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Sissoi Veliky (1894)
Encyclopedia
The Sisoy Veliky was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy
, the fifth battleship built according to the 1881 shipbuilding program, and the second Russian battleship built to a pre-dreadnought standard with four 12 inches (304.8 mm) guns in two armored turrets and 6 inches (152.4 mm) secondary artillery mounted in the casemate
s of her central citadel. She was named after the Battle of Hogland
which coincided with the day of St. Sisoes the Great of Egypt in the Orthodox calendar
.
The construction of Sisoy was marred by organizational, logistical and engineering problems and dragged on for more than five years. Sisoy was commissioned in October 1896 with an appalling number of design and construction faults, and only a few of them were fixed during her lifetime. Immediately after sea trial
s Sisoy sailed to the Mediterranean
to enforce the naval blockade of Crete
. On March 3, 1897 she suffered a devastating explosion of the aft gun turret that killed 21 men. After nine months in the docks of Toulon
, she sailed to the Far East
to reinforce the Russian presence in the area. In the summer of 1900 Sisoy supported the international campaign against the Boxer Rebellion
in China
. A landing company from Sisoy and Navarin reached the Embassy Row in Beijing
and defended it from the mob for more than two months.
In 1902 Sisoy returned to Kronstadt
for repairs, and again very little was achieved until the early losses of the Russo-Japanese War
hastened formation of the Second Pacific Squadron. Sisoy sailed out to the Far East with the rest of the Baltic battleships and met her fate in the Battle of Tsushima
. On 1905 she survived the daytime artillery duel with Admiral Togo
's forces. The crew extinguished resultant fires and prevented the explosion of ammunition magazines, but could not contain the flooding of the ship. During the night the Japanese destroyer
s scored a torpedo
hit against Sisoy. In the morning her engines were shut down, since she was unable to maintain way, and the crew surrendered to a Japanese armed merchantmen. The abandoned ship sank at 10:05 .
drafted an ambitious program of rearming the Baltic Fleet
with 16 ocean-going battleships and 13 cruisers. The man in charge of shipbuilding, Admiral Ivan Shestakov
, saw little use in building uniform ship class
es and regularly changed design and construction targets to match foreign novelties of the day. In 1885 the program was reduced to nine battleships; the freed funds were reallocated to torpedo boat
s in response to German advances with these weapons. The first ten years of the 1881 program were marked by indecision, bureaucracy and a shortage of funds, and only three battleships were actually built (Alexander II
, Nikolay I
, Gangut). These were relatively small and slow battleships, each with a single frontal barbette
housing 12 ft (305 mm) guns (in case of Gangut, a single gun).
The fourth battleship (the future Navarin) was planned as an even cheaper and smaller (6,400 tons) ship. However, the superiority of the Brandenburg class battleships
laid down in Germany compelled the Imperial Navy to lift cost and size constraints and build a large battleship with two main gun turrets. The Saint Petersburg Russian-French Society hastily proposed a draft based on the British Trafalgar class
. The Navy hesitated, and awarded the contract to the private company only after a push from Alexander III
. Navarin, laid down in July 1889 and launched in 1891, set the standard configuration for all Russian pre-dreadnought battleships, but in 1890, when the Navy discussed plans for the fifth battleship, the future was uncertain. The admirals were still discussing whether the Navy should concentrate on large battleships, smaller coastal defence ship
s or on the ocean-going cruiser
s.
In September 1890 the Naval Technical Committee (MTK) rolled out a proposal for a medium-size (8,500 tons, 331 ft (101 m) long) battleship armed with three single 12 inches (304.8 mm) barbette-mounted guns. Codenamed Gangut No. 2, it attempted to blend the hull of Alexander II and the armament of Navarin in a tightly budgeted, compromised design. None of the admirals who reviewed the proposal was satisfied with it, and the MTK was overwhelmed with a flurry of contradicting suggestions. In March 1891 the MTK presented a revised proposal that increased displacement to 8,880 tons, length overall to 352 ft (107.24 m).
According to the 1891 draft, the hull of Gangut No. 2 should have had double side walls in the middle section and double bottom running the whole length of the keel
. The space between double walls was subdivided into 15 watertight transverse sections. Inside the inner walls the ship had ten watertight transverse bulkheads of varying height and two longitudinal bulkheads. The spaces between longitudinal bulkheads and inner side walls, 6 to 8 ft wide, served as coal bunkers. The ship's armor had to be assembled of compound plates
. The main belt armor
reached 14 in (406 mm) in thickness and extended 227 ft (69 m) in length and 7.25 ft (2.19 m) in height, including 4 ft (1.22 m) below water line.
The four main guns were to be mounted in two barbettes covered with 2.5 inches (63.5 mm) armored cupola
s. The choice of secondary armament
caused another round of debate. The MTK initially proposed a combination of Russian model 1877 6-inch guns
and Armstrong 4.7-inch guns. Admirals Stepan Makarov
and Vladimir Verkhovsky advised against the use of dual calibres (as this caused problems with fire control and direction), and against using the obsolete 1877 guns. The MTK did just the opposite, dumping fairly recent Armstrong's guns in favor of the 1877 model probably as a result of not wanting to use foreign built weaponry.
Like many Russian ships before and after it, Sisoy was plagued by regular "improvements" of the original drafts that delayed construction for years. In the beginning of 1893 the MTK again redesigned Sisoys artillery. The main guns were now placed in Navarin-style turrets with 12 in (305 mm) side armor and 2.5 inches (63.5 mm) top plate. The secondary armament was redesigned in favor of 6-inch (152 mm), 45-caliber Canet guns
, which were becoming the mainstay of the Imperial Navy. Alterations of ammunition elevators to accommodate the larger rounds for Canet guns began only in December 1895. Small artillery was changed more than once and in the end consisted of twelve 47-mm Hotchkiss guns, ten 37-mm Hotchkiss guns and two 63-mm Baranovsky guns.
which coincided with the day of St. Sisoes the Great of Egypt in the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar
. Construction was managed by shipwright V. V. Maksimov, and supervised by Admiral Verkhovsky, chief of the Port of Saint Petersburg.
The management of the construction was flawed from the start: bow ram
, rudder frame and driveshaft housings were not ordered in time, and the late discovery of this omission substantially delayed work progress. Verkhovsky, having no time to place orders with reliable foreign suppliers, contracted the job to local plants already known for poor discipline and quality that were already loaded down with other Navy jobs. The industrial capacity of the Saint Petersburg area could not sustain even the modest rate of naval rearmament that the government was willing to finance. In April 1893 minor grievances evolved in a full-scale conflict between Verkhovsky and the board of Alexandrovsky Steel Works: a ridiculous charge of 25 roubles nearly brought the work to a full stop. The savvy admiral always blamed the suppliers but did not even attempt to fix the disarray in his own office.
Nevertheless, in April 1894 the completed hull passed static pressure tests. It was launched 1894 during a fleet review attended by Nicholas II of Russia
. The triple expansion engines made by Baltic Shipyard
were installed in 1895 and tested in the spring of 1896. The commissioning of Sisoy was scheduled for September 1896, but an examination in August revealed that the rudder controls, water pumps, ventilation system and one of the turrets were still missing or defective. The builders hastily equipped Sisoy with rudder controls built for Poltava
and delivered the ship for sea trials on , 1896. On she successfully passed the five-hour official trials, making 15.65 knots at 8,635 indicated horsepowers. The Navy desperately needed Sisoy in the Mediterranean theatre and she was commissioned regardless of known build faults.
in the wake of the 1896 Cretan riots and the Hamidian massacres
. The solo maiden voyage
revealed more problems with the ship's systems. The lack of ventilation in the steering compartment was so appalling that during the first port call the captain purchased electric fans with his own money. The copper rings for sealing the portholes during the battle were left in Kronstandt and not found until February 1897. The electrical systems failed one by one before reaching Gibraltar
.
On , 1896 the leaking Sisoy reached Algiers
. The captain planned to stay there for at least 20 days to complete the most urgent repairs but five days later a telegram from Saint Petersburg forced him to leave for Piraeus
. There, the crew hastily managed to seal the seams between armor plates and revive the failed electrical systems. In February 1897 Sisoy steamed for Crete. In the end of February she had her first gunnery exercise ten miles off the shore of Souda Bay
, Crete. The second exercise held on ended in disaster. After an hour of target practice the rear turret exploded, killing 16 men instantly. Six of the wounded seamen, including the turret commander, died shortly afterwards. This was a result of unstable charges being detonated in the handling areas of the turret, in turn as a result of a breech accident. The top armor plate, ripped off by the explosion, smashed against the rear bridge and destroyed control instruments and a powered lifeboat. The badly damaged Sisoy headed to Toulon
for repairs.
Investigation revealed both mechanical and organizational causes of the accident. The chain of events, as it was reconstructed in Toulon, started with a failure of the hydraulic
breech locking action
. The turret crew then disabled the hydraulics and resorted to manual breech drill. The gunner responsible for closing and locking the breeches had not properly locked that of the left gun. The turret commander, ultimately responsible for checking the breech before firing, was too busy with calculating the firing solution and training the gun to be concerned with this matter. He delegated the checkup routine to an enlisted man, but this gunner had to attend his own station and was physically unable to look after the breech lock and attend to his own duties. The panel eventually dropped the charges against the captain and recommended introduction of mechanical fail-safe
interlocks
to prevent firing until the breech is properly locked. These interlocks were made standard in the following decade although, as demonstrated by the 1978 explosion on Admiral Senyavin
, failsafe mechanisms cannot entirely rule out lack of common sense among the gunners. During a gunnery practice held on June 13, 1978 one of 152-millimeter guns of Senyavin misfired. The mechanical interlocks performed as designed and locked out the breech mechanism, prohibiting the opening of the breech with a powder charge still loaded. However, the gunners manually defeated the safety, forced the breech open and engaged the gun hydraulics, sending another shell into the already loaded breech (known as double-loading). The resulting explosion ripped open the overloaded gun and killed 37 men. - Shirokorad, p. 186.
Subsequent Repairs of Sisoy were contracted to Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée
. The French engineers openly ridiculed the quality of Russian workmanship manifested in a 1.5 inches (38.1 mm) open seam in belt armor
that ran for the whole length of the ship. This could, had a shell struck it, completely defeated the battleships protection, affording her less armour at that point than the average destroyer. The Russian investigators reported a horrifying number of less obvious faults and deemed the ship unfit for sailing. The internal decks of the secondary armament casemates were particularly dangerous since the 152-mm shells easily fell through the cracks and holes in the deck. The Saint Petersburg brass dismissed these concerns, arguing that the gap between armor plates was an inevitable feature of the design, and that the decks and other faults could be fixed by the crew "in their spare time". The decks were never properly repaired, and this contributed to the loss of Sisoy in the Battle of Tsushima
.
's Far Eastern Squadron (Navarin, Sisoy, Rossiya and Monomakh
) and headed to China
. The British, alerted by the sudden movement of Russian battleships, dispatched HMS Victorious
to shadow the voyage as a result of the Russian squadron mistakenly engaging British fishing vessels thinking them to be Japanese Torpedo Boats. Sisoy, assisted by a flotilla of tugs, barely passed the shallow entrance to the Suez Canal
; Victorious ran aground near Port Said
and abandoned pursuit. Aside from this incident the eastbound voyage was uneventful, and Sisoy safely reached Port Arthur on March 16, 1898.
In the summer of 1898 Sisoy sailed to Nagasaki
for repairs and returned to its new base in Vladivostok
where she stayed for the rest of 1898 and 1899. In April 1900 the fleet sailed to Port Arthur for a massive landing exercise
intended to cool down the Chinese insurgents. The warning was not heeded, and the Boxer Rebellion
intensified, compelling the imperial authorities to intervene. On 1900 the viceroy
of Far East Admiral Alekseyev dispatched the Pacific Fleet from Port Arthur to Taku Forts
. Sisoy, Petropavlovk
, Dmitry Donskoy
and a host of other European ships blocked the mouth of the Hai River
, the smaller gunboats moved up the river to protect infantry landing which commenced on . The incursion provoked the Boxer siege of Beijing; the Russians responded with sending a company of enlisted men from Sisoy and Navarin to defend the embassy in Beijing
.
The company reached the city without meeting any opposition and at first it seemed that the European troops in Beijing could easily defend the Embassy Row from the disorganized mob. On the rebels received reinforcements from the regular Chinese army and in the afternoon of they began a massive assault on all diplomatic missions. One month later the Chinese managed to burn down the Austrian, Dutch and Italian legation
s. The sailors stood their ground shoulder-to-shoulder with American and French marines until the arrival of reinforcements on . In the seven weeks of the siege three men from Sisoy were killed in action and one died of disease, twelve were wounded.
Sisoy remained in the Far East for another year; in December 1901 an accumulation of mechanical troubles that could not be fixed in Far Eastern docks compelled the fleet commander to send her back to the Baltic. Sisoy returned to Libau
via Nagasaki
, Hong Kong
and Suez
in April 1902.
. In June she was moved into a drydock in Kronstadt
. All available financing was diverted to the completion of the Borodino class battleships
and the new cruisers, and repairs of Sisoy proceeded at a slow pace. She had her artillery, boilers and ventilation system completely replaced, but once again it turned out that the repairs were not up to scratch and needed a thorough rework.
The Russo-Japanese War
broke out in the Pacific on . In March 1904 the Navy assigned Sisoy to the Second Pacific Squadron departing to the Pacific with Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky
in command. Despite the urgency, calls to speed up repairs of Sisoy and completion of the new ships were stonewalled by the Ministry of the Navy until the shocking loss of Petropavlovsk
on . Admiral Birilev
, the new Governor of Kronstadt, hastened the repairs by striking out "unnecessary" jobs. Sisoy went into action with new rangefinder
s, searchlight
s and small calibre guns but her rotten internal decks were never mended. Manuil Ozerov, the captain of Sisoy, expressed concern about her stability
, but on at least three occasions Birilev suppressed his reports, arguing that past experience is sufficient proof of Sisoys seaworthiness.
the Second Pacific Squadron sailed from Saint Peterburg to Reval
where it wasted nearly a whole month in preparation for a fleet review. Tsar Nicholas II
personally visited each battleship and harangued the crews in anticipation of a victory over Japan. On the squadron left the last home port, Libau, and sailed to Tangier
. Here, Rozhestvensky split his forces. The battleship core continued their way across the Cape of Good Hope
, the cruisers and transports were ordered to rendezvous with Black Sea Fleet ships in Souda Bay
and then take the short route via the Suez Canal
. Rozhestvensky planned to keep Sisoy and Navarin with the main force, but suddenly assigned them to Nebogatov
's cruiser squadron. Sisoy, for the second and last time in her life, safely crossed the canal and reunited with Rozhestvesky's fleet at Nosy Be
, Madagascar
. Rozhestvensky stayed there for two months, perfecting the gunnery drill. Despite regular exercise, the gunners of the new Borodino class ships could not match the level of Sisoy and other old ships. However the voyage from Madagascar to Cam Ranh
took 28 days at an average speed of 7 knots, and again Sisoys mechanical problems showed up, slowing down the squadron. In less than a month she suffered twelve failures of boiler tubes
and heat exchanger
s.The steering gear alone failed no less than four times.
for the last leg of its journey to Tsushima
. Sisoy was sailing in the left column of the Russian order of battle, second in line after junior flagship Oslyabya
. At 13:15 the Russians sighted the Japanese fleet. Twenty-four minutes later Sisoy opened fire simultaneously with flagship Suvorov
. Sisoy started firing at Kasuga
and Nisshin
and soon engaged Iwate
, hitting her with a single 12-inch shell.
At 14:40 a heavy shell exploded next to Sisoy′s bow, damaging the bow torpedo tube
. Shortly after it a 12-inch and a 6-inch shell hit the belt armor near the water line, causing flooding in the forward compartments. In the following hour Sisoy was hit by one 12-inch, three 8-inch and three 6-inch shells, which disabled her forward turret hydraulics, set the casemates afire and simultaneously severed the firefighting water supply. The worst hit occurred at 15:15, when an 8-inch shell exploded inside the port centre casemate and killed or disabled most of the gunners. The fire spread down into the 6-inch ammunition magazine, which was promptly flooded. Both surgeons were incapacitated by poisonous fumes when the fire reached Sisoys infirmary, and for the rest of the battle the wounded of Sisoy were deprived of medical help.
At 15:40 Ozerov steered the burning Sisoy away from the line of fire and joined the Russian cruiser formation. By 17:00 the crew had extinguished the fires and Sisoy returned to the action, carrying a heavy list to port. She took her place in line behind Navarin at the moment when the Japanese battleships ceased fire and the Russians hoped to leave the battlefield without further casualties.
One hour later Admiral Kamimura
re-established contact and engaged the fleeing Russians. Russian ships were knocked out one by one; Sisoy survived this phase of the battle unharmed. After sunset Sisoy joined the group of survivors assembled by Nebogatov but was unable to keep pace with Nebogatov's flagship Nikolay I
. Sisoy and Navarin fell back, supporting Ushakov with gunfire. At 19:30 Sisoy sighted the Japanese torpedo destroyers fanning out for a target run.
It was the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla under command of Kantarō Suzuki
, which had already sunk Navarin and Suvorov. The Destroyers attacked at close range (under 600 yards), in apparently uncoordinated but lethal waves. Sisoy repelled the first (19:45) and the second (22:30) waves; the third one scored a torpedo hit at 23:15 and damaged her already unreliable steering gear and propellers. Sisoy could still be differentially steered with her engines (done by varying the telegraphs - for example the command "port engine full ahead, starboard half ahead", would result in a slow turn to starboard, the command "port engine full ahead, starboard full astern" would result in a far faster one.), but the flooding intensified and by 3:15 of the bow submerged to the point where forward movement was no longer possible. Ozerov realized that Sisoy could not make it to Vladivostok
; he ordered "all astern" reversed the engines and headed crabwise to Tsushima Island, hoping to beach the crippled ship with the intent of using her as a fixed gun emplacement.
By 6 a.m flooding forced Ozerov to telegraph "all stop" shutting down the vessels engines. The crippled Monomakh
passed by Sisoy, unable to offer any assistance. At 7:20 Japanese armed merchantmen Shinano Maru, Dainan Maru and Yavata Maru converged on the stationary ship. When they came within 6,000 meters from Sisoy Ozerov signalled
: "I am sinking, request assistance." The Japanese responded with a straightforward question, "Do you surrender?" Ozerov hoisted the white flag
. At 8:15 the Japanese boarding party of one officer and 31 enlisted man boarded the Sisoy and raised the flag of Japan
but failed to hoist down the Russian flag. The Japanese attempted to tow their prize to safety, but soon realized that Sisoy was doomed. They moved the Russian prisoners onto their ships and transferred the flag of Japan. At 10:05 Sisoy capsized and sank, still bearing the Russian flag.
Sisoy had lost 59 men killed in action and 66 were wounded. The Japanese captured 42 commissioned and warrant officers and 571 enlisted men. A few more men, including surgeons Vladimir Podobedov and Konstantin Kalyevich, died on board the Shinano Maru. The survivors were brought to Sasebo
, where around thirty wounded were treated in Sasebo Naval Hospital. They returned to Russia in the end of 1905 - beginning of 1906. 118 enlisted men were awarded the Cross of St. George
, captain Ozerov was awarded Swords to the Order of St. Vladimir
. He retired as a Rear admiral
in 1909.
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...
, the fifth battleship built according to the 1881 shipbuilding program, and the second Russian battleship built to a pre-dreadnought standard with four 12 inches (304.8 mm) guns in two armored turrets and 6 inches (152.4 mm) secondary artillery mounted in the 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 of her central citadel. She was named after the Battle of Hogland
Battle of Hogland
The naval Battle of Hogland took place on 17 July 1788 during the Russo-Swedish War .-Origins:On the outbreak of war with Russia in 1788, Sweden planned to attack the Russian capital St. Petersburg...
which coincided with the day of St. Sisoes the Great of Egypt in the Orthodox calendar
Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar
The Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar describes and dictates the rhythm of the life of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Associated with each date are passages of Holy Scripture, Saints and events for commemoration, and many times special rules for fasting or feasting that correspond to the day of...
