Monitors: Pyotr Velikiy 1877

[Brian James]

Ironclad Turret Ship IRN Pyotr Velikiy pictured c1879.The ship had its genesis in the visit of the American twin-turret Monitor USS Miantonomah to Kronstadt in August 1866, that inspired Rear Admiral A A Popov to submit a preliminary design for a low-freeboard, Breastwork Monitor with a full suite of sails and masts. He intended the ship to act as a hybrid Monitor-Cruiser, able to attack enemy shipping and threaten his ports.Her main armament consisted of 2 x 12 inch single,center turret mounted guns The design was approved by the Naval Technical Committee (Morskoi tekhnicheskii komitet), and a detailed design was prepared by September 1867. This was reviewed on February 20th 1868, and the coal supply was ordered to be raised from four to five days' steaming, which forced the design to be revised to accommodate the extra coal. This modified design was approved on January 26th 1869 by the Committee, but more changes were made even after that. In May Popov proposed to add a small superstructure forward of the breastwork to improve seakeeping and overhanging side armour as used on the Monitors during the American Civil War. Both changes were approved on June 19th 1869 although the displacement of the ship had constantly increased from the 7,496 long tons (7,616 t) of the 1867 design to the 9,462 long tons (9,614 t) of the June 1869 design.In 1917 she was assigned as a Depot Ship for Submarines at Kronstadt and later Helsinki.She was finally scrapped in 1959.

[designeraccd]

Some other views of the ship through the many decades of her life. DFO