- Yes
- Yes, for premium
- Yes, for event / gift
- No
Welcome to the topic of ship proposals, ladies and gentlemen!
Continuing to develop the direction of pre-dreadnought era armored ships, I have the honor to draw your attention to the proposal to introduce into the game and add to the developers’ plan the Squadron Battleship(pre-dreadnought) “Orel” - which demonstrated incomparable survivability and turned out to be the only ship of the “Borodino” class to survive the Battle of Tsushima, despite the huge number of hits received. Having been hastily introduced into service, without an experienced crew, this battleship was lucky to survive where many others could not.
Let’s take a closer look at the history of this ship.
History
“Orel”(Oryol) means “eagle”
Attention, hidden content in spoilers.
Spoiler: Unhurried construction
The Borodino-class battleships were built under the shipbuilding program “For the Needs of the Far East”, approved by the Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich in 1898 in order to strengthen the Russian Navy and protect national borders and interests. Like the lead ship of the series, the main prototype was the project of the battleship “Tsesarevich” with 4 305-mm and 12 152-mm guns placed in turrets. However, unlike the first “Emperor Alexander III”, the third ship on the construction list had a number of differences.
Pre-dreadnought “Orel” on the stocks
The battleship, named “Orel”, was laid down on May 20, 1900 at the Galerny Island Shipyard in St.Petersburg. The ship’s design underwent some changes, such as extending the side sections towards the forecastle, increasing the displacement, or replacing the power plant with a weaker one than that of the lead ship. The capacity of the boilers produced by the Baltic Shipyard was to be 15,800 hp, which was capable of providing the battleship with a speed of about 18 knots. This, as well as other significant changes intended to standardize design solutions in the series of battleships, should have simplified the construction and subsequent operation of the ship to a certain extent.
Squadron Battleship “Orel” under construction
However, the speed of construction itself was not very high. In addition, a year after the laying of the “Orel” at the shipyard there was an incident, the victim of which was an armored cruiser standing on the neighboring slipway. In August 1901, when the lead “Alexander III” was already leaving its slipway, it was decided to postpone the launch of the “Orel” altogether in order to first install parts of the main mechanisms. As a result, the “Orel” touched the surface of the water only on July 6, 1902.
But even after this, the completion in Kronstadt continued very slowly, running into financial and purely bureaucratic costs. By the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, the “Orel” was not ready at all, despite the increasing demands to organize the commissioning of four of the five battleships by June 1, 1904. However, the news received from the Far East left little choice. While the fifth in the series, the “Slava”, had no chance of making it to the conflict, the Orel was being completed at an accelerated pace and already underwent artillery tests at the end of August.
Meanwhile, even before the completion of construction, the ship was included in the 2nd Pacific Squadron, which was to be sent from the Baltic to the Far East to help the 1st Pacific Squadron, which had suffered losses, and Port-Arthur, which was besieged by the Japanese…
Spoiler: Hasty preparation
Unlike a number of other ships of the 2nd Squadron of the Pacific Ocean Fleet, as the detachment sent on a voyage across three oceans was officially called, the battleship “Orel” was largely completed on a residual basis. Being the last to be built in time for the Squadron’s preparation, the quality of the work performed on it did not always meet the stated requirements. Some of the installation work was even supposed to be completed after the Squadron’s ships had set out on a voyage. Many of the battleship’s mechanisms had not been properly tested, and the installed optical sights and radio stations remained little known to the crew. In addition, the ship took on board a significant percentage of reserve sailors and recruits who had never seen the sea. But the situation was aggravated not only by the haste, but also by the time remaining for preparation: “Orel” did not even have time for short squadron exercises.
The battleship is preparing to sail
However, the crew included experienced officers, and the very fact that the Squadron was headed by the Chief of the Russian Main Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Rozhestvensky, created hope that the personnel of the 2nd Pacific Squadron would have time to train and make up for lost knowledge during the enormous distance of the passage to Port-Arthur. The situation was such that it was impossible to wait any longer - the Squadron commander considered every day spent waiting an irreparable loss.
“Orel” at Revel roadstead
Meanwhile, after brief maneuvering exercises, on September 27, 1904, the “Orel” anchored in the Revel roadstead, where the Imperial Review of ships departing for the Far East soon took place.
After the completion of the events, during which the Orel was visited by the Emperor, the ships of the 2nd Squadron moved to Libau for final preparations for the sail.
