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Rostislav (1896)
Encyclopedia
Rostislav was a pre-dreadnought battleship built by the Nikolaev Admiralty Shipyard
in the 1890s for the Black Sea Fleet
of the Imperial Russian Navy
. She was conceived as a small, inexpensive coastal defence ship
, but the Navy abandoned the concept in favor of a compact, seagoing battleship with a displacement of 8880 long tons (9,022.5 t). Poor design and construction practices increased her actual displacement by more than 1600 LT (1,625.7 t). Rostislav became the world's first capital ship to burn fuel oil
, rather than coal. Her combat ability was compromised by the use of 10 inches (25 cm) main guns instead of the de facto
Russian standard of 12 inches (30 cm).
Her hull was launched in September 1896, but non-delivery of the ship's main guns delayed her maiden voyage
until 1899 and her completion until 1900. In May 1899 Rostislav became the first ship of the Imperial Navy to be commanded by a member of the House of Romanov, Captain Alexander Mikhailovich
. From 1903 to 1912 the ship was the flagship
of the second-in-command
of the Black Sea Fleet. During the 1905 Russian Revolution her crew was on the verge of mutiny but remained loyal to the regime, and actively suppressed the mutiny
of the cruiser .
Rostislav was actively engaged in World War I
until the collapse of the Black Sea Fleet in the beginning of 1918. She was the first Russian ship to fire upon enemy targets on land during World War I, the first Russian ship to be hit by a German airstrike
, and the first one to destroy a submarine, albeit a Russian one
. In April 1918 the fleeing Bolshevik
s abandoned Rostislav in Sevastopol
. One year later the British occupation forces permanently disabled her engines. The White forces
repurposed the ship as a towed floating battery
, then scuttled her in the Strait of Kerch
in November 1920.
s but seaworthy for operations in the Black Sea, Rostislav was conceived in 1892 as a cheap and compact platform for 12-inch guns. Admiral Nikolay Chikhachov, Chief of the Ministry of the Navy, envisioned a squadron of such ships, each displacing four to five thousand tons, that would fit into his total desired displacement target of 24000 long tons (24,385.2 t). Chief designer of the Nikolaev Shipyard, Sergey Ratnik,In the very beginning of 1893 Ratnik moved from Nikolaev to Saint Petersburg and became chief executive of privately-owned Baltic Shipyard
. – Melnikov, p. 4. evaluated Chikhachov's request for proposals, and advised against the idea in general. The Naval Technical Committee (NTC) concurred: any meaningful combination of fire power, armor, speed and stability required at least 6000 long tons (6,096.3 t). The NTC discarded Ratnik's advice to build an improved copy of the battleship of 8880 long tons (9,022.5 t), but did not present a definite alternative. The NTC declined to discuss tactical matters, leaving the choice of armament to Chikhachov.
Chikhachov instructed Andrey Toropov of the Nikolaev Shipyard to draft two proposals, one armed with 10-inch and the other with 12-inch guns. Toropov estimated that the ship should have displaced at least 8880 tons. Chikhachov admitted the fact and presented the two options to the NTC. The admiral himself and the active fleet commanders voted for the 12-inch caliber, which had already become a worldwide battleship standard, but the NTC strongly advised against it. The Navy brass
spent April and May 1893 in lengthy debates. They agreed to increase displacement to 8,880 tons and were leaning toward accepting 12-inch guns when General Admiral
Grand Duke Alexey
resolved the discussion in favor of the smaller caliber.
Rostislav had the same hull as Sissoi Veliky, protected with the newly developed Harvey armor
. She was also the first Russian battleship to use electric power instead of older hydraulic systems to train her guns.
of 68 feet (20.7 m) and a draft
of 25 inch. She displaced 10520 long tons (10,688.8 t), over 1500 LT (1,524.1 t) more than her designed displacement of 8880 LT (9,022.5 t). This weight gain increased her draft by about 3 foot (0.9144 m), which submerged most, if not all, of her waterline
armored belt.
s, four singled-ended and four double-ended, provided steam to the engines, each of which drove one propeller
. Half of the fire-tube boiler
s were coal-fired and the other half were oil-fired, making Rostislav the first capital ship
in the world to use fuel oil
. This was done in order to substitute cheap oil from Baku
for expensive imported coal. On sea trial
s, the power plant produced a total of 8816 ihp and a top speed of 15.8 knots (8.6 m/s). She carried a maximum of 820 long tons (833.2 MT) of fuel oil and coal at full load that provided a range of 3100 nautical miles (5,741.2 km) at a speed of 8 knots (4.4 m/s).
Model 1891 guns mounted in French-style center-pivot twin gun turret
s fore and aft. Each turret had an arc of fire of 240°. These guns had a maximum elevation of +15° and could depress to −5°. 80 rounds per gun were carried. They fired a 496.5 pounds (225.2 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity
of 2273 ft/s (692.8 m/s). Maximum range was 18412 yards (16,835.9 m) at an elevation of 35°, although Rostislavs guns had a maximum elevation of less than half that.
All eight of the 6-inch Canet
Pattern 1892 45-caliber guns were mounted in turrets on the main deck. Each turret was positioned at a corner of the superstructure and had an arc of fire of 110°. The guns could elevate to a maximum of 20° and depress to −6°. Each gun was provided with 180 rounds. They fired shells that weighed 91.27 lb (41.4 kg) with a muzzle velocity of 2600 ft/s (792.5 m/s). They had a maximum range of 12600 yards (11,521.4 m) when fired at maximum elevation.
The anti-torpedo boat
armament consisted of twelve 47 millimetres (1.9 in) Hotchkiss gun
s. Eight of these were mounted in the superstructure and the locations of the remaining four are unclear. They fired a 3.3 pounds (1.5 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 1476 ft/s (449.9 m/s) at a rate of 20 rounds per minute up to 2020 yards (1,847.1 m). The ship also mounted sixteen 37 millimetres (1.5 in) Hotchkiss guns, eight of which were carried in the fighting top
. The locations of the other eight are unknown. They fired a 1.1 pound (0.498951607 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 1450 ft/s (442 m/s) at a rate of 20 rounds per minute. Their maximum range was 3038 yards (2,777.9 m).
