Admiral Spiridov-class monitor

	Admiral Chichagov at anchor
Class overview
Name	Admiral Spiridov
Builders	Semiannikov & Poletika Shipyard, Saint Petersburg
Operators	Imperial Russian Navy
Preceded by	Admiral Lazarev class
Succeeded by	Russian ironclad Petr Veliky
Cost	1,177,500 Rubles
Built	1866–1869
Completed	2
Scrapped	2
General characteristics (as built)
Type	Monitor
Displacement	3,505–3,587 long tons (3,561–3,645 t)
Length	254 ft (77.4 m) (waterline)
Beam	43 ft (13.1 m)
Draft	21 ft (6.4 m)
Installed power	2,000 ihp (1,500 kW); 4 rectangular fire-tube boilers;
Propulsion	1 Shaft; 1 Horizontal direct-action steam engine;
Speed	10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Range	1,400 nmi (2,600 km; 1,600 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	280 officers and crewmen
Armament	2 × twin 9-inch (229 mm) Rifled muzzle-loading guns; 12–15 mines;
Armor	Belt: 3–7.5 in (76–191 mm); Gun turrets: 6–6.5 in (152–165 mm); Conning tower: 5 in (127 mm); Deck: 1 in (25 mm);

The Admiral Spiridov class were a pair of

Navy List in 1907; one ship became a stationary target and the other a coal-storage barge

. Their ultimate fates are unknown.

Design and description

Brassey's Naval Annual

, 1888

By late 1863, the Russian

smoothbore guns of the older ships. Two variants were worked out that differed in the fineness of the hull and draft.^[2]

In November the committee decided to revise the designs to use three gun turrets, each armed with a pair of massive American-designed 15-inch (381 mm) Rodman guns, although the armament was changed to 9-inch (229 mm) rifled muzzle-loading guns two months later. On 4 June 1865, Admiral Spiridov and Admiral Chichagov were ordered to the shallower-draft version of the two designs. Construction of the ships was repeatedly delayed by design changes and delayed deliveries of components. Both of the most significant design changes were related to the armor protection. Shortly after they were ordered the Admiralty Board realized that the specified 4.5-inch (114 mm) armor would be outclassed by the latest rifled gun and decided that the existing armor would be reinforced by an additional 1-inch (25 mm) armor plate and additional wooden backing inside the existing armor. The additional weight was offset by increasing the height of the hull by 12 inches (305 mm) which also deepened the ships' draft. The second change occurred after new 8-inch (203 mm) rifled guns were able to penetrate a replica of the armor scheme in June 1866. The Admiralty Board decided to significantly thicken the armor of the two ships and removed one gun turret to compensate for the weight of the extra armor in November. Numerous other changes flowed from this decision as the engine and boilers had to be moved forward about 8-foot (2 m) to maintain the ships' trim and two transverse bulkheads also had to be moved. This major change added over 270,000 rubles to the cost of the ships and added more delays as Russian ironworks had problems rolling the thicker armor plates.^[3]

The Admiral Spiridov-class monitors were significantly larger than their predecessors, the

double bottom and their hulls were subdivided by six main watertight bulkheads. Their crew consisted of 280 officers and crewmen.^[4]

Propulsion

The Admiral Spiridov class had a single two-cylinder horizontal

donkey boiler for the small steam engine that powered the ventilation fans and pumps. The Admiral Spiridov class carried 280 long tons (284 t) of coal which gave them a range of about 1,400 nautical miles (2,600 km; 1,600 mi) at a speed of 10 knots. They were fitted with a light fore-and-aft sailing rig with three pole masts and a bowsprit. It had an area of 2,850 square feet (265 m²) and its primary purpose was to steady the ships and assist in turning.^[5]

Armament

The monitors were ultimately designed to be armed with four

Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 a 9-inch mortar was fitted to attack the thin deck armor of enemy ships, but accuracy was poor and they were later removed, probably in the early 1880s. An improved, more powerful, 11-inch gun was installed aboard Admiral Chichagov during the 1880s, although Admiral Spiridov retained her original guns until 1902, if not for the rest of her career.^[6]

Light guns for use against

anchorage.^[7]

Armor

The hull of the Admiral Spiridov-class monitors was completely covered by three

angle irons and then came the 1-inch inner armor plates, backed in its turn by another 9 inches of teak.^[8]

The turrets had 6 inches of armor, except around the

gun ports, where it thickened to 6.5 inches, reinforced by 12 inches of teak. The conning tower was 5 inches (127 mm) thick. The deck armor was in two layers with a total thickness of 1 inch that were separated by a layer of cloth or felt to better deflect the glancing hits expected. The upper layer was 0.625 inches (16 mm) thick and the lower was 0.375 inches (10 mm).^[9]

Ships

Name	Namesake	Builder^[1]	Ordered^[1]	Laid down^[1]	Launched^[1]	Entered service^[1]
Admiral Spiridov	Grigory Spiridov^[10]	Semiannikov & Poletika Shipyard, Saint Petersburg	4 June 1865^{[Note 1]}	20 November 1866	28 August 1868	1869
Admiral Chichagov	Pavel Chichagov^[11]	Semiannikov & Poletika Shipyard, Saint Petersburg	4 June 1865^{[Note 1]}	20 November 1866	13 October 1868	1869

Construction and service

After launching, the sisters were transferred to

sandbank at full speed. While not damaged in the incident, she was very firmly stuck and early attempts to pull her off failed, during which one seaman was killed and an officer badly wounded. The monitor had to be unloaded as much as possible and her forward guns were removed before she was freed from the sandbank, five days after running aground.^[12]

The ships received electric

amphibious landing.^[13] In 1900 they were transferred to the Kronstadt Engineering School as training ships before they were transferred to the Port of Kronstadt on 31 March 1907 for disposal. The sisters were stricken on 14 August and Admiral Spiridov became a stationary coal-storage barge while Admiral Chichagov was grounded near Reval and used as a target. Their subsequent fates are unknown.^[14]

Notes

^ All dates used in this article are New Style

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f McLaughlin, p. 113
^ McLaughlin, p. 112
^ McLaughlin, pp. 113–14
^ McLaughlin, pp. 115–16
^ McLaughlin, pp. 116, 122–23
^ McLaughlin, pp. 118–19
^ McLaughlin, pp. 119–20
^ McLaughlin, pp. 121–122
^ McLaughlin, p. 122
^ Silverstone, p. 372
^ Silverstone, p. 371
^ McLaughlin, pp. 114, 124–26
^ McLaughlin, pp. 123–24
^ McLaughlin, pp. 125–26

References

McLaughlin, Stephen (2014). "The Turret Frigates of the Admiral Lazarev and Admiral Spiridov Classes". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2014. London: Conway. pp. 112–28.
ISBN 978-1-84486-236-8
.

Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books.
ISBN 0-88254-979-0
.

v t e Ironclads of the Imperial Russian Navy
Broadside ironclads	Sevastopol^S Petropavlovsk^S Pervenets
Central battery ironclads	Kniaz Pozharsky^S
Monitors and turret ships	Uragan Smerch^S Charodeika Admiral Lazarev Admiral Spiridov Petr Veliky^S Novgorod^S Vitse-admiral Popov^S
^S - Single ship of class