Borodino class motorship is a class of Russian river passenger ships. [1] The series is named after Borodino Village, and the ships themselves are notable for their size, power, and use in the Russo-Japanese War and the Bolshevik Revolution.
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The Borodino class were some of the first screw ships for passengers on the various rivers in Russia. The ships were built by Kaukas and Mercury for primarily passenger service, although some also performed postal work.
The ships each had a pair of six cylinder diesel engines, and had double decks. Capable of carrying 500 passengers and up to 300 tons of cargo, they were not small paddle boats, but massive ships, over 180 feet long over 40 feet wide. [2]
The lead ship of the class, the Borodino, was commissioned temporarily as a troop transport and was in the line of battle at the Battle of Port Arthur. [3]
During the Bolshevik Civil War, Borodino class ships were troop transports once again, this time in service to the Red Army. One of the ships was temporarily the flagship of an adhoc war fleet, mostly of other retrofitted river craft and fishing vessels.[4]
In World War II a few of the ships were used to evacuate people and wounded soldiers from Stalingrad, but most were tasked with carrying valuable equipment and material back away from the German front towards the interior of the Soviet Union.
After 1960, the remaining ships not destroyed by war were rebuilt and refurbished, and operated by the Volga Shipping Company.