Design and description
By late 1863, the Russian Admiralty Board had begun planning for the second generation of ironclads to succeed those ships then under construction and issued a requirement on 12 November [Note 1] for a twin-screw low-freeboard ship that could sail throughout the Baltic Sea. It was to be armed with 15-inch (381 mm) smoothbore Dahlgren guns and protected by up to 6 in (152 mm) of armor. Before even deciding which designs to accept, the Admiralty decided to order eight ships of various types in March 1864. Charles Mitchell was allocated only one of the eight ships before he submitted four different designs for the competition in May–June. Two ships of his simplest design were awarded to a new builder, S. G. Kudriavtsev, who was provided facilities at the state-owned Galernyi Island Shipyard. In addition the Admiralty committed itself to furnishing the armament, armor, engines and boilers as well as a variety of smaller components for the two ships. [1]
The Charodeika-class monitors were significantly larger than their predecessor, Smerch, and were 206 feet (62.8 m) long at the waterline. They had a beam of 42 feet (12.8 m) and a maximum draft of 12 feet 7 inches (3.8 m). The ships were designed to displace 1,882 long tons (1,912 t), but turned out to be overweight and actually displaced 2,100 long tons (2,100 t). They were fitted with a plough-shaped ram that projected four feet (1.2 m) forward of the bow. The Charodeikas were fitted with a double bottom and their hulls were subdivided by watertight bulkheads into 25 compartments. Their crew numbered 13 officers and 171 crewmen in 1877. [2]
The ships had a freeboard of only two feet (0.6 m) and their decks were often awash in any sort of moderate sea. They rolled heavily and were very unmaneuverable, often not responding to the ship's wheel until 20 degrees of rudder was applied. The monitors were fitted with three iron pole masts, probably fore-and-aft rigged, and used to steady the ship rather than for propulsion. [3]
Propulsion
The Charodeika class had two simple horizontal direct-acting steam engines, built by the Baird Works of Saint Petersburg. [4] The engines had a bore of 38 inches (0.97 m) and a stroke of 18 inches (0.46 m) and each drove a single four-bladed 8-foot-6-inch (2.59 m) propeller. Steam was provided by two rectangular boilers at a pressure of 1.6 atm (162 kPa ; 24 psi ). The engines were designed to produce a total of 875 indicated horsepower (652 kW), but only produced 705–786 ihp (526–586 kW) which gave the ships speeds between 8.5–9 knots (15.7–16.7 km/h; 9.8–10.4 mph) when they ran their sea trials in 1869. The monitors also had a donkey boiler for the small steam engine that powered the ventilation fans and pumps. The Charodeika class carried a maximum of 250 long tons (254 t); their range, however, is unknown. [5]
Armament
The monitors were designed to be armed with four Obukhov 9-inch (229 mm) rifled guns, a pair in each Coles-type turret. Various deckhouses and ventilation hatches prevented the turrets from firing directly forward or aft, so that each turret could bear approximately 150° to each side. Difficulties in manufacturing the guns and the delayed construction of the monitors themselves forced the Admiralty to change the armament to a pair of the 9-inch guns in the forward turret and a pair of 15-inch (380 mm) smoothbore muzzle-loading Rodman guns in the aft turret. These guns were replaced by another pair of 9-inch rifled guns beginning in 1871. They were replaced in their turn in 1878–79 by two longer, more powerful 9-inch Obukhov guns. The ship carried 75 rounds for each gun. [6]
Light guns for use against torpedo boats are not known to have been fitted aboard the Charodeika-class ships before the 1870s when a variety of guns were added, although their numbers, calibers, and locations are only partially known. Charodeika received four 4-pounder 3.4-inch (86 mm) guns, two mounted on the roofs of each gun turret while Rusalka had a total of three guns with only one gun on her aft turret. Other guns known have been fitted included 45-millimeter (1.8 in) Engström quick-firing (QF) guns, 47-millimeter (1.9 in) QF Hotchkiss guns, 37-millimeter (1.5 in) QF Hotchkiss five-barreled revolving cannon, and 1-inch (25 mm) Nordenfelt guns. [7]
Armor
