Russian battleship Oslyabya
| Russian battleship Oslyabya | |
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | Oslyabya |
| Builder: | Admiralty Shipyard, Saint Petersburg, Russia |
| Laid down: | 1 January 1898 |
| Launched: | 1898 |
| Commissioned: | January 1902 |
| Fate: | Sunk at the Battle of Tsushima, 27 May 1905 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Peresvet-class battleship |
| Displacement: | 13,500 long tons (13,717 t) |
| Length: | 132.4 m (434 ft) |
| Beam: | 21.8 m (71 ft 6 in) |
| Draught: | 8 m (26 ft 3 in) |
| Propulsion: |
3 shaft reciprocating vertical triple expansion (VTE) engines 30 Bellevile-type coal-fired boilers 15,051 shp (11,224 kW) 2,100 tons coal |
| Speed: | 18.33 knots (21.09 mph; 33.95 km/h) |
| Range: | 5,600 nmi (10,400 km) |
| Complement: | 778 |
| Armament: |
• 4 × 254 mm (10 in) guns • 11 × 152 mm (6 in) guns • 20 × 75-mm guns • 20 × 47-mm guns • 6 × 37-mm guns • 5 × 381-mm torpedo tubes |
| Armour: |
Belt: 9 in (230 mm) Deck: 2.5 in (64 mm) Barbette: 8 in (200 mm) Casemates: 5 in (130 mm) Conning tower: 6 in (150 mm) |
The Oslyabya (Russian: Ослябя) was a battleship of the Russian Imperial Navy, belonging to the Peresvet-class. She was named for Rodion Oslyabya, a 14th century monk of the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra and a hero of the Battle of Kulikovo.
The Oslyabya was part of the Second Pacific Squadron sent to the Far East, serving as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Baron Fölkersahm. She was sunk on 27 May 1905 at the battle of Tsushima, early in the engagement. Of her crew, 515 lost their lives, while 250 were rescued. Fölkersahm had died before the battle, and his coffin went down with the ship. The ship had not been sent earlier to the Port Arthur battleship garrison because of mechanical issues.[1]
The Oslyabya was the first armored battleship ever sunk by gunfire alone, without any torpedo hits.[2]
Design
The Oslyabya was 132.4 m (434 ft) long and had a beam of 21.8 m (71 ft 6 in) and a draft of 8 m (26 ft 3 in). She displaced up to 13,500 long tons (13,717 t). Powered by three shaft reciprocating vertical triple expansion (VTE) engines rated at 15,051 shp (11,224 kW) indicated horsepower and thirty Belleville-type coal-fired boilers using more than a ton of coal per hour. That generated a top speed of 18.33 knots (21.09 mph; 33.95 km/h). She had a maximum range of 5,600 nmi (10,371 km; 6,444 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph). She carried 778 sailors and officers.
The ship's primary armament consisted of four 25.4 cm (10.0 in) guns mounted in two twin turrets, one fore and aft. That was supplemented by eleven 152 mm (6 in) guns along with a tertiary armament of twenty seventy-five millimeter guns, twenty forty-seven millimeter and six thirty-seven millimeter guns. The ship also had five above-water 381 millimeter torpedo tubes.
Her armor was nine inches thick at the belt, two and a half on the deck, eight inches at the barbettes, five inches around the casemates and six inches near the conning tower. The conning tower was penetrated during the battle of Tsushima, killing several men.
Construction
The Oslyabya was built by Baltic Yard in St Petersburg. Laid down on New Years Day of 1898, and launched later that same year, she was the second ship of the three-ship Peresvet-class. The ship was officially commissioned into the Russian Baltic Fleet in January 1902.
Service
After trials, both of her sister ships were transferred to Port Arthur as part of the Russian Pacific Fleet, fought at the Battle of the Yellow Sea. Her sisters were subsequently sunk at their moorings during the Siege of Port Arthur and later salvaged by the Japanese. Oslyabya was with the Baltic Fleet and sailed as flagship of the Second Pacific Squadron, commanding the Sissoi Veliky, the Navarin, and the Admiral Nakhimov during the " cruise around the world" to Vladivostok, where the Russian fleet sailed from the Baltic, through the Mediterranean, down the Red Sea, across the Indian Ocean and up the East China Sea to the Tsushima Strait where she was the first ship sunk at the Battle of Tsushima, although some sources state that the battleship Sissoi Veliky was sunk before her. Her sinking was the result of heavy shell hits penetrating her waterline and into her magazine; the shells were fired from the Japanese battleship Mikasa, Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō's flagship.[1] She went down at three o'clock in the afternoon.[3] Most of her men who were rescued were saved by the Russian destroyer Bychok, which also rescued Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky and his crew from the sinking Knyaz Suvorov.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Peresviet Class Battleships (1902)". Cityofart.net. http://www.cityofart.net/bship/ru_peresviet.html. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
- ↑ Busch, Noel F., The Emperor's Sword: Japan vs. Russia in the Battle of Tsushim, Funk & Wagnalls, p. 160
- ↑ How Togo won the battle, NY Times, June 2, 1905
- ↑ "Russian Destroyers". Battleships-cruisers.co.uk. http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/russian_destroyers.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
Further reading
- Gibbons, Tony: The Complete Encyclopedia of Battleships and Battlecruisers
- Tomitch, V. M., Warships of the Imperial Russian Navy (1968) Volumne 1, Battleships
- Conway's., All the world's Fighting Ships (1979) Volumne 1, 1860–1905
- Richard Humble., Battleships and Battlecruisers (1983)
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de:Osljabja fr:Osliabia ja:オスリャービャ (戦艦) pl:Oslabia (1902) ru:Ослябя (броненосец)
