Russian cruiser Pallada (1899)
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| Career |  |
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| Built by: | Admiralty Shipyard, Saint Petersburg, Russia. |
| Laid down | 1 December 1895 |
| Launched: | August 1899 |
| Commissioned: | |
| Fate: | Prize of war to Japan, 1905. Subsequently served as Japanese cruiser Tsugaru, decommissioned 1920, expended as target 1924. |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 6,731 tons |
| Length: | 416 feet |
| Beam: | 55.1 feet |
| Draught: | 24 feet |
| Propulsion: | 3 shafts, VTE; 26 Belleville boilers, 13,000 hp |
| Speed: | 19 knots |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 578 |
| Armament: | |
| Armor: |
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The RUS Pallada was the lead ship in the Pallada-class of protected cruisers in the Imperial Russian Navy. It was built in Admiralty Shipyard, Saint Petersburg, Russia. The new class was a major improvement on previous Russian cruisers, although the armor protection was light.
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[edit] Background
The Pallada-class consisted of three cruisers built expressly with the intention of strengthening the Russian fleet in the Far East. Pallada and Diana were both laid down in December 1895 but Pallada was launched first in August 1899, followed by Diana in October 1899. The Aurora, which survives in St Petersburg as a museum ship, was laid down in June 1897 and was not launched until May 1900. Soon after commissioning, both the Pallada and the Diana were assigned to the Russian First Pacific Squadron at Port Arthur, Manchuria.
[edit] Operational history
In the initial Japanese attacks on Port Arthur on the night of 8 February 1904, the Pallada was torpedoed on the port side amidships, but despite a fire in its coal bunker, it was not seriously damaged.
In August 1904 at the Battle of the Yellow Sea, after being struck by a torpedo, the Pallada managed to make its way back to Port Arthur, and was thus unable to break through the Japanese blockade along with a number of other Russian cruisers. Thereafter, Pallada was trapped in the harbor. Its guns were removed to help strengthen the land defenses and most of its crew was reassigned to serve as infantry. The Pallada was sunk by Japanese 11-inch siege howitzers on 8 December 1904.
After the end of the war, the wreck of the Pallada was raised and towed to Japan, where it was repaired and commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy as a prize of war. Renamed the IJN Tsugaru, it served as a training vessel and later as a minelayer until decommissioned in 1922 and sunk as a target in 1924.
The protected cruiser Pallada should not be confused with its namesake, the armored cruiser Pallada, sunk by a German submarine in the Baltic Sea during World War I.
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- For the record of the RUS Pallada after being captured by Japan, see Japanese cruiser Tsugaru.
[edit] References
- Chesneau, Roger and Eugene M Kolesnik, eds. Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905. Conway Maritime Press (1979). ISBN 0 85177 133 5
- Howarth, Stephen. The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum; (1983) ISBN 0689114028
- Jentsura, Hansgeorg. Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. Naval Institute Press (1976). ISBN 087021893X
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