Nowadays, few can say anything about the cruiser of the 2nd rank "Diamond". At best, well-read interlocutors will be able to remember that he participated in the battle of Tsushima. His further combat path is not too illuminated - there are no books written about him, no films made. And in vain, because many would be interested in learning about it.
When it was built
The construction of the ship began in September 1902 - it was then that it was laid down at the Baltic Shipyard, located in St. Petersburg. Alas, serious difficulties began already at this beginning. Initially, it was planned to create a full-fledged cruiser of rank 2, but the masters did not have the appropriate documentation, drawings, calculations at hand. Therefore, it was decided to create a lighter ship - almost a yacht that does not even have armor, unlike military ships of that time.
The construction took a little time - already on June 2, 1903 the ship was ready and launched. He joined the ranks of the fleet of the Russian Empire in November 1903.
Main characteristics
The finished cruiser "Almaz", the photo of which is attached to the article, had a displacement of 3285 tons - for comparison, the famous "Varyag" this figure was 6604 tons.
The total length of the hull is 111 meters with a width of 13.3 meters and a draft depth of about 5 meters. The ship, as mentioned above, did not have a reservation, since, in fact, it was a messenger ship for the Pacific Ocean, and not a warship.
Due to its low weight, the ship did not need a particularly powerful propulsion system - the developers stopped at 16 Belleville boilers providing 7950 horsepower (again, the Varyag had 20 thousand). The maximum speed was planned around 19 knots, but in practice it turned out to be slightly less. Cruising range was about 3350 nautical miles, or 6200 kilometers.
Fully equipped with a crew required 295 sailors and officers.
Armament
Despite the small displacement and lack of armor, the cruiser Almaz remained a warship. Therefore, the most suitable weapons were installed on it. Powerful 152 mm guns were not used. They cost four 75 mm guns and six 47 mm guns.
If 75-millimeter guns could inflict any damage to enemy ships, then 47-millimeter guns, despite the firing range of more than 4 kilometers, were frankly weak and could be used only for a solemn salute.
Therefore, very soon, already in 1905, the armament was completely changed. They left only two 47-mm guns, added six 75-mm guns and, most importantly, installed three 120-mm guns, which could well penetrate the armor of enemy ships.
But such weapons stood on the ship a little more than a decade. In 1916, during a complete modernization, the Almaz cruiser received seven 120-mm guns - the rest were removed. Since by this time they began to use it for transporting seaplanes, the ship was also equipped with three anti-aircraft installations for destroying enemy aircraft.
Cruiser in the Russo-Japanese War
Now we turn to the most interesting part - participation in hostilities. He was not ready for the start of the Russo-Japanese War, so he was not transferred to the Pacific Ocean until May 1904 as part of the Second Pacific Squadron. Unfortunately, the squadron left much to be desired. It included only a few really powerful ships that could cause damage to Japanese opponents. The rest (like "Diamond") came in more for quantity and in the hope that they could at least distract the enemy for a while.
The second Pacific squadron was aimed at helping the besieged Port Arthur. Moreover, it was divided - several ships went through the Mediterranean Sea, on a short route. But the main battle group, consisting of four powerful battleships of the Borodino class, rushed to the rescue, circling the western and southern coasts of Africa. Unfortunately, time was lost - Port Arthur fell. The management decided to return the ships to Russia. But for some reason they sent them to Vladivostok, ordering them to follow the shortest path - past Tsushima Island, where the most powerful naval bases of Japan were located.
So the baptism of fire cruiser "Diamond" in Tsushima battle passed. Unfortunately, it turned out to be very unsuccessful. The Russian fleet was not just defeated, but trampled. Unsuitable ships for a sea battle, an unsuccessfully chosen battlefield - all this led to the fact that only “Diamond” managed to break through to Vladivostok. A few more ships turned and retreated. Most of the ships were simply destroyed by the Japanese. Perhaps this is one of the blackest pages in the history of the Russian fleet.
During the first world war
After the end of the Russo-Japanese War (one of the few that the Russian people lost) and the conclusion of peace, Almaz was transferred to Kronstadt. In the following years, he performed only parade missions — accompanied ships on which important persons sailed, gave a solemn salute. He was later transferred to the Black Sea, where he was re-equipped, turning into a “carrier” of the time - for the transport of seaplanes.
Here he was caught by the First World War. Only now began a more or less successful career of the glorious cruiser. For example, it was observers from Almaz who noticed the modern German-Turkish battle cruiser Geben and timely reported this, as a result of which there was a battle in the area of Cape Sarych. In the course of it, the Goeben was not only damaged, but the enemy’s activity in the Black Sea also decreased.
Almaz could not fight against real warships, but completely against the Turkish equal in strength. As a result, over the following years, the cruiser destroyed six enemy ships.
During the revolution
Soon the country was swept by the Civil War, which was the result of the October Revolution. According to rumors, any sympathy for the Bolsheviks was very harshly suppressed at Almaz. It got to the point that those convicted of propagating the ideas of socialism were burned in ship furnaces. There is no documentary evidence for this, but hardly such rumors originated from scratch.
In the spring of 1918, the ship, located in Sevastopol, was captured by German troops, but soon the British allies recaptured it, transferring the Diamond to the White Fleet. Despite the opposition of the Georgian authorities, he managed to carry out a successful operation to evacuate Cossack units from Georgia.
In 1920, the ship set sail. Having landed everyone in the Crimea and taking the families of sailors and officers, the Almaz ship, the photo of which is attached to the article, went to France, to the port of Bizerte, where it was interned by French troops. After the establishment of Soviet power in Russia and the establishment of diplomatic relations, France announced its readiness to return the ship. But the outdated and initially not very promising vessel was simply sold to the French in 1924. Ten years later, it was dismantled for scrap.
Conclusion
The article has come to an end. Together we tracked the path that the Almaz cruiser traveled from Tsushima to Bizerta. Although this was not the best ship of the Russian fleet, he also contributed to the history of our country. Therefore, to know and remember about it will be useful to everyone.