The Russian imperial fleet conquered the sea for a long time. His ships showed themselves in battle as brave and strong "fighters". The fate of each battleship, destroyer, cruiser was completely different. Some served for many years, others were destined to stay on paper. Cruisers of the Svetlana type were never fully realized. What can not be said about the armored cruiser of the 1st rank.
The first "Svetlana"
The ship with the same name first appeared in 1896. It was an armored cruiser, which was built on French soil. Initially, his main task was to accompany the imperial yacht Alexei Alexandrovich. Regarding combat purposes, no one could speak.
Before designing for a long time they could not determine the task of the ship. What should have been "Svetlana": an armored cruiser or a heavy battleship? What are its volumes, weapons and reservations? All these thoughts continued until 1894.
For business
It was in the summer of this year that the design of a new “fighter” began. Many applicants fought for the workplace over the cruiser. This is the Franco-Russian plant, several companies from the UK, Germany and France. Among the many proposals, only seven options were accepted, which for the most part were the modernization of one of the cruisers in England.
The next stage consisted of selecting existing proposals. Finally, a choice was made in favor of a company from France. The project resembled one of the French cruisers Friant. After the ship went through all the paperwork, he could only give a name. The Svetlana, the cruiser of 1896, gained its name thanks to Nicholas II in 1985.
From paper to conveyor
By the end of 1895, the cruiser Svetlana was officially laid down. Various mechanisms along with the body were built in Le Havre itself, while boilers were created in Belleville. The work went so fast that less than a year later the cruiser was launched. The following year, it was decided to conduct tests.
Naturally, the customer, Aleksey Aleksandrovich, became the chief judge, who had already stepped aboard the “floating machine” in 1897. The next stage was followed by various kinds of combat tests of the course and artillery, and, finally, in 1898 the Svetlana could come into operation, and the Grand Duke accepted it without complaints.
Appearance - not the main thing?
It is worth noting that the appearance of the cruiser was not devoid of the features of the French ships. The deck was slightly saddle in the bow, the ram was developed and rounded, and the masts and pipes were tilted to the stern.
Given that the Svetlana is an armored cruiser, it is not deprived of high booking rates. The deck was 25 mm thick, its bevels were larger - 25 and 50 millimeters. The wheelhouse was reliably protected by 100 mm armored walls and a 25 mm roof. The guns were also protected by 25 mm shields.
Features
According to the project, only 270 people could accommodate Svetlana. The cruiser, whose history of creation was not remarkable for anything remarkable, showed in tests that it can gather 400 people on board. Although this was not enough. According to the head of the naval headquarters, the combat crew was to acquire 73 more sailors.
Some inaccuracies also occurred with speed. According to the initial idea, the cruiser developed a speed of more than 20 knots. The tests showed the same thing. But then the ship was not fully loaded, so this indicator can be considered incorrect. This discrepancy later revealed a test in which the Svetlana was fully equipped. Despite the fact that power indicators increased to almost 9900 horsepower, the “floating machine” gained only 19 knots.
Another feature was the so-called "filling." The cruiser "Svetlana" was equipped with separate luxury apartments, which were supposed to comfortably accommodate Prince Alexei. There was an entrance hall, reception room, workplace, bedroom and other rooms. The location of the dynamo machines should also be moved away from the resting place, in the bow platform, in order to reduce the noise level.
Not in service, but in friendship
At the beginning of its operation, the ship was a kind of exhibit that attracted attention. He plowed the waters of Europe, visited Portugal, Kronstadt. At the end of the century, he went to the opening of the Catherine harbor. Until 1903, he served as the personal yacht of Prince Alexei.
Already in early 1904, it was decided to take the cruiser into service in the Pacific Squadron. The crew was increased and sent to the Suez Canal. Svetlana joined the reconnaissance detachment and slowed down noticeably to 18 knots. Shooting was only educational in nature.
Fatal battle
The last battle of Svetlana was the battle of May 15th. Prior to this, the cruiser participated in the battle, in which he got hit and scored 350 tons of water. His nose sank under the water by almost one and a half meters. Accordingly, the speed dropped to 15 knots. The ship remained invisible for a long time. He lagged behind the Aurora and Oleg, but late in the night he was discovered by the destroyer Bystry and escorted on.
At five in the morning, the captain saw the island of Dazhelet and wanted to approach him in order to fix the problems, pump out the water and put the ship in order. Once the danger passed by the Svetlana, but a little later the ship was spotted by two Japanese cruisers and a destroyer. When the officers realized that they could not escape at such a low speed, they decided to accept the battle, and in the event of defeat, sink the ship.
Of course, with such injuries against three, Svetlana could not stand it. By 11 o’clock in the afternoon, the cruiser was lying on its port side, and began to sink to the bottom. Japanese ships left to die armored in the open sea, and they themselves rushed for the "Fast" and other "victims". The surviving officers and sailors were saved by the cruiser America-Maru.
New Svetlana
Already in 1907, it was decided to create a light cruiser of the Svetlana type. This step was caused by failures in the Russo-Japanese War. They didn’t have time to finish building them by the First World War; in the future, the revolution slowed down work on a series of cruisers.
As a result, of all the plans conceived, the cruiser Svetlana of 1913 was implemented. He was launched in a couple of years, but he was destined to enter the battle only in 1928. The light cruiser Svetlana was later renamed first to Profintern and later to Krasny Krym. Under the last name he took part in the Great Patriotic War.
"Admiral Butakov" from the same series descended into the water in 1916, but he was never destined to enter service. The other two cruisers, Admiral Greig and Admiral Spiridov, were rebuilt into tankers in 1926. The first sank in Tuapse due to a storm, the second died while fighting in the Sea of Azov during World War II.