 | This article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject.(April 2020) |
| Российский Императорский флот Rossiiskiy Imperatorskiy flot | |
|---|---|
  Naval jack (top) and ensign of the Russian Navy | |
| Active | 1696 – February 1917 |
| Country | Russian Empire |
The format is: Name, launch year, place of construction (if foreign), commissioning fleet (BF = Baltic Fleet, BSF = Black Sea Fleet, CF = Caspian Flotilla, SF = Siberian Flotilla, POF = Pacific Ocean Fleet), fate = BU.
Note on official classification. First small ships with a mine or torpedo — (pole mines or Whitehead torpedoes) — appeared in the Russian Navy in 1877 during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). They were classified "minnyi kater", "минный катер" ("mine/torpedo launch"). One large seagoing ship, the Vzryv ("Взрыв", 1877, 160 tons) with torpedo armament was originally called "minnoye sudno", "минное судно" ("mine/torpedo vessel"). A large series of 133 20-30-ton ships followed in 1878; they were classified "minonoska", "minonosnaya lodka", "миноноска" (literally, "mine/torpedo boat"). It usually translates as "torpedo boat, 2nd class". Then came torpedo ships, which Russia had built or bought since 1880 and classified as "minonosets", "миноносец" (literally, "mine/torpedo carrier"). This designation includes relatively large ships. It therefore translates into English as either "torpedo boat 1st class" or "destroyer" depending on a displacement of more or less than 200 tons. Starting in 1907 and still used today, all sufficiently large torpedo armed ships are classified as EM (ЭМ), "eskadrennyi minonosets", "эскадренный миноносец" (literally, "squadron torpedo carrier"), which usually translates as "destroyer".
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Russia was the second nation, after Great Britain, to build torpedo boat destroyers (TBDs), [1] basing their first ones upon the Yarrow design. [2] Sokol, which was built for Russia by Britain's Yarrow Shipbuilders, was laid down in 1894 and completed in January 1895; she was 190 feet long, displaced 220 tons, and attained a speed of over 30 knots during her trials. [3] Sokol was followed by 26 similar TBDs built in Russian yards between 1896 and 1903. [4] This first series of 'classic' Havock-class ships were originally organized as torpedo boats ("minonosets"), then were later reclassified as destroyers ("eskadrennyi minonosets") in 1907. Pacific destroyers were built in Saint Petersburg, transported in sections by railway to Port Arthur and assembled. They subsequently participated in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905; those that had escaped from Port Arthur later served in the Siberian Flotilla. Baltic destroyers participated in World War I, the Russian Civil War (1917–1923) and the Finnish Civil War (1918) as minesweepers and avisos. Black Sea destroyers also participated in World War I and the Russian Civil War.
During the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), Imperial Russian Navy destroyers were armed with 15-inch torpedoes and one 75 mm gun, as well as several 3-pounder QF guns. Combat experience during that war resulted in the Imperial Russian Navy switching to 18-inch torpedoes and two 75 mm guns for their destroyers after the war. [5]
Torpedo boats participated in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Three of them later served in the Siberian Flotilla; they were reclassified as destroyers in 1907
Officially classified as torpedo boats, they participated in the Russo-Japanese War. Two later served in the Siberian and Arctic Flotillas.
Two Pacific ships participated in the defence of Port Arthur in 1904; those destined for the Baltic (except for the uncompleted Vidnyi) were sent to the Far East and fought in the Battle of Tsushima (1905). The survivors were reclassified as destroyers in 1907. Originally named after various aquatic animals and fish, the Buinyi class were named after various "active" characteristics at the time of Tsushima, with all but one beginning with the Russian letter Б.
Originally classified as torpedo boats. The first two were sent to the Far East and took part in the Battle of Tsushima in 1905.
Classified as destroyers in 1907. Participated in World War I and the Russian Civil War.
After completion all ships were reclassified as destroyers; they participated in World War I in the Baltic Sea for patrol, cruiser and minelaying purposes. Some units participated in the Russian Civil War.
They were built in Saint Petersburg, transported in pieces by railway to Vladivostok, launched and commissioned
Classified as torpedo boats until 1907. A pair of Siberian destroyers were built in Germany, delivered to Vladivostok in parts and launched
The last series of Havock-class torpedo boat destroyers. They participated in World War I in the Baltic Sea and in the Russian Civil War (1917–1923) on that country's rivers and lakes.
They were until 1907, classified as 'torpedo cruisers' and built with public donations, then named after the most lavish donors. They participated in World War I in the Baltic Sea and in the Russian Civil War on that country's rivers and lakes.
Classified as 'torpedo cruisers' until 1907. Participated in World War I in the Baltic Sea and in the Russian Civil War on that country's lakes.
Classified as 'torpedo cruisers' until 1907. Actively participated in World War I in the Baltic Sea and the Russian Civil War on that country's lakes. Designed with an unusually long hull to increase the number of guns and torpedo launchers that could be fitted, far in excess of most destroyers of the time.
Built with public donations and named after the most lavish donors, they were classified as 'torpedo cruisers' until 1907. They participated in World War I and in the Russian Civil War on the Baltic and Caspian Seas.
During their construction they were classified as 'torpedo cruisers'. They actively participated in World War I and in the Russian Civil War in the Black Sea. Distinguishing features of this series were the 120 mm guns.
