Kit for building a model ship DIANA. Scale 1:85

Ancient goddess of the Russian fleet

Of the three cruisers of the same type - "Aurora", "Diana" and "Pallada" - only the Aurora is known to the general public, which in Soviet times became a symbol of the October Revolution. Unfortunately, the other two cruisers remained in the shadow of their famous “sister”. Meanwhile, these ships also suffered many trials, allowing us to say that they were completely undeservedly forgotten. What was the fate of the 1st rank cruiser "Diana"?

The cruiser "Diana" was built at the Admiralty plant in St. Petersburg and entered the fleet at the very end of 1901. However, the final refinement and additional testing program took almost another year, after which the cruiser was ready for a trip to the Far East.

Detailed tactical and technical characteristics of the ship are given in the table at the end of the article; here we note only a few key features of the ship’s design. "Diana", together with the same type "Pallada" and "Aurora", belonged to the armored cruisers of the 1st rank - quite large ships with a displacement of over 6000 tons each, completely designed and built in Russia. According to the plan of the Russian naval commanders, these ships were, first of all, supposed to fight enemy trade in the ocean. However, an error in calculating the contours of the hull (according to other sources, incorrectly calculated parameters of the propellers) led to the fact that the already low contract speed was not achieved either during testing or during combat service.

The artillery weapons were also weakened due to the overload of the ships and were inferior to the weapons of their classmates. “Diana” comrades look especially unfavorable against the background of similar ships of the Russian fleet ordered abroad - the famous “Varyag”, “Askold” and “Bogatyr”. However, during the construction of Diana, Pallas and Aurora, Russian industry gained valuable experience. In addition, the impending war with Japan required an immediate strengthening of the fleet. All three ships of this series drank the cup of military trials to the dregs, often fighting against a much stronger and more numerous enemy.

Cruiser "Diana" during testing, 1902 Source: kreiser.unoforum.ru

Transition to the Far East

In the fall of 1902, an impressive detachment of newly built ships assembled in the Baltic, intended to strengthen Russian naval forces in the Far East. The detachment was commanded by Rear Admiral E. A. Stackelberg. On the way to Port Arthur, the ships had to prepare for combat service, practice joint maneuvers and practice firing. The core of the detachment consisted of the cruisers Diana and Pallada, as well as the battleship Retvizan. The remaining ships followed in scattered groups or independently. On October 17, 1902, “Diana” left Kronstadt as part of a detachment.

“Diana” before going to the Far East Source: kreiser.unoforum.ru

The transition lasted six months, often in very difficult weather conditions. On the way, numerous shortcomings of the cruisers "Diana" and "Pallada" were revealed - high coal consumption, poor seaworthiness, low reliability of mechanisms, short range of radio stations. What was known even during the tests was confirmed - the maximum power of the machines is achieved without the use of four boilers (thus, they were an extra load).

On April 24, 1903, the Diana dropped anchor in Port Arthur harbor. During its short pre-war service in the Far East, the cruiser was in the armed reserve, and also went on short training voyages along with other ships of the Port Arthur squadron. In the fall, the ships were repainted in combat olive green, but on December 1, 1903, “Diana” and “Pallada” were again put into the armed reserve, in which they remained until January 1904.

Participation in the defense of Port Arthur

The beginning of the Russo-Japanese War found the Diana, like the rest of the ships of the squadron, in the outer roadstead of Port Arthur. On the night of January 26-27, 1904, “Diana”, together with the cruiser “Askold,” was on duty at the roadstead, that is, it was ready to immediately weigh anchor. The details of the Japanese attack on Russian ships are generally well known, so we will only note the fact that during the night attack, “Diana” did not manage to weigh anchor. On the morning of January 27, the main forces of the Japanese appeared on the horizon, arriving in order to complete the defeat of the Russian squadron. However, the defeat did not work out: the Russian sailors gave a worthy rebuff to the enemy. "Diana" took part in the day's battle, bringing up the rear of the column of Russian ships. In total, during the night and day battles, the cruiser fired eight 152 mm and one hundred 75 mm shells at the enemy. The Diana was hit by one 152-mm shell, which did not explode; in addition, the cruiser received slight damage from shell fragments that exploded near it. There were no casualties among personnel on the cruiser.

