The cruiser Aurora is one of the most recognizable symbols of the October Revolution. However, the history of the ship includes many more events and military campaigns, without which the idea of the cruiser’s historical path would be incomplete.
Cruiser project
The construction of the cruiser Aurora (ship type "Diana") began in 1896. According to the previous shipbuilding program, this project was not in the fleet's plans at all. However, at the end of the 19th century the foreign policy situation deteriorated markedly. An arms race with Germany has begun. Against this backdrop, the state needed such new vessels as the Aurora.
The ship became the third among cruisers of its class (the first two were "Diana" and "Pallas"). The ship was laid in the New Admiralty. His project was authored by naval design engineer Xavier Ratnik. The draft version was approved by the Marine Technical Committee, after which preparations for construction began.
In the spring of 1897, Emperor Nicholas II was offered 12 ideas for the name of the future ship. The king chose "Aurora" - a name adopted from the ancient Roman goddess Dawn. The laying ceremony took place on June 4. It was attended by Fleet Admiral General Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich. The other two cruisers were finished before the Aurora appeared. The ship was delayed due to the fact that the contractor for a long time could not agree on the supply of a steam engine. At first, the Society of Franco-Russian Plants did not want to transfer valuable drawings to the Baltic Plant. Finally, the conflict was settled, and the contract was signed (July 20).
Service start
May 24, 1900 the ship "Aurora" was launched. The ceremony took place in the presence of Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra Fedorovna and mother Maria Fedorovna. It is symbolic that during the descent, there was a sailor on board, who had previously served on the frigate of the same name Aurora, which participated in the defense of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky during the Crimean War. The installation of machines and auxiliary mechanisms began the next day.
The main technical characteristics of the vessel are as follows: length - 126 meters, width - 16 meters, draft - 6 meters. Aurora has a displacement of 6731 tons. Designers chose Belleville water tube boilers as the engine. With a capacity of about 12 thousand horsepower, the ship could reach speeds of up to 35 kilometers per hour (19 knots). The crew of the ship was 550 sailors and another 20 officers.
For several years, the ship was tested, after which in 1903 it joined the detachment under the command of Rear Admiral Andrei Virenius. The further fate of the ship was associated with the Second Pacific Squadron, created due to the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War. She went to Port Arthur in order to unlock the besieged port. The ships had a long way to go, which usually stretched for at least a year.
Gull incident
During a voyage in the Baltic Sea on October 22, 1904, a serious incident occurred. Squadron ships fired at an unidentified misty suspicious vessel. It turned out that they were English fishermen. Two of them died. The Aurora also came under friendly fire due to poor visibility. The ship got 5 shells. Because of the wound received, the hieromonk on the cruiser soon died. The event became known as the Gull incident. Due to a fleet error, relations between Russia and Great Britain were seriously damaged. In order to find out all the circumstances of the tragedy, the parties agreed to an arbitration court investigation. This was the first such case in world practice.
Despite what happened, the squadron continued its journey. What was the position on the cruiser Aurora? The ship was quickly patched, and its damage did not cause their return to their homeland. On the island of Madagascar, while sailing, sailors learned that Port Arthur had fallen and the First Pacific Squadron had perished.
Tsushima battle
On May 14 or 27, 1905, according to the new style, the Aurora ship took part in the famous Tsushima battle. For the Russian fleet, this was a decisive battle and the last hope for the salvation of the entire military campaign. The second Pacific squadron suffered a crushing defeat. The Aurora was lucky - the ship was damaged, but did not capitulate and was not sunk, unlike most other domestic ships.
After the battle, the cruiser discovered 18 hits. The anchor chain was broken, and the lock was out of order. The remaining lesions were holes. On May 21, a ship escorted by Americans moored in the port of Philippine Manila. The ship was interned. The team signed up for not participating in further hostilities with the Japanese. The Aurora remained parked in Manila until the signing of the Portsmouth Peace, which ended the war. The cruiser returned to his homeland on February 19, 1906. Anchor in Libau was cast 458 days after the ship went on an expedition as part of the Second Pacific Squadron.
World War I
Immediately after the outbreak of World War I, the cruiser Aurora arrived at the port of Revel awaiting new orders. On August 26, 1914, the Magdeburg ran aground in the waters of the Gulf of Finland. "Aurora" went to intercept a German ship. Russian sailors managed to capture the ship. It was later dismantled for scrap.
This was followed by a long parking at the port of Helsingfors. In 1916, "Aurora" entered the Gulf of Riga and helped the ground forces with the help of dense artillery fire. In the fall, the ship went to Kronstadt for repairs.
February revolution
While stationed in Kronstadt, Captain Mikhail Nikolsky tried to resist political revolutionary agitation, which flourished at the local factory where the ship was being repaired. At the enterprises, strikes began. The requirements of the workers were different. Someone wanted a shorter working day, others generally opposed the authorities. In such a situation, the captain rightly feared for the morale of his sailors.
On February 27, the arms of the guard guarding the cruiser Aurora were strengthened. The history of the ship already included dangerous naval battles, but if a riot had begun on the ship, then the officers would have nothing to rely on. In addition, agitators spread rumors that they would make a floating prison out of Aurora.
On the eve of the February Revolution, riots broke out on board the ship. The sailors ceased to obey the orders of Nikolsky, after which the officers opened fire on them. Three people were injured, one then died of complications. Meanwhile, mass demonstrations were already taking place in Petrograd, and power in the capital was virtually paralyzed.
On the 28th, opposite the Aurora, a demonstration began. Workers flooded the ship. When they learned that there was shooting on the ship the day before, indignation arose. Dissatisfied detained Captain Nikolsky and another officer Ogranovich. Shoulder straps were ripped off from them. The two were torn to death by the crowd in the growing chaos of the demonstration. Nikolsky was shot dead for not wanting to go to the Tauride Palace with a red cloth in his hands. Officers failed to protect the ship from agitators.
