The ''Amur''-class minelayers were the first purpose-built, ocean-going minelayers in the world.Russian Minelayers ''Amur'' and ''Yenisei'', p. 205 The class consisted of two vessels: ''Amur'' and ''Yenisei''. Both ships were constructed 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 being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

in the late 1890s. During the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

of 1904–05 they were assigned to the Pacific Fleet. ''Yenisei'' struck one of her own mines two days after the war began while laying a minefield and sank. One of ''Amur''s

minefield A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...

s sank the Japanese

pre-dreadnought battleship Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built from the mid- to late- 1880s to the early 1900s. Their designs were conceived before the appearance of in 1906 and their classification as "pre-dreadnought" is retrospectively appli ...

s and . ''Amur'' was sunk by Japanese

howitzer The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...

s in December 1904 after the Japanese had gained control of the heights around Port Arthur. She was later salvaged and scrapped by the Japanese.

Design and description

The ''Amur''-class minelayers were designed to drop their mines while at high speed and were given a pronounced, overhanging, stern that allowed the mines to be dropped behind the

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

s through doors in the stern. Each door was served by a rail that led directly to the mine storage compartments. The ''Amur''-class ships were long at the waterline; they had 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 v ...

of .Gardiner, p. 204 They had two pole masts and a

ram Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

bow. The ships had two vertical triple expansion steam engines, each powering one propeller. Twelve Belleville water-tube boilers provided steam. The engines were designed to produce a total of and gave the ship a top speed of . They carried of coal that provided a range of at a speed of .Watts, p. 172 The main armament of the ''Amur''-class ships consisted of five Canet Pattern 1892 50-

caliber In guns, particularly firearms, but not #As a measurement of length, artillery, where a different definition may apply, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge ( ...

guns. The gun fired shells to a range of about at its maximum elevation of 21° with a muzzle velocity of . The rate of fire was between twelve and fifteen rounds per minute. The ships also mounted seven Hotchkiss guns. They fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of at a rate of 20 rounds per minute to a range of . The ''Amur''-class ships mounted one

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

and carried 300 mines.

Service

Both ships, ''Amur'' and ''Yenisei'', were built by the Baltic Works in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. They were laid down in 1898 and completed the following year. They were assigned to the Pacific Fleet when the Russo-Japanese War began in 1904 and based in Port Arthur. Two days after the Japanese surprise attack on Port Arthur on 8/9 February 1904, ''Yenisei'' was laying a minefield at Dalian Bay when one mine broke loose and began floating towards the ship. While maneuvering to avoid the mine ''Yenisei'' accidentally entered the minefield that she'd just laid and hit a mine. The consequent explosion caused eight mines still on the rails to detonate, killing 96 or 100 crewmen and sinking the ship in 20 minutes. The

protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of cruiser of the late 19th century, took their name from the armored deck, which protected vital machine-spaces from fragments released by explosive shells. Protected cruisers notably lacked a belt of armour alon ...

and four destroyers responded to the incident, but ''Boyarin'' hit one of ''Yenisei''s mines. The explosion flooded the ship's machinery spaces and her crew abandoned ship. The cruiser remained afloat, but foundered in Dalian Bay the next day during a storm.Russian Minelayers ''Amur'' and ''Yenisei'', pp. 205-06 On the morning of 15 May 1904,

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Nashiba Tokioki led a squadron consisting of the pre-dreadnoughts ''Hatsuse'', ''Yashima'' and to bombard Port Arthur. They encountered a field of 50 mines laid by ''Amur'' the evening before. ''Hatsuse'' hit one mine that disabled her engines and steering and drifted into another mine that caused one of her forward

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

s to detonate. The ship sank in about 90 seconds, taking 496 men down with her. ''Yashima'' struck another mine as she maneuvered around the drifting ''Hatsuse'', but she was towed away from the minefield. By the late afternoon ''Yashima''s flooding had become unstoppable and she was abandoned by her crew. Three hours later the ship capsized and sank. ''Amur'' was subsequently besieged in Port Arthur and hit in drydock a number of times by howitzer shells on 8 December 1904. She was knocked over on her port side and rested on the side of the dock at an angle of 68°. On 18 December she was hit again by 30 shells and sunk on her side. The Japanese later raised the ship and scrapped it.Russian Minelayers ''Amur'' and ''Yenisei'', p. 206

References

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External links

*{{Commons category-inline, Amur (ship, 1901) Minelayers Ships of the Imperial Russian Navy

Design and description

Service

See also

References

External links