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Since the “Bogatyr” had drunk too much, it turned out to be not entirely wealthy (I would even say not at all wealthy), and the replacement of 6000-ton trucks is still needed, I decided to take on the “Bayan” too much, which I initially refused. This time should be less controversial. And yes, in the description of the design and construction progress, elements of the article on Bogatyr will be partially used - I see no point in writing the same thing in different words.

Design and construction

Entered into operation "Bayan". I decided not to photoshop, because he is already beautiful.

Without going into detailed historical details that are known to most, I will describe the conditions for the emergence of the Bogatyr project only in general terms. According to the shipbuilding program “For the needs of the Far East” adopted on February 20, 1898, the newly created Pacific Fleet was to be replenished as soon as possible with 6 cruisers with a displacement of 5-6 thousand tons. They had to perform 3 main tasks:

Long-range reconnaissance;

Cruise operations against enemy shipping;

Participation in squadron combat along with squadron battleships;

Due to the workload of domestic shipyards, it was planned to build 4 out of 6 ships abroad; in addition, an international competition was announced for drafting the project. According to its terms, the ITC had to choose one of the competitive projects for serial construction ("for uniformity", which the Minister of Marine Nevsky insisted on). Because of this, as well as many other stringent requirements, only three firms participated in the final of the competition - the German "Volcano" and "Germany" and the American "Krump". Later, the French Forge and Chantier joined them. One of the main requirements of the project was superiority over the Japanese armored cruiser Kasagi.

Initially, the cruisers were supposed to become armored, but already during the competition, processing began. All 4 competitive projects (+1, submitted by the Baltic Shipyard) exceeded the design displacement of 6000 tons, and the Forge and Chantier project turned out to be equipped with belt armor in general (together with an excess displacement of 1.3 thousand tons). However, it was he who attracted the attention of the Minister of Marine, who immediately changed the terms of the project - the cruisers were to become armored, for which the displacement increased by 2000 tons. Certain problems arose with funding, which needed to be increased due to the growth in displacement of ships. Here the minister enlisted the support of Emperor Nicholas II, and funds were urgently found.

Large armored cruisers Rank I, like the Dian being built at domestic shipyards, because of their size, are a good target. Sufficient for cruising and limited for reconnaissance, in a collision with an enemy armed with rapid-fire artillery, 6000-ton armored cruisers risk losing their combat capability faster than they can perform their main functions. By this, I recognize the construction of such ships as a senseless waste of money - it is better to spend more, but get cruisers suitable for cruising, reconnaissance, and squadron combat to the same extent.

From a letter from the Minister of the Navy to Emperor Nicholas II

According to the new terms of reference, the cruisers were to have a displacement of no more than 8,000 tons, armament of 12 152/45-mm and 12 75/50-mm guns, a speed of at least 22 knots, and an economic cruising range of at least 5,000 miles. The armor belt was considered sufficient with a maximum thickness of 127 mm.

The first to drop out were the Krump and Germany projects, which had too short armored belts and did not guarantee the development of a speed of 22 knots. Nevertheless, the firms agreed to build ships according to someone else's project, trying to get at least some benefit from the order.

The Vulcan project was the most attractive option, fully meeting the requirements of the customer, but this is what threw it back in comparison with its competitor, the Forge and Chantier cruiser.

The French project, developed by engineer Lagan, fully complied with the task for certain items such as speed and armor protection, while being inferior in range (3900 miles with an economic move). At the same time, he had a significant advantage over the Vulcan project - in addition to 12 152-mm guns, he carried 2 203-mm guns in the towers, in addition, he was promised a speed of 22.5 knots - more than the contract. The French project interested the Minister of Marine, thanks to which he managed to "push through" the ship despite the opposition of the admirals, who dreamed of cruisers-raiders with a minimum cruising range of 5,000 miles.

The construction of all units of the series was carried out at a fairly fast pace, and the ancestor of the series, the Bayan, built at French shipyards, was put into operation the fourth of six, barely having time to arrive at Far East to the start of the war with Japan. The Krampovsky cruiser "Varyag" was built the fastest of all, while between the head of the company and maritime minister there was a conflict that led to the cooling of a promising relationship between the Russian fleet and one of the largest shipyards in the United States. The conflict itself was caused by Kramp's desire to install Nikloss boilers on his ships. And if he managed to put these boilers on the Retvizan, then in the case of high-speed cruisers of the 1st rank, he was refused, despite the persistent efforts of the American to convince the admirals and the naval minister.

Before the war, 4 ships were built, 2 more were commissioned during the war (both Russian-built). All of them exceeded the contract power of the machines (by 200-500 hp) and the design speed of 22.5 knots during tests, which approved the Norman boilers as cruising boilers in the Russian Imperial Fleet.

Bayan after commissioning

"Accordion","Forges et chantiers de la Méditerranée", Toulon - 12/21/1898/05/20/1900/12/1903

"Bogatyr","Volcano", Stettin - 03.1899 / 17.01.1901 / 08.1902

"Askold","Germany", Kiel - 10/24/1898/03/02/1900/1902

"Varangian", William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia - 10/10/1899/10/31/1899/01/02/1901

"Knight", New Admiralty, St. Petersburg - 10/21/1900/05/12/1902/04/03/1904

"Oleg", New Admiralty, St. Petersburg - 07/06/1902/08/14/1903/06/24/1904

Fast "Bayan"

"Varyag" in a typical color of the Pacific Fleet

What do we need from Bayan? First of all, shuffle the ES and booking. The first must be strengthened, bringing the maximum speed to 22 knots, the second must be weakened so that there is a margin of displacement for making changes. In addition, it would not hurt to strengthen the medium-caliber battery by adding 4 152/45-mm guns.

1) Let's take a power plant similar to Bogatyrevskaya with a specific power of 16.25 hp / t. In this case, with the same weight as the prototype, 20 Norman boilers (6 each in two stern and 4 each in two bow KOs) and the same Admiralty K, the new Bayan will receive an 21,500 hp power plant, which will give a speed of 22.65 knots, which is pleasing to the eye. In theory, it would be possible to limit ourselves to this, since at the speed of all Kasagi, our Bayan is not weakly armored and seriously armed, but not our method. Move on.

2) In the monograph on "Bayan" from EKSMO there is a clear weight distribution of individual elements of body armor. This allows us to clearly determine how much weight savings will be made by cutting or adding armor in certain places - a much higher accuracy than my usual calculations. First of all, we will cut the main belt with a thickness of 100-200 mm to 75-150 mm, i.e. by 1/4, which will give us -107.5 tons in weight;

3) Cutting the lower aft beam by 1/4, from 200 to 150 mm will give us -6 tons;

4) Let's cut off the upper belt on a purely symbolic 5 mm in order to get 75 (55 + 10 + 10) mm of armor protection as a result, which gives us -19.8 tons;

5) Similarly, the upper stern beam, trimmed by 5 mm, will give us -1.3 tons;

6) By reducing the protection of casemates from 80 to 75 mm (it will also be 55 + 10 + 10), we get a saving of -10.4 tons;

7) Let's reduce the thickness of the barbettes by 2/17, or from 170 to 150 mm, which will give us -22.4 tons;

8) Let's shoot 8 75-mm guns. The exact weight of one cannon with all the stray items (cellars, supply) is in the same monograph from EKSMO Vinogradov and Fedechkin, for which many thanks to them. As a result, savings -136.8 tons. However, in the course of calculations, I got an error in calculating the weight of one 75-mm cannon with stray, so the savings will come out less - -61.8 tons;

9) We will increase the armor protection of the roofs of the towers to 50 mm, or by 2/3 - +2.76 tons;

10) Add KO casings, which IMHO are simply necessary on any ship, 30 mm thick, 4 pcs - +115 tons;

11) It’s also worth adding armor grates, which were so lacking on the real Bayan, which in total will give about +10 tons (although I don’t clearly imagine their design, therefore I proceed from the calculation of 2.5 tons per pipe);

12) It is also worth increasing the thickness of all decks (this includes the roofs of the casemates), which in reality was a bit thin - only 30 mm (however, +10 mm of soft shipbuilding steel under hard steel also works here twice). We increase it to the “armored standard” of 50 mm, or by 2/3 - +228.7 tons;

13) We install 4 additional 152-mm guns in deck installations. Each of these with all the stray items (cellar, feed, the installation itself with reinforcements) weighs 38.4 tons (thanks to Vinogradov and Fedechkin), together +153.6 tons.

TOTAL:

The normal displacement has increased from 7805 to 8011 tons (round up to 8015, it's more beautiful, but I like beautiful numbers);

The draft will increase by about 12 cm (again, thanks to Vinogradov and Fedechkin for their chic monograph on Bayan in determining the growth of the draft);

With a power of 21500 hp. and Admiralty K = 213, the maximum speed without forcing will be 22.53 knots, and taking into account the increased draft, it will be somewhere around 22.45-22.5 knots;

Actually, that's all. I got exactly what I wanted - a high-speed armored cruiser with powerful weapons, an invulnerable 6000-tonne with high unarmored sides, and not a slow "asamoid", the whole point of which is the desire to get an analogue of an armadillo at a reduced price.

Small edit

Colleague Goncharov Artem pointed out a critical lack of armor protection - a thin armored belt at the extremities and the fact that the armored deck adjoins the upper edge of the belt, and not the lower one (as I thought for some reason). Consequently:

We remove the thickening of the deck - -228.7 tons;

We thicken what I originally wanted to thicken (grabbing along with the decks) - the roofs of the casemates and the roof of the conning tower up to 50 mm. I have no idea what the area of ​​\u200b\u200bsuch armor protection will be, therefore I estimate the weight approximately - +50 tons;

We cancel the cutting of the main belt - +107.5 tons.

In total, we still have 70.5 tons left to maneuver. Is it a lot or a little? Enough. The main belt of the real Bayan, 100-200 mm thick, 115 m long and 1.8 meters high, weighs 430 tons. If we replace it with an evenly thickened belt 150 mm thick, then it will cost 495.9 tons in weight. We also have a weight savings of 4.6 tons! Fine. This means that our main belt is now 150 mm. The displacement can be considered unchanged.

Tactical and technical characteristics

"Oleg" in the coloring of the Pacific Squadron of the Baltic Fleet by Amiral Skrydlov

Displacement: 8090 tons

Dimensions: 136.5x17.5x6.82 m

Mechanisms: 2 shafts, 2 PM VTR, 20 Norman boilers, 21500 hp = 22 nodes

Fuel supply: 750/1200 tons

Range: 3900 miles (10 knots)

Armor (krupp): main belt 150 mm, upper belt 75 mm (55+10+10), traverses 75-150 mm, casemates 75 mm (55+10+10), deck 50 mm (30+10+10), towers 150 mm, roofs towers 50 mm, barbettes 150 mm, cabin 160 mm

Armament: 2 203/45 mm, 12 152/45 mm, 12 75/50 mm, 4 57/50 mm guns, 2 381 mm torpedo tubes

Crew: 25/570 people

Universal cruiser?

