The Russian Imperial Fleet served for nearly 200 years. His power reached a high level during the Russo-Japanese War. By 1905, the fleet became the third largest in the world. The cruiser Bogatyr became a participant in two wars, conquered the expanses of the sea and lived for almost 22 years.
Project history
"Bogatyr" - an armored cruiser, was designed at the beginning of the 20th century. The reason for its development was all the same Japan, which at that time was exciting with its power and strength. Two years before the start of the new century, the Japanese created a program to equip and increase the power of their fleet.
Russia decided to keep up, therefore, with the project “For the needs of the Far East”, it set about designing ships that could gain superiority over the enemy. Initially, it was planned to create two types of armored cruisers with different displacement. But then the program slowed down its work due to the fact that the plans of 1895 were not fulfilled.
The Ministry of the Sea decided to seek help from shipbuilding firms abroad. After a small competition, Russia drew attention to the project presented by Germany. The country introduced a vessel with powerful artillery and a displacement of 6,250 tons.
Implementation of the intended
They began building the cruiser the very next year after drawing up the project plan. At the end of 1899, the lead ship was laid down with the bright and powerful name “Bogatyr”. The construction of the future naval fighter was in full swing. While working on the ship, the Germans decided to transfer 3 more drawings to Russia, thanks to which the Bogatyr type armored cruisers were to appear.
Construction did not go smoothly. Constantly there were problems with the supply of parts, directly with the design. Both sides argued all the time and could not agree on the final draft even in the process of its implementation. Because of what, the deadlines were postponed all the time, and the ship was not ready.
At the beginning of 1901, the Bogatyr cruiser, the drawings of which were safely embodied in a powerful vessel, set sail. After conducting a lot of tests, including speed, in 1902 the ship was handed over to the customer, and it was able to go into battle.
Far East
The course to the Far East was adopted after the Bogatyr cruiser became a full-fledged combat vessel and was trained by shooting. Two squadron battleships and two cruisers went with him into the Pacific Ocean.
Only after 2 years the ship was able to enter into a real battle. The entire detachment of the Bogatyr was dressed in olive color, Russia declared war on Japan. It was the beginning of cruising. This process was stopped by the sinking of the coastal ship, the capture of the crew and the storm.
The next cruise only triggered the attack of the Japanese fleet, and already in March a detachment of 4 cruisers and 2 destroyers bombarded Vladivostok. Over time, another help of 15 ships sailed to him. The Vladivostok detachment was to divert attention, which it did a great job of.
At the end of April, the Bogatyr cruiser, the armament of which was one of the most powerful in the detachment, joined the Thunderbolt and Russia cruisers. Two destroyers were sent with them. It was a quiet cruise that brought excellent results.
The first wound received by the ship happened in May. Visibility of the sea was extremely low, despite this, the cruiser moved at a speed of 10 knots. A team of officers tried to reason with the captain, but all the persuasions were in vain. As a result, the Bogatyr suffered damage from stones near Cape Bruce. This event became sad for the whole crew. In addition to the fact that the ship received holes and flooded several compartments, he himself could not remove the stones.
The help, which arrived on this day, did not bring results. Weather also did not play into the hands of sailors. A storm of 10 points forced the evacuation of the entire "heroic" crew. After the storm, a mechanic with workers arrived on the ship. The damage was severe. Almost half of the compartments were flooded, the ship deployed on the rocks.
It took a month and a half to remove the ship from the stones. All this time he was unloaded until complete "liberation." Until the end of the war, the towed Bogatyr remained in the port of Vladivostok. The ship was still destined to meet with the Japanese, but in peacetime. The Bogatyr was escorted by the cruiser Rossiya to the port of Rasin. On the ship were two opposing admirals. Here they discussed the terms of the peace treaty, which they later concluded in Portsmouth.
Baltic adventures
In 1906, the Bogatyr was returned to service. He was included in the Special Detachment, which was supposed to sail with midshipmen and non-commissioned officers. In the same year, the ship participated in restoring order at the Sveaborg fortress. The uprising was muffled by artillery fire.