A large series of slightly differing destroyers, which took an active part in World War I. Some were completed in postrevolutionary Russia by using parts from other ships. The Baltic destroyers mostly waited through the Revolution and the Russian Civil War in Kronstadt. Later reconditioned, they took part and were lost in World War II. Black Sea ships mostly shared the fate of the Russian Black Sea Fleet of 1918–1920.
The Imperial Russian Navy operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from a smaller force that had existed prior to Tsar Peter the Great's founding of the modern Russian navy during the Second Azov campaign in 1696. It expanded in the second half of the 18th century and reached its peak strength by the early part of the 19th century, behind only the British and French fleets in terms of size.
SMS Elbing was a light cruiser ordered by the Imperial Russian navy under the name Admiral Nevelskoy from the Schichau-Werke shipyard in Danzig in 1913. Following the outbreak of World War I, the ship was confiscated in August 1914 and launched on 21 November 1914 as SMS Elbing. She had one sister ship, Pillau, the lead ship of their class. The ship was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in September 1915. She was armed with a main battery of eight 15 cm SK L/45 guns and had a top speed of 27.5 kn.
The Svetlana-class cruiser was the first class of light cruisers built for the Imperial Russian Navy (IRN) during the 1910s. Construction was interrupted by World War I, the Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War. Only Svetlana of the quartet was completed by the Soviet Union as a cruiser, two were converted to oil tankers, and the remaining ship was scrapped without being completed.
The A-class torpedo boats were a class of German single-funnelled torpedo boat/light destroyer designed by the Reichsmarineamt for operations off the coast of occupied Flanders in the First World War. The A designation was to avoid confusion with older classes and designs. They were known as "coastal torpedo boats" to differentiate from larger, ocean-going torpedo boats.
Novík was a protected cruiser in the Imperial Russian Navy, built by Schichau shipyards in Elbing near Danzig, Germany.
The German torpedo boats of World War II were armed principally, if not exclusively, with torpedoes and varied widely in size. They were not small schnellboote but small seagoing vessels, the larger of which were comparable to destroyers. During World War II, German torpedo boats were administratively grouped into several torpedo-boat flotillas.
The Hayabusa-class torpedo boats were a class of fifteen 1st class torpedo boats constructed for the Imperial Japanese Navy as part of the 1896 Ten Year Naval Expansion Programme. They were completed between 1900 and 1904.
The Finnish S-class torpedo boats was a series of six ex-Russian torpedo boats that had been taken over by the Finns after the Russian Revolution and the Finnish Civil War.
SMS S36 was a 1913 Type Large Torpedo Boat of the Imperial German Navy during World War I, and the 12th ship of her class. She was equipped with of three single mounted 8.8 cm SK L/45 naval guns and with six 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes, two forward and four aft; twenty-four mines could also be carried. She was launched on 17 October 1914 and commissioned on 4 January 1915. S36 took part in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga in 1915 and the Battle of Jutland in 1916. In late 1916 she served in the English Channel and took part in a number of engagements, including the Battle of Dover Strait during which a British merchant ship and a destroyer were sunk by her Half-Flotilla. She was scuttled at Scapa Flow in 1919.
The Kasatka class was a class of submarines built for the Imperial Russian Navy. The six boats were built between 1904 and 1905. They were designed by I. G. Bubnov and were based on the Russian submarine Delfin. The first boat, Kasatka, experienced significant problems with stability on trials and had to have extra flotation added. In 1905, four of the class were transferred from Western Russia to Vladivostok with the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War. Initially powered by a kerosene/electrical system, the boats were re-built around 1910 with a diesel-electric power plant following the end of the war. The class remained in service throughout World War I. Two were captured by the German Empire in 1918 and handed over to the British following the German surrender. They were scuttled by the British in 1919 to prevent their capture by the Soviets. The remaining four were broken up for scrap in 1922.
The Leytenant Shestakov class consisted of four destroyers built for the Imperial Russian Navy. They were an enlarged derivative of the Vsadnik-class destroyers built by the Germany shipyard Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft. Originally classified as torpedo cruisers, they were redesignated as destroyers on 10 October 1907, prior to completion. The ships served as part of the Black Sea Fleet during the First World War and the Russian Civil War. They are often considered a part of the broader Dobrovolets class, which included several similar classes of destroyers.
Sokol was the first torpedo boat destroyer built for the Imperial Russian Navy. She was designed and built by the British shipbuilder Yarrows from 1894 to 1895 and was claimed to be the fastest warship in the world during her sea trials. She was renamed Pruitki in 1902.
Leytenant Shestakov was a destroyer of the Imperial Russian Navy and the name ship of her class. The ship was built by the Naval Yard, Nikolayev from 1906 to 1909, being launched on 28 July 1908. The ship served in the Russian Black Sea Fleet during the First World War, passing to control of the Bolsheviks following the October Revolution but was scuttled on 18 June 1918 to avoid capture by German troops.
Reshitel‘nyi was a Sokol-class destroyer built for the Imperial Russian Navy at the beginning of the 20th century. She served in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), seeing action in the Battle of Port Arthur before the Imperial Japanese Navy captured her in 1904. Renamed Akatsuki (暁 in Japanese service, she took part in the Battle of Tsushima in 1905. She was renamed Yamabiko 山彦, also transliterated as Yamahiko, in 1905 after the conclusion of the war and remained in Japanese service until 1917.