What did we get as a result? In my opinion, such a ship is a prototype of future turbine powered belt cruisers, and adjusted for a steam engine (which gives more reservations at high speeds), such a cruiser can do the following:

To sink the armored cruisers of the enemy, which are slower than him or do not have superior speed - and these are almost all Japanese cruisers;

Act as the leader of destroyer fleets, linking enemy ships in battle;

Go for long-range reconnaissance - in the presence of an armored belt, such a scout is more likely to return;

Fight as part of linear squadrons, although in this case our light armored cruiser becomes very vulnerable to enemy artillery;

To go cruising against enemy shipping - in this case, no counter-raider measures are terrible, because from any heavy artillery. the ship can be easily escaped, and the enemy's high-speed ships will be less armed and the armor of the cruiser will provide reliable protection from their shells;

Carry out raiding sabotage operations. For example, while the Japanese fleet is anchored off the Eliot Islands, “counter” battleships, 3 “Bayans” raid Nagasaki, drown everything that the Japanese can oppose to them (old troughs like “Fuso”), and are washed off, having managed to pretty shit the Japanese;

In general, as for me, such cruisers, although few and expensive, are extremely effective when used correctly. So by the time the RYAV began, these were perhaps the only cruisers of the 1st rank that I can really recognize - not the 21-knot "Bayan" and not the 6000-ton armored decks, but such an 8000-ton nasty speedboat.

At the same time, at the request of my colleague Alex-cat, I post a comparison of the performance characteristics of the real and my “Bayans”.

Small armored cruisers of the 1st rank, the project was developed in France. Despite the decrease
displacement and dimensions, in their armor protection they surpassed the "Russia", and in terms of the power of the side salvo they were not so much inferior (2-203-mm, 4-152-mm versus 2-203-mm and 7-152-mm).

The thickness of the main belt (Krupp cemented armor, on Bayan I - Harvey nickel) was 203 mm in the center and 102 mm at the extremities, the upper one, reaching the main deck along the MO and KO - 63 mm. The main belt went from the stem to the aft 203 mm turret, resting against the 178-203 mm traverses. Its upper edge was at the level of 60 cm above the waterline, the lower one - 1.2 meters below its level. Casemates of 152 mm guns and a battery of eight 75 mm guns were protected by 63 mm armor. The area of ​​the armored side was 30%, which was a big step forward compared to previous Russian ships of this class, but still inferior to the armor of Japanese cruisers.

The silhouette was characterized by four tall and relatively narrow chimneys, between which a single mast was mounted; subsequently it was dismantled and replaced by two - in front of the pipes and behind them.
203-mm guns were placed in spaced at the tip of the tower, 152-mm - in casemates. An armored citadel with 75-mm and small-caliber guns was located in the midship area. The location of the main guns was original: to ensure firing at the traverses, special cutouts had to be made in the sides. But, despite all the tricks, the short forecastle did not provide proper seaworthiness.

At first, only Bayan was built, but the huge losses of the Russian fleet in the war with Japan forced a return to the construction of its analogues in 1905 (credits for the emergency construction of new ships in compensation for combat losses were allocated by the Naval Department back in mid-1904).

As a result, the cruisers "Bayan-second", "Pallada-second", "Admiral Makarov" and "Rurik-second" were ordered. "Admiral Makarov" was built in France, the other two - in St. Petersburg. They differed little from their progenitor: for example, 381-mm torpedo tubes were replaced by 457-mm ones, the thickness of some armor elements was changed. However, if the first "Bayan" in 1900 was a very good ship, then ten years later its "sisterships" already looked very weak in terms of artillery weapons.

All four units of the series were in the Baltic Fleet.

The first "Bayan" was sunk in the inner roadstead of Port Arthur (in the Eastern Basin) by shells from Japanese siege mortars. After the capture of Mount Vysoka, Japanese spotters clearly observed the panorama of the raid with Russian ships standing on it.

The shooting of the cruiser began on the morning of 11/8/12/1904 and continued until 17:00, and out of 320 fired shells of 280 mm and 152 mm calibers, 9-10 hit the cruiser. Fires in the living deck forced the crew to flood both 203-mm and all bow cellars, the cruiser landed with her nose on the ground, water began to flow inside. Until 11 am the next day, Bayan was hit by nine more 280-mm shells, it tipped to the port side and sat on the ground. All rooms on the living deck were flooded. There were no losses in the crew, since all the officers and sailors went ashore before the start of the shelling.

The ship, sitting on the ground near the shore near the Golden Mountain, was captured by the Japanese already on January 2, 1905, but was raised only a year later. In 1906-1908, she underwent repairs and refitting at Maizuru, after which she entered service under the name "Aso". According to some reports, the ship lost one of the steam engines, and the power of its mechanisms fell to 16,500 hp.

Armament included 2-203-mm, 8-152-mm and 16-76-mm guns, but in 1913 the Japanese replaced the towers with 8-inch guns with two 152-mm L / 50 Armstrong guns in deck shield installations (the rest 152-mm guns were the old Russian guns). Two machine guns were installed on the cruiser, torpedo tubes were removed, the displacement was 7800 tons.

"Aso" turned out to be a trophy centenarian in the imperial fleet - he was listed in combat strength until 1930. From 1920 it was turned into a mine layer (it took up to 420 minutes). The ship became the first Japanese minelayer with pronounced combat qualities - the prototype of the cruiser-layers of the thirtieth heads.

In April 1930, Aso was decommissioned, converted into a blockship and renamed Haikun No. 4. Later it served as a floating target and sank to the bottom during training firing from 200-mm shells from the heavy cruiser Myoko on 08/08/1932.

09/28/1914 "Pallada" and the cruiser "Bayan" at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland were seen by the German submarine U-26. At 11.10, when the lead Pallada was at a distance of 500 meters, the boat fired a torpedo. The explosion caused the detonation of ammunition, after which the cruiser almost instantly sank with the entire crew (597 people).

"Admiral Makarov" and the second "Bayan" were later equipped with two 75-mm and two 47-mm anti-aircraft guns; ships could take up to 150 minutes. In May 1918 they were handed over to the port (they were simply left to rust), and in the summer of 1922 they were sold for scrap to Germany.

With the Bayan project, the Russian fleet made a clearly overdue by the end of the 19th century. transition from the construction of single ocean raiders to a cruiser for close interaction with the squadron battleships. It was a right step in the right direction, and one could only rejoice at the successful transition of the fleet to a new, higher level of cruising that meets the requirements of the times. But everything turned out to be not so simple and optimistic. Among the Bayan cruisers built before the war, there was only one, and the choice of its characteristics, as it soon became clear, was not the most optimal.

Note. OCR: There are text fragments in the old spelling.

4. “Disguised” “Patois”

4. “Disguised” “Patois”

The assignment to design a new cruiser, however, did not leave St. Petersburg for more than a month. Whether the reason for this was the expectation of the august decision of the Admiral General, internal friction between the MTC, the Main Staff, or, perhaps, negotiations with a French company, but during the period from May 7 to June 11, 1897, the design task managed to acquire very significant additions. The motives and initiators of these changes in the documents were not clarified, and some indirect way - as if everyone wanted to evade direct involvement in the order - was a strange way of transferring the changed project assignment to the company. It was sent with a letter “For the Chief of the Main Staff” by Vice Admiral Ya.A. Giltebrandt (1842–1915) to the commander of the cruiser Svetlana. By this letter, dated June 11, 1897, A.M. Abaza was secretly forwarded copies of the MTK journal of April 29, 1897 No. 58 and the journal of the meeting chaired by the "Manager of the Naval Ministry on the issue of ordering a new cruiser for the Baltic Fleet."

The GMSH letter said that these two documents were reported to the Admiral General, and he confirmed the cruiser's displacement limit of 6700 tons. It was not allowed to increase this limit above 7000 tons. “In development of the resolution of the meeting on the issue of ordering a new cruiser,” the headquarters, on the orders of the Manager, added: 1) If necessary, to go over the limit of 6700 tons, the design company to increase the displacement to 7000 tons had to ask for the permission of the Manager. 2) “In view of the special importance of maintaining the planned navigation area for the new cruiser at 10 knots, the ministry agreed to accept an additional supply of coal on the ship with an overload of up to 50% of the normal supply. 3) It was reminded of the need to provide "general good side armor for better protection against artillery." It is, as already pointed out at the meeting Chief Inspector shipbuilding, it was supposed to have a height above the waterline of at least 16% of the width of the hull, that is, to the first deck above the carapace or upper deck. 4) “So that when all the combat elements named in the journal of the meeting are placed in the cruiser,” the design firm sought to “place 8-inch guns in closed towers, similar to the way it was done in the project of the Forge and Chantier factories developed in relation to the Patois cruiser” and in terms of displacement not exceeding 6000 tons. 5) The number of linear guns needed to be increased to five.

These additions make us assume, firstly, the existence of some additional projects (or negotiations about them) not mentioned in the documents, and secondly, undoubtedly, a replacement suggested by the company for a structurally and technologically closer cruiser Patois. These additions, which today would be said to be the right step in the right direction, still did not constitute the fundamental change that would lead to a full-fledged turret cruiser type. A tribute to the French fashion were single-gun turrets, which had not been used in the Russian fleet for a long time. One can clearly feel the painful struggle in the minds of the specialists of the Naval Ministry between the concept of cruiser warfare that remained in force and the tasks of a squadron battle that are more and more clearly understood. And the first, apparently, despite the decrease in displacement (the mastodons of the Rurik and Peresvet classes seemed to be moving aside), still prevailed. And the French in the correct understanding of the purpose of the cruiser could not help.

The entire subsequent course of consideration and adjustment of the project became an immersion in the usual swamp repeated for each new ship and a web of endless revisions of unimportant design solutions and deviations from previously presented requirements. This endless “Penelopine work”, as I.F. Likhachev, was the main content and purpose of the existence of the ITC, which was downright swimming in the redrawing of projects. It would be much simpler, more reliable and cheaper to choose one of the Western designs available on the world market (as is now the case with orders for cars, planes, video and office equipment) and place an order for it, taking into account only very minor remarks and improvements.

Own projects, justified by real state necessity, should have long been streamlined by a system of deeply thought-out basic standards that correspond to the accepted shipbuilding program. So the Pallada-type project of 1895 was followed by a yacht model of the Svetlana ordered in the same year, and now, again on the basis of random views of the admirals, a single sample of a cruiser with an armor belt was also ordered. And ahead was a frantic orgy of new creative delight - an order (this was truly a work of national importance!) squadron battleships on six significantly different projects.

