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Issues of 2008
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The baltic fleet during world war i
In 1913 the Russians erected powerful fortresses «Krasnaya Gorka» (Red Hill) and «Ino» on the shores of the Gulf of Finland (an article dedicated to the first fort was published in «Antiq.Info» No 38). The government also planned to lay down the so-called Naval Citadel of Emperor Peter the Great near Porkkallaud peninsula and Revel (Tallinn).
The Russian fleet, which had lost a bulk of its ships during the Russian-Japanese war (1904–1905) was preparing for the war too. Following the example set by British Admiral J. Fisher with his Dreadnought, in 1912 the Russian Empire started building four «Sevastopol»-class (or Gangut class) battleships. The sixth HMS Dreadnought of the Royal Navy was a revolutionary battleship, which entered service in 1906. So advanced was Dreadnought that her name became a generic term for modern battleships, whilst the ships she made obsolete became known as «pre-dreadnoughts». Her introduction helped spark off a major naval arms race as navies around the world rushed to match her, particularly the German navy in the build up to World War I. Dreadnought was the first battleship of her era to have a uniform main battery, rather than having a few large guns complemented by a heavy secondary battery of somewhat smaller guns. She was also the first major warship to be powered by steam turbines, making her the fastest battleship in the world at the time of her completion. The idea of «all-big-gun» warships, capable of firing powerful guns from a long distance seems to have emerged as the threat from torpedoes became more potent. The Italian naval architect Vittorio Cuniberti first articulated the concept of an all-big-gun battleship in 1903 (although British admiral Jackie Fisher claimed the idea had occurred to him by 1900). When the Italian Navy did not pursue his ideas, Cuniberti wrote an article in «Jane’s» («Jane’s Fighting Ships» was an annual reference book) propagating his concept. He proposed an «ideal» future British battleship of 17,000 tons, with a main battery of twelve 12-inch (30 cm) guns, 12-inch belt armour, and speed of 24 knots (44 km/h). The first important episode of World War I was destruction of German cruiser «Magdeburg». Seiner Majest?t Schiff Magdeburg was a light cruiser (Kleiner Kreuzer) of the Kaiserliche Marine (German Imperial Navy). The first of her class, she was built as part of the 1908 German naval program. Her class was notable for being the first to introduce a new hull form and replace the bow ram with a cruiser bow shape. She was also one of the first light cruisers to be fitted with an armored waterline. On commissioning (December 10, 1912), she was first used as a torpedo ship, and at the outbreak of World War I was assigned to the Baltic Sea. It was her sinking a few weeks after this, and the recovery by the Russians of one of the ship’s codebooks, that provided British cryptologists with the means of breaking secret German military communications. The Magdeburg, under the command of Korvettenkapit?n Richard Habenicht, had set out from Memel at the eastern tip of Prussia to join other German warships attacking Russian ships at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland. In the early hours of August 26, 1914, while trying to evade approaching Russian vessels, the ship entered fog near the island of Odensholm and ran aground. While efforts were being made to free the ship, as a precaution most of the codebooks and cipher keys were destroyed; some were retained, however, for communication with rescuers. While the escorting destroyer «V-26» and the light cruiser SMS «Amazone» were unsuccessfully trying to free the Magdeburg and had rescued most of the crew, Habenicht decided to destroy the ship because of the approach of Russian warships. However, there was considerable confusion as the Russian cruisers «Bogatyr» and «Pallada» came within range and began firing. The German escort ships were driven off, and the scuttling charges in the fore magazine were lit before the order had been given, and remaining crew hastily abandoned ship. In the commotion, as the charges exploded, some codebooks were lost. Fifteen men died in the evacuation; fifty¬six crewmembers, as well as Captain Habenicht, were captured by the Russians. The Russians quickly took possession of the wrecked cruiser, and the subsequent search yielded a codebook forgotten at the bottom of a locker in the ship’s aft section. Later, Russian divers found another codebook, along with the pertinent cipher key, that had been weighted with lead and thrown overboard, as well as a third one lost in abandoning ship. Other documents seized by the Russians included the war signal book, the war diary, and charts of the Baltic. The Magdeburg was afterwards completely destroyed. Realizing the value of their find, the Russians immediately offered the undamaged codebook to their British allies. Of course, many postcards dedicated to the Russian fleet were published before the war. However, in wartime postcards depicted not only ships but expeditions, campaigns and various military operations as well. For instance, in 1915 a Luga¬based publisher V. Gruzentsev issued a series of postcards representing a squadron of torpedo boats during a voyage. One of the pictures has an impressive number 106. An airplane is depicted in the upper left corner of the picture, which was quite typical for the age.
