Russian battleship Knyaz Suvorov

Battleship Knyaz Suvorov
History
Name	Knyaz Suvorov
Builder	Baltic Works, Saint Petersburg
Laid down	July 1901
Launched	September 1902
Commissioned	September 1904
Fate	Sunk at the Battle of Tsushima, 27 May 1905
General characteristics
Class and type	Borodino-class battleship
Displacement	13,516 long tons (13,733 t) standard 14,151 long tons (14,378 t) full load
Length	121 m (397 ft)
Beam	23.2 m (76 ft)
Draught	8.9 m (29 ft)
Propulsion	2 shaft reciprocating vertical triple-expansion (VTE) steam engines 12 Belleville coal-fired boilers 15,800 ihp (11,800 kW) 1,580 tons coal
Speed	18 knots (21 mph; 33 km/h)
Complement	28 officers, 754 men
Armament	• 4 × 305 mm (12 in) guns (2×2) • 12 × 152 mm (6 in) guns (6×2) • 20 × 75 mm (3 in) guns (20×1) • 20 × 47 mm (2 in) guns (20×1) • 4 × 381 mm (15 in) torpedo tubes
Armour	Krupp armour Belt: 193 mm (7.6 in) Turrets: 254 mm (10 in) max Deck: 51 mm (2 in) Anti-torpedo bulkhead: 25 mm (1 in)

The Knyaz Suvorov (Russian: Князь Суворов) was a Borodino-class battleship built by Baltic Works, St Petersburg. Laid down July 1901, it was launched in September 1902 and completed in September 1904. This ship was named after the great 18th-century Russian general Alexander Suvorov.

Service Life

The Knyaz Suvorov had a short existence, serving for less than 9 months within the Imperial Russian Navy. She was completed at the beginning of September and had virtually no comprehensive sea trials, on 26 September, 1904 Suvorov participated in a naval review for the Tsar. As a result, her crew was newly assigned and largely inexperienced. On 15 October, she left Russia together with the rest of the "Second Pacific Squadron" to the Far East.

Knyaz Suvorov was the flagship of Admiral Rozhestvensky at Tsushima, where it was sunk on 27 May 1905. She suffered numerous hits from explosive shells and eventually three torpedo hits.

The battleship was struck by heavy shells, but her crew kept up a gallant defence with the last two 76.2 mm guns. She was torpedoed by the Japanese 11th Destroyer Flotilla and sank with all hands.

References

• Antony Preston, World's Worst Warships (2002) Conways Maritime Press
• Tomitch, V. M., Warships of the Imperial Russian Navy (1968) Volumne 1, Battleships
• Corbett, Julian, Sir. Maritime Operations in the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905. Originally classified Secret/Confidential until the 1950s. Published in (1994), in two volumnes. ISBN 1557501297
• Semenov, Vladimir, Capt. The Battle of Tsushima. E. P. Dutton & Co. (1912).
• Pleshakov, Constantine. The Tsar's Last Armada: The Epic Voyage to the Battle of Tsushima. (2002). ISBN 0-46505-792-6