''Varyag'' () sometimes also spelled Variag, was a Russian

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 ...

. ''Varyag'' became famous for her crew's stoicism at the

Battle of Chemulpo Bay The Battle of Chemulpo Bay was a naval battle in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), which took place on 9 February 1904, off the coast of present-day Incheon (then called Chemulpo), Korea. Background The opening stage of the Russo-Japanese ...

. She was acquired 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 ...

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 ...

by 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 ...

, who renamed her ''Soya'' and was later returned to the Russian Imperial Navy during World War I.

Construction and design

In 1897, the

Russian Admiralty Board of Admiralties (, ''Admiralteystv-kollegiya'') was a supreme body for the administration of the Imperial Russian Navy and admiralty shipyards in the Russian Empire, established by Peter the Great on December 12, 1718, and headquartered in t ...

, as part of a program to reinforce the Imperial Russian Navy's Far East Fleet, published specifications for a fast

, capable of

commerce raiding Commerce raiding is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than engaging its combatants or enforcing a blockade against them. Privateering is a fo ...

. The ships were required to be armed with 152 mm (6-inch)

quick-firing gun A quick-firing or rapid-firing gun is an artillery piece, typically a gun or howitzer, that has several characteristics which taken together mean the weapon can fire at a fast rate. Quick-firing was introduced worldwide in the 1880s and 1890s and ...

s, and to have a speed of . Russian shipyards were already busy, and the Imperial Admiralty placed an order with the American shipyard

William Cramp & Sons William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company (also known as William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company) was an American shipbuilding company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1830 by William Cramp. During its heyday in late 19 ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

on 11 April 1898 to build a single cruiser, ''Varyag'' against this specification. Single ships were also ordered from the German shipyards

Germaniawerft Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft (often just called Germaniawerft, "Germania (personification), Germania shipyard") was a German shipbuilding company, located in the harbour at Kiel, and one of the largest and most important builders of U-boats for ...

() and AG Vulcan () against these specifications. ''Varyag'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

in October 1898, was launched on 31 October 1899 and commissioned into 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 ...

on 2 January 1901 O.S. (14 January 1901 N.S.),''Varyag'' was commissioned on 2 January 1901 according to the Old Style

Julian calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

still used by the Russian Empire: this corresponded to 14 January in the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...

in use in the Europe, the US and elsewhere. under the command of Captain Vladimir Behr. ''Varyag'' was long overall and

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

, with a beam of and a draught of at normal displacement. Design

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

was with full load displacement about . Thirty Niclausse

water-tube boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-generat ...

s fed steam to two sets of four-cylinder vertical triple expansion steam engines rated at which drove two 3-bladed propellers. As a protected cruiser, the main protection consisted of an arched armoured deck which protected the ship's engines and magazines. The deck was thick in the central horizontal portion, and thick in the sloping sections towards the ship's sides. The ship's

conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armoured, from which an officer in charge can conn (nautical), conn (conduct or control) the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for t ...

was protected by , with protecting the ammunition hoists and for the bow and stern torpedo tubes. The ship's main armament was twelve Obukhoff 152 mm (6-inch) L/45 guns, with two guns side by side on the ship's

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck (ship), deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is t ...

, two side-by-side on the

quarterdeck The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...

, and the remaining eight on sponsons on the ship's upper deck. These guns could fire a shell to a range of , and at a rate of 6 rounds per minute. 2388 rounds of 152 mm ammunition were carried. Twelve 75 mm (2.95 in) L/50 QF guns defended the ship against torpedo boats, and could fire a shell to a range of at a rate of 10 rounds per minute. Close-in defence was provided by four Hotchkiss 47 mm revolving cannon on fighting tops, with four more on the upper deck, backed up by two 37 mm guns and two machine guns. Two Baranowski 64 mm landing guns were also carried for on-shore use by the ship's marines. Six 381 mm (15 inch) torpedo tubes were carried, two on each broadside and one in the bow and

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

During her construction, an assistant physician, Leo Alexandroff, left the ship's advance party on 20 April 1899, and applied for U.S. citizenship. He was arrested for desertion. His case reached the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

, which ruled in ''Tucker v. Alexandroff'' that the ship, though not accepted for service in the Imperial Russian Navy, was a warship under the terms of the 1832 treaty between Russia and the United States; thus Alexandroff would be returned to Russian authorities.

First Russian service

At the outbreak of the

, under the command of Captain Vsevolod Rudnev, ''Varyag'' was stationed at Chemulpo Bay with the aging gunboat . On 8 February, a large Japanese force under Admiral

Uriu Uriu () is a commune in Bistrița-Năsăud County, Transylvania, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hung ...

blockaded the Russian in the harbor. As

Chemulpo Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

was in neutral Korean waters, Admiral Uriu gave the Russian ships a written ultimatum to sail by 12:00 noon or be attacked in the harbor itself. Captain Rudnev attempted to fight his way out, but after sustaining heavy casualties (31 men dead, 191 injured out of 570) and outgunned, both ships returned to harbor by 1:00 p.m., the crew decided to scuttle both ships. The crew was saved by transferring them to the British cruiser , the , and the ; the captain of the US gunboat declined doing so as a violation of U.S. neutrality.Port Arthur: Prologue
materials of publishing house "Alexander PRINT" In 1907, Vsevolod Rudnev (by that time dismissed from Russian naval service in the rank of rear admiral) was decorated with the Japanese

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

for his heroism in that battle; although he accepted the order, he never wore it in public.

