Borodino class battleship
Encyclopedia
The five Borodino-class battleships (also known as the Suvorov-class) were pre-dreadnoughts built between 1899 and 1905 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...
. Three of the class were sunk and one captured by 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...
in a decisive naval engagement during the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
, at the Battle of Tsushima
Battle of Tsushima
The Battle of Tsushima , commonly known as the “Sea of Japan Naval Battle” in Japan and the “Battle of Tsushima Strait”, was the major naval battle fought between Russia and Japan during the Russo-Japanese War...
.
Historically, the Borodino-class battleships established two records; under Russian Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky
Zinovy Rozhestvensky
Zinovy Petrovich Rozhestvensky was an admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy. He was in command of the Second Pacific Squadron in the Battle of Tsushima, during the Russo-Japanese War....
riding in his flagship, Kniaz Suvorov
Russian battleship Knyaz Suvorov
The Knyaz Suvorov was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Russian Imperial Navy, built by Baltic Works, St Petersburg. Laid down in July 1901, she was launched in September 1902 and completed in September 1904. This ship was named after the 18th-century Russian general Alexander Suvorov. Her...
, he led the Russian battleship fleet on the longest coal powered journey ever conducted by a steel battleship fleet during wartime, a voyage of over 18000 miles (28,968.1 km) one way. Secondly, although sunk in battle, the Borodinos participated in the only decisive battleship fleet action ever fought. Lastly, what may be the most distinctive item of interest for the future, is the fact that the ships were constructed with tumblehome
Tumblehome
In ship designing, the tumblehome is the narrowing of a ship's hull with greater distance above the water-line. Expressed more technically, it is present when the beam at the uppermost deck is less than the maximum beam of the vessel....
hulls
Hull (watercraft)
A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...
, seemingly wider at the bottom then narrower towards the top. As a lesson from Tsushima tumblehome construction was discarded in warship design, as they were regarded as unstable under combat conditions.
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...
built battleship. The basic problem facing the Russian government was that the Borodinos would have heavier engines and larger turrets which would require a designer to build the same Tsesarevich type warship which had the same speed, draft, guns and armor, but had a bigger displacement. The new design was made up by Russia's MTK
MTK
The three-letter acronym MTK may refer to the following:*Mississippi Thunder Kings a competitive minor hockey association, in Ontario Canada for the towns of Carleton Place, Almonte, Pakenham and surrounding areas....
(Naval Technical Committee) D. V. Skvortsov. He completed his new design in July/August, one month after the original contract had been signed. The new concept was roughly a 1,000 tons heavier and slightly larger and wider than the Tsesarevich.
Outwardly, the biggest change was in the appearance of the Borodinos from the original Tsesarevich design. Skvortsov added two more casemates, each containing four 75mm guns, one at the bow and the other aft. This was added to the already existing 12 75mm guns emplaced along the sides above the armor belt. This resulted in the tumblehome
Tumblehome
In ship designing, the tumblehome is the narrowing of a ship's hull with greater distance above the water-line. Expressed more technically, it is present when the beam at the uppermost deck is less than the maximum beam of the vessel....
hull design over the twelve guns to be done away with, and flat sided armor was used in its place. Thus the five Borodino class battleships only had tumblehome hulls both fore and aft of their 75mm guns emplaced along their sides.
The Borodino-class battleships were based upon the earlier battleship Tsesarevich, which had been built to a French design at La Seyne and fought as the Russian flagship at the Battle of the Yellow Sea
Battle of the Yellow Sea
The Battle of the Yellow Sea was a major naval engagement 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 Port Arthur to break out and form up with counterparts from...
in 1904. The Russian Navy agreed to buy Tsesarevitch under the conditions that they could construct 5 more of them and modify them to meet the standards of the Russian Navy; thus Oryol
Japanese battleship Iwami
Japanese battleship Iwami was one of eight Russian pre-dreadnought battleships captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. It was built as the Russian battleship Oryol , and was commissioned into the Imperial Russian Navy's Baltic Fleet...
