To glorious Russian Battleships it is devoted!

    The experience of Crimean War (1853-1856) and civil war (1861) in THE USA clearly showed that the available in the composition of fleets sail wooden ships under the conditions of rapidly progressive military equipment of waging war at sea could not already compete with the steam vessels, covered with powerful armor, and all basic sea powers feverishly transgressed to building of armored vessels. In this race of the building of fleet was not exception Russia, which practically proved to be after defeat in the Crimean War without the warships. Initially were constructed comparatively small ships with the small settling, fitted out to the floating only in the waters of Gulf of Finland and intended for the defense from the sea of the capital of the state of St.-Petersburg and sea fortress Kronstadt.

    With the execution of this ship-building program, affirmed by government in 1863 and the been called " monitor ", is simultaneously with ship building produced the reorganization of the majority of fiscal and particular shipbuilding plants and is prepared base for creating of larger oceanic ship- nautical Battleships, bronirovanykh and unarmored frigates (cruisers).

    In 1869 on the project of the prominent Russian ship builder of the Vice Admiral Popov in Petersburg was laid the first ship of this class, which received subsequently designation " Peter Is Great " . Because of the absence of the experience of building such large ships, equipped with most perfect for those times combat technology and armament, the building of Battleship tightened itself up to 1877, but nevertheless during a whole series of years after the end of building " Peter Is Great " it was considered as the best and strongest ship in the world.

    Recognizing the priority of Russian ship builders in the building of Battleships, well-known English designer E. Reed in the newspaper " Times " wrote: " Russians had time to exceed both in otnashenii of the combat force of the existing vessels and in otnashenii of the new methods of building. Them " Peter Is Great " completely freely can go into the English ports, since presents vessel stronger than everyone from our its own Battleships ".

    In 1883 in Nikolayev and Sevastopol was renewed building armored ships " Sinop " , " Chesma " and " Ekaterina The Second " , who marked the beginning of revival of Black Sea fleet, while in 1885 in Petersburg for the the Baltic of fleet- Battleships by " Emperor Aleksandr The Second " , " Emperor Nikolai The First " and " Gangut " .


    Russian ship-builders untiring worked at an improvement in the qualities of armored ships. More powerful threaded artillery began to be established aboard the ships, the armoring of the most vulnerable places increased. The caliber of main (305 mm) and average (152 mm) artillery was solidly established at the beginning 90 of years, and the thickness of armor was brought to 406 millimeters.

    The squadron Battleship " Navarin "placed in 1890 in Petersburg became the sample of the ships of this class. In the Black Sea during building of the placed in 1892 Battleships " Georgiy Pobedonosets " , " Twelve Apostles " , " Three Svyatitelya " and " Rostislav " into their technical characteristics were also introduced substantial changes.

    In spite of the long periods of building, to 1895 in the Baltic region and in the Black Sea it was already on five squadron Battleships.

    However, this ship number it was is clearly insufficiently for the opposition to the rapidly developed fleets of Germany and Japan, not to mention England. In accepted by tsarist government ship-building programs 1895 and 1898 to squadron Battleships was diverted the leading role. Following " Sisoy Is Great " , by " Poltava " , by " Petropavlovsk " and by " Sevastopol " , built even according to the program of 1890, in 1901-1904 entered into the system three uniform Battleships: " Peresvet " , " Oslyabya " and " Victory " , intended for independent cruisings in the open ocean. Together with them -still squadron of the Battleship: " Borodino ", " Prince Suvorov " , " Emperor Aleksandr The Third " and " Orel " (fifth ship of this type-"Glory"- entered the system as long ago as 1905). Two ships " Cesarevitch " and " Retvizan " in view of the overloading of domestic plants were ordered in France and in THE USA. Taking into account entered the system in 1904 into the composition of Black Sea fleet Battleship " Prince Potemkin-Tavriceski1 " Russia at the beginning of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905 had 24 ships of this class, including: in the Baltic region - 9, in the Black Sea - 8 and in Pacific Ocean ship squadron - 7 ships.

    Russo-Japanese war revealed deficiencies in ship construction and introduced many new into the building of Battleships. In particular, it showed their large vulnerability to the action of artillery, min and torpedoes. this required radical changes in the arrangement of armoring, armament and bulkheads, increase in the speed of running speed.

    In connection with this specifications of those already finding in the stocks in Petersburg, Nikolayev and Sevastopol squadron Battleships " Andrey Pervozvanniy " , " Emperor Pavel The First " , " Yevstafiy " and " Ioan Zlatoust " underwent radical restructuring.

    The ships pointed out above were squadron Battleships last in Russia. For the change by it other, more advanced and powerful battleships with the steam-turbine power plants and the diametrical arrangement of the gun turrets went.

    In 1909 at the new admiralty and the Baltic plant four such ships were laid, the received designations " Sevastopol " , " Gangut " , " Petropavlovsk " and " Poltava " . In two years the similar ships: " Empress Mary " , " Ekaterina The Second " and " Emperor Aleksandr The Third " were laid, also, for the Black Sea fleet. The last ship of this class " Emperor Nikolai The First " was not finished building.

    Possessing by most perfected for those times by armament and mechanisms, by excellent high-speed and seaworthiness, Russian battleships during the years of the First World War did not know the equal in the world.

Second rank captain
S. Berejnoy

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