Rostislav carried six 15 inches (381 mm) torpedo tube
s. The bow and stern tubes and the aft pair of broadside
tubes were above water. The forward broadside tubes were underwater. The ship carried 50 mines
to be used to protect her anchorage.
was 14.5 inches (368 mm) which reduced to 10 inches (254 mm) abreast the magazine
s. It covered 227 feet (69.2 m) of the ship's length and was 7 feet (2.1 m) high. While the exact height of the belt above the designed waterline is unknown, much of it, if not not all, would have been below the waterline as the ship's draft was over 3 foot (0.9144 m) deeper than designed. The belt terminated forward in a 9 inches (229 mm) transverse bulkhead
and aft in a 5 inches (127 mm) bulkhead. The upper belt was 5 inches thick, 7 in 6 in (2.29 m) high and covered 160 feet (48.8 m) of the ship's side. The sides of the main gun turrets were 10 inches thick and they had 2.5 inches (64 mm) roofs. The sides of the 6-inch turrets were 6 inches thick as were the sides of the conning tower
. The armor deck
was flat and located at the upper edge of the main belt. It was 2 inches (5 cm) thick. Below the waterline, forward and aft of the armored citadel
, were 3 inches (76 mm) decks.
s and engines was awarded to Baltic Works
. The armor was rolled in the United States by Bethlehem Steel
within the framework of an earlier contract for Petropavlovsk class battleships. Bethlehem Steel faced the scrutiny of the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs
for charging the Russians an unusually low "introductory" price of $250 to $300 per ton, compared to $600 to $660 paid by the United States Navy. Senator Benjamin Tillman
publicly accused Bethlehem and Carnegie
of price fixing
and robbing the American taxpayer.According to Senator Benjamin Tillman
, Carnegie Works and Bethlehem Steel formed a trust with an intent to rob the U.S. government on naval armor contracts. The law obliged the U.S. Navy to purchase only U.S.-made steel, thus eliminating competitive choices open to other navies. As a result, the U.S. Navy paid $660 a ton when foreign governments paid only $300. – Serving Two Masters: Naval Officers Employed by Armor Plate Makers. The New York Times, April 28, 1896.
Rostislavs hull was launched on September 2, 1896. Lack of proper cranes in Nikolaev
made the installation of its engines exceedingly difficult, to the point that the navy even considered towing the hull to Sevastopol
for completion. The Nikolaev engineers eventually resolved the problem and the ship was ready to sail in July 1897. Rostislav conducted her speed trials
on October 21, 1898, still missing her main guns. Her power plant performed flawlessly, but its weight exceeded the design target by more than 300 tonnes (295 LT).
Non-delivery of the new 10-inch Model 1897 guns, made by the Obukhov Factory
in Saint Petersburg
for Rostislav, s and s, delayed the completion of Rostislav by two years. One of these guns, earmarked for Admiral Ushakov, exploded at the proving ground and the whole batch was subjected to exhaustive tests and, when possible, repairs. Guns Number 16 through Number 19 passed the tests and were delivered to Sevastopol in July and August 1899. Rostislav was able to sail to her first gunnery trial on April 12, 1900. On the second day of shooting practice the recoil mechanism
s of her forward turret failed and more defects were discovered back at the base. Rostislav spent the rest of the spring having her gun mounts repaired, but the problem persisted and the Navy "solved" it by prohibiting them from being used. The gun mounts were rebuilt along the pattern of those used by the armored cruiser
in 1901 and 1902, and Rostislav successfully passed the gunnery tests in June 1902. The ship's electrical turret controls, with their 332 contact pairs
, required tedious maintenance and proved too complex for most of the enlisted men.
Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich
assumed command of Rostislav, becoming the first Romanov since Peter I
to command a combat ship. Another Romanov, Grand Duke Kirill, spent a few uneventful months on board Rostislav in 1900. Alexander's guests, parties and diplomatic visits to Istanbul
regularly interfered with the crew's duties, but he personally managed the repairs and alterations of Rostislav′s equipment. Shipyards and contractors treated Rostislav as a priority customer. Alexander, based on his experience with Sisoy Veliky, persuaded the NTC to reinforce Rostislav′s rudder frame and supervised installation of a backup control post deep under the conning tower
. In 1903 Alexander was promoted to rear admiral
and returned to his ship as a squadron commander. Rostislav served as the junior flagship of the Black Sea Fleet until September 1912.
The 1900 season revealed grave problems with Rostislav′s boilers. Black smoke from burning oil was more conspicuous than coal smoke. Uneven distribution of heat inside the boilers caused severe local overheating, buckling of fireboxes and sudden backdraft
s. For three and a half months the boilers failed one by one, starting with small auxiliary power units and ending with the main boilers. Oil delivered by the Rothschild-controlled
Russian Standard Oil was not at fault; similar problems were experienced by oil-fired ships of the Baltic Fleet
.
Repairs and alterations of the power plant continued until 1904, when the continuing boiler failures compelled the Navy to dispense with oil fuel and convert Rostislav to coal in 1904 and 1905. Each round of repairs and alterations added more weight to the already over-weight ship, and by 1907 the ship's belt armor
was completely below the waterline.
On June 27, 1905, the day of the battleship Potemkin mutiny
, Rostislav was sailing under the ensign of Vice Admiral
Alexander Krieger. Nicholas II
ordered Krieger and his superior, fleet commander Grigory Chukhnin, to destroy the rebels by force, but the admirals refrained from shooting. They let the rebels flee to Odessa
and later to Romania
. Krieger's own crew was on the verge of open mutiny. On July 2, 1905, a military council held on board Rostislav decided to moor the ships in Odessa, disconnect the engines from the propellers and let the enlisted men walk ashore at will. By the time of the Ochakov mutiny
in November 1905, fleet morale had improved and Krieger did not hesitate to fire two 10-inch and fourteen 6-inch shells against the rebels.
the Imperial Navy concentrated on improving their gunnery skills and fire-control practices. In 1908 Alexei Krylov
and Yevgeny Berkalov led Rostislav on an unprecedented long-range gunnery shoot: Rostislav fired 330 10-inch shells at a distance of eight to ten miles in a few days. The experiment proved that the older ballistic tables
used by the Navy were inaccurate. Berkalov compiled the data from the 1908 exercise into the new tables adopted by the Navy. Another of Krylov's initiatives, rapid counter-flooding, was standardized in 1909.
Two plans for modernizing the ship were put forward before World War I. In 1907 the Naval General Staff proposed a major reconstruction aimed at reducing her draft and raising her armor belt higher out of the water. Her above-water torpedo tubes, torpedo nets, auxiliary boilers and 47-millimeter guns would have been removed, her superstructure cut down and her rigging reduced to a single pole mast. These changes would have reduced her displacement by 250 long tons (254 t), but the plan was rejected due to a shortage of money. Her above-water torpedo tubes, however, were removed about this time. In 1912 the staff of the Black Sea Fleet proposed to replace all of her 47 mm guns with four 75 millimetres (3 in) guns and to remove the auxiliary boilers and the submerged torpedo tubes to offset the additional weight. The Naval General Staff did not think that this was worth the cost and rejected the plan. Even though these plans did not come to fruition, other alterations were made to Rostislav before the war. A dozen of her 37 mm guns were removed in 1906 and she was fitted with 15 feet (4.6 m) rangefinder
s, probably made by Barr and Stroud
, in 1907 and 1908.