Subsequently, “Diana”, like the “Pallada” that came out of repair, was used mainly for duty on the outer roadstead of Port Arthur. They were afraid to entrust any other tasks to these cruisers because of their low combat qualities.

The armored cruiser of the 1st rank "Diana" and two destroyers of the "Falcon" type during duty. Port Arthur, 1904 Source: kreiser.unoforum.ru

After the Japanese landed in the immediate vicinity of Port Arthur, some of the guns began to be removed from the ships of the squadron to be transferred to the shore. All 37-mm guns, four 75-mm and two 152-mm guns with ammunition were removed from the Diana (these guns were transferred not to the shore, but to the battleship Retvizan, which was completing repairs).

Battle in the Yellow Sea

At the end of July, Japanese troops stormed the Wolf Heights on the immediate approaches to Port Arthur. This allowed them to begin shelling the harbor of Port Arthur with the ships in it. And although the shooting was initially carried out without adjustment, the Russian ships began to receive damage. It became obvious that it was impossible to continue to be in the harbor under fire, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian troops in the Far East, E.I. Alekseev, gave the commander of the Port Arthur squadron, Rear Admiral V.K. Vitgeft, the order to take it out to sea and break through to Vladivostok.

On the morning of July 28, the ships of the squadron began to enter the outer roadstead, forming a marching column. The cruiser "Diana" took its place at the tail of the cruising squadron, which consisted of the following ships: "Askold" (under the flag of the commander of the cruising detachment, Rear Admiral N.K. Reizenstein), "Novik", "Pallada", "Diana". The Diana was still missing two 152 mm and four 75 mm guns assigned to the battleship Retvizan. The cruising detachment took a place at the tail of the squadron, staying away from enemy ships.

Russian cruisers practically did not take part in the ensuing battle. Only in the first phase of the battle, when the Japanese, having diverged on a counter course with the Russian battleships, approached the tail of the Port Arthur squadron, trying to envelop it, did the cruisers come under fire. At this moment, "Diana" received shrapnel damage from a shell that exploded nearby. Trying to get out of the fire, the cruisers moved to the left side of the wake column, taking cover from the fire behind the battleships. In the second phase of the battle, when the Japanese squadron was catching up with the Russian battleships, the cruisers also stayed out of range of enemy shells, and therefore suffered no damage.

The turning point in the battle came after the death of V.K. Vitgeft and the loss of control of the Russian squadron. Confusion began, in which the commander of each ship acted at his own discretion. As a result, most of the Russian battleships took the opposite course, to Port Arthur, and the cruising squadron found itself sandwiched between its battleships and enemy ships. In an effort to get out of a disadvantageous position, Rear Admiral Reizenstein, raising the signal on the Askold, “ Cruisers follow me

", led his ship straight towards the Japanese armored cruiser Asama. At that moment, an enemy shell hit the Diana, killing five people and wounding twenty. The next shell hit the starboard side below the waterline (as it turned out later, it was a 203-mm shell, which, fortunately, did not explode). Water flooded some of the compartments on the starboard side, after which it began to flow into the premises of the pharmacy, infirmary and office. The emergency party of the cruiser, under the leadership of senior officer Captain 2nd Rank V.I. Semenov, was able to stop the further spread of water, and eliminate the resulting list by counter-flooding the compartments on the opposite side.

Seeing that the enemy was beginning to surround the squadron, remembering the commander’s original order to proceed to Vladivostok and wanting to divert some of the enemy ships to himself, Reizenstein led his squad to break through. The cruiser Askold rushed south at full speed, followed by the high-speed Novik. As for the slow-moving Diana and Pallas, they almost immediately lagged behind their flagship. The commander of the Diana, captain 2nd rank Prince A. A. Lieven, nevertheless decided to try to break through later, with the onset of darkness. At 8 o'clock in the evening, when it was completely dark, "Diana" left the squadron and headed east - to where the enemy battleships had recently been located. She was followed by the destroyer Grozovoy. Prince Lieven, knowing that his ship would inevitably be attacked by enemy destroyers, chose the following tactics for defense: without opening fire on the enemy, the Diana evaded the Japanese destroyers appearing from all sides with sharp maneuvers, leaving the attacking ships astern and hiding from them in darkness. If enemy ships appeared from the bow heading angles, the cruiser sharply turned towards them, threatening to ram them. This tactic turned out to be successful: in two hours, 19 enemy destroyers were encountered, and the cruiser dodged eight torpedoes.