.
The construction of Sisoy was marred by organizational, logistical and engineering problems and dragged on for more than five years. Sisoy was commissioned in October 1896 with an appalling number of design and construction faults, and only a few of them were fixed during her lifetime. Immediately after sea trial
Sea trial
A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft . It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and can last from a few hours to many days.Sea trials are conducted to measure a vessel’s...
s Sisoy sailed to the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
to enforce the naval blockade of Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
. On March 3, 1897 she suffered a devastating explosion of the aft gun turret that killed 21 men. After nine months in the docks of 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....
, she sailed to the Far East
Russian Far East
Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean...
to reinforce the Russian presence in the area. In the summer of 1900 Sisoy supported the international campaign against the Boxer Rebellion
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...
in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. A landing company from Sisoy and Navarin reached the Embassy Row in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
and defended it from the mob for more than two months.
In 1902 Sisoy returned to Kronstadt
Kronstadt
Kronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt |crown]]" and Stadt for "city"); is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland. Population: It is also...
for repairs, and again very little was achieved until the early losses of 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...
hastened formation of the Second Pacific Squadron. Sisoy sailed out to the Far East with the rest of the Baltic battleships and met her fate in 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...
. On 1905 she survived the daytime artillery duel with Admiral Togo
Togo Heihachiro
Fleet Admiral Marquis was a Fleet Admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy and one of Japan's greatest naval heroes. He was termed by Western journalists as "the Nelson of the East".-Early life:...
's forces. The crew extinguished resultant fires and prevented the explosion of ammunition magazines, but could not contain the flooding of the ship. During the night the Japanese destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s scored a torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
hit against Sisoy. In the morning her engines were shut down, since she was unable to maintain way, and the crew surrendered to a Japanese armed merchantmen. The abandoned ship sank at 10:05 .
Background
In 1881 a committee of admirals headed by Grand Duke AlexeyGrand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia was the sixth child and the fourth son of Alexander II of Russia and his first wife Maria Alexandrovna . Destined to a naval career, Alexei Alexandrovich started his military training at the age of 7...
drafted an ambitious program of rearming 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...
with 16 ocean-going battleships and 13 cruisers. The man in charge of shipbuilding, Admiral Ivan Shestakov
Ivan 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...
, saw little use in building uniform ship class
Ship class
A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship-type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, the is a nuclear aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class....
es and regularly changed design and construction targets to match foreign novelties of the day. In 1885 the program was reduced to nine battleships; the freed funds were reallocated to torpedo boat
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
s in response to German advances with these weapons. The first ten years of the 1881 program were marked by indecision, bureaucracy and a shortage of funds, and only three battleships were actually built (Alexander II
Russian battleship Imperator Aleksandr II
Imperator Aleksandr II was a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the 1880s. She was an artillery training ship assigned to the Baltic Fleet by the time of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 and was not sent to the Pacific as was most of the rest of the Baltic Fleet...
, Nikolay I
Russian battleship Imperator Nikolai I
Imperator Nikolai I was a Russian pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Baltic Fleet in the late 1880s. She participated in the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America in New York City in 1892. She assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron and visited Toulon in October 1893...
, Gangut). These were relatively small and slow battleships, each with a single frontal barbette
Barbette
A barbette is a protective circular armour feature around a cannon or heavy artillery gun. The name comes from the French phrase en barbette referring to the practice of firing a field gun over a parapet rather than through an opening . The former gives better angles of fire but less protection...
housing 12 ft (305 mm) guns (in case of Gangut, a single gun).
The fourth battleship (the future Navarin) was planned as an even cheaper and smaller (6,400 tons) ship. However, the superiority of the Brandenburg class battleships
Brandenburg class battleship
The four Brandenburg-class pre-dreadnought battleships were Germany's first ocean-going battleships. They were also the first German warship, of any type, to be fitted with wireless communications. The class comprised , , , and . All were laid down in 1890 and completed by 1893, except for...
laid down in Germany compelled the Imperial Navy to lift cost and size constraints and build a large battleship with two main gun turrets. The Saint Petersburg Russian-French Society hastily proposed a draft based on the British Trafalgar class
Trafalgar class battleship
The two Trafalgar-class battleships of the British Royal Navy were late nineteenth century ironclad warships. Both were named after naval battles won by the British during the Napoleonic wars under the command of Admiral Nelson.-Design:...
. The Navy hesitated, and awarded the contract to the private company only after a push from Alexander III
Alexander III of Russia
Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...
. Navarin, laid down in July 1889 and launched in 1891, set the standard configuration for all Russian pre-dreadnought battleships, but in 1890, when the Navy discussed plans for the fifth battleship, the future was uncertain. The admirals were still discussing whether the Navy should concentrate on large battleships, smaller coastal defence ship
Coastal defence ship
Coastal defence ships were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrificed speed and range for armour and armament...
s or on the ocean-going cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
s.
Design
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In September 1890 the Naval Technical Committee (MTK) rolled out a proposal for a medium-size (8,500 tons, 331 ft (101 m) long) battleship armed with three single 12 inches (304.8 mm) barbette-mounted guns. Codenamed Gangut No. 2, it attempted to blend the hull of Alexander II and the armament of Navarin in a tightly budgeted, compromised design. None of the admirals who reviewed the proposal was satisfied with it, and the MTK was overwhelmed with a flurry of contradicting suggestions. In March 1891 the MTK presented a revised proposal that increased displacement to 8,880 tons, length overall to 352 ft (107.24 m).
According to the 1891 draft, the hull of Gangut No. 2 should have had double side walls in the middle section and double bottom running the whole length of the keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
. The space between double walls was subdivided into 15 watertight transverse sections. Inside the inner walls the ship had ten watertight transverse bulkheads of varying height and two longitudinal bulkheads. The spaces between longitudinal bulkheads and inner side walls, 6 to 8 ft wide, served as coal bunkers. The ship's armor had to be assembled of compound plates
Compound armour
Compound armour was a type of armour used on warships in the 1880s. By the end of the decade it had been rendered obsolete by nickel-steel armour.-Prior armours:...
. The main belt armor
Belt armor
Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated on to or within outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and on aircraft carriers converted from those types of ships....
reached 14 in (406 mm) in thickness and extended 227 ft (69 m) in length and 7.25 ft (2.19 m) in height, including 4 ft (1.22 m) below water line.