In 1909 and 1910, Rostislav and the rest of the Black Sea Fleet prepared for joint operations with submarine
s. She was scheduled for an installation of the first Russian underwater acoustic communication
system, but the installation was interrupted and her hardware was installed on the battleship Panteleimon
(the former Potemkin) instead. During an anti-submarine exercise on the night of June 11–12, 1909 Rostislav accidentally rammed and sank the submarine Kambala
. Twenty men of Kambala and two rescue divers died. The accident was blamed on reckless maneuvering by the submarine, and Rostislavs captain was cleared of any negligence or wrongdoing.
, ran aground on a shoal
just off the port of Constanta
. Rostislavs officers had detected the hazard and steered her to safety, but did not alert the other ships. The international embarrassment that followed led to the resignation of fleet commander Admiral Ivan Bostrem. During the First Balkan War
Rostislav sailed into the Sea of Marmara
to protect the Russian Embassy in Istanbul
from a mob. The international "observation fleet" comprised 21 ship, including Rostislav, Goeben
and Léon Gambetta
. – Melnikov, p. 29. Rostislav accidentally fired a live shell into the Turkish defenses. No one was injured during the incident, and the captain defused the situation with a personal apology to the Ottoman government.
On November 4, 1914, the Black Sea Fleet sailed out on its first combat operation of the war: the bombardment of Zonguldak
. The operation was conceived as a retaliation against the Turkish-German attack on Sevastopol. Rostislav, captained by Kazimierz Porębski
, was the "designated gunboat
" while other Russian battleships formed a defensive screen around her. On November 6 Rostislav fired 251 shells at the port of Zonguldak, reducing it to rubble. On November 18 Rostislav faced Goeben during the Battle of Cape Sarych
, but the German ship broke contact before Rostislav, trailing behind the Russian formation, even spotted her. Rostislav had other encounters with Goeben in 1915 and 1916, but did not engage her directly.Admiral Andrei Eberhardt
deliberately kept Rostislav out of action to protect the old ship from a vastly superior enemy. He reasoned that a ship with 10-inch guns had no place in a fight of 12-inch guns (as had already been proven by the loss of SMS Blücher
in the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915). – Melnikov, pp. 35–36. In 1915 the ship received four 75 mm anti-aircraft
guns.
After the commissioning of the dreadnoughts, the old battleships were split into independent combat groups. Rostislav became the flagship of the Batumi
Group tasked with supporting the ground operations of the Caucasus Army. Their first joint action began February 5, 1916 near Arhavi
. On the first day alone Rostislav fired 400 shells against the Turks. On March 4 Rostislav and the gunboats Kubanetz and Donetz supported the amphibious landing at Atina
. Three days later Rostislav supported the landing of marines that ended in the capture of Rize
. At the end of March Rostislav and Panteleimon forced the Turks to evacuate Trabzon
.
In the summer of 1916 the Navy seriously considered an all-out amphibious assault on the Bosphorus. Fleet commander Andrei Eberhardt
anticipated a high risk of naval mine and torpedo hits in the coastal waters and suggested equipping all pre-dreadnought battleships with anti-torpedo bulge
s. had her bulges fitted in Nikolaev in July 1916, and Rostislav was next in line, but the work was cancelled in August, and Rostislav was transferred to the Romanian coast as flagship of the Constanta Group. Constanta temporarily became an important logistical hub for the Russian troops heading to the Romanian Front, and the base for minelayers, submarines and destroyers harassing the enemy in the Bosphorus area. The Germans responded with air raids; their first aerial success against a Russian naval target was scored against Rostislav. The bomb hit the edge of the aft 10-inch turret and injured sixteen sailors. The turret itself remained fully operational. The collapse of the Romanian Front in October 1916 forced the Navy to evacuate Constanţa. Rostislav returned to Sevastopol
for a much-needed overhaul.
of 1917 did not demoralize the Black Sea Fleet as quickly as the Baltic Fleet. Captain Fyodor Stark, a former destroyer commander, maintained Rostislav in combat-ready condition until the end of the year. The battleship sailed out for her last voyage to Batumi in September and October. Stark managed to contain the radical politics, anti-German sentiment
and Ukrainization
of the crew, but nevertheless raised the flag of Ukraine
on his return to Sevastopol on October 25. From this moment desertion and "volunteering" into the Red Guards
intensified, and by December 21 the crew was reduced to 460 enlisted men and 28 officers. In January 1918 the fleet disintegrated completely: the officers fled from the enraged enlisted men, then the enlisted men abandoned the ships and fled from the advancing German Army. On April 29, 1918, the Bolshevik
s managed to extricate two battleships and sixteen destroyers from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk
, but Rostislav and the rest of the fleet remained in Sevastopol.
The German occupation of Crimea
from May to November 1918 did not affect the abandoned ship. The Anglo-French forces that replaced the Germans stayed in Sevastopol until April 1919. Before leaving, the British blew up Rostislavs engines on April 25. The White forces
of Baron Wrangel
used the disabled Rostislav as a floating battery
in the Sea of Azov
. The ship, manned by a ragtag volunteer crew, was stationed in the shallow waters of the Strait of Kerch
to harass the Reds in Taman
and prevent a landing in the Crimea. After the defeat of Wrangel's land forces, the crew scuttled
Rostislav in the Strait of Kerch to prevent the Red forces from breaking through to the Black Sea.
When Rostislav sank in the shallows her superstructure remained above water. In 1930 the EPRON
salvaged Rostislav′s guns and partially dismantled the hull. According to diver Alexander Yolkin, the remains of the hull are still lying in the strait, around 1200 metres (1,312.3 yd) from the Ukrainian coast, and gradually sinking into the silt
.
Black Sea Shipyard
The Black Sea Shipyard is located in Mykolaiv, Ukraine and is the largest shipyard with near direct access to the Black Sea. It is most often referred to as the Nikolayev South Shipyard and was known as Soviet Shipyard No...
in the 1890s for 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....
of 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 was conceived as a small, inexpensive 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...
, but the Navy abandoned the concept in favor of a compact, seagoing battleship with a displacement of 8880 long tons (9,022.5 t). Poor design and construction practices increased her actual displacement by more than 1600 LT (1,625.7 t). Rostislav became the world's first capital ship to burn fuel oil
Fuel oil
Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...
, rather than coal. Her combat ability was compromised by the use of 10 inches (25 cm) main guns instead of the de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
Russian standard of 12 inches (30 cm).
