Imperatritsa Mariya class battleship

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

General Characteristics

Displacement:	22600 tons standard, 24000 tons full load
Length:	167.8 m
Beam:	27.3 m
Draft:	8.4 m
Propulsion:	4 shaft steam turbines, 20 Yarrow type coal-fired boilers, 26500 hp
Speed:	21 knots
Complement:	1220
Armament:	12 × 12 inch (305 mm) guns (4 × 3), 20 × 5.1 inch (130 mm) guns, (20 × 1), 8 × 75 mm guns, 4 × 18 inch torpedo tubes
Armor:	10.5 inch belt, 12 inch turrets, 8 inch barbettes, 3 inch deck

The Imperatritsa Mariya class (Russian: Императрица Мария) were the first Dreadnought battleships built for the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy. All three ships were built by Rossud Dockyard, Nikolayev.

The ships mounted 12 × 305 mm (12 inch) guns in four triple-turrets, had a displacement of about 24,000 tons fully loaded, and a maximum speed of 21 knots. They were generally similar in layout and capabilities to contemporary Gangut class battleships.

The class consisted of three ships:

Imperatritsa Mariya (Императрица Мария) was launched in 1913 and arrived in Sevastopol on 30 June 1915, where during the next few months it completed its fitting out and sea trials. From late 1915 onward the ship took part in combat operations. On 20 October 1916 the ship was sunk by an internal explosion while in Sevastopol harbor. The subsequent investigation determined that the explosion was probably accidental, though sabotage could not be completely ruled out. The sinking shook Russian public opinion, and immediate plans were made to raise the battleship and put it back into service. Following a complex salvage operation, the ship was eventually raised and placed in drydock in May 1918. However, in the chaos of the Russian Revolution and Civil War, no further repair work was done, and the ship was scrapped in 1927.

Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya (Императрица Екатерина Великая) 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 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).

Imperator Aleksander III (Император Александр Третий)was launched in 1914, renamed Volya (Воля, Freedom) in 1917 and then General Alekseev (Генерал Алексеев )in 1920. The ship did not take part in operations during World War I due to long delays in the delivery of its machinery from Britain, but was able to go to sea by 1917 and conduct a series of trials. However, final outfitting was interrupted by the chaos of the Russian Revolution and was never fully completed. In 1918 the ship was under German control for a few months. After Germany's surrender it was seized by the British, who moved it to İzmir in Turkey. In 1919 it passed under the control of White Russian forces and returned to the Black Sea, where it fought in the Russian Civil War against the Red Army, mainly by carrying out shore bombardments. With the collapse of the White Russian armies in Southern Russia in 1920, the battleship participated in their evacuation and then sailed to the Mediterranean, where it was interned in Bizerta. With the French recognition of the USSR in 1924 the ship passed to Soviet control, but it never returned to service and was scrapped in France.