Least of all thought about the problems of shipbuilding, "His Excellency" Pavel Petrovich Tyrtov. This ordinary official in the admiral's uniform managed to leave a lot of legacy in all senior positions - in 1885-1891. - assistant to the head of the Main School of Music, in 1891-1893. - Squadron leader Pacific Ocean, in 1893–1896 - head of the GUKiS, in 1896–1903. - Managing the Maritime Ministry. More than anyone else, he could help the fleet choose the optimal types of promising ships on the eve of the war with Japan and prevent the fleet from being in that shameful state of complete unpreparedness for war, in which the Japanese attack found it on January 27, 1904. But all these In the twenty years preceding the war, he, as the most successful agent of enemy influence, tirelessly stifled all manifestations of initiative and creativity.

“His Excellency” turned out to be unable to get from the ITC either short deadlines and businesslike, rather than petty-corrosive consideration of projects, and even, it would seem, did not require the directive establishment of a displacement reserve in projects. On it, up to 5% of the norm, especially far-sighted admirals insisted more than once at meetings. This characteristic was not, however, in the tables attached to the projects of cruisers when they were considered by the MTK magazine on shipbuilding dated December 12, 1897 No. 137. On this day, three projects were discussed (on 12 pages of the magazine), which in October-November 1897 g. came from France.

Two projects (7550 tons and 7800 tons) of the Le Havre and Toulon branches of the Mediterranean company and one (6741 tons) of the Loire Society were compared with the Diana-type project (6682 tons). The project of the Toulon Society was recognized as more realistically justified, in which (in brackets information on the Diana type) the components of the load (as a percentage of the displacement) were distributed as follows: the hull with accessories and auxiliary mechanisms 39.93 (39.0), booking 18, 97 (11.76), artillery 7.28 (5.65), mine weapons and netting 0.51 (1.86), machinery 17.82 (23.84), fuel 9.61 (11.97) , other cargoes: crew, provisions and water, spars, anchors and chains, supplies, boats, emergency cargoes and other 5.88 (5.92).

With unheard of detail - in an extremely extensive table (by 50 characteristics) information was presented on the mechanisms of projects - three Mediterranean societies (two Havre branches, one Toulon) and one Loire society. They included cylinder sizes and piston strokes, propeller diameters and pitches, number of elements in boilers and “economizers”, piston speed and revolutions, length of elements and diameter of tubes in boilers, grate area and number of indicator forces per 1 square foot of area. etc. There were only no criteria by which it was possible to compare and evaluate all these characteristics, and with them - the projects themselves. The specific weights of the mechanisms and the specific fuel consumption differed insignificantly in the projects, and the preference for one over the other was not at all obvious. It is hardly possible to fully justify this choice even today.

The decision in favor of the Toulon project was apparently influenced by the largest fuel supply - 1000 tons (although this was less than 9.61% of the "weight data" in the table) and the company's willingness to test at a contractual 21-knot speed with normal displacement , the largest number of Belleville boilers was envisaged in this project (26 instead of 24 in other projects, and economizers, although the 2nd version of the Havre Society with the use of Norman-Sigodi boilers promised the largest heating surface. Both Havre projects expected to reach the contract speed only with a reduced (it was (this is then the custom among firms) “displacement on trial” (7550 tons instead of 8995 and 6950 tons instead of 7760 tons of normal displacement). Attainability of such a speed with a normal displacement of 6742 tons, as the Loire Society calculated (it offered only 800 tons of coal t, perhaps because of the comparison with the type of the 6731-ton Pallas), they simply did not believe it. one) contract practice, where much in the motives of decisions remained hidden from the eyes of an outsider.

(Side view showing armor and top view showing sectors of fire of guns)

For these or other reasons, but as a result of a heated debate, captured for history on 15 pages of text and another 4 pages of tables (a new indicative example of the then methods of making design decisions), the choice leaned in favor of the Toulon project. The very next day a resolution appeared in magazine No. 132.

“...His Highness magazine approved, His Highness's bow submersible recognizes as redundant. Enter into immediate communication with the Toulon Society to consider the comments of the ITC and conclude a contract upon submission of detailed specifications. Meanwhile, the ITC, with admirable stubbornness, continued to cling to the highest prescription for limiting a displacement of 7000 tons. Not wanting to know about the “laws of development sea ​​power”(An article under this title was published in May 1898 by Lieutenant N.N. Khladovsky), confirming the objective immutability of the growth in the displacement of ships as they improve from type to type and not at all looking back at any “O” Higgins”, “Asama ” and 8000-ton projects all tried to “compress” the Toulon cruiser project according to all the characteristics available to arbitrariness.

By reducing the width of the hull by 1.37 feet (the ratio of length to width was 8), the power of the mechanisms from 16500 hp. up to 13485 hp (saving 245 tons) and coal reserves by 140 tons, a total decrease in the thickness of the armor of the waterline belt (by 1 dm), towers and casemates, a reduction in the length of the casemates and the belt along the waterline, etc. heroically “scraped up” 812 tons of Krokhobor economy.

At the same time, they did not deviate from their intentions, in order to clarify the design tasks, to load the ship with additional, for some reason previously forgotten requirements and improvements. However, they were to a certain extent dictated by the intensification of creativity in the ITC, which occurred with the adoption in December 1897 of a grandiose shipbuilding program “for the needs of the Far East” and the development of tasks for the design of new ship projects provided for in it.

It is not surprising that among the first contenders for orders was the same plant in La Seine, whose director A. Lagan, following Ch. once, one must think, visited St. Petersburg. Here, bypassing any international competition he received an order for the construction of the famous “Tsesarevich”, which turned the whole program around. The firm proposed this project to the Ministry on May 26, 1898. On June 2, it was approved by the MTK magazine No. 62, amazingly laconic, without any trace of friction, and already on July 8, 1898, the contract was signed.

Along the way, things were also decided on the cruiser project. Guided by the interests of getting an order for the construction of an armadillo as soon as possible (in advance of competitors), the company with rare compliance agreed with the vast majority of the additional requirements presented to it. This happened during the discussion of drawings, specifications and a draft contract for the construction of a cruiser with a displacement of 7800 tons. From the journal No. 54 of May 16, 1898 and the subsequent entry, which on May 22 in French, the director of the company La Seine A. Lagan, while in St. Petersburg, presented in the MTK, it followed that changes in the project require an increase in the load by 227.15 tons. The company, for all its compliance, agreed to take into account design changes in the project, expressed only in 170.08 tons of additional load. True, it did not take into account the assessment of the corresponding decrease in the metacentric height, which apparently did not enter into practice (as German factories soon began to do), was not taken into account.

The final result of all the clarifications was summed up by the MTK magazine No. 58 of May 26, 1898 and the resolution “His Excellency Pavel Petrovich”.

The magazine said that, having considered the note written in French dated May 22 by the director of the firm Forge and Chantier in response to the decisions of the magazine No. 54, the MTC recognizes the validity of the objections expressed in it. Indeed, all presented to the firm Additional requirements cannot be taken into account "without a significant more or less increase in the cruiser's displacement of 7800 tons or the destruction of the wooden plating." In this case, the ITC admitted, all of its requirements can be fulfilled "with the cruiser's assigned displacement of 7800 tons."

Not daring to draw the attention of the authorities to a more suitable type of cruisers for confrontation with the Japanese fleet (Asama had already been launched in 1989) to the type already adopted for cruisers new program the exception of wooden cladding with copper, gathered in the person of two present - the chairman of the meeting - the Chief Inspector of Shipbuilding N.E. Kuteynikov and senior shipbuilder N.E. Titov with the subsequent approval of the chairman of the ITC, Vice Admiral I.M. Dikov's decision was at the discretion of the Superintendent. And “His Excellency”, in his incredibly terrible handwriting (and always for some reason with a dull pencil), which forced almost all of his resolutions to enclose the decoding done by the clerk, scrawled: “The proposed cruiser should be built without wooden sheathing so as not to go beyond the limit of the specified displacement. P. Tyrtov 27/V 98”.

The fate of the project was now decided irrevocably.

On June 3, 1898, from the MTK, they reminded the GUKiS of agreeing with many of the arguments of the plant, but about the casings chimneys the previous requirement was repeated: to bring them in height to the upper edges. According to the model adopted in the Russian fleet, it was also necessary to complete the conning tower. In view of the cancellation of the wooden hull plating with copper in the drawing of the previously approved constructive midship frame, the changes made by the company were approved: increasing the height of the middle internal vertical keel and floors, installing side keels, connecting sheets of steel outer plating smoothly on the internal groove strips and with a wooden lining under the side armor . It was also required to provide for at least a 6-inch height of the ribs of the racks behind the armor and to find a place “for a dressing station and a room for the wounded”, as was provided for by the MTK magazine of June 2, 1898 No. 59 for all newly built ships.

On June 10, 1898, from the GUKiS to the MTK, it was reported that the final version of the contract was ready, and on June 26, a statement of the changes that the director of the Lagan company personally made to the contract in accordance with the requirements presented to him was transferred from the MTK to the GUKiS.

In accordance with the contract signed on July 8, 1898 by A. Lagan and the Head of the GUKiS, Vice Admiral V.P. Verkhovsky, the cruiser was supposed to have a length between perpendiculars of 135.0 m, a width amidships along the cargo waterline of 17.5 m, an intry depth (hull height) from the keel to the straight beams of the upper deck - 11.6 m, a deepening at full draft 6, 7 m. There was no trim. At full load, not counting the supply of 160 tons of fresh water in a double bottom to feed the boilers, the displacement was to be 7,802,625 kg. (The time of A.N. Krylov, who, having become the chairman of the ITC, began to fight mercilessly with such accuracy in thousands of tons, has not yet come).

In its composition, having already switched to kilograms, the company’s supply included 4,838,000 kg for a “hull with complete internal arrangement and accessories”, together with armor 1,390,900 kg for a “steam engine and water in boilers” and another 162,125 kg for various items of load and provision for the installation of artillery (125,500 kg) and mine (4,000 kg) weapons were not included in the delivery. The rest of the cargo of 1,412,599 kg, including 30,000 kg of "miscellaneous", 432,500 kg of "artillery", 40,000 kg of "mines", 70,000 kg of crew and 750,000 kg of coal - were not included in the delivery, then have been delivered by the customer.

"The power of the machines on a 24-hour test" was to be 16,000 hp, speed 21 knots. The company undertook to build the hull at its shipyard in La Seine, the machines in the mechanical workshops of the company in Marseille (which, as it turned out, was not entirely true), the boilers - in the workshops of Delon-Belleville and Co. in San Denis near Paris.

Penalties were stipulated in detail (according to the degree of deviations from the contract speed and deepening). It was allowed to increase to 7.16 m, but on condition that under normal load the height of the belt armor on the midships was not less than 0.6 m. The width of the hull could be increased, but so that the metacentric height remained in the range from 1.069 m to 1.333 m.

The term of construction “in readiness for testing on the high seas” was 36 months from the date of conclusion of the contract. Such a duration could be associated with a corresponding concession in the cost of the order, which was always the subject of a particularly stubborn bargaining. In addition to 36 months, the company also received a very generous 4-month period for testing and acceptance.