Her hull was launched in September 1896, but non-delivery of the ship's main guns delayed her 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....
until 1899 and her completion until 1900. In May 1899 Rostislav became the first ship of the Imperial Navy to be commanded by a member of the House of Romanov, Captain Alexander Mikhailovich
Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia
Grand Duke Alexander Mihailovich of Russia, Александр Михайлович Aleksandr Mihailovits was a dynast of the Russian Empire, a naval officer, an author, explorer, the brother-in-law of Emperor Nicholas II, and an advisor of the said Emperor.-Biography: Alexander was born the son of Grand Duke...
. From 1903 to 1912 the ship was the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of the second-in-command
Second-in-command
The Second-in-Command is the deputy commander of any British Army or Royal Marines unit, from battalion or regiment downwards. He or she is thus the equivalent of an Executive Officer in the United States Army...
of the Black Sea Fleet. During the 1905 Russian Revolution her crew was on the verge of mutiny but remained loyal to the regime, and actively suppressed the mutiny
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
of the cruiser .
Rostislav was actively engaged in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
until the collapse of the Black Sea Fleet in the beginning of 1918. She was the first Russian ship to fire upon enemy targets on land during World War I, the first Russian ship to be hit by a German airstrike
Airstrike
An air strike is an attack on a specific objective by military aircraft during an offensive mission. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters, and others...
, and the first one to destroy a submarine, albeit a Russian one
Karp class submarine
The Karp Class were a group of submarines built by Krupp Germaniawerft for the Imperial Russian Navy. The boats were ordered in the 1904 emergency programme as a result of the Russo-Japanese War. The design was a twin hull type with 7 ballast tanks and a 16 fathom diving limit. The boats were...
. In April 1918 the fleeing Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s abandoned Rostislav in Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
. One year later the British occupation forces permanently disabled her engines. The White forces
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...
repurposed the ship as a towed floating battery
Floating battery
A floating battery is a kind of armed watercraft, often improvised or experimental, which carries a heavy armament but has few other qualities as a warship.An early appearance was during the Great Siege of Gibraltar....
, then scuttled her in the Strait of Kerch
Strait of Kerch
The Kerch Strait connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula in the west from the Taman Peninsula in the east. The strait is to wide and up to deep....
in November 1920.
Design and description
Similar in size to earlier coastal defence shipCoastal 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 but seaworthy for operations in the Black Sea, Rostislav was conceived in 1892 as a cheap and compact platform for 12-inch guns. Admiral Nikolay Chikhachov, Chief of the Ministry of the Navy, envisioned a squadron of such ships, each displacing four to five thousand tons, that would fit into his total desired displacement target of 24000 long tons (24,385.2 t). Chief designer of the Nikolaev Shipyard, Sergey Ratnik,In the very beginning of 1893 Ratnik moved from Nikolaev to Saint Petersburg and became chief executive of privately-owned 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...
. – Melnikov, p. 4. evaluated Chikhachov's request for proposals, and advised against the idea in general. The Naval Technical Committee (NTC) concurred: any meaningful combination of fire power, armor, speed and stability required at least 6000 long tons (6,096.3 t). The NTC discarded Ratnik's advice to build an improved copy of the battleship of 8880 long tons (9,022.5 t), but did not present a definite alternative. The NTC declined to discuss tactical matters, leaving the choice of armament to Chikhachov.
Chikhachov instructed Andrey Toropov of the Nikolaev Shipyard to draft two proposals, one armed with 10-inch and the other with 12-inch guns. Toropov estimated that the ship should have displaced at least 8880 tons. Chikhachov admitted the fact and presented the two options to the NTC. The admiral himself and the active fleet commanders voted for the 12-inch caliber, which had already become a worldwide battleship standard, but the NTC strongly advised against it. The Navy brass
Official
An official is someone who holds an office in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority .A government official or functionary is an official who is involved in public...
spent April and May 1893 in lengthy debates. They agreed to increase displacement to 8,880 tons and were leaning toward accepting 12-inch guns when General Admiral
General Admiral
General admiral was a Danish, Dutch, German, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish naval rank. Its historic origin is a title high military or naval dignitaries of early modern Europe sometimes held, for example the commander-in-chief of the Dutch Republic's navy .-Third Reich:In the German...
Grand Duke Alexey
Grand 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...
resolved the discussion in favor of the smaller caliber.
Rostislav had the same hull as Sissoi Veliky, protected with the newly developed Harvey armor
Harvey armor
Harvey armor was a type of steel armor developed in the early 1890s in which the front surfaces of the plates were case hardened. The method for doing this was known as the Harvey process....
. She was also the first Russian battleship to use electric power instead of older hydraulic systems to train her guns.
General characteristics
Rostislav was 345 inch long at the waterline and 351 inch long overall. She had a beamBeam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 68 feet (20.7 m) and a draft
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
of 25 inch. She displaced 10520 long tons (10,688.8 t), over 1500 LT (1,524.1 t) more than her designed displacement of 8880 LT (9,022.5 t). This weight gain increased her draft by about 3 foot (0.9144 m), which submerged most, if not all, of her waterline
Waterline
The term "waterline" generally refers to the line where the hull of a ship meets the water surface. It is also the name of a special marking, also known as the national Load Line or Plimsoll Line, to be positioned amidships, that indicates the draft of the ship and the legal limit to which a ship...
armored belt.
Propulsion
Rostislav had two vertical triple expansion steam engines, identical to those of Sissoi Veliky, that had a total designed output of 8500 ihp. Eight cylindrical fire-tube boilerFire-tube boiler
A fire-tube boiler is a type of boiler in which hot gases from a fire pass through one or more tubes running through a sealed container of water...
s, four singled-ended and four double-ended, provided steam to the engines, each of which drove one propeller
Propeller
A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...
. Half of the fire-tube boiler
Fire-tube boiler
A fire-tube boiler is a type of boiler in which hot gases from a fire pass through one or more tubes running through a sealed container of water...
s were coal-fired and the other half were oil-fired, making Rostislav the first capital ship
Capital ship
The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they generally possess the heaviest firepower and armor and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels...
in the world to use fuel oil
Fuel oil
Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...
. This was done in order to substitute cheap oil from Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
for expensive imported coal. On 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, the power plant produced a total of 8816 ihp and a top speed of 15.8 knots (8.6 m/s). She carried a maximum of 820 long tons (833.2 MT) of fuel oil and coal at full load that provided a range of 3100 nautical miles (5,741.2 km) at a speed of 8 knots (4.4 m/s).
Armament
The main armament consisted of two pairs of 10 inches (254 mm) 45-caliberCaliber (artillery)
In artillery, caliber or calibredifference in British English and American English spelling is the internal diameter of a gun barrel, or by extension a relative measure of the length....