The next morning, July 29, a meeting took place at sea with the Novik, to which the Grozovoy was sent for negotiations. The commander of the Novik, Captain 2nd Rank M.F. von Schultz, intended to go for coal at the German base of Qingdao, and then follow to Vladivostok around Japan. Lieven rejected the offer to join Novik and make this journey together, considering this option too dangerous. Instead, the commander of the “Diana” decided to cross the Yellow Sea, cross the Korean Strait at full speed at night and then, turning off some of the boilers and the middle engine to save coal, go to Vladivostok. However, after the chief engineer's report on the reserves of the remaining coal, Lieven realized that this plan was not feasible. There was no more than 700 tons of coal left in the pits; moreover, as it turned out, some of the coal from the spare pits could not be supplied directly to the machines (to do this it would have to be reloaded through the upper deck with the participation of a significant part of the crew). Considering that in case of a meeting with the enemy, steam must be kept in all boilers, as well as the extreme fatigue of the crew, who had been on their feet for more than a day, it became clear that a breakthrough through the Korean Strait was impossible.

A brief council was held on the Diana's bridge with the participation of the cruiser's technical specialists. As a result, it was decided to proceed to French Saigon, where, taking advantage of the friendly attitude of the French, to repair the hole and then act according to circumstances. To get to such a remote port, some of the cruiser’s boilers were turned off and the middle engine was taken out of action - fortunately, it was believed that when moving in a southerly direction, a meeting with enemy ships was unlikely. On August 8, having made several intermediate stops at French bases along the way, Diana dropped anchor in Saigon.

Diana in Saigon

Arriving in Saigon, Diana required docking to inspect the damage to the underwater part. However, a problem arose here - local authorities assured that for this procedure they needed the consent of Paris, which was just a formality, and consent would certainly be obtained. However, time passed, and permission to dock was still not received. The fact is that Japanese diplomats persistently put pressure on the French authorities, demanding that they disarm the cruiser, as required by international neutrality agreements. As a result, Paris yielded to pressure from Tokyo and sent a telegram to Saigon, which spoke of the need to intern “Diana”. The Russian government, fearing to spoil relations with its main ally, was forced to agree to these demands. A telegram from St. Petersburg about the need to disarm the cruiser and lower the flag in Saigon was received on August 21, almost simultaneously with a telegram of similar content that arrived from Paris.

“Diana” in Saigon Source: keu-ocr.narod.ru

To say that this decision caused an explosion of indignation in the cabins means to say nothing. Officers who wanted to continue participating in the war with Japan received an offer from the senior officer of the cruiser to resign from the Diana and go to Russia to join the crews of the ships of the emerging 2nd Pacific Squadron. As a result, even before the lists of the interned crew were provided to the authorities, seven officers left the Diana. Three of them - captain 2nd rank V.I. Semenov, midshipman A.G. Kaiserling and junior mechanical engineer K.I. Bobrov - later participated in the Battle of Tsushima on ships of the 2nd squadron, survived and were captured . Thus, the only officers left on the Diana were the commander, four combat officers, two mechanics, a doctor and a priest. On August 29, 1904, the St. Andrew's flag and jack were lowered on the cruiser, gun locks and ammunition were removed - this was the end of the ship's participation in the war.

On September 16, "Diana" was docked. It was then that it turned out that the 203-mm shell that hit its underwater part did not explode. The projectile was found lying on the slope of the armored deck between tanks with engine oil, with a crumpled tip and without a driving belt. One can only guess how much trouble he could have caused if the fuse had gone off.

Underwater hole of "Diana" from an unexploded 203-mm shell Source: keu-ocr.narod.ru

Dock repairs lasted almost a month. Despite the fact that the ship no longer participated in the war, service on it continued. According to his commander, “service after disarmament continues, as in the campaign. The ship and all the property are also maintained as in the campaign: otherwise in the local climate it is impossible. The dampness is such that artillery, vehicles, all instruments, premises require daily care, even especially careful ... "

It is interesting that, eager to help the sailors who remained in Port Arthur, A. A. Lieven organized the transportation of part of the Diana’s ammunition to the besieged fortress, but the British intercepted this cargo in Hong Kong and arrested it until the end of the war.