The four main guns were to be mounted in two barbettes covered with 2.5 inches (63.5 mm) armored cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
s. The choice of secondary armament
Battleship secondary armament
The secondary armament of a capital ship are smaller, faster-firing weapons that are typically effective at a shorter range than the main weapons...
caused another round of debate. The MTK initially proposed a combination of Russian model 1877 6-inch guns
6 inch 35 caliber naval gun 1877
6 inch 35 caliber naval gun 1877 was a 152 mm naval gun used by Russian Empire. The gun was used from 1887 as battleship secondary armament and cruiser armament. The gun was mostly replaced by newer 6 inch 45 caliber Canet gun 1892 by Russo-Japanese War, but was still used on some ships...
and Armstrong 4.7-inch guns. Admirals 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...
and Vladimir Verkhovsky advised against the use of dual calibres (as this caused problems with fire control and direction), and against using the obsolete 1877 guns. The MTK did just the opposite, dumping fairly recent Armstrong's guns in favor of the 1877 model probably as a result of not wanting to use foreign built weaponry.
Like many Russian ships before and after it, Sisoy was plagued by regular "improvements" of the original drafts that delayed construction for years. In the beginning of 1893 the MTK again redesigned Sisoys artillery. The main guns were now placed in Navarin-style turrets with 12 in (305 mm) side armor and 2.5 inches (63.5 mm) top plate. The secondary armament was redesigned in favor of 6-inch (152 mm), 45-caliber Canet guns
Canet guns
The Canet guns were a series of weapon systems developed by the French engineer Gustave Canet , who was design engineer for Schneider et Cie of Le Creusot.-320 mm naval guns:...
, which were becoming the mainstay of the Imperial Navy. Alterations of ammunition elevators to accommodate the larger rounds for Canet guns began only in December 1895. Small artillery was changed more than once and in the end consisted of twelve 47-mm Hotchkiss guns, ten 37-mm Hotchkiss guns and two 63-mm Baranovsky guns.
Construction
The MTK rushed Gangut No. 2 into production and, contrary to established practice, ordered structural steel and armor before the project was properly authorized. The ship was laid down on , 1891 in the wooden shed of the New Admiralty, Saint Petersburg (59°55′46.7"N 30°16′45.9"E). On she was officially named Sysoy Veliky to commemorate the victory in the Battle of HoglandBattle of Hogland
The naval Battle of Hogland took place on 17 July 1788 during the Russo-Swedish War .-Origins:On the outbreak of war with Russia in 1788, Sweden planned to attack the Russian capital St. Petersburg...
which coincided with the day of St. Sisoes the Great of Egypt in the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar
Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar
The Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar describes and dictates the rhythm of the life of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Associated with each date are passages of Holy Scripture, Saints and events for commemoration, and many times special rules for fasting or feasting that correspond to the day of...
. Construction was managed by shipwright V. V. Maksimov, and supervised by Admiral Verkhovsky, chief of the Port of Saint Petersburg.
The management of the construction was flawed from the start: bow ram
Naval ram
A naval ram was a weapon carried by varied types of ships, dating back to antiquity. The weapon consisted of an underwater prolongation of the bow of the ship to form an armoured beak, usually between six and twelve feet in length...
, rudder frame and driveshaft housings were not ordered in time, and the late discovery of this omission substantially delayed work progress. Verkhovsky, having no time to place orders with reliable foreign suppliers, contracted the job to local plants already known for poor discipline and quality that were already loaded down with other Navy jobs. The industrial capacity of the Saint Petersburg area could not sustain even the modest rate of naval rearmament that the government was willing to finance. In April 1893 minor grievances evolved in a full-scale conflict between Verkhovsky and the board of Alexandrovsky Steel Works: a ridiculous charge of 25 roubles nearly brought the work to a full stop. The savvy admiral always blamed the suppliers but did not even attempt to fix the disarray in his own office.
Nevertheless, in April 1894 the completed hull passed static pressure tests. It was launched 1894 during a fleet review attended by Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
. The triple expansion engines made by Baltic Shipyard
Baltic Shipyard
The Baltic Shipyard is one of the oldest shipyards in Russia. It is located in Saint Petersburg in the south-western part of the Vasilievsky Island. It is one of the three shipyards active in Saint Petersburg...
were installed in 1895 and tested in the spring of 1896. The commissioning of Sisoy was scheduled for September 1896, but an examination in August revealed that the rudder controls, water pumps, ventilation system and one of the turrets were still missing or defective. The builders hastily equipped Sisoy with rudder controls built for Poltava
Japanese battleship Tango
The Russian battleship Poltava was a Petropavlovsk-class battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy. She was one of eight Russian pre-dreadnought battleships captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Poltava was built at the Galernii Island shipyard, one of a...
and delivered the ship for sea trials on , 1896. On she successfully passed the five-hour official trials, making 15.65 knots at 8,635 indicated horsepowers. The Navy desperately needed Sisoy in the Mediterranean theatre and she was commissioned regardless of known build faults.
Mediterranean
Immediately after the trials Sisoy was ordered to join the Mediterranean Squadron which was engaged in the naval blockade of CreteCrete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
in the wake of the 1896 Cretan riots and the Hamidian massacres
Hamidian massacres
The Hamidian massacres , also referred to as the Armenian Massacres of 1894–1896, refers to the massacring of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, with estimates of the dead ranging from anywhere between 80,000 to 300,000, and at least 50,000 orphans as a result...
. The solo maiden voyage
Maiden voyage
The maiden voyage of a ship, aircraft or other craft is the first journey made by the craft after shakedown. A number of traditions and superstitions are associated with it....
revealed more problems with the ship's systems. The lack of ventilation in the steering compartment was so appalling that during the first port call the captain purchased electric fans with his own money. The copper rings for sealing the portholes during the battle were left in Kronstandt and not found until February 1897. The electrical systems failed one by one before reaching Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
.
On , 1896 the leaking Sisoy reached Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
. The captain planned to stay there for at least 20 days to complete the most urgent repairs but five days later a telegram from Saint Petersburg forced him to leave for Piraeus
Piraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
. There, the crew hastily managed to seal the seams between armor plates and revive the failed electrical systems. In February 1897 Sisoy steamed for Crete. In the end of February she had her first gunnery exercise ten miles off the shore of Souda Bay
Souda Bay
Souda Bay is a bay and natural harbour on the northwest coast of the Greek island of Crete. The bay is about 15 km long and only two to four km wide, and a deep natural harbour. It is formed between the Akrotiri peninsula and Cape Drapano, and runs west to east...
, Crete. The second exercise held on ended in disaster. After an hour of target practice the rear turret exploded, killing 16 men instantly. Six of the wounded seamen, including the turret commander, died shortly afterwards. This was a result of unstable charges being detonated in the handling areas of the turret, in turn as a result of a breech accident. The top armor plate, ripped off by the explosion, smashed against the rear bridge and destroyed control instruments and a powered lifeboat. The badly damaged Sisoy headed to 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....
for repairs.