Model 1891 guns mounted in French-style center-pivot twin gun turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
s fore and aft. Each turret had an arc of fire of 240°. These guns had a maximum elevation of +15° and could depress to −5°. 80 rounds per gun were carried. They fired a 496.5 pounds (225.2 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity is the speed a projectile has at the moment it leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately to in black powder muskets , to more than in modern rifles with high-performance cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger, all the way to for tank guns...
of 2273 ft/s (692.8 m/s). Maximum range was 18412 yards (16,835.9 m) at an elevation of 35°, although Rostislavs guns had a maximum elevation of less than half that.
All eight of the 6-inch Canet
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:...
Pattern 1892 45-caliber guns were mounted in turrets on the main deck. Each turret was positioned at a corner of the superstructure and had an arc of fire of 110°. The guns could elevate to a maximum of 20° and depress to −6°. Each gun was provided with 180 rounds. They fired shells that weighed 91.27 lb (41.4 kg) with a muzzle velocity of 2600 ft/s (792.5 m/s). They had a maximum range of 12600 yards (11,521.4 m) when fired at maximum elevation.
The anti-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...
armament consisted of twelve 47 millimetres (1.9 in) Hotchkiss gun
Hotchkiss gun
The Hotchkiss gun can refer to different products of the Hotchkiss arms company starting in the late 19th century. It usually refers to the 1.65-inch light mountain gun; there was also a 3-inch Hotchkiss gun...
s. Eight of these were mounted in the superstructure and the locations of the remaining four are unclear. They fired a 3.3 pounds (1.5 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 1476 ft/s (449.9 m/s) at a rate of 20 rounds per minute up to 2020 yards (1,847.1 m). The ship also mounted sixteen 37 millimetres (1.5 in) Hotchkiss guns, eight of which were carried in the fighting top
Top (sailing ship)
On a traditional square rigged ship, the top is the platform at the upper end of each mast. This is not the masthead "crow's nest" of the popular imagination – above the mainmast is the main-topmast, main-topgallant-mast and main-royal-mast, so that the top is actually about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way...
. The locations of the other eight are unknown. They fired a 1.1 pound (0.498951607 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 1450 ft/s (442 m/s) at a rate of 20 rounds per minute. Their maximum range was 3038 yards (2,777.9 m).
Rostislav carried six 15 inches (381 mm) 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...
s. The bow and stern tubes and the aft pair of broadside
Broadside
A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous fire in naval warfare.-Age of Sail:...
tubes were above water. The forward broadside tubes were underwater. The ship carried 50 mines
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
to be used to protect her anchorage.
Protection
The maximum thickness of the Rostislavs waterline beltBelt 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....
was 14.5 inches (368 mm) which reduced to 10 inches (254 mm) abreast the magazine
Magazine (artillery)
Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...
s. It covered 227 feet (69.2 m) of the ship's length and was 7 feet (2.1 m) high. While the exact height of the belt above the designed waterline is unknown, much of it, if not not all, would have been below the waterline as the ship's draft was over 3 foot (0.9144 m) deeper than designed. The belt terminated forward in a 9 inches (229 mm) transverse bulkhead
Bulkhead (partition)
A bulkhead is an upright wall within the hull of a ship or within the fuselage of an airplane. Other kinds of partition elements within a ship are decks and deckheads.-Etymology:...
and aft in a 5 inches (127 mm) bulkhead. The upper belt was 5 inches thick, 7 in 6 in (2.29 m) high and covered 160 feet (48.8 m) of the ship's side. The sides of the main gun turrets were 10 inches thick and they had 2.5 inches (64 mm) roofs. The sides of the 6-inch turrets were 6 inches thick as were the sides of the conning tower
Conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....
. The armor deck
Deck (ship)
A deck is a permanent covering over a compartment or a hull of a ship. On a boat or ship, the primary deck is the horizontal structure which forms the 'roof' for the hull, which both strengthens the hull and serves as the primary working surface...
was flat and located at the upper edge of the main belt. It was 2 inches (5 cm) thick. Below the waterline, forward and aft of the armored citadel
Armored citadel
A term for the armored box enclosing the machinery and magazine spaces. It was formed by the armored deck, the waterline belt and the transverse bulkheads....
, were 3 inches (76 mm) decks.
Construction
Work on Rostislav commenced January 30, 1894. The ship was officially christened May 20, 1894; in line with Russian tradition, the formal laying down ceremony was delayed until May 19, 1895. The contract for oil-firing boilerBoiler (steam generator)
A boiler or steam generator is a device used to create steam by applying heat energy to water. Although the definitions are somewhat flexible, it can be said that older steam generators were commonly termed boilers and worked at low to medium pressure but, at pressures above this, it is more...
s and engines was awarded to Baltic Works
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...
. The armor was rolled in the United States by Bethlehem Steel
Bethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...
within the framework of an earlier contract for Petropavlovsk class battleships. Bethlehem Steel faced the scrutiny of the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs
United States Senate Committee on Armed Services
The Committee on Armed Services is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defense, military research and development, nuclear energy , benefits for members of the military, the Selective Service System and...
for charging the Russians an unusually low "introductory" price of $250 to $300 per ton, compared to $600 to $660 paid by the United States Navy. Senator Benjamin Tillman
Benjamin Tillman
Benjamin Ryan Tillman was an American politician who served as the 84th Governor of South Carolina, from 1890 to 1894, and as a United States Senator, from 1895 until his death in office. Tillman's views were a matter of national controversy.Tillman was a member of the Democratic Party...
publicly accused Bethlehem and Carnegie
Carnegie Steel Company
Carnegie Steel Company was a steel producing company created by Andrew Carnegie to manage business at his steel mills in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in the late 19th century.-Creation:...
of price fixing
Price fixing
Price fixing is an agreement between participants on the same side in a market to buy or sell a product, service, or commodity only at a fixed price, or maintain the market conditions such that the price is maintained at a given level by controlling supply and demand...
and robbing the American taxpayer.According to Senator Benjamin Tillman
Benjamin Tillman
Benjamin Ryan Tillman was an American politician who served as the 84th Governor of South Carolina, from 1890 to 1894, and as a United States Senator, from 1895 until his death in office. Tillman's views were a matter of national controversy.Tillman was a member of the Democratic Party...
, Carnegie Works and Bethlehem Steel formed a trust with an intent to rob the U.S. government on naval armor contracts. The law obliged the U.S. Navy to purchase only U.S.-made steel, thus eliminating competitive choices open to other navies. As a result, the U.S. Navy paid $660 a ton when foreign governments paid only $300. – Serving Two Masters: Naval Officers Employed by Armor Plate Makers. The New York Times, April 28, 1896.
Rostislavs hull was launched on September 2, 1896. Lack of proper cranes in Nikolaev
Mykolaiv
Mykolaiv , also known as Nikolayev , is a city in southern Ukraine, administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv is the main ship building center of the Black Sea, and, arguably, the whole Eastern Europe.-Name of city:...
made the installation of its engines exceedingly difficult, to the point that the navy even considered towing the hull to Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
for completion. The Nikolaev engineers eventually resolved the problem and the ship was ready to sail in July 1897. Rostislav conducted her speed trials
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...
on October 21, 1898, still missing her main guns. Her power plant performed flawlessly, but its weight exceeded the design target by more than 300 tonnes (295 LT).
