Russian battleship Sevastopol (1895)

Sevastopol, named for the siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War, was laid down at the Galernii Island shipyard in Saint Petersburg on 7 March 1892.^[5] Construction was led by two engineers, E. P. Andruschenko and N. I. Afanasyev,^[5] and began on 7 May 1892,^[6] about the same time as the battleship Sissoi Veliky was laid down.^[6] The ceremony was attended by Alexander III of Russia and Tsesarevich Nicholas.^[5] Sevastopol was launched on 1 June 1895^[7] and, after the completion of her hull and decks in 1898, was transferred to Kronstadt where her armor and guns were installed.^[5] Sevastopol was finished in 1899^[7] and Nikolai Chernishev became her captain, a post which he would retain until 17 March 1904, when Nikolai von Essen assumed command.^[8]

Sevastopol began her sea trials on 16 October 1899, and was commissioned after their conclusion into the Imperial Russian Navy. She and her sister ships were transferred to Port Arthur, which was then the base of the First Squadron of the Russian Pacific Fleet.^[9] In September 1900, Popov radios were installed on Sevastopol and her sister Poltava, the first Russian battleships to have them.^[10][11] They were also painted white, the same color as the other ships in the First Pacific Squadron.^[12] She then left for Port Arthur, arriving on 13 April 1901. As Russia was not at war with any Far East countries at that time, Sevastopol stayed in port, inactive.^[13]

After the Japanese victory in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, both Russia and Japan had ambitions to control Manchuria and Korea, resulting in tensions between the two nations. Japan had begun negotiations to reduce the tensions in 1901, but the Russian government was slow and uncertain in its replies because it had not yet decided exactly how to resolve the problems. Japan interpreted this as deliberate prevarication designed to buy time to complete the Russian armament programs. The situation was worsened by Russia's failure to withdraw its troops from Manchuria in October 1903 as promised. The final straws were the news of Russian timber concessions in northern Korea and the Russian refusal to acknowledge Japanese interests in Manchuria while continuing to place conditions on Japanese activities in Korea. These actions caused the Japanese government to decide in December 1903 that war was inevitable.^[14] As tensions with Japan increased, the Pacific Squadron began mooring in the outer harbor at night in order to react more quickly to any Japanese attempt to land troops in Korea.^[15]

In early February 1904, the Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur. Sevastopol was hit by one shell, either six or eight inches in diameter, that wounded two men on her bridge. She soon turned in pursuit along with other ships of the Russian fleet, all firing their forward guns, but she failed to score any hits.^[16] On 26 March 1904, Sevastopol was accidentally rammed by Peresvet, damaging a propeller.^[13] After the attack on Port Arthur, the First Pacific Squadron tried to break out several times. During one attempt on 23 June, Admiral Wilgelm Vitgeft, commanding the Pacific Fleet, retreated after encountering the Japanese fleet. Approaching the harbor, Sevastopol moved slightly out of formation and hit a mine that killed 11 and caused severe flooding, but managed to get inside the harbor and drop anchor.^[17][18][19] She was under repair for six weeks,^[17][20] during which time a fire broke out on deck, killing 2 and wounding 28.^[21] The Russian battleships were too big to fit into the dry dock at Port Arthur, so large caissons were built to provide access to the ships' hulls.^[22] On 9 August, with the Japanese Third Army assaulting the outer defenses of Port Arthur, the First Pacific Squadron sortied from its base.^[23] Even though Sevastopol was not fully repaired, she sailed with the rest of the fleet with one gun in her aft turret remaining inoperable.^[24] They later engaged the Japanese fleet in what would become the Battle of the Yellow Sea.^[23]

Although in the center of the Russian line during the battle, Sevastopol was only slightly damaged during the day. In the evening, the Russians massed their fire on the Japanese flagship Mikasa, at that time 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) away. The Japanese battleships returned fire^[25] and Sevastopol suffered several shell hits to her superstructure, which killed one man and wounded 62 others.^[26] A few minutes later, Mikasa was hit by two 12-inch (305 mm) shells and one 6-inch (152 mm) shell from Retvizan and Sevastopol, which caused 40 casualties. Soon after that, when it seemed that the Russians would be able to escape to Vladivostok, two 12-inch shells from Asahi penetrated the conning tower of the Russian flagship Tsesarevich, killing Vitgeft and the helmsman, severely wounding the captain, and causing the ship to come to a dead stop after executing a sharp turn. Thinking that this was a maneuver planned by Vitgeft, the Russian line started to execute the same turn, causing all of the ships directly behind Tsesarevich, including Sevastopol, to maneuver wildly to avoid hitting the stationary flagship. Prince Pavel Ukhtomski, second in command of the squadron, who was on the Peresvet, proceeded to signal the other Russian ships via semaphore to steam back to Port Arthur, although the signals were only gradually recognized by Pobeda, Poltava, Pallada and Sevastopol.^[27] Sevastopol had one 6-inch (152 mm) and two 47-millimeter (1.9 in) guns knocked out during the battle.^[28]

