Aurora (cruiser)

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Career	-

Laid down:	1896
Launched:	24 May 1900
Commissioned:	29 July 1903
Fate:	Museum Ship
Decommissioned:	November 17, 1948
General characteristics
Displacement:	6731 tons
Length:	126.8 m (416.0 ft)
Beam:	16.8 m (55.1 ft)
Draft:	7.3 m (24.0 ft)
Speed:	19 knots
Complement:	578
Armament:	1903: eight 152 mm (6in) guns, 24 x 75 mm guns, 8 x 37 mm guns, 3 torpedo launchers 1917: fourteen 152 mm guns, 4 x 76 mm AA guns, MG's, 3 torpedo launchers

The Aurora (Russian: Авро́ра; English transliteration: Avrora) is a Russian protected cruiser, currently preserved as a museum ship in St. Petersburg. She became a symbol of the Communist Revolution in Russia.

1 Russian-Japanese War
2 October Revolution
3 Great Patriotic War (World War II)
4 References

[edit] Russian-Japanese War

Aurora in 1903

She was one of three Pallada-class cruisers, built in St. Petersburg for a service in the Far East (on the Pacific). The keel of the Aurora was laid on May 23, 1897, at the Admiralty Shipyard in St Petersburg. All the ships served during the Russo-Japanese War (Pallada was sunk by the Japanese at Port Arthur in 1904; the third ship of the class, Diana, was interned in Saigon after the Battle of the Yellow Sea).

Aurora was part of the Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron formed mostly from the Russian Baltic Fleet, which was sent from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific, under the command of Vice-Admiral Rozhestvenski. On the way to the Far East, she sustained light damage from confused friendly fire in the infamous Dogger Bank incident.

On 27 and 28 May 1905, Aurora took part in the Battle of Tsushima, along with the rest of the Russian squadron. Aurora managed to avoid being destroyed unlike the majority of the Russian vessels, and with two other cruisers broke through to a neutral Manila, where she was interned.

[edit] October Revolution

In 1906, the Aurora returned to the Baltic and became a cadet training ship. Then, she served in the First World War. In 1915 her armament was changed to fourteen 152 mm (6in) guns. At the end of 1916, the ship was moved to Saint Petersburg (then: Petrograd) for a major repair. The city was brimming with revolutionary ferment and part of her crew joined the 1917 February Revolution. A revolutionary committee was created on the ship (Aleksandr Belyshev was elected its captain). Most of the crew joined the Bolsheviks, who were preparing for a communist revolution.

On 25 October 1917, the refusal of an order for the Aurora to take to sea sparked the October Revolution. At 9.45 p.m. on that date, a blank shot from her forecastle gun signalled the start of the assault on the Winter Palace, which was to be the first episode of the October Revolution. Aurora's crew actually took part in the attack.

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The key role of Aurora in the 1917 revolution was one of the most significant moments of history according to Marxist historians. However, after the collapse of communism, many historians questioned that Aurora has actually fired its cannon, or took part in the Bolshevik coup at all. In fact even Soviet historians were confused about the question. For example there was a long dispute for decades whether the ship has fired a blank round or live grenades to support the Bolsheviks storming the Winter Palace. In some Soviet historic movies such an artillery attack is depicted. Some historians even deny that Aurora was in Petrograd on that day, however, this can be easily proven.^{[citation needed]} It is also rumoured that the museum ship in St. Petersburg is not the real Aurora, only a lifelike replica, but this is highly unlikely. There are such legends surrounding many Soviet era memorials.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Great Patriotic War (World War II)

Aurora as a museum ship in 2004.

In 1922, The Aurora was brought to service again as a training ship. During World War II, the guns were taken from the ship and used for land defence of Leningrad. The ship itself was docked in Oranienbaum port, and was repeatedly shelled and bombed. On 30 September 1941 she was damaged and sunk in the harbour.

After extensive repairs in 1945-1947, Aurora was permanently anchored on the Neva in Leningrad (now: St. Petersburg) as a monument to the Great October Socialist Revolution and in 1957 became a museum-ship. In 1984-87, the ship was reconstructed, including the replacement of the entire hull below the waterline and new funnels and masts. From 1956 to the present day, more than 28 million people have visited Aurora.

On November 2, 1927, Aurora was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its revolutionary merits and on February 22, 1968 - the Order of the October Revolution.