Non-delivery of the new 10-inch Model 1897 guns, made by the Obukhov Factory
Obukhov State Plant
Obukhov State Plant is a major Russian metallurgy and heavy machine-building plant in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was founded in 1863 to produce naval artillery based on German designs by Krupp. It has since been a major producer of artillery and other military equipment. From 1922 to 1992 it...
in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
for Rostislav, s and s, delayed the completion of Rostislav by two years. One of these guns, earmarked for Admiral Ushakov, exploded at the proving ground and the whole batch was subjected to exhaustive tests and, when possible, repairs. Guns Number 16 through Number 19 passed the tests and were delivered to Sevastopol in July and August 1899. Rostislav was able to sail to her first gunnery trial on April 12, 1900. On the second day of shooting practice the recoil mechanism
Shock absorber
A shock absorber is a mechanical device designed to smooth out or damp shock impulse, and dissipate kinetic energy. It is a type of dashpot.-Nomenclature:...
s of her forward turret failed and more defects were discovered back at the base. Rostislav spent the rest of the spring having her gun mounts repaired, but the problem persisted and the Navy "solved" it by prohibiting them from being used. The gun mounts were rebuilt along the pattern of those used by the armored cruiser
Armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...
in 1901 and 1902, and Rostislav successfully passed the gunnery tests in June 1902. The ship's electrical turret controls, with their 332 contact pairs
Electrical connector
An electrical connector is an electro-mechanical device for joining electrical circuits as an interface using a mechanical assembly. The connection may be temporary, as for portable equipment, require a tool for assembly and removal, or serve as a permanent electrical joint between two wires or...
, required tedious maintenance and proved too complex for most of the enlisted men.
Service
On May 1, 1899, CaptainCaptain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich
Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia
Grand Duke Alexander Mihailovich of Russia, Александр Михайлович Aleksandr Mihailovits was a dynast of the Russian Empire, a naval officer, an author, explorer, the brother-in-law of Emperor Nicholas II, and an advisor of the said Emperor.-Biography: Alexander was born the son of Grand Duke...
assumed command of Rostislav, becoming the first Romanov since Peter I
Peter I of Russia
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...
to command a combat ship. Another Romanov, Grand Duke Kirill, spent a few uneventful months on board Rostislav in 1900. Alexander's guests, parties and diplomatic visits to Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
regularly interfered with the crew's duties, but he personally managed the repairs and alterations of Rostislav′s equipment. Shipyards and contractors treated Rostislav as a priority customer. Alexander, based on his experience with Sisoy Veliky, persuaded the NTC to reinforce Rostislav′s rudder frame and supervised installation of a backup control post deep under the conning tower
Conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....
. In 1903 Alexander was promoted to 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"...
and returned to his ship as a squadron commander. Rostislav served as the junior flagship of the Black Sea Fleet until September 1912.
The 1900 season revealed grave problems with Rostislav′s boilers. Black smoke from burning oil was more conspicuous than coal smoke. Uneven distribution of heat inside the boilers caused severe local overheating, buckling of fireboxes and sudden backdraft
Backdraft
A backdraft is an explosive event at a fire resulting from rapid re-introduction of oxygen to combustion in an oxygen-starved environment, for example, the breaking of a window or opening of a door to an enclosed space. Backdrafts present a serious threat to firefighters, even those with a high...
s. For three and a half months the boilers failed one by one, starting with small auxiliary power units and ending with the main boilers. Oil delivered by the Rothschild-controlled
Rothschild family
The Rothschild family , known as The House of Rothschild, or more simply as the Rothschilds, is a Jewish-German family that established European banking and finance houses starting in the late 18th century...
Russian Standard Oil was not at fault; similar problems were experienced by oil-fired ships of 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...
.
Repairs and alterations of the power plant continued until 1904, when the continuing boiler failures compelled the Navy to dispense with oil fuel and convert Rostislav to coal in 1904 and 1905. Each round of repairs and alterations added more weight to the already over-weight ship, and by 1907 the ship's 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....
was completely below the waterline.
On June 27, 1905, the day of the battleship Potemkin mutiny
Russian battleship Potemkin
The Potemkin was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet. The ship was made famous by the Battleship Potemkin uprising, a rebellion of the crew against their oppressive officers in June 1905...
, Rostislav was sailing under the ensign of Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
Alexander Krieger. 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...
ordered Krieger and his superior, fleet commander Grigory Chukhnin, to destroy the rebels by force, but the admirals refrained from shooting. They let the rebels flee to Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
and later to Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. Krieger's own crew was on the verge of open mutiny. On July 2, 1905, a military council held on board Rostislav decided to moor the ships in Odessa, disconnect the engines from the propellers and let the enlisted men walk ashore at will. By the time of the Ochakov mutiny
Russian cruiser Ochakov
Ochakov is a Kara-class cruiser of the Russian Navy. The ship is on paper stationed in the Russian Black Sea Fleet as of 2011. However the cruiser has not been operational since the early 2000s.- History :...
in November 1905, fleet morale had improved and Krieger did not hesitate to fire two 10-inch and fourteen 6-inch shells against the rebels.
Exercises and casualties
After the Battle of TsushimaBattle 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...
the Imperial Navy concentrated on improving their gunnery skills and fire-control practices. In 1908 Alexei Krylov
Alexei Krylov
Aleksey Nikolaevich Krylov was a Russian naval engineer, applied mathematician and memoirist.-Biography:Alexei Nikolaevich Krylov was born on August 3 O.S., 1863 to the family of an Army Artillery officer in a village Akhmatovo near town Alatyr of the Simbirsk Gubernia in Russia...
and Yevgeny Berkalov led Rostislav on an unprecedented long-range gunnery shoot: Rostislav fired 330 10-inch shells at a distance of eight to ten miles in a few days. The experiment proved that the older ballistic tables
Range of a projectile
right|thumb|250 px|The path of this projectile launched from a height y0 has a range d.In physics, assuming a flat Earth with a uniform gravity field, a projectile launched with specific initial conditions will have a predictable range. As in Trajectory of a projectile, we will use:The following...
used by the Navy were inaccurate. Berkalov compiled the data from the 1908 exercise into the new tables adopted by the Navy. Another of Krylov's initiatives, rapid counter-flooding, was standardized in 1909.
