Battleship Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya
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The Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya (Императрица Екатерина Великая) was a Dreadnought Battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, She was a ship of the Imperatritsa Mariya class battleships.
- Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya was launched in 1914, originally named Ekaterina II, and renamed Svobodnaya Rossiya ( Свободная Россия, Free Russia) in 1917. She twice engaged the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben while the latter was in Turkish service as Yavuz Sultan Selim. The ship was scuttled on June 18, 1918 in Novorossiysk to prevent it from falling in German hands. She was scrapped in the 1930's decade, her turrets and guns were salvaged and used as coastal defense batteries near Sevastopol, along with those of sister-ship Imperatritza Mariya. The guns saw action against the Nazi forces during the Great Patriotic War (World War II).