Investigation revealed both mechanical and organizational causes of the accident. The chain of events, as it was reconstructed in Toulon, started with a failure of the hydraulic
Hydraulic machinery
Hydraulic machines are machinery and tools that use liquid fluid power to do simple work. Heavy equipment is a common example.In this type of machine, hydraulic fluid is transmitted throughout the machine to various hydraulic motors and hydraulic cylinders and which becomes pressurised according to...
breech locking action
Breech-loading weapon
A breech-loading weapon is a firearm in which the cartridge or shell is inserted or loaded into a chamber integral to the rear portion of a barrel....
. The turret crew then disabled the hydraulics and resorted to manual breech drill. The gunner responsible for closing and locking the breeches had not properly locked that of the left gun. The turret commander, ultimately responsible for checking the breech before firing, was too busy with calculating the firing solution and training the gun to be concerned with this matter. He delegated the checkup routine to an enlisted man, but this gunner had to attend his own station and was physically unable to look after the breech lock and attend to his own duties. The panel eventually dropped the charges against the captain and recommended introduction of mechanical fail-safe
Fail-safe
A fail-safe or fail-secure device is one that, in the event of failure, responds in a way that will cause no harm, or at least a minimum of harm, to other devices or danger to personnel....
interlocks
Interlock (engineering)
Interlocking is a method of preventing undesired states in a state machine, which in a general sense can include any electrical, electronic, or mechanical device or system....
to prevent firing until the breech is properly locked. These interlocks were made standard in the following decade although, as demonstrated by the 1978 explosion on Admiral Senyavin
Sverdlov class cruiser
The Sverdlov class cruisers, Soviet designation Project 68bis, were the last conventional cruisers built for the Soviet Navy; 13 ships were completed before Nikita Khrushchev called a halt to the programme as these ships were considered obsolescent with the advent of the guided missile...
, failsafe mechanisms cannot entirely rule out lack of common sense among the gunners. During a gunnery practice held on June 13, 1978 one of 152-millimeter guns of Senyavin misfired. The mechanical interlocks performed as designed and locked out the breech mechanism, prohibiting the opening of the breech with a powder charge still loaded. However, the gunners manually defeated the safety, forced the breech open and engaged the gun hydraulics, sending another shell into the already loaded breech (known as double-loading). The resulting explosion ripped open the overloaded gun and killed 37 men. - Shirokorad, p. 186.
Subsequent Repairs of Sisoy were contracted to Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée
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,...
. The French engineers openly ridiculed the quality of Russian workmanship manifested in a 1.5 inches (38.1 mm) open seam in belt armor
Belt armor
Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated on to or within outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and on aircraft carriers converted from those types of ships....
that ran for the whole length of the ship. This could, had a shell struck it, completely defeated the battleships protection, affording her less armour at that point than the average destroyer. The Russian investigators reported a horrifying number of less obvious faults and deemed the ship unfit for sailing. The internal decks of the secondary armament casemates were particularly dangerous since the 152-mm shells easily fell through the cracks and holes in the deck. The Saint Petersburg brass dismissed these concerns, arguing that the gap between armor plates was an inevitable feature of the design, and that the decks and other faults could be fixed by the crew "in their spare time". The decks were never properly repaired, and this contributed to the loss of Sisoy in 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...
.
Far East
After nine months in the dock at Toulon, the repaired Sisoy was assigned to Admiral DubasovFyodor Dubasov
Admiral Fyodor Vasilyevich Dubasov was the governor general of Moscow from November 24, 1905 to July 5, 1906....
's Far Eastern Squadron (Navarin, Sisoy, Rossiya and Monomakh
Russian armoured cruiser Vladimir Monomakh
Vladimir Monomakh was an armoured cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy during the 1880s. The vessel was named after Vladimir II Monomakh, Grand Prince of Kiev. She spent most of her career in the Far East, although the ship was in the Baltic Sea when the Russo-Japanese War began in 1904...
) and headed to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The British, alerted by the sudden movement of Russian battleships, dispatched HMS Victorious
HMS Victorious (1895)
HMS Victorious was one of nine Majestic-class predreadnought battleships of the British Royal Navy.-Technical characteristics:HMS Victorious was laid down at Chatham Dockyard on 28 May 1894 and launched on 19 October 1895...
to shadow the voyage as a result of the Russian squadron mistakenly engaging British fishing vessels thinking them to be Japanese Torpedo Boats. Sisoy, assisted by a flotilla of tugs, barely passed the shallow entrance to the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
; Victorious ran aground near Port Said
Port Said
Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 603,787...
and abandoned pursuit. Aside from this incident the eastbound voyage was uneventful, and Sisoy safely reached Port Arthur on March 16, 1898.
In the summer of 1898 Sisoy sailed to Nagasaki
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
for repairs and returned to its new base in Vladivostok
Vladivostok
The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
where she stayed for the rest of 1898 and 1899. In April 1900 the fleet sailed to Port Arthur for a massive landing exercise
Landing operation
A landing operation is a military action aimed at a bringing the landing force usually via landing craft to a shore or to land with the purpose of power projection ashore by forces coming usually from ships and also aircraft and able to fight....
intended to cool down the Chinese insurgents. The warning was not heeded, and the Boxer Rebellion
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...
intensified, compelling the imperial authorities to intervene. On 1900 the viceroy
Viceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...
of Far East Admiral Alekseyev dispatched the Pacific Fleet from Port Arthur to Taku Forts
Taku Forts
The Dagu Forts , also called the Peiho Forts are forts located by the Hai River estuary, in Tanggu District, Tianjin municipality, in northeastern China. They are located 60 km southeast of the Tianjin urban center.-History:The first fort was built during the reign of the Ming Jiajing...
. Sisoy, Petropavlovk
Russian battleship Petropavlovsk (1897)
The Petropavlovsk was the lead ship of the Petropavlovsk class of battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy. During the Russo-Japanese War, Petropavlovsk was a flagship of the First Pacific Squadron, taking part in battles against the Imperial Japanese Navy. On March 31, 1904, the battleship...
, Dmitry Donskoy
Russian armoured cruiser Dmitrii Donskoi
Dmitrii Donskoi was an armoured cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the early 1880s. She was designed as a commerce raider and equipped with a full suite of sails to economize on coal consumption. The ship spent the bulk of her career abroad, either in the Far East or in the Mediterranean...
and a host of other European ships blocked the mouth of the Hai River
Hai River
The Hai River , previously called Bai He , is a river in the People's Republic of China which flows through Beijing and Tianjin before emptying into the Yellow Sea at the Bohai Gulf.The Hai River at Tianjin is formed by the confluence of five rivers, the Southern Canal, Ziya...
, the smaller gunboats moved up the river to protect infantry landing which commenced on . The incursion provoked the Boxer siege of Beijing; the Russians responded with sending a company of enlisted men from Sisoy and Navarin to defend the embassy in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
.
