In the last years of the 19th century, three battleships were built for the B altic Fleet: Petropavlovsk, Sevastopol and Poltava. But in the end, they were all sent to the Far East, where then someone died in the Russo-Japanese War, and someone, like the squadron battleship Poltava, already in the 1920s.
Construction
The model of the battleship Poltava was planned based on the drawings of the battleship Nicholas I, which had a large impressive seaworthiness, but in Poltava it was planned to increase the displacement in order to thereby increase the cruising range. In addition, another turret with two 305 mm guns was installed on the new battleship.
On May 7, 1892, in the presence of Alexander III and his family, the Poltava was laid down, although the initial work on the ship, led by famous naval engineers I. E. Leontiev and N. I. Yankovsky, began in February of that the same year. Despite the subsequent rather lengthy construction, the battleship was launched on October 25, 1894.
Measures of the battleship "Poltava"
The characteristics of the resulting ship were impressive: the displacement was 11.5 tons, a ton more than expected by the project. The interperpendicular length of the armadillo was 108.7 meters, width - 21.34 m, bow draft 7.6 m. Average speed was 16.29 knots, coal supply - 700-900 tons. lower ranks.
First trials
Only four years later, in September 1898, the first tests of the battleship Poltava took place, moreover, on that day, all artillery was absent on the ship, except for the main-caliber guns. In connection with the beginning of the storm, the tests, which were supposed to last 12 hours, were reduced by three hours. Some time later, in June 1900, new tests were carried out, this time with full armament.
Three months later, the situation in the Far East began to heat up, and therefore the Poltava was sent there. The very next spring, she arrived in Port Arthur and began to participate in all the campaigns that were carried out after that. At the beginning of 1904, before the Russo-Japanese War, the Poltava crew, led by Captain I. P. Uspensky, was 631 people, which was a big indicator for an armadillo.
Beginning of the Russo-Japanese War
On the night of January 26, 1904, Japanese destroyers attacked the Russian squadron stationed near Port Arthur, which after the battlelost two large ships, but managed to drive away the enemy, who for some reason, in the midst of the battle, was embarrassed and began to retreat. "Poltava" in this battle, fragments from bombs hit the onboard torpedo tube, but something saved the crew and the ship from the explosion: only three crew members were injured. The battleship itself managed to release about seventy charges on enemy ships. In the morning, after the end of the battle, the Russian ships sailed to the inner harbor, during the entrance to which the Poltava and Sevastopol hit each other sideways.
In mid-March, a steam boat was launched from the battleship Poltava, which launched a throwing mine at the Japanese squadron and sank one of the fireships. Soon after that, the crews of the ships began to dismantle the artillery and equip it with a four-gun battery on Quail Hill, to protect Port Arthur, on which the Japanese were preparing an attack. June 26 "Poltava" was in the Bay of Tahe, from where, together with other battleships and cruisers, she fired at the Japanese squadron.
Fight in the Yellow Sea
In early summer, six Russian battleships and several other ships tried to break through to Vladivostok, but after twenty miles they met a large concentration of enemy ships and, on the orders of Admiral V. K. Witgeft turned back. The admiral justified this by the absence of the majority of small- and medium-caliber artillery on Russian ships. When she was returned to her place, Poltava went to Vladivostok for the second time, and this led to a new battle with the Japanese, which would later be called the "battle in the Yellow Sea." Already at the beginning of the battle under the waterline from the starboard side in"Poltava" was hit by a shell, because of which the biscuit department was flooded. But the hole was repaired, and the team leveled the list by pouring the same amount of water into one of the compartments from the port side.
Dispersing with the enemy, the Russian ships began to move towards the sea, but the Japanese squadron prevailed in speed and therefore was able to catch up with them. Admiral Deva, the commander of one of the combat detachments and under whose control the Yakumo cruiser was, wanted to attack the Poltava and Sevastopol from two sides, but the battleship Poltava fired a well-aimed shot at the Yakumo, driving it away. Despite this, the fight resumed.
Here, "Poltava" suffered some serious damage. A couple of shells exploded on the upper deck, injuring more than fifteen people, two more hit under the bow tower, and several more - in the stern. The most dangerous was a fragment that hit the left propeller shaft, in connection with which it was necessary to reduce the speed, which was already low.
At the last stage of the battle in the Yellow Sea, "Poltava" almost did not suffer, since the artillery attacks of Japanese ships were directed mainly at the "Peresvet" and "Tsesarevich".
In besieged Port Arthur
In late autumn, the Japanese managed to capture the heights near Port Arthur and start firing at Russian ships from there. On November 22, Poltava was hit by a shell that exploded in the cellar, due to which Poltava began to sink, eventually settling on the ground. The crew, which at that time was 311 lower ranks and 16 officers, was captured by the Japanese.
In July 1905The Japanese completed the repair of the captured battleship Poltava and, having lifted it into the water, renamed it Tango. During the restoration, some masts, pipes, ventilation ducts and torpedo tubes were replaced. And four years later, Tango became a full-fledged Japanese battleship of the Coast Guard. Its crew has been increased to 750 people.
Homecoming
After 10 years, France and England decided to start the Dardanelles operation, the purpose of which was to capture one of the Black Sea straits. Russia wanted to fight back with the help of its squadron, but there were few ships left, so it was decided to buy back from the Japanese their own battleships, which were captured a decade ago. According to the agreement concluded with Japan, for 15.5 million rubles, Russian troops managed to buy and bring home three ships: Tango, Soya (Russian Varyag) and Sagami (Russian Peresvet). They were delivered to Vladivostok in March 1916.
Repurchased ships were returned to their original names, "Tango" was renamed "Chesma", as "Poltava" was named one of the new dreadnoughts. The new captain of the battleship V. N. Cherkasov wrote in a report that the ship was far from being in perfect condition.
During the Revolution
After the October Revolution, the Chesma team sided with the Soviet authorities, and in March the ship was captured by the British, who began to use the battleship as a floating prison. After two years they abandoned the shipduring the evacuation from Arkhangelsk. When it was found in June 1921, it was deposited at the port of Arkhangelsk, and after three years of inactivity there, it was decided to send Chesma to the Stock Property Department in order to be dismantled for metal. The same was done with other Poltava-class battleships.
