Russian battleship Novgorod
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- For other uses of "Novgorod", see Novgorod (disambiguation).
Battleship Novgorod |
|
| Career |  | |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | 17 December 1871 |
| Launched: | 21 May 1873 |
| Commissioned: | 1874 |
| Decommissioned: | 4 July 1903 |
| Fate: | Scrapped 1912 |
| Struck: | 1900 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 2,491 tons (2,671 full load) |
| Length: | 101 ft |
| Beam: | 101 ft |
| Draught: | 12.32 ft |
| Propulsion: | 8 coal-fired boilers, 6 screws |
| Speed: | 7 knts & 2,000 ihp |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 150 |
| Armament: | 2 11" guns, 2 4-pdr guns, 2 37-mm guns |
| Armor: | 9" belt, 2.3" deck |
Novgorod (Russian: Новгород) is one of the most unusual warships ever constructed, and still survives in popular naval myth, often described as the "ugliest warship ever built". Unusually, the warship's hull was circular, when viewed from the top.
She was designed by Admiral Popov of the Imperial Russian Navy, with the purpose of creating a stable platform armed with a few heavy guns, that could operate in coastal waters, and be well protected by armor plating.
The perceived advantage of a circular hull form was that a shallow-draught vessel could be built with the greatest displacement possible. Thus, a small ship could carry the same armament of a larger vessel with a more typical hull form. For comparison, a 100x13x13 foot vessel would only displace about 250 tons.
The primary armament of Novgorod was two 26-ton 11" guns mounted on separate revolving turntables that could be moved independently or together. Recoil was suppressed by a hydraulic frictional compressor, and by wedges placed in the after part of their platforms.
A total of six engines powered the ship, each attached to an independent propeller shaft. Her boiler and engine rooms occupied fully half of the interior hull space. The boilers were placed in two separate compartments, one on either beam. Four steam launches were usually carried on deck.
Novgorod and her near-sister Rear Admiral Popov proved poorly designed in use. They pitched and rolled excessively, even in moderate seas. They were slow, poorly maneuverable, and vulnerable to plunging fire. Worst though, was that the off-axis recoil of the guns would impart a centrifugal rotation to the ship. In operational use, these ships would have to throw their single rudder hard over during firing, to act as "water brakes". This severely restricted the aiming and rate-of-fire of the main guns. Both ships served in the Danube Flotilla during the Russo-Turkish War. Both were redesignated as Coastal Defense Armor-Clad Ships in 1892, and relegated as storeships in 1903. They were not scrapped until 1912.