The Charodeika-class monitors had a complete waterline belt of wrought iron that was 4.5 inches (114 mm) thick amidships and thinned to 3.25 inches (83 mm) aft and 3.75 inches (95 mm) forward. It was 7 feet 6 inches (2 m) high and completely covered the hull to 5 feet 6 inches (2 m) below the waterline. The armor was backed by 12 to 18 inches (305 to 457 mm) of teak. The turrets had 5.5 inches (140 mm) of armor, also backed by teak, [7] and the conning tower was 4.5 inches thick. [4] Amidships, the deck was 1 inch thick, although it thinned to 0.25–0.5 inches (6–13 mm) at the ends of the ship. [7]
Construction and service
The monitors were intended to be delivered by 27 May 1867, but construction was held up by delays in delivery of the blueprints, armor, changes made while under construction and the untimely death of Kudriavtsev in August 1865. The contract was transferred to Mitchell who completed them in 1869, two years after their scheduled delivery date for the cost of 762,000 roubles each. [11] Both ships spent their entire careers with the Baltic Fleet. In June, Charodeika ripped a 28-foot (8.5 m) long hole in her hull when she struck an uncharted rock in the Gulf of Finland and had to be deliberately run aground to prevent her sinking. She was assigned to the Artillery Training Detachment of the Baltic Fleet in March 1870 and Charodeika was later assigned to the Mine (Torpedo) Training Detachment. [11]
Both monitors were reclassified as coast-defense ironclads on 13 February 1892 and Rusalka sank in a storm on 7 September 1893 during a voyage between Reval (Tallinn) and Helsingfors (Helsinki) with the loss of her entire crew of 177 officers and enlisted men. Despite an extensive search, the only traces of her found were one body and some debris that washed ashore. Charodeika remained in service until 31 March 1907 when she was turned over to the Port of Kronstadt for disposal. The ship was stricken from the Navy List on 7 April and was finally scrapped in 1911–12. [11]
Rusalka's wreck was discovered on 22 July 2003 in the Gulf of Finland, 25 kilometers (13 nmi) south of Helsinki, by a joint expedition of the Estonian Maritime Museum and the commercial diving company Tuukritööde OÜ. [12] The wreck is generally intact although draped with snagged fishing nets. The aft turret, however, has fallen out of the ship. [13]
Petr Velikiy was an ironclad turret ship built for the Imperial Russian Navy during the 1870s. Her engines and boilers were defective, but were not replaced until 1881. The ship made a cruise to the Mediterranean after they were installed, and before returning to the Baltic Fleet, where she remained for the rest of her career. She did not, like the rest of the Baltic Fleet, participate in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. Petr Veliky was deemed obsolete by the late 1890s, but she was not ordered to be converted into a gunnery training ship until 1903.
Rusalka, was one of two Charodeika-class monitors built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the 1860s. She served for her entire career with the Baltic Fleet. Aside from hitting an uncharted rock not long after she was completed in 1869, she had an uneventful career. Rusalka sank in a storm in 1893 with the loss of all hands in the Gulf of Finland. A memorial was built in Reval to commemorate her loss almost a decade later. Her wreck was rediscovered in 2003, bow-down in the mud, which has prompted a new theory regarding her loss.
Smerch was a monitor built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the early 1860s. She was designed by the British shipbuilder Charles Mitchell and built in Saint Petersburg. The ship spent her entire career with the Baltic Fleet. She ran aground and sank shortly after she entered service in 1865. Smerch was refloated and repaired shortly afterwards. She became a training ship sometime after 1892 and was stricken from the Navy List in 1904. The ship was hulked five years later and renamed Blokshiv No. 2. She was in Finland when that country declared its independence in 1918, but was returned to the Soviets after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed. Blokshiv No. 1, as the ship was now known, was sunk by German artillery fire in 1941. She was salvaged the following year and remained in service until she was stricken in 1959 and subsequently broken up.