Japanese cruiser ''Soya''

After the

, the Japanese raised the badly damaged wreck from Chemulpo harbor, repaired it, and commissioned it into the Imperial Japanese Navy as the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...

''Soya'' on 9 July 1907. Its new name was taken from the northernmost cape of

Hokkaidō is the second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by railway via the Seikan Tunnel. The ...

, Soya Misaki. After being placed into Japanese service as a cruiser, ''Soya'' was used primarily for training duties. From 14 March 1909 to 7 August 1909, it made a long distance navigational and officer cadet training cruise to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and North America. It repeated this training cruise every year until 1913.

Return to Russia

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Russia and Japan were allies and several ships were transferred by the Japanese to the Russians. Along with and , she was repurchased by the

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

on 5 April 1916 and renamed ''Varyag''. In June, she departed for

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

via the Indian Ocean, arriving in November 1916. She was sent to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

for an overhaul by

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

in February 1917, and was due to re-enter service with the

Arctic Ocean Flotilla The Arctic Ocean Flotilla (), was a Russian military flotilla stationed in Aleksandrovsk (present-day Polyarny) near the mouth of the Kola Gulf, Iokanga, and Arkhangelsk. History On the official formation of the AOF began and by September ...

of the Imperial Russian Navy. However, following the Russian

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

on 7 November 1917, crewmen who had remained onboard hoisted the red flag and refused to set sail. On 8 December 1917 she was seized by a detachment of British soldiers. Assigned to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

in February 1918, she ran aground while under tow off of Ireland, but was refloated and used as a hulk until 1919. She was then sold to a German firm in 1920 for scrap, but on 5 February 1920 ran aground on rocks near the Scottish village of Lendalfoot () in the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde, is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre, Kintyre Peninsula. The ...

, while being towed to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. She was scrapped in place from 1923 to 1925.Kowner, '' Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War'', p. 407-408.

Legacy

The stoicism of ''Varyag''s crew at Chemulpo has inspired the Austrian poet Rudolf Greinz to write a poem dedicated to Varyag. The Russian translation of this poem was put to music by A.S. Turischev. The result was the 1904 song that remains popular today:

(German original)
Auf Deck, Kameraden, all' auf Deck!
Heraus zur letzten Parade!
Der stolze Warjag ergibt sich nicht,
Wir brauchen keine Gnade!
(Russian poetic translation)
Наверх вы, товарищи, все по местам!
Последний парад наступает.
Врагу не сдается наш гордый “Варяг”,
Пощады никто не желает.
''(translation)''
Get up, you comrades, everyone to his place,
The final parade is at hand.
Our proud "Varyag" will not surrender to the enemy,
No one wants mercy.
Rudolf Greinz

Memorial to the Russian cruiser Varyag - geograph

On 30 July 2006 (Russian

Navy Day Several nations observe or have observed a Navy Day to recognize their navy. By country Argentina The Argentine Navy day is celebrated on May 17, anniversary of the victory achieved in 1814 against the Spanish fleet in the action of 14 ...

), a memorial plaque to the cruiser was unveiled at Lendalfoot in a ceremony attended by senior Russian politicians and navy personnel, veterans and local dignitaries.Resting place of Russian cruiser ''Varyag''
South Ayrshire Council News On 8 September 2007 a monument in the form of a large bronze cross was unveiled as an addition to the Lendalfoot memorial, in a ceremony attended by former Nato Secretary General George Robertson, British and Russian navy officers and diplomats. The "Cruiser Varyag" Charity Foundation had organised a competition in Russia for the design of the monument. In 2010, as a gesture marking the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Russia, the flag of ''Varyag'' was restored. The Japanese Navy recovered the flag when the ship was salvaged; and the Incheon Metropolitan Museum acquired them after Japan's defeat at the end of World War II. The return of the flag takes the form of a two-year renewable loan because of the Korean law protecting cultural assets. "Korea to Return Flag of Sunken Russian Warship,"
''Chosun Ilbo'' (ROK). 11 November 2010; retrieved 11 Nov 2010. File:Varyag Plaque Obverse 2014.jpg, Obverse of plaque at Varyag memorial at Lendalfoot, Scotland. File:Varyag Plaque Reverse 2014.jpg, everse of plaque at Varyag memorial at Lendalfoot, Scotland. File:Varyag Memorial Monument 2014.jpg, Obverse of monument at Varyag memorial at Lendalfoot, Scotland. File:Varyag Memorial Anchor 2014.jpg, Anchor at Varyag memorial at Lendalfoot, Scotland.

Footnotes

Notes

References

* * * Kowner, Rotem (2006). "Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War". Scarecrow.
MPHK Catalogue of collectible silver coins 2012-13 p.38
* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Varyag Cruisers of the Imperial Russian Navy Ships built by William Cramp & Sons 1899 ships Naval ships of Russia Russo-Japanese War cruisers of Russia World War I cruisers of Russia Shipwrecks in the Firth of Clyde Maritime incidents in 1904 Maritime incidents in 1920 1920 in Scotland 1925 in Scotland