, Kniaz Suvorov
Russian battleship Knyaz Suvorov
The Knyaz Suvorov was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Russian Imperial Navy, built by Baltic Works, St Petersburg. Laid down in July 1901, she was launched in September 1902 and completed in September 1904. This ship was named after the 18th-century Russian general Alexander Suvorov. Her...
, Borodino
Russian battleship Borodino
The Borodino was the class leader of the , and the second ship of her class to be completed. The ship was named after the 1812 Battle of Borodino. Borodino was lost at the Battle of Tsushima on 27 May 1905 due to explosions set off by a Japanese shell hitting a 6-inch magazine...
, Aleksandr III
Russian battleship Imperator Aleksander III (1901)
The Imperator Alexandr III was a of the Russian Imperial Navy, the first ship of its class to be completed. It was named after Tsar Alexander III. Some naval architects regard the Borodino-class as being among the worst battleships ever built...
, and Slava
Russian battleship Slava
Slava was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, the last of the five s. Commissioned too late to participate in the Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War, she survived while all of her sister ships were either sunk during the battle or surrendered to the Imperial...
were built in Russian yards. Only Slava was not finished in time to participate in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. As previously mentioned all of the class were of a tumblehome hull design as were many of the French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
Pre-Dreadnoughts of the period. Dupuy de Lôme
Dupuy de Lome
Dupuy de Lome may refer to:* Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, Spanish Minister to the United States in 1892* Henri Dupuy de Lôme, a French naval architect in the 19th century...
, the leading French naval architect, was a proponent of the idea as it increased fields of fire for the main and secondary gun batteries, as well as improving seaworthiness and freeboard. Another advantage of the tumblehome design was that it provided for sloped armour – giving a thicker vertical belt at any given point due to the slope of the armour plate.
Along with the lead-ship of the class, Tsesarevich, the vessels suffered from instability having a high centre of gravity (made worse by overloading). The centre line bulkhead
Bulkhead (partition)
A bulkhead is an upright wall within the hull of a ship or within the fuselage of an airplane. Other kinds of partition elements within a ship are decks and deckheads.-Etymology:...
led to a danger of capsizing and a narrow armour
Armour
Armour or armor is protective covering used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an object, individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat, or from damage caused by a potentially dangerous environment or action...
belt became submerged due to overloading. As such, some naval architects regard these as some of the worst battleships ever built.
The Japanese re-built Oryol, which they renamed Iwami, by substantially reducing its top-hamper and removing the lighter calibre guns.
Armament
The Borodinos utilized their standard 12 inch forty caliber Obukhovskii guns housed in turrets based on their Retvizan battleship which was built in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The weapons had a designed maximum elevation of 15 degrees and a designed rate of fire of one round per 50 seconds, but in practice the rate of fire was lower than this. During trials, one round per 105 seconds was recorded, with about 90 seconds being the average. Additional turret modifications performed by the Putilovskii Works brought the time back down to about 60 seconds.
The secondary batteries contained 6 inch 45 caliber guns in electrically operated turrets. They were designed to fire six rounds per minute and could elevate to 20 degrees. Alloted ammunition was 180 rounds per gun. The 20 75mm guns were for anti-torpedo boat defense and were alloted 300 rounds per gun.
Machinery
The class leader, Borodino, was fitted with a direct copy of the La Seyne which was installed in the Tsesarvich, and was built by the Franco-Russian Works. The remaining four Borodinos were supplied with machinery designed and built by the Baltic Works. The vessels were equipped with two 4-cylinder triple expansion engines, with a designed output of 16,300 horse power for the Borodino and 15800 hp for the remaining four battleships.The Borodino was equipped with three-bladed screws, while her sisters had four-bladed propellers.
Ships
- BorodinoRussian battleship BorodinoThe Borodino was the class leader of the , and the second ship of her class to be completed. The ship was named after the 1812 Battle of Borodino. Borodino was lost at the Battle of Tsushima on 27 May 1905 due to explosions set off by a Japanese shell hitting a 6-inch magazine...
(Бородино) was built by the Admiralty yardAdmiralty ShipyardThe Admiralty Shipyard 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 , 250 meters in length and 35 meters in width...