The cost of the order - 16,500,000 francs was paid in accordance with the agreed 15 degrees of work completion. The guarantee was assigned 12 months from the date of acceptance.

The contract was accompanied by a detailed list of 103 points - a list of changes and additions to the project approved by the Manager, provided for by magazines No. 54 and 58 on shipbuilding. The first point, along with the abolition of the outer wooden (made of teak beams - P.M.) and copper sheathing, respectively, was replaced by cast steel, and all the bronze stems, the steering wheel and other parts adjacent to them provided for by the specification. The thickness of the outer skin of the hull increased by 1.5 mm in one third of the length and by 1 mm at the ends. The armor belt needed to be installed on a 100 mm teak lining. The supply to the bathrooms was stipulated, in addition to salt, as well as fresh water. The length of the beds was stipulated not less than 2 m, telephones from the conning tower were allowed only Kolbasyev's systems. They were then considered superior to Western models. The rate of supply of charges (one projectile and two half-charges) to 8-inch guns was stipulated at least 10-15 seconds. The dimensions of the conning tower increased while maintaining the same thickness of the armor. “Under the protection of armor” (p. 102) there should have been a dressing station.

Eleven separate specifications contained all the same numerical characteristics, specific indicators of all ship systems with the dimensions of parts that the company was obliged to implement in its project and which exhaustively disclosed its content.

The first one indicated the main elements of the ship, the code of the weight load and the requirements for the quality of materials. The second - the most detailed - characterized the dimensions of the hull and all its main parts, the third - booking, the rest described the internal arrangements of the premises, spars, sensible things (they included pipelines of all systems and steam lines, doors, windows, anchor, lifeline and awning devices), supply, electrical installations, weapons, artillery and mines, power plant.

The outer skin of the hull had a thickness of 10 mm, and under the armor was reinforced with a second layer of the same thickness, the transverse set (frames, beams) was placed after 900 mm. The thickness of floors is 8 mm. The hull was subdivided into compartments of watertight bulkheads. The area of ​​the submerged part of the amidships, which was being prepared for the construction of the cruiser, was 95.01 sq. m, the area of ​​the cargo waterline is 1615.82 sq. m, displacement per 1 cm of draft - 16.572 tons.

The high sharpness of the hull contours was evidenced by the coefficient of overall completeness - 0.501, which turned out to be even less than that of the later ordered faster cruiser "Varyag", whose coefficient was 0.53. Strong sharpening of contours and heavy workload should have helped the company to achieve a high speed of 21 knots at that time. The stability of the ship was also confidently guaranteed.

In the state of design load (displacement 7802.626). The metacentric height according to the calculation was 1.069 m, with the intake of an additional 270 tons of coal and 165 tons of fresh water - 1.134 m, when the reserves were used up from the state of normal load (displacement 6818.125 tons) - 0.854 m.

The protection of the ship was carried out in the form of a box or an armor box (proposed by ship engineer E. Bertin), the longitudinal walls of which were trapezoidal in section 200/100 mm of the side belt plate along the waterline (in the bow they converged on the bow, in the stern there was a traverse of 52 sp. at the supply pipe of the tower is the same as that of the thickness belt), and the roof is an armored deck docked with the upper edge of the belt. It was formed by 30-mm chromium-nickel plates laid on the deck flooring from two layers of shipbuilding steel sheets 10 mm thick. They did not want to apply the already known design of the bevel of deck armor to the lower edge of the belt along the waterline, which made it possible to involve the deck in strengthening the side protection. This, as can be understood, increased the weight of the deck, complicated the technology and violated the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe “armor box”. And the MTC, apparently, did not insist on bevels.

* Detailed information on the specification, due to their almost complete identity with later built ships of this type, will be given in the description of the cruisers Admiral Makarov and Bayan, indicating some deviations from the original project.

(Longitudinal section of the hull and deck plans indicating the location of the watertight compartments)

The belt along the waterline had a height of only 1.8 m, rose above the water by 0.6 m. Behind the aft beam to the rudder stock below the waterline was an armored deck of 30-mm plates laid on a two-layer flooring with a total thickness of 15 mm. On the roof of the armor box, which served as a battery deck, there were three casemates (armor 80 mm) for 8 6-inch guns. These guns (two each in the end casemates, four in the corners of the central one) were supposed to fire at the traverses or at the extremities along the side cuts. Inscribed in the contour of the side in plan, they had obviously limited firing angles and, when firing at the extremities, their gas cones should cause permanent damage to the sides and cut decks.

To eliminate these damages, it was necessary (this happened, in particular, on the Askold cruiser) to significantly limit the angles of fire. Scattered throughout the ship, they could interfere with one another's firing - in fact, only two 8-inch guns in two end towers had freedom of firing, which, of course, made the ship almost unarmed. The French nevertheless managed to “push” Russia into the same, stubbornly rejected “citadel cruiser” and only as a small consolation provide two single-gun turrets.

Routine, "economy" and inattention in assessing the combat merits of the towers doomed the cruiser to its usual cylindrical shape. The French, apparently, did not find it necessary to offer the Russians (and they apparently managed to remain unaware of this) a much more modern type of tower (albeit with one gun in the French fashion) in the form of an enlarged cone mounted on a high circular barbette. As can be clearly seen in the picture in Jen's 1906-1907 reference book, p. 162, there were towers on the second and, perhaps, even closer analogue of the Russian cruiser, which was being built at the same time by the same shipyard, the French cruiser Montcalm.

All this confirmed the lack of real and comprehensive thoughtful concepts among the Russian customers in the tactics of squadron combat, for which, as many literary sources say, the new cruiser was intended. For this, as it would seem quite obvious, the guns in the towers were supposed to be placed in pairs and to have twice as many such towers. But the enthusiasm for the 6-dm guns, which were considered especially chosen at that time, remained undeniable. No one in the Russian fleet dared to accept instead of them the 8-dm caliber guns, which were almost not inferior to them in the rate of fire. Worse, the guns of this caliber, which were supposed in projects like the "Pallada" of 1895, and then the "Varyag" of 1898, by order of the Admiral General, "for uniformity" were replaced by 6-dm. On the transition to the primary or exclusive armament of the cruiser with 8-inch guns (as was the case in the VKAM project and carried out by V. Cuniberti in battleship cruisers of the Vittorio Emmanuele type) was out of the question. Such was the tangible watershed of creative thought, on the one hand "Bayan", on the other - "Vittorio Emmanuele".

It is impossible to pass over in silence and one of the characteristic examples of French sophistication - as if coming out of a box chocolates elegant towers with vertical walls, a luxurious open embrasure and a lonely cannon sticking out of it forlornly. Elegant - only 15 ° - was the elevation angle of this gun. It was supposed to be so according to the then “science”, which had a firing distance of more than 15 cab. (“Rules of artillery service”, 1901) already recognized long-range, and about firing at distances up to 64 cab. (which the 8-dm cannons of “Bayan” allowed), there was no need to say at all (P.M. Melnikov, “Rurik” was the first. L., 1989. p. 87) and during the war it was “Bayan” who had to feel the inconvenience the range of its 8-inch guns.

A bitter product of deep creative stagnation was the domestic conning tower installed on the ship at the insistence of the MTC. It was supposed to be made of two layers of armor fastened together without a shirt (cutting thickness - 160 mm, height 1.6 m). The pipe for protecting the transmission of orders and steering (internal diameter 0.65 m) was made of forged steel with a thickness of 80 mm. The topic of combat logging is another subject for the research of an inquisitive historian. It would be extremely entertaining to trace how, after blind dugouts with narrow viewing slots (wooden armored frigates of the Sevastopol type of 1864), in the Russian fleet they managed to move on to open armored parapets, on top of which the heads of helmsmen and commanders stuck out in a musketeer style. From above, however, playing the role of only an umbrella from the rain, a light mushroom-shaped roof rose above the parapet, opening a 300-700 mm sighting gap above the end of the parapet.

The extreme frivolity of this design fully corresponded to the musketeer-hussar way of thinking, which at the end of the 19th century. energetically preached one of the most prominent authorities of the then military science M.I. Dragomirov (18301905). Member of the war with Japan. General Staff Major General E.I. Martynov in his extremely frank book “From the sad experience Russo-Japanese War” (St. Petersburg, 1907, p. 86) said that General Dragomirov did not cease “to oppose matter and spirit, as two hostile forces.” He opposed the magazine gun adopted in Europe, considered machine guns "absurd", and contemptuously called supporters of shields at guns "shield worshipers". And not without his, apparently, influence, the “brilliant” design of the conning tower was established in the Russian fleet.

Belleville boilers, chosen at the insistence of the MTK, were also a tribute to the routine that was especially firmly rooted in the time described. Chief inspector for the mechanical part, Lieutenant General N.G. Nozikov stubbornly opposed the use of new types of boilers (they were tolerated only on destroyers), fearing, not without reason, difficulties in teaching maintenance and repair. The weak material base of the mechanical part of the fleet, illiterate sailors - everything made them afraid of innovations, even those that were more productive, more convenient and easier to set up and maintain. It was necessary to realize these advantages of the latest boilers a little later, when, following the Bayan, the fleet immediately replenished with a collection of single cruisers, each with its own type of boilers - from Nikloss on the Varyag to Thornycroft on the Novik and Yarrow on the Zhemchug. In the meantime, the MTK continued to hold on to its previous position and installed Belleville boilers not only on Bayan, but also on the later Boyar.

Each of the 26 boilers (operating pressure 21 atm) was a rectangular unit with a furnace space located inside and a multi-meter coil from rows of straight water heating pipes installed at a small (about 3–4°) angle to the horizon. The diameter of each was 115 mm, the length was about 2 m. The indisputable advantage of the boilers at the time of the then unreliability of technology was their sectional design and detachable connection of each tube. 14 tubes were combined into single sections (“elements”), of which there were from 8 to 10 in the boilers, and were threaded to the junction boxes. If any tube was damaged, the element could (after releasing water from the boiler) be removed from the boiler and a spare one installed instead. (D.A. Golov. “Modern steam boilers of military ships”, St. Petersburg, 1897, p. 33; he: “Steam stakes of modern military ships”, St. Petersburg, p. 25).

By the time the cruiser was ordered in France, the boilers were the most used in the English, French and Russian fleets, they were considered the most carefully designed and most reliable of all existing for large ships. They, of course, also needed to be improved, and it was not excluded that they could eventually be replaced by boilers of other systems. The boilers contained the smallest amount of water among others - about 8% of its total mass. This made them the safest from an explosion.

In terms of ease of disassembly, the boilers were second only to Nikloss boilers. Due to the long path of water circulation and the low height of the furnace space, the boilers did not allow noticeable forcing. A small amount of water made it necessary to carefully monitor their work so as not to burn the pipes. Very sensitive to steam consumption, the boilers did not allow sudden and noticeable changes in the stroke and created the risk of water boiling in the pipes and carrying it into the cylinders of the machines. In a word, with theoretical merits and seeming practicality, boilers could be reliable only with very skilled, caring and continuous care. In Russia, such conditions were met with difficulty, but in the MTC, fearing even greater complications in the transition to new types of boilers, they preferred to adhere to this design, which first appeared in the world in 1855 and in 1885, for the first time in the Russian fleet, adopted (in the latest modification) at replacement of fire-tube boilers on the cruiser Minin. Behind him, Belleville boilers began to be installed on new battleships and cruisers.

