Bayan class
Encyclopedia
The Bayan-class was the fourth class of armored cruiser
Armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...
s built for the Imperial Russian Navy
Imperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...
. Ships of the class were in commission from 1902 to 1920.
Design
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and the second pair were built in Russia.
The design for the Bayan-class was developed by the MTK (Morskoi Tekhnicheskii Komitet, or Naval Technical Committee), consisting of representatives of the Russian shipbuilding, armaments, and engineering industries, and the contract was given to the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
shipyard Compagnie des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée à la Seine
Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée
The Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée was a French shipbuilding company. The 'Société des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée' was founded in 1853 by Philip Taylor, while a new company, the 'Nouvelle' société, was founded in 1856. It had shipyards in La Seyne-sur-Mer,...
based in Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
.
The new design was completely different from the three previous types of armored cruisers in Imperial Russian service. The Bayan had little more than half of the displacement (7,775 tons) with almost the same firepower and greater speed than her three predecessors.
Ships
, (BoyanBoyan (bard)
Boyan is the name of a bard who was mentioned in the Rus' epic The Lay of Igor's Campaign as being active at the court of Yaroslav the Wise. He is apostrophized as Volos's grandson in the opening lines of The Lay...
, or Bayan was a legendary medieval bard
Bard
In medieval Gaelic and British culture a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities.Originally a specific class of poet, contrasting with another class known as fili in Ireland...
) built in France by "Compagnie des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée à la Seine
Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée
The Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée was a French shipbuilding company. The 'Société des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée' was founded in 1853 by Philip Taylor, while a new company, the 'Nouvelle' société, was founded in 1856. It had shipyards in La Seyne-sur-Mer,...
" – laid down 1899 launched May 1900, commissioned December 1902. Served in the Port Arthur squadron of the Russian Pacific Fleet. She was trapped in the Siege of Port Arthur
Siege of Port Arthur
The Siege of Port Arthur , 1 August 1904 – 2 January 1905, the deep-water port and Russian naval base at the tip of the Liaotung Peninsula in Manchuria, was the longest and most violent land battle of the Russo-Japanese War....
and sunk at her moorings by Japanese howitzer shells. Subsequently raised and repaired by the Japanese and served in the Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
as the IJN Aso
Japanese cruiser Aso
was an armoured cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, acquired as a prize of war during the Russo-Japanese War from the Imperial Russian Navy, where it was originally known as the . It was then renamed after Mount Aso, an active volcano on the island of Kyūshū....
. Decommissioned in 1920 and sunk as target in 1930.
, named after Admiral Stepan Makarov
Stepan Makarov
Stepan Osipovich Makarov was a Ukrainian - born Russian vice-admiral, a highly accomplished and decorated commander of the Imperial Russian Navy, an oceanographer, awarded by the Russian Academy of Sciences, and author of several books. Makarov also designed a small number of ships...
– built in France by "Compagnie des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée à la Seine" – laid down 1905, launched 25 April 1906, commissioned 1908. Served in the Baltic Fleet
Baltic Fleet
The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...
during World War I, took part in the battle of Moon Sound
Battle of Moon Sound
The Battle of Moon Sound was a naval battle in World War I, fought on 17 October 1917 between naval forces of the German and Russian Empires in the Baltic Sea....
and the Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet
Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet
Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet was an operation which transferred the ships of the Baltic Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy from their bases at Tallinn and Helsinki to Kronstadt in 1918, caused by the possible threat to those bases from the final German offensives against Russia during World War...
. Scrapped in Germany in 1922.
(or Bayan II), built by the Admiralty Yard St Petersburg. Laid down 11 June 1905, launched 2 August 1907, commissioned 1911, served in the Baltic Fleet
Baltic Fleet
The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...
during World War I, took part in the Battle of Moon Sound
Battle of Moon Sound
The Battle of Moon Sound was a naval battle in World War I, fought on 17 October 1917 between naval forces of the German and Russian Empires in the Baltic Sea....
and the Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet
Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet
Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet was an operation which transferred the ships of the Baltic Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy from their bases at Tallinn and Helsinki to Kronstadt in 1918, caused by the possible threat to those bases from the final German offensives against Russia during World War...
. Scrapped in Germany in 1922.
, named after the Greek goddess Pallas Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
– built by the Admiralty Yard St Petersburg. Laid down 1905, launched 1906, commissioned 1911, served in the Baltic Fleet. Torpedoed and sunk with all hands 11 October 1914 by the German submarine U-26
SM U-26
SM U-26 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I.U-26 was engaged in the Naval warfare of World War I in the Baltic Sea...
.