The ship "Sevastopol" is a battleship of the Russian fleet, which was designed at the B altic Shipyard by a number of specialists under the guidance of Professor I. G. Bubnov. The experience gained during its development was taken as the basis for the creation of military vessels for the Black Sea Fleet of the "Empress Maria" type.
Building a ship
On June 3, 1909, celebrations were held simultaneously at the Admir alty Shipyard and the B altic Shipyard in St. Petersburg to mark the laying of several ships at once. These ships were intended for the military needs of the Russian Imperial Navy. Among them was the battleship Sevastopol. It was launched on June 16, 1911. It was the lead ship of a whole series of ships.
Shortly after its launch, work on the battleship almost completely stopped. The reason for the delay: the lack of equipment, weapons and mechanisms intended for installation, which was supposed to be delivered to the shipyard. They continued to finish building the ship only six months later. ThroughoutIn 1912, only hull work was carried out at the B altic Shipyard in St. Petersburg, including the installation of the main armored side belts, as well as boring and forming the foundation for tower installations. In addition, it was necessary to urgently equip artillery cellars according to revised drawings, since new samples of 305-mm shells were adopted in 1911.
The year 1913 saw the bulk of all outfitting work on the battleship Sevastopol. During this period, the installation of the hull and armor was fully completed on the ship, the upper deck was covered with wooden flooring, masts, bridges, chimneys and conning towers were installed. Also, equipment for power plants was loaded onto the ship. The next six months at the plant were engaged in the installation of the missing systems and devices. This work included the assembly of 305 mm turrets. At the same time, the ship was being prepared for sea trials.
Latest testing and packaging
In parallel with the battleship "Sevastopol" other ships were built. As soon as they were ready, they were transferred to Kronstadt for sea trials. The work of the power plant was the first to be accepted at Sevastopol. On September 27, 1914, the ship's engine crew was able to keep the power of 32,950 hp for three whole hours, abandoning the forced mode of operation. with. The turbine speed reached 260 rpm, and this is 950 hp. with. more design. The speed of the battleship was then 19 knots, the draft was 9.14 meters, and the displacement was 25300 tons.
When battleships entered service, their staffing was identical - 31 officers, 28 conductors, 1,066 lower ranks. The first commander of the "Sevastopol" was Anatoly Ivanovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin. He led the ship's crew from 1911 to 1915.
Battleship armament: main caliber
This artillery, developed by the designers of the Obukhov plant, included twelve 305-millimeter rifled guns. They were placed in four tower installations, which were arranged in such a way as to be able to fire in a beam of ± 65 °. Piston closures for the guns were designed by the British company Vickers.
Artillery ammunition was 100 rounds per barrel. It was located in several turret cellars, each of which was divided into two parts. Aerorefrigerators of the Westinghouse-Leblanc system maintained a constant temperature in them, fluctuating between 15-25 ⁰C. The range of gun ammunition was quite diverse: armor-piercing, high-explosive and semi-armor-piercing shells, as well as shrapnel. In addition, there were cast iron balls on board the ship, which were used for practical shooting exercises.
Mine and torpedo weapons
The battleship's anti-mine artillery consisted of sixteen 120-millimeter rifled guns with piston locks of the same British Vickers company. The rate of fire of the guns is seven rounds per minute. They were placed on special pedestal installations, which made it possible to produce themvertical guidance ranging from -10 to 20⁰.
The regular ammunition of anti-mine caliber artillery included shots with shrapnel, lighting, high-explosive and so-called "diving" shells. They were designed to destroy enemy submarines. Initially, the ammunition load consisted of 250 shots per barrel, and a little later it was increased to 300.
Sevastopol's torpedo armament consisted of four 450 mm underwater on-board vehicles. These fixed installations were equipped with ammunition: there were three torpedoes per unit. Model 45-12 shells had a weight of 100 kg and a firing range of 2 km at a speed of 43 knots, or they could hit a target at a distance of up to 6 km, but with less swiftness - 28 knots. In general, the torpedo tube was rarely used. It was intended only for self-defense of the ship in those rare cases when the artillery failed.