The boilers turned out to be surprisingly durable and even in the 30s of the XX century. were used on French steamships, retaining the basic design, improved in 1911 by the engineer of the Baltic Shipyard V.Ya. Domolenko (1864–1941), and the same as on Bayan, working pressure 21 atm.

Traditional, at the level of the average market sample of those years, was the entire power plant of the ship. The design power of the two main four-cylinder triple expansion steam engines with vertically inverted cylinders was 13,600 indicator hp. High pressure cylinders had a diameter of 1.1 m, medium - 1.7 and two low - 2.0 m. The cylinders were made of cast iron. The company did not dare to cast steel, as was later done in Germany for the HPC of the Bogatyr cruiser. We did not set ourselves the ambitious task of exceeding the contract speed.

The eccentrics of the machine were also cast iron. Such a decision on the "Tsesarevich" turned into several breakdowns and the risk of the ship breaking down at a critical moment. The columns supporting the cylinders were made of cast steel. The piston stroke was 0.93 m, the rotational speed of the propellers was 130 rpm. The total surface of the grate reached 127.3 square meters. m, the total heating surface of the boilers is 2760 sq. m, and taking into account economizers - 3985 sq.m. In relation to the heating surface to the area of ​​the grate - 31.3 - the ship slightly exceeded this characteristic - 29, which had more (cylinder sizes 0.864; 1.42 and two 1.6 m each) 11,000-ton, 21 knots English cruiser "Andromeda" built in 1894.

The steering device provided for three interchangeable drives, but the design itself - by means of carts moving (from thrust) from side to side (they turned the tiller) was, alas, not the latest cry of fashion. In the world, there was already a fairly tested and more reliable Davis screw drive.

The cruising range also turned out to be far from the original plans. The normal fuel supply had to be limited to 750 tons, and the full one could be increased to 1020 tons. Accordingly, the 10-knot cruiser, according to the author’s calculations (according to the method of V.I. Afanasyev, given in the VKAM reference book for 1899), with a reserve of 1020–1950 tons could walk 3800–3900 miles, respectively. In reality, taking into account many unfavorable factors (poor quality of coal, uneconomical operation of machines, violation of the boiler heating regime, etc.), the cruising range may turn out to be significantly lower, which was taken into account by those who became by the end of the 19th century. more balanced estimates of the ITC. According to his calculations, made in 1899, the cruising range of the Bayan at 10 knots with a maximum reserve of 1020 tons (this value was consistently repeated in all reference books and design documents) should have been 2460 miles. According to later (1903–1904) information from the MTC, Bayan consumed 0.31 tons per mile at 10 knots, which, with a reserve of 1020 tons, should have made it possible to travel 3400 miles.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Accordion"
Cruiser "Bayan"
Service:	Russia, Russia
Vessel class and type	armored cruiser
Home port	Port Arthur
Manufacturer	Forges et chantiers de la Mediterranee
Launched into the water	May 20, 1900
Commissioned	1903
Status	Sunk 26 November 1904 at Port Arthur
Service:	japan japan
Name	"Aso" (jap. 阿蘇)
Commissioned	August 22, 1905
Withdrawn from the Navy	1930
Status	Sunk as a target August 8, 1932
Main characteristics
Displacement	7326 t
Length	137.0 m
Width	17.5 m
Draft	6.5 m
Booking	Harvey armor armor belt - 60 ... 203 mm, armor deck - 51 mm, conning tower - 160 mm, casemates - 60 mm, towers - 152 mm
Engines	1903-1904 - 2 vertical triple expansion machines, 26 Belleville boilers 1908-1913 - Miyabara boilers
Power	16 500 l. With.
mover	2 screws
travel speed	20.9 knots
cruising range	3400 nautical miles at 10 knots
Crew	23 officers, 550 sailors
Armament
Artillery	1903-1904 2 × 203mm/45 , 8×152/45, 20 × 75/50 mm, 8×47mm, 2×37mm, 4 machine guns, 2 Baranovsky landing guns 1908-1913 2 × 203 mm, 8 × 152 mm, 16 × 76 mm (all Vickers guns)

By May 26, 1900, tests of the underwater part of the skin for water tightness were completed. On May 30, the cruiser was launched - five months late. Due to the expectation of new parts to replace the defective ones, the assembly of the left car stalled. The Saint-Chamon factory was delaying the replacement of defective armor plates.

During the construction process, at the suggestion of A. R. Rodionov, the combat mars with two 47-mm guns was removed from the foremast, the spars and the location of the searchlights were changed, a siren was installed, the electric drive of the steering gear spool was replaced with a hydraulic one.

In 1902, Captain 1st Rank R.N. Viren was appointed commander of the cruiser. In the same year, Lieutenant Colonel for the Admiralty A.N. Krylov arrived on the cruiser to measure the vibration detected during the first factory test.

In the exits from the harbor towards the Japanese squadron, the Bayan served as the flagship of the cruiser detachment. However, its combat capabilities were reduced by the limited range of 8 "guns. In skirmishes with Japanese cruisers at the maximum range, the cruiser's shells did not reach the enemy.

In early August, the Bayan team was assigned the duty to maintain 4x6", 3x120-mm, 12x75-mm, 9x47-mm, 12x37-mm guns and 5 searchlights on the land front and 9 land mines of Fort No. III, for which it was 223 people were written off (batteries on the land front were commanded by midshipmen Yuri Lontkevich, Alexander Boshnyak, Anatoly Romanov).More than 200 people were sent on August 7 to the reserve of the ground forces of the fortress under the command of Lieutenant V. I. Rudnev 3rd and midshipman P. M. Soymonov 2nd (Lieutenant V. I. Rudnev, mechanical engineer M. I. Glinka, junior doctor A. P. Steblov, priest Father Anatoly Kunyev participated in the heroic defense of Vysokaya). L. Podgursky suggested using throwing mine apparatuses for firing at the Japanese trenches, and on September 4 he rolled a ball mine into a Japanese trench.On September 9, Lieutenant Podgursky blew up a dugout occupied by the Japanese high mountain, which delayed the fall of an important stronghold by more than two months.

At the end of September, Bayan began to install 6 "guns from the Pallada cruiser, preparing it to go to sea. The Japanese fired at the harbor from medium-caliber guns, and then from 11" mortars. "Bayan" received 10 hits with medium-caliber shells and 6 - 11 "shells. On October 3 (16), the cruiser, which had already received damage in the undercarriage, entered the outer roadstead, avoiding shelling. Having finished with the battleships stationed in the inner roadstead, on November 25 (December 8) the Japanese again shifted their fire to the Bayan. From 09:00 to 17:00, up to 320 11 "and 6" shells were fired at the cruiser. Four of the ten shells that hit the cruiser were 11 "caliber. Having no underwater holes, the ship sank more and more into the water, as the compartments filled with water as a result of fighting fires. The restoration of the ship was out of the question. By noon on November 26 (December 9), the cruiser, having filled with water, with a 15-degree list to the port side, the whole hull lay down on the soil of the Eastern Basin.

Part of the Bayan team formed a landing company headed by midshipman Yu. L. Leontkovich and mechanical engineer E. P. Koshelev. Captain 2nd rank Ivanov received a position at the headquarters. On the night of December 20, 1904 (January 2, 1905), Bayan was blown up.

As part of the Japanese fleet

After the capture of Port Arthur, the Japanese began to raise the sunken ships. On August 7, the Bayan cruiser lifted from the bottom left the harbor for Japan. At first, the former Russian ships were supposed to be sold to China, but the deal did not take place, and on August 22, 1905, the cruiser was included in the Japanese fleet under the name Aso. In 1906-1908 she underwent a refurbishment at Maizuru, receiving new Miyabara boilers and Vickers guns.

In 1913, the cruiser's 8" turret mounts were removed and replaced with deck 6" guns with a barrel length of 50 calibers. Unlike the cruiser Varyag and the battleships Poltava and Peresvet, Bayan was not sold to Russia in 1916. In 1921-1922, it was converted into a mine layer (420 mines), and in 1930 it was excluded from the lists of the fleet and turned into a blockade.

On August 8, 1932, the cruiser hull was shot as a target by the heavy cruiser Myoko.

commanders

• 10/15/1907 - 10/01/1909 captain 1st rank (taisa) Gitaro Ishii (Jap. 石井義太郎);
• 10/01/1909 - 09/26/1910 captain 1st rank (taisa) Tetsutaro Sato (jap. 佐藤鉄太郎);
• (acting) 0 12/1/1910 - 12/17/1910 captain of the 1st rank (taisa)? (jap. 笠間直);
• 04/01/1911 - 05/22/1912 captain 1st rank (taisa) Shitaro Nakajima (jap. 中島市太郎);
• (acting) 09/27/1912 - 12/01/1912 captain of the 1st rank (taisa) Juntaro Hirose (jap. 広瀬順太郎);
• 12/01/1912 - 12/01/1913 captain 1st rank (taisa) Chusaburo Sakakibara (jap. 榊原忠三郎);
• 12/01/1913 - 10/01/1915 captain 1st rank (taisa) Chunojo Koyamada (jap. 小山田仲之丞);
• 12/13/1915 - 12/01/1916 captain of the 2nd rank (chusa) Shiyouzou Washima (jap. 桑島省三);
• 12/01/1916 - 12/01/1917 captain 1st rank (taisa) Taro Hanabusa (jap. 花房太郎);
• 12/01/1917 - 9/25/1918 captain 1st rank (taisa) Heishiro Omi (jap. 大見丙子郎);
• 11/20/1918 - 11/20/1919 captain 1st rank (taisa) Genji Ide (jap. 井手元治);
• 11/20/1919 - 11/20/1920 captain 1st rank (taisa) Chikaharu Koizumi (jap. 小泉親治);
• 11/20/1920 - ? captain 1st rank (taisa) Tokyomi Morimura (jap. 森本兎久身);
• 07/01/1922 - 11/10/1922 captain 1st rank (taisa) Kesaiti Hitsuda (jap. 七田今朝一);
• 07/20/1923 - 05/07/1924 captain 1st rank (taisa) Inosuke Tokuda (jap. 徳田伊之助);
• 05/07/1924 - 11/10/1924 captain 1st rank (taisa) Sankichi Takahashi (jap. 高橋三吉);
• 11/10/1924 - 11/20/1925 captain 1st rank (taisa) Nobuichi Yamaguchi (jap. 山口延一);
• 11/20/1925 - 11/15/1926 captain 1st rank (taisa) Miyozo Kuroyanagi (jap. 畔柳三男三).

