HMS ''Kruger'' was the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

of the

British Caspian Flotilla The British Caspian Flotilla was a naval force of the Royal Navy established in the Caspian Sea in 1918. It was part of the allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. The flotilla initially reported to the Rear-Admiral Commanding, Black Sea, ...

during the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

. It was originally a

screw steamer A screw steamer or screw steamship (abbreviated "SS") is an old term for a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine, using one or more propellers (also known as ''screws'') to propel it through the water. Such a ship was also known as an " ...

with steel hull named ''President Kruger'' () and used for oil cargo with limited facilities to accommodate passengers. It belonged to Caucasus and Mercury Partnership with home port of Baku. It was seized by David Norris on 14 August 1918 along other boats of Caspian basin. According to

Lionel Dunsterville Major General Lionel Charles Dunsterville (9 November 1865 – 18 March 1946) was a British Army officer, who led Dunsterforce across present-day Iraq and Iran towards the Caucasus and Baku during the First World War. Early life Lionel Charle ...

'','' Kruger was "a fine ship and as fast as anything on the Caspian, with the exception of the gunboats, and she had accommodation sufficient for my staff, the clerks, and the office, as well as about 300 men normally; at a pinch she could carry 800 men by utilizing all deck space." The initial armament consisted of four

field gun A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances (field artillery ...

s (probably

102 mm 60 caliber Pattern 1911 The 102 mm 60 caliber Pattern 1911 was a Russian naval gun developed in the years before World War I that armed a variety of warships of the Imperial Russian Navy during World War I. Pattern 1911 guns found a second life on river gunboats and arm ...

) placed on the forward cargo hatch, and attached to bales of cotton. However, they were later removed to be used during

Battle of Baku The Battle of Baku (, , ) took place in August and September 1918 between the Ottoman– Azerbaijani coalition forces led by Nuri Pasha and Bolshevik– ARF Baku Soviet forces, later succeeded by the British–Armenian– White Russian forces ...

. The ship was commanded by a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

captain. It participated in the victorious

Battle of Alexandrovsky Fort __NOTOC__ The Battle of Alexander Fort (or Battle of Tyub-Karaganskom), was a naval battle fought in the Caspian Sea during the Russian Civil War at the naval military base of Fort Alexandrovsky. Background As part of the allied interventi ...

on 21 May 1919 against Russian Bolshevik forces. It was handed over to

Denikin Anton Ivanovich Denikin (, ; – 7 August 1947) was a Russian military leader who served as the acting supreme ruler of the Russian State and the commander-in-chief of the White movement–aligned armed forces of South Russia during the Ru ...

on 2 September 1919. Following the defeat of White Russians and subsequent

Sovietization of Azerbaijan The Red Army invasion of Azerbaijan, also known as the Sovietization or Soviet invasion of Azerbaijan, took place in April 1920. It was a military campaign conducted by the 11th Army of Soviet Russia with the aim of installing a new Soviet govern ...

, President Kruger was once again renamed to ''Fedya Gubanov'' under orders of

Nariman Narimanov Nariman Karbalayi Najaf oghlu Narimanov (, ; – 19 March 1925) was an Azerbaijanis, Azerbaijani Bolsheviks, Bolshevik revolutionary, writer, publicist, politician and statesman. For just over one year, beginning in May 1920, Narimanov headed th ...

on 10 June 1920 after a Bolshevik sailor who illegally transported oil products to

Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

during

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kruger, Hms Auxiliary cruisers of the Royal Navy Russian Civil War History of the Caspian Sea Ships built in the Russian Empire 1901 ships