The company reached the city without meeting any opposition and at first it seemed that the European troops in Beijing could easily defend the Embassy Row from the disorganized mob. On the rebels received reinforcements from the regular Chinese army and in the afternoon of they began a massive assault on all diplomatic missions. One month later the Chinese managed to burn down the Austrian, Dutch and Italian legation
Legation
A legation was the term used in diplomacy to denote a diplomatic representative office lower than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an Ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary....
s. The sailors stood their ground shoulder-to-shoulder with American and French marines until the arrival of reinforcements on . In the seven weeks of the siege three men from Sisoy were killed in action and one died of disease, twelve were wounded.
Sisoy remained in the Far East for another year; in December 1901 an accumulation of mechanical troubles that could not be fixed in Far Eastern docks compelled the fleet commander to send her back to the Baltic. Sisoy returned to Libau
Liepaja
Liepāja ; ), is a republican city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea directly at 21°E. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region of Latvia, the third largest city in Latvia after Riga and Daugavpils and an important ice-free port...
via Nagasaki
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Suez
Suez
Suez is a seaport city in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez , near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boundaries as Suez governorate. It has three harbors, Adabya, Ain Sokhna and Port Tawfiq, and extensive port facilities...
in April 1902.
The last voyage
In May 1902 Sisoy attended a fleet review honouring the state visit of President of France Émile LoubetÉmile Loubet
Émile François Loubet was a French politician and the 8th President of France.-Early life:He was born the son of a peasant proprietor and mayor of Marsanne . Admitted to the Parisian bar in 1862, he took his doctorate in law the next year...
. In June she was moved into a drydock in Kronstadt
Kronstadt
Kronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt |crown]]" and Stadt for "city"); is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland. Population: It is also...
. All available financing was diverted to the completion of the Borodino class battleships
Borodino class battleship
The five Borodino-class battleships were pre-dreadnoughts built between 1899 and 1905 for the Imperial Russian Navy...
and the new cruisers, and repairs of Sisoy proceeded at a slow pace. She had her artillery, boilers and ventilation system completely replaced, but once again it turned out that the repairs were not up to scratch and needed a thorough rework.
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...
broke out in the Pacific on . In March 1904 the Navy assigned Sisoy to the Second Pacific Squadron departing to the Pacific with 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....
in command. Despite the urgency, calls to speed up repairs of Sisoy and completion of the new ships were stonewalled by the Ministry of the Navy until the shocking loss of Petropavlovsk
Russian battleship Petropavlovsk (1897)
The Petropavlovsk was the lead ship of the Petropavlovsk class of battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy. During the Russo-Japanese War, Petropavlovsk was a flagship of the First Pacific Squadron, taking part in battles against the Imperial Japanese Navy. On March 31, 1904, the battleship...
on . 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...
, the new Governor of Kronstadt, hastened the repairs by striking out "unnecessary" jobs. Sisoy went into action with new rangefinder
Rangefinder
A rangefinder is a device that measures distance from the observer to a target, for the purposes of surveying, determining focus in photography, or accurately aiming a weapon. Some devices use active methods to measure ; others measure distance using trigonometry...
s, searchlight
Searchlight
A searchlight is an apparatus that combines a bright light source with some form of curved reflector or other optics to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direction, usually constructed so that it can be swiveled about.-Military use:The Royal Navy used...
s and small calibre guns but her rotten internal decks were never mended. Manuil Ozerov, the captain of Sisoy, expressed concern about her stability
Ship stability
Ship stability is an area of naval architecture and ship design that deals with how a ship behaves at sea, both in still water and in waves. Stability calculations focus on the center of gravity and center of buoyancy of vessels and on how these interact....
, but on at least three occasions Birilev suppressed his reports, arguing that past experience is sufficient proof of Sisoys seaworthiness.
the Second Pacific Squadron sailed from Saint Peterburg to Reval
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
where it wasted nearly a whole month in preparation for a fleet review. Tsar Nicholas II
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
personally visited each battleship and harangued the crews in anticipation of a victory over Japan. On the squadron left the last home port, Libau, and sailed to Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
. Here, Rozhestvensky split his forces. The battleship core continued their way across the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
, the cruisers and transports were ordered to rendezvous with Black Sea Fleet ships in Souda Bay
Souda Bay
Souda Bay is a bay and natural harbour on the northwest coast of the Greek island of Crete. The bay is about 15 km long and only two to four km wide, and a deep natural harbour. It is formed between the Akrotiri peninsula and Cape Drapano, and runs west to east...
and then take the short route via the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
. Rozhestvensky planned to keep Sisoy and Navarin with the main force, but suddenly assigned them to Nebogatov
Nikolai Nebogatov
Nikolai Ivanovich Nebogatov was a Rear-Admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy, noted for his role in the final stages of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.-Biography:...
's cruiser squadron. Sisoy, for the second and last time in her life, safely crossed the canal and reunited with Rozhestvesky's fleet at Nosy Be
Nosy Be
Nosy Be is an island located off the northwest coast of Madagascar. Nosy Be is Madagascar's largest and busiest tourist resort. It has an area of 312 km2 and its population was officially estimated at 36,636 in 2001....
, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
. Rozhestvensky stayed there for two months, perfecting the gunnery drill. Despite regular exercise, the gunners of the new Borodino class ships could not match the level of Sisoy and other old ships. However the voyage from Madagascar to Cam Ranh
Cam Ranh
Cam Ranh is a city in southern Khanh Hoa province, in the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is the second-largest city in the province, after Nha Trang. It is located on Cam Ranh Bay. As of 2009 the city had a population of 125.311. and covers an area of 316 km².Cam Ranh becomes the second...
took 28 days at an average speed of 7 knots, and again Sisoys mechanical problems showed up, slowing down the squadron. In less than a month she suffered twelve failures of boiler tubes
Water-tube boiler
A water tube boiler is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which heats water in the steam-generating tubes...
and heat exchanger
Heat exchanger
A heat exchanger is a piece of equipment built for efficient heat transfer from one medium to another. The media may be separated by a solid wall, so that they never mix, or they may be in direct contact...
s.The steering gear alone failed no less than four times.
Tsushima
, 1905 the squadron left the Vietnamese harborVietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
for the last leg of its journey to Tsushima
Tsushima Island
Tsushima Island is an island of the Japanese Archipelago situated in the middle of the Tsushima Strait at 34°25'N and 129°20'E. The main island of Tsushima was once a single island, but the island was divided into two in 1671 by the Ōfunakosiseto canal and into three in 1900 by the Manzekiseto canal...