Return to Russia

After the end of the Russo-Japanese War, the surviving ships of the 1st and 2nd Pacific squadrons began to prepare for the transition to the Baltic to serve as the core for the creation of a new “post-Tsushima” fleet. Rear Admiral O.A. Enquist was appointed head of the combined detachment of ships. The surviving ships from Vladivostok, Manila, Qingdao and Shanghai were supposed to be collected in Saigon, so that they would proceed from there to Libau.

Meanwhile, in Russia, Vice Admiral A. A. Birilev was appointed to the newly established position of Minister of Naval Affairs. Having developed vigorous activity at his new post, he demanded, among other things, that the Diana, without waiting for the other ships to be ready, leave Saigon on its own and go to the Baltic. It was proposed to fill the shortage of officers with officers from other ships. The basis for this decision was that the Diana had been in Saigon for more than a year and, in the minister’s opinion, should have been better prepared for the voyage than other ships.

On November 1, 1905, "Diana", with the minimum possible number of officers and a large shortage of crew, weighed anchor and headed for the Baltic. During the voyage, the sailors were engaged in overhauling and repairing the main machines, turning off one of them in turn. The cruiser's route to her homeland lay through the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea. On the way, the commander of the cruiser, Prince A. A. Lieven, fell ill, and he was temporarily replaced by the commander of the gunboat “Brave”, Captain 2nd Rank Petrov-Third. Arriving at the cruiser, Petrov, according to him, found the ship and the discipline on it in an extremely disrepair. In his opinion, this was a consequence of long inactivity in Saigon, the desire of the sailors to quickly get to their homeland and poor food. The team was engaged in “self-feeding” along the way, removing officials from this process and leaving them only with the accounting of consumed food. The incident was hushed up so that the cruiser’s crew would not be accused of mutiny on the ship, but “self-feeding” was gradually stopped. On January 8, 1906, Diana was the first of the returning ships to drop anchor in the port of Libau.

Between two wars

In April 1906, Diana and Aurora began major repairs, which their worn-out vehicles and hulls had long required. Interestingly, during the repair it was planned to replace two onboard steam engines of one of the cruisers with steam turbines that were just appearing in the fleet in order to gain experience in their operation. It was planned to leave the medium steam engine so that the cruiser could start in the event of a turbine failure. One way or another, this experiment did not go further than the project.

For two long years, "Diana" stood at the wall of the Baltic Shipyard for repairs. On the ship, the double bottom under the boilers, most of the pipes in the boilers and refrigerators, and most of the pipelines were replaced. Machines, pumps and mechanisms underwent major overhaul. In addition, four 75-mm guns were removed from the cruiser (the small-caliber artillery was removed back in Port Arthur), and instead of them, two additional 152-mm guns were installed in the stern. As a result, the cruiser's artillery armament began to consist of ten 152 mm and twenty 75 mm guns. In addition, all torpedo tubes and barrage mines were removed from the cruiser, engineers narrowed the clearance of the conning tower to 76 mm and eliminated the hanging mushroom-shaped visor, which reflected shell fragments into the conning tower. The combat top and elevator for lifting shells there were removed from the foremast, and the bow and stern bridges were connected using a transition bridge.

“Diana” after 1908 Source: kreiser.unoforum.ru

After the completion of the repair and modernization of the Diana, midshipmen underwent sea practice on it. At the end of the summer of 1909, Diana became the flagship ship of a detachment intended to carry out training voyages. In the autumn of the same year, a detachment consisting of the cruisers “Diana”, “Aurora” and “Bogatyr” went on a winter voyage in the Mediterranean Sea. The ships visited Algiers, Bizerte, Naples, Gibraltar, Smyrna and other ports. During the voyage, various exercises and exercises were carried out on the detachment's ships, landings on the shore were practiced, as well as night attacks of steam boats with observance of blackout on the attacked cruisers and artillery firing on shields. In the spring of 1910, the detachment returned to the Baltic, after which it was disbanded. “Diana” did not make any more overseas voyages and spent all her subsequent service on the Baltic Sea.

