Bogatyr was the lead ship

Lead ship

The lead ship or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable military ships and larger civilian craft.-Overview:...

 of the Bogatyr-class

Bogatyr class cruiser

The Bogatyr-class were a group of protected cruisers built for the Imperial Russian Navy. Unusually for the Russian navy, two ships of the class were built for the Baltic Fleet and two ships for the Black Sea Fleet.- Ships :...

 of four protected cruiser

Protected cruiser

The protected cruiser is a type of naval cruiser of the late 19th century, so known because its armoured deck offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused by exploding shells above...

s built for the Imperial Russian Navy

Imperial Russian Navy

The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...

. Her name can be translated to mean “Hercules”.

Background

After the completion of the , the Russian Navy issued requirements for three large protected cruisers to three separate companies: The was ordered to William Cramp and Sons

William Cramp and Sons

thumb | upright | 1899 advertisement for William Cramp & Sons William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia was founded in 1825 by William Cramp, and was the preeminent U.S. iron shipbuilder in the 19th century. The American Ship & Commerce Corporation bought the yard in 1919 but closed...

 in Philadelphia, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, the was ordered to Krupp-Germaniawerft in Kiel

Kiel

Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, and the Bogatyr to Vulcan Stettin, also in Germany. Although Askold was the fastest cruiser in the Russian fleet at the time of its commissioning, the Bogatyr was selected for further development into a new class of ships.

Operational History

Botagyr was laid down at the AG Vulcan Stettin shipyards in Stettin

Szczecin

Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 on December 22, 1899, launched on January 30, 1901 and commissioned on August 20, 1902. She initially entered service with the Russian Baltic Fleet.

During the Russo-Japanese War

At the start of the Russo-Japanese War

Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...

 of 1904-1905, Bogatyr was stationed at Vladivostok with the Russian Pacific Fleet’s cruiser squadron under the overall command of Rear Admiral Karl Jessen. This squadron operated in the Sea of Japan

Sea of Japan

The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...

 and in waters near the Japanese home islands for commerce raiding

Commerce raiding

Commerce raiding or guerre de course is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt the logistics of an enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than engaging the combatants themselves or enforcing a blockade against them.Commerce raiding was heavily criticised by...

 and reconnaissance. During the first months of the war, the squadron made a number of sorties against Japanese shipping, but only one was reasonably successful when the Hitachi Maru, carrying eighteen 28 centimetres (11 in) siege howitzers and over 1000 troops intended for the siege of Port Arthur

Siege of Port Arthur

The Siege of Port Arthur , 1 August 1904 – 2 January 1905, the deep-water port and Russian naval base at the tip of the Liaotung Peninsula in Manchuria, was the longest and most violent land battle of the Russo-Japanese War....

, was sunk in June 1904. In response, the Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

 assigned Vice Admiral Kamimura Hikonojo

Kamimura Hikonojo

Baron was an early admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy later commanding the IJN 2nd Fleet during the Russo-Japanese War, most notably at the Battle off Ulsan and Tsushima.-Biography:...

 with a squadron of eight cruisers to pursue and destroy the Russian squadron.

However, on May 15, 1904, Bogatyr struck a rock in Amur Bay

Amur Bay

Amur Bay is a north western part of Peter the Great Gulf.Its length is 65 km, width is 10-20 km, and depth is approximately 20 m....

, and was so badly damaged that she could not be adequately repaired for the remainder of the war, and largely remained docked at Vladivostok.

After the end of the war, Bogatyr was repaired, and reassigned to the Russian Baltic Fleet. Bogatyr was deployed in the Mediterranean when a large earthquake

1908 Messina earthquake

The 1908 Messina earthquake and tsunami took some 100,000–200,000 lives on December 28, 1908 in Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy.-Quake:On December 28, 1908 from about 05:20 to 05:21 an earthquake of 7.2 on the moment magnitude scale occurred centered on the of city Messina, in Sicily. Reggio...

 struck Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 on December 28, 1908. Together with the , , and , Bogatyr assisted is rescue efforts at Messina. Some crewmen were killed by aftershocks while attempting to rescue people from the rubble. In 1912, Bogatyr underwent a complete refit and modernization program at Kronstadt

Kronstadt

Kronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt |crown]]" and Stadt for "city"); is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland. Population: It is also...

