Admiral Nakhimov:
Imperial Russian Armored Cruiser (1884 / 1888)
Seen above in Japan with the Vladimir Monomakh in happier times, the Admiral Nakhimov was one of the most intriguing warships of the 1880s, with one foot in the Age of Sail and several toes tentatively dipping into new technologies. Her unusual combination of hull features, gun layout, hopes and intentions, and real-world shortcomings make her an fascinating study for the marine artist, the modeler, or the mere scribbler bent on chronicling the times.
The ship was named for Admiral Pavel Nakhimov, a hero of the Crimean War, who died at Sevastopol, commanding a shore battery against the allied French and British fleet. Nakhimov's heroic defiance made an inspiring story for the patriotic purposes of the military; hence, a long series of Russian warships has borne his name -- the latest, a Black Sea guided missile cruiser.
Specifications for the Admiral Nakhimov:
Dimensions: 338'11" x 61' x 25'3" Displacement: 7,906 tons std; 8,609 tons deep laden. Armament: (8) 8"/35 cal, (6) 6", (4) 4.3", (4) 110 mm/45, and (15) 1.9" 3-pdr guns; (40) mines; (3) 15" torpedo tubes; (2) spar torpedo boats. Armor: Nickel-steel type throughout. 8"/4" belt; 6" conning tower; 3"/2" turrets; 8" barbettes; 2½" deck. Propulsion: (12) coal-fired cylindrical boilers; (2) 3-cyl inverted vertical triple expansion engines developing 9,000 HP, shafted to twin screw. Maximum speed: 17 kts. Crew: 572 - 651. Endurance: 4,400nm @ 10 kts.
Metric specs:
Dimensions: 103.3m x 18.6m x 7.7m Displacement: 7,906 tons std; 8,609 tons deep laden. Armament: (8) 203 mm/35 cal (4x2), (6) 152 mm, (4) 110 mm/45, and (15) 47 mm 3-pdr guns; 40 mines; (3) 381 mm torpedo tubes; and (2) spar torpedo boats. Armor: Compound type throughout. 254/103 mm belt; 152 mm conning tower; 203 mm barbettes; 63/51 mm turrets; 76/51 mm deck. Propulsion: (12) coal-fired cylindrical boilers; (2) 3-cyl inverted vertical triple expansion engines developing 6,700 kW, shafted to twin screw. Maximum speed: 31 km/hr. Crew: 572 - 651. Endurance: 8,100 km @ 19 km/hr.
The Admiral Nakhimov was a pioneering armored cruiser -- an expansion of the idea of the belted cruiser, combining vertical (or hull) armor with an internal armored deck and moderate, but still significant, protection for vital fighting parts of the ship -- turrets, barbettes, and conning tower. As was common in the Imperial Russian Navy of the 1880s and 90s, she was imitated from a foreign model -- in this case, HMS Impérieuse, herself derived from the French example. Like the British model and its French inspiration, Nakhimov carried her armament in a "diamond pattern"; and like the ships she emulated, the Nakhimov combined a lean hull with an exaggerated tumble-home contour, making possible the placement of turrets on the fat beams of the ship with clear fields of fire directly fore and aft ("axial fire"). Like the model, Nakhimov carried a full brig sail rig; and as in the Impérieuse and her sister Warspite, the heavy top-hamper proved unwieldy and was eventually removed.
The Nakhimov took four years to build at the Baltic Works in St. Petersburg. In some ways she was a bold gesture, reaching forth to stake out new turf in the naval arms race. She was engined with 2-shaft vertical triple-expansion machinery (albeit underpowered at 9,000 HP). But in other ways, like many ships of her time, she was left behind when technology jumped ahead while the shipwrights plodded along, hewing to the original specifications. New armor formulations, giving more protection for less weight, evolved as Nakhimov was building: Creusot process high-carbon steel and later, nickel-steel. Unfortunately, the Nakhimov joined the fleet with her originally specified compound armor -- part iron and part steel -- when new hardened projectiles had been fashioned to pierce that type of armor. Like the Impérieuse and Marceau, the Nakhimov was designed as a barbette ship. However, during the four years the ship was being constructed, quick-firing mid-caliber guns (QF) were introduced and proved muderous in potential with unprotected barbettes. This spelled the end of the open-topped mount, adopted throughout European navies in the 1880s. That grand old man of the barbette, Benedetto Brin, withdrew the latest battleships of the Royal Italian Navy for retrofitting with overhead shields to protect the gun crews. The Impérieuse herself had "hoods" installed on her four 9.2" single mounts -- what we today would recognize as small turrets. And the Royal Navy's next nine-ship class of battleships, the Majestics, went into service with armored turret/barbette units factory-installed.
The Admiral Nakhimov had shields retrofitted. Like many of the circa-1890 vessels, she did not receive a heavily armored turret: although her barbettes were covered with a robust 8" of protection, her "hoods" provided only 2-3" shielding to the gun crews. In fact, this protection was only meant to be proof against 6" and antipersonnel gunfire; it was not until the late 1890s that turret protection was increased to protect against big-caliber weapons (generally of the same thickness as the bore of the guns in the turret). Nakhimov was equipped with a heavy anti-TB armament including fifteen 3-pounders. Interestingly, like the Inflexible, she carried her own spar-torpedo boats on deck, as well as three torpedo tubes for self-propelled Whiteheads.
Almost as soon as the ship was completed in 1889, she was despatched to Vladivostok to become the flagship of the Russian Pacific Squadron. During this time she was in the Russian fleet escorting the Tsarevich, the future Nicholas II, in the 'semi-armored' frigate Pamiat Azova, along with Prince George of Greece in a state visit to Japan. It was during this prolonged trip that "Nicky" narrowly escaped an assassin's sword as he rode through the streets of Otsu in a rickshaw. The Japanese were effusive in their apologies at this great loss of face, deluging the delegation with presents, and Nicholas appeared mollifed at the time. However, the incident provided the basis for unscrupulous individuals who worked on the malleable Tsarevich over the years, cultivating in him a pathological hatred of the Japanese. One of the chief malefactors was his Cousin Willy, known to the rest of the world as Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. The Kaiser coined the term "the Yellow Peril" and fomented much mischief in years to come.
The Nakhimov returned to St. Petersburg for repairs in 1891, including the installation of her "hoods" (lower photo above right). In 1893, she went on a protracted goodwill cruise with elements of the Baltic Fleet. They cruised to New York, and the following year attended the World's Columbian Exposition in Genoa, Italy. 1893 found her calling at Toulon, the main French navy base on the Mediterranean, where several of the photos on this page were snapped. France and Russia at the time were tightly allied politically, the French sharing their naval technology and financial power with the northern Bear. Undoubtedly they were flattered by the embodiment of French design principles in the Nakhimov's design.
Shortly afterwards, the ship was on her way east once more. When there she observed the defeat of China by Japan at a safe distance, and paticipated in the Tripartite Intervention of 1895 -- a tremendous local military buildup by Russia, France, and Germany which cheated Japan out of her spoils of victory. Subsequently Nakhimov was in on the Russian takeover of Port Arthur, and on the ground level of the drive to build it into an impregnable fortress.
In 1898, the Admiral Nakhimov returned to Russia once more for a refit. At this time her sail rig was removed and replaced with a two-mast military rig and her armament modernized. Replacement of her now-obsolete M1880 8" guns with quick-firing 152 mm (6") weapons had been discussed, but the Russian Admiralty opted to keep the old guns. In Nov. 1889 the ship returned for a third tour of duty in China waters, and was based out of Port Arthur for 4 years.
In 1903, she was ordered back to the Baltic again and refitted but again, her original museum piece weapons were left in place. While she was still at Petersburg, the Japanese opened war on Russia with a night torpedo-boat attack on Port Arthur in February 1904.
The Admiral Nakhimov's story now merged with the tale of Russia's Baltic Fleet. As disaster piled upon disaster in the news of the war in Manchuria, the Tsar and his advisors obsessed about the safety of Port Arthur, the bastion on empire into which they had poured so much blood and treasure. When news reached the capital of the defeat of the Russian Pacific Squadron in the Battle of the Yellow Sea (Aug. 10, 1904) the Tsar determined to send an overwhelming naval force eastward to reverse the fortunes of war. Every available vessel was ordered to make ready for sea, and the Nakhimov was included in the call.
Dubbed the "Second Pacific Squadron", the fleet intended to relieve Port Arthur weighed anchor at Libau in October. Admiral Nakhimov commenced her fourth passage to China waters in the company of a mighty armada -- 40 warships and an even larger number of auxiliaries.
The rigors of that nightmare voyage have been narrated elsewhere. At last, after seven months of travel, the Russians were only two days' steaming from Vladivostok (Port Arthur had fallen while they were en route), and had had no contact with the enemy. Nakhimov was stationed eighth in the Russians' left (stronger) column. On the morning of May 27, 1905, as the fleet headed into the Straits of Tsushima, they were shadowed by Japanese cruisers; the number and strength of the coded wireless messages picked up made it clear a major enemy operation was afoot. Emerging from the straits into the Sea of Japan in early afternoon, the Russians sighted first the smoke and then the masts and funnels of the Japanese battle fleet springing its ambush. As the range closed the Japanese C-in-C, Adm. Togo Heihachiro, flaunted his fleet's precision maneuvering, hoisting a Nelsonian signal at his flag spreaders. As the preliminary maneuvers were completed, the Japanese unwound flawlessly into a long column obliquely across the Russian advance. This position minimized the Russian advantage in heavy guns. The Mikasa had already endured several hits when the Japanese opened fire at 1347 hours.
Stationed among the three obsolete battleships, dead last in the left column, the Nakhimov was not a prime target for the 12" guns of the Japanese battleships. Before commencing the action, however, Togo had detached six of his eight armored cruisers to pick off the Russian cruisers and smaller fry. The armored cruiser squadron under Adm. Kamimura had trained and drilled with Togo for months before the battle and showed itself as disciplined and formidable as any units in the Japanese fleet. Before long, the Nakhimov was reeling under the impact of 30 hits. Like the other Russian vessels, she was overloaded with coal, submerging her narrow armor belt. Her unarmored sides welcomed hurtling Japanese HE shells and the resulting fires were kept under control only with difficulty. During this phase of combat she endured 25 killed and 51 injured. She hit back, landing three hits on Kamimura's flagship, the armored cruiser Iwate, and causing minor damage. All Nakhimov's guns were still in working order and her engines continued their beat as night fell over the fearful scene of destruction; several Russian battleships that had held on through bitter punishment, gave up the ghost as the Japanese torpedo boats began to swarm in on them; taking several shells from the Shikishima, the new battleship Alexander III departed in a fiery finish, her magazines exploding just as the red-rayed sun nicked the horizon. All hands perished with the ship. It was emblematic of a day of unbroken victory for Japan.
It may have been unbroken, but it was still incomplete. With dusk Togo withdrew the Japanese battle fleet and loosed his 50-odd torpedo boats and destroyers. Mission: to harrass the hapless Russians and pick off stragglers. On his way out to Japan, third-in-command Adm. Nebogatoff had practiced anti-torpedo measures with his ships, many of the Nakhimov's vintage and older. The corpulent admiral insisted on practicing maneuvers without searchlights, because the lights betrayed one's location and made an easy target for the TBs. The Nakhimov, however, had traveled East with the main division under Adm. Rozhdestvensky, and so had not practiced any combat skills en route. In the main fleet, there had been no allowance for practice ammunition, so there was only one target practice during the entire seven-month journey. The results of this one perfunctory shoot were appalling; Rozhdestvensky opted to hoard his projectiles for battle and trust his luck. So it was that when the hail went up that TBs were in sight, the Nakhimov switched on her searchlights, using them to aim her QF guns at the attackers. Just as Nebogatoff had warned, the torpedo craft homed in on the searchlight beams to deliver their deadly sting. Shortly after 2130 that night, the Admiral Nakhimov was torpedoed in the bow. The inrushing water quickly outpaced the pumps.
She began sinking, gradually but inexorably. At daybreak, the remaining crew abandoned ship in the more seaworthy boats; they were soon picked up and made prisoner by the auxiliary cruiser Sado Maru, which initially rigged a towline and attempted to salve their prize. From the Japanese deck, Russian seamen watched while their old ironclad was swallowed by the sea around 1000, just east of Tsushima Island. The wreck site has been confirmed at 34° 34'N, 129° 32'E. Although their ship was lost in action, 626 of the crew were rescued; only 25 were lost, an enviable outcome compared to other Russian ships at Tsushima.
Stern view of Admiral Nakhimov in drydock at Spetsii, near Odessa, 1900. This angle shows the recessed stern walk, rudder, and screws to advantage. Enlarge
The Admiral Nakhimov at a naval review post-1898 refit. In her white tropical paint, the unusual contours of the hull stand out especially well, although the bow turret and guns are hidden by the many hands on deck.
Admiral Nakhimov photographed at Toulon by Alphonse Bougault, the lensman of La Seyne and continental postcard king. This angle shows the stern walk (with 2-headed Imperial eagle) and new military rig, and accentuates the beam turret barbette arising from the tumbled-home flanks.
A fine bow view of Nakhimov at Kronstadt, probably in 1903-04. Notice the whaleback-like curvature of the tumble-home sides, more similar to the Impérieuse than the French style. This treatment was also used in the contemporaneous Rurik and the three Petropavlovsk class battleships.
A Japanese artist's conception of the night battle at Tsushima, where Nakhimov met her doom. The effect of the searchlight beams is creatively rendered. One can appreciate the drawback of showing oneself up this way in a night battle.
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