Restless 1917
In 1917, the model of the ship "Aurora" still remained combat-ready and relatively modern. The cruiser, despite all the costs of war and revolution, could be used for its intended purpose. After the events of February and the overthrow of the monarchy, the sailors established a ship committee. There were many representatives of the left parties, but not a single Bolshevik.
However, in the summer the situation changed radically. Supporters of Lenin carefully worked with the army and navy. Therefore, of course, they could not ignore the important cruiser Aurora. The history of the ship was briefly known to all residents of the capital. If the Bolsheviks managed to persuade the ship's team to their side, this would be an unconditional success.
The party’s most eloquent agitators (for example, Mikhail Kalinin) spoke at Aurora, which emphasized its special attitude to the ship parked in the parking lot. The result was not long in coming. By the summer, the committee already had 42 representatives of the RSDLP (b). Sailors began to actively participate in Bolshevik street actions. On July 4, during a mass demonstration in Petrograd, sailors came under machine-gun fire from an army that remained loyal to the Provisional Government. Soon repression against the Bolsheviks began. Lenin fled to a hut in Razliv, and some of the particularly zealous sailors of the Aurora were arrested.
October Revolution
In September, the next re-election of the ship committee took place. Its chairman was elected Bolshevik Alexander Belyshev. The captain was Nikolai Erickson. Since the repair of the ship was completed, he soon had to go to sea. However, on October 10, the Bolsheviks at a meeting of the Central Committee decided on an armed coup in Petrograd. They needed the Aurora not only as a well-armed cruiser, but also as an important symbol.
The Bolsheviks controlled not only the ship, but also the Petrograd Soviet. According to his decision on October 24, sailors left the ship in St. Petersburg. "Aurora" was to reduce the Nikolaev bridge. The city authorities tried to block the crossings in order to stop the coup in the capital, and the rebels tried to prevent this.
On the night of October 25, the ship entered the Neva. Captain Erickson initially resisted this decision, but nevertheless agreed. He feared that inept sailors would simply put the ship aground. The Nikolaev bridge was in the hands of the junkers. As the Aurora approached, they fled, and the Bolshevik supporters were able to restore movement across the river.
Single shot
By the morning of October 25, Lenin from Smolny controlled the entire communication infrastructure of Petrograd - telegraph, post office, train station, etc. The interim government still remained in the Winter Palace. The Bolsheviks were going to shell him from the Peter and Paul Fortress, in case of refusal of the ministers to surrender it.
How could the Aurora help in the assault? The type of ship and its weapons made it possible to fire a signal shot. The Bolsheviks decided to take this opportunity. On the afternoon of the 25th, Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko, the head of the field headquarters of Lenin’s supporters, arrived on the ship. He ordered a single shot, which was planned to be fired after a signal from the Peter and Paul Tower. In addition, the Bolsheviks used the radio on the Aurora to transmit the appeal of the leader of the world proletariat.
A blank shot rang out at 21:40. It was produced by the commandant Evdokim Ognev. The shot served as a signal for the assault on the Winter Palace. In addition, he panicked the ministers of the Provisional Government, who were seated in their last stronghold. Historians still argue about whether there was a technical possibility for field shooting of Aurora at the Winter Palace. Some researchers argue that there could be no fire at least because of the location of the ship. One way or another, but further shooting was not needed. The Winter Palace was in the hands of the rebels and without the help of the Aurora.
Subsequent story
The episode that took place during the October Revolution, became the most famous for the cruiser Aurora. The history of the ship was immediately turned into an important way of the emergence of Soviet power. Three days after the events in the Winter Palace, he returned for repairs. Soon, the Aurora again became part of the existing fleet.
In the summer of 1918, the power of the Bolsheviks was still fragile. Near Petrograd, the offensive of the white army of Yudenich developed. The class of the ship "Aurora" could not help the battles on earth. Nevertheless, it was decided to use the cruiser a little differently. Then Petrograd faced the threat of foreign intervention. The Bolsheviks wanted to flood the Aurora and several more ships in order to block the path of enemy ships. However, such a need did not arise.
In peacetime, the ship Aurora, whose photo during the October events in Petrograd hit the editorials of many Russian and foreign newspapers, became a training ship. The cruiser participated in several overseas voyages. During these expeditions, new RKKF sailors gained experience. On the tenth anniversary of the revolution in 1927, Aurora was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
The ship made its last long voyage in 1930, when it circled the Scandinavian peninsula. This was followed by a long overhaul. However, he could not smooth out the fact that the ship was out of date. By 1941, it was generally planned to withdraw from the fleet, but this was prevented by the ensuing war.
During the blockade of Leningrad, the Aurora was subjected to numerous bombardments of German aircraft. Even at the beginning of the war, the Soviet leadership decided to make the ship part of the city’s air defense system. The ship had several anti-aircraft guns that could be useful in the fight against Luftwaffe aircraft. The shelling led to the fact that the ship received many holes. At the end of 1941, sailors were evacuated. The Aurora firing ceased only after the blockade was lifted.
In the eternal parking lot
In 1944, it was decided to send the ship to the eternal parking lot at the Petrograd embankment and make a museum out of it. By that time, there were almost no such legendary monuments in the entire Soviet Union as the cruiser Aurora. A boat tour has become a must for tourists of the Northern capital.
Over the next few decades, the Aurora survived a dozen restorations. In 2014, the ship was sent to Kronstadt for the next repair. It is planned that he will return to eternal parking at the Petrograd embankment in the summer of 2016.