"Diana" and "Aurora" as part of the Naval Corps Training Detachment go on a training voyage, 1909 Source: kreiser.unoforum.ru

In 1910–1911, Diana again underwent repairs of machines and boilers at the Baltic Plant. In 1912, the Minister of the Navy decided to convert the cruiser into a submarine base. To achieve this, they planned to remove the artillery, convert some of the boilers to mixed coal-oil heating, and also change the interior spaces. However, in December 1912, the minister suddenly changed his mind, deciding to keep the Diana as an artillery ship. At the same time, it was decided to replace the main caliber artillery with the latest 130-mm guns so that gunner students could master this recently adopted artillery system. It was planned to complete the rearmament by May 1914, but the outbreak of the First World War found the Diana under repair and without weapons.

Participation in the First World War

A few days before the start of the war, “Diana” moves from Revel to Kronstadt. There, the cruiser was armed with eight 120-mm guns, since there was no more suitable artillery in the arsenal. The crew was replenished to full strength, the students were sent ashore, after which the ship was included in the 2nd brigade of cruisers (“Russia”, “Gromoboy”, “Bogatyr”, “Oleg”, “Diana”, “Aurora”). This brigade included cruisers built before the Russo-Japanese War - already outdated, but capable of performing auxiliary tasks (mainly patrol duty). In particular, in August 1914, the Diana covered the refloating of the remains of the German cruiser Magdeburg. In October of the same year, her 120 mm guns were replaced by ten 152 mm guns removed from the training ship Emperor Alexander II.

Cruisers "Thunderbolt", "Diana" and "Aurora" during the First World War Source: keu-ocr.narod.ru

“Diana” spent the winter of 1914–1915 in Helsingfors. During this time, the cruiser was equipped with a fore-trawl, as well as mine rails on the upper deck, which allowed it to accept up to 150 mines of the 1908 model. In the spring of 1915, Diana finally received the long-awaited 130 mm guns from the Obukhov plant. The new guns had significantly better ballistics compared to the old 152-mm Kane guns, which, together with new fire control devices, made it possible to increase the accuracy and range of artillery fire. To compensate for the increased weight of the artillery, sixteen 75-mm guns were removed from the cruiser, and their ports were sealed. As a result, the Diana's armament began to consist of ten 130 mm and four 75 mm guns.

"Diana" after rearmament Source: kreiser.unoforum.ru

The cruiser spent the entire year of 1915, right up to the freeze-up, in routine work carrying out patrols and guarding minesweepers. The following year, he finally took part in a military clash. On June 16, 1916, Diana, together with the cruiser Gromoboy and five destroyers, went to the Norrköping Bay area to intercept transports heading to Germany with a load of iron ore. The next day at 2:20, smoke was seen from Russian ships, and then the silhouettes of eight German ships - these were three large (V-77, V-78, G-89) and five small (V-181, V-182 , V-183, V-184, V-185) destroyers. From the left side of the Russian ships, salvo fire was opened on them from a long distance (about 40 kb), and the distance to the enemy was determined by the lead ship (“Thunderbreaker”), and then communicated to the rest of the ships of the detachment. The enemy returned fire, but most of his shells fell short. Seeing this, the Germans fired a torpedo salvo (18–20 torpedoes), and one torpedo went directly to the stern of the Diana. The Russian cruiser dodged the torpedo, the distance to the German ships increased to 60-70 cabs, after which the enemy disappeared behind a smoke screen. In that battle, “Diana” expended one hundred and three 130-mm shells, while neither side scored any hits.

On the same day, at 6 o'clock in the morning, a submarine periscope was spotted from Russian ships. "Diana" opened fire on her with diving shells from an extremely short distance. Having spent 110 shells, the shooting was stopped, and no traces of the submarine’s destruction were found on the surface, but the Russian sailors considered that the submarine was lost or severely damaged. Most likely, we are talking about the German submarine UB33, but the question of whether it was really attacked by Russian ships remains open to this day.

Diana then moved to the Gulf of Riga to participate in the proposed landing operation. Due to numerous modernizations, the cruiser's displacement and draft increased significantly, so when passing through the shallow Moonsund Strait it had to be considerably unloaded. However, the landing was canceled, and the main enemy of the Diana was German aircraft, which were fired from four 75-mm anti-aircraft guns, additionally installed on the cruiser in July 1916.

