Pre-Dreadnought Battleships: Peresvet Class

[Brian James]

A rare photo of Peresvet Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship IRN Pobeda under intense Japanese artillery fire at Port Arthur on December 6th 1904.Built at the Baltic Works Shipyard in Saint Petersburg in 1900.
She was assigned to the Pacific Squadron and based at Port Arthur from 1903. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, she participated in the battles of Port Arthur and the Yellow Sea. Having escaped serious damage in these engagements, Pobeda was sunk by gunfire during the Siege of Port Arthur on December 7th 1904 and then salvaged by the Japanese and placed into service under the name IJNS Suwo.
Rearmed and re-boilered by the Japanese, Suwo was reclassified by the Imperial Japanese Navy as a Coastal Defense Ship in 1908 and served as a Training Ship for several years. She was the flagship of the Japanese squadron that participated in the Battle of Tsingtao at the beginning of World War I and continued in that role until she became a Gunnery Training Ship in 1917.She was disarmed in 1922 to comply with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty and scrapped around that time.

[ivorthediver]

She looks badly holed in the bow section unless its the angle of the photo . mind you neither ships look very sound

Great shot Brian thanks for sharing

[designeraccd]

GR8 pic Brian; don't even have that 1 in my old (1905) photo book on R-J War and it is full of shots I've only seen in the old book!!

Here she and a sister are, earlier. DFO

[ivorthediver]

Thanks Dennis , great detail shown there , and great photo's from you two "Experts"

[Brian James]

Lead Ship,Pre-Dreadnought Battleship IRN Peresvet,built at Baltic Works Shipyard, Saint Petersburg in 1901.Peresvet and her sister Pobeda participated in the Battles of Port Arthur and the Yellow Sea and were sunk during the Siege of Port Arthur. Oslyabya, the third sister, sailed to the Far East with the Second Pacific Squadron to relieve the Russian forces blockaded in Port Arthur and was sunk at the Battle of Tsushima with the loss of over half her crew.
Peresvet (renamed IJNS Sagami) and Pobeda (renamed IJNS Suwo) were salvaged after the Japanese captured Port Arthur and incorporated into the Imperial Japanese Navy. Peresvet was sold back to the Russians during World War I,the Russian Navy intended her for service with the Russian Arctic Flotilla, and she sailed for the Arctic, but struck two mines off Port Said, Egypt, on January 4th 1917. The mines, laid by the German Submarine SM U-73, sank Peresvet with the loss of 167 lives after she had caught fire.

[designeraccd]

Another class of pre-dreadnought, represented by the POLTAVA! DFO

[Brian James]

Lead Ship,Pre-Dreadnought Battleship IRN Peresvet pictured back under Russian colours at Colombo in 1916.

During the Battle of Port Arthur (February 1904) on the second day of the war, Peresvet was not hit, but her sister Pobeda was hit once amidships, sustaining little damage but losing two men killed and four wounded.Pobeda struck a mine during the squadron's sortie on April 13th and remained under repair for almost two months.Both ships had some of their Anti-Torpedoboat guns and secondary armament removed during the summer to bolster the defenses of the port. They participated in the Battle of the Yellow Sea on August 10th 1904;Pobeda was only lightly damaged by 11 large-caliber hits, but Peresvet, hit 39 times, suffered a considerable amount of flooding. More guns were landed after the squadron's return to Port Arthur, but the Imperial Japanese Army captured the hills overlooking the harbour in November, and this allowed Japanese 11 inch siege guns to fire directly at the Russian ships.Pobeda and Peresvet were hit many times, and Pobeda sank on December 7th 1904 from the accumulated damage.Peresvet was scuttled in shallow water on the same day.The Japanese raised, repaired, and rearmed Peresvet and Pobeda. They incorporated the refurbished vessels into the Imperial Japanese Navy as Sagami and Suwo, respectively, and reclassified them as first-class Coastal Defense Ships.After the beginning of World War I in 1914,Sagami was sold to Russia in March 1916 and arrived in Vladivostok on April 3rd 1916, where she resumed her former name of Peresvet.The Russian Navy intended the ship for service with the Russian Arctic flotilla, and Peresvet sailed for the Arctic, but struck two mines off Port Said, Egypt, on January 4th 1917. The mines, laid by the German Submarine SM U-73, sank Peresvet with the loss of 167 lives after she had caught fire.

[designeraccd]

Here's sister POBIEDA at various times......... DFO

[Brian James]

Launch day for Peresvet Class Dreadnought Battleship Pobeda at Baltic Works Shipyard, Saint Petersburg on May 10th 1900..She was assigned to the Pacific Squadron upon completion and based at Port Arthur from 1903. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, she participated in the battles of Port Arthur and the Yellow Sea. Having escaped serious damage in these engagements, Pobeda was sunk by gunfire during the siege of Port Arthur, and then salvaged by the Japanese and placed into service under the name Suwo. Rearmed and re-boilered by the Japanese, Suwo was reclassified by the IJN as a Coastal Defense Ship in 1908 and served as a Training Ship for several years. She was the flagship of the Japanese squadron that participated in the Battle of Tsingtao at the beginning of World War I and continued in that role until she became a Gunnery Training Ship in 1917. The ship was disarmed in 1922 to comply with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty and scrapped around that time.

[Brian James]

Peresvet Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship Pobeda pictured c 1902....She was launched from Baltic Works Shipyards, Saint Petersburg in 1900 and was assigned to the Pacific Squadron upon completion and based at Port Arthur from 1903. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, she participated in the battles of Port Arthur and the Yellow Sea. Having escaped serious damage in these engagements, Pobeda was sunk by gunfire during the siege of Port Arthur, and then salvaged by the Japanese and placed into service under the name Suwo. Rearmed and re-boilered by the Japanese, Suwo was reclassified by the IJN as a Coastal Defense Ship in 1908 and served as a Training Ship for several years. She was the flagship of the Japanese squadron that participated in the siege of Qingdao at the beginning of World War I and continued in that role until she became a Gunnery Training Ship in 1917. She was disarmed in 1922 to comply with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty and probably scrapped around that time.