Russian cruiser Varyag (1899)
Varyag c. 1904
| |
History | |
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Russian Empire | |
Name | Varyag |
Builder | William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia |
Yard number | 301 |
Laid down | October 1898 |
Launched | 31 October 1899 |
Commissioned | 2 January 1901 N.S. ) |
Fate | Scuttled , 9 February 1904 |
Empire of Japan | |
Name | Soya |
Acquired | by Japan as prize of war |
Commissioned | 9 July 1907 |
Fate | Returned to Russia, 5 April 1916 |
Russian Empire | |
Name | Varyag |
Acquired | 5 April 1916 |
Out of service | seized by Great Britain February 1918 |
Fate | Ran aground 1920, scrapped 1925 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Protected cruiser |
Displacement | 6,500 long tons (6,604 t) |
Length | 129.6 m (425 ft 2 in) w/l |
Beam | 15.8 m (51 ft 10 in) |
Draught | 6.3 m (20 ft 8 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 2 shafts; triple-expansion steam engines |
Speed | 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) |
Complement | 570 |
Armament |
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Varyag (Russian: Варя́г) sometimes also spelled Variag, was a Russian protected cruiser. Varyag became famous for her crew's stoicism at the Battle of Chemulpo Bay. She was acquired as a prize of war during the Russo-Japanese War by the Imperial Japanese Navy, who renamed her Soya and was later returned to the Russian Imperial Navy during World War I.
Construction and design
In 1897, the
under the command of Captain Vladimir Behr.Varyag was 129.56 m (430 ft)
As a protected cruiser, the main protection consisted of an arched armoured deck which protected the ship's engines and magazines. The deck was 38 mm (1.5 in) thick in the central horizontal portion, and 76.2 mm (3 in) thick in the sloping sections towards the ship's sides. During her construction, an assistant physician, Leo Alexandroff, left the ship's advance party on 20 April 1899, and applied for U.S. citizenship. He was arrested for desertion. His case reached the
First Russian service
At the outbreak of the
In 1907, Vsevolod Rudnev (by that time dismissed from Russian naval service in the rank of rear admiral) was decorated with the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun for his heroism in that battle; although he accepted the order, he never wore it in public.[11][12]
Japanese cruiser Soya
After the
After being placed into Japanese service as a cruiser, Soya was used primarily for training duties. From 14 March 1909 to 7 August 1909, it made a long distance navigational and officer cadet training cruise to Hawaii and North America. It repeated this training cruise every year until 1913.
Return to Russia
During World War I, Russia and Japan were allies and several ships were transferred by the Japanese to the Russians. Along with Peresvet and Poltava, she was repurchased by the Imperial Russian Navy at Vladivostok on 5 April 1916 and renamed Varyag. In June, she departed for Murmansk via the Indian Ocean, arriving in November 1916. She was sent to Liverpool in Great Britain for an overhaul by Cammell Laird in February 1917, and was due to re-enter service with the Arctic Ocean Flotilla of the Imperial Russian Navy. However, following the Russian October Revolution on 7 November 1917, crewmen who had remained onboard hoisted the red flag and refused to set sail. On 8 December 1917 she was seized by a detachment of British soldiers. Assigned to the Royal Navy in February 1918, she ran aground while under tow off of Ireland, but was refloated and used as a hulk until 1919. She was then sold to a German firm in 1920 for scrap, but on 5 February 1920 ran aground on rocks near the Scottish village of Lendalfoot (55°11′03″N 04°56′30″W / 55.18417°N 4.94167°W) in the Firth of Clyde, while being towed to Germany. She was scrapped in place from 1923 to 1925.[13][14]
Legacy
The stoicism of Varyag's crew at Chemulpo has inspired the Austrian poet Rudolf Greinz to write a poem dedicated to Varyag. The Russian translation of this poem was put to music by A.S. Turischev. The result was the 1904 song that remains popular today:
(German original)
Auf Deck, Kameraden, all' auf Deck!
Heraus zur letzten Parade!
Der stolze Warjag ergibt sich nicht,
Wir brauchen keine Gnade!
(Russian poetic translation)
Наверх вы, товарищи, все по местам!
Последний парад наступает.
Врагу не сдается наш гордый “Варяг”,
Пощады никто не желает.
(translation)
Get up, you comrades, everyone to his place,
The final parade is at hand.
Our proud "Varyag" will not surrender to the enemy,
No one wants mercy.
Rudolf Greinz
On 30 July 2006 (Russian Navy Day), a memorial plaque to the cruiser was unveiled at Lendalfoot in a ceremony attended by senior Russian politicians and navy personnel, veterans and local dignitaries.[15][16]
On 8 September 2007 a monument in the form of a large bronze cross was unveiled as an addition to the Lendalfoot memorial, in a ceremony attended by former Nato Secretary General George Robertson, British and Russian navy officers and diplomats.[17] The "Cruiser Varyag" Charity Foundation had organised a competition in Russia for the design of the monument.[citation needed]
In 2010, as a gesture marking the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Russia, the flag of Varyag was restored. The Japanese Navy recovered the flag when the ship was salvaged; and the Incheon Metropolitan Museum acquired them after Japan's defeat at the end of World War II. The return of the flag takes the form of a two-year renewable loan because of the Korean law protecting cultural assets.[18]
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Obverse of plaque at Varyag memorial at Lendalfoot, Scotland.
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everse of plaque at Varyag memorial at Lendalfoot, Scotland.
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Obverse of monument at Varyag memorial at Lendalfoot, Scotland.
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Anchor at Varyag memorial at Lendalfoot, Scotland.
Footnotes
- ^ Varyag was commissioned on 2 January 1901 according to the Old Style Julian calendar still used by the Russian Empire: this corresponded to 14 January in the Gregorian calendar in use in the Europe, the US and elsewhere.
Notes
- ^ a b Smigielski 1979, p. 155
- ^ Smigielski 1979, pp. 160, 166
- ^ a b Smigielski 1979, p. 163
- ^ Smigielski 1979, pp. 155, 159
- ^ Smigielski 1979, p. 161
- ^ a b Campbell 1979, p. 195
- ^ Smigielski 1979, pp. 160, 162
- ^ Tucker v. Alexandroff, 183 U.S. 424.
- ^ Report from Robert S. McCormack to Secretary of State John Hay, 11 May 1904, in Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1904, Government Printing House, Washington
- ^ "Всеволод Фёдорович Руднев" [Vsevolod Fedorovich Rudnev]. комитете по культуре муниципального образования город Новомосковск [Committee for Culture of the Municipal Formation of the City of Novomoskovsk] (in Russian). Retrieved 23 September 2023.
- ^ "Всеволод Фёдорович Руднев" [Vsevolod Fedorovich Rudnev]. комитете по культуре муниципального образования город Новомосковск [Committee for Culture of the Municipal Formation of the City of Novomoskovsk] (in Russian). Retrieved 23 September 2023.
Rudnev was awarded the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun - in recognition of the heroism of Russian sailors, becoming one of the first Russians (and Europeans in general) who received this order.
- ^ Kowner, Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War, p. 407-408.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Variag: Lendalfoot, Firth Of Clyde (113280)". Canmore. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
- ^ Resting place of Russian cruiser Varyag Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine South Ayrshire Council News
- ^ "Ayrshire memorial to Russian boat". BBC News. 30 July 2006. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
- ^ "Clyde memorial for Russian ship". BBC News. 8 September 2007. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
- ^ "Korea to Return Flag of Sunken Russian Warship," Chosun Ilbo (ROK). 11 November 2010; retrieved 11 Nov 2010.
References
- Buxton, Ian (2001). "Question 36/99: Imperial Russian Cruiser Variag". Warship International. XXXVIII (4): 337. ISSN 0043-0374.
- 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.
- ISBN 0-8108-4927-5
- MPHK Catalogue of collectible silver coins 2012-13 p.38
- Smigielski, Adam (1979). "Imperial Russian Cruiser Varyag". In Roberts, John (ed.). Warship Volume III. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 154–167. ISBN 0-85177-204-8.
- Wetherhorn, Aryeh (2001). "Question 36/99: Imperial Russian Cruiser Variag". Warship International. XXXVIII (4): 337–338. ISSN 0043-0374.
External links
- Media related to Varyag (ship, 1901) at Wikimedia Commons