag stood at the Liverpool dock from 1917 to 1920. The necessary funds for its repair (300 thousand pounds) have not been allocated. After 1917, the Bolsheviks permanently deleted the Varyag as a hero of the "tsarist" fleet from the history of the country.

In February 1920, sailing in tow across the Irish Sea to Glasgow (Scotland), where she was sold for scrap, the cruiser was caught in a severe storm and sat on the rocks. All attempts to save the ship were unsuccessful. In 1925, the cruiser was partially dismantled on the spot, and the 127-meter hull was blown up.

In 1947, the feature film "Cruiser" Varyag "was shot, and on February 8, 1954, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the feat of" Varyag ", a gala evening was held in Moscow with the participation of veterans of the Battle of Chemulpo, where on behalf of the Soviet government the heroes -" Varangians "were medals "For Courage" were awarded. ”Anniversary celebrations were held in many cities of the country.

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the heroic battle in 2004 in the Chemulpo bay, the Russian delegation erected a monument to the Russian sailors "Varyag" and "Koreyets". The flagship of the Russian Pacific Fleet, the guards missile cruiser Varyag, was present at the opening of the memorial in the port of Incheon (the former city of Chemulpo).

The current "Varyag" - the successor of the legendary first-generation ship of the same name - is armed with a powerful multipurpose strike missile system, which allows it to engage surface and ground targets at a considerable distance. Also in his arsenal are rocket launchers, torpedo tubes and several artillery installations of various calibers and purposes. Therefore, NATO Russian ships this class is figuratively called "aircraft carrier killers."

In 2007, in Scotland, where the legendary Varyag found his last refuge, a memorial complex was opened, which was attended by the large anti-submarine ship (BOD) of the Russian Navy, Severomorsk. These monuments, made in the Russian maritime traditions, became the first memorials to the Russian military spirit abroad and an eternal symbol of gratitude and pride of descendants.

In 2009, to the 105th anniversary of the legendary battle with the Japanese squadron, a unique international exhibition project "Cruiser" Varyag "was created. The acquisition of relics, including genuine rarities from the legendary ship and gunboat" Koreets "from the funds of Russian and Korean museums. , showing the relics of the Russian fleet has not yet been in Russian history.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

The cruiser Varyag is a legend of the Russian fleet. It was built at the William Crump and Sons shipyard in Philadelphia (USA) by order of the Russian Empire and was launched from the slipways of the Philadelphia docks (October 19) on November 1, 1899. In terms of technical characteristics, the "Varyag" had no equal - it became the fastest cruiser in the Russian fleet, was equipped with powerful cannon and torpedo armament, telephoned, electrified, equipped with a radio station and steam boilers of the latest modification. In 1901, the Varyag entered service with the Russian Navy and was sent to the Far East to reinforce the Pacific squadron. During the Russo-Japanese War on February 9, 1904, the first rank cruiser Varyag and the gunboat Koreets were blocked by a Japanese squadron of 15 ships in the Korean port of Chemulpo. The Russian sailors rejected the offer to surrender and lower the flags and entered into an unequal battle, which they lost. After the battle, the "Korean" was blown up, the "Varyag" was flooded. In 1905, the Japanese raised the Varyag and brought it into their fleet under the name Soya. During World War I, in 1916, Russia bought the Varyag from former enemies along with other captured ships of the First Pacific Squadron.

On March 22, 1916, the cruiser, which received its former name, was enlisted in the Arctic Ocean flotilla as a flagship, and on March 27, 1916, the St. George flag was raised on it again. The ship needed serious renovation... In February 1917, he was sent to the Glasgow shipyard. However, after the revolution in Russia, Britain confiscated the cruiser for the debts of the tsarist government and in 1920 sold it to Germany as scrap metal. The route of the "Varyag" ended in 1920: following the dismantling, the cruiser landed on the stones and sank off the coast of South Scotland, in the Firth of Clyde, near the village of Lendelfoot. In the spring of 2003, Russia began filming a two-part documentary television film "Cruiser" Varyag ", and in the summer of the same year a special expedition was organized to search for the remains of the" Varyag "in the Irish Sea with the participation of Russian scuba divers. On July 3, 2003, the film crew found the Varyag hull, which had been destroyed by an explosion, two miles from Lendelfoot, at a depth of 6-8 meters. Russian scuba divers managed to lift several fragments of the legendary cruiser to the surface. The grandson of the Varyag commander Vsevolod Fedorovich Rudnev, Nikita Rudnev, who had specially flown in from France, took part in the underwater expedition. On July 30, 2006, a memorial plaque in honor of the legendary Russian cruiser was unveiled in the Scottish village of Lendelfoot, not far from the place where the Varyag found its last refuge. On September 11, 2007 a monument to the Varyag was unveiled. The monument was erected in the village of Lendelfoot - it was there, in the Irish Sea, that a Russian cruiser sank in 1920.