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Russian battleship Gangut (1888)
Encyclopedia
Gangut (Russian
: броненосец "Гангут
") was an Imperial Russian coast defense ship named after the Battle of Gangut
. This ship was a scaled down version of the Imperator Aleksandr II class
battleships
. The aim was to have a cheaper vessel able to operate in the shallow water of the Baltic Sea with long range deployment to the Mediterranean and the Far East. The specification was issued in 1887 and the design was approved by the Marine Technical Committee in 1888.
She was built by New Admiralty yard, St Petersburg. Construction started on October 29 1888, and she was launched on July 3, 1893. Completed in 1894, she was 600 tons over her designed displacement which led to an increase in draught and a loss in speed. Her trials were difficult and she had to return to Kronstadt to have repairs after 19 days. Several modernisation schemes to correct the defects were considered but did not proceed due to extensive demands on the Russian shipbuilding industry.
in the Gulf of Finland
in 30m of water. There were no fatalities. A gash along the ships bottom led to both boiler rooms flooding and a loss of power to her pumps. Drawbacks in her design with limited damage stability resulted in ineffective counter-flooding. Bulkheads were poorly riveted leading to leaks. The ship settled and sank slowly on an even keel.
A plan to refloat the ship by the Swedish Neptune Company was not carried out, divers recovered some items from the ship in 1898.
She was not popular in the Imperial Russian Navy
. Rear Admiral Birilev
, her former captain, is quoted as describing her as ".. a vile ship, it's good that she sank, and it is pointless to raise her" (Warship 2005, Conway's Maritime Press, p. 181)
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: броненосец "Гангут
Gangut
Gangut is the Russian transliteration of the Swedish name for Hanko Peninsula. It may have the following meanings:* The Battle of Gangut in 1714**Ships of the Imperial Russian Navy named after the battle:...
") was an Imperial Russian coast defense ship named after the Battle of Gangut
Battle of Gangut
The Battle of Gangut took place on July 27Jul./ August 7, 1714Greg. during the Great Northern War , in the waters of Riilahti Bay, north of the Hanko Peninsula, near the site of the modern-day city of Hanko, Finland, between the Swedish Navy and Imperial Russian Navy...
. This ship was a scaled down version of the Imperator Aleksandr II class
Imperator Aleksandr II class
The Imperator Aleksandr II class battleships were two pre-dreadnoughts built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the 1880s. They were intended to counter the small armored ships of the other Baltic powers. Construction was very prolonged and the ships were virtually obsolescent when completed...
battleships
Design and construction
The ship was designed as a smaller version of the Imperator Aleksandr II class battleship on the instruction of Navy Minister Ivan ShestakovIvan Shestakov
-Early years:Shestakov was born in the village of Syrokorenye in Smolensk Governorate to the Russian noble family of captain-lieutenant Alexey Antonovich Shestakov and Yevdokiya Ivanovna Khrapovitskaya. After finishing his studies at the Naval Cadet Corps , he served in the Black Sea Fleet...
. The aim was to have a cheaper vessel able to operate in the shallow water of the Baltic Sea with long range deployment to the Mediterranean and the Far East. The specification was issued in 1887 and the design was approved by the Marine Technical Committee in 1888.
She was built by New Admiralty yard, St Petersburg. Construction started on October 29 1888, and she was launched on July 3, 1893. Completed in 1894, she was 600 tons over her designed displacement which led to an increase in draught and a loss in speed. Her trials were difficult and she had to return to Kronstadt to have repairs after 19 days. Several modernisation schemes to correct the defects were considered but did not proceed due to extensive demands on the Russian shipbuilding industry.
Armament
The main armament comprised a single 305 mm gun in a barbette mounting at the bow. The secondary armament comprised four 229 mm guns in casemates and four 152mm guns which were not protected. Anti torpedo-boat armament comprised six 47mm guns and twelve 37 mm Hotchkiss guns. There were also four 63 mm landing guns and six torpedo tubes. The Russian Navy considered replacing her 305 mm gun with a 229 mm to reduce weight. Another plan was to replace the secondary armament with new 152 mm Canet guns and leave the 305 mm gun in place.Protection
Compound armour was used. The main belt was 2.13 m tall but had only 0.91 m height above the mean water line due to excessive weight. The Russian Navy Marine Technical Kommittee (MTK) consdered re-armouring her with a thinner belt of stronger Harvey armourMachinery
Two VTE steam engines with 8 cylindrical boilers were installed. The ship also had a complex drainage system with steam turbine pumps. She proved slower than designed with a maximum speed 13.8 knots rather than 15 knots.Sinking
She sank on June 12, 1897 during a military exercise after hitting an uncharted pinnacle of rock near VyborgVyborg
Vyborg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of the Bay of Vyborg, to the northwest of St. Petersburg and south from Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland...
in the Gulf of Finland
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...
in 30m of water. There were no fatalities. A gash along the ships bottom led to both boiler rooms flooding and a loss of power to her pumps. Drawbacks in her design with limited damage stability resulted in ineffective counter-flooding. Bulkheads were poorly riveted leading to leaks. The ship settled and sank slowly on an even keel.
A plan to refloat the ship by the Swedish Neptune Company was not carried out, divers recovered some items from the ship in 1898.
She was not popular in 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...
. Rear Admiral Birilev
Aleksei Birilev
Aleksei Alekseyevich Birelev was an admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy and Minister of the Navy in the Imperial Government.Berilev was born into a family of relatively poor Russian nobility, without an estate. He attended the Nikolayev Naval Academy graduating in 1889...
, her former captain, is quoted as describing her as ".. a vile ship, it's good that she sank, and it is pointless to raise her" (Warship 2005, Conway's Maritime Press, p. 181)