} The Russian cruiser ''Minin'' (russian: Минин) was an

armored cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast eno ...

built for the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from ...

during the 1860s and 1870s. She was renamed ''Ladoga'' in 1909 when converted to a

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing control ...

. The ship was sunk in 1915 when she struck a mine laid by a German submarine in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

Design and description

Originally designed as a sister ship to the

broadside ironclad An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. Th ...

, the navy was dissatisfied with that ship as it believed that foreign developments had made her obsolete. So the ship was redesigned as a low-

freeboard In sailing and boating, a vessel's freeboard is the distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the lowest point of sheer where water can enter the boat or ship. In commercial vessels, the latter criterion measured relativ ...

twin- turret ship with full rigging, much like the ill-fated British ship . Already launched when ''Captain'' capsized in a storm in 1870, ''Minin'' was reconstructed as an armored cruiser with her armament on the broadside and improved machinery.Watts, p. 68 The ship had an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...

of , a beam of and a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of .Silverstone, p. 358 She displaced at

deep load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

. Her hull was sheathed with copper to reduced

biofouling Biofouling or biological fouling is the accumulation of microorganisms, plants, algae, or small animals where it is not wanted on surfaces such as ship and submarine hulls, devices such as water inlets, pipework, grates, ponds, and rivers that ...

and her crew numbered approximately 545 officers and men.Campbell, p. 175 ''Minin'' had a vertical compound steam engine that drove a single propeller, using steam provided by a dozen cylindrical boilers. The engine produced which gave her a maximum speed around . The ship carried a maximum of of coal which gave her an economical range of at a speed of . She was

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

-rigged with three masts. To reduce drag while under sail, the single

funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construct ...

could be lowered. The ship had four , a dozen and four rifled breech-loading guns. She had a complete

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

belt of

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...

that ranged in thickness from amidships to 6 inches at the ends of the ships. The belt had a total height of , of which was below the waterline. ''Minin'' had a steel deck thick at the top of the belt, but her armament was entirely unprotected.

Construction and career

''Minin'', named after

Kuzma Minin Kuzma (Kozma) Minin (; full name Kuzma Minich Zakhariev-Sukhoruky, born late 1570s - died 1616) was a Russian merchant from Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, who, together with Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, became a national hero for his role in defending th ...

, was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

by Baltic Works in Saint Petersburg on 24 November 1864 as a

turret ship Turret ships were a 19th-century type of warship, the earliest to have their guns mounted in a revolving gun turret, instead of a broadside arrangement. Background Before the development of large-calibre, long-range guns in the mid-19th century, ...

Silverstone, p. 379 armed with four gun in two turrets and four 6-inch guns. The ship was launched on 3 November 1869 and began a complete reconstruction the following year. ''Minin'' was finally completed in 1878. In 1885 ''Minin'' had a rather unusual docking in the Dutch East Indies. When she required a dry dock, she was not allowed to dock in Singapore, reportedly because her draft was too high. In April she then reached Onrust Island near Batavia, where the Dutch Navy had Onrust Dock of 5,000 tons. This was then occupied by the ironclad ''Prins Hendrik''. As the name implies, this dock would normally not be able to lift ''Minin''. However, the draft of ''Minin'' could be lessened to 23.5 feet by unloading her guns, ammunition, sailing equipment and the like. This would also bring down her weight. In May ''Minin'' was indeed unloading, and in June she occupied the dock while ''Koningin Emma'' was waiting her turn. The ship was converted into a minelayer in 1909–11 and renamed ''Ladoga''. Her rigging was reduced to 2 pole masts, her armament was reduced to four guns, and she could carry 1000 mines. ''Ladoga'' helped to lay the mine barrier in the Gulf of Finland in 1914 and was sunk in the Baltic on 15 August 1915 by mines laid by SM UC-4.

Notes

Footnotes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Minin Naval ships of Russia Ships built at the Baltic Shipyard 1869 ships Cruisers of the Imperial Russian Navy Maritime incidents in 1915 Ships sunk by mines World War I shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea