''Pallada'' was the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

in the of

protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers re ...

s in 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 ...

. She was built in the

Admiralty Shipyard The JSC Admiralty Shipyards (russian: link=no, Адмиралтейские верфи) (''formerly Soviet Shipyard No. 194'') is one of the oldest and largest shipyards in Russia, located in Saint Petersburg. The shipyard's building ways can a ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

. The new class was a major improvement on previous Russian cruisers, although the armor protection was light.

Background

The ''Pallada'' class consisted of three cruisers built expressly with the intention of strengthening the Russian fleet in the Far East. ''Pallada'' and were both laid down in December 1895 but ''Pallada'' was launched first in August 1899, followed by ''Diana'' in October 1899. , which survives in Saint Petersburg as a museum ship, was laid down in June 1897 and was not launched until May 1900. Soon after commissioning, both ''Pallada'' and ''Diana'' were assigned to the Russian First Pacific Squadron at Port Arthur,

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...

Operational history

In the initial Japanese attacks on Port Arthur on the night of 8 February 1904, ''Pallada'' was

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, ...

ed on the port side amidships, but despite a fire in her coal bunker, she was not seriously damaged. In August 1904 at the

Battle of the Yellow Sea The Battle of the Yellow Sea ( ja, 黄海海戦, Kōkai kaisen; russian: Бой в Жёлтом море) was a major naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War, fought on 10 August 1904. In the Russian Navy, it was referred to as the Battle of 10 A ...

, after being struck by a

, ''Pallada'' managed to make her way back to Port Arthur, and was thus unable to break through the Japanese blockade along with a number of other Russian cruisers. Thereafter, ''Pallada'' was trapped in the harbor. Her guns were removed to help strengthen the land defenses and most of her crew was reassigned to serve as

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

. ''Pallada'' was sunk by Japanese 11-inch siege howitzers on 8 December 1904. After the end of the war, the wreck of ''Pallada'' was raised and towed to Japan, where it was repaired and commissioned into the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

as a

prize of war A prize of war is a piece of enemy property or land seized by a belligerent party during or after a war or battle, typically at sea. This term was used nearly exclusively in terms of captured ships during the 18th and 19th centuries. Basis in inte ...

. Renamed , she served as a training vessel and later as a minelayer until decommissioned in 1922 and sunk as a target in 1924.

References

* * Howarth, Stephen. ''The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895–1945''. Atheneum; (1983) * Jentsura, Hansgeorg. ''Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945''. Naval Institute Press (1976). * * *

External links

Photos of the ''Pallada''-class ships
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pallada (1899), Russian cruiser 1899 ships Ships built at Admiralty Shipyard Cruisers of the Imperial Russian Navy Naval ships of Russia Russo-Japanese War cruisers of Russia Shipwrecks of the Russo-Japanese War Shipwrecks of China Captured ships Naval ships captured by Japan during the Russo-Japanese War Ships sunk by coastal artillery