Two plans for modernizing the ship were put forward before World War I. In 1907 the Naval General Staff proposed a major reconstruction aimed at reducing her draft and raising her armor belt higher out of the water. Her above-water torpedo tubes, torpedo nets, auxiliary boilers and 47-millimeter guns would have been removed, her superstructure cut down and her rigging reduced to a single pole mast. These changes would have reduced her displacement by 250 long tons (254 t), but the plan was rejected due to a shortage of money. Her above-water torpedo tubes, however, were removed about this time. In 1912 the staff of the Black Sea Fleet proposed to replace all of her 47 mm guns with four 75 millimetres (3 in) guns and to remove the auxiliary boilers and the submerged torpedo tubes to offset the additional weight. The Naval General Staff did not think that this was worth the cost and rejected the plan. Even though these plans did not come to fruition, other alterations were made to Rostislav before the war. A dozen of her 37 mm guns were removed in 1906 and she was fitted with 15 feet (4.6 m) 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, probably made by Barr and Stroud
Barr and Stroud
Barr & Stroud Limited was a pioneering Scottish optical engineering firm, based in Glasgow, that played a leading role in the development of modern optics, including rangefinders, for the Royal Navy and for other branches of British Armed Forces during the 20th century...
, in 1907 and 1908.
In 1909 and 1910, Rostislav and the rest of the Black Sea Fleet prepared for joint operations with submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s. She was scheduled for an installation of the first Russian underwater acoustic communication
Underwater acoustic communication
Underwater acoustic communication is a technique of sending and receiving message below water . There are several ways of employing such communication but the most common is using hydrophones...
system, but the installation was interrupted and her hardware was installed on the battleship Panteleimon
Russian battleship Potemkin
The Potemkin was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet. The ship was made famous by the Battleship Potemkin uprising, a rebellion of the crew against their oppressive officers in June 1905...
(the former Potemkin) instead. During an anti-submarine exercise on the night of June 11–12, 1909 Rostislav accidentally rammed and sank the submarine Kambala
Karp class submarine
The Karp Class were a group of submarines built by Krupp Germaniawerft for the Imperial Russian Navy. The boats were ordered in the 1904 emergency programme as a result of the Russo-Japanese War. The design was a twin hull type with 7 ballast tanks and a 16 fathom diving limit. The boats were...
. Twenty men of Kambala and two rescue divers died. The accident was blamed on reckless maneuvering by the submarine, and Rostislavs captain was cleared of any negligence or wrongdoing.
Diplomatic incidents
Before the outbreak of World War I Rostislav was involved in two minor international incidents. On August 11, 1911, and Panteleimon, two of the Black Sea Fleet battleships paying a state visit to RomaniaRomania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, ran aground on a shoal
Shoal
Shoal, shoals or shoaling may mean:* Shoal, a sandbank or reef creating shallow water, especially where it forms a hazard to shipping* Shoal draught , of a boat with shallow draught which can pass over some shoals: see Draft...
just off the port of 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....
. Rostislavs officers had detected the hazard and steered her to safety, but did not alert the other ships. The international embarrassment that followed led to the resignation of fleet commander Admiral Ivan Bostrem. During the First Balkan War
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...
Rostislav sailed into the Sea of Marmara
Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, and in the context of classical antiquity as the Propontis , is the inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating Turkey's Asian and European parts. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Black...
to protect the Russian Embassy in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
from a mob. The international "observation fleet" comprised 21 ship, including Rostislav, Goeben
SMS Goeben
SMS Goeben was the second of two Moltke-class battlecruisers of the Imperial German Navy, launched in 1911 and named after the German Franco-Prussian War veteran General August Karl von Goeben...
and Léon Gambetta
French armoured cruiser Léon Gambetta
The Léon Gambetta was a French Navy armoured cruiser of 12,400 tons, the lead ship of the her class. The Gambettas were larger than previous armoured cruisers of the class, but they lacked the heavier firepower. They also were vulnerable to underwater attacks.-Early history:She was launched on 26...
. – Melnikov, p. 29. Rostislav accidentally fired a live shell into the Turkish defenses. No one was injured during the incident, and the captain defused the situation with a personal apology to the Ottoman government.
World War I
Rostislav spent the winter of 1913–14 refitting, and in April 1914 she returned to the active fleet with newly overhauled machinery, new rangefinders and new gun sights. The ship made 15.37 knots (8.4 m/s) on her post-refit trials.On November 4, 1914, the Black Sea Fleet sailed out on its first combat operation of the war: the bombardment of Zonguldak
Zonguldak
Zonguldak is a city and the capital of Zonguldak Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. Its population, according to the 2009 census, was 108,792. It is an important port on the Black Sea because of the coal mining in Zonguldak Province...
. The operation was conceived as a retaliation against the Turkish-German attack on Sevastopol. Rostislav, captained by Kazimierz Porębski
Kazimierz Porebski
Kazimierz Porębski ) was a career naval officer who rose to the position of admiral within the Imperial Russian Navy, and was subsequently the first commander-in-chief of the inter-war Polish Navy.-Biography:...
, was the "designated gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
" while other Russian battleships formed a defensive screen around her. On November 6 Rostislav fired 251 shells at the port of Zonguldak, reducing it to rubble. On November 18 Rostislav faced Goeben during the Battle of Cape Sarych
Battle of Cape Sarych
The Battle of Cape Sarych was a naval engagement fought off the coast of Cape Sarych during the First World War. In November 1914, two modern Ottoman warships, a light cruiser and a battlecruiser, under the German Admiral Wilhelm Souchon engaged a Russian fleet including 5 obsolescent...
, but the German ship broke contact before Rostislav, trailing behind the Russian formation, even spotted her. Rostislav had other encounters with Goeben in 1915 and 1916, but did not engage her directly.Admiral Andrei Eberhardt
Andrei Eberhardt
Andrei Augostovich Eberhardt - was an Admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy of Swedish ancestry.Eberhardt graduated from the Marine Cadet Corps in 1878. From 1882 to 1884 he served in the Pacific Fleet as a signals officer...
deliberately kept Rostislav out of action to protect the old ship from a vastly superior enemy. He reasoned that a ship with 10-inch guns had no place in a fight of 12-inch guns (as had already been proven by the loss of SMS Blücher
SMS Blücher
SMS Blücher was the last armored cruiser to be built by the German Imperial Navy . She was designed to match what German intelligence incorrectly believed to be the specifications of the British s...
in the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915). – Melnikov, pp. 35–36. In 1915 the ship received four 75 mm anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
guns.
After the commissioning of the dreadnoughts, the old battleships were split into independent combat groups. Rostislav became the flagship of the Batumi
Batumi
Batumi is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast and capital of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia. Sometimes considered Georgia's second capital, with a population of 121,806 , Batumi serves as an important port and a commercial center. It is situated in a subtropical zone, rich in...
