Peresvet-class battleship

Peresvet-class battleship

The Peresvet class was a group of three pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy around the end of the 19th century. All three ships were lost by the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. The ships’ main battery consisted of four 45-caliber, 10-inch guns mounted in twin turrets, one forward and one aft.

About Peresvet-class battleship in brief

Summary Peresvet-class battleshipThe Peresvet class was a group of three pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy around the end of the 19th century. All three ships were lost by the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. The ships were 434 feet 5 inches long overall, with a beam of 71 feet 6 inches and a draft of 26 feet 3 inches. They were powered by three vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam generated by 30 Belleville boilers. They carried a maximum of 2,060 long tons of coal which allowed them to steam for 6 nautical miles at a speed of 10 knots. The ships’ main battery consisted of four 45-caliber, 10-inch guns mounted in twin turrets, one forward and one aft. These guns had major development problems as they proved to be too weak to use a full-strength charge of propellant and had to be reworked. The guns were designed to fire once every 40 seconds but were only able to elevate to +25°, while the reinforced guns used in Pobeda could only elevate to amaximum of +35°, but could only fire for up to 40 seconds at a time. Only two ships were originally planned, but a third was ordered to keep the Baltic Works shipyard busy until a new design could be prepared. Ironically, it was completed before the second ship, despite having been laid down over three years later.

The third ship, Oslyabya, sailed to the Far East with the Second Pacific Squadron to relieve the Russian forces blockaded in Port Arthur and was sunk at the Battle of Tsushima with the loss of over half her crew. She became a gunnery training ship in 1917. The ship was disarmed in 1922 to comply with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty and probably scrapped around that time. The original model of the ships could be elevated to a maximum +35 °C and could fire to every 40 °C once and a half. The engines were rated at 14,500 indicated horsepower, using forced draft, and designed to reach a top speed of 18 knots. The ships slightly exceeded their specifications and reached top speeds of 18. 3–18. 5 knots from 14,532–15,578 indicated horsepower during their sea trials. They were 500–1,700 long tons overweight and actually displaced 13,320–14,408 long tons. The vessels had a partial double bottom and the hull was divided by 10 watertight transverse bulkheads; a centerline bulkhead divided the forward engine rooms. To reduce biofouling, the hulls of the first two ship were sheathed with wood and copper, but this was eliminated in PObeda to reduce weight. The vessels were built to support their armored cruisers like Rossia and Rurik.