The ''Bogatyr'' class were a group 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 r ...

s 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 ...

. Unusually for the Russian navy, two ships of the class were built for the

Baltic Fleet , image = Great emblem of the Baltic fleet.svg , image_size = 150 , caption = Baltic Fleet Great ensign , dates = 18 May 1703 – present , country = , allegiance = (1703–1721) (1721–1917) (1917–1922) (1922–1991)(1991–present) ...

and two ships for the

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

Description

After the completion of the , the Russian Navy issued requirements for three large protected cruisers to three separate companies: was ordered from

William Cramp & Sons William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company (also known as William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company) of Philadelphia was founded in 1830 by William Cramp, and was the preeminent U.S. iron shipbuilder of the late 19th century. Company hi ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, United States, was ordered from Krupp- Germaniawerft in

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland pe ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, and ''Bogatyr'' from Vulcan Stettin, also in Germany. Although ''Askold'' was the fastest cruiser in the Russian fleet at the time of its commissioning, ''Bogatyr'' was selected for further development into a new class of ships. The ''Bogatyr''-class cruisers normally displaced . The ships had an overall length of , a beam of and a mean draft of about . They were powered by two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, which developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The engines were powered by 16 coal-fired Belleville boilers. The ships had a range of at a speed of . The standard crew consisted of 573 officers and men.Breyer, p. 47 The ships were rearmed during World War I with fourteen 55- caliber B7 Pattern 1913 guns in single mounts, four of which were mounted in

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" mean ...

s. The

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

armament consisted of two guns. The armored deck and the casemates were thick. The armor of the conning tower was thick.

Ships

* was built by Vulkan yard,

Stettin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...

. Laid down 1898, launched January 1901, completed 1902, scrapped 1922. Her machinery was used to repair ''Komintern''. * was built by New Admiralty Yard, St Petersburg. Laid down 1901, launched August 1903, completed 1904, fought at the

Battle of Tsushima The Battle of Tsushima (Japanese:対馬沖海戦, Tsushimaoki''-Kaisen'', russian: Цусимское сражение, ''Tsusimskoye srazheniye''), also known as the Battle of Tsushima Strait and the Naval Battle of Sea of Japan (Japanese: 日 ...

, escaped, and was interned at

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

. Finally sunk by British

Coastal Motor Boat 4 HM Coastal Motor Boat 4 is the torpedo boat used when Lieutenant Augustus Agar earned a Victoria Cross for carrying out a raid on Soviet warships in Kronstadt and sinking the cruiser ''Oleg''. It was one of a large series of small, fast, shall ...

with a single torpedo in

Kronstadt Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for " crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city ...

harbour on 17 June 1919 during the Baltic Naval War. The wreck was salvaged and scrapped. * (renamed ''Ochakov'', later ''General Kornilov'') was built by

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

dockyard. Laid down 1900, launched October 1902, completed 1905, seized by the White forces in the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

and interned in Bizerta in 1920 as part of

Wrangel's fleet Wrangel's Fleet was the last remnant of the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy and existed from 1920 until 1924. This squadron was a "White" (anti-communist and anti-revolutionary) unit during the Russian Civil War. It was known also a ...

, sold for scrap in 1933. * (later ''Komintern'') was built by Nikolayev Dockyard. Laid down 1900, launched June 1903, completed 1907. Mutinied during the

revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

which delayed completion. Survived the

and served in the Soviet Navy,

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

as ''Komintern''. Damaged by German bombers in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

she was sunk as a breakwater in

Poti Poti ( ka, ფოთი ; Mingrelian: ფუთი; Laz: ჶაში/Faşi or ფაში/Paşi) is a port city in Georgia, located on the eastern Black Sea coast in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti in the west of the country. Built near ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

on 10 October 1942, after her guns had been removed for use in shore batteries. * A fifth ship, ''Vityaz'', being built in St. Petersburg was so badly damaged by a fire after laying down that she was cancelled.

Description

Ships

References

Sources

External links