Russian Ironclad Battleship Sinop
The Russian ironclad battleship Russian ironclad Sinop was one of three vessels of the Imperatritsa Ekaterina II class (which included Ekaterina II , Chesma, and their half-sister Georgii Pobedonosets) built for the Imperial Russian Navy during the late nineteenth century. Designed for service with the Black Sea Fleet, she reflected Russia’s determination to counter Ottoman naval power and assert dominance in the region.
Laid down at the Nikolaev Admiralty shipyard in 1883 and commissioned in 1889, Sinop displaced roughly 11,000 tons at full load. Her design featured a distinctive arrangement of six 12-inch guns mounted in three twin barbettes, positioned in an unusual triangular configuration with one turret forward and two aft on either beam. This layout allowed heavy firepower on the broadside while reducing overall length compared to foreign contemporaries. Secondary armament included 6-inch guns and a suite of smaller quick-firing weapons added during later refits to address the growing threat posed by torpedo boats.
Sinop’s armour scheme followed contemporary central citadel principles. A thick belt of compound armour protected machinery spaces and magazines, while barbettes and conning positions received substantial plating. Though robust for her era, rapid advances in naval gunnery and armour technology soon rendered such ironclads obsolescent.
Operationally, Sinop spent the bulk of her career with the Black Sea Fleet, participating in fleet exercises and coastal defence duties rather than active combat. By the early twentieth century, pre-dreadnought battleships had superseded ironclads, and Sinop was increasingly relegated to secondary roles. Both the Bolsheviks and the Whites captured her during the Russian Civil War after her engines were destroyed by the British in 1919. She was scrapped by the Soviets beginning in 1922.