The cruiser moved to Helsingfors for the winter, where on March 3, 1917, the sailors were caught by the news of the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne. By that time, revolutionary sentiments had already spread widely among the crew, so reprisals between sailors and officers they disliked began on the ship - senior officer Captain 2nd Rank B.N. Rybkin was killed and senior navigator Lieutenant P.P. Lyubimov was seriously wounded. Soon the cruiser's crew swore allegiance to the Provisional Government.

The 1917 military campaign in the Baltic was marked by the battle for the Gulf of Riga and the adjacent straits. Despite the fact that the cruisers of the 2nd Brigade did not participate in it, in October the Diana was preparing to move to the gulf to support Russian forces. However, by that time the battle was already over, and the cruiser did not have the chance to take part in it.

In December 1917, the 2nd Cruiser Brigade moved to Kronstadt, leaving Helsingfors forever.
The transition took place in the most difficult conditions: there were often sections of the water surface completely covered with ice. However, with the help of the icebreaker Ermak, the difficulties were overcome, and the Diana and Aurora stopped for the winter in Petrograd. In the summer of 1918, the Diana and Aurora moved to Kronstadt, where they, along with other old ships, were planned to be sunk in the path of a possible German offensive. The artillery from the Diana was removed and transferred for storage to the Obukhov plant, from where the guns were distributed to the fronts of the civil war. Only a small team of volunteers remained on the Diana, supporting the remnants of life in the dying ship. In 1921, the fate of the Diana was determined: due to its poor technical condition, they decided to sell it for scrap to Germany, which was done a year later, after everything that had any value was removed from the cruiser. Tactical and technical characteristics of the 1st rank cruiser "Diana"

Bibliography:

1. Novikov V., Sergeev A. Goddesses of the Russian Navy. "Aurora", "Diana", "Pallada". – M.: Collection; Yauza; Eksmo, 2009
2. A. V. Skvortsov. Cruisers of the 1st rank "Aurora", "Diana" and "Pallada". – St. Petersburg: Gangut, Midel-Frame series No. 29, 2012
3. A. A. Lieven. The cruiser "Diana" in battle in the Yellow Sea. – St. Petersburg: Gangut, No. 36, 2005
4. Krestyaninov V. Ya. Part I. Cruisers of the Russian Imperial Navy 1856–1917, 1st ed. – St. Petersburg: Galeya-Print, 2003
5. Kozlov D. Yu. “Violation of sea communications based on the experience of the Russian fleet in the First World War (1914–1917).” M.: Russian Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Science, 2012

Design

The foreign policy situation that developed at the end of the 19th century forced the government of the Russian Empire not only to increase its coastal defense forces, but also to create a strong ocean fleet, in particular, cruising forces. By the early 1890s, escalating contradictions with Great Britain led to a new round of the naval arms race. Simultaneously with the ordering of ships from foreign shipyards, it was decided to carry out their construction at domestic factories. At the direction of the head of the Naval Ministry, Admiral N. M. Chikhachev, the Marine Technical Committee on March 2, 1894 announced a competition for the best design of a steel, high-speed, armored ocean cruiser - a “trade fighter.” Based on the results of consideration of the proposed projects, three were recognized as winners, but none of them were ever implemented. Having settled the contradictions with England, the Russian Empire faced the “German threat”: on the Baltic Sea, the Imperial Navy increased both qualitatively and quantitatively. As a response, the Russian shipbuilding program was adjusted.