The Admiral Lazarev class was a pair of monitors built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the late 1860s, which designated them as armored turret frigates. Four ships were ordered, but the last two were significantly modified during construction and became the separate Admiral Spiridov class. The sister ships were assigned to the Baltic Fleet upon completion and remained there for their entire careers. Aside from one accidental collision, their careers were uneventful. They were reclassified as coast-defense ironclads in 1892 before they became training ships later that decade. The Admiral Lazarevs were stricken from the Navy List in 1907 and 1909; both were sold for scrap in 1912.
The Admiral Spiridov class were a pair of monitors built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the late 1860s. The sister ships were assigned to the Baltic Fleet upon completion and remained there for their entire careers. Aside from several accidental collisions and one grounding, their careers were uneventful. They were reclassified as coast-defense ironclads in 1892 before they became training ships in 1900. The Admiral Spiridovs were stricken from the Navy List in 1907; one ship became a stationary target and the other a coal-storage barge. Their ultimate fates are unknown.
The Russian monitor Admiral Greig was the second and last of the two Admiral Lazarev-class monitors built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the late 1860s. She was assigned to the Baltic Fleet upon completion and remained there for her entire uneventful career. She was reclassified as a coast-defense ironclad in 1892 before she became a training ship later that decade. Admiral Greig was decommissioned in 1907, stricken from the Navy List in 1909 and scrapped in 1912.
Bronenosets was a Uragan-class monitor built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the mid-1860s. The design was based on the American Passaic-class monitor, but was modified to suit Russian engines, guns and construction techniques. The ship was only active when the Gulf of Finland was not frozen, but very little is known about her service. She was stricken in 1900 from the Navy List, converted into a coal barge in 1903 and renamed Barzha No. 324. The ship was lost in a storm sometime during World War I.
Koldun was an Uragan-class monitor built for the Imperial Russian Navy in Belgium in the mid-1860s. The design was based on the American Passaic-class monitor, but was modified to suit Russian engines, guns and construction techniques. She was one of two ships of the class to be built in Belgium and assembled in Russia. Spending her entire career with the Baltic Fleet, the ship was only active when the Gulf of Finland was not frozen, but very little is known about her service. She was stricken in 1900 from the Navy List, converted into a coal barge in 1903 and renamed Barzha No. 324. Abandoned by the Soviets in Finland in 1918, the ship was later scrapped by the Finns.
Veshchun was an Uragan-class monitor built for the Imperial Russian Navy in Belgium in the mid-1860s. The design was based on the American Passaic-class monitor, but was modified to suit Russian engines, guns and construction techniques. She was one of two ships of the class to be built in Belgium and assembled in Russia. Spending her entire career with the Baltic Fleet, the ship was only active when the Gulf of Finland was not frozen, but very little is known about her service. She was stricken in 1900 from the Navy List, converted into a coal barge in 1903 and renamed Barzha No. 44 then Barzha No. 327. Abandoned by the Soviets in Finland in 1918, the ship was later scrapped by the Finns.
Uragan was the name ship of her class of 10 monitors built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the mid-1860s. The design was based on the American Passaic-class monitor, but was modified to suit Russian engines, guns and construction techniques. Spending her entire career with the Baltic Fleet, the ship was only active when the Gulf of Finland was not frozen, but very little is known about her service. She was stricken in 1900 from the Navy List, converted into a coal barge in 1903 and renamed Barzha No. 39, then Barzha No. 52 and finally Barzha No. 325. Abandoned by the Soviets in Finland in 1918, the ship was later scrapped by the Finns.
Tifon was an Uragan-class monitor built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the mid-1860s. The design was based on the American Passaic-class monitor, but was modified to suit Russian engines, guns and construction techniques. Spending her entire career with the Baltic Fleet, the ship was only active when the Gulf of Finland was not frozen, but very little is known about her service. She was struck from the Navy List in 1900, converted into a storage hulk for mines in 1909 and renamed Blokshiv No. 3. The ship was abandoned by the Soviets in Finland in 1918; although retroceded to the Soviets in 1922, she was later scrapped by the Finns.
Strelets was an Uragan-class monitor built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the mid-1860s. The design was based on the American Passaic-class monitor, but was modified to suit Russian engines, guns and construction techniques. Spending her entire career with the Baltic Fleet, the ship was only active when the Gulf of Finland was not frozen, but very little is known about her service. She was struck from the Navy List in 1900, converted into a floating workshop the following year and renamed Plavmasterskaia No. 1. The ship served as such through 1955. The ship was identified as still afloat in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2015, and attempts are being made by the Foundation for Historic Boats and the Russian Central Military History Museum to restore her.
