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138-858: The Dogger Bank incident (also known as the North Sea Incident , the Russian Outrage or the Incident of Hull ) occurred on the night of 21/22 October 1904, when the Baltic Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy mistook civilian British fishing trawlers from Kingston upon Hull in the Dogger Bank area of the North Sea for Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo boats and fired on them, also firing on each other in
276-609: A blue light signal on one of the warships, the order to cease firing. The incident led to a serious diplomatic conflict between Russia and Britain, which was particularly dangerous because of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance . In the aftermath, some British newspapers called the Russian fleet ' pirates ', and Admiral Rozhestvensky was heavily criticised for not leaving the British fishermen lifeboats . The editorial of
414-489: A "heavy" cruiser was one with guns of more than 6.1-inch (155 mm) calibre. The Second London Naval Treaty attempted to reduce the tonnage of new cruisers to 8,000 or less, but this had little effect; Japan and Germany were not signatories, and some navies had already begun to evade treaty limitations on warships. The first London treaty did touch off a period of the major powers building 6-inch or 6.1-inch gunned cruisers, nominally of 10,000 tons and with up to fifteen guns,
552-548: A boat), Alexei Krylov (author of the modern ship floodability theory), and Alexander Mozhaiski (co-inventor of aircraft). As early as 1861, the first armor-clad ships were built for the Baltic Fleet. In 1863, during the American Civil War , most of the fleet's ocean-going ships, including the flagship Alexander Nevsky were sent to New York City . At the same time ten Uragan -class monitors based on
690-600: A close with the freezing of the Gulf of Finland during the exceptionally cold winter of that year. In the beginning of the German invasion the Baltic Fleet had 2 battleships (both of World War I vintage), 2 cruisers , 2 flotilla leaders , 19 destroyers , 48 MTBs , 65 submarines and other ships, and 656 aircraft. During the war, the fleet, commanded by the Vice-Admiral Vladimir Tributz , defended
828-517: A combination of those materials, remained popular until towards the end of the 19th century. The ironclad's armor often meant that they were limited to short range under steam, and many ironclads were unsuited to long-range missions or for work in distant colonies. The unarmored cruiser—often a screw sloop or screw frigate —could continue in this role. Even though mid- to late-19th century cruisers typically carried up-to-date guns firing explosive shells , they were unable to face ironclads in combat. This
966-726: A cruiser as a surface combatant displacing at least 9750 tonnes; with respect to vessels in service as of the early 2020s it includes the Type 055, the Sejong the Great from South Korea , the Atago and Maya from Japan and the Ticonderoga and Zumwalt from the US. The term "cruiser" or "cruizer" was first commonly used in the 17th century to refer to an independent warship. "Cruiser" meant
1104-737: A displacement of less than 3,000 tons. During the two following decades, this cruiser type came to be the inspiration for combining heavy artillery, high speed and low displacement. The torpedo cruiser (known in the Royal Navy as the torpedo gunboat ) was a smaller unarmored cruiser, which emerged in the 1880s–1890s. These ships could reach speeds up to 20 knots (37 km/h) and were armed with medium to small calibre guns as well as torpedoes. These ships were tasked with guard and reconnaissance duties, to repeat signals and all other fleet duties for which smaller vessels were suited. These ships could also function as flagships of torpedo boat flotillas. After
1242-691: A division but only having a few hundred men assigned to maintain the equipment and guard the bases. "warfare.be" listings in 2013 report that the staff of the Ground and Coastal Defence Forces of the fleet may have been disbanded in November 2007. In 2007, according to the IISS, the fleet's aviation units were equipped with a total of 23 Su-27 , 26 Su-24 , 14 An-12 / 24 / 26 , 2 An-12 Cub (MR/EW), 11 Mi-24 Hind , 19 Ka-28 Helix , 8 Ka-29 Helix assault helicopters, and 17 Mi-8 Hip transport helicopters. As of 2020,
1380-528: A excuse to hide worries over passing through British controlled waters. The newer battleships and a few cruisers proceeded around the Cape of Good Hope under Rozhestvensky while the older battleships and lighter cruisers passed through the Suez Canal under the command of Admiral Dmitry Gustavovich von Fölkersahm . Both sections of the fleet then rendezvoused at Madagascar as planned. The fleet then proceeded to
1518-588: A fellow Ally in the First World War in December 1915., Four of these submarines, AG 11, AG 12 , AG 15 and AG 16 were scuttled in the harbour of Hanko on 3 April 1918, just before the 10,000-strong Imperial German Baltic Sea Division landed in support of the "Whites" forces in the little known Finnish Civil War . During the war the fleet was aided by a detachment of British Royal Navy submarines . These subs were later scuttled by their crews near
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#17327809518051656-421: A fleet of fast unprotected steel cruisers were ideal for commerce raiding , while the torpedo boat would be able to destroy an enemy battleship fleet. Steel also offered the cruiser a way of acquiring the protection needed to survive in combat. Steel armor was considerably stronger, for the same weight, than iron. By putting a relatively thin layer of steel armor above the vital parts of the ship, and by placing
1794-421: A fleet of large, fast, powerfully armed vessels which would be able to hunt down and mop up enemy cruisers and armored cruisers with overwhelming fire superiority was needed. They were equipped with the same gun types as battleships, though usually with fewer guns, and were intended to engage enemy capital ships as well. This type of vessel came to be known as the battlecruiser , and the first were commissioned into
1932-437: A group of protected cruisers produced in the same yard and known as the "Elswick cruisers". Her forecastle , poop deck and the wooden board deck had been removed, replaced with an armored deck. Esmeralda ' s armament consisted of fore and aft 10-inch (25.4 cm) guns and 6-inch (15.2 cm) guns in the midships positions. It could reach a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h), and was propelled by steam alone. It also had
2070-496: A heavy cruiser, their 280 mm (11 in) main armament was heavier than the 203 mm (8 in) guns of other nations' heavy cruisers, and the latter two members of the class also had tall conning towers resembling battleships. The Panzerschiffe were listed as Ersatz replacements for retiring Reichsmarine coastal defense battleships, which added to their propaganda status in the Kriegsmarine as Ersatz battleships; within
2208-683: A maximum range of 13,500 metres (14,800 yd) at 26.5 knots (49.1 km/h; 30.5 mph), still well below the "Long Lance". The Japanese were able to keep the Type 93's performance and oxygen power secret until the Allies recovered one in early 1943, thus the Allies faced a great threat they were not aware of in 1942. The Type 93 was also fitted to Japanese post-1930 light cruisers and the majority of their World War II destroyers. Heavy cruisers continued in use until after World War II, with some converted to guided-missile cruisers for air defense or strategic attack and some used for shore bombardment by