Other Bayan-class cruisers

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Notes

Literature

• // Military encyclopedia: [in 18 volumes] / ed. V. F. Novitsky [i dr.]. - St. Petersburg. ; [M .] : Typ. t-va I. V. Sytin, 1911-1915.

Links

Type of Prince Pozharsky Type of General-Admiral Type of Dmitry Donskoy Type of Accordion Individual projects

An excerpt characterizing Bayan (cruiser, 1900)

- But I didn’t know ... Nikolushka ... my friend!
- Here he is ... ours ... My friend, Kolya ... He has changed! No candles! Tea!
- Kiss me then!
- Darling ... but me.
Sonya, Natasha, Petya, Anna Mikhailovna, Vera, the old count, embraced him; and people and maids, having filled the rooms, sentenced and gasped.
Petya hung on his feet. - And then me! he shouted. Natasha, after she, bending him to her, kissed his whole face, jumped away from him and holding on to the floor of his Hungarian, jumped like a goat all in one place and squealed piercingly.
From all sides there were tears of joy shining with tears, loving eyes, from all sides there were lips looking for a kiss.
Sonya, red as red, also held on to his hand and beamed all over in a blissful look fixed on his eyes, which she was waiting for. Sonya was already 16 years old, and she was very beautiful, especially at this moment of happy, enthusiastic animation. She looked at him, not taking her eyes off, smiling and holding her breath. He looked at her gratefully; but still waiting and looking for someone. The old countess hasn't come out yet. And then there were footsteps at the door. The steps are so fast that they couldn't have been his mother's.
But it was she in a new dress, unfamiliar to him, sewn without him. Everyone left him and he ran to her. When they came together, she fell on his chest sobbing. She could not raise her face and only pressed him against the cold laces of his Hungarian coat. Denisov, not noticed by anyone, entered the room, stood right there and, looking at them, rubbed his eyes.
“Vasily Denisov, your son’s friend,” he said, introducing himself to the count, who looked at him inquiringly.
- Welcome. I know, I know,” said the count, kissing and hugging Denisov. - Nikolushka wrote ... Natasha, Vera, here he is Denisov.
The same happy, enthusiastic faces turned to the shaggy figure of Denisov and surrounded him.
- My dear, Denisov! - Natasha squealed, beside herself with delight, jumped up to him, hugged and kissed him. Everyone was embarrassed by Natasha's act. Denisov also blushed, but smiled and took Natasha's hand and kissed it.
Denisov was taken to the room prepared for him, and the Rostovs all gathered in the sofa near Nikolushka.
The old countess, without letting go of his hand, which she kissed every minute, sat next to him; the rest, crowding around them, caught his every movement, word, glance, and did not take their eyes off him with enthusiastic love. The brother and sisters argued and intercepted places from each other closer to him, and fought over who would bring him tea, a handkerchief, a pipe.
Rostov was very happy with the love he was shown; but the first minute of his meeting was so blissful that it seemed to him that his present happiness was not enough, and he kept waiting for something more, and more, and more.
The next morning the visitors slept off the road until 10 o'clock.
In the previous room, sabers, bags, carts, open suitcases, dirty boots were lying around. The cleaned two pairs with spurs had just been placed against the wall. Servants brought washstands hot water shaving and brushed dresses. It smelled of tobacco and men.
- Hey, G "bitch, t" ubku! shouted the hoarse voice of Vaska Denisov. - Rostov, get up!
Rostov, rubbing his eyes that were stuck together, lifted his tangled head from the hot pillow.
- What's late? “It’s late, 10 o’clock,” Natasha’s voice answered, and in the next room there was a rustling of starched dresses, a whisper and laughter of girlish voices, and something blue, ribbons, black hair and cheerful faces flashed through the slightly open door. It was Natasha with Sonya and Petya, who came to see if he got up.
- Nicholas, get up! Natasha's voice was heard again at the door.
- Now!
At this time, Petya, in the first room, seeing and grabbing sabers, and experiencing the delight that boys experience at the sight of a warlike older brother, and forgetting that it is indecent for sisters to see undressed men, opened the door.
- Is that your sword? he shouted. The girls jumped back. Denisov, with frightened eyes, hid his shaggy legs in a blanket, looking around for help at his comrade. The door let Petya through and closed again. There was laughter outside the door.
- Nikolenka, come out in a dressing gown, - Natasha's voice said.
- Is that your sword? Petya asked, “or is it yours?” - with obsequious respect he turned to the mustachioed, black Denisov.
Rostov hurriedly put on his shoes, put on a dressing gown and went out. Natasha put on one boot with a spur and climbed into the other. Sonya was spinning and just wanted to inflate her dress and sit down when he came out. Both were in the same, brand new, blue dresses - fresh, ruddy, cheerful. Sonya ran away, and Natasha, taking her brother by the arm, led him into the sofa room, and they started talking. They did not have time to ask each other and answer questions about thousands of little things that could interest only them alone. Natasha laughed at every word that he said and that she said, not because what they said was funny, but because she had fun and was unable to restrain her joy, expressed in laughter.
- Oh, how good, excellent! she said to everything. Rostov felt how, under the influence of the hot rays of love, for the first time in a year and a half, that childish smile blossomed in his soul and face, which he had never smiled since he left home.
“No, listen,” she said, “are you quite a man now? I'm awfully glad you're my brother. She touched his mustache. - I want to know what kind of men you are? Are they like us? Not?
Why did Sonya run away? Rostov asked.
- Yes. That's another whole story! How will you talk to Sonya? You or you?
“How will it happen,” said Rostov.
Tell her, please, I'll tell you later.
- Yes, what?
- Well, I'll tell you now. You know that Sonya is my friend, such a friend that I would burn my hand for her. Here look. - She rolled up her muslin sleeve and showed on her long, thin and delicate handle under her shoulder, much higher than the elbow (in the place that is sometimes covered by ball gowns) a red mark.
“I burned this to prove my love to her. I just kindled the ruler on fire, and pressed it.
Sitting in his former classroom, on the sofa with pillows on the handles, and looking into those desperately animated eyes of Natasha, Rostov again entered that family, children's world, which had no meaning for anyone except for him, but which gave him one of the best pleasures in life; and burning his hand with a ruler, to show love, seemed to him not useless: he understood and was not surprised at this.
– So what? only? - he asked.
- Well, so friendly, so friendly! Is this nonsense - a ruler; but we are forever friends. She will love someone, so forever; but I don't understand it, I'll forget it now.
- Well, so what?
Yes, she loves me and you so much. - Natasha suddenly blushed, - well, you remember, before leaving ... So she says that you forget it all ... She said: I will always love him, but let him be free. After all, the truth is that this is excellent, noble! - Yes Yes? very noble? Yes? Natasha asked so seriously and excitedly that it was clear that what she was saying now, she had previously said with tears.
Rostov thought.
“I don’t take back my word in anything,” he said. - And besides, Sonya is so charming that what kind of fool would refuse his happiness?
“No, no,” Natasha screamed. We already talked about it with her. We knew you would say that. But this is impossible, because, you understand, if you say so - you consider yourself bound by a word, then it turns out that she seemed to have said it on purpose. It turns out that you still forcibly marry her, and it turns out not at all.
Rostov saw that all this was well thought out by them. Sonya struck him yesterday with her beauty. To-day, seeing her for a glimpse, she seemed even better to him. She was a lovely 16-year-old girl, obviously passionately loving him (he did not doubt this for a minute). Why should he not love her now, and not even marry her, thought Rostov, but now there are so many other joys and occupations! "Yes, they thought it up perfectly," he thought, "one must remain free."
“Very well,” he said, “we’ll talk later.” Oh, how glad I am for you! he added.
- Well, why didn’t you cheat on Boris? the brother asked.
- That's nonsense! Natasha screamed laughing. “I don’t think about him or anyone, and I don’t want to know.
– That's how! So what are you?
- I? Natasha asked, and a happy smile lit up her face. - Have you seen Duport "a?
- Not.
- Did you see the famous Duport, the dancer? Well, you won't understand. I'm what it is. - Natasha, rounding her arms, took her skirt, as if dancing, ran a few steps, turned over, made an antrash, beat her leg against her leg and, standing on the very tips of her socks, walked a few steps.
- Am I standing? behold, she said; but she couldn't stand on tiptoe. "So that's what I am!" I will never marry anyone, but I will become a dancer. Do not tell anyone.
Rostov laughed so loudly and merrily that Denisov felt envious from his room, and Natasha could not help laughing with him. - No, it's good, isn't it? she kept saying.
- Well, do you want to marry Boris anymore?
Natasha flushed. - I don't want to marry anyone. I'll tell him the same when I see him.
– That's how! Rostov said.
“Well, yes, it’s all nonsense,” Natasha continued to chat. - And why is Denisov good? she asked.
- Good.
- Well, goodbye, get dressed. Is he scary, Denisov?
- Why is it scary? Nicholas asked. - Not. Vaska is nice.
- You call him Vaska - strange. And that he is very good?
- Very good.
“Well, come and drink some tea.” Together.
And Natasha stood up on tiptoe and walked out of the room the way dancers do, but smiling the way happy 15-year-old girls smile. Having met Sonya in the living room, Rostov blushed. He didn't know how to deal with her. Yesterday they kissed in the first moment of the joy of meeting, but today they felt that it was impossible to do this; he felt that everyone, both mother and sisters, looked at him inquiringly and expected from him how he would behave with her. He kissed her hand and called her you - Sonya. But their eyes, having met, said “you” to each other and kissed tenderly. With her eyes, she asked him for forgiveness for the fact that at Natasha's embassy she dared to remind him of his promise and thanked him for his love. He thanked her with his eyes for the offer of freedom and said that one way or another, he would never stop loving her, because it was impossible not to love her.
“How strange, however,” said Vera, choosing a general moment of silence, “that Sonya and Nikolenka now met like strangers. - Vera's remark was just, like all her remarks; but, like most of her remarks, everyone became embarrassed, and not only Sonya, Nikolai and Natasha, but also the old countess, who was afraid of her son’s love for Sonya, which could deprive him of a brilliant party, also blushed like a girl. Denisov, to Rostov's surprise, in a new uniform, pomaded and perfumed, appeared in the living room as dandy as he was in battles, and so amiable with ladies and gentlemen, which Rostov did not expect to see him.