. Sisoy was sailing in the left column of the Russian order of battle, second in line after junior flagship Oslyabya
Russian battleship Oslyabya
The Oslyabya was a battleship of the Russian Imperial Navy, belonging to the . She was named for Rodion Oslyabya, a 14th century monk of the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra and a hero of the Battle of Kulikovo....
. At 13:15 the Russians sighted the Japanese fleet. Twenty-four minutes later Sisoy opened fire simultaneously with flagship 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...
. Sisoy started firing at Kasuga
Japanese cruiser Kasuga
was the lead ship of the armored cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy, designed and built by Ansaldo Yards, Genoa, Italy, where the type was known as the...
and Nisshin
Japanese cruiser Nisshin
, also transliterated as Nissin, was a armored cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy designed and built by Ansaldo in Genoa Italy, where the type was known as the . Designed as a cross between a battleship and a cruiser, but with a very small displacement, it had the ability to stand in the line...
and soon engaged Iwate
Japanese cruiser Iwate
was an armored cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was named after Iwate prefecture in northern Japan, and it was a sister ship of the .-Background:...
, hitting her with a single 12-inch shell.
At 14:40 a heavy shell exploded next to Sisoy′s bow, damaging the bow torpedo tube
Torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...
. Shortly after it a 12-inch and a 6-inch shell hit the belt armor near the water line, causing flooding in the forward compartments. In the following hour Sisoy was hit by one 12-inch, three 8-inch and three 6-inch shells, which disabled her forward turret hydraulics, set the casemates afire and simultaneously severed the firefighting water supply. The worst hit occurred at 15:15, when an 8-inch shell exploded inside the port centre casemate and killed or disabled most of the gunners. The fire spread down into the 6-inch ammunition magazine, which was promptly flooded. Both surgeons were incapacitated by poisonous fumes when the fire reached Sisoys infirmary, and for the rest of the battle the wounded of Sisoy were deprived of medical help.
At 15:40 Ozerov steered the burning Sisoy away from the line of fire and joined the Russian cruiser formation. By 17:00 the crew had extinguished the fires and Sisoy returned to the action, carrying a heavy list to port. She took her place in line behind Navarin at the moment when the Japanese battleships ceased fire and the Russians hoped to leave the battlefield without further casualties.
One hour later Admiral Kamimura
Kamimura Hikonojo
Baron was an early admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy later commanding the IJN 2nd Fleet during the Russo-Japanese War, most notably at the Battle off Ulsan and Tsushima.-Biography:...
re-established contact and engaged the fleeing Russians. Russian ships were knocked out one by one; Sisoy survived this phase of the battle unharmed. After sunset Sisoy joined the group of survivors assembled by Nebogatov but was unable to keep pace with Nebogatov's flagship Nikolay I
Russian battleship Imperator Nikolai I
Imperator Nikolai I was a Russian pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Baltic Fleet in the late 1880s. She participated in the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America in New York City in 1892. She assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron and visited Toulon in October 1893...
. Sisoy and Navarin fell back, supporting Ushakov with gunfire. At 19:30 Sisoy sighted the Japanese torpedo destroyers fanning out for a target run.
It was the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla under command of Kantarō Suzuki
Kantaro Suzuki
Baron was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, member and final leader of the Taisei Yokusankai and 42nd Prime Minister of Japan from 7 April-17 August 1945.-Early life:...
, which had already sunk Navarin and Suvorov. The Destroyers attacked at close range (under 600 yards), in apparently uncoordinated but lethal waves. Sisoy repelled the first (19:45) and the second (22:30) waves; the third one scored a torpedo hit at 23:15 and damaged her already unreliable steering gear and propellers. Sisoy could still be differentially steered with her engines (done by varying the telegraphs - for example the command "port engine full ahead, starboard half ahead", would result in a slow turn to starboard, the command "port engine full ahead, starboard full astern" would result in a far faster one.), but the flooding intensified and by 3:15 of the bow submerged to the point where forward movement was no longer possible. Ozerov realized that Sisoy could not make it to Vladivostok
Vladivostok
The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
; he ordered "all astern" reversed the engines and headed crabwise to Tsushima Island, hoping to beach the crippled ship with the intent of using her as a fixed gun emplacement.
By 6 a.m flooding forced Ozerov to telegraph "all stop" shutting down the vessels engines. The crippled Monomakh
Russian armoured cruiser Vladimir Monomakh
Vladimir Monomakh was an armoured cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy during the 1880s. The vessel was named after Vladimir II Monomakh, Grand Prince of Kiev. She spent most of her career in the Far East, although the ship was in the Baltic Sea when the Russo-Japanese War began in 1904...
passed by Sisoy, unable to offer any assistance. At 7:20 Japanese armed merchantmen Shinano Maru, Dainan Maru and Yavata Maru converged on the stationary ship. When they came within 6,000 meters from Sisoy Ozerov signalled
Naval flag signalling
Naval flag signalling covers various forms of flag signalling, such as semaphore or flaghoist, used by various navies; distinguished from maritime flag signalling by merchant or other non-naval vessels or flags used for identification.-History:...
: "I am sinking, request assistance." The Japanese responded with a straightforward question, "Do you surrender?" Ozerov hoisted the white flag
White flag
White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale.-Flag of temporary truce in order to parley :...
. At 8:15 the Japanese boarding party of one officer and 31 enlisted man boarded the Sisoy and raised the flag of Japan
Flag of Japan
The national flag of Japan is a white rectangular flag with a large red disk in the center. This flag is officially called in Japanese, but is more commonly known as ....
but failed to hoist down the Russian flag. The Japanese attempted to tow their prize to safety, but soon realized that Sisoy was doomed. They moved the Russian prisoners onto their ships and transferred the flag of Japan. At 10:05 Sisoy capsized and sank, still bearing the Russian flag.
Sisoy had lost 59 men killed in action and 66 were wounded. The Japanese captured 42 commissioned and warrant officers and 571 enlisted men. A few more men, including surgeons Vladimir Podobedov and Konstantin Kalyevich, died on board the Shinano Maru. The survivors were brought to Sasebo
Sasebo, Nagasaki
is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the city has an estimated population of 259,800 and the density of 609 persons per km². The total area is 426.47 km². The locality is famed for its scenic beauty. The city includes a part of Saikai National Park...
, where around thirty wounded were treated in Sasebo Naval Hospital. They returned to Russia in the end of 1905 - beginning of 1906. 118 enlisted men were awarded the Cross of St. George
Cross of St. George
thumb|Original Cross of St. George.Ist and 2nd class were in gold.The Cross of St. George ', or simply the George's Cross, was, until 1913, officially known as the Sign of Distinction of the Military Order of St. George....
, captain Ozerov was awarded Swords to the Order of St. Vladimir
Order of St. Vladimir
The Cross of Saint Vladimir was an Imperial Russian Order established in 1782 by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of the Kievan Rus....
. He retired as a Rear admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
in 1909.