Russian cruiser Askold
 Russian cruiser Askold on trials after construction at Kiel
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Russian Empire | |
| Name | Askold (Аскольд) |
| Namesake | Askold |
| Builder | Germaniawerft, Kiel, German Empire |
| Laid down | 8 June 1899 |
| Launched | 15 March 1900 |
| Commissioned | 25 January 1902 |
| In service | 1902 |
| Out of service | 1917 |
| Renamed | 1918 |
| Fate | Scrapped, 1922 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Protected cruiser |
| Displacement | 5,910 full load ) |
| Length | 132.5 m (434 ft 9 in) |
| Beam | 15 m (49 ft 3 in) |
| Draught | 6.2 m (20 ft 4 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 3 shaft triple-expansion steam engines |
| Speed | 23.8 knots (44.1 km/h; 27.4 mph) |
| Range | 6,500 nautical miles (12,038 km; 7,480 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 580 officers and crewmen |
| Armament |
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| Armour |
|
Askold (
Askold had five thin funnels which gave it a unique silhouette for any vessel in the Imperial Russian Navy. This led British sailors to nickname her Packet of Woodbines after the thin cigarettes popular at the time. However, the five funnels also had a symbolic importance, as it was popularly considered that the number of funnels was indicative of performance, and some navies were known to add extra fake funnels to impress dignitaries in less advanced countries.[citation needed]
Background
After the completion of the
Operational history
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Askold was laid down at the
Askold detoured to the Persian Gulf on her way to the Far East, and hosted the Emir of Kuwait Mubarak Al-Sabah on 1 December 1902. She arrived in Port Arthur on 13 February 1903 and shortly afterwards made port calls to Nagasaki, Kobe and Yokohama in Japan, the Taku Forts in China, the Royal Navy base at Weihaiwei and Imperial German Navy base at Qingdao. On 3 May she accompanied Novik on an official visit to Japan with Russian Minister of War, Aleksey Kuropatkin. She again visited Japan in August, calling on Hakodate with Rear Admiral Baron Olaf von Stackelberg on Rossia. She remained in Hakodate until October 1903 and was the last Russian ship to visit Japan before the outbreak of war.
During the Russo-Japanese War
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From the start of the
During the
With the Siberian Flotilla
On 11 October 1905, Askold was allowed to return to service with the Russian Navy, returning to Vladivostok on 1 November. In 1906, she spent most of the year in dry-dock for repairs. By 1 February 1907, she was able to make a training cruise from Vladivostok to Shanghai, where she ran aground in March. The damage was minor, and she was able to call on
World War I service
At the start of World War I, Askold was part of the Allied (British-French-Japanese) joint task force pursuing the German East Asia Squadron under Admiral Maximilian von Spee. In August 1914 she patrolled the area to the east of the Philippines, resupplying out of Hong Kong and Singapore. In September and October, she was assigned to escort duty in the Indian Ocean.
Askold was then assigned to the
She underwent an extensive refit in Toulon, France, beginning in March 1916, which involved the replacement of her guns. The repairs were delayed by lack of materials and manpower. Crew tensions flared as the crewmen were forced to live on board, whereas the officers went to Paris. On 19 August there was an explosion in her powder magazine attributed to sabotage, and four crewmen were later convicted and sentenced to death. Repairs were completed only in December. Askold was then transferred to the Barents Sea theatre of operations, but suffered from storm damage after departing from Gibraltar in late December, which required further repairs in Plymouth. In February, with the fall of the Russian Empire in the February Revolution, Askold pledged allegiance to the Russian Provisional Government. She departed Scotland on 4 June 1917 and was then based at Murmansk. After the armistice with Germany in December 1917, Askold was demobilized and plans were made to place her in storage at Arkhangelsk.
Askold was seized in
On the conclusion of the
Notes
- ^ "Court Circular". The Times. No. 36091. London. 16 March 1900. p. 6.
References
- Brook, Peter (2000). "Armoured Cruiser vs. Armoured Cruiser: Ulsan 14 August 1904". In Preston, Antony (ed.). Warship 2000–2001. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-791-0.
- Budzbon, Przemysław (1985). "Russia". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 291–325. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Campbell, N. J. M. (1979). "Russia". In Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. New York: Mayflower Books. pp. 170–217. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- McLaughlin, Stephen (1999). "From Ruirik to Ruirik: Russia's Armoured Cruisers". In Preston, Antony (ed.). Warship 1999–2000. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-724-4.
- Watts, Anthony J. (1990). The Imperial Russian Navy. London: Arms and Armour. ISBN 0-85368-912-1.
- Krylov, Alexey (2014). Professor Krylov's Navy: Memoirs of a Naval Architect. Wakefield: Magnet Publishing.
External links