Later, the Bogatyr cruiser set sail on the Mediterranean Sea. Here he had to visit Naples at the funeral of N.V. Muravyov, and later save the victims of the earthquake off the Italian coast. A few years later, the crew of the ship was awarded for this help and for the rescue of 2,400 residents of Messina. In 1912, the cruiser was repaired at the Kronstadt plant, and the next year he plowed the expanses of the Mediterranean Sea.
Serious fight
13 days after the Germans declared war on the Russians, the Bogatyr was able to realize himself and, together with the cruiser Pallada and two destroyers, knock out an important enemy. A combination of circumstances or fate led to the fact that the German light cruiser "Magdeburg" sat on the stones near the lighthouse. There was no one to help them, but the crew could not cope with the problem on their own. These attempts were noticed by Russian scouts, and they decided to send our military detachment here.
The captains of the Bogatyr and Pallas knew about each other, but did not realize that the command had sent the destroyers Lieutenant Burakov and Ryan to the aid of the destroyers. Despite the fact that the cruisers had to cover their battle brothers, the destroyers arrived at the Magdeburg faster, but could not find the enemy.
The mistake of the German captain, who decided to shell the lighthouse, betrayed their location. The destroyers began to fire at the enemy’s ship, and on the other hand came the Bogatyr and Pallas and began to attack Magdeburg. Due to dense fog, the Russian detachment could not see that the German destroyer had already evacuated the cruiser’s crew.
Also from the Russian cruisers went to the allied destroyers, which mistakenly seemed enemies, and those, in turn, fired torpedoes at the Bogatyr and Pallada. In the morning, the Russian captains sorted out the problem and concentrated on the Magdeburg and the destroyer.
The enemy ship could not stand the shelling and blew up his ship. This operation became key, thanks to the documents found on board the German cruiser, which helped to further decipher the enemy radiograms.
At the end of 1914, the cruiser managed to put a couple of insidious mines on which the German cruiser was blown up. A year later, the ship again served the Russian Navy with its mines and a damaged enemy ship. Throughout the First World War, the Bogatyr successfully identified enemies, set mines and drowned the ship.
Last breath
After the revolution began, the cruiser had to retreat, as changes were observed at the front. After he participated in the Baltic Fleet in the Ice Campaign. Later, the ship was sent for storage to the port of Kronstadt. For about 4 years, the cruiser Bogatyr has been disarmed. In the summer of 1922 the ship was sold for scrap, taken to the Germans, and they were dismantled. Officially, the cruiser was excluded from the list of the Russian fleet only in 1925.
Brethren
A series of brothers "Bogatyr" was very successful. Among them were Vityaz, Oleg, Ochakov, and Cahul. The last two were renamed two and three times. Each of the cruisers served for a long time, except for the Vityaz. This vessel burned during construction and was not put into operation.
The Bogatyr was the first to be launched, as is known, in 1901, followed by Ochakov. True, he did not enter the system as quickly as his "elder brother", only in 1909. He served until 1920 and was detained by the French. “Cahul” was renamed twice, first in “Memory of Mercury”, later in “Comintern”. During World War II, he was disarmed and sunk to create a breakwater.
The last cruiser from the Oleg series also did not live long, only until 1919, due to a torpedo attack by a British boat. But in 1938 he was lifted from the bottom and cut into metal.
Interesting Facts
The cruiser Bogatyr, the photo of which is presented in the article, has become very popular due to its exploits. This ship appeared in the game World of Warships. It takes place in the Soviet branch at level 3. The developers of the project tried to recreate it as accurately as possible.
Several times, creative people tried to perpetuate the cruiser "Bogatyr". The model was created on a scale of 1/100, while it was made as close as possible to the original. Some exhibits can be disassembled in half, along the waterline, to install electric motors inside to control the cruiser on the water.