Russian ship Varna
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Russian Empire | |
| Name | Varna |
| Builder | I. D. Vorobyov, Nikolaev |
| Laid down | 4 October 1838 |
| Launched | 26 July 1842 |
| Fate | Scuttled, 11 September 1854 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Sultan Makhmud-class ship of the line |
| Displacement | 3,790 metric tons (3,730 long tons; 4,180 short tons) |
| Length | 196 ft (60 m) |
| Beam | 53 ft 6 in (16.31 m) |
| Draft | 26 ft 7 in (8.10 m) |
| Armament |
|
Varna was a Sultan Makhmud-class ship of the line built for the Imperial Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet in the late 1830s and early 1840s. The ship had an uneventful career, apart from routine peacetime operations in the 1840s, interrupted by periods in reserve. In October 1853, she helped carry soldiers to the Caucasus to strengthen the Russian position there at the start of the Crimean War. In need of repairs, she was unable to take part in the Battle of Sinop in November, and thereafter remained in Sevastopol during the siege of the city. Her crew was sent ashore to reinforce the defenses and Varna was scuttled as a blockship in 1854 to bar the harbor entrance to French and British warships.
The eight Sultan Makhmud-class ships of the line were ordered as part of a naval expansion program aimed at strengthening the Russian Black Sea Fleet during a period of increased tension with Britain and France over the decline of one of Russia's traditional enemies, the Ottoman Empire. Beginning in the 1830s, Russia ordered a series of 84-gun ships in anticipation of a future conflict, and the Sultan Makhmuds accounted for nearly half of the nineteen vessels built.[1]
Varna was 197 feet 4 inches (60.15 m) long, with a beam of 52 ft (16 m) and a draft of 23 ft 8 in (7.21 m) to 26 ft 7 in (8.10 m). She displaced 3,790 metric tons (3,730 long tons; 4,180 short tons) and measured 2,500 tons burthen. The ship was built with a round stern to increase its strength.[2]
The ship carried a battery of twenty-six 36-pounder long guns on the lower gun deck and another thirty-two 36-pound short-barreled guns on the upper gun deck. In her forecastle and quarterdeck, she mounted twenty 24-pound gunnades and two 24-pound carronades, six 18-pound carronades, two 12-pound carronades, and two 8-pound carronades. In 1853, all of the carronades were removed from the ship, leaving just the gunnades, and the next year six 18-pound short-barreled guns were added.[2]