Returning to Moscow from the army, Nikolai Rostov was adopted by his family as the best son, hero and beloved Nikolushka; relatives - as a sweet, pleasant and respectful young man; acquaintances - as a handsome hussar lieutenant, a clever dancer and one of the best grooms in Moscow.
The Rostovs knew all of Moscow; the old count had enough money this year, because all the estates were remortgaged, and therefore Nikolushka, having got his own trotter and the most fashionable trousers, special ones that no one else in Moscow had, and boots, the most fashionable, with the most pointed socks and little silver spurs, had a lot of fun. Rostov, returning home, experienced a pleasant feeling after a certain period of time trying on himself for the old conditions of life. It seemed to him that he had matured and grown very much. Despair for an examination that was not consistent with the law of God, borrowing money from Gavrila for a cab, secret kisses with Sonya, he recalled all this as about childishness, from which he was immeasurably far away now. Now he is a hussar lieutenant in a silver cape, with soldier George, preparing his trotter for a run, along with well-known hunters, elderly, respectable. He has a familiar lady on the boulevard, to whom he goes in the evening. He conducted a mazurka at a ball at the Arkharovs, talked about the war with Field Marshal Kamensky, visited an English club, and was on you with one forty-year-old colonel, whom Denisov introduced him to.
His passion for the sovereign somewhat weakened in Moscow, since during this time he did not see him. But he often talked about the sovereign, about his love for him, making it feel that he still did not tell everything, that there was something else in his feeling for the sovereign that could not be understood by everyone; and wholeheartedly shared the feeling of adoration common at that time in Moscow for Emperor Alexander Pavlovich, who at that time in Moscow was given the name of an angel in the flesh.
During this short stay of Rostov in Moscow, before leaving for the army, he did not get close, but, on the contrary, parted ways with Sonya. She was very pretty, sweet, and obviously passionately in love with him; but he was in that time of his youth, when it seems there is so much to do that there is no time to do it, and the young man is afraid to get involved - he values ​​\u200b\u200bhis freedom, which he needs for many other things. When he thought of Sonya during this new sojourn in Moscow, he said to himself: Eh! there are still many, many of these will be and are there, somewhere, still unknown to me. I still have time, when I want, to make love, but now there is no time. In addition, it seemed to him that something humiliating for his courage in women's society. He went to balls and sororities, pretending to do so against his will. Running, an English club, a revelry with Denisov, a trip there - that was another matter: it was decent for a young hussar.
At the beginning of March, the old Count Ilya Andreevich Rostov was preoccupied with arranging a dinner in an English club for the reception of Prince Bagration.
The count in a dressing gown walked around the hall, giving orders to the club housekeeper and the famous Feoktist, the head cook of the English club, about asparagus, fresh cucumbers, strawberries, calf and fish for Prince Bagration's dinner. The count, from the day the club was founded, was its member and foreman. He was entrusted from the club with organizing a celebration for Bagration, because rarely anyone knew how to organize a feast in such a wide hand, hospitably, especially because rarely anyone knew how and wanted to put their money if they were needed for a feast. The cook and housekeeper of the club, with merry faces, listened to the count's orders, because they knew that under no one, as under him, it was better to profit from a dinner that cost several thousand.
- So look, scallops, put scallops in the cake, you know! “So there were three cold ones? ...” the cook asked. The Count considered. “It can’t be less, three…mayonnaise times,” he said, bending his finger…
- So you will order the big sterlets to take? the housekeeper asked. - What to do, take it, if they do not yield. Yes, you are my father, I had and forgot. After all, we need another entree on the table. Ah, my fathers! He grabbed his head. Who will bring me flowers?
- Mitinka! And Mitinka! Ride on, Mitinka, to the Moscow region, ”he turned to the manager who had come in at his call,“ jump to the Moscow region and tell the gardener to dress up Maximka’s corvée. Tell them to drag all the greenhouses here, wrap them in felt. Yes, so that I have two hundred pots here by Friday.
Having given more and more different orders, he went out to rest with the countess, but remembered something else he needed, returned himself, returned the cook and housekeeper, and again began to give orders. At the door was heard a light, masculine gait, the rattling of spurs, and a handsome, ruddy, with a blackening mustache, apparently rested and well-groomed by a quiet life in Moscow, entered the young count.
- Ah, my brother! My head is spinning,” said the old man, as if ashamed, smiling in front of his son. - If only you could help! We need more songwriters. I have music, but can I call the gypsies? Your military brethren love it.
“Really, papa, I think Prince Bagration, when he was preparing for the battle of Shengraben, was less busy than you are now,” said the son, smiling.
The old count pretended to be angry. - Yes, you talk, you try!
And the count turned to the cook, who, with an intelligent and respectable face, looked observantly and affectionately at father and son.
- What kind of youth is that, Feoktist? - he said, - laughs at our brother old people.
- Well, Your Excellency, they only want to eat well, but how to collect everything and serve it is none of their business.
- So, so, - the count shouted, and cheerfully grabbing his son by both hands, he shouted: - So that's it, I got you! Now take a twin sleigh and go to Bezukhov, and say that the count, they say, Ilya Andreevich was sent to ask you for fresh strawberries and pineapples. You won't get anyone else. It’s not there yourself, so you go in, tell the princesses, and from there, that’s what, you go to Razgulay - Ipatka the coachman knows - you find Ilyushka the gypsy there, that’s what Count Orlov then danced, remember, in a white Cossack, and you bring him here to me.
“And bring him here with the gypsies?” Nicholas asked laughing. - Oh well!…
At that moment, with inaudible steps, with a businesslike, preoccupied, and at the same time Christian meek air that never left her, Anna Mikhailovna entered the room. Despite the fact that every day Anna Mikhailovna found the count in a dressing gown, every time he was embarrassed in front of her and asked for an apology for his costume.
“Nothing, Count, my dear,” she said, meekly closing her eyes. “And I’ll go to the Earless,” she said. - Pierre has arrived, and now we will get everything, count, from his greenhouses. I needed to see him. He sent me a letter from Boris. Thank God, Borya is now at headquarters.
The count was delighted that Anna Mikhailovna was taking part of his orders, and ordered her to pawn a small carriage.
- You tell Bezukhov to come. I'll write it down. What is he with his wife? - he asked.
Anna Mikhailovna rolled her eyes, and deep sorrow expressed on her face ...
“Ah, my friend, he is very unhappy,” she said. “If it’s true what we heard, it’s terrible. And did we think when we rejoiced so much at his happiness! And such a high, heavenly soul, this young Bezukhov! Yes, I feel sorry for him from the bottom of my heart and will try to give him the consolation that will depend on me.
- Yes, what is it? both Rostovs, the elder and the younger, asked.
Anna Mikhailovna sighed deeply: “Dolokhov, Marya Ivanovna’s son,” she said in a mysterious whisper, “they say he completely compromised her. He took him out, invited him to his house in St. Petersburg, and now ... She came here, and this rip off her head, ”said Anna Mikhailovna, wanting to express her sympathy for Pierre, but in involuntary intonations and with a half-smile showing sympathy rip off her head, as she named Dolokhova. - They say that Pierre himself is completely killed by his grief.
- Well, all the same, tell him to come to the club - everything will dissipate. The feast will be a mountain.
The next day, March 3, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, 250 members of the English Club and 50 guests were waiting for dinner for the dear guest and hero of the Austrian campaign, Prince Bagration. At first, upon receiving the news of the battle of Austerlitz, Moscow was perplexed. At that time, the Russians were so accustomed to victories that, having received the news of the defeat, some simply did not believe, others were looking for explanations for such a strange event in some unusual reasons. In the English Club, where everything that was noble, having the right information and weight, gathered, in the month of December, when the news began to arrive, nothing was said about the war and about the last battle, as if everyone had agreed to keep silent about it. People who gave direction to conversations, such as: Count Rostopchin, Prince Yuri Vladimirovich Dolgoruky, Valuev, gr. Markov, Prince. Vyazemsky, did not show up at the club, but gathered at home, in their intimate circles, and the Muscovites, who spoke from other people's voices (to which Ilya Andreevich Rostov belonged), remained for a short time without a definite judgment on the cause of the war and without leaders. Muscovites felt that something was not good and that it was difficult to discuss these bad news, and therefore it was better to remain silent. But after a while, as the jurors were leaving the deliberation room, the aces appeared, giving opinions in the club, and everything spoke clearly and definitely. Reasons were found for that incredible, unheard of and impossible event that the Russians were beaten, and everything became clear, and the same thing was said in all corners of Moscow. These reasons were: the betrayal of the Austrians, the bad food of the troops, the betrayal of the Pole Pshebyshevsky and the Frenchman Lanzheron, the incapacity of Kutuzov, and (they spoke slowly) the youth and inexperience of the sovereign, who entrusted himself to bad and insignificant people. But the troops, Russian troops, everyone said, were extraordinary and performed miracles of courage. Soldiers, officers, generals were heroes. But the hero of the heroes was Prince Bagration, who became famous for his Shengraben affair and retreat from Austerlitz, where he alone led his column undisturbed and fought off twice as strong an enemy all day. The fact that Bagration was chosen as a hero in Moscow was also facilitated by the fact that he had no connections in Moscow and was a stranger. In his face, due honor was given to the fighting, simple, without connections and intrigues, Russian soldier, still associated with the memories of the Italian campaign with the name of Suvorov. In addition, in giving him such honors, the dislike and disapproval of Kutuzov was best shown.

MANTRA: EVERYTHING IS CLICKABLE
Bayan is an armored cruiser of the Russian Imperial Navy. The first of four Bayan-class cruisers. Included in the lists of the fleet on January 11, 1899, having inherited the name from the decommissioned corvette Bayan. Laid down at the shipyard La Seine (French) (France) June 26 (July 8), 1899.

In view of the fact that the Russian fleet in the Far East was to operate near the coast, where it was likely to meet with large enemy forces, the idea arose to create a cruiser with enhanced armor and increased survivability by reducing autonomy and cruising range.

On May 7, 1897, a meeting was held on the approval of the design assignment for the new cruiser, chaired by Vice Admiral P. P. Tyrtov, Director of the Naval Ministry, in which Admiral K. P. Pilkin, Vice Admiral S. P. Tyrtov took part 2- 1st, Vice Admiral N. I. Kaznakov, Vice Admiral S. O. Makarov, Vice Admiral F. K. Avelan, Rear Admiral N. I. Skrydlov, Rear Admiral N. N. Lomen, Major General A. S. Krotkov (acting Chief Inspector of Naval Artillery), Mechanical Inspector N. G. Nozikov, Shipbuilding Inspector N. E. Kuteinikov.

The construction of the ship was entrusted to the French shipyard La Seine. On November 2, 1898, Captain 1st Rank I.K. Grigorovich was appointed to supervise the construction of the battleship "Tsesarevich" and the cruiser "Bayan". Mechanisms and assembled structures were accepted by mechanical engineer K. P. Boklevsky and mechanical engineer D. A. Golov.

Armored cruiser "Bayan" during sea trials

By May 26, 1900, tests of the underwater part of the skin for water tightness were completed. On May 30, the cruiser was launched - five months late. Due to the expectation of new parts to replace the defective ones, the assembly of the left car stalled. The Saint-Chamon factory was delaying the replacement of defective armor plates.

In 1902, Captain 1st Rank R.N. Viren was appointed commander of the cruiser. In the same year, Lieutenant Colonel for the Admiralty A. N. Krylov arrived on the cruiser to measure the vibration detected during the first factory test.

