History, Development, and Use
of the Rossiya Class Armored Cruiser

 

This section will cover the history, development, and use of the 'Rossiya' armored cruiser.  In this section you will find where the warship has been used, when it was designed, its limitations and abilities, and how it functions.

Back to
Rossiya Class
Armored Cruiser

 

Brief Operational History

The cruiser Rossiya was first launched from the Russian Baltic Works in St. Petersburg on 12 May 1896.  It was a follow on design to the Rurik class armored cruiser.  As with the Rurik the ship's main guns were located behind shields on sponsons on the upper deck, but unlike the earlier ship it had much better armor.  When the Rossiya was completed the British estimated its cost at over 900,000 pounds Sterling to build.

It first served with the Baltic Fleet, but with the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese war she was transferred to the Far East to support the Pacific squadron in Vladivostok.

The ship has the distinction of being the first warship to use a balloon during an open sea wartime operation.  This was due to the fact that when the Russian navy began to experiment with observation balloons the Rossiya was one of the first ships chosen to operate them.  During the Russo-Japanese war the ship used its balloon on a cruise through the Sea of Japan successfully 13 times between 9-11 May 1904.  On its last flight the balloon's mooring line broke and it was damaged when it hit the surface.

Rossiya would see action later in the war in a surface engagement against Japanese cruisers at the Battle of Ulsan on August 14th.  It suffered heavy damage during the battle, but managed to successfully disengage.  The crew lost 48 men and had 165 men injured.

Following the war in cruiser returned to the Baltic with a detachment of surviving ships.  In 1906 the Rossiya underwent a major refit at Kronstadt that drastically changed her armament.  A half dozen 6 inch guns on sponsons were added to the upper deck, while existing 6 inch guns were moved to new locations.  Three additional 3 inch guns were also added.  All but two of the small quick firing 3 pounder guns were removed, and three of the five torpedo tubes were deleted.  Changes to the masts were also made.  The middle mast was removed and the other two masts were moved further to either end of the ship.  The refit was completed in 1909.

When it returned to service it served with the Baltic fleet until being transferred to the reserves in 1911.  In this capacity is served as a training ship and made several sorties into the Atlantic between 1912 and 1914.

During the Great War the Rossiya served with a squadron of cruisers as a member of the Baltic Fleet.  In September of 1914 she participated in several hit and run raids against German coastal installations.  In 1915 the Rossiya was involved in minelaying operations and combat against light naval forces.  The ship then underwent a refit in 1916 in an effort to improve its armament.  During this refit the ship had two extra 8 inch guns added fore and aft to improve its coverage over those arcs.  Two of the ship's six inch guns were removed at this time as well.

When the Bolsheviks gained control of the Baltic Fleet in 1917 the Rossiya joined them.  It was moved to Kronstadt in May 1918.  The following year the ship's six inch guns were removed and sent to Soviet forces in Riga to assist in the cities defense.

The ship remained in storage at Kronstadt until January 7, 1922 when it was sold to a joint German-Soviet company as scrap.  As it was being towed to Kiel the ship broke free during a storm and ran aground near Tallin.  The ship was eventually put back to sea by elements of the Soviet Baltic Fleet and it completed its journey to Kiel where it was scrapped later that year.

  

Tactical Use and Limitations

The Rossiya was designed as a ship of the line that would form part of a squadron when sent to engage an enemy fleet.  It did this during the Russo-Japanese war when it fought Japanese cruisers at the Battle of Ulsan.  The ship was, in many respects a fairly typical Russian cruiser with no outstanding qualities.

It did have a number of limitations, however as the Rossiya was considered by many to be an inferior design to the earlier Rurik.  The ship was thought to be undergunned for a ship its size.  Its guns were poorly laid out and lacked any reasonable degree of protection.  Attempts were made to improve the gun locations and firing arcs in 1906 and 1916, but these were improvisations at best.  The ship was also considered to be too slow, and could only use two of its three shafts at full power.  When the center shaft was used for cruising the outer two were disconnected.  This was a highly inefficient method of propulsion.

 

Deployment Chronology

The Rossiya was one of many heavily armed cruisers that the Russians built during the 1880's and 1890's.  As each cruiser was put to sea they learned new lessons and incorporated them into later vessels.  Here you can see what ship the Rossiya followed and which ship followed it in the design process.  You can go the the vessels when we add them to our site by clicking the links below.

 

The Rossiya replaced... Rossiya Class Armored Cruiser The Rossiya  was followed by...
Armored Cruiser Rurik Armored Cruiser Gromoboi

 

Sources Cited

Here are some of the most informative sources that we have used in compiling this information for you.  We hope you can find them as useful as we have.