''Pamiat Azova'' (russian: Память Азовa) was a unique

armoured cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast eno ...

built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the late 1880s. She was decommissioned from front line service in 1909, converted into a depot ship and sunk by British torpedo boats during the Baltic Naval War, part of the Russian Civil War.

Name

The name of the ship commemorated the Russian

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

, the flagship of the Russian squadron in the

Battle of Navarino The Battle of Navarino was a naval battle fought on 20 October (O. S. 8 October) 1827, during the Greek War of Independence (1821–29), in Navarino Bay (modern Pylos), on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, in the Ionian Sea. Allied fo ...

. The name of that ship, in its turn, referred to the Azov campaigns of

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

. After the battle Nicholas I of Russia decreed that after the retirement of ''Azov'' the Imperial Navy must perpetually have a ship named ''Pamyat Azova'' (English: ''The Memory of Azov''). The cruiser commissioned in 1890 was the third ship carrying this name.

Design

The ship was designed as a commerce raider and rigged with sails to extend her range. She was built by

Baltic Works The OJSC Baltic Shipyard (''Baltiysky Zavod'', formerly Shipyard 189 named after Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze) (russian: Балтийский завод имени С. Орджоникидзе) is one of the oldest shipyards in Russia and is part of ...

in Saint Petersburg and launched on 1 July 1888. Her machinery was re-built in 1904 with

Bellville boilers Bellville may refer to: ;Argentina * Bell Ville, Córdoba ;South Africa * Bellville, Western Cape ** Bellville railway station ;United States * Bellville, Georgia * Bellville, Missouri * Bellville, Ohio * Bellville, Texas See also *Belleville (di ...

Service

The ship served with 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 in 1891–1892 it took part in a Cruise around Asia with Crown Prince Nicholas on board. This led to a Fabergé egg, the Memory of Azov being made to commemorate this event. She made a visit to the French Navy in October 1893 in Toulon to reinforce the Franco-Russian Alliance.'' L'Illustration'', n° 2642, Oct. 14, 1893 In 1906, during the First Russian Revolution, the crew of the cruiser mutinied while at Hara Bay near Reval. The ship subsequently was placed in reserve. In 1909 she was converted into a torpedo boat depot ship and renamed ''Dvina''. The ship was sunk by the British torpedo boat CMB79 in Kronstadt Harbour on 18 August 1919. The wreck was raised and scrapped.

Notes

References

External links

battleships-cruisers.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pamiat Azova Cruisers of the Imperial Russian Navy Ships built at the Baltic Shipyard 1888 ships Naval ships of Russia World War I naval ships of Russia Maritime incidents in 1919