On October 14 and 16, sea trials were carried out near the Hyeres Islands, but instead of 24 hours they lasted only 5, and the speed was never brought up to 21 knots - the maximum figure was 20.97 knots. The draft of the cruiser was less than the contract and amounted to 21 feet 3 inches. Subsequent tests and elimination of defects took the whole of 1902 and the beginning of 1903.

In the spring of 1903, Bayan made the transition to Kronstadt, where on July 22 he participated in the general admiral's review, and on July 26 in the imperial review. On the same day, the cruiser, together with the battleship Oslyabya, headed for the Mediterranean Sea to join the battleships Tsesarevich and Emperor Nicholas I. According to the plan of the General Staff, this detachment was supposed to go to the Far East to strengthen the squadron of the Pacific Ocean.

However, on August 9 (22) "Oslyabya" had an accident in the Strait of Gibraltar, and "Bayan" continued alone. On September 25, 1903, the battleship "Tsesarevich" and the cruiser "Bayan" left the Mediterranean Sea, heading for the Far East. They arrived at Port Said on the 27th, at Suez on the 30th, at Djibouti on October 8th, at Colombo on October 21st, and at Sabang on October 28th. November 7 left Singapore for Port Arthur. On the way, the cruiser team was engaged in combat training. At 9 am on November 19, the Tsesarevich radio station entered into negotiations with the station of the flagship battleship Petropavlovsk, which was stationed on the outer roadstead of Port Arthur. On November 30, by order of the head of squadron No. 984, "Tsesarevich" and "Bayan" were enlisted in its composition. The ships were included in the program of raid exercises and were preparing to be painted in combat colors.

The Tsesarevich and Bayan went on a trip to the Far East without Barr and Stroud rangefinders, and in addition, the cruiser suffered from the unsuccessful design of the shutters of the gunport shutters, which leaned back from the impacts of the waves (which, given the low location of the onboard batteries, actually did not allow the use of any guns , except for tower 8", with more or less strong excitement).

January 25, 1904, on the eve of the Japanese attack, "Bayan" paired with "Boyarin" served his turn on duty. Having anchored the ship in the outer roadstead, where the squadron was preparing for practical navigation, Captain 1st Rank Viren filed a report addressed to the squadron chief, in which he asked for permission to install anti-mine nets, but received no answer. Since the cruiser was in the far south-western line of the squadron, the team did not know about the attack of Japanese destroyers. The attackers also did not notice the cruiser, obscured by the auxiliary cruiser "Angara". Only with the approach of boats from the blown up ships on the "Bayan" did they understand what had happened, and at 1 hour 35 minutes in the morning they divorced the couples. The order to go to sea was not received.

At 4:55 a.m., Viren reminded the squadron commander of his readiness to go to sea, but the order again did not follow. At 08:05 in the morning, two armored Japanese cruisers appeared in sight of the Russian squadron, but Admiral Stark did not send the cruiser to intercept, but began to withdraw the entire squadron. "Bayan" was at the head of the column of cruisers. When the Japanese cruisers fled, the squadron returned to the raid.

On January 27, the Japanese fleet again approached Port Arthur. The Russian squadron in the wake column came out to meet them. After a half-hour skirmish, the Japanese fleet withdrew from the battle. The cruisers "Bayan" and "Novik" during the battle were between the columns of battleships.

After the first shot of the Japanese flagship "Mikasa", "Bayan" returned fire from a distance of 29 cables. After the enemy began to withdraw, the Russian cruisers approached the end ships of the Japanese on 19 cables and opened fire from all guns, up to 75 mm. On Stark's orders, the cruisers joined their squadron.

In battle, the cruiser received up to ten hits of 6 "shells and up to 350 small holes. Three 75-mm guns, a searchlight and three boilers failed. 4 sailors were killed, 35 were wounded (two mortally). Of the officers, Lieutenant A. A. was wounded. Popov and the commander of the 6 "gun, Lieutenant V.K. Samarsky. Combat quartermaster Nikifor Pecheritsa, despite serious wounds, did not leave his post at the flag. Sailor of the 1st article Pavel Admalkin, after a shell hit a 6 "casemate, alone continued to fire, firing 10 shots. For this battle, Viren received a golden weapon "For Courage".

In the exits from the harbor towards the Japanese squadron, the Bayan served as the flagship of the cruiser detachment. However, its combat capabilities were reduced by the limited range of 8 "guns. In skirmishes with Japanese cruisers at the maximum range, the cruiser's shells did not reach the enemy.

March 31, 1904 "Bayan" went to the aid of the wrecked and lost the course of the destroyer "Terrible", surrounded by Japanese destroyers. Approaching the battlefield, the cruiser collided with a detachment of six Japanese cruisers (armored Asama and Tokiwa and four armored). "Bayan" opened fire, after which, under the concentrated return fire of the enemy, it lowered the whaleboat and skiff and began to rescue the crew of the dead destroyer from the water (they managed to save five sailors), after which it moved across the path of two Japanese cruisers pursuing a detachment of Russian destroyers.

The last salvo of the Japanese cruisers fell under the very stern of the Bayan, but the cruiser managed to escape inevitable death and even picked up the boats. Only after escorting the destroyers to the shore, on the orders of the flagship, the cruiser joined the squadron. For this battle, Captain 1st Rank Viren was awarded the Order of St. George IV degree, some officers and sailors were also awarded.

Armored cruiser "Bayan"

AT further action The Port Arthur squadron limited itself to the exits of light ships. "Bayan" remained in the harbor. April 24 on the order and. about. Rear Admiral Witgeft, the squadron commander, was removed from the cruisers to install four 75-mm guns on the battery of the letters "B".

June 10 "Bayan" under the pennant of the captain of the 1st rank Reizenstein participated in the squadron going to sea for a pitched battle with the Japanese squadron. At 1910 hours, on a signal from Admiral Vitgeft, the Bayan with cruisers took its place ahead of the squadron returning to the port without accepting the battle.

Officers and team "Bayan"

On June 26, "Bayan" under the Reitsenstein's braid pennant led a detachment, which included the battleship "Poltava", cruisers and destroyers, which fired at the heights occupied by the Japanese in Tahoe Bay. In a firefight with a detachment of Japanese cruisers and destroyers 8 "Bayan shells again did not reach the enemy.

In July, "Bayan" continued to support ground forces with fire. On July 14, he led a detachment consisting of the battleship "Retvisan" and "Poltava", the cruisers "Novik" and "Askold", 3 gunboats and 7 destroyers, which entered Tahoe Bay to shell Japanese positions. In response, the Japanese sent the armored cruisers Nissin and Kassuga. The Russian detachment, not accepting the battle, began to retreat.

The armored cruiser "Bayan" after arriving in Port Arthur on November 29, 1903

At the entrance to the harbor, Bayan hit a mine with its starboard side, getting a hole almost 10 meters long at the side keel, as a result of which the first stoker, two coal pits and the right side corridor were flooded. With a slight list on the starboard side, the trim reached 2.1 m. At 18 hours and 40 minutes, the cruiser managed to stand on the barrel, after which he sat down on the ground. Under the leadership of Lieutenant V. I. Rudnev, two patches were brought in, while another emergency party, under the leadership of the hold mechanic B. P. Koshelev, fixed the bulkheads.

The command of the squadron, before entering the cruiser into the dock, decided to completely disarm it, "so as not to break." All 6" and 75-mm guns were removed and transferred to the land front and to other ships of the squadron. Two 6" guns sank along with the barge during shelling by Japanese siege artillery. By September 2 (15), Bayan no longer had a single 6", 8x75-mm, 8x47-mm and 2x37-mm guns, and it was not necessary to count on their return.

The commander of the ship himself contributed to its disarmament. On July 15 (28), at a meeting of commanders and flagships, R.N. Viren made a proposal: “The fleet should remain in Arthur, forming an indivisible whole with it, but divide the ships into those that will go to the raid and others that will remain in the harbor, finish the campaign, and their whole team will go ashore and take part in the defense of Arthur.

After the death of Vitgeft in the battle in the Yellow Sea, it was Viren who was appointed head of the Port Arthur detachment of ships and continued to disarm the squadron. The command of "Bayan" was entrusted to the captain of the 2nd rank F.N. Ivanov - the former commander of the mine layer "Amur".

In early August, the Bayan team was assigned the duty to maintain 4x6", 3x120-mm, 12x75-mm, 9x47-mm, 12x37-mm guns and 5 searchlights on the land front and 9 land mines of Fort No. III, for which it was 223 people were written off (batteries on the land front were commanded by midshipmen Yuri Lontkevich, Alexander Boshnyak, Anatoly Romanov).

More than 200 people were sent on August 7 to the reserve of the ground forces of the fortress under the command of Lieutenant V.I. Rudnev 3rd and midshipman P.M. -mechanic M.I. Glinka, junior doctor A.P. Steblov, priest Father Anatoly Kuniev). The senior mine officer of the cruiser, Lieutenant N. L. Podgursky, proposed using throwing mine devices for firing at Japanese trenches, and on September 4 he rolled a ball mine of an obstacle into a Japanese trench. On September 9, Lieutenant Podgursky blew up a dugout occupied by the Japanese on High Mountain, which delayed the fall of an important stronghold for more than two months.

At the end of September, Bayan began to install 6 "guns from the Pallada cruiser, preparing it to go to sea. The Japanese fired at the harbor from medium-caliber guns, and then from 11" mortars. "Bayan" received 10 hits with medium-caliber shells and 6 - 11 "shells. On October 3, the cruiser, which had already received damage in the undercarriage, entered the outer roadstead, avoiding shelling. Having finished with the battleships stationed on the inner roadstead, on November 25, the Japanese fire on Bayan.

From 09:00 to 17:00, up to 320 11" and 6" shells were fired at the cruiser. Four of the ten shells that hit the cruiser were 11 "caliber. Having no underwater holes, the ship sank more and more into the water, as the compartments filled with water as a result of fighting fires. There was no question of restoring the ship. By noon on November 26, the cruiser, having filled with water, with a 15-degree list to the port side, the whole hull lay down on the soil of the Eastern Basin.

Part of the Bayan team formed a landing company headed by midshipman Yu. L. Leontkovich and mechanical engineer E. P. Koshelev. Captain 2nd rank Ivanov received a position at the headquarters. On the night of December 20, 1904 Bayan was blown up.

After the capture of Port Arthur, the Japanese began to raise the sunken ships. On August 7, the Bayan cruiser lifted from the bottom left the harbor for Japan.

At first, the former Russian ships were supposed to be sold to China, but the deal did not take place, and on August 22, 1905, the cruiser was included in the Japanese fleet under the name Aso. In 1906-1908, he underwent a refurbishment in Maizuru, receiving new Miyabara boilers and Vickers guns.

In 1913, the cruiser's 8" turret mounts were removed and replaced with deck 6" guns with a barrel length of 50 calibers. Unlike the cruiser Varyag and the battleships Poltava and Peresvet, the Bayan was not sold to Russia in 1916.

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