''Pallada'' was the

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

in the of

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 ...

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 being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

. She was built in the

Admiralty Shipyard The JSC Admiralty Shipyards () (''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 accommodate ships of up to , in length and in width. Mili ...

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 ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. 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 a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

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, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

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 (; ) was a 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 August. The battle foiled an attempt by the Russian fleet at Lüshunkou (Port ...

, 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, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

. ''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, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

as a

prize of war A prize of war (also called spoils of war, bounty or booty) is a piece of enemy property or land seized by a belligerent party during or after a war or battle. This term was used nearly exclusively in terms of captured ships during the 18th and 1 ...

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

References

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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