2346-635: A priority in the coming years. Deployed in Ukraine since the start of the invasion in 2022, the Baltic Fleet's 11th Army Corps has suffered heavy losses according to Forbes. Cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship . Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships , and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea denial . The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hundred years, has changed its meaning over time. During
2484-602: A range of more than 20 nautical miles. They were mainly used to attack enemy surface ships and shore-based targets. In addition, there were 10–16 secondary guns with a caliber of less than 130 mm (5.1 in). Also, dozens of automatic antiaircraft guns were installed to fight aircraft and small vessels such as torpedo boats. For example, in World War II, American Alaska-class cruisers were more than 30,000 tons, equipped with nine 12 in (305 mm) guns. Some cruisers could also carry three or four seaplanes to correct
2622-518: A scaled-up heavy cruiser design. Their hull classification symbol of CB (cruiser, big) reflected this. A precursor to the anti-aircraft cruiser was the Romanian British-built protected cruiser Elisabeta . After the start of World War I, her four 120 mm main guns were landed and her four 75 mm (12-pounder) secondary guns were modified for anti-aircraft fire. The development of the anti-aircraft cruiser began in 1935 when
2760-833: A single fleet under the command of Rozhestvensky with the Third Pacific Fleet, across the Indian Ocean to Cam Ranh Bay in French Indochina and then northward to its doomed encounter with the Japanese fleet at the Battle of Tsushima off the east coast of Korea in May, 1905, ending the Russo-Japanese War. The Imperial German civilian passenger Hamburg-Amerika Line provided 60 colliers to supply
2898-450: A strengthening of these capabilities in the 2020s was being considered with various options (including both Improved Kilos and/or new Lada-class submarines ) apparently on the table. Training and readiness levels have also been emphasized to be of key importance. In June 2016, fleet commander Vice Admiral Viktor Kravchuk and his chief of staff, Vice Admiral Sergei Popov , were dismissed for "serious training shortcomings and distortion of
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#17327809518053036-612: A widespread classification following the London Naval Treaty in 1930. The heavy cruiser's immediate precursors were the light cruiser designs of the 1910s and 1920s; the US lightly armored 8-inch "treaty cruisers" of the 1920s (built under the Washington Naval Treaty) were originally classed as light cruisers until the London Treaty forced their redesignation. Initially, all cruisers built under
3174-524: Is also the smallest of the Russian Navy's four principal fleets (in terms of surface warships and submarines combined) and therefore, due to its limited strength, would play primarily a defensive role in the Baltic Sea in most conflict or wartime scenarios. On Russia's "Navy Day" on July 31, 2022, President Putin reportedly indicated that the Baltic Fleet was to be prioritized for modernization in
3312-547: Is not contiguous with the rest of the national territory of the Russian Federation . In the immediate post-Soviet period, the capabilities of the Baltic Fleet were significantly reduced. From 1991/1992 to 1994/95, vessels in the Baltic Fleet declined from 350 at the beginning of the decade to 109 available vessels. At the same time, with the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact , the formerly allied East German Navy
3450-822: Is the fleet of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea . Established 18 May 1703, under Tsar Peter the Great as part of the Imperial Russian Navy , the Baltic Fleet is the oldest Russian fleet. In 1918, the fleet was inherited by the Russian SFSR which then founded the Soviet Union in 1922, where it was eventually known as the Twice Red Banner(ed) Baltic Fleet as part of the Soviet Navy , as during this period it gained
3588-579: The Gangut class entered service with the fleet: Gangut ; Poltava ; Petropavlovsk ; and Sevastopol . Four more powerful battlecruisers of the Borodino class were under construction, but were never completed. On the whole the heavy units of the fleet remained in port during the war, as the Imperial German Navy 's superiority in battleships and other vessels was overwhelming and it
3726-507: The 11th Guards Army of the Baltic Military District were subordinated to a single command named the Ground and Coastal Forces of the Baltic Fleet under a deputy fleet commander. The 11th Guards Army remnant included the 7th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment and the brigade that was the former 18th Guards Motor Rifle Division , plus several Bases for Storage of Weapons and Equipment, holding enough vehicles and weaponry for
3864-457: The 1937 Coronation Fleet Review . The British press referred to the vessels as pocket battleships, in reference to the heavy firepower contained in the relatively small vessels; they were considerably smaller than contemporary battleships, though at 28 knots were slower than battlecruisers. At up to 16,000 tons at full load, they were not treaty compliant 10,000 ton cruisers. And although their displacement and scale of armor protection were that of
4002-457: The Age of Sail , the term cruising referred to certain kinds of missions—independent scouting, commerce protection, or raiding—usually fulfilled by frigates or sloops-of-war , which functioned as the cruising warships of a fleet. In the middle of the 19th century, cruiser came to be a classification of the ships intended for cruising distant waters, for commerce raiding , and for scouting for
4140-509: The German "pocket battleship" Admiral Graf Spee (which was on a commerce raiding mission) in the Battle of the River Plate ; German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee then took refuge in neutral Montevideo , Uruguay . By broadcasting messages indicating capital ships were in the area, the British caused Admiral Graf Spee ' s captain to think he faced a hopeless situation while low on ammunition and order his ship scuttled. On 8 June 1940
4278-522: The Gulf of Finland . The Imperial Russian Baltic Fleet was created during the Great Northern War at the initiative of Tsar Peter the Great , who ordered the first ships for the Baltic Fleet to be constructed at Lodeynoye Pole in 1702 and 1703. The first commander was a recruited Dutch admiral, Cornelius Cruys , who in 1723 was succeeded by Count Fyodor Apraksin . In 1703, the main base of
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4416-866: The Hanko Peninsula , Tallinn , several islands in Estonian SSR , and participated in the breakthrough breach of the Siege of Leningrad . 137 sailors of the Baltic Fleet were awarded a title of the Hero of the Soviet Union . For most of the war the fleet was trapped by German and Finnish minefields in Leningrad and nearby Kronstadt, the only bases left in Soviet hands on the Baltic coast. Another key factor
4554-646: The Harmaja lighthouse outside Helsinki, Finland, on 4 April 1918. During the October Revolution the sailors of the Baltic Fleet (renamed "Naval Forces of the Baltic Sea" in March 1918) were among the most ardent supporters of Bolsheviks , and formed an elite among Red military forces. The fleet was forced to evacuate several of its bases after Russia's withdrawal from the First World War, under
4692-618: The London Naval Treaty allowed large light cruisers to be built, with the same tonnage as heavy cruisers and armed with up to fifteen 155 mm (6.1 in) guns. The Japanese Mogami class were built to this treaty's limit, the Americans and British also built similar ships. However, in 1939 the Mogami s were refitted as heavy cruisers with ten 203 mm (8.0 in) guns. In December 1939, three British cruisers engaged
4830-504: The Mogami and Tone classes as heavy cruisers by replacing their 6.1 in (155 mm) triple turrets with 8 in (203 mm) twin turrets. Torpedo refits were also made to most heavy cruisers, resulting in up to sixteen 24 in (610 mm) tubes per ship, plus a set of reloads. In 1941 the 1920s light cruisers Ōi and Kitakami were converted to torpedo cruisers with four 5.5 in (140 mm) guns and forty 24 in (610 mm) torpedo tubes. In 1944 Kitakami
4968-442: The North Sea . The disaster of 21 October began in the evening, when the captain of the supply ship Kamchatka (Камчатка), which was last in the Russian line, took a passing Swedish ship for a Japanese torpedo boat and radioed that he was being attacked. On 22 October 0:55am, during fog , Rozhestvensky spotted unlit boats. He ordered a change of direction and the use of searchlights on the ships. The Russian warships illuminated
5106-578: The Sea of Japan , where it was soundly defeated in the Battle of Tsushima . On 25 November 1904, the British and the Russian governments signed a joint agreement in which they agreed to submit the issue to an international commission of inquiry whose proceedings were to be based on the Hague Convention . The International Commission met in Paris from 9 January to 25 February 1905. The report produced by
5244-593: The Soviet evacuation of Tallinn in late August 1941. During the Immediate post-war period the importance of the Red-Banner Baltic Fleet increased despite the Baltic being a shallow sea with the exits easily becoming choke points by other countries. The Baltic Fleet was increased to two Fleets, the 4th Red-Banner Baltic Fleet and the 8th Red-Banner Baltic Fleet on 15 February 1946. However, during
5382-553: The Type 93 torpedo for these ships, eventually nicknamed "Long Lance" by the Allies. This type used compressed oxygen instead of compressed air, allowing it to achieve ranges and speeds unmatched by other torpedoes. It could achieve a range of 22,000 metres (24,000 yd) at 50 knots (93 km/h; 58 mph), compared with the US Mark 15 torpedo with 5,500 metres (6,000 yd) at 45 knots (83 km/h; 52 mph). The Mark 15 had
5520-666: The short-range air defense role. By the end of the Cold War the line between cruisers and destroyers had blurred, with the Ticonderoga -class cruiser using the hull of the Spruance -class destroyer but receiving the cruiser designation due to their enhanced mission and combat systems. As of 2023 , only three countries operated active duty vessels formally classed as cruisers: the United States , Russia and Italy . These cruisers are primarily armed with guided missiles, with
5658-576: The 18th Guards Motorized Rifle Division was reconstituted, serving within the 13th Army Corps , headquartered in Kaliningrad. As of 2008 the Baltic Fleet included about 75 combat ships of various types. The main base is in Baltiysk and a second operational base is in Kronstadt. The Leningrad Naval Base is an administrative entity that is not a discrete geographic location but comprises all of
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5796-414: The 1900s, these ships were usually traded for faster ships with better sea going qualities. Steel also affected the construction and role of armored cruisers. Steel meant that new designs of battleship, later known as pre-dreadnought battleships , would be able to combine firepower and armor with better endurance and speed than ever before. The armored cruisers of the 1890s and early 1900s greatly resembled
5934-402: The 1920s had displacements of less than 10,000 tons and a speed of up to 35 knots. They were equipped with 6–12 main guns with a caliber of 127–133 mm (5–5.5 inches). In addition, they were equipped with 8–12 secondary guns under 127 mm (5 in) and dozens of small caliber cannons, as well as torpedoes and mines. Some ships also carried 2–4 seaplanes, mainly for reconnaissance. In 1930
6072-458: The 1930 London Naval Treaty created a divide of two cruiser types, heavy cruisers having 6.1 inches to 8 inch guns, while those with guns of 6.1 inches or less were light cruisers . Each type were limited in total and individual tonnage which shaped cruiser design until the collapse of the treaty system just prior to the start of World War II. Some variations on the Treaty cruiser design included
6210-413: The 1930s onwards. Among the fleet's Soviet commanders were Gordey Levchenko in 1938–39 and Arseniy Golovko in 1952–56. Ships and submarines commissioned to the fleet included Soviet submarine M-256 , a Project 615 short-range attack diesel submarine of the Soviet Navy . The fleet also acquired a large number of ground-based aircraft to form a strong naval aviation force. In September 1939,
6348-547: The 1930s the US developed a series of new guns firing "super-heavy" armor piercing ammunition; these included the 6-inch (152 mm)/47 caliber gun Mark 16 introduced with the 15-gun Brooklyn -class cruisers in 1936, and the 8-inch (203 mm)/55 caliber gun Mark 12 introduced with USS Wichita in 1937. The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns around 203 mm (8 in) in calibre. The first heavy cruisers were built in 1915, although it only became
6486-538: The 19th and early 20th Century a strong network of coastal artillery batteries was created to cover the approaches to St. Petersburg, Riga , and other important bases. By 1900, decades of modernization on the Baltic as well as the Pacific Fleet made Russia the fourth strongest country in the world in terms of naval forces after the UK, France and Germany, ahead of the US and Japan. The Baltic Fleet, re-organized into
6624-602: The American-designed Passaic -class monitors were launched. It was the policy of the Tsar and his government to show support for the Northern Union Army in the United States during their Civil War , observing and exchanging naval tactics and cooperation. In 1869, the fleet commissioned the first turret on a battleship in the world – Petr Veliky . Furthermore, in the second half of
6762-518: The Baltic Fleet on its journey. During its passage through the North Sea the fleet mistook a fleet of British fishing boats for Japanese torpedo boats and opened fire, killing three sailors in what is known as the Dogger Bank incident . The decision to send the fleet to the Pacific was made after Russia had suffered a string of naval defeats in the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan off
6900-860: The British Navy from entering the Baltic sea. During the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) the fleet, commanded by Samuel Greig and Vasily Chichagov , checked the Swedes at Hogland (1788), Reval , and the Viborg (1790). An impetuous Russian attack on the Swedish galley flotilla on 9 July 1790 at the Second Battle of Svensksund resulted in a disaster for the Russian Navy who lost some 9,500 out of 14,000 men and about one third of their flotilla. The Russian defeat in this battle effectively ended
7038-628: The CLAA designation until 1949. The concept of the quick-firing dual-purpose gun anti-aircraft cruiser was embraced in several designs completed too late to see combat, including: USS Worcester , completed in 1948; USS Roanoke , completed in 1949; two Tre Kronor -class cruisers, completed in 1947; two De Zeven Provinciën -class cruisers, completed in 1953; De Grasse , completed in 1955; Colbert , completed in 1959; and HMS Tiger , HMS Lion and HMS Blake , all completed between 1959 and 1961. Most post-World War II cruisers were tasked with air defense roles. In
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#17327809518057176-403: The Danish coast, talk of the Japanese having mined the seas and alleged sightings of Japanese submarines. Before the Dogger Bank incident, the nervous Russian fleet had fired on fishermen carrying consular dispatches from Russia to them near the Danish coast. No damage was caused because of the Russian fleet's poor gunnery. After navigating a non-existent minefield , the Russian fleet sailed into
7314-551: The German Deutschland -class "pocket battleships", which had heavier armament at the expense of speed compared to standard heavy cruisers, and the American Alaska class , which was a scaled-up heavy cruiser design designated as a "cruiser-killer". In the later 20th century, the obsolescence of the battleship left the cruiser as the largest and most powerful surface combatant ships (aircraft carriers not being considered surface combatants, as their attack capability comes from their air wings rather than on-board weapons). The role of
7452-456: The German capital ships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau , classed as battleships but with large cruiser armament, sank the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious with gunfire. From October 1940 through March 1941 the German heavy cruiser (also known as "pocket battleship", see above) Admiral Scheer conducted a successful commerce-raiding voyage in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. On 27 May 1941, HMS Dorsetshire attempted to finish off
7590-463: The International Commission concluded that "the commissioners declare that their findings, which are therein formulated, are not, in their opinion, of a nature to cast any discredit upon the military qualities or the humanity of Admiral Rojdestvensky, or of the personnel of his squadron". It also concluded that "the commissioners take pleasure in recognising, unanimously, that Admiral Rozhestvensky personally did everything he could, from beginning to end of
7728-407: The Karakurt, and potentially the Steregushchiy-class, anticipated in the 2020s - though not necessarily at a rate that will be sufficient to replace the fleet's older Soviet-era corvettes and missile boats on a one-for-one basis. Nevertheless, utilizing Russia's internal waterways, additional cruise missile-armed light units, drawn from Russia's other Western fleets or from the Caspian Flotilla , have
7866-403: The Kriegsmarine, the Panzerschiffe had the propaganda value of capital ships: heavy cruisers with battleship guns, torpedoes, and scout aircraft. The similar Swedish Panzerschiffe were tactically used as centers of battlefleets and not as cruisers. They were deployed by Nazi Germany in support of the German interests in the Spanish Civil War. Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee represented Germany in
8004-745: The Royal Navy in 1907. The British battlecruisers sacrificed protection for speed, as they were intended to "choose their range" (to the enemy) with superior speed and only engage the enemy at long range. When engaged at moderate ranges, the lack of protection combined with unsafe ammunition handling practices became tragic with the loss of three of them at the Battle of Jutland . Germany and eventually Japan followed suit to build these vessels, replacing armored cruisers in most frontline roles. German battlecruisers were generally better protected but slower than British battlecruisers. Battlecruisers were in many cases larger and more expensive than contemporary battleships, due to their much larger propulsion plants. At around
8142-521: The Royal Navy re-armed HMS Coventry and HMS Curlew . Torpedo tubes and 6-inch (152 mm) low-angle guns were removed from these World War I light cruisers and replaced with ten 4-inch (102 mm) high-angle guns, with appropriate fire-control equipment to provide larger warships with protection against high-altitude bombers. A tactical shortcoming was recognised after completing six additional conversions of C-class cruisers . Having sacrificed anti-ship weapons for anti-aircraft armament,
8280-432: The Royal Navy, only battlecruisers HMS Hood , HMS Repulse and HMS Renown were capable of both outrunning and outgunning the Panzerschiffe. They were seen in the 1930s as a new and serious threat by both Britain and France. While the Kriegsmarine reclassified them as heavy cruisers in 1940, Deutschland -class ships continued to be called pocket battleships in the popular press. The American Alaska class represented
8418-436: The Russian fleet as it made its way through the Bay of Biscay and down the coast of Portugal . Rozhestvensky initial defence in part relied on reports by some of the fishermen that they had had seen a torpedo destroyer loitering in the area until dawn. Since the Russian fleet did not contain such a vessel he argued it must have been a Japanese torpedo boat. The British dismissed this claim suggesting if they had seen anything it
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#17327809518058556-441: The Russian transport Bakan in the Langeland Belt of "four torpedo-boats which only showed lights on the mizenmast-head so that at a distance, they might be taken for fishing boats". He took the report seriously, quickened his coaling and commenced sailing. Similar accidents and rumours affected the Russian fleet. There was a general fear of attack, with widespread rumours that a fleet of Japanese torpedo boats were stationed off
8694-596: The Second Pacific Squadron (route around Africa) and the Third Pacific Squadron (Suez route, under the command of Admiral Nebogatov), took a prominent part in the Russo-Japanese War . After the defeat of earlier Siberian Military Flotilla vessels, in September 1904, the Second Squadron under the command of Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky was sent on a high-speed dash around South Africa . They stopped in French, German and Portuguese colonial ports: Tangier in Morocco , Dakar in Senegal , Gabon, Baía dos Tigres , Lüderitz Bay , and Nossi Be ( Madagascar ). They then formed
8832-423: The Soviet Union poured resources into building up the Northern Fleet and the Pacific Fleet , both of which had easy access to the open ocean, the Twice Red-Banner Baltic Fleet assumed the very important position of supporting the northern flank of the European Theatre in case of a confrontation with NATO. This role was under-rated from the blue water navies perspective, but was seen as a highly valuable one from
8970-450: The Soviet fleet in early November. In 1946 the Baltic Fleet was split into two commands, the 4th and 8th Fleets In 1956 the two fleets were reunited into a single Baltic Fleet command The breakup of the Soviet Union deprived the fleet of key bases in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania , leaving Kaliningrad Oblast as the fleet's only ice-free naval outlet to the Baltic Sea. However, the Kaliningrad Oblast between Poland and Lithuania
9108-414: The Swedish coast to devastate coastal settlements. However, after the death of King Charles XII , the Royal Navy would rather protect Swedish interests after a rapprochement between the Kingdom of Sweden and King George I . A Russian attempt to reach the Swedish capital of Stockholm was checked at the Battle of Stäket in 1719. The losses suffered by the Russian Navy at the Grengam in 1720, as well as
9246-436: The United States in the Korean War and the Vietnam War . The German Deutschland class was a series of three Panzerschiffe ("armored ships"), a form of heavily armed cruiser, designed and built by the German Reichsmarine in nominal accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles . All three ships were launched between 1931 and 1934, and served with Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II . Within
9384-573: The Washington treaty had torpedo tubes, regardless of nationality. However, in 1930, results of war games caused the US Naval War College to conclude that only perhaps half of cruisers would use their torpedoes in action. In a surface engagement, long-range gunfire and destroyer torpedoes would decide the issue, and under air attack numerous cruisers would be lost before getting within torpedo range. Thus, beginning with USS New Orleans launched in 1933, new cruisers were built without torpedoes, and torpedoes were removed from older heavy cruisers due to
9522-543: The World War I era that succeeded armored cruisers were now classified, along with dreadnought battleships, as capital ships . By the early 20th century, after World War I, the direct successors to protected cruisers could be placed on a consistent scale of warship size, smaller than a battleship but larger than a destroyer . In 1922, the Washington Naval Treaty placed a formal limit on these cruisers, which were defined as warships of up to 10,000 tons displacement carrying guns no larger than 8 inches in calibre ; whilst
9660-465: The accuracy of gunfire and perform reconnaissance. Together with battleships, these heavy cruisers formed powerful naval task forces, which dominated the world's oceans for more than a century. After the signing of the Washington Treaty on Arms Limitation in 1922, the tonnage and quantity of battleships, aircraft carriers and cruisers were severely restricted. In order not to violate the treaty, countries began to develop light cruisers. Light cruisers of
9798-417: The arrival of a Royal Navy squadron under Admiral John Norris , also prevented further operations of any greater scale before the war ended in 1721. During the " Seven Years' War ", (1756–1763), the Russian Baltic Sea fleet was active on the Pomeranian coast of northern Germany and Prussia , helping the infantry to take Memel in 1757 and Kolberg in 1761. The Oresund was blockaded in order to prevent
9936-429: The battle fleet. Cruisers came in a wide variety of sizes, from the medium-sized protected cruiser to large armored cruisers that were nearly as big (although not as powerful or as well-armored) as a pre-dreadnought battleship . With the advent of the dreadnought battleship before World War I , the armored cruiser evolved into a vessel of similar scale known as the battlecruiser . The very large battlecruisers of
10074-497: The battlecruiser squadrons were required to operate with the battle fleet. Some light cruisers were built specifically to act as the leaders of flotillas of destroyers. These vessels were essentially large coastal patrol boats armed with multiple light guns. One such warship was Grivița of the Romanian Navy . She displaced 110 tons, measured 60 meters in length and was armed with four light guns. The auxiliary cruiser
10212-440: The battleships of the day; they tended to carry slightly smaller main armament (7.5-to-10-inch (190 to 250 mm) rather than 12-inch) and have somewhat thinner armor in exchange for a faster speed (perhaps 21 to 23 knots (39 to 43 km/h) rather than 18). Because of their similarity, the lines between battleships and armored cruisers became blurred. Shortly after the turn of the 20th century there were difficult questions about
10350-619: The buildup of a naval force, the city of St. Petersburg was built and developed an extensive port. The School of Mathematics and Navigation was moved to St. Petersburg and in 1752 it was renamed the Naval Cadet Corps. Today it is the St. Petersburg Naval Institute – Peter the Great Naval Corps. The Baltic Fleet began to receive new vessels in 1703. The fleet's first vessel was the 24-gun three- masted frigate Shtandart. She
10488-427: The capacity to reinforce the Baltic Fleet as may be needed. A further aspect of modernization has focused on the build-up of Russian shore-based anti-ship and air defence capabilities in the Kaliningrad region. In contrast to the three other Russian fleets, the Baltic Fleet's submarine capabilities are extremely modest with just one older Kilo-class boat deployed in 2020, largely for training purposes. Nevertheless,
10626-547: The chaos of the melée. Two British fishermen died, six more were injured, one fishing vessel was sunk, and five more boats were damaged. On the Russian side, one sailor and a Russian Orthodox priest aboard the cruiser Aurora were killed by friendly fire. "Damage to the Aurora was concealed ... and only discovered by the deciphering of a wireless message intercepted at [the British] Felixstowe station. It
10764-551: The city's underwater telegraph cable with her anchor , preventing communications with Europe for four days. The British Government sent instructions to the Royal Navy that crisis had come to an end on 11 November. Concerns that the draught of the newer battleships, which had proven to be considerably greater than designed, would prevent their passage through the Suez Canal caused the fleet to separate after leaving Tangiers on 3 November 1904. These concerns though may have been
10902-559: The coal bunkers where they might stop shellfire, a useful degree of protection could be achieved without slowing the ship too much. Protected cruisers generally had an armored deck with sloped sides, providing similar protection to a light armored belt at less weight and expense. The first protected cruiser was the Chilean ship Esmeralda , launched in 1883. Produced by a shipyard at Elswick , in Britain, owned by Armstrong , she inspired
11040-651: The coast of China and Korea near its Far East naval base and colony, at the hands of the newly emergent Imperial Japanese Navy and Army in Manchuria . The one-sided outcome of the Tsushima naval battle broke Russian strength in East Asia. It set the stage for the uprising in the abortive Russian Revolution of 1905 . That propelled the decline that would see the Romanov dynasty monarchy eventually brought down with
11178-461: The coming years. The pending entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO - in response to Russian invasion of Ukraine - would significantly strengthen NATO naval forces in the Baltic, particularly taking into account the strength of the Swedish Navy 's submarine fleet. Russian commentators suggested that a modernization and expansion of Russian submarine forces in the Baltic would therefore likely be
11316-412: The construction of experimental steam-powered frigates and sloops. By the middle of the 1850s, the British and U.S. Navies were both building steam frigates with very long hulls and a heavy gun armament, for instance USS Merrimack or Mersey . The 1860s saw the introduction of the ironclad . The first ironclads were frigates, in the sense of having one gun deck; however, they were also clearly
11454-407: The converted anti-aircraft cruisers might themselves need protection against surface units. New construction was undertaken to create cruisers of similar speed and displacement with dual-purpose guns , which offered good anti-aircraft protection with anti-surface capability for the traditional light cruiser role of defending capital ships from destroyers. The first purpose built anti-aircraft cruiser
11592-709: The cruiser varied according to ship and navy, often including air defense and shore bombardment . During the Cold War the Soviet Navy 's cruisers had heavy anti-ship missile armament designed to sink NATO carrier task-forces via saturation attack . The U.S. Navy built guided-missile cruisers upon destroyer-style hulls (some called " destroyer leaders " or "frigates" prior to the 1975 reclassification ) primarily designed to provide air defense while often adding anti-submarine capabilities , being larger and having longer-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) than early Charles F. Adams guided-missile destroyers tasked with
11730-425: The design of future cruisers. Modern armored cruisers, almost as powerful as battleships, were also fast enough to outrun older protected and unarmored cruisers. In the Royal Navy, Jackie Fisher cut back hugely on older vessels, including many cruisers of different sorts, calling them "a miser's hoard of useless junk" that any modern cruiser would sweep from the seas. The scout cruiser also appeared in this era; this
11868-478: The disbanded 8th MTAD and the 128th Guards MTAD were transferred. The storage base lasted one year. Far from being reduced in importance, operations of the Red-Banner Baltic Fleet during the early- Cold War period earned it a great amount of prestige and profile, with the second awarding of the Order of Red Banner being presented on 7 May 1965 when the fleet was again renamed to Twice Red-Banner Baltic Fleet. Although
12006-472: The early 1950s, advances in aviation technology forced the move from anti-aircraft artillery to anti-aircraft missiles. Therefore, most modern cruisers are equipped with surface-to-air missiles as their main armament. Today's equivalent of the anti-aircraft cruiser is the guided-missile cruiser (CAG/CLG/CG/CGN). Cruisers participated in a number of surface engagements in the early part of World War II, along with escorting carrier and battleship groups throughout
12144-450: The early 20th century. The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 placed limits on the construction of ships with a standard displacement of more than 10,000 tons and an armament of guns larger than 8-inch (203 mm). A number of navies commissioned classes of cruisers at the top end of this limit, known as " treaty cruisers ". The London Naval Treaty in 1930 then formalised the distinction between these "heavy" cruisers and light cruisers:
12282-620: The exceptions of the aircraft cruisers Admiral Kuznetsov and Giuseppe Garibaldi . BAP Almirante Grau was the last gun cruiser in service, serving with the Peruvian Navy until 2017. Nevertheless, other classes in addition to the above may be considered cruisers due to differing classification systems. The US/NATO system includes the Type 055 from China and the Kirov and Slava from Russia. International Institute for Strategic Studies ' "The Military Balance" defines
12420-559: The fleet setting off Russian intelligence agents had been claiming that there were Japanese officers around the Baltic sea with torpedoes and that Britain had built Japan six torpedo boats. Because of the fleet's alleged sightings of balloons and four enemy cruisers the day previously, coupled with "the possibility that the Japanese might surreptitiously have sent ships around the world to attack" them, Russian Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky called for increased vigilance and issued an order that "no vessel of any sort must be allowed to get in among
12558-826: The fleet threatened the Baltic states as part of a series of military actions staged to encourage the Baltics to accept Soviet offers of "mutual assistance." Subsequently, in June 1940, the fleet blockaded the Baltics in support of the Soviet invasion. Finland, which had refused to sign a "pact of mutual assistance", was attacked by the USSR. The fleet played a limited role in the Winter War with Finland in 1939–1940, mostly through conducting artillery bombardments of Finnish coastal fortifications. Many fleet aircraft were involved in operations against Finland, however. Its operations came to
12696-673: The fleet was established in Kronshtadt . One of the fleet's first actions was the taking of Shlisselburg . In 1701 Peter the Great established a special school, the School of Mathematics and Navigation (Russian: Школа математических и навигацких наук), situated in the Sukharev Tower in Moscow. As the territory to the west around the Gulf of Finland was acquired by Russia for a "warm-water" port giving access for its merchantmen and
12834-461: The fleet". It was known that enemy intelligence had been heavily active in the region. Torpedo boats , a recent development of the major navies, had the potential to damage and sink large warships and were very difficult to detect, which caused psychological stress to sailors at war. On 20 October Rozhestvensky received a report from Arcadiy Harting that torpedo boats had been seen leaving Norway. He also received an intelligence report from
12972-731: The fleet's 355-ton submarines were made by Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut in the United States, main supplier and builder of subs for the U.S. Navy . Five of these "AG (Holland)" class submarines were prefabricated by the British Pacific Engineering & Construction Company at Barnet (near Vancouver ), in Canada's British Columbia , also under contract to the Electric Boat Company. These Canadian-built subs were shipped to Russia,
13110-502: The frigate Storozhevoy . There were also numerous allegations by Sweden of Baltic Fleet submarines illegally penetrating its territorial waters. In October 1981, the Soviet Whiskey-class submarine U 137 ran aground in Swedish territorial waters, near the important naval base of Karlskrona , causing a serious diplomatic incident. Swedish naval vessels pulled the submarine into deeper water and permitted it to return to
13248-400: The frigate became the preeminent type of cruiser. A frigate was a small, fast, long range, lightly armed (single gun-deck) ship used for scouting, carrying dispatches, and disrupting enemy trade. The other principal type of cruiser was the sloop, but many other miscellaneous types of ship were used as well. During the 19th century, navies began to use steam power for their fleets. The 1840s saw
13386-444: The general chaos, Russian ships began to shoot at each other. The cruisers Aurora and Dmitrii Donskoi were taken for Japanese warships and bombarded by seven battleships sailing in formation, damaging both ships and killing a chaplain and at least one sailor and severely wounding another. During the pandemonium, several Russian ships signalled torpedoes had hit them, and on board the battleship Borodino , rumours spread that
13524-458: The globe, while another Baltic Fleet officer – Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen – discovered the southern ice-covered continent, Antarctica . In the Crimean War , (1853–1856), the fleet – although stymied in its operations by the absence of steamships – prevented the British and French Allies from occupying Hangö , Sveaborg , and Saint Petersburg . Despite being greatly outnumbered by
13662-544: The incident, to prevent trawlers, recognised as such, from being fired upon by the squadron". Russia voluntarily paid compensation of £66,000 to the fishermen. In 1906 the Fisherman's Memorial was unveiled in Hull to commemorate the deaths of the three British sailors. The memorial, approximately 18 feet high, shows the dead fisherman George Henry Smith and carries the following inscription: Erected by public subscription to
13800-488: The main Russian fleet then approached Tangiers , Morocco , and lost contact with the Kamchatka for several days. The Kamchatka eventually rejoined the fleet and claimed that she had engaged three Japanese warships and fired over 300 shells. The ships she had actually fired at were a Swedish merchantman , a German trawler, and a French schooner . As the fleet left Tangiers on 5 November, one ship accidentally severed
13938-671: The memory of George Henry Smith, (skipper) and William Richard Leggett, (third hand) of the ill-fated trawler "Crane", who lost their lives in the North Sea by the action of the Russian Baltic Fleet October 22nd 1904, and Walter Whelpton, (skipper) of the trawler "Mino", who died from shock May 13, 1905. 54°43′26″N 2°46′08″E / 54.724°N 2.769°E / 54.724; 2.769 Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet ( Russian : Балтийский флот , romanized : Baltiyskiy flot )
14076-494: The morning's Times was particularly scathing: It is almost inconceivable that any men calling themselves seamen, however frightened they might be, could spend twenty minutes bombarding a fleet of fishing boats without discovering the nature of their target. The Royal Navy prepared for war, with 28 battleships of the Home Fleet being ordered to raise steam and prepare for action, while British cruiser squadrons shadowed
14214-491: The most powerful ships in the navy, and were principally to serve in the line of battle. In spite of their great speed, they would have been wasted in a cruising role. The French constructed a number of smaller ironclads for overseas cruising duties, starting with the Belliqueuse , commissioned 1865. These "station ironclads" were the beginning of the development of the armored cruisers, a type of ironclad specifically for
14352-484: The naval institutions and facilities in the St. Petersburg area. During the 2010s renewed emphasis was placed on modernizing Russian naval capabilities. In the Baltic, this process has proceeded slowly though there has been particular emphasis on acquiring new light units. New corvettes (of the Steregushchiy , Buyan-M and Karakurt classes) have been incrementally added to the fleet with additional vessels from
14490-663: The new Imperial Russian Navy were the Gangut (Swedish: Hangöudd) in 1714 and, arguably, the Grengam (Swedish: Ledsund) in 1720. From 1715, the English Royal Navy intervened in the Baltic Sea on behalf of the German principality of Hanover , (dynastic home of the current British monarchy ) and more or less in a tacit alliance with Russia. During the concluding stages of the war, the Russian fleet would land troops along
14628-482: The perceived hazard of their being exploded by shell fire. The Japanese took exactly the opposite approach with cruiser torpedoes, and this proved crucial to their tactical victories in most of the numerous cruiser actions of 1942. Beginning with the Furutaka class launched in 1925, every Japanese heavy cruiser was armed with 24-inch (610 mm) torpedoes, larger than any other cruisers'. By 1933 Japan had developed
14766-563: The post-Stalinist period and general reforms and downsizing in the Soviet Armed Forces the two fleets of the Baltic were again reduced, with many vessels, some built before the Revolution, were scrapped, and the fleet was again renamed Red-Banner Baltic Fleet on 24 December 1955. In Liepāja the Baltic Fleet's 14th submarine squadron, call sign "Kompleks" ("Комплекс") was stationed with 16 submarines ( 613 , 629a , 651 ); as
14904-513: The purpose or mission of a ship, rather than a category of vessel. However, the term was nonetheless used to mean a smaller, faster warship suitable for such a role. In the 17th century, the ship of the line was generally too large, inflexible, and expensive to be dispatched on long-range missions (for instance, to the Americas), and too strategically important to be put at risk of fouling and foundering by continual patrol duties. The Dutch navy
15042-582: The real situation". N. G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy commander Vice Admiral Alexander Nosatov was made acting commander of the fleet, a position in which he was confirmed on 17 September. Analysis undertaken by Anders Nielsen of the Royal Danish Defence College in 2019 concludes that the Russian Baltic Fleet is oriented to contributing to Russian global deployment and expeditionary operations in peacetime. However, it
15180-488: The same time as the battlecruiser was developed, the distinction between the armored and the unarmored cruiser finally disappeared. By the British Town class , the first of which was launched in 1909, it was possible for a small, fast cruiser to carry both belt and deck armor, particularly when turbine engines were adopted. These light armored cruisers began to occupy the traditional cruiser role once it became clear that
15318-598: The same way. In British service these were known as Armed Merchant Cruisers (AMC). The Germans and French used them in World War I as raiders because of their high speed (around 30 knots (56 km/h)), and they were used again as raiders early in World War II by the Germans and Japanese. In both the First World War and in the early part of the Second, they were used as convoy escorts by the British. Cruisers were one of
15456-400: The ship was being boarded by the Japanese, with some crews donning life vests and lying prone on the deck and others drawing cutlasses . More serious losses to both sides were avoided only because of the extremely low quality of Russian gunnery, with the battleship Oryol reportedly firing more than 500 shells without hitting anything. After ten minutes of gunfire, the fishermen finally saw
15594-528: The strains of World War I , in the Russian Revolutions of 1917 . Following the catastrophic losses in battleships during the Russo-Japanese War, Russia embarked on a new naval building program which was to incorporate a number of the most modern dreadnought -type battleships into the fleet along with other vessels and practices adopted from the Western navies. In late 1914, four dreadnoughts of
15732-471: The strategic perspective of the Soviet General Staff planning. The Twice Red-Banner Baltic Fleet remained a powerful force, which in the event of war was tasked with conducting amphibious assaults against the coast of Denmark and West Germany, in cooperation with allied Polish and East German naval forces. A notable incident involving the fleet occurred in 1975 when a mutiny broke out on
15870-589: The supersized cruiser design. Due to the German pocket battleships , the Scharnhorst class , and rumored Japanese "super cruisers", all of which carried guns larger than the standard heavy cruiser's 8-inch size dictated by naval treaty limitations, the Alaska s were intended to be "cruiser-killers". While superficially appearing similar to a battleship/battlecruiser and mounting three triple turrets of 12-inch guns , their actual protection scheme and design resembled
16008-465: The technologically superior Allies, it was the Russian Fleet that introduced into naval warfare such novelties as torpedo mines, invented by Boris Yakobi . Other outstanding inventors who served in the Baltic Fleet were Alexander Stepanovich Popov (who was the first to demonstrate the practical application of electromagnetic (radio) waves ), Stepan Makarov (the first to launch torpedoes from
16146-524: The terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk . The "Ice Cruise" of the Baltic Fleet (1918), led by Alexey Schastny who was later executed on Trotsky's orders, saw the evacuation of most of the fleet's ships to Kronstadt and Petrograd. Some ships of the fleet took part in the Russian Civil War , notably by clashing with the British navy operating in the Baltic as part of intervention forces . Over
16284-577: The traditional cruiser missions of fast, independent raiding and patrol. The first true armored cruiser was the Russian General-Admiral , completed in 1874, and followed by the British Shannon a few years later. Until the 1890s armored cruisers were still built with masts for a full sailing rig, to enable them to operate far from friendly coaling stations. Unarmored cruising warships, built out of wood, iron, steel or
16422-402: The trawlers with their searchlights . Very shortly there after Rozhestvensky believed he saw a torpedo boat and ordered the ship open fire. As the trawlers had their nets down, they were unable to flee. The British trawler Crane was sunk, and its captain and boatswain were killed. Four other trawlers were damaged, and six other fishermen were wounded, one of whom died a few months later. In
16560-573: The treaty limit. Thus, most light cruisers ordered after 1930 were the size of heavy cruisers but with more and smaller guns. The Imperial Japanese Navy began this new race with the Mogami class , launched in 1934. After building smaller light cruisers with six or eight 6-inch guns launched 1931–35, the British Royal Navy followed with the 12-gun Southampton class in 1936. To match foreign developments and potential treaty violations, in
16698-705: The two awards of the Order of the Red Banner . Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Baltic Fleet was inherited by the Russian Federation and reverted to its original name as part of the Russian Navy. The Baltic Fleet is headquartered in Kaliningrad and its main base is in Baltiysk (Pillau), both in Kaliningrad Oblast , while another base is in Kronstadt , Saint Petersburg , in
16836-689: The war. During the series of Russo-Turkish Wars , (1710–1711, 1735–1739, 1768–1774, 1787–1792, 1806–1812, 1828–1829), the fleet sailed into the Mediterranean Sea on the First and Second Archipelago Expeditions and destroyed the Ottoman Imperial Navy at the sea Battles of Chesma (1770), the Dardanelles (1807), Athos (1807), and Navarino (1827). At about the same time, Russian Admiral Ivan Krusenstern circumnavigated
16974-486: The war. In the later part of the war, Allied cruisers primarily provided anti-aircraft (AA) escort for carrier groups and performed shore bombardment. Japanese cruisers similarly escorted carrier and battleship groups in the later part of the war, notably in the disastrous Battle of the Philippine Sea and Battle of Leyte Gulf . In 1937–41 the Japanese, having withdrawn from all naval treaties, upgraded or completed
17112-480: The workhorse types of warship during World War I . By the time of World War I, cruisers had accelerated their development and improved their quality significantly, with drainage volume reaching 3000–4000 tons, a speed of 25–30 knots and a calibre of 127–152 mm. Naval construction in the 1920s and 1930s was limited by international treaties designed to prevent the repetition of the Dreadnought arms race of
17250-567: The years, however, the relations of the Baltic Fleet sailors with the Bolshevik regime soured, and they eventually rebelled against the Soviet government in the Kronstadt rebellion in 1921, but were suppressed and executed, and the fleet de facto ceased to exist as an active military unit. The fleet, renamed the Red-Banner Baltic Fleet on 11 January 1935, was developed further during the Soviet years, initially relying on pre-revolutionary warships, but adding modern units built in Soviet yards from
17388-858: Was also considered highly significant that no officer from that ship appeared before the Commission, nor were their logs produced." The incident almost led to war between the United Kingdom and the Russian Empire . The Russian warships involved in the incident were en route to the Far East to reinforce the 1st Pacific Squadron stationed at Port Arthur and later Vladivostok during the Russo-Japanese War . The various Russian intelligence agencies were not well coordinated and were prone to producing poor or false reports Prior to
17526-461: Was a merchant ship hastily armed with small guns on the outbreak of war. Auxiliary cruisers were used to fill gaps in their long-range lines or provide escort for other cargo ships, although they generally proved to be useless in this role because of their low speed, feeble firepower and lack of armor. In both world wars the Germans also used small merchant ships armed with cruiser guns to surprise Allied merchant ships. Some large liners were armed in
17664-532: Was a small, fast, lightly armed and armored type designed primarily for reconnaissance. The Royal Navy and the Italian Navy were the primary developers of this type. The growing size and power of the armored cruiser resulted in the battlecruiser, with an armament and size similar to the revolutionary new dreadnought battleship; the brainchild of British admiral Jackie Fisher. He believed that to ensure British naval dominance in its overseas colonial possessions,
17802-461: Was absorbed by West Germany and the Polish Navy no longer supplemented the strength of the Baltic Fleet. Russian Land forces in the region were also sharply reduced. In 1989 3rd Guards Motor Rifle Division at Klaipėda was transferred to the fleet as a coastal defence division. It was disbanded on 1 September 1993. In the late 1990s the 336th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade and the remnant of
17940-523: Was difficult to communicate with Great Britain 's Royal Navy forces further west in the North Sea even though they had the Germans bottled up after the Battle of Jutland in 1916. The Imperial Russian Navy's Baltic Fleet included a submarine division that had about 30 submarines of several classes and various auxiliary vessels, the largest of which were the transport and mother ships Europa , Tosno , Khabarovsk , Oland and Svjatitel Nikolai . Some of
18078-542: Was evidenced by the clash between HMS Shah , a modern British cruiser, and the Peruvian monitor Huáscar . Even though the Peruvian vessel was obsolete by the time of the encounter, it stood up well to roughly 50 hits from British shells. In the 1880s, naval engineers began to use steel as a material for construction and armament. A steel cruiser could be lighter and faster than one built of iron or wood. The Jeune Ecole school of naval doctrine suggested that
18216-458: Was further converted to carry up to eight Kaiten human torpedoes in place of ordinary torpedoes. Before World War II, cruisers were mainly divided into three types: heavy cruisers, light cruisers and auxiliary cruisers. Heavy cruiser tonnage reached 20–30,000 tons, speed 32–34 knots, endurance of more than 10,000 nautical miles, armor thickness of 127–203 mm. Heavy cruisers were equipped with eight or nine 8 in (203 mm) guns with
18354-582: Was noted for its cruisers in the 17th century, while the Royal Navy —and later French and Spanish navies—subsequently caught up in terms of their numbers and deployment. The British Cruiser and Convoy Acts were an attempt by mercantile interests in Parliament to focus the Navy on commerce defence and raiding with cruisers, rather than the more scarce and expensive ships of the line. During the 18th century
18492-504: Was that the Finns had recaptured outer islands of the Gulf of Finland, Suursaari being the most important of them. Many of the fleet sailors fought on land as infantry during the siege. Only submarines could risk the passage into the open sea to strike at German shipping. They were particularly successful towards the end of the war, sinking ships like Wilhelm Gustloff , Steuben and Goya , causing great loss of life. The fleet carried out
18630-588: Was the Kamchatka although they did perform quiet enquires of the navies in the area to rule them out. No non Russian warship has ever been identified as being in the area and it's unclear what, if anything, the fishermen saw. Under diplomatic pressure, the Russian government agreed to investigate the incident, and Rozhestvensky was ordered to dock in Vigo , Spain, where he left behind those officers considered responsible (as well as at least one officer who had been critical of him) before leaving on 1 November. From Vigo,
18768-577: Was the 6th group of rear supply of Baltic Fleet, and the 81st design bureau and reserve command center of the same force. On June 1, 1960, as part of the reduction of the USSR Armed Forces, the management of the 8th mine-torpedo Gatchina Red Banner Aviation Division and both of its regiments were disbanded. The 469th aircraft storage base was formed at the Dunaevka airfield, where the IL-28s of
18906-536: Was the British Dido class , completed in 1940–42. The US Navy's Atlanta -class cruisers (CLAA: light cruiser with anti-aircraft capability) were designed to match the capabilities of the Royal Navy. Both Dido and Atlanta cruisers initially carried torpedo tubes; the Atlanta cruisers at least were originally designed as destroyer leaders, were originally designated CL ( light cruiser ), and did not receive
19044-506: Was the fleet's flagship , and is a prime example of the increasing role of the frigate design. By 1724, the fleet boasted 141 sail warships and hundreds of oar-propelled vessels (galleys). During the Great Northern War , the Baltic Fleet assisted in taking Viborg , Tallinn , ( Estonia ), Riga , ( Latvia ), the West Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago), Helsinki , ( Finland ), and Turku . The first claimed victories of
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