One of the most interesting series of postcards of the time was created by a Revel-based (modern Tallinn) photographer E. Ivanov. The series was titled «Everyday Life of the Russian Navy». It was the first time when the wide public received an opportunity to see scenes of daily life of Russian seamen — for instance, at the destroyer «Donskoi Kazak». Of course, the pictures were staged by a professional photographer, while the seamen wore their casual uniform. The «Sevastopol»-class battleships came into commission in 1915. However, they did not take part in combat operations of the Baltic fleet, as a special permission of the Emperor was required. But the latter, keeping in mind inglorious defeat in the Tsusima battle, remained silent. The crew of a battleship consisted of about one thousand men including thirty-two officers; weary wait for a combat was one of the reasons of massacre of officers in 1917. The Sevastopol class or the Gangut Class ships were the first «dreadnought» battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy. The ships were authorized by the Duma (Russian Parliament) in 1908. Because of lack of experience, the Russians invited several foreign yards for design advice. A convoluted design history involving Italian, German (Blohm & Voss) and British (John Brown and Company) companies ensued. The ships were ordered in 1909. Four ships were built. Two were named after victorious battles of Peter the Great in the Great Northern War; two were named after battles in the Crimean War. Three of the ships replaced similarly named ships of the «Petropavlovsk» class lost in the Russo-Japanese War. Battleships were and still are the favourite topic of artists. One of the first adherents of the genre was a Petrograd-based painter I. Berg (reportedly, he was a Navy officer). In his pictures, he depicted the bulk of contemporary military ships. Unfortunately, we have failed to find any data concerning I. Berg and P. Shieldknekht. The featured postcard represents battleship «Sevastopol». «Sevastopol», built by Baltic Yard, St.Petersburg, was laid down 1909, launched in October 1911, and completed in November 1914. It was originally named after the city of Sevastopol in the Crimea. Russian heavily armored battleships had a main battery consisiting of three gun-towers with three 305-caliber cannons in each tower. Those guns can be clearly seen in the featured photograph depicting battleship «Gangut» during final tests. «Gangut» was built by Admiralty Shipyard, St. Petersburg, laid down 1909, launched in October 1911, and completed in December 1914. Originally named after the 1714 naval Battle of Gangut outside the Hanko Peninsula, renamed «Oktyaborskaya Revolutsia» (October Revolution) in 1918, the ship served in the Baltic Fleet during World War II and was scrapped in 1959. Alongside guns of the ship, the featured photograph represents a group of officers of battleship «Poltava». Among them was A.G. Dukelsky, the head of artillery section of the Petrograd metal plant. Engineer Dukelsky designed railroad carriers TM-3-12, one of which is still preserved at the «Red Hill» fort. Talking about the Baltic fleet, we surely have to say a few words about naval bases of the Baltic Sea. Those bases included Kronstadt, Helsingfors, Revel, Libava, the Baltic port and others. However, before the war the Russians actively searched for a new naval facility. Although Kronstadt had many advantages of Kronstadt, it had two crucial drawbacks. First, the base was surrounded by ice four months a year. Secondly, Kronstadt was too far away from the area of active combat operations. The Russian government spent a lot of money building Alexander III naval base in Libava (Liepaja). However, in the beginning of the war the Russian left the city blowing up a part of fortifications. The bases in Revel and Paldiski (the Baltic port) were too small for the battleships, as their length was 182 meters (almost two football fields). Thus, there was the only port in Helsingfors (Helsinki) left, protected by Sveaborg castle. The battleships of the Baltic fleet used to spent winters there. As it is seen in an old photograph, a Finnish trader used to take some of his goods by ice road to one of the battleships — «Slava». There is a clearly visible silhouette of a horse in the right corner of the picture. The Commander of the Baltic fleet Admiral N.O. Essen, hero of the defense of Port Arthur made armoured cruiser «Rurik» the flagship. The flagship of the Baltic Fleet saw much action, being damaged by mines on several occasions. Build in England in 1912 the cruiser had slightly different silhouette than the other Russian ships, and thus, was very popular among photographers. Many of the pictures depicting «Rurik» are preserved up to nowadays: «Rurik» follows battleships «St. Andrew» and «Emperor Paul I», «Rurik» during firing operation, etc. Supporter of active warfare, Admiral Essen died in May 1915. He was succeeded by Admiral Kanin, who was blamed for inactivity of the fleet. 1915 campaign was noted only by two major episodes. Knowing that the majority of German warships were to leave the Baltic Sea and gather in Kiel for navy parade on June 18, the Russian navy command decided to raid Memel (now Klaipeda) and attack the town and the port. However, the circumstances changed and instead of bombing Memel the Russian squadron started searching for enemy ships. On July 19, the Russian detected German cruiser «Augsburg» and minelayer «Albatross». Russian cruisers «Admiral Makarov», «Bayan», «Oleg» and «Bogatyr» destroyed the minelayer «Albatross», while «Augsburg» managed to escape in the maritime belt of neutral Sweden. On their way back, the Russian ships also hit «Roon» and «Lubeck», but fearing attack of German u-boats returned to Revel. There is a postcard depicting arrival of «Bayan» to the base. In the late June 1915, German ships attempted to enter the Riga gulf through Irben strait. The area was protected by an already obsolete battleship «Slava», several torpedo boats and gun vessels. The battle was decided by Russian U-boats that made German ships retreat. An episode of the battle of «Slava» with German ships is depicted in a very rare postcard. Through 1916, the ships of the Baltic fleet were mainly laying mines, while Russian U-boats were hunting for German transports. For instance, U-boat «Wolf» managed to send to the bottom three German steamships in one raid. Among other important battles in the Baltic was a battle at Moonsund archipelago. Renowned Russian writer Valentin Pikul wrote a novel about that event. The German military operation «Albion» started on October 12, 1917. Over 300 warships and 25,000 men attacked the Moonsund fort defended by minor Russian garrison. The Russians showed prodigies of valour. Indeed, that was glorious page in the Russian military history. Read an article about the battle for Naval Citadel of Peter the Great in our next issues.
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