Group tasked with supporting the ground operations of the Caucasus Army. Their first joint action began February 5, 1916 near Arhavi
Arhavi
Arhavi is a town and district of Artvin Province in the mountains above the Black Sea coast in the east of Turkey.Arhavi is away from Hopa, away from Fındıklı, away from Artvin, away from Rize....
. On the first day alone Rostislav fired 400 shells against the Turks. On March 4 Rostislav and the gunboats Kubanetz and Donetz supported the amphibious landing at Atina
Pazar
Pazar is a town and district of Rize Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, 37 km east of the city of Rize.-Etymology:The town was formerly named Atina and was renamed Pazar 'market' in 1928.-Geography:...
. Three days later Rostislav supported the landing of marines that ended in the capture of Rize
Rize
Rize is the capital of Rize Province, in northeast Turkey, on the Black Sea coast.-Etymology:The name comes from Greek or Ριζαίον , meaning "mountain slopes". In modern times, its name in Greek was usually Ριζούντα . Its Latin forms are Rhizus and Rhizaeum...
. At the end of March Rostislav and Panteleimon forced the Turks to evacuate Trabzon
Trabzon
Trabzon is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Iran in the southeast and the Caucasus to the northeast...
.
In the summer of 1916 the Navy seriously considered an all-out amphibious assault on the Bosphorus. Fleet commander Andrei Eberhardt
Andrei Eberhardt
Andrei Augostovich Eberhardt - was an Admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy of Swedish ancestry.Eberhardt graduated from the Marine Cadet Corps in 1878. From 1882 to 1884 he served in the Pacific Fleet as a signals officer...
anticipated a high risk of naval mine and torpedo hits in the coastal waters and suggested equipping all pre-dreadnought battleships with anti-torpedo bulge
Anti-torpedo bulge
The anti-torpedo bulge is a form of passive defence against naval torpedoes that featured in warship construction in the period between the First and Second World Wars.-Theory and form:...
s. had her bulges fitted in Nikolaev in July 1916, and Rostislav was next in line, but the work was cancelled in August, and Rostislav was transferred to the Romanian coast as flagship of the Constanta Group. Constanta temporarily became an important logistical hub for the Russian troops heading to the Romanian Front, and the base for minelayers, submarines and destroyers harassing the enemy in the Bosphorus area. The Germans responded with air raids; their first aerial success against a Russian naval target was scored against Rostislav. The bomb hit the edge of the aft 10-inch turret and injured sixteen sailors. The turret itself remained fully operational. The collapse of the Romanian Front in October 1916 forced the Navy to evacuate Constanţa. Rostislav returned to Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
for a much-needed overhaul.
Revolution
The February RevolutionFebruary Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
of 1917 did not demoralize the Black Sea Fleet as quickly as the Baltic Fleet. Captain Fyodor Stark, a former destroyer commander, maintained Rostislav in combat-ready condition until the end of the year. The battleship sailed out for her last voyage to Batumi in September and October. Stark managed to contain the radical politics, anti-German sentiment
Anti-German sentiment
Anti-German sentiment is defined as an opposition to or fear of Germany, its inhabitants, and the German language. Its opposite is Germanophilia.-Russia:...
and Ukrainization
Ukrainization
Ukrainization is a policy of increasing the usage and facilitating the development of the Ukrainian language and promoting other elements of Ukrainian culture, in various spheres of public life such as education, publishing, government and religion.The term is used, most prominently, for the...
of the crew, but nevertheless raised the flag of Ukraine
Flag of Ukraine
The flag of Ukraine is the national flag of Ukraine. The national flag was officially adopted for the first time in 1918 by a short-lived Ukrainian People's Republic. At that time the commonly used yellow–blue flag had already turned into blue and yellow and sported a trident in the upper left...
on his return to Sevastopol on October 25. From this moment desertion and "volunteering" into the Red Guards
Red Guards (Russia)
In the context of the history of Russia and Soviet Union, Red Guards were paramilitary formations consisting of workers and partially of soldiers and sailors formed in the time frame of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
intensified, and by December 21 the crew was reduced to 460 enlisted men and 28 officers. In January 1918 the fleet disintegrated completely: the officers fled from the enraged enlisted men, then the enlisted men abandoned the ships and fled from the advancing German Army. On April 29, 1918, the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s managed to extricate two battleships and sixteen destroyers from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk
Novorossiysk
Novorossiysk is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is the country's main port on the Black Sea and the leading Russian port for importing grain. It is one of the few cities honored with the title of the Hero City. Population: -History:...
, but Rostislav and the rest of the fleet remained in Sevastopol.
The German occupation of 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...
from May to November 1918 did not affect the abandoned ship. The Anglo-French forces that replaced the Germans stayed in Sevastopol until April 1919. Before leaving, the British blew up Rostislavs engines on April 25. The White forces
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...
of Baron Wrangel
Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel
Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel or Vrangel was an officer in the Imperial Russian army and later commanding general of the anti-Bolshevik White Army in Southern Russia in the later stages of the Russian Civil War.-Life:Wrangel was born in Mukuliai, Kovno Governorate in the Russian Empire...
used the disabled Rostislav as a floating battery
Floating battery
A floating battery is a kind of armed watercraft, often improvised or experimental, which carries a heavy armament but has few other qualities as a warship.An early appearance was during the Great Siege of Gibraltar....
in the Sea of Azov
Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...
. The ship, manned by a ragtag volunteer crew, was stationed in the shallow waters of the Strait of Kerch
Strait of Kerch
The Kerch Strait connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula in the west from the Taman Peninsula in the east. The strait is to wide and up to deep....
to harass the Reds in Taman
Taman, Russia
Taman is a village in Temryuksky District of Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the coast of the Taman Bay. Population: -History:Taman occupies the site of the ancient cities of Hermonassa and Tmutarakan...
and prevent a landing in the Crimea. After the defeat of Wrangel's land forces, the crew scuttled
Scuttling
Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull.This can be achieved in several ways—valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...
Rostislav in the Strait of Kerch to prevent the Red forces from breaking through to the Black Sea.
When Rostislav sank in the shallows her superstructure remained above water. In 1930 the EPRON
EPRON
EPRON is a Russian language abbreviation for "Экспедиция подводных работ особого назначения", or "Special-Purpose Underwater Rescue Party". It was created in 1923 in the Soviet Union for salvaging of sunken ships and existed until 1941....
salvaged Rostislav′s guns and partially dismantled the hull. According to diver Alexander Yolkin, the remains of the hull are still lying in the strait, around 1200 metres (1,312.3 yd) from the Ukrainian coast, and gradually sinking into the silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
.
Further reading
- Shirokorad, A. B. (1997, in Russian). Korabelnaya artilleriya Rossiyskogo flota 1867–1922. (Корабельная артиллерия Российского флота. 1867–1922). Morskaya Kollekciya, No. 2 (14), 1997, pp. 1–42.