The Pamiat' Merkuria (Memory of Mercury) was a protected cruiser

Protected cruiser

The protected cruiser is a type of naval cruiser of the late 19th century, so known because its armoured deck offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused by exploding shells above...

 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...

. She saw service during World War I in the Black Sea

Black Sea

The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

, survived the Russian Civil War

Russian Civil War

The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...

 in a damaged state and was repaired by the Soviets

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, renamed as Komintern

Soviet cruiser Komintern

Komintern was a Soviet light cruiser originally named Pamiat' Merkuria , a protected cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy. She saw service during World War I in the Black Sea and survived the Russian Civil War, although heavily damaged. She was repaired by the Soviet Navy and put into...

, and put into service as a training cruiser.

Service history

Pamiat' Merkuria was originally named Kagul and didn't receive her name until 25 March 1907. This has caused much confusion between her and her sister Ochakov regarding construction data. The data presented here is taken from Russian-language sources.

World War I

On 18 November 1914 Pamiat' Merkuria was escorting five pre-dreadnought battleships of the Black Sea Fleet

Black Sea Fleet

The Black Sea Fleet is a large operational-strategic sub-unit of the Russian Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the late 18th century. It is based in various harbors of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov....

 off Cape Sarych when they encountered the German battlecruiser and the light cruiser . The Germans sheered off after an early hit on one of Goeben's 15 cm (5.9 in) casemate

Casemate

A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...

s that started an ammunition fire.

In January 1915 Pamiat' Merkuria and her sister Kagul twice encountered Breslau and the Turkish protected cruiser Hamidiye, also spelled Hamidieh, but the Turkish ships escaped both times without either side inflicting any damage.

On 10 May 1915 the Black Sea Fleet bombarded the Turkish forts defending the Bosporus

Bosporus

The Bosphorus or Bosporus , also known as the Istanbul Strait , is a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with the Dardanelles...

. Two cruisers, the Pamiat' Merkuria and her sister Kagul were posted further out as pickets. Pamiat' Merkuria was spotted by the Goeben which was returning from a patrol off Eregli, 115 miles (185.1 km) miles east of the Bosporus. Goeben immediately set off in pursuit while Pamiat' Merkuria headed at full speed for the main body, dodging shells from the German battlecruiser. The Russian pre-dreadnoughts quickly hit Goeben three times, and the battlecruiser broke off the engagement using her superior speed. Pamiat' Merkuria wasn't damaged during the battle.

Her 6 in (152 mm) guns were exchanged for sixteen 130 mm (5.1 in)/55 guns during her refit from December 1916 to April 1917. She was dispatched to Constanta

Constanta

Constanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....

 on 1 November 1917 to destroy the oil depot

Oil depot

An oil depot is an industrial facility for the storage of oil and/or petrochemical products and from which these products are usually transported to end users or further storage facilities...

 abandoned by the Romanians before it was captured by the Germans. A false submarine alarm caused her to abandon the bombardment before she inflicted any damage. But on 4 November Pamiat' Merkuria returned and fired 231 shells, destroying 15 of the 37 oil tanks.

Russian Civil War

Pamiat' Merkuria was captured by the Germans on 1 May 1918 after having been seized by the Bolsheviks in December 1917 and hulked by them in March 1918. During all time of the Hetmanat, the cruiser was in Ukrainian service. She ended up in the hands of the Whites

White movement

The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...

 in November 1918. She was disarmed in February 1919 and had her engines sabotaged in April 1919 by order of the British when the Whites temporarily lost control of Sevastopol. She was further damaged by the explosion of a mine when the Whites abandoned the Crimea

Crimea

Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...

 in 1920. Once she fell into Soviet hands she spent several years under repair, which required parts and material from her sisters that were in even worse shape, including machinery from the Bogatyr, before they were scrapped. She was given the proper revolutionary name of Komintern, after the Communist International

Comintern

The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...

, on 31 December 1922 and was recommissioned in June 1923 as a training cruiser.

See also

• Soviet cruiser Komintern
  Soviet cruiser Komintern
  Komintern was a Soviet light cruiser originally named Pamiat' Merkuria , a protected cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy. She saw service during World War I in the Black Sea and survived the Russian Civil War, although heavily damaged. She was repaired by the Soviet Navy and put into...