Without waiting for the final results of the competition, as part of the additions made in 1895 to the twenty-year shipbuilding program, three “carapace cruisers” were ordered, which later became Diana-class cruisers. The main purpose of these additions “was to equalize our naval forces with the German and with the forces of the secondary states adjacent to the Baltic”

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The order for the design and construction of new cruisers was issued on April 7, 1895 by the Main Directorate of Shipbuilding and Supply of the Maritime Ministry to the Baltic Shipyard. The tactical and technical characteristics of future cruisers were compared with the actual parameters of ships being created in the largest maritime power - Great Britain; in accordance with this instruction, it was assumed that the design of one of the cruisers built in England in recent years would be taken as a basis. The cruiser Astraea, originally intended as a prototype, was rejected because, according to engineers .
Within a month, the plant’s specialists completed and submitted to the Marine Technical Committee three draft versions of cruisers of various displacements - from 4400 to 5600 tons. A few days later, another developed version with a displacement of 6,000 tons was added, the prototype of which was the newest English cruiser Talbot. According to historians, the initiator of the creation and chief designer of this project was the plant manager himself, senior shipbuilder S.K. Ratnik. “In the project presented by the Baltic Plant, the artillery armament consisted of two 203 mm and eight 152 mm guns, twenty-seven 57 mm guns. This option, taking into account the instructions of Admiral General Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich to replace the 203 mm guns with 152 mm, served as the basis for further development."

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During a series of discussions of a new type of cruiser, its main dimensions, the shape of the hull contours, the location of the premises and a number of other parameters were agreed upon. The repeatedly revised composition of the artillery armament of cruisers by May 1896 included 10 152 mm, 20 75 mm and eight 37 mm guns.

In November 1896, the project was revised for the last time due to an unexpectedly discovered overload of 182 tons. To eliminate it, it was necessary to reduce the supply of coal and provisions, abandon the use of gun shields and reduce the number of 152-mm guns to eight. The adoption of this decision was facilitated by the fact that by the end of 1896 the “German threat” faded into the background and the brewing confrontation with Great Britain became more urgent. On paper, the project was superior to all English analogues, and the autonomy of navigation did not play a big role due to the agreement with France on the use of its naval bases in the event of a conflict.

Battle of Tsushima

The tense military-political situation in the Far East required the immediate strengthening of the Pacific Fleet. A detachment was formed from the Baltic ships, which included the Aurora, reducing the time frame for its testing. On September 25, 1903, the cruiser weighed anchor in the Great Kronstadt roadstead. Throughout the journey, shortcomings of the ship constantly appeared, which the team eliminated on the fly.

On May 1, 1905, the Second Pacific Squadron set out from the coast of Vietnam in the direction of Vladivostok. The Aurora took second place in the order of ship construction and had to follow the wake of the cruiser Oleg. Two weeks later, well after midnight on May 14, the Russian squadron entered the waters of the Korean Strait. Japanese ships were already waiting for them there, which were discovered at 6:30. From 10:30 a battle broke out with the lead military vessels.

Aurora entered the battle at 11:14. At first, the young ship was supported by fire from the cruiser Vladimir Monomakh, which dominated the firefight with the Japanese armored cruiser Izumi. Over the course of an hour, the Japanese reinforced themselves with reinforcements, and the full power of enemy fire went to the Aurora. It was especially difficult at 15:00.

The ship managed to maneuver from enemy torpedoes. But it was not possible to avoid multiple damage from enemy artillery salvoes. One shell hit the control room, where shrapnel cut off everyone present. The captain was mortally wounded in the head. The bow compartment was flooded. The mast with the flag was knocked down and raised 6 times.

By 19:00, the surviving Russian ships of Admiral Enquist’s detachment: Oleg, Zhemchug and Aurora, retreated in a chaotic order to the southwest, leaving the Korea Strait. Defeat became obvious. The route to Vladivostok was closed. The Japanese planned to finish off the remnants of the squadron at night. But the Russian ships managed to break away. The following people died on the Aurora: 1 officer (ship’s commander, Captain 1st Rank Evgeniy Romanovich Egoryev) and 8 crew members. The cruiser, repaired in Manila, returned to the Baltic Sea in 1906.

Ship construction

Construction of the cruiser Aurora began in 1896. She was the last ship in a series of three armored cruisers for the Pacific Ocean. The first ship was called "Pallada", and the second - "Diana". It is noteworthy that the project was named not after the first vessel, as is customary, but after the second - “Diana”. It is more sonorous and concise. Construction of the shipyards began in 1985:

• The galley island was equipped for the hulls of the ships "Pallada" and "Diana".
• The new Admiralty prepared the site for the Aurora.

