The beginning of the 20th century was marked by the rapid development of all types of defense industry in the Russian Empire. Shipbuilding did not lag behind the general trend.
One of the most remarkable ships of the Russian fleet was the Novik. The destroyer had outstanding seaworthiness and maneuverability, which made it possible to use the ship for a variety of tasks.
Background
The war with Japan showed all the weakness and vulnerability of the Russian fleet. Since there was no money in the treasury for the modernization of warships, the maritime department announced a fundraiser for the construction of new ships on voluntary donations. With these funds, it was planned to build several ships of various classes. Among them are destroyers, dreadnoughts and destroyers.
Projects
Before the engineers were given new technical tasks to create a ship. Novik-class destroyers had to meet the requirements of the new time: they must be fast, well-armed and versatile. Prototype specifications should be as follows:
- speed - reach 36 knots;
- Full load speed about 33 knots;
- blockpower plants - Parson turbines.
The tasks were quite difficult for the engineers of that time. Therefore, the interested parties announced an international competition for the design of a ship of the Novik type. The new generation destroyer interested domestic shipbuilders.
The drawings of the Creighton shipyard, as well as the Nevsky, Putilovsky and Admir alty plants were submitted to the commission for consideration. After the final meeting, the project of the Putilov plant was recognized as the winner, according to which Novik was subsequently built. The destroyer was developed by a group of engineers led by D. D. Dubitsky, who oversaw the mechanical part of the vessel, and B. O. Vasilevsky, who was in charge of shipbuilding.
Building
And in 1907, ships of the Novik type were already included in the development. The destroyer of the new type was laid down at the Putilov shipyard in 1910. The German company Vulkan took an active part in the work, which undertook to design, manufacture and install a compact and rather powerful boiler-turbine plant on the destroyer Novik.
The drawings of the ship were being finalized as the ship was completed. The progress of the construction of the destroyer was observed by a team consisting of N. V. Lesnikov, who served as lieutenant colonel in the Corps of Naval Engineers, staff captain of the Corps of Engineers and Mechanics of the Fleet Kravchenko G. K. The chief engineer of the project was K. A. Tennyson.
The appearance of the ship
In October 1913, the pride of the Russian fleet, the destroyer, left its native docks for the first time"Novik". The photo of the meeting of Petersburgers walking along the Neva embankment and meeting the handsome ship, fortunately, has been preserved. Newspapers of the time noted that many citizens came to admire the new destroyer. After all, this ship was built according to a fundamentally new technology.
The vessel, equipped with a large number of torpedo tubes, rapid-firing 102-mm deck artillery with a device for installing minefields, became the prototype of the domestic multi-purpose torpedo-artillery warship. In addition, Novik, the destroyer, was equipped with side-mounted salvo fire systems - a simultaneous salvo of eight guns made her the only ship in her class.
Another unique quality was her speed - for a long time (until 1917) she was the only ship that could develop and maintain speeds of more than 37 knots.
World War I
When the Russian Empire entered the Second World War, the Novik was assigned to the B altic Fleet's cruiser unit. He entered his first battle on September 1, 1914. In combat operations, the ship often fought independently, relying on its own power and speed. So, in the summer of 1915, two German destroyers broke into the Gulf of Riga, tasked with finding and sinking a Russian ship.
Novik's team managed to attack both of them in turn, inflicting heavy damage on them with artillery fire. And there were many similar successful military exploits in the biography of this ship.
Recent years
During the October Revolution, the legendary Novik was mothballed. Only after the end of the Civil War, in 1925, did it undergo partial repairs and modernization. The ship has been renamed. Now the legendary destroyer bore the name of one of the leaders of the revolution - "Yakov Sverdlov".
After fifteen years, the ship was sent to the B altic Fleet and used for training purposes. In June 1941, when hostilities flared up along the entire eastern front, it was decided to evacuate the naval ships. The escort squad also included a Novik. The destroyer, which for so long guarded other ships from minefields, itself was blown up by a mine. Thus ended the journey of the legend.