Returning to Port Arthur on 10 August, the squadron found that the city was already under siege by the Japanese Third Army led by Baron Nogi Maresuke. On 23 August, Sevastopol bombarded a Japanese battery in an effort to escape along with nine smaller ships, but after she neutralized the battery, she returned to port after a Japanese lookout spotted the approaching ships. As she was maneuvering back into Port Arthur, she struck another mine and required repairs.^[29] On 5 December the Third Army captured 203 Meter Hill, a crucial position that overlooked the harbor. From there, the Japanese were able to fire on Sevastopol and other ships of the First Pacific Squadron that had survived the Yellow Sea battle. The ships at that time were about 5.7 kilometers (3.5 mi) away from the hill, placing them within range of Japanese shore artillery.^[30] By 9 December four battleships and two cruisers had been sunk by the Japanese. Sevastopol, although hit five times by 11-inch (279 mm) shells, managed to move away from the western harbor and out of range of the guns to the minor harbor of White Wolf, where she could be defended by torpedo nets and booms.^[30][31] Within the defensive surroundings of White Wolf, Essen started to plan a sortie through the blockade to Vladivostok or a rendezvous with the Second Pacific Squadron, at that time coaling at Madagascar.^[31][32] At the same time, the commanding admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy, Tōgō Heihachirō, as instructed by Emperor Meiji in Tokyo, ordered the destruction of the battleship by six waves of destroyers, along with some torpedo boats that were launched from the Fuji and Mikasa.^[17]

The torpedo boat and destroyer attacks lasted three weeks, during which 80 torpedoes were launched at Sevastopol. Of these, four hit. The four successful torpedoes were launched on 18 December.^[33] Three of them hit the torpedo nets that had been placed around the ship, while the other hit one of the ship's propellers. Although severely damaged, Sevastopol remained afloat and sank two destroyers and damaged six others, killing 35 sailors and five officers. A Japanese cruiser attempting to attack Sevastopol was sunk by a mine in the harbor.^[29][31] When he received news of the surrender of the land fortifications on 2 January 1905, Essen decided to surrender, but scuttled the ship in 55 meters (180 ft) of water by opening the seacocks on one side so that the ship could not be salvaged by the Japanese.^[29] His other option, a run to Vladivostok, had already been eliminated due to the damage to his propellers by the torpedo.^[31] For the act of scuttling Sevastopol, Essen was awarded the Order of St. George.^[34] Nevertheless, a dispatch from Tokyo reported that it sank as a result of a Japanese torpedo attack.^[35]

Due to the depth of water in which she had sunk, and her position, Sevastopol was the only battleship that was not salvaged by the Japanese at Port Arthur. What remains of her is still outside the entrance to Port Arthur.^[30] Poltava, one of her sister ships, was also scuttled at Port Arthur and re-floated as the Japanese Tango.^[36]

• Balakin, Sergey (2004). Морские сражения. Русско-японская война 1904–1905 [Naval Battles of the Russo-Japanese War] (in Russian). Moscow: Maritime Collection. LCCN 2005429592.
• Budzbon, Przemysław (1985). "Russia". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 291–325. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• Campbell, N. J. M. (1978). "The Battle of Tsu-Shima, Part I". In Preston, Antony (ed.). Warship. Vol. II. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 38–49. ISBN 0-87021-976-6.
• Forczyk, Robert (2009). Russian Battleship vs Japanese Battleship, Yellow Sea 1904–05. London, UK: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-84603-330-8.
• Halpern, Paul G. (1994). A Naval History of World War I. London, UK: UCL Press. ISBN 978-1-85728-295-5.
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• Jung, Dieter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1869–1945. London, UK: Arms & Armour Press. ISBN 978-0-85368-151-9.
• McLaughlin, Stephen (2003). Russian & Soviet Battleships. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-481-4.
• Spector, Ronald (2001). At War at Sea: Sailors and Naval Combat in the Twentieth Century. New York, New York: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-7567-5770-0.
• Taras, Alexander (2000). Корабли Российского императорского флота 1892–1917 гг [Ships of the Imperial Russian Navy 1892–1917]. Library of Military History (in Russian). Minsk: Kharvest. ISBN 978-985-433-888-0.
• Watts, Anthony (1990). The Imperial Russian Navy. London, UK: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 978-0-85368-912-6.
• Westwood, J. N. (1986). Russia Against Japan, 1904–1905: A New Look at the Russo-Japanese War. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-88706-191-5.
• Wood, Oliver (1905). From the Yalu to Port Arthur: An Epitome of the First Period of the Russo-Japanese War. London, UK: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. OCLC 225820117.

Online sources

• "The War". The Independent. 57. New York, New York: Benedict, S.W.: 1409 1904.
• Sorokin, Alexander. "Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905, Battle of the Yellow Sea" (in Russian). Russian Navy. Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.

38°48′45″N 121°14′30″E / 38.8125°N 121.241667°E / 38.8125; 121.241667