All buildings were solemnly laid down on one day, May 23, 1987. The aggravation of relations with Germany in the Baltic made adjustments to the program, and the production time of the ships was compressed as much as possible. On May 11, 1900, the Aurora hull was the last to be launched to the applause of the royal family. Next, add-ons and installation of a power engine were carried out on the cruiser. And three years later, on July 17, the ship was put into operation.

For a whole year the third cruiser did not have a name. In the documentation it was referred to as a “Cruiser with a displacement of 6,630 tons, Diana type.” Only in 1987, Nicholas II was provided with a list of names: “Askold”, “Aurora”, “Bogatyr”, “Boyar”, “Varyag”, “Heliona”, “Naiad”, “Neptune”, “Psyche”, “Polkan” and "Juno". Most of all, the king liked “Aurora,” the name of the ancient Roman goddess.

October Revolution: a historical salvo

After the February Revolution, the cruiser was subordinate to the Provisional Revolutionary Committee. On October 24, 1917, the ship’s commander was given the task of ascending the Neva to the Nikolaevsky Bridge, which was opened by the cadets. Aurora power engineers managed to bridge the bridge, reuniting Vasilyevsky Island and the city center. By evening, preparations were being made for the assault on the Winter Palace. They decided to use a cannon shot as a signal for the capture. At 21:54, the Aurora fired a blank salvo from her bow gun that brought fame to the warship.

Project evaluation

The construction of Diana-class cruisers was the first experience of domestic shipbuilding in the serial creation of ships of this class. In terms of mechanization and electrification of equipment, these ships at the time of entry into service were superior to all ships built in Russia. However, many of the devices were extremely ill-conceived and suboptimal, and the very design of cruisers of this type, among the “classmates” built, including for Russia, cannot be considered successful. As contemporaries noted, already at the time of entry into service, the Diana-class cruisers could be considered obsolete: the long construction of the ships led to their obsolescence on the slipway. By the end of the 19th century, the speed of 20 knots was insufficient for a cruiser, and weak weapons made the new Russian ships obviously inferior to all potential opponents. In addition, the service of these ships showed insufficient capacity of coal pits, and therefore a reduced cruising range. Thus, the Diana-class cruisers had practically no advantages, but had a number of significant disadvantages. The cruisers Diana, Aurora and Tsugaru brought much greater benefit as training ships in the Russian, Soviet and Japanese fleets. They became the place where future officers were trained.

Construction and testing

On May 23, 1897, ceremonial events were held in St. Petersburg on the occasion of the laying down of three new armored cruisers by Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich: on Galerny Island - the lead ship of the Pallas and Diana series; in the New Admiralty - "Aurora". The names for the cruisers were personally chosen by Emperor Nicholas II.

The largest volume of work on the formation of the hulls of the Pallas and Diana occurred in 1898, since by this time the solutions to the main technical and organizational issues had been completed. The building slipway period, which lasted more than three years, ended for the Pallada on August 14, and for Diana on September 30, 1899. By this time, a decision was made to send these cruisers to the Far East; Construction work on the Aurora was just finishing up.

“Pallada” and “Diana” were able to begin testing on August 14 and October 10, 1901, respectively. The power plants of both cruisers showed good data; Thus, the three main steam engines of the Pallada developed a total power that exceeded the specification requirements by more than 10%. However, during speed tests, both ships were unable to reach the design speed of 20 knots. “The Pallada’s average top speed with a displacement of 6,722 tons was 19.17 knots; during testing, the Diana, with a displacement of 6,657 tons, reached only 19 knots.”

During firing tests on ships, significant deficiencies in the artillery unit were identified. They tried to avoid and correct them on the completed Aurora. After the recovery of the Pallada, which was sunk in Port Arthur, and subsequent expensive repairs, the Tsugaru (as the Pallada was renamed in the Japanese fleet), still without weapons, entered sea trials, during which it developed a speed of 21.85 knots. The new owners needed to: rid the ship of the bow trim (pig landing), carefully adjust the machines and select the optimal propeller pitch.

On October 10, 1902, tests of the Aurora began, during which the cruiser developed 19.66 knots at a measured mile, but only for a short time. Repeated tests ended completely unsatisfactorily, so the ship was not accepted into the treasury, and further tests were postponed until next year. On July 14, 1903, the cruiser failed to reach the contract speed, but the totality of the results shown allowed the Aurora to be accepted into the treasury.