 Strelets after the late 1870s | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Russian Empire | |
| Name | Strelets (Стрелец) |
| Namesake | Musketeer |
| Ordered | 23 March 1863[Note 1] |
| Builder | Galernyi Island Shipyard,Saint Petersburg |
| Cost | 1,141,800rubles |
| Laid down | 1 December 1863 |
| Launched | 2 June 1864 |
| In service | 1865 |
| Out of service | 6 July 1900 |
| Renamed | Plavmasterskaia No. 1, 1901 |
| Reclassified | As coastal defense ship, 13 February 1892 |
| Stricken | 17 August 1900 |
| Fate | Converted into a floatingworkshop, 1901, extant at St. Petersburg, Russia as of 2015 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Uragan-classmonitor |
| Displacement | 1,500–1,600 long tons (1,524–1,626 t) |
| Length | 201 ft (61.3 m) |
| Beam | 46 ft (14.0 m) |
| Draft | 10.16–10.84 ft (3.1–3.3 m) |
| Installed power | |
| Propulsion | 1 shaft, 1 × 2-cylinderdirect-acting steam engine |
| Speed | 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) |
| Range | 1,440 nmi (2,670 km; 1,660 mi) at 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) |
| Complement | 96–110 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
Strelets (Russian:Стрелец) is anUragan-classmonitor built for theImperial Russian Navy in the mid-1860s. The design was based on the AmericanPassaic-class monitor, but was modified to suit Russian engines, guns and construction techniques. Spending her entire career with theBaltic Fleet, the ship was only active when theGulf of Finland was not frozen, but very little is known about her service. She was struck from theNavy List in 1900, converted into a floatingworkshop the following year and renamedPlavmasterskaia No. 1. The ship served as such through 1955. The ship was identified as still afloat in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2015, and attempts are being made by the Foundation for Historic Boats and the Russian Central Military History Museum to restore her.
Strelets was 201 feet (61.3 m)long overall, with abeam of 46 feet (14.0 m) and adraft of 10.16–10.84 feet (3.1–3.3 m). Shedisplaced 1,500–1,600long tons (1,500–1,600 t), and her crew numbered 8 officers and 88 enlisted men in 1865. They numbered 10 officers and 100 crewmen in 1877.[1]
The ship was fitted with a two-cylinder, horizontaldirect-acting steam engine[1] built by theBaird Works ofSaint Petersburg. It drove a single propeller[2] using steam that was provided by two rectangularboilers.[3] Specific information on the output of the ship's engine has not survived, but it ranged between 340–500indicated horsepower (254–373 kW) for all the ships of thisclass. DuringStrelets'ssea trials on 16 July 1865, she reached a maximum speed of 6knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph). The ship carried a maximum of 190 long tons (190 t) of coal, which gave her a theoretical endurance of 1,440 nmi (2,670 km; 1,660 mi) at full speed.[4]
Strelets was designed to be armed with a pair of 9-inch (229 mm)smoothboremuzzle-loading guns purchased fromKrupp of Germany andrifled in Russia, but the rifling project was seriously delayed and the ship was completed with nine-inch smoothbores. These lacked the penetration power necessary to deal with ironclads and they were replaced by license-built 15-inch (380 mm) smoothbore muzzle-loadingRodman guns in 1867–68. The Rodmans were replaced around 1876 with the originally intended nine-inch rifled guns.[5]
All of the wrought-iron armor that was used in theUragan-class monitors was in 1-inch (25 mm) plates, just as in thePassaic-class ships. The side of the ship was entirely covered with three to five layers of armor plates, of which the three innermost plates extended 42 inches (1.1 m) below thewaterline. Thegun turret was protected by eleven layers of armor and thepilothouse above it had eight layers of armor. Curved plates six layers thick protected the base of thefunnel up to a height of 7 feet (2.1 m) above the deck. Unlike their predecessors, theUragans were built without deck armor to save weight, butStrelets was modified for the addition of 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) armor plates after completion, but it is unknown if they were ever fitted. They were, however, manufactured and then placed in storage.[6]
Construction of the ship began on 13 June 1863 by S. G. Kudriavtsev at the state-ownedGaleryni Island Shipyard inSaint Petersburg.Strelets, the Russian word formusketeer, waslaid down on 1 December 1863 and she waslaunched on 2 June 1864. She entered service on 27 July 1865 and cost a total of 1,141,800rubles, almost double her contract cost of 600,000 rubles. The ship was assigned to the Baltic Fleet upon completion and she, and all of hersister ships exceptLatnik, made a port visit toStockholm, Sweden in July–August 1865 while under the command ofGeneral AdmiralGrand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich.[7] She was present when the American warshipsMiantonomoh andAugusta visitedKronstadt in July–August 1866.[8]
Sometime afterStrelets was completed, an armored ring, 5 inches (127 mm) thick and 15 inches (381 mm) tall, was fitted around the base of the turret to prevent splinters from jamming it. Later, an armored, outward-curvingbulwark was fitted around the top of the turret to protect any crewmen there. Threesponsons were later added, probably during the 1870s, to the upper portion of the turret. Each sponson, one above thegun ports and one on each side of the turret, mounted a light gun, probably a 1.75-inch (44 mm)Engstrem gun, for defense againsttorpedo boats. A fourth gun was mounted on a platform aft of the funnel when ahurricane deck was built between the funnel and the turret, also probably during the 1870s.[9]
Little is known about the ship's career other than that she waslaid up each winter when the Gulf of Finland froze.[10] On 21 July 1875, the monitorAdmiral Chichagovran aground andStrelets was sent to aid her the following day. While assisting with the rigging of ahawser betweenAdmiral Chichagov and thearmored frigateSevastopol, it unexpectedly slid acrossStrelets's deck, injuring the ship'sexecutive officer and abosun, who later died of his wounds. Coal and equipment fromAdmiral Chichagov was transferred toStrelets to lighten the former, but it was not enough to refloat her.[11]
Strelets was reclassified as acoast-defenseironclad on 13 February 1892 and turned over to the Port ofKronstadt for disposal on 6 July 1900, although she was not stricken until 17 August. The ship was converted into a floating workshop the next year and renamedPlavmasterskaia No. 1. She remained in service through the end of 1955.[12]Strelets was discovered intact at St. Petersburg, Russia in 2015.[13]