During the First World War
In the spring and summer of 1915, the ships Sevastopol, Poltava, Petropavlovsk and the battleship Gangut went to sea with the aim of thoroughly mastering the ships by their crews. Then, maneuvers with artillery firing were carried out on the territory of the Central Position. In July - August of the same year, the enemy command decided to conduct a trial raiding operation. The German squadron, which included two dreadnought battleships, having created a combat situation, was able to successfully force the Irbenskaya mine and artillery position of the Russian fleet and linger for three whole days inGulf of Riga.
When the enemy ships left these waters, the B altic Fleet had to re-install minefields. On August 14, the crews of Gangut and Sevastopol took part in these works. In addition, nine more destroyers were involved. The cover was then provided by battleships and two cruisers - "Bogatyr" and "Oleg". It should be noted that the operation was carried out during a strong storm, but despite all the difficulties, 310 minutes were successfully installed.
Ship damage
The next morning, the ships of the Russian fleet, divided into groups, set off along the strategic fairway to Helsingfors. The width of the passage was 108 meters. At this time, the vessels experienced a slight side and pitch roll, because a strong wind was blowing (about 5 points). Somewhere at 10 hours and 45 minutes, the battleship "Sevastopol" under the command of Bestuzhev-Ryumin unexpectedly hit the ground three times. The last push was very strong, after which the ship stopped. However, in less than a few minutes, the ship, having reversed, managed to get out of the shallows without resorting to outside help.
After him hit the ground and the battleship "Gangut". The reason for this was windy weather, as a result of which some of the milestones were demolished. Of these two ships, the Sevastopol suffered the most, as the lower section of the stem was crushed, and the damage to the bottom stretched to the second tower, while capturing three belts of the outer skin on the sides.
During the inspection of the battleship, in addition to numerous cracks and dents, two holes were found. As a result of this, the shipreceived at least 350 tons of water, which flooded most of the double-bottom space located in the area of the forward boiler rooms. Such serious damage had to be corrected for about a month and a half. All repairs were carried out at the dock in Kronstadt.
During the First World War, Sevastopol was damaged twice more. This time, the keel beam and bottom set with sheathing were repaired. Such accidents, according to the naval leadership, were the result of difficulties that arose with the management of the ship in the conditions of excessive constraint on the eastern section of the B altic Sea. The size of the vessels of this series were impressive, so they needed more space. In addition, on October 17 of the same year, a half-charge of a 305-millimeter gun fell onto the deck of the battleship while loading ammunition and ignited. The fire was quickly extinguished, but there were no casu alties. Then four people were injured, and one died with severe burns.
Civil War
In 1918, a separate Brest Peace was signed, after which the First World War ended for Russia. However, hostilities ceased only against Germany, as a brutal fratricidal Civil War soon broke out. According to the agreements, the B altic Fleet was obliged to leave its bases located in Finland, as well as to demobilize a significant part of its personnel.
In mid-March of the same year, the first ships left Helsingfors. Among them was Sevastopol. Vessels were escorted by twoicebreakers - "Volynets" and "Ermak". It is worth noting that the passage was carried out in the most difficult conditions, since the path of the ships ran through vast ice fields. In addition, the staffing of the crews was only 20-40% of their regular strength. Despite all the difficulties, five days later the cruisers and battleships arrived in Kronstadt without serious damage.
In October 1919, from the battleship "Sevastopol", which was stationed in the vicinity of Petrograd, or rather, near Gutuevsky Island, six gun volleys were fired at the Krasnoselskaya Upland. Then the adjustment of the shooting was carried out from the roof of the famous St. Isaac's Cathedral. The next day, according to the demand of the ground command, gun salvos were fired again, after which the troops of the Red Army went on the offensive against Petrograd.
Rebellion in Kronstadt
The garrison of the city and the crews of some ships belonging to the B altic Fleet took part in this armed demonstration. It began with the fact that on February 24, 1921, spontaneous rallies and strikes of workers began to arise in Petrograd, at which a number of economic and political demands were put forward. The city committee of the RCP (b) regarded such unrest in factories and factories as a rebellion. Therefore, martial law was immediately introduced. It was these events that led to the uprising of the Kronstadt garrison.
On the fifth day of the rebellion, a meeting of the crews of the battleships "Petropavlovsk" and "Sevastopol" was held. It decided to put forward demands regarding the re-election of the Soviets, the abolition ofcommissars, granting freedom to socialist parties and allowing free trade. On March 2, the crews of these ships, as well as several military units and crews of the nearby island forts, refused to obey the orders of the central government. The Kronstadt rebellion lasted quite a long time. For two weeks, the Sevastopol and Petropavlovsk ships fired on the Krasnoflotsky fort (formerly Krasnaya Gorka), as well as on the cities of Sestroretsk and Oranienbaum. In addition, the railway stations Tarkhovka, Lisiy Nos and Gorskaya, located in the northern part of the Gulf of Finland, came under fire. Then the battleships "Petropavlovsk" and "Sevastopol" used up about a thousand 120-mm and more than three hundred 305-mm shells each.
During the course of firing, some difficulties arose due to the fact that other ships, tightly frozen into the ice, were too close to each other. It is worth noting that the shooting was carried out on the squares, which had practically no combat effectiveness. Many residential buildings were destroyed, a large number of civilians died, but the shells fired by the battleships did not affect the delivery of the troops of the 7th Army, who were soon thrown to storm Kronstadt. Despite all the firepower of the ships, they failed to suppress the artillery located on the territory of the Krasnoflotsky fort. On the night of March 18, the crews of the ships had to capitulate, as the first units of the Red Army burst into the city right over the ice.
Interwar time
In the history of the battleship there was such a page when, after the tragic events in Kronstadt, a politicizedthe command of the B altic Fleet decided to rename the ship, as it was considered one of the symbols of the bloody rebellion. At that time, the nearest holiday in Soviet Russia was the 50th anniversary of the Paris Commune. In this regard, an order was issued by the fleet commander Kozhanov to rename this ship. From now on, it became known as the "Paris Commune".
Four years later, several Soviet battleships, including the Sevastopol, took part in the campaign of the squadron to the Kiel Bay. A few years later, the ship under the command of K. Samoilov made the transition from the B altic to the Black Sea. The fact is that after the October Revolution and the subsequent Civil War, the Black Sea Fleet did not have a single battleship. That is why the "Paris Commune" (formerly "Sevastopol") becomes its new flagship.
The ship took part in the filming of the film "Sailors" (1939). It was filmed by director Vladimir Brown at the Odessa Film Studio. This heroic adventure film tells about the feat of Soviet sailors who saved their comrades from inevitable death. The premiere of the 1939 film The Sailors was very successful. It was watched by 14.8 million viewers in the USSR.
World War II
When Hitler launched a war against the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, the ship was part of the squadron of the Black Sea Fleet. The commander of the battleship was then F. Kravchenko, captain of the 1st rank. In early November, the battleship "Paris Commune" took part in the battles off the coast of Sevastopol. A month later, the battleship again approached the city in order to open fire on enemy troops. Thanks to him, 4 tractors, 13 tanks, 37 vehicles with military cargo, 8 guns were destroyed.
On January 5, 1942, the battleship Parizhskaya Kommuna, leaving Novorossiysk, accompanied by the destroyer Boyky, set off towards the Crimean coast in order to support the 44th Army soldiers who had just landed there with fire. About 170 shells were fired from the battleship in half an hour.
In March of the same year, the ship entered the Kerch Strait. It was guarded by the destroyers Boyky, Zheleznyakov and Tashkent. The battleship fired several shells, during which 300 shells were fired at enemy fortifications located on the territory of the Kerch Peninsula. It was then that the sailors noticed that during the shots, fragments of metal began to fly off from the gun barrels. This could only mean one thing - the ship's armament was extremely worn out. The Paris Commune had to return to Poti and immediately get repaired.
By mid-April, all the barrels of the main caliber, as well as optical instruments and elevators, were replaced on the battleship. Despite this, the active use of this battleship in further hostilities ended. True, the ship once again indirectly participated in the Novorossiysk landing operation, when in the autumn of 1943 it was decided to remove several 120-mm guns from it and install them as a separate coastal battery called Sevastopol.
On the last day of May 1943, the battleship decided to return its original name - "Sevastopol". November 5, 1943a ship under the flag of Admiral F. Oktyabrsky went on a raid on the heroically liberated city of Sevastopol.
Post-war years
At the end of the war, many Soviet battleships received awards. Not bypassed and "Sevastopol". He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Then the ship continued to serve in the Black Sea Fleet. In 1954, it was reclassified as a linear training ship, and two years later it was excluded from the lists of the Navy in order to transfer it to the stock property department for subsequent dismantling. During 1956-1957, in Sevastopol, on the basis of Glavvtorchermet, it was cut into metal.