Perun was an Uragan-class monitor built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the mid-1860s. The design was based on the American Passaic-class monitor, but was modified to suit Russian engines, guns and construction techniques. Spending her entire career with the Baltic Fleet, the ship was only active when the Gulf of Finland was not frozen, but very little is known about her service. Perun was struck from the Navy List in 1900 and became a pilot ship. Renamed Lotsiia (Pilot) in 1915, the ship was damaged during the Kronstadt rebellion of 1921 and laid up afterwards. She was run aground by a flood three years later and then her wreck was scrapped.
Lava was an Uragan-class monitor built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the mid-1860s. The design was based on the American Passaic-class monitor, but was modified to suit Russian engines, guns and construction techniques. Spending her entire career with the Baltic Fleet, the ship was only active when the Gulf of Finland was not frozen, but very little is known about her service. She was struck from the Navy List in 1900, converted into a barracks ship in 1902 and then into a storage hulk for mines in 1912 and renamed Blokshiv No. 1. During World War I, she was converted into a hospital ship in 1916 and was then abandoned by the Soviets in Finland in 1918; the ship was probably later scrapped by the Finns around 1922.
Latnik was an Uragan-class monitor built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the mid-1860s. The design was based on the American Passaic-class monitor, but was modified to suit Russian engines, guns and construction techniques. She was one of two ships of the class to be built in Belgium and assembled in Russia. Spending her entire career with the Baltic Fleet, the ship was only active when the Gulf of Finland was not frozen, but very little is known about her service. She was stricken in 1900 from the Navy List, converted into a coal barge in 1903 and renamed Barzha No. 38 and then Barzha No. 326. Abandoned by the Soviets in Finland in 1918, the ship was later scrapped by the Finns.
Edinorog was one of 10 Uragan-class monitors built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the mid-1860s. The design was based on the American Passaic-class monitor, but was modified to suit Russian engines, guns and construction techniques. Spending her entire career with the Baltic Fleet, the ship was only active when the Gulf of Finland was not frozen, but very little is known about her service. She was struck from the Navy List in 1900, converted into a storage hulk for mines in 1912 and renamed Blokshiv No. 4. The ship survived World War II and was stricken in 1957, although her ultimate fate is unknown.
The Russian monitor Charodeika was the lead ship of her class of monitors built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the 1860s. She served for her entire career with the Baltic Fleet, mostly as a training ship. She was decommissioned in 1907, but was not broken up until 1911–12.
The Russian monitor Admiral Spiridov was the name ship of her class of monitors built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the late 1860s. The ship was assigned to the Baltic Fleet upon completion and remained there for her entire career. Aside from an accidental collision her service was uneventful. The sister ships were reclassified as coast-defense ironclads in 1892 before they became training ships in 1900. Admiral Spiridov was stricken from the Navy List in 1907 and became a coal-storage barge. Her ultimate fate is unknown.
The Russian monitor Admiral Chichagov was the second and last of the two Admiral Spiridov-class monitors built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the late 1860s. The ship was assigned to the Baltic Fleet upon completion and remained there for her entire career. Aside from an incident where she ran aground, her service was uneventful. The sister ships were reclassified as coast-defense ironclads in 1892 before they became training ships in 1900. Admiral Spiridov was stricken from the Navy List in 1907 and became a target ship. Her ultimate fate is unknown.
The Russian monitor Admiral Lazarev was the name ship of her class of monitors built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the late 1860s. She was assigned to the Baltic Fleet upon completion and remained there for her entire career. Aside from one accidental collision in 1871, her service was uneventful. The ship was reclassified as coast-defense ironclad in 1892 and often served as a training ship. There was an unsuccessful proposal to convert her into an aircraft carrier in 1910. Admiral Lazarev was stricken from the Navy List in 1907 and sold for scrap in 1912. She sank while under tow to Germany later that year.
Imperial Russian Navy