Russian Pre-Dreadnought Battleship Imperator Aleksandr II
The Russian battleship Imperator Aleksandr II was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, built in the late nineteenth century during a period of rapid naval modernization. Laid down in 1885 at the New Admiralty Shipyard and commissioned in 1891, she was named after Tsar Alexander II of Russia. The ship was intended primarily for service with the Baltic Fleet, to counter the small armoured ships of the other Baltic powers.
Imperator Aleksandr II displaced approximately 9,000 tons and featured a relatively low freeboard, which limited seaworthiness in rough conditions but reduced her profile as a target. Her main armament consisted of two 12-inch guns mounted in a single forward barbette. Secondary armament included four 9-inch and eight 6-inch guns positioned in single mounts along the hull, supplemented by smaller quick-firing guns intended to counter torpedo boats, which were emerging as a significant threat in naval warfare of the period. She also incorporated a ram bow, as tactical doctrine of the day emphasized ramming tactics.
Her propulsion system relied on vertical compound steam engines powered by coal-fired boilers, producing a top speed of around 15 knots. While adequate at the time of her construction, this speed quickly became obsolete as naval engineering advanced in the 1890s. Armour protection followed the central citadel principle, with a thick belt protecting vital machinery and magazines, complemented by armoured decks and barbettes.
Operationally, Imperator Aleksandr II spent most of her career in the Baltic Sea, participating in fleet exercises and representing Russian naval power during a time of growing international competition. Unlike later Russian battleships, she did not see combat in the Russo-Japanese War, as she was considered too outdated for front-line service by the early twentieth century and was being used as an artillery training ship.
She was renamed Zarya Svobody in May 1917 following the Russian Revolution. Turned over to the Kronstadt port authority on 21 April 1921, she was sold for scrap on 22 August 1922.
| Displacement | 9,244 long tons (9,392 t) |
| Length | 346 ft 6 in (105.61 m) |
| Beam | 66 ft 11 in (20.40 m) |
| Draught | 25 ft 9 in (7.85 m) |
| Installed power | 8,289 ihp (6,181 kW) |
| Propulsion | 2 shaft vertical compound steam engines, 12 cylindrical boilers |
| Speed | 15.27 knots (28.28 km/h; 17.57 mph) |
| Range | 4,400 nautical miles (8,100 km) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) |
| Complement | 616 |
| Armament | 1 × 2 – 12-inch (305 mm) guns 4 × 1 – 9-inch (229 mm) guns 8 × 1 – 6-inch (152 mm) guns 10 × 1 – 47-millimetre (1.9 in) Hotchkiss revolving cannon 10 × 1 – 37-millimetre (1.5 in) Hotchkiss revolving cannon 5 × 1 – 15-inch (381 mm) torpedo tubes |
| Armour | Compound armour Belt: 4–14 in (102–356 mm) Deck: 2.5 in (64 mm) Barbette: 10 in (254 mm) Barbette hood: 3 in (76 mm) Conning tower: 8 in (203 mm) Bulkheads: 6 in (152 mm) |