At the Imperial Review
Spoiler: A long way
Preparations for the voyage continued until October 1, 1904, when the squadron battleship “Orel” was formally commissioned. By this time, the ship had already undergone sea trials, during which “Orel” reached a speed of 17.8 knots, which generally corresponded to the design speed, although the power plant was actually weaker and did not produce full power.
The planned departure from the outer port of the Russian naval base in Libau, however, did not take place that same day for a number of reasons. But already on October 2, washed by the sea and drizzling rain, the 2nd Pacific Squadron in full force left the farthest Russian port in the Baltic, following the Squadron flagship “Knyaz Suvorov”. “Orel”, in turn, having formed part of the 1st Armored Detachment of the Squadron, entered the wake of the battleship “Borodino”, following “Emperor Alexander III” and finally the flagship. From that moment on, the fate of all four battleships would be closely linked, often being almost indistinguishable in differences. Only at the very end of the Squadron’s route was the line of “Orel” destined to separate…
Squadron Battleship in 1904 against the background of a similar ship
Meanwhile, the Squadron moved in a combined force towards the Great Belt, as far as the low speed of the general movement allowed. Being burdened with transport, repair and hospital ships, and also avoiding, as far as possible, excessive wear of the mechanisms - which, moreover, had not been fully tested - the Squadron did not accelerate faster than 10 knots. And even this speed had to be slowed down at times when inevitable breakdowns occurred. Even the highest, bravest and most devoted spirit of the personnel could not compensate for the lack of experience and practice. So the “Orel” had several breakdowns of steam engines and steering, and off the coast of Denmark it turned out that the “Orel” could not make out radiograms addressed to itself from the flagship.
The more actively the personnel, under the leadership of their officers, tried to make up for the lack of experience. By order of Admiral Rozhdestvensky, exercises were carried out on each of the ships daily: the crews practiced maneuvering skills, servicing mechanisms and eliminating possible damage that could be received in battle. The only weak link was artillery preparation, which they were forced to limit mainly to theory - firing on the move was not possible, and there was nowhere to take new ammunition to replace the spent one until the very end of the campaign.
Orel at anchor 1904
Meanwhile, sailing through the English Channel and off the coast of Spain, the 2nd Pacific Squadron made its first major stop at the Tangier roadstead, where it arrived on October 21. Here the Squadron’s units were to temporarily split up so that the newest battleships, with the largest draft, could sail around Africa, while the other ships could sail to Madagascar via the Mediterranean. The Orel’s route also lay to the south.
Ship in coal dust.
However, Tangier became the first point where the real “fight for coal” began: there were no allied ports along the route, so the Squadron had to replenish its fuel supplies directly at sea, relying on its own or German commercial transports. The conditions of such coal loading were the most difficult for the crews, aggravated by the limited time and the resulting haste, as well as the equatorial sun and rough seas. Neither the sailors nor the officers spared themselves, regardless of the difference in their situation - sometimes both fell exhausted or lost consciousness from overheating. The temperature in the battleships’ rooms, barely ventilated from coal dust, could significantly exceed 40 degrees Celsius. Some consolation was provided by the ship’s orchestras, equally exhausted from the heat and dust, which tried to ease the lot of the crews.
Battleship loading coal
On the way to the Cape of Good Hope, coal loading followed one after another. Sometimes the Squadron might not even have a suitable bay for anchorage. In addition, the coal reserves being loaded far exceeded the design estimates. Thus, during a storm that occurred near the Cape, the ship’s engineers seriously feared that overloading could lead to the ships capsizing upside down. But the successful design of the Orel and the rest of the Borodino-class battleships fully justified the hopes placed on themselves, demonstrating excellent seaworthiness. In this form, the detachments of the 2nd Pacific Squadron reached the shores of Madagascar, soon joining up in a place called Nosy Be. However, there the admiral received news not only about the sinking of the ships of the 1st Pacific Squadron in the besieged fortress, but also about the fall of Port-Arthur itself. This circumstance most radically changed the balance of naval forces and the goals of the campaign.
Having the initial task of unblocking Port-Arthur and reinforcing the 1st Squadron, now, as Admiral Rozhestvensky believed, he could count on a breakthrough to Vladivostok at best. Not everyone could agree with such a conclusion, and the news itself had a depressing effect on the mood of the crews. The stop in Nosy-Be, which gradually began to be jokingly called “Nosybensk” in the Russian style, threatened to last longer than planned…
Spoiler: Moments of eternity
After spending some time under repair after the first part of the long passage, conducting new maneuvering exercises and even artillery firing - as far as supplies allowed - the 2nd Squadron weighed anchor and headed across the Indian Ocean towards Indochina. This part of the passage was also not going to be easy, especially since the fatigue of the men was growing and the mechanisms were wearing out. Only the most exemplary of the Squadron’s ships, the Guards Battleship “Emperor Alexander III”, avoided major breakdowns. The “Orel”, however, could still not boast of either the experience or the cohesion of the crew, which was only just beginning to acquire these qualities. But as fatigue grew, discipline also declined, and this only led to an increase in the number of breakdowns and malfunctions.