, St Petersburg. Laid down July 1899, launched September 1901, completed August 1904. This ship was named after the Battle of BorodinoBattle of BorodinoThe Battle of Borodino , fought on September 7, 1812, was the largest and bloodiest single-day action of the French invasion of Russia and all Napoleonic Wars, involving more than 250,000 troops and resulting in at least 70,000 casualties...
. Sunk at the Battle of TsushimaBattle of TsushimaThe Battle of Tsushima , commonly known as the “Sea of Japan Naval Battle” in Japan and the “Battle of Tsushima Strait”, was the major naval battle fought between Russia and Japan during the Russo-Japanese War...
on 27 May 1905 with only one survivor. - Imperator Alexander IIIRussian battleship Imperator Aleksander III (1901)The Imperator Alexandr III was a of the Russian Imperial Navy, the first ship of its class to be completed. It was named after Tsar Alexander III. Some naval architects regard the Borodino-class as being among the worst battleships ever built...
(Император Александр III) was built by Baltic Works, St Petersburg. Laid down July 1899, launched November 1903, completed August 1903. This ship was named after Tsar Alexander III of RussiaAlexander III of RussiaAlexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...
. Sunk at Tsushima on 27 May 1905 with no survivors. - OryolJapanese battleship IwamiJapanese battleship Iwami was one of eight Russian pre-dreadnought battleships captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. It was built as the Russian battleship Oryol , and was commissioned into the Imperial Russian Navy's Baltic Fleet...
(Орёл, Russian: Eagle) was built by Galerniy Island yard, St Petersburg. Laid down 1900, Launched July 1902, completed October 1904. Captured by the Japanese after sustaining heavy damage at Tsushima and extensively re-built. Served as IwamiJapanese battleship IwamiJapanese battleship Iwami was one of eight Russian pre-dreadnought battleships captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. It was built as the Russian battleship Oryol , and was commissioned into the Imperial Russian Navy's Baltic Fleet...
in the Imperial Japanese NavyImperial Japanese NavyThe 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...
and scrapped in 1922. - Knyaz Suvorov (Князь Суворов) was built by Baltic Works, St Petersburg. Laid down July 1901, launched September 1902, completed September 1904. This ship was named after the great 18th-century Russian general Alexander SuvorovAlexander SuvorovAlexander Vasilyevich Suvorov , Count Suvorov of Rymnik, Prince in Italy, Count of the Holy Roman Empire , was the fourth and last generalissimo of the Russian Empire.One of the few great generals in history who never lost a battle along with the likes of Alexander...
. Flagship at Tsushima, where it was sunk on 27 May 1905. - SlavaRussian battleship SlavaSlava was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, the last of the five s. Commissioned too late to participate in the Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War, she survived while all of her sister ships were either sunk during the battle or surrendered to the Imperial...
(Слава, Russian: Glory) was built by Baltic Works, St Petersburg. Laid down October 1902, launched August 1903, completed June 1905. Completed too late to accompany fleet to the East. Served in the Baltic during World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Scuttled after sustaining heavy damage during the Battle of Moon SoundBattle of Moon SoundThe 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....
on 17 October 1917.
See also
- Borodino class battlecruiserBorodino class battlecruiserThe Borodino class battlecruisers were a group of four battlecruisers ordered by the Imperial Russian Navy before World War I. Also referred to as the Izmail class, they were laid down in December 1912All dates used in this article are New Style . at Saint Petersburg for service with the Baltic...
- Zumwalt class destroyerZumwalt class destroyerThe Zumwalt class destroyer is a planned class of United States Navy destroyers, designed as multi-mission ships with a focus on land attack. The class is a scaled-back project that emerged after funding cuts to the larger DD-21 vessel program. The program was previously known as the "DD"...
: modern tumblehomeTumblehomeIn ship designing, the tumblehome is the narrowing of a ship's hull with greater distance above the water-line. Expressed more technically, it is present when the beam at the uppermost deck is less than the maximum beam of the vessel....
ship design