.

World War I service

At the start of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Bogatyr was part of the Russian 1st Cruiser Brigade in the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

. On August 26, 1914, together with , she captured the German light cruiser

Light cruiser

A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...

 SMS Magdeburg

SMS Magdeburg

Seiner Majestät Schiff Magdeburg was a light cruiser of the German Imperial Navy. The first of her class, she was built as part of the 1908 German naval program. Her class was notable for being the first to introduce a new hull form and replace the bow ram with a cruiser bow shape...

off of Osmussaar

Osmussaar

Osmussaar is an Estonian island situated in the mouth of the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea, 7.5 km off the Estonian mainland. Administratively the island is part of Noarootsi Parish in Lääne County. Its area is ....

 on the north coast of Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

. The German crew scuttled their ship to avoid capture, but the German captain, Lieutenant-Commander Habenicht was captured by the Russians, together with the German code book. For the remainder of the year and early into 1915, Bogatyr covered minelaying operations in the Baltic, as well as laying mines herself. Mines laid by Bogatyr are credited with sinking the German light cruiser SMS Augsburg

SMS Augsburg

The SMS Augsburg was a Kolberg class light cruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine. Named after the city of Augsburg, she was laid down at the Kaiserliche Werft Kiel in 1908, launched on 10 July 1909 and commissioned 1 November 1910....

off of Bornholm

Bornholm

Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea located to the east of the rest of Denmark, the south of Sweden, and the north of Poland. The main industries on the island include fishing, arts and crafts like glass making and pottery using locally worked clay, and dairy farming. Tourism is...

.

On July 2, 1915, Bogatyr participated in the Battle of Åland Islands during which she drove the German light cruiser SMS Albatross

SMS Albatross

SMS Albatross"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship" in German. was a German minelaying cruiser built before World War I. Albatross took part in a battle with Russian cruisers off the island of Gotland on 2 July 1915, where the ship was severely damaged, and forced to...

onto the beach. In late 1915, she was refit and repaired in Krondstat, and her main armament was upgraded to 130 mm/55 B7 Pattern 1913

130 mm/55 B7 Pattern 1913

The 130mm/55 B7 Pattern 1913 naval gun was a 5.1-inch naval gun used predominantly on ships of the Imperial Russian Navy and later by the Soviet Navy. It was manufactured mainly by the Obukhov State Plant in St. Petersburg, as well as under licence by Vickers Limited in Great Britain...

 guns. Through 1916, she mostly operated in the Baltic, off the coasts of Finland and Sweden, to interdict German convoys.

Following the November Revolution, the crew of Bogatyr declared for the Bolshevik

Bolshevik

The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....

 cause, and the ship joined the Red Navy. After the armistice with Germany in December 1917, Bogatyr was demobilized at Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace treaty signed on March 3, 1918, mediated by South African Andrik Fuller, at Brest-Litovsk between Russia and the Central Powers, headed by Germany, marking Russia's exit from World War I.While the treaty was practically obsolete before the end of the year,...

 required the Soviets to evacuate their base at Helsinki in March 1918 or have them interned by newly independent Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 even though the Gulf of Finland

Gulf of Finland

The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...

 was still frozen over. Bogatyr sailed to Kronstadt in what became known as the 'Ice Voyage'

Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet

Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet was an operation which transferred the ships of the Baltic Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy from their bases at Tallinn and Helsinki to Kronstadt in 1918, caused by the possible threat to those bases from the final German offensives against Russia during World War...

. and was placed into reserve shortly after her arrival.

In 1922, as with many ships of the former Imperial Russian Navy, Bogatyr was scrapped in Germany.

External links

• http://ship.bsu.by/main.asp?id=102480 - article in Russian Language
• http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/bogatyr.htm - article in English with extensive photographs