The remaining strength in the men was supported by loyalty to the Emperor, trust in the admiral, and the examples of other ships. The youngest members of the crew could also count on the reinforcement of the Squadron with the new reinforcements promised from the Baltic - after all, the 2nd Pacific Squadron itself was initially only a means of reinforcing another, formally more powerful naval force. Now, in the future, there was to be an inevitable battle with the entire Japanese Combined Fleet. A battle, the outcome of which, given the existing composition, few had any doubts about.
Having successfully passed the ocean and the straits, where the Russian ships could be ambushed by the Japanese fleet, the Squadron stopped for its last stop, choosing Cam Ranh Bay for this. Now not only the physical forces, but also the fuel supplies on the Squadron were coming to an end. It was necessary to either immediately move forward, or wait for reinforcements - about which there was no precise information. Circumstances developed in such a way that the meeting of the 2nd Pacific Squadron and the reinforcements sent to catch up with it took place. Basically, the reinforcements consisted mainly of old and obsolete ships, but which, under certain conditions, could still expect to cause harm to the enemy. Much depended on how exactly the battle was supposed to unfold if the Japanese blockade could not be broken through unnoticed.
Meanwhile, the meeting with reinforcements brought relief to the Squadron crews, since it marked the end of the tiresome wait and the imminent completion of the campaign… one way or another. The fatigue of the men had reached such a limit that they had only enough physical strength for one battle or the passage to Vladivostok.
The 2nd Pacific Squadron set out for the last part of its campaign in early May 1904, in order to enter the waters of the Tsushima Strait under the fog covering the sea surface. Most of the transports had already exhausted their supplies and had been released in advance to other ports, but some of the repair and hospital ships were still following at the tail of the Squadron. One of the last ships was discovered by a Japanese reconnaissance vessel, literally flashing its stern in the fog for a few moments. These moments played a fatal role, making the battle inevitable.
All possible plans and schemes were developed by the Admiral’s staff and by himself in advance, even when leaving the Baltic and continuing to improve during the campaign. By the time of May 14, 1904, when the Japanese fleet appeared ahead, all the ships of the Squadron knew what and how they should do. Moreover, even in the existing circumstances, Admiral Rozhestvensky managed to build his detachments so that they could act most effectively and with one single maneuver create a threat to the qualitatively and quantitatively superior Japanese.
However, the speed of the Russian squadron was still not great - it was burdened by slow ships and did not allow the newest battleships to use all their qualities, which could have played a good role. This circumstance did not encourage further active maneuvering due to the enemy and weather conditions.
So, the first sighting shot from the flagship “Knyaz Suvorov” was fired at 13:49.
Squadron Battleship “Orel” in battle of Tsushima 1905
The crew of the “Orel” could see how one after another their own ships were being disabled. How at the very beginning of the battle, due to overload and a couple of shells hitting the same place, the “Oslyabya” sank. How a few minutes later the flagship lost control, and the Squadron was led by the “Emperor Alexander III”, to which the Japanese immediately transferred all the force of their fire. How for several hours the commander of the “Alexander”, skillfully maneuvering, tried to take the ships following him out from under fire - which at least once was even possible with the help of fog.
All this time the battleship fired back furiously, as far as the rate of fire of all available calibers allowed. But the enemy’s superiority was too obvious, and the four new battleships that formed the core of the squadron could not withstand the shelling forever.
By six o’clock in the evening, all the ships of the squadron were seriously damaged, except, perhaps, the outdated ones. The most terrible appearance was that of the listing and smoke-shrouded “Alexander III”. Here the lead ship left the formation due to loss of control. Here it is again, as several times before, gradually recovering, entering the wake of the “Orel” and giving way to the battleship “Borodino”. Another half hour later the Guards Battleship was lost, and then the “Borodino”, which had been torn apart by enemy shells by that time, did not hold out for very long.
External view of the ship after the battle
Unexpectedly for itself, the lead ship turned out to be the “Orel” itself, now leading the surviving ships of the Russian squadron. By this time, Captain 1st Rank Jung was mortally wounded on the “Orel”, and the battleship was effectively commanded by his Senior Officer, Captain 2nd Rank Shvede. By the end of the Tsushima battle, when the sun disappeared behind the horizon, the “Orel” had suffered from 76 to 140 damages of various calibers, with 5 to 42 of them coming from 305mm Japanese shells - the naval engineer of the “Orel” insisted on the latter number. But even with such a large number of holes, the battleship still stayed afloat, demonstrating amazing survivability. Moreover, the crew proved by their actions that they had managed to learn something and the most critical damage was kept under control: the chances of reaching Vladivostok, following the last order of Admiral Rozhdestvensky, remained.
But gradually a terrible, irresistible fatigue rolled in, which was aggravated by the nightmarish past battle, in which the crew of the “Orel” lost a total of 128 people. And even despite the fact that the ship lost some of its guns, of which 3 out of 4 main caliber barrels remained combat-ready, the greatest concern was the ammunition - during the battle, the “Orel” spent more than two-thirds of its available shells.
However, in the middle of the night the battleship “Emperor Nikolai I” under the flag of Rear Admiral Nebogatov came to the head of the Squadron. Now the command passed to him, and the remaining officers and sailors of the “Orel” thought that they could now catch their breath as much as possible.
But at night, attacks by Japanese destroyers began, threatening the remains of the ships with further damage and revealing their location.
By morning, the crew of the “Orel” discovered a ring of Japanese fleet around them. In a last, decisive effort, the remaining officers and sailors of the battleship were preparing to sell their lives as dearly as possible - the outcome of the battle would be obvious for the battered ship. But the junior flag officer who had taken over the leadership of the remnants of the Squadron did not see the point in this…
This was the end of the story of the Russian squadron battleship “Orel”, which became the last surviving ship of the Borodino series in the Battle of Tsushima and demonstrated the incomparable survivability, fierce determination and courage of its crew.
Orel after the Battle of Tsushima 1905
Main characteristics
From February 1, 1905
Classification:
- Sub Category: Pre-dreadnought / Battleship
- Class: Borodino-class
Technical component:
- Full load displacement: 15 520 t
- Complement: 782
- Boiler & engine:
2 shafts, 2 vertical triple expansion steam engines manufactured by the Baltic Shipyard, 20 Belleville water tube boilers - Power: 15 800
- Speed: 17,80 knots
Protection:
- Main belt — 194-145 mm
- Upper belt — 152-102 mm
- Main turret — 254-63 mm
- Secondary turret — 152-51 mm
- Upper deck — 51-32 mm
- Deck — 38 mm
- Main barbettes — 229 mm
- Secondary barbettes — 152 mm
- Torpedo bulkhead — 43 mm
- Casemates — 76 mm
- Conning tower — 203-51 mm
Weapon:
- Main battery artillery
2 x twin 305/40-mm naval guns from the Obukhov plant mod.1895 - Secondary battery artillery
6 x twin 152/45-mm Canet guns mod.1892
20 x single 75/50-mm Canet guns mod.1892 - Anti-aircraft artillery
20 x single 47-mm Hotchkiss guns mod.1885
10 x single 7,62-mm Maxim machine guns mod.1897 - Torpedo armament
2 x single surface 381-mm torpedo tubes
2 x single underwater 381-mm torpedo tubes
20 x anchor mines
Additional illustrations
Spoiler: Weapon and protection scheme
Spoiler: Paint scheme in 1905
Thank you for your attention!
All resources:
Семёнов В.И. «Расплата». — Санкт-Петербург: 1907.
Семёнов В.И. Трагедия Цусимы. — М; «Яуза», «Эксмо»: 2008.
Семёнов В.И. Бой при Цусиме: Памяти «Суворова». — Санкт-Петербург: 1910.
Мельников Р.М. Броненосцы типа «Бородино». — Броненосцы русского флота. — Санкт-Петербург: 1996.
Грибовский В.Ю. Эскадренные броненосцы типа «Бородино». — Мидель Шпангоут. — Санкт-Петербург: Гангут, №19: 2010.
McLaughlin, Stephen Russian & Soviet Battleships. - Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.: 2003 (АНГЛ.)
Forczyk, Robert Russian Battleship vs Japanese Battleship, Yellow Sea 1904-05. - Duel. Vol. 15. Oxford, UK: Osprey: 2009.
Вознесенский А. - пер. с япон. Русско-японская война: От Владивостока до Цусимы. — М.: ООО “Издательство АСТ”